THE 83rd HUNGER GAMES
Act 1
Uneasy beginnings
Chapter 1 - Hawk
I don't have a family. I don't have a name. I don't have a life. I am no-one. Nothing. Just that one boy who lives in a District ruled over by the Capitol. I call myself Hawk, mainly because of the plain fact that I am one. I normally sit high in the trees waiting for game to stumble across my path, then when the moment is right I shoot. Just like a hawk shoots from the sky.
I live in District 7, our industry is lumber and many of its residents have experience with hatchets, axes, saws, and other tree cutting tools. But I am not a part of any of that. I don't allow the peacekeepers to control me, I am free. Free to do whatever I please, well within reason. No-one knows me in the District; I think they know I want to keep to myself, well whatever it is I know they refuse to stand less than 10 feet of me. I have no clue as to why no-one wants to acknowledge me though. Maybe they know why I am like this? Maybe they know what happened to my parents, because sure enough I don't know.
There's this girl who lives in my District. Gorgeous. I don't know her name, but I always see her watching me when I emerge from the woods. Every day she's perched, back upright on the same stone, always with her left leg crossed over her right. Waiting for me, then just watches me pass by. She's part of my routine to be perfectly honest. I like to keep to a strict routine: awaken at 9am, head out to the woods at 11am, stay in the woods looking for game until 6pm, get back to the fence at 7.30pm, go home, and just listen to the birds singing, until I fall asleep... This is normally round 9pm. I know most people roll their eyes when they see me each day at the same time, but I've learnt to ignore them.
Today is reaping day. My name is in 6 times as I am 17. I don't go for any tesserae, mainly because I don't have anyone but myself to give it to, and it's even a waste if it were for me as I aim to get into the games. Not many people actually aim to get in, but I have nothing to lose, so why not? I would volunteer, but ever since the 74th Hunger Games when Kattniss Everdeen volunteered for her younger sister everything changed. She won at the same time thus making the Capitol look stupid. So they've scrapped the volunteer rule, and allow the 'odds' to be in favour. There is a positive to what Kattniss did though; now thanks to her the newly arranged rule made to destroy her is forever kept. Two rules of the Hunger Games: 1. Survive, and 2. if both Tributes from a District survive then they may both go home. They do try to stop this rule slightly by having 'Natural' disasters occur, if people from the same Districts team from the very beginning, obviously excluding the Carreers, as having too many teams will make it less 'fun' for them. I don't think I'd side with the girl though, as I am normally a lone hunter. I just want to get in the games, win and gain the riches, so I can live out the rest of my life in solitude. Even if I lose, well who will miss me?
As I make my way towards the District centre I keep my head down, so no-one even tries to acknowledge me, not likely that they would though. I notice that everyone is already listening to Skylar Roberts, she seems furious but I can't figure out why, I realise that I'm late. I walk up to the peacekeeper that collects the blood samples.
"You're late." He tells me.
He pricks the end of my fnger and when he hears my 'name', he raises an eyebrow and tells me that Skylar is waiting for me. I don't understand what he's talking about until I get close enough to hear Skylar talking.
"Will this 'Hawk' please show his face and appear on stage before I send the peacekeepers to find you!"
I realise that I was that late that the boys name had already been called, and it was mine. I grin and start to slowly make my way towards the stage. I look up at Skylar's face, and realise that she too is grinning.
"Ahhh the young boy who doesn't know his identity" She normally appears to be kind to all the tributes, but the tone in which she used to say this sounded like a hiss. Maybe because I was late to coming to the stage?
"Sorry, I wasn't concentrating on the time" I lie.
She just looks at me then turns back to the microphone.
"Right, now that we know the male tribute let's find out who the female is shall we?"
I look over to the heads of all the girls. It's hard to make out who is who, but I see her. The girl always perched on the same rock. She's looking at me until she realises that I am looking back at her, she turns her head and I realise that she's started to blush. Who is she? Her hair goes just below her shoulders; it's an elegant light brown colour, with a fringe which points off to the left, it looks as if it's been made out of silk. I don't know how she does it but even in a hard working District like this she just somehow manages to look stunning every time I see her.
"Arianwen Madden!" belts out Skylar.
The second this unknown name was belted out, the girl I was looking at looked horrified. She looks at me in horror, then I realise that this girl is Arianwen Madden.
Chapter 2 – Arianwen
No it can't be me, it just can't be me! I am only in 5 times! This District is filled with 17-18 year olds, and yet it's me? This has to be a bad dream, my mum won't allow this!
I'm Arianwen. I have 1 sister, and a mum who has remarried to an arrogant man named Daniel. Ever since he joined the family I have been trying to get out, find a man, and run off with him. I'm the youngest being 16, Rhiannon being 18. Rhiannon has the highest chance of being in the games as her name has been put in 7 times. We had a sister named Fey but she went into the games at the age of 15, and was murdered by District 7's very own curly haired freak Noel, who later was killed by one of the carreers. We don't go for the tesserae as Fey was put in 42 times the year she went. Daniel was the one to push her into accepting the tesserae. I and Rhiannon blame him for her death, but my mum being bent over backwards for him blames us. This is why I need to escape.
We live on the edge of the forest, where I see the boy. Tall, lightly skinned, slim, hair flicks to the right, and always wearing a grey hat, I think it's a sort of beanie but where could he have possibly got this from? I love watching him pass. I just prop myself onto a stone and hope he sees me. I don't think he's ever noticed me watching him. He's never looked in my general direction. Mind you one time I did follow him. Into the forbidden area, the woods, where we are not under any circumstance allowed to go. Well I followed him in, and he hunted. He can see things that are behind him, so maybe he has noticed me? I don't know, all I do know is that that boy is who I want to run off with. Even if I didn't know him.
Daniel came out of nowhere, one day I watched my dad walking away from the window, I tried to run after him, but this hand just grabbed the back of my neck, and threw me across the room. Daniel. Ever since that day I've been practising body locks, and how to get out of them just in case he ever sneaks up on me again. I've also mastered throwing objects at things, and I can also set neat traps such as tripwires which I use to trip him up if he chases me. This one time he had hold of me by the front of my neck holding me off the ground. My mum was just sitting reading the paper, so she was careless as usual. Anyway he had me off the ground and I couldn't do anything. So as my legs waved helplessly in the air I decided to kick him. My foot reached his face and smacked into his nose. He let out a great wail of pain, dropping me to the floor. I started to run, picking up a knife from the table. Surely enough he started to chase me. I ran as fast as my legs could take me to the Mayors house. Banging on the door a servant answered, I pushed past him and waited in the hall for Daniel to appear. Obviously he smashed open the door and walked toward me. I held my knife waiting for the right moment.
"What are you going to do, stab me?" Daniel hissed at me. I just laughed and looked up. He also looked up, but shock spread across his face. He realised that I had lured him underneath a chandelier. Within seconds he knew exactly what I was planning. I threw my arm back, and then swiftly brought it forward allowing the knife to escape my hand at such speeds that Daniel couldn't match. The knife went right through the cord keeping the chandelier in place, and snapped it. Resulting in the chandelier to come crashing towards the ground in high hopes of it crushing Daniel. Sadly two peacekeepers saved his life, and then took me to the District centre and whipped me in front of everyone. 6 lashes. The only thing that resulted from this experience was that Daniel was now slightly scared of me.
I bet he's over the moon that my name has just been picked. I can imagine him smiling his smug bashed in face off. I would look for him but I can't see over the heads of the other girls. I start walking towards the stage, towards Hawk, wishing it wasn't him who was picked. The only thing I know about him is that he likes to be on his own, so he won't think twice about killing me.
"Ahhh hello Arianwen. That is quite the unusual name you have isn't it? Care to explain its meaning?"
My eyes are scanning the crowd, looking for Daniel. I can't find him, which scares me. What if he's done something to my mum? I am about to answer Skylar when I see him. His beady black eyes looking directly into me, smiling his horrible little face off. Just looking at this makes me want to cry, so I bury my head into Skylar's body and start crying.
"I don't think she will be telling us the answer then, will she?" Skylar says.
"It means born in the moonlight" said an unknown voice.
Chapter 3 – Hawk
"It means born in the moonlight" Suddenly all eyes are on me, as if I've said something wrong. No-one's ever heard me speak; quite frankly I don't normally speak anyway.
