Day Two:
Enigma Lilac Brine, 18;
District Five Female
''Wake up!''
''Huh?'' I groan, rubbing my eyeballs as I casually sit up. Leveling my hands up into the air, I stretch them out into the open breeze that's flowing naturally and smoothly against my hair, and let out a fallacious yawn.
''What, are you tired or something?'' Asyrin questions, giving me a deadly glare. ''If you're tired, you can just leave, you know? We don't need tired people in this alliance, especially not if they're just gonna sit back and hide behind another member.''
''We, or you?'' Seraphina asks, also being awoken by Asyrin's shouting. ''You can't let us rest for at least twenty more minutes? I mean, we all know that you're bloodthirsty and all but you don't have to-''
''Shut up!'' he snarls, tightening his fists and staring out into the open. With that, he begins to walk towards the dual person tent that Isha and Hero received last night, kicking away all of our bags as he moves. Instead of opening the tent, he casually waits aside from it and peeks inside every once in a while. ''Hey... Wake up!''
Immediately, you can hear the groans of Isha and Hero as they both wake up from the tent. I take this as an opportunity to wake up Domino, who sleeps right beside me on the twigs and leaves of this forest. I'm so fortunate to have been given a sleeping bag, which was originally his, but because of how generous he was, he decided to hand it to me.
''Hey, sweetie,'' I whisper, gently stroking his cheek and shaking his shoulder. ''Come on, it's time to get up.'' With my words, Domino peers up, placing his hand in front of his eyes to block the radiant brightness of the sun. Leaning forward, he takes me by my hand and smiles.
As soon as I'm about to say something, Asyrin's troubled breathing startles me. He begins kicking Isha and Hero's tent, staring back at us and back at them, also murmuring vapid and dull comments about the two of them always being together. Speaking of tents, Asyrin got a dual person tent as a sponsor gift last night.
I guess that's what he deserves for acquiring two kills. When we all hear another groan, Asyrin rushes inside of the tent. ''Y'all fucking?'' he shouts from inside, pushing the limits of the tents support. Suddenly both Hero and Isha are pushed out of the tent, both landing on the ground and a look of pain on their faces. ''Y'all was fucking.''
''No, Asyrin,'' Isha grunts, slowly placing her right hand on the base of her head. She looks around, noticing that we're all awake, with a disturbed look on her face. ''We're both tired, and we have no idea why you're waking us up so early in the morning. Nobody does!''
''Are you trying to get loud with me?'' Asyrin croaked, slowly reaching down for a mace. ''Did you forget who you were talking to? Say something stupid like that again, retaliate against me one more time, and I'll end you quicker than you can blink.''
''Asyrin, stop,'' Hero chuckles, staring up and smiling brightly at Asyrin. Looks like he's back to normal, and that's something that we all wanted to see, judging by the features on everyone's face. ''Where do you come up with these assumptions anyway? Plus that's gross, so why would we be doing something like that?''
''Because Ms. I Have A Baby over here doesn't know how to keep her body to herself,'' Asyrin replies, staring straight at Isha while playing with the spikes on his mace. ''Anyway, we need to start hunting. We didn't get anyone last night, and we spent way too much time crossing the field of snow, thanks to Domino and Enigma over there.''
''But why should we go hunting so early? What do you gain from hunting while it's still dark out? Nobody is gonna be spotted, and you'll have a rough time navigating where you're going.'' Seraphina points out. ''If you think you'll find anyone, by all means go ahead and try it.''
''That's not entirely true, Seraphina,'' I start, coughing as everyone turns their gaze towards me. ''We have a better chance of eliminating the competition this way, if you think about it. Everyone is most likely sleeping at a time like this, so hunting now would give us a jump on the game, therefore allowing us to make these games end quicker.''
''You want these games to end quicker?'' Isha jumps in, already packed with a bag on her back and a bow poised in her hand. ''You know that means all of us have to die, including you and Domino, right? In fact, why don't we have a career bloodbath right now? Whoever makes it out alive, since I doubt anyone besides one of us will live after this, can go along to win. Deal?''
''Deal!'' Asyrin jumps up, running straight towards Isha with a mace still in his hand. She stares right at him as he continues running, her bow raised up and an arrow shot into Asyrin's leg. He lets out a shout, tripping a bit until he finally reaches Isha—and when he does, she sticks out her foot.
Asyrin lands roughly on the twigs that scratch up his face, making blood trickle down his bloodied skin. Struggling to get up, he's quickly pushed back down to the ground by Isha, who stomps her foot on his neck and presses an arrow to his temple. ''Are you sure you wanna go along with this?''
''Yeah,'' Asyrin snickers, but that only leads to her stomping on his neck even harder. Asyrin grunts, the arrow that was in his leg being pushed deeper in. Out of no where, he uses his aggression to push himself up and throw Isha's leg off of him. Getting up, Asyrin rips the arrow out of his leg it's nothing, showing no sign of weakness and hurls the arrow at Isha—the arrow travels through the air like it would if it was shot out of an arrow.
The strength that Asyrin shows... It's just not human.
Isha, who seems to be as shocked as the rest of us, moves to the right and escapes the arrow, but only to have Asyrin's hands clutched on her Arena Outfit, swaying her left and right as he yells obscenities at her. Hero, who gets up in an instance, comes over and pulls Asyrin away, with the help of Domino.
''Calm down,'' Hero tries to keep Asyrin's anger from surfacing to the point where he kills us all. With Domino's help, Asyrin calms down quicker, showing no emotion whatsoever. Both Isha and Asyrin glare at each other—both of their looks scare the living crap out of me.
