Emarta Lundasmith (15)
District Eleven

The cave is warm when I awake. In fact it's a lot warm and I'm forced to remove my snowsuit only leaving my thermals on. I feel naked as I walk around without the snowsuit. Hunger grabs me and I panic. How long will it be before we die of starvation? And then I have an idea. And idea that I need to tell Toxic about.

"Toxic!" I whisper while shaking his shoulder.

"Toxic!"

He moans as I shake his shoulder.

"TOXIC!" I yell.

"Aghh!"

Toxic bolts right up in frightened awakening. "WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU ABOUT NOT WAKING ME!" he yells.

And then he frowns.

"Is it just me or is it really warm?" and then he strips off the sleeping bag. And then the helmet, the gloves, the beanie, the goggles. And finally the snow jacket and pants.

He sighs in relief.

"Look. Toxic. We have no food. I have an idea-" I say but Toxic cuts me off.

"We need to raid the Careers I know. I've been thinking about it last night. I have a plan." Toxic says.

"That's what I was going to say." I laugh.

"Well, there's no point in staying here. Let go raid the Careers!" I say, grabbing the sword and exiting the cave.

What I find is not what I expected. Only last night was it a freezing blizzard, not that I saw it but now the arena is completely different.

"Oh..my.. God!" I say, dragging out the 'o' in both words

What stands before me is pure paradise. There are trees! Pine I think. Long green grass. And flowers! Everywhere flowers! On the ground, sprouting from trees and one even lands on the ground before me! And then I notice the smells. Oh my gosh it smells fantastic! I keep sniffing and my hunger is all but gone for the time being. It smells of every herb I know of plus every flower and every natural sweet smelling plant!

I drop to my knees and laugh. And then I stretch out, my fingers grabbing the grass, feeling the green blades in fingers. I even rip out some of the stuff just to get a closer look.

"Hah hah hah!" I laugh.

"What's so funny?" I hear Toxic grunt from inside the cave.

"Oh Toxic you have to come outside! Come on!" I shout.

And then the breeze blows and it blows across my face, my short brown hair flying free in the wind. Oh and it's warm! The temperature is warm! Oh I love it! A small chirp is heard and I turn around to see a bird flitting between the trees. The trees move with the wind and I can see the sky.

Blue sky! And clouds!

"Come on Toxic you have to!"

"Ugh. But it's cold outside!"

"Like hell it is! Come on!"

I hear a grunt from inside and a figure emerges from the cave. Toxic's scowl changes to a gasp of amazement and wonder. He walks in circles, his head backwards looking and gazing at the foliage.

"Oh... my... God?" I hear him gasp in shock at the new arena.

"GameMakers? Thank you!" he says as Toxic falls to his knees in thanks.

And then he turns on his back and I can see actual tears in his eyes!

"Are you crying?" I ask.

Toxic sniffs and then wipes his eyes. "No! I had some, dirt in my eye."

I laugh. "Sure" I say, drawing it out like a drunk.

Where we are is in a clearing of trees, a rock spitting out of the ground like an ugly scar, but then again, it's covered in green moss. And tree branches, drooping down like depressed trees, draping their leaves over the rock. So in a way, it's still quite beautiful. And then a small crash is heard as two objects float down in silver parachutes. Metal containers, containing something inside!

"Toxic! Look! We have sponsors!" I shout and point at the metal caskets.

Toxic immediately climbs the rock and reaches for the sponsors' gifts. Each has the number 10 and 11 on it. One for me. One for Toxic. Toxic throws me mine as he jumps down, his boots leave an imprint of his jump. And as I try to open mine, Toxic has already burst his out.

In it is clothes. Black pants, fitted for the wearer. A colored t-shirt depending on the tributes district and a thin black jacket that falls to the thighs on top. My shirt is kind of creamish coloured, to represent wheat I suppose. Toxic's is a gleaming red. I guess to represent the blood of the livestock.

Toxic looks mad. "I wanted food! Not flipping clothes! Idiots!" he yells at the sky.

"Well, better get these on. I guess they are designed for the arena change." I say, stripping off my top thermal and putting on my beige shirt. I put on the jacket, zipping it up to halfway.

