Ladies and Gentlemen, let the games begin…
Heather's POV…
When I awoke, Alejandro wasn't there. Probably snuck out of my room while I slept. Instead, I find Haymitch, Aunt Katniss, Uncle Peeta, Aunt Madge, and my mother in my room. Haymitch, Aunt Madge, and Uncle Peeta were talking quietly. Aunt Katniss was fiddling with the bed sheet. And my mom was staring at me.
"It's time to get ready, Feather." Mom said quietly. I mustered up the best smile I could and nod. After dressing in the most simple outfit possible and I'm lead out into the dining area for breakfast. No one talks, not even my Uncle Peeta. After that, it's just our final good-byes to our families.
Obviously, I hug my mom first, and Alejandro hugs Alexander. Tearfully I might add. There are no words spoken between us, because we know what's has to be said has already been said.
Next, I hug Aunt Madge. She tells me the exact same thing Maysilee told me: "You're a very pretty girl! Just bat those eyelashes, wave to a few people, and smile: then you'll have the people of the Capitol eating out of the palm of your hand." I smile weakly and tell her I'll do my best.
Alexander and I shake hands and share a quick hug, just as Alejandro did with my other relatives and mother, he smiles at me and tells me three simple words: You'll be fine.
Then, I hug my Uncle Peeta. He smiles. "Heather, you're the new girl on fire now. Can you live up to that name?" I can't find the words to speak so I only nod.
Finally, I reach my Aunt Katniss. I hug her longest of all. Second only to my Mother. She kisses my hair. "Get a bow, get to safety, stay away from the bloodbath, and surprises come from everywhere. Got it?" She asks me.
"Got it!" I nod.
Haymitch wraps his arms around both of us, Alejandro and me, and we're led to the roof. Where the hovercraft has taken off from for the past ten years. He turns to Alejandro.
"Alright Spanish man, you're golden. You know what you're gonna do. You're good." He hugs him. "Good luck, kid." With that. Alejandro smiles and walks to the hovercraft. Haymitch turns to me.
"You," He points a finger at me threateningly but smiles kindly. "Are exactly like your Aunt I every way possible." Me and him hug briefly before he whispers "Find water, fast!" And sends me off.
Once on the hovercraft, I see their faces.
The Careers. Justin is smirking at me; Dakota seems to care less about me; Duncan who just rolls his eyes at my presence; Courtney who glares at me due to what I did to her in training; and Finally Bridgette. Sweet, sweet Bridgette. She smiles kindly at me and nods.
Izzy is firing off odd words at a mile a minute. She waves at me then goes back to whatever she was doing before.
Cameron, Katie, and DJ seem terrified to death about this situation.
The boy from ten, whose name I still don't know, nods at me.
Finally, the alliance I'm invited to join in. Dawn, Scott, Mike, and Zoey. They smile at me as I take a seat next to Zoey and across from the boy from four.
This is the first time; I take a good look at the boy from four. He's young. Probably fourteen. Shaggy blonde hair. Tan skin. And ice blue eyes.
"Hand me your arm, Miss Hawthorne." A peacekeeper tells me. She doesn't wait for an answer. She doesn't wait for answer. She grabs my arm.
"What's that?" I ask.
"It's your tracker." A sharp stab of pain goes into my arm
Awhile after take-off, the windows close. Suggesting we're near our destination. After landing, I'm escorted into the catacombs. I enter my room; I'll be the only one to ever use this room. I find Cinnia is already there. After showering and brushing my teeth, he braids my hair into its signature look. Then he helps me into my outfit.
He has no say in it. Same for every tribute.
Simple tawny pants, moss green blouse, six-inch padded belt covered in shiny brown plastic, a hooded black jacket that falls to my thighs. Cinnia smoothes out the jacket and says: "This jacket will reflect heat, expect some pretty chill nights." Skin-tight black sock. And the boots. Oh, the boots! They're made of soft leather, very similar to my ones at home, and the soles are made of flexible rubber. Excellent for running
Then, I think I ready, when Cinnia pulls out the Mockingjay Pin.
"Thank You, Cinnia. For everything." I say as I hug him. He hugs back and kisses my temple.
