"I put my bag inside my sleeping bag, Gracie."
"UGH! Why didn't I think of that!?" Ciara continues to throw a tantrum over her lost bag. "Now where the fuck is my bag!?"
"Gracie, I've told you once, twice, thrice, a million times already: It's gone! Probably stolen by another tribute. As far as I'm concerned, I just don't think a gamemaker would have a mutt collect it without attacking us."
"AAAAAHHHHH!" Ciara puts both hands on her buzzcut head in frustration.
"Shhh..." Arlenna is trying to move on from the situation, but they lost some items including food and water for losing this bag. It's hard to lose valuable items like that, but they chose to sleep without having anyone stay guard. That extra security would've kept their stuff intact.
Ciara has been going on for hours. She can't believe she lost a bag with so many valuable items. All she's doing now is just letting it out. Hopefully nobody goes after them for hearing her scream about her loss.
It's still raining hard outside them. The thunderstorm has been raging for almost a day. It takes a while for Ciara to calm down, but she does eventually, before the thunderstorm ceases too.
Arlenna remembers an object from her bag. She's glad her bag wasn't stolen at least, because this one has a map in it. She takes it out. "I wanna remind you that we have a map, Gracie."
"Winnie, I don't have food."
"Who says we're not sharing? Come on Gracie, we have to move too."
"I know. I called it." Ciara folds her arms.
Arlenna flips the back page of the map.
"You do realize that it's too dark to read the map and the light sources inside this cave are very minimal, right?"
Arlenna folds back the map. "You're right. Let's just find our way around here. I guess it won't matter."
"Fine."
With that, the pair wanders around the cave complex of this mountain.
Halizeia has been exchanging messages and updates with her fellow guardians. She heard from Titan that he's feeding a stranded triad with water. All of them have the power to manipulate pieces of their environment, and Titan is doing this to avoid tributes from dying of thirst. That's no fun for the audience.
Luckily for Halizeia, she doesn't have to manipulate her environment for ratings. She knows there are two tributes who came to her land for the rainwater despite the storm. Her first wave disaster is not a life threatening situation anyway. Her second one can be, and the third one is designed to be, but the third wave is end game material. She has to wait until after the feast at the very least.
It doesn't take long to find out that Titan's first wave finished, and hers is about to finish too. She watches the monitors and notices the rain getting significantly lighter. Wave One has officially ended, leaving her with regular rain on her sector.
"I always pause the snowy weather when the sun nears the horizon.
Here it is! I admire its presence one last time as the sun peeks in.
For I won't see it again later, or perhaps until tomorrow.
The absence of the sun brings me indescribable sorrow."
Eltha proceeds to her control room. She knew she has to do it eventually. At least the next two waves won't disrupt the sunrise or sunset. She only has to make this sacrifice now. It's also convenient to do it when she has a guest inside the castle. She checks the monitor with Chip sleeping in his room. He's such a cutie, thinks Eltha. His room's balcony is closed, so it's safe to activate Wave One now. Eltha lifts the button cover, then she presses the button to activate her sector's first wave. "Wave One has officially started."
The snow started lightly, then it evolves into a storm. Eltha can see in one of her monitors that there are two tributes rushing into the mountain due to the snowstorm. She just scared tributes away from her, and while she isn't particularly happy about doing so, it's a necessary evil, especially in an arena of the Hunger Games.
Ingeo gets up on his feet. The rain getting lighter now and that he doesn't really care getting even wetter makes it easy for him to move from his spot and explore the rest of the terrain. He wanders for an hour or so until he finds a tree brighter than any other. While the leaves look like some shade of green, it's easier to see them in a golden color. The tree is also bigger than any other tree in the area. Out of curiosity, Ingeo approaches the tree.
Along the way, he passes by a farm. Why would the gamemakers put a farm in the middle of the arena? He explores a bit of it, considering to steal a fruit, but he has better food in the meantime and what he's trying to get probably doesn't taste good on its own. After the farm is a mansion. He looks at it curiously as well. What if there are already tributes inside? He shakes his head at that thought, but he doesn't attempt to go in. I'll probably wait and see later. He proceeds to the golden tree on the cliffside.
