Author's Note: I know I haven't really updated since about June. I still plan on finishing this story. I've been busy with a lot of school work (senior year is hard!) and writing my original novel. Both are a bit more important than this. But, never fear, this story will be finished!
Gabrielle Dictatrix – District 2
The Games have finally changed Sorren. For the better, in my opinion. He has all this rage now and this anger that makes him even more attractive. He's fierce. He's different. He's not the same guy who entered the arena a few days ago. God, I don't even know what day it is. The days are all a blur now. What day is it? Day seven? Day ten? Day fifteen? I suppose I'll find out how many days this Game is when I win.
Sorren leans against a tree, running a finger across the blade. He doesn't even wince when he cuts his finger. He clenches his jaw, but has a blank stare on his face. He's not even affected by the pain anymore. He stares at the blood dripping down his finger. The axe that killed his sister is close to him.
Every now and then, he'll look at it and scowl. He must be dreaming up different ways to kill that tribute from Seven. His rage is fueling him now. What fuels me is my competitive streak, love of killing, and pride. Conrad is driven by pride. The other tributes are driven by their desire to live, but they won't win this game. Conrad won't win this game. I'll let Sorren get his revenge, but even he won't win. After he kills the tributes from Seven, I'll strike. He'll be too busy to notice a knife enter the back of his skull.
Conrad sits down to cook the three, pitiful rabbits I caught. He is always bragging and boasting about stupid crap. I tune out more than half the time. He thinks he's all that, but whenever I actually take the time to listen to his shit, he's not that impressive. He brags about all the girls he's slept with or killing a large mammal back in District Two. He thinks he's the best. He's not. I am. I've been training since I could walk.
"Did I ever tell you the time I killed two birds with one javlin?" Conrad says, poking the fire. He turns the rabbits over so they can continue cooking. I roll my eyes so far I swear they saw the back of my skull.
Sorren lets out an exhausted sigh and closes his eyes, presumably to tune out Conrad's big mouth. I don't want to listen to Conrad. He tells the same story over and over again with different situations. It's like a writer who writes the same story with different characters. There's something that's impossible, Conrad goes to try and do whatever is supposed to be impossible, he accomplishes whatever was impossible. I don't care.
I'm stuck here with two morons as I study them. Sorren is a hot mess to be honest. He's on the verge of becoming a killer, but he's just so sad looking all the time. Conrad is a boastful, arrogant git who just needs to learn to shut up. He goes on and on and on. After we eat, I just want to kill tributes. There are still ten of us. Ten of us fighting for eternal glory. That girl from Five is still out there along with that freak from Twelve. He's my next target. I want him dead. He's getting in the way of my killing tributes. After we eat, I'll talk with Dumb and Dumber to formulate a plan to kill Ector.
Conrad just continues to talk and talk. He goes from one story to another. Finally, I can't take it anymore.
"Shut up, dumb ass," I snap. I glare at him, narrowing my eyes into slits. "Shut up. I've heard you talking for hours when we should have been hunting for tributes."
Conrad raises his eyebrows and stands up. He keeps a hand on his sheathed sword. I cross my hands over my chest. I shake my head so my red hair isn't in my face. I scowl at him as he smirks.
"Or what, Princess? You still need me to help you get some tributes. Like that kid from Twelve or the girl from Five who you cannot kill for some reason," Conrad says matter-of-factly.
"You just need to shut up. I'm sick of hearing your voice. Even Sorren is sick of your bullshit. I'm positive at least 99% of your stories are lies," I say. I glance at Sorren.
"Don't drag me into this," Sorren says quietly. He continues to stand by his tree, fiddling with his weapons. He has no interest in joining in on our bickering.
"Get off your high horse, Gabrielle," Conrad retorts. "You are so full of hit. Just relax. I want to kill tributes as much as you do, but if you haven't noticed, our party is dwindling."
"Because you all won't do your jobs!" I growl. I knit my eyebrows in frustration. "You haven't done anything this entire Game."
"That is not true. I killed that chunk of meat from Three," Conrad says loudly. His grip on his sword tightens.
