There's been some news lately, with Neil Gorsuch confirmed to the Supreme Court. As I upload this, he's being sworn in. While I will not talk about my political views here, it's definitely big news. But that doesn't really matter.
Some people take their morning coffee with pastries. I don't drink coffee at all, but you get this instead of pastries to go with your coffee. You get some more SnowLucario Hunger Games.
If the last chapter was the longest one yet, this one is quite a bit longer. You may hate me for this, but here we go. The ridiculously long second chapter of the actual Games. I hope you appreciate the EarthBound reference contained within!
Answer: My favorite such songs include Semi-Charmed Life (Third Eye Blind), Wonderful (Everclear), Hey Ya (OutKast), Fallen Leaves (Billy Talent), and Ghost Ship Of Cannibal Rats (also Billy Talent).
Question: How long do you like to read/write chapters? As in, how many words?
Panna and Kidra were miserable.
They'd escaped the Bloodbath, and Kidra supposed they should be grateful for that. That didn't change the fact that they had nothing. No food, nothing. The District 5 girl wondered if the District 3 girl was dragging her down in terms of sponsors due to her low score of a 1. She really hoped not.
On top of that, they were entering the swamp. Really, it wasn't an island, nor was it a part of the ocean. It could be considered to be in its own category entirely, with its tall trees with muffin-top boughs, warm, murky water, and mosquitoes. They were swarming by the hundreds. Hopefully, they weren't carnivorous. Luckily, Kidra didn't think so. After all, the Gamemakers wouldn't have wanted them to die that quickly...would they?
Panna was reminded of the swampy area from Earthbound, Deep Darkness, an area of teal water placed near the climax of the game, when you have six of the eight Your Sanctuary locations. Do we need the Hawk Eye to see here? she thought to herself.
And then the cannons came. Ten in total, ringing out, each one signaling a death.
"Just fourteen of us left" Panna said.
Kidra wasn't focused on that. She was trying to stay afloat in the thick, murky water. She'd told the younger girl that each suit was equipped with a life jacket. Now, she wasn't so sure. She tried not to panic, but she wasn't the best swimmer.
Seeing that the older girl was struggling, Panna said, "Just try to bob under. We're over a point that's got to be at least seven feet deep, aren't we?"
Kidra took a deep breath before pushing herself underwater. Sure enough, she popped back up to the surface like a cork.
"See? You were right".
The District 5 girl shrugged. "Come on. Let's put as much distance between us and the Careers as possible".
Panna couldn't argue with that. The two girls continued, half-wading, half-swimming, until they saw someone new.
A pale boy was sitting in one of the branches of a tree, a good ten feet above the water. Neither girl could completely understand how he'd managed to get up there.
"It's Rey!" Panna exclaimed.
The District 11 boy smiled down at them. "Hey. You've found me".
"Enough games" Kidra said. "What are you doing here?"
"The same thing that you're doing. Whether you're a brother or whether you're a mother, you've just got to stay alive".
"Fair enough" the District 5 girl replied. "But how do you think that could be accomplished that way?"
Rey shrugged. "I don't know. I just don't think the Careers will come looking here".
"You heard the cannons" Panna said. "The Bloodbath's over. You've better run. At least some of the Careers could be coming soon".
"Sure" the boy said. "Let's make a deal. If you don't tell anybody you've seen me, I won't tell anybody I've seen you. You cool with that?"
"Sounds good" the District 3 girl said. "Come on, Kidra. Let's go".
"I'm going to the winter island" said Rey. "I don't think they're going to look for me there. You do realize that the islands are based on the four seasons, right?"
Panna had come to that conclusion already, as had Kidra. It had been painfully obvious from the moment they'd risen into the arena on those plates. Really, there was no way it could have been missed.
"Well, see you later" the District 5 girl said. "Come on, Panna, we've got to get out of here".
The younger girl didn't argue. They continued trudging through the swamp, climbing over and under branches. The area was absolutely disgusting.
"Where are we going?" Panna asked her ally.
Kidra pointed to their right. "The spring island" she said. "We should get as far away from Rey as possible".
