Disclaimer & note: I don't own any character except for Johnny and Rye. I kept playing on the bread idea. Johnny is like Johnnycake and Rye is just rye haha. The other characters belong to the brilliant Suzanne Collins :) All the quotes that involve Peeta hearing Katniss and all is the work of Ms. Collins NOT me.
Stepping off the plate before a whole minute passes and we blow up. Literally. We're all positioned in a circle, equidistant from the Cornucopia. The Cornucopia has all the supplies we need to survive, from knives to packs of fruit to matches. I get the side view, which is not good, because most of the good stuff is inside the Cornucopia. But that doesn't mean I can't get a weapon quickly. As you get closer to the Cornucopia, the prizes to collect become distinctly better. For example, a spear tip lies just a few yards in front of me, but a bunch of spears lie, tips and all, just inside the mouth of the Cornucopia.
All of us tributes seem to be standing on a field of short grass, flat, offering no means of concealment. Of course. This is the beginning of the Games, the Bloodbath, murder hotspot. You can't hide here, not now, not ever. A few tributes to my left there appears to be a drop in the land, like a cliff or some kind of extremely steep slope that looks impossible to climb. Across from me, there's a lake. I immediately wonder if the water there is safe to drink. It'd be an excellent way to get water, but it's in plain view. Behind and the right of me is a forest. The concentration of trees gets greater as you move further. I think I'll just get supplies and await instructions from my fellow allies.
I glance over at Cato. He catches my glance and gives me a knowing grin. I smile back and he motions to the Cornucopia, indicating that I am to collect supplies instead of running away. I nod and he gives me another grin. Sword, he mouths. He's going for the sword. I nod. I look over at my other allies, the other Careers. Marvel appears intent on a bunch of spears just inside the mouth of the Cornucopia, but glances up at me. I nod toward the spears and he makes a number one on each of his hands. Half and half. I nod eagerly and he gives me a decidedly evil, smug smile. Clove's chin is jutted out confidently and she glances at a jacket which no doubt contains knives. I nod my head at the spears that Marvel and I are going after. She looks at a girl three plates to my left and makes a slit throat motion. I recognize her as the girl from District 5, Finch, with distinguishing red hair. Already, Clove is making targets. I shrug and eye the boy next to her, the boy from 6. Glimmer gets my attention. Then, she makes a bow and arrow motion. I stifle a laugh. Her overestimation will get her killed. She can barely shoot those, but I fake a smile. She glances at the District 5 boy. I give her a small grin.
Next, I cough and Cato looks over at me, along with pretty much all of the other tributes, as they're dead silent. When most of them look away, I glance at the boy from 6. Cato glares at the girl from 7. In agreement, I look at Marvel and he catches my stare. He nods his head at the District 5 girl, and I shake my head. I look at Clove. Marvel appears to curse and looks at the District 7 boy. I nod.
The District 4 girl tries to get my attention but I ignore her because we only have a little more than ten seconds to prepare. I don't really care much about her, as she's not particularly strong-looking and didn't have much of a memorable score in training. I think she only got a seven?
I'm getting ready for the sprint to the Cornucopia and catch sight of Katniss, who's in the same position as me. I look around the Cornucopia to see what she's staring at. Then I see it, the set of the silver bow and the arrows. The quiver appears to hold maybe twenty three arrows, probably one for each tribute. The same one Glimmer was and must still be eying. She lifts her face to look at mine and I shake my head. She looks a bit confused, even though my message is clear as day: don't go for the bounty.
Suddenly the gong sounds and I sprint for the spears. Accidentally, I slam into Marvel as we reach for the spears and roll a few feet away from our goal. We both get up quickly and Marvel grabs a spear, ready to throw. At me.
"Whoa, hold up," I say.
"I thought we had an agreement," he says angrily.
"Alright, I'm sorry. How was I supposed to know we were going to slam into each other?" I say reasonably. "Just keep your end of the deal."
"Fine," Marvel says, tossing me half the spears. Suddenly, the boy from District 8 slams into Marvel. Marvel appears to struggle a bit, as the boy has a knife in his hand. I rush forward and am about to spear him with one of my spears, when a knife whizzes by my and impales itself in the boy's head. Marvel and I look up just in time to catch Clove's wicked smile before she turns around to chase the boy from 9, who's trying to run away with a backpack.
