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Chapter Text

Treech had gotten used to the routine by now.

Every year on the sunny reaping day children all over district 7 would get dressed up in their finest clothes and say goodbye to their loved ones in case the unthinkable would happen. Get sent to the Hunger games. And on one of those early sunny mornings Treech found himself rummaging trough his family's closet in search of some decent clothes he could wear.

His nice reaping clothes had gotten worn out over the years since They where hand me downs from his older brothers who were now all three past reaping age so by the time they were handed down to treech the clothes where full off holes and stains ,it seems the only clothes they had where for work or just slaps of fabric that couldn't even be called clothes anymore.

Eventually he found a gray blazer that was carefully tucked away like it was meant to be hidden. The blazer was a bit to big for him but at least it covered up some of the holes in his shirt. It belonged to his eldest brother Axel but Treech only needed it for today and then he'd put it neatly back where it belonged. He put on the rest of his reaping clothes and topped it of with the blazer even tho he said it himself he was looking pretty good, it was very different from what he usually wore. Since it was still early in the morning he knew his family was fast asleep even tho he was never able to sleep a wink before reaping day.

he thought about how next year would be his last year in the reaping then he'd be free like the rest of his brothers he'd go work full time in the forest and he'd never have to fear the chance of getting sent to those games again. The first bits of sunlight started to shine through the window the sun was slowly starting to come up wich marked the 10th edition of the annual reaping day.

He thought of the unlucky families who would be weeping by the end of the day already mourning their children. Apart from the mandatory reaping no one really watches the games ,to cruel it's better to paint them off as dead already when they're reaped otherwise the families get to much hope only to be crushed when they see their children get brutally slaughtered Infront of the whole nation. He needed to set the games out of his mind and decided to take a walk through the forest. He took a few sandwiches with him to eat later as he wasn't planning on coming back soon. When he stepped outside he felt the cool outside air hit him,the smell of pine trees roaming trough the air. He made his way to one of the big trees that had become his favourite. Treech climbed up to one of the nearest sturdy branch and made himself comfortable.

This had been the spot he went to the most ever since he was a child. Somehow he always seemed to automatically relax whenever he sat high up in a tree were he seemed to be in his own world far away from the scary reality outside his forest. Treech was eating his sandwich when he heard a sound coming from the bushes below the tree. He looked down and spotted a chunk of red hair pop out of the green bush. As the mysterious figure made their way out of the bush He could now make out who it was. It was lamina the girl who he used to be friends with as a kid, They used to play with eachother a lot, always running around the forest or seeing who could climb the highest.

They were basically grew up together but as they both got older they just seemed to grow apart treech got some new friends and had to help out in his family's business out so he couldn't hang out like they used to anymore he was sure lamina also met more interesting people to be around and had other stuff to do. He saw her around some times but never really made any initiative to talk to her apart from the usual awkward small talk or giving a short nod while passing eachother in the hallways nothing really remained of their once close friendship.

But there was something about her this time her eyes looked red like she had been crying. Treech felt bad but stayed on his branch observing the girl from afar continuing to eat his sandwich. He watched as Lamina sat down leaning against one of the smaller trees,covering her face with her hands. He could hear her small sobs that eventually turned into crying again. He felt kinda irritated that she ruined his peaceful moment like this but he decided he should go up to her or at least do something. He made his way down from the tree and it seems lamina was to busy crying to notice him because when he tapped her shoulder she looked behind her and seemed a bit surprised although her face was all red and covered in tear stains so it was hard to tell.

"Hello lamina" Treech said trying to take on a comforting tone. "Hi treech " She murmured back while wiping away her tears. "It's been a while " he said realising that he actually had no clue what to say to her. Lamina just looked at the ground managing a simple "yea it has." Before turning quiet again. This was a lot harder than he thought it would be. "So uh how's your dad doin?" "He's fine "she said in the same sullen tone. Laminas father was a good man but he had always been sick and since her mother was gone her older brother had to take care of their father and Lamina.

"Oh well that's good" he paused "what about your brother?" "He's also fine " she said but in a harsher tone this time he could see the tears in her eyes swell up again. Treech knew he wasn't really good with words so he just decided to sit down next to her and offered her one of his sandwiches. For a moment she looked at him puzzled before accepting the sandwich and taking a bite. Thank god she'd stopped crying. As they both stared out trough the forest he couldn't help but think back to the happy memories of his childhood him and lamina used to hold picknicks in the forest all the time,Laminas mother would bake them cookies or some other sweet treat they could share under the trees.