And so they made their way through the trees, which was easier said than done. The woods were very thick, and so they were hopping from tree to tree more than anything. They wanted to make sure that they spent as little time in the swampy water as possible. Hopefully, there wouldn't be too many infections there. Kidra remembered the factory smog that had killed her mother...
No, she thought. This is the Hunger Games. We can't dwell on the past. We've got to focus on what's going to happen now. We need to get away from the Careers.
And so, grappling with all of the tree trunks, the two girls managed to reach the ocean again. It was going to be a tough swim over to the spring island.
Bretson, Bobbin, Neo, and Juliana had reached their goal; the mangrove island, or a section of it, anyway. None of them had ever been to the tropics before, but if they had there was a good chance that they might have seen some of these.
"We're about to go in" Neo said. "Let's be careful; we don't know what's in this water".
"You're scaring them, Neo" Bretson chided the District 10 boy.
"I'm just being realistic!" Neo cried defensively.
Neo and Bretson were the ones paddling the kayak. Even though it came with oars, there were only two. Juliana and Bobbin were kind of just there for the ride, not really doing much. The four tributes, however, knew that the Bloodbath was over. They'd heard the cannons. And they had to get out of there before the Careers came looking.
It was tough going getting the kayak through the mangrove forest. Many times, the oars hit against the narrow branches. Neo was getting frustrated; they had to be careful not to make too much noise, because the Careers would be coming any minute now.
"Screw this!" the District 10 boy exclaimed after about an hour. "I'm getting out and pushing it".
"Can you even swim?" Bretson asked. "I sure as hell can't".
"No" Neo admitted. "But these things have life jackets underneath them. Let me show you".
Neo climbed out of the kayak, splashing into the water. It was clear to see that he was trying to sink, but he couldn't. He was straight at the top of the water, always.
"It'll be best if we have two people pushing it" Bobbin said. It was clear that she didn't want to do it, but she was looking at one specific member of their team...
Bretson didn't want to get in that water. After all, he couldn't swim, and Neo had been right to point out that there could be electric eels in there, or worse. But Neo seemed to be right about the life jackets, so the District 6 boy decided to trust his ally. He swung his legs over the side of the kayak and slid into the water.
"You pull from the front, I'll push from the back" Bretson said.
Neo looked like he was about to protest, but he did what Bretson said, doggy-paddling over to the front of the boat. Once he was there, he grabbed onto the handle at the front, and he began pulling the boat as Bretson hung on, pushing and kicking in order to get the boat out of there.
Surprisingly, the water wasn't that deep. For some of it, Bretson (who stood 5 feet, 10 inches tall) was only waist-high in the murky saline water. Neo, who was taller, felt the rocks against his shoes even more.
Once the ground dropped off, and they had gone off of a shelf in terms of the water depth, that was when the two boys got back in the kayak, panting from the effort of hauling two girls. Even though they were small, and the boys were strong, the kayak weighed as much as both of them combined. It was no easy task.
Neo handed his paddle to Juliana. Since Bretson was more muscular than the District 10 boy, he didn't give his oar to Bobbin. Now, it was Juliana and Bretson paddling through the mangrove forest.
"Did you hear something?" Juliana asked, suddenly ceasing her paddling.
The others kept their ears on alert. "No, I don't believe so" Neo said.
"It sounds like...people paddling towards us" the District 11 girl said, suddenly beginning to sound terrified.
Neo looked back, and it turned out that Juliana was right. With a stroke of terror, he saw that the District 2 tributes, Lance and Scar, were about fifty yards behind them. In the dense mangrove forest, it was tough to hear. But the Careers were coming for them.
Both tributes drew their swords. Lance, several inches taller than his district partner, had a much longer sword as well. The District 2 boy dove into the water.
It was clear that he was a much more skilled swimmer than any of the members of the four-person alliance. He was quickly gaining on their kayak, as Scar stayed in the one belonging to District 2.
As Lance hoisted his sword out of the water, he got ready to overturn the kayak belonging to Bretson's group. The District 6 boy, however, was ready.
Bretson drew his warhammer and knelt up in the boat. He couldn't stand, since that could cause it to tip over. He wanted Lance to retreat, although he was willing to kill if it came to that. The hammer could crush a human skull. He could see himself doing that.
