I tried to upload a map to my profile, but it didn't allow pictures. Instead, the map will be my avatar for a week or so. You have to go onto my profile to see it at its largest, it might not be actually showing for a day, and it still might not be that visible. I tried, okay? Effort is what counts.

Yay! The games have begun! Let the interesting stuff begin too.


I wake up to the sound of a door slamming down the hall. Good thing too, because just as I wake up the television has just switched to the first glimpse of the arena. I leap off of the couch and into a swivel chair in front of the bank of screens. From above, the arena appears to be one huge circular island. In the very center is the cornucopia, which is surrounded by tall grasses. The grass is on average chest to shoulder height and the field is about ½ mile across. Once you are outside of the grass field, ½ of the outer circle is a savannah- short grass with the occasional tree or rock every 300 yards or so. In the middle of the savannah coastline, there is an indent in the island. The water there is fresh and drinkable, and, equal to the edge of the arena, is a small island. On the left side edge of the savannah are giant boulder piles and caves stretching around the edge until the end of the savannah. The other half of the island is half forest and half a plateau. The plateau has a giant rock face and more forest at the top. There only appears to be one path up and it is at the very back of the forest and hard to find. The day is sunny and warm, and it does not at all seem like a place about to be marked with the deaths of 23 young children.

Even as I finish taking a look at the arena, the tributes are already rising from the ground. One second there is nothing because the grass is so tall, then suddenly there is a person rising out of the yellowish ground. It is kind of creepy. The voice of Claudius Templesmith echoes off the rocky cliff face and blasts the tributes' ears.

"Ladies and Gentleman, let the 25th Huger Games begin!"

60 seconds of tensely watching the anxious, determined, nervous, or scared tributes observe their surroundings, and then the gong rings out. The games have begun.


Ripple is located in front of the cliff face, directly across from the island that is just barely visible from the cornucopia. I see her frown at how small the arena is when they cameras flick to the face of every individual tribute in turn for a few seconds. I guess that the interviews were enough to make the Capital realize that a large arena would have made the games drag on forever as all the tributes hid for the whole time. So instead, they chose a last minute arena about 4 miles across total that would have the tributes practically tripping over each other. Better to finish it fast.

Rayth is 7 tributes to Ripple's left, and he is eyeing a large net folded up at the front of the cornucopia, conveniently placed right next to a pile of knives. I can tell immediately that he is not leaving the bloodbath without them. His height will bring him an advantage in the tall grass too.

The gong rings out and, like I suspected, Rayth dives right in and sprints towards the cornucopia to get the knives and net. Ripple, on the other hand, drops flat and seems to disappear into the grass. Instantly she is invisible from the sides, only visible from the top like I am watching. Even then she is only a spot of dark green and black (the tribute clothing-just simple pants and a tee-shirt) slipping through the grass.

I look away from the screen on the right that is showing Ripple, and look to the main feed to see what is going on around the cornucopia. I turn on the sound and am blasted with the sounds of children yelling, screaming, and the loud clash of weapons. Rayth has grabbed his net and two knives and shoved them into his belt. He is fighting off the girl from 8, who managed to grab a knife also. Her fighting is poor, and she weakly attempts to stab at Rayth. He grabs her wrist with one hand, and yanks the knife out of her hand with the other. I half expect him to stab her with it, but at the last minute he flips it around and instead slams her in the temple with the butt of the knife, knocking her out cold. She slumps to the ground and disappears into the grass. There is no point in sparing her life, and I wonder why he did it. If she's unconscious, she will be dead instantly when the careers make the round to look at the bodies after the fighting is done. He might as well have killed her. I shake my head and wonder again at how little I know about him.

He takes the third knife he got from the girl in his hand and uses it to force his way through the mass of fighting kids, slashing but without actually touching anyone. After a minute he leaves the crowd and runs the ¼ mile to the edge of the grasses. He stops at the edge and surveys his options of where to go. He takes the most obvious option and disappears into the forest directly in front of him.

I take a glance at Ripple's screen and notice that she has made her way out of the grasses also. However, she chooses to go into the savannah where there is virtually no cover. Not the smartest idea, but there is nothing I can do about it. I do breathe a sigh of relief though when I realize that both my tributes are safe, at least for now. But that still may change.


Night comes upon the arena to see both tributes resting underneath trees on their own to watch the death recap. I know that there will be no shortage of deaths, for after Ripple and Rayth left it went very quickly. Kids began falling with cries of pain on every side, and only about half of them made it out, some running off into the savannah like ripple, but mostly into the forest. The career pack formed very quickly also, and they were mostly responsible for the deaths. I was right, and when they found with difficulty in the grass the girl from eight's unconscious body, they didn't even hesitate before slitting her throat with the swords, spears, and knives they found in the cornucopia.

The anthem plays, and the first face to appear is the girl from 5. Following are both from 6, the girl from 8, both from 9, the boy from 10, both from 11, and the girl from 12. 10 deaths in total. Not bad considering what I had expected, but still not lacking either. Ripple and Rayth both watch solemnly, then Rayth goes to sleep. Ripple however, hasn't gone through the small pack she escaped the cornucopia with. Inside there is not much, but it is all she really needs. A small blanket, a big bag of beef jerky, and a full canteen of water. She pulls out the blanket and packs the rest back into the bag. She rolls up in the blanket to keep out the chill night air, then goes to sleep.


A major perk of the control room is the tribute alarm. It is like an alarm clock, except it only goes off when your tribute is in danger or meets someone or something. That way, single mentors can go to sleep and be woken up when something interesting is happening. This will be my first year using it since Hawken died, so first I push the test button in the side to make sure it works. A shrill beeping noise explodes out of the device and I fall backwards out of my chair in surprise. I lie there on the floor for a moment, and then I burst out laughing. Maybe the day has taken its toll on me, or maybe I'm just going crazy, but either way I can't stop laughing until the mentors from 9 bang on my door and yell at me to 'Shut off the dang clock thing and shut up'. I swallow my next burst of laughter and stumble to my feet to turn it off. I press the test button again to turn off the alarm, and then activate it for the night. I flop onto the couch and realize I haven't had anything to eat since breakfast, but before I can order something I fall asleep.

All across the arena, the tributes are doing the same thing. Only 1 tribute stays awake, and that is the boy from 2, who is on watch for the careers. If only he knew that he was the only one. Then he could join everyone else. But instead, he stares out into the night of the forest, forever unaware of how truly pointless his life is turning out to be. Yet another pawn of the Capital In their seemingly endless games of death.