ttg4:

 Wednesday, April 11, 2012

If you would like your name to be put in to be reaped for the Fourth Annual Tumblr Games, please send your Tesserae Form » here «.

Name: 
Age (all ages, including 18+, are eligible):
Gender:
Email:
Your top three District choices and briefly explain why you might belong in them:
A link to a recent photo of your whole face for your Games ID:

Tesserae registration will close at 9PM EST on Wednesday, April 18th.

The names will be drawn at 3PM EST on Friday, April 20th in your District square, so be prompt and ready to accept the challenge that lies ahead of you. Once reaped, tributes will have 24 hours to accept their positions by sending a message to our ask page » here «.

Remember to look your best! Reapings will be viewed live across all of Panem.

If you’re debating on signing up or not and the resulting fame and fortune isn’t enough to convince you, remember that tesserae registration will provide extra grain and oil rations for your family for the upcoming year. But only one tesserae registration per family.

If you have any other questions, please send them » here «, and make sure it has not been answered yet » here «.

- Your Gamemakers, A, K, and F

ttg4:

 Friday, April 6, 2012

Holding her trident proud, Ginny stood tall as you all watched her take the first crown. Arly followed, clawing through the cave that was insanity and emerging in the light of victory. Amidst the special twist of the Quell, Brett was triumphant, fighting to show he deserved his second chance and avenging some friends along the way.

Now it’s time to play for your chance. Tumblr tributes will fight against one another once more — only one can win the Fourth Annual Tumblr Games.

Registration for tesserae will begin shortly. Stay tuned, and may the odds be ever in your favor.

Until next time,
the Gamemakers

Here it is, ladies and gentlemen, the fourth installment of the Tumblr Games series. I know the Gamemakers and I have faith that they’ll do it justice. Besides, I wouldn’t give them my theme if I thought otherwise. Go apply once they make that announcement, do your District justice, and of course follow the blog as to not miss any announcements!

 Sunday, March 25, 2012

THE BEGINNING

“What was life like for you, back in District 1?” The voice came from Brett’s ally in the second Tumblr Games, Sheridan, as they sat together high up in the trees looking out over the desert. The question caught him off guard; up until then the two tributes had only talked game. It was never personal between them. “I bet it was a lot easier for you… coming from a District of luxury.”
     He considered this for a moment before responding. “Ever since I can remember I’ve been training for this. It’s all they care about back home, making sure that we’re strong enough to take on the arena.” He paused before continuing. “It’s a lot harder than I thought, though. They make it seem like taking a human life is so easy, and in the heat of the moment that may be true, but they don’t train you to deal with the emotional damage that follows.”
     He glanced over at Sheridan. “Especially if you’re forced to kill a friend.”

Having made it out of the previous day’s fight, Josh and Brett were ready to take some time off and get more than some on and off sleep. Their clothes had dried, obviously designed to withstand everything the Gamemakers had in store. After using the tidal wave to her advantage, Mary distanced herself a bit from the two boys and used what little time she had to rest. Her head was feeling better, she had both her sais, and she felt overall more refreshed. She was ready.

Ally woke with a start. The ground was shaking, just like it had before the tsunami — only this time she was sure she felt it centered almost directly under her. She heard a near deafening crash and almost fell over at the sight of a two ton boulder slamming into the mountainside right above her. 

The Earth began to shake, similar to what the veterans had experienced the day before, followed shortly after by a large crash. The tremor wasn’t major and neither of the boys were sure of what the crash was, but what caught their attention was the ground to the west, slowly shifting.

The land west of Mary Rose broke open suddenly, sending a fault line towards the District 6 tribute. She jumped out of the way, but noticed the ground had just as quickly converged in on itself. She knew she was no longer on stable ground. They all did.

THE RENDEZVOUS

Josh ran. He ran as fast as he could, using his whip to help him fly past the trees whenever his boots got stuck in the marshy ground. Luckily, he bandaged up his wound and it didn’t slow him down much. Brett followed closely behind, the two of them sprinting out of the trees and towards the one safe haven they could think of — the Cornucopia.
     The trees disappeared behind the two and they could just make out the golden horn in the distance when Josh noticed Mary Rose, the girl that escaped, not too far from them. The quakes were still coming, though, so he continued on, sure that he’d finish what was interrupted yesterday once he was in the clear.

Ally sprinted down the mountain, hopping down the trail and continuing through the brush, away from the rockslide and towards the first place that came to her mind — the Cornucopia. The trees of the brush shrunk behind her. The grasslands, which were now a bit muckier, seemed to whiz by, and she could just make out the golden horn in the distance.
     As she approach the Cornucopia, her run slowed to a jog and she soon came to a stop. The girl looked around and noticed that the other three remaining tributes, her opponents, the three 11s, were standing opposite her. Mary was the closest, obviously having distanced herself from the other two, who seemed inseparable about a third of the way around the horn.

Mary Rose raised an eyebrow. She knew that with three armed Career opponents still remaining, she would be in for a hard time. She also know, however, that she was ready to face whatever any of them decided to throw at her. Unfortunately, the land around her didn’t look as good as she did.

The grasslands had become marsh, obviously a result of the tidal wave. Flopping around like fish out of water were muttations that obviously came from the sea. The tributes instantly recognized them as » Electrogulpers, « mutts used by the Capitol to keep the rebels out of the waterways. The eels’ bodies were a lime green and their heads were made up mostly of their mouths, which had rows upon rows of razor sharp shark-like teeth. 

Josh took a step back into Brett. He also knew the mutts had electricity coursing through them, and even a small touch could give someone a nasty shock or electrical burn. He shook his head and refocused. The blonde boy gripped his whip, took a deep breath, and stepped forward. He was a true Career, and he knew that he wouldn’t falter again. He turned to nod at Brett, signaling their first move, but instead found his ally’s eyes glued to the Cornucopia. He turned back — and that’s when he saw the Basilisk.

Thirty feet long and snaking out of and around the golden horn, the Basilisk kept its gaze on the air around it. Mary tried to look away, but her eyes were glued to it. The near-impenetrable looking scales, the grey, brown, and green of its sleek frame.. she forced herself to look away. She knew that with one look she could be frozen in her spot. Sure, the myths may have exaggerated being killed or petrified by a single glance, but she knew that locking eyes with the beast would leave her frozen in her spot in pure terror.
     She looked up again at her opponents. Josh, Brett, and Ally were as frozen as she was, each afraid to make the first move. She took a deep breath, her mind working like gears. If she could just sneak around the Cornucopia…

Just then, the Basilisk decided on its first targets and struck.

THE MATINEE

Sure, the boys had already faced a muttation, but the one looming before them now was unlike anything they had ever witnessed in the Games. Brett had heard stories about this creature, but he assumed they were all myths. Thirty feet long with a gaze that could kill a human on the spot… he wasn’t sure just how accurate the myth was, but he wasn’t going to take any chances. Keeping the Basilisk in his peripheral vision, he leapt out of the way when it lunged at the two blondes.
     Barely evading the muttation’s first attack, Brett turned on it to deliver a quick slash with his poisoned glaive. As the blade sliced through the creature’s thick skin, the Basilisk hissed in aggravation. The attack did less damage than the Career had hoped due to the thickness of the over-grown snake’s outer layer of scales, and it was far too large for any immediate effect from the poison.
     The Basilisk threw its head towards Brett once more, but the District 2 tribute propelled himself off the ground with his glaive and leapt atop the creature’s head before jumping off to the other side where his ally stood, readying his whip.

A short breath of pure fear escaped Mary’s lips as she watched the Basilisk tackle the ground, but a sick twist of relief fell over her when she realized the creature decided to take the two Career boys as victims instead of herself. Stepping back, the moment of relief faded once Mary realized that she wasn’t the only one the Basilisk spared. Ally of District 2 was left untouched, and now the girl was looking at Mary Rose with killer eyes. Mary gripped her sais close to her, flipping each one in her hand into attack position. With a deep breath, Mary’s mind began working like gears, carefully calculating the District 2 girl’s death.

The two tag teamed; as Brett landed beside him, Josh ran forward into action. With two loud CRACKS, Joshua lashed the whip quickly just behind the skull of the predator. Once more, rather annoyed more than anything, the Basilisk hissed as it turned to the quick little blonde. Josh was prepared for this, however, and lashed the whip out once more, this time letting the majority of it wrap around just under the head of the Basilisk. In fluidity with the sharp movement of the mutt, Josh was propelled into the air by the handle of his whip as the Basilisk reared his head. He mounted the creature from behind and held on tight as it tried to buck him off.
     Brett ran forward and began hacking away at the scales of the beast, leaving a few gashes along its sleek frame, but if the poison was having any effect, it wasn’t apparent yet. Meanwhile, Josh took out his hunting knife and slammed the blade hard through the shimmering green scales of the giant snake’s forehead. What would have instantly killed a tribute, was hardly a cut at all on his current prey.