Lance swung his sword, making a neat gash on Bretson's leg. Clearly, he wasn't trying to kill, only to maim, since the group would need resources, or sponsors, to treat him.
The District 6 boy retaliated with a swing of the hammer. Lance ducked underwater, cursing the stupid life jacket. It was meant to help you stay afloat, but it could end up costing him his life.
"Let's go, Lance!" Scar called from her kayak. "We're not going to win against the warhammer!"
Lance still looked like he wanted to swing his sword again. But he couldn't do that without risking getting clobbered by Bretson. He realized, later than he should have, that this wasn't a fight he and Scar were likely to win.
"We'll remember this!" Lance yelled, before turning around and swimming back to his district partner. Bretson's alliance, relieved, began paddling in the opposite direction.
"That was a close call" Bobbin piped up unnecessarily, once she was sure the Careers were out of earshot.
"I know" Juliana said. "Bretson, your wound...we've got to find something to clean it with".
"Good luck with that" Neo said, laughing dryly. "This is the Hunger Games, not a medical clinic".
"I know!" the District 11 girl said, this time as an exclamation. She reached for one of the nearest branches, from which she plucked a pair of green leaves.
"What's this?" Bretson asked.
"It'll stop the bleeding" she said.
Neo chuckled once again. "Oh, great. We've got a nature healer here".
Juliana put the leaves into her mouth and began chewing them like a piece of gum. Eventually, she took them out of her mouth.
"That's disgusting" Bobbin said.
"She's right" Bretson told the District 11 girl. "You don't know what's on those leaves".
"I do" she said.
She pressed the leaves to Bretson's injured calf. "I have to stop the bleeding. This is something they do at home all the time".
"Thanks...I guess" Bretson said, wrinkling his nose. He still found it pretty gross, but in the Hunger Games, this could make a difference between life and death. The number one goal was to keep infection from setting in.
"No problem" Juliana said. She turned to the others. "Should I climb up, get a good view of the arena?"
"I see no problem with that" Neo said.
"Just be careful, okay?" Bretson said. "I don't know nature healing like you. I'm a city boy".
Juliana nodded. Then, she clambered out of the kayak, making sure to keep it as steady as possible to keep the group from taking an unplanned swim. With only her shoes touching the water, she deftly managed to latch onto a branch of a nearby mangrove tree.
"Good luck!" Bobbin called to her.
Juliana began climbing. These trees were a little harder to get a grip on than the fruit trees in District 11 that she was so used to. If Lucas Copperway was watching right now, she figured, he'd be proud of her, but maybe also a little afraid for her, besides the normal fear from your friend being in the Hunger Games. Lucas was pretty afraid of heights.
She reached the top of the tree, some fifty feet above the surface of the water. From here, she had a beautiful view of the arena.
Indeed, she saw the Cornucopia island, with what looked like the District 7 boy on guard. So he's joined the Careers after all, she thought savagely. Said island was rimmed by four areas shaped like slices of pizza. These were, clockwise from where she was, the mangrove forest, the swamp, a desert island, and a coral reef. These seemed to be placed at even right angles.
Evenly spaced in between the pizza islands were four islands that, now that she was up high, it was plain to see were based on the four seasons of the year. Even though it seldom snowed in District 11, she could recognize the winter island right away. The spring island appeared to be a maze of paths, along which there were tons of fields with flowers of all colors.
The summer island, or at least what had to be it, was covered in pine trees, looking like the densest forest she'd ever seen. And, finally, the fall island, which was also something she saw back at home. The trees shone in red, yellow, orange...it was beautiful.
"Anything up there?" Bretson called up to her.
Juliana was about to answer when she suddenly said, "I'm losing my balance!"
It was true. The top branch was slick, and she tried to kneel downwards, in order to be more hidden in the branch. Unfortunately, she overcompensated in a big way, leaning forward and tumbling out of the leaves.
She hit branch after branch, so it was essentially like falling down a gigantic staircase, five feet at a time. It hurt each time, and the eventual impact with the water hurt even more. Nothing was broken, but she was glad she was wearing a life jacket. She didn't think she would have been able to swim to safety.
