For sixty seconds we are required to stand on our metal stand. If we even take a foot off of the metal plate and place it anywhere in the vicinity of the ground we will be blown to kingdom come. They place mines all around the ground of the metal podiums to insure that the tributes stay on the platform. It wouldn't help so much, if someone were to have a weapon upon having entered the games. Then they could just throw it and kill someone right off the bat.
Me, I don't mind. What I'm doing is looking around, gauging the world I'm going to be held in for some time. All of the tributes have been placed an equal distance from the Cornicopia. The Cornicopia itself is a hulking black medal figure in the shape of what I suppose was supposed to be that Thanksgiving decoration from days long since forgotten. The mouth of it is at least twenty feet high, and equally round. Just like the Thanksgiving decoration there are items spewing from the mouth, spread out both inside and along the floor of the meadow that we are in. Along the ground there are things that will help the tributes to survive, including things such as fire-starters, containers of water, even medicine, garments, camouflage, and even weapons. The weapon that catches my interest is the large battle axe tucked just inside, barely seeable.
I know it was meant for me. It's been 'bedazzled' more than my old wooden axes but I know that I have the strength to lift it, or even throw it to impale someone. I can see that the value of the items increase, with the more important items in the cornucopia, and the lower items are closer to us. They're trying to tempt us into the cornucopia, to reach and grab something.
They've succeeded. I know I can go to the cornucopia and kill anyone in the way, and with my 12 they may just not suspect anything. But I know that the gamekeepers won't like it and keeping the gamekeepers happy is a fundamental part of being in the Hunger Games. If you really anger the gamekeepers they can kill you in an inescapable and torturous way. I would be scarred or even mentally damaged but I would be able to escape. Then of course, they would realize that I'm not just a human and that revelation has always caused problems, be they bad or worse.
Instead, I can just grab something, something small and at the edge of where I stood. I knew what Haymitch said. I can even see Peeta over there, turning toward the forest to the east of us. I can remember what Haymitch told us, to put as much distance between us and the other tributes and then find a source of water to drink. But the things I could use are there and it's tempting, to tempting. I won't go all the way, even to get the axes. I'll grab something small and run as fast as I can away.
I glanced around at the other tributes and to my surprise some where staring at me. I realized that my assessment earlier was right. They were going to try to mow me down for the twelve I received. I groaned, I shouldn't have gotten angry at the gamekeepers. I grimaced, just waiting anxiously for the countdown to hit sixty and to tell us to start off. I can just see a bag just a few meters for me. I don't know what's in it but it has to be important. If I tried hard enough I could probably make it all the way in the cornucopia but the problem was, could I get out without getting myself into a…situation?
They could probably take me down in close range, I could take all of them down, but that would defiantly grab everyone's suspicions. Of course, some would probably pass me off, just to get to the other adversaries, ones that could be more trouble down the line. I'm smaller, so they probably would go for the hulking ones, like Thresh, just to make it easier on them later on in the games.
Haymitch doesn't know about the other side of me, and as bad as it sounds, I'd rather he didn't. It causes all kinds of problems, and I'm still me so what should it matter that I'm Destiny? But I suspect if he knew, then he'd tell me to go for it, to get the weapon. The axe there is looking better and better the more I stand there. If I get it, it could be my salvation but if I don't…
The minute has to be almost up. I can't help but waver now as the anxiety slowly ruined my nerves. I glanced at all of the people around me. Peeta, five tributes to my right is staring at me and furiously shaking his head no. I just grinned at him and stared frontwards, it was almost time for the minute to be up. You know what; I'm going to stop worrying. I'm going to grab that pack, that piece of plastic and take my ass to the forest and find that water.
Just as I decided the gong rings. Everyone shoots for the cornucopia. I start off running, and I admit I'm not as fast as the red head whose soaring past but I'm fast enough that I can scoop up the plastic sheet and make a wild dash for the backpack, all without breaking stride.
And then I shriek as I almost get hit with a knife. I turn to see the blonde one, from District 2, is running fast at me and almost there. I stand my ground and I feel an unnatural anger and pride kick start in my stomach. I grab the bag and as she makes it to me, knife at the ready, she swings at me with her free hand. I don't even pause in ducking to a crouch and flipping backwards on my hands, knocking her in the face with my feet as I start flipping back out of the way. On the third flip, I'm to out of mystical Destiny shape and I stop flipping. I stumble for a second, and it actually helps, because I ducked another knife from her. I dashed towards the forest and was missed by another knife, this one thick and hulky, and defiantly not from the District 2 girl's direction. I take a risk and glance behind me to see the District 2 boy, who had blood on his hands and face already was there scowling at me.
