District 11: Jaro Veldt (15) Pov-
Jaro,
The doctors said there's a 96 percent chance I have less than a month to live. I want to you to know I was the one who made that big rock follow you around. I talked to the peacekeepers and they talked to the gamemakers and they said they'd put in in the games if I really wanted them to. When we were little we always used to jump around on the rocks next to the house, remember? I thought it would remind you of me. I thought it would keep you strong. But then I realized it was scaring you so I told them to stop. Whether or not I survive the next few days I want you to know I'm so proud of you for making it so far.
Thinking of you,
Cora
In my dream, a mysterious, freezing-cold mist is surrounding me. Suddenly it covers my mouth and I can't breathe. I get to my knees and see that the entire landscape is covered with the weird blue mist, and it's rising—I try to get to high ground but the flood engulfs me in no time.
I wake from one nightmare right into another, because the arena is actually flooding. What was once the enormous green valley is now a glassy blue lake, being supplied by a number of waterfalls pouring in around the perimeter.
I quickly race to high ground and my stomach drops. Half of the entire arena is flooded. The floodwaters are pouring out of nowhere, engulfing trees and rushing up hills. Soon there'll be nothing left but the cornucopia, and in time even that will be underwater.
A yelp tumbles from my lips as the cold floodwater splashes over my feet. I might be able to outrun the rising waters at a brisk walk, but I don't want to take my chances. This is the finale. I discard everything I don't need and then race for the cornucopia. All I have with me is my axe, two knives, and my thermos of water.
My heart skips a beat as a creaking, groaning sound comes from my right. I've lived in 11 long enough to know what that sound is—a falling tree. Adrenaline powers me out of the way quickly, and the trunk misses me by mere feet. The vibration it creates when it hits the ground is enough to send me sprawled out onto my limbs. But I have to keep moving. I know if I stop for more than a few minutes the floodwaters will engulf me and it'll be game over.
Suddenly a fiery kind of agony erupts through my back and I stumble through space, screaming. I feel hot blood running down my back. I quickly turn around and realize this is a real duel. The kind where the strongest tribute wins. Jaehaera swings her sword once more, and I pull out my axe just in time to deflect her blow.
I stumble backward, hissing, and Jaehaera's next move is devious. Her sword easily manages to cut into my side. Despite the blood, the pain isn't excruciating. I don't think I could bleed out from that blow alone.
The next second I manage to disorient the 2 girl long enough to make a blow of my own. I swing my hatchet to once side, and she instinctively twitches to block the blow—and that's all I need to send one of my knives flying into her leg.
Jaehaera curses and slashes her sword sideways, and this time I'm not quick enough to sidestep. The blade digs into my side, and she saws it back and forth, cutting through my flesh and organs. The stinging, prickling feeling is so intense my knees feel like buckling. And in only a few seconds they do.
Every cell of my body tries to deny it. But I'm out of energy. I'm helpless as Jaehaera swings her sword into my neck, and it only hurts for a minute. Then there is only warmth.
District 2: Jaehaera Blackfyre (17) Pov-
The nearby floodwaters ripple and bounce as Jaro's cannon shot rolls over the forest. I know I should take a moment to pillage him of his supplies, but I just don't think he's carrying anything worth my time Even his axe will just weigh me down. I take a quick swig from his thermos (germs aren't really a big deal in the games) and then I'm off, suddenly conscious I'm knee-deep in the flood once more.
I can imagine half of the forest is underwater by this point. Since the bloodbath, I've figured some kind of flood was coming. When the cornucopia is the highest point in the arena, you know a flood or mudslide or something similar is probably going to occur.
This is the moment I've been waiting for for years. My skin tingles with excitement as I race toward the horn, swinging my sword at my side. I'm about to accomplish what Daeron never managed to accomplish. I'm about to win the Hunger Games. I bet Rhaenys is furious. I bet she's punching holes through the screen projector.
From the height of the cornucopia, it's easy to see the entire arena. It's a scene of absolute chaos. Trees topple and caves explode and the foaming demon of the water just keeps rising and rising. The floodwaters consume the entire forest, then my lips twist themselves into a grin as the water creeps into the meadow.
