STILL ALIVE LIST:
Skyrah Labelle(D1 Female)
Persefone Douglas(D2 Female)
Felix Saunders(D2 Male)
Tyler Kaufman(D3 Male)
Calamity Astrea(D3 Female)
Azurine Bahari(D4 Female)
Algar Black(D4 Male)
Twyla Zahavyin(D5 Female)
Cameron Bordeaux(D6 Male)
Alea Bryce(D7 Female) (i thiiiiink?)
Spruce Ashmark(D7 Male)
Rowan Loranger(D8 Male)
Cornell Wheaton(D9 Male)
Dahlia Rhodes(D10 Female)
Elisabeth Bronzebrook(D11 Female)
Jackson Winters(D12 Male)
Alice Kimminger(D12 Female)
Skyrah Labelle(D1 Female)
The snow was growing, funneling down onto the ground, landing in fluffy, powdery drifts outside our cave. I sat cross-legged on the ground, humming absently, my hair hanging over my shoulder in a messy tangle. Everything around me looked a smidgen fuzzier, because my glasses' lens weren't functioning properly. Still, overall, everything was okay, for the Hunger Games. A bit action-free, but that was a good thing.
Sure, Persefone looked moodier every second, a permanent, anxious frown creasing her eyebrows that told way more than we were allowed to know. And sure, Mark was dead. And sure, we were getting into more fights as time went on. But, with the progressively tensing atmosphere, came the feeling of quiet peace, tranquility in my own little bubble.
I looked down at our bag of allotted rations, which was not much. We, as a giant group, had already devoured most of our food we had picked up, and were now on low supply; because of that, Algar and Felix were out to see if they could get anything. Azurine had been quiet for a long time, simply staring off into outer space, probably thinking of the fight.
I hugged my legs closer and closed my eyes, the cold burning my skin even though it should've done the absolute opposite. Nothing happened...for a while. We were all waiting for Algar and Felix to come back.
Then, Persefone broke the silence. She dropped the bunch of twigs she was carrying and said curtly, "Guys. Listen up."
I glanced at her for a moment. It was odd hearing her voice after such a long period of silence. "Yes, Persefone?" I asked quietly.
Her cat-green gaze landed on me with a fierce harshness, like fire. "Listen," she repeated. So I took the hint and shut up.
"Azurine," Persefone beckoned, her eyes cold as she looked at the District Four tribute.
Azurine glowered back like a poisonous pear. "If you insist," she responded cuttingly. "Now, what is it?"
"Yesterday, I saw this letter," Persefone said rapidly while we all listened with open ears. She explained what the letter said- stuff about a Feast- and asked for our opinions. Smart, though, how she didn't exactly give her own. Of course, Azurine caught on to that immediately.
"Hey, Persefone, you didn't exactly give your own opinion. How about we listen to that first before crafting our own? See- I need time to think," Azurine said coolly.
"Well, personally, I think we should go," Persefone retorted sharply. "We need the supplies, for one, and for another, we really need to get rid of some of those other tributes- especially the ones who have...unusual skills."
"Cameron," Azurine listed. "Jackson- I saw him doing some archery in training."
"Who else?" Persefone cut in. "Those two aren't likely to come."
Azurine thought for a moment, eyes glinting. "Alea. I think she was great at the axe."
"Well then...Alea, interesting. I wouldn't have thought she would come, but anything's possible, really."
"Same goes for the first two," Azurine added. I honestly felt like a stone between them. I was that overly friendly girl but I wasn't so sure I could, well, discuss tactics. Still, it was conversation, and I adored conversation.
"Yeah," I put in, "right. But also, did any of you guys think Tyler might be a threat? I mean-"
"Tyler?" Azurine stared at me like I had gone nuts. "You mean that nerd with the bright hair?"
"Well, yes, but please, don't call him a nerd, that's actually rather rude of you," I corrected.
Azurine sighed. "..Alright then. I'll admit- he's rather creative, for one. Could come up with strategies we'd never thought of and lure us into something. Who's his ally again? His District partner?"
"Calamity and Mica," Persefone stated.
"Mica's dead," Azurine pointed out. "So really just Calamity. They've got good planning, but what can they get done? They can't have a brain but no action. As far as I can tell, Calamity's sassy, with a bad temper. 'Sassy and a bad temper' won't get her anywhere."