"Born in the moonlight?" Skylar questions me, whilst fiddling with Arianwen's hair as she cries.
"Yes, born in the moonlight. Have you ever looked at the elegance on the moons rays on the ground of our District? Well she was born when the elegance was at its most, that beauty reflects on her as a person, and it also shines out of her face" I say quite smug.
"Hmm very interesting Hawk. Anyway with the matter at hand can we please give our silence for Hawk and Arianwen so they can fully understand what is going to occur over the next few weeks?" Skylar giggles.
Everyone is quiet; you could probably hear a pin drop if the Mokingjay's weren't singing. I look towards Arianwen and she has finally emerged out of Skylar's body, and is currently wiping away at her emerald eyes. She looks at me with complete sorrow in her eyes. I can't help but allow one simple tear fall from my eye, and cascade to the floor. It's weird I've never cried, not once in my life and she managed to make one tear escape me, just by looking at me. I quickly make sure none of the camera's were on me when I allowed this tear to escape, as I don't want to show any signs of weakness, but luckily they weren't. I couldn't say the same for Arianwen. By now all of Panem will have seen her crying into Skylar. I think to myself that I couldn't side with someone closer to the end that has appeared weak. Mind you this could be her aim, to appear weak, then in the games just wipe everyone.
"Now everyone I know that these 'lucky' tributes are supposed to have a mentor, but she is currently in hospital with an unknown condition which she has had since she herself left the arena last year these tributes will be solely on their own. So to our tributes may the odds be ever in your favour." Skylar explains.
As we approach the train we see a figure, tall, slim, hair down to her shoulders, with a big fringe drifting off to the right. The closer we get the more details we see. But the major detail that sticks out to me is her hair colour. It's unusual for anyone who lives in a District to have coloured hair, and yet Alexandria has blonde hair with hints of pink spread across it.
"Ahhh Alex, so glad you could make it" Skylar says.
"I prefer to be called Alexandria Skylar; do you not remember this from last year?" Alexandria hisses. She's only 17 like myself, but I can tell that her time spent in the games up to now have not been too keen on her.
"Oh yes well I am sorry, not like I've just held your secret for a year, and just lied to the whole of Panem for you... Which could get me in serious trouble!" Snapped Skylar.
"About that, thank you once again for – "
"Hang on I am confused" I say interrupting Skylar, and Alexandria. "I thought you were in hospital?"
"Oh but I am Hawk, to the whole of Panem I am in a private hospital in the middle of nowhere..." Alexandria explains. "You see with you two 'not' having a mentor you will show the Gamemakers what your made of, at the same time of showing the audience how you can handle being on your own, giving you more sponsors"
"Isn't that dangerous for the both of you, and us?" I protest.
"You may look at it like – "Starts Alexandria.
"Allow me to explain Alex" Intrudes Skylar. "You see if we get caught then the Gamemakers will surely have a 'natural' disaster ready for you the second you enter the Arena, but if they don't which they won't you will gain many sponsors, to help win the games, maybe together? I don't want you to argue, I just want you to go with it, no questions asked"
"But what if –"
"No questions asked! Okay?" Snapped Skylar.
Arianwen looks at me, with her emerald coloured eyes, and then looks back at Skylar, and we both nod.
"Good now get to bed, you need to catch up on your sleep, and meet us in the train's hall at 1pm tomorrow for a nice little feast… We've given you an outfit each to wear, so shower and put them on"
Arianwen darts off toward what I presume must be her room, without even looking at me. So I just follow her, until she closes her door on my face. The door had her name written on it in what I believe to be Sapphire crystals. I turn around to find another door with my name on, so I open it and walk in.
Chapter 5 – Arianwen
My eyes jolt open. I realise that I am screaming, so I quickly move my hand over my mouth before I startle the peacekeepers patrolling the corridors. I was having a nightmare. Hawk. He was there. In the arena, with me. We were the last ones standing, but just like they did in the 74th Hunger Games the rule changed. Only one was allowed to survive, and we both knew it would be him. He was chasing me through a swamp. I've never seen a swamp in the games before. But he was getting closer to me, and I knew I had to do something to stop him. Before I could think of anything I tripped over a fallen tree and crashed into the disgusting swamp water, I get a mouthful of it and try to spit it back up. But before I can even do anything I see Hawk leaping towards me. He lands on top of me and pulls a small silver dagger from his belt. He gently slides it across my face as if mocking me before he slits my throat. He tells me that I am beautiful; the he lifts his dagger and drags it across his own throat. He starts to drift off to the left, and then his body just drops.
Why would I dream this? I think to myself. Does it mean anything? Whatever it meant I must get it out of my mind, because I know the rule change won't occur, they've had it for 7 years now, and not once has it changed. I sit up and dangle my legs off the side of my bed; I am too small to have my feet hit the ground so I just wave them about. I hop out of bed and start pacing my room, thinking about the dream, then the games, and then… Fey. Her death was horrible; it being brought by Noel from our own District didn't help. It was the second day, only 9 tributes were left, the majority of them died the first few seconds of the games. Fey had just escaped the clutches of District 1's Averlox price, and started walking about all the trees. She made sure that she hid most of her tracks so Averlox couldn't follow. But that didn't matter did it? A boy slipped out of a tree and landed on Fey, not realising who she was he instantly grabbed her neck and snapped it. He didn't even have time to see that is was the girl from his own District, because the second he snapped it three arrows struck his skull. Averlox was a skilled archer, being able to fire three arrows in the same pull of the string, with all finding their way to a skull showed brilliant accuracy. Just thinking about this made me wince. I cried my eyes out for 3 days after that, I couldn't help but blame Daniel, and want him dead, but what's done is done, I can't erase that.
I walk over to the window and look for the moon. It's just finding its way past the horizon by the time I find it. It looks beautiful, shrouded by the fog that crawls over this part of Panem. I see the sun, rising on the other side of the horizon, and I realise that I should get a little more sleep for the morning breakfast. I jump back into bed and shut my eyes.
A shake knocks me to the floor. What's happening? I think to myself. I pull myself up and walk over to the window. I notice that the train has stopped, in the middle of nowhere. I hear Skylar's voice shouting for everyone to get to the dining compartment, so I throw on a jacket and make my way down. As I approach I see that everyone is here except from Hawk. He couldn't have slept through that jolt, it knocked me to the floor. My eyes set upon the food covering the table. Food I've never seen in my life. I prop myself down next to Alexandria and grab whatever I can.
"Has anyone seen Hawk?" I hear Skylar ask.
"I haven't? I'll go check his room" Alexandria says as she paces the way I came from.
A few moments pass until Alexandria rushes back into the room "He's not in his room!" She belts out.
"What? That can't be, we have peacekeepers patrolling the corridors" Skylar says with a hint of confusion in her voice.
We start to hear a banging on the ceiling, as if someone is out there, or something. I quickly jump out of my seat and rush to the back of the train, knocking over a peacekeeper over in the process. Oops. The door leading to the small balcony at the back of the train has been bashed open. I start to climb the ladder which leads to the roof. At the far end of the train I see a figure, but it's too far away to tell if it's Hawk or not. I start to slowly walk along the top of the train being as quiet as possible. As I get closer I realise that the figure has a hood up, so I still can't tell if it's Hawk. I am about to reach my hand out to grab this persons shoulder, but before I can he speaks.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you. When people sneak up on me I tend to attack" He says whilst he turns around.
"Why are you up here Hawk?" I ask shocked.
"Nothing really, just making sure this train stops" He says with a devilish laugh.
"What! Do you know how much trouble you can get into by doing that?" I belt at him.
"What more can they do to me? I'm already off to 'certain' death" He says with a wink. "Besides I'm in this for the arena, not the bloody chariot rides! I don't want to be dressed up to look a fool"
He has got a point, the second we're in the Capitol we're sent off to a prep team to make us look 'beautiful', and really it's just degrading. "You have a good point" I say. "How long are we stopped for?"
"Enough time so that when we finally reach the Capitol it'll be the second day of training" He answers grinning.
As if I can wait on a train for 2 days! Right here I decide that no-matter how much I get lost in his glamorous azure eyes I will surly enough not ally up with him in the games.
