A/N:Just a quick update before I go away on holiday for a week, during which time I will be unable to post new chapters, so here's a quick heads up! I you have any weaponry or food you want to purchase using your points, please PM what and I will get onto it in the next chapter!
This is...
The Ninety Fourth Hunger Games
Georia stretches, bleary eyed, and with what she could only describe as hell's own headache bashing away at her from inside her skull. Georia groans weakly, looking down at what had been a beautiful white costume but was now surely covered in grit and mud. She jumps, pulling herself into a sitting position. Her costume is gone, apparently taken back by her stylists, to be replaced with a white towel like dressing gown which, while it covers up everything nicely, covers rather less of her scarred and deformed mess of a left leg than she would have normally liked. She looks around, her eyes blearily taking in Hype Tarick, who is sitting up next to her and is dressed in a similar dressing gown.
"Ah, Georia, you're awake then!" A doctor smiles gently at her, walking over with a clip board and inspecting the leg, "That's a nasty injury you've got there, I hope it's not recent."
Georia stares blankly at him, before answering. "N-no. I've had it for years..."
"Good, good. We can't be sued for it then." She pauses for a second to let his words sink in, before continuing, "So, apart from that, everything seems to be fine." Next to Georia, Hype glares at the doctor, trying to keep focused as his head bobs woozily.
"Hey, man, wait a minute. That girl ain't, like, healthy or nothin'! She was, like, tripped out or something, real mental like!"
"Yes, well Mr Tarick," The doctor says in a voice similar to as if she were addressing a young child, slow and patronising, "Georia's convulsions were simply due to a type of regressive epilepsy, a disease which we invented in the war, nasty but not fatal. The bright lights and excitement is simply responsible for bringing on the seizures." Hype stares blankly at her, "Not that I'd expect you to understand." She sighs. Georia gives another short moan, pulling herself unsteadily to her feet and standing shakily, she looks around her. The room they're in is large and wooden, the sides of it covered in benches, which she had been lying on, and there is a pile of hot coals in the center of the room, which are leaking steam into the room.
"Wait." She mutters, tottering unsurely on her feet as she tries to find a position to balance on, "Where are we?"
"The sauna, man!" Hype grins widely, and the doctor nods in agreement.
"Isn't that, kind of not the place to be seeing patients?"
"Hey, it's the Hunger Games," The doctor smiles, turning to leave, "We doctors need a holiday too!"
"Yes the sauna." Claudius Templesmith booms to the audience, "Or to be more precise, the sauna of the world famous CoriolanusSnow Bathing Houses! Madam President, in her infinite wisdom, has decreed that this years tributes should be allowed to visit this highly prized resort, alongside all the Games Makers who made this possible, so that they can have one last chance to relax before entering the Games!"
The doctor steps out of the door, and is moderately surprised to find Sevdad Kerin, mentor of District Eight, and Aew Ferove, the other tribute of the district, standing outside waiting.
"She's good to go now Mr Kerin!" The Nurse smiles. Kerin frowns at her, shoving past and barging into the sauna.
Outside, on the other side of a large, crystal clear pool, District One's Irre and District Four's tributes sit around a mini bar, talking in hushed voices.
"Sho." Blake mutters, his voice silky, "I say that we take out that big guy first."
"Who, Demis?" Irre asks, his eyes ringed from lack of sleep, "He'll be hard to take out, right?"
"If you lay one finger on Demis..." Jules begins, her threat slightly less threating on behalf of the fact that she is about half the height of Irre.
"No, you idiotsh." Blake groans, "I'm talking about that retard from Dishtrict Nine!"
"Zus, eh?" Irre grins, "Yeah right, that idiot won't be able to find his way to the cornucopia, let alone out of it again." Blake rolls his eyes, getting people to listen to him was always difficult when they were as thick as Irre. He looked around, over at the sauna he could see District Eights tributes being led out by their mentor. He grins over at them. They may not look like much, he thinks to himself, but a good mentor can make up for any failure. Just like with his failure of a partner, Jules and her mentor Ebb Raven.
