The Tournament Of The Islands

Chapter One

PRONUNCIATION

Kaladin Ka-Lay-Din

Tueri Too-Ehr-Ee

Rieda Ree-Ed-Ah 

Chapter One

Today is the day. The day of the Chosen. The day of the Chosen is a day where the officials from Kaladin pick out two boys and two girls from each of the seven other islands. They take them back to Kaladin to compete in a tournament. Survival of the fittest. You might be wondering what Kaladin is.

Once the earth was a safe place. Kaladin believes the U.S.A attacked North Korea first. It was the year 2052 when they attacked. The earth became war-torn. It was World War III.

The natural disasters came right after the war. dreadful earthquakes floods and much more. Most of the land mass on earth got eaten away by the devastating floods, but there were a handful of islands left. There was Kaladin and the controlled islands: Inta, Hatch, Arana, Visk, Endor, Strik and Tek. There were two other nations. One much more powerful than U.L.C.K(Unified Lands Controlled by Kaladin). Tueri. Kaladin feared Tueri because of their success in the war. Rieda is other one that usually is quiet.

Luckily, Kaladin, Rieda and Tueri's leaders all signed the Socius Treaty, meaning the Ally Treaty in Latin.

Now, back to my story. I'm Andrea Oakenday. I live on the poor side of Arana. My family is made up of my loving mother, courageous father, my miracle sister, Adelpha, and ,of course, me. My sister is a amazing. She was gifted with beauty and a special feature: she's got a steak of white in her hair... It's something called poliosis. I love her more than anything else in this world.

Us people on the poor side always have this same kind of look. Black with blue eyes. The people on the rich side have different looks. The hair and eye colours on that side to tend to vary. The most common features are chestnut brown hair with ivy green eyes. When I say rich, I mean just enough money to feed your family. Not rich like the people from Kaladin.

I love a boy on the rich side. Nathan Rivera. Those two words make my heart leap and I never really know why. I did not fall in love with him because of his money or beauty. I fell under his spell after having to partner up with him in a dance lesson. The boom box broke down, so the teacher asked if I could sing and Nathan could play his guitar. So, we did. The way he plays... When I was singing, he gazed at me. It was as if he was actually in love with me...

Okay, I got a bit sidetracked. Let's get back to the story.

The day of the Chosen.

I wake up to find Adelpha not in bed. Mother has prepared a small tub filled with steaming hot water and laid a dress out on the dresser. It's a deep purple dress made of velvet with puffy sleeves and black lace.

I inherited it after grandmother died. I scrub myself down with the cloth, towel my hair dry and out on the dress. Silently, I walk into the kitchen and see mother setting the table. I can see it in her eyes that she's worried for Adelpha and I. "Don't worry. Nobody ever chooses the poor people and I'll hide her hair." I whisper into her ear. My mother always worries. Even now when I go hunting with father. It's actually quite irritating, but I know it's because she cares for me.

Father and Adelpha waltz into the room, chatting about some random thing. She's wearing her best dress. It's a lovely green number, made by my mother's hands.

She's a part-time seamstress, but also a part-time dance tutor, art tutor and music tutor. Let's just say she works very hard. On the day of the Chosen, it is compulsory to put on your best clothes. You have to look appealing for the officials. Most of the time, they choose the most beautiful looking children so us poor kids don't really need to worry.