Day 10: Evening
Assistant Gamemaker, Aphrodite McKennon
Day ten slows into late-afternoon and tributes are finding places to rest for the night. The siblings are still near the destroyed Cornucopia, the 9 boy is bunkered down in the northwest region of the arena, the 7 girl is not too far away from him, and the alliance between 4 and 6 are 3 kilometers west of the Cornucopia. Such an odd way to end the day; the tributes are all settling in for the night already. Aphrodite throws her silk golden hair behind her shoulder and looks to the monitors. It seems Rye from 9 is holding his weapon close to him. Maybe he should use that weapon some how. Her eyes flickered as she was thinking. The audience seems to have grown bored with the Games already, which is something Aphrodite wasn't used to. Normally, the audience would be so in love with the Games, they'd ask for more. How to gain their trust back... she thought to herself.
A door flung open and Chal Sherwood was on the other side, looking surprisingly sober and ready for work. He walked to Aphrodite, his breath smelling like mint rather than liquor. What happened to the deadbeat Head Gamemaker? Who cares now that he actually showed up to the Game Center. Chal had some papers in his hands and he made his way to his assistant. A smile curled on his lips. What was he up to?
"Hey, Miss McKennon. You've worked hard to produce some...mediocre Games." He snarls, holding the papers still very tightly. Her nose twitched, something that she did when someone annoyed her. He was face-to-face with her, looking down at her like he always did.
"Mediocre? They aren't mediocre. Mediocre were the first twenty Hunger Games, not the one hundred and seventy-sixth. What do you want?" Aphrodite said calmly, eyeing the papers in Chal's hands. He took notice of her wondering eyes and knew exactly how to play this.
"You see, the audience is, to put it bluntly, bored." Chal starts, grabbing a strand of Aphrodite's hair. "While you were making a fool of yourself as a Gamemaker, I was out collecting data. This data can help you get out of your situation. Judging by the citizens of the Capitol, they love that girl from Six. Just how much? I asked a questionnaire, and eighty percent of the voters said they would love it if Kira Shock from District Six won the Games."
"Where are you taking this?" Aphrodite asked, slapping Chal's hand away from her hair.
"Simply put it, get rid of the favorite." Chal said the words and left them hanging in the air. Aphrodite just stared at him. No one before has purposely gotten rid of a tribute because of what the audience thought of them. She turned around to see Kira and Predator bunkering down and getting ready to take their turns watching. She sighed and turned back to Chal. But, the only thing in his place was empty air and a command by the Capitol citizens.
"Portia!" She yelled. "Get a few Snaked Badgers ready. I have an idea for Kira."
Caden Miller, D2
Caden uses a dull knife piece to sharpen a stick to a sharp point. The stupid avalanche destroyed their weapons and he and his sister needed to make their own weapons from the blood soaked knife piece that Kleo used to stab Predator a while ago. Kleo used a dry piece of ivy she found earlier in the day to hold together a bent piece of wood. Caden is turning the wood into an arrow, but it isn't exactly perfect. Nothing is perfect in the Hunger Games. But, the Training Academy in District 2 taught them how to make weapons from the environment around them so they don't have to completely rely on sponsors. But, who would even sponsor them? Siblings who are stuck in the Hunger Games, where only one can come out alive and the other must die.
Another piece of wood flecks off the arrow Caden is carving. Kleo is intently working on bending her bow properly, so she can shoot Caden's arrow at some prey. That avalanche killed everything they needed to survive. Caden look to his sister, who is intently working on her bow. He sighs as he looks at her. She means everything to him and he knows that the odds are against them. After the double victory last year, the Capitol won't send them both home. She finishes tying her knot on her bow as he cuts another piece off the wood.
She walks to him and sits down. "I have the bow ready. Is the arrow done?" Her brown eyes fall on the piece of wood he has worked on for an hour and only the pointed tip is done. The arrow can't fly a long distance if there is nothing to level it. Oh well. She takes it from his hand and loads her bow up with the unfinished arrow.
"Kleo, I don't think..." He is cut off from her shushing him.
"Shut up. I know what I am doing." She spat out, aiming at a tree in the distance. She expelled a slow, deep breath and took full aim on her target. As she was about to let go of the arrow, something made her lose her focus.
Ahhh! A shrill scream was heard over the arena and Kleo dropped their make-shift weapon on the floor. She turned to Caden as they expected a cannon to sound. Besides Kleo, there are only two girls in the arena. Who could have made that sound? Kleo runs to her brother, not picking up the weapon and Caden wraps his strong arms around his sister.
