Day 4: Icarus
Icarus by Bastille
Icarus is flying too close to the sun
Icarus's life, it has only just begun
This is how it feels to take a fall
Icarus is flying towards an early grave…
Disclaimer: Don't own the Hunger Games!
East of the Cornucopia- Rocky Terrain
Koda Morris (16) D1 Male POV
"Koda! Can I talk to you for just a minute," Rose whispers near the edge of our campsite, waving her hand over as her grey eyes scan the still resting Mako and Madeline.
"Okay…" I carefully stand up and dust off the dirt on my jumpsuit, blood still spots and smears on it, the blood trailing up all the way to my scarred face. The five deep slashes still ooze blood and clear liquid, no longer white and pus like. Good luck getting sponsors now I think, you know all of this is what got the girls crazy for me, and now look! No girl in their mind would want a guy all scarred up, well maybe guys with scars are hot…
"Can you hurry," she hisses, gritting her teeth and narrowing her eyes.
"Sheesh. I'm going," I whisper as I carefully tip toe over Madeline's curly red hair, tentatively stepping around Mako's backpack which spills over with meds. She grunts and crosses her arms as soon as I appear in front of her. She raises her arm which is still bandaged, blood spots blossom over the white gauze.
"I'm sorry, I'm just so cranky in the morning," she mumbles as she traces her fingertips over her bandaged arm, wincing at each touch.
"Pssh. I noticed," I mutter squinting my eyes as the rays of light emerge from beyond the horizon and shoot beams of colors that project like paints, water colors if you want to go into specifics.
"What was that," she asserts looking me straight in the eye.
I gulp sensing her anger deepen and burst, you definitely don't want to mess with women in the morning. No. Matter. What. "Nothing…"
"I thought so."
"You called me sweetheart," I whisper in her ear, smirking as her face heats up probably remembering the first time we met.
"Well you see," she begins as she begins to touch my forearm and begins to move her hand slowly up and down. "I just was thinking yesterday of how terribly I've been to you. I mean, I shouldn't let my emotions cloud over our District loyalty, you know?"
I nod feeling my nerve endings tingle with electricity with each trace of her fingertips on my skin. "Yes…"
"I just wanted to make it up to you with a feast, in your honor of course," she giggles playfully punching my arm. I dismiss her behavior; it's about time she bowed down to me and not talk back to me for once.
"Everything has been arranged, it'll be tonight. Right when the sun," she murmurs pulling me close to her and points to the emerging yellow star, "sets just above the horizon."
"Are you okay Rose. I mean, you seem different."
She nods and smiles, her radiance shinning brilliantly from her aura. "I just want to make amends is all. I don't want you to die hating me."
I smirk and cross my arms across my chest. "You mean when I win, right?"
"Whatever makes you sleep at night," she says, winking. She strides back to her sleeping bag, her hips swaying and hair falling just behind her. "Mako knows so you don't have to mention it to him."
"Okay."
"Okay then."
"Thanks, Rose. I'm glad we're making up."
"I'm glad to. In many ways you wouldn't understand," she mumbles smiling as she closes her eyes again. Her breathing relaxes chest rises slowly. I look around disappointed to see Leon and River still gone. Sad really, Leon was a really cool guy. If only he could show up to my special feast tonight…
South of the Cornucopia- Jungle
Teff Regal (15) D9 Male POV
Dear Friend,
I feel that my time here on Earth is ending soon. I feel it, deep in my core that I was never meant to win these Games. I mean no one would miss me, sure my Dad would be upset but he'll live along with my Mom and Aluma. I never had friends so no one at school would remember me, maybe some teachers, but even then I was never in the spotlight, just a back ground character. I will never feel the grainy texture of the wheat beneath my fingers again, or the warmth of sun in District 9, the beautiful sunrises and sunsets with the warm air surrounding me. These things, those things I will miss. I will miss a lot of things back in District 9 that I took for granted, that I think we all take for granted for. The food presented on our tables, a lot or some, it's better than in the Arena where finding food is a blessing. The warmth and safety in our homes with our families, whereas here there is only fear and evil seeped into the very ground where blood falls. I wish I could've done more with my pathetic life, I wish I wasn't here, to be sacrificed for entertainment. But this was a blessing in disguise, friend. I met Vanity, my first friend. My first real friend, living and breathing. She is nice to me, my rock, and my guiding force to living the rest of my days here. I'm truly glad I met her and I hope with all my heart she gets home to Monty. If I don't get to write in you again… Friend. I feel truly blessed to have lived my life for what it's worth, because for the first time in my life… I feel alive…
Always, Teff
"Whatcha writing?"
