Thank you to the readers who submitted awesome reviews (:
Amanda: Thank you! I am not promising you that I will conquer that, but I'll give it a try. Thanks again!
Iceland321: Thank you for mentioning that. I forgot to clarify that with my readers.
The reader above submitted a review saying that in chapter 10, I mentioned Finnick Odair. Finnick Odair won the 65th Hunger Games, and Amethine is competing in the 61st. I want to clarify that I made Finnick the victor of the 58th Hunger Games. I'm going to have someone else with the 65th Hunger Games, which will be revealed in future chapters. Also, I might have a poll on my profile regarding this story. When it's posted, I'll let you know.
I am grateful with the hairstyle Priney has chosen, because it is hot. The heat is responsible for my awakening. My face is sweating, and the gray jacket isn't helping me at all so I take it off. It's probably really early in the morning, judging by the color of the light outside the tent. I leave my jacket in the tent and climb out. Everyone is still sleeping. Their eyes closed, body engulfed in a sleeping bag. I wonder how they handle the heat in those things. I slept in a sleeping bag in a tent and when I woke up it felt like I just took a shower, because of the sweat.
The climate might be a pattern. Hot days, cold nights. The Gamemakers might even have some fun and switch things around making it cold days and hot nights. If it's going to be like this, then we need to look for a water source as soon as possible. Some flasks in the Cornucopia are already filled, but it won't last forever. I carefully walk past the others, and get a big pot and spoon from the bag of cooking utensils. I take three cans of cranberry oatmeal. I need fire. I was taught that the easiest way to make a fire was rubbing two Caplemaine stones together at the right speed. Caplemaine stones are gray, stones that look like pebbles and are the size of a tennis ball.
I won't find any around here. There's nothing but grass and the mutt infested waters down south. I take my spears from the tent and walk over to the forest near the barns. I walk quickly, because the others might get worried about my disappearance, except for Vinera. Ten more minutes go by, and I arrive at the thick forest. I take a spear out from the sheath, and take cautious steps. My eyes search the ground for the stones, and check the land around me, for other tributes.
I find one near the entry of the forest and another one far ahead. Once I got them, I jog out. When I'm out of the forest, I break into a run, not because of a tribute, but because of my stomach complaining about how it's empty. I pant heavily when I reach the Cornucopia. I set my spears down and arrange the firewood that Gary collected. I rub the two stones together, not too fast, but not too slow. Just at the right pace. After two minutes, a little flame starts on one of the stones. I quickly toss it in the firewood, and the fire spreads. I set the pot holder over the wood and the pot on top.
I open up the cans of oatmeal and spill them into the big pot. I stir it around for about three minutes, then transfer some into seven bowls. I kill the fire, because it looks like we'll feel hot enough from the temperature.
"You're up early," says Gary rubbing his eyes.
"Blame it on this sucky heat," I say.
"I made breakfast. Help yourself." I nod over at one of the bowl that I have prepared.
His eyes flash with delight and he immediately walks over to the bowl, picks it up, and shoves the food in his mouth. I finish my food, and put my used bowl on top of the black crate containing the canned goods. That's another reason why we should look for water- to wash our utensils. It's disgusting to think about using a bowl that hasn't been washed. Maybe while we hunt for tributes we can hunt for water as well. Vinera wakes up next, and she grabs her bowl of oatmeal silently. I take a drink from my flask while Gary gets a second serving and Vinera scoops up some oatmeal.
"Tastes pretty good," says Vinera. I just nod a thank you.
That's probably the only nice thing she's said to me, next to the 'thanks' she said when I patched her bleeding finger up.
"Good morning everyone," Caiden says as he stretches his arms. He and Vinera exchange, what I judge to be a flirty smile. He winks at me, and I roll my eyes earning a laugh from him. He just loves to annoy me. I swear one of these days in the arena, I will end up killing him if he annoys me to the point where my spear goes flying through the air and straight into him. I am not joking. The audience will probably love that and how it turned from a joke to a life being lost.
"Did you make it, golden goddess?" he asks examining the food in the bowl.
"Yes, and one more time you call me golden goddess, I will take that bowl of oatmeal and spill it on your stupid head," I snap.
"Sorry, I was just asking." he says. He scoops up some oatmeal and puts it in his mouth. "It's good, but too lumpy." he says.
"If you don't like it, why don't prepare our breakfast from now on?" I ask.
He nods. "Fine, but trust me, my food will be better than yours." he challenges. I just shake my head. "Whatever you say, you blundering idiot." I mutter, but not too low enough.
