The Morning of and Hovercraft Ride

Concord Radiance D1M 18

I'm woken up to my idiot mentor knocking on the door. I rub my eyes and block out the sunlight peeking through my windows. I know I want breakfast, but I want to shower and get ready first. This is the first time everyone sees me in action, and I want to show them why they want to sponsor me.

I'm not like Tokyo; I will bring honor to the Radiance family. I finally pull myself up and strip my clothes to take a shower. I instinctively want to turn the hot water on, but I restrain myself; who knows what the arena entails, and I need to continue to get used to the cold water. One last wash and rinse, I step out and dry off with the capitol machine.

I get ready to leave and go to the hovercraft when Diamond meets me at the door.

"Concord, listen and listen closely. You are not to kill your allies early. If you get challenged for leadership, let it be. You can't lose your head. If you do, I can't keep you alive".

I'm getting ready to tell her that I can handle myself when Brielle comes out of her room. I glance at her and shut my mouth. Whatever, I'll humor my mentors for now, but I will kill everyone and anyone who gets in my way when the time comes.

Bellona Caccia Tzar D2F 18

I let the cool water drip off my head and lean against the shower wall. I let myself enjoy the water; I know arenas can be harsh, so I want to get clean before I go in. After I finish, I turn off the water and step out to get dried off. Before doing so, I look in the mirror. I'm ready. My hair can't get grabbed, my face is beautiful without makeup, and I'm tall and slender. Some might call me cocky, I say confidently. Arrogance is dangerous, but confidence is desirable, and I am ready to maintain this.

I step out and get changed in the attire set out for us, and it seems light but with running shoes and a sleek raincoat. It's mostly black. I wonder, tropics? Woodlands? Swamps? I think about the possibilities as I walk down the hall to breakfast. I see Tyr give a piece of paper to one of the servants with a nod. I know he scored an 8 in training but is he unsure of his fate in the games?

I roll my eyes, this dude will not be a threat to me if he is too worried about his "wife" I'll stick with him until he dies, obviously, but I can't rely on him. I can't rely on anyone except myself.

Dylan Cove D4M 18

I usually don't each much meat besides fish, but I've grown a liking for this other meat called bacon. In 4, I don't remember it, but it's been really appealing to me so far. I take another bite of a greasy, crispy piece when Kendall walks in looking pretty. I smile, and she doesn't reciprocate. I know I have a separate alliance with the girl from 1, but I still try to make nice.

Kendall has not been super talkative to this point, but she still has stock in the alliance. I am still the outsider; I know this. I shake the continual thought of doubt while I wash the bacon down with some juice. The sweet juice after taste makes me second guess my choice of greasy food and sweet drinks. This is the game. I stop myself and ask for some water. Kendall notices this change and glances my way as she finishes her glass of water.

I need to start thinking of survival. I know if there is water, I can fish and stay hydrated, but if not, I gotta stay hydrated now. I know my path is challenging but not impossible. I just gotta stay focused.

Brax Henwick D5M 17

As I eat breakfast, Arin talks about a strategy for the bloodbath. She wants to find each other during the countdown and run away from the cornucopia. I put my water down and think. Do I want to take my chances for survival? I'm not sure. I'm the mayor's son; while my father was not great, I never had to starve or find my food; it's been given. While having a weapon would be nice, I'm not super familiar with one, so my strength might help me through it; it might be better.

But without any packs of food or water, I could die from exposure, even with Arin. I tell her, "We can be safe, but if there is anything in front of me, I have to go for it."

She says through her chewing, "we'll be fine; we will work together." She pauses before continuing, "Brax; we don't stand a chance against the career pack; remember you got an 8, and I got a 7 in the private sessions? We will be appealing targets right off the back."

I know she is right, but I can't cave, "but if we are weak out in the arena due to lack of supplies, we stand no chance against the other tributes, even the younger ones."

She sighs and contemplates what I said while she takes another bite of her bread.

Finally, she nods and says, "fine, anything in front of us but nothing in the middle, don't get yourself killed doing something dumb."

I exhaled a breath I didn't even know I was holding. Ok, now we got ourselves a plan.

Barbara Peren D6F 16

I don't want to eat, but my mentor makes me. Beatrice says that it's important to stay fed before the games; what does she know? She's never starved like I have. I scoff as I bite into a cream pastry. Capricorn seems happy to be eating again; it must be nice to stay positive despite all of this shit going down. He is going to his certain death like I am, but yet he's happy; at least I don't have to deal with it much longer.

I don't have allies, and I prefer it that way. After everything has gone down, I know the world is still out to get me. Of course, I got reaped; the gamemakers didn't like me. I'm lucky enough that I did not piss anyone off in the pre-games, so maybe if I hide and don't make too much noise, the game makers would let me live; eh, probably not.

I know breakfast is going to end soon, so I run back to my room and grab my locket. I'm not sure if I can have it, but I'll hide it; I don't care; it has a picture of my mom in it.

I turn to get up, and Capricorn, with his mouth full of breakfast, asks, "why are you leaving already." I don't turn around and say, "I'll be back."

He doesn't deserve to know, but I'm not going to ignore the kid; this could be the last interaction I have with him; I'd hate for the last thing he experiences in this life to be a rude one.