But their looks aren't what's disturbing. What Asyrin says made my heart skip a beat. ''Isha, I'm giving you seven chances, okay?'' he warns, sticking both of his hands up with six fingers raised in the air. ''I'm gonna snap my fingers six times; one snap means that I'm gonna tear your skin out, which I'll use to cover up your decaying flesh. The second snap means that I'm gonna tear out your hair and gnaw them between my teeth. The third snap is for your bones, which I'll fashion into clubs; the fourth one for your heart, and that's gonna be torn from your chest. The fifth snap is for your teeth—those will be kept in a jar when I get out of here. Six times for your eyes that I'll pluck out one-by-one; and the seventh snap for your soul that'll be set free after I mutilate you!''
…Utter silence; that's all there is now. No matter what goes on throughout these games, what Asyrin just said will haunt me for the rest of my time in this alliance. ''Woah...''
Letting those words escape my mouth was a mistake. Asyrin marches over to me, the latent smile on his face showing just how much he wants to kill someone right now—and I'm that person. ''D-Domino?'' As Asyrin gets closer, I realize just how much of a behemoth he is; his size larger than anyone of us here, his muscles threatening to rip open the inner coat of his outfit. The bloodshot eyes, the clenched jaw, the grinding of his teeth—every feature that someone who's completely pissed would possess. ''Domino!''
With force so strong, Asyrin grabs me by my hair, ripping parts of it out as he drags me across the floor. My vision begins to daze, and all I can see is Domino running towards me, yelling something that I can't comprehend. Asyrin doesn't stop his assault, though, and I know that when I feel the pressure of a lifted foot hit me straight in my face.
The back of my head slams onto the small pile of grass all around, cushioning the fall but leaving me only with a bit of pain. It's almost as if I can feel myself losing consciousness, like I can feel my soul being set free. And just when I think it's over, Asyrin slams something down onto my stomach, piercing through my skin and making me cough up blood.
''ASYRIN! STOP!'' Domino yells, punching Asyrin in the back of the head. Asyrin drops to the floor right beside me, but that doesn't stop him from continuing his assault. As Domino struggles to keep Asyrin on the floor, Asyrin just breaks through and pushes Domino away—he flew like a rag doll, due to the strength of Asyrin.
Like the adept that he is, Asyrin lifts me up with one arm—by my hair, again. Most of it is ripping out of my scalp, and I know that this won't be an easy death. Nobody's gonna save me except for Domino, though. I know he'll come and rescue me.
...He will, right?
Seraphina stands there, her hands covering her mouth. Hero is sitting on the floor, his hand on his hair and a gaped mouth. And Isha... Well, she has an arrow poised. Please let if fly, please let it fly. That's all I can think to myself before I see Domino running towards me, Isha letting her arrow go, and Asyrin bringing his mace to my face.
It's like time stops flowing because something pierces through my forehead and out the back of my skull. Immediately, my body goes limp. It's almost as if I didn't feel a single thing. My body begins to feel lighter, like there's no more weight behind pushed down onto it.
Like I'm free.
And as I'm being set free, the only thing I see while looking below is Asyrin still holding me up, a small hole through my forehead, the darkest, red-colored blood sputtering out of the back of my head like a waterfall, and a blood-curdling scream coming from the mouth of Domino.
So long, buddy. I'll see you sooner than later, and when do meet again, I know we can be free together. Our times together will always be cherished, and nobody will be able to take that from us. This isn't goodbye. It's just a short farewell. I'll see you later...
''ENIGMA!''
Zahra, 16;
District Nine Female
Boom!
The sound of that tremulous cannon wakes me up.
It's always scary when a cannon booms, but at least I know that there's another tribute out of the running. I just wonder who it was. Hopefully it was one of the careers; seeing them in the sky at night, eliminated early on, would be the best thing to happen, seeming as they all have some sort of skill—skill that's able to kill everyone in this Arena.
I know that I shouldn't say that, because it's wrong, but I can't feel bad for others if I want to win. But imagine how they feel. See, that's the thing. Having no idea how they feel, I just say it how it is. People in this Arena are dying, and I'm glad that it isn't me, but I don't know what they're going through.
What if their deaths are being drawn out by mutts, or other tributes are choking them to death? It's not fair. What about you? You need to stop thinking of other people and start thinking about yourself. Anything could happen, and being so selfless isn't a smart decision in the games. Even if you do know them, don't feel sorry... What's that gonna get you?
Staring up into the sky, I realize how altruistic I am. Caring about people is good, yeah, but there's a point where it's too much—and I think I've reached that point. What do I get from caring about others in the Hunger Games? Death, most likely...
Behind the still, tough trees, the sun peaked brightly, ready to start this new day. Although it's not fully out, the sky started to become blue again, instead of the orange and purple look of the early sky. The sky showed signs of happiness, but that soon dissipated when the wind whispered through the trees as the sun began to descend again...
''Get out of here.''
''What?'' I blurt out, looking back and forth, through the spaces in between the trees to see if it's another tribute. Speaking probably wasn't the smartest thing to do, and I could've obviously taken any other choice of action, but I wasn't thinking.
The wind begins to blow roughly, pushing my hair into my eyes to block my vision. As I wipe my hand across my face—to move the hair away—I see a tall figure, at least eleven feet tall, pass by through the trees.
''W-What's going on?'' I worried. Then it happens again, with my hair passing through my eyes and blocking my vision. At first, the creature, thing, or whatever you wanna call it was quite far away, but as time passes by and the wind keeps blowing, it continues to get closer.
Something bad's gonna happen—and I can tell just by the way my surrounding environment is acting up. One-by-one, the browning leaves sink to the ground. They lie scattered around the bare corpse that was once called their home. As each leaf falls, they're slowly swept away, leaving a clearing for me and me only.
All around me, as I stood there, catching my breathe and letting my eyes survey the area, I kept taking note of all the tree slump remains. Just minutes ago, each and every tree here was flourished with beautiful leaves—and now it's all decayed.