"Because I gave that girl to you." I keep an eye on him. He may pull his sword on me. If he does, I'm ready. I'm ready to slice him up.
"I've had enough of this shit," Conrad says tersely. "I'm going for a walk." His hold on his sword loosens. He pushes past me, heading towards the woods. I frown when he purposely bumps into me. I've had it with him. I don't need him anymore. I have Sorren on my side and he is all I need.
I pull out my knife. With a flick of my wrist, the knife goes soaring. My lips curl into a cruel smile as it connects with its target. Conrad grunts and slowly slumps to his knees. He collapses on the ground, my silver knife protruding from his back. I walk over and yank my sword out of his back. A cannon goes off.
My gaze turns towards Sorren, who doesn't say a thing. He glimpses at Conrad's body. "What?" I say innocently with a little shrug. "He talked too much."
Lucien Ritsert – District 4
Nayeli is nothing like I imagined her. She's calm, surprisingly. I imagined she'd be one extreme or another. Really spastic or violent. Maybe even both. She's so different, unlike anyone I'd ever met. She's thoughtful and intense, calm and confident, like fire and ice. When she walks, she takes her steps carefully, not making a single sound. She raises her sword, prepared to fight anyone who stands in her way.
"Be quiet," she whispers harshly.
"I'm not making a single sound!" I retort.
"You're breathing too loudly," she says.
"I find this extremely ironic that I'm the fisher and I'm not leading this hunting trip," I say light-heartedly.
"Believe it or not, I hunted a little bit in my district. And I didn't fish. There aren't any fish here, so unless you can use your trident to take down a rabbit or something, be quiet."
"I may not be able to use my trident to kill a rabbit, but I can throw pretty accurately. Besides, Parrow's snares should catch something that isn't a mutt," I tell her. We carefully step towards a trap Parrow set up. According to Nayeli, Parrow was the hunter in her family back in District Ten. Nayeli glances at me and nods towards the trap which holds a large rabbit. I kill the rabbit and bring it back to Nayeli. "How about that? It worked," I say with a grin. "One trap down, only three more to check."
"Good work," Nayeli says flatly. She lowers her sword and pulls out a throwing knife.
"You check the other snare. I'll go this way," I say. I head off towards another trap that isn't too far away. Nayeli walks in the other direction, her boots barely making a sound on the dry ground.
The dwindling number of tributes makes me nervous. I can't think like the way I used to before the Games. I'm looking over my shoulder every minute. Sometimes my hands shake from anxiety, fearing a tribute is going to come and kill me. It's kill or be killed and that idea is becoming more and more prevalent each moment I'm with my new alliance. My mind creates all sorts of scenarios that could happen within the next few days. I wonder if I'll have to kill Parrow or Nayeli. I don't want to kill either of them. Only Ector. Although, I could settle with offing Gabrielle, Conrad, and Ector.
I don't know how long I've been standing there, just staring at the dead rabbit in the trap. The rabbit quivers and it looks at me with pure terror. I never even glanced at the first rabbit to see how it looked at me. Is this what people look like when they're about to die? Wide eyed, terrified, sad… These musings get the better of me and I cut the rabbit free. I have no problem with killing fish, but staring at a rabbit here…These games give you a whole new perspective on life, people, responsibilities, and death.
A cannon sounds in the distance. Crows caw and fly away from the dead trees. A girl screams bloody murder. In a split second, I'm sprinting towards the trap Nayeli is checking. We meet at the first snare. Nayeli is bounding towards me, holding a rabbit in her hand. She stares at me with wide eyes. I know exactly what she's thinking. Parrow.
We run to our campsite and find Parrow standing with her bow raised. Her jaw is clenched as she trains her arrow on us. We hold our hands up, breathing heavily. "Shit, Parrow, watch where you aim that," I breathe.
"Well, sorry, but this is the Hunger Games in case you missed the memo," Parrow shoots back. She lowers her bow and puts her arrow back into the quiver. "Oh, good, you brought back dinner."
