LIST OF POVS
Thorn Azalea, District 11 Female
Julia Wreve, District 5 Female
Sceptor Whishart, District 10 Male
James Ammolite, District 2 Male
THORN AZALEA, DISTRICT 11 FEMALE
"We'll meet up back here in three hours." Matthis says, running his hands through his hair. He's grown a lot thinner during these Games, as we're rationing our food at an extreme- plus, there's nothing available to hunt. I don't imagine anything edible resides down in this pit of hell.
"How will we know when three hours have passed?" Cobain frowns, taking an arrow in his hand and bending it experimentally. It almost snaps and I grab it away from him with a laugh. He grins but does not take his eyes away from Matthis.
He thinks for a few seconds, before pursing his lips. Then, he smiles. "If I had the equipment, I'd make you an alarm clock. In view of the circumstances however... You know what would be really useful? A couple of watches..." He says this last sentence particularly loudly. Cobain glances at me, a slightly confused look on his face... But then, I hear the telltale sound of tinkling.
Glancing towards the mouth of the cavern, my mouth drops open. A parachute holding a small box floats towards us slowly, before eventually settling on a smooth rock next to Cobain. For a few moments we are all completely still, before he reaches down and grabs it and pulls the lid off. He lets out a delighted cry.
Inside, there are three watches- one for each of us. Considering we haven't killed anybody yet, the fact that we've got sponsors is a bit of an achievement, but that doesn't matter. There's a small piece of paper beside the watches and, as Cobain hands Matthis and I one each, I frown at it.
"What does that piece of paper say?" I ask him, nodding my head at the piece of paper. He freezes and his eyes open wide, before he manages to compose himself and shrugs.
"What piece of paper?" he says, raising his eyebrows. What is he talking about? I saw him look at it- his eyes fixated on it for a few moments. I'm sure of it. Is it something for him, or something private? But he hasn't opened it...
I don't pursue it. But there's something about the way he was determined not to tell me about it that confuses me. He blushed, he looked shocked... but why?
Strapping on our watches, we pick up our packs and weapons and head in our seperate directions- Cobain and Matthis go and try to gather food, and I'm heading in the opposite direction to try and find water. When we got back to our cavern last night, we discovered that the pond had been drained. I suppose the Gamemakers decided we had it too easy.
Immediately the tunnels become darker and darker, and I have to squint to see my way. If I was with the boys I'd flick my torch on, but there's no question of that. I must be stealthy, if I want to survive. Gritting my teeth as I remember those horrible creatures from yesterday, I hold onto my axe a little more tightly.
The sound of footsteps behind me causes me to throw myself against the wall, heart pumping hard against my chest. I flatten myself against the stone and clench my fists, ready to throw myself out and stab whoever it is there... But there is nobody. For a second I frown and think I was imagining it... then, I throw my hands over my mouth to stop myself screaming.
Pressing my entire body against the wall, I shut my eyes to try and stop any kind of light coming off me. The glint of my eyes could alert her... It's the girl from 8. Usually I wouldn't be afraid, and I'd be just fine with stabbing her through the stomach. But... she is dripping blood. Her skin is crimson with the liquid, and it is dripping from her hand and mouth and nose. The stench of rotting meat comes with her; she must've been bleeding for a long time. When I glance at her hand my mouth gapes, and I clutch my stomach.
Two of her fingers have been severed off, and little slivers of skin and flesh remain, hanging wetly from her stumps. The bones, shockingly white against her scarlet blood, stick out from the ends. She looks... she looks inhuman.
Drip... drip... drip... With every, slightly lurching step she makes further into the darkness, the drip of blood goes with her.
I begin to try and sneak back up the tunnel, too afraid of her to try and face her... But as soon as I've gone about three metres, she whips around and I feel something sharp skidding over my wrist.. It doesn't come close enough to sink into the flesh, but it breaks the skin on top.
With a gasp as I clutch it, feeling blood beginning to soak through the fabric of my shirt, I whip around and point my axes towards her. She has a pipe at her mouth- a blowpipe. That must've been what hurt me.
