After the Games: The Careers

A collaboration by EMPG22HoPe and TwilightAftiel

Acorns

"Nobody likes a bad Squirrel."

"I don't think we should be in these woods."

Glimmer's concerned and rather fragile voice resounded in the quiet of the night as they continually walk around the deep and resonating woods.

A year has passed since the 74th Annual Hunger Games where the Career Tributes during the games: Clove, Marvel, Cato and Glimmer had participated in. Almost a bit too miraculously, the Game makers decided to change the rules by letting four tributes with each of the same district win. Apparently, the Careers have harbored the crowns.

Now, they're currently living together under the same roof. And you would not believe what chaos has been happening since after the games between the four Victors. You might be asking; who ended up with who? Well, the Careers couldn't really say any of them were officially dating but they're in the process of it, or so they thought.

Glimmer and Cato had obviously been flirting during the games. It was safe flirting, somehow maybe even just for a good show. But eventually, the two had started to grow "mutual" feelings for each other which takes both of them a hard time to tell each other. As for Clove and Marvel; well, you'd hope like you're in a lottery. Their liking for each other is somehow tough luck. With Clove being a bit tad and bitter, Marvel evidently started having a hard time trying to sum up his remorse.

It was Christmas in Panem - the most beautiful time of the year. Well, at least for some people. But to the Careers - it is so much more than that.

The Careers are now in the woods beside District 12. If you're wondering why the hell they're there... well, let's just say they were looking for a Christmas tree. Glimmer suggested to just buy a Christmas Tree in the Capitol - but the star-crossed lovers Clove and Marvel would prefer to cut their own tree and make something out of it. Glimmer and Cato had no choice but to agree despite the consequences they both felt about it.

"Oh will you relax, Glimmer. Don't be such a sour puss." Clove hissed, rolling her eyes in the process as they continue to walk down the narrow and neatly dim path in the woods. "We're just gonna shake a tree, cut it down and voila! A District 12 cut Christmas tree!"

"Why couldn't we just buy a technical Christmas tree?" Cato asked, dodging a lump on the ground. "It'll be a lot easier and less of an... adventurous feel."

"Oh come on, you two lovebirds need to get into the Christmas spirit!" Marvel said, implying to the whining Cato and Glimmer who frowned at him in the process of trying to cheer them up.

"If we don't get the hell out of here, there won't BE any Christmas spirit - because it'll be ours!" Glimmer exasperated, clutching at her bow. "What if Squirrels attack us with their big chunks of acorns for cutting down their tree?"

"Then we'll cook them!" Clove argued, gaping at her best friend. "Extra dinner, fresh game from the woods."

Cato frowned as an incoherent groan vibrated against his throat. "Fine - but I'm not cooking the rodents."

They continuously walked down the narrow path, the cameo light of the moon reflecting as their light. The sound of the owls hooting resounded the woods and from afar, they could hear the rustling of bushes. Glimmer almost jumped at the sound of rustling beside them. This caused Clove to send her a death glare. Cato glared at Clove before snaking an arm around Glimmer who glared back at Clove.

"Cut the glares, guys!" Marvel said in joy which caused the other three Careers to look at him. He pointed at a perfect pine tree from the east side of the woods. "We got ourselves a good Christmas tree right there."

"Hell to the yes!" Clove was the first to bound up to the tree. Marvel followed. Cato and Glimmer looked at each other for approval before shrugging and trudging up to the tree in relief. The sooner they cut the damn tree, the better.

Clove fished through her messenger bag, fiddling with the things inside. After a few seconds or so, Clove had brought out a CD Cassette with colorful buttons at the edge. She pressed the green one and before the Careers could even step back, the top of the cassette mechanically opened to lift up a moving chainsaw. They all backed away as the chainsaw positioned itself on the hinge, eight inches above the tree root bottom. The chainsaw moved but it didn't roar like all typical chainsaws.

"Merry Christmas, Panem," Clove said with a grin as the chainsaw began to near the hinge of the tree.

"Um... Clove..." Marvel said in hesitance as he, Cato and Glimmer looked up at the Tree.

"What?" Clove asked, practically annoyed for being interrupted. Marvel pointed up to the tree they were supposedly cutting, asking her to look. Clove rolled her eyes before reluctantly looking up. She gaped at the sight.

Popping out of the tree, one by one, were typical wood squirrels. And the extremely good part? They had acorns clasped around their little fingers. And for the best record? They didn't look happy.

"This can't be good..." Cato muttered, eyeing the squirrels one by one. The Careers now had their weapons at the ready.