"All tributes report to the launch pad. All tributes report to the launch pad." A male voice says. Cinnia leads me over to the launch pad and smiles.
"Even though I can't bet, I'd bet on you." Is the last thing he says to me before the glass slides down. He lifts his chin high, his way of telling me to do the same. I think all is going well. I'm about to go into the games. I feel pretty confident I'll make it out. Hell, I could win!
That's the last thing I think about before the peacekeepers burst into the room and start to whack Cinnia upside the head with spiked mallets.
"CINNIA! STOP! STOP, NO PLEASE, STOP!" I shout just as the plates begin to move.
President McClean.
The first thing to come to my mind is that he arranged this thing purposely. To throw me off. He succeeded.
The image of Cinnia's blood everywhere haunts my thoughts. The only thing that snaps me out of my thoughts is the combined smell of salt water and pine trees.
I have arrived in my biggest nightmare.
Sierra's POV…
"Oh my…" Are the only words that escape Effie's throat as we get our first glimpse of the arena.
A medium sized Island surround by relatively small Islands, a wooden "Dock" type of thing, two cabins are just a couple yards away from the cornucopia, a dense forest, mountains, and a large hill at one edge of the island. A cliff more like it and at the bottom, pointed rocks. I notice a sign at the edge of the dock. It says to simple words: Camp Wawanakwa. Each tribute is standing on plates in the water. I notice the Cornucopia's goods are spread out by value. The best stuff closer to the hood while as they get closer to the tributes they decrease in value.
"I've never seen an arena like this. Heather has an advantage, but then again, so do the District Four tributes." I say. Effie's hand starts to shake so I clasp them in my hands.
"Where is your sister? She should've been here as soon as the games started!" Effie shouts nervously.
"Here I am, Pinkie. Don't ya go and get ya wig in a twist." My sister walks in.
She has some of my feature. Dark eyes, and tan skin (although hers was earned by spray tan), and her dark brown hair in a hard pouffe.
"Anne Maria, you should've been here sooner! I thought escorts, especially those from District 1, are supposed to be on time." I tell her sternly.
"I'm just glad to be away from Blondie. Ugh, she is sooooo annoying!" Anne Maria scoffs.
"Girls stop! We need to meet Katniss at the landing field. Soon!" Effie says practically pushing us out the door of her apartment and toward our new destination.
Heather's POV…
23 seconds to go. That's when I spot it. A gold sheath of arrows and a bow and a bright orange pack that can hold anything. "That's mine" I think.
I brace myself for the swim. I've learn to swim before. Thank Goodness. Then I notice Dawn, who's directly to my right, standing as if unsure of what to do. Does she know how to swim? Doubtful, she's from 7. Just trees out there.
5…
Should I help her?
4…
Maybe Scott or Mike or Zoey will help her. But it's doubtful.
3…
Scott's on the opposite side of us, right next to Alejandro. And Mike will probably help out Zoey.
2…
She deserves a fighting chance.
1…
I make up my mind just as the gong sounds. I dive right in and re-surface quickly. As I suspected, Dawn didn't dive in. I swim up to her plate. "Dawn, hop onto my back! I'll help you!" She doesn't hesitate to. The waves splash into my face and I could've sworn I felt something brush against my leg. But that just make me swim faster.
"Thank You, Heather." Dawn smiles as I reach a place, where there's still water, and start to walk. Dawn hops off my back and scrambles to find Scott or Mike or Zoey. I notice I'm right in front of the bows and arrows and pack. Just as I reach for it, the girl from 10 reaches for it to. We struggle a bit before she coughs up blood that spews in my face. She collapses dead. I look up and notice two things.
1: I'm about twelve yards from the Cornucopia
2: Courtney is standing five yards away from me. Determination in her eyes.
"You're dead, twelve!" Is all I hear before I grab the sheath and bow and hike the pack up above my head. I feel something lodge itself in the bag.
Thanks for the free knife, two.
I know she won't follow me as I flee toward the woods. She'll be lured in by the goods at the horn. When I'm about twenty-feet deep into the woods. I smash into the boy from ten and I finally get a good look at him.