Arixo Varsity smiles, kicking up and down the pool the other tributes rush around her. She had always liked peaceful areas, they gave her time to think. Even if her swimming was more like some sort of awkward doggy paddle and so slow that even a tortoise could overtake it. Not like those pig from District Two or that tall, kind of handsome guy from District Eleven who kept staring at her ridiculous swimming style, or most of the Victors, speeding up and down the pool. The victors are mostly kepping to themselves, occasionally chatting to each other or grabbing a bite to eat from the buffet at the side, while the District Two pair seem to be a lot more 'boisterous', randomly attacking people at random who look weak when they try to get into the pool.
"Ah that wonderful go get 'em attitude of District Two! Don't you just love it?" Claudius beams to the audience.
Looking around some more, Arixo quickly notices that her partner, Hype, is nowhere to be seen. Idiot has probably fallen asleep in the sauna, she thinks, before swiftly getting back to her battle plan.
"Hey there!" A voice shouts, and she sees the tall boy from Eleven running up to her "Hey! You're doing it all wrong!" She glares at him but he doesn't seem to want to leave.
"Move your legs and arms, not your chest. I mean, I know you District Twelve's don't have much water at home but, come on! Try to make a little effort!" Her glare increases as she wills him to shut up and go away, so that she can think.
"Look, like this." Scratch smiles, pushing off the wall and doing a little maneuver so that he twists around and comes back to where she is. "Now you try." She turns her glare up to full Death Glare mode, and tries to shut him up, but he doesn't get the picture, so she just pushes off the wall and swims away. Scratch ducks under the water and follows her, looking up at her from beneath the surface.
"No, no!" He whines, his voice barely audible under the waves, "Use your legs!" He comes up next to her to take a breath and Arixo rolls her eyes.
"Why do I always get stuck being looked after by the losers?"
Meanwhile, Kate is spending most of her time strutting up and down, showing off. She walks along the pool, trying out the 'sexy' poses that she has been trying to perfect all weekend.
"Why do I even have to do this," Kate mutters, "It's demeaning." Jakob looks at her quizzically, stretching his fingers out in an awkward little motion and raising the portable recorder he always holds to his lips.
"Sponsors." He says simply, "Are the most important part of the Games. The more you have, the better your chances."
"So? Why these ridiculous poses? Can't I just make a speech to the audience to get sponsorship or something." Kate groans.
"Yes, you could." Jakob rolls his eyes, switching voices yet again as he watches the girl from Eight and boy from Seven cower in the corner, neither wanting to go near the water, "But no one would listen to you. Heck, half the audience would just be staring at your chest and drooling, no offense." Kate growls, and for a moment, she feels like marching up to the younger boy and slapping him round the face, but she stops herself. Jakob hadn't meant offense after all. The sheer lack of emotion in his statement was enough to convince her of that. But then again he is an actor, so she just punches him in the shoulder for good measure. Kate groans, sitting down next to him and looking out across the pool. What had it been that Kyte had told her? Make a list of people who look like threats. Well, it would help her at least, she thought. She got a piece of paper and a pen out from the dressing gowns pocket and began writing.
"Smooth move from Kate, and some nice planning from the Games Makers." narrates Claudius, "What WILL they think of next?"
Kate stuck the pen her mouth and racked her brains. District One seemed like an obvious place to start. The boy was massive and the girl, well, she wasn't so big, but she was a Career in another alliance, so she was probably worth watching. District Two were mean one's, just looking at them she could tell thy were danger, so they went down. No point with District Three unless she was planning on suicide. District Four didn't look like much, just chattering kids really. District Five had that big dopey guy and the little girl, but didn't look like too much trouble. District Six were talented, she'd give them that, and seemed far too close, so they went down. District Seven's boy was certainly dangerous, but the girl didn't look like much. District Eight weren't even worth looking at, they weren't going to win. District Nine had that really big girl and the foreign boy, so they go down as well and District Ten and Twelve's girls go down as well. Jakob whips the piece of paper out of her hands and inspects it, before handing it back to her.
