Cubic Zirconia, D1
"Did you hear that?" Cubic was on her feet in an instant, sword in hand. Luxe lifted his head, groggily from his place in the grass. "You fell asleep? Luxe, you were supposed to be keeping watch. A cannon just went off."
"Sorry. I must be more tired than I thought."
"Yeah. You had a rough day. I'm sorry about earlier." She remembered back to that morning, where they'd discovered that who they had thought was Luxe's little sister, Coral, was actually a mutt. A trick. Cubic had killled her when the girl attacked in no way someone that young should have been able to. Luxe was unreachable for most of the day. Cubic had only been able to get through to him again at dinner, when she had to forcibly put the food in his mouth.
She wondered. Did all of the tributes have a mutt designed for them? She hadn't seen hers yet.
"Do you know who's cannon it was?" asked Luxe, climbing to his feet as he finished gathering his stuff. They were moving base for the day.
"No, but we'll see their faces later on tonight.
Peter Cooper, D2
"This…this can't be real. You're here. You're actually here!" Peter had his arms wrapped around Colin, holding him close. He'd been afraid when he first saw him in the arena. He wasn't a tribute. It wasn't his time to be here, but now that he'd accepted that this was happening, he was just glad that it was Colin.
"I'm here. You can't get rid of me that easily."
"And now that you're here, we can win together. And you won't have to volunteer for the games next year now." He knew what he was saying was going out on a limb, but Peter was hoping that experiencing the arena would steer Colin away from it next year. Once Peter was crowned the winner, Colin would be able to live in the Village with him, as they were together.
"Nonsense," laughed Colin. Peter laughed, too, but truthfully, he was disappointed.
"Whatever happened to the others? Paxton, and Elle?" The question caught Peter off guard.
"I didn't know you knew her name. I was here for a week and a half before I knew her name."
"Hearing it on the television almost everyday will force anyone's name into your memory."
"Well know this. Those two are a top priority target. They're traitors to our district, and they need to be taken care of."
"That, I can do," smiled Colin.
Mykal Duncan, D7
"How? How did you get here?" asked Mykal. She wasn't sure if she was more excited or terrified to see her brother. She was ecstatic to see him, but this wasn't the way she'd expected their reunion.
"The officials. They took me right after the interviews. I blacked out, next thing I knew I was here." She looked Caden over. He didn't look roughed up at all, so at least they had been gentle with him. In fact, he looked near perfect. His hair was neatly cropped, and his face was clear and clean, as were his clothes. Had they gone through this just to dump him here in the arena? Then she saw what he was carrying.
"What's in the bag?" Mykal asked, pointing to his backpack, which hung halfway open.
"Berries, and roots. Just stuff I found while wandering around. I thought it'd be a nice surprise. He knelt down and dumped his stash on the forest floor. Mykal crouched down to examine what he'd found. She picked out the berries she was unsure of; Caden had good knowledge of plants, but Mykal didn't trust the gamemakers. She also tossed the nuts, which was when Caden piped in.
"Um, I know for a fact that those were edible, and I worked hard for them. Why did you just throw them away?" Mykal looked up, confused.
"Um, because you're allergic to tree nuts, remember?" Caden was looking at her as if he didn't remember. He'd almost died from an allergic reaction before.
"Right, sorry," he laughed, shaking his head. "You could still have them, though."
"Uh-huh…." Mykal was a bit weirded out by his behavior. Caden had always been a very predictable person, at least to her. Maybe it was just that whole 'twin thing', but she'd always been able to tell Caden's next move, or what he was feeling or thinking about. Something was different, now.
Cubic Zirconia, D1
Cubic climbed onto the branch with Luxe, ready for a good sleep. It was almost dark, which meant they'd be showing the face of the tribute who'd died today. Luxe handed her a piece of dried beef from his pack, and she pulled on her jacket for the night.
The anthem sounded, which drew Cubic's eye's to the sky immediately. She wasn't sure whether or not she wanted to see Cassio's face. They'd ditched him in the woods; he wasn't part of their alliance. At the same time, though, she wanted One to stay strong, and keep its tributes alive in the race.
Just as the anthem sounded, the face materialized on the screen in the sky. Cubic froze. It wasn't Cassio, but it was worse. It was Luxe's face she was staring at. That had been his cannon that had woken her up earlier today.
But…but that was impossible, because Luxe was sitting here beside her, alive and healthy. The gamemakers must have made a mistake. But the face was still showing, meaning they'd had enough time to correct their error, but didn't. Luxe couldn't be dead. He was right here, holding her to him. Actually, he was holding her arms a bit too tightly. She turned to face him, but it wasn't his face that she met.
Well, it was his face, but those weren't his eyes. His bright blue eyes were now a fierce yellow, almost animalistic. He grinned evilly at her.
"You're not Luxe."
"Took you long enough to figure out." He growled, voice and teeth different as well. This was a mutt. She knew she was going to die soon if she didn't act fast, and she swung her leg up to the fake Luxe's face.
The Fallen
Luxe Cressa, District One. Killed by Mutts.
Sorry for not updating sooner, guys. Work's been hectic with the holiday rush. Anyway, here's the chapter. Read, review, enjoy. One more tribute down. Fourteen left alive. We're getting closer and closer to the finale. Also, because I missed it when it actually happened, this story's over 6months in the making! WooHoo!
So, please review. What do you think of the twist with the mutts in this chapter?
There's a new poll on my profile, check it out and vote, please.