Raining Down On Me((Open to All!!!!))

Hailey wandered the streets of District 4 alone. The only thing on her mind right now was the memory of Sam. She still missed him, to be honest with herself. No matter how many times she told herself to get over it, to lead her life without that memory of his death in her head, she couldn't. It was almost impossible for her to forget. She remembered being glued to the T.V. in her house, praying for the best. She remembered seeing him on the screen, making his way into the Game. She remembered him refusing to kill anybody, him only injuring them. The last thing she remembered was him sparing the younger boy, only to have him stab him endless times. The memories just wouldn't leave her alone. She sighed; today was just a horrible day. Usually, she was in the best of moods, all happy and joyful. That was her usual outlook on life. Every year, though, when the Games drew nearer and near, her mood grew bleaker and bleaker.

Hailey decided to get something done today. Her family needed the food she caught in order to survive. She walked over to a small creek where she usually fished . The lake area was always just so crowded with people trying to catch a bite or two. When she fished there, it was considered a good day if she caught a small fish. Here at the creek, fish were a lot more plentiful. When she reached the creek, a smile broke out across her face. It was just so pretty here, in this secluded untouched area. She slipped off her fishing boots and took a small hook out of her pocket. She had made this last night as preparation for today's fishing expedition. She attached it to a small line of twine, which was attatched to a small stick. She liked fishing the old-fashioned way, as it was a consistent source of success.

Wind blew her hair into disarray as it gusted and blew. There appeared to be a storm coming. Hailey knew she had to get this work done before the storm blew in. She baited the hook with some small bugs she had caught and cast her line out. A fish bit her line almost immediately and she began to pull it back up, she backed into another person. She lost grip on her rod, and it flew into the creek. She turned around angrily and fell into an angry tirade. "Who are you to mess with my family's food? You just caused me to lose possible food for my family!" She scowled at the person before taking a good look at them. Just to emphasize her bad mood, rain started dripping down. Wow, can it get any worse? Hailey thought to herself. The answer to that question was yes.

Hailey immdiately felt guilty for yelling at the person who had approached her. She usually wasn't this rude to people she hadn't even met. This was just a horrible day. It had began horribly, and now it was staying horrible.The girl who had come up said that she was sorry. Hailey answered with a sigh,"Sorry for overeacting. It's just been a really bad day." She felt even worse when the girl was kind enough to start reaching for her fishing rod, which was still floating on the water. It was a good thing that it still was, for it would be a pain to make a new one. Hailey was about to wave the girl off so that she could just jump in and get it, for she had always been a good swimmer, when the girl apparently leaned too far. There was a loud splash as the girl hit the water. Hailey didn't hesitate for a moment. She slid into the water after the girl. She didn't know if the girl could swim or not. It didn't appear so, as she was just floating in the water Then, Hailry realized that the girl wasn't moving.

Hailey cursed to herself and swam swiftly over to the girl. The only way to get this girl out of the water would be to lift her out. Unfortunately, Hailey had never been the strongest person. She was the weak one who could only fish. That was useful enough to get food but not so much in other aspects of life. Hailey reached the girl and started dragging her up out of the creek. It was a pain, but it was apparently working. She laid the girl on the dock and filled the sack that she had carried her stuff in. the girl might as well have a comfortable place to rest her head. the girl was still out. She had probably hit her head while in the water. Hailey sighed and jumped back into the water to get her rod out. The water was getting slightly higher with the rainfall. It might flood over sooner or later. Hailey found her rod in the creek and slowly climbed out. She set to work fishing.

Hailey was on her feet when she heard someone yelling. Who was it, and were they in trouble? Hailey saw the girl next to her wake up and pass out again. Hailey turned her attention away from the girl and back to fishing. A little while passed before she heard someone's voice again. The girl was asking where she was. Hailey replied,"Well, same place you were before you fell unconscious. So who are you? I'm Hailey, Hailey Summers, humble fisher of District 4." She wondered when this rain would stop. It had been going on for quite a while now.... She looked back to the girl in concern. She had forgotten that she might have been hurt from her fall into the creek. "Are you okay?" she asked.

Hailey was curious as to why the girl didn't introdce herself after she had introduced herself. It was a strange thing to do, but Hailey didn't say anything to her. She knew that ,by looking at this girl, she had never met her before. This was also strange since Hailey, living in 4 her all life, had met most of the people here.

The girl said,"So, I'm in district four, I've got a concussion most likely, and I need to find my little brother. That's all I can think of right now." Hailey replied,"Do you need to go to a doctor? there are a couple of good ones around 4. And why do you need to help your brother? Is he in trouble?" Hailey waited for a response but found in the girl's next statement.