There was a faint odor of decay around, but still a bit of life left. Moss covered the trees once mighty roots and fungus grew out of the trunks. Grass and other weeds covered the base of the fallen giants. The once happy sky—the once morning sky—began to darken.
Furiously, the dark clouds loomed over the tree tops, adding a much more scary feeling to the entire area. First the leaves, then the trees, now the clouds! All around me I can hear footsteps—multiple footsteps. Maybe mutts who are running away from something that's coming...
The trees, broken down and faded away, all started swaying with the wind.
I gulp.
My body gets lifted a bit, like I was levitating into the air. Along with my body, my bag begins to rise as well. Forgetting to move, I struggle to get back down but eventually do as I wiggle my body around in the air, forcefully landing on my right shoulder.
Looking up, I watch as dark, gray clouds blanket the sky angrily. They swirl overhead, turning into thunderous clouds. Slowly, the rain pours down from the sky and meets the ground with a calming noise. And then, that's when the unexpected happened. Out of nowhere lightning began to strike.
Miles ahead of me, I can see multiple strikes hitting the ground. Even behind me, as a matter of fact. Now the rain seems to be getting rough. The rain drummed on the ground, pouring all over my head and drenching me from head to toe. Literally, every single part of my body is covered in water, sticking my Arena Outfit to my skin.
Last night it turned into a short dress after I slapped my neck when something was bugging me. It also has cheetah prints on it, but that's not the point. Shaking my head, I quickly stand up and hold my bag in my hand, reaching inside for a knife. Finally finding one, it pricks my finger just a bit but I rip it out in order to protect myself.
''GET OUT!''
I jump back, holding my breath and sweating to a point where my body begins to overheat. As I look closer, I can see someone walking—but there's no way in hell that this thing is a tribute. Like before, the same... whatever the hell this thing is, stands at at least eleven feet tall. The closer and closer it gets, making its way through the dead trees, it begins to grow shorter and shorter.
Maybe I overlooked it at first, but that doesn't mean anything. This thing could still be deadly. I know that this might be the wrong time to do so, but I grab my Arena Outfit and begin rinsing it out, even though there's more rain pelting on it by the second.
''Hello,'' two voices send shivers down my spine. Looking up, whatever that I saw before is standing right in front of me. It's a... A man... A naked man, actually. Not fully naked, I mean, but he's quite... revealing. He looks like a peasant with barely any clothing to cover his body parts. He's like a caveman, when I think about it.
Leaves are surrounding his pelvis and upper thigh, covering his private but leaving everything else completely out there. The hair on his body is like none I've ever seen before, and he has some Jesus hair. His bread starts from his nostrils and descends to his lower chest—and that's pretty long. With all the hair on his body, you could classify him as an ape. He has a smug look on his face with his left eyebrow sticking up and his right eyebrow staying in it's normal position. On top of his head is a headpiece that's made from all leaves—and because of this headpiece I'm guessing that he's bald or just has a receding hairline. To end off his appearance, he's holding a staff that's made out of wood and has two branches sticking out from the top, and the bottom, with three leaves sticking out from each side.
''H-Hi,'' I hesitate, staring straight in the man's eyes. His look scares me. I don't know what type of mutt this is, but I know that it can't be good. Hiding the knife behind my back, I sling the bag onto my shoulder and begin to back away, slowly.
''Where are you going?''
''Y-You told me to get out of here, didn't you?'' I swallow the spit on my mouth. My throat is parched, so it hurt quite a bit as it made its way through my throat. ''I-I just wanted to leave before something bad happens. But thanks for t-the warning. B-Bye for now!''
Before I can even move away, he grabs my hand. ''Follow me,'' he orders. My pupils begin to shake, I can feel my heart beating against my chest, and my brain telling me to get the hell out of here.
Shaking my head, I try to go against it. ''N-No, thank you.''
''FOLLOW ME!''
After he says that, the mutt begins to attack me. His hands turn from regular human hands to claws with sharp fingernails. Doing his best to dig it into my throat, I duck down, dodging at the last second—but even after I dodged, he did something I wasn't expecting at all.
His left hand is thrown up into the air, grabbing me by my neck and slamming me into the ground. Thinking that it's over, I close my eyes and wait for death to take my soul. But instead of dying, I begin to laugh. Hands—rough hands—being to tickle my neck, making me laugh out loud for such a long period of time.
I don't know what he's doing, or what the hell type of strings the gamemakers are trying to pull, but it's effective. I'm running short on breath, and it's becoming so hard to breathe, but I just can't stop laughing. Is this really how I'm going out, by being tickled to death? That's a terrible way to go out.
No, no, no. You're not going out like that. You're going to get out of this, I know you will. Now think, Zahra. Don't just do, think!
Think... Think, think, think. Remembering that I had a knife in my hand, but it's no longer there, I begin to move my arm around to get a touch of the weapon that was once in my possession. Finally getting my hand clutched around the knife, I swing the sharp, murderous blade into the air, stabbing the man in the neck.
A squeal escapes his mouth, and the blow of the knife galvanized him. He jumps back, blood sputtering out of his neck, everywhere. As he struggles to take care of his bleeding skin, I get up and collate all of my equipment, then begin to run away. Running straight forward—still through the rain—I hear a grunt.
I don't know why I turned around, but when I did the man from before was no longer a man. He was now the same eleven foot creature that I saw before; a woodland spirit. He stares at me blankly as I continue to sprint away, both of his pupils locked on me like it's calculating my exact movements.
Running farther and farther away, his appearance begins to fade and all I can see now is his silhouette—but that begins to fade, too, and he jumps straight into the air. Jumping from at least fifty feet and landing right in front of me, his force pushes me back into a fallen tree, my head slamming into the hard wood.
