IKE

The morning blurred together for Ike. He woke up in a daze and was so sleepy he forgot his headband. The only thing he could force down was a cup of coffee, and then he was picked up by the hovercraft that would take the tributes to the arena. His and the other's forearms were injected with tracking devices, and he saw the laguz being given a second and third injection—that would be their Transformation controllers, limiting their time in animal form, and their sense inhibitors. Leanne didn't make a sound on the first or second one but whimpered slightly at the third, briefly rubbing her arm when the needle had been pulled out, and for several minutes Ike could see her veins standing out, dark blue on her pale skin. He shivered a bit at the sight. Then the veins faded and bright, faintly glowing green numbers appeared on her right arm; 14: 00: 00. Her Transform time, which would be kept track of through those six glowing digits.

After a fairly short ride, they got to the arena—the windows were blacked out, so Ike couldn't see it—and the hovercraft landed; Ike went down the ladder and followed his directions through the catacombs beneath the arena to his destination; his Launch Room.

Lyn was already there. They didn't speak much, and she gave him the thin, hooded black jacket that was part of the outfit this year. The rest of it—a pale green shirt, cargo pants, belt and boots—he was already wearing. Then Lyn produced his old headband, clean and the edges partially fixed. "Where'd you get that?" Ike asked.

"Off the floor in the train." she replied. "Technically, it's your district token." She handed it to him, who promptly used it to tie his hair back. "It barely cleared the review board. Some thought it could be used as a weapon."

Inwardly, Ike smiled wryly. Like Zelgius thought.

"But eventually, they let it through." Lyn finished. "There, you're all set."

Distantly, Ike heard the countdown begin and knew it was time to go. He walked over and stood on the circular metal plate, then turned back to Lyn.

She smiled faintly. "I'm not allowed to bet, Ike, but if I could...my money would be on you."

He tried to smile, but he was too tense to really mean it. "Thank you."

They shook hands, one last time. "Good luck...boy of blue flames."

Then a glass cylinder was lowered around Ike, and the plate he was standing on began to rise. For maybe fifteen seconds he was in total darkness, and then he felt the metal plate pushing him out of the cylinder, into the open air. For a moment he was dazzled by the bright sunlight and then he was only conscious of the wind and a lot of stone.

Then Ike heard the legendary announcer, Kieran Fergus, as his dramatic voice boomed out all around him;

"Ladies and gentlemen, let the Two-Hundred and Twenty-Fourth Annual Hunger Games begin!"

ZELGIUS

Sixty seconds. That's how long we have to stand on our pedestals before the end of the final countdown releases us. Step off before then, and land mines blow your legs off. A minute to take in the ring of tributes equidistant from the Cornucopia, a giant golden horn shaped like a cone with a curved tail, the mouth of which is at least twenty feet high, spilling over with the things that will give us life. Food, containers of water, weapons, medicine, garments, fire starters. The value of the supplies decrease the farther they are from the horn.

We're on a flat, open stretch of ground. A plain of hard-packed dirt; no green in sight. Behind me is a cliff, dropping off to a field far below I can't quite make out. To my right lies a river, which leads down to the cliff behind me and drops off. To my left and ahead, stone, cliff and mountain as far as I can see...

I take in the tributes around me. Goddess bless Micaiah and Sothe, I don't know how they did it, but the only tribute between me and Kita is Ike. He's not even looking at the tributes, but appears to be studying the Cornucopia, possibly looking for weapons. I wonder what he's thinking—no beorc in their right mind would actually charge into the middle of the bloodbath, not with all the fully rested and Transformed laguz around. Any non-laguz who tried that strategy in the Games I have seen were usually the first to die.

Yet I follow his line of sight and I see he is focused on one thing in particular. Resting on a mound of blanket rolls is a steel blade, brand-new, but there are too many of these antsy and overeager Beast laguz hovering nearby. On Kita's other side is Volug, staring intensely at the Cornucopia, and on my other side is Sakira, grinning sadistically. They wouldn't hesitate to tear him to pieces.

I look at Ike again. He's still staring at the blade. Surely he doesn't think he could outrun Sakira, Volug, and Ashunera knows who else is close enough to take him out?

Now he's looking past the sword, though. I follow his sight again and see Leanne, flanked by the red dragon girl and the cat boy, looking a bit nervous. She clears her throat and she's clutching something tightly in her hands—a necklace, perhaps?

