Day Four:
Mason Riley (D2 M 18)
I wake up to the sight of the sun rising over the mist in the distance. Looking around, I see that Jessie and Alexandrite are both already awake. "Morning," I whisper, trying not to wake Glint. After the medical scare he had yesterday, I think it's best he gets his sleep. Jessie has already taken out some food, and tosses me a can of soup. As I drink the soup, I can't help but wish it was warmer. There's nothing worse than cold soup.
A few minutes later, I meet with the girls on the other side of the cornucopia so that we can talk in normal voices without waking Glint. "Someone needs to stay here with Glint to keep guard," I say. "He's obviously in no condition to do it on his own."
"So who's it going to be then?" Jessie asks.
"Alexandrite," I say. "Sorry, but it's your turn in the rotation.
"Fine," she says. "At least I have company today."
"Okay then. Jessie, you and I are leaving in ten minutes."
"Which island are we going to?" she asks.
"East Island," I say without hesitation. "You guys had luck at West Island yesterday, so it's time to give East Island a shot."
"Sounds good," she says. The three of us walk back over to the front side of the cornucopia, and Jessie and I collect our weapons. Jessie also grabs a bag, and puts some food, water, and a first-aid kit in it. After what happened yesterday, it's best if we're always prepared with medical supplies.
At last, we're all set to go. Jessie and I walk over to the West Island bridge. With one last wave to Alexandrite, we set off, ready to find some tributes. I haven't killed anyone since day one, so I need to get myself back to the top of the stat board. I can't let Glint steal all of my sponsors.
Peyton Stanley (D6 M 12)
This is already the worst day of my life, and it's probably going to be my last. Ever since I woke up, my stomach has been rumbling with hunger pains, and my throat has been begging for water. I'm all out of food and water. I ate my last cracker and took my last sip of water right after I woke up. I doubt I'll get another sponsor gift. I got the one yesterday because of sympathy. The sponsors probably thought I had a chance at rebounding. Now, I'm just a lost cause. No one sends sponsor gifts to a lost cause.
I still haven't found Swirl. I'm sure she's long gone by now. She probably found her way to the other island, or to the opposite side of this one. I doubt she's been using all of her effort to find me. I don't blame her. She doesn't need me. She can survive just fine on her own. I'm the one that can't. I need her.
I try to stand up from my spot on the ground. I can't do it. I'm too weak. The only thing I can do is crawl. So, I pick a random direction and begin to crawl. I know I won't get far, but I have to at least try to find Swirl. Or, maybe I'll find another tribute that will take pity on me. I could also run into the careers. At this point, though, I really don't care if I do. I'm dead anyway. Running into the careers would stop my suffering.
As I crawl further and further, I begin to hear something. It sounds like... water! I crawl faster. Pretty soon, I see it above me. My vision has been spinning all morning, but I'm sure that that's a stream. However, I don't make it to the stream. My vision spins more profusely than ever, and it begins to turn black. I don't know if I'm dying or just passing out, but in a matter of seconds, I feel nothing.
Swirl Winters (D10 F 13)
It's a good thing that I'm up in my tree when Peyton collapses, or I don't know if I would have seen him. I jump down and jog over to him, wondering what's wrong. Has he been bitten by something? Looking him over, I spot his dry, cracked lips. He's dehydrated. I can fix that.
I pull a water bottle out of my bag, and dump about half of it down his throat. "Come on, Peyton," I say aloud. "I know you're still in there."
At last, he lets out a cough and sputters out some of the water. "Oh my gosh," I say, embracing him in a hug. "I was starting to think you were dead."
"Swirl," he says in a hoarse voice, sitting up and catching sight of me. "How did you find me?"
"I was sitting up in a tree when you collapsed," I say. "I then ran down and started pouring water down your throat."
"Thank you," he says. "Do you have any food?"
"Yes," I reply. "I've killed and cooked a few animals." I reach into my bag and pull out a slab of meat. When I hand it to Peyton, he devours it within seconds.
"Thank you," Peyton says again, once he's done chewing. "If you hadn't saved me, my cannon would be going off any second now."
"It's no trouble," I say. "We're allies, and allies need to stick together."
A few minutes later, after Peyton has devoured another slab of meat and an entire water bottle, I suggest we get out of the open. "Do you think you could get up into a tree?" I ask him.
"I could try," he says. "You might have to carry me half of the way, but I'm feeling stronger than I did an hour ago."