I quickly close my notebook and look up behind me to see Vanity smiling, her brown eyes wide and curious. I feel my heart quicken as I conceal the notebook in the pocket of my jumpsuit, careful not to place it in an area where it could fall out.
"Nothing… it just something to keep me busy, is all." I nod and feel the warmth flush my face as she nods in agreement and gather her stuff, picking up a red apple and offering it out to me.
"Would you like an apple, Teff?"
I shake my head, lowering it to where I don't face her. To where I cannot let her see the realizing truth of my end. "I'm not hungry, you should eat it."
"Teff. You haven't eaten since yesterday. You need to keep your strength up." She shoves the apple into my hands and a couple of saltine crackers. "You need to Teff, please," she pleads with tears of hurt that she knows I cannot resist.
I nod my head. "Okay. Please don't cry, Vanity." I open my mouth and take a large bite into its crunchy exterior. The juice bursts and restores my inevitable thirst that quenches my throat, my tongue no longer dry as sandpaper. I moan as the food goes down my throat and hits my stomach, a warm and fuzzy feeling filling me up.
"Good isn't it? Much better than in 9, that's for sure," she murmurs resting her hands behind her head. Her long black hair fans out and tickles my face, the dark blue ends of it dry and brittle from no showering here. She begins to hum a dark melody; her voice is like sugar, sweet and everlasting.
"Vanity," I whisper, feeling the emotion creep up in my voice. Tears begin to form in my eyes and I fight them as I tell her what I have to, what I must before I die. "I just want to th-thank you for being my friend…"
She snaps her head to her right, facing me. She slowly nods and looks back up to the crystal blue sky above us, white clouds hover and spread across the area leaving sparkles that mist over the jungle trees here. "I'm glad too, Teff."
"I always saw you at school by yourself, and at times I wanted to go up and talk to you, just so that we wouldn't be alone… I was too scared to though. You know people always called us 'the lonely.' Funny isn't it," I ramble, the words barely distinguishable. I blush and quickly turn away, feeling a smile creep up on her lips.
"I did to. I wish we were friends before all of this," she mutters waving her arms, "I just wish we could both go home." Her lips quiver and her face begins to falter, her short moments of happiness here gone. "I just want to go home," she mumbles as tears cascade down her pale face, "I just want to go home."
She begins to sob, her body shuddering with each gasped breath she takes. I let the human in me emerge and push back the timid one and wrap my arms around her, letting our body heat cool against each other as she cries. I let myself be with her and comfort her because in this moment I realize that being the way I was back in 9 will not help me live the rest of what is left of me truly feel accomplished. And with Vanity… this is all I need to feel complete…
Cornucopia
Hudson Archipello (18) D7 Male POV
"Long time no see, Hudson."
My head turns to see Aden, his weight leaned up against the silver walls of the Cornucopia. His red hair is disheveled and streaks of dirt coat his face. His hazel eyes dart back and forth between my face and the axe that I balance between both my hands.
"You aren't going to try to kill me now, right?"
"No."
He nods and drops his club, walking towards me with only a backpack resting nicely on his back. He sits just several feet from me and waves me over, patting the ground just next to him inviting me to sit with him. I nod and sit opposite of him, facing him face to face.
"How's it been? You know since we departed," he asks looking me straight in the eye.
"Good, I guess. I haven't run into trouble." He nods his head and begins to pick at the grass beneath us, twirling a grass blade between his fingers.
"Well that's better than me. I ran into several mutts over the days," he mutters as he tears the blades of grass in half over and over again.
"Yeah, well I know later it'll get worse."
"Yep. Have you seen any tributes?"
"Nope. You?"
"Yeah, I saw the District 9 tributes strolling along the meadow area the other day."
"Meadow area?"
"Yeah, you haven't traveled the areas yet?"
I shake my head. "No…"
"Where have you been this whole time?!"
"Here. The Careers left all these supplies, I occasionally left into the woods over there," I say pointing to the trees that loom in the distance.
"Hmmm. I see, well there are different areas here. North of here is a winter area, east is rocky terrain of sorts, south is a jungle, and west is a meadow."
"Hmmm."
"Yeah. It's definitely different from past Arenas."
"Why are you here? Talking to me…"
"I don't know," he mumbles scratching his head. "I just needed someone to talk to…"
"Okay… as long as you don't pull anything funny."
"I won't… will you?"
"Nope."
"Good."
"Good."
I look up to see Iris' body stunned in shock and shiver as she spots us. She turns quickly around and begins to run.
"IRIS!"
She snaps her head back, her wavy brown hair swooshing behind her as her blue eyes stare deep into mine. I wave her over and assure her that we won't hurt her, that we're simply talking, to get our minds off of what are goals are. She stops for a second and begins to walk towards us, carefully reaching for her hunting knife ever so often when we make sudden movements.