"Are you okay, Juliana?" Bretson practically screamed.
"Yeah, I'm fine" she said, even though the wind had been knocked out of her. "I need help getting back in".
"Sure. No problem" Neo said. The District 10 boy helped the District 11 girl back into the kayak, sopping wet.
"So...was there anything up there?" he asked, once Juliana was back in her seat. The kayak had four seats in it, even though it had only come with two paddles.
"There seem to be nine islands in total" she said. "Of course, we knew that already".
"Quite" Bretson replied.
"We'll have to be careful. We don't know when all of the other Careers will come hunting for us" Bobbin pointed out.
The others saw her point. They didn't want to be exposed for the Careers to find later. Bretson's hammer and Neo's machete were both very well and good, but the fact remained that this wouldn't be enough to defend them.
"So...fall island?" Juliana asked.
"No problem with that" Neo said. "The Careers will probably want to stay at the Cornucopia island".
"I'm fine with that" Bobbin said.
"Me three" Bretson replied.
"That settles it" the District 11 girl said. "We're going to spend the night at the fall island. In the morning, we'll pack up and move somewhere else".
Without another word, the alliance of four maneuvered the canoe out of the mangrove forest and towards the island that so resembled a New England autumn.
"We're not meant for the swamp" Sam said.
The District 4 tributes had been trudging through Deep Darkness for what felt like hours. While the harbors occasionally smelled bad, and were kind of disgusting, this place looked like it had suffered a major oil spill. This was no ordinary swamp.
"Too right" Jenny replied.
"How long should we keep going until we find somebody?" her district partner asked. "I don't know about you, but I don't trust Fennal all that much".
"Do you want to turn around now?" she asked Sam.
"No" Sam said. "I want to keep going for another thirty minutes or so".
The swamp literally felt like it was pulling them under. It was only thanks to their life jackets that they were able to stay afloat. That, and the fact that they were from District 4 and knew how to swim pretty well.
Touching her spear to the bottom, Jenny could measure the depth of the water. For the most part, although she tried to avoid touching the ground, it was probably no more than four or five feet. Not that bad; at the most, she'd be up to her neck.
"I don't like this place" the District 4 girl said after a while.
"Yeah" Sam said. "This whole arena kind of sucks".
"I mean this area in particular" Jenny replied. "It feels like it was built to counteract our natural advantage. You know, since we're from District 4".
"Whatever" the District 4 boy said. Then, he stopped. "Did you hear that?"
"Hear what?"
When Jenny trained her ears, she could hear the sound of something rustling above them. Was that another tribute?
"It's probably nothing" she said, although she wasn't convinced of it.
Suddenly, a giant fish appeared. It was green in color, stood on its hind legs, and it held a spear in one hand.
"Halt! Who goes there?" it bellowed.
"Just...us" Jenny said.
"Enough games" it said. "I am a Manly Fish, and this is my brother".
A purple fish rose out of the swamp right next to it. It was similar in size to its brother, and basically identical other than the color.
"Hello. I am Manly Fish's Brother".
"Don't you have a proper name?" Sam asked.
"What do you mean?" Manly Fish's Brother asked.
"I mean, like I'm Sam Hatcher and she's Jenny Winters" the District 4 boy said.
"This is my proper name" said the purple fish.
"That's sad" said Jenny. Really, why should she care? This was just some mutt that the Capitol had thought it would be funny to place in the arena. There was no other explanation.
"It's fine" said Manly Fish's Brother. "Really, you should go, or we will kill you painfully".
Sam looked like he was about to protest, but Jenny held him back. "Sam, it's not worth it. And we haven't seen anybody. Let's just go back to the Cornucopia".
The District 4 boy didn't have a problem with that. The pair of fish watching them, they turned around and began trudging back through the hammer.
Sei and Ebony, meanwhile, were not having a good time in the desert.
For one, it was swelteringly hot there, but that should only have been expected. Clearly, no other tributes had thought that it would be a good idea to come here, or they would have found somebody. Really, this was a bad omen for the Careers in terms of hunting for other tributes.