I hand Marvel an extra spear and apologize. He runs off into the battles raging aroun us. The world has erupted into chaos. I see tributes hacking away at each other and look for a target. Some tributes have fled into the forest or toward the sloping part of the arena. Cato is hacking away with his dream sword at the girl from 10. Glimmer is tumbling around with the girl from 3. Glimmer appears to stab her with an arrow in the leg. Glimmer gets up, leaving the girl moaning, unable to escape, and Glimmer moves on to help Cato with the girl from 10. District 5's boy kills the girl from District 9. The girl from 6 is already lying dead on the ground, as well as the boy from 9, due to Clove's superior knife-throwing. I turn away from the dead bodies and aim my spear at the boy from 6, who's about to disappear into the forest, but lower my weapon as he trips when the boy from 5 tackles him. He kicks him swiftly in the face and stomach. The boy from 6 is finished by the bag of apples that he slams into his skull. I never thought that a bag of apples could be a murder weapon. Then without hesitation, I release my spear and it pierces his back. Any chance of survival for him is gone. Bye bye, District 5's boy tribute. I feel a bit of heaviness for killing someone, but I have no time to spend worrying.
I drop my spears and tackle the boy from 7, who's picking up some knives nearby. We're rolling around a bit, and he punches me full in the face around three times. Now I'm the one on the bottom. He cuts my arm with a small knife, not unlike one of Clove's. I wrestle with him, as I am rather good at that. On top again, I punch him in the arms. However, he manages to turn the tables on me again. He has a weapon. Therefore, he has the advantage. He makes a gash in my arm and is about to slit my throat when his blood spatters in my face. I look up and the boy from 4 has stabbed him with a sword that looks extremely heavy in his arm. He looks at me and drops his sword. I remember he's one of my allies, from a Career district. Without notice, he lashes out and kicks me in the leg. My legs buckle beneath me and I collapse in pain.
The girl from 7 saves me, punching him in the face. Cato and Glimmer's stand before me and they both finish off the boy from 4, the traitor, as the girl from 4 kills the screaming girl from District 7, which I think is rather unfair, as she just saved my life.
"Traitor!" Cato spits in the boy from 4's face, before slashing at his arm. In one, neat slice, the boy has lost the ability to use his sword. Glimmer viciously punches him in the stomach until he collapses like I did. Cato picks him up like he weighs nothing and tosses him a few yards away, where he lands on his head, with a sickening crunch. Even though I can't see his face, I know what sight awaits. Unblinking eyes, staring at nothing, because he has just been killed brutally.
Clove and Marvel join us. Clove complains that the girl she had targeted Finch from District 5, hadn't even gone to the Cornucopia, running straight like a rocket into the woods. The tributes not killed by the brutal Careers have definitely fled toward the forest or toward the cliff-like drop-off. Cato helps me up a bit and I find myself somewhat limping. He relieves me from collecting duty, telling me to make sure I'm fit to run, as we'll be hunting tributes. Since the action is all gone and past now, I take to chance to jog near the drop-off and gaze at the view. There appears to be a field of grass and other dry plants, concealing anybody that could be hiding in them. They sway in the wind slightly and I immediately think that it wouldn't be so bad to hide in the field. There could be snakes, though, hidden dangers that a person can't even see from above. I turn away hastily.
Suddenly, a flash of moment catches my eye, the glint of the sun against silver near the ground at my feet. The girl from District Three is still alive. She grabs my more injured leg and I stumble, my face slamming to the ground before I can even make a sound. Cato hears the thump when I was forced to the ground and he snaps her neck before she can even defend herself. He helps me up for the second time in less than ten minutes and steadies me, as my leg seems to be rather unresponsive.
As my allies collect empty bottles, backpacks, weapons, and other items, a cannon boom interrupts us. The cannons signal deaths. There are ten more booms that follow and I blank out on those who died. There are thirteen kids left in the arena. Already gone in a matter of minutes, innocent lives for some stupid entertainment. But I know there's nothing I can do.
I think about the dead tributes and freak out, thinking of Katniss. Did she run into the Bloodbath when I told her not to? She can't possibly be dead! My whole goal would be gone. I would have no reason to live. I start to tremble a bit and have trouble breathing.
We all move away from most of the dead bodies, as a hovercraft appears and starts to take bodies. I don't recognize any of them as Katniss, and I feel like I can breathe again, with pure oxygen in my lungs.
Then, I catch snippets of Clove's rampage as I stare at the hovercraft and regain my breath. "Fire Girl just ran off and I had to come back for more knives! When I turned back around, she was gone!"