As he approaches it, he admires the golden grass on its surroundings. He can see vines hanging from the big tree, as well as golden fruits and a long figure. A long figure locks eyes with him.
"SSSSS..."
Ingeo can feel his heart stop in fear. This thing is gonna kill him and he's going to die because of some golden snake mutt.
"Welcome to the goldenglorie tree, sssss..." it says in a whispering voice (and also with a female voice).
It talks!? Ingeo doesn't know if he should trust this snake, but it hasn't killed him. Instead, he was just welcomed by it. Something is happening. Is this a test?
"You can ssssstay here with me. If you trussssst me, I will protect you from dangersssss..." The snake offers a fruit from the goldenglorie tree by having it drop on the ground. "We can even feassssst." The snake takes another fruit and bites it, proving that it's not poisonous.
Ingeo doesn't really trust this snake. However, he takes the fruit, puts it in front of his mouth, and...
"We shouldn't stay here anymore," Dorian tells his allies. "We've stayed too long here, and it's getting too comfortable to be in the Hunger Games. Something is not right."
"But Titan is a nice guy," Corinna states.
"It's time to leave. You're letting your guards down. We shouldn't even be trusting Capitolites when we're in the Hunger Games of all places."
Filly and Corinna remain silent.
"I'm going to order more food so we can eat elsewhere. You two should do the same. We shouldn't stay here anymore."
"Okay," Filly replies.
Corinna nods silently.
When the clouds cleared up, Jeanne told her allies to start hunting. It was easier said than done with the environment they're in. Plus, they have no idea where the other tributes are, including their ex-allies. Instead, they picked the place that would most likely have a tribute, and so they are minutes away from reaching the marble tower at the edge of the arena.
Argentum says in a bit of a panic, "Birdy hasn't woken up since yesterday!"
"Oh babe, please tell us we fed it," Jeanne responds sarcastically.
A bit behind the pair, Brenna is still thinking whether she should stay or she should go. They're finally hunting though! It doesn't make sense for her to go now that they are finally searching for tributes to kill.
Titan is watching two events unfold from his control room. On one monitor are his guests, looking at a window to see something which he sees on the other monitor, a bunch of trained killers approaching. He's surprised only three are actually left this early, but that doesn't really matter because he has to welcome his guests regardless.
Titan makes his way to the entrance of the tower to wait for them. He peeks through the peephole to know their arrival, and when they do, he opens the door and greets them, "Welcome to Topland Tow-" Titan flips on zero gravity as he dodges the attack from one of them. "Welcome to Topland Tower!"
"OW!" Argentum gets hit on the left foot with Brenna's weapon.
"Who the fuck!?" Jeanne reacts.
Brenna mutters a, "sorry," to Argentum even though she really isn't.
"Perhaps my avoxes can help him recover." Titan signals them to come and take Argentum to a place where they can help him and his injury. "I'd like to introduce myself, as the guardian of Topland Tower."
"You're not a tribute?" Jeanne points at him.
"Nope. I'm a guardian, a Capitolite stunt person."
"Oh, a Capitolite! I'm Jeanne." She shakes hands with the guardian. "This is Brenna."
"Titan."
Brenna shakes hands with Titan too, but she looks at him with her cold blue eyes.
He finishes introducing himself and then talks about being able to rest in his tower. He considers bringing up the fact that he was responsible for getting them trapped on a floating island and giving them freshwater floating in his part of the arena, but he doesn't want a repeat of what Brenna just attempted to do to him. As he talks about food, he gives them each a bucket of popcorn. He also tells his remaining free avox to deliver a bucket to Argentum in his room.
As for Argentum in his room, two avoxes are putting bandages on his injured foot. He's lucky it wasn't cut in two. Today has just about started, and yet it's already a bad day. First, Birdy didn't wake up because none of them had enough food to feed it, and now this. Argentum thinks it can't get any worse, so he ordered one of the avoxes to bring him a bowl of potato chips, then told the avox to feed him.
"Mm-mm!" Argentum licks the salt on his lips. Perhaps this day could get a bit better, hopefully his foot too.