My mind wanders to the pin Ike gave me. It's on my shirt under my jacket, a reassuring presence as I turn back to Kita and get ready to run.

And not a moment too soon, as the final countdown begins;

Five.

Four.

Three.

Two.

One.

And then I'm deafened by the terrible roars, howls, and screeches of the laguz Transforming all around me, some already moving. Ike sprints straight towards the Cornucopia and I run for Kita, even as Volug howls in the thralls of his Transformation and she cautiously backs away.

IKE

The countdown had barely ended when Ike was flying across the hard ground, hearing the terrible sounds all around him. He trusted Zelgius to protect Kita and he was more focused on Leanne, who was almost directly across from him.

A dark brown blur shot past him and instinctively he rolled, but when he looked again he realized that Volug—for that was who it must be, the dark brown wolf before him—was more interested in another, more dangerous target; howling, he leaped onto a huge red lion and bit it savagely, causing it to roar in pain. Ike didn't pause but kept running, dodging around that battle and barely dodging as the two hawks barreled past him.

He sprinted straight past the Cornucopia, picking up an orange backpack as he went, and continued running. The mountain was ahead of him, probably his most likely chance of survival—and Leanne was near, too.

Ike barely had time to hear a sharp whistle before he instinctively ducked and a spear flew over his head. He glanced back and saw Vika, unShifted, balancing on the top of the Cornucopia with two other spears in hand. He'd seen her in training, and she almost never missed her targets. She wasn't even looking to see if she had hit him, and appeared to be studying the bloodbath below her, looking for targets. He thanked his good fortune; she was more intent on a red dragon that was breathing flames at a hawk than him.

He heard another whistle and looked for the source of it. Leanne was unShifted and hovering not far from him, her eyes intently searching for anyone close enough to attack her or Ike. He picked up the spear Vika had thrown, which had landed not far from him, and sprinted towards the heron girl.

She saw him coming and waved, then whistled a shrill note in alarm. Ike ducked and rolled, nearly dropping the spear, and heard an angry yowl. Coming to his feet, he saw the Tranformed cat girl(at least he thought it was the girl) land in a crouch in front of him. She ignored Leanne and spun on Ike, hissing at him. He circled her warily, holding the spear readily, but then jumped back as a light brown blur streaked out of the sky and crashed into the cat's side. She howled and tumbled sideways, blood splattering the ground as the hawk flew away, then got to her feet and pursued it with a vengeance, leaving Ike open to catch up with Leanne.

He was breathing heavily when he reached her, slightly winded. Before he could do anything, she grabbed his upper arm, pulling him upright, and chanted something in the ancient tongue. Energy suddenly surged through him and he found his breathing back to normal in just a few seconds. So that's what a galdr is, he thought briefly as he stood straighter.

"Run." Leanne said quickly, and when Ike glanced back at the Cornucopia—and several dead laguz already on the ground—he quickly agreed. She suddenly made a strange sound in the back of her throat, and he realized she was Shifting. Backing off for a moment, he slung the backpack over his shoulder and grabbed the nearest objects; a loaf of bread and a three-foot square of plastic. Looking at the Cornucopia again, he tried desperately to spot Zelgius and Kita, but they were nowhere to be seen.

A flood of color washed over Leanne and suddenly she was a heron, flying towards the cliffs. Ike sprinted after her as fast as he could, and when they reached the first cliff, he began to climb. She just flew up, and whenever he lost his breath she stopped to sing to him again. Hearing Leanne's galdrar come from a huge white bird was a little eerie.

He paused at the top of the first cliff, ignoring the sparse forest ahead, and looked back down again. From what he could tell, several of the laguz had Reverted and were hacking away at one another at the horn, though a raven was flying overhead—probably Vika, he thought. He still couldn't see Zelgius or Kita, but Leanne's insistent call pulled him away. He reminded himself that he had to take care of Leanne, too, and so as the heron Reverted and landed lightly on the ground, he caught her before she could stumble and helped her run into the sparse woods, until the other tributes were hidden from view.

ZELGIUS

I cannot keep track of how many have died. I haven't killed anyone myself but I saw the cat boy die in front of me. He was going for the same bedroll that I managed to grab but Sakira jumped him. I didn't see where she went after that; I was too busy running before she turned on me. That might sound cowardly, but it was the only option I had besides death.