Chapter 6 – Hawk
The two days have passed since I stopped the train. Luckily Arianwen never told anyone about it being me who stopped it, so the Gamemakers don't have a reason to mess with me in the arena. Whilst we waited we watched the reapings of the other tributes, so we learn their names, I am no good at remembering names though. We're only just pulling in to the Capitol before half a dozen peacekeepers rush onto the train and escort me and Arianwen to the training centre, obviously we changed into the training outfits in the peacekeeper van.
When we arrive all of the tributes are just looking at us. I see one, he must be from District 2 or 3, and his hair was long. Too long in-fact, it was nearly the length of Arianwen's, and he just glared at me. I noticed his nose, it looked as if it were bashed in or something. I knew straight away he didn't like the look of me, and I didn't like the look of him either. I decided to break off the eye contact with him, and head to the knife throwing station. No-one's here which is unusual, because normally there are 2 – 4 people who can throw knives with pin point accuracy in the arena. But I just make do and start throwing. I am doing pretty well until a girl stands next to me. I recognise her from district 2, I think her name was Chierr, or maybe Cher? All I know is that she is from District 2, so she is here to see my knife throwing skills, whilst thinking about how to kill me in the arena. I look over to Arianwen and see this boy is causing trouble for her. He is the other tribute from 2, and it looks as if he is hissing at her. I move over to the station which they're at, just so I can get clear of what's being said, but the second he sees me coming he quickly turns away and rushes towards Cher.
"What was that about?" I ask Arianwen.
"Oh ermm nothing, he was just ermm telling me about his marriage with Cher. Unlucky that both are in the arena at the same time, neither of them could have volunteered either. They got married at the age of 14, after knowing each other for 3 days." She quickly says.
I look over to him and he and Cher are both looking at me laughing. I quickly shake it off and concentrate on training.
Over the next few days I learn new skills, such as camouflage, and fishing. Knowing that I will definitely need some of these skills in the arena. Eventually its the day our of private sessions, and one by one the room we're sat in lowers down in numbers. It's Arianwen's turn to go for her session. No doubt she's going to show off a few traps, or her knife throwing abilities. I've been watching her train, and I don't know how but she seems to be very skilled at the two. I notice Kyan Field from District 2 glancing over to me, so I go sit next to him.
"You keep looking at me?" I ask.
"Oh yeah just thinking in my head what would be the best way to kill you when we're in the arena, slitting your throat, or ripping your heart out" He replies.
I'm taken aback, and I think in my head how much I want to kill him right here, right now. I mean I could, I could grab my token from home and shove it down his throat. Surly that would choke him, mind you it may just slide down his throat, unless I strangled him after forcing him to swallow it. My tokens a ring which was found on my finger when I was found in District 7. I don't know what it means, but I've kept it over the years, as something to remind me that I was abandoned so easily, so why do I need to befriend anyone, because it'll only happen again. A peacekeeper is standing beside me telling me that I was asked to go in 5 minutes ago. Great now I only have 10 minutes left to 'wow' the Gamemakers.
The second I am in there I head straight towards two dummy's and I decide to move one of them to the centre of the room, where coincidently enough the climbing wall is close to. I grab a bow, and a knife and I climb the wall. Once I've made it to the top I look over to the Gamemakers, they seem intrigued in what I am about to do. I look over to the dummy that I left on the side of the room and then back to the one I put in centre. Without thinking I jump from the top, in the direction of the centred dummy, but halfway through the jump I grab an arrow and load my bow with it. I look to the dummy near the wall and fire an arrow, without waiting to see if I got a hit I throw my bow and unsheathe my knife and land on the second dummy, and slit its 'throat'.
The Gamemakers look impressed, I look over to the other dummy and see that I got a direct hit right in the temple. I notice a female Gamemaker on the floor. She must have thought I was about to commit the second I jumped. I leave the room and head back to the elevator to take me to my floor, which is floor 7, for my District. Once I exit the elevator I see everyone sitting at the table eating many different foods. I walk over to the table, grab a leg of what I presume was a lamb, and sit opposite Arianwen. I look into her emerald eyes and realise she's just staring at me, then looking past me, then staring at me again. So I turn around and see a man, standing there looking at me as if he knows me. I then look back at Arianwen in confusion. She looks like she wants to tell me something.
"What is it?" I ask her.
She just shakes her head and looks away. I look back at the man, and see he's tall, slim, with dark brown hair around the same length as mine, but he's left it to go curly. Oddly enough my hair is naturally curly, but I've figured out a way to straighten it out.
"An Avrox" Skylar says to me. "Tongue cut out and forced to become a servant in the Capitol for crimes done in the Districts, these are the lucky ones who aren't whipped to death."
Tongue cut out? Why would someone cut their tongues out? Is it so they can't speak to us, or maybe one another? I reach out to grab a chalice which holds a orange substance, but as my fingers grip around the bottom Arianwen's home in and scratch me. I jerk my hand back and realise that I'm bleeding from a tiny scratch. That's when I see it. Her finger nails. Razor sharp, cut through skin at the slightest touch.
"Sorry, I didn't realise you were going for that" Explains Arianwen.
"It's okay" I say. "Why and how are your finger nails that sharp?" I ask still clutching my hand, it stings quite badly but it's nothing I can't handle.
"They're like this because I can use them as a weapon" She says with a sly wink. "and as a child I bit them that much, that they just started to grow into this shape"
"That's pretty impressive" I tell her.
"Thanks. Hey what did you do in your private session?" She asks me.
"Me? Ermm jumped from the top of the climbing wall whilst shooting an arrow straight into a dummy's head, and landed on another dummy and slit it's throat." I answer quite smugly. "What about you?"
"Now that is impressive. I showed them my tripwire technique I invented." She replies.
"Care to elaborate please?" I ask her quite interested.
"Well basically I set up a trip wire, which is weak enough to be pulled off what it's holding onto when walked or ran through. And when it is pulled off both ends spring out of position and wrap themselves around the person's legs, causing them to crash to the floor, where their body will land on a stick which will cause a net to fall from above them, trapping them. They even got a Avrox to try it, they had a nice laugh." She tells me.
"Right guys off to bed now, your interviews are tomorrow so you need to be well rested" Skylar tells us.
Chapter 7 – Arianwen
I awaken at 8:58 exactly. My body is used to this because I was scared of Daniel coming to me in the morning, and beating me. He normally rose at 9, so I woke up and get out before he even climbs out of bed. I have enough time to get changed before I hear a knock on my door. I open it to find two peacekeepers standing at my door.
"We're here to escort you to the roof, where you get on the hovercraft to take you to the arena" One tells me.
"What? But that's tomorrow! We still need to do the interviews, and we haven't even heard of the training scores yet!" I protest.
"Change of plan, one of the tributes from district 5 thought it would be funny to try and jump off the roof 3 times last night, and he also tried to choke himself only realising that he let go after losing conscientiousness. So President Snow thought it be best to grab everyone now, and take them to the arena before anyone tries anything like that again, and maybe succeeds..." Explains one peacekeeper.
The other peacekeeper chuckles "Hardly likely though, he's just dying for these games to start already, and you can find out the scores whilst on the hovercraft"
I allow them to take me, and they escort me to Hawks room where the exact same conversation occurs, but he doesn't seem to care really. I suppose he just likes to cause arguments, or just to know things, somehow making the link in my head about him not knowing about his parents. Which reminds me of the Avrox who was stood behind him. I know I should never get involved but I really wanted to tell him who that man was. My mum used to be friends with him, best friends in-fact, obviously this was before she was stone-cold. But she told me stories of the boy with no parents.
16 years ago, a month before I was born he was standing on the outskirts of the district with his wife. He was unshaven, and looked as if he had not slept for days. Whereas his wife was apparently stunning. She told me that it was almost impossible to explain her beauty. Well anyway a hovercraft was waiting for them, but they weren't ready to go just yet. The mum had hold of a young boy, about 11 months old, and she placed him on a rock, outside my house. The same rock that I sit upon when I watched him every day. She told my mum to always look out for him, and please make sure that he lives his life as well as he could. At first she followed this promise, but when Daniel came into the picture she stopped. His dad placed a ring on his finger, of course it didn't fit but he'd grow in to it. Then after saying goodbye, the peacekeepers took them into the hovercraft, and they never heard of them again. My mum thought they were dead, but I now know for a fact that his father isn't.
