Oof. I still haven't made the sponsor form yet, have I… oh, well. It's coming.
Also, go check out Anna Banana's new story, Panem Stained Red! The form is on my profile for you to send in tributes.
Iris Lasumi, Age 22
Briiiiiing!
I'm instantly torn away from my dream as the sound of the alarm clock reaches my ears. I shoot out of bed, giggling with excitement, and run out of my room and down the hall to the living room, not bothering to change out of my fluffy pajamas. Like a ninja, I leap onto the couch, my fingers clamping around the remote controller, and flick the TV on. I'm met with an image of Verin Fleras, the District 7 male, lightly snoozing amidst the branches of a tall tree.
I've decided to start waking up at 5:00 A.M. during the Hunger Games so that I don't miss anything big. Nickel claims I'm being ridiculous ("Nothing happens in the morning," he told me when I described my plan to him), but if there's a huge duel that takes place in the early hours of the day, I don't want to miss it. It's way more fun to watch a major duel between tributes live than it is to watch a replay of it. Last year, I didn't wake up to watch the games until 8:00, and I missed a few epic battles. I don't intend to make the same mistake this time around.
As the minutes tick by, however, I begin to see Nickel's point. Most of the tributes are simply sleeping, the only active one being Albin, who's lazily making his way across the vast arena with dark circles under his eyes. A few others are standing guard over their allies, but they all seem quite exhausted (other than Juno, who sharpens her sword near the mouth of the Cornucopia with a wild glint in her eyes). Caesar Flickerman is doing his best to keep things interesting, but there's not much he can do when none of the tributes appear to be doing much of anything. My excitement begins to wear down, replaced with exhaustion, and my head droops against a fluffy pink pillow. It's so early… sleep sounds so nice right now…
I jolt awake when I hear the doorbell ring. I rush to answer, glancing at a clock on the way. 9:03. I was out for longer than I thought. I reach the door and pull it open, revealing Nickel. He smiles at me and pulls me into a hug, which I gratefully return.
"Anything exciting happen?" Nickel asks. I shake my head, and he smirks in an I-told-you-so sort of way. I roll my eyes and push him playfully. Nickel wanders to the kitchen while I plop back down on the couch. It doesn't seem as though I missed anything while I was asleep. Most of the tributes are just beginning to wake up. The camera switches to a shot of the Cornucopia, and I see the Careers beginning to rise. Octavian is urging everyone up, insisting that they begin hunting as soon as possible, but it's clear he's not thrilled at getting up so early. Meanwhile, Beckett, Angelica, and Cole are slowly wandering through the jungle, munching on a bit of dried fruit Beckett escaped with at the bloodbath. The three of them are idly chatting; Caesar, grinning, makes a comment about how Angelica and Cole seem to be standing very close together. I notice it too, and a smile lights up my face. Before I can think about it more, however, the camera switches again, showing a shot of Scorpius slowly stirring from his sleep.
"I made a bet that Scorpius would make it to the top three," Nickel comments randomly, back from the kitchen with a bowl of crackers under his arm. I glance at him curiously.
"I didn't know you bet," I say. He shrugs.
"I don't do it often, but sometimes during the Hunger Games I'll place some money on tributes," Nickel says. "It's pretty fun. You should try it some time."
I laugh. "Yeah, right. I'd rather not waste all my money gambling on stupid things that'll probably never happen, thanks very much," I retort, but I keep the idea in the back of my head to dwell on later- after all, it does sound sort of exciting.
Nothing happens for a long time. I'm just beginning to walk down the hall to my bedroom to find the bunny slippers I forgot to put on in the morning when Nickel lets out an excited shout and yells, "Iris! Get over here!"
I rush back to the living room to find the Career Pack, consisting of Ariana, Blaze, Octavian, Juno, and Marine (Nemo stayed to guard the Cornucopia due to the sickly state of his arm), surrounding Verin; I gasp; Caesar Flickerman is commentating so quickly that I can hardly understand him, his voice filled with excitement.
Verin tries to run, but Juno blocks his path. He panics and swings at her wildly with his axe, but Juno ducks easily and shoves him backwards so hard he falls to the ground, his axe clattering down a few feet away from him. His attempts to crawl away are stopped when Juno rolls him over and plants her foot over his chest, her sword raised high over her head. Before she can land the killing blow, however, Octavian stops her.