"What about District Ten's boy?" He asks.
"Him, he's asleep!" She bellows, pointing straight at the messy haired boy.
"He ain't, sister." Jakob croons, "He's hiding his face behind his hair, not moving and snoring. He's not asleep." Kate turns her head sideways and Trent Flee slowly slides down onto his side.
"He looks asleep." She ponders.
"He's not." Jakob sighs, holding up the recorder, "I'm surprised you can't see it yourself. It is pretty obvious. He's checking out your legs, girl." He watches as Kate jumps to her feet, jumps into the pool and splashes across to Trent Flee.
"What the..."
Jakob chuckles under his breath, watching as the girl wails on the unsuspecting teen.
"Oh, Jakob, you're a riot." He mutters, borrowing the voice of his best friend, Willie as he watches the carnage he has created. The prankster god is back baby!
District Six's tributes sit over by the fountain, both wrapped in heavy white towels as they watch their mentor, Kai, with inquisitive faces.
"Rule Number One: Stay away from the cornucopia." Kai dictates, watching to make sure that they're noting this down. "Rule Two: Don't trust anyone except each other. You hear me, no one. Not even each other. Not even yourselves. Not even me! No one.
Rule Number Three: Don't eat any fruits. I know they seem safe but believe me, mutinations are attracted to them. If you see anything that remotely resembles a piece of fruit, run from it like it was the devil himself. Instead survive on an nice blend of rodents and leeches..." Neither of her tributes were listening, instead they were chatting to each other, now completely disinterested.
"OK." Phillip begins, "As soon as it starts we head for high ground, it's normally safer and gives us a good view of the terrain."
"Shouldn't we be more of a roving group?" Emery asks, "You know, wandering around, taking people out when we can, stuff like that?"
"No."
"Why?"
"That's exactly what the Careers do, wander around and wait for you to wander into their path. As long as we don't have anything they want we'll be OK." Emery nods. Phillip was smart after all, he probably knew better than anyone what would and wouldn't work. After all, he'd watched every Hunger Games since they were twelve with a scary kind of interest, as though he knew he would be chosen and had been preparing for it. She pulls herself to her feet and, noticing the tall boy with all the scars from District Seven staring at her, looks away. She knows what he is thinking. It is in his eyes. She looks around. The girl from District Two is staring at her as well. And then she realises it.
They want to kill her. She had said to much yesterday and now, now they are out to get her, to stick her head on a pole.
She had said to much. Told everyone their plan.
"So that's why you wanted to change the plan." She whispers to Phillip.
Several hours later the tributes are led outside the CoriolanusSnow Bathing House, were a large crowd is waiting for them. They taken by sleek black cars (one for each District) to a launch site, and from there are flown out across the mountains, to the site of this years Hunger Games. Each are led off to their district area, where they are treated to a quick meal of whatever they want and are presented with their tokens, if they do not already have them with them, and several sets of animal skin clothes, which they are told to change into.
"God." Kayton mutters, looking down at the skimpy, battered leather clothes she has been presented with, "Mr Viridis would have a fit if he saw us like this."
"Viridis?" Pyro growls, looking down at his scar crossed chest and his equally skimpy costume, "How do you think I feel? Man, you have no idea how much this bearskin itches!" He growls and mewls but, much to the relief of Kayton and most of the viewing public, refrains from setting the thing on fire, thus saving their eyes from a sight which would require a ridiculous amount of brain bleach to remove. Kayton smiles as she is handed the necklace that she left in her room, and Pyro his empty lighter, and the two step into their pods and are fired up into the Arena.
Meanwhile Lenox is going through exactly the same problem as Pyro with her clothes. She scratches at the fur vest she has been forced to wear as she wonders whether anyone else is facing the same predicament as her. Infront of her, a frog like Games Maker whose name tape reads 'Sid' inspects her token with curiosity.