I help get Peyton up onto his feet, and then slowly guide him over to my tree. That's the easy part; getting him up the tree is much trickier. Somehow, though, we manage to do it. We don't go as high as I'd like us to be, but I guess I'm going to have to deal with this for now. Peyton looks like he's ready to pass out again. "Is it okay if I take a nap?" Peyton asks.
"Sure," I say. "I'm going to boil some more water while you do that."
Peyton reaches into his pocket and pulls something out. "Here," he says, handing me an empty water bottle. "I got this as a sponsor gift yesterday. You can fill this up with your other bottle."
"Thanks," I say. As he drifts off to sleep, I climb back down my tree and begin to collect some more water.
Harvest Anson (D9 F 18)
Since I'm pretty set with food and water, I've decided to take a hike over to West Island to check it out. I've been about curious about it lately. Even though it doesn't look much different from East Island, I'm sure there's some sort of similarities lurking within. There's always the chance I could find something that could harm me, but at this point, I don't really care. If I remain in my cave all day, the Gamemakers will start to get bored with me. They'll send mutts- or worse. If I'm up and moving, the Gamemakers will be curious. They'll want to know what I'm doing, so they won't kill me off. At least, I don't think they will.
I eventually reach the rope bridge connecting West and East Islands, and begin to climb across. I realize I can see the cornucopia from here. Since the three islands are arranged in a triangle, I can just make out the gleaming gold horn in the distance. Unfortunately, I'm too far away to see anything else that's on the island. I assume that there's a bored career sitting there and keeping watch. This is one of the reasons why being a non-career is so much better. I have so much more freedom.
Finally, I step onto West Island soil. I immediately begin trekking into the forest. At first, I don't notice anything odd. However, eventually, I realize what seems to be the major difference between the two islands. Back on East Island, there were plenty of animals. Snakes and small mammals skirted all about on the forest floor. Plenty of colorful birds flew up in the trees. Here on West Island, I haven't seen much animals at all. Rainforests are usually bursting with animal life. This island is bursting with something, though: plant life. I've seen tons of edible plants and berries all around. There were almost none of those on East Island. I begin to collect some of the berries, putting them in my bag. They can hopefully spice up some of my meals.
I begin to wonder why one island lacks in plant life while the other lacks in animal life. For some reason, I don't think it's simply because the Gamemakers wanted to set the islands apart from each other. I think about this for a while as I continue searching for berries. At last, I think I understand it. East Island has a stream. That's why all of the animals are all over there. That's also why there's so few berries there. The animals have eaten them all. I bet there's no water on this island, and that's why there's so few animals. They're all over at the island with the water. There's tons of berries over here which is a result of the lack of animals. Speaking of berries, I pass another bush and begin to pick them off. Even though there's lots of these berries over here, I think I prefer East Island. Since I can kill animals without much difficulty, I'd definitely prefer the island with water. I'll head back over there in a few hours, after I pick some more berries.
Nylah Tracks (D6 F 17)
Mapelle, Cherry, and I continue to walk along the river, looking for food. We've had a pretty quiet three-and-a-half days. I haven't had to use my hand-to-hand combat skills yet. I'm not complaining. I'm fine with just coasting our way closer to victory.
We've been slowly running out of food. Water isn't that hard to get- there's a stream right next to us, and it's not too hard to boil it. To get food, we have to catch and kill animals, and none of us have had too much luck at that. Mapelle managed to sneak up on some sort of small mammal, killing it with her knife, so we've had that to eat. However, it's gone now, so we've been frantically been search for any animals taking a sip from the stream.
Without warning, a loud voice shouts out from behind me. "Jessie! I've found three of them!" My insides go ice-cold as I whip around. Both tributes from District Two are sprinting towards Mapelle, Cherry, and I.
"Run!" I shout. "There's only two of them! They can't get all of us if we spread out!"
Mapelle, who's over five and a half feet tall, uses her long legs to soar over the stream. Cherry and I, unfortunately, have to find different options. She begins to run along the riverbank, so I sprint into the woods, as fast as I can. After about twenty seconds of leaping over fallen branches and roots, I risk a glance behind me. My insides go even colder. The monstrous boy from District Two is hot on my tail. For a second, I think I could outrun him. I may be small, but I'm quite speedy. In another second, though, I realize that I've overlooked a pretty huge detail. This boy is two and a half feet taller than me. His strides are about four times larger than my own.