"How much longer should we go on?" Ebony asked, wiping sweat from her face. She had to constantly be on the lookout, because there were not only cacti in their path, but they had to be careful not to step on them as well. The barbs could pierce through clothing easily.
"Another twenty minutes?" Sei said. He wiped his forehead once more. "I just wish we brought some water. I don't know about you, but I'm feeling kind of dehydrated".
"In what way?" his district partner asked him.
"Just...thirsty. And a little dizzy. My head hurts. I'm not used to this heat in District 1. Usually, the ocean really does help guard against the extremes of weather".
"Fine" Ebony said, although her tone of voice made it clear that she wasn't happy about it. "Let's head back to the Cornucopia. I guess today was a failure".
"I'll be fine" Sei said. "Once I've got a little more water, I'm going to be okay".
"No, they're all pretty far away now" the District 1 girl said. "We're not in too big of a hurry. If you're not feeling better after that, then we'll have to worry, but I don't think we do right now".
"That's a relief" the District 1 boy said. "Let's go now, before they train some mutt on us. Really, that's not going to help our cause at all".
"Indeed, it isn't" Ebony said, before she joined her district partner in turning around to head back to the Cornucopia island.
"We're here" Kidra said, pulling herself out of the water.
Indeed, it had been a long swim over to the spring island. Her arms and legs were aching from the exertion, and she knew that they wouldn't have that much food even in the best of circumstances, so it was best to burn as few calories as possible.
It had only been a few hours since they had entered the arena, but Panna was starting to get hungry. If only someone would sponsor them...
As if capable of telepathy, Kidra said, "I don't see why anyone would sponsor us this early. I'm sorry, but it just doesn't happen. Not like that".
"Doesn't mean it couldn't" Panna replied.
"I know" the District 5 girl said.
Once out of the water, the pair of girls began walking through the fields of flowers. Even though it looked fully natural, it was actually kind of like a botanical garden of some sort. As in, the kind that people visited on day trips.
There were dirt roads, leading in several different directions. Hedges were present at every corner, and the fields were covered in flowers of various colors; pink, blue, yellow, orange, and various others that shimmered in the afternoon sun. Since it was several hours past noon, shadows were being cast over them that made the flowers look ghostly, in a way.
"I don't know if I like the look of this place, Kidra" Panna said.
"Well, we're going to find a place to stay!" the District 5 girl snapped. "Whether you like it or not!"
The younger girl figured that this was fair. After all, it wasn't as though they wanted to go that much further. The girls were running low on energy. They wanted to find a place to bed down, and soon. The sun might still be high in the sky, but it was inching closer to sunset every minute. They needed to find somewhere to sleep before it got dark.
Rey was walking in the snow at the same time that the girls he had abandoned were on the spring island.
Being from District 11, he wasn't a fan of the snow, which seldom fell there. Beyond that, he was just not in the mood to be cold right now. He didn't have much of an option, however.
He supposed that the Careers were unlikely to find him here. They wouldn't expect someone from one of the warmest districts in Panem to go to the winter island first. Which was, of course, precisely why he had gone there. He had wanted to avoid detection, to evade rather than attack.
Of course, he was starting to regret that decision. He knew that he needed to be sponsored something, in order to make it through the night. Finding some pine branches to use as a bed or blanket was all very well and good, but it wouldn't amount to too much. He'd have to find something more substantial.
Would I have to go back to the Cornucopia for that, though? he asked himself. Sometimes, you just can't win.
He knew that going back to the Cornucopia would mean a fight against the Careers, a fight he could not possibly win. He had no weapon, and they most likely had seven. He hadn't heard any more cannons since the Bloodbath, after all.
Rey supposed that his new surroundings were pretty enough. Various trees, both evergreen and deciduous, made up the forest that was the winter island. There was a thick layer of snow on the ground, up to his knees almost, so it was pretty awesome if you were into that sort of thing. Rey, of course, was not into that sort of thing, but he saw that some people would have been.
That encounter with the girls had really shaken him up. More than he'd liked to admit. If he hadn't been so quick to make that pact with them, who knew what might have happened? He hadn't been having a good time in the swamp, and now he was still on the run from the other tributes.
Sometimes, you just couldn't win.