Ally seemed to be instantly ready to make the first move, running full force towards Mary. ‘Maybe she’s actually living up to her Career title,’ Mary thought. But Career or not, Mary was ready. Ally charged forward with her serrated sword held high up above her head. The blade came down with a forceful strike, but Mary was quick on her feet to dodge it. Ally was consistent with her swings, each slash of her sword getting closer and closer to making contact with Mary.
     The constant dodging stirred the ground, causing the mud to make it harder and harder for the two girls to move. With the fourth swing of Ally’s sword, Mary’s boots were too encased with mud for her to move in time. A short hiss of pain escaped Mary’s lips as the sword came down, making a shallow cut on her shoulder, but Mary broke off the slash as she finally got leverage over her feet. Crossing her sais in an X formation, Mary stopped what would have been Ally’s fifth slash towards her, forcing the girl back.
     Seeing the girl stagger back in surprise, Mary seized the opportunity to attack — or rather, she tried to. Despite catching Ally by surprise with her defense, the girl was on her game. Each of Mary’s own slashes collided with Ally’s shield, the clang of metal echoing across the arena. Seeing a smug smile begin to form on the girl’s lips, a sense of rage washed over Mary. Mary jumped, bringing down her sai with a force that was intended to maul the Career girl’s face then and there — but again the shield caught the blow.

“It’s no good!” Brett called frantically to Josh, “Its scales are too thick to cut through!”
“I’ve noticed,” Josh yelled back through gritted teeth as he tried hard to stay atop the creature as it flailed ever more violently.
     The effort to continue his ride on the basilisk was now too great, and Josh knew this was a losing battle. The careers had to regroup before the odds shifted too far out of their favor. With a tug of the handle, Josh freed his whip from around the basilisk’s neck and leapt about twelve feet to the ground as the beast reared his head again. With a landing less than his usual graceful standard, the District 1 male found himself vulnerable on his hands and knees.

Feeling the blow personally, the gears in her mind made a click. Catching her breath, Mary realized that Ally was too preoccupied shielding her torso, leaving her bottom half vulnerable. For a second, a smile of her own threatened to show, but Mary wasn’t going to celebrate. Not now, not even if she survived all of his and became victor. All Mary knew was that whatever she needed to do, she would do it.
     Twirling her sais in both hands, Mary kept her eyes on Ally as the two of them circled each other. The smug smile continued to plague Ally’s lips as she looked on to Mary. “Say, how about a cookie?” Ally said, taunting Mary. Though Mary wasn’t aware of what the underlying context of the cookie meant, she still rolled her eyes. This needed to end now. 

Brett watched as the District 1 boy from the Games before his approached him in the cafeteria, a smirk across his face. It was clear that he was keeping up his act of being dominant over all the other tributes, though since now everyone knew just how conniving he was, was it truly an act at all? “Clearly you and I are the strongest competitors in these games,” Josh told him as he took a seat across the table, “these other tributes will be pushovers. What do you say we team up, make it to the end together?”
     Brett almost laughed, knowing Josh’s history of betrayal, but he stopped when he thought about the betrayals he made in his own games. Maybe he should accept the deal, take on an ally that was guaranteed to help him get far? Everyone was looking for redemption, and he needed to trust someone. “What happens when we get to the end, and it’s just the two of us?”
     “I supposed we’ll cross that bridge when we get there,” Josh smiled. ”And we will.”

Brett rushed to Josh’s aid and picked him up not a moment too soon as the Basilisk dealt what a would be deadly strike to where the tribute lay not two seconds earlier.
     “You saved me…” Josh said in shock. His eyes glancing sideways to Brett as the two ran from their pursuer. He was confused. Why would his competition help him at this late point in the game? There could only be one victor… If he was smart, the District 2 tribute would have let the snake have its way with the tribute famed for his cruel nature and moved on to kill whoever is left.
     “Don’t thank me yet,” Brett said with a casual grin. He chanced a quick look back, careful not to catch the eyes of the basilisk. It was right behind them again.
     Josh looked back for just a moment as well, and then it clicked as he saw the lighter skin of the snake’s underbelly when it reared up to strike again.

“I like cake better” Mary said under her breath, taking the initiative to break the circle and attack Ally again. She jumped up once more, raising her sais high as if she were to attack Ally from the top again. In faking it, Mary switched her right sai to a horizontal position, crouching as she came back to the ground. As predicted, Ally had raised her shield high, anticipating an attack on her upper body area and exposing her legs. With one violent swipe, Mary made a gash across Ally’s right leg, following the motion by stabbing a pressure point in Ally’s right foot with one of her sais.
     With a cry of pain, Ally dropped her shield. Mary moved just in time to avoid getting hit by the shield, but in an unexpected turn of events, Mary fell backwards with a kick of Ally’s left foot. Mary fell back forcefully, but she found herself relatively unharmed. The kick was a weak one. A cry of her own was emitted from Mary’s lips, however, as she fell and briefly came into contact with an Electrogulper.
     She rolled over quickly to put some distance between her and the mutt, only to see a black burn on the back of her forearm. She had only come into contact with it for a second, but the burn was still noticeable. A trail of curses began trailing through her head as she remembered that Ally wasn’t the only one she had to deal with after all. The gears in Mary’s head continued to turn, however. They turned and turned until finally another click was produced.
     Quickly Mary glanced back towards the Electrogulper flopping about and then back to Ally. The pain from the burn served as a reminder of how deadly those mutts were. The pain also served as a spark for an idea. If a brief touch with an Electrogulper could cause a significant electrical burn, then imagine the damage it could do if…
     Hearing Ally’s battle cry, Mary looked up to see Ally charging towards her, despite the significant limp she had in her right leg. In the time Mary had to devise a strategy, Ally had managed to free her foot from Mary’s sai and was now coming for her. There was no time. Ally needed to be taken down. Mary readied herself, twirling her sai so the tip rested in her hand while the handle pointed towards Ally. Mary was planning on throwing her sai, but a glint of metal in Ally’s side pocket caught her eye. With the seconds ticking, Mary made a rash decision, flipping her remaining sai into defense position.

“Brett!” Josh exclaimed, in a mixture of panic and excitement as the two simultaneously leapt to the side to avoid the basilisk’s latest strike, “Maybe you need to target its stomach! My whip won’t do much good, but your glaive could destroy it.”
     Brett looked unsure, but nodded. It was at least worth a shot at this point. It was obvious whatever poison remained on their blades was not getting through the basilisk’s scaly armor, and it may now be their only option.
     “I’ll do what I can to distract it,” Josh said as they continued to run in a sporadic, curved line to evade the basilisk as it hissed and slithered hot on their tails.
     With a quick nod, the smaller blonde signaled for Brett to veer to the opposite side. Josh unfurled the whip once more with a CRACK to get the muttation’s attention. The beast reared its head high again, too high for the tribute to try to take out its eyes with his whip. It was close enough, however, for Josh to continue lashing the blades out on the underside of the snake, just under it’s large head. The basilisk hissed furiously, snapping its jaw open and shut as Josh drove it slightly backward in pain. The underbelly was the weak spot after all.
     The basilisk shook it’s head and began to move a little more oddly. Perhaps the poison from the apple’s juices was finally kicking in. His signature pretty little grin of triumph crossed Josh’s face.

As Ally brought her sword down, Mary met the sword with her own sai, using all her might to prevent the sword from coming down. Pushing forward, Mary jumped at Ally, seizing the hunting knife on the side of her pants. In one swift motion, Mary hooked the sword into the two yokos, or side guards, and forced it away, twisting Ally’s right arm as Mary stabbed Ally’s own weapon into her abdomen.
     The girl doubled over, and in that moment of vulnerability Mary Rose pushed herself from her kneeling position, grabbing a handful of Ally’s hair. The District 6 girl proceeded to push the District 2 girl towards the ground, guiding her face-first into two Electrogulpers that emerged from the underlying mud. Mary used both of her hands to push the girl’s face straight down, straddling Ally’s sides to prevent resistance.
     Cries of pain echoed throughout the arena as Ally was exposed to the Electrogulpers’ fury. Mary could feel Ally’s body shaking beneath her as Ally suffered extreme shocks from the Electrogulpers’ electricity. Within moments, the smell of burning flesh began to hit Mary Rose’s nose, but she didn’t let go. For that moment in time the gears in Mary’s head stopped turning. In that moment, Mary was consumed with a sudden rage that made her savage. ‘How about those cookies now? Sorry, what? I can’t hear you.’

With the beast unaware, Brett charged forward from the side, wielding his glaive high to slice through the Basilisk’s tender spot. The odds quickly shifted, however, as the Basilisk, poisoned and aggravated, grew tired of Josh’s taunts and turned to change course… the course Brett was taking to charge it. Almost immediately, the District 2 tribute unintentionally locked eyes with the creature, halting him in his tracks. Fortunately, the Basilisk wasn’t quite prepared for the prey itself, and was beginning to feel woozy from the poison, so it took a moment to lick its lips with satisfaction as it realized it’s luck.
     ’He saved me…’ Josh thought as he realized what had just happened. “NO!” he screamed, running forward and pushing Brett out of the way just as the Basilisk dove to strike. It may not have gotten its target, but the Basilisk still got a mouth full as its jaws locked around the pretty little boy from District 1’s waist.

     Whether it was the jolt of hitting the ground or the bloodcurdling screams from above, Brett found himself unparalyzed and quickly leapt up back into action. As he looked up, blood splattered his shirt. For a moment he was confused, until he saw the thrashing head of the Basilisk and the blonde ragdoll it was tousling around. Finally he registered the screams as Josh’s and the realization dawned on him — Josh had just saved him.