Suddenly a roar pierces the morning, and it's not the roar of the floodwater. It's the roar of a mutt. A hideously ugly… thing… bursts out of the forest. It seems impossible to classify. It looks like some kid asked Santa for a dog but misspelled his name. The creature is huge, easily the size of a pickup truck, and it has gleaming silvery horns that sparkle creepily in the sunlight. Its face is so shadowy that I can't make out its features, but even from this distance I can smell its breath. It smells like bad meat. Its enormous paws end in talons as sharp as steak knives.
But the mutt isn't alone. Mere meters in front of it, a small girl is running for her life. The girl's dark hair is frizzy and tangled and split at the ends. And even from this distance I can make out her eyes, always sparkling with a kind of playful curiosity.
I was hoping she didn't drown in the flood. Now I'll get to kill her in person. It's that tiny brat from 3. It's Pixel Watt.
District 3: Pixel Watt (12) Pov-
There's never a good time for an enormous, rabid canine from hell to attack you. But during my sleep is easily at the bottom of the list.
The weird thing is that, when it first wakes me up, I'm not utterly terrified. I guess it's because I'm stuck in that space between sleepiness and wakefulness where your body is trapped in the prison of sleep but you're also partly aware of what's going on around you.
It's only when a huge glob of the creature's saliva lands on my head that my eyes open wide and I jump to my feet. Only my screams do the scene justice as I make out the form of the huge canine staring down at me, rotten yellow fangs bared.
I'd like to say I have some peaceful realization that the end of my existence is nigh. That I'm about to gracefully leave the world.
To tell the truth, all I'm thinking is, aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
The mutt is big and therefore fast, but it's clumsy. Every few minutes it gets tangled in the brush and I have time to place a few more meters between us.
At first I think another glob of doggie saliva has landed on my head, but this is far too cold and far too runny to be saliva. It's water. Splashing down all around me, squirting out of the ground and siding down hills and rushing to low ground like a rapids. The surprise sweeps me off my feet (pun courtesy of yours truly) and for a moment it seems like there's no hope of staying straight up.
In the first few seconds I nearly fall over three times. My only hope of escaping the flood is to get up the nearest hill faster than the mutt. I'm not a good swimmer but I know the basics. Grabbing onto whatever I can to keep myself steady, I slowly work my way upward.
When I'm finally on dry land I risk a peek over my shoulder. Crap. Nobody told me this thing could swim.
The tide of rising water stays at my heels as I rush along through the forest, constantly threatening to engulf me. My footsteps are washed over in a fraction of a second after I leave them. Trees topple and slide away like a bobsled run. In only a few minutes the devil's house pet is back on my trail. Its roars send fleeting shivers down my spine.
Time speeds up to a blur. I don't dare take another peek backward. The sound of the mutt's footsteps tell me it's dangerously close behind me and if I stop for a second I'll be its next dinner.
I spot something a few feet ahead that takes me aback. A dead body. A dead human body. It's Jaro Veldt from District 11. The grass is stained with blood streaks that splash out from an enormous gash in the dead boy's side.
The peculiar thing is that, a few feet away, there's a different bloodstain that looks completely independent of the first. I deduce that Jaro and Jaehaera must have had a fight here. The separate splash of blood came out of the 2 girl's body.
Some gut instinct tells me I shouldn't ignore this. I reach down and tear out a bundle of the grass stained with Jaehaera's blood. Then I tuck it into my pocket and keep running. The entire scene is underwater by the time I'm ten meters away.
Why do I think the bloodstained grass is a souvenir worth collecting? I honestly have no clue.
In no time at all the cornucopia is in sight, and a black worm of dread crawls in my stomach. I know I'm either going to win here or die in agony. Those are the only two options.
Can I bring District 3 its first victory since Router seven years ago? I hope so.
Deaths this Chapter:
3rd: Jaro Veldt, District 11 Male – Slashed with sword, by Jaehaera
Where to begin with this kid? Let's listen to Julie Andrews and start at the very beginning. Volunteering for a sibling or family member in need. Just about the most cliché trope in Hunger Games fanfic history. I'll admit when I first read his form I felt he had the most possibility to turn cliché of any tribute in these games. But I tried to make his Povs interesting by varying the voice and the length. He was well-bred, well-fed, and well-read, at least for Panemian standards. He could have easily been a victor. But not all things are meant to be.
Remaining Tributes:
District 2: Jaehaera Blackfyre (17)
District 3: Pixel Watt (12)
A/N: Next chapter we'll have our victor. Keep reviews coming. I love them :D