Lance and Scar had been disappointed not to be able to even pick off one member of Bretson's alliance. Even though they had managed to give the District 6 boy a minor wound, Lance had no doubt that it would be healed quickly. He'd heard rumors of how they healed wounds in District 11; Juliana might have been a better choice to attack. Then, they could have prevented her from possibly healing Bretson.
"It's okay" Scar said. "We'll have plenty of time to hunt tomorrow. We've got to get back to the Cornucopia, hope that Fennal hasn't stolen all of our stuff".
Lance knew that she was right. There was no way to be a hundred percent certain that the District 7 boy was trustworthy. They were pretty much going on blind faith here.
Now, they were kayaking out of the mangrove forest. Once they were clear of the trees, they would be able to paddle back to the Cornucopia easily, for they were not very far away. Hopefully, Fennal hadn't gotten too selfish.
Bretson and his group had managed to make it to the fall island. They didn't have that much supplies, just two weapons, so they were wondering where they were going to sleep.
"It's going to get pretty cold at night, won't it?" Bobbin asked.
Bretson knew that it could only be a few more hours until sunset. He didn't want to have to tell Bobbin the truth, which was that there was no way to know that they would be warm enough tonight. However, he saw no other way to be honest, than to tell the truth.
"It will. We'll have to hope that we get some sponsors. Thanks for your nature healing, Juliana" he said.
The District 11 girl smiled. "It's no problem. Leaves are everywhere in this arena". Looking more serious, she said, "We're going to need someone to sponsor us before long. Seeder, if you're there, please send us something".
No silver parachute came floating down from the sky. The group simply sat there, spending some time observing more of their surroundings.
They had left the kayak on the rocky beach that ringed the fall island. Hopefully, the tide wouldn't come in and take it, although all four of them knew, from experience watching on TV, that the Hunger Games was never safe, and rarely did everything, or indeed anything, go right. That was simply the nature of a Hunger Games arena.
Now, they were about fifty yards inland, sitting underneath trees with leaves of all sorts of warm colors. Fallen leaves littered the ground, something that was only seen in some of the districts. Certainly, it was a very pretty scene, just like this whole arena was. Of course, however, it all depended on why you were there.
"Let's hope someone sponsors us soon" Neo said. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm hungry".
"We all are, Neo" said Juliana. "We've just got to deal with it".
And yet...a silver parachute came down from the sky, just as soon as Juliana had finished her sentence.
Sei and Ebony got back to the Cornucopia at roughly the same time that the pairs of Lance and Scar and Sam and Jenny did. All six of them were relieved to find that Fennal was still faithfully guarding their supplies.
"Thanks, Fennal" Sei said, sitting down and wiping more sweat off of his brow. Ebony, seeing the state her district partner was in, went over to one of the backpacks and got him a bottle of water.
The District 1 boy thanked Ebony before taking the cap off and taking a long drink. "Man, that desert is no joke. I wonder what the summer island is going to be like".
"No kidding" Lance said. "At least some of us are going to go there tomorrow, when we go out hunting. Even though we didn't get anyone this afternoon, I'm feeling pretty optimistic".
"Me too" said Jenny. "Ten during the Bloodbath. Not bad".
"At this rate, these Games will be over within a week" Fennal said. "I mean, why would the Gamemakers want them to last for weeks like they have in the past?"
"Maybe they find that exciting" Sam pointed out.
"Let's talk about the areas of the arena we went to" Ebony said. "The desert was brutal. So many cacti...I can't see many tributes hiding there. Tomorrow, we might have to go through it in order to get to the summer island, though. Not looking forward to that".
"Quite" Sei said. "I'm feeling a lot better now. Thanks, Ebony".
"It's no problem" the District 1 girl said. "How about you guys?" she asked, turning to District 2.
"We went to the mangroves, like you said. We almost knocked off the boy from District 6, but he had a lot of protection. Really, we'll search the fall and winter islands tomorrow for them" Lance said.
"Agreed" Scar said.
"And the swamp sucked" Sam said. "It's all dark and grimy, and then there's the Manly Fish and his brother".
"What are you talking about?" Ebony asked.
