Here's the FIRST bloodbath chapter from the POV of a very unique character.
Thanks for all your reviews and favorites (and PMs)! Working on responding to everything, but it may take us a bit. Have a great St. Patrick's Day and be safe those of you who are celebrating or...around people who are celebrating.
Tuesday is the next update. Don't worry, there are three more bloodbath chapters coming so that you can see things from different POV's and leaving times.
Remember, reviews are love!
Relk Stein, District Six
Jayfish
Whoa.
The seconds are ticking down, and all I can do is stare. The tributes are arranged in a circle, and around us there is what looks to be the… the walls of a maze? I think so, but I can't be sure. It looks like that, anyway.
The Cornucopia gleams in the center of the clearing, and I tighten my chubby hands into fists. Thatis most definitely my goal. I know Rena will need food and stuff, but she's probably too weak to get it. That's why I, Relk, her knight in shining armor, am going to get her all the supplies she needs. How can she resist me after that?
I resist the urge to gnaw on my lettuce leaf token. I have five seconds left. Now four. Now three.
The gong rings and I stroll nonchalantly off my plate. Everybody else is running. Well, they all look stupid. I, Relk Stein, am going to win these Games, so I don't see why I have to go running everywhere.
Some of the tributes are at the Cornucopia already. Well, I guess speeding up a little bit can't hurt. I begin to jog and immediately stop, winded. Well, I tried my best. Guess I'll be taking it slow from here.
There is a loaf of bread on the ground. I pick it up and tear into it as I stroll towards the Cornucopia. What? Rena probably doesn't even like bread. Besides, I may be hopelessly devoted to her, but if it comes down to it, I'm going to be the one who gets the food. Sorry Rena, but there's only one winner.
Speaking of Rena, I have no idea where she is. The battle at the Cornucopia appears to be raging, but I don't know if she's participating in it. She didn't tell me her strategy, despite the fact that I literally followed her everywhere for a day, whining every five minutes. She didn't crack and tell me. What a strong woman.
I'm close enough to the Cornucopia now to see that people are still fighting, and screaming. A spear comes flying at me and miraculously I swivel my trunk and it clatters uselessly to the ground. See, everyone? Take that for underestimating Relk Stein!
A second later, I screech when I trip over something and fall heavily to the ground. The thing I tripped over turns out to be a girl, rummaging in a pile of packs and apples and stuff. She looks desperate, and I realize that I amazingly know her name.
"You tripped me, Sapphire!" I exclaim, putting my hands on my hips. "How dare you?"
Sapphire is giving me a strange look. There is a syringe in the pile in front of her, and slowly her fingers wrap around it and she points the needle at me. "Don't be silly," I laugh. "You can't hurt me with that."
Her face is grim. "Get out of here, little boy," she starts, and then screams. A shadow has fallen over us, and I realize with even more amazement that I recognize this person as well. Hyre Fletching. What doeshe want?
He looks down at both of us and looks as though he's feeling bad about something. He has a sword in his hand; I don't know if that's his normal weapon or one that he just picked up. In any event, he's staring at Sapphire, who is closer to him. She has scrambled to her feet and is holding out her syringe. I chuckle. What an idiot.Hyre is stepping closer to her, and I scramble to my feet by leaning against the Cornucopia. Somebody screams in the background. I ignore it and pick up an apple lying on the ground by my feet as I watch the show.
Funny, Hyre really looks as though he's feeling bad as he swings the sword at Sapphire. It's no surprise when the sword catches her on the wrist and a spurt of blood erupts from the wound. She gives a piteous scream and falls back, clutching her arm. It is already covered in blood, and she is shaking like a leaf. See, her problem is that she's so skinny. No fat cushion to protect her, like me. She's so funny looking!
But Hyre's gonna get her, so it's okay.
Hyre's face twists, and he steps towards Sapphire, who hasd managed to raise her syringe with the other hand. He twists his sword and the syringe is dashed to the ground. Sapphire gasps and her eyes darken. She stumbles at Hyre and raises her working fist, and he slashes at her. Both of them freeze at the dull thump of Sapphire's forearm thudding to the grass.
Sapphire crumples. Clutching her bleeding stump, she wails on the ground. Tossing away my apple, I cover my ears. Honestly.
Hyre kneels beside her quivering form. His lips are forming words as he positions his blade over her neck. He stabs quickly, and Sapphire convulses. Hyre turns and jogs away, shoulders slumped, and still Sapphire convulses. Her face is as white as a sheet and her blood is making a pool around her slit neck.
Well, she's dead. Anyway, I don't think sticking around here much longer is a good idea. "Bye," I tell the now dead Sapphire, and snag one of the packs. "Now you won't need this."
The spear I dodged earlier is still lying on the ground. I reach down slowly and pick it up. Nobody is watching me. Well, the fools will regret it later, when I destroy them.
Someone rounds the corner of the Cornucopia and backs away, her back to me. I recognize the corn girl from the chariot rides; District Eleven, I think. She is panting and sweating. I grin; my first kill.
I can be stealthy when I want to, and so it is extremely easy to sneak up behind this girl. I position the spear towards her back, and bring it back to stab.
Oh. I appear to have misjudged my weapon. I've been holding it wrong. Instead of being buried in that annoying girl's back, I've stabbed my own spear into my stomach.
I choke, and she turns around with a look of confusion before shaking her head slowly and running off. I can feel blood rushing out of my mouth and my nose, and my eyes widen. "Mom,"I squeak, falling onto the grass. This action makes the shaft of the spear slide up in my flesh, and my limbs twitch. "Rena."
Wherever she is, she isn't coming to rescue me.
More blood. More pain. Is this what it feels like to be grossly skinny? My fat must be making this less painful, right? There is liquid on my face. Am I crying?
Not dying fast enough. It hurts. Starvation. Rena. Cake.
There is blackness in my vision, and slowly I lift a hand to the spear in my belly. I grasp it, and with all the strength I have ever possessed, I rip it out. It hurts, but only briefly, because numbness is spreading from my core to my fingertips.
I can't resist a gloating smile. "I win,"I whisper, because at this moment it's true. I am the winner. If not of the Hunger Games, than something better. I laugh and cough up blood.
I am suddenly floating. I am not in the arena. Sitting in front of me is a giant cake.
Hell yes,I think, and die.