"A cannon still went off," Nayeli points out. "And we don't know who it was who died."
"Did you want to move?" I ask her.
"The cannon sounded pretty far off and when I saw the hovercraft, it looked like it was on the other side of the arena," Parrow says. She takes the rabbits and begins the process of skinning them. "Did the second snare catch anything?"
I shake my head. "N—no. Nothing." Nayeli raises an eyebrow and puts on a strange look.
"We should come up with a plan of attack," Nayeli says quietly. We sit down next to each other as Parrow takes care of the rabbits. She knows more about hunting and cooking than Nayeli and I.
"What sort of plan?" Parrow glances up for a moment.
"I say we hang out here for a while and let the other tributes duke it out. I'm not particularly looking forward to fighting District Two tributes or Sorren," I say. As much as I want to kill Gabrielle and Conrad, I'd rather not engage in a fight with them. And Sorren with his newfound anger is a powerful motivator for fighting.
"What about when the feast comes?" Nayeli adds.
"We go to the feast, get our packs, and get the hell out," I say.
"The feast is usually a trap though. The Gamemakers use it to draw in tributes so they can die," says Parrow.
I shrug a little and nod. "You're right, but if it has something we need like water or first aid supplies, we should probably go. We can formulate a more complicated plan later on." Nayeli looks at me, smiling halfway. "Speaking of water, we should probably look for some." I get our canteens out of our packs, handing one to Nayeli. "Nayeli, we should go and look for some water." Parrow will continue to prepare and cook the rabbits.
Nayeli and I head away from the camp once more. I want to keep her close because I don't want to lose such a valuable ally. I glance at her and smile. She tries to avoid my gaze and pushes her hair back behind her ear.
"Tell me about yourself," I say softly. We don't speak too loudly in case other tributes are listening in or hoping to sneak up on us.
"Tell me about myself? Are you serious?" she says with a laugh.
"Yeah, tell me about yourself. I want to get to know my ally," I say.
"Alright," Nayeli says quietly. "I'm Nayeli Morte, District 5. I'm 15…I mean…16…" She pauses. I open my mouth to say something, but she begins speaking again. "I forgot about my birthday. These…these games got in the way." She laughs half-heartedly. "I've got a best friend back home. Felix. I have…had a brother who went to the Hunger Games. He didn't make it out. I have a younger sister. My family is great…I don't know why I volunteered though. Sure, I volunteered for that young girl so she wouldn't have to suffer…but I guess there just isn't much for me back home. I can't go back home. If I win, I'll be in a Victor's Mansion with my family and that's great…It's just that…I don't know. I'm not going to be the same person I once was. I just…we are all going to be so messed up. There's nothing left for me there."
That's when I see her for who she really is. Nayeli is a selfless and depressed girl who deeply misses her brother. She's still stuck in the stages of grief from losing her brother. Obviously, she loved him and looked up to him. Nayeli also wants to save others and never mind the fact that she's losing herself. I stop her from walking and gaze into her eyes. They're bright and seem to never end. They've seen more hardships than I have.
"My life is rather unimpressive as the mayor's son. I've got a sister and I constantly live in her shadow," I begin. "My father's always disappointed in me. I'm supposed to be the perfect son of the mayor. I thought I was the shit." I get a small laugh from Nayeli. "Seriously though. I didn't think the rules applied to me. Always rebelling and getting into trouble. Not thinking about the consequences." We continue walking in search of water. But being in these Games, I'm only now realizing that there are always rules under the Capitol. We're just pieces in their Games here."
Sage Freedan – District 6
Branches and twigs cut my fair skin. The cold burns my face. My legs and lungs ache. My arms are tired. I just want to go home. I don't want to be in this Game anymore. I don't want to be here. I just want my family and my home. I would give anything to be back home. I wish I was in my bed, warm and covered.
My skin stings as I slow to a stop. My heart is pounding in my chest and in my ears. It takes a few minutes for me to even catch my breath. Everyone in my alliance is gone. How can I possibly survive now? I don't have any weapons, food, water, or other supplies. I've got the clothes on my back. Nothing else.
