Beautiful World by Coldplay
Homes places we've grown
All of us are done for.
Fleur Aisley, 14, District Eleven
The humidity sticks to me within seconds of my tube rising. I squint as the sun burns into the back of my eyelids, for a second unable to see anything at all yet somehow able to feel everything at once.
The first thing I notice when the burning of my eyes becomes bearable are the trees standing tall directly across from me. a slight breeze flashes over me and I see the long, wispy leaves of the trees tumble amongst each other. Half of what surrounds us is just these, a perfect long distance from where we stand to make certain there will be no easy getaways.
Two bridges, each at least thirty feet in width, spread across the streams that lie to my left and right. Beyond one of them I see a field the looks like it's covered in flowers, the only comparison of color I am able to make to the poppies is the thick crimson of blood. Appropriate. Across the second bridge is a field that looks just like the one behind me. Thickly grown and standing tall are millions of wheat strands. A food source for anyone that might know what to do with them. I try and look for Valerian around me but the sun still burns in my eyes harshly enough that I can see only silhouettes of tributes more than five places down from me.
At least fifteen feet to my right, the boy from District Six stands with his head looking down and I swear that his eyes are closed as well. He shakes with such intensity that I am sure I would notice it even if he hadn't been so close. The sounding of a buzzer type thing causes both his and my head to snap up and look at the gleaming gold Cornucopia in front of us. Above it a projection of numbers begins to flash. Thick, black digits that tell us how long we have to remain standing here. Something is set off within me and I am vaguely aware of the heaviness of my own body. I clench my hands into fists and hope I won't fall over.
To the other side of me is the girl tribute from District Four. Just looking at her gives me chills. Her eyes don't break contact with the Cornucopia, or maybe with the stuff held inside of it. She is determined, I will not get in her way. I will not get in anyone's way or I am certain I am going to die.
Valerian promised that he would protect me. He has said that every other minute since he volunteered back in District Eleven. I wish he had never raised his hand at all. It's not fair that he make this even harder for me. He isn't doing me any favours being here and I know it had done him none either. His moods have gotten worse, and he is calling me Faye again. It scares me, he had seemed better lately at home. I am frightened that the arena is going to break my lover's body, mind and soul all at once. He should have stayed home and forgotten about me. I'm not worth dying for when I am going to die either way.
The countdown is coming down quickly. I see the number forty and now I am aware that I too am shaking. Why is this happening, why am I here? I want nothing more than to run away even if it will blow my legs off to go early. I just want to get out of here. I want to find Valerian and have him hold me in his arms and tell me that all of this is going to go away. Even if he holds me too tightly sometimes.
Maynor Richman, 14, District Four
Thirty seconds left already? I gulp loudly and I am thankful that the other tributes are too far away to hear. Delta told me that I have to live up to the image I have set myself up with, no matter what. I volunteered and even if it is probably going to be the one mistake I never live to regret, I have to deal with the cards I have dealt myself. A strong face and a terror stricken heart, that is what I hope to hold.
I stand between the Capitol girl and the District Seven girl. Just beside the girl from Seven I can see Braden and he looks about as ready to jump into the biggest fight of his life as I feel. At least looking at him I don't feel quite as terrified, knowing that I have at least one person with me and fighting on my side at least for now.
Having a Career beside me, even one of the technically weaker ones, makes me feel like I am going to be sick. I have to watch out for everyone around me, knowing that any one of them at any point can pick up a knife and send it flying through my skull. There is nothing I want more than to just turn and run the other way as soon as the gong sounds for the beginning of the Games, but I promised Braden we were going in. It was my stupid idea because I know we aren't likely to last long without any sort of supplies or weapons but the coward within me wants to convince myself that we won't last long in the fighting and at least with running we can have at least a couple more days to live.
If I run now I will lose any support my volunteering may have gotten me. If I decide that I can't do it and give in to the cowardly part of me then I have no hope of living very long without sponsors. I would be exposing myself as the stupid kid that volunteered to prove something to people that don't even matter to me. I would have a few more days but that is it.