Mary’s thoughts were interrupted by a muffled cry that sounded like a plea for help. Help. Shaking out of the savage state she was in, Mary quickly seized her sai that was laying on the ground. Plunging it straight into Ally’s back, the girl’s body ceased to shake anymore. Her cries were silenced and her body was simply limp. A cannon fired.
     The dark haired girl scrambled off of the girl as quickly as she could. Seeing what remained of Ally’s face was enough to bring her back to the reality she faced. She backed away frightfully, collecting her other sai, always mindful of the Electrogulpers. She jumped as another one almost came in contact with her, but with one glance towards the commotion across the other side of the Cornucopia, Mary stood still.

“Josh!” Brett cried out as he ran forward to implement his ally’s attack plan. His glaive struck true as it sliced deeply into the skin of the large snake, its blood spewing like a fountain. The Basilisk hissed violently, opening its mouth wide and hurling Josh into the grass nearby. Brett snarled as he ripped his glaive upward, slicing a good six feet of the basilisk wide open, spilling its innards out onto the newly bloodstained grass. With a final series of hissing and violent thrashing, the Basilisk fell with a large thud that subtly shook the earth.

Brett wiped the sweat and blood from his face. He remembered his ally, the one no one was supposed to trust, had saved his life. His eyes darted around until he spotted a bloody mass lying in a heap beside the Basilisk. He ran over and knelt beside Josh; there had been no cannon fire yet, so he was still breathing.
     The puncture wounds along Josh’s chest and stomach were wide and deep, with blood rapidly flowing from the open flesh. He looked back up at Brett, embarrassed. Once again he would be accepting defeat… he could have gone home this time too, but he sacrificed himself to save a friend. Perhaps he wasn’t just a pretty face after all.
     “Brett,” Josh said quietly, the brightness of his blue eyes fading to grey.
     “Why did you do that?” Brett asked sadly, leaning over the dying boy.
     “It doesn’t matter… could you do me a favor?”
     “Hm?”
     “Remember when I told you about those fairy tales? When we were in the orchard?”
     Brett furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, he wasn’t quite sure where this was going.
     “In my favorite one, Sleeping Beauty, the princess goes to sleep and wakes up to find a prince… I think I’m ready to go to sleep again,” Josh continued, his voice becoming quieter and his breathing more labored. “Could you give me the last golden apple? I took one… it’s in my pack…”
     The boy from District 2 frowned as he realized what Josh was getting at, but nodded to oblige as he reached carefully behind Josh to dig in his pack. Josh took in a sharp breath of pain, and Brett helped lay his head back down slowly. Knowing the boy didn’t have much time left, he carefully placed the apple in Josh’s hand. It sparkled in the sunlight.
     Slowly Josh brought the apple to his lips, using the last of his strength to do so.

“Brett, thank you for saving me,” he said with the hint of a smile before biting into the crisp golden fruit. The cannon fired, and the renowned heartless blonde from District 1 was asleep for good this time. 

Brett could feel some emotion rising in him for the first time in quite a while as he watched the life slip away from his ally, and he took a few steps back, looking around at the mess before him. The basilisk lay just a few yards away, looking a bit less frightening in death, and the arena had a dark feel to it. He glanced down one more time at Josh, but quickly looked away, shutting his eyes tight. This couldn’t be happening.
     He knew he had to pull himself together quickly. The Games weren’t over yet, and he could have sworn he heard another cannon fire somewhere during the fray. That meant that he was alone now, with one final tribute to face before going home. He took a deep breath and gripped onto his glaive, looking out past the carnage into the distance. The wind began to pick up a bit, and as the sun was setting on the horizon, he saw the silhouette of his final challenge.
     Her hair flowed in the breeze as she stared back at him. He couldn’t quite make out who it was yet, but it didn’t matter. He grabbed the shaft of his glaive with both hands and readied himself. This was it, it all ended here.

THE CONCLUSION

Mary looked away from Ally’s body as her cannon fired, knowing full well that she was the cause of it. She distanced herself from the burnt remains of the District 2 girl, securing both of her sais into their respective loops as she collected Ally’s weapon. She just wanted to get away from her; she wanted to forget Ally’s death. Micah’s death was a blurred memory, but Ally’s screams — the feel of her body struggling underneath Mary’s for life — were still fresh in her mind. She just wanted to forget, she wanted to forget all of this.
     Looking over at the carnage of the other side, her heart skipped a beat as she saw the outline of the Basilisk. She heard cries of pain and she could smell the blood in the air, but she couldn’t make out just what was going on. She gripped the spear in her hands tightly, despite the fact that the rest of her body was trembling. It was one thing to know that you would be fighting to your death; fighting was easy, because you knew what the outcome would be. Either you killed them or they killed you. It was another thing entirely waiting, not knowing what would happen next. Mary Rose bit down on her lip, trying to suppress a scream as she heard another cannon.
     She counted in her head; out of twenty four tributes, two were left. A sudden feeling of joy washed over her as she realized how close she was to going home, though a feeling of doom quickly followed. Who was standing in her way? Emerging from the shadows, Mary took a step back, recognizing the glaive before she saw his face.

He stood there beside the Cornucopia, watching as his final opponent, Mary Rose, the girl from District 6, took a few weary steps toward him. Her long, dark hair was swaying beside her and she looked a bit bruised from the days in the arena, but she was ready for the fight. The seemingly sweet girl was going to do everything she could to get home, and that training score of 11 showed that she was a force to be reckoned with.
     He had his own score backing him up, however, and the will to get home was stronger in him than ever before. He needed to be smart, and needed to be quick about it. With only two tributes remaining, there was nowhere to hide. He knew his best shot was to use what the arena gave him to his advantage, so he quickly glanced around at what was before him. He had an apple tree, the Cornucopia, and a giant, dead snake available to him. Awesome.
     With a sigh, he knew he didn’t have much to work with and took a few steps in the direction of Mary Rose. She was still staring him down, seeing what the first move would be. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the basilisk lying dead in the grass, its mouth slightly open with its large, pointed teeth exposed. That was when it hit him: what do all snakes have? Venom. It seemed that poison was certainly a theme in this arena, and it was time to use it one more time.
     The corpse of the Basilisk was still fresh, so the venom should still be potent and available. He needed to be fast though; for once he made his move, Mary Rose would be on him in a matter of time. He went through the movements in his mind, planning it all out before springing into action.

His feet carried him as fast as they could in the direction of the Basilisk’s mouth and as he went he slid his backpack down and held it in front of him, tearing the zipper open with his teeth. He then reached in and pulled his canteen out, throwing the pack back over his shoulder just as he reached the mouth of the snake. He stuck the tip of the fang into the canteen and pulled up, trying to extract some of the venom into it. “Come on…” He muttered, glancing over his shoulder for Mary Rose. Unfortunately for the boy from Two, she wasn’t one to sit back and let him have his way.
     Brett shoved the canteen up forcefully, nearly tearing through the gland that the venom was released from, and a bit of the liquid finally shot out into his canteen. Mary Rose, however, was on him in the blink of an eye, tackling the boy to the ground. The canteen hit the floor, dripping fresh venom out onto the already soaked grass.

Both tributes stood quickly, scrambling back and gripping onto their own weapons. Brett stood tall, both hands on the shaft of his glaive. Directly across from him, Mary Rose gripped the cold metal of her spear. Her sais still rested in her belt loops. 

“…Dad?” Brett said softly over the phone after hearing the familiar voice of his father. There was an extended silence after he spoke.
     “Is this some kind of joke?” His father asked. “This can’t be my son, he’s dead.”
     Brett gripped the phone tighter and looked down at his hospital gown. “It’s me, I promise. I don’t have time to explain now, and I’m sure the Capitol will do that soon enough, but I’m alive. I’ve been given a second chance.” The silence continued; his father was obviously in shock. “I’m so sorry. When I hit the ground in my last games… I gave up. But it’s going to be different this time. I’m going to win, okay? I’m coming home this time. I’m coming home.”

Brett was going home. The Career broke the circle, initiating the first attack. He lunged at Mary Rose, swinging his glaive skillfully. Mary, knowing full well what the boy was capable of, jumped, dodging his first swing. Mary raised her spear up horizontally, blocking against another attack from Brett’s glaive as the blade came down. The spear held strong against the sharp metal, and with a push Mary swung her spear, the blunt end making contact with the blonde’s temple.
     As her opponent staggered off a bit, Mary took the opportunity as a chance to get a bit of leeway on him. The hit didn’t do much, so she knew that if she were to try and finish it right there, he would still have the advantage. She needed to act, and she needed to act fast.

