Elizabeth Collins, District 8

The girl with the eyes the color and depth of a Carrabin Ocean, with a temper to match; calm and beautiful until that one moment when a storm rages inside. This is what most notice of Elizabeth within moments of meeting her. A young woman of the age of 16, Elizabeth has been no stranger to hardship in her life, and her body shows it.
Standing only about 5'6", Elizabeth isn't as fully rounded out as a girl her age should be. Due to years of not getting the proper nutrition her form isn't fully filled out. Only weighing around 100lbs, there is hardly any fat located on her body, but where she lacks in fat she does gain in muscles. Not as strong as someone who has been well feed and trained all their life, Elizabeth comes by her strength naturally. Living with three bothers and always chasing after them as she grew up gave, her the leg strength she needed in order to run; making her one of the fastest girl runner in school which also allowed her to beat a few of the males as well. Her hard work in order to help feed her family has given her a chance to build up some muscles in her arms and back, allowing her to lift up to about 50lbs; all though she is unable to carry this weight very far or even throw it more than a foot if she's lucky. The rest of her body shows the scars of a life that wasn't always easy, as well as some scares of childhood where her brothers played a little ruff with her. The most notables on the scares on her hands and the small one on her chin; the scares on her hands come from burns, needles prinking her figures as she tried to learn to sew, and just the wear of hard work. Making her hands tough, not smooth like they would have been if she had been a capitol child, but willing to work. The scar on her chin came from childhood when one time she was running after her brothers, tripping she fell and cut up her chin pretty badly, this has healed but left a small white scare that shows clearly against her pink skin.

Elizabeth however is not what you consider a plain girl, in fact she is quiet a beauty to behold. People have stated that she had gained her beauty, well except for her eyes, from that of her mother; whose beauty is still well remembered in the district. Elizabeth's very blue eyes come from her father, but not just the color but the way you could just tell by looking into them what the owner is thinking. During the times she's angry they turn almost a stormy gray/blue and when she's beyond happy; which happens very little; they are a teal. The shape of her eyes comes from her mothers, as does most of her looks. Elizabeth's eyes are large but not in the shape of a circle, or even an oval, but a slight almond shape to them. Elizabeth's hair is a soft auburn color that falls in gentle waves; when it's not braided back and out of her way; down to just the center of her back. Little wisps of her hair however are always difficult to maintain, and most often they escape from where she had pulled them back and frame her face; before she tucks them back behind her ears again because they just tickle her face otherwise.

Elizabeth's beauty is stunning but she isn't the most beautiful creature even in the district, but she still holds onto her youthful beauty; though it has diminished due to hard life. To this fact she has earned a few acts of kindness from those around her, as well as some looks that were not wanted. There have been those who have money; who at times offer money for women to come to their beds that have eyed her a few times. It is due to their knowledge of what her brothers would most likely do to them that keeps them from offering such a deal to her; for now anyway. Though it doesn't' stop them from what they call harmless flirting in hopes that one day she might be desperate enough that they might be able to win such a prize.

Elizabeth wears mostly plain clothing, for who could afford those of high quality material. So instead she wears a simple blouse, white for color clothing cost more, as well as a pair of plain pair of pants, that almost everyone owns in the district. However she does wear a different plain blouse and a skirt when she works in the mayor's house hold; after all it wouldn't do to have a maid look like something they just dragged off the street. Not that she is really seen while working at the mayor's home, after all she is still a young girl and can only work a few hours of the day after school has been let off. (more on all of this in history)

As for the hunger games advantages that her appearances gives her, as stated before Elizabeth grew up with three brothers; each of them older and the last one being only two years older than she is. This has given Elizabeth a somewhat advantage over other girls in her grade, due to chasing after and wanting to be like her older brothers. From the time she could walk Elizabeth looked up to her brothers and always wanted to be with them, at times they didn't want her to tag along so they would just take off. This caused Elizabeth to learn how to be resourceful, not to mention how to run; giving her strength to her leg muscles, not to mention her arms. Though she gained strength in her arms, most of this would come from her hard work as a maid, scrubbing and lifting would give her added muscle tone. Though not as strong as others this does give her a little advantage, though clearly not as much as other districts that have trained to fight their whole lives.