On another room, Jeanne is shocked to find out that she has a bed of her own. It's confusing at first, which made her scream a, "WHAT!?" in complete shock. She explores her room to find a wardrobe of the same set of outfits, but there's a makeup table on her room. Too bad there's no makeup in it. "Come on!" She had high hopes of putting some makeup on her face to make herself pretty while in a death match. Oh well. One can hope. It takes some moments for her to finally just relax by changing into the provided outfit then strapping herself to her bed comfortably.
Brenna has never seen a bed this big, this comfy, this fancy. The only bed she knows is the one she sleeps on in the orphanage or in the training dormitory. This is not a bed! she thinks in disbelief. She's here to kill, here to win, here to hunt. Instead, she was given a room of her own and a bed.
She was also given a room to clean herself. There's no shower because water does not flow like it usually does on a place with gravity. Instead, she was given a wash cloth and a special soapy water to clean herself. She cleans herself especially because she reeks. When she's done, she puts on clothes provided to her then just floats in her room. Now what?
Titan decides to check back on the three tributes who were watching the trained tributes approaching. It seems like they've left. He has to rewind the footage – or floatage – to learn that Dorian, Filly, and Corinna left through the penthouse of the tower. He feels bad, because they didn't even say goodbye, especially Filly. He expected a formal farewell from the two whom he bonded with the most, but Dorian is very fishy. Maybe he prevented them from doing so.
Titan goes further back in rewinding to find the part where they're having a conversation. He listens to it carefully, and indeed, Dorian is the fishy one. Titan feels bad about it, but he volunteered to do this kind of stunt. He's responsible for any pain or attachment he's feeling. At least the three of them are off elsewhere, not just stuck in this tower until the end of the Hunger Games. He did nothing wrong to push them away, but at least they're away. Part of him hopes Filly or Corinna takes home the win, but with their personalities, he doubts the possibility.
Dante is resting on his spot. He's awake, yet he has no plans of moving. He's near the locked case of a special weapon, and out of nowhere, it makes a sound and unlocks on its own.
Huh? Dante is surprised to see it open on its own. Why did the gamemakers do this?
He approaches the case to see the weapon inside replaced. He is very sure that wasn't a crossbow yesterday, but now it is within his reach. He picks it up. He knows he doesn't deserve it, yet it is given to him freely. Something must be up.
The worst part is that he can't even use a crossbow properly! He tried it before; has held one, shot with one, but never successfully. Why give him a crossbow right here and right now, especially when it's early and when it's sealed inside a case?
Rufus is looking for targets. He's been hunting ever since, and he just stopped for water and rest yesterday. Today, he's gonna find someone, and he's so confident that he can kill whoever this is he'll be bumping into. Today, I'm spilling blood. He smiles evilly at that thought.
Not long after, he sees a pair. Great. He can smell satisfaction. Now all he has to do is approach the pair. Should he do it by surprise or should he just charge? There's two of them and one of him, yet he's trained for this. He also has the most kills in the arena so far. He's invincible, and he knows it. No one can stop him anymore!
Dante looks back afraid. He may have a weapon, but he doesn't know how to use it. He hears the sound of a dog. That can't be good. Mutts are sent to his way. Either he moves now or dies on the spot he's on.
Panic sets within him. I don't wanna die, he thinks despite knowing that he's in the Hunger Games with low odds of survival. He wants time to make his decision, but he doesn't have time now. He picks himself up and tries to run or hide. What's the use of hiding if the mutt can still find him? What's the use of running when the mutt can catch him?
He hears the barking growing louder. He has to at least try, so he runs at the opposite direction of the mutt's voice.
Rufus slowly approaches the pair. He's ready to attack, but he has to do it carefully. The element of surprise is still in his bag. He doesn't want that stolen from him.
"Gracie, stop with the stolen bag! You're getting on my nerves."
"Winnie, I'm just pissed with myself, okay!? I'm sorry."
Rufus charges at them with a sword!
"Gracie, watch out!"
Ciara tries to duck but the sword hits her right leg sharply. "OW!"
Arlenna opens a sleeping bag and throws it on Rufus in hopes of blocking his vision.
Dante keeps running around, but he is losing energy sooner than he expects. The mutt gets closer and closer to him, and he can tell that it's not even running at full speed. The reptilian dog mutt barks aloud and locks its eyes on him. Dante lost his focus and bumps on a rocky pillar.