The girl said,"I'm fine, minus my concussion. Also. This is basically the only thing I remember. My little brother was screaming my name right as I passed out the second time, and I need to find him. I left him alone at our fort. He had stopped a while back I know that for sure, but that can be a bad thing and a good thing. Can you please help me find him? I don't even feel ready to walk, but this is a very big necessity for me at the moment. Please!" The girl grabbed her hand. Hailey answered quickly,"Of course. I wouldn't not help someone who needs it. So that was the yelling. Huh. Where's your brother? Or where was he? Give me a general direction, and i think I can help. I know this place pretty well, since I've lived here all my life." Hailey started packing up her stuff, since she knew she was about to have to leave this spot.

Hailey waited for the girl, whom of which her name was still unknown, to answer her questions. As soon as the girl did, Hailey could probably help her easily. She knew this district pretty well. She had visited almost every inch of inside of it, besides outside the fence. She hadn't gone there because she couldn't risk endangering her family. She was the only one who had time to fish. Well, she had the most time. Between fishing and school, she really had no extra time. If she went to the woods she might get killed. if she did, her family might starve.

The girl said that she had three siblings who were getting food and one that was at the fort. She also said that her brother had been alone, and she thought somthing had gotten him. Then the girl started crying. Hailey patted the girl on the back and said,"We don't know for sure that something got him. He might've have just wanted you to come home and eat. That could be the only reason he called you. And there's not many dangerous things in 4. The Peacekeepers really don't bother you unless you deliberately cause trouble."

Hailey stopped talking for a moment to think about what to say next and then continued,"How old is your brother? Do you want to go look for him. If not...." At that, Hailey stopped talking in order to let the girl think about what to do. It was hard to think when someone was talking to you.

The girl said that her brother was 12. Hailey didn't say anything to this, just waited for the girl to say more. What she said next was what really surprised her. The girl said that she wasn't from this district. Hailey raised her eyebrows, confused. Even though she was confused, pieces started falling together. She now understood why the girl might be scared that something had gotten her brother. If the Peacekeepers caught someone who wasn't from this district here, there could be trouble.

Then the girl said that their fort was outside the fence. Wow, this girl was just full of surprises. What was she going to say next. That they were actually monkeys in disguise? Hailey tried to shake off her bewilderment and said,"Well, we better get moving then. Let's go find your brother." Hailey was a little worried, to be honest, but that feeling was just natural right. Anyone would be anxious when about to break the rules.

The girl introduced herself as Ariana Redcloud. Then she gave a little info on how far away the fort was. Hailey stayed silent. This was a lot to take in, but she wasn't going to back down now. She followed Arianna and commented,"He'll be fine." That was the only thin she could think of this say at the moment.

Hailey watched as Arianna easily went under the fence. She hesitated because she had never once broken a rule as big as this one. Everyone in the district knew this simple rule: Don't cross the fence. The Peacekeepers had burned it into them everyday. They punished people who didn't follow that rule. Hailey winced as she remembered th rulebreakers getting whipped. The whole district had been forced to watch it happen to show them what would happen to them if they broke that rule. It hadn't happened recently, though. People were getting more and more scared of the Peacekeepers, for some strange reason. Hailey wasn't scared of what the Peacekeepers would do to her. The only reason she was even a little afraid of them was the thought of what they would do to her family or what would happen to her family if they killed her. That was one of the few reasons that she didn't break any rules and stayed quiet. She didn't think that her family could mentally take it if they lost another family member. It had been hard enough losing Sam to the Hunger Games. Losing Hailey to rule breaking might just break the Summers family.

So it was with a sigh and forced movement that Hailey crossed the fence. She knew she had to do this for the sake of Arianna. she crawled under a bit of a loose fence. It was a good thing she was on the smaller side because if not, she might've been cut up by the loose fence. If she had been even an inch wider, her back would've hit the fence. That would've probably cut it up and made her family question what she had been doing. Hailey walked behind in Arianna in silence during the walk to the fort. She needed to get her thoughts in order before she talked to the girl again.

Hailey spotted a structure up ahead. She assumed this was the fort Arianna had been talkign about, since it was like the Peacekeepers would build something out here. Arianna asked,"Where's Carter?" Hailey assumed this was her little brother's name. She hoped that this boy was okay and that nothing had gotten to him, even though she had never met him before. She heard someone say boo. She turned around at the same time as Arianna. Hailey was on her guard for anything strange, but the speaker appeared to be a young, scratched up boy. This had to be Carter. Hailey watched as Arianna ran towards the boy and kissed him. This made her miss Sam. Sam had always cared for her like Arianna was doing for her younger sibling right now. The thought of her older, deceased brother made her hate the Peacekeepers and the Hunger Games in general. She hadn't been picked for the Games, thank god, but maybe next year she would volunteer. That way, she could, hopefully, win them and gain a little power in society. Then she could take down the Hunger Games. It was a nice thought to think, besides the fact that she would probably die in the Games. Maybe she should start training or something. Enough of the people in 4 did that already.