"I think I should kill him," He says. Juno looks awestruck for a moment before glaring him.
"Are you kidding?" She says, outraged. "I'm the one who just beat him in a fight!"
"Yes, but I'm the one who heard him in the first place," Octavian counters. "Besides, I'm the leader of the Careers." Juno's face turns tomato red with anger and a heated argument breaks out. It's only when the two Careers are facing off against each other with their weapons brandished in front of them when Marine screams, "He's getting away, you idiots!"
She's right, I realize with a chuckle. While the pack was distracted by the argument at hand, it seems as though Verin had managed to pick up his axe and is now sprinting away from the scene. Marine chucks a knife in his direction, but he's too far away, and the blade only grazes his foot. He lets out a short yelp of pain but keeps running, eventually disappearing from view. Caesar is cackling from the television. "And Verin escapes the Career Packs' clutches!" He shouts gleefully.
The Careers are silent for a moment. Then Marine whirls towards Juno and Octavian.
"I can't believe you two!" She shouts. "How could you just him get away like that?! You're buffoons, both of you!" Octavian puffs out his chest.
"I wouldn't talk to the leader of the Careers like that if I were you. Besides," He adds hotly, "It was her fault. If Juno had just let me get the kill-"
"MY fault?!" Juno shrieks. "If YOU hadn't acted like a total baby and let me get the kill, he would've never gotten away!"
Marine nods. "She's right, Octavian. Honestly, I would've expected better from the leader of the Careers." She smirks, and Octavian scowls.
"Watch your mouth, Marine," He growls. "Come on, let's keep moving."
The TV switches to a commercial for Selsquiliums, a new type of dessert just recently invented- it's a vanilla mini cake topped with chocolate frosting and littered with candies. "If you haven't had 'em, then you haven't lived!" The screen sings. Then the Hunger Games are back on.
The camera shows a shot of Erin and Rois, who are munching on some sort of fuzzy fruit whose name I don't know. Then the screen cuts to Nemo. He's sitting in the mouth of the Cornucopia, groaning and clutching his arm, which has now turned to a dark shade of green. Puss is spewing from the mark the snake bit him in. I cringe at the gruesome sight and look away.
Next, the scene goes to where Livia and Alyxandra sit. They're quietly talking together; Livia still looks upset over killing her old ally, Wyatt, but seems to be recovering; she even laughs a little as Alyx tells her a joke.
Suddenly, I notice something moving in the leaves above. My eyes widen in horror when I see it's a spider about the size of a small dog, it's body the color of a plum, watching the girls with what seems like a million bloodred eyes.
"Ah, yes," Caesar remarks. "It seems as though the Gamemakers have released a Drylight Spider! These creepy crawlies are not particularly harmful, but they can be a nuisance, and the poison in their fangs can cause intense sickness, though it'll clear up after a few days."
Livia looks up just as the spider pounces and screeches, jumping out of the way. The spider lands where she was just a second before and scuttles towards her. Livia, whimpering, crawls backwards, but the spider is suddenly split in half by a large blade. Alyx stands in it's spot, clutching Livia's hatchet in her hand. Livia smiles weakly. "Thanks," She says. Alyx grins. Before she can respond, however, another Drylight Spider suddenly leaps out of the darkness. Alyx swings the hatchet, cutting through it as though it was paper. But then another one comes. And another.
Livia grabs a small knife she had also managed to get from the bloodbath and joins the fight. Neither of them seem to be making much of a difference, though- for every spider they kill, two more appear in it's place. Finally, Alyx shouts, "In the river! Quick!" The two leap into the water. A few of the spiders attempt to follow, but they soon drown and are carried away by the current. The rest stand by the shore, hissing and spitting, before finally retreating back into the shadows. Livia and Alyx grin and high five each other, panting heavily, and I release the breath I didn't realize I was holding. The camera goes back to a commercial, and I snuggle up against Nickel, eagerly awaiting the next part of the games.
Not much happens in Day 2, so I decided as to not get bored writing it, I would make it in the view of Iris. This was basically just kind of a check in with all of the tributes. Hope you enjoyed! Day 2 will be in the same format.