Brett looked up to see Mary sprinting away. The girl stabbed the ground with her spear not too far off before turning around it and arcing back around to the Cornucopia, spear in her hand. The boy from District 2 knew his opponent was smart. She was probably one of the most intelligent tributes the Games had seen. She could find a weak spot on her opponent and use it to her advantage, and so he started to think about his own weaknesses. Where was Mary Rose most likely to target him?
     Ah fuck it, he didn’t even know. Mary was a girl on a mission to get home, and it was hard to predict what a crazy homeward bound Asian was going to do. He needed to focus on what was going to knock her down, and that was easy.
     Brett twisted around and headed in the direction Mary took off in, keeping his eyes open on all sides for any wild sais that should appear. He was in the middle of the grasslands, looking out over the surroundings, and couldn’t see the girl anywhere. Where had she gone? It’s not like she could just transform into a truck and drive away. That was when he saw her out of the corner of his eye, lifting herself up on top of the Cornucopia. Of course. That was how she was getting her advantage. He would be forced to climb up after her and leave himself open to take a sai to his face.

“Right arm. Left arm. Right leg. Left leg. Head. It’s a technique in staged sword fighting, son. A pattern.” He watched as Brett readied his wooden sword and tossed his own into the air, switching hands. “I’ll follow this pattern and you will block my moves. Just take what I do and strike the opposite way. I strike right, you block left. It’s simple.”
     Brett threw the sword up to the left and felt the shockwave that occurred after the wood struck together. With a flick of the wrist, he brought the sword back to the right as his father struck again. “But real fighting isn’t a pattern. It’s unpredictable. How is this going to help me?”
     His father laughed. “Everybody has their own style, their own pattern that they create for themselves. If you study a person long enough, you can learn the way they move, the pattern they’re most likely to strike in. You can start to predict what is going to happen next.”

He approached the Cornucopia wearily, keeping his eyes on the District 6 girl. He knew that he could get on top of the Cornucopia quickly, but he needed the right distraction to have a clear shot. Still a good distance away, he knew if Mary was going to get a shot at him now she would have to come and get him, and it didn’t look like that was an option for her right now. Unfortunately, his backpack was still over by the Basilisk, so, thinking fast, Brett sprinted towards the golden horn.
     With Mary still out of sight and Brett approaching the Cornucopia quickly, he continued in his sprint and jammed his glaive into the ground, hoisting himself up into the air and onto the Cornucopia, then he pulled the glaive up after him and spun around. Just as he turned, the girl’s spear slammed into his chest — only it wasn’t the tip that began causing him pain.

Ally’s screams — the feeling of her body struggling underneath Mary’s for life — was still fresh in her mind. She just wanted to forget, she wanted to forget all of this. Mary looked down and saw the blood stains on her hands, and for a second was horrified at what she had done, though she soon recollected herself. 
     This was the Hunger Games. Kill or be killed. But as she stood there in the muddy grass, the sudden feeling of déjà vu hit her in her gut. The scene became familiar, and for a second she could see Ally standing where Brett was. Mary scrambled, gripping onto her spear in her hands. The Basilisk might have been dead, but there were Electrogulpers still flopping around the mud. Flashes of Ally’s body being electrocuted to death flooded Mary’s memory, but that only made her confirm her actions. Anything to win.
     Mary turned and ran away from Brett before he had the chance to grab out at her, making a beeline for where she had claimed her second kill. As she approached the area, she stuck her weapon down quickly, spearing an Electrogulper. She didn’t risk looking back before making her way towards the golden horn. She knew what had to happen. She knew it had to end at the start.

A look of horror washed over Brett’s face as Mary caught him by surprise. He let out a yell as he came into contact with the Electrogulper on the spear, his body trembling at the overwhelming shock left by it. Brett stumbled back as his free hand flew to his chest, which was now exposed with raw burnt skin from the touch of the mutt. Mary looked at the Electrogulper in horror, seeing its teeth. She threw the spear away in fear that somehow it would come after her next. Ready to fight her way to freedom, the girl drew her sais.

Before Mary had a chance to release her weapons, Brett ran at her, ignoring the throbbing pain in his chest. Brett slammed one blade against the metal behind Mary’s right leg and drove the shaft into her, hitting Mary in the waist as the lower end of the glaive swiped the girl’s leg out from under her. She hit the Cornucopia, and as shock registered across her face, Brett twisted the glaive and moved the tip of the blade toward Mary’s throat.
     The girl rolled out of the way quickly, not letting it end just yet. She flicked her right hand to the ground and pushed herself up, springing to her feet as Brett twisted back around. The blade of the glaive cut horizontally from her shoulder across her chest, but Mary used the momentum of the weapon to twirl around. As it passed, she stepped forward and kicked the boy in the stomach. He bent over a bit — not much, but it was enough. Mary spun her saidaround and jabbed it up, sending the blade directly for Brett’s eye.
     Brett, being a trained fighter, was ready. He turned his head to the side as he felt the sharp metal cut across his temple. Brett brought his glaive up, shoving the shaft into Mary and knocking her back. 

“You’re finally old enough,” Brett’s father said to him as they walked down the stairs of his home to the private training room they had built. His father made weapons for a living and, doing so, had learned many tricks to fighting that he had taught Brett’s older brother, should he have be reaped. Luckily, he made it through his teen years without this misfortune, but now it was the younger boy’s turn to learn. “I’m not putting you through those classes that the rest of the boys take at school, I’ll teach you to fight myself.”
     Brett admired the weapons on the wall. He had seen them a thousand times before, but he was never allowed to touch them. Many of them were dulled for practice, but they were still off limits. He grinned, looking at the deadly axes and spears, but his dad tossed him a wooden sword. He frowned. “This is what you give me?”
     “Everyone has to start off with the basics.” His dad grabbed another wooden sword and approached him. “Are you ready to learn how to fight?”

“Once you find the pattern,” His father went on another day, “You can find the optimal time to strike.” His father continued with his attack: right arm, left arm, right leg, left leg. Brett defended each attack perfectly, faltering at first but gaining the skill he needed over time. He rose the sword up to defend above, but his father paused mid-air. “Do you see this?” He asked, gesturing his open hand to his body. “I’m wide open now. Now is your time to strike.”
     “I can’t just go for the kill, though. Your sword is still coming down on me.”
     His father smiled, obviously proud that his son had caught this detail. “Surprise me, then. Take your opportunity and use it.”
     They struck again to the right, following the pattern. Brett defended himself with each blow, and as his father swung the sword up over his head to bring down onto him, he threw himself to the side, watching as the sword sliced down through the air and missed his body. Then, with a swing and a quick thrust, he jammed the dull edge of the sword into his father’s back.
     “Perfect,” his father said.

His father stood over him, the boy’s back pressed into the soft cushion on the floor with the dull blade at his throat. “Well, I’m dead.” He laughed.
     With a smile, his father continued speaking. “That brings me to my last point: don’t play with your food.”
     “Excuse me?” Brett asked.
     He took a step away and offered Brett a hand to help him to his feet. “If there’s one thing I want you to take away from all of this, it’s to never hesitate. You could be thrown into the arena with your best friend, and at the end of the day, there can only be one winner.” He looked Brett directly in the eyes. “No matter who you’re up against, you take your opportunities. Kill or be killed.”

Brett charged forward. Mary held her sais out in an X formation, but they were no match for the boy’s glaive. He stuck the front blade through the opening before twisting it around. Mary had no choice but to let go of the sais or have her arms be twisted. Brett continued forward, pressing the shaft of his glaive to her once more and sending her down, her back colliding with the hard metal of the Cornucopia. Brett twisted the glaive around, bringing the blade directly above her neck.
     She tried to push the blade away, but it was no use. He was stronger than her. He could see it in her. Defeat. It was one of the most saddening things he had ever seen, and she simply uttered a few words to him. “Finish it, then.”
     As he pressed the blade down onto the girl’s neck, he looked down into Mary’s eyes, seeing her for who she truly was: just another girl trying to get back home to her family. It wasn’t her fault she was thrown into this mess, and it made him think about the other tributes he had already murdered. Liz from his first games… Brett of District 11, Emma and Derek… and Josh, sacrificing himself to give the District 2 boy a chance.
     He bit his bottom lip and tried to push it from his mind. He brought the glaive down, the blood from her neck starting to seep out, and he didn’t know exactly who he was speaking to when he said, “Please, forgive me.” With a quick jerk to the right, he cut her neck open and severed the carotid artery.
     That was it. She wasn’t going to last more than a few seconds. He stumbled back away from her body and slid down the golden horn. He needed to get away. He started walking away from the Cornucopia when the cannon fired. 

A voice boomed throughout the arena. “Ladies and gentleman, I give you the victor of the Triquell: Brett, the veteran tribute of District 2!”
     Brett looked up at the sky. “District 1 will always be my home,” he muttered, barely standing at the foot of the horn.

He watched as his father walked away, making his way for the staircase. “But dad, why do we all have to train for this? Do you truly think I’m going to be reaped?”
     Stopping at the base of the stairs, his father turned to meet his gaze. Silence filled the room for a long moment before he finally spoke. “I pray to God that you won’t be, but should that be the case… I just want to be sure that you’re ready.” He cleared his throat. Was his father actually choking back a sob? “I’m not going to lose you.”

As the boy walked away from the Cornucopia, from where it had all started, his glaive slipped out of his grasp. The arena was blurry, like an out of focus picture. He kept walking, hearing the buzz of the hovercraft as it loomed overhead. His legs buckled beneath him and he found himself kneeling down in the wet grass, swaying slightly in the breeze. It was over… or was it really? It seemed as though the arena was all he knew now, and home was such a foreign place.