But thinking about those happy memories ultimately had a way to make him sad. Laminas mother died a year ago of tuberculosis.Treech and Lamina had already grown apart by then so all he could do was the usual sorry for your loss conversation that he'd said so many times in his life already. lamina must still remember her mother and all the nice moments they spent together. Treech on the other hand could only remember a handful of things about his mother who had died when he was 5. It wasn't uncommon to lose family members in 7 almost every one had someone close to them die.

It was almost as if they al bonded over the losses of their children,husband's ,mothers. When suddenly his thinking was interrupted again as a small green snake slithered towards them. It was fast but Treech caught it under his boot and stomped on it till he was sure it was dead. He hated snakes creepy little things always showing up when you least expect it. There were a lot of snakes in district 7 so he knew how to handle them but still something about the limbless reptiles really freaked him out. He pushed the dead snake away with his boot and saw Lamina look at him with the half eaten sandwich in her hands.

"Didya kill it" was all she asked. Treech nodded and turned around to sit back next to her. After a long pause she spoke again "I wonder how different it would be." "What?" "To kill an animal and to kill a child" This came as a bit of a suprise. "You mean the games?" He asked. She nodded while trembling"I'm scared Treech" was al she managed to say before starting to crying again Now treech really didn't know what to do so he just awkwardly put his hand on her shoulder and whispered "it'l be okay". He hoped that would calm her down a bit but deep down he knew there was really no guarantee that everything would be okay. Lamina looked up to treech making eye contact for the first time,he could see how much she had cried already.

She started to calm down again sniffling away her tears. "I think I should go home now ." She mumbled. " Oh okay say hi to your father and brother for me." Treech said She simply nodded got up and started to walk away. " Thanks for the sandwich" he heard her say under her breath and she was gone again. Something told him that it wasn't just the reaping she was crying about but he left it alone and ate the rest of his sandwich. The sun was already fully up now so he figured it couldn't hurt to see if some of his friends were wandering around as usual. As he walked over to the edge of the forest sure enough he saw a group of boys huddled together talking enthusiasticly. "Hey treech cmere!" The boy he knew as chip yelled. Treech was friends with a lot of people but he liked to hang out with these guys the most.

He had been in the same classes with them for his whole life so it was only natural they became close. There was chip who looked fairly small for his age but he sure could talk a lot,which Treech didn't really mind he liked listening to people. Trip was the son of district 7s mayor so he'd always get away with the shenanigans he pulled and Jacky who always seemed to be in some kind of trouble no matter where he went. They were always up to something but they had their heart on the right place. " You comin to the woods after the reaping?" Chip asked with a hopeful look in his eyes. "We got ahold of some good stuff this morning it would be a waste not to enjoy it to the fullest " Jacky laughed as he held up two liquor bottles hidden from behind his jacket Oh cmon dont tell me you stole that from the old man at the shop again treech grinned

"You bet stole it fair and square besides that old timer had it coming always raising the prices or keeping everything to himself." "So you waddya say you comin?" Trip asked with a smile. No one mentioned anything about the possibility that one of them wouldn't be here anymore by the end of the reaping so he didn't say anything about it either not wanting to ruin the happy atmosphere around them. "Yea sure thing" he answered they'd done this before they would sneak out at night and meet at their usual spot making a small fire and occasionally trip brought some of his father's liquor they'd all enjoy together. Suddenly he thought about Lamina who he had last seen crying her eyes out, maybe a bit of fun would do her good with whatever she had going on.

But she probably wouldn't want to be bothered especially not with him.He starts getting embarrassed thinking back to the awkward conversation they had in the woods. He probably only made things worse. So he figured the best thing to do was leave her be. "Alright that settles it then!" Trip cheered "ill try bringin some more of my pops good liquor." He said as he ran of "see ya at the reaping guys!" Treech figured it be best if he went home to he didn't want to but his father would already be awake by now. As he said goodbye to his other two friends he walked back to his house thinking about their plans. When he was almost home he could tell something was wrong he could hear the yelling from outside . He stormed trough the front door and saw Axel rummaging the house with an angry look on his face while his two other brothers stood besides him seemingly trying to calm him down but to no avail, he looked furious.

