Sparks Ashlock (D3F, 17)

My legs are completely worn out once I've reached a thin forest behind the hills— I'm not used to exercising this much. I twirl the two knives I grabbed in my hands, looking up at the treetops. The trees' bark had somewhat of a pinkish tint to them, and the leaves were completely red— only a bit darker than the oddly pink grass.

Alright... first things first, I've gotta find a clean source of water and some food. Hunting will be easy with these knives, and I know that, but water might be harder. How did those guys from the Hunger Games like... 75 years ago get water, again? Plants or something? I haven't watched that one in a really long time.

I really wish I have a rope with me— it would make catching some game even easier. But all I have is these knives, so I'll have to hunt like an animal. I wrinkle my nose, not quite sure how this would normally go. Do I have to resort to eating plants?

Without the sensitive nose of a predatory animal, I know this will be hard. I'm starting to regret neglecting any supplies at the Cornucopia and only grabbing weapons.

Wait... it feels like I'm forgetting something.

I squint, before slapping my palm to my face. "Oh my God," I say aloud, "I forgot Angel."

"Well, it's a good thing I didn't forget about you, then."

My head whips around and I see Angel leaning against a tree with a smirk, arms folded. "It was kinda funny, to be honest, seeing you looking at your knives really confused, like they were aliens or something. But I have come here to save the day."

"How generous," I mutter, putting the knives in one hand and folding my arms. "And how do you plan to do that?"

"Easy. Give me one of those knives and I'll show you," she replied, holding up a coil of rope. "I snatched this from the 'copia."

"Excuse me? I'm not handing a knife over to you." I'm completely baffled by her logic. This is the Hunger Games, you do not give others the literal means to kill you.

"Hey, come on! Do I look like someone who would stab you in the back— literally or figuratively?"

"Yes."

Angel squints at me. "Hmm... fair enough. Fine. If you won't give me a knife, I'll need your help. I plan to set up a snare."

I shrug. "Fair enough. I was just thinking I needed some rope to set up a trap, anyways."

"See? Saving the day," Angel says smugly, twirling the end of the rope as she walks past me. She crouches down and starts tying a knot around a tree agonizingly slowly.

"I didn't think this was why you needed my help," I scoff, walking over to her.

"It isn't!" My ally protests, her face glowing a bright shade of red. "I don't need your help, Sparky. Go play with your knives or something."

"First of all, it's Sparks," I say, annoyed. "And second of all, yes you do. Get out of the way." I shove her aside and take the rope into my own hands, my nimble fingers working quickly as I tie a rolling hitch around the tree.

"Okay, wow, I was not expecting that," Angel admitted. "We were in that place for three days and you learn how to do... whatever that is?"

"What? No," I snort. "This kind of thing takes months, if not years of practice. I'm more used to working with thread, but this is literally just a big piece of thread." I continue making a snare, not trusting my ally to do one competently.

"What? I thought you were from District Three, not Eight."

I just shake my head and keep preparing the trap. "I'm an inventor. I have to tie things together a lot."

"Are you done yet?" She interrupts.

I put my hands up. "You don't have to rush me. But yes, I'm done. We should eat well tonight."

Asher Havenrock (D8M, 17)

Silk's hand is firmly clasped in mine as we run away from the Cornucopia.

I can't believe I almost got killed, and a twelve-year old saved my skin by killing my perpetrator.

"Thank you," I say breathlessly.

"Don't mention it," Silk says, before adding, in a quieter voice, "please."

I nod. "I'm sorry. I know you don't want to be reminded of it," I mumble. Our pace slows as we reach the other side of the hills.

"I don't want to be here..." Silk sniffles, looking down at her hands. She lets out a sudden cry and the red heart in the corner of her shirt starts flashing green. My heart quickens as I see the splotches of blood on her hands.

"Silk, calm down. Calm down, it'll wash off. It'll be like nothing happened," I assure her, though my voice is shaky and uncertain.

"Asher, look out!" Silk yells suddenly, and I leap to her side in alarm.

A knife flashes in the spot I was just standing, and another tribute appears a second later. He looks strong— stronger than me and Silk.