Beside him is the Distric 2 girl, holding her bleeding face from where the fouch bottom of my boots mangled her face. I grin as I turn forward towards the fast approaching forest line. Not a second later I was sliding to hide under a bush without a hitch. I gulped for breath and put my back to a tree and listened.
I could hear pained cries, of someone no doubt just being the correct age to be a tribute. I glance behind the tree to take stock of the cornucopia. A bunch of dead bodies are on the ground, one was even convulsing as one of the District's people slice them through sadistically. It makes me shutter at the mere sight. I vowed that if – or when – I had to take some one down I'd do it as fast as I could, and with much mercy.
One of the dead bodies, the one of a raven haired boy who's podium had been beside mine was knifed in the back, not soon after he'd jumped down from the podium. From the angle, and the starting point, I can tell that the knife, might not have actually been meant for me.
I'm surprised I even dodged District 2's knifes. I've seen her in training. Unlike us, her mentor didn't tell her to hide her skills. I'm half tempted to think that her mentor decided to tell her to intimidate us. That's all the District 2 people had done is try to intimidate us by ripping apart dummies in the practice room with brute, and cruel force. I take a second to just thank God that I'd evade her for now.
The District 2 tributes abandoned taking me down now, so that all of the good stuff wouldn't be gone in the cornucopia. It's not like they have any real competition. They'd struck an alliance, the Careers, since that first day of training. That's all I see before I ducked farther into the woods, setting a gruesome pass for myself, trying to be light on my feet so that no one hears my light footsteps.
I take a moment in my mind to be glad that I was trained by a Russian spy when I was in a different Destiny. Now I think I'm actually missing being Destiny. Cause you know when I'm doing my job, making people's futures, pasts, and present I don't get in life threatening situations. I even miss playing with the planets and the stars. (See Legend of Destiny if you need that to be explained) Mostly though, I miss not having to run everywhere. How do humans do it, God, I'm tired already.
I push on though. For a few hours I alternate between running, walking, and hiding. I'm listening carefully for anything around me, but I'm also looking for signs of water. So far I've had nothing but trees and more trees. At least in District 12 they had steady rivers everywhere. At one of the moments that I'm taking a rest I gather up my supplies. I ended up holding on to the plastic sheet, which is in perfect condition to protect me if I needed it. It's large enough even to be a blanket if I folded it out and scrunched my feet up a little to.
What I hadn't noticed, with my adrenaline fueled acrobatics, was a large hunting knife with part of it a sawing edge, perfect for sawing through tough things, and the top was perfect for preparing dead animals, being buried in the back of the orange backpack. I contemplated opening up the backpack, but I'd stayed still for far too long as it is. Instead I kept moving after pocking the knife into my deep pockets to keep it in reach, just in case. I place the plastic inside a hidden jacket pocket that I discovered. From there on I don't stop, I only paused to check for the sound of footsteps behind me. I even glanced to the tree tops, just to make sure there was no one there either.
I know from experience I can make it a long time with out food, or even without water. Technically, if I wanted I could go without either forever because my soul, and my body don't need it, but then I start to loose weight drastically, and sometimes I start passing out when I shouldn't. And passing out here isn't a good idea, ever. I'm cautious to even try and sleep tonight. Tonight will be the night that everyone is at their best and ready to kill each other.
As I move farther along the landscape starts to subtly change. The pine trees that I was so used to began to change and mingle with oaks and redwoods. The ground began to slope down and I didn't like it. If I'm in a valley I can be trapped into a corner and killed. If I'm up high I can see the others coming and I can even pick off others, if I make something with all of these tree branches. Maybe I could make a spear, I'm pretty good with a spear, and not as good as an axe but still anything can help. I have to keep going though, because it's always a good idea to keep moving.
All those days in the capital stuffing myself is paying off. I have tons of energy stored up in my body. I feel so much better now surrounded by all of this earth and nature. It's like breathing in the taste of nature is giving me the strength I needed to make it through. Just the illusion of being alone is strengthening. I'm sure that I'm being watched, maybe not right at this moment, because the other tributes might have something more exciting then walking in the woods going on, but I also know that I'll never be truly alone as long as I'm here.