When treech saw the look on his brothers face he instantly knew what this was about,the blazer. Treech was fairly tall for his age but compared to his older brother he looked like a dwarf so when Axel saw him standing in the doorway he stormed onto him like a bull. Treech tried to run out of the house but axel was faster and pushed him up against the wall. His fingers tightening around treech's neck. Treech started choking he tried scratching axel with his nails but he couldn't reach far enough so he stopped struggling and held his hands to his neck instead. He was gasping for air at this point and as his vision was starting to get blury he heard panicking voices yell trough the room and then he heard another voice join it was his father.

The next moment Axel had seemingly let go of him as he felt his body sink to the ground,as air started to fill his lungs again he heard all the voices go quiet. He laid there on the creaking wooden floor for a while taking deep breaths,his father patting his back. "There there you're alright son." he said in a soft voice he helped Treech get up an sat him down on a stool in the kitchen and started heating up some left over soup. Axel and the other 2 brothers where no where to be found. His father set down the hot bowl of soup in front of him "Eat some soup boy." Treech took a few sips of soup before he reached up his hand to touch his neck.

"It's not that bad, You're lucky." his father's said "That could've been a whole nasty bruise right there." There was a long pause but then eventually his father said "Look son your mother gave Axel that blazer before she passed away its very special to him that's why he never wears it." His father sounded sad not like his usual playful tone which was weird to hear. Just then he heard the front door swing open. It was Axel. He slowly walked up to the table. " It seems the brat got his way again." he scoffed. Treech just looked down avoiding his gaze,he started to take the blazer off but Axel stopped him. "I don't want it anymore now you keep it ya little thief." Axel spit at him and disappeared to his room again. " Well I guess that settles it then." his father sighed, go wash up boy. Treech made way to the sink in the bathroom. He looked at his neck in the mirror there was a bruise but his father was right it could've been worse. Things like these happened occasionally whenever someone would make axel mad or something happened he didn't like he would explode taking down anyone within his reach.

Treech wasn't always the victim but he did feel like the Black sheep of the family. The youngest of 4. He loved his parents but they'd seemed to forget he existed sometimes. And he never really fit in with his older brothers for some reason. After washing up he was about to leave the house when his father stopped him. "Wait boy I still have something for you." A few moments later he saw his father hold one of his hats,it was a gray one that matched the blazer. He placed the hat on Treech's head . Treech couldn't help but smile as he adjusted the hat. "Now you look complete." His father said proudly. "Cmon let's get this over already."Axel said clearly annoyed somehow he seemed to have calmed down a little. The square was already full of children,their parents anxiously standing in the back. Treech said bye to his family and made way to the line of 17 year olds.

He stood next to Chipp and the rest of his friends. Nice hat chip said. Treech smiled almost forgetting about what was about to happen. "Thanks." He said sounding a little to happy. In the corner of his eye he spotted Lamina Who couldn't see him,but he saw her and saw how much she was trembling. The mayor starts his speech war war terrible war. The same speech he gives every year. And then it's time. Time to see who would die this year. As usual the girls where first,the mayor's hand reached into the bowl pulling out a single little paper that little paper would change someone's life.

But he could never think it was Laminas life that would be changed forever. He seemed to freeze hearing the mayor call her name loud and clear. And when he looked up from the ground all he saw standing there on the stage was little Lamina who he had grew up with. Teary eyed Lamina who he only had just spoken to this morning. Lamina was getting sent to her death and there was nothing he could do about it.

At least that's what he thought until he heard his very own name echo trough the mayor's speaker.

Chapter Text

It took him a while to realise what was happening. His mind had gone completely blank and before he knew it he stood next to Lamina on the stage,he could hear her weeping and for a moment he was afraid he'd start crying to, But he needed to stay strong,he looked around nervously searching trough the crowd for his father but he couldn't find him nor could he find his brothers. The mayor was talking again but Treech wasn't listening to anything he was saying.The last thing he saw before getting wisked away by the peacekeepers were the pitiful faces of his friends staring right at him.

The capitol train hadn't arrived yet so for now They where thrown in to one of the old cattle cars in the station.
The car was gloomy and filthy but there was a tiny bit of sunlight shining in through the cracks of the wooden planks.
Lamina crawled over to a corner,sitting in the same position as she had this morning in the forest.Covering her eyes while she cried uncontrollably.
But this time there'd be nothing comforting to say to her so he just kept quiet and sat down leaning his head against the wall. Oh how he wished to go back to this morning eating sandwiches in the trees,making plans with friends. Would they still be going to the forest tonight, without him?
And before he knew it his eyelids started getting heavier until he couldn't keep his eyes open anymore.