I feel a hand touch my shoulder and I snap back into reality. One of the peacekeepers have hold of me and are trying to tell me to grab the ladder from what I assume must be a hovercraft. I've never seen one this close before, and the first thing I notice is just how big it is. I don't have enough time to examine it because the second I place my hands on the ladder I am immediately lifted into the sky. I realise there must be some sort of forcefield holding me in place with the ladder, because I cannot let go. When we make it inside the hovercraft I see all the over tributes already sitting. A woman walks over to me and jabs something into my left arm, whilst saying "Tracker chip", great now they'll be able to follow me everywhere. After the chip is in my arm I am free to move about this room of the hovercraft, I decide I instantly want to sit down, because having the tracker chip put into me makes me feel dizzy. Hawk comes and sits next to me, but doesn't say anything. Instead his eyes seem to be focused on something else. I look over to where his eyes seem to looking and I see the screen of a television. The training points are being announced, and I missed the first 5 Districts. The District 6 tributes each get a 6. Hawk tells me the points from the other Districts, but I don't seem to be concentrating because our points are about to be announced. Hawk's first of course as he is the male tribute. He scrapes off a 9, I was expecting him to get at least a 11 after what he told me he had done. He doesn't seem to care though, 9 is still a pretty good score, but it's not that he doesn't care I look right into his eyes and it almost looks as if he was expecting this. My picture comes up now, and I wait for what feels like minutes to see my score. The number 12 comes up on the screen. I can't believe this, how did I get a 12? My trap didn't make much affect on them. I can't see how I did this. I look at Hawk again and he whispers "You better run and make that infamous trap of yours as fast as you can" I don't understand if this is a threat until I realise. A 12 will cause the tributes to focus on me at first. But if they're after me they won't be focusing much on the ground below. What if I set a trap as quick as I can to trap a few tributes? Maybe this is what the Gamemakers wanted, to see if my trap works in real time situation, as if they're testing me. The other scores come and go; obviously no-one else gets a 12 because I've only ever heard of 2 people who have ever reached that score.
Act 2
The Hunger Games
Chapter 8 – Arianwen
I was escorted by a Peacekeeper to a empty room, filled only with a two person bench and a small platform thing in the corner. I walked over to the bench and the Peacekeeper walked out and locked the door behind him... Probably incase I decide I want to leave.
"4 minutes remaining"
That must be until the games. I wonder what that platform thing is? It's quite small... Only the perfect size for a person actually. Before I decide to actually walk over to examine I hear a knock on my door.
"Arianwen?" The sound of Alexandria's voice warms me. "Listen you only have a few minutes"
"3 minutes remaining"
"Right on 1 minute stand on that platform, it will take you into the arena. There is only one thing you need to know... Don't leave Hawk out of your sight. I don't trust him, he's too mischivious for my liking. Just follow him as well as you can, but do not let him see you."
"2 minutes remaining"
"Good luck. May the odds be ever in your favor."
"Don't leave Hawk out of your sight"? How on earth am I supposed to do this? He basically knows when something is behind him. I wonder why she doesn't trust him, is he planning something? Whatever it is I suppose we'll find out hey.
"1 minute remaining"
I suppose my time has come. I wonder if my mum will watch, I know Daniel will just to watch me die. I swear if I get out of this alive and he says something to me about wishing I had died, then I will end him. I look at the platform and sigh, I suppose I should go stand on it. The second I stand on the platform a beam shoots up all around it, another force field I suppose. After a few seconds the platform begins to rise and a circle hole opens above my head... This is it.
As I slowly elevate to the surface I notice it is night. I find that odd for two reasons, the first being that all the games I have ever witnissed have always started in the sunlight and the second being that as we left the Hovercraft it was midday. I can hardly see anything really, I can easily see the two tributes splitting off either side of me, but then that's it no-one else, not eventhe landscape. I think on my left stands Cher and on my right is the male tribute from 12 whoI believe is called Jake. It takes about 60 seconds for the force field to fall, so by now I guess there is about 10 seconds left.
The second the force field drops I turn around and run, hoping a forest is up ahead.
Chapter 9 – Hawk
I'm running towards what I belive is the middle, although I am unsure as it is very dark. As strange as it is that this years games has started at night I didn't care. I knew that at the cornucopia stands a bow, some arrows and at-least one knife, but hopefully i'll find a second. As I see some bags and weapons lying on the floor I realise that i'm close. I'm scanning for my weapons of choice when I see a knife, I sweep it up and continue looking. My eyes lock onto a bow so I run towards it, but as I go to grab it a foot falls onto it.
"Well well well... Looks like 7 will be the first fall of this game."
I can't even tell who it is it's that dark. How does he know I'm from 7 though? Luckily I have my knife ready so I quickly bring it up to his face and slash it right across, resulting in him screaming in agony and jolting backwards. I swiftly pick up the bow bring it round my body and run.
I hear a cannon off in the distance. The first fall of the night. Wonder who it was.
As I run I hear him shout "After him!" meaning he probably has an allience... Meaning he is a career from either 1,2 or 4. I can hear someone quickly catching up to me. If only I found arrows I could take them out now. The person must have dived because next thing I know I am on the floor face first with someone lying on top of me.
"You ruined my husbands face, now you're going to pay"
This must be Cher from 2, meaning I attacked Kal her husband.
"It doesn't matter anyway because after we win these games they'll fix him right up" She snarled.
She's quite a strong girl, mind you she is from 4 so she'll have been training for years before this. Unfortunately for her I've fought bears before. I kick her off me resulting in her crashing to the floor and Impail my blade into her skull. Another cannon. I check if she has anything, luckily for me she has another knife and a bag with a few rations and water in. I throw the bag round my neck and run into the night.
Another three cannons are shot meaning a total of 5 dead so far. This isn't unusual as even the weakest run for the middle hoping for a decent start.
After 10 minutes of running as fast as I could possibly go I slump myself beside a tree. It looks like it's a lonely tree as I see no more around, so I probably stick out like a sore thumb, but I don't care. I take the bag from around my neck and have a detailed look through. I see it's got quite a lot of bread inside, and two bottles of water, so I am set for the first two night or so.
Another cannon. 18 tributes left. By now the careers will have formed and Kal will have realised his wife is dead. This has already given me a massive enemy. I just need to get my hands on some arrows now, but that may mean heading back to the cornucopia, where the careers will definitely be set up. I should really sleep though as I can't see a thing. Morning will be easier for me, but I can't sleep on ground level I'll be found within minutes. I jump up and grab a branch and start climbing.
As I reach the leaves I burrow my way inside, causing in a nice camouflage from the ground below. I rest upon a thick branch and close my eyes.
Another cannon.
Chapter 10 -Arianwen
It worked! It actually worked! I had set my famous trap up and it worked. I'm not sure who I caught but they're stuck.
"Let me out you vulger little cow!" pleaded the tribute.
"Why should I do that? I could kill you If I wanted."
"If you were going to kill me you would have already done it. Let's face it you haven't got the guts to kill someone. So untie me and I'll end your life now, giving you a easy escape!"
He was right, I didn't have it in me to take another persons life. I could leave him for another tribute to stumble across him, it would be pretty hard for him to get out of the netting anyway as it was made from titanium. Now that I think about it, it is a bit odd that I found a bag with all the essentials to make two of this trap. Maybe the Gamemakers truly did want to see it in action. Whatever the reason it worked and right now this tribute is squirming away helplessly. He can't even attempt to cut himself out as he dropped his knife fell to the ground as he tripped.
"HELPPP!" He belted.
I decided I wanted a closer look to actually see who I had caught. I started walking slowly towards him, still squirming.
"I will kill you once I get out of this thing" he said with a small cough.
As I got close I relaised that even though this tribute sounded like a boy, he looked like a girl. His hair was jet black and nearly as long as mine. I think his name was Kyan from district 2. The sight of him made me wince, for some reason this tribute made me feel sick and I had no idea why.
"How about if you let me out now then I'll spare you?"
I mearly picked up his knife, turned my back and walked away.
"I will kill you!" He shouted after me.