"Never mind" Jenny said, seeing that this conversation was going in a direction she didn't want it to".
"I'll go out hunting with you guys tomorrow" Fennal said. "Can we find someone else to be camp guard?"
Panna and Kidra were still looking for a suitable place to spend the night. They had walked down what felt like endless dirt paths, wondering just how big this island could possibly be. Eventually, they came across some greenhouses, but they didn't know what plants might be in them.
"Are you sure it's safe to go in there?" Panna asked her ally. "We don't know what's in there".
"I'm fine with it" said Kidra. "We'll find out once we're in there. I just wish we had some sleeping bags or something. That would make this whole thing far more bearable".
Panna didn't say anything. She knew that it was going to be tough to get through the night either way, what with being worried about other tributes and all.
And then, a silver parachute began descending from the sky. Both of them were instantly standing up, excited: Silver parachutes always carried something good, a gift from a sponsor. Rarely did people sponsor tributes this early in the Games, so they were both a little suspicious.
"Should we go see what's in it?" asked Kidra.
It was a rather large package, but Panna was fine with seeing what was in it right now. The sun was starting to sink already, and the anthem would be starting not too much later.
"Yes! Sleeping bags!" the District 3 girl cheered.
It wasn't just sleeping bags that the package held. There was also a bundle of food; bread from Districts 3 and 5, the bite-sized square rolls alongside the normally shaped ones with caraway seeds, as well as a bundle of orange and purple carrots.
"Let's eat it sparingly" Kidra said, setting up their two sleeping bags on the ground.
"Hold up" Panna said. "I say we sleep in the greenhouse. We'll need protection from the elements, and the Careers are less likely to find us in there".
"Fair enough" the older girl replied. "Let's go in there".
Kidra opened the door to the greenhouse, and Panna was astonished by the large variety of plants that were in there. Of course, she had a hard time enjoying it, given where they were, but it was still a sight to behold regardless.
"Let's sleep here" Panna said again. "This looks pretty comfortable".
"Okay" Kidra said, placing the bundle of food on the ground beside their sleeping bags. Together, they waited for the anthem.
Bretson's alliance was waiting for the anthem when a silver parachute came down from the sky.
"We have a sponsor!" Juliana all but yelled.
"Quiet" Neo chided her.
Bobbin ran up to the package and opened it. In the bundle was a small box of bandages for Bretson's wound, some apples, some cheese, and some bread. It looked like it was going to be a good meal.
"Cheers" Bretson said, taking an apple and bumping it against Neo's.
They ate in silence as the sky darkened, waiting for the anthem. The dead tributes were about to be shown in the sky...
And then it started. The Capitol's anthem began playing, and the first tribute shown was Jiro. This meant that all four of the tributes from Districts 1 and 2 had survived, which was no surprise to any of the tributes in the group of four. Rarely did Careers die in the Bloodbath, and the next tribute shown was Tesla of District 5, meaning that Panna and both of the Careers from District 4 had survived as well.
Bretson had a hard time holding back tears as Cassia, followed by Heather, were shown, although he felt a lot of rage when Fennal was revealed to still be alive. That coward, aligning with the Careers!
Warp, Bobbin's district partner, was also shown, followed by Ollie and Acacia from 9, Bonnie from 10, and both from 12. The anthem finally ended, and the seal of the Capitol disappeared with it.
"Quite a day" Neo said.
Bretson and the others agreed. And this Hunger Games was just beginning.
And here it is: the end of the first day! It's time to deliver the obituaries, so...
RIP Darros, Jiro, Warp, Cassia, Heather, Bonnie, Annabeth, Acacia, Ollie, and Tesla
Darros: As many of you suspected, he was created just to be cannon fodder. I'm sure a lot of you hated him, and he's one of those guys you really do love to hate. At least for me. While I do not consider myself a feminist, I think that there is a certain level of respect that a man should show when around women, particularly when they are on national television like the Hunger Games! Of course, Darros does not show women even that baseline of respect. And the creator of Sei, Corvus Azrael Black, thanked me and favorited me for getting to kill this little villain. Thanks, Corvus Azrael Black. But Darros was not a pleasant guy, and the arena will likely be a more interesting place without him in it. In fact, his strategy was just listed as "Die".