Drifting off to sleep,still with the memory of this morning lingering on his mind.
When Treech woke up again it must've been afternoon already,he felt his stomach growling. he figured they probably wouldn't give them anything to eat so he'd just have to suck it up,wich wasn't really that hard he'd been hungry plenty of times in his life but he wondered just how long it would be before they'd get anything to eat again.
He looked over to Lamina, who was still sobbing in her corner.

He felt kinda bad for falling asleep and leaving her alone like that.
So without thinking about it to much he inched over to Lamina and let her lean against him.
After a while of just sitting there listening to her weeping she eventually got quiet and rested her head on his shoulder.
It felt weird, they hadn't been this close in a long time,but at the same time it also felt nice,it reminded him of all the nice moments they had spent together.
He realized how much he actually missed those peaceful moments when they where still kids playing and laughing with eachother, without a care in the world.

Suddenly Lamina broke her silence.
"Do you remember when we got lost in the woods that one time." She asked,her voice hoarse from crying. He didn't know what she was talking about at first they'd gotten lost plenty of times but then it dawned on him. "Oh Yea I remember now!" he said.
" That time we slept in a tree right!"
She nodded "We had to,you kept walking saying you were sure that we were on the right path home." She reminded him,a small smile forming that quickly disappeared again.
"Oh right" he remembered it more clearly now.
They had one of their regular picnics that day and simply lost track of time ,it was already dark out when they tried finding the way back home.

Treech wanted to prove his knowledge of the woods and reassured her that he'd get them back home in no time. Eventually they got lost and had no other choice but to sleep up in a tree to avoid all the wild animals roaming around at nighttime.
They held eachother closely that night afraid one of them might fall of the tree. Axel found them the next morning,he was furious of course but in the end they could all laugh about it.
"You where so stubborn it took me ages to convince you we were going the wrong way." She laughed softly shaking her head.
"Yea...I guess I was." He smiled back.
" I wish we could go back." He said.
" Me to." Lamina sniffled tears starting to swell in her eyes again.

"But we can't , were going to-" She couldn't finish her sentence before she was full on crying again.
He really couldn't handle her crying, he started getting teary eyed himself but he couldn't cry he had find a way to comfort her somehow.
"Shhh,shhh don't cry please Lamina." He pleaded. Putting his hands on her shoulders.
He really sucked at comforting people.
Treech looked around the car trying to think of something to distract her. He spotted some old pinecones laying on the floor, he could work with that. "Hey lamina look!" He started juggling with the pinecones starting of with two and adding more as he went. He could see Lamina look up wiping away her tears as she gave him a soft smile. "You used to do that when we were little to." She said still smiling.

"Seems like I still got the hang of it." He said grinning. And just after he spoke those words one of the pinecones fell on his head which made him drop the rest as well.
Lamina started chuckling seeing his disappointed face stare at the pinecones on the floor.
Treech was glad, Lamina seemed to have stopped crying. At least he kept her mind of reality for a moment even if it was only a short while.
"you actually haven't changed one bit ." She said shaking her head still laughing softly.
"Of course not why would I have changed?" He said jokingly
Lamina seemed a bit startled at this.
"Wel I just figured you had.... ,like how one day we were best friends and the next you totally ignored me and went to your other friends."

She scoffed her smile had completely disappeared and it had been replaced by a more sullen expression.
That seemed to come out of nowhere.
"What,that isn't true." I never ignored you. "We....just grew apart that's all" he said defensively
Was this really how she thought it went?
"Yea grew apart whatever." She mumbled turning around facing away from Treech.
He couldn't believe her. It didn't go anything like that. It's not like he completely forgot about her he was just busy with....other stuff.
Alright maybe he did neglect their friendship a little bit but he never ignored her. And besides he didn't think it affected her this much but she seemed really upset.
He didn't know what to say after that so he just kept quiet and stared at the wall.

"I just missed you Treech." She said still facing away from him.
A painful silence followed.
"I'm sorry Lamina I never knew-" he stammered .
"It doesn't matter anymore now." She cut him of looking at the ground. "In a few days we'll probably be-"
He knew what she was going to say but he didn't want to hear about the games anymore he wanted to block it out of his mind pretend it didn't exist.
So this time he cut Lamina of. Before she could finish her sentence he reached out his arms and hugged her tightly.
After a moment of embracing eachother he whispered "I'm sorry I really am."
When he let go again he watched her expressionless face stare at him.