"Are you sure this isn't a weapon." He growls, turning the small metal clip over in his hand.
"It's a hair clip."
"Yeah, I know that..." Sid drawls, his ugly face creasing slightly as he attempts to read the tiny inscription on the back. "But it looks kinda dangerous."
"But it's tiny! How could I possibly use it as a weapon?"
"Well, It's not so much it getting' used as a weapon, see, but what if it came out an' went into someone's eye, eh? That could really hurt!"
"Its. A. Hair. Clip." Lenox growls, accentuating every word.
"Yeah, but what about this inscription?"
"What the one that says 'With Love Mom, Farnish, Felix and Felecia'?"
"Oh." The guard squints his eyes and stares at it, "I could'a sworn it said somethin' different... Well what about that rock!" He declares indignantly, pointing a pudgy hand at Scratch's token.
"Brother gave it to me." Scratch states.
"Oh." The guard mutters, sullenly stepping out of the way and letting the two pass.
Lenox growls as she marches off down the hall to their pods. Why didn't she just say her family had given it to her? Had it really been that easy to get a large rock passed the guards. She looks down at her rope belt. At least she'd got some form of weapon into the games. Rope. She was good at using rope. She was the best!
Everyone
Welcome to the Arena...
Of the Ninety Fourth Hunger Games
"Tributes," Claudius Templesmith bellows, his massive face leering down at the twenty four tributes arrayed beneath him. "Welcome, to the dawn of time!" April Connolly rolls her eyes as the man speaks, and quickly looks around. The sky is dark and black, making it hard for her to see and, in the distance, lightning arcs down from the sky. It looks like it's raining outside the pod, except for the fact that the rain is black not clear, and the air is hot on her skin as it seeps through the walls of the pod. What idiot had given these things walls anyway? It wasn't like they were going to move anywhere anyway. She looks around a bit more, there is a mountain in the distance and a couple of trees, and a mound of something in front of her, where the cornucopia is supposed to be.
Looking around, April is somewhat pleased to see that the other tributes have not been spared from having to wear stupidly revealing clothes and ugly warpaint. Not even the younger tributes, like Alew and Teagan, have been spared from the rather over the top costumes, so at least it wasn't just her who looked like some sort of Amazon. She looks to either side. On one side of her stands Kate Ryal, who is probably wearing the least out of any of the tributes, dressed in practically her underwear and that is it. She is looking rather unsure about herself and scuffing her bare feet against the ground in agitation. Well. That shouldn't be too hard to beat, April grins.
To her left stands the idiot from District Five. A large grin is spread across his face and he flexes his muscles as he squints through the pair of goggles that have been placed on his head instead of glasses. She laughs, causing the eyes of the other tributes to be drawn to her, but she doesn't care.
This is going to be easy.
And then the mound in front of her explodes, revealing the cornucopia and ripping away the pods that they are standing in along with a nice big lava flow, and any ideas of this being easy are immediately wiped out of everyones minds.
"So it begins, folks. And thank you very much to Games Maker akatrixie for suggesting this Arena. If anyone wants to get some items for the Arena, please PM me what you want and I will give it to your character. So without further ado, here's what everyone's got!"
Arcticmist: 40
A type of Wallflower: 30
SilverDagger: 10
Freedom of Thought: 20
Haley: 10
dudleyson: 10
akatrixie: 70
Ereader64: 30
Son of X: 10
Fuzzybubny: 10
booksarecool: 10
Meiveva Sirenice: 10
Ginny Weasley23: 60
Narcissa Weasly: 40
HelloPoppet123: 60
MySoulToReap: 55 + claws
Beware of the Nargles: 30
seagreeneauty: 10
skygirl4ever: 30
wildone97: 30
pianoette: 20
MyRedPheonix: 30
CoolOw: 10
Thanks for watching and see you next week!