The Games We Played
Welcome to chapter 6. In this chapter, you will learn about the arena. But from the mentor's pov's. I want to apologize now as this is a shorter chapter than my last 3.
Rolyn: I almost didn't add the last part with Gale but he is Peeta's best friend and I wanted to show that. My original ending had Cato on the roof before Gale came out. I also had an alternate ending in which Finnick went up to the roof hoping to see Peeta and running into Cato instead. But I didn't like where it would take Cato and the way he was with Peeta. I hope this chapter explains the arena well. I have it all drawn up, but hope my descriptions do it justice.
MangoMagic: I find myself looking forward to your reviews. They help me immensely. The whole Cato/Gale interaction almost wasn't. At first it was just going to end with Cato alone on the roof. Then I thought to have Finnick go up and pick a fight with Cato. But I realized Gale had talked to Peeta and it went from there. Oh, in chapter 7 we will learn a secret from Peeta's past as well as a possible Cato/Peeta reunion…
johandasu: I don't think anyone has ever used 'awesome' to describe a chapter I've written before. And to say it's a favorite really made my day! As for how long it will be, I can't really say. I have 13 chapters outlined right now but I know that there is more than that. Due to helping my brother out by babysitting while my mother recovered from knee surgery, I haven't had a chance to flesh out more. Tuesday is the last day I will have my 4 year old nephew. If I can get to 20 chapters, I think I'd be very happy.
lincolnlog89: Gale meeting Cato was a shock to me too lol! I was just going to leave Cato alone, and then I had Finnick going up, finding Cato, and fighting. But it hit me how much better it would be to have my Gale go up. My original idea didn't have a Cato POV. I'm glad it has been so well liked As for the whole 'It smells of my victory', even tough guys can have a sense of humor.
Chapter 6 – The Arena
Haymitch stepped through the sliding glass door into the mentor room. He just took his six tributes to the hovercraft that would take them to the arena. He really wanted a drink. He had done really well since the night before the reaping when he promised the kids he wouldn't touch a drop until after the reaping. Since that day, he's had maybe a drink or two a day. As soon as all of them were taken to be in the games, he made the decision to stay sober enough to help get them out of the arena and deliver them to District 13.
He walks over to the cubicle designated for district 12 and sat down. He looks at the new console and notices that the two screens from last year had been removed and six new ones are there, one for each tribute. He begins turning them on. Effie joins him and turns on the large jumbo screen on the wall behind the console. Neither speaks as they turn on the equipment to send parachutes and the computer that tracks the sponsor donations. As he leans back in his chair, he hears Effie say "Oh shit!" He's never heard her cuss. He looks over at her to see her looking up at the jumbo screen. He looks up and repeats what she just said. He knew the arena was going to be much larger than in the past, but what he sees is gigantic and downright scary. Behind him, he can hear other mentors commenting on the arena. They're just as shocked as he and Effie.
In the center of the arena is the cornucopia. The cornucopia was sitting on a small island in the center of a lake. There were 4 bridges going from the edge of the lake to the cornucopia's island. Two run north and south and two run east to west. They appear to be made of steel - steel planks and steel cables. Each bridge is about 110 meters long. The beach that circles the lake is 60 meters deep. There is a jungle that is half a mile wide going around the beach. But it's what's behind the jungle that shocks the mentors the most. There are 12 different types of 'zones'. Each one is different and is about 2 miles long. The 12 zones are:
A Mountain Range
Winter Tundra
A Ruined 21st Century City
Rain Forest
Underground Caves and Tunnels
An African Savannah
Volcanos
Desert
Pine Forest
A Brick Maze
Australian Outback
Marshy Swamp
Beyond the zones is another jungle that is half a mile wide that is surrounded by another beach that is 60 meters wide. Located about a quarter mile away from the beach are the tops of the 72 tubes that will be where the tributes will come up.