But he isn't a Career, I notice, glancing briefly at the 6 on his dark shorts.

He's in a stance, looking very ready to kill me and Silk for our supplies. His eyes are narrowed as he glares at us, brandishing his knife.

"Run, Silk!" I yell as he leaps at us again. I don't think I've ever run so fast in my life, but I don't get tired. Adrenaline pumps through my veins, the heart on my shirt constantly flashing between vibrant yellow and green.

I can tell the tribute is pursuing us, but the most unsettling thing about it was he hasn't even spoken. He didn't speak when he confronted us, and he isn't speaking now. The only noise coming from him is the sound of his feet thumping against the ground as he chases us.

Eventually, Silk and I leap into the cover of trees and I can hear his footsteps slowly receding. Risking a look back, I see him standing at the edge of the forest, a mix between frustration and amusement on his face. He shakes his head and turns in the other direction, making me grab Silk's hand and slow down.

"He's gone," I say, though a frown crosses my face. "It looked like he really wanted to laugh at me. Did he find our panic funny?" I growl.

Silk, from behind me, takes the straps of my backpack off my shoulders.

"No..." she whispers dejectedly, "I think he was laughing at this." Her face drooped and I turned to take the back from her.

I peer inside the bag with dismay. It's empty. How could I not have noticed how light it was?

"Dammit!" I yell, punching the trunk of a nearby tree. It hurts my fist but I'm too angry at my insolence to care. The adrenaline hasn't completely worn off yet, anyways— I barely feel the pain.

"It's not your fault," Silk murmurs reassuringly to me, pulling me in for a hug. "I'm sure we'll find some supplies elsewhere. At least we have a place to put these weird parkas. And we do have some supplies— I've got a..." She pauses, her hands starting to tremble as she says, "a knife— the knife. And I picked up a box of matches, too. I saw you got a weird water purifier thing, too."

I sigh, defeated, but nod and stuff my own pink parka into the empty sack, as well as the few things I had managed to grab from the Cornucopia in the bloodbath. At least we have something.

"Now. Where on Earth are we gonna find any more supplies?"

Hop Lostar (D6M, 17)

I really did find that tribute's incompetency funny. I walk across the field towards a large, looming mountain, veering away from the forest that the two fleeing tributes had entered. I swing my backpack— which actually has supplies in it, might I add— off of my shoulder and look at the contents as I walk.

Interesting. The backpack holds a bottle of iodine, a pack of crackers and a sleeping bag in it. Perhaps I could have done better, but this is pretty good.
So far, I haven't seen any tributes heading towards the mountain, so it should be a good spot to hide. Maybe someone went there while I was distracted, I muse, suddenly aware of the growing ache in my legs. Ah. I must have worn myself out by running after those tributes.

A grimace grossing my face, I stuff my supplies back into my backpack. I'll probably find some water on the mountain— if there's a river, that's where it'll come from. I can use my iodine to clean it, just in case it'll kill me if I don't.

I finally arrive at the base of the mountain. It's pretty flat, but it keeps getting steeper and steeper toward the peak.

I put the backpack on again and start scaling some boulders, trying to get to a plateau I can see just up ahead. My fingers start hurting and they get scraped every time I reach for another hold, but I'm making progress. I've never climbed before, and it's hard. But eventually, I haul myself up onto the plateau, the wind whipping at my face.

"Hop!"

What— I turn around, confused. Nobody here knows my name, so who..?

Of course.

I had taken out my knife to fight if the situation called for it, but now, I'm staring straight into the face of my District partner and the boy from Five. I relax a bit, knowing she's probably too wimpy to attack me, but I don't put my knife away.

"I guess we had the same idea," Van says, a friendly smile on her face. She casts an uncertain glance at her ally, but looks up at me and adds, "I know you said— er, wrote?— that you didn't want any allies, but—"

My glare seems to effectively silence her, and my face contorts into a scowl. What about 'I don't want allies, fuck off' doesn't she understand?

Van looks away, frowning. "I was just asking," she mutters dejectedly.

