Chapter 14

POV of Julius Avery, Master of Ceremonies

"Here we are ladies and gentlemen," I say energetically into the microphone, knowing that this is being broadcast all over Panem. "We are down to our final eleven contestants after an intense bit of fighting between the pair from District 8, Drianne and Memmo, facing off against two of the favorites, Ariella and Bane.

"Two casualties were resulted, Drianne killed by Ariella, and Bane killed by Memmo, erasing District 2 from the running of this year's games, and halving the chances of a District 8 victory. Now, lets return to the arena to see what our tributes are getting up to." With this, I swept my arm up grandly at the giant screen, and watched as the screen panned in on the arena.

This first item of attention was Ariella, fresh from her fight. She was back at camp, eating nuts and bandaging the cuts and bruises across her body. The camera stayed on her just long enough to show that she was alive and recovering before it moved on to the next target.

The boy from 8, Memmo, was also bandaging wounds back at his camp which was under a grove of closely growing trees. He didn't have any cloth to tie them, nor did he have any sponsors that wanted to send him bandages. Instead, he was using a swathe of the shirt under his black jacket. The camera left him quickly enough too.

Next, the camera zoomed in on the camp of the remaining pack, Lyliss, Adonnis, and Undin. The ultra-sensitive microphones picked up every word, even from a hundred yards away.

This had been a topic of conversation throughout the capitol: Lyliss and Adonnis had shared many secret conversations about just offing Undin, Lyliss heading the effort. Adonnis maintained that, should they kill Undin, and Ariella and Bane were to attack, it would be too fair of a fight. The audience was unsure of whether they would kill him now that Bane was dead.

The group wasn't discussing that at present, however. They were discussing what they should do. They hadn't seen any real action since the first day, and they wanted to go hunting; however, they did not want to go hunting with only two people, nor to leave their supplies vulnerable with only one guard. It was a stalemate; they would not forfeit one for the other.

The announcers then came on over the screen talking about the probability of the pack seeing action soon. If they didn't go looking for tributes, the announcers reckoned that the gamemakers would bring tributes to them. They would likely want to test the pack before they found out about Bane's demise and the potential slaying of Undin.

Before the camera leaves this scene, the announcers announce that Lyliss and Adonnis are one of the four District partners remaining – they are one of the two who are still allied. With that, they flash to the scene deep in the summer section of the arena where Tellee and Tzarro sit in their blind, waiting. Waiting as they have been since that first night where Tzarro killed Veera from District 3.

Tzarro and Tellee are not presently talking, so the camera moves on to Flint, the boy from District 5 who was currently residing deep within the fall section. He was injured at the Cornucopia, and he has spent the last week lying in a tree nursing himself back to health. Finally, tonight, he is able to walk again. And with the new ability, he has also gained a few sponsors who afforded him a knife and some bread.

The part he didn't know was that the knife was not only for him to have something to cling to - it was intended as a warning. Because not more than two hundred yards away rested Kiloki, the boy from District 9. Armed with an axe but unaware of his neighbor, it was unlikely that they would be able to coexist like this for much longer.

Kiloki's District partner, Darzee, was posted up in the winter section. She was living off a hot commodity she picked up at the Cornucopia – A smokeless fire machine. It was basically a hot plate, but it didn't take a plug, and she was able to charge it with solar energy. She was currently putting it to good use, melting snow for water to drink, and living off of what few plants she could find in the frigid forest.

Also in the winter section of the forest resides Leera, the girl from District 6. While the two girls are more than a mile apart, it is unlikely that they will find each other. Both are very well hidden, and the gamemakers want to give Leera a chance to heal her broken wrist. She had gotten much better at throwing knives with her left hand during her sabbatical, but her right hand is only just coming back to full strength. She was lucky that she had good sponsors who saw her fight with Ariella on the first day – they afforded her a splint, pills to help correct broken bones, and she came by the ice without sponsors.

Having panned to all eleven remaining tributes, we began a replay of the fight between Ariella and Drianne, but the real news was that we were going to have an interview with Blythe in just a few short minutes. She had denied any interviews until she was confident she had some time to step away from the sponsors.

I checked my face in the mirror: perfect. I checked my bow tie: perfect. I was ready for Blythe.

I sat in my plush chair on stage, and as the camera man counted down from three, Blythe joined me in the chair opposite me. Though there was no real audience present, the artificial sound of applause came over the speakers.

"So, Blythe, " began, greeted by her stunning smile. "How do you feel that your tributes are doing?"

"I am extremely satisfied with both my tributes this year. They have both played brilliantly so far, but we're about to encounter some more hurdles."

"How do you mean?" I prompted her.

"Well first off, Ariella now has no allies," said Blythe. "She has plenty of supplies, but she isn't likely to take down Undin, Lyliss, and Adonnis all by herself. Undin, on the other hand, is in a very dangerous position. With the field narrowing, Lyliss and Adonnis are likely to get tired of him and kill him. He will have to be very vigilant and aware of the danger."

"That's a great synthesis of what is happening with your tributes," I told her. I thought to myself 'Man, it will be so much easier to do all this interviewing stuff when every district has a victor/mentor that I can talk to and it won't be a one man show.'

"Well thank you for having me, Julius," Blythe says, thinking I'm done.

"Just one more thing Blythe," I tell her. "You need to be here to hear this."

I then turn my attention back to the cameras. "Ladies and gentlemen of the Capitol," I say in my grandest voice. "The gamemakers wish for you to vote on the next pairing of tributes they put together. You have five choices, and the top voted on choice will be put into action. Your choices are:

Adonnis(D1), Lyliss(D1), Undin(D4) v. Tzarro(D10), Tellee(D10)

or

Ariella(D4) v. Memmo(D8)

or

Darzee(D9) v. Leera(D6)

or

Flint(D5) v. Kiloki(D9)

or

A Feast

"Okay, people of the Capitol, its up to you!" I say again, with extra verve. "Whichever gets the most votes in the next 24 hours will occur. Join us again tomorrow at high noon to see the events of the winner unfold."

With that, the camera zoned out, and I gave a relieved sigh. Those lights are hot. Those tributes are so lucky, they don't have to memorize some stupid script and stand on stage all day…

Hey guys,

Sorry this chapter is so short. But some of you might have guessed it, but you get to vote! Let me know which one you want to see. Don't submit it over review because I don't want people knowing which one is going to happen before it does. PM me with your choice, and when I start the next chapter, it will be about whichever one the most people want to see. Eventually, there will be another vote.

The only thing I can say is that you shouldn't vote because you think one person in particular. These are the hunger games you know, nothing is for certain.

Also, when you vote, also vote for whose POV I should write it in. Just because it is written in their POV doesn't mean that they'll win though… haha.

Guys, please help me out here. I really want to incorporate you guys more into the story that are reading, so please vote. It takes two minutes lol.

Once again, review! Tell your friends! All that jazz. Haha next chapter should be up Maybe in the next week. IDK. Lol

Keep Reading,

Emmdog1994