She shook her head "me to." She said with a deep sigh."I shouldn't have gone of on you like that."
"You really thought I was ignoring you?"
Well yea you where always hanging out with those other guys.they....seem kinda intimidating.
"Intimidating?" It was funny thinking about how intimidating Chip would look. He couldn't help but laugh a little.
"Are you laughing at me??"lamina hissed giving him a small playful shove .
"Sorry but I can't help it." He chuckled.
"You know they really aren't as intimidating as you think,I feel like they'd like you."
"Really?" she said raising her eyebrow.
Yea of course why wouldn't they.
Lamina fell silent.

"I don't know....." She finally said.
He thought about how he wanted to invite lamina to come with them to the forest at first,if he knew how she really felt he wouldn't have hesitated but now it was to late of course.
She rested her head on his shoulder again and after a while Lamina had fallen asleep. She looked peaceful like that, hopefully she'd have a nice dream to distract her from everything.
He felt tired himself even tho he had basically done nothing that day but he just gave in and closed his eyes again,getting pulled into a sweet dream about sandwiches trees and pinecones.

When he woke up again everything felt cold,freezing cold it must've already been night because the little bit of sunlight that shined through the cracks of the car where gone. He couldn't see a lot but Lamina seemed to still be asleep, he could hear her shivering in her sleep. He wanted to close his eyes again but it seemed lamina had woken up. "Treech,you awake?" She whispered with a shaky voice.
"Yea" he whispered back.
"It's so cold."
"Wait,I'll get closer."
They huddled together trying to capture eachothers warmth but it was still freezing cold. He couldn't go back to sleep after that, Lamina however fell asleep again right away. At least she wasn't shivering anymore.

During the day he tried to keep strong for Lamina and tried not to think about it to much but at night he couldn't help but cry a little. He didn't want to die but if he survived Lamina would have to die. If lamina lived He would die there was no other way around it.
He knew there was no way they'd get out of this together.
He'd never see his friends or family again he would never return home , district 7 was all he had ever known and it was getting ripped away from him.
Suddenly he heard noise outside of the car.
"Psssttt Treech you there?" He heard a whisper .
It was Axel! He must've managed to get through the peacekeepers.
"Yes I'm here it's me!"he whispered back.
He moved over to one of the cracks trough the wood careful not to wake lamina. He could look trough the crack but he couldn't see much.

He could see that Axel looked worse than he had this morning.
His eyes seemed red like Laminas.
"Listen Treech listen to me carefully we don't have much time." Axel said in a panicked voice.
"You need to win get back home do whatever you can to survive. Kill the others if you need to just...don't die get back home to us." He stammered.
Treech wanted to say something but before he could he heard footsteps,it would surely be peacekeepers. They where heading towards the car. Just before the peacekeepers took Axel away he whispered "Please we can't loose you to." "I can't loose my little brother."
And just then he could hear a thud. As Axel fell to his knees. Then the sound of peacekeepers dragging him away followed.
And he was gone,it could've been the last time he ever saw him again. No he couldn't think like that he would see him again he had to survive.
He was going to get out of that arena alive and return home.

But that would also mean. He turned his head looking at Lamina still asleep,she had started shivering again. He realized he was also quite cold again now.
He thought about what axel told him about killing the others but He figured that for now it would still be okay to cling to lamina,it was just for warmth after all.

Chapter Text

Treech was woken up by the sound of a train screeching into the station. He opened his eyes slowly. The bits of sunlight were shining trough the cracks of the car again. It seemed to be early morning by now, at least he could see a lot more now compared to last night. Treech figured that the train he just heard was probably the train to the capitol, their train to the arena.
Lamina was still soundly asleep in his arms, his blazer covering her. She looked so calm peaceful almost, if it hadn't been for the tear stains that never seemed to leave her face. He dreaded the moment he'd have to wake her up again. But Treech figured it be better to wake her before those brute peacekeepers could.

"Psstt lamina....lamina wake up". He whispered gently tugging on her sleeve.
She groaned "Nooo I don't want to, not yet, just a few more minutes Clade." Clade? Who was that again. After a moment of pondering it came back to him, of course Clade was her brothers name how could he let that slip. Lamina must've forgotten where they really were she buried her head back in his arms,probably thinking it was her pillow until she flinched and suddenly sprung up.
Her eyes wide open now as she looked around with a desperate expression on her face.