As we fell back, I saw the red dragon boy burned by Kurth's breath attack and the hawk girl run through with one of Vika's spears. Skrimir tore the heron boy's wings off before he killed him.

I didn't let Kita look.

I saw Ike make it to Leanne, and them fleeing north to the cliffs. I suppose we should go that way, but when we ran we ended up at the river. Looking back at the bloodbath, I know this'll probably be the first place the Career pack will go.

Kita managed to grab a half-gallon bottle of water and a loaf of bread; I got a bedroll and a small pack with a knife, a sleeping bag, and another bottle. We fill up the bottles with water before running upstream, taking cover behind the stone formations that quickly begin to emerge around the river's edge.

We alternate between jogging and walking. I know I can go a long time, but Kita isn't strong enough. We need to find Leanne. That's another advantage of allying with a heron, I believe; according to Leanne, their galdrar can keep a weak person going for a lot longer than normal, something I know Kita will need in the days to come. I only hope that Leanne is still alive. And that she wasn't exaggerating.

The stone formations we're now surrounded by are soon joined by sparse vegetation, but most of the dry shrubs and rare berry plant near us are kinds I've never seen before. We see a rabbit or two, so at least there will be something for me and Ike to hunt.

I wonder what's going on in the Capitol right now. The opening of the Games is one of the heaviest days of betting, when the initial casualties come in. And I have the feeling there's more than one subject to bet on this year—even if it's unofficial, thanks to Micaiah's suggestion to come out publicly, I'm sure there will be betting on exactly which of the other tributes I entertain romantic feelings for.

Whether or not that tribute is dead or alive.

It's late afternoon when we begin to hear the cannons. Each shot represents a dead tribute. The fighting must have finally stopped at the Cornucopia; they never collect the bodies until the killers have dispersed. I allow myself and Kita to pause, make sure to keep my face expressionless, and I count the shots.

One...two...three...on and on until they reach ten. Only ten? Last year fourteen died on the first day, four others wounded. Usually at least half die in the bloodbath. I wonder if this is an all-time low.

Ten dead. Fourteen left to play.

IKE

Ike didn't allow himself and Leanne to rest until they heard the cannons. He slumped down next to his pack, exhausted, and the heron leaned against a tree, wheezing from lack of air and probably a hoarse throat from all the galdrar.

The blue-haired teen went carefully through the pack, examining the contents, and Leanne knelt down next to him. "Any water?" she asked breathlessly.

Ike pulled out an empty water bottle from the pack and sighed, shaking his head. "How hard would it have been to fill this thing?" he asked aloud.

She groaned and slumped back against the tree, resting her head in her hands. Her feathers tickled Ike's nose slightly and he resisted the urge to sneeze.

He sighed again and got to his feet. "We can't stop yet. We should keep going."

Leanne moaned and forced herself to her feet. "Any food in there?"
"Yes, but we should save it... I'll get us something later."

She checked her arm for a moment. The time read 13: 02: 55. She'd been transformed for fifty-seven minutes and five seconds—probably a record low for a laguz in the Games to use on the first day.

In another hour, he finally decided to make camp. He picked the cave carefully; a small one, not terribly large but set within a good deal of stone and vegetation, offering more-than-decent concealment. He let Leanne in first and then climbed in, setting a few leafy branches across the entrance. He gave the sleeping bag to the girl and helped her arrange it comfortably in the tight enclosure. He claimed the backpack as a pillow, then pulled on his hood. The night was cooling quickly, and now he wished that he'd thought to grab a second sleeping bag. Too late now, I guess.

Night had just fallen when Ike heard the anthem that preceded the death recap. He quickly moved to the entrance with Leanne. Through the branches they could see the seal of the Capitol, up in the sky. Ike took a deep breath as the faces of the ten dead tributes began and counted them in his head.

The first one was the girl from District 3. So both tributes from 1 and 2 had survived; no surprise there. The boy from 4—that was a surprise; usually all the Careers made it through the first day. Then the boy from 5. The girl from 6...Volug must've made it. The boy from 7, both from 8 and 9. And finally, the boy from 10. That was it. The Capitol seal came back briefly, and then there was just darkness again.

Well... so my entire team made it through the first day, Ike thought. Me, Zelgius, Kita, and Leanne. And almost all the Careers, nothing new there... Other than that, there's... the boy from 3, the girl from 5, Volug, the girl from 10... and Mia.

