7th Annual Hunger Games
Cowrie Menedith- District 4
Cowrie Mededith held none of the advantages had previously had. She was not physically strong, not skilled with a particular weapon, and knew nothing of how to survive. She was raised by a wealthy family in the richest part of District Four. An au pair had cared for her since she was little, so she hardly knew her parents. But she had several servants, luxurious meals, and a huge mansion that she called home. Her upbringing did not bring to mind the childhood of a Hunger Games victor...however Cowrie was not a normal Hunger Games victor.
She was fifteen when reaped, and she only had four slips in the reaping bowl. Cowrie was shocked when it turned out she was chosen as the tribute from District Four. The odds had been in her favor, but yet, she was still picked.
In the Capitol, she was taken to her luxurious room. Other than a few new appliances and electronics, it was similar to her home in District Four. Cowrie didn't care. She resigned to dying in the Games and losing to her strong competitors. She cried herself to sleep that night.
The next morning she awoke and went down to the giant gym for training. She only did so to appease the Gamemakers; she was terrified of the sharp weapons and didn't want to go near them. However, when she arrived, the Gamemakers had a new announcement.
Because about half of tributes die from natural causes in the Games, they would make a new rule to help stop this from happening. Sponsoring would be started: a system that would allow citizens of Panem to buy supplies for tributes as well as weapons, food and water. Items would be delivered by parachute during the Games by the tributes' mentor. If the tribute did not have a mentor, a Gamemaker would be assigned to them to help determine when the supplies should be delivered.
Cowrie was elated. Now she felt she had a chance. Once she finished with training (after using some basic blunt weapons like nunchucks instead of swords), she went to see her mentor, Sanus. This was his first year as mentor, so he was fairly inexperienced. Cowrie told Sanus her plan of hiding the whole Games and receiving his aid when need be. He advised against it, instead telling her to get as many allies as possible, because that's how he won. However, Cowrie thought it too risky, and went in alone.
The first day arrived. Cowrie rose into the arena terrified. She had no allies and no real strategy. She really had no outdoor experience at all. All of the confidence she felt yesterday evaporated in the morning sun.
The gong went off and the Games began. Cowrie instantly fled the Cornucopia and into the nearby woods. The arena that year was on a mountain, with the Cornucopia near the top and the whole rest of the mountain ready for the tributes to explore/kill each other.
Nineteen tributes ran in for supplies. However, they found only weapons. The Gamemakers had put no food in the Cornucopia at all, leaving the tributes to fight for things like matches and water bottles instead. Since there were so many weapons, eight tributes died, including Cowrie's district partner.
Meanwhile, Cowrie was sprinting down the slightly steep slope as fast as she could go, desperate to escape the tributes behind her. She tripped a few times in the forest, but overall she was fine. That night, she camped out by a fallen tree. She had no water, no food, and no shelter. Needless to say, it was the worst night of her life.
Her parents were frantically donating as much money as possible for Cowrie's cause. The sponsor gifts were cheap when compared to what they spent on their house or their servants, and they wanted their daughter back more than some of those things. So when Cowrie woke up, she found a small feast floating down from above just for her, a gift from Sanus.
For the next three days, Cowrie survived only on her sponsor gifts. And she had many. Other tributes had some too, but nearly as many as she did. The only people who paid for their gifts were their families or friends. Most of the tributes came from poor households, so they had little wealth. However, the sponsors were very helpful in lending water when a tribute was thirsty or something small like matches or rope. Every little thing made a difference.
As was the norm for the last few Games, an alliance of five tributes had taken over the Cornucopia. The only problem was, they had no food. Just weapons. So, on the fourth day when their sponsor gifts ran out, they headed off into the wilderness to try and kill some tributes to make the Games end sooner.
Even with the sponsor gifts, tributes were still running out of food. Starvation was common, however dehydration wasn't an issue due to the many rivers and streams in the arena. By Day 5, one more tribute was dead and almost all of the others were slowly starving to death.
On Day 6, Cowrie headed to the Cornucopia, knowing that the alliance had ditched it. It was a hard day's journey up the mountain but she made it. At dusk on Day 6, she found the top of the mountain and camped out inside the giant golden statue. She survived on her sponsor rations for the next few days. A few tributes came by to steal some weapons, but she simply hid from them in the surrounding woods. She avoided fights at all cost because she knew that they would leave her defeated.
On Day 12, with eleven tributes left alive, a feast was announced to take place the following day at the Cornucopia. Cowrie instantly knew she needed to flee. She packed up her food and even took a few knives with her as she escaped the scene. She walked in the forest for a few hours and made camp in a thicket of trees.
Day 13: the feast. Five tributes died in the fight for food. Cowrie was close enough to the battle to hear the screams of the dying as well as the cannons. During the feast, the large alliance turned on one another in the savage fight, leaving only two left alive from those allied together. With the alliance gone, Cowrie now stood a decent chance.
Unfortunately for her, her chances worsened on Day 16. She had moved back to the Cornucopia where she was hiding from the remaining five tributes. Again, she ate the sponsor food. However, her parents stopped sending money. They simply could not bear to sell their house or jewelry to help their daughter survive. Cowrie was on her own.
A day passed by with no more food. Cowrie became distraught once she realized that nothing more was coming. She had no way to find food in the wild by herself. Even though she had made it to the final six, she was going no further...at least, that's what she thought.
On Day 19, after days of no food to make her weak and desperate, Cowrie heard something in the forest. She hid in the Cornucopia as two tributes approached: the boy and girl from District 11. They had come to collect weapons to fight with. But Cowrie didn't care about that; she only saw the packs of food strapped to their backs.
As they walked closer and closer to the Cornucopia, Cowrie waited. She had a knife, but that was it. What she was about to do was something she had never done before. She was sick with nervousness. But it was the Hunger Games after all, and there were no rules.
The boy was picking out a spear when Cowrie attacked. She leapt out from behind the giant golden horn and stabbed him in the back while he wasn't looking. He cried out in pain as he collapsed. The girl from 11 heard him and shot an arrow at Cowrie. She ducked and then sprinted towards her rival and attacked. Thankfully for Cowrie, her knife hit the girl from Eleven's neck. She fell to the ground and started to drown in her own blood. Meanwhile the boy had already died. The cannons were a relief to Cowrie, who was traumatized by what she had done.
The next five days were easy for Cowrie. She had plenty of food from her kills and only three other opponents. By Day 24, all of them had starved to death and Cowrie was the victor. She returned home to District Four to parents that stopped paying for her because their material possessions were more important than their daughter's life. And even though she had money and fame, nothing would ever erase the horrors she had been through. She had plenty of money but nothing to live for. Cowrie's life may as well have ended in the arena.
The Seventh Hunger Games are finished. The odds were in Cowrie Menedith's favor...twenty three other were not as lucky...
I just wanted to say thank you to all of you who have followed/favorited/reviewed this story! The response has been very positive so far which is awesome for me! You can suggest a character or arena if you want to contribute more, it's always appreciated! If you like this fanfic, check out my other stories or even the community I made. Thanks so much and I hope you enjoy the future chapters!
TO BE CONTINUED: Panem is shocked when the words, "I volunteer as tribute" are first uttered.