"Do we have to keep Peeta as an ally?" The girl from 4 asks. "We can't trust him, can we?"
"'Course we can't trust him!" Glimmer says a bit too loudly. They glance over at me, but I immediately look at the cut on my arm, which is actually bleeding heavily. I grab a backpack near me and locate a bandage. I stick it on my arm and the blood seems to slow.
"He slammed into me in the beginning! I think on purpose too!" Marvel says.
"I'm sure it was an accident. I mean, you were both heading for the spears. He's good at throwing spears and knives, Marvel. He's strong, actually, too. And he's our best bet of findin' Fire Girl, too! Maybe she actually believed him in his whole love act!" Cato tells them. The group laughs loudly.
They're playing me as I'm playing them... No problem, I'll manipulate them to trust me. I won't lead them to kill Katniss, though.
"Hey, Lover Boy!" Cato shouts, suddenly. I look up at him, which makes more laughter erupt. "He even knows his name too! Haha, come over here and join the party!"
I walk over to them, limping somewhat. "What's up, Cato?" I ask daringly.
"You didn't actually mean all that stupidness at the interviews did you?" Cato asks me, seriousness replacing the humor that was on his face previously.
"Nah," I say, mentally hoping the audience knew I was lying. "But I think she believes the lie!"
They all laugh and slap me on the back, congratulating me.
"Any idea where she could be?" Glimmer asks, seemingly integrating it gradually into the conversation.
"This early in the Game? No idea. I know she's alright with knives, but I don't think she's amazing like you are, Clove. It's a wonder she's survived so long!" I tell them, lying as much as possible.
They laugh for a while. Then, Clove grabs a tent that she scavenged from the remaining supplies and announces she's going to heads off with the girls to make camp near the lake. Marvel, Cato, and I check for the last of the supplies.
"I found more arrows for Glimmer," I say loudly after grabbing a few silver arrows that are strewn on the grass, caked in blood, a few meters away from the golden Cornucopia. I wipe the blood off with my shirt and wave them proudly in Marvel's direction.
"More spears for us as well," Marvel shouts, closer to the Cornucopia than me.
"Good," Cato replies. "Oooh! I found another sword. What do you think?" He pops out of the Cornucopia, slicing the air viciously with a gleeful grin. Only killing machines like him can take such joy in this kind of event.
"Perfect," I say. "Keep both your swords."
"Two more spears," reports Marvel. "I have two spears left. You, Peeta?"
"I have five left," I tell him.
"Give me one," Marvel demands, even though the distribution won't be equal. Better not to get into a fight with him about it.
I toss him one anyway and watch Cato lug crate after crate of survival items, probably containing food. Marvel and I help Cato carry them to the camp, which is by the lake.
Glimmer returns from setting up the camp as I carry the last barrel of supplies to our resting point. Marvel and Cato follow behind, talking to Glimmer. Clove joins them, glaring at Glimmer. I wonder what that could possibly be about. The girl from District Four comes over to me and introduces herself as Sal, short for Salmon because it was her parents' favorite fish which she thinks is an utterly stupid name. I stifle a laugh when I learn her name. As if Glimmer wasn't already a ridiculous name. She threatens to kill me if I ever call her Salmon and I assure her that I won't. Sal and I have walked around the lake a bit, so it takes us a few minutes to rejoin the others. Cato brags about what he has found inside the Cornucopia. The pile mostly consists of weapons: a few new swords, plenty of knives for Clove's collection, a quiver of arrows for Glimmer. Crates are opened to reveal food and other minor items. Clove, Glimmer, and Sal have done a good job setting up the camp, putting up a tent for us. However, I'm not sure we'll do much sleeping here in the arena. We'll definitely be picking off stray tributes, as we are the strong pack of the arena. Others fear us above all.
We sit around in the tent and blankets we set up for camp. Night falls around us as the Careers go down their list of kills. They play with their weapons, Clove spinning her knives on her fingers and Cato hacking blades of tall grass. I fix up my cuts and grab a bandage from one of the crates to stop the blood from my arm. The cut in my arm doesn't look terribly deep, but a lot of blood seems to be pooling out, courtesy of our friend, the traitor of District 4. The bandage is soon soaked, but the bleeding seems to have stopped. My face feels bruised and I have a limp, but I'm still alive.