I begin to feel the blood oozing out, slowly dripping from my head to the floor. The mutt slowly approaches me, his feet stomping roughly on the forest floor. Think, Zahra, think! Looking up at the mutt, I take in his look. He has the same beard, except this time it's down to his stomach and it's made out of grass and vines, a tail, two hooves that are blood red, and at least three horns scattered around every edge of its body; it has green eyes and disgustingly pale white skin.
The mutt stares at me, readying itself to charge and attack. He sprints my way, and I still haven't though of a single thing to do. My knife is still in my hand—but there's no way in hell that I'll be able to use it in time. He gets closer and closer, his eyes digging into my soul like a dagger, and begins to slow down once it gets five feet away from me.
By a fortuitous chance, I suddenly bring my arm up and stab the knife into the mutts arm, it's blood squirting all over my body. The mutt begins to gasp for air, falling back a little bit as it struggles to get up.
This has been the most opportunistic chance I've ever had during these games, and I don't plan on wasting it. Hurrying to pick up all of my items, I grab everything and begin to sprint forward again. My head hurts like crazy, yeah, but I can't stop because of a little bit of pain.
Thinking that I got away, I make my way to a clearing area where I bump into a female—and three more females are all surrounding her. My head begins to hurt again, a throbbing pain that's located in the area of my forehead.
Taking a quick glance as I groan, I take in who I just bumped into. There are three girls just standing there, and one girl on the ground who seems to be older than all of them. Looking closer, I realize it to be the girl from One.
''Shit.''
Anaya Akira Celtic, 15;
District Six Female
''Oh, this is great..!'' Parvati grunts, slowly picking herself up. ''Can you guys really not see where you're going?! You all wanted to follow me, and now you're trying to run in front of me and make me fa-''
''Parvati, that's neither of us,'' Mickaela clarifies, turning around and staring at me as she does. ''Guys, I'm scared!''
Mickaela quickly makes her way towards me, hiding behind my back as I hold up all of her equipment. I've been helping everyone here out by holding their bags and such, and although I'm not sure why they can't do it themselves, I'm happy that I'm able to be of assistance.
''It's okay, Mick,'' I reassured, patting her head and keeping her in a safe position. Parvati seems confused by what Mickaela just said, and because of this she grows suspicious. She just doesn't see what the rest of us do, and neither of us dare to say a word.
There's already been one cannon today, and having another one blast would be bad. Especially for this girl. She looks so innocent but terrified at the same time. You can just tell by the look on her face that she just experienced something frightening.
I stare at Paisly, making a face to tell her to be quiet. More bloodshed isn't what anyone wants—besides the Capitol and a couple of careers, of course. Kneeling on the muddy, wet floor, I lean into the girl and warn her, advising that she gets out of here as quick as possible.
''Leave,'' I beg, placing my hand on her shoulder as the weight of everyone's bags press against my back. ''Don't let Parvati find you. If she does, she'll kill you. Now go, please!''
''Anaya, who are you talking to?'' Parvati asks, walking towards me. ''Why are you and Paisly huddled up over there like that?'' Turning back towards Paisly, I give her a pity filled look, pleading for her not to say a word about this.
''What are you talking about? I'm over here.'' Paisly says, and the location of her voice is nowhere near mine. Parvati begins to grow even more suspicious, looking back and forth as she starts to question us. When Paisly sees me, her eyes grow wider—she didn't get what I was trying to say.
Catching on, she quietly makes her way towards me, pushing the girl from whatever District aside. ''Go!'' she snarls ferociously, pushing the girl in a rough manner. When I take a closer look at the girl, I realize her to be the one from Nine. She's the one without a last name, I believe.
Heeding our advice, she begins running. Wherever she went, she's no longer here. At least she's safe from death; that's all I wanted. No more lives need to be taken away, and I'm gonna do my best to make sure of that.
Something's bothering me, though. The way Paisly was being so aggressive, the way she was pushing her away. Where did all of that come from? ''Paisly, what was that?'' I ask, making sure to whisper. From the corner of my eye, I can see Mick staring at the two of us, her hands placed on her knees.
''What are you talking about?'' Paisly looks up at me, puzzled. She wipes the rain away from her face, but that doesn't lead to anywhere because it won't stop pouring. I have no clue as to why we're even outside; nobody should be outside when there's weather like this. ''Nothing happened.''
''The way you pushed her. It was almost forceful and on purpose, and you also said something when I begged you not to with my look,'' I dared to say. ''What was that? Is there something I'm missing here, Paisly?''
''No, I just wasn't able to see because of the rain. It was clogging up my vision,'' she lies. I know Paisly, and her lies are easy to indicate. She usually does this thing with her nose where she begins to sniff a lot. ''Look, let's just get over it, okay?''
''Paisly, tell me what all of that was about, please!'' I say a little too loud, but nobody around seems to hear me. Paisly puts on an angered face, like I'm irritating her with my questions. ''Come on, you can tell me-''
''Anaya, shut up!'' she snaps, staring at me with stone-cold eyes, almost like she wants to hurt me. The spear clutched in her hand is trembling, and I'm literally scared for my life here. But I can't just give up, and I won't. Call me obnoxious if you want, but I'm curious as to why she pushed Zahra in such an angered way.
''Paisly, why are you mad?'' I ask. I've been observing Paisly for the past day, not because I was suspicious or anything, but because she was acting different. Something obviously happened between the girls when I wasn't here, but I have no idea what it is and no-one wants to fill me in.
''I'm not mad, okay?'' Paisly wants to get this conversation out of the way, that's easy to see. ''I just want to get out of this damn Arena, okay?''
''I get that, but you're completely different than before. Something obviously happe-''
''Get away from me!'' The sound of a female's voice interrupts us from our conversation. Parvati stares blankly, waiting to see what she can find. From the shadows, I can see a girl running away from a large figure. T-That figure reminds me of the one that the boy from Two has—the exact same one.