I couldn't help but be really smug about what had just happened. My trap worked I thought to myself. After a few hours he'll be dead, but it won't have been me who killed him. I don't really want to repeat myself though, I know that I have one trap left, but I may think of a new variation to make out of the same things. But this will have to wait until the morning as I am very tired.
I stumbled into a forrest after I ran from the cornucopia, he must have followed me through hoping to get a nice n easy kill. More fool him hey. In the distance I see a little fire, I know I shouldn't go towards it but it is actually quite cold. I slowly pace myself towards it, and stop next to the bushes.
"Hey, who's that?" I shout out.
The person puts their hand on the floor and clench their fist. There must have been a weapon lying next to them.
"I'm not going to attack, I'm just looking for a nice warm place and well two people is better than one ins't it? I mean now you could sleep whilst I stand guard, then vise versa?" I know this is a bad idea, but right now I am willing to do anything for some heat.
"Sounds good to me I suppose" His voice was kind, so I let myself trust him a small amount. "I'm Jake from District 12. You're that girl who scored 12 on the final training aren't you? Ermm Arianwen is it?" He asked.
"Yeah I'm Arianwen from 7, nice to meet you I suppose" I chuckle.
I notice that his hand is still clenched on his weapon, which is actually a spear. I know he can't throw it that great as I saw him in training trying.
"It's okay" I say "I'm not going to harm you, look..." I dig my knife into the ground to show my trust. He lets go of his spear and lies on the floor.
"You can have first watch, wake me in a few hours." He slowly drifts away and now I'm on my own.
Chapter 11 – Hawk
Last night I had a weird dream. It was set back in our district, it must have been a good few years ago too because I only regognise a few faces but now they're older than they were back then. I can't put any names to the faces though as I only know Arianwen and if she see's me she probably won't hesitate on killing me. However there was one woman who stood out to me... She was pregnant and had some similar features to Arianwen such as her eyes. Glistening in the sunlight. She was standing next to the rock, there was a hovercraft nearby and two people; a man and a woman. They looked rough. The man appeared as if he hadn't slept for weeks, however the woman was beautiful. Now that I think of it this man looked familiar, as if I've seen him before. But where? The only other thing that stood out to me was a baby. A little boy only a few months old. They sat him on the rock, put a ring on his finger, said something to the pregnant woman and then the peacekeepers took them. I've no idea what this dream meant but I suppose a dreams a dream.
As I jump out the tree I realise how bright it's got. Infact it's too bright. I've never seen something like this. My skin felt like it was melting and already sweat is dripping from my head. I swing my bag to the floor and grab a few crumbs of bread and a bottle of water. The water feels great going down my throat, but I mustn't drink too much as it looks like I'm going to need a lot throughout the day. I may have to resort to either finding a water resource, or go back to the cornucopia. I know the cornucopia was going to be filled with Careers so my best bet is to find a water resource, but for now I have two bottles of water so it's not priorty. Priorty is finding arrows for my bow. I swing my bag back over my back and head West so the sun doesn't blind me. At-least now I can see my landscape, which is a desert... Great. There isn't really much to see in this part, it's fairly open. The tree which I slept at, a few trees North and East. Then nothing it looks like South and West. Realistically I should be going towards the tree's but that'd mean the disadvantage of having my sight blocked. I do prefer walking away from the sun, but I suppose the best bet is to head into the forrest and see if I can find a water supply.
I must have slept through the faces of the people who died last night as it's nearly midday, so I am unaware who's dead. All I know is Cher is dead, and 6 more with her. I wonder if any more of the careers are gone? Probably not though as they stick together until the end.
As I draw closer to the forrest I hear rustling in the leaves ahead. I ready a knife. About half a minute passes then the rustling stops. Slowly walking towards the bush I grip my knife tighter expecting someone to jump out at me. Towering the bush I debate jumping in myself and bringing my knife down on whatever is inside. But before I can do anything...
"Well well well... If it isn't young Hawk. Isn't it tragic that you'll never learn who your real parents are? Actually it's better off you didn't know. They're scum! Just like yourself. I'm going to kill you the same way your mother suffered."
Without thinking I ducked and swung round. My knife went straight for his ankles.
"ARGHHHH!"
He dropped to the floor and I slowly walked over his body. I had no idea who this boy was, but he seems to know something about my parents that I don't know.
"Who are you?" I question.
"I don't have to answer you" He spat back.
"Shame... I was going to let you live as well" I say whilst bringing my knife to his throat.
"Wait!" He yells out. "My names Jamie, I'm 17 just like you"
Jamie? I don't know a Jamie and yet he seems to know something about my parents...
"What do you know of my parents?"
"Nothing" As he says this he grabs his ankle tightly.
"Don't lie to me. Trust me I will end your life right here right now Jamie." I spit back.
"Alright alright!" He says with a hint of regret in his voice. "It was just over 17 years ago. My dad was a snitch for the Peacekeepers and he caught your parents stealing right under the noses of the Capitol. They had their own modified Hovercraft which they took from four Peacekeeprs and snuck into the Capitol twice a week to steal food and clothes. He told the Peacekeepers and your dad became an Avrox. On the other hand your mum was tortured and tortured. Until she died. She lasted 7 weeks. From day 2 she was begging for death. But they never gave it to her. Eventually she just crashed. Your farther was forced to dig her a grave and just dump her body into the hole. Then forced to bury her."
"What else?" I snarled.
"That's all I know I swear. Now please let me go" He pleaded.
As I watched him struggle I couldn't help but feel furious with him. I know it wasn't him who ratted out my parents, but it was his dad. Maybe his dads watching now? Maybe I can get revenge.
"Jamie... Say hi to my mum for me" I say whilst feeling a devilish grim spread on my face.
His face drops. You can see how much horror he's in. He starts to struggle but it's no use. I slowly dig my knife across his throat.
Chapter 12 – Arianwen
I wake up to the sound of a cannon. Someone else has been taken.
"I suppose that makes 8 dead ay" Jake tells me.
I sniff the air and can smell cooked fish. I know it's fish as that's Daniel's favourite meal to give us back home... I always get the eyes in mine.
"You've left the camp while I slept?" I ask.
"I suppose so yea, but look we have food. Isn't that a good thing?" He replies.
I suppose he's right. I haven't eaten since our last meal back in the Capitol so I am rather starved. But still he left me, what if someone stumbled across me and killed me.
"But don't eat it all at once, we only have three fish for now so we need to savour them."
"Do you know who's dead?" I ask.
"As a matter of fact I do, minus the one who just went" He chuckles. "From District 4 Cher, District 5 Adam, District 8 William, District 9 both Joel and Amy, District 11 Michael and District 12 -" He stalls for a second and a tear drops from his face. "Niki"
"You were close with Niki?" I ask while placing my hand on his wrist.
"Twin sister" He responds.
"I'm sorry to hear" I say rather awkwardly.
"It doesn't matter, at-least one of us were bound to go... I was just hoping it would have been me" He wipes at his eyes. "But there's no use dwelling on it. What's done is done, can't go back now"
For someone who comes from District 12 Jake is quite strong emotionally, seeing as though they have it worst out of all the Districts. Mind you ever since Katniss Everdeen District 12 has stepped up and they have had another victor since then.
"We should get moving anyway, we've been here long enough. I found water further South but I couldn't bring it back as I had nothing to carry it in. Maybe we could set up camp down there for the rest of the day?"
To be honest I didn't think he'd want to stay with me, but he must trust me or something... I do sort of trust him seeing as though he didn't take me in my sleep and he got me fish. But soon enough we will have to part ways... Which he does know.
We pack up. I place my knife through my belt and we fix the landscape, removing any trace that someone has been here so we cannot be followed. We then head East being careful with tracks.
"So Arianwen do you know Hawk?" Jake asks.
"Not really. I never really spoke to him until this trufully, but my mum knew his dad." I answered.
"Do you think he would hesitate to kill you, you know if it came to that?" He asks.
"I can't answer that... I don't know him at all. He's got his secrets and no-one in the District takes notice of him." I reply.
"So he's sorta a lost cause I see" He laughs.
For some reason this angered me, but I didn't want to show it so I just stayed quiet for the rest of the journey.