Then I start to strip my bottom thermals.

"You aren't actually going to do that on live TV right?" I hear Toxic scoff.

"Well yeah. But I'm putting the thermals in the cave. Were coming back to it right?"

"Yeah we are."

"Good!" I say while removing the rest of my thermals while Toxic stands guard.

I pull on the black pants and I notice they don't cling to my legs but they are fitted enough to be tight but allow room for running. Then Toxic does the same, puts his bright red shirt on but he doesn't zip up the jacket. Then I stand guard as he removes his bottom thermals and puts the straight black pants on.

It's an hour later before we actually start to move again towards the Careers. And as we walk. We spot many animals, rabbits, birds, etc as we walk to our raid. The new arena wear is a lot more comfortable than the snowsuit and make a lot less sound when I move around


Matty Walsh (14)
District Twelve

When I awake there's two things I notice. One, it's warm. Two, there's no snow or ice. I smile at the thought of no more ice. Wait. No snow. And then I actually wake up. I feel as of I've been put on immediate alert. And I wouldn't be surprised if I was, well you see, the arena has changed!

Completely changed!

Instead of snow, grass. Ice? Dirt. Dead trees of wood? Huge trunks of lush green leaves! Oak and pine and every tree I know of. Grass is everywhere I can see and flowers burst from the ground everywhere and a warm breeze replaces the harsh freezing blizzard!

The wind blows through the trees and I can even see blue sky! Oh and clouds! And then a rabbit bounds across the land and a bird dives between trees. I'm completely awestruck of the arena right now. And then I breathe through my nose and I almost die at how good it smells! I could stay here forever according to the smell.

"Winter." I say out loud, as loud as I dare. I know the arena has changed but I'm not letting myself to be fooled by the change of design.

"Winter wake up." I say.

And then I gently push his shoulder and Winter sits up.

"Winter! Look around!" I laugh, waving around at the new arena.

His eyes grow wide as he looks around. Feeling the grass, smelling the air, warmth. And then two parachutes come down. Two metal caskets in silver parachutes. They're labeled 12 and 7. Winter and I grin each other in awe.

"WE HAVE SPONSORS!" Winter shouts and I laugh at him while telling him to be quiet. As we open our own sponsor gifts, we discover it's a whole new arena uniform. Straight black pants, coal black shirt and black jacket. The jacket is thin and falls to the thighs. Wait no; Winter's shirt is not coal black. Its a forest evergreen. It looks like the cool colour of leaves!

Winter puts on a scowl, one that I know to be his "thinking" face. And he smiles. "The shirts are different coloured for our Districts. Black for 12. Evergreen for 7."

I nod in agreement. And then my stomach rumbles. And I look for our food. There's only a portion of dried meat and apple left, really only for today's breakfast, we need food. Hunting some of the animals would be a good idea but for that we need proper weapons. And for that we'll need to raid the Careers, it'll be incredibly risky but we need to do it to survive.

"Winter. We need to somehow steal from the Careers today." I say after Winter zips his new jacket on.

The snowsuits lie on the ground, discarded like old toys. And instead of Winter freaking out he responds differently.

"OK. How do we do this?" He asks, genuine curiosity on his face.

"We have to be sneaky Winter, sneaky."


Jaden Reeds (14)

District Eight

It's the warm sunlight that wakes me up; as I slowly open my eyes I notice that the snow barrier to my open access of my cave is all but gone. Where is it? Has someone discovered my spot? Am I going to be killed as soon as I enter the outside world?

I'm not fearful of the blizzard because I heard it go down last night and I am ever so grateful for it. But as I eat my second last nut bar I notice that there is moss inside my cave. What! But it was only stone and snow when I found it! And then I look outside.

Instead of finding a frozen wasteland, I find a forest paradise!

There's actual trees! Trees with trunks as tall as ten meters and some as fifteen! Vines cover the outside of my cave and I push them aside as I emerge from my cave and I gasp as I find myself in a new world. Flowers and trees and blue sky! And clouds and animals and grass! And if I'm correct, I can see the frozen river breaking apart! Fresh water! But what if there's a feast? If there's any tributes over there they won't be able to cross without risking their lives.