"Vinnie, come on," the other tribute says, grabbing Van's arm. "He doesn't seem like he wants us here, and he's armed." He shoots me a nervous look but his focus is on Van.

I could kill one of them, I think casually. But it doesn't seem like they have much on them. Though I don't want to, I also feel like killing someone from my own District— especially so early in the Games— would be a sort of betrayal. The feeling will pass, I convince myself, but for now, I'll leave them be.

I give the two a short nod before taking off in the other direction in case they get any... unfriendly ideas. I slow down as they fade out of earshot, looking for somewhere to make my camp.

I come across a small cave in the side of the mountain. I almost miss it, since it's covered in some red moss and various stones, but I push the foliage away and step inside.

It doesn't smell great, and it's barely enough for two people to fit comfortably— plus, I can't even stand up to my full height— but it will work. The red moss is covering a lot of the mountain, so other tributes will probably miss the entrance.

Letting out a brief sigh of relief, I sit down and take my backpack off.

Taking out the sleeping bag and glancing at the iodine, I frown, wondering if I should find some water, but I beat down the idea quickly. The Careers will be hunting tonight, and I can survive a day without water.

Oddly comforted by this thought, I roll out the sleeping bag and lay down on it. I don't dare let my guard down and close my eyes, but resting my legs will do me some good.

I take a deep breath. This is going to be a long day.

Beau Peterson (D1M, 18)

"I'm going to go look for other tributes."

The other Careers give me a look.

"Shouldn't we go together?" River asks with a frown. "It'll be easier that way."

I look at him thoughtfully. "Hm, yeah. But a smaller group would be more inconspicuous— anyone wanna come with me?"

Brooke, River's District partner, steps forward. "Yes! I haven't even killed anyone so far, and that fact has really put a damper on my day." She grips a trident in one of her hands, looking confident.

"The rest of us will stay back here, then, to protect the Cornucopia," Sonic says. "But tonight, we all hunt together." I can't help but notice he's looking directly at me.

"Yeah, yeah. Let's see some blood!" Brooke says, clearly eager to get going. She skips away from the Cornucopia and I blink, hurrying after her after picking up a spear.

"Where to?" I ask, tossing my spear idly between my hands.

"I thought you had an idea," Brooke huffs. "You were the one who suggested this in the first place."

"Right." Maybe I didn't really think this through. "Let's head to the forest. Lots of tributes probably think they're safe in there."

Brooke giggles. "Right, right! And then we'll take them by surprise and— whoosh!" She made a slicing motion at her neck.

I can't help but feel a little unsettled by the behaviour of my fellow Career. Thankfully, we walk in silence the rest of the way to the forest.

We've barely stepped into the treeline when we hear a soft rustling from the undergrowth. I look at Brooke, who has taken on an excited, bloodthirsty expression. She starts to creep forwards and I do the same.

The rustling sounds again. Brooke jabs her trident into the bushes and she's caught—

A rabbit.

"Oh my God," Brooke groans, though she has the sense to keep her voice down. "That is the single most anticlimactic thing that has ever happened to me."
I just shake my head with a sigh. "We'll keep searching," I whisper to her. "I'll look around here, you go deeper into the forest. We meet back at the Cornucopia. Got it?"

"I don't remember making you the boss of me," Brooke mutters, half to herself. "Fine. I'll see you tonight."

"See you tonight," I agree, nodding as she walks away. The darkening light of sunset makes it a bit harder to see where I'm going, but as I take a step forwards, I see something out of the corner of my eye.

A trap!

It had been very sloppily made, but it looked like it would hold an animal. That means a tribute is nearby. A thought crosses my mind and I walk towards it.

What if I just...

Snap!

The trap immediately springs to life as I touch it, and I pull my hand away before I can get stuck. I quickly scurry behind some bushes, watching the trap intently. They'll come for it soon.

Sure enough, I hear quick, light footsteps approaching.

I squint through the leaves and see the boy from Three— the one I was going to kill earlier— look disappointedly down at, supposedly, his trap.

You were lucky I found that Seven kid last time, I think darkly, moving ever so slightly. You won't be so lucky this time.