Parvati notices this and begins running after the two of them, followed by Paisly, Mickaela, and I. We're all trying to keep up with her, but she's just too fast. Suddenly, a cry makes me stop dead in my tracks, causing Paisly to bump into me and push me closer to an area that we've never been to before.
Slowly approaching the voice, I hide behind a tree and watch. T-The boy from Two... H-He's fighting with the girl from Four, landing punch after punch on her. She's trying to fight, she really is, but it's a desperate attempt and there's no way that she'd be able to keep up with his hits.
Why is he attacking her, though? Why is she all alone? Where are the other careers? Did one of the earlier cannons have to do with a career? Closely observing, I watch as Four picks up her fallen spear, swinging it as soon as she catches grip. The boy from Two now has two weapons in his hands that he got from his bag: one mace and one machete. Instantly, it turns into a heated battle.
The boy from Two sings his machete at Four first, but it's quickly blocked by her spear. His actions are so reckless and unexpected that it's hard for her to keep up. Four thinks she has the upper hand on Two until he brings his mace down, forcefully swinging it at her feet.
She jumps, only seconds before the weapon could make contact with her. When she lands on the floor, the machete goes flying towards her neck. As if she was expecting that to happen, she ducks, kicking at Two's leg. He stumbles back, the pain rushing through both of their bodies. From the looks of it, he has a cut there—no, not a cut, a hole.
She swings her spear towards his neck, cutting the flesh off of his skin and drawing blood. As she continues to spear him, he just blocks like it's nothing. There's a benevolent smile on his face, but you can't help but think that it's false. One wrong move and either of these two could be dead. Speaking of one wrong move, the girl from Four reaches out with her hand this time instead of using the spear to attack.
This is a huge mistake, because Two is able to bring his leg up to her stomach. The girl screams, the sound of her yelling echoes through each and every hollow tree that still remains. As she lies flat on the ground, Two stomps on her right arm, twisting his foot around as a devilish smile crosses his facial features.
With a demonic glint in his eyes, he brings his machete down onto her right arm, instantly cutting through all of her bone and splitting her arm in half. She shrieks, yelling out in pain but still manages to stay strong. There's a look in her eyes, a look of pain and agony, but she won't dare cry.
I stand back, holding my hand up to my mouth. As much as I want to help her, my body just won't move. I'm paralyzed in fear. Fear of dying, fear of the pain, fear of being caught. The girl begins to crawl away, her grunts filled with fear.
''Stop crawling,'' Two says, his voice devious and monotone. He begins chasing after her, a slow pace of his as he taunts her for trying to escape. Once he finally reaches her, he picks her up by her hair and begins dragging her to an area of quick sand—and knowing him, this won't end well. ''You afraid now? What happened to all that shit you were talking before?''
Parvati runs up behind me, grabbing me by my shoulder, staring ahead. I let out a small shriek, barely audible, though, because she covers my mouth with her hand. She continues to stare as Two places Four's body into dangerous quicksand as she tries to kick him away. The only part of her body that's not sinking is the upper part and her left hand. She struggles, trying her hardest to get out but that only makes her sink deeper in.
''You know, I could kill you now but I think a slow, suffocating death is much more suiting for you,'' he smirks, walking away from the forest. ''What do you think..?'' His voice is barely audible now. He's gone—completely gone. Staring at the girl from Four, I begin to make my way towards her. Parvati rushes past me as soon as I start and kicks the girl straight in the face.
Her actions surprise me. I didn't want this to happen—I merely wanted to add her to the alliance and have her cohort with us. Never did I expect for something like this to happen. Parvati, who gives Four a deadly glare, continues her assault on the helpless girl. The weapon that she has in her hand—the meteor hammer—is clutched tightly. ''Wait, stop!''
Four tries to plead. She doesn't want to be here anymore, she doesn't want to be troubled anymore. Parvati doesn't even bother to answer back. Nothing at all escapes from her lips. She swings her weapon down but Four brings her spear up, with her left hand only. It's hard for her to keep it still because of Parvati's strength. The spear inches closer and closer towards her neck, giving Parvati an open shot.
Four suspects Parvati to attack her in the face, but she's mistaken. Parvati slams the meteor hammer into Four's right arm, making her yell in pain and unadulterated agony. ''Agh!'' Four closes her eyelids, doing her best to bite back the pain. Parvati, who's so needy for this kill, kicks Four in the throat.
''W-What d-did I d-do to y-you?'' Four is able to cough up, but only just a bit is understandable, while the rest of her words are mumbled. ''Y-You're a-after me, and I-I d-didn't do a-anything to y-you, dammit!'' Tears begin to stream down the girl's face now. I can't take this anymore. I can't, I can't, I can't!
''PARVATI, STOP!'' I yell, running straight at her. Parvati turns around, taking a glance and smiling at me. Turning my gaze to the left, I watch closely as Four picks up her spear, and with all the force that she has left, tries to stab it straight into Parvati's chest, letting it go and soar through the air.
''MOVE!''
Jumping in front of Parvati, I scream as the thrown spear enters itself through my chest and protrudes out my back, the unimaginable pain taking over my body. In an instance, it feels like white hot fire is surfacing on my skin, burning me as each second passes by.
''ANAYA!'' both Paisly and Mickaela scream, running towards me and kneeling by my side when they arrive. Staring up at the two, my vision begins to fog. I do my best to stare down at the wound, but looking at it makes it hurt even more. The pain is just too much for me to handle, and my screams just won't stop.
My vision begins to dim, but not before I hear a cannon blast—was it mine, though? I'm still able to see the people around me, so I'm guessing that it was Four's. Struggling to tilt my head, I finally catch the sighting of Four's head deep in the quicksand, blood surfacing to the top and only her left hand being left out. Parvati's weapon is lying on the floor, blood and skin covering the murderous item completely.