Thinking about all the people Jake told me who were dead, I didn't hear that Kyan was. But that's impossible someone should have stumbled across him by now, wouldn't they? Unless...
"Jake what District is Kyan in?" I ask paniking.
"Kyan? Ermm I think he was District 2." He curiously replies.
That means he's alive. Unless he's the unknown dead one. As I had that last thought the Anthem played and todays lost were showed. Only one came up and it wasn't Kyan... It was another person called Jamie. That means he's after me and not just him... The entire Carreer pack.
Chapter 13 - Hawk
Why did the Anthem just play? It isn't midday or midnight.
Something must be up, the Anthem never plays around this time. The Gamemakers are doing something... Are they toying with someone? Are they toying with me? Whatever it is I won't allow it to get to me. It's been a few hours since I took Jamie so now I'm inside the forrest. Carefully trudging, stopping every now and then incase people are around. Normally more people are dead by the second day. On average its about 11 – 12, but for us its 8. These games are going quite slow really.
I'm onto the last quater in my water bottle, so I should find a water resource to refill... Mind you I've seen some games where they poisoned the water and you needed a filter to clear it out. I suppose I'll find water first then worry about poison.
I can't help but think this very minute Kal is tracking me with the rest of his pack. IF he finds me that'll be at-most 5 people on me... I wouldn't stand a chance. Whilst thinking of this I realise that I still need arrows and i'll never find one whilst out in the forrest. I must head back to the cornucopia. However if I did head back then maybe I could score some food and water. My decisions final, I head back to the cornucopia. Trouble is I need to locate it... If I turn back and retrace my tracks then I'd find it withen 6 or so hours, but If I stop and think; When I ran to the tree in the night the branch I slept on was pointing in the exact way I came from, but then I went North, whereas the branch was pointing East... So that must mean the cornucopia is somewhere East. Luckily as I am a trained tracker I know automatically which way East is so I head out.
After about 2 hours night is upon us. It's strange how different the forrest looks in the dead of the night compared to the day. Everything looks more deserted to say the least. The moonlight reflects off the cobwebs, leaves start to glisten from the dew forming on them, and the tree's create freakish figures that you can mistake for a person. If I did that here then I may be heard by cloe by tributes, so I must be very careful. Another hour passes and the forrest is starting to clear up; tree's are not as close to one another and bushes seem to have grown more, probably due to the more sunlight they can get.
I must be close to the cornucopia now, I need to sleep but it would be easiest to get close to it in the dead of the night. I can hear singing. Odd why would someone be singing? I know it's not a Mokingjay as I've heard this voice before. I draw closer to the singing and see 5 people dancing around a camp fire. Carreers. I'm back at the cornucopia and all 5 of them are here... I must plan my next move carefully.
After 5 minutes of pacing up and down behind a bush I decide to give up. I realise it would be impossible to penatrate unseen with all 5 there, so I climb one of the closest tree's so I can still see them, but they can't see me. I get some more bread crumbs from my bag, and finish off my water. Tomorrow I will deffinitly have to think of something.
Chapter 14 – Arianwen
"Right for the last time this is the plan; This trap I have set up will cause one of them to be caught netted dangling in a tree, then hopefully whilst the others run towards them they pull the second wire which will result in my knife falling and impailing them thus killing them if hit in a nice enough spot. Then you will sneak past them and get into the cornucopia, grab as much food as you can and maybe some weapons. Whilst I lure them away going upstream." I repeat fustratedly for the fith time.
"Okay then I think I got it." Jake replies. "Just one more thing. How do you know you'll out run them?"
"I've ran from my mums boyfriend a fair amount of times for my agility to be good enough." I say rolling my eyes "Besides I'll have your spear so if I can I'll throw it at one... I mean how different can throwing a spear be compared to throwing a knife?" I give a nervous laugh to this seeing as though I know how different it will be, but Jake's a simple boy and doesn't know much better. "You ready?" I ask.
"I think so... Just give me 2 minutes to run to another spot so we're not too close."
As I watch Jake run off I can't help but think something is going to go horribly wong with this plan. I know that the carrees could easily catch me seeing as though they've trained in almost everything for the games... But right now I'm willing to do anything for a drink.
A few minutes pass so I decide it's now or never. I step out into the opening and instantly the watch from 1 see's me. He doesn't wake anyone else up, maybe because he wants a nice kill of his own. He starts running for me so I turn around and place myself a few meters behind the first tripwire... So long as he doesn't activate the second then we'll get this started.
He takes longer than I expected. But soon enough he bursts from the bushes and without hesitation runs towards me getting caught in the first tripwire. My trap springs into action and he is jolted from the floor and left helplessly thrashing about in the air.
"HELPPPPPP!" He screams. I realise that it is Titrus who fell foolishly into my ploy.
Hopefully that'll have woken at-least one of the others up. Hearing running kinda fills me with satisfaction. Kyan and Kal burst out of the bush next obviously leaving Felicity and Bethany behind. Kyan's mouth slowly rises as he steps forwards. I realise he's not looking at me, but he's looking past me. I slowly turn my head and just to my suprise Felicity and Bethany are standing there, Felicity holding a knife in hand. Bethany pushes me to the floor, I nearly activate the second tripwire myself with the fall.
"You thought you could best us didn't you?" Kyan laughed. "I can't believe Titrus fell for the same thing I fell for, even though I told him exactly what to look out for... What a fool, he shouldn't be allowed to live should he?"He kneels down next to me, grabs the second wire in his right hand and pulls.
After a screech from Titrus and the sound of a cannon exploading the Carreers begin to laugh.
"I never did really like him anyway" Bethany said. "He always turned up at my house trying to give me flowers. It was only a matter of time before I'd do it myself."
Kyan grabs my hair and pulls me back to my feet.
"I vowed I'd get revenge on you and lookie here... I'm going to gut you like the pig you are." He spat in my face, then pushed me to Bethany. "Hold her in the moonlight whilst I gut her".
Another cannon. Someone else has died whilst all of this has happened.
Bethany dragged me infront of the bush Kal and Kyan appeared from and held me perfectly still. She's mush taller than I am and much much stronger. Kyan's slowly walking up to me when I feel Bethany begin to yawn... Obviously she hadn't had much sleep, same as me really, but now I'll be able to sleep. Forever. For some reason this yawn feels like it goes on forever until blood appears all over Kyan's face.
Chapter 15 – Hawk
Lets back up 10 minutes.
I was awoken by the sound of a cannon going off. That means another dead. I look over to the cornucopia to see all the Carreers gone, except from one. Although this Carreer does look kinda scrawny compared to the rest. Taking all my chances I jump out the tree and run towards the cornucopia. I can't make out who this figure is but they will be easy to take seeing as though they're facing away from me. I'm running swiftly through the night. It's a matter of seconds before I will reach this Carreer. I yank both knives from my holster hoping this is Kal, so I can give him a beautiful finish. I launch one of the knives into the back of his knee. All I hear is him whelp in pain, then fall to his knees resulting in more pain for himself. I jump onto his back, resulting in his face cascading to the ground. I hear a crack... Probably his nose, but I don't hold back I grab his hair, bring his head back and bring my knife through his right eye. His body just falls limb. A cannon. I retrive both my knives before turning him around. That's when I realise this wasn't a carreer... Infact I don't know who this is.
I don't stop and think about it either because now I hear laughing in the bushes up ahead. I quickly scan the area and see a quiver of arrows resting against a chest. I pick them up and postition myself so I can see into the forrest where the laughter came from. A few seconds pass then I see a girl holding another girl standing in the moonlight. Big mistake standing in the moonlight, because now I have a clear shot on her. I wait until the timing is perfect then notice she must be yawning. I grab a arrow from the quiver, draw my bow and shoot. My eyes follow the arrow glide through the air and make it's way into the back of her head. Another cannon. I notice the arrow actually made it out the other side of her mouth and then stick. I never expected anything like that, but for the viewers on the camera's I make it look like that was my goal. The girl drops, resulting in the other girl she was holding to be set free. I pull out another arrow to follow her with, but that's when I realise. It's Arianwen. I don't know why but I don't want to kill her. I want her to live. She's gone deeper into the forrest, with what sounds like it a few people chasing her. These must be the carreers. But before I can follow her ahead a figure appears from the bushes I had just shot at. Kal.