"Hey…"
"Hey… guys," she mumbles sitting next to me. Her hair is matted and knotted, it no longer sleek and shiny as it was a few days ago. Her blue eyes are vacant, a dark void that stares blankly in mine.
"Are you okay," I ask reaching a hand to her. She shakes her head and looks away.
"I'm splendid. Wonderful," she exclaims meeting my eyes again. The growing edge of sarcasm in her voice sends my blood pressure rocketing and the anger bubbling in my veins.
"That will get you killed," I grunt, narrowing my eyes as she rolls hers. "Someone can take that the wrong way."
"Whatever, nothing matters anymore. I don't know what to believe," she mumbles as tears fall in drops on the ground, splashing near me. I feel the heavy sadness, the hurt that she, that we all will face soon enough.
"Bye guys." She stands and walks over to the opening of the Cornucopia and grabs another backpack and retrieves an axe. "May the odds be ever in your favor…"
"You too…"
Aden stands and shakes my hand. He grabs a backpack and his club, making sure to grab extra batteries seeing how the climate here as gotten more extreme.
"Bye Hudson."
"Bye…"
I watch as they both head their separate ways, Iris heading south to the jungle area and Aden heading the opposite direction, the winter zone he said I believe. I sigh and look around, watching as the leaves fall in pieces around me, the wind picking them up as they swirl around the area. I am alone…
East of the Cornucopia- Rocky Terrain
Mako Capper (17) D2 Male POV
"Madeline, why are we having a feast?"
She giggles and winks, bringing herself closer to me. "Because silly. It's for Koda!"
"Why Koda?!"
"Well it's just that Rose was feeling so bad for fighting with him and all, especially causing you problems."
"So…."
"So she decided to make it up with a feast," she exclaims pointing to the nicely decorated area set up with plates, fruits, meats, and breads. The campsite is set up with all of our sleeping bags piled together and a large fire set up in between everyone.
"Right… well there better be no funny business…"
"Of course not…"
I nod in her direction and look to see Koda and Rose quietly chattering, their voices hushed and low. Rose laughs loudly and playfully punches his shoulder which he returns back… weird, something is definitely up and I'm certain Madeline has something to do with it.
"Mako stop standing around and get over here," Madeline exclaims grabbing my hand again and sitting me down next to her with Rose to her right and Koda sitting across from her. Apparently District 4 never showed after last night and not even this morning which I guess in a sense wasn't a surprise. I suspected they would run off together, they never conversed with us anyway…
"Mako seriously you need to relax! You're always so deep in thought all the time," Koda booms taking a swing of apple cider courtesy of his sponsors.
"Yeah Mako! Take a break, you deserve it," Madeline chirps. She smiles and lifts her glass, whispering to Rose in a hushed voice. She quickly lifts her head in the air and opens her mouth. "To Koda!"
"To Koda," we all cheer clinking our glasses together. I bring the rim of the glass to my lips and let the ice cold liquid bubble and travel down my parched throat. Carefully putting the glass down at my feet I adjust my frames, letting them sit on the bridge of my nose and glaze over Madeline's small bag. Inside sits a small loaf of bread drenched in… purple liquid. No, it can't be what Madeline uses, can it?!
"Koda," Rose says her voice sounding as if she were singing, "I made you a special bread for our feast."
"Ohh," he ponders as Rose holds up the loaf, the smell of it wafting in the air into my nose. The smell is pungent, the scent reminding me of the berries we crossed days earlier. "What is it?"
"Well you see my mother would always drench our bread in grape juice," she says as smoothly as she wraps her arms around Koda, bringing her lips closer to his face with each word. "It's tradition at toastings and all you have to do is take one bite…"
"I appreciate the thought but… I don't like grapes or grape flavored anything."
"What?!"
"Yeah…" Koda says raising his eyebrows as Rose's face turns a cherry red. She yells out and grabs the loaf of bread shoving the loaf in his hands.
"Eat the fucking bread!"
"No!" The bread crumbles in small pieces and he flings them in the air, the tiny pieces flying in all direction. I look to Madeline who smirks and catches some of the pieces and conceals them in the small compartment of her backpack. Koda laughs as a single bread piece lands in Rose's mouth in which she swallows without hesitation. Her face turns as white as a sheet and she collapses to the floor, her body convulsing with each hoarse scream that escapes her now bloody lips.
"What the hell?!"
"Madeline what the hell is this?!"
She giggles and takes out a small vial with purple liquid. "Rose wanted to get rid of Koda so I helped her. Looks like the jokes on her though," she giggles as Rose's body stills and her chest relaxes.