I relax on the grass, worrying about Katniss as the temperature drops rapidly. Soon, Sal grabs some thin blankets from a nearby crate and distributes them. She announces that the blankets won't be helpful when it truly gets colder, but it's all we can do for now. Soon, the anthem starts playing and although it's cold, we can't help but crawl out of the tent to watch the death recap. The sky shows the dead tributes of the day in district order and we all look up expectantly.
It'd take a long time to count who's dead and who's still barely surviving, so I decide to watch the count as well. First comes the girl from District Three. I suppose that means the boy from 3 has managed to flee and survive the Bloodbath. I glance at the image of the girl sympathetically, but my thoughts are on Katniss. For sure, none of my allies have killed her, but how is she holding up? What will she think of the death toll? Will she think I killed any of these innocent kids? Next comes the boy from District 4, the traitor that tried to kill me. Cato and my other allies let out a hoot of laughter at that, but deep inside, they were probably calling themselves idiots for teaming up with a traitor. The boy from District 5 shows up next. His district partner, Finch, escaped before Clove could get her, so Clove throws her knives angrily at the ground in the current moment. The boys and girls from District 6 and 7 flash by, as well as the boy from District 8 and the two from District 9. Ten kids so far and I tense, hoping it wasn't the little girl from District 11, Rue, who followed Katniss and me in practice. She is so young and innocent looking; I bet she can't even kill any of the tributes even with a knife as a weapon. She'd look silly with a sword and pretty much any other weapon. Above all, I'm sure she has to be the smallest, most innocent, and scared tribute in the arena. Of course, I would hope even more that Katniss isn't the other dead tribute. Something tells me that her life is what makes me useful to the Careers and of course, she's who matters the most to me, although the feeling most probably isn't mutual. After the slightest of hesitations, the last tribute's picture is shown. The girl from District Ten.
"Alright, allies!" Cato shouts. "Eleven are dead. That means only thirteen left to kill. Well, twelve because of yourself." He doesn't even bother to mention the subtracted number of our group. I know he will kill us all to survive. It's implied very clearly. He doesn't even have to say it.
"Can we go hunting, Cato? And I mean for tributes, not game." Glimmer shouts. "We already have a bunch of supplies gathered. No one's going to take too much from us."
"Let's do it!" Cato shouts. "Alright, everyone grab your weapons and whatever else you need. We'll be gone until around morning! I don't think anyone will steal our supplies. They know we're searching for them. They're all hiding." I even know it to be true. Everyone's already deep in the woodsy forest or the field of grasses in the other direction.
I grab my spears and a few apples, a water bottle. Enough supplies to last me for the night. Weapons are grabbed, but Cato buries a special sword deep in the supplies to make sure nothing happens to girls grab sleeping bags for all of us to use, light enough to store in our backpacks that we picked up from the remaining supplies after the Bloodbath. Apparently, two pairs of night-vision goggles were found in a backpack and Cato and Clove put them on, leading the pack. They also grab flashlights, making torches for the rest of us.
We head toward the vast, dark forest with only our determination and each other for company. My allies make as much noise as they choose. We're the predators that our prey is terrified of. No one is going to be hunting down the hunters. After tromping through the outskirts of the forest, Marvel suggests we move further in and we do.
Along the way, Clove and Cato make jokes about the horrible things they're going to do to some tributes. They already seem a little wacked. Sal soon complains that we've walked too long, so we settle down, not building a fire, just sitting. Suddenly, we see smoke building up toward the sky, somewhere near. Glimmer screams in glee and the others all jump in excitement, killing another tribute.
It's the girl from District 8. She's made a fire to keep warm and she screams as Cato stabs her somewhere near her stomach with a knife. We search through her backpack, but there's nothing good in the pack, just a water bottle and some food. Laughing, my allies skip away and I reluctantly follow them. We walk a few yards, but when we don't hear the cannon, Cato starts to feel nervous.
"Shouldn't we have heard a cannon by now?" Clove asks.
"I'd say yes. Nothing to prevent them from going in immediately," Marvel replies.
"Unless she isn't dead," Glimmer says.
"She's dead. I stuck her myself," Cato shouts, angrily.
"Then where's the cannon?" Glimmer asks impatiently.
"Someone should go back. Make sure the job's done," Sal yells at the others.
"Yeah, we don't want to track her down twice," Clove answers.
"I said she's dead!" Cato shouts again.
Everyone's fighting, yelling at each other. It's all chaotic, so I make my voice rise above the others. ""We're wasting time! I'll go finish her off and let's move on!"
AN: HAHA! Finally changed + done!