Picking up my spear, I stand up and launch it at the young tribute. He spots me immediately and starts screaming, before being cut off by the spear landing straight in his neck.

Ouch, that must have hurt.

The boy grabs desperately at his throat, eyes wide as blood starts dripping out of his mouth. I walk over to him solemnly. The sight isn't a pretty one, but I don't find myself fearful or disgusted as he falls to the ground, blood starting to pool around him.

I yank my spear out of him, making his body jerk. He tries to take a breath, but all that comes is an awful, hollow gurgling sound. Eventually, his eyes roll back in his head and I know he's dead.

BOOM.

I wipe my spear off on the grass, noticing the bloodstains aren't too noticeable due to the ground's similar colour. I shrug and walk away— there's not much point in looking for other tributes now. Anyone in earshot will have been scared into hiding by the boy's screams.

As I walk out of the forest, the sky turns to dusk. I'm about two thirds of the way back to the Cornucopia when I hear another cannon go off in the distance.
Huh. I guess Brooke got someone else after all.

"Beau," Cervelt greets as I approach. Macey looks up from a pack of crackers she's been gnawing on and gives me a small wave.

"Where's Brooke?" River asks. "I thought you two went together."

"We split up to cover more ground," I reply. "I got the boy from Three, and she must have gotten someone else, because I heard a cannon just now. She might be a while."

River seems satisfied by this. "Alright," he says, "let's just wait for her to get back."

Briar Reckingstar's POV (D10T, 15)

Robin and I couldn't have gotten away from the Cornucopia any faster. We sprinted away from the battlefield, straight into the woods beyond, before making a small shelter in a hollow tree.

Now, we stand deep in the forest, with absolutely no idea where we are.

"We didn't think this through," Robin admits, staring at the spear in his hands. "We might have weapons, but we have no supplies."

"And my arm still hurts like hell," I add, proving my point with a wince. "Well, we can intimidate other tributes or, y'know get rid of them, so we can take their supplies."

"Right. I hope our allies managed to pick some things up." Robin looks around. "Hm. Where are they?"

"Aw, crap! We lost them in the chaos of the Bloodbath," I say, facepalming with my good arm. "Come on, let's go find them."

As we walk quietly through the woods, we hear a cannon go off. I flinch, but Robin shakes me and I shoot him a grateful look, continuing forward.

Eventually, we hear the sound of voices. Bingo! I think as I recognize them, catching myself right as I'm about to breathe a heavy sigh of relief.

"Asher, are you sure it's safe, so deep in the forest? Didn't... d-didn't you hear those screams?"
"They were far enough away that the killer won't find us," Asher assures the other voice— Silk. "Don't worry, Silk. We're safe."

Robin's head shoots up suddenly and I hear a sound— a very, very faint rustling in the bushes.

No, you're not! You're not safe at all!

I nod to Robin and we both pick up our spears, moving closer to the sound together, as if we had communicated with our minds.

Suddenly, we see movement directly in front of us. A large girl— a Career!— lunges out of the bushes, directly at the two friends beyond her, eliciting a scream from Silk.

"Oh, I'm going to enjoy this o—"

The Career is cut off as Robin promptly stabs her through the heart with his spear.

Asher Heavenrock (D8M, 17)

BOOM.

Silk and I look at the Career in front of us in shock as her eyes roll back in her head, and then, as if pushed by an invisible force, she falls to the ground, dead.
"Y'know, I actually kind of thought killing a Career would be harder," Robin says, rubbing some blood off his spear with a frown. "With the intensive the training and all."

"You go, Robin!" Briar whoops, giving him a high five. "Killing a Career and saving our— oh, yeah. Hi, guys!"

I blink at the pair from Ten. Robin seems disgruntled as he looks at his bloodied spear, and Briar looks the happiest I've ever seen them— apart from the occasional wince. I frown at the wound at their arm.

They give us a wave and I wave back, relieved. I was starting to think that Briar didn't like us...

"Thank you," Silk says, still shaking. "Thank you so much. That was really scary!"

"No problem," Robin mumbles, then looks up all of a sudden. "Oh— right. Did you guys pick up any supplies during the Bloodbath?"

