a/n: I'm not sure what to say about this. I was bored at work, had just reread the Hunger Games and...out came this. It's an experiment, really. If I decide I like this, I might try a full-length crossover when I have time.
Please note I'm not 100% certain about the district...specialties.
The Phantom of the Opera is owned by Gaston Leroux (at least, it should be). The Hunger Games is owned by Suzanne Collins.
The trees were full of strange chirping sounds, sounds which were coming from the large variety of jungle bugs. The sounds were echoed – more musically – by the jabberjays high in the trees. Those were the only sounds, the bug's chirping and the bird's echoing, besides the occasional stir of leaves and short breaths.
Lena wished the birds would go away. They had a habit of giving away people's locations, especially this year. Somehow the male tribute from District 10 had figured out a way to train the jabberjays to hunt down the other tributes. Lena was from District 5 – the district that handled animals the most – and she hadn't thought of trying to find a way to train wild animals in the arena. She couldn't even think of a way to do it, not without months of practice and a large supply of food to waste. She wished she was at home watching so she could see how he'd done it. That, and so she could be very far away from here, this hell on earth.
She moved a little further back into the cave she'd dug, which was more like a hole in the ground. It hadn't been very difficult to dig with the soft jungle floor, and she needed a way to get out of sight of the birds somehow, in case one was a bird that boy from District 10 had trained. But it was difficult to hide from them all, the jungle being so full of various birds, jabberjays especially. And Jace, her district partner, had warned her that he seemed to have some sort of wildcat trained, too. At least...they hoped it was a wildcat, and not some sot of Capitol mutt.
That warning was the last Lena had seen Jace alive. A moment later there was a low trill from a nearby jabberjay, then a strange whistling sound, and a thin black wire caught Jace around the neck. The last thing Lena saw before she turned and ran for her life was Jace's eyes bulging out of his head.
She had been lucky to outrun the District 10 tribute. But her speed was the one thing she had that was of any use in the arena. She was just a shepherdess, which didn't give her many skills to prepare for the Hunger Games, but she was taller than the rest of the tributes. Well, except for the male from District 10, who was almost a foot taller than her. But since she was still alive, she assumed it meant she had a good chance at outrunning him.
Lena thought back to when the tributes had been paraded through the Capitol. Her and Jace had been forced to look like animals, he a cow, her a lamb. His skin had been painted black and white, and he wore a loose, sort of toga-looking cloth over his body with matching black and white splatters. She'd had wool glued all over her body, except for her face. Otherwise she was nude. It had been extremely uncomfortable.
She tried to recall what the boy from District 10 had been wearing...as well as his name, and his score. He'd seemed so unremarkable, just a tall, weak-looking boy with no muscles and a face that showed no emotion at all.
Oh, of course! He'd been wearing a full black mask at the parade of tributes, with numbers drawn over it like some sort of decoration, and formal clothing, the sort highers-up in District 10 wore when trading. His score had been something like six or five, maybe even four. Nothing impressive. And his name...what had been his name? Something that started with what sounded like 'air'. Air...Aaron? Arym? Air...eek. Oh, Erik. That was his name. Erik.
Lena reached up and pulled an earthworm out of the soil above her, then put it in her mouth. Worms were her main diet now. They were chewy and tasted like dirt, but they were a good source of protein and she didn't have to worry about them being poisoned.
It was only a few hours until nightfall. Lena was torn between getting a few hours of sleep before sunset and staying awake to hear the call the trained bird would make if it found her. The latter seemed more important, but the former was so much more tempting. Besides, how would she run if she fell asleep? And at night she had to worry about the Career pack, which hunted at night while other tributes slept, possibly to avoid being spotted by one of Erik's trained birds.
Lena moved her canvas bag to the front of her, to check on her supplies. She hadn't managed to get a weapon at the Cornucopia, so her only strategy had been to stay on the move, and hope everyone else killed each other off. And that the Gamemakers didn't kill her off for being boring.
She pulled open her bag. A bit of bright blue tarp, a small pack of various nuts, a small canteen of water that was now almost empty, a pack of matches and a short length of rope. The water and nuts had helped her out the first few days, but now that they were approaching the second week, she had to find another source of water. Maybe after she slept a little while.
She put the bag behind her with the tarp facing upwards, and rested her head. She'd just close her eyes for a little while. Just long enough to gain enough energy to cover up her tracks and start moving again. She curled up into a little ball, trying to keep warm as the heat in the jungle cooled quickly as the sun began to set, and as she drifted off to sleep.
A familiar low trill from above her. She'd heard it just before Jace...
She was on her feet in the next second, swinging her canvas bag over her shoulder. Her legs carried her quickly forward, swiftly dodging trees and branches that got in her way. The sound of her heart racing and her sharp breaths and heavy footfalls filled her ears, blocking any chance she had of hearing an enemy approaching. That was dangerous. He could be anywhere! What if he'd been close enough to hear her start running? What if he was coming from the sides, or behind her, or ahead of her?
Lena risked a look back, but didn't she anything but the jungle floor kicked up from where she'd come from. Great, she was leaving a trail. Maybe she should try climbing up a tree, except that she'd lose precious time stopping and trying to pull herself upward.
She faced forward again, speeding past a flowering tree and a fallen, rotting log and a streak of grey she didn't have time to confirm identifying. It was the same grey color she was wearing. Oh, oh no. Now she felt someone approaching her from behind. She threw the canvas bag behind her, hoping to trip her pursuer and lighten her load. Her leg muscles were burning but she forced herself forward even faster. This was it, life or death depending on fast she could propel her body forward.
A strange high-pitched whistling sound, this one also familiar, the sound of the wire traveling through the air –
Lena fell backwards suddenly, her back and head hitting the ground hard. She was dizzy, disoriented, maybe had a concussion. And she was choking! She couldn't get air into her lungs! She gasped for breath and reached for the wire around her neck to pull it off, but it jerked suddenly, making her eyes begin to bulge out.
She stared above her, and managed to catch a glimpse of blue sky through the trees. The sky was blocked when Erik, the boy from District 10, stepped in front of it to look down at her.
Lena gasped for air that she couldn't get, making a disturbing strangled sound. She reached up towards his face, his face that still showed no emotion. Her eyes were begging, but she wasn't sure if she was begging to be released or begging that her death would be quick. She thought about her two little brothers at home, her parents and grandparents all around the television, watching this moment as her face began to turn blue...
"Sorry," said Erik, his voice soft and melodic. "Nothing personal."
She was almost relieved when she saw him reach into his boot and pull out a dagger. A flash of silver, something slipped between her ribs and then...nothingness.
Artificial: Please let me know what you think!