He ran his hand over the earth and felt the mud and soft stroke of the grass… or was it sand? It didn’t matter. Nothing really mattered now. He closed his eyes and waited for the mace to come down on him. 

There will be a post-Games tinychat » here « at 12:30 AM EST tonight. I have an important announcement to make to all tributes —
viewing is mandatory, and I expect to see you all there.

 Friday, March 16, 2012

Ally vs. Liz
Spear | Hunting knife | Cookies | Serrated sword | Shield

There was no hesitation in her reaction — at the first glimpse of her District 8 rival, Ally hurled the spear with incredible accuracy. She grazed the oblivious girl in the ear and smiled as the weapon landed in the dirt behind her and blood trickled down the side of her face.

Liz gingerly placed her hand on the wound and pulled away to observe her fingers coated in blood. She lifted her eyes to meet with her opponent’s, whose throwing stance hadn’t moved much since the spear flew from her hand. Her face clicked to the District 2 female, Ally. 

Ally hadn’t wanted to hit Liz straight on. She wanted to put on a show and the wound was just to alert the weaker tribute of her presence in order to let the fight commence. Ally stood there, staring, for just a moment longer before approaching with not anxiety, but confidence. She knew that Liz was dangerous, hell, she could tell just from the weapons she had on her, but the thought of the bloodshed excited her, as the death of her old ally Katie had set her bloodthirst in motion and she hadn’t been near other human life since.
     Liz glared at Ally as she approached, and Ally raised her eyebrows ever so slightly, bemused by the situation. She could see the wheels turning in Liz’s head, knowing that she was already prepared with a plan — prepared to win. The space between them closed foot by foot until Liz could fully see the detail of Ally’s face. Liz was set on edge. Her last encounter with a Career led to her downfall; to say that she was wary was an understatement.
     Ally took a hunting knife from her belt and gripped it in her right hand, poised to attack. If it were another tribute, Liz would have felt safe with her sword against a knife — a Career was different. Not wanting to let Ally have the advantage of the first strike, the District 8 tribute took the initiative and swung the sword at Ally’s neck. Her nervousness showed, however, and her form was sloppy and erratic. Ally dodged the attack easily, swiping at Liz’s stomach with the knife still outstretched in her hand. Liz attempted to swivel her body away from the blade, but was too slow and she let out a long whimper as it sliced through both the cloth and her soft flesh.
     Liz fought through the pain. Ally brought her knife upwards towards her face, though Liz promptly blocked it with her shield. Noticing her opening, Ally brought her foot back and swung at Liz’s right shin. It buckled but didn’t fail altogether — not that Ally wanted it to. As Liz reclaimed her stance, Ally tackled her opponent, who didn’t have enough momentum to make a successful strike at the Career. The tackle sent them both to the rocky floor, but having only a hunting knife in her hand (she had set the cookies down at the first sight of Liz), Ally was quicker.
     Ally tucked over Liz’s body, allowing herself to roll off and over the shield that she had attempted to shove her off with. District 8 had defensive maneuvers? Careers knew how to turn any defense into their own offense. Ally planted her knees in the dirt and jutted her blade out, stabbing it clean through the soft spot between Liz’s shoulder, collarbone, and neck.
     She wasn’t giving up. Liz dragged her own blade along the side of Ally’s vest, though the serrated edge merely tore the fabric apart. Ally pushed up off the shield and stood above Liz, pausing for a second before kicking her in the side of the head. The force hit her directly in the temple, and Liz was forced to pull her shield up to defend her face. Knowing Liz was expecting just another kick, Ally backed away, taking advantage of the moment to retrieve her spear. Liz stood, but turned to face Ally too late. The Career had, in one motion, picked the spear up from the hard earth, turned to face her opponent, and threw it, landing it directly where her knife had previously sliced. Unable to help herself, Liz threw off her shield in order to allow herself a free hand to both remove the spear and hold in her blood. Ally was relentless, and charged.

Liz didn’t know if it was arrogance or ignorance that stopped Ally from moving from the edge, but she knew she had to make the most of it. The veteran stabbed the sword down, but Ally was ready. She tucked and rolled quickly to the side to not only avoid the puncture, but grab the shield that Liz had dropped. She dropped her hunting knife without a second thought, placed both hands along the outside of the shield, and slammed it into the side of Liz’s head.
     She knew she had almost won. Liz reached around with the sword again, but she was slow now, and Ally ducked the blow. She set the shield on the ground and grabbed for her knife. She was ready to move on, she was ready to go home. Ally shot up, her arm raised, plunging the knife directly into Liz’s armpit — prompting the girl to drop the sword. Liz kicked out at the girl’s shin, which was in fact successful at sending the girl to the floor. Ally used the fall to her advantage, grabbed the shield, and dodged Liz’s following kicked.
     Ally popped back up, slamming the shield into Liz’s kneecap on the way. With the District 8 girl stumbling in her spot, Ally knew it was time. She ducked around the girls wobbling leg and now stood directly in front of her. Before Liz had a chance to push back, Ally shoved the shield between the two, pushing Liz back no less than three steps.

Unfortunately for the District 8 girl, the ledge of the mountain was only two. Liz’s eyes narrowed. She grabbed forward for her opponent, but Ally had already stepped back. Liz’s final foot slipped, and the girl crashed down the steep, rocky slope. Her cannon fired before she reached the bottom.

Josh and Brett vs. Derek and Emmavs. Mary Rose
Bladed whip | Double-ended glaive | Hunting knife
Purple backpack: Jerky | Bandages | Rubber gloves | Net | Apple
Green backpack: Sleeping bag | Canteen | Wolverine claws
Brass knuckles | Sword | Rope | Hunting knife | Bladed tonfas
Twin sais | Bandages | Crackers 

The arena always seemed to have a certain buzz to it; a break in the stillness that was a constant reminder to the tributes exactly where they were, but as Emma and Derek left the Cornucopia behind and headed toward the foliage in the distance, everything seemed to be more quiet than usual. Derek began to whistle to try and break the uncomfortable silence and Emma trudged on, counting the birds in the sky. Something had to keep her sane as she realized the fact that something big was probably about to happen.
    The trees grew dense around them, leaving only patches of sunlight showing the way through the forest onto the dry, dead leaves. Emma gave Derek a look that signaled for him to stop whistling as another sound echoed from up ahead, it was the unmistakable crunch of leaves. Someone or something was up ahead. A strand of dark hair came from behind a tree, and Emma quickly realized that it was Mary Rose, standing with her weapons ready. That wasn’t all, though, as the two career boys came out from the right side, completing the triangle of opponents. How convenient, Derek thought.
    This was it. These tributes could be their last obstacles before getting out of this arena, and with their weapons raised, Emma and Derek knew what they had to do. They all did.

Sizing up her opponents, it didn’t take long for Mary to realize that the odds were truly not in her favor.  It was her against two pairs of allies. She was alone with no one watching her back — though she didn’t need anyone. She was going to make it out alive. Fuck the odds. Breaking the tension, the girl from District 9 lunged at her, leaving her ally, the boy from Five, to take on the Careers.
     Emma leaped at Mary, her tonfas ready. The girl was quick, there was no doubt about that, but Mary managed to dodge one, two, three of her slices before getting knicked at the hip. Ready to instill her first blow and pushed forward by adrenaline from the cut, Mary twirled one of her sais into attack position. She thrust her weapon forward at Emma, who had been turning to wrap her right tonfa back around. The sai pierced the girl’s lower back, hitting a spot just to the right of her spine and above her hip. Emma turned quickly, prompting Mary Rose to pull her sai out. Emma twisted back, her tonfa slicing across the same hip that it had cut across before. Despite the pain that quickly shot through her body, Mary blocked another one of Emma’s blows with the sai she used for defense. Forcefully pushing the girl back, Mary turned, swinging her leg into a roundhouse kick. Her foot connected hard with the red head’s temple.

A screeching noise echoed as Brett’s glaive clashed against Derek’s sword. The two were an even match, being about the same size and height, but the light and powerful double-ended glaive in Brett’s hand gave him the advantage. Derek’s weapon lowered as Brett slashed his glaive across the boy’s bicep, leaving a trail of blood as it went.
     Derek tried to ignore the trail of blood now running down his arm and brought the sword back toward Brett full force. Brett jumped out of the way, and being that Josh wasn’t just going to stand around while the fight took place, he lashed his whip out to wrap around Derek’s wrist.
     The boy from One prepared to squeeze the blades tight with a twist of his wrist, but was caught off guard when the small girl from Nine, Emma, stumbled back into him. Seeing Josh distracted, Derek seized the opportunity. He charged forward, ripping his hand free of the loosely wound blades, and ran at the Careers that had just a second ago had the advantage. 

Mary looked at Josh and shivered slightly at the sick smile that graced his lips as he grabbed Emma. Meeting his gaze, she saw a malevolent glint in his eye. Brett glanced back quickly to see what had become of the situation, and immediately turned back to face his approaching opponent. With a wink, he thrust his glaive into Derek’s striking sword and twisted, forcing the boy to stumble the opposite way into Mary’s territory. Shaking out of her daze, Mary met Derek head on as he charged directly at her.