Scream. That's all I can do. The spear continues to push deeper into my chest and keeps itself in the middle of my body. I'm not surviving this, I know that as a fact. Although I wish there was more that I could've done. I wish there were more people that I could've known, people that I could've grown a relationship with and genuinely known—but that doesn't seem like it'll happen anytime soon.
Paisly stares at me, tears running down her cheeks as she continues to yell at me. I'm not able to hear it, though, because my hearing begins to shut down. My screaming is silenced, the voices of my fellow allies are silenced, and so is the sound of everything else around me.
The only thing that I can feel now is pain. Nothing but pain, but soon that starts to leave my body and leaves me still. The blowing wind leaves me relaxed, and I feel as though I'm able to overcome this—but everyone knows for a fact that I won't be able to.
With just one last effort, I reach into my short dress and take out a note. I received this note as a sponsor gift yesterday, and it shocked me. Slipping it into Paisly's hands, I let out one final smile—my last smile.
And then, everything just goes quiet.
Lark McGlacen, 17;
District Nine Male
Boom!
''There's the second cannon of the day,'' I point out, dropping my head to the floor as I put my hands in my pockets. Glancing around, I make note of the nature all around me. It's beautiful, really. Most people dislike the Hunger Games Arenas, but I think they're just beautiful landscapes that are used for meaningless acts.
Sadly, you can't find places like these in the Districts—maybe the Capitol, but definitely not the Districts. Keeping my thoughts to myself, I look at Julio. He hasn't said anything since last night when we were forced to turn around from our walk and head a different direction by the gamemakers. Honestly, I have no idea where we're going, but I'm just trekking along with Julio until we reach somewhere safe.
Boom!
My eyes widen. Three deaths in the matter of three hours. Either the gamemakers are really busy today or the careers have gotten a serious jump on the game. Who would've thought that we'd receive three deaths on day two?—that rarely ever happens, from what I've seen.
''There's the third one,'' Julio jokes, continuing to walk.
I've never really heard Julio joke before, and this was a shocker. Stopping dead in my tracks, I stare at him. Was this seriously something that he made a joke out of, or..? Honestly, I don't know what to do in a situation like this.
''Huh?'' Julio looks back, a disgusted look on his face as he stares at me. ''Is there something ahead of me. If so, tell me now, because I'm not planning on dying today.''
''No, no, there's nothing ahead of you,'' I informed, kicking at the snow with my feet. Sadly, I don't even know why we're still here in the snow. Even if we were turned back, you'd think we would at least find shelter or safety or just something to keep us safe by now.
''So why are you dallying? Julio questions, both of his eyebrows raised in suspicion. ''Come on, we need to keep moving. It's cold as hell out here, and we haven't even slept yet. Once we get to shelter, you take first watch, okay?''
''Okay.'' I obey, but why do I have to take first watch? Why can't he take first watch? I'd never say that, though. Keeping quiet and not standing out is my thing, so there's no point in trying to ask him why. ''How long do you want me to watch out?''
''Does it matter?''
It matters if you don't want me to leave you, asshole. ''No, it doesn't. I was just curious because I want to sleep, too, y'know?'' He shrugs his shoulders. Continuing our walk, noises begin startle both Julio and I. He looks at me, telling me that I can lead. Taking the challenge, I begin to walk forward, even though I have no idea where I'm leading myself.
Our journey to wherever we're going is taking quite some time, and through this blizzard my hair is becoming disheveled. ''Hey, Lark, what's that sound, man? Seriously, if you're pulling pranks on me, stop it.''
''What sounds are you talking about?'' That's when I hear it. First there was one, now there's two, and so on the numbers keep growing. Elephants, I believe. Something of the sort. The sound that they make begins to blast through the air, rupturing the silence—which I thought was peaceful.
''Holy crap. Julio, I think we should get out of here,'' I advised, beginning to pick up my pace. He stares at me, but then he nods his head. A gulp coming from his lips until a sponsor gift comes down from the air.
Chime.
It's nothing more than a simple note. Reading it carefully, I realize that we really should get the hell out of there. Julio asks to read it so I hand it to him. His pupils dilate when he reads the note. ''The... The Capitol's specifically targeting us?''
Nodding, I begin to run. The sound of mutts begin to pick up and suddenly there are woolly mammoths behind Julio. He turns around at the site of the mutts, and as soon as he sees them he begins to run with me. We're both sprinting as fast as we can, away from at least twelve mammoths, all who are fifteen times larger than we are.
A chuckle escapes my mouth, something that I would've never expected coming from me at a time like this. Julio looks at me as if I'm crazy, then he starts chuckling, too. ''Wanna mess around with the gamemakers for a while?'' I ask, already carrying out a plan.
''What'd you have in mind?'' he gurgled over the spit in his mouth, giving me a scared look. ''Seriously, Lark, tell me now! Come on, man, I'm scared out of my mind here.''
I'm not one to talk out, but I guess you could say that this is an exception. ''Let's make these mutts confused and tangled. Look at them, all running right beside each other. If we run around them and back together, maybe they'll bump into each other and end up crashing in a head-on collision.''
''And if this goes wrong?''
Then we die, idiot. ''Then we can try something else, now come on!'' I urged, splitting away from Julio with an axe in my hand. As soon as I turn left, a couple of mammoths start to follow after me. The rest of them pursue Julio, and surprisingly enough this plan begins to work. I circle around the group of mammoths—all of the mutts bang together because of this.
A couple of the their tusks stab into each other, the sight of blood trickling from their heads and other various body parts makes me feel disgusted. They all begin to trip, slamming hard against the ice and even breaking it. I watch as the hole that the mammoths make in the ground grows deep, looking as if it was the widened area of the skyscraper that we stayed in.
The mammoths land hard at the bottom of the crack—and they're most likely dead. Turning my attention towards Julio, I realize that he's still struggling to get away. I decide to sit back and relax, just a little payback for him being bossy all the time, but in all honesty I think I can make a bond with this guy. Sure, he can be... difficult at times, but I know that he's truly a kind guy deep down inside.