A disappointed "Oh...." was all she managed to get out.
Lamina sat up slowly still with the blazer around her.
"Yeah...." Treech mumbled back not really sure what to say.
She definitely remembered again now.
Lamina seemed to realise she was still wearing his blazer so she gave it back to Treech. "Thank you". She whispered.
Treech gave her a small smile and put the blazer back on again.
They sat in silence for a while until lamina spoke softly.
"Do you think we get to see our family before we leave?"

She didn't know that Axel had come to see him last night and since her brother was nowhere to be seen he figured it be best not to tell her. "I don't know" he simply replied.
"Oh.." she said in her usual sullen tone, her voice trembling a little.
She went on. "He probably wouldn't come to see me anyway."
Treech could hear the trembling worsen.
"Clade? Why wouldn't he?"
Lamina shook her head dismissively.
"No tell me lamina why? " Treech pushed further. His eyes now trained on her.

Lamina just looked at the ground trying to avoid his gaze, but eventually she spoke.
"When mom died he turned so... cold, dad was sick so clade had to be the one to take care of us." She started out softly, but her tone gradually got more desperate.
"It was all to much for him, I was to much. He can get so angry sometimes and then he just...looses control."
"He really can't help it." She was crying now covering burying her face in her hands.
It took Treech a while to take all this information in.

He didn't understand Clade always seemed like a nice guy kind,hard working, took good care of his family,the person his father wanted Treech to be like.
But hearing Lamina talk about him like this,it reminded him of more of Axel. He suddenly remembered their conversation in the woods,when he asked about her brother. Why hadn't she said anything? All these questions were roaming around in his head but he figured it be best to leave them unanswered for now and try to change the topic away from Clade or at least comfort her a bit.

"I haven't heard from my family either, they probably wouldn't let them see us." Treech stammered.
Wich wasn't a lie entirely.
"If he could I'm sure he would've been here."
Lamina raised her head, tears still running over her cheek. He could see her attempt at somewhat of a forced smile.
It was obvious that she didn't believe him.
At least he tried.
There was one of those long awkward silences again untill Treech suddenly felt a Pang in his stomach. The pain that he had tried to ignore yesterday. He now realized how hungry he really was.
He thought he'd been able to handle the Hunger yesterday but today it was much worse.
Lamina seemed to feel the same as she put her hands on her growling stomach.

"You think they will give us food when we're in the capitol?"
He knew that the chances of that would be slim.
But he didn't want to bring lamina down again.
"Don't worry I'll find us something he said with a smile."
Again Lamina didn't look convinced and turned back to watching the ground .
God he was an awful liar.
A few minutes later the door slid open and the peacekeepers started yelling in their usual harsh tone.
They were brought to the train and forced to climb in the dim car. As soon as they got in the car he could feel how tense the atmosphere was. The other tributes stared at them with hungry eyes.

He pulled Lamina closer and went to sit in one of the corners that wasn't occupied yet. It was quiet, apart from the coughing a few whispers here and some faint sobbing there. None of the tributes really engaged with anyone else besides their district partner. Wich was probably for the best anyway.
After a few minutes he could feel the train starting to move, now they were really on their way to the capitol. Treech silently said goodbye to his family, his friends to everything he had ever known. Goodbye district 7, goodbye home.
Axels encouraging words from last night had now gotten lost in his thoughts,and so had most of the remaining hope Treech had left.
But he knew he couldn't afford to think like that. He couldn't just give up,at least not yet.

So the best he was able to do for now was to observe his opponents as best as he could.
It seemed most of the tributes on their route got picked up already. There was the pair from 10 who you could easily tell by their clothing, the girl seemed to be crying a little while the boy whispered to her but Treech couldn't make out what he said exactly something about a cow? In another corner was a small girl who still seemed so young clinging onto a serious looking blonde boy, the boy kept his arm protectively over her as he seemingly scanned trough the car. He didn't look much older than her. Treech also took notice of a strange girl with a rainbow dress when she softly started singing a song to the boy next to her,who was probably her district partner.

