Day 4:

Red Belmont, 15
District 10 Male

Red remembered one time, when he was a bit younger, he woke up at midnight, then snuck out of his house. He threw rocks at Peter's window until his best friend was awake, then they both ran across the district until they reached its most eastern part. Red climbed a tree, scraped his ankle on one of the branches and together, they watched the sun rise.

That wasn't the only time they did it, but it was the first. And it still stuck with him after all these years.

He was kinda doing the same now, minus the whole throwing rocks thing. Zilla was still asleep, but he was sitting right beside her, cross-legged, on cold hard stone. Slowly but surely, the Sun began to rise, as if putting on a show just for him. It was pretty, but something still felt a bit off about it. Like it wasn't real.

Maybe, the the sunrise was prettier in District 10 than it was anywhere else.

"Red? Why are you awake?"
"Wanna watch the sunrise with me?

"No." Zilla threw an arm over her eyes. "I want to get as much rest as possible."
"Sorry about that."
"But since I can't fall back asleep and you're already awake..."

Zilla sat up, stretched, and yawned. "We should eat something now, to give ourselves enough energy for the rest of the day."
Red rummaged through their bags, searching for their slowly dwindling supply of food. "You know, if you really wanted, you could've watched the sunrise with me."
"But why would I want to do that?"
"Because it looks cool?"

"Sounds impractical," Zilla told him. "The Sun rises and sets every single day."
"Yeah, well haven't you noticed all the colours in the sky when it happens? My friends suggested we do it once and that was pretty much one of the best days ever. We had to wake up pretty early to do it and Mom and Dad were not happy to hear I snuck out!"

"You have friends?" Zilla's voice was suddenly very quiet as she tugged on a loose sandal strap.

"I have a couple. I talk a bit with some people I know art school, but I guess we're really only friends there? I'm really close to Peter though, and his big sister Brinely always hangs out with us, so I could say she's a friend too."

He didn't realize how much he missed his friends until he brought them up. And by extension the rest of his family too. He wanted to go play with his baby siblings and take them back out into the fields. To chase stars and feed cows and hop over fences, with the soft green grass dirtying his bare feet. It was a much better fate, Red decided, then where he was stuck right now.

At least he wasn't alone.

"Zilla? Do you have any friends? What about family? I live with my parents and got a couple of younger siblings."
"I live with my mother and younger sister. My father died a few years ago."
"Oh. Sorry to hear that?"

"It's fine," Zilla told him in a flat tone. "It was months ago. And obviously, you had nothing to do with it. I still miss him, but I know mourning won't do me any good. I can't change what happened in the past, no matter how hard I try."

"That's a...um...an oddly beautiful way of looking at things."
"No. It's not."
"What do you mean?"

"It's not!" Zilla yelled, making Red jump. "Can't you tell something's clearly off with me? My father died, and I didn't even cry for him! And yet here I am, next to you, having a fucking breakdown over what!? Nothing!? Nothing!"

"Woah, woah, woah, hey!" Red threw his hands up. "N-nothing's wrong with you, girl! I d-didn't say there was-"
"I know. I said it."
"But...why? Why do you feel like that?"

"I don't know...I don't know, okay? I don't know!"

Zilla curled her legs close to her chest and buried her head into her knees. Red could hear her muffled sobs. Fuck, he wasn't sure what to do. Maybe, he could treat her like his little sister? No, that was ridiculous! She was a teenager, not a tiny kid! Okay, he needed to do something, to step up. But what?

"Hey Zilla? Do you...y'know...wanna talk about anything?"
"I don't know. What is there to talk about? I'm just tired of feeling nothing all my life and now I don't know how to feel."

"I don't know if I can help you there." Red rubbed the back of his neck. "But if you just...want to vent or something or you need a shoulder to lean on, then I'm here, okay? We're both in this together, so I don't want you to feel like you're stuck on your own. When you feel like talking of course."

"Okay." Zilla sounded much calmer. "Thank you for your offer, Red. If I need to, I will."
"Yeah! Just take your time, you get me? No rush of course!"

They fell into an uneasy silence. Red was now well aware of the kind of effect the Hunger Games could have on people.

Bellona Pierce, 16
District 2 Female

Things had been a bit uneasy since Toren bit the dust.

