District 12
Jet Winters
I spent the whole of last night unable to sleep. In the end, I managed to get in a few minutes of sleep. But just as I'm getting some rest, I'm getting nudged awake. My heavy eyelids flicker open and I drowsily turn to see my mentor, Gemma, standing above my bed.
"Jet, it's time to go," she whispers, her voice breaking softly. I bury my face in my hands to try to keep in the fear. I'm going to be in the arena in a few hours. I can't believe it.
"Do I have to?" I ask in a whiny voice, resorting to my childish complaints. Gemma doesn't bother answering, because we both know the answer. She hands me a simple black t-shirt and sweatpants and turns to face the wall so I can get dressed. "Is this what I'm wearing in the arena?" I ask, surprised.
"No, you'll change into the arena clothes in the launch room," she says.
"Then why-"
"Do you really want to spend the journey in your underpants?" Gemma inquires.
"Good point."
I slide the t-shirt on and pull up the sweatpants to my hips. I'm glad that I get to wear something comfy during the journey. Although, I doubt it will matter in a few hours, anyway.
"Are we going to eat breakfast?" I ask as Gemma leads me up to the roof.
"You'll eat on the hovercraft." As soon as we're on the roof, we stare up at the sky, looking for the hovercraft. I can't help but nervously bite my nails, a habit I thought I lost years ago. It probably only lasts a minute for the hovercraft to arrive, but it feels like an eternity. A rope ladder appears in front of my face and I tentatively grab onto it. My entire body freezes up and I'm helpless as the ladder retracts, pulling me up into the hovercraft.
As soon as I'm in the hovercraft, I'm able to let go of the ladder. The hovercraft room has very lax security- only two Peacekeepers. There's a bench completely surrounding the room, but that's it. I take a seat on the bench near the window, hoping to catch a glimpse of the arena when we fly over it. Gemma is pulled up the ladder a moment later. As soon as she's up, the trapdoor where we entered is slid closed. I feel a jolt, and out of the window, the Tribute Tower speeds away.
I'm fixated at the view of the Capitol when one of the Peacekeepers come over with a giant needle. I look at it, gulping with terror. The needle itself is concerning thick, and I know it will be painful.
"Your arm?" the Peacekeeper asks, and I have no choice but to outstretch it for her. She roughly grabs it and jams the needle in, which hurts much less than it should (although it's still quite painful). "The needle is coated with a numbing solution so it will hurt less," she explains. I watch with fascination as what looks like a blue light appears under the skin of my arm. The light fades away, but the bulge remains. I learn the hard way that it is super painful to press.
"What is it?" I ask her.
"The tracker," the Peacekeeper responds. I stare in wonder at the bulge coming out of my arm. The thought makes me feel a bit sick. I avert my gaze and stare out of the window, trying to push it from my mind.
It's interesting to watch the city from so high. I can't see the people since they're too distant, but I bet they're looking up at the hovercraft right now, pointing it out to their friends in excitement. 'Look, it's the tributes going to the arena!' I imagine them saying. 'In a few hours, half of those will be dead!'
Despite my assumptions about the people, it's kind of relaxing. After about fifteen minutes, the buildings turn to houses and the houses become more sparse. Eventually, all that can be seen is a rocky landscape. I feel as though we're approaching on the arenas, so I ready myself to soak up every image of our arena that I can. However, a dark screen slides across the window, blocking my image.
"What?!" I cry indignantly, trying to pull the screen back.
"They don't want you seeing the arena," Gemma explains. "So the scenery is blocked when we arrive near the arenas."
"Oh," I say, disappointed.
Only about a minute later, an avox arrives with two trays of food. She hands one to Gemma and one to me and then leaves. I look down cautiously at my tray. It's heaped with different breakfast foods, including scrambled eggs, bacon, sausages, various pastries and rolls, and fruits. I'm also given a large pitcher of water and a glass.
Gemma immediately digs in, but my stomach is feeling upset so I only take a few sips of water. Gemma swallows and looks at me with angry eyes.
"Jet, that may be the only food you get in a week," she reminds me. "If I were you, I'd eat it." My stomach still isn't feeling great, but Gemma made a good point so I force myself to gulp as much of it down as I can. Shortly after I finish eating, I feel the hovercraft jolt a stop. I resume biting my nails as it begins its descent. Only a moment later, the trapdoor slides open. I look down, hoping to see the arena, but instead, there's a tube leading down.
I hesitantly grab hold of the ladder and freeze up. I watch helplessly as I sink down into the catacombs and my last chance of survival disappears above me.
District 12
Kana Ashwood
My feet hit the ground and I'm able to remove my hands from the ladder. I step back to make room for my mentor, Hayden, as he slides down directly after me. When we are both on the ground, the ladder is pulled back up. We both watch as we catch a glimpse of daylight before the entrance is sealed back up and the only light is from the fluorescent light above my head, which is giving off an eerie green glow.
The room we're standing on is quite small. There's one bench with a pile of folded clothing and a pitcher of water. There's a full-length mirror. And there's a tube in a corner. That's where I'll be taken up into the arena.
Hayden walks over and begins rummaging through the pile of clothes. I walk over and join him. Hayden turns away and walks over to a corner so I can get dressed in privacy.
The clothes are quite simple, so I'm hoping the arena will be something simple, like a forest. The outfit consists of an undershirt, tan cargo pants, a black t-shirt, and a thin red hoodie. The shoes are simply boots that reach just above my shins and I have thick, wool socks. I'm disappointed to see that the outfit provides next to no clues about the environment. Who cares? A tiny voice in my head says. You'll find out in a few minutes, anyway.
