The jungle plain spread is as far as the eye could see in all directions, endless trees and trees and tress of different shades of green, no open areas as far as Castiel could work out. But the large golden Cornucopia sat in the middle of the forest, weapons and food ready to be snatched up. Castiel's eyes scanned side to side looking at the other tributes, a lot of younger ones being put in this year, barely two 18 year olds probably making Castiel one of the top 4 in being the oldest, Raphael most likely being the oldest, who was glaring at Castiel from the corner of his eye.
A boy, he could only work out as being from District 12, shone out from the rest, probably a year or two younger than him but his expression was hard and focused. His back arched ready to run, his eyes tight and sharp, almost like a tigers. He remembered seeing him in the training and the chariots but never paid a lot of attention to him until now, he took note of this boy, hoping to make him an ally at some point.
As soon as the countdown ended, Castiel pushed himself forward from the metal plate, landing clumsily but picked his speed up to match some of the fastest runners, including the Tiger-Boy, the nickname Castiel decided to give to the green eyed boy of District 12. His body dodged through the trees being as agile as possible, the large golden horn coming into closer view and the backpacks and weapons drawing even closer, Castiel's hand automatically extending for it.
Castiel grabbed the closest weapon to him which was a sword and scooped up a large backpack, slinging it over his shoulder just in time to duck from Raphaels first attack of a mace, barely missing the messy brown hairs on his head and digging into the golden metal of the Cornucopia.
"Don't expect to survive this, Castiel. Not with me alive." Raphael growled out before pulling his mace back into his hand giving time for Castiel to bound off into the trees with his weapon and backpack, trying to get as far away as possible from the boy who wants to kill him in cold blood.
Castiel could feel his heart beating hard in his chest, adrenaline and fear rushing through him as he kept moving. He knew Raphael wouldn't stop until Castiel was dead and the canon sounds, all because of his lack of faith compared to everyone else in District 6, he always had questions and doubts that no one answered, they simply turned themselves away from the questioning and assumed they were never asked. Questioning faith in District 6 was just as forbidden.
Initial instinct was to find a water source but he had no idea where to start in searching or how to even look for it. After a good 15-20 minutes of running through the thick jungle he paused to catch his breath and rested in the low branches of a tree and secured his sword onto his outfit then placing the backpack in front of him.
"Lets see what I grabbed." Whispered Castiel as he pulled the zip back and burrowing through it. A water bottle for a litres worth of water, a pack of dried fruit, various nuts and seeds, a sleeping bag and throwing needles. Castiel sighed slightly in relief with the good haul he got, the food to ration and the bottle to fill, once he finds some water.
He handled the needles gently and looked at them, the weight and sharpness of the needle would easily puncture vital points in a human or an animal, another thing useful for hunting. If Castiel was actually any good at hunting animals, which he wasn't.
He swiftly packed everything away and lowered himself from the tree in silence before carrying on his trek for water. His eyes and ears open for any threats that could be nearby and his hand hovering over the handle of his sword, he will need to learn to hunt, and quick if he wanted a small chance of surviving and not dying from hunger.
Castiel couldn't help but think on how the Tiger-Boy was coping already, whether he got to the Cornucopia, or whether he's already been killed at the sound of the canon booming in the background. Weirdly enough, all Castiel could hope is that the boy is alive and he will bump into him, but not to die.
—
Dean wasted no time in speeding off when the countdown ended, his eyes forward and forward only, concentrated on getting the weapon and backpack and from there on in he would sort himself out. But he couldn't lose, and he knew his anger was unbalanced, his rashness posing a potential threat to his own well being during the games.
Once he reached the Cornucopia he grabbed whatever looked like would aid him, including a pack of throwing knives, a double edged spear and a dark blue backpack. He turned to his side, his eyes quickly taking in the people around him and made use of the throwing knives instantly, flinging one into a 15 year old boys temple who was close to him, most likely from District 11. Dean watched him fall to the ground empty handed and followed him down, retrieving the knife, wiping it clean before disappearing into the green as the canon sounded.
1 down and 23 more to go in Dean's eyes, he wasn't here to make friends, allies or to even care about what would happen when he killed someone. He couldn't let his own emotions overtake him in this game, the only way to win was to be tactical and merciless.
After a short sprint and the Cornucopia was shrinking behind him, he rested somewhere that just looked the same as everywhere else, the same green dense area full of trees and animal life. Dean found two water bottles, beef strips and a few slices of bread along with a thick looking jacket, hopefully to keep him warm at night.
Dean slung the backpack over his shoulders, secured his weapons and slowly moved out again, looking for food, shelter, water and anyone else to fight. His eyes picked up the area pretty quickly, learning which trees were what and which plants he could potentially eat, though he avoided the berries in fear he would mistake a blueberry for a poison-berry, since they looked almost identical.
He moved through the green more and heard a shuffling among the grass, leaves crunching under the other things movement. Dean moved slowly, creeping as quietly as possible until he saw a small rabbit sat eating on a patch of grass, Deans presence unknown to it. Dean held his breath and drew out a throwing knife, aiming himself and letting his adrenaline shake settle. His thoughts drew back to when he hunts, his eyes locked onto his target and Dean's arm lifting silently ready to throw.
Suddenly the rabbit dashed off into the green and Dean's mind refocused, he turned to see an arrow flying towards his head. He ducked quickly and rolled, following the projection line from where it came from. The trees. Dean cursed and retracted his knives before smoothly pulling out his spear and holding himself defensively, his position vulnerable right now.
"Come out and fight you sneaky son of a bitch!" Dean growled out, his spear still held close to his body. Another arrow flew out from his left, his body reacted instantly, the spear coming up and easily rebounding it only to have another one shot at his feet. Dean felt himself relax a little, whoever has the bow and arrow wasn't an expert and was still getting used to the weapon whilst a spear was like an extension of his arm to Dean.
"Big mistake." Dean turned towards where the arrows came from and shot the spear into the area, a yell of pain crying out from the trees before a body fell, a 14 year old girl falling from the tree, the spear going straight through her shoulder and her torso already covered in blood.
The hunter felt his heart twinge a little at the sight of someone who looked so young in such a state, he shook the guilt away and yanked out the spear, another cry emerging from the young girls lips. "I'm sorry, it's just how to play the game."
The spear came down once more and for the second time today, Dean caused the canon to boom throughout the arena.