BOOM
"You helped her," Koda screams through gritted teeth. Madeline nods and points to Rose's corpse now covered in blood and pus filled boils that dot her skin like a toad's. "I can't believe this… I thought- I thought Careers were loyal to each other!"
"Obviously not…" I mutter fixing the frames that always seem to slip from the bridge of my nose at the most inconvenient times.
"Were you part of this," Koda yells as he grabs my shoulder and makes me face his directly. His face fumes with hurt and anger, two very bad combinations for a swordsman.
"Of course I wasn't! I'm loyal to this alliance," I assert letting my voice rise as I stare eye to eye with Madeline who hovers above Rose's body, smirking as the blood oozes and drains from her corpse.
"I'm leaving! Screw you guys!" Koda yells as he grabs his broad sword and backpack, heaving it over his shoulder as he jogs past me, Madeline, and Rose's corpse.
"Madeline… do you see what you've done?"
She giggles. "No…"
"Well our alliance is screwed over because of you!"
"Me?"
"Yes, our entire alliance is gone, District 1 and District 4!"
"Hey! District 4 was not my doing! They ran off together!"
"Whatever. I'm sure you killed them yesterday with all of those cannons!"
"Those were from District 3 and Auger! I don't know where Leon and River are!"
"Whatever." I turn on my heels and retrieve my bag from the burnt wood of the fire. "I've had enough of your bullshit."
South of the Cornucopia- Jungle
Teff Regal (15) D9 Male POV
"VANITY RUN!"
She ducks into the bushes as the male from 2 charges towards me, not aware of a crying and trembling Vanity hidden deep in the bushes. His eyes are bloodshot, distraught and most of all, determined. Never in million years could I have predicted that this would be my demise, to see my killer, to see my life flash before my eyes is not what I would've wanted. But this is my time, this is it.
"AHHH!"
I realize the choked scream is from me when my hazy vision conjures up the male from 2 who has thrust his sword deep into my abdomen, the pain so numbing that it feels like the energy and will drains from the very wound. I collapse to the ground and see him hovering above me but the look in his eye, oh the look it does not seem vicious. It is more to the crystal blue film that covers the windows to his heart, it is fear, damaged, and forevermore haunting of the kills he has committed.
"Kill him already," a feminine voice calls from behind him. He winces and turns around, narrowing his eyes as the girl emerges from the darkness. "Don't tell me you feel bad for this son of a bitch!"
He gulps and looks down at me. I can see it you know, even through the dark circles that dance across my vision that he feels bad, even for a Career. I know that deep in my heart that he is just playing the game, that he isn't a typical Career.
"No. Of course not…"
"Then kill him. Or I will."
He shakes his head and brings his gaze back to me, raising the blood stained sword above his head, the sword trembling in his grip as it falls and plunges itself in my chest. The pain no longer hurts, just numbing as a bright light begins to show around the ridges of his silhouette, the light brightening with each passing second.
"I want him when you're done with him."
"No."
"No?"
"He's been through enough."
"You do feel bad; you are a sorry excuse of a Career. Pitiful," his district partner spits in his face. "District 2 would be very disappointed."
"They'll be disappointed too, when you die a horrific death for your evil."
"Shut up!"
"Leave or I'll make you…"
"Fine. I'll just get his district partner."
The darkness envelopes me and all I can do now is hear, hear the defeaning sounds of the wilderness and the heavy breathing of 2 as he picks up something. The crinkling of pages whistles in the air and all I know now, that in this moment that I am dying and my journal is being read by the very person who has given me freedom…
"I forgive you…"
BOOM
A/N: Well half of our tributes are now deceased :'( and 11 more have to die *more tears, and sadness* As usual another poll is up. Thanks to those reading and reviewing. The next chapter will be the last day of the original Arena layout and Day 6 will feature four new areas! Here's a question you can answer in a review… I haven't updated the website or the blog yet and will get to that ASAP! I've responded to some reviews and haven't gotten to everyone yet. Thanks to those reviewing, reading, following, and favoriting!
Which tribute do you think at this point in the story will win it all? (You can provide one or more if you wish, I'd just like to see individual responses )
RIP: Rose Thomas. She was my fierce and Victor hungry girl. She was a great catalyst with Koda for personality clashes. She will be missed. Thanks to Emmeline C. Thornbrooke for submitting her.
RIP: Teff Regal. He was my Charlie from The Perks of Being a Wallflower. I loved his character because in a way he reminded me of myself. I literally and truly started to cry writing Teff's final entry, knowing that this was it for him. He was overall my favorite tribute and he didn't deserve to die. Well none of these tributes do, but Teff… *tears* he was truly a wallflower. He will be deeply missed. Thanks to TallTalesInk for submitting him.
Love Always, Domi