Glacine Rockridge (D1F)
Sebastian was being surprisingly humble while we climbed our tree, and I decided to lighten up on hating him for the time being. I still didn't trust him, of course, but I wouldn't shove him out of the tree we were in. Judging by his expression while we hunted, he would've had a heart attack had I pushed him out. I almost considered going in the water and risking a couple of kills just to put him out of his misery, but he probably would have rejected me. He was prideful like that. He seemed to think we all were.
Honestly, I wanted to be in the Cornucopia eating bonbons. I didn't mind hunting at all; I found it interesting. I just didn't particularly want to be out there in danger of mutts and who knew what in the water. As long as we were in trees I figured we were mostly safe, since most mutts I knew about in marshes were aquatic or semi-aquatic, but being in the Cornucopia was definitely safer, and I wanted to spend some time making myself seem more valuable to the other Careers. Hunting would only help me with Sebastian.
Suddenly, a realization hit me. Sebastian was one of the strongest Careers for certain, and he seemed to be the one most likely to fight. All of us would fight if attacked, but he seemed like he would shamelessly sneak attack and go for the kill. If I could get him to like me, at least more than the other two Careers, I would be safe. I turned back to him and made sure he was watching me, hoping he didn't notice, and then slipped out of the tree. "Help!"
Sebastian reached out and caught one of my arms, pulling me back into the tree. I pulled myself closer to him. "You saved my life!" I exclaimed, pushing my body against his. "Thank you," I muttered, trying to seem as if I was in awe. I had no way of telling what kind of girl Sebastian liked, so I chose and angle and hoped for the best. He seemed somewhat interested, and I knew I should keep it up for the rest of the time. I wanted to slap him for his smug grin and how he seemed to think he was the best person in the world, but I kept a dumb grin up and a stare of admiration. Seeming dumb for the moment wasn't all that bad if it meant being safe for the moment.
I looked over at Sebastian and saw him staring intently at someone. I got ready to ask him what it was, and he shushed me quickly. He put his hand back and pushed me back, presumably for my safety. I blushed deliberately and looked at my feet. He grinned again and threw his spear at the other person. It wasn't his weapon of choice, but I thought it would do the job. A yelp from the other tree proved me right.
Mustang Colbolt (D6M)
"Aw FRICK!" A spear came flying at me out of nowhere, and I knew we were doomed. I almost swore before I remembered that I was with Giselle. I regretted my scream, since it would certainly alert the attacker that I was not, in fact, dead. "Get out of here!" I whispered to Giselle, pushing her away. "Run!" She didn't seem to want to leave me, but I kept pushing at her. "Go!" I tried to make my tone seem as urgent as possible, though that didn't take much doing. We were obviously in grave danger.
Finally, she left. Two people came into our tree not long after, and I had to force myself not to stare in the direction which she had ran. I wanted to make sure she was safe, but doing that would only jeapordize her position. I stood up as straight as I could in my tree and grabbed the spear I assumed Sebastian had thrown. Glacine didn't seem like someone that used spears. I wielded my weapon as confidently as I could, glaring at the two Careers. "What do you want?"
Sebastian didn't miss a beat before trying to stab me with Glacine's weapon. She yelped as he grabbed it from her, but didn't protest, sticking to th background. I didn't mind that at all. While I didn't have much of a chance against Sebastian, my odds of survival were worse if I was up against two people. I dodged the spear the best I could, but it still snagged my side. I lashed out with my spear, unsure of what I was doing, but knowing that anything was better than nothing.
I was fighting a losing battle, which Sebastian obviously knew. I began to flee as I fought, knowing that they were far too distracted with me to bother following Giselle at that point. Glacing seemed to realize that and she stood behind me, seemingly thinking that she had blocked my exit. She hadn't. I leapt to the side, barely avoiding Sebastian's spear. He had a solution to that, and he quickly showed me it.
Sebastian leapt right with me, landing right beside me. Being trained, he gained his footing much more quickly than I did, and he stabbed me in the stomach. I glared at him as I stabbed him right back. I wasn't going to be able to kill him, but I could certainly leave a mark. He pulled away, acknowledging that I was dead where I stood. I was losing a lot of blood with each passing second, and my energy was fading. I just wished he was close enough that I could keep spearing him. Even if I was going to die, I could still slow him down.
Nebojsa Imanzi (D10M)
The cannons were coming pretty quickly, and I hoped that made the Gamemakers happy. The Bloodbath had done me well, and I rarely went anywhere that seemed dangerous. I stayed up in the canopy of the trees and made sure nobody came near me. I never bothered going searching for food, and I only went for water when it was entirely necessary. The Gamemakers probably hardly put me on the screen, since I was likely considered entirely boring. I didn't mind that. This way of life was safe.