"That was a pretty impressive shot you know" He smirked.
I just stand there slilently.
"We meet again at last. You couldn't even make it to the final 5 could you?" His smirk grows bigger. "How many are left now?" He glances over to the boy I just killed. "13 I think. Shame I thought we'd be the last two standing... Realistically you could kill me now, but that wouldn't even matter because I could just -" He kneels down and picks up a wire left loose on the floor. "Kill us both if you tried to shoot me... So lets drop the bow and lets do this the mans way hey?"
I know he's stronger than me, by far but I can't help dropping my bow. As it hits the floor his smirk grows wider. He then drops the wire.
"I have no need to kill you now actually. Why don't you go chase your little friend before she dies in a unfortunit way. Quckly before I change my mind!" He starts laughing. "But in return leave the bow"
I couldn't leave the bow. It's my best weapon.
"As long as I get a replacement weapon." I yell over to him.
"What more could you want? You already have two knives don't you?"
"Yeah but if I lose a weapon I want a new one in return."
"Fine take the tommahawk then" he snarls then points to where it's lying.
I walk over to the tommahawk, pick it up then run.
"Quickly before she 'disappears'" He shouts at me while laughing.
A forth cannon. 10 left.
I've been running through the forrest for what has felt like hours, but as the sun rises I begin to hear voices.
"Get back here so we can finish you off now" One yelled. This was from a male.
"We promise we won't hurt you" The other cackled. This was female.
I ready my tommahawk in my right hand, with a firm grip.
"There's nowhere to run now" The male snarled.
I'm slowly trudging on leaves when I see them. Arianwen and the final two carreers. Kyan and Felicity. Before I make a move the Anthem plays and all three of them stop and look up. Probably intrigued who the other two people to die last night where. District 1's Titrus and Bethany appeared, but they already knew this. Then followed by Distric 5's Kylie. The final face is a shock to both me and Arianwen. A young face appears. He's from District 12. His name is Jake. I killed Jake. This wouldn't be so horrifing to me if it wasn't for Arianwen... She must have known him, because now she's crying.
"Awhh was that your boyfriend?" Kyan laughed.
"We can make you join him" Followed Felicity.
What happened next suprised me. Arianwen was cornered on the edge of a cliff and without hesitation she stepped off backwards and fell.
Chapter 16 – Hawk
"Can't believe she jumped" Kyan sniggered.
"I haven't heard a cannon yet though?" Felicity intruded.
She has a point, a cannon hasn't gone off since she fell. That may mean she's still alive...
Cannon. A tear filled my eye.
"Happy? Kyan laughed. "Now lets head back to camp, before Kal loses his nerve."
"We could always kill him now. I mean we're the same District we can win this thing." Felicity said in a hopeful tone.
"Not yet. It's far too early, there is still 11 of us running around here." Kyan instructed. "When we're on the last 5... Besides Kal wants Hawk, and once he's out the way we have this in the bag."
The two of them walked off into the tree's laughing. I could kill them now. Throw my tommahawk at one of them and creep up on the other. But I need to check if somehow someway Arianwen is alive. After making sure the coast is clear I run to the edge of the cliff. Standing on the edge I see it's a massive drop into a river. However the way she just dropped suggests she hit the rocks first and died on impact... Realising I never actually got food or drink from the cornucopia I decide to follow the river until I can actually climb down to reach it. I'll just have to take my chances if it's poisoned.
The suns starting to rise now, so in about 5 or 6 hours I'll see Arianwen's face in the sky. I dread the moment. I'm climbing down the rocks, because I gave up waiting for the two to level out. What's so different than climbing tree's I suppose. As I'm drawing closer to the ground I see something in the water. Something slowly drifting away. I decide to jump the rest of the way to the ground, luckily it's only a few feet and then I sprint towards this thing in the water. As I draw closer the shape of this thing becomes more clear... It looks like a person. Picking up spead now I'm splashing through the water and jump onto the body hoping it's Arianwen. I mearly cascade into the water. Dehydration. There was nothing there, my mind was just playing tricks. I decide to go against all odds and start drinking from the river. The waters better than I imagined, it was actually quite sweat in comparrison to what i've drank before.
After filling my bottles with the water I decide to follow to go more upstream to see if I can find any food. If anything I'll catch more game around the stream as animals will be drinking to quench their thirst. To my suprise I see a family of Rabbits sitting on the waters edge. But there's something odd about these Rabbits... They're dead. I grab my tommahawk in my right hand and one of my knives in my left. The knife still has blood over it so I quickly clean it off in the water.
I walk around the dead Rabbits and scan the landscape. There isn't much here, just a few rocks and the edge of the forrest. Oh and some of those plants that you can use to breathe underwater... I'm not sure what they're called really. Stupidly I had my back turned to these plants because all that happened next was someone rose from them and hit me over the head with some sort of blunt object.
Chapter 17 – Hawk
I awaken several hours later. I know it's been a lot of hours as it's nearly dark now, meaning I missed seeing Arianwen's face... I'm quite glad for that, I don't think I could have handled it really. There's a fire to my right and nothing but tree's everywhere else. I'm hanging in a tree from some sort of net. I look over to the fire and see the Rabbits from earlier. There must have been more than one person before to carry me and them here, as making two trips ewould have been dangerous. But why have I been spared? Why haven't these people killed me yet? Soon enough my questions will be asked.
"Jessica!" Yelled a voice. This voice came from behind me so I tried to turn around. Quickly spinning my head makes me realise I'm in a lot of pain from the bash to the skull.
"Yeahh?" Yelled back who I pressume must be Jessica.
"Signal Danielle back... It's getting late." The male voice responded.
All I heard next was some sort of bird call, then another bird call in response. Followed by rustling in the leaves. I turn my head slowly this time to see a boy about 14 staring straight at me. His name was Lewis and he was from 10. I think one of those girls are from 11 too. So they've formed their own little pack, obviously it'll never amount to the Carreers, but nice try for surviving this long... 10 and 11 are normally gone by now.
"So you're awake" Lewis says to me. "You're probably wondering why you're still alive? Well we need information and we plan on getting it"
Since when were 10 so rough? They've really stepped up on their game this year. Mind you the Arena changes you and they're probably sticking to survival instinct.
"Rabbit?" Lewis gestures towards the Rabbits, walks over to them, picks one up, walks back and hands it to me. "Enjoy it for it shall be your final meal."
I have no way of getting out of this. I am a caged bird, just waiting for the cat to figure out how to get inside. Two girls appear from the left and walk over to the fire without even glancing at me. These must be Jessica and Danielle.
All three of them are scrawny things, but I suppose they're using the element of suprise to take their targets. On that thought I see another net behind the fire. However this net has been ripped and blood covers the floor below it.
"Niki from 12. She pleaded for us to kill her after five minutes... You gonna do the same?" Jessica spat at me.
"Trust me you don't know who you're dealing with" I spit back.
"Oh but trust us... We do" Lewis grinned.
That grin made me feel a little uneasy, but if I wanted to get out of this I had to show courage.
"So what do you want?" I ask.
"We'll tell you when we're ready" Lewis replied.
Danielle hasn't spoken yet... Makes me wonder why she hasn't. However I've come to realise that Lewis is the leader of these.
What I can assume is an hour passes with complete silence. All I've heard recently is small movement in the bushes, but that's probably just some more Rabbits as I heard them saying this place was crawling with them. They've just been sat around the fire looking at the remaining Rabbits they have left. I notice that my weapons are lying against the tree next to me, so there's no hope of reaching them.
After about five more minutes I decide to try and swing myself towards the weapons to see if I can reach then, but as I look back over to where they were I realise the tommahawk was gone. This is odd it was there a minute ago. Within the next few seconds I see it expload from the top of a tree and hit Jessica right inbetween the eyes.
A cannon.
Lewis turns around and faces me. He must know that wasn't me as she was facing away from me. Danielle is already to her feet running for her club before a black figure drops from the tree and lands on her.
Another cannon.
Whoever this was they've been here for a long time preparing.
Lewis has ran over to me now, but out of arms reach. The figure stands up and turns to face Lewis.
"Wh- wh- Who are you?" He studded.