There's eleven of us left. There was a cannon earlier, but I don't know who it could have been. That darkhaired girl from five? Maybe Wash? Or Dustin? Or Clara even? I doubt it's one of the Careers. Who would even think of going after the Careers? With the exception of Ector of course. Ector would have the audacity to attack them.
I slide down to the ground, leaning against a tree. I just need to rest for a little bit to recharge. My legs are like jelly. After sitting down, I don't think I'll ever get back up. I can't even think of going back home. I haven't killed anyone, but I'll always be scared. I'm paranoid that someone will stab me in the back. If I win, what if the Capitol comes for me. I can't think like this though….But is it even possible for me to win? I don't have any supplies or food or water. I have nothing.
The only way I can win is if I join another alliance. But people are going to be unwilling to form new alliances this far into the game. People will start turning on each other. At this stage, the Careers will turn on each other if they haven't already. The Careers have been cut down to three. Sorren has gone mad. The last string inside of him broke when his sister died.
I don't know what's happening with Nayeli, the girl who spared me in the Bloodbath, or to Wash, Dustin, or even Parrow. They have all gone their separate ways. And none of their faces have shown up in the sky.
Maxwell is dead. I saw his face in the sky last night. I've lost track of the days and nights now. Has it been five days? Seven? Ten? The days become a mash of events. Each days is a day away from home. I wish I could be home. I wish it so badly.
This arena is so different from all the other arenas in past games. I glance up at a crow with blood red eyes. It stares down at me and I bite my lip. Another one lands on the branch next to the first one. Then two more. And another. Soon, there were approximately fifteen birds. I slowly rise, pushing my hands off the ground. A couple of them caw loudly. A cannon booms and the crows get louder and louder. I take off running again. The birds begin to dive at me.
I scream as they start pecking at me. I swat them away, pushing them onto the ground and against trees. The trees start to crack and collapse around me. The crows screech and fly around me. I shriek and shield my eyes and face. I wince as a crow takes a chunk of my flesh. It stings and blood flows down my arms and legs as more and more crows start to eat me alive.
Soon, there's enough crows that prevent me from seeing what's directly in front of me. My skin is raw and bloody from all the crows nibbling on me. I cry out as I fall to the ground. I can't even tell if I was pushed or if I tripped. I curl up into a ball as the crows continue their attack.
Suddenly, the crows fly away one by one. I look down at my mutilated arms and legs. They hurt so much and I can't move them. I quickly scan my surroundings. I cringe when a maniacal laugh echoes throughout the trees. Everything hurts too much to move. Another laugh rings out and I have to force myself to stand.
As soon as I stand up, I'm knocked back down again by a strong force. Ector sneers at me. He holds a knife dripping with blood. His hair lies in a disheveled mess, his nose is crooked and bloody, and his face is dark with grime and dirt.
"Look at what we have here. It's Little Red," Ector hisses. He lightly drags the knife along my arm. He has me pinned down so I can't get up. One arm is held down and his knee is on my chest. I can't escape. There's no chance of escape. "Let's play doctor, shall we? I'll be the doctor and you can be the patient." He laughs loudly and I let out a blood curdling scream. He digs his knife into one of my crow wounds.
He slices through my skin and squirm underneath his weight. I can't do this. I can't do this anymore. Ector licks the blood off his knife. "I've always loved the coppery taste of blood. What about you, Little Red?" He raises an eyebrow, smirking. He cuts through my hands. "Let's see what the bones in your hands look like."
I scream again and again as Ector cuts me up like an animal. I'm his prey. Finally, I close my eyes. I can't feel my legs and I'm so cold. My lower lip trembles. I look up at the sky and begin humming a lullaby my mother sang to me when I was younger. My vision begins to get black around the edges. I feel so numb now. Nothing seems so bad anymore. Living is hard. Dying is easy. Death is like sleep, only more permanent. But then again, my mother used to say that that we will only be dead for a short amount of time. Later on, we'll wake up and live an eternity in a paradise. One day, death will die as well.