On the other hand, I go in and I survive... that would work for me. I don't even think that getting in a fight with someone would be necessary. I just have to show that I am not afraid and that I know what I have to do and am prepared to do it.
The real question is, do I want to die a coward in a few days or face possible death ten seconds from now trying to be a champion. There is no competition.
I look around me and my eyes fall on the District One boy and I consciously copy his stance. Feet one in front of the other, knees bent and ready to run, hands in mock-mid stride. I even attempt to maneuver a slight, almost cocky smile to my lips. I keep my eyes locked on the clock as the numbers count down from five. This is it, quite literally the biggest fight of my life more than likely.
The gong sound echoes in my head and all of a sudden it feels like my entire body has been frozen. I am vaguely aware of myself running towards the Cornucopia, but everyone around me seems to move at lightning speed in comparison. I hear someone scream from behind me and turn around to see a knife catch in Braden's neck, his body falling to the ground a second later.
Amita Spruceford, 16, District Seven
I scream as the District Six boy falls just two feet ahead of me, a knife cutting into his neck and blood immediately rushing from the fresh wound. The first thing I think to do is run towards him, dropping to the moist grass on my knees and turning him over so that his face is towards the sun.
The muscles in his shoulders are still spasming where I grab him and at first I pull my hands away. His eyes stare towards the sky with a terrified look and then a second later a glazed, disconnected stare. I realize I am also shaking. I see the knife again and do the only thing I can think to do that might be able to help him.
Blood sprays from the wound and coats my face as I pull the small knife loose. I throw the blade down beside me and use both hands to put pressure on the wound. That's what you do to stop bleeding, right? Within seconds my hands as well as the front of my clothes are covered in red. I choke out panicked sobs as I press harder onto the boy's neck, my fingertips sliding from any are I place them and more blood continuing to pour out. How can there be this much blood?!
"What the hell are you doing, move!" I hear a gruff voice say from above me, just a fraction of a second before I am lifted from the ground by my waist.
I am turned around to face my district partner, Ashidel, his face red and a backpack dangling from one shoulder. I wriggle out of his grip and drop back down beside the boy, panic bubbling in the back of my throat.
"Help me, he's losing too much blood!" I sob and try to find the cut amidst all the blood. Ashidel grabs me again and starts to run towards the long stretch of willow trees. I fight against him, shouting all the while. "No! We can't let him die, we have to help him!"
Ashidel gives my arm a harsh tug to stop my shouting but doesn't even slow his speed as he calls over his shoulder to me. "He's already dead! Come on!"
I don't stop looking back at the boy lying on the ground, only a few feet away from the fighting that has already ensued. Ashidel is right, he isn't moving.
We don't stop running until we are a good few yards into the tree line. I'm surprised to see that besides the first row of trees, the giant willows are actually fairly spread apart. I reach out and run a hand down one of its fluffy branches. It is hard to consider that so close to a place this lovely there is a little boy drowning in his own blood.
"Where are Erin and Briar?" I say suddenly, the thought that they are not here with us hitting me like a blow to the chest. I realize I am not looking at him, my eyes still fixated on the trees. Have I ever seen a place this beautiful?
"They're coming, they know where we are," he says. When I give him a questioning look he continues. "I was close to them at the beginning. I showed them where to go but I had to come and get you."
"Oh," I respond. "Thank you then."
"I guess we just wait then, you know, until they get here," he says distractedly. "Can you climb?"
My face breaks into a smile. I am from District Seven, we both are. With all the trees around there one might as well learn to climb before they learn to walk. Instead of answering, I grab a branch and start up the closest tree. When I look behind me I see a sight maybe even more beautiful than the forest surrounding us. A genuine smile on my partner's face.
Brett Draven, 17, District Ten
It hardly takes me anytime at all to find Baye amidst the fighting. Already, a backpack slung across one shoulder and a canvas satchel on the other, she trades lunges with the girl from District Nine who has been backed up against the outer wall of the Cornucopia.
