DISTRICT 8:
Patch Nishiki POV:
Patch woke up to the sounds of his alarm blaring in his ears. He rolled over and pressed the button the killed the sound. He let out a deep breath as he looked out his window and saw the familiar landscape of the textile factories. He took a deep breath of the dank smelly air that the factories produced daily. Patch could only get up and rinse his face with water to try and get the smell out of his system. When he looked into the pool of water he saw his reflection. He was 17 and had messy auburn hair and grey eyes. He had a small spade birth mark on his outer right thigh that he touched whenever he got nervous or scared which was very unlikely.
"PATCH!" He heard his brother Bow scream. Patch opened the batch room door and Bow and Cross were both standing there looking furious. Bow and cross were twins and they both had blond hair and brown eyes and they were almost never seen apart. "Finally." Bow said as he walked into the bathroom shoving patch out of his way.
"Jerk." Cross said to him as he walked past.
"Whatever!" Patch retorted back as he walked down the hall towards the kitchen. When he got in the kitchen he smelled bacon a delicacy in District 8. "Ya! Bacon. How much did this cost dad?" Patch asked as he hopped down into a chair and looked at the sizzling crunchy bacon.
"Only 11 coins." His father said as he brought the plate over to the table and gave Patch some pieces. Patch eagerly ate them as the flavor exploded in his mouth. It first burned his tongue but the flavor was worth it. "Slow down!" he added as he grabbed a piece and ate it.
"Thanks dad! Im going to meet up with Wionna and Norman!" Patch said as he finished his breakfast and ran out the door. While Patch walked towards the thin stream where he always meets up with his friends he saw that Peace Keepers were already setting up for the Reaping. Patch just rolled his eyes and hurried to his friends.
When Patch finally got to the stream Wionna and Norman were already there kicking rocks into the water.
"Hey guys!" Patch said as he jumped over the water to join them.
"Hey." They both said simultaneously. Wionna and Norman were both Patch's child hood friends. Wionna was of medium height and she had curly brown hair while Norman was around 6'2 and straight red hair.
"You guys ready for the reaping?" Norman asked as he sat down on a nearby rock.
"Sure, I mean we have no chance to not get any better odds." Wionna said as she flipped her hair over her left sholder. "We probably won't get reaped I mean District 8 is the largest population out of all 12!" she added as she dipped her toes in the cold water.
Colleen "Lena" Reyna POV:
Lena was already up by time her brothers and sister finally awoke. Lena was 16 years old and she lived in a very large family, her parents barley got by on their wages from the textile factory, and this time next year Lena would start working. Lena had sun kissed blonde hair that went down to her elbows and icy blue eyes that looked like cracked glass.
"Hey Lena." Her little brother Dustin said. Dustin was her favorite brother, since he was 4 she acted like he was her own child and she would buy him nice things and baby him the most. Some people said that she wasn't preparing Dustin for reality but she just shielded him from the Capitols harsh punishment and would protect him for as long as possible.
"Hey Dusty, why are you up this early?" Lena said as she stroked his dirty blond hair and looked into his baby blue eyes. She always thought his eyes were still innocent because he had never faced the hard ships of life.
"Can't sleep. Just like you!" Dustin said as his chubby little fists punched the air. Lena could only laugh as she watched him feebly attempt to run around like a dog. Lena continued to make breakfast for her family. When she looked in the fridge she saw it was barren just like most days. When she turned around she saw the fruit bowl with 4 apples and 1 banana.
"This will have to do." Lena sighed as she started to cut up the fruit. Lena grabbed a knife from the cabinet and proceeded to cut the fruit. While she was in the middle of cutting the 3 apple her mother walked in. Her mother had bright blond hair it almost looked white and the same blue eyes most of her children had gotten.