"That was mean. You know, I call you by a good nickname, the least you can do is give me a NICE one." he emphasizes the word 'nice' just as Sebastian wakes up, nods curtly at me and eats his oatmeal.
"This is the Hunger Games, does it look like we have time to sit around and come up with nonsense nicknames for each other?" I ask. This shuts him up and he goes back to eating his oatmeal.
"Mornin' Marina," Gary greets. Marina pushes a strand of brown hair away from her eyes and smiles at him. "Morning," she replies in a low voice. She sits down and grabs a bowl of oatmeal. I sit on the grass, and wait patiently for them to finish their food so we can go and hunt.
"But we still have water," says Evan.
"I know, but it won't last for a whole eternity," I say back. Evan nods in agreement and Caiden chuckles at his stupidity. I shoot him a glare that says 'I'm not in the mood for any of your bullshit, so do not piss me off.'
"Will we take breaks?" Marina asks shyly. I nod. "Ofcourse, we're not superhumans. We have to rest."
"When are leaving?" asks Gary. "In ten minutes. That's enough time for you guys to go and arm yourselves, bring your flasks, some food, and other necessary equipment." I tell them.
"Who made you the leader?" asks Caiden with a serious expression. I bet the idea of a girl being the leader of the career pack brings shame upon him.
"Noone, but I bet you most of the people here would rather have me be the leader. I'm not being cocky. I'm just being honest." I say nonchalantly.
"Well, let's see. All in favor of Amethine being the leader, raise your hand." he tells the others. Evan, Sebastian, Marina, and Gary put their hands up. I smirk at Caiden.
"I assume Vinera isn't voting for me, but majority rules." I say. Caiden and Vinera glare at me, but it doesn't faze me at all. Their stares cause my lips to twitch into a grin.
"Go get your things." I say, and everyone goes to get their stuff.
I get my sheath and pack. I haven't ate the beef that's inside, and it'll probably get spoiled in this heat, so I might eat it on a break from hunting. I remember to get a flashlight, in case we stay out until evening. Who will guard the supplies? I don't think Gary and Marina find it fun to miss out on hunting, so we should find a way to protect the supplies.
"We need to find a way to guard the supplies without having someone stay back." I speak my thoughts.
Evan nods. "Maybe we can set up a trap." Sebastian suggests. I consider this and nod. "That's a good idea,"
"What kind of trap?" asks Marina. "Anything will do. I think we should make more than one, in case a whole alliance sneaks in here." I say. Everyone concurs.
We spend about thirty minutes setting everything up until it all comes together. We had set up three nooses. The nooses are positioned at the mouth of the Cornucopia, inside the Cornucopia, and on the corner of the right side of the mouth.
"Looks good," says Caiden. "Yep," Vinera agrees with him.
"Everyone ready?" I ask. Everyone says yes.
I attach my spears to the back of my pack and slip my arms through the straps. I hold onto both straps and walk ahead of the others, leading them to the direction of the barns.
"I can't believe it takes so long to walk from the Cornucopia to here," Marina grumbles.
"It's the weather that makes it seem as if we walked for a thousand miles," Evan says.
"True," I say.
The door to the barn we went in last night is the still the same as we left it. The hole from Vinera's axe is still there. I get a spear out, Evan takes his sword out from its sheath, Marina loads her bow, Vinera gets her axe ready, Gary loads his slingshot, Sebastian lifts his trident, and Caiden puts the shuriken stars in between his fingers, like last night when we were hunting.
"Last night, Vinera and Caiden decided to not listen to me and went inside the barn. Not even ten minutes went by, and a mutt attacked Vinera," I tell Marina and Gary.
I see Marina tense up a bit. Gary's face is expressionless, Vinera takes a glance at the door to the barn, Evan is determined to go in, and Caiden is prepared to face whatever is inside. To prevent the event that happened last night from happening again, I came up with something.
"Me, Caiden, Evan, and Sebastian are going to go in first. We're going to scope the place and let you guys know when to come in." I tell them. I chose the boys, because I know they'll act quickly when they see a mutt. To my surprise, no one protests.
I lead and Sebastian takes the end. I scan the area out, taking quiet steps. I have never been inside a barn, the only reason I know what it is, is because we discussed it in school. My teacher told me that the farmers in district 10 keep their cows in a barn, if they can afford it. The barn is very spacey. There is hay everywhere. There are five stables lined up at the way back. The boys follow me, taking cautious steps as well. There are stairs that lead to some kind of balcony that overlooks the bottom of the whole building.
"It's clear," I tell the boys. The Gamemakers must have taken the mutt's body after Caiden killed it.