Sure enough, a minute later, he lunges out at me, and knocks me down. I try to kick him off me, but he turns me over onto my back as if I'm a ragdoll. One we're face to face, I try to remember every sort of escape technique that I've learned. Nothing works. He's too strong. My years and years of learning how to fight by watching the District Six Peacekeepers was all a waste. The boy raises his sword, and I brace for the worst. I have almost no doubt in my mind that he's going to carve up my face so much that it's unrecognizable. To my surprise, he doesn't, and I'm thankful. He simply runs the sword through my stomach. It hurts, but only for a few seconds. In fact, when he pulls the sword out, I barely feel a thing. The boy begins to walk away before I'm even dead. My vision begins to blacken as I watch him walk back in the direction of the stream. Hopefully, both of my allies made it to safety. Hopefully, one of them will win.
Mapelle Green (D7 F 14)
"Boom."
That must be for Nylah. My heart sinks a little, but as bad as it sounds, I knew she was a gonner as soon as the career started chasing her. She may be strong, but he's stronger. Plus, Nylah's over two feet shorter than him. The boy's legs are whole lot longer than her's.
The only reason I know the death wasn't Cherry is because I'm following her and the District Two girl, who's chasing Cherry while throwing a knife at her every few seconds. I'm on the other side of the stream, but I'm still running after them. I've pulled the small hatchet we got at the bloodbath out of my bag. When I get close enough, I plan to launch it at the girl. I'm not normally into attempted murder, but Cherry is my ally. I have to stay loyal to her by trying to save her.
A few moments later, I realize that I'm too late. One of the knives Jessie is throwing lodges itself right into Cherry's strawberry blond hair. She falls to the ground, and her cannon goes off. Just like that, both of my allies are dead.
Right after the cannon blast sounds I look down at the ax clutched in my hands. Was I really about to throw this at someone? Was I really about to attempt murder? This isn't the real me. I could never bring myself to kill someone. The Games have already changed me, and it's only the fourth day. I stuff the ax back in my bag. I can't even look at it.
The sound of voices from across the river brings me back to my senses. The boy from District Two has reappeared. Thankfully, their backs are turned. I slowly back away, hoping against hope that I don't step on a twig or anything. At last, the two of them set off, away from the river, and I'm left alone in the forest.
Eridan Keating (D5 M 16)
I almost faint at the sight of the stream, trickling its way through the forest. It's taken me four days, but I've finally found water. I run over to it, using all of my self control to refrain from drinking it. I fish around in my bag for any sort of supplies I could have to make the water safe to drink. The trainers at the training center taught us to boil water or drop iodine into it to make it safe for drinking. I have matches, but the only thing I have to hold water in is a canteen. I don't think I could boil water through that. I don't have any iodine, which leaves me wondering how I'm going to turn this stream water into drinking water.
As I'm brooding, I hear a faint sound over my head- a tinkling, chiming sound. I look up to see a parachute floating down to me. Once it reaches me, I open it to find a small bottle of iodine- sweet! I fill up my canteen with water, drop some iodine into it, and wait.
As I wait for the water to purify, I remember that I got a fish hook and a piece of twine at the bloodbath. I can fish while the water purifies. I attach the twine to my hook, and then tie it around a twig. Once it's all assembled, I dig into the soil until I find a worm. I thread the worm onto the hook, and plop the both of them into the water, still clutching the branch. Hopefully, something will bite.
Half an hour later, I haven't had any luck. Maybe the fact that I have twine instead of fishing line is hurting my chances of catching something. Or, maybe there's not a lot of fish in this stream. It is sort of small. Whatever the reason, I decide to stop fishing. I take a swig of my water, which is now safe for drinking. It feels great on my parched tongue and lips. Once I'm done drink, I recap the canteen and place it back in my bag. Since it's starting to get dark, I decide I need to find someplace to sleep. I hop over the river and begin to search for a tree or cave to sleep in.
Alexandrite Dazzle (D1 F 17)
Glint has been driving me mad. All he's done the whole day is moan and groan about his injuries- and complain about how he can't tribute hunt. He's lucky I've got to maintain my ditzy, typical District One female personality. Otherwise, a knife might just find its way into his skull while he's sleeping.
Jessie and Mason haven't arrived back yet, and it's starting to get dark. I hope they hurry because I'm anxious to find out who died. More likely than not, they found an alliance and killed two tributes, since the canon blasts were within three minutes of each other. I doubt Jessie and Mason died. There's only been one non-career kill so far, and that was because of the annoying girl from District Nine. With the exception of her, there's really no other strong tributes out there.