Well, not like Elise was bad company; Bellona didn't mind. Every day was a girl's day out now. But they were forced to come to the sobering conclusion that they weren't invincible or immortal. They were just as vulnerable as every other tribute in this stupid, stupid, floating barren wasteland.

What a wonderful way to start the day.

Thankfully, the Cornucopia provided no shortage of food, water, weapons, and even sleeping bags, which she was glad for. Plus, a few sponsor gifts, including a crossbow. Bellona and Elise each tore into a packet of dried fruit as they discussed their plans for the day.

'We need to get out there and kick ass," Bellona decided. "Show people that one setback is not gonna bring us down. Yes, Toren is dead. But we can't just lie over and accept our fate, right? He wouldn't want us to do that."
"Is it a good idea?" Elise seemed nervous. "I mean, can we afford it? I don't want to lose you...if you catch my drift."

"Come on, Elise. The best thing for you is to get a few kills. God knows you'll need to get around to doing it eventually."
"Yeah, but-"
"Pack your bags. Let's go."

Fine, killing everybody was not gonna solve all their problems. It wasn't gonna bring Toren back, or magically hand her a key to winning the Games and finally getting something good out of life. Bellona knew that. But it distracted her. It gave her something to do and made her feel productive.

Also, there was just something about sinking a knife in someone else's back.

Morally, it was wrong. But when the Capitol introduced this stupid competition, they made it very, very clear that the arena was no place for a morally good person to thrive. They had no problem taking life away from others, and they very well expected her to have the same attitude. She damn well was gonna bring it. And it may have seemed mean, but she needed Elise to be on the same page too.

"Bellona? Who's that?"

They weren't too far out from the Cornucopia. If they really wanted, they could both turn around and head back. So when Elise pointed out the young girl carefully navigating her way across a narrow bridge, it had to be too good to be true.

Bellona put her hands together and gave her knuckles a crack. "Jackpot."
"Okay then. Go after her."
"Back me up? In case she does something?"

"Okay," Elise said with a nervous twinge to her voice.

Knife in hand, Bellona began to saw through the ropes of the bridge that kept in intact. The girl standing on it, whose brown clothes gave her away as being from 11, gasped, and began backing up. The harder that Bellona cut into the rope, the further back the girl moved.

"Oh hell no. Here, hold this."

Bellona passed the knife over to Elise, then ran onto the bridge. Acacia shrieked, backing up even further until suddenly she slipped and her foot was caught between two wooden planks. It was much to easy for Bellona to grab her and drag her off the bridge. Thank goodness she brought an extra knife.

"No, no, no, no! let me go! Please!"
Bellona didn't say anything, slowly revealing her extra knife.
"Please! I have a family! I gotta get back home to my brothers! They need me-"

Acacia pleas were cut silent by Bellona sending the sharp blade through her neck. There were a few faint coughs, but the cannon that fired shortly after marked the death of the young girl for 11. Bellona just stood over the corpse for a moment, feeling Acacia's blood slowly trickle down her hands.

She blinked back the tears forming in her eyes. How stupid to think Bellona of all people cared if anyone had people back home who loved them. So? So what!? Did that make them more deserving than her? Did that put all of her efforts in vain?

"What happened? Bellona? Is she dead?"
"Yeah." Bellona gently laid the corpse down. "Don't worry about it."
"We're down to what? Twelve? Thirteen? Or was it eleven?"

"I can't remember. But we're getting closer. That's what important."
Elise gave her a small punch to the shoulder. "Oh yeah. Just you and me baby. You and me."

Darra Delaney, 17
District 7 Female

In her opinion, the carton of strawberries they were sponsored had to be one of, if not the best gift.

Fresh fruit tasted like heaven. Weller had received a lot of stuff, but Darra could tell that most of it was personal to him and unfortunately would mean next to nothing to her; she didn't know him well enough. And the map was freakin' useless. Had the arena actually had a splash of colour, or some vegetation to it, then she'd at least have an idea of where she was.

All she could hope was that they weren't going around in circles.

Once again, they consulted the map. Nothing. Dumb paper wouldn't have changed in a few days anyways. But the cannon earlier this morning meant that another tribute was dead and gone. Not that it worried Darra until getting a move on, totally not!

Okay...maybe it did...a little...

"Darra, do you mind if we stop to eat something quickly?" Weller asked. "Perhaps we should finish off the strawberries before they go bad."
"Yeah, sure. Why not. I ain't the kind of girl to say no to fresh fruit!"