I'm thinking of spying on the Careers again when a parachute lands down next to me with the number 8 on it. Obviously mine I prise it open to reveal a whole new set of clothes.

Black pants, black jacket and a pink shirt. Bright pink. Hot pink. I moan in disgust.

"Come on, out of all the colored to give to District Eight and you choose hot pink? It does NOT match my hair colour!" I shout to the sky.

Nonetheless I shed my snowsuit and thermals to replace them with my new arena outfit.

After bundling the clothes back inside the cave I take to my usual spot to spy the Careers. Except a large tree that rests on the edge of the cliff takes it, so I just climb to the top branches and dangle my legs over a branch. I discover a new love for heights when the wind blows ever so gently.


Dylan Harkness (16)
District Six

"Dylan. Dylan wake up!"

"Ughhnn?" I moan.

"Dylan wake up. It's time to go. Remember out plan? Come get up!"

"Whaa?"

"DYLAN! WAKE UP!"

I sit bolt upright when Skylar shouts into my ear. The first thing I see is Skylar's face right in front of mine. He looks fierce and ready to right, his spiky blonde hair brushed to the side.

"Come on. Let's go. I'm not gonna waste time." Skylar growls.

As we exit the cave, Skylar chucks the last piece of dried meat at me. I catch it and down it in one go. It strikes me as surreal when I think that this could be my last meal. And then, we see. The arena has ultimately changed. No more snow no more blizzard. More grass more trees more animals more sky and more flowers. It's as if I've entered dream. Smells and sights and it's fantastic!

"Oh. My. Gosh. Skylar is this real?" I ask as I tilt my head back and walk in a circle.

"Yes Dylan I think this is very real. How the GameMakers have pulled this off I have no idea but if I had a hat I would take it off for them. This is the most incredible arena I've ever seen.

Two parachutes waft in front of my eyes and I jump to catch them.

"Skylar! We have sponsors!" I shout to him.

I turn to him and shove the parachutes in his face to grab his attention.

"Is that? Is this? Oh my gosh!" He laughs in shock.

Skylar kneels in impatience as I burst open the sponsor gifts.

And it's clothes. Black pants and black jackets that fall at our thighs. The only thing different is the shirts, I think they're different coloured for the Districts. My shirt is an electric sky blue though I have no idea how it's supposed to reflect District 6. Skylar's is a golden brown; I think it's to look like the brown crust of bread.

Mmm, bread. Just thinking about it makes me hungry. Leaving our thermals in the cave, we walk to the river but we are stopped in our tracks when we realize it's changed. Most of the frozen river has cracked and washed away to wherever it goes. Skylar groans and chucks a rock at the ice; it makes impact and dislodged an ice piece the size of an orange.

I sigh and look to my right.

"Look. It's less broken away nearer the valley; we'll just head that way and travel across. OK?" I announce.

"OK."

Skylar and I walk in silence as we walk closer to the valley. In about ten minutes, we've arrived at the edge of the river.

"How are we doing this Dylan? You tell me?" Skylar growls at me.

I scan the area of ice before us, searching for every crack and every split in the ice. I look at the other side and the ice not three feet in front of me. A bird swoops over the river and flies ahead to the top of the mountain.

And then it clicks.

"Ok. So, we'll walk to halfway across the river over there. Then we jump as hard as possible and jump forward and half the distance. After that and if we do it right we jump to the block of ice right there and push it away from the body section of the frozen top. We'll float down to the other side over there and if we've done it right we can just walk right over. Simple enough?"

Skylar breathes in and out, moving his arms and jumping up and down, preparing himself for the cross.

"I do not like large bodies of water. Just saying." Skylar nervously groans in a quiet voice.

"Let's do this."

I place my foot on the ice and hear it crack slightly. This was to be expected. Then I place my other foot on in front, placing my entire body weight on the ice. Shuffling forward slightly I reach my hand out towards Skylar. He takes it and makes his way across. Together we walk carefully to the middle of the river.

"And now we jump." I say, taking hold of his hand again and making the first jump. Small booms are heard and both Skylar and I jump closer to the shore on at a time.

Now I look around. Were surrounded by ice and deep blue water that flows beneath us. I even see a school of fish swim by.