Emma broke free from Josh’s tight grip and backed away, stepping further out of the clearing and towards the cover of trees. Her eyes shifted from her ally and back to the career boys, and she raised her blades up, ready for the attack. The boys stopped a few feet away and placed themselves on either side of her. She growled as she brought the blades together to form an X in front of her face, and was braced for whatever was coming.
     Brett began to twirl his glaive, creating a pinwheel effect as he spun it beside his body, occasionally shifting hands so that the glaive’s two blades were spinning in a deadly blur in front of him. He took a few steps closer toward Emma, but not too close so that her blades would reach him. In response, she began to back away slowly, keeping herself vigilant, but eventually had backed herself up against a tree.
     Emma kept her eyes glued to the glaive. Having been through a similar Career training as she knew he had, she knew more than one of his tricks. Just a hint of hesitation or a hand off-balance could be enough to throw off his maneuver. As Brett backed Emma into a corner, Josh had slipped his backpack off and quickly pulled the net out within seconds to prepare to throw. He approached from the right side as Emma was distracted by Brett’s glaive, and the moment she turned her head toward him he tossed the net above her, letting it fall fast to trap her inside. She fought against it, but the blades were attached to her arms which made it difficult to get a clean cut through the mesh.
     “Emma,” Josh said, keeping her attention off of Brett, who was quickly sliding a wolverine claw out of his own backpack. “Have you gotten even smaller, or are the tonfas just too big for you?”

Mary watched as Derek approached her rapidly, his sword held beside his shoulder, ready to strike. The girl defended Derek’s first blow as she crossed her sais in an X formation. She twisted to the right, barely missing the blade, though it was enough time for her to do some damage.
     Quickly, Mary plunged her sai into Derek’s side. The boy let out a sharp cry as she raised her other sai to strike him in the neck. It would’ve been an easy kill, but Derek held on. Swinging his fist, Derek’s brass knuckles connected with Mary’s temple. The girl stumbled back disoriented, and Derek took advantage and hit her again in the head in the same spot.
     She collapsed to the ground with a groan, and as Derek brought his sword up to finish her, he was interrupted by the sound of Emma screaming.

Brett grabbed the small girl’s forearm just below the Brachioradialis, slamming her arm against the tree as he brought the Wolverine claw up to pierce through her left wrist. Emma, though, being both quick and an ex-Career, was ready. Being so small, the net left her some extra room. She kicked the District 2 boy in the shin, causing his strike to faulter and letting Emma yank her arm free. 
     “Forget the net; you go take care of Five. I’ve got this under control.” Brett muttered. His ally nodded confidently as he turned around and ran for the other half of the fight. He wanted to claim Emma’s kill for himself, but he knew that a weapon like a whip wasn’t exactly made to strike through a net.
     While the Careers made their exchange, Emma made her move. The small girl managed to tear a hole free with her left tonfa and began to slide through it. Her escape, however, was interrupted by the feeling of Brett’s glaive striking directly through her heel.

Derek’s distraction was immediately brought to an end. The blades of Josh’s whip greeted the District Five boy before he even had a chance to turn around. Josh grinned and let the boy turn to face him. The Career was ready to officially claim his first kill. About time too, he thought.
     Derek stared him down menacingly, his hands gripping his sword firmly. His eyes shifted to a sturdy looking tree branch hanging just above their heads, and wondered if there was some way he could use it to his advantage. Josh followed his gaze up and noticed the branch as well, but shrugged it off. They were at a standstill.

Emma fought back. She swung her free tonfa up, but Brett batted it away with his glaive. Eager to join his ally back in the real fight, the District 2 boy decided it was time to end it. He batted away another of Emma’s swings, although this time, instead of simply standing back and waiting for another, he planted his glaive in the soft Earth and twisted. His boots landed next to Emma’s right hand, but he was too close for her right tonfa to be effective. Before she had time to slice her left tonfa through the air, Brett twirled his glaive once more, bringing the opposite end down through the girl’s heart. The cannon fired almost instantly. He turned away just in time to hear another tribute cry out.

Noticing what Brett had done to his now fallen ally, Derek decided it was now or never. He feigned a jab at Josh, though the poison on the Career’s whip had weakened him, making the fake obvious. Derek charged at Brett, but Josh was ready.
     He twisted around, the whip soaring by his frame, and sent it through the air to grab Derek’s ankle, sending him once more to the ground. Before the whip could tear too deep into his ankle, he twisted to the side and swiped the knife toward Josh. Josh stepped back, pulling the whip away, and growled at the boy. He wasn’t going to let another kid from District 5 touch him.
     Now approaching the fight, Brett circled around the District 5 boy on the ground, standing a few feet away opposing Josh, who stood ready with the whip. Derek looked to the side and saw the sword lying a few feet away. Glancing wearily back at Brett, he quickly tucked and rolled over to grab onto the sword. Brett gripped the shaft of the glaive with both hands and took cautious steps, one foot over the other as the two boys almost started circling each other. Brett saw the line that the tributes had formed: him at the head, Derek in-between with Josh on the opposite side, and Mary just getting back on her hands and knees the furthest away from him. Above Derek and about three feet closer to Josh was the same branch that Derek and Josh had observed earlier. He had a plan.

The world was spinning when Mary opened her eyes. She tightened her fists to find that her sais were still in her hands. She was alive. Derek left her to live, and now she was going to see him die at the hands of the two blonde Careers.
    She brought her arms up in front of her and pushed herself up quietly, though there was a persistent throbbing in her head. She couldn’t have been out longer for a minute or two, but it felt like waking from a coma. Too engrossed with the murder of the District 5 boy, Mary had just enough time to steady herself. They might have not noticed her at that moment, but it was only a matter of time before the two blonde boys turned and made her their next target. She blinked twice, getting her vision into focus. She set her eyes on her target, and with all her might she threw her arm forward, releasing one of her sais.
      The sai ripped through the air and hit Mary’s target, sinking into Josh’s back just beside his right shoulder blade. He yelled out and reached behind him, trying to pull the sai out. Derek took this opportunity to turn his attention back to Josh. The rookie stood up to face him, but Brett was one step ahead. He stepped forward, slamming the flat of his glaive blade into the back of Derek’s head. 
     Derek had the wind knocked out of him and could feel the poison coursing through his veins now more than ever. Not willing to give up, the boy stood again. Josh ripped the sai from his back with a smirk and tossed it off to the side. He would finish the girl off later.
    The Career ran forward and threw his whip up, twisting around the tree branch above. With the running head start and as soon as the blades had latched onto the bark of the tree, Josh hoisted himself up, grabbing onto the top of the handle for support, and swung through the air like a monkey, slamming the heels of his boots with all his strength into Derek’s back. Derek flew forward and collided with the glaive as it ripped between his lungs just below his sternum and straight through the T9 and T10 vertebrae. The blade came out of his back, exposing the spine slightly, and Brett twisted around Derek quickly to avoid any last ditch efforts the boy may have to grab the few inches of his glaive’s shaft that poked out of the boy. Bringing his foot up, he pressed it against Derek and pulled the glaive through him. Derek fell to the ground and lay there motionless for a few moments, ending with a cannon fire. Determined, the two boys turned towards their last remaining opponent.

“Damn,” Mary said with a small shake in her voice, “I was hoping I could win by just standing here.” 
     Josh rolled his eyes. “Doesn’t this bring back memories? The two of us, in a forest… Only this time I have the weapon I was intended to.” The whip hung by his side, deadly as ever, and Brett twirled his glaive around as specks of Derek’s blood flew into the air. Mary had one sai now, and it felt pathetic in comparison to the Career boys’ weapons. With home so close now, however, it gave her that extra fight that she needed. She twirled the sai and looked her enemies down, ready to begin. The fight, however, ended just as suddenly as it had begun.

The ground began to shake. Mary looked at her opponents, who obviously, by their faces, hadn’t been forced to fight the arena yet, and made her move. Using the ground’s tremors to her advantage, she charged forward, leaping to her fallen sai. She grabbed it just as Josh ran forward.

That’s when the wave hit. As though the Gamemaker had simply hit the ‘end’ button, a giant wave of crystal cerulean saltwater, obviously having come from the sea down south, drenched the tributes. Brett slammed his glaive into the ground and gripped tight, determined not to get washed away. Josh lashed his whip out, grabbing onto another tree branch to secure himself. The two boys held tight, and the water settled quickly, though it had turned the forest and surrounding grass areas into a kind of marsh.

“Where is she?” Brett asked, looking around. As though tidal waves were her preferred method of transportation, Mary had used the ideal force of the wave and the shock factor to escape, letting it carry her away from her opponents. She was still alive — for now.

The final situation will be emailed to tributes Saturday, March 17th, at 12:30 AM. 

 Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Ally
Spear | Hunting knife | Cookies

After taking care of her previous ally, Ally looked towards the mountain range that loomed over her. Not wasting any time, the girl from Two took off up the most gradual of the four paths, continuing to follow the river to its source.
     Ally spent the night at what she assumed was the halfway point of the trail, not particularly worried about other tributes that could be following her. She knew as well as the rest of Panem that there was some breathing room between her and the next closest enemy. Not long after sunrise, Ally woke up as fresh as ever and continued up the path after feasting on a couple cookies and quenching her thirst with water from the stream. 
     Not too long after, the path seemed to come to an end, leading into a cave illuminated by only the sun behind her. Hesitantly, Ally entered, and taking in her new surroundings, she thought her jaw was going to hit the floor. The walls and ceiling were a sparkling lavender color, though neither of those compared to the dazzling waterfall that stood before her. The water was clear, seemed to reflect the sparkling walls, and led out through the entrance and down the slope she had just walked up. She was here; she had found the source of the river—she had found the Arena’s small sanctuary. Ally set her weapons and cookies down and knelt by the waterfall, cupping several handfuls of ice cold water into her mouth. She sat there for the day, looking out over the rest of the Arena and listening to the screams of her enemies. 

Mary Rose vs. Micah
Twin sais | Canteen | Bow and arrows (7) | Crackers | Bandages

Grumble, grumble, grumble. Mary let out a quiet sigh as she continued through the foliage. By the way she was feeling it seemed as though hunger would be the death of her before any tribute could be. She knew she had to find something soon – groosling could only fill a person up for so long. Continuing on, Mary came across a clearing. She squinted her eyes for a moment; this place seemed … untouched. The opening was entirely spotless and seemed to be undisturbed. No sign of tributes here. But then again, Mary had the uncanny luck of successfully avoiding any tributes up until this point. Maybe she would win these entire games by simply doing nothing. What luck would that be!  But then again, luck never seemed to be on Mary Rose’s side. She gripped her sais tightly as she advanced forward towards lake, weary of any opposing threats that the arena may have had in store. She’d been through one game already, and that was more than enough to teach her that nowhere was truly ever safe.
     Mary kept her eyes on the glistening bright blue water, taking in the reflection of the sunlight above. For a brief moment a thought had passed through her mind that maybe she truly was safe for the time being, but that thought quickly shattered as she noticed movement across the opening. Her head quickly shot up and her heartbeat heightened as she saw Micah from District 12. An instant familiarity came over Mary as she sized up the boy from Twelve. She remembered watching his games, seeing him die after he was so close to going home. A frown etched onto the girl’s lips as her eyes narrowed. She was just as close to going home in her own games, but the thing was, this time around she wasn’t going to be close to going home. She would be going home.

Mary was ready on her feet the instant the first of Micah’s arrows shot at her. She quickly dove towards the ground, doing a tuck and roll and narrowly dodging the arrow. Getting back on her feet, she quickly pulled her sais out for the attack. She kept her eyes on the boy at all times as she ran towards him. Mary knew if she didn’t close the distance between them soon then the all the odds would be in Micah’s favor. Seeing Micah’s bow reloaded, she ran in a zig zag pattern, closing in the gap. Mary could see that the boy was having trouble locking in on her, though she never let that sight go to her head. The very moment a smile had threatened to grace her lips, she felt a sharp cut on her left arm. She cursed lightly seeing the arrow hit the ground with a trace of crimson red on the tip. He was good. He needed to be dead.
     She charged on with all her might towards the boy, spinning the sai in her right hand into an attack position. With one swift motion she threw the sai at Micah just as the boy loaded his third arrow. Mary dove to the ground expecting another arrow to come at her, but she heard a loud cry come from District 12’s tribute and knew she had done ample damage. Micah dropped his bow as he held his arm. The girl’s sai had penetrated right through the arm he shot with. Micah tried to get the sai out as quickly as he could, but that brief pause was enough for Mary to close the gap. Mary stood quickly and sprinted forward, diving for the boy’s feet the instant he was in reach. Memories of her training flooding her memory. This was her moment, and this time no poison was in her system to slow her down.
     Mary Rose stabbed Micah with the her other sai directly in the middle of his left foot where a vital pressure point lay. She jumped up, elbowing Micah in the gut and pushing him to fall backwards, though  mid fall Micah managed to catch Mary’s sleeve, bringing her down with him.
     In a rough wrestle on the ground, Micah elbowed Mary in the jaw only for Mary to bite his arm. Savage maybe, but there was nothing pretty or graceful about fighting to the death. Her teeth sunk into his skin, Micah’s yell filling her ears as the taste of his blood lingered on her tongue. With enough strength she managed to push Micah off of her quickly enough to get back on her feet and retrieve the second sai that Micah had discarded from his arm. 
     Hearing Micah’s heavy breathing behind her, Mary quickly scooped up her stray sai just in time to swing her leg forward into a kick. Mary Rose sized up the boy once more, biting her lip. No matter how much damage the girl seemed to do it seemed like the boy was hanging on. Barely. Not taking any more chances Mary charged head on towards her opponent making a wide cutting motion with her left hand, her left sai creating a gash in the boy’s throat while she thrusted her right sai directly into his chest.
     Mary cringed as she felt drops of Micah’s blood splatter on her face, but she pushed the feeling of regret into the furthest part of her mind. She knew what she had to do. With a final twist of her sai she shoved the District 12 tribute’s body into the lake. She looked away, a shiver shooting down her spine as she heard the splash of Micah’s body hit the surface of the water. She waited a moment before looking back, only to see the once crystal blue water now mudded with swirls of red. Mary held her breath for a moment, her sais gripped tightly to her sides. For some reason, Mary had believed that any moment Micah would somehow rise back up to the surface. A small part of her even wished for Micah to rise back up to the surface just so she didn’t have to deal with the fact that he was actually dead. But seconds turned into minutes and the District 12 boy’s body remained in the lake. Slowly she backed away from the water. Mary’s first human interaction since the bloodbath and the boy was dead. 

Josh, Brett, and Jadie vs. » Mosquitoads «
Bladed whip | Double-ended glaive | Hunting knife
Purple backpack: Jerky | Bandages | Rubber gloves | Net | Apple
Green backpack: Sleeping bag | Canteen | Wolverine claws

The golden apple tree became a dazzling speck in the distance as the career pack made their way further into the woods and back toward the grasslands, hoping to find more tributes to end these games once and for all. It was almost saddening leaving the orchard behind, the three tributes had never seen such beauty in their lives. They knew they had to keep moving, though.
     As time passed, trees continued to envelope them with what seemed to be no end. The careers knew that they were close to getting out, but with nightfall coming they had to make a decision on whether or not they should just stay there for the night or keep trekking. They stopped in a small clearing and weighed their options when a loud croak broke through the still forest air. The three tributes turned their heads in the direction of the noise. Normally, a croak wouldn’t be much to worry about, but this was the arena after all, and the croak seemed to be far too loud for any normal toad to make. There, sitting on one of the trees, was a golden frog accented with hot pink and spring green wings. Its bright aqua colored eyes were set on the careers, moving only to flutter its fairy-like wings which resulted in a scattering of a powder that looked just like glitter.
      Brett, Josh, and Jadie weren’t daft. They knew instantly what this creature was, being educated about them back in their own districts. It was a Mosquitoad, an extremely dangerous muttation that was released into the woods during the rebellion in order to stop any rebels from escaping. The glitter that the Mosquitoad releases burns like fire to the touch, but the ultimate danger about this monster was the rows of razor sharp teeth that allow it to suck the blood from its pray. Alone, somebody could fight off the muttation easily, but the Capitol designed the creatures to travel in packs of twenty to fifty. They were a nasty, bloodthirsty creation that wouldn’t stop until its thirst was quenched.
      “Everyone back away slowly,” Jadie whispered, carefully taking a step back. The boys followed alongside her, never taking their eyes off of the Mosquitoad. “Maybe it will just leave us alone.”
      Another croak rang out, this time even louder than the first, and soon enough the whole pack had started to gather around the trunk of the tree, eyeing the tributes. They knew what the call had meant: it was feeding time.
      “Run!” Josh yelled out, turning about-face to spring away from the toads. “Goggles on, don’t let the glitter get in your eyes!” All three tributes pulled their goggles down, and Brett and Josh clutched tight to the two backpacks to try and obtain any extra protection they could, all the while keeping their weapons close to them. Jadie pulled her vest tight against her and let her hair down in order to provide an extra shield to her bare skin.
      The tributes sprinted as fast as they could through the trees, jumping over bushes and ducking under loose branches. A few times, Brett swung his glaive up to slice through a branch, sending it through the air and to the ground below to hopefully ward off a few Mosquitoads, but the muttations were relentless with their pursuit. It was obvious they weren’t going to get away without a bit of cunning. Brett searched the forest up ahead for anything they could use. There, a short distance ahead amongst the scattered leaves was a medium-sized jackrabbit hopping through the woods. Its ears perked up as the careers approached, and Brett knew they had to act quickly before it got away. “Josh, two o’clock!”
      Josh whipped his head to the right and saw the small animal sitting beside a tree. “The bunny? But it’s so cute!
      “Are you kidding me right now!?” Brett yelled, “Before it gets away!”
      Josh let his whip unfurl quickly and quietly, as to not startle the rabbit even more than it already was, and with a lunge to the right, he lashed the whip out and it cracked against the rabbit’s skull, killing it instantly. The group of tributes shifted their course slightly to run alongside the rabbit, hoping that the Mosquitoads would stop for the animal, thus putting an end to the chase.

