Day Four
Night
Jasper Altone, D11
Jasper looked around at the tributes standing with him, each one of them armed ad camouflaged for the attack. He hated to admit that he'd gotten to be friends with them, after only two days. After tonight, they'd all go back to trying to kill each other. The worst part was seeing the three twelve-year-old girls loading their sharpened rocks into three separate pouches. The idea that at least two of them would be dead, possibly by his own hand, sickened him. The smile on little Aprila's face, as she talked with her new friends, sank Jasper's heart.
He slung his sickle over his shoulder, and they headed out from their base. Since they had been camping near the mountains, it was slightly harder to find their way back through the forest. But after an hour of walking,, one of the girls from Five heard the river, and they were able to follow it upstream.
As the trees started to thin, Jasper's stomach twisted in knots. They were all taking a huge risk in attacking the Career base, and there was a high possibility of losing more than one member of their alliance. What if he died? Jasper had to force himself not to stop in his tracks, to keep moving closer and closer to battle.
Right before they reached the edge of the trees, he motioned for everyone to spread out, in pairs. He helped Aprila into a tree, and then helped the girl from Nine, Amber, into her tree a couple hundred feet away. Tawny would stay by Aprila, along with Juniper. Tessa would be stuck with him and Macen. From there they'd simply wait until the Anthem played in the sky, although there had been no deaths today. No cannon, no deaths.
They sat waiting for a half hour before the anthem sounded across the arena. He could see the Careers, sitting around their fires, and they all jumped to their feet at the sound of it. Two members of the group, each holding a shield, were pointing to a few of them, and the ones who had been chosen started to pack bags.
They're the ones going hunting. Hunting! He'd forgotten about them hunting. They'd have to come up through the tree line to get to the forest. If the careers went to the beach, then everyone would be fine, but if they came this way, then whoever was closest would either have to hold still or go in for an attack.
The careers began their climb up the slope towards the tree line. Jasper was horrified when he saw a pair of brutish looking tributes from One heading towards the trees in Aprila's direction. He hoped that she was high enough in the trees, and that Tawny and June were hidden well enough on the ground. The career pair froze close to the top of the hill, and Jasper watched as one of them pointed into the trees. His heart sank even further.
Run, he mentally ordered his friends. Run! Get out of there! Had they seen the careers coming and gotten out in time?
Jasper got his answer at the sound of three cannons and a scream only a girl the size of Aprila could make. He had to slap a hand over Tessa's mouth to keep her from screaming out. The remaining careers made it into the woods with no cannons. They'd move in soon.
Cassio Marony, D1
"Three of them. How stupid could they get?" laughed Cassio as they moved further into the woods. The three tributes from Eleven were armed and dressed as if they were going to attack. Three mice against a pit of snakes. How stupid!
"Think of it this way. We made quota for the night." Luxe was laughing, too. He'd been the one to see the girl in the tree, and luckily, the other two, who had been hiding in the grass, had not been good fighters. Cassio rubbed at the bruise forming on his shoulder from where one had hit him with the end of a bolo.
"It's not for swinging, love." He'd said to her, before redirecting the weapon around her torso, trapping her arms before he'd slit her throat.
Now he'd have to wash the blood out of his shirt.
Fiona Fierry, D5
Fiona saw as the remaining group from Eleven burst from the trees, followed by the others. She nudged Seairra and they took off down the hill. Fiona pulled her sword from it's hilt, something she'd been practicing all that, as the sword had a wickedly curved blade. The closest tribute was a girl from Two, who barely had time to realize what was happening. She'd just gotten her knives ready when Fiona slashed her blade across the girl's abdomen. She fell to the ground, dead, and a cannon sounded. She looked around, and saw that many of the careers were now engaged in battles.
She turned to run for the trees, to prevent becoming another fatality, when she saw Seairra on the ground, a spear in her chest. The career who'd thrown it was coming for her from the top of the hill. It was one of the Careers who had gone hunting. Shit. They must've realized what was going on by the cannons and come back to fight. He waved his shield in the air, and his hunting partner, dressed from Two, came charging down the hill.
Fiona took off. She knew it was an awful thing to do to Zane and Gustin, who were fighting with a boy from One, but she wasn't about to become another fatality in the Games. She ran clear across the valley, up the hill farthest from her pursuers, and into the trees. She found a suitable tree and began climbing, knowing they'd be here soon.
They never came. Fiona heard more cannons going off. Hopefully they belonged to the careers.