Silk shakes her head slightly. "Not really. But we've got some loose items— a box of matches, a bottle of iodine. And..." she stares at her hand for a moment before adding, awkwardly, "um, a knife."

Briar squints at the knife in Silk's hand, something seeming to register in their mind. "Hey, is that blood? Wow, Silk, I didn't think you had it in you."

Silk cringes and I quickly change the topic. "You guys have got some supplies, right?"

"Er, no." Robin shakes his head, holding out his spear. "We only picked up these."

Me and Silk share a collective sigh. "At least there are probably some animals in this forest," I say, to reassure myself just as much as everyone else. "Your spears will make that a lot easier. And none of us are vegetarian, so we can hunt. If we can figure out how. Uh, right?" I look at the two tributes from Ten. If they're from District Ten... well, I've never heard of a vegetarian coming from District Ten, but who knows?

To my relief, both Robin and Briar shake their heads. "Everyone in Ten is a major carnivore," Briar assures us. "I think I might know a thing or two about hunting? But, uh, I've obviously never done it before. Robin?"

"I haven't, either. But I lived on a farm with my family, so I know a bit about animals."

This information lifts my spirits. We'll be fine, especially with Robin and Briar here, I reassure myself.

"First things first, though," Silk says, "we need to find water. It's getting really late."

"Let's go, then," Briar says. The three of us follow them as they lead us through the dark, red forest.

We'll be fine. We'll be fine...

BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.

Seven tributes dead in the Bloodbath, I think with a frown. And two more afterwards, including the Career that Robin killed.

Our alliance pauses, stopping to look at the faces that appear one by one in the sky as the Panem national anthem plays.

The boy from District Three appears, then the girl from Four and the girl from Five, and then the girl from Seven. Silk gasps, and I can't help but feel sick. She was so young... she went into the Games with her older brother. Me and Silk talked to her during training.

Finally, the boy from Nine and both tributes from Eleven and Twelve appear, and the images disappear.

Nine tributes dead, fifteen left.

And here it is! It's taken me... admittedly a quite concerning amount of time to write and upload this, but honestly? I knew this would probably happen. I didn't have much motivation to write after the Bloodbath, but now, I just want to continue the story. I have lots of fun ideas and interesting plot planned out, and I want to write it down for you all to see!

Now, time for the tribute obituaries.

Rusty Lowville, District 3 Male, 14 - Speared by Beau - Rusty! He's honestly adorable, and I like him a lot because of his unused Reaping. His older brother, Titan, had died in a Hunger Games multiple years prior, and he never really got over him. I feel bad for him— he had to suffer the same fate as his brother! But I knew he wouldn't last long. Beau was right; Rusty literally only survived the Bloodbath because of Aster being an easier, more convenient kill. Unfortunately, there was nobody like Aster to protect him this time. He will be missed by his parents, as well as his living older brother.

Brooke Clearsnow, District 4 Female, 18 - Speared through the heart by Robin - Brooke. Just— Brooke. Unfortunately, I didn't have any intention of making ANY of the Careers aside from Beau, well... interesting! I created these characters months ago, and now I suffer the price of my decisions. I tried to give her at least a bit of a personality, but honestly, killing her off was a lot easier— and plus, I thought it would be funny for a Career to die on Day One of the Games. Her death was actually an impulse decision— I thought 'hm, who can I kill off today? ah yes, her'— and Briar was originally the one to kill her. I'm glad how it played out in the finished product, though! Goodbye, Brooke, you'll be missed by... well, I'm not sure, actually. I never even wrote your Reaping. Well, you'll probably be missed by your family. Sayonara!

Leaderboard

Beau Peterson - 2 Kills (Aster Mildberg, Rusty Lowville)
Cervelt Barron - 1 Kill (Katydid Findahl)
River Seastone - 1 Kill (Cypress Ammerman)
Hop Lostar - 1 Kill (Cinder Copperdust)
Silk Brightblossom - 1 Kill (Topaz Bellbrook)
Briar Reckingstar - 1 Kill (Graham Keener)
Robin Lusk - 1 Kill (Brooke Clearsnow)