Brutus calls all the mentors over to the center of the room. "We should take a closer look at each zone to get a better idea of what our kids are up against."
"Since there are 12 zones, I say each district takes a zone and share what we discover," says Gloss. Cash and I will start with the mountain range. We can go clockwise around with Haymitch and Effie doing the marshy swamp."
"That sounds fair enough." Finnick replies. "The games start in about 30 minutes. We'll meet back here in about 10 minutes. Will that be enough time for everyone?"
All the mentors agree and go to their stations to check out each zone. Ten minutes later the mentors meet up again. Gloss and Cashmere begin their observations.
"We had the mountain range zone. That is pretty self-explanatory." Cashmere begins.
"The mountains looked rocky. There were some animals walking around, rams and mountain goats if my memory serves me correctly." Gloss adds. "Whichever tributes go through this zone will need to be careful of rock slides."
"And have good climbing skills" Cashmere adds, hoping that Glimmer and Marvel are nowhere near this zone.
"Eno and I checked out zone two. It's a winter tundra, flat and snow covered." Brutus says.
"I saw some animals – polar bears, arctic foxes, and caribou as well as some vegetation – arctic moss, rock willow, and labrador tea bushes. The tributes should be able to eat if the can start a fire." Enobaria says.
"Wiress and I had the run down 21st century city. Could be pretty safe if a tribute pays attention to their surroundings. Lots of building that looked about ready to fall over. There were some vehicles but they all looked burned out, so no help there." Beetee says thinking. "There also looked like a tube opening in the center of the city."
"Bicycles. Ride." Wiress contributes.
"Mags and I had the tropical rain forest. The kids will need to be careful though. We saw Bengal tigers, king cobras, and vampire bats." Finnick tells the group. "Lots of vegetation too. Should be a good zone to be in for the most part."
"We had the fifth zone. It was a cave system. A lot of dead ends, no plants, and some really nasty looking bats." One of the District 5 mentors said.
District 6 had the African savannah. "We saw baobab trees, Bermuda grass, elephant grass, and a whistling thorn acacia tree that had some very nasty looking nigriceps ants on it. As for animals, we saw lions, Nile crocodiles, black mamba snakes, and African wild dogs. A nasty zone."
Johanna pipes in, "I hope none of the tributes go to the volcanic mountain zone. They'll be boned for sure. Nothing there. No plants or animals."
Blight looks at Johanna. "Wow, blunt much?" Johanna just shrugs.
"We had the desert area." Cecilia says. "Looks pretty desolate. There were very few plants or animals. Looked like another tube opening in the center."
"The tributes will need to be on the lookout for snakes, coyotes, and jumping cholla cactus plants. That cactus plant projects its needles at whatever passes by it too closely. Could be painful." Woof adds.
District 9 had the pine forest zone and reported seeing it was thick with trees, bear grass, and wild potato plants. As for animals, they saw alpacas, llamas, snow leopards, and yaks. District 10 didn't have much to tell either. They had the brick maze zone. No plants or animals to be seen.
Seeder speaks next. "We had the Australian outback zone. I looked up the plants, there's sandhill wattles, sturts desert pea, gum trees, and mulga trees."
Chaff hiccups before adding, "The animals included kangaroos, dingos, Australian crocodiles, monitor lizards, red back spiders, and western brown snakes also known as gwardars. The tributes will need to be careful around the snakes and spiders. The female red backs are poisonous."
Haymitch and Effie go last. "We had the marshy swamps. I certainly hope none of our tributes wind up there. It looks nasty." Effie says, her nose scrunched. "There were ash and elm trees, water lilies, marsh marigolds, cattails, and showy lady's slippers."
"The animals here were American alligators, copperhead snakes, American toads, green herons, and blue winged teals. Saw some mosquitos and dragon flies as well." Haymitch adds in a rather bored tone.