Predator Fazaysia, D4
Using his hands, Predator wrapped his fingers around a badger/snake thing until it fell over dead. Two more creatures ran their way to Kira, and they sank their teeth into her leg and arm, making her scream more. Predator quickly jumped on them and strangled them and snapped their necks. These creatures have come here before the nightly death toll and all attacked Kira, earning her several bites. The bites swelled to the size of an orange and Kira howled in pain as something settled into her blood stream, making her scream even more. Predator kicked away the dead creatures and ran his way to his ally, while a few other creatures burrow their way into the ground.
Kira is thrashing around as Predator tries to calm her down. Her hands hits Predator's cheek, continuing to thrash around because of the bites she received from the creatures. The bites swell slightly more and Predator is faced with a terrible problem: he knows why the bites are swelling. The creatures were venomous. He sits on Kira's stomach and pins her down until her breathing is slowed down. Her eyes slowly drained of color and her pupils dilated. "Shh. Kira, you're going to be okay."
Predator climbed off of his ally and layed on the ground beside her. He picked up her arm and examined the bite wounds she got. They were the size of an orange and puss was coming out of the wound. The venom is definitely in her body now. How long would it take until she gives out? He places her arm on the ground and strokes her dampened hair. "You're okay, Six. You're fine."
"How do you know? My blood is burning!" She cries. Predator looks over her body. One, two, three... fourteen bites littered her body. She would be dead in ten minutes. Kira winces as Predator's emotions seems to take over his body. Why is he freaking out? He shouldn't have been this upset because of Kira, because she isn't from his district nor is she close to him. He knows the rules of the Games, and he will be the one on top. He couldn't help but feel a bit of remorse as Kira suffered.
Paige Tamar, Predator's Crush
"You..." Predator's voice calls through the speakers in the Main Square of District 4. Ever since the creatures, the creatures that Dusk and Chal called 'Snaked Badgers', bit Kira, every camera has been trained on Predator and Kira. Paige watched as Predator choked back his tears. She knew that he had a feeling for her, not romantic, but how he has developed a friendship with her.
"You'll be fine." He finally gets out as a small icon in the corner pops up. Kira's internal readings are shown and it gives a picture of her bloodstream, filled with venom. Everyone looked at one another and they knew she wasn't going to make it to tomorrow. Paige's eyes watered and she tried to wipe her tears away. That's her problem: she's a sensitive person. During the bloodbath, she cried when everyone began to fall, especially the siblings from 14. They didn't have a hope to make it out alive.
A loud BOOM! shook Paige to her core. All the venom in Kira's body caused her heart to shut down just as Predator told her she'd be okay. Kira's headshot was shown on-screen with a time under her face: 10 days, 21 hours, 19 minutes, 52 seconds. She's the first District 6 tribute in years to make it ten days. Paige's eyes filled with tears as Predator hugged Kira one last time. He walked over to the dead Snaked Badger and began to examine it. Four legs, forked tongue, and he felt its fur. He grabbed a pointed branch and cut off some of his fur to find scales rather than skin. He stabbed the dead creature and let out a cry of agony.
"He's weak." A voice calls behind Paige. She turns around and sees a young Career, must have only been thirteen and full of himself. He was with a group of younger Careers, all laughing at Predator for crying over a dead ally. "I wouldn't be that upset over a dead girl. He's such a weakling." Paige faces the younger Career, almost ready to burst at his ignorance.
"Excuse me?" Her voice comes out louder and catches the attention of the Square. "Predator is not weak because of mourning over a dead ally. He promised to protect her and he failed his promise. The Academy doesn't teach you how to mourn and feel anything about killing, do they?" Her voice rings in the younger Career's ears and her words hang in the air. She walks away from the boys and the Square, wanting to go for a swim. This is why she never went into the Training Academy.
The Fallen:
Kira Shock, District 6: Killed by venom of Snaked Badgers
A/N: I'm back. I'm sorry for not updating, but I was busy with school. Another tribute has fallen, knocking her out of the race. I'm sorry Kira, but your name was drawn. I was very sad to see you go, but the Games must continue. 5 tributes left! Who is going to win? I'm excited! Credit to Ramijk for the 'Snaked Badgers', thank you so much. I need to reply Ramijk real quick: I know you said the venom isn't lethal, but Kira was given many, many bites, increasing the venom intake. One more reply...
ALK: This is the Capitol we are talking about: they are ruthless and they can do whatever they please. Meaning, District 14 has to compete because the Capitol says so. The citizens, I am not sure where they came from, so I am going to say magic. I actually did put a space, but the way the words were typed, it looked like no space. :/