I run up behind her and nearly grab her shoulder but think better of it when I notice the long sword clenched in her hand. "What are you doing? Let's go?"
"In a minute," she growls, not bothering to even look over her shoulder at me.
"No, now. We have what we need already," I respond. I am unable to help the urgency in my voice, we need to leave right now. There are tributes all around us, scrounging for supplies and blood. I keep checking behind me, the last thing we need is to be taken by surprise just because Baye doesn't know when to count her blessings and run.
"In one minute," she says, the clash of metal as their weapons hit like a punctuation of each word.
"Baye!" I grab her shoulder and pull her away from the District Nine girl, who drops her knife to her side immediately and takes off at full speed for the tree line.
"What the hell?" She asks, her eyes narrowing to nothing more than slits.
"Yeah, 'what the hell' is right," I say sharply, my grip tightening around her arm for another second before I release her. "Let's just-"
My sentence trails off when I see the tall boy appear behind her seemingly out of nowhere. Before I can even think to breathe let alone cry out a warning, the spear I never even saw him holding is sticking out both sides of Baye.
She doesn't do anything for at least a couple seconds, but that time feels much longer than that to me. her stormy eyes clear and widen into saucers, and in that moment I could swear she looked just like one of the little kids we are supposed to find and care for in here; innocent and tiny.
As soon as he, the District Two boy I now realize, pulls the spear from her back she crumples to the ground. This time is barely takes a second until I hear the pained screaming, only this time I understand that it is from my own lips.
I launch myself at the Career boy without a second of hesitation, my pain and anger lending me more courage than I think I have ever had. He stumbles back a few steps but doesn't fall under my weight. He pushes me back and puts the spear lengthwise in front of him in expectation of another attack.
I now realize that the only weapon I managed to secure, a thick butcher knife with a heavy handle, is tucked safely away in my pack. A place in which I have no hope of reaching it in time. Then, at the same time, I think he realizes I am unarmed as well because I see a triumphant smile kiss his lips.
Fire burns through my gut where the spear enters me. I gasp for breath, the air around me feeling to thick to take in all of a sudden. My legs give out from beneath me and I fall to the ground with my face barely five inches from Baye's. Her eyes are rolling and crimson dribbles from her lips, but she is still alive for now. If her pain right now is anything like my own I wish, for her own sake, that she weren't.
My arm feels at least sixty pounds heavier when I try and move it, but I manage within a few moments to find her hand and clasp it within my own. With the energy that courses through me from her touch, I bring her fingertips up to my lips and kiss them gently. Her lips part in a slight smile and I try and do the same, as we wait while our blood polls together underneath us.
Jetta Willis , 15, District Six
Even though from this far away it is impossible to tell one tribute from the next, it still worries me when I cannot spot Calic or Melinoe right away.
We never did end up making a plan for what we would do one the gong went off. I could feel it plain as day that I should have been running into the supplies regardless of the danger. But when the time came there was simply nothing I could do to stop my legs from steering me in the opposite direction.
From what I could see, I was the only one to head directly for the trees without even stooping for a plastic sheet or cooking pot that might be strewn along the outskirts of the plates. That means Calic and Mel must have gone in. Hopefully that also means that they will be out to find me soon, with enough supplies that it won't matter that I didn't go in to help them.
Out of pure paranoia I take a quick glance around behind me at the willow trees before will look back towards the Cornucopia. I squint to recognize the District Eight boy as he runs diagonally towards the field on the other side. For a second I consider if the forest was in fact the best choice if this tribute is taking such a risk to go farther away to avoid it.
I have to bite down hard on my tongue to keep from crying out when I see them approaching. Each of my allies shoulders a bag of some kind ad Melinoe also has her fingers gripped tightly around a thin dagger. I step out of the tress just a short distance and I see Calic's face light up when she spots me.
My eyes are so fixated on the two of them that I don't see it until it is too late to do a thing to stop it. The District Eight boy crossing paths with Calic and Mel, deliberately avoiding Mel who is visibly armed and going straight for Calic.