Elizabeth being the youngest of three brothers has the temperament to show it. Most know her as a gentle type of person, soft spoken and ready to help were she could. Though she is guarded about the person she tends to help, mostly because you really can't trust people you don't know or that haven't grown up with you. Seeing as mostly everyone in her district is like family unless something happens to change this, than she is a little more open about helping someone out. However if you are a peacekeeper, or someone that appears to just be fully untrustworthy or cruel to others she would have nothing with you.

There is a however another side to her, one that doesn’t just take things lying down. Just like a storm at sea, Elizabeth’s temperament could change with a blink of an eye. Her temper could be called a raging storm once it gets going, her eyes flashing gray as her face turns a shade of red from anger. There haven't been many causes for her anger to get out of hand like this, though it’s been mostly directed at her bothers so far. After all brothers will be brothers and love to tease her in order to see her turn red in the face. She however has the good common sense to watch her temper when she’s out in public; after all it could get her in trouble if she flew off the handle and started to spout off things that could end her life.

Another key point to Elizabeth is her unable to admit it when she can't do something that someone else can. Call it her need to prove herself, mostly to her brothers, but if possible she will except challenges she knows she could undertake. One example would be her brothers once again claiming she couldn't climb an old tree and telling her to just go home. With determination and hands on her hips she informed them that whatever she they could do she could do as well; and set out to prove it. This doesn't always work out for her and sometimes it take more than one go but sooner or later Elizabeth will find a way to except and defeat the challenge that is placed before her. There has been times in her life however when she has to admit she isn't able to do something. These are not normally good times for Elizabeth, for it makes her feel as if she's failed; but soon she's out there trying to prove once again she belongs.

To Elizabeth her family is everything, they are the ones there for her when she has fallen and they have been there to help her threw everything. Her family bonds have never been tested with a reaping, so no one truly knows what would happen there. Gratefully though all her brothers are no longer able to partake in the reaping and in just a few short years Elizabeth will be safe as well.

Hunger games: As stated before Elizabeth trusts and care for those she knows, so if she ever found herself in the area she might be lead more to trust the other person from her district but not so much the other tributes. The other tributes would have a hard time convincing her to trust them, and she would take this as a challenge because that's what it would be. A challenge to see if she could spare her own life and make it out and back to her family, though I feel she would have a hard time training her mind to take another life; not that she wouldn't be able to if all the chips were down. If she could get her gentle yet very determined nature across to the sponsors there would surely be one or two that would want to help her; or maybe they would just be charmed by her beauty.