I pull off my t-shirt and sweatpants and quickly get into the outfit. When I'm dressed, I allow Hayden to face me again. I take a seat on the metal bench and Hayden sits next to me. I pour myself a glass of water and take small sips whilst staring blankly at the wall. My mind drifts to my family… Emily, Morgan, Alex. Dad. Even Mom. I wonder if anyone in District Twelve besides my family is rooting for me? Or are they more confident in Jet?
"Oh no, I forgot my token!" I realize with alarm.
"It's in your pocket," Hayden informs me. "The Gamemakers instruct the stylists to put the tribute's tokens in their outfits nowadays. Tributes constantly forget about their tokens before heading to the arena." I reach my hand into the pocket of the hoodie and pull out my mom's golden heart pendant. I breathe a sigh of relief and tuck it into my one of my pants pockets since it seems more secure.
We sit in silence some more.
"How much longer do I have?" I ask after a few more minutes. Hayden checks his watch.
"Only five minutes," Hayden tells me. I let out a shaky breath. "How are you feeling?" he asks.
"As you would expect. Terrified," I admit. "Do you have any more pointers to give me?"
"I think I've told you most everything already, so just remember not to step off of your platform before the gong rings," Hayden reminds me. I can't help but laugh slightly.
"I think everyone knows that," I say. "What about at the Bloodbath? We already discussed that on the train, but now that I'm aligned with the Careers, I can't just run away."
"That's a good point," Hayden realizes. "I was never aligned with the Careers, so I'm not an expert on this topic, but… try to not get involved in the battle. You're going to have to run in, so grab the first weapon you see. Then go along the outskirts avoiding people."
"Okay."
"Tributes, please step inside your tubes," I hear a voice say. I take a deep breath and both Hayden and I stand up. I give Hayden a quick hug before shuffling over to the tube. The moment I step inside, the doors slide shut, making me think there's some kind of motion sensor. I spin around to face Hayden, who has a solemn look on his face. He says something but this tube is soundproof. I think he said 'good luck'.
I feel the platform under me jerk and begin rising up. I need to make it out of this arena for my siblings. Emily, Morgan, Alex… I'm coming home for you. The platform rises up toward the ceiling. Just when I think I'm going to crash into it, it slides open, blinding me with pure bright light.
I blink and squint, trying to adjust from the darkness of the catacombs as the platform rises. The platform reaches it's limit and jerks as it stops, making me quiver a little. I quickly regain my balances, shocked that I almost just died due to a little shake. I definitely do not want to die because I slipped.
"Ladies and gentlemen, let the 247th Hunger Games begin!" The voice of Leandros Winthrop booms throughout the arena. A moment later, the countdown begins. I only have a minute to soak in my surroundings, so I better use it well. My eyes adjust and I am able to see the arena for the first time.
It's a fairytale, I realize, surprised. In the distance is a towering castle and to my right, left, and back is a forest. I see two water sources right off the bat- a giant river snaking from the castle to the forest, and a lake to my right. The sky is light pink and the clouds are bright white. Everything seems to give off a fake sort of feel. All of the colors are too sweet and everything looks too perfect. From watching previous Hunger Games, I know that the more innocent an arena seems, the more deadly it is.
"40… 39… 38…"
To my right is the boy from District 6 and to my right is the Garnet. I quickly scan the rest of the tributes, looking for Markus. I find him about five pedestals away, looking completely focused on the Cornucopia.
"26… 25… 24…"
I change my attention to the Cornucopia and the stash of goodies. I see piles of blankets, food, jugs of water, and in the very center are any weapon you could possibly desire. I see a spear which I wouldn't mind having, but I don't want to rush into the very center. Instead, I'll just grab the machete I see lying right-
BOOM!
I jump at the noise, startled. The first cannon has already fired? I see everyone else just as shocked as I am, and we all are rapidly searching to see which tribute has fallen. The girl from 8 lets out a scream just as I realize who died.
It's the boy from District 6. The one who was right next to me. I see chunks of flesh only inches from my pedestal and it takes all of my effort not to throw up. I can't believe he's just gone… I didn't even know his name, but yet I'm already feeling despair. I can't believe…
"6… 5… 4…"
Shoot. With all the drama, I completely forgot about the countdown. I quickly try to regain focus on the Cornucopia.
The gong rings. With all of my effort, I leap off the pedestal.
The 247th Hunger Games has begun.
Wow! I can't believe we've reached the Bloodbath! Get ready for a lot of excitement.
It's already time for the first eulogy! (I also want to warn you guys that I've never written these before, so they're probably going to be really cringy).
24th Place: Remus Carter (slipped off of the platform) - I really liked Remus. He was some comic relief and really easy to write for. However, he died for a number of reasons. First of all, he was submitted to be a bloodbath tribute. Anyone who writes SYOTs knows that these are really hard to come by, and if you receive one, you don't really have any choice but to kill them in the bloodbath. The second reason is that his submitter never commented and I doubted he was reading the story. Finally (and probably the most important) is that I couldn't see him making it very far. Even if he did survive the Bloodbath, I wouldn't have any ideas for him. Sorry to anyone who grew attached to Remus (like me). He was pretty well-liked, so sorry for killing him.
By the way, I know that the stylists are supposed to be the ones to go into the launch room with the tributes, but I think mentors make way more sense (and I'm too lazy to create a stylist for these two).
I'm also updating the website as more tributes die, so it shows their placements.
Finally, the arena: I know right now it seems unrelated to the title (Flames) but you'll see next chapter!
1. What does Jet do for most of his ride on the hovercraft?
2. What does Kana say about innocent-looking arenas?
3. What do you think is flames-related about the arena?
Please review! The Bloodbath will be out ASAP, but that probably means next week. I'm going to write as much as I can for the rest of the day, but I have other stuff to do so I probably won't finish it. And I'm really busy on weekdays.
- Lilah