Camera's are hidden everywhere, in the trees, in the ground, in the sky, hell they might even be somewhere on me. I've slowed down now, and my hand as I think and search has drifted to the bump that symbolizes the little tracker that they place on my skin. They could have done anything while I was asleep.
Suddenly something in the trees makes a noise. I jerk my back against a tree and search above for the noise, but it's only a fat, gorgeous squirrel. I slowly, so as not to draw the squirrel's attention to myself, picked my knife out of my belt and raised my arm. I weighed the knife, a little heavy on one end so I'd have to aim higher. I cocked my arm back and swung the knife out. It pierced straight through the side of the squirrel and pinned it back against the tree trunk.
I sighed and looked around, making sure no predators, or tributes, heard the thunk of the knife imbedding itself in the trunk. When I decided that there wasn't anyone around I made my way to the tree and began the climb up it. The climb wasn't too difficult, though it wasn't my favorite thing in the world. I like climbing well enough but I preferred to be on the ground, maybe in a cave. I was always so scared that I would fall from the top of the tree, and then spend the rest of my life…like Katniss.
Once I reached the dead squirrel I straddled the branch that the squirrel had once been climbing. I didn't have to work the knife out to much, after all it was quite a distance that I threw it from. I didn't even bother to come down from the branch as I cleaned the meat and hesitantly I left the fur there. If I were anywhere else, or maybe if I had some needle and thread, I'd try and get some more pelts and work a blanket out of them, but it wasn't a good idea now. I didn't have the time to make anything, and I had already been here to long.
It is late afternoon, with still no sign of water, that I hear the first cannon. I shutter as each one goes off because for each piercing shot is a dead tribute. For each one is someone who died in these sick games. That probably means the fighting finally stopped at the cornucopia. The gamekeepers don't collect the bodies until everyone has left the scene of the death. During the first day, during the fight of the cornucopia, they don't even bother to let the cannons loose until everyone has stopped fighting. It's much easier that way, because no one can quite keep up with whose dead and who isn't.
I don't pause in the slight jog I have going, but I do count the shots, with each one my anxiety rose. Who were they? One…two…three…on and on until I can count eleven deaths. I nervously rubbed my hands on the black pants I'm wearing. I have the blood of the squirrel still on them, having no water to wash it off with. I won't know who all died until it grows truly dark out here. They'll cast the images of the dead up on the dome of the arena and tell us what District they are from.
Will I see Peeta up there? Will I see my best friend's dead body waiting in the gigantic cemetery when I get home? For once, I kind of hope it's true. I don't want to have to worry about killing Peeta. I pray that he hasn't had to endure too much pain. As sick as it sounds, if he dies now then he'll be in a better place then here. Maybe he won't have to suffer through months of the arena only to die later.
He'd be heading home now, his body…He'd have been cleaned up, redressed even at the Capital and then sent home in a simple wooden box back to his grieving family. I can't remember anything from the battle of the Cornicopia. I can't remember if he was killed or not, but I pray he got that easy way out. I don't want to kill him; I can still remember all those moments we had together at school, at home. I can still remember him trying to get in to see Katniss when she first had the accident. It makes even more sense now why she didn't want him to see her, and Peeta wouldn't give up until he saw her. My sister and my best friend were in love. How clichéd is that?
I finally managed to stop, after I decided to climb up another tree, just in case. I want to be able to see people coming, so that I don't get taken by surprise. I have to look through the bag now, because at nightfall I won't be able to see much. I unhooked the bag once I was at the top, with the sturdiest branch up there. I observed the bag itself first. It was sturdy, as it's already proved, and it could hold pretty well if I were to have to run some more. The color is horrible though. Orange will be like a neon flag out here. I'll have to camouflage it tomorrow.
When I flip open the flap of the bag I'm hopeful that something useful will be there, not something stupid, that I won't be able to use. I'm hoping for something more useful than the sheet of plastic, which might actually be useful in the future. What I really want is a shovel. That could help me to dig traps, both for other tributes and for animals to eat.
What I receive is a black, thin sleeping bag that will hold in body heat easily. A pack of crackers, a pack of dried beef strips, a bottle of iodine, and a box of wooden matches. There is even a coil or wire and a pair of sunglasses which puzzled me greatly. I found something that made me want flash angrily, a half-gallon bottle of water that was waterless. I sighed and stuffed all of it back in the bag for now so that I could think, and run if I needed to.