It was the middle of the hottest day in the summer when two sets of cries where heard from a small hut. The first one was from a woman in labor, delivering her fourth child, and the second cries that followed closely to the first belonged to the new born baby learning how to breathe for the first time. As Rose Collins held her new born daughter, her eyes filled with tears as she looked at the scrunched up baby face, still very pink from her ordeal, and soft downy hair on top. Rose’s eyes filled with tears for a few reasons; one of them being that this little girl was her first daughter a dream that every mother has, but the other tears was for sadness because she knew what kind of life she was bestowing on her daughter. A life full of hunger and pain, of lost and hardship; not something you wished to think about on the day a child is born but one that every parent does when a new child born in Panem.
At an early ages Elizabeth began to learn her place in this world from her parents and her brothers. Every child learns at a young age where they stand in the world of Panem and what would be expected of them in their life. Elizabeth mother, Rose, took pride in teaching her daughter everything that she could the moment that Elizabeth could understand human words. Rose's grandparents had once been apothecaries and taught their granddaughter the art of healing. Rose in turn decided she would try and teach Elizabeth as well, with the best way she could. Unlike her grandparents Rose didn't have as many plants to show her daughter and teach her what they were used for; for they could only grow a few of them in her little garden. What Rose didn't have on hand she had to try and teach by describing them and if possible drawing them. Another thing that Rose started to teach Elizabeth was how to sew, after all being in district eight a person was expected to one day work in the textile miles. Rose worked in the sewing department, and even though she came home with her fingers and hands hurting from work; she considered herself lucky for it was one of the less dangerous jobs. In the miles a person would need to be able to sew using a machine, which Rose taught Elizabeth to use when she was able to bring her daughter into work a few times, as well as to use a needle (this was manly used for placing hems and buttons on clothing). Rose taught her daughter these things in hope to give Elizabeth a chance to make it in district eight.
Tragedy is something else that all people learn at one point of their lives in Panem, and it's no stranger to Elizabeth or her family. When Elizabeth was almost 9 years old her mother Rose became very sick, and as the weeks went on it seemed that she never got better. Slowly Elizabeth watched as her mother wasted away to nothing with death following soon after. The death of her mother hit Elizabeth hard, but her father even harder. James, Elizabeth's father, barely function it seemed like the first few months of his wife death. He got up in the morning, went to work, came home, and went to bed; not really saying a word to anyone or even really eating. Elizabeth remembers the pain of losing her mother, and the fear that she was losing her father as well. Her older brothers tried their best to consol her, but how do you tell a little girl that her mother is gone forever and that her father is headed the same way when you're still a child yourself. Elizabeth older brother, who was 17 at the time, would become head of the house for a little while. Unable to fully work in the textile mills year because he had to go to school he tried to pick up what little jobs he could once and a while to earn anything from a little bit of money to food for the family; not to mention signing up for tessera.
Luckily James soon pulled himself out of his depression and realized that he still have four children to take care of, three boys and one daughter. A daughter that reminded him of his wife and at first this caused him pain, every time he would look at her a tears would form as he remembered the sweet wife he had lost, but with the little girl crawling onto his lap and looking him in the face how could he ever regret the memories that his daughter reminded him of. So James was able to find the will to pull himself together and once again take over as the head of the family.
Even though Elizabeth's life had lost and pain at an early age, she still had what you might call a good childhood; as far as childhoods in Panem could be anyway. Being the baby sister of three older brothers had its ups and down. The major down part was when they didn’t want you around, because they wanted to go be with friends; if they found time to do that after school and whatever work they could find in order to help put food on the table. This however didn’t stop Elizabeth from running after them from time to time, teaching her how to not only run but other things as well. They taught her how to hold out on her own and for that reason she was able to grow a little more in strength than other girls her age. For the most part her brothers took her under their wing and taught her everything Elizabeth needed to know in order to survive in District 8. This mostly included how to keep your mind off food when there was nothing to eat, and how to find the little joy in things. They were also the ones that always signed up for the tessera and never allowed her to do so, for they never wished for her to be drawn from the reaping; however this will change now to the fact that they are all too old to sign up for the tessera now.
Just like every child in Panem, Elizabeth had to go to school when she turned five years old. There she learned how to read, write, math, and of course the history of the country. Learning how great the capitol is and how it's due to their mercy that they were allowed to live; and so on and so on. Elizabeth wasn't too bad in school, taking to reading like a fish to water; but there's a problem when someone tries to read too much they start thinking and getting ideas. There is no time however in district eight to read the day away, not when you have five mouths to feed. She also took to what sports they offered in school, after all her brothers were about playing sports and she seemed to have a knack for running.

Even though her father works, as well as her three older brothers, there never seems to be enough to feed them or to get the money they need in order to survive. After Elizabeth turned sixteen she decided she didn't want to be the only one not helping out, and even though she was now old enough to take tessera her brothers and father begged her to only do so if they were in a dying need. Instead Elizabeth gathered every ounce of courage she had and marched over to the mayor's home. It took her a while but she was finally able to convince him to let her work in his home as maid for a few hours a day after school. He did not offer her much, in fact he even told her in times he might only be able to pay her in food, but it was something and a little bit of something might help keep a person from starving to death. To this day Elizabeth doesn't know why the mayor decided to be nice to her and give her a job, maybe it was because he felt sorry for her or her looks; whatever the reason Elizabeth is truly grateful and works hard. The work wasn't easy at first, she spent days in pain as her hands started to cut and bleed; not to mention her arms and back screaming in pain. Elizabeth didn't give it up, her family needed food or they wouldn't make it and so she pushed on until her hands healed; becoming tough; and the muscles in her arms and back strengthens.

There isn't much time in her life to play anymore, for everyone in the family has to work. On Sundays; when the district is off from work; the Collins do their best to spend time together. Mostly this is helping each other get ready for the week and cleaning up their little hut; but with three brothers how can this be dull. Even though her life is hard, and as she gets old it gets harder and food gets harder to come by; there are days she wouldn't change who she is and where she had come from.