While I wanted to make a fort and hole up in it, I knew that staying in one place was dangerous. I couldn't risk anyone finding me, so I left long, winding paths everywhere I went. I would walk one way and made a trail as if I went three ways. It was horribly time-consuming and boring, but I had nothing better to do. I wasn't going to risk leaving my seemingly calm patch of trees, especially since the next forest was across from the Cornucopia. Making a ridiculously complicated path everywhere I went. There were probably traces of me on every other tree in my little group of trees.
My water bottle was running low, so I decided I had to refill. I didn't like going so close to the water, since there was no hope of seeing what was in it, but I had to when I had to. A bottle of water only lasted so long, and facing an enemy while dehdrated was just as dangerous as fighting a mutt at full health. I slowly made my way down my tree, watching my step and avoiding all of the weird plants. I had no proof that the plants would kill me, but I didn't have proof that they wouldn't, so I didn't trust them. I'd rather just avoid all of that.
Something glinted slightly in the water, and I pulled back, ready to flee up my tree. A fish darted past me, and I went over to the water again. I kept my body as far from the water as I could manage and thrust the bottle into the water, squeezing it slightly so it would fill up faster. When I felt teeth dig into my arm I dropped the bottle and tried to pull away, but my efforts proved to be in vain. I grabbed a knife from the belt I always carried it in and got ready to stab the beast.
The beast proved to be some sort of weird crocodile thing. It obviously wasn't entirely crocodile, since its skin wasn't bumpy and it didn't have very big teeth. The small teeth wouldn't be a problem if the thing was intent on eating me, though. It looked nasty. I pulled my arm away from it as hard as I could, and it tried to readjust its grip. I took that as my moment, pulling my arm away and stabbing its head.
It wasn't going to have any of that. It bit my hand before I could completely pull it away, and I winced as I felt the teeth puncture my skin. I almost wished the teeth were sharper so they hurt less. The animal started backing into the water with my hands still in its mouth, and I almost gave up, assuming I was doomed. However, I was far too spiteful to let that happen, and I stabbed the monster again and again.
The crocodile thing dragged me halfway into the water before I finally forced it to let go of my hand. I had been stabbing it for what must have been hours, since the sun had gone a good distance across the sky. I hoped the thing was dead, since I couldn't risk getting water until it was. It didn't move as I pulled myself back into my tree, but I didn't trust that. I glared at it from my perch, and I could have sworn it glared right back at me.
Carver Redwood (D7M)
The sickness I had wasn't getting any better. I still couldn't drink anything without it almost immediately coming out one way or another. If anybody found me I would certainly die, and I couldn't hope to stay hidden forever. Another cannon had finally come, and I wasn't optomistic enough to hope that it was another sundew. The Careers were probably wreaking havoc, and I could only be so far away from them.
Death was slowly coming for me and I could tell. Even if no tributes found me, I was going to die of dehydration. My tongue was dry and my eyes were sore. I had a terrible headache and I couldn't keep my bearings. I wanted to hide in a tree, but I was certain I would fall out of it. When I saw a parachute floating towards me, I wrote it off as a hallucination until it was actually in my hands.
The parachute was a pot of gold. It had cream in it, which I assumed was a way to clean my leg. I rubbed it on excitedly and it stung like nothing else I had ever felt, but I knew that just meant it was working. There was also a wonderful bandage. A bandage not seem so great, but it would finally stem the bleeding and hopefully stop me from getting infected again. I whooped with joy when I pulled it out before I could remember that that was a terrible idea.
My sponsor gift also included antibiotics. At least, I assumed the weird white piles someone sent me were antibiotics. There was a bottle full of them and no instructions, so I had no idea what to do. Could a cholera medicine overdose kill you? I took two out of the bottle and swallowed them dry. Two should be enough for Capitol medicine, but if such a small amount was an overdose, I would've been sent instructions. At least, I hoped that I would have been sent instructions.
I gasped as I noticed what else I had been sent. A bottle full of glorious water was sitting in the parachute. I chugged half of it before I came to my senses and realized that I probably still wasn't cured. It stayed down for the moment, and I hoped that Capitol medicine worked as fast as I assumed it did. There was some iodine in the parachute too, so my water would last a while. "Thank you!" I yelled to the heavens as I scooted closer to my tree. I was in a lot better shape now, but I still wasn't climbing that tree. I didn't want to die.
16th Place: Mustang Colbolt- Speared by Sebastian
Mustang was a great tribute. I loved writing him, since he ended up being a lot like someone I know and look up to. His personality was great for me, even though some people thought it was creepy. His form didn't have a preferred death on it, but I thought stalling the Careers from attacking his ally would be the perfect way for him to go. Thank you Jayman for Mustang, who I loved writing.
By the way, all y'all should go check out snowstar2's SYOT, Salty Tears. I have a tribute that I want to be written, so submit so she can write.