"They're just harmless squirrels!" Clove laughed momentarily after examining the Squirrels perched on their choice of Christmas tree. "What could possibly-"

Suddenly, right in the middle of the tree popped the tallest Squirrel, browner than that of the others. The Careers guessed this was their leader. The tallest squirrel had two acorns on each of his arm as he tiptoed and sniffed the air.

"Oh, forget it!" Clove exclaimed before moving down to press on the yellow button. "Let's rock this bi-"

"ATTACK!"

The leader of the squirrel pack practically yelled. At first the Careers gaped at the sound, thinking, how the heck could a Squirrel talk like that? Their late reactions caused the squirrels to throw their acorns at the group in response to their leader's command. The Careers ran for their lives as the Squirrels continually threw their big chunk of acorns at them. It almost felt like hours, running out of the woods in attempt to lose the angry squirrels, but twenty meters away, the squirrels were still following them.

To get better shots, the squirrels climbed up the trees. What seemed like ten squirrels throwing acorns at them felt like more than fifty. They've called more. And the squirrels aren't very happy at all to see the Careers cutting down their precious abodes.

"You have got to be freaking kidding me!" Glimmer yelled as she swatted away an acorn that was about to hit her in the temple. "Is it me or did they just double their army?"

"I think they just called for back-up!" Clove yelled back before stopping in her tracks and watch her friends run. She rolled her eyes before frowning and yelling to them, "Why are we even running? They're just harmless squirrels! We're Careers for gods' sake! A Mockingjay couldn't even kill us in the arena, what more of little mouses?"

Clove took out one of her small knives from her collection and started throwing them one by one up to the squirrels perched on the tree. As soon as Cato, Glimmer and Marvel had seen her throw her knives; they looked at each other for approval before raising their weapons at the ready.

"Damn it!" Clove cursed. "We left the chainsaw back at the tree!"

"You and Marvel can get it!" Cato told her. Soon, the squirrels had started climbing down the trees and attack the Careers by ground. Cato sliced a squirrel that was climbing his feet off and shrugged off a squirrel that landed on his shoulder. "Glimmer and I will just hold them off."

"Clove, let's go!" Marvel called before taking Clove by the arm and dragging her back to the direction where they last left the chainsaw. They swatted squirrels that climbed their feet and land on their heads and shoulders, but the number of squirrels's and acorns being thrown seemed to be growing by the minute.

Glimmer shot an arrow through two squirrels's heads and took another one out and aimed for the leader who stood perched atop a Mahogany tree. He had that same grim look with two acorns clasped on his fingers.

"Going somewhere, barbie doll?" The head of the Squirrel pack asked in a smooth and delinquent voice. At the dark of the night, she couldn't see the movement of the squirrel's mouth. But she made no mistake that the squirrel actually talked... or maybe she was just hallucinating like crazy.

"Oh bitch please, you did not just flipping say that!" Glimmer let the arrow fly to the leader of the Squirrels's direction, but the leader was too fast and quickly jumped off to another tree. "How the hell does that thing do that?"

"Glimmer!" Cato yelled from behind her. "I got an idea! Follow me!"

"Oh and you just said that now?" Glimmer asked, rolling her eyes before following Cato who had already started bounding away from the woods; directing back to the end of the south of the woods. Glimmer side stepped with Cato who just took a squirrel off his head and threw it somewhere behind them. They both turned to find the squirrels running up to them and from atop, a pack of squirrels moving from tree to tree.

"I sure as hell wished that Cashmere and Enobaria had reminded us about the squirrels!" Glimmer yelled as they jumped on an exposed tree branch. "Cause this is just CRAZY!"

"Glim, do you remember that cartwheel trick we saw on television?" Cato asked who continued running back to District 12's boundaries. He knew what he was doing and had hoped it would work.

"What about it?" Glimmer asked, peering at the trees before loading her bow and sending an arrow through a squirrel who looked like he was on the verge of attacking her with an acorn. "You don't expect me to do that, now, do you?"

"At least try!" Cato told her as they were nearing the district boundary. He pointed over to the electric fence and nodded. "Cartwheel to the right and I'll do it to the left, okay?"

"Oh sure!" Glimmer replied sarcastically, but she knew the stance that Cato was trying to pinpoint. "The squirrels would love to see two Careers Cartwheel while being chased with acorns in their little frisky hands!"

"Trust me!" Cato begged, looking her in the eyes. Glimmer only sighed before nodding. Twelve inches, they were nearing the electric fence... eight inches... four inches... then they threw their own weapons aside. Each of their other foot hanged outward to balance themselves. They landed their each of their arms as to where their pointed foot is located. Each of their other arm's followed and took their body as they formed a starfish circle with their bodies, each separating from each other.