At last, I see Mason and Jessie appear out of East Island's rainforest. They begin to walk across, as the sun gets lower and lower. When they're about halfway across, the Panem Anthem begins. The first face shown belongs to the girl from District Six. I'm a bit surprised by that. I'm pretty sure she scored an eight in training. She was small, but there was something about her that made her seem very tough. The second casualty is the girl from District Eleven. Her death doesn't shock me. She was too sweet of a person to win the Hunger Games. Plus, she only got a five in training. I bet the only reason she made it this far is because of allies.
Jessie and Mason finally step onto the island. Jessie walks over to the cornucopia to set down her supplies, so I turn to Mason. "You guys were involved in the the two deaths today, right?" I ask.
"Yep," Mason replies. "I got the one from District Six, and she got the one from District Eleven. How was your day?"
"Awesome," I lie. "Glint and I had a great time, but I'm still excited I'll get to tribute hunting tomorrow."
"Sounds good," he says. "Well, I'm off to bed. See you in the morning."
"Good night, Mason."
Piper Hagen
It's all my fault. Cherry's dead because of me. I should have been a better mentor. Maybe if I had given her more helpful advice, or tried harder to get sponsors she'd still be alive. Instead, I got to see Jessie, that District Two girl, throw a knife into her head.
I hear a knock at my door. I'm currently crying my eyes out in my bedroom on the eleventh floor of the training room. "Piper?" I hear a voice say. It's Metz, Ryland's mentor.
"Go away," I sniffle. "I'm not in the mood."
"I think I can help," he says. "I went through this too, you know." He opens up the door, and sits down next to me on the bed. "It's normal for you to feel this way," he says. "It happens to every mentor when their first tribute dies."
"How am I supposed to get through this again and again?" I ask. "You've done it for twenty years."
"You just have to remember that it isn't your fault that Cherry's dead. It's not Cherry's fault, or even Jessie's fault."
"Then who's fault is it?" I ask, starting to get annoyed.
He leans up close to me, and whispers into my ear, "Panem's."
Metz then stands up, and walks towards my door. "I'm right next door if you need anything," he says before stepping out, leaving me by myself. I discover that I've stopped crying. I expect that the tears will begin falling again, but surprisingly, they don't. I just sit on my bed, hugging my knees and thinking. I don't even realize how long I've been sitting there until I hear, "Piper! Time for breakfast."
The Fallen (2):
Nylah Tracks (D6 F 17)
Killed by Mason. After being tackled to the ground, she was stabbed in the stomach by a sword.
Cherry Fairbanks (D11 F 16)
Killed by Jessie. A knife was thrown into her skull as she attempted to flee.
Remaining Tributes (9):
D1:
Alexandrite Dazzle (D1 F 17)
{Annabeth-TheTributeThatLived}
Glint Sulf (D1 M 18)
{Jms2}
D2:
Jessie Harte (D2 F 14)
{ImSoCutee00}
Mason Riley (D2 M 18)
{Jms2}
D5:
Eridan Keating (D5 M 16)
{Nothing. Is. Real}
D6:
Peyton Stanley (D6 M 12)
{Jms2}
D7:
Mapelle Green (D7 F 14)
{Annabeth-TheTributeThatLived}
D9:
Harvest Anson (D9 F 18)
{Semi-Dedicated Wierdo}
D10:
Swirl Winters (D10 F 13)
{feistyflame}
Kills:
Glint: Misty, Cobalt, Tadalynn, Lukas
Jessie: Jarvis, Aria, Cherry
Mason: Ryland, Peter, Nylah
Alexandrite: Jennette, Rory
Sheldon: Marina, Osborn
Harvest: Sheldon
Alliances:
Alexandrite/Glint/Jessie/Mason
Peyton/Swirl
Eridan
Mapelle
Harvest
So the Games have been flying by, and we're almost to the final 8. There will most likely be one death on day five, and then there will be a chapter of family interviews. After that, deaths will be much less frequent, and I'm not promising one every chapter.
Soooo... dealing with today's casualties: Nylah was a very strong tribute, and I actually liked her a lot. Unfortunately, she received only a single vote in the poll. :-( Cherry is a different story. She did have a couple of votes, but owing to the fact that she is my own tribute, I couldn't let her get to the final eight. Speaking of Cherry's death, I hope you liked Piper's POV.
If you haven't voted in the final thirteen poll yet, I don't know what you're doing because we're now at the final nine. I'm going to take it down in a few days, so that I can put a final eight one up once the next chapter is up. (Oh and Guest I'm really sorry but only lets users vote in polls so that no one can vote multiple times. You can review to let me know your favorite characters, and I'll make sure to take it into account.)
Thanks for reading! :-)