"Go change. It's reaping day." Her mother said as she wrapped a blanket around her shoulders and took the knife from Lena,
"Okay mom." Lena said as she walked towards the room she shared with her brother Austin and Sister Emilia. When Lena walked in she saw that Austin had already changed into a black shirt with some black matching pants. "Hey Austin." Lena said as she walked in the room and went towards the drawer that held her clothes.
"Hi." Austin said as he pulled some shoes out from under his bed and started to put them on. "You should problem wake Emilia up now, she still needs to get ready for the reaping." He added as he finished tying his shoes. Austin was 19 years old and he looked exactly like their mom except his hazel colored eyes that he had gotten from their deceased dad.
"Okay." Lena said as she walked over to Emilia's bed. Emilia was 18 and she had bleached blond hair with eyes that looked like a pure drop of water. "Emilia wakes up." Lena said as she shook Emilia's sholder.
"What?" Emilia asked as she pulled the covers over her face to try and fall back asleep.
"Get up its reaping day." Lena said as she turned around. She saw that Austin was no longer there and she just nodded it off and walked over to her drawer where her dress for the reaping lay.
"Ugh… What time is it?" Emilia asked as she got out of bed and looked out the window as the sunlight poured in lighting up the room.
"About 6:35. We have 25 minutes to get to the reaping." Lena said as she pulled out a pink dress with blue flowers stitched in on the bottom. She could only wonder how much this had cost her family to get for her.
"You like it?" Asked Emilia as she pulled on a red dress with leaf patterns stitched in on the bottom.
"Yes it's beautiful!" Lena exclaimed as she hugged it and smelled its wonderful smell of the Capitol.
"It was last season's fashion in the Capitol and they no longer wanted them so we bought them for the Reaping." Emalia said as she ran a brush through her hair trying to get out the knots. Lena knew that the things that were undesired clothes items in the Capitol were brought back to District 8 for them to either buy or recycle their products.
"Lets go!" Lena said as she ran outside to show her family her new dress.
Patch Nishiki POV:
Patch Wionna and Norman had all walked to the Reaping in silence they all knew that two kids would be chosen to fight today and take the nice but scary train to the capitol.
"Wionna who do you want to get picked for the girls today?" Norman asked as he jogged ahead of the two.
"Oh shut up! I wouldn't wish this on anyone." Wionna said as she gave Norman a look that could turn him to stone. Patch just walked quietly as he listened to his friends talk and place bets on who they hoped would be reaped this year.
"Guys it's almost reaping time we should probably get going." Patch said as he walked closer to his friends. The both nodded in agreement as they looked at people streaming toward town square. They all attempted at conversation but the forth coming reaping quickly killed all of the conversation attempts.
When the trio finally got to the town square the place was full of kids who were pushing past each other to try and get a spot next to their friends or family. Patch saw Bow and Cross both run past him as they ran towards the 14 year old section.
"Welcome Citizens of District 8!" The woman on stage said. She was wearing a black dress that would turn white every few minutes and then black again. Patch thought it must be some new Capitol fashion so he didn't think twice of it. The woman raised her hand to the huge screen and the video started to roll. The video patch ignored for the most part he usually never even payed attention to it but there was one part where it showed a boy from District 11 hold a girl up by her neck until all life escaped her and her dead body fell lifeless at his feet. Patch hated to admit it but he loved to see when the people died he felt good watching other people suffer. When the video finally ended Patch was getting impatient and wanted this to be over fast. "Well Ladies go in front like always!" The woman said as she walked over to the bowl full of names being ready to seal ones fate.
The woman's hand barley had to go in before she found a name because the bowl was so full. "Ahhem…" She cleared her throat. "COLLEEN REYNA!" The woman screamed into the microphone. Patch let a breath of relief out to see that it wasn't Wionna. Patch looked at the girl who was walking up to the stage, she was wearing a pink dress and she had blond hair that shined like a sun against the dark stage. He could see that the girl was crying and she was barely holding it together. "Well boys it's your turn!" the woman said as she swung her hand over the crowd. As the woman walked over to the boys bowl Norman and Patch both made eye contact and Patch took a quick glance towards Bow and Cross. "PATCH NISHIKI!" The woman screeched.