Hailey was jarred out of her thoughts by the sound of Arianna explaining what had happened. Arianna pointed out Hailey, and Hailey gave a slight wave and a smile to Carter, if that was who he was. Then they aske what had happened while Arianna was unconscious. Hailey said,"Oh, nothing really happened. I dragged your siste rout of the water onto the dock. Then I fished while waiting for her to wake up. Not a very exciting story, I know." Hailey stopped talkign after that. She had nothing else to say, and she didn't want to make a fool out of herself by blabbering on.

Arianna's family was eating meat, which was semi-strange. Usually there wasn't much meat in District 4 besides fish and seafood. There was only a lot of that because they were in the fishing district. What these people was eating didn't really look like fish. First of all, there was just too much of it, and secondly, from what Arianna said, her family wasn't from this district. People from other districts usually didn't know how to fish. It was a skill usually limited to the District 4 people. Emily was glad that she was from this district. What the other districts did really didn't appeal to her. She hated electronics, farming, and all the other industries the other districts did. They sounded like a lot of work and not a lot of fun. Fishing was usually a pretty fun thing to do.

Carter started telling how he had gotten the meat. As she had expected, it was not fish. The story, however, was a little strange. A dying deer had led the boy to water and died. What kind of deer did that? She didn't have much experience in animal behavior, besides fish and sea creatures, of course, so this could be the normal thing for animals to do. Then again, Carter had said that it had been a strange occurence. This incident was stuck in Emily's head for some reason. No, the new people or Arianna's accident weren't stuck in her head- it was the deer. Emily shook her head in quite confusion. Emily smiled at the story. It was somewhat strange that she was smiling on a day that had begun so horribly. She looked at Arianne. Maybe she had just met someone she could trust.

Carter joked that rabbits had laid flowers on the deer. Hailey laughed out loud, surprising herself. She was laughing at a quite dangerous point in her life, but she wasn't sad about this. She was under the fence with people she barely knew, although she instinctively trusted them, yet she was happy. It was strange, but she didn't care anymore. If she was going to get caught, she was going to get caught. There was nothing she could do about that. The Peacekeepers were the only ones who could force her back into her district right now. Until then, she planned to stay here for just a few minutes more. Then, she would probably end up leaving to go back to her house. If she didn't, her family might get worried and ask the Peacekeepers if they had seen her. They would go looking for her, which could result in a lot of trouble later.

Then Carter said that he was just kidding. Emily wondered if he was kidding about the deer part, too. He could just be talking about the rabbits, but then again, he could've been referring to the deer part, too. Emily silently mused on this, not commenting on it, but still thinking about it. It was a very interesting scemario. Then Arianna asked her family where they thought they should go next. Even though this wasn't her problem, she still found her mind thinking about it. Where would be some safe places in District 4? She couldn't really supply any ideas on places in other districts, since she had never been out of her districts, but she could help on ideas of this district. The wods probably wouldn't be effective for them for too much longer. Almost no place in this district would be safe besides people's houses, and it would be hard for them to get a random stranger to let them live with them. No, the best course of action would be to leave the district, probably. She waited for someone else to say something.

((I know it says open, but your pretty far in, but would you mind my joining?))

((That's fine with me. If Arianna says yes, too, you're welcome to join.))

((Yay! Thank you, I'll go wait for her approval then :3))

((Oh, yeah. Sorry! I don't care if you join this!!!!!!!!!!!))

Alieya was jolted awake as the rickety train screeched to a stop. A man clad in a red designer suit and had scaly flames going up his neck and ending around the middle of his cheeks walked onto her cart. "Please leave here as soon as possible. We weren't planning on stopping here and we have a tight schedule." He said in a low monotonous voice. Alieya tiredly nodded while grabbing her purse. The man turned to leave just after he finished. "The train will be going back to the Capitol tomorrow at noon. Don't miss it." With that he turned on his heel and left Alieya feeling slightly lonely. She yawned before hopping off the train. It instantly lurched back to life and left her at the entrance to district 4. Alieya pulled a hat over her hair. She needed to try to blend in and her hair would make it all too obvious that she was from the Capitol. She also pulled sunglasses over her eyes because they too had surgically added artistic make-up that would be too much of a giveaway. Other than that, the only signs that she could be from the Capitol was the tattoos that she had on her back. However, with just these three things, she was still prosecuted in the Capitol. She longed to be in one of the Districts and be ...normal. However, since she could not attain this, she wanted to keep her tributes looking as wholly as possible. She wanted them to look like they were from Districts and not the Capitol like some of the designers liked to think. She took a yearly check-up to a District to see what styles there were "in" so to speak. With this knowledge she could incorporate it into her work.