"Your worst nightmare" This mystery person replied. They turned around and ran back into the forrest. They're going to be back, I can bet on it.
"You know that person will come back." I say. "They're mearly toying with you."
"Shut-up!" He shouts.
He's turning around so frantically that he couldn't have even judged what happened next. Something swong around his ankles forcing him to crash to the floor. He turned onto his back and lifter his arms to where his ankles were. Foolish mistake I say because next second another thing shoots across from the trees and ropes his wrists to his ankles. He's stuck. The figure appears again walking slowly towards Lewis. The figure has a few womanly features, but I couldn't think whou it could be. What happens next is suprising to me... She ties another rope around his wrists and ankles and drags his towards the fire. She picks up a few of the burning logs and drops them on him. After a few seconds he catches up in flames screaming. The screaming feels like it goes on forever, until finally it stops.
The third cannon.
The figure then looks at me, rescue's my tommahawk then throws it at the netting. I fall to the floor landing on my back. When I look over to where she was she's gone.
Chapter 18 – Hawk
It's been numourous amount of hours since I witnessed the three teenagers brutally murdered. I've now seen their faces in the sky and I just want to know who this person was.
I've been tracking them dead into the night but i've had no luck. I have however come across a come across another boy bleeding to death on the forrest floor. So I helped him out and put him out of his misery. His eyes told me it was the right thing to do.
I wish I had got back to my feel sooner before, so I could have chased this girl and thanked her for saving me. Mind you she probably would have finsihed me off to. Why didn't she kill me when she had the chance? Why did she save me? If I ever found her I will find the answers. The only thing I noticed about her was that she had a gash covering half of her wrist. She's obviously been in a bad fight, but she had left it open and it could get infected.
The suns starting to rise now when the Anthem plays.
"Tributes this is James Hindleburghh your head Gamesmaker. With only seven of you left we've prepared a special feast at the cornucopia with each of your names written all over it... Good luck"
Then the Anthem plays out.
A feast... Great. This is the perfect way for the games to end sooner as the Carreers use it to their advantage to trap the weaker tributes. I'm not going, I'm not falling for the trap... I don't need anything anyway, I have a bottle and a half of water, and 3 Rabbits, so for now I'm safe. Even though I count myself as safe I still find myself clutching onto my tommahawk. My last remaining weapon.
A few hours pass and I find out that the boy I killed was from 8 and his name was Charlie. I can't help but feel bad for ending his life. But I won't dwell on it. There's still seven of us left so I need to stay focused.
A cannon. Someone must have tried the feast... Fool.
I'm getting closer to a opening in the forrest when I see movement up ahead. I ready my tommahawk incase they try to jump me. More movement behind me, god this persons fast. Next second someone bursts from the bushes, knocks me to the floor and starts kissing me.
Frankly I don't stop this from happening. I've never kissed another person before, so this is sorta new to me. The touch of their lips on mine. The taste of their tongue when it clashes with my own. I don't even know who i'm kissing... I open my eyes. To my suprise It's the figure from before, only I see more than the figure I see Arianwen with closed eyes kissing me back. I grab her sholders and slowly push her back.
"I'm sorry I just really needed to do that before one of us went. I mean we've both had a close call each now hey?" She giggled, whilst going red.
"It's okay, I have wanted to do that for quite a long time now, but I just tried to not let it hit my mind as I keep to myself." I reply.
"Hawk do you notice me?" She asks.
"How do you mean?" I ask back.
"I mean when I sit on that rock... Everyday." She replies.
"Of course I do, I don't know a day when I haven't noticed you." I laugh a little at this.
"Do you know why I sit on that rock?" She asks. I respond by shaking my head. "Your parents left you their Hawk..."
After a conversation about my parents that seemed to have gone on forever, we come to an end.
"So that man in the Capitol... He's my dad?" I ask.
"Yeah, I just didn't want to say anything as we've not properly spoken before."
This is all new to me. This girl knows who I am better than I do.
"I suppose we better head to the cornucopia and end all of this hey?" I say.
"I suppose so. But Hawk, from day one did you plan on killing me or sparing me?" She questions me.
"I'll leave it at this... I couldn't end end someone who's eyes make my heart stop beating everytime I stare into them." I reply, noticng she's going red. "Come on lets go."
After a few more hours of talking, eating, drinking and even a few more kisses we reach the end of the forrest. We see that there are four people over there, one of them are in a death grip under Kal's arm, this must be the final tribute minus us. The second Kal see's us he twists his arm thus breaking the boys neck. His body just drops to the floor.
"Well well well... You've finally come to end it haven't you?" He shouts over.
Kyan and Felictiy both walk away in seperate directions.
"Stay here" I tell Arianwen.
I walk forward and Kal starts to laugh. You can't defeat me on your own Hawk... I have your bow you fool, he points towards the bow. You have to get closer to me, thus meaning close combat.
He's forgetting I have the tommahawk. I can launch it and hope it hits him in the head. I may not have the best accuracy like Arianwen, but I sure can hope it hits. I pull it out from the holster and quickly launch it across the open field towards him. His smile drops as it draws closer and I can see horror in his eyes. But that doesn't last long when he realises the tommahawk was on the wrong course. Bethany let out a loud scream which almost deafened us all, dropped to the floor and lay still.
Cannon.
Kyan's face went from pale to red. He ran straight for me forgetting I am pretty nifty at countering. I launch him over my head and his back crashes against a rock. Letting out a loud whelp he closes his eyes hoping I'd forget about him. But he's not the one I'm after. However Arianwen has started running with knife in hand, towards Kyan... She has a score to settle and won't rest until It's done.
Realising I've had my eye off Kal for too long I turn to face him. I'm horrified to see he has the bow loaded, aiming straight at Arianwen. His face tells me exactly what he's doing... That smug smile of his angers me so much.
He released the arrow.
Chapter 19 – Arianwen
I see the arrow coming straight for me. It's too late to jump out the way. I have to accept what's about to happen to me. My life flashes before my eyes. I see my sister when she was in the Arena being killed and now I am about to suffer the same fate.
I see Hawk, eyeballing the arrow. I know what he's going to do.
"Hawk don't do it!" I yell.
He doesn't listen. He leaps infront of the arrows path and it flies straight into his heart.
"Noooooooooooooooo!" I scream. I run for Kyan to finish him and drive my dagger into his heart.
Cannon.
Kal is laughing. Too busy laughing in fact. Maybe I could run and kill him quickly. I look at Felicity's body and see the tommahawk. I need a weapon if I want to finish him. I sprint for Felicity, Kal stops laughing and just watches me. I retrieve the tommahawk and look for Kal. He's gone. Just disappeared. I run straight over to Hawk with the tommahawk ready. He's not gone yet, if I can win this quickly he may have a chance. I drop onto my knee's rest my head on his chest, look at him and kiss him. My eyes are filling with tears so I can't see much. All I can see is he's smiling at me and I'm smiling back.
"It's too bad I can't see the moon shining on you one last time Arianwen" He choaks.
"Don't talk like that Hawk!" I shout. "We'll both get out of this I swear..."
"Arianwen -" He starts.
"I don't want to hear it Hawk!" I shout again.
"No Arianwen -" He points behind me and I turn. Kal is standing behind me with his fists clenched. His right fist finds it's way to my stomach. I go flying back dropping the tommahawk where I was sitting.
"Such a shame you couldn't have one last kiss isn't it." Kal said. "Well this is revenge for him killing Cher isn't it... Now I kill his little girlfriend!"
He pulls out a knife from his belt. All the wind has been knocked out of me for me to even atempt making a move out of this.
"Goodbye Arianwen" He spat.
His knife rises in the air. In a few seconds I know it will meet my skull and it will be all over. But it doesn't. Instead he drops his knife, then falls to the left. I look at him in shock. Somehow the tommahawk has found it's way to the back of his skull. Hawk. I run over to him to reassure him that we made it.
"Hawk we did it!" I celebrate. I realise he is breathing rapidly.
"We did didn't we" He coughs. Blood escapes his mouth.
"Hawk" Tears filling my eyes. "I love you"
"I love -" His eyes shut and his breathing stops completely.
He's gone. Before we could even start something with one another. He's gone.
Congratulations Arianwen you are the winner of the 83rd HungerGames.