But there was something off about him, Treech couldn't really point out what it was exactly something strange about his demeanor, he figured it be better to avoid him.
Maybe it was because the boy had been in this scruffy train for so long that he must've gotten dehydrated or something.
And then there was this big guy from 11 who looked like he could surely win this entire thing but even he was crouched next to his distict partner. Patting her back as she coughed. It was sad but obvious that the girl would probably not make it,she seemed to already be weak and very ill, constantly coughing up blood.
Treech paused a moment, he knew he'd seen this this before somewhere. Until he finally realized why the sight felt so familiar,it was just like what happened to Laminas mother before she died.

He turned his head to Lamina who was also watching the girl closely,her face gradually turning pale the longer she looked at the scene. He could see her lip trembling and opened his mouth to say something to her before it was to late. But he was in fact to late.
And then it started again. The horrible crying sound echoeing trough the train. The car fell silent for a moment, the rest of the tributes staring at them, even the sick girl paused but only for a few seconds before she coughed up a big clot of blood. Wich made Lamina wail even more.
"Shhhhhh shhhh Lamina please don't cry" he tried pleading with her like he had the day before.
After a while of attempting to calm her down Treech realized it was no use trying to talk to her so he just pulled her into his arms and let her cry out.

When a sweet melody filled the car,the rainbow girl had started singing again but louder this time. She did have a really nice voice and the song was almost like a lullaby nice and calm, something about a meadow and willows. It reminded him of his mother, one of the handful of things he could still recall about her was her lovely singing voice and the songs she'd sing to him and his brothers before bedtime. The soft tune had replaced the echoes of laminas crying. Even though he liked the song Treech thought It was a bit odd to start singing at this moment, but no one else really seemed to mind. He looked over to the corner where the little girl was. Who now sat up straight, the child's eyes litt up as she watched the rainbow girl's every move.

Treech couldn't help but wonder what would happen to that little girl in the arena. The thought that he would maybe have to kill her surfaced in his mind ,but he realized that such a small girl would in no way be a threat to him, not to any of the other tributes really, she was just a child. But then again all of them were but children.

After a while Laminas wailing had gone down to sobbing, He thought maybe the rainbow girl's singing helped her calm down a bit so he was grateful for that.
Out of the corner of his eye Treech noticed the boy from 10 who kept glaring at them. Treech tried ignoring it but eventually he got fed up and stared back until the other boy looked away. Honestly He looked pretty strong too, not like the boy from 11 but he could surely be counted in as competition.
Treech added the boy to the list of people he needed to watch out for, together with the guy from 11 , maybe he should add 12 too but Treech still wasn't so sure about what to think of him though. There was another boy in the car but he sat alone wich was strange since Treech only counted 11 people in the car including him and lamina. Where could his district partner be?

Eventually the rainbow girl finished her song and the car fell quiet again apart from an occasional sob coming from Lamina. But then the little girl in the corner scooted over to the rainbow girl and started talking softly.
"That was so pretty! Uhm... Rainbow girl!"
The rainbow girl seemed surprised but went along with the girl. "Why thank you darlin, you can just call me Lucy gray if you want."she said with a smile.
Lucy Gray? Treech hadn't heard a name like that before.
"And what's your name little one?" Lucy Gray continued.
"I'm wovey! and that's Bobbin were from district 8." She gestured at the blonde boy to come join them.
The boy looked hesitant at first but eventually he gave in and moved over to them.

From district 8 huh, well that would explain all those buttons on the boys shirt. Treech thought to himself.
"Where are you from Lucy gray?" the girl he now knew as wovey asked.
"Well my friend Jessup here is but I'm with the Covey."
"A Covey? What's that?" Wovey asked curiously.
"Well were like a family! We travel from place to place to perform our shows, well we used to..."
Lucy grays happy tone disappeared and was replaced with a grimm, quieter voice.
Even from out the corner Treech could see the sadness well up in her eyes.

Treech knew that in the end they were all the same, all of them forced to leave their lives behind with no guarantee that they'd ever return. Forced to kill eachother for their own survival. None of them wanted to kill but none of them wanted to die either. All just capital pawns forced to pay for the past crimes of the district's.
The train began slowing down and after a few moments he could sense that they had stopped.
The door slid open again introducing another set of opponents.
Treech could tell by the embroidery on the pairs clothing that these were the kids from 4. The boy seemed to have a starfish stitched onto his pants. Treech recognised it he'd seen one of them in the books at school before, as for the girl he couldn't really make out what exactly was sown onto her sleeve,some sort of fish maybe.