"Ok now we need to dislodge this piece away from the rest." I say, marking an outline for a block big enough for both of us.

I jab my foot on the line in three separate places, each making contact with the water.

"Ok. Those three holes should create a crack when pressure is forced upon it. So if I jump on that 'line' a crack should appear connecting those three holes. Skylar? Hold on." I command.

For a while I do nothing, and then I jump on the line, putting as much weigh on it as possible. Four cracks are sounded and the ice block separates away from the main body of ice, I step forward just as it moves away. Fifteen minutes later, Skylar and I step away from the ice and onto dry land. Skylar smiles.

"We did it! We made it across without dying or getting wet! Yes!"


The Careers
Draco Hoult (18)
District One

I'm awoken by masses of cheering. Obviously I slept in this morning. Only when I open my eyes do I realize why they're cheering.

The arena has changed. From a frozen wasteland to a forest paradise! Literally! There's grass, and there's dirt, and massive trees, and blue sky and clouds and flowers and animals and oh it feels as if the heavens have opened!

"Come on Draco get up! You've missed out on something else too!" I hear someone tell me, later I find out for him to be Helix.

"What is it? Besides the fact the arena has changed?" I ask.

A silver casket is chucked at me in answer.

"Seven of these were delivered to us this morning. GameMakers gave us a new set of clothing to wear as well. Black pants and black jacket that goes to your thighs. The shirt colour depends what District you're from." I hear Kaleb say.

Helix pipes up again. "Silver is District 1. Maroon is District 2. Ocean Blue for 4 and Blood Red for 10. We don't know any others besides them."

I smile as I pull on the shirt after shedding the snowsuit. "Thanks" I say. The black pants fit perfectly and the jacket feels so comfortable.

I get up as Mars begins to speak.

"Listen guys, we may have trees and grass and animals surrounding us and a clearing of a twenty-five meter radius but we can't let ourselves distracted. This arena change may be the distraction from the real horror coming from inside. But we need to be ready!"

Mars pushes his brown curls back and sighs. A touch of his sword seems to calm him down.

As if on cue, a terrible roar is released from the valley below. It roars for vengeance and for food. It's deep and guttural and surely is heard from every corner in the arena. No one cannot pretend they didn't hear it.


The Careers
Havoc Stark (17)
District One

All smiles and happy thoughts drop when the roar is heard. No one thinks of anything but to fight or flee. My hand instinctively reaches for my poleax. The handle makes me feel prepared but nowhere near calm.

I look around and the word fear could've been tattooed on everyone's face to make it just that little bit more clearer. Mars moves just inside the Cornucopia and takes a stance and then everyone takes his spot, frozen in place.

But no, not me, I go straight to Draco and look deep into his eyes.

"Draco. If anything happens, I love you." I say, my voice cracking under the fear.

"No, no don't say that! You're not going to die and neither am I!" He says back to me in a fierce voice.

"Havoc-" but he's cut off by another terrible roar of the horror that awaits us.

He looks at me, give a short nod and takes spot and pose. I look around for anything alarming but the only thing I see is hundreds of birds flying away from the monster, I face that direction and await the fight.


Skorpii Redparth
Head GameMaker

As soon as Sheeti moves the gate upwards with a touch of her finger the Jabbersnatches roar as loud as possible. They live in the valley in the arena. Down in the bottom right section, if the top of the mountain is the top of the arena then you could draw a straight line to it. But to know where it really is, you go to the bottom of the arena. Walk to the river and head right. You'll find the valley easy enough.

Right there is where they live. Right where they growl for death.

A camera flickers on and it shows the great and terrible mutts they are. My creation walks forward and more of them follow. There are ten Jabbersnatches in total, five male and five female. On all fours they walk, cracking the ice of the river. One falls in the water and surprisingly is able to swim. Strange, I never taught them to them to swim.

But soon they begin to run and roar and scream their way across the river.

Oh these tributes will have fun today.


OK. Part 1 of this chapter done. Next ill post the other half and that's when the tributes die off :) be prepared. Sorry if there's any grammar incorrect things and incorrect spelt words I couldn't proof read it this time :( but yeah review if you liked and tell me if you like the new arena :D till next chapter (few hours)

~CJ