Sebastian walks back to the door and tells the others that it's safe to come in. In a few minutes, everyone steps in. They all take a look around.
"Take a five minute break, then we go hunt for tributes and water." I let them know.
"Shhh," I tell the others. I turn my head and face my right ear north, listening for any running water.
"We've been looking for an hour now, where could the others possibly be hiding?" Marina complains.
"Be patient Ina, we'll find them," Sebastian tells her. She smiles at him.
We walk through the forest and come across a stream. A stream! We found water. Without speaking, everyone takes their flasks out and fill it up. Vinera quickly puts the flask to her mouth.
"Purify it first, Vinera. You don't know what's been in here." Caiden warns her. "Same goes to all of you," he tells us.
I fill my flask up and put two purification tablets inside. The purification tablets pack says to wait for five minutes until the tablet dissolves. I sit on the ground, waiting for the five minutes to be over so I can drink. When it's passed five minutes, I drink from my flask and fill it up again. I drop the tablets in and put the flask in my pack. The others put theirs away too and we get our packs back on.
We continue looking for someone to kill. Sebastian motions for us to be quiet. "I think I heard something," he whispers. I listen closely to see if he's right. He is, there's some kind of rustling, like two leaves swaying in the wind and hitting each other.
"It might just be an animal," Vinera says dismissively. Sebastian shakes his head. "No, it's not."
We walk closer to the sound, and stop in between two oak trees with some bushes nearby. One of the bushes is really moving, like there's someone inside shaking the branches. Like there's something or someone inside. I look at Sebastian, and he knows what I'm trying to say. I shove my foot into the bush and feel something. I kick it again and something squeaks. It's a mouse. Or no, it's bigger than a mouse. It's like the size of a can.
"Wow, golden goddess, you just hurt a rodent." Caiden says. I punch his arm. He scowls at me. "Now I had just hurt a rodent," I tell him.
He looks away sheepishly. "You know, I wonder how it would taste like," says Gary.
Everyone looks at him. "Which, this mouse?" Evan asks pointing at the mouse which seems paralyzed. Gary nods.
"I guess fresh game won't hurt," Vinera shrugs. "You guys want this for dinner?" I ask. They nod. I grab my spear and stab the mouse and pick it up.
"Mouse it is, then."
"Guys, look!" Marina tells us. She's pointing at the sky. I follow her finger and see smoke.
They start moving in that direction, but my voice stops them. "It could be a trap."
"How? I don't think there are other alliances besides this one." says Evan.
"Fine, but we need to be careful when we go there."
I hide behind a big tree, and nod over at Sebastian. He ducks behind a tree and we watch Electra, the girl from district 3 sitting down and roasting a rabbit. She has caught two rabbits, and even has a canteen filled with water. She doesn't seem to care about being caught.
"Hello Electra," I say in a fake friendly tone.
She scoots back. Sebastian, Marina, Evan, Gary, Vinera, and Caiden come up behind me.
"She's all yours, Evan." I say.
He nods and walks over to Electra. She scoots back frantically, doing everything she can to escape Evan.
"D-d-don't kill m-me please," she stammers.
Evan smirks and presses the tip of his blade on her neck, causing blood to trickle down. Tears fall from Electra's eyes, traveling downwards to her neck, mixing with the blood. She keeps moving back and Evan follows her. Then I see it. Her hands firmly planted on the ground, knees up in front of her. She gets up and runs, but falls on her stomach when my spear goes through her right leg. She screams in pain as Evan approaches her.
He makes a cut starting for her left knee, down to her boots. He makes his sword pierce the leather of her boots and into the flesh under. Electra won't quit screaming. I smile with delight as the blood comes out of the wound. Evan makes a gash on her forehead. Five minutes pass, and Electra is covered in blood. Evan decides to finish her and stabs her in the heart. Electra's canon fires, signaling the first death of the second day. Evan pulls the spear out of her feet and hands it to me.
I let out a whoop, and so do the others. We congratulate Evan on his kill and continue on our walk through the forest. We don't find anyone else, so we decide to walk back to camp. When we get back, we find out that one of the nooses have triggered, but no one is dangling from their feet, which means someone escaped.
There you go (: What do you think? Let me know!
Deaths:
Day 2
Electra from district 3
Please don't get mad about there being only one death on the second day. I'm trying not to rush things, because I really have some Gamemaker storms planned out. Amethine is the leader of the Career pack, how do you feel about that? I also hope you guys enjoyed seeing Evan's bloodthirsty side. Please leave a review! (: