"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the 73rd Hunger Games!"
1. Figure out where you are. Quickly.
The bracelet Tony gave her was always cold on her wrist, but now it bit into her. Kate's breath frosted in front of her, and the ground around her was coated in snow that was fairy tale perfect. Skeletal trees glistened with frost to either side of her.
The thin jacket they provided was not going to be enough. She would have to run for something. Her eyes scanned the snow in front of her.
Her eyes narrowed when her scan got close to the tail of the Cornucopia.
. . .
The rust red jacket was just sufficient for the autumn chill, and it blended well with the dead leaves carpeting everything.
The forest around Rowan was unnatural, perpetually caught in the twilight of autumn. The trees were paralyzed by it, calling out.
Rowan's legs were already shaking. She wouldn't be able to run away from this fight, but maybe in those trees she could hide.
. . .
Jack had no idea why they'd given them jackets if they were going to plop them into an arena that was hotter than any summer he'd ever felt. He was sweating already, and the dead grass and dying trees in the cracked ground seemed to agree with him.
The Cornucopia must be baking in the heat, but he wasn't interested in that. He needed to find Ava. He scanned the circle of tributes as best he could. Ava was -
There. His eyes widened.
The forest was lush and beautiful, at the height of spring, but Terence had been to the Other World. He knew better than to trust it.
He turned on the circle, careful of his balance.
The arena sloped down fairly steeply behind them. The Cornucopia was perched on the top of a mountain, then, and the forest covered the ground under it.
Only to his left, the forest grew parched and dry, and to his right it was covered in snow. He could imagine what it looked like directly opposite him.
The four seasons, presumably with traps appropriate for each.
And far more importantly: In the center of the Cornucopia, three shining bows.
(Not everything will be as it seems.)
2. Be ready to run.
Ten.
Bob bounced in the leaves. There was something glittering up ahead. He wanted it.
Nine.
Gilbert looked around desperately for Diana. He couldn't see her.
Eight.
Indy could just barely make out Marion, but he didn't think she saw him. He didn't dare risk calling out.
Seven.
Leesha locked her eyes on a promising looking set of knives. With them, she could dominate the Cornucopia.
Six.
The snow steamed around Moth. She could see Puck, only three places over. He was dead.
Five.
Susan met eyes with Caspian. He nodded.
Four.
Emma made sure her braid was safely behind her and prepared to run.
Three.
Ava knew she was small, but she wasn't scared. She could see Jack close by. She just had to get to him.
Two.
Ella knew better than to go for the Cornucopia if she couldn't run. Instead, she angled herself towards the thickest stand of trees she could.
One.
Puck threw Moth a mocking grin.
Go.
(Run. Just run. Please, just run.)
Spring
Ella walked stiff legged and fast for her stand of trees. Terence flew by her, past Caspian.
He was shorter than some of them, slighter than almost all, but he was faster than them too. The bow, the quiver, the satchel beside them both -
His.
. . .
Caspian grabbed the first sword he came across and turned to scan for threats. Something barreled at him. Small, yellow - Mutt?
It screamed. He swung.
The sword sliced through it oddly, like it was rubber. It went cleanly through, never hitting bone.
The top half of Bob fell to the ground.
. . .
Gilbert ran in just far enough to grab a backpack. He didn't dare slow down enough to turn around, so he cut across the edge of the killing circle and headed for the dead trees and the heat.
Easier to trust those than the faerie tale he'd left behind him.
. . .
The plan had been for McGee to meet up with Kate and for them both to run, but Kate was headed straight for the Cornucopia.
McGee gritted his teeth and ran too.
Summer
Ava was right at the edge of summer and spring. She'd scurried forward enough to grab a box of crackers and a small blanket and was running pell mell for him.
In the mouth of the Cornucopia, he could see a metal tipped staff.
Jack grabbed a knife that was a few paces in and ran for Ava with his hand outstretched.
There was plenty of good wood in the spring forest.
. . .
There were spells he could use, but his elders would never approve of it.
Rhys didn't even stop for supplies. He just turned and ran.
. . .
Indy ran for Marion, but everyone else was running too, and he couldn't see her.
He tripped over a coiled up net. There was a knife buried inside. He grabbed it.
He heard screaming behind him. He couldn't wait for Marion here. He ran.
. . .
Emma reached the mouth of the Cornucopia just as Terence was fleeing it. She grabbed a belt of knives and pulled one out, but Terence had ducked to the side of the Cornucopia and was out of sight. Caspian, though -
He ducked the thrown knife just in time.
. . .
Bingley still wasn't sure he could kill anyone, but he grabbed a sword anyway and fell into place guarding Emma's back. He scanned the running figures around him nervously. It was loud, louder than anything he'd ever heard, and -
Noise. He spun, arm flung out defensively.
The arm holding a sword.
The girl - Diana? - was holding a loaf of bread. She'd been crouched down to get it.
A line of red was visible all across her neck.
She fell.
Bingley couldn't breathe.
. . .
Seph didn't need the weapons and didn't want them, but for show he grabbed a long stick with a blade at the end of it. It would do well enough for now.
He held it out threateningly to guard Leesha while she scooped up knives from the pile, but most of the tributes were running for safety.
From the corner of his eye, he saw a girl running in. She was running straight towards them.
Seph threw the weapon without thinking, spitting out an aiming spell Hastings had taught him.
. . .
Something hit Connoire in the stomach. She fell.
It hurt, it hurt, get it out, get it out -
She yanked it free. Blood poured out.
And out.
And -
Fall
Marion didn't see Indy, so she took off running and hoped for the best.
. . .
Rowan turned and began her slow limp into the woods. The woods called to her, even stunted as they were. She could find a place to make a stand here, if she was careful.
. . .
Edith was too small to be fast and too weak to fight.
She was the perfect height, however, for climbing into a tree that still had leaves on it and settling in to wait.
Winter
Kate grabbed two knives and slid them into her belt before reaching out to snag a pack. A sixth sense made her duck and roll.
A coil of wire dug into her back as the knife flew over her head. She grabbed it too and tossed it to a panting McGee.
"Come on, McGeek!" She jumped to her feet and sprinted past him. He turned and followed.
She wasn't sure if she trusted the spring woods, but she didn't see any better options.
. . .
The second the trumpet blew, Puck was gone. He sprinted through the snow and headed for the cover of the icicle heavy evergreens farther down the mountain.
He could hear Moth screaming behind him, but he was faster than her, and they both knew it.
There were other trees sprinkled in amongst the evergreens. He leaped for the low branch of an old oak and swung from it to another branch.
Moth could chase him all she wanted, but he'd spent centuries running from angry people in the woods, and the last few years alternately running from and chasing a Grimm. She'd have to try harder than this to catch him.
. . .
Two of the Careers were staring at their own kills like they couldn't believe they'd just done that. Leesha was still grabbing weapons, and Emma was reaching for another knife.
Susan ran for a bow.
Caspian came in behind her to cover her. She heard his sword clanging off something as she grabbed the quiver and nocked an arrow.
Caspian stood with his sword ready. Emma had two knives in her hands and was looking at him warily. Bingley looked too much in shock to do anything. Leesha had her own knives ready, and Seph was recovering but weaponless.
Susan kept her arrow aimed at Leesha and slowly backed away.
When she met up with Caspian he began retreating with her.
The Careers let them go.
. . .
Will needed a bow, but he knew better than to think he could get one. He grabbed a nearby staff instead and ran for the fall section of the forest. He and Rowan didn't have a formal alliance, but he couldn't just leave her on her own.
It was hard to run on the dead leaves on a downward slope. He kept his eyes open. Rowan couldn't have gotten far with her legs.
There. Just ahead.
"Rowan!" Will shouted.
She turned. She had to grab the trunk of a tree to settle herself.
In the piles of leaves between them, something shifted.
Six wolves burst from the leaves and ran straight for Rowan.