Twilight has started by now, and my breath is still rough. I can already feel the effects of no water on me. My lips are chapped and my mouth just won't stay wet. My throat feels like a piece of scratched up wood. I grimaced and looked at my hands. I had for, but a fire was useless. I could set up the squirrel for bigger food but that would be useless. The only way a fire would be unnoticeable was during twilight but I can't risk getting to the ground and then not making it back up when it turns night. I could eat it raw, but I'm not that hungry yet.
I instead turn to the tree trunk and begin scraping some of the bark off so that I could reach the soft inner bark. I began to choke that down. I've long since been used to the taste, but with so long a time eating a great supply of food I have to take a few swallows to get it down my scratchy throat.
I climb down, just long enough to use the wire I gained to set up two traps, to get more food for later when I've deemed that I am a sufficient distance away from the tributes and that they won't come after me if I light up a fire.
I decide to move trees and with a five minute walk I find a clump of willow trees that are perfect for concealing me and even the orange backpack. It's not as tall as I would have liked it to be, but I don't have any time to find anything better. I found a sturdy branch and to my luck it had a fork in it that was just right for me to fit into. With a little work, and a lot of hesitance I get the sleeping bag and myself into a comfortable position. For me to get any sense of comfort, or manage any form of sleep I tugged my belt out and looped it around both me and the tree, so that I won't go crashing to the should I turn over during the night.
I pushed and pulled myself until the bag covered most of my head as well and I even put my hood on for good measure. The air is cooling quickly here as the sky darkens farther. I know for sure that I made the right choice in going for this bag because my face is freezing from where I've kept my eyes uncovered, so I could see my enemies. Night finally settled on to us, and my eyes are already dropping when the anthem busts out.
It startles me a bit, but I open my eyes so I can look at the top of the dome. The anthem stopped and I paused. Right now, at home they are watching a recap of all the deaths that day. They won't show us, because if they do it may reveal some of our secrets to the others. For instance, if I were to kill some one via throwing the large battle axe I saw earlier, then they would realize that this was why I accomplished a 12.
Nope, here in the arena all we see is the pictures, more like profile pictures of the tributes that died. Now they are displaying district numbers under the person, and I waited anxiously. First is the girl from District 3, and then the 4th district's boy is gone. The boy from District 5…Both tributes from six and seven…the boy from eight…and both from 9…That was the boy who'd been hit in the back with a knife, I vaguely remember that he'd been dressed weird, what was his name? Roman I think. I hadn't though of it then but I remember now. I didn't know him…personally. It was strange, now that I thought of it, his shirt had been weird, with things that looked like ties on his white shirt, and then some kind of circle and zip on the jacket. If I hadn't known better I'd have thought he'd been from the 21st century.
No Peeta…the last one had been from District 10 or something. I want to cry, because that means there's even more of a chance that I'll have to kill my best friend and it hurts.
I can't do it; I know I won't want to. It'll be horrible if it ends up being us who face off, but I'd rather him be the last and give him a chance then to take him off the board before then. I try instead of thinking of that to think of what tributes are left. I believe that it's the Five Career Tributes, that red head girl. Thresh and Rue are both alive. Rue…that small little girl is out there somewhere in this weather. I can't help but to feel glad that she made it through the first day. That means she's good. Maybe she'll just stay out of the way, but I don't want to kill her either. I don't know if my psych could take it if I had to take down a child, especially such a sweet one as her.
That makes ten of us. The other three I'll have to figure out tomorrow. For now I need to rest. I've had very little sleep and I need it now, with no water already an irritation. I did smile softly in my sleeping bag though, when I remembered why I got no sleep.
There wasn't any soreness, which was something I was very happy about. I'm so happy that I got to spend that night with Haymitch, and that Haymitch loves me. God, I love that he loves me. I don't know why, and quite honestly I'm not going to ask him when I see him. I'll probably just jump his bones when I see him. I can just remember now the feeling of his rough skin against my smooth one. I shuttered and burrowed deeper into the sleeping bag. I need sleep right now.
Slowly I will my muscles to relax, my eyes to close and the last thing I thought was I should be glad that I don't snore.
Crunch! My eyes snapped open and reeled around. I couldn't believe it. I looked to the sky and realized that it was slightly lighter than before but still darker than before. I must have slept for a long time before this disturbance. I didn't make any physical move, even though a stick was currently digging its way into my hip. I must have been asleep four, five hours.