She started to feel in sprinkle not far from the train platform. She nervously looked around and realized that she was walking towards the main street. She would get no cover there. No one in their right mind would let someone that was obviously not from their District because they had never seen her before into their homes or shops. She looked around and found a way out to a more wooded area. The rain started to come down harder and she broke into a run to the semi-cover. Finally there, she found a large tree and curled underneath it as she waited fro the storm to pass.

She was thankful to realize that it wasn't too long. It lightened up quickly and she knew that people would be out and about pretty soon. She took out her drenched purse and saw that her sketchbook was a little more wet than she would like. Sighing, she put it back in and began to make her way along the wall back to town. However, she stopped upon seeing a small plume of smoke rise up over the wall. She narrowed her eyes and came to a conclusion that some rebel must be living outside the District. Between her curiosity and high hoped that they would succeed in overthrowing the Capitol, she knew she had to go out there and tell them to be more careful. Anyone would be able to see that smoke ... including Peacekeepers. With a new found spring in her step, Alieya searched the wall until she found an opening and went under. She got mud all over her clothes but didn't care as much as she thought she would. The clothes were decent, she made them when she was 18, but could easily replace them. Clothes were the least of her worries at the moment. She walked around trees and through a bunch of weeds before the campfire came into view. Alieya hid behind a tree deciding that slealth would probably be better than 'hey everyone! I'd put that campfire out or you might die!' Especially if the realized that she was from the Capitol. That ... could be bad. However, as she slowly walked out of hiding, she tripped over her own two feet and her body was hurled face-first into the mud! She cried out in doing so and her plan of stealth instantly subsided. "Well, that didn't work." She said out loud aware that the people there now knew about her presence as she did theirs.

Hailey watched with slight envy as Arianna and her family sung around the campfire. She really missed her family right now. It was all she could do to keep from running away back to them Yet, this girl Arianna sort of intrigued her. And it was pretty warm around this campfire. They usually didn't get this kind of wealth, considering how poor her family was. It was only occasionally that they got some kind of fire in their home. Unless they snuck out of te distric into the woods to get some lumber, people here had to buy it into the markets. She sighed slightly, wondering what her parents were doing right now. Were they worrying about where she was right now? Were they even thinking about her? They were probably cooking some dinner right now. What was her little brother right now? She guessed that he was asleep. He had never been one to stay up late.

Hailey presumed she was staying here tonight, as Arianna and her family hadn't said otherwise. She fitfully fell asleep and dreamed. Hailey, her breath fast, sprinted through the woods, towing her little brother behind her. The Peacekeepers ran behind them, screaming that death would await the two. Hailey looked behind them and saw that the officials were right behind them. Her little brother tripped and fell behind. Their pursuers grabbed him and ran him through with their nasty-looking swords. Hailey had no choice but to keep on running. One of the younger Peacekeeprs lunged and tackled her, pinning her to the ground. An older one who looked horribly refined glared at her and lifted his sword. Hailey closed her eyes and awaited the horrid death that was sure to come. Suddenly, with a start, Hailey shot awake. She winced. That dream had just been too realistic.

Hailey noticed that Arianna was exiting the fort. With curiousity, Hailey followed. The first thing she saw was a girl, definitely older than her, lying in the mud. Her eyebrows rose immediately. Who was this mystery girl? Hailey listened to Arianna asking the girl who she was and chose not to make a comment herself. Arianna had said the one question that was burning into her mind. Then, she realized that the mud might be a little uncomfortable for this new, mysterious girl. She walked over and offered a hand to help the girl up. Hailey said,"Need a hand up?" It was her habit to be nice to those who needed it. Perhaps this girl would want her help. Then again, maybe not, but only time would answer that question.

"Wh-who are you?" Alieya heard from ahead of her. She saw a girl emerge and was taken aback. If this girl was a rebel, she was nothing like the large men she was expecting. However, this gave her even more hope. But she dind’t want to get ahead of herself. What if she were just lost or confused… probably the latter.

“I’m Alieya, just Alieya.” She paused and looked at her feet. With the dim light, maybe they wouldn’t get freaked out by her. “I… I just came to warn you. Even through the fog I could see the smoke from your fire when I was close to the fence. I’d be careful. And, I don’t know what your doing and please don’t get offended by anything I say, but if your fighting the Capitol, keep pressing on. I’d love to see the day when it falls.”

Alieya saw more people arrive. When she was sure most of them were out, she couldn’t help but raise her eyes. Children children… fighting the Capitol. Unless of course she was wrong. Alieya bit her lip sure of it. She had to be wrong. Now she was just making a fool of herself with all of that blubbering. Alieya was torn from her thoughts when a girl held her hand out before her. “Need a hand up?"
Alieya looked at her for a moment before taking it. “Thank you.” She said as she attempted to dust off the mud to no avail. Well, at least they’re nice, she mused.

((I'm soooo sorry it's so late and short!!))