"No…" Patch said. Everyone around him knew him so they all quickly parted a path for him to the stage. He couldn't get over the fact that he had been reaped and that he was going to have a chance of dying.
"Well District 8 here are your tributes!" The woman said. And they were both escorted into the Justice Hall.
Colleen "Lena" Reyna POV:
Lena walked to the reaping by herself. She had waited for Emilia for a while but they just waved her foreword and she went by herself once again. Lena didn't hate the reaping because it gave her a chance to hang out with her friends from school and actually see a nice T.V. When Lena had reached the reaping area the place was over crowded and way to packed for this amount of people. Lena could almost feel the earth being crushed beneath their feet begging to give in with all the weight that it was holding up.
"Welcome Citizens of District 8!" The woman on stage said. She was wearing a black dress that would change white every couple of minutes. The video had started to play and Lena felt sorry for every tribute that had ever come in these games. Lena looked at the arenas the players were forced to fight in and she could only imagine what tortures laid behind them. She saw a forest and remembered the year when the tress would shoot out sap that would slowly destroy the tributes body slowly killing them. And then the ocean arena where the islands were dotted along the arena and was the only place tributes would actually be able to fight, and the only water source was a little pond on the island the careers had occupied meant many of the tributes died of dehydrating.
"Well Ladies go in front like always!" The woman said as she walked over to the bowl full of names being ready to seal ones fate. The woman's hand only went about 3 inches in since it was so full. "Ahhem…" The woman said as she cleared her throat. "COLLEEN REYNA!" The woman screamed into the microphone.
"NO!" Lena screamed. She had tried to run but her brain and body wasn't working and all she could do was walk up to the stage. She had tried to make herself run to Dustin and Emilia but her feet made her wake foreword. When Lena reached the stage the woman's dress was black and she was walking over to the boys bowl. Lena pulled down on her dress uncomfortably and streaked the soft pink fabric.
"PATCH NISHIKI!" The woman screamed again. Lena looked up to see a boy about her age walk up to the stage. Lena could only hope she wouldn't have to kill him in the end. "Well citizens of District 8 your tributes!" The woman said as they ran inside the Justice Hall.
Patch Nishiki POV:
Patch waited in the room for what seemed like hours before Wionna and Norman burst through the doors.
"Oh Patch!" Wionna said as she ran to him and gave him a giant hug. "Why did it have to be you?" She asked as they sat there with the time of Patches life slowly ticking downward.
"Come on man! You should have asked that chick you know to rig the votes!" Norman said as he awkwardly stood over them.
"Come here Norm." Patch said as he gave them both a hug and they all sat there talking about their child hood.
"TIMES UP!" The peace Keeper said as he barged through the door holding his gun and pointing it at Norman and Wionna.
"Patch!"Wionna said. Patch looked at her and she held out her hand. Patch quickly followed suit and took it, she placed her leather bracelet in his hand. "I love you." She said as she was pulled out the door. Patch could only sit there e with the words I love you too still hanging on his lips.
Colleen "Lena" Reyna POV:
"LENA!" Dustin said as he opened the door and sat on her lap. "Where are you going Lena?" He asked as he grabbed her pink dress and started burying his face in it.
"You have to be smart. Don't just fall into lapse with all the other kids. Don't rely on any physical strength you have, because, well, you don't have any. But you've got twice the brains of anybody else, so bloody well use them. And be nice. Make people like you, then they'll want to sponsor you. "But don't let yourself become too much of a threat. And listen to whatever your mentors or stylists say to you." Austin said as he stood in the door way with Emilia next to him crying her eyes out.
"TIME UP!" The Peace Keeper said as he pushed both Austin and Emilia out of his way. Emilia ran towards Lena and picked Dustin up as she ran out the door. Austin walked out slowly saying good luck to her. And then she could just wait for the train to come.