Weller sighed as Darra plucked out a couple of strawberries from the carton. "You took all the good ones."
"Too slow!"
"This is my sponsor gift. Beggars can't be choosers."

As they tossed the strawberry stems over the edge, Darra consulted the map again. She had tried placing little markings on the paper to help her figure out where she had already been and where she was heading. At least, she hoped that's what the markings were doing.

The Sun began to slowly drift past them, sinking lower and lower and painting the sky with pretty colours. Pink,s purples, blues, oranges, and reds. To Darra, it looked way too picture-perfect to be real. Perhaps another strange Gamemaker creation. Were they even above Panem like it seemed? Or somewhere completely different, trapped in a glass dome like a fish swimming in a little glass bowl?

Eventually, after more mindless wandering around, they had to stop for the night.

"It's a pretty sunset," Weller mused and Darra had to agree. It was a very welcome change in scenery after all the gray, gray, and more gray. What was the colour of the stone she was standing on? Gray. Okay fine, the bridges were brown. that was it. Gray and brown. Gray and brown.

The colours of the sunset slowly faded into the deep, dark blue of nighttime skies, complete with twinkling stars. Then, it was all lit up by a holographic seal of the Capitol, here to announce those had had died earlier in the day.

"Shit," Weller said softly as Acacia face's loomed over him. Darra squinted. The lettering underneath read "DISTRICT 11."

"Weller?"
"Acacia...damn..."
"So sorry."

"It's fine," Weller sighed. "I didn't know her that well and we mostly left each other alone. But she's the only person here from my home so when you see something like that, telling you to your face that she's dead..."
"Yeah, I get what you mean. It sucks, doesn't it?"
"It really does."

In a way, it kinda was like watching her brother die all over again. Seeing his face for the last time, as a hologram too. Other tributes were miffed; they didn't have time to mourn the young boy from 7. They went on with their lives, until one by one, they slaughtered each other.

Darra couldn't bring herself to hold the other tributes responsible, many of them like Jonah. Many of them chosen against their will. It was the Capitol she blamed, for coming up with this pageant in the first place. How many more innocent lives would they need to claim before they were satisfied?

"Hopefully..." Weller said as the holograms faded away and the darkness covered them once more. "Acacia died quickly. Painlessly. That's how I want to go."
"Is that so?"
"I wouldn't wish painful last moments upon anyone."

Hmmm, they hadn't really been doing a good job at that so far, had they?

"Sleep it off," Darra suggested. She knew from personal experience that sleep did nothing for her. If anything, it made it easier for the nightmares to stew in her brain. But maybe Weller was different. Also, she had been making him stand guard while she slept for a while now so maybe it was time for her to cover for him.

"You'll keep watch?" Weller asked her.
"Yep."
"Okay. Wake me up when you need a break."

And as his voice slowly drifted into light snores, Darra was left alone with nothing but the clouds and the stars in the night sky to watch over her.

13th place: Acacia Hazeldine, District 11. Throat slit by Bellona.

Girl did not deserve this. Acacia was thrown into a very unique situation of playing mother and caretaker at the young age of 14, due to a lot of sad events in her life. I know this trope is nothing new, but with Acacia and her twin brother having to share adult responsibilities as well as still be kids really worked well for her character. I loved writing her, especially in comparison to her crazy allies, and I'm gonna miss her a little. Thank you so much for her, incandescent serendipity!

Current Alliances:

Every Night Is A Girl's Night: Elise, Bellona

Honour Before Bloodshed (Perhaps): Darra, Weller

Team District 8: Twill, Claodis

No stop being angsty you're a wholesome alliance: Zilla, Red

Loners: Stravos, Amelia, Veles, Clair

Kills:

Stravos: 2 (Haruhi, Lily)

Toren: 2 (Charles, Argen)

Bellona: 2 (Corbyn, Acacia)

Amelia: 1 (Stryker)

Veles: 1 (Cleveland)

Darra: 1 (Gear)

Weller: 2 (Toren, Adella)

Stryker: 1 (Astrid)

Woahhhhhhhhhhhh, we're halfway there!

Yep, four days in and we're down to half the tributes already! Who knows if this momentum will continue!

Not much else to say here, but see you all next chapter!

-Vr