Kind of small, probably fifth teen. Brown hair and grey eyes.
"District 12?" He asks.
"Yeah. District 10?" I ask.
"Yeah. Here, this will help you than it will me." He hands me a coil of wire. Perfect for setting snares.
"Wow. Thanks. It's funny I don't even know you're name, and yet you're helping me…" I mutter.
"Good luck, eh." He dashes off before I can respond.
Nice. Then I hear agonizing screams and turn to see the boy from four. His eyes roll up into his head and he falls to the ground. I see a sword right in his back. That's when Justin appears behind him.
Dead. I didn't run quick enough and now I'm dead.
But he doesn't even attempt to approach me. He just smirks, removes his sword from the boys back, and winks at me before he leaves.
"Run." I tell myself. I run as fast as my legs will take me. I came so close to a Career, two of them, that I'm not taking any more chances.
Why didn't Justin kill me? I don't get it. It doesn't make any sense. A Career never misses a chance at a kill.
I switch between running and jogging and reach a river. I find a sturdy tree and climb to a high branch and decide to look through the pack.
A black sleeping bag; looks like it will reflect heat, A half gallon bottle that's meant for water; bone dry by the way, a bottle of iodine, thick rope, a pack of crackers, a pack of beef strips, a sturdy brown rope, and some socks.
"Good haul. Glad I grabbed it." That's when I heard the first cannon fire. The blood bath's over.
… 2… 3… 4… 5… 6… 7… 8… Utter silence.
8 Dead in the blood bath. I know the girl from ten and the boy from four are dead. I find the boy from four's death the most shocking. Especially since he was killed by a fellow Career.
Did Dawn, Scott, Mike, and Zoey make it out? Of course they did. They're smart. What about Alejandro? I shake my head to clear these thoughts.
I survey the area for any signs of trouble. There are none. I hop down and head to the river. I fill up my bottle, purify it with iodine, mask my orange back with some mud, and decided to follow the river down and see where it leads me.
President Christ McClean's POV…
I frown at the sight.
She survived.
That little fiery, feathery, bitch survived. I growled and all of my workers cowered. Good. They should.
I was watching the coverage of the games on my TV in my mansion. It was close to nightfall in the games. I smiles as she prepared for the night. I didn't see her after she started to inspect a willow tree. That stupid Chef cut to the tributes from 1, 2, the girl from 4, the girl from 9, and…
"Huh. Who would've thought they'd let him join. Billy!" A blonde haired young man ran up to me. "Chef Hatchet said there would be a lot of… surprises in this arena, am I not right?" I ask.
"No sir, President McClean, sir." Billy tells me nervously.
"Make sure he uses one of those surprises, tomorrow. I don't care at what time, just so long as it's tomorrow." I tell him and send him off.
"President McClean?" A young female staff worker with almond brown hair and a spring green suit, who I'm particularly fond of, approaches me with caution.
"Yes Danielle?" I ask smiling.
"His name his Cle Hatchet." I roll my eyes and return to watching the Games.
Heather's POV…
A sturdy willow tree. That's what I decided to make my post for the night. It was in a clump of other willows, but was pretty low to the ground. Oh well, can't have everything perfect.
I manage to get my sleeping bag in a pretty comfortable position and I slid myself in. Then I use the thick rope to tie myself in, so in this case if I was to roll on my side, I would be protected.
Then I hear the anthem and the capitol seal appear in the sky. I silently turn my head.
First up is the girl from District 3. Well, Districts 1 and 2 are alive. Next is the boy from 4, both tributes from 6, the boy from 7, the boy from 9, the girl from ten (of course I knew this already), and the girl from eleven. Then the anthem booms in my ear and the capitol seal vanishes from the sky.
Mike and Zoey, Bridgette, Dawn, and Scott survived. And so did Alejandro. I smile at the thought of him surviving. Then, I decide to get ready for bed.
I slip the sock over my hands and pull my hood and snuggle into the bag. I smile. My last thought before I fall asleep is that's its pretty lucky I don't snore….
Later…
"Hurry up Katie! I'm freezing." Cameron hisses. My eyes snap open. I silently, slowly, ever so slightly turn my head.