She pauses, before blowing another dart at me. I'm ready for it this time, though, and launch myself out of the way. The girl from 8 hisses furiously before running towards me, unsheathing a knife from her belt and swiping it savagely in my direction.
"Not so fast!" I snarl, and kick her in the stomach. She takes a few steps backwards with a fearful oof, but as I move to slice at her neck, she dodges away and lunges at my stomach. The blade of the deadly sharp knife sinks into my skin, but before she manages to hit anything vital or break anything more than skin, I have skidded backwards.
With a roar, I bring my axe over my head towards her, but she brings up her knife to parry it. The dreadful clang of steel on steel reverberates through the tunnel, as I press down with my axe, trying to get a go at her head.
She holds strong with her knife, although her face goes pink with exertion, and begins pressing upwards. The butt of my axe begins to come closer towards my face as we wrestle with our weapons. Then, before she can do anything else, I bring up my knee between her legs and she drops her knife with a startled shriek.
I push her backwards, and she slips on some of the wet on the floor caused by the constant drip in the caves. Scrambling backwards on her elbows, like a frantic insect, she grabs her knife again and brandishes it at me. Still, however, I advance on her with my axe.
"I've got you now..." I mutter, an I feel a nasty smirk coming onto my face. She'll be my first kill in these Games, I'm absolutely sure of it.
Then, just as I bring my axe over her to sink it into her chest, she springs upwards and grabs me by the throat, pushing me backwards. I let out a squeak of surprise as we skid across the tunnel floor as she presses both hands into my neck.
She straddles my stomach, then brings her foot down on my hand, hard, causing me to shriek with pain and drop my axe. My heart begins to thud faster and faster as she stares down at me. There is not a look of sadistic pleasure on her face- quite the contrary. She looks rather guilty.
Her knife goes to my heart and she presses it against the skin through my top. I cannot move- she is stockier than I am, and more able to hold me down. She presses the blade slightly into my skin and I whimper. But then, I steel myself. You wouldn't want to die shamefully would you, Thorn? You're going to be strong. You will stare her in the eyes until your cannon goes. Still, I struggle uselessly against her, screaming in her face. She puts a hand over my mouth.
"I don't want anyone to hear." she says quietly. Then, bringing the knife away, she holds it above her head, ready to strike. I stare right at her. She brings it swinging down... Then, I shut my eyes and hear a squish and a thunk... But I can't feel anything.
What? Am I dead?
Opening my eyes, I do not see the lights of heaven. I'm still in the arena, and she's still on top of me. But the knife is held by her side, and there is a stunned look on her face. Bringing one hand up to her forehead, she takes the arrow by it's shaft and breaks it away.
Blood begins to dribble out of her mouth as she flops backwards, staring at the ceiling.
Boom!
Pushing the corpse off me, I slowly get to my feet, wiping some of the blood off me. I turn to see my saviour and there he is. Cobain stands by the entrance to the tunnel, holding his bow loosely by his side. I hear the sound of footsteps and quickly, Matthis is by his side. I just stare at them.
Cobain just saved my life. He didn't have to... but he did.
My heart surges with a new feeling that I know I must ignore.
JULIA WREVE, DISTRICT 5 FEMALE
Cora and I lean against the wall of the cavern, puffing hard. We lost the other three last night when we were being chased by that monster, and I honestly don't know if we'll find them again. I hope so, but we've been searching for them all day and all we managed to find were the Careers.
They chased us for at least an hour before stopping, too tired to keep going. However we had to carry on- we had to lose them. After about half an hour we stopped in this cavern, and we haven't moved ever since. Who knows how long it's been?
Taking her canteen out of her pack, Cora cracks the lid open and takes a well deserved gulp. Seeing the look of thirst on my face, she passes it to me and I, too, take a long drink. After I'm done, I wipe my mouth with the back of my hand.