"Well, now that we know some of what our tributes are up against, we can't forget that the game makers have tricks up their sleeves. Who knows what dangerous traps they have placed in these zones. We have seen dangerous animals and plants in most of the zones. I'm really worried about the maze and caves, as neither had much in the way of plants or animals." says Beetee.
"Um, guys, you may want to see this…" Gloss calls out. "This is something I never would have imagined."
All the mentors turn towards Gloss who is pointing at the large screen in front of him. They all look to the screen and see the water around the cornucopia. A couple birds land in the water before they see it happen. Two or three birds fight to fly away but can't. There are piranha in the water! If a tribute tries to swim to the cornucopia, they'll be killed.
"Well, that's an interesting development. We need to let our tributes know." Brutus says.
Just then, they notice the tributes arising up from their tubes. As soon as all the tributes are up, they hear Seneca over the loud speaker, "Attention tributes! Some changes have been made to the games this year. First, there are 36 backpacks hidden in the jungle in front of you that will help you on your way to the cornucopia. When you get close enough, you will hear them beep. Second, no help from your Mentors will be given until after midnight tonight. Third, you will have 6 hours to get to the cornucopia. After that, it will disappear until noon tomorrow. And finally, some of you may have noticed an empty tube next to you. Rue Burd of District 11 and Daniel Fischer of District 4 won the privilege of getting a head start and have been released closer to the cornucopia. Good luck tributes. And may the odds be ever in your favor."
"Guess we'll just have to wait until midnight to help." Lyme says, thinking about the rebel tributes.
Each District Mentor take their seats at their monitors. The next voice they hear is Plutarch Heavensbee.
"Hello Mentors. I'm sure you all heard Seneca's announcement. If you look at your large screens for a moment, you will notice 13 colored lights. I'm going to explain what they mean. The white dots represents the district 1 tributes, red is district 2, blue is district 3, green is district 4, orange is district 5, yellow is district 6, black is district 7, purple is district 8, pink is district 9, silver is district 10, bronze is district 11, and gold is district 12. The 36 amber colored lights represent the hidden backpacks. A reminder, there will be no contacting tributes until midnight tonight."
Haymitch watches the 6 smaller screens of his tributes. He sees them get ready to dive in and decides that if he ever sees Boggs again, he would personally thank the man for making sure that his tributes had swimming lessons earlier that summer. He looks over to Effie and sees her staring at the screens with a very worried look. He reaches for her hand and gives it a squeeze. "They'll be fine Effie," he whispers. "They can swim." She looks over, returning the squeeze, and smiles.
The starting cannon booms through the room and the all mentor's eyes are on the screens. Except for Lyme. She had gotten up and began taking notes as to where the rebel tributes were located. By the time she finished with District 12, she knew where each rebel tribute had started. Her notes were as follows:
Tube #6 = zone 1 – Thresh (went to zone 2, with Madge)
Tube #10= zone 2 – Madge
Tube # 16 = zone 3 – Rie
Tube # 21 = zone 4 – Glimmer
Tube #24 = zone 4 – Delly
Tube #29 = zone 5 – Katniss
Tube #30 = zone 5 – Marvel
Tube #42 = zone 8 – Gale
Tube #48 = zone 8 – Cato
Tube #58 = zone 10 – Peeta
Tube #61 = zone 11 – Clove (went to zone 10, with Peeta)
*Rue = zone 3 – ruined city
*Damien = zone 8 – desert (not a rebel tribute, from District 4, could be threat to Cato and Gale)
Lyme made sure every mentor that had rebel tributes saw her notes before she went out to the lounge to meet with her district 13 contact to share the info with them. She shared her notes with Finnick, a fellow rebel, before she destroyed her notes. All the mentors could do now was wait until midnight to help their tributes.
A really short chapter, I know. Not my favorite chapter. It was for description of the arena purposes mainly. Chapter 7 is half way done. It will definitely be interesting – a secret revealed and a cliff hanger is involved. Should be up no later than Tuesday.