Just a half second before he grabs her, mid stride, I hear myself scream out her name. I take several steps out of the trees towards them but they are still at least thirty feet too far. The only one who could help Calic now is Melione, who freezes up for a second too long when she sees the boy. Before her knife can even waver from her side, Calic is lying at the boy's feet with her neck twisted at an impossible angle.
Melinoe's eyes double in size as she takes a shaky step towards the boy. He holds her eyes for less than a second before he turns and runs off, disappearing in the tall grass not but three seconds later.
I run the rest of the way towards her and grab her hand, pulling her a few steps in the direction of the forest before she stop me. "The kids."
Her voice is just barely above a whisper but I nod my understanding. The tubes containing the tiny tributes lay just a bit away from us and I lead Melinoe towards them. The scanner on Livena's chamber beckons my hand and I don't hesitate to give it. With an audible click I am able to pick her up off the bottom of the metal container, once again cradling her warm body in my arms.
As I slip along the outside of the tubes, my eyes fall on one tube in particular. The little blonde boy with huge blue eyes that I met in training, Piere- Calic's assigned child. He looks up at me with parted lips and then, all of sudden like someone had flicked a switch off, his tiny body hits the bottom of the chamber.
I feel suddenly disconnected from the girl who slams her palms into the tubes, screaming out Melinoe's name for no other reason than to have something to say as the little boy's lips turn blue.
Cosmic McKee, 17, District Three
"What were their names again?" Dallon whispers as we near the tubes at the far end of the cut field. "I can't remember."
I manage a smile as I continue to run my gaze across the area. The two of us were able to slip out of the fighting far too easily with thin canvas bags full of Panem knows what strapped across our backs. But the day is not over and I won't let my guard drop for even a second. Maybe once it is done I will feel just a little bit safer. Somehow I doubt that, though.
"I'm looking for Caia and you are to find Jem," I remind him. we hardly spent any time at all with the baby tributes during training apart from making sure we would be able to recognize them. it hardly seemed important to strategize differently based on a factor that we didn't have to necessarily keep. After all, the rules state that we are able to continue on without them should we choose to do so.
Not until after tomorrow, I remind myself. We were told specifically that we must gather the kids before the second night. Otherwise I am not sure how many of us would actually be taking the time and risk to come and retrieve them. It's not heartless, it's just the right way to keep yourself alive.
"Caia," he whispers excitedly, pointing to a tube that lay just a few feet away. I check the name and decide that I recognize the little toddler staring blankly at me from within it. After shooing Dallon away to look for Jem, I see to figuring out how to get the kid out.
Through pure fortune, I come to understand that I need to place my hand on the circle in front of it in order to open the chamber. I scoop the girl out and place her on the ground in front of me. she tilts to the right and falls over within seconds. Due to her age, I would have assumed she would be able to walk on her own. I have to assume that the Gamemakers had the kids drugged before putting them in the tubes to keep them calm. Great.
I open my bag and find it filled with some thick blankets. With no other option besides wasting more time, I strap Caia in my bag and leave it undone before throwing it back on. I then start off to find Dallon and Jem.
I have barely made it three steps before I hear a scream. My legs take off in that direction before my mind can even register that it's Dallon, but there seems like no other option. I turn the corner to face the next set of tubes just a second before the District Nine girl's sickle sinks into Dallon's stomach.
Dallon's wide, teary eyes find mine as he fights to remain standing, his back pressed against the front of an empty glass container. His attacker must hear my footsteps approaching before she turns to look at me for half a second before picking up a little dark skinned boy from the grass and disappearing around the corner.
"Cosmic," Dallon whimpers, his voice shaking audibly. I rush towards him, my eyes still searching for any traces of the girl from Nine, and help to ease him down to the ground as the bloodstain grows on the front of his shirt.