The fear inside is exponentially increasing. He's not ready to die, yet the mutt has cornered him. He has to do something to save himself, or he'll die pathetically because the mutt cornered him.
Ciara roars in anger as she tackles Rufus down while he's blinded by the sleeping bag covering his face and body.
Arlenna stabs Rufus while he's at a disadvantage, or so she thought because he rolls away just in time.
"I WANT MY BAG BACK!" Ciara can't believe her bag with a knife inside it got stolen at the time she needed it the most. Ciara wrestles Rufus with the position she's in and tries to find his throat.
Rufus is struggling. He thought he has the element of surprise on his side, but the sleeping bag threw him off and his plans. He's not expecting to go out this way. No, not like this.
In panic, Dante swipes his knife randomly on the direction of the mutt that is crawling towards him. He doesn't have enough time to think, so he must act quickly. The mutt barks louder than earlier, and he drops his weapon in fear. Dante tries to pick up the weapon from his position, but the mutt swipes it away from his reach and behind it.
Fuck. Not like this.
Dante then remembers that it's not over. He has the crossbow with him all this time. He may never had a successful shot with it before, but there's always a first time. This is his chance!
Arlenna successfully hits Rufus on the arm with her knife.
Ouch! is what he would've said. He's in pain! The knife sticking on his arm for a second hurts like fuck. That doesn't stop him though.
Ciara shouts in frustration as she grabs him on the throat. "FINALLY!"
Rufus can feel the flowing blood and pain on his left arm. It's gonna be a matter of time before this witch will stop the oxygen flowing inside him. Is this it? He thinks of the time he volunteered. No, it's not over. Rufus flails at the struggle for oxygen. He then gets the opportunity to kick Ciara blindly at her stomach as hard as he can.
"Gracie!" Arlenna panics as her friend stumbles to the hard ground.
Dante is cornered. The crossbow is the only remaining weapon in his possession. If he doesn't try using it, he's quitting on not just his own life, but also on Jasmine. She was the one who tried to teach him how to use the crossbow.
He nervously takes the first shot, missing it as expected, so he repositions himself.
The reptilian dog mutt approaches him slowly. He still has a chance!
He takes a second shot, trying to be confident but failing at it. He can't relax in a situation like this, because his life is on the line.
The arrow barely misses the mutt, flying over it. It barks aloud once more. This time, the mutt is face-to-face with him.
He can't miss this one anymore. He shoots another arrow at the mutt.
It howls.
"Yes!...?"
The mutt continues to howl after seeing the arrow fly right above it.
"No," Dante says softly, followed by a scream due to the pain he can't describe.
Rufus couldn't defeat two regular tributes. It's a hard pill to swallow. He wasn't used to losing like this. He usually gets it done his way, no matter the cost. He could've tried fighting them, but he was at a big risk of getting killed, and that's the worst thing that can happen to him.
The realization sinks in that he's not invincible, that the world doesn't revolve around him.
He hears the cannon faintly. He's a step closer to victory now. He knows the kill isn't his, but once he wins, the kill count won't matter anymore.
He tries to smile evilly like he usually does, but he isn't successful this time around. There's nothing for him to celebrate. He can't even force himself to smile.
BOOM!
A distance away from the pagoda, Lucius brings Lainey to a unique landmark in his sector.
"Oof," Lucius starts. "I do hope it's not a fan favorite like you sweetie."
Lainey looks away from the creep. She hasn't been comfortable around him. She even locked the door before sleeping.
"The Capitol audiences would hate to see the favorites go, and I'd hate to see you go too."
Lainey is disgusted. Whoever just died probably has family and friends waiting for them back home. It doesn't matter if they're a favorite or not. They had a life. Maybe she wouldn't die in the hands of Lucius, but being with him is probably a fate worse than death. She knows she should leave, but food is available here. If she leaves, where will she get them?
"Behold, the giant grill!" Lucius points at the metallic mesh object covering a big hole on the ground. "Here is where we can make bigger and better barbecue."
An avox is operating the red hovercraft, helping Lucius cook the big piece of meat.
"The charcoal underneath has been activated, so anybody who walks over this surface will be grilled." Lucius takes off his robe. "It sure is getting hot in here."
"Ewww..." Lainey says softly as her back is facing Lucius about a meter away.