The girl must've noticed him looking and opened her mouth.
"What're you looking at lumberjack." She scoffed.
It kinda surprised him that she could tell so easily. Treech quickly averted his gaze,she was alert. He already knew that he'd have to watch out for her.
The train started moving again.
Treech figured that was their last stop before they arrive in the capital.
Lamina was still sobbing, she'd been crying for so long now it surprised him she that she still had tears left.
Suddenly the girl from 4 opened her mouth again.
"Can you shut up for a second?"
She hissed as she glared at Lamina.
Lamina just stared at her blankly seemingly trying to hold back the weeping sounds but eventually started sobbing again.

"Leave it Coral." Her partner whispered to her as he put a hand on her shoulder.
Coral so that was her name, seems fitting.
Coral shot them one last glare and then turned to the boy again.
There was no doubt that he'd have to add her to his list now.
Treech looked back to Lamina "it's okay Lamina don't worry I'm staying with you." He whispered.
She finally looked up at him "Thank you" she said in a quavering voice.
At least she was talking again.
He looked around the car for a while trying to observe the tributes further but eventually he couldn't keep his eyes open anymore. And before he knew it his eyes fell shut again, he had a nice dream about meadows and willows,songs and bloody coughs.

He was woken up by the familiar pang in his stomach. It had been almost 2 days now without food and water,he wondered how long he could hold it out before he'd die of starvation, maybe he wouldn't even make it to the arena. The sun had already gone down but the train was still moving. Treech tried looking around in the dark,most of the tributes seemed to be asleep. At least Lamina was, probably exhausted from all the crying.
The boy from 12 , Jessup was his name, was still up resting his arm over Lucy Gray.
Treech still didn't really know what to think of Jessup,if he should watch out for him or not. But he seemed more like the protective kind rather than the attacking one, at least for now.
Treech noticed that Coral was awake too.

For some reason the girl looked less intimidating at night,she looked more scared then anything. Her district partner was fast asleep,resting his head on her shoulder as Coral took watch. Treech wanted to close his eyes again until he heard a strange sound roam trough the car, he looked up and saw some sort of shadow flapping around the car. As he looked closer he finally recognised it,it was a bat flying around the car. It must've been asleep hidden somewhere before. But since it was night now it must've gotten hungry. The bat was hoovering right above Jessup and Lucy gray. Treech was right about Jessup being more of the protective type,he waved the bat away with his arms trying to keep it from attacking Lucy gray.

"Not that Stupid bat again."
He heard someone Mutter, it was the girl from 10 who was crying earlier. She seemed to just have woken up rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.
"Tanner wake up." The girl said as she shook the boy who was sleeping next to her awake.
"Huh what is it?" the boy sprung up.
It didn't take long for him to look up and notice the bat.
"Oh that again,just leave it brandy that thing has been here for days now." Tanner said shaking his head.
Treech hadn't thought about that,district 10 and 12 where pretty far away so they must've been dealing with the bat the whole time.

"I'm not gonna try and catch it again look what it did to him."
Tanner sighed as he turned his head to Jessup who was still waving his arms in the air even tho the bat had already moved away from him.
"what did it do to him?" A voice came out of nowhere. It was Lamina she had woken up.
Tanner raised his eyebrows looking her up and down. "It attacked him three no...two days ago I think,and it bit him." Brandy answered for him.
They all just sat there for a while observing the bat occasionally having to fight it off when it came to close. All of the tributes were awake by now almost all woken up by the bat.

Treech hadn't realised how fast the time had past and before he knew it the car door slid open,bright light shining in the car. The bat took its chance and fled the car, in an instant it was gone flying far away from them. Treech wished he could do the same but he was stuck there. The familiar yelling of the peacekeepers started again. Treech hopped out the car together with lamina. They were in a station like the one back home. Only this one was way bigger and cleaner. He admired the scene for a bit until the boy from 4 pointed at something, or rather someone. A boy dressed in an all red looking uniform,stood there with a white rose he held behind him seemingly waiting for someone. When Lucy gray was lifted out the car by Jessup the strange figure walked over to her and started talking holding the rose Infront of her. Treech wanted to keep watching them but he was pushed away by a peacekeeper."Keep moving!" The peacekeepers yelled.

They were being brought to another car, as he got in together with the other tributes. He watched as the blonde boy,Bobbin tried running away. The peacekeepers where distracted for a minute, the boy with the rose took the opportunity and jumped in the car. Eventually Bobbin was dragged back and thrown into the car with the rest of the tributes plus one fancy capitol citizen.