As soon as they landed on both feet, they watched as the squirrels that had their attempts of jumping at their backs get electrocuted just by hitting the electric fence. Little wails of pain from the squirrels erupted from their small mouths as electricity shot up on their bodies. Cato and Glimmer took their weapons back with them and counted the many squirrels that were being electrocuted... ten... twenty... thirty... forty... Forty of the many squirrels that were chasing them were being electrocuted. They both looked up at the trees where the other ten squirrels stare at their little pack get electrocuted by the powerful electric fence.

The ten squirrels scampered in fear before dropping their acorns to the ground.

"In your faces, little munks!" Cato taunted with a grin before nearing Glimmer and giving her a high five. They turned to look at the squirrels that had now fainted and are now laying on the ground. "Looking crispy, rodents."

"I don't want rodents for dinner," Glimmer said who looked like she was on the verge of vomiting.

"Point taken," Cato shrugged before staring at the squirrels who were burnt from the electricity. "Nobody likes a bad Squirrel."

Glimmer kicked one fried squirrel away from her before looking up to Cato, "So... do we wait for Clove and Marvel? Or should we go help-"

"We got the tree!" A girl's voice called from a distance. Both Careers turned to find Clove and Marvel walking up to them, each of their hands dragging the huge pine tree. As soon as they've reached Cato and Glimmer, Clove breathed heavily before asking, "How's the squirrel rampage?"

"Crispy," Glimmer said nonchalantly before nodding at the mess behind them. "We figured that extra dinner isn't really such a good idea."

Marvel cringed, peering at the blackened and smuggled squirrels before them. "What happened to them?"

"It's a really long story," Cato shook his head before snickering. "I'll call up our agent so we can get home."

Moments later, a giant hovercraft blocked the cameo light of the moon as a rope ladder quickly rolled down to the Careers's area. One by one, they climbed the rope and as they did, a giant crane slowly went down to grab the pine tree that Clove and Marvel have successfully cut. They left District 12 in a flash before slowly hovering over District 11 then District 10 until they reached the Capitol; their home and safe haven. Or so we thought.

"Do you guys want me to start cooking or do you guys want me to help decorate and fix up the tree?" Clove asked as soon as she dropped her collection of knives on the coffee table. Cato and Marvel grunted upon carrying the pine tree into the living room. Thank the Capitol for high ceilings and larger living rooms. Both tributes carried the tree with stiff hands and soon dropped it near the wall where the digital TV usually appears.

"We can go cook up dinner," Glimmer offered before hanging her bow and quiver of arrows on the other side of the digital television. "You guys okay with decorating it?"

"Half of the decorations are pink," Marvel complained. "We'd do it but-"

"Good!" Glimmer interrupted with a cheeky smile before dragging Clove into the kitchen. Cato and Marvel gaped at Glimmer before shaking their heads. Great, just great. They were going to decorate the Christmas tree... with girly colors. Eurgh. The perks of being a guy living with two girls.

"What do you think is good for dinner?" Glimmer asked as she took her pink apron from behind the kitchen door. She grabbed the cook book from a cabinet before scanning it.

Clove had started to bring out cheese and baby potatoes from the little basket beside the microwave. "Can you look for the recipe for Baby potatoes with goats cheese and herbs? I've always wanted to try cooking that but I was never in the mood to cook potatoes with herbs in it."

Glimmer shrugged before she began searching for the recipe, sitting on the middle counter in the process. Before the Career could even turn another page forward, a loud and unmistakable remark was heard from the living room.

"Holy mother of Panem!" Clove's head turned up upon hearing Marvel's voice. She left the potatoes in disarray and left the kitchen, Glimmer following the other Career's example. As soon as the two female Careers had exited the kitchen, an irrevocable scream escaped Glimmer's lips.

This caused turmoil in Cato and Marvel's area. Perched on the pine tree was a pack of squirrels. The unmistakable dark brown color of the tallest squirrel was visible in the middle of the tree. Oh, and they have their signature acorns with them.

"ATTACK!"

A/N: What do you guys think of the first chapter? Leave a review on what you think about it! The next chapter will be up tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. Until then, tell us what you think. This was actually a random idea and we plan to continue writing this until we reach letter Z. Teehee. Anyways, reviews are well appreciated and so is constructive criticism. This multi-chapter story is completely written for everyone's entertainment. A whole new different side of the Careers.

LONG LIVE THE UNCONDITIONAL LOVE OF CATO AND GLIMMER AND CLOVE AND MARVEL.

- EMPG22HoPe and TwilightAftiel