After Julio manages to escape the mutts, we begin to roam again. We've been quiet for most of our time walking. The sun in the sky begins to lower itself and darkness overcomes our region, signifying night time. ''Hey, Julio.''
''Yeah, what is it?''
''I've never really bothered before, but I'd like to know about your background, if that's fine by you?'' I sighed. ''Yeah, I know it might be weird, but you and I really haven't gotten to know each other very well. Now's a good time to actually learn about one another.''
''Why do you want to know about me?'' he scoffed, picking up his pace. ''There's nothing interesting, really. Well, I don't find anything about me interesting, so I doubt you would.''
''Because I think we can strengthen this bond between us,'' I reasoned. ''You saved me from Challis, and you know quite a few things about me. I just think it's fair that I know about you, don't you think?''
A small chuckle escapes his lips and we begin to speak more. He says that there's nothing interesting about him, but I think there is. Honestly, I don't know why he can be so cruel to me at times—since we seemed to get along perfectly before Challis died—but now I think we're getting back to that older friendship we once had.
After talking for about an hour, we finally reach where the gamemakers were leading us: a desert. Staring up above into the night sky, we see a sponsor gift floating down—carrying all sorts of things. Unfortunately, it's not for us, and Julio knows that because he puts on a frown.
''Hey, remember that escapade we had earlier today?'' I ask, bumping shoulders with him. ''It was pretty fun, right? Watching you run around was hilarious, actually. You made my day.''
''Oh, shut up,'' he laughs, playfully punching me in the shoulder. ''Lark, I know you're not into the whole killing thing, but I know you saw that sponsor gift. Obviously someone's out there, and to survive, we've gotta hunt them down. Please, if you're not up to it, tell me now. I don't want this to be any more painful than it already is.''
Thinking long and hard about it, I finally come up to my senses that I'll go hunting with Julio. Honestly, I'm not looking forward to this at all, but if I need to do it in order to survive... then so be it.
But this is gonna be one miscreant act—especially from me.
18th – Enigma Lilac Brine, District Five
17th – Seraphina Royal, District Four
16th – Anaya Akira Celtic, District Six
Charlotte, hey... Yeah, I already told you. Enigma wasn't gonna die this early on. In fact, she was gonna make the Feast, but then everyone started hating on her. I didn't really care, but then you gave me permission to kill her because you saw all the hate she was getting. I mean, I didn't wanna kill her but having three deaths this chapter saved me from killing off one of my favorite tributes in the chapter after the next one, so their submitter can thank you for that. But hey, look on the bright side. You still have Domino, and although two out of your three tributes died before the final fifteen, you can bet your ass Domino's going far. He's set free now. I guess you could say that Enigma was holding him down a bit, huh? Anyway, yeah, I'm sorry about her dying. She was a great tribute and I enjoyed writing her. Some people just saw it differently, and that soon led to her inevitable death.
James... Yeah, you probably hate me now. Hey, I know that Seraphina was the tribute that you wanted to win. The thing, though, was that people didn't really seem to like her that much. She was in the bottom two for careers along with Enigma whenever I put a poll, and people just didn't seem to love her that much. In all honesty, I loved Seraphina at first. I still love her, but she became kinda difficult for me to write. Her whole personality was revolved around training, and that was all I saw in the form. I wish I could've explored more of her, and I thought coming into this story that I would do something big with her, but I really didn't. Also, I needed a career death to get their dynamic going. Literally, I knew I was gonna kill a career soon. It was either gonna be in the bloodbath or right after Day One or something. Although two careers—one, if you're thinking by District—died today, it'll still help their dynamic. And hey, you still have Candice. Everyone seems to like her, so keep your hopes up for her. You never know what might happen. I'll just let you know that she's a contender ;)
Sally. Hey, Sally. Sorry about Anaya dying. To tell you the truth, I knew Anaya was gonna die soon. It was always planned. Anaya was one of the people that I thought of bringing to the bloodbath but I decided against it. There was no reason to kill her off that early, and I wanted to kinda give her that moment of spotlight. Yeah, I know, that spotlight was death, and I'm sorry about that. She was just this bubbly and charismatic girl, but she was also naive and unsuspecting. Really, I was gonna make everyone in her alliance use her to their advantage. It seemed likely with someone like Anaya, and her death was also inevitable. I actually thought of how I could work with Anaya as Victor, but it just didn't turn out right in my mind. It seemed weird and I felt like I would be torturing her if I dragged her character out too much. For development, I really couldn't find much to do with her besides make her a little bit suspecting like she was this chapter. Her death was sad for me to write, and an innocent girl like that shouldn't be put in the Hunger Games. Sadly, I knew that it had to end soon, and keeping her around just for an even more painful death would suck. Once again, I'm sorry.
A/N: Hey, guys! So you guys are assholes, you know that? Nah, I'm just kidding. But I'm upset. Every damn time I ask who you think is gonna die you guys come up with the top three tributes. Especially you, 20. You always fucking guess my death order. You even PMed yesterday about the story and you guessed so much shit! I swear I tell at least three of my readers who's gonna die the chapter before or what's gonna happen and I'm starting to feel like you guys are leaking this shit and PMing other readers... I got you, though... I got you... -_- I'm changing the whole plot now because you. I now vow to make these deaths as unpredictable as possible... I do. ANYWAY, so as you can see this chapter was quite the booty. Literally, I gave up by the beginning of Anaya's POV. I was so hype with the first two POVs with Zahra and Enigma; a little bit of Anaya's, and then everything came tumbling down when I reached Lark's POV.