I look around, and silently, being extra careful not to make a noise I turn towards the noise. Snap! Snap! I looked toward where the noise was coming from. It wasn't the sound of someone's foot but it was defiantly someone. For a few minutes I watch that same place and it's just inky blackness. Then, right when I was contemplating about to go to sleep I see a spark. My eyes widened when I saw a fire roar to life. I can't make more out than their hands warming over the fire but it's enough.
I want to scream at them. What are they thinking lighting a fire now when it's so visible. That fire could probably be seen from the cornucopia itself. It doesn't matter if they can't. By now they've probably been combing the arena for victims, and she's just placing a neon sign that practically screams 'I'm here!'
And here I am, in a willow tree, just a few feet from this retard with the fire. Just. My. Luck! I can't leave. First of all, I'm strapped to the tree by a belt, and this idiot has just broadcasted my general to anyone who wants a slice of me, which I imagine is a lot. I get hat it's freezing out here and not everyone has a sleeping bag, but even a novice much less someone who went through training for this, has to understand that you have to keep going and deal with it until dawn!
For a few more hours I burn up in my sleeping bag. Around the first hour I'm thinking if I could get out of this bag I'd just take her out myself. Stupid people like this are hazardous and this person is on the verge of getting me killed. Plus, this person doesn't have a knife on their person, or if they're this stupid, any weapon at all really.
I can see the sky lighting now, with the sounds of birds somewhere in the distance. I grimaced to myself as I made a soundless adjustment to my position. I begin to think that I might just have my chance, if it comes dawn, but then I hear something that steals any breath from my very body. Footsteps, multiple running footsteps. The fire starter is down for the count before she realizes what has happened; I can tell she's been dozing for the last hour. I know it's a girl from the scream and the pleading as whoever's killing her laughs at her.
"Twelve down and eleven to go!" Someone announced. It got a round of hoots from their comrades. I don't have to guess who's in the alliance. It always happens, like clock work, during the beginning of the games. The strong band together to kill the weaker ones, and then they turn on each other, the moment their backs are turned. The Careers, no doubt, I'd recognize District 2's voice by now. I'd like to see the damage I did to her face right about now. I'd say two of them are boys, and three girls. They are the ones who lunched together.
They spent a few leisurely moments checking the girl for anything good, and just like I'd thought, she didn't have anything on her. Probably the only thing she even learnt from the training was how to make a fire, and look where that got her. For a moment I anxiously wonder if the little dead girl is Rue, but it must not be. Rue is way to smart to build a fire in the middle of the night.
"Better clear out so they can get the body before it starts stinking." That's the guy from District 2, it has to be. I don't really remember, but I think that it sounded like that during his interview. To my horror, after people muttering assent I hear their footsteps getting closer. Oh, God. Oh, God save me. I squeezed my eyes shut and screwed my face up. If I needed to I could probably undo this belt before they realize that its me that's up here in this nest, but I'd get hurt way before I made damaged to them, or even escaped. I nearly give myself away with a scream when my body rolls, silently thankfully, over.
Thank you for the belt now. Cause now I'm upside down and attached to the tree branch. I don't dare to open my eyes to see if they heard or saw me. I just want them to hit me quickly, then I can take 'em down while they think they are the victors of this round. But, I don't have to worry. The sleeping bag hadn't made a sound, and they mustn't have been looking at the tree to see the movement.
They've stopped in a clearing about ten yards from my tree. I can see they do actually have flashlights and torches, but I can't really make them out. There is one more torch then I thought they were but I don't know who it is with their faces being away from their torch. I turn to stone as much as possible as I stay stuck to the tree.
"Shouldn't we have heard a cannon by now?"
"I'd say yes. Nothing to prevent them from going in immediately."
"Unless she isn't dead." I listen carefully to their conversation.
"She's dead, I stuck her myself."
"Then where's the cannon?"
"Someone should go back. Make sure the job's done."
"Yeah, we don't want to have to track her down twice."
"I said she's dead!" What did I say, they start to argue. That's how it always starts. A few arguments here in their causes a shift in alliances before they all just kill each other one day.
"We're wasting time!" My heart stops. I know that voice but… "I'll go finish her and let's move on!"
…..Peeta?
All right, I worked hard to finish this for you guys. So what do you think of Katfir's first day in the arena? Exciting I know. I kept it close to the story line with a few adjustments. I'm actually quite pleased with this chapter, but eh.
Okay, I've been forgetting to put these on here so here's the question per update:
How excited are you for the Avengers? And if some of you have it already, Is it just as great out of theatre's?