"So sweetie, we can feast together when our barbecue is cooked. You and I can rule this kingdom if you choose to be my empress. You'll have control of what types of barbecue you want to eat anytime. You can wake up the slumbering creature under this piece of hot land." Lucius flexes his abs at the word 'hot' and touches them. "You can open up the grill hole anytime you want. You can even have control over the weather."
Even though Lainey is disgusted being around this creep, he's giving her information she can probably benefit later on. She should remember the details.
"Oh also, I'm going to activate my Wave One weather tomorrow. The lava will rise from our lava lakes here. You'll have no choice but to stay with me, and I know you'll be pleased to stay with me and sleep with me for the next twenty-four hours." Lucius slurps aloud.
Lainey visibly shakes from it. No. I'm not sleeping with you, ever! She knows she has to do something. This Wave One information is very useful, because now she knows she can't afford to be stuck inside a pagoda until her death. She must take action to avoid having to be stuck with a creep like Lucius. The choice she will make may not be the best for surviving the Hunger Games, but she does not want to experience a fate worse than death.
Ingeo did not trust the snake at all, but he ran away with the golden fruit in hand. He wants to keep it just in case he can trick someone into eating it, like maybe if he gets karma and someone steals his bag to find this golden fruit. Yeah, he can get a kill just like that.
He's staying under a different tree, even though the sky here is gloomy and no longer raining. He watches carefully as a lady in green exits the mansion. She visits the farm beside the mansion, harvesting some crops.
Ingeo stealthily runs to a spot where the lady can't see him but he can see her. He needs to watch carefully and not get caught. First question in mind: Who is this lady? She looks too old to be of reaping age, and he did not see her during training. Next, why is she here? What is she doing here? She looks so weird. It's like she can blend into the forest around her. Why is that so? She has a farm, and he can see her actually harvesting crops from the farm. Why is there a farm? Are they actually in the arena? What is a farm even doing in the middle of a Hunger Games arena!?
He has so many questions, but he should focus on the situation at hand. He carefully tiptoes to the mansion without getting caught. It's not locked. This is his chance to get more answers than questions.
As he enters – well, intrudes – the mansion, he sees a rocking chair with a kitten sleeping below it. Surrounding the rocking chair looks like a library. On the other side, his right, he sees a bathroom and a kitchen. There's even a fridge across the bathroom! It's just right beside him. He opens it with full curiosity, because why is there a refrigerator in the Hunger Games? He sees mostly fruits and vegetables after opening it.
He's done with the first level, but why would the gamemakers have a cozy mansion in the middle of the arena? Maybe that's why there was a storm yesterday. Maybe they didn't want them to find out about this place. He nervously goes upstairs. He can hear sweeping sounds. He peeks behind the staircase, and he can see a lady in green. It's a different one from the one he saw on the farm, because this lady is sweeping. Okay, what's going on? There are two ladies in green inside a mansion in the middle of a storm yesterday. Who are these people?
He knows he took long when the lady makes eye contact with him. Uh-oh. The lady doesn't attack him though. Hmmm... he should prove himself to the audience. This is his chance! He doesn't want to kill, but he needs to do it to return home. He can feel his heart beating fast. He's nervous but excited at the same time. The adrenaline is pumping all over his body. It's now or never.
Ingeo runs to the lady and easily steals her broom. He uses it and beats her up with it. The lady doesn't say anything at all. She just screams in confusion, because she's being beaten up with her own broom. Panic rushes inside Ingeo. The other tributes might hear him and catch him here. She's not a tribute though? Ingeo is confused at this situation, but he's not gonna let this opportunity just pass by.
When the lady is down, tired, in shock, and still screaming, Ingeo quickly searches for a weapon in his bag – no wait, the bag he stole from the Five girl. It doesn't take him too long to find a kunai in the bag. He knows it's not yet over because no tribute has found him, but it doesn't mean that he's not shaking in fear of getting caught. The lady in green screams louder as she sees the kunai coming down to her body.
"I'm sorry," Ingeo says.
"PLEASE DON'T KILL THE AVOX!" The other lady in green screams in panic.
