Ardun Majami, D12
I didn't think I'd make it past the Bloodbath. My ally died right in front of me as she tried to get Beth between me and her. Beth came at me after she was done, but it was too late. I was long gone. I'd been running ever since.
During the day, I ran from other Tributes. During the night, I ran from the dogs. I'd seen them once from a perch on the cliffs. They glowed in the dark and they howled like the damned. The only reason they didn't come after me was that they couldn't climb the steep rocks. They took at least one person almost every night. I kept hoping it would be Mist, and on the third night I got lucky. Then I hoped for Beth, and my dream came true after a week.
Luck wouldn't last forever. I had to do the rest myself. All I had to drink was the acrid water that lay stagnant in shallow puddles, and my last food had been a handful of brittle black grass. I needed more than that, or I wouldn't last two more days. I was already getting weak with hunger. My hair was limp and crunchy and my skin was ashy. I picked my way down on the rocks to more solid ground.
The rocks were as barren as the rest of the Arena. More so, maybe. There were gray, jagged rocks and pale dirt. That seemed like everything. Then I saw a skinny, almost black root. I tugged on it and the dirt stirred, sending dust and pebbles rolling down the incline. I kept pulling until the root snapped off in my hand. It was twisted and dry-looking, but I still put it in my mouth. It crunched and fell apart like dust, and it was nearly impossible to swallow. I got it all down after minutes of struggle, but I didn't know if it would even do any good. It might even poison me.
The mutts were my best friends. Every night, they took someone else out of the running. All the people I never could have fought, they fought for me. Torchy, Eltara, Mist, Beth... I would have thought they were targeting the killers if they didn't also kill Nairobi and Jonathan. There was no getting away from them, unless you were hidden in the rocks. I cowered in the crevices drinking puddle water and eating roots.
It seemed utterly bizarre that I could have a chance at winning. There were so many better fighters, better runners, and better hiders. I wasn't the best at anything. I wasn't even memorable at anything. Aside from Jonathan, I was the least memorable Tribute of the Games. The only way I could have won is if everyone, even the mutts, forgot about me, and it seemed like it might be happening.
In the end, it was me and Frankie. I did not hold out any hope. Frankie was almost twice my height, not to mention he was the only one that couldn't crack under the pressure or give in to despair. It was another four days before we saw each other. I saw him first, since I was in the rocks and he was on flat ground. He looked as capable as ever, like the Arena hadn't affected him at all. It was getting dark, or darker, when I saw him. I wondered how he felt safe in the open so near sunset, but he'd lasted this long. He either knew how to avoid the mutts or didn't have to be afraid of them. He hadn't seen me yet, but it wouldn't be long. He was coming right at me. All I could do was cringe back and hope he passed me by.
Frankie was starting to descend the rocks when he tripped. He landed twistedly and even from far away I could see his leg shouldn't be in that position. He got up, but his leg wouldn't hold him. He groped along the rocks and tried to haul himself to a safer place farther down the rocks where the dogs couldn't reach him. He didn't look scared when he heard them howling. He didn't even look scared when they reached him.
Ardun was sent as a Bloodbath and as such was given so little substance this was difficult to write. His form was like three sentences long. But promises are promises. I said EVERYONE got a chapter, and everyone will.