Jiro: I was never going to let this guy win, simply because his creator already has a character win. In a way, he reminded me of Eli from Labyrinth, a Career who wants to be known for something else besides what they are known for locally, in their district. As soon as he rubbed the Careers the wrong way, he was doomed. Really, that's one thing you should never do in the Hunger Games. Don't get on the bad side of the alliance that controls the Games! Besides that, though, this guy was all right. He wasn't my favorite, but he wasn't my least favorite either. He certainly went out fighting, which is one good thing you can say.
Warp: I think that he was a fairly simple character. Scrawny, shy boy from District 8. Nothing really to see here. But I did enjoy writing him, the few times that I actually did. I know that his district partner got more of an edit during the pre-Games portion, and you can bet that Bobbin will also have a bigger edit now that her district partner is no longer alive. Besides that, however, there's really not much else for me to say.
Cassia: I enjoyed writing her brother-sister relationship with Bretson, just like we had Taysom and Karla in Lorax. She was also the daughter of a victor, and the second child her family has lost for the Hunger Games. Man, I feel bad for the Haydns! In any case, her death was pretty sad, and I'm sure that her parents are going to have a hard time getting over it. Really, I'll have to write a segment about that for the Victory Tour, which was rushed last time. This time, I don't think it will be.
Heather: I enjoyed writing about the feuds between her parents, and her joining Bretson's alliance. She's definitely more likable than her district partner. In any case, I'm sorry to see her go, and I think that many of you weren't expecting it, but this is what I decided to make happen. The submitter has been very good friends with me, so I'm happy about that. She is now one of the 29 people who have me on their favorites lists. But yeah, thanks for making this story interesting, Heather.
Bonnie: I'll be 100% with you guys here. I didn't write Bonnie well. She was supposed to be far more confident than I portrayed her. I could say that I was tired from writing about 19 tributes before her, but the truth is that it's all on me. I could have written at different times of the day, but what times? In any case, I would like to sincerely apologize to hollowman96 for how much I butchered their tribute. I will try not to do so ever again.
Annabeth: Just like her district partner, she was cannon fodder. She was specifically meant to be a Bloodbath tribute, and I delivered on that request. I even commented that this was a unique request: Normally, people don't want their tributes to be Bloodbaths, they want them to make it all the way! But I guess that I did as well as I could on her, considering that I didn't have that much to go on. Still, I'd like to thank the creator.
Acacia: She was definitely different, being a morphling addict and all. She was supposed to be from District 6 at first, but I already had Cassia in that spot, so the creator had to settle for what he got, a District 9 female. Still, I did like writing her segments with the whole purple haze that is brought on by morphling. As someone who has never had any major illnesses (other than viral meningitis, Asperger's, and OCD), it was hard to put myself in that position, but few things worth doing are ever easy. I've never had morphine, which I suppose is the real-life version, so if I described the effects accurately that'd be good to know.
Ollie: A shocking death for many, I liked his whole fatherly dynamic, about how he had two kids at home. Rarely do you see parents being in the Hunger Games, and this added a whole new weight to his death. I also think that he died in one of the worst ways of anyone in one of my stories, other than Aurora or Preston. That was pretty memorable, getting torn apart by a shark!
Tesla: A naughty boy...yeah, they weren't going to let him win anyways. He was fun to write, and I'm sure there were people who didn't expect him to go so soon given the immense amount of attention I was giving him. Still, this is what I did to him, and I don't regret it. Ten tributes had to die in my Bloodbath, and he just so happened to be number ten. Or fifteen, depending on how you look at it.
With that, we're in the double digits. Ten tributes are gone, and fourteen remain.
Like I said, there is no sponsor system in these Games. I hope you understand that, and that I will give tributes whatever the plot desires. I am also sorry that this was all there was to Day 1. I didn't have any more deaths planned out for this day, so I saw no point in having multiple post-Bloodbath chapters on the first day. Trust me when I say that this is going to be an exciting Hunger Games indeed.
So, please review, and tell me what you think of my update schedule, every three days will be it.
Sincerely, SnowLucario.