Ingeo doesn't push through in killing the... avox. Wait, what, why, how? The other lady can talk though, but this one can't? He now notices that the lady he has been attacking is indeed missing a tongue as she screams in his face one last time. He was too busy in not letting this opportunity escape to notice that earlier.
"Please allow me to introduce myself and my purpose here before you attack me or my avox." Halizeia approaches Ingeo. "I want to apologize for the confusion."
Axel brings Alistair to different screens and shows him what's happening to the tributes by dinner time of the fourth night. In Topland Tower, Argentum is playing games in a handheld console; Jeanne is watching a movie in the same room; Brenna is sleeping; and Titan is monitoring from his control room. Corinna, Dorian, and Filly have settled inside the mountain.
Annaleigh and Horden are huddled near the north exit in Sector Two with their jackets, gloves, blankets. They're not too close to the exit, but they're not far from it either. It seems like they are keeping themselves warm enough, and there was a conversation of them planning to explore the area when the snowstorm passes. On the east exit are Orion and Kobe. They are indecisive where to go. They want to go out and explore, but it's too cold outside. They don't want to sit there in boredom, yet they don't think they should continue exploring the mountain.
Arlenna and Ciara are on level three of the mountain. It makes the gamemakers wonder why they decided to go up the mountain when they have already known of other parts of the arena when they paraglided after the bloodbath. Rufus is inside the mountain too, resting just like the two girls after his fight with them.
Chip stayed in Cryo Castle the whole day. He's stuck inside thanks to Eltha's weather management. He spent the day playing a game with Eltha through pen and paper and exploring almost the whole castle. On the flipside, Lainey is in Pyro Pagoda, and she can be seen packing up her stuff, as well as packing food she got from avoxes in the pagoda.
Ingeo is in Mudland Mansion eating dinner with Halizeia and the avox he almost killed. He apologizes to the avox over dinner, and he is now wearing the sleepwear that was provided to him after taking a shower. It's a long-sleeved shirt and pajamas, both striped in green and brown. Axel brings up to Alistair that Toria was the one who voiced the golden snake whom Ingeo met earlier in the day, in which Alistair responds by saying he knows it.
Alistair thanks Axel for the summary of the day. Also brought up is the fact that there's another death within the day, and that Dante's face needs to be shown in the anthem tonight. They both know Vint is mainly responsible for it, giving him the crossbow to make things interesting, yet they all know that sending a mutt to the not-moving Dante is simply a gamemaker's responsibility. It must be done, for it is a necessary evil.
17th Place: Dante Blackwell, D12, submitted by Golden Moon Huntress. Mauled by reptilian dog mutt. I'll admit that I didn't think of Dante as a Katniss clone when I accepted him. I was so into SYOT that time that I forgot about the Katniss backstory in canon. XD When I got the reviews that people didn't like him for his Katniss-esque backstory, I thought: Oh I know how to kill him when we get to the arena. 3 years later, I finally have it written and posted, while also following the preferred death on his form. I like Dante's pre-games strategy and personality. In a cast wherein there are a lot of happy puppies who like talking to others, Dante is one who closed himself off, and I relate to that in a personal level. Among those I accepted, he's the only one whose form says he completely refuses to ally, so it fits my plan for him. I used my style as an opportunity to show more of him despite being a loner, and I hope I did well with him to be memorable enough as a loner. Thanks Huntress for this awesome lone wolf! :)
Here we have another full day chapter! Splitting it just drags the story further, and I know everybody is asking for action so hopefully this chapter made up for the dullness in the previous chapters. I'm about done introducing the arena gimmicks, so we're probably gonna continue with the pattern of full day chapters. If there's a lot of action happening in one day, then I might split the chapter into day and night. Then there's the intermission chapters. I wanna do one, but it's only gonna drag the story further, and I'm more excited for the sequel at this point due to the format and gimmick. I'm not gonna rush the arena phase of this story, but I'm gonna lessen the boring parts from hereon out. Your feedback is appreciated whether it is praise or constructive criticism as I take them into consideration. :)
Good news! There's a really high chance for me to finish the story this 2020. The sooner I finish, the sooner I can get to the sequel. Updates will be weekly or biweekly depending on my mood. You'll know about my progress through progress updates on my profile or on my Discord server.
As always, hope you enjoyed the chapter! :)