"No!"
. . .
Magic costs something. It always cost something.
Especially curses. Especially when you had so little left to lose.
Rowan knew that. Knew she couldn't outrun this. Knew it was time to pay the price.
But she knew how this worked too, so when the wolves howled, and their teeth gleamed, she ran.
Run, run, the trees whispered.
Her legs, her crooked, useless, legs, stumbled in the uneven ground. The leaves stirred up behind her. One of the wolves yelped.
Run, run.
There was a ravine just ahead. She couldn't run, she couldn't make it, but maybe, maybe -
She fell. Hit the ground hard, hands deep in the dead leaves, blood seeping through her pants at the knee.
A wolf crashed into her chest. Teeth closed over her shoulder.
Rowan couldn't run, had nothing to fight with, but she had one thing left: She kicked out as another wolf reached her.
And she did not scream.
. . .
Will crashed through the trees. The wolves had shown no interest in him. Every last one of them had gone after Rowan.
"Hey!" he yelled uselessly. "Over here!"
Rowan fell. The wolves sprang.
Real wolves would have gone for her throat. These weren't interested in a quick kill.
He stumbled to a halt and scrabbled in the leaves until he found a stone. He hurled it at one of the wolves. "Over here, ugly!"
The wolf ignored him and jumped on the quivering pile.
Will threw himself forward and cracked it over the head with his staff. It jerked away.
But it still ignored him.
He threw himself on top of it, arms wrapped around its neck, and heaved it off the pile. It rolled to its feet and tried to spring past him.
He brought the staff down hard on the base of its neck.
The wolf collapsed, quivering.
He turned back to the pile.
The wolves had retreated. They cocked their heads, eyeing him.
Then they turned and ran.
Rowan - what was left of her - what pieces were still -
Not the first death he'd seen. Not the first death he'd seen. Not the first -
Will fell to his knees and threw up.
When he looked up again, the dead mutt had disappeared.
He had to use his staff to force himself to his feet he was shaking so badly.
. . .
A cannon went off.
"Four," Leesha said. She surveyed the field in front of them. "One for the one Bingley killed, one for the one Seph did, and one for the kid the handsome boy with the sword got."
"Caspian," Seph supplied quietly. "That leaves one."
"We'll find out who tonight," Emma said. "We should secure the supplies, get what we need to go hunting, and head out so that they can collect the bodies." She'd sound ruthless to the cameras, but Seph could see the way her hands shook, just a little, and she hadn't even killed anyone yet.
Not like he had.
Bingley still hadn't said anything. Seph thought he might be in shock.
"There's plenty of water here," Leesha noted. "We'd have an advantage if we headed into the summer wedge."
No one objected.
Summer it was.
A note for mentors: It never gets any easier.
Dr. Nefario patted Gru's shoulder consolingly. "He never had much of a chance."
Gru nodded gloomily. "I know."
. . .
Morgan sat with her lips pinched. Morgause was supposed to be Connoire's mentor, but she had shown up to the center late and didn't seem interested in the announcement now.
It helped Terence's chances, but it was another thing her sister would have to pay for, sooner or later.
. . .
Anne sat alone, staring at her screen.
Her freckles stood out very plainly on her white as death skin.
. . .
"I'm sorry," Marian breathed behind Robin and Tuck.
Robin rubbed a hand over his mouth, trying to scrub the phantom taste of blood out of it. "They wanted to punish her for the Reaping."
"She went out bravely," Tuck offered.
Robin just nodded tightly. There a sense of loss in his chest he couldn't quite explain.
Marian looked at the screen. "Will seems very shaken. Will he be alright?"
Robin forced himself to look back at the screen. Will was still standing by Rowan's body. He needed to move.
"He needs something to shake him out of it. He always does, after a fight." Normally they all gathered together. Tuck would mend what wounds he could and Much would spoon out hot stew to steady their nerves.
He checked the amount of money they'd collected.
Not enough. Not nearly enough.
They'd have to work on that.