Parrow Hosira – District 10
Nayeli and Lucien are getting along rather well. I don't know what happened when they were hunting for water, but they seem to have really bonded. Nayeli is actually smiling, a genuine smile. Lucien seems different too.
I cook the rabbits we caught with a technique my mother taught me. The way I cooked it led to minimum smoke. Tributes shouldn't be attracted by it. They won't be hunting us down. As night falls, the tributes will hopefully be resting so they can hunt tomorrow. At least the Careers. As far as I know, Dustin, Wash, and Clara won't be hunting tributes. We won't be hunting tributes. We just want to survive. I can't imagine what's going to happen when it gets down to the final eight…final six…final three…and the final two. As much as I want to win and get back to my sister in time for her wedding, I'd rather not have to kill Nayeli or Lucien. They've both been so kind.
"Parrow, the rabbit was fantastic," Nayeli says with a small smile. She plays with one of her knives.
Lucien leans back and glances up at the dark sky. There aren't any stars, not even fake ones the Gamemakers make. I wonder if the arena is actually outside or if the force field around the arena prevents a real moon and stars from shining through. I wonder if all the arenas have skies like these.
"Good thing they were poisonous. You never know with those Gamemakers," Lucien says. "Where do you take a fish that's ill?"
"Oh, please don't," Nayeli says at him.
I roll my eyes. The District Four boy is still cracking jokes, despite being in this awful game. "Where?" I ask in a low voice.
"To the Doc-topus, of course!" Lucien laughs. I can't help but laugh a little. Lucien's reaction to his own joke is funnier than the actual joke.
"Do you think you could keep your jokes at bay?" Nayeli asks. She stares up at the sky.
Lucien and I start to laugh at her pun. She doesn't even realize it at first. It just makes us laugh even more. Finally, Nayeli understands the joke. We laugh together for a bit until we sober up. All three of us lay down for a while, only to look at the sky and nonexistent stars.
"Happy Birthday, Nayeli," Lucien says.
"Thanks," Nayeli replies.
I had no idea it was her birthday. I wish her a happy birthday. We fall silent as we observe the night sky. The anthem starts to play and the seal of Panem flashes. Two faces appear. Conrad from District Two and Sage from District Six. I wonder who got Conrad. Ector is still around, as well as Clara, Dustin, and Wash. Sage could have been killed by the Careers or Ector. The other three wouldn't have killed Sage. The seal appears again before dissolving into the dark sky. The only light we have is the sporadic moonlight shining down through the branches. The shadows look almost like black bones on the dry ground.
"My brother once told me I was good at poetry," Nayeli says. "He believed everyone was good at something. Parrow's good at hunting…Lucien, you have your jokes. My friend Felix is basically a god with a paintbrush. I disagree about the poetry thing."
"Do you think you could come up with a short poem for us?" I ask her.
"I couldn't do that…not on the spot," she answers.
"Well, you brought it up. I think it's only proper that you give us a poem," Lucien tells her. He continues to bug her until she finally gives in.
"This might be a little rusty and terrible," Nayeli says. She purses her lips in deep thought. It takes some time before she starts her poem.
"We're going somewhere away from here,
Where there's no hiding and no fear.
No stars burn in this night sky,
We're going where our immortal cannot die.
Somewhere where there is no pain,
Far away from this cruel game.
We're leaving and going far, far away,
The sun will rise another day."
Everything falls silent. All the creatures seem to stop making noise. Everyone sounds like they've stopped breathing for a while. The melancholy poem causes me to ache for home. We need to get through another night. I volunteer to have first watch.
A silver parachute falls towards Nayeli. She must have gotten a sponsor after reciting her moving poem. She opens it and finds a blanket. The air gets colder and colder each night. It's big enough for two. Lucien gives me his jacket to keep warm. He and Nayeli rest under the warmth of the blanket.