I had to admit she had basically summed it all up.
"What she said," Persefone said, seeming frustrated. "We'll get rid of Tyler, leave her alone and useless. Without his cleverness, she'll be dead meat."
"Good...," Azurine contemplated. "Then maybe this Feast won't be so useless after all. We'll send someone to get the supplies before everyone else. Dash in, and get out. Who wants to do that?"
"Uh...Felix?" I offered. "He's capable of doing it efficiently."
"Felix," Azurine agreed. "Then we need a strong force to come in and get rid of as many tributes we can do. So me, Persefone, Skyrah, and Algar, with each of our best weapons. I'm sure they thought they would need weapons, so we'll have to surprise them. We can distract them first, get them fighting and attack- jump out at them when they're least expecting it. Then, with them busy, Felix can come in during all the chaos and grab whatever he wants- he can even take the other tributes' stuff if he's careful."
"Oh, look, they're coming back," I noted, spotting Algar and Felix coming toward us, their boots making fresh prints in the snow, reflecting the light like glass.
"We should prepare now," Persefone interjected. "Get weapons, sharpen swords, and the like."
My pulse was beginning to flutter and I felt hard adrenaline pulsing beneath my skin. "On it," I said confidently, inclining my head toward my ally, thoughts of victory bursting like fireworks inside my head.
Cameron Bordeaux(D6 Male)
My plan had been to avoid the other tributes at all costs. That meant, even with this tempting invitation, I had to remain here, to be safe. Though..I really wanted to go...
Cornell had shook his head the moment I spread the news. "Nope. Not going. Don't you even dare."
I felt a laugh stick in my throat. "Dude, there's no way I'd go."
"Good." Cornell's expression turned serious. "Because we don't want to risk our lives- not now that we've survived this long."
"We're not going then," I concluded, grinning. "Safe here. At least we'll have a good night's sleep."
Elisabeth Bronzebrook(D11 Female)
"Are you sure you want to go?" I pleaded with Twyla, but she was not budging.
"Yes!" Twyla exclaimed exasperatedly. "I've told you this a million times and I'm not gonna say it again. Really, if you don't want to go, then don't come. But I'm going. We need the things now that we're running low- I think the Capitol knows that." She set her jaw.
"Which is exactly why we shouldn't go! It's probably surrounded by traps because they've seen too little deaths. We can't be lured into going. We'll be basically dead in there- dead, I tell you. I'm not- I won't let you." I gazed at her desperately, fear lighting my gaze.
Twyla grunted. "I guess I get your point. But don't you want the supplies? Isn't that what the Hunger Games is about- taking risks? We have to risk it this time, or at least one of us. Just to see what it's like, in case they have another. And I'll go."
"We can't lose you!" I blurted out frantically, words coming to my mouth like never before. I didn't even think it was possible I could say so many things at one time. All I ever remembered was the stammering, quiet, shy girl back in Eleven. But now... maybe I had changed? And for the better? I didn't know about that...but for my friend, I would do it. For my ally, I would do it.
Twyla's hard, decisive gaze softened. "Look. How about we all go? Then it's all settled. Otherwise, they'll have the experience and we won't! We need at least one person to go."
I almost considered shouting out Rowan's name but then remembered he was my ally too and even if he wasn't as great a friend as Twyla was, he was still a friend. "Umm...I mean, I can go...But not you!" I said as Twyla's lips parted to retort.
"This is stupid," Twyla mumbled. "We can't separate."
"We'll find each other again," I said fiercely.
"Who's going, again?"
"I am," I reminded her impatiently.
"No, you know what, I'll just go. I know about that place, and I probably have more experience than you with nature stuff, I used to watch the shows, you know- no offense." She opened her mouth and I expected her to say more, but instead, she let out a string of trills, kinda like a really loud bird. Honestly, I wasn't even sure the human throat could do that.
"That was you?" I echoed, eyes widening.
Twyla smiled proudly. "Yep. So, I'll come up with something, get away from all the fighting. You can trust me."
"I suppose," I said doubtfully, my eyes falling.
"Don't worry. You'll see me when you wake up tomorrow morning." I felt the fight drain out of my body as she said this. "Goodbye." With those last words, Twyla turned and jogged at a swift pace away from the area of forest, to the open area of cold, back to the Cornucopia.
The Feast
Wendigo - Predator
I laughed to myself softly as I hid behind a curtain of branches, my feet soft on the ground. That Alice girl..she had been stupid. A fool, to ever have thought I had saved her life just because of good intentions. Everything's done for a reason, there's no such thing as good or bad sides, everybody's bad. Everybody had a sliver of evil in them however tiny it was, and that evil could be enlarged when the potential to have power was placed in front of them. They would let go of all good angels and fly towards the bad, towards what everyone called "demons". Evil. An eternity with nothing beautiful around them anymore, because they were swarmed with greed so powerful they would do anything to obtain it, just for a moment.
Wendigo. Such a silly name. My mother had been a fool- she had named me after the mythical creature because she wanted me to be her "handsome, strong little boy". I had killed her and my father at the age of fifteen...had made the news by the time I was little over thirteen for robbing a man of his wallet. But that had just been kid stuff. The wallet had only contained $45 anyway. Nobody puts things in wallets nowadays.
When I had been younger my mother had took me to a salon to get my hair done. She had tried all sorts of bright, cheerful colors, but I had been attracted by none. Instead, I would examine the pictures on the walls of mythological creatures...and one, the owner said, was a wendigo. A tapestry woven with dark browns, it depicted some kind of beast creature, with horns sticking out this way and that, fur covering his skin. The threads were stitched together with a sort of metallic copper, adding this really cool effect that made the piece of art look ominous.
"Look, Wendigo!" my mother exclaimed, beaming at me. "It's you!"
I rolled my eyes to the sky. "Mom, no it's not. Do you think I look like him?"
"Oh, Wendigo." My mom smiled and ruffled my hair affectionately.
Now, at the present, I could see the Feast happening before my very eyes. My plan was all set: Cameron was safe, and most of the others were fighting, hopefully to eliminate a couple tributes. If they didn't, I would go in and kill a couple, just to make sure this was all actually for a purpose: gathering the weaklings. I bet I could take on every single one of them single-handedly.
I could see the Careers crouched in the bushes, ready to dive out into the open and take them all by surprise. Nice plan. I hoped they got rid of at least two. It would be fun watching them kill, seeing what kind of tactics they used. Usually they were very hopeless.
They sprung out of the bushes and tackled a tribute each, bringing them to the ground and using their individual weapons to pin their opponents down. Tyler was trying to scream for his ally except Persefone was punching his mouth and blood prevented him from speaking. He gagged, spitting mouthfuls of red.
Persefone showed no emotion as she pressed her hand down on his neck, a sickening splinter of the bones and ligaments and i-didn't-pay-attention-in-science-class stuff. Altogether, it was extremely enjoyable watching him thrash around in his death throes, trying to yell out as his windpipe was broken and he was gasping for air.
"Dead," Persefone called out.
Meanwhile, Azurine was scanning around for Cameron, but I knew he wasn't here. Safe, in his camp. I laughed to myself as she gave up, going instead for Alea, who was running toward her bag of supplies.
She pulled out a knife in a matter of seconds, its blade glistening with potential energy as she threw it with deadly accuracy at Alea. The girl just noticed in time and jumped to the right, cursing under her breath, a sneer on her lips. Within three milliseconds, her axe was out.
The two circled each other, different because Alea was used to close-range and Azurine far-range. I watched, eyes smoldering with anticipation at more blood and gore.
Finally Alea closed the distance and hefted the axe above her, ready to bring it down in a death blow. But, Azurine was fast- and smart. She had already jumped nimbly to the side and thrust a knife into her opponent's stomach, looking on as the District Seven tribute bled to death, holding her stomach as pain seemed to come to her in waves.
"You- holy f- it hurts..." A whimper escaped her softly as her eyes burned with rage, gazing up at Azurine.
Azurine's mouth opened, her jaw tensing, then simply stalked off, her eyes downcast. I was staring at Alea, as she writhed wildly, trying to get the knife out of her stomach. She succeeded but that only caused more blood to gush out, staining the snow a horrific color. The air was tainted in a thick smell.
Felix had gotten the supplies the Careers had needed and left, while Algar and Skyrah worked together to bring Dahlia and Spruce down. Blood was flying, flesh was literally ripping everywhere and the snow was covered in guts.
Yep, this was my kind of place.
11/23/17
Happy Thanksgiving guyyyyyyyyys! I went to the Thanksgiving Parade today. :) It was AWESOME.