I want so badly to comfort him, too look for something in either of our bags with which to patch up his wounds so I can carry him away to safety, but the sounds around me make me pause. The Careers are still here, possibly the girl from Nine as well. To stay here is ultimately to give up caring for my own life to save someone who will not be living to see sunset. I cannot do that; give up on myself that easily.
I crouch down beside Dallon and cut the one strap that holds his pack to his shoulder. I can feel the sobs shaking under his skin but no matter what I know I can't risk staying. I swing the bag over my shoulder, making the mistake of looking down at him one last time before I run off with just two whispered words. "I'm sorry."
Amstel Hafelin, 18, District One
I can feel my fingertips shaking as I bring them up to wipe the sweat from my brow. Quickly, I clench my hands into fists, struggling to keep my wits about me.
Thankfully, I was the one assigned to watch over the supplies inside the Cornucopia. Usually that would not have been such a huge job, but this year the Cornucopia looks to be at least double the regular size. I am guessing that it must have something to do with the Quarter Quell. I remember watching some of the older tributes from previous Games crawling through the Cornucopia because it wasn't tall enough inside. Not this year, there is easily another four or five feet of air above me, and supply boxes are scattered on every last inch of the grassy floor.
I don't think I could have stayed out there with Aquila and Kilin. The fighting outside is not at all what I am used to. It's desperate, it's messy and it's fair. Too fair. There is no easily calculated winner out of any of it, it's all about who is in the wrong place at the wrong time and that could be anyone. I didn't think that it would happen so soon that I would fear for my life. And never in a million years would I have guessed it would be the threat of outer district kids that would frighten me.
The pair from District Three step warily around the corner into the Cornucopia. When they spot me, stuffed into one corner of the structure and knee deep in boxes filled to the brim with metal, they scramble back out. I see the girls' thin hand grab at two bags but I don't lunge for her or even try to get it back. She is already at a disadvantage by holding onto her young district partner, she is no threat to my alliance.
I guess the younger allies are not even that much of a hindrance this year. I mean, because of the Quell twist everyone has to deal with one, even the Careers.
I turn around to survey the supplies behind me and, after just one second, I turn back to see Arissa standing nearly on top of me. I call out in surprise and take a step back, my foot breaking through the lid of a wooden crate.
"Arissa? What the hell are you-" I begin to say but the look of her stops me mid sentence. Her usually rosy cheeks are snow white along with the rest of her face and her bright eyes flicker around the Cornucopia like candles. By far the most shocking part, though, is the growing blood stain just above her hip. "Oh my god, what happened?"
Her words come in between painful sobs. "I was guarding the side, like they told me to. The District Nine boy. He tried to get away but I stopped him. I didn't see who did it. It must have been his ally."
District Nine's ally... so District Five male, Arden something. I mentally tag him as a threat before turning my attention back to Arissa. "Look through the boxes, there has got to be a first aid kit in here somewhere."
"Okay," she hiccups and drops down to her knees beside the nearest crate. Tears run down her face in rivers and I tear through the crates around me. Finally, I grab hold of a plastic, white container with a red cross on it and pull it out from under a bundle of emergency blankets.
"What the hell do you two think you are doing?"
Kilin Shicts, 18, District Two
"Well, I asked a question," Aquila spits from beside me. Both of us had decided that the fighting was finished for the time being and had begun to gather the others. We found everyone within a few minutes- Kiera still standing guard on the left side, Cicero returning from a heavy chase, and Aquila and I had already been together out front. She knew Amstel was going to be inside on guard, but scowled when we realized Arissa was nowhere near her post on the right side.
"She got injured," Amstel states blankly, standing to approach Arissa while holding what looks to be a first aid kit.
"She can speak for herself," Aquila tells him harshly, narrowing her eyes at him. Amstel lowers his gaze almost immediately and says nothing further, embarrassment clear on his face from being called out. Aquila turns her attention back to Arissa. "You abandoned your post."
Her frail shoulders heave up and down with every breath she takes but she says nothing. Her eyes fall down to her side which I only now notice is nearly soaked through with blood. Even Kiera's eyes widen slightly at the sight.