Galvin Colt, D9
Galvin stopped dead in his tracks, as did his adversary. He couldn't believe it, as he stared into Sloan's eyes. She was with them, with the Careers.
"How could you?" was all he managed to get out. She just stood there, her face wearing an expression of horror. Galvin had suspected something when she went missing, but he'd thought she was wandering the arena by herself. He'd never have guessed that she allied herself with the biggest enemy in the games. She just shook her head.
"Please," she begged, "just go. You can't beat them."
"If you can't beat them, join them," interjected Bren, his spear pointed at her chest. "Traitor."
"You don't understand. I wanted Greyson dead. They were going to kill me, but the leader realized I'd help them kill that thief! I never wanted to abandon the rest of you, but this was my only option."
"They'll kill you the moment he dies, if you manage to kill him."
"I've come to accept that. I've already said goodbye. I just want him dead."
"Well, you're dead to me," said Bren. Galvin looked at him, rage contorting his face into a completely different person. He threw his spear, but Sloan dodged.
"They've been training me. Just go before you're killed. Get Amber out, too. Go!" Galvin had to hold Bren back, to keep him from attacking Sloan with his bare hands. He pulled him away, back up the hill and away from the battle. They'd done their part, already taking out one of the girls from Four. They could go now.
Ruben Jackson, D4
A cough caught his attention. Ruben removed his sword from the boy's chest. The tribute from Twelve fell dead, and Ruben turned to find the source of the coughing. It was coming from another tribute from Twelve, a younger girl, who's hand was covered in blood from coughing. Odd, she wasn't injured. Yet. Ruben ran up behind her and put his sword through her stomach. The coughing stopped as she gasped for air. Ruben pulled his sword out as she fell to her knees. He could ignore her; she'd be dead any minute.
As he walked away, he felt a stabbing pain in his right shoulder blade. He reached up and pulled the small knife from his flesh, looking for the attacker. His eyes fell back on the coughing girl, who was now dead in the grass. She'd thrown it. He had to credit her, for not going down without landing a final blow. He just wished it hadn't been to his own body.
The careers had easily won this fight, despite their losses. He looked around, as the last of the enemy tributes ran from the basin, tripping their way up the hill. He saw bodies littering the ground. From his count, five careers. One too many; Mayra was among the dead. He helped the surviving careers move the bodies off to the side so the hovercraft could take them. As they were airlifted out of the arena, one by one, Ruben was able to see who exactly had been lost. A boy and girl from One. The same from Two. Mayra. A boy and girl from Five. A boy from Eleven, and two boys and a girl from Twelve. He'd heard three cannons go off before the fight. Where was Ronan? He'd gone out hunting with Cunsen, but Ruben would love to have seen the latter be taken down.
They'd have to wait to see who had made it. The faces wouldn't be in the sky until tomorrow night, but from the cannons, he counted fourteen gone. The tributes hiding out in the outskirts of the arena would be terrified right now, not knowing what had happened. Good, they should be scared. They'll be next.
The Fallen
Alpha Wild, District One. Strangled by Lawson.
Bronze Nexton, District One. Double-teamed by Zane and Gustin.
Kai Wesley, District Two. Stabbed by Macen.
Luna Snyder, District Two. Slashed by Fiona.
Mayra Rienne, District Four. Skull cracked by Galvin.
Seairra Lightwater, District Five. Speared by Peter.
Gustin Waters, District Five. Stabbed by Cubic.
Aprila Mantra, District Eleven. Knife thrown by Cassio.
Tawny Hestion, District Eleven. Stabbed by Cassio.
Juniper Preen, district Eleven. Stabbed by Luxe.
Jasper Altone, District Eleven. Stabbed by Thalassa
Ula Leeky, District Twelve. Stabbed by Ruben.
Lawson Charion, District Twelve. Stabbed by Shine.
Parker Dust, District Twelve. Stabbed by Ruben.
So the reason I wet straight to night was because Day four was relatively uneventful. Here is your big fight. What do you think? The careers won this battle, but will they win the war? Please review! I meant to post this chapter yesterday but my internet was down due to a storm (Not Isaac). My wishes go to those braving that storm, though.
What do you think of the tributes that didn't make it? Were there any suprises? I'll update the 'Meet your Tributes' chapter in a few hours, because I have to bike 3.5 miles to my work to try and get out of a shift on sunday, FUN! hahaha
Again, please review, let me know what you think. Also, new poll on my profile.
- Sarah