"That was... just slightly terrifying." she says with a small, nervous laugh. I nod slowly, not laughing. Ever since my mother died, I have not laughed. And I swear I never will again. The feeling of hollowness overtakes me again as I remember, only a few days ago, waking up with her beside me on Reaping morning. I want to feel her warm arms wrapped around me again, comforting me... I never will again.
The only arms I've had around me since were Calvin's. And they weren't exactly a good substitute.
"We should rest up for a while." Cora continues, stretching her arms and tucking her dark hair out of her face. She's still bright red and covered in sweat, although I don't suppose I look any better. Giving her a reluctant smile, I nod again.
"Probably wise." I agree, before reaching in my pack and pulling out a bread roll. I pull it in half and throw her one half, and she catches before taking a bite. I stare a little nervously at the bread, before taking a hesitant bite.
It's the bread I got from Calvin, and it feels dirty to eat it.
We finish our bread, before getting up and moving on. It would probably be best for us to find Jerry, Alia and William- we'd be stronger in a pack. Or a crew, as Jerry puts it. I like him, I like him a lot. He's quite handsome, he's kind, he's strong... I wish I was free to love him. If I was, I would.
After going for a few hours, we eventually find them.
Back in one of the original caverns we hid in, we find them crouching and nursing their wounds. Jerry has a gash across his forehead and several bruises on his neck, strips of the skin on Alia's cheeks has burnt away as if burned, and William is passed out cold on the floor. When we enter Jerry stands up, brandishing his hammer, but sits down as soon as he sees us. Silently, we go and sit.
"What happened?" Cora asks quietly, not wanting to alert Alia. Jerry gives her a slightly sharp look, before recounting his tale about what happened with the horrible creature after we ran away. Cora gasps at all the right places, but I remain silent. Alia needs medicine, looking at those disgusting acid burns on her face.
And that requires me giving up another one of Calvin's gifts.
For a few moments, I consider keeping quiet. But I'm not cruel enough to do that, and I don't want to watch Alia die slowly and painfully to death because of infection. So I ask Calvin and, soon, a pot of balm arrives to put on her face.
"Come here." I say to her, and she crawls over to me. She hasn't seen the balm yet, as she's been trying to wake up William, and I can't help but smile. "Shut your eyes." She does so, trusting me. I dip my fingers in the balm and coat them thoroughly before, a little nervously, I bring them to her burns.
She lets out a moan of relief as I stroke the balm over her burns, and her tiny face shows almost unmeasurable bliss. Jerry and Cora both laugh at the sound of her voice, and I smile again. When she's eventually covered in the balm, she opens her eyes and looks at me.
"Thank you." Alia says quietly and, before I know what she's doing, she's wrapped her arms around me and her little head is in the crook of my neck. She's hugging me.
Although she's not as good as my mother at giving hugs, since she's smaller and weaker than me (and it's me who is doing the protecting here), she's a great deal better than Calvin. So, slowly, I bring my own arms around her. She's so small and soft, and I feel tears appearing in my eyes. Eventually, she pulls away, and she looks so hilariously adorable that I can't help but give a quiet sniffle.
"Why are you crying?" she says curiously. For a few moments I am silent, before shaking my head and letting out a small sigh.
"I'm not crying." I reply.
SCEPTOR WHISHART, DISTRICT 10 MALE
I watch silently as the other Careers chat amongst themselves. We haven't been out and done anything all day. What do they expect- other tributes to just come trotting over to us and lay out their own necks to chop? Still, I decide to keep quiet, and continue chopping up one of the Pit Dweller corpses.
It's got a very interesting anatomy. Some of it is mechanical and other parts are actual flesh- perhaps it's chemically engineered? I don't know too much about stuff like that. All I know is how to cut up a corpse and get the tasty pieces of meat off it.
Hey, I wonder how human would taste? There's an unspoken rule about not being a cannibal in the Games ever since about four years ago when a tribute from District 6, Titus, started eating his kills. He got bumped off in the end, probably so the Capitol wouldn't have to put up with a deranged victor.
But I'm not deranged. If I killed and ate a tribute, which is certainly an option, I'd only do it to rid myself of my own hunger or, perhaps, just out of interest. How does human meat taste?