After a couple of hours, I wake up Lucien and he takes over. I cover up with the blanket, careful not to disturb the sleeping Nayeli. I sleep dreamlessly for what feels like only twenty minutes. Although I had to have been asleep longer than that since Lucien and Nayeli both took shifts to keep watch.
I'm woken up as Nayeli shakes my shoulders. She's removed the blanket and Lucien is cleaning up the campsite. "We've got to go," Nayeli says. "We've got to start moving. The Careers will be on the move."
It doesn't take long to clean up the campsite to make it look as if no one was ever there. We immediately start moving. We don't get far before the ground starts to shake. I fear it may be another earthquake. The ground starts to crack and I jump to dodge a fissure. A tree falls in front of me and I skid to a stop. Nayeli turns around and takes my hand.
"Come on! Who knows what the Gamemakers will do next!" she yells. Rocks crumble and fall into the cracks in the ground. Lucien pushes us forward and we begin to sprint faster. The tree roots start lifting from the ground. It's like they're walking. They groan as they creep towards us. The branches reach down, swiping at us. Faces seem to morph on the trunks.
"What the hell are those?!" I scream.
"Tree muttations," Lucien shouts.
"Run!" Nayeli cries out.
My legs and lungs start to tire as we run from the muttations. Nayeli and Lucien stop abruptly. I stand slightly behind them. They're looking up at a large tree. The largest tree in the woods. I stare down at where its roots should be. But they aren't roots. They're more like paws. When my eyes go back to study the tree, it looks more like a beast and less like a tree. I gasp as the branch swings down. It knocks me and Nayeli over to one side and Lucien falls to the other side. Nayeli scrambles to her feet and helps me up.
She shoves me forward. It's hard to run when you can't breathe and your legs are like wet noodles. Nayeli catches up with Lucien. The beast roars and charges at them. They dodge it and disappear into the woods. I suck it up and start sprinting to join them. I don't even see the beast hit me.
I go flying in the air and land on my back. I cough, trying to get air into my lungs. I gasp, having difficulty breathing. I roll onto my side, struggling to stand. The ground shakes. I look up and the beast is going the other way. I hear Nayeli and Lucien shouting and screaming. Trees and branches snap. The ground starts to crack underneath me. I crawl the other way to escape the crevasse. I glance back and see the beast being set on fire.
The beast goes down as the flames engulf it. I search for Nayeli and Lucien, but I can't find them. I limp through the woods, leaning on trees for support. There's a small ringing in my ears. My vision is starting to blur and I think I'm seeing double. I wipe the blood from my mouth. My nostrils are assaulted by smoke. It stings my nose and my lungs. I don't' know where the fire is or how fast it's spreading. I can only hope it's not coming towards me. I start coughing and collapse against a tree.
Dead:
Sapphire Princeps – D1
Conrad Avtlift – D2
Pietta Carmelle – D3
Maxwell Hoover Demonico – D3
Morgan Colliet – D4
Kage Hatenn – D5
Sage Freedan – D6
Tarragon Layland – D6
Corduroy Dowlas – D8
Rilly Jarson – D8
Gem Minx – D9
Trenton Cedar – D10
Maize Koranon – D11
Bailey Fera – D11
Larkspur Fisole – D12
Alive:
Sorren Princeps –D1
Gabrielle Dictatrix – D2
Lucien Ritsert – D4
Nayeli Morte – D5
Washington Hayner – D7
Clara Lignum – D7
Dustin Proelia – D9
Parrow Hosira – D10
Ector Cabot – D12
Author's Note: Tell me what you think of this chapter! :) Also, tell me what you'd like to see happen and who your favorite tributes are. I also want to know if your view of some of the tributes has changed at all. Sorry if Nayeli's poem is crappy by the way. I'm not a poet. O.O
And finally, some ending questions. What's going to happen to Wash? What's going on with Lucien and Nayeli? What do you think of Lucien and Nayeli's backstories? Is Parrow going to die? Why won't Ector just die? What will happen with Sorren and Gabrielle now that Conrad's dead? Who will be next to die? And...Who's excited for Catching Fire?
Until next time! (Which hopefully won't be too long!)