Aspen Evergreen D7M 16

"don't forget to eat; you need your energy" I hear that as I hide in my room, waiting for the people to take me away. The voice concurs, stating, "if you don't eat, you will die." I ignore the voice inside and outside of my room. I want to sleep for as long as possible; I'm not sure if the voice will let me sleep when we get inside. I hear more pounding and one last sentence "you have 5 minutes to leave this room; if not, peacekeepers will be coming in. I recognize that as the nice lady who has been helping me this whole time. I'd rather not cause trouble before the game; the voice warns me that it's probably not the best idea. As I get up from the smooth sheets, my face lifts off the pillow, and it partially sticks to my face. I think of when my grandmother used to wake me up for school. I decide to go to the sink to rinse my face off, the voice tells me it's time to go, but they said I have 5 minutes, and I have only used 2 of them. After drying off my face, I get ready to go out, but I remember my stick I still have from training. I wonder if I wear it in my pants that will do anything for me? I'm not sure, the voice tells me not to, but I didn't make it this far listening to them. Whatever, I put on the clothes I was supposed to wear, take a breath, and made my way out of the room. The voice warns me again about the stick, at least I won't be alone in the games.

Woolworth Saint-Cloud D8M 15

Breakfast was quiet, Woof and Julia come into the room after Leah, and I had been sitting for a few minutes. When they come in, I ask them about our clothes.

"I notice our clothes are waterproof, but it's pants and a jacket; what does that mean?"

Julia smiles, "good job paying attention back home; it tells us it could rain but still get cold; we were thinking forest of some sorts, definitely somewhere it can rain so that's good for you guys."

I nod, and Leah is invested in her breakfast, but she still nods in understanding. I want to press more for information, but Julia tells us we got to finish up quickly to get taken to the arena. Leah turns pale when this happens, and I decide to have the conversation about our plan once we get into the arena. "Remember Leah, we are going to locate Marigold before the time runs out, and we are gonna grab whatever in front of us, but we are not sticking around," I tell her. She again obliges to stay quiet and just nods.

Julia steps in, "that's a great idea, Woolworth; your clothes tell me that natural food sources like berries and small animals will thrive; also, water should be fine with rain."

This seems to calm Leah a little, and she finally smiles and says, "sounds like a plan." Woof looks like he wants to step in but doesn't; that's fine; I just want to keep Leah's nerves under wraps. I finish up my juice and stand up. We are directed towards the elevator, we step in, and the smell is some type of rubber, and I have no idea what it is.

As we make our descent into the bottom level, I remind Leah not to make eye contact or discuss anything with anyone else on our way over to the arena. She nods, and I give her a hug before we get to the final level.

I feel myself getting too close with Leah, I see her as a little sister, but I have to be careful. I know I have to do things I don't want to do, but my whole life, I have wanted to help people. This will never change, no matter what.

Marigold Caden D9F 13

I was finishing up my breakfast, and I was eating everything and anything. One thing that I haven't got used to since we've been here is the vast amount of food and drinks that I can have! I can have anything I want as long as I ask. It's been tough actually asking for things since I don't like talking to people but usually, what they set out is more than enough. I finish eating and have to take a couple of deep breaths. The food is good, but it can be a little much.

Mason barely eats. He just chats with our mentors. We get ready to go, and we ride down in the elevator together. I twirl the ring Sheer gave me on my finger on the ride down. I'm surprised they let me bring it in, but it's small, so I suppose that's why. Sheer loves this ring, so I want to bring it home to him. I suppose if I die and they ship my body back, the ring will be with me, so I'm at least happy that it'll get back to him one way or another.

I know this is a negative way of thinking, but I can't help it. I try to shake the thoughts from my head, I like my alliance, but we are all under 15. I did score a 7 in training. I just have to make sure to keep my head on straight and stick to my strengths. Woolworth wants to meet up asap and not go to the middle; I agree, I'd rather not face the big career pack right away.

Barely pulls me aside before we get on the hovercraft. "Listen, I know you're scared, but you got this, run fast and stay out of the open." I give my mentor a look. I know she's naturally nurturing, hell, her son is the other mentor, but this is a little odd for her. "Be careful of Mason and the boy from 12, Mason wouldn't hurt you, but that boy rubs me the wrong way". She says as she pulls me in for a hug.

This makes me think, why is she so worried about him? I'll just add him to this list of people that I need to keep an eye out for. These games are going to be the death of me, literally.

Amira Fieldington D11F 17

I give Uriah one last nod before we split up. We aren't allies, but he's still a sweet kid. My mentor gives me one last look before we board, and I see a few other tributes, but it's pretty dark in here. I am seated near the wall, and I look up and see the odd girl from 10 in front of me. She sort of turns her head like she's trying to get a closer look. I instantly look down; I'm not afraid of her. I just want to put my arena strategy to good use now.

If I stay out of the spotlight and don't draw attention to myself, I should be fine. Hide, evade, and distract. As the hovercraft lifts up, I presume, I close my eyes and try to rest while we fly. I lean my head against the cold metal wall near me. I start to think, what do I for sure want to do when I get in the arena. I want to run away, but I'm not very confident in my ability to find water or food in whatever environment I am in. Uriah and his alliance want to run in and get out; our mentors weren't big fans of it but ultimately agreed. I don't have anyone watching my back, but I only scored a 4. If I run into the careers, I feel like other outliers are more likely to draw their attention.

I am going in circles in my head when I feel a hand on my shoulder. I jerk back instinctively, and when I open my eyes, it's the girl from 10 again. She says, "the people said we gotta go." I narrow my eyes as they adjust to the dim lighting in the hovercraft, and a peacekeeper is just looking at us. I nod slightly as I stand up and make my way behind the girl.

How did I sleep through the landing? I have to get my head in the game; if not, my hiding strategy is just going to get me killed.

Hey, yes, this is still happening; it's been a while, but college has been kicking my ass, and I haven't had any motivation to write. Anyways we have one last chapter before the games. I still plan on making the bloodbath from a third-person POV unless people would rather see it differently. We have one last set of POV's for the next chapter, "into the tubes and countdown." Thanks, y'all.

-Until Next Time