Mia. She's survived. I wonder if that's a good thing...? He decided to debate this in the morning and settled down to sleep. It was deathly cold. but he just bit his tongue and didn't complain.

GAMES HEADQUARTERS

In the Games Headquarters cafeteria, late that same night, Shinon was slumped next to a drink after a long several hours of attempting to sign up sponsors. So far, he and Aimee had done pretty good, but he figured there was only so much talking to the "Capitol Human rich sponsor-types" he could take.

He'd been drinking a bit too much, though, so when Micaiah Deyan from District 12 sat down next to him he barely noticed.

"How's it going?" she asked quietly.

He sighed and rested his elbows on the table with his face in his hands; "Same as always. What'dya expect?"

She shrugged and gently took the drink away from him. He didn't resist, knowing it would be useless against her. "How are your tributes doing?"

"Sleeping n' walkin' in the woods at night. Nothin' new. Yours?"

"They're both asleep." She paused and glanced over at another table in the cafeteria, where Sothe, Aimee, and several other escorts were whispering. From what she'd learned from Sothe, they were probably discussing their bets on the two most popular subjects of the day. "What do you think of Zelgius'...?"

"What 'bout him?" Shinon asked blankly.

She paused, then nodded. "Right. You never watch the interviews."

"You think I would, when they're using—"

Micaiah shook her head quickly, laying a hand on his arm to calm him. "No. Look... in his interview, Zelgius confessed to having fallen in love with one of the tributes, though he didn't say which, and specifically did not use female pronouns, which everyone noticed. And apparently, it's one of the more popular tributes, too."

Shinon blinked, then snorted. "They bought that?"

"We sold that." she replied. "It's become the second hottest betting subject amongst the Capitol citizens, I believe. 'Which tribute's going to win?' and after that 'Who is Zelgius Kadohl secretly in love with?' All unofficial, of course."

"Hmm. How many sponsors have you gotten for that, now?"

She tapped her finger against her lips and smiled. "District secret, I'm afraid."

He snorted again. "Fine."

From the other table, they heard one of the female escorts—a fairly ditzy young woman, District 8's escort—say, rather loudly; "Actually, I was almost too distracted by Oscar Osûka to pay attention to the interviews! Isn't he soo hot?"

Shinon abruptly stood up and walked out of the room, slamming the door loudly behind him and drawing a few startled looks. Micaiah leaned back in her chair and sighed. Poor Shinon, she lamented silently. Always haunted...

ZELGIUS

Me and Kita rest together in a hollow of a large formation, nestled behind a boulder. The night is so cold, even our shared body heat isn't enough to keep us warm. I can bear extreme cold, but Kita's not strong enough; the sleeping bags are lifesavers for her, I'm sure. She's asleep now, but I still have insomnia.

At around midnight on the first day, after they've shown the death recap—I only managed to see enough to ensure that Ike and Leanne are still alive—I hear footsteps and tramping through the stones. I quietly cover Kita's mouth to ensure she does not cry out accidentally, though I know it's unlikely as she is a very quiet sleeper, and silence my breathing as best I can. A moment later, I see someone limping through the forest, barely twenty feet from us.

It's the girl from 10. She's injured—her leg is wrapped in a dirty bandage, which she must have gotten from the Cornucopia. She breathes heavily and looks around for enemies.

If this was in the wilderness, outside of the Games, she probably would have smelled me and Kita by now. But as part of the "equalizer" that was added into the laguz tributes along with the tracker, the same equalizer that limits their Transformations, their senses have been dulled to just above an average beorc's. And thank the Goddess for that, because I'm in no position to defend myself if she abruptly Shifted and used a Breath attack on us.

She pauses briefly, sitting on a stone to check her bandage. She's got several nasty fang wounds down her calf. It looks infected. I briefly feel sorry for her, but then shove my feelings aside by reminding myself that if our positions were reversed, she wouldn't hesitate to kill me.

There's a wolf howl, maybe a mile off from us. She panics, wraps her leg up again and hurries off into the darkness. I wait until I'm sure she's out of earshot, then remove my hand from Kita's mouth and breathe a little easier.

Of course, that howl meant that Volug is somewhere nearby. And probably Transformed. I know we should leave, find a better hiding spot, but Kita needs to rest if she's going to continue, so I quietly get my knife instead and promise myself to stay up all night, if need be. Anything to protect her.