"Hey." glancing up, I see Norelle standing over me, a slightly bitter look on her face. I nod at her, and she sits down beside me, staring at the corpse of the creature that I'm cutting up. I smirk at her expression, and sit back. Looking down, I notice that my tribute uniform is splattered with blood.
"See something you like?" I mock, grinning at her rather entranced face as she stares at the mangled body of the monster. She turns to me quickly, with a sharp expression. Then, she narrows her eyes and smirks right back.
"Perhaps," Norelle grins, showing all of her teeth. I notice that they are slightly too sharp, like a cat's. In fact there is something about her that is rather feline- the way she moves, the way she almost purrs her words. "Or maybe I'm just a sadist."
"Tends to go together," I reply quickly, bringing one of my butcher's knives to my face and admiring it. They're nicer in the Games, more picturesque. I'd not killed a human before the Games, but there isn't much difference from killing animals. In fact, I'd say it's even more fun. I narrow my eyes. "I can't work out if you're talking about the dead animal or me."
She pauses for a few seconds, and looks me up and down. Cold, calculating, crazy. Then, she smirks again and shrugs. "Who knows? By the way, I'm still considering your offer. So don't get too friendly with anyone else."
And she gets up, swaying her hips as she goes. It's very difficult not to laugh- she's attempting to play me to her own advantage, I can tell. Should be amusing to see how far she's willing to go.
I bring my cleaver down hard on the creature's leg.
JAMES "WATCHER" AMMOLITE, DISTRICT 2
I stare at Norelle with one eye as she walks away from Sceptor. What exactly were they talking about? I want to know- I don't trust either of them. However stupid and meatheaded they may think I am, I'm not going to look over them. I'll be watching the both of them very closely.
Getting to my feet, I lean against the Cornucopia and watch them. I watch them all. I'm going to kill them all, the whole damned lot of them. They aren't going to turn on me like they turned on my brother. Because I'm going to be smarter than him, I'm going to get them before they can see me coming. As soon as possible.
I notice Tom, who is sitting with Damascus and Emmeline and attempting to get them to listen to him. Both of the tributes from 1 are looking rather tired of him... He'll die first. He annoys me too and, to be honest, I cannot wait to get him alone and slice him to pieces. Who next?
My eyes flicker over the others, and they fixate on Phlox, the little girl from 3. She's a pretty good fighter, sure, but there's only much use I have for somebody her size. She'll have to go soon too, although I'll let her live a little longer. Then... then Emmeline. She's not a killer and never will be, so, once again, there's only so much I can use her for.
That leaves me with Damascus, Norelle and Sceptor. I have a feeling that Norelle and Sceptor are plotting against me, simply from the way they always seem together and whispering. I won't let them go on lookout together again. I trust Damascus and Emmeline not to go against me, so one of the three of us will be on lookout with any of the others.
I will win these Games, no matter what I have to do.
"Hey, hey James!" I hardly stop myself groaning. Why won't Tom just go away? Doesn't he get the impression that I do not find him amusing at all? After he broke his nose and his voice became very nasal, he's become even more irritating. I can't even be near him without wanting to knock his teeth out.
"What do you want?" I snarl, turning towards him and crossing my arms. He's looking at me with a cheerful look on his face, and he grins widely, showing off his ridiculously sharp teeth. Why is he trying to be Enobaria? Why?
"I think Sceptor and Norelle are getting together... If you know what I mean." he winks roguishly, and I resist the urge to slap him. Does he really think I have not noticed? He likes to think he's my eyes- well he's not. He's like a wart that won't go away. But I'll carve it off. Painfully.
Walking away from him, I go over to the other side of the Cornucopia, away from the others. I need to be alone, away from the lot of them.
And I need to plan.
Margareth Alice Walcox
Crazy crazy Sceptor... Crazy crazy Norelle... Crazy crazy James...
This was a slightly odd chapter to write. Can't say it was my favourite, although tomorrow's is something pretty special, I promise...