"No excuse, stand up," Aquila instructs her.
"Aquila," I try, placing a hand on her shoulder in an effort to calm her down. She is being ridiculous, I don't expect the girl to stay conscious for more than a few more minutes with all the blood she is losing, let alone stand up.
"Don't," she warns, grabbing my hand out of the air without even looking behind her. She lowers her face to Arissa's until their noses are just mere inches apart. "If you cannot even follow simple orders you're finished."
"Wh-what?" Arissa trembles, her voice hardly a whisper compared to Aquila's direct tone.
Aquila turns to face each of us, one at a time meeting our eyes as if daring us to say something against her. I am the only one to hold her stare.
"Let this be a lesson to you. To all of you."
And with those words she takes the knife she had grabbed earlier and sends it straight through the girl's forehead. The rest of us gasp in a collective breath but not one of us risks words, not even Cicero whose face burns with red anger.
Aquila turns back to face us with a steady expression. "All of you, go get your kid from the tubes and bring them back here. We'll figure out how to set up camp once we're all back here."
She turns and walks out of the Cornucopia calmly, but it takes a good number of seconds before any of the rest of us seem to be able to move. I scan the tubes once we are outside the structure, and head off with Cicero to the second aisle to find Tinder.
I read the labels as I approach the group of six tubes. My stomach turns when I notice that three of them lie at the base of their chambers. I can tell easily by the empty open eyes of the girl labelled 'Kassia' that none of them are sleeping.
These must be the kids of the tributes that died just minutes ago. The sick feeling I got when Arissa died returns when I realize that for each and every tribute I killed or might kill later on, there is another child that will return home with blue lips. An infant, at most four years old. By killing the boy from Ten and the girl from Four, which of these two toddlers can I also claim as my kills?
I place my hand on the scanner under Tinder's name and the glass holding her dissolves in front of me. she reaches her tiny arms up to me with a toothy grin and I pull her up out of the tube. She pulls on my hair as I hoist her up on my shoulders and head back to meet the others at the Cornucopia, doing my best to keep the smile from my lips as Tinder giggles above me.
Braden Griffin, District Six + Lailie, District Eight
Baye Darlucan, District Four + Kassia, District Two
Brett Draven, District Ten + Albin, Capitol
Calic Wefton, District Ten + Piere, District Two
Dallon Argal, District Three + Jem, District Nine
Arissa Talos, Capitol + Fig, District Ten
The artist theme for this story will be Coldplay.
Song: Beautiful World
The blog for this story can be found on my profile. Deaths will be notified here.
I am really sorry to those submitters that have lost their tributes. You all knew when you sent these beautiful characters in to me that they had a very slim chance of being the one to win. Nevertheless, I hope there are no hard feelings and I hope you will continue to read on to see where the story goes. Anyway, thank you for submitting and again, all decisions on deaths are very hard for me. Thanks again for your tribute.
Choosing from this batch of tributes was one of the hardest decisions ever. I actually had very good reasons for keeping every single one of them but alas I could not have a Bloodbath in which no blood was shed! I hope you all understand, but really I had to choose someone.
A couple of questions will be asked at the end of each chapter, it would be great if you would answer them along with a general review of the chapter's writing. Much appreciated!
Did any of the kills/deaths surprise you?
Who are you most looking forwards to hearing from in upcoming chapters?
I have literally no excuse for why it took me this long to write this chapter.. I did rewrite half of it because I just wasn't happy with it. One POV rewritten three times because it just didn't feel right. You may have also noticed that the POVs are shorter than is normal for my stories. That is because I have decided on a new format. Basically, shorter and more plentiful POVs per chapter so that we get rid of a lot of filler and hear from tributes more often, hope you are okay with this!
Yeah this wasn't as action packed as this chapter probably should have been, but anyone who knows my writing style knows that I prefer the emotional side of things so that was what I was concentrating on here. Also trying to give some personality to the tributes remaining and set up a couple of plots for later. Let me know what you thought!