I just started to feel lazy. Ha ha, I felt so good about last chapter that I jumped into this one, thinking that I could make it better, but I failed. :P Hey, at least I got this chapter out, so I can't complain. Oh, and 340 reviews? In 20 chapters?! Guys, that's less than half the chapters I had in my last story and I'm 35 reviews ahead. Teehee, thank you so much! ;D I'm blessed to have readers like you guys. And I can't forget to clap for my Guest friend who remembered my FF username after I decided to ignore his texts. I know you're reading this, Josh. You go anywhere near my cousin and we're fighting. Alright, screw this. I tried to have a decent topic about the chapter but I just can't do that. Not filling you guys in on whatever the hell happened, or whatever tf I can think about feels weird.
So you know when you go on those YouTube runs, right, and then you somehow end up on top 5 ways the World could end? o.o Then you start thinking about aliens and shit, and you realize that there are millions of galaxies out there in the Solar System and that there's no way in hell that you could be the only existing life? Yeah, fam, I'm like... Idk, man, alien war 2018? Possibly... OMG, I just found out that Obama is illuminati. I know what you're thinking. ''What is this idiot going on about? Ansley, shut the fuck up.'' But no! Listen... So tell me why a couple of years ago they were talking about some apocalyptic shit and they sent Obama and his family to the Denver Airport. See, the conspiracy is that the Denver International Airport is the gateway to Hell.
Why else would Obama be looking to go to the airport that leads to Hell? Because he's Illuminati and the Devil keeps him safe! Just like Jay Z—who is not Illuminati, by the way. Jay Z gets money cuz he's real like that—and Kanye West. And Kim! KIM! Think about it. Guys, I should become a freaking conspiracy theorist! Holy shit, that crap is scary but it's wroth it! Ha ha, I'm totally gonna get killed one of these days. If you see me on the news at the age of nineteen dead on the news for trying to either hug a celebrity, trying to sell crack to Chicago residents, instigate in a mafia, or just disappear because of my Illuminati investigations you'll know why o.o AND OBAMA! He's the reincarnation of Osama! No, I know it makes no sense, because he was alive when Osama was, but you gotta look deeper into the mystery. See, their eyes, right? Yes, if you look at both of their eyes, bloodshot when Obama was high af in that one video, you can clearly picture out the coded meaning. AND THERE'S A TRIANGLE IN IT.
Illuminati Confirmed. Come on, what else does that say? I have to sell this story to the news cast, like oh, my God. You guys believe me, though, right? XD I mean, a fifteen-year-old who barely has a tenth grade vocabulary and mistakes the words narcissistic and conceited for a type of cereal, but that doesn't matter! Speaking of narcissistic and conceited, I made a joke about that in a collab Brooke and I are doing. You guys should totally go check it out; it's an SYOT. Come on, you know you're tempted to submit. ;) If you like this story, you'll LOVE our collab. I have a feeling it'll do better than both of our main stories combined. It's called The War of Virtues and it's on Brooke's profile
Hey, when you get to the questions for favorite Victor, put Aiden and Wayne, please. Yes, I know Wayne is ass but Brooke stole Maple from me. Fucking stealing my credit. She would've been suicidal if I didn't make her awesome, and Brooke took her from me! Maple would've been mine, aghahnhlkalhlalhlagjhapjhpjap! Also, when you get to the who's your favorite question, put Ansley. ^^ Come on... Come on... If not, don't be surprised if your tribute dies, bitch... Just kidding! But go submit, please! We'd love to see your tributes. Ha ha, enough of my random Illuminati conspiracy, conceited cereal, Obama Bin Laden, yes I said Obama Bin Laden, Jay Z gets money, disappointed in this chapter ass. Let's get to the questions ;D
OH! And for anyone who's curious, Isha killed Enigma because it was a pity kill. Asyrin would've made her suffer and nobody would dare try to fight Asyrin. The Career alliance split, Domino was kicked out before it did when he tried to kill Asyrin but failed. Asyrin gave him a chance and felt sorry—yes, sorry—for the poor fool, so he just kicked him out. Isha and Hero managed to escape when Asyrin declared a Career Bloodbath so he went after Seraphina. They fought for two hours because Asyrin was going soft on her. Hesitation, anyone? Parvati brutally killed Seraphina but I didn't write that because when I had Caleb preview it he cringed like a little bitch. And there was more, but I forgot. Just ask me if you need more info or whatever, idk. Now, onto the questions!
You're in the career alliance and Asyrin declares a Career Bloodbath. An arrow goes flying into one of your allies' heads and you know that it's official on. What do you do?
Some man-mutt thingy tries to tickle you to death. How do you get out of the situation?
The gamemakers send woolly mammoths after you to rile up the Capitol after three deaths because of their bloodthirsty asses. You manage to escape the ones after you but your ally is struggling and is about to be trampled. Do you do anything? Psh, I gtfo xD
Do you believe in the reincarnation/Illuminati/Denver Airport conspiracy?! I can't be the only one o_o I'm not going crazy, I promise...
Are you gonna submit to War of Virtues? Please do. For me. :)
Your ally takes a spear to the chest for you and dies. What do you do? Pay your respects, ignore them, walk away, some Katniss shit?
Who do you think is dying next chapter? I swear if one of you guess who it is your tribute is dying that chapter, too... Ha ha, jokes! For now...
Thanks for reading! I know that this chapter wasn't the best by all means, and I'm upset with it but it's whatever. I promise that next chapter will be better. There's gonna be a death, obviously, and I plan on making that one a struggling one. Hopefully it'll be more descriptive and actually give you guys a feel like you were actually in the Arena. I didn't do that this chapter, so fuck it! -.- And keep voting on the polls! Everyone has at least one vote so far, and that's awesome! Some of these tributes went up, others went down. I think you'll all be somewhat happy with where your tribute stands, and one of you is just gonna go berserk from what I can tell. Anyway, see you guys next chapter! Submit to War of Virtues! Bye! ^^