I'm guessing, by how dark it is, it's probably three or four in the mourning.
DJ, Katie, and Cameron are huddle below my branch and then I see it. Katie has started a fire.
UGH! I can't believe this! These three might as well just be waving a flag and shouting, come and get us!
Luckily, I'm about nine-teen yards above them. I'll be safe, for awhile anyway.
"I miss my Momma." I hear DJ sniffle.
"It'll be ok, DJ. You'll see her again. I promise." Katie smiles gently at him.
"Besides, our chances are slightly better than they were than last year." Cameron said to attempt to cheer the gentle giant up.
I roll my eyes and struggle to not scream every foul word I know at those three. I just close my eyes and attempt to go back to sleep.
One hour later…
I groggily open my eyes. I notice that the fire has died down a bit. I see Cameron sitting on the ground drawing something in the dirt. Then, I see a hand shoot out and cover his mouth. Then, another one, gripping a knife comes in and slits his throat. He falls to the ground just as the cannon fires. The cannon fire waked DJ and Katie up. They shoot straight up only to be surrounded by the tributes from 1 and 2.
DJ screams and tries to make a run but Justin stabs him in the head with his swords. The same one used to kill the boy from four. His cannon fires and Katie is the only one left.
"PLEASE! PLEASE DON'T KILL ME! I COULD HELP YOU TRACK DOWN OTHER TRIBUTES! JUST PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!" She pleads. Even I know what's about to happen.
"Sorry, our pack's a bit full." Courtney smiles viciously and stabs her in the shoulder with a knife.
"Alright! Eleven down and eleven to go!" Dakota cheers and high-fives Izzy. Guess they let her join.
"Please don't look up. Please don't look up."I pray silently.
"Hey, where's the Cannon fire?" Bridgette asks stepping in where I can see her.
"Yeah, Blondie's right. Where's the cannon fire, princess?" Duncan asks.
"I don't know. But it doesn't matter, I'm the one who killed her." Courtney scoffs arrogantly.
"Then where's the cannon fire?" Dakota asks.
"I killed her! It should be around any moment!" Courtney shouts.
"Enough already!" A new voice shouts. My eyes widen.
Alejandro.
He walks over and checks for Katie's pulse.
"It's faint," He regretfully pulls out a dagger. "But it's still there." He mouths a silent 'Sorry' and slits her throat. The cannon boom.
"Thanks, Al!" Izzy says. He cringes at his nickname. Bridgette walks over and places a hand on his shoulder.
"Hey, Coal Brat, Bridgette, go make sure no other tributes are in the area. I don't want them to know what we can do with our weapons." Duncan tells them. Bridgette and Alejandro roll their eyes. Bridgette heads west and Alejandro heads east.
"Don't you think we should get rid of that Coal Brat?" Justin snarls after a few minutes of going through the dead tributes stuff.
"Later, he's pretty good with that dagger." Izzy tells him.
"Besides, there's a good chance he knows where Heather is." Courtney says. Justin looks away immediately at the mention of my name.
"Justin, are you positive you didn't see her when you killed Pieces? She was in that General area when you killed him." Duncan a cocks his brow. I quickly figure out Pieces must be the boy from 4.
"Fine. But when the time comes, I get to kill that Latin Bastard." Justin growls. Now its my turn to be confused. What does Justin have against Alejandro?
"No tributes in the area." Bridgette says when she comes back.
"None to the west." Alejandro reports. I smirk at their stupidity.
"Nothing but matches in there packs. Let's get back to the Cabins." Justin says as he glares at Alejandro.
The first lights of dawn break through the branches of the trees. I sit there awhile. Time to move, I guess. I gather up my things and pack a majority of it in my pack. The sheath of arrows I sling over my shoulder, the bow is grasped in my left, the knife in my right arm. I'm guaranteed a close up when I touch ground. So, deciding to get it over with, I jump down. Allow the camera's to get a good look at me. Then I tip my head and give a cocky smile.
Let them figure out what that means! I've got some hunting to do.
Well, what'cha guys think of the arena? Anything like you expected? Tell me in review.
Oh, one more thing. Why do you think Justin didn't kill Heather?