Jadie, thinking on her feet, knew that Mosquitoads would be drawn to the scent of blood, so as they passed by the rabbit, she quickly knelt down and drew her knife, slicing it across the rabbit’s side to stain its white fur with the crimson color. She leapt back to her feet and was caught up to the boys in mere seconds as they continued on their escape path.
     All three were weary to glance back, but Brett peeked over his shoulder to see the swarm buzzing around the dead rabbit’s body, the Mosquitoads taking turns to plummet through the air to latch onto the rabbit’s corpse. Brett looked away in disgust, but was thankful that the plan had worked. The tributes kept running, thinking that they were in the clear, but just before the edge of the forest came into view, the District 4 girl felt something clammy against the back of her neck, followed shortly after by an incredible stinging sensation that caused her to cry out in agony. A stray Mosquitoad had latched onto her vest when she stopped to cut the rabbit and had now found its way to her bare skin. 
     The two boys slid to a stop, glancing back in horror as their ally clawed at the back of her neck, desperately trying to remove the Mosquitoad that had now sunk its teeth into her flesh. The glitter that was emitted from its wings felt like lava pouring against her skin. She screamed out and grabbed for her knife, bringing it up to the back of her neck, but just before she jabbed the blade into the mutt, it let out one last croak that summoned the rest of the pack.
      A flurry of gold rose from the distance and set out toward the tributes, and Brett looked to Josh as though to ask him if there was anything they could do to save the career girl from this fate, but the look in the District 1 boy’s eyes suggested that it was too late. With remorse, they turned and fled.
      The trees became further and further apart as the two boys made their way out of the forest, and behind them they could only hear the screams of their fallen ally as the Mosquitoads feasted, their glitter burning her flesh as her blood was sucked from her body. Brett and Josh collapsed onto the ground once they were in the clear and checked each other’s bodies for any Mosquitoads. They sat in silence, staring back at the forest with blank expressions. Though they were bloodthirsty careers, they had grown quite fond of the girl from District 4, and if either of them were to make it out of the arena, they would forever be haunted by the screams that echoed from out of the forest. They flinched when they heard the cannon fire.

Liz
Serrated sword | Shield

Liz’s body grew wearier and wearier as she trekked upstream. The vast plains had transformed into a scattered collection of brush, then into a full blown forest of it. She wasn’t used to the brilliant color of the arena that almost blinded her eyes. District 8 was grey, from the cobblestone in the roads to the factory soot that seemed to cover everything. The only relief she received from the bland color was the expensive clothing they made for Capitol citizens in the factories. She’d take the grasslands over the crowded factory district any day.
     She sighed as she remembered her time spent there. Short remarks to Danny, sarcasm to Lance and Christina, poking fun at James before they had been thrown into the arena; she’d somewhat missed it. She had at first been wary of the alliance that had been set up. With so many people, she wondered whose throat would be slit in the night first. Her paranoia had receded into subtle tension which then faded to awareness. She regretted that her allies had to be taken down in the process, but she did what was necessary to preserve her life—though, admittedly, the silence and solitude did unnerve her. The sudden end of brush and the appearance of ominous mountains interrupted her thoughts. Yet another choice for her to make—one of four paths. She surveyed them and after some time started her walk towards the second, left center mountain.

Derek and Emma
Sword | Brass knuckles | Rope | Hunting knife | Bladed tonfas

They were safe. They were alive.
     Derek and Emma sat outside the Cornucopia, observing the Arena around them. it didn’t look much different than it had the first day, albeit for the bloodstained grass and uneven land not too far away. They both knew that with their opponents whittling down, their own chances were increasing. They both knew that with every other death, they were one step closer to having to get rid of the other. Both tributes pushed this thought out of their heads repeatedly, instead preferring to keep to themselves for the afternoon.

Situation Six will be emailed to tributes tonight at 11PM Eastern.

As I’ve received a number of questions regarding the tributes still alive and the items they actually have with them after the previous situation, here’s a small update on who still has a fighting chance. Ladies and gentlemen, your final nine.

Read More

 Friday, March 2, 2012

Katie vs. Ally
Spear | Hunting knife | Cookies

As she left the brush and investigated the valleys, Katie noticed a fog had begun to cover the land around her. Having split up to look around, she lost sight of her ally as the fog became more dense.
      “You’re pathetic,” she heard. It sounded like Ally, though she couldn’t narrow down which direction it had come from. Hoping that she hadn’t run into any threats on her own, Katie began to search for her, but to no avail. “Poor District 1, having half their hopes on you.” Katie paused. Ally was… talking to her? “It’s a shame I’ll have to take care of you now. I’m sick of waiting for my first kill.”
      The jeers continued, and Katie’s blood was pumping. ‘How dare she talk to me like that. Just the night before we were sharing cookies. Sure, we seemed like we were on the edge of betrayal to the viewers, but we weren’t really, were we? The earpiece that was put in.. it had to be a trick, the fog was a trick!’
     As Katie turned frantically, she made out a silhouette in the fog not too far away. The clouding didn’t clear, but she knew for certain that it was none other than Ally, her hand gripping her hunting knife. As a Career, Katie didn’t hesitate.

Little did Katie know, whilst she had been sound asleep, Ally had been plotting to get rid of her, seeing as she was slowing them down. Had it been up to Ally, they would have been halfway up a mountain by then. She had looked around for something to smother Katie with when she came up with a better plan. She would poison her.
     Ally remembered seeing Atropa Belladonna, commonly called Deadly Nightshade, back in the grasslands before they entered the brush. As soon as she saw the cookies Jamie had sent to her, she knew it was a sign and immediately set off on her task, praying that Katie wouldn’t wake before she returned. She set off, and after about a half mile’s walk in the direction they had just come, Ally reached the plant. It was beautifully deceiving with bell-shaped, purple, scented flowers and dark green leaves. The berries were black and shiny, which made Ally smile. It meant they were ripe, which was perfect for her plan. She was hesitant to touch them, having taken a special interest in the botany unit in school, but if she didn’t she had no clue when her next chance would be.
     She scooped up eight berries (her favorite number), silently thanked the Gamemaker for giving her gloves to protect her hands, and began to run back to the place that she left a slumbering Katie. She wondered if the berries would seep through the gloves and make her hands red, but quickly realized that her thoughts were trivial. What she needed to do was find a way to get the berry juice onto a cookie. Furthermore, it had to be enough to kill her. Otherwise, it was all for nothing. Ally laid the berries in the grass and, clawing at her burning hands, managed to slide a cookie underneath the pile. She then proceeded to slowly and carefully squish the berries so that the juice would flow out and seep into the cookie beneath. She had to be extra delicate in order not to crush the cookie, and although it took her what felt like hours (but was really only about ten minutes or so) she was successful.
     The juice was dark and ink-like, but luckily it blended in with the chocolate chips and just made the cookie look as if it were slightly overcooked. The taste of the berries (she knew from class) was sweet and tempting, which would just make the cookie taste even better. And hey, who would complain? A cookie is a cookie. Ally left the cookie in the juice to soak, took off her gloves, and inspected her hands. They seemed unscathed, although they did still burn a little from touching the berries. Luckily, the gloves had saved her. She put them back on, woke Katie, and proceeded through the brush. She had hoped that upon ingesting the cookie, Katie would immediately begin convulsing and eventually keel over so Ally could finish her off with her new hunting knife. However, although Katie’s pupils dilated a little, there was no other obvious effect. Ally sighed in frustration, but couldn’t let Katie know that she had attempted to kill her and so proceeded as planned. She figured that maybe she had gotten it all wrong and that the berries weren’t really deadly nightshade at all. Or maybe she needed a much higher dosage..

Well, she did need a higher dosage to get the desired effect. As she finished reflecting on the last 24 hours with Katie in the few seconds she took to prepare herself for Katie’s seeming approach, she noticed Katie begin to twitch. She was still approaching, but it appeared that she was stumbling and it looked like she couldn’t get control over her body. It was then that Ally realized that the dosage truly hadn’t been high enough, and that had almost cost her her life. It took much longer than expected, but it began to work.
     Ally kept her distance as Katie attempted to approach through the fog, but grew weaker with every step. Eventually, she dropped to the ground and began to full-on convulse. Ally was quite enjoying the show, but was still shaken from the fear of Katie’s onset just moments before. She really thought that Katie was going to kill her, and in the shock of it all she may not have been able to truly respond quickly enough or efficiently enough. But Katie had been her friend, her ally for a while, and being careers as well had given them a special bond.
     Not able to bear seeing the suffering go on any longer, Ally crept up to where Katie lay on the ground, gasping for air and twitching wildly, picked up Katie’s new spear from where it had been dropped, closed her eyes and brought her arms down with a grunt as she drove the spear through Katie’s stomach. She watched as the convulsions began to get more rapid, and then, suddenly, they began to die out. Blood rolled up out of Katie’s mouth and as she gargled and choked for air, and her eyes met Ally’s. They seemed both betrayed and hurt, but still grateful. With one last gargle, Katie’s eyes rolled up into the back of her skull and she died.
     Ally fell to the ground, her head in her hands and the spear still in Katie’s abdomen. She shook with the onset of tears but quickly sobered as she realized that she had to collect her things before Katie’s body was taken away. She grabbed Katie’s gloves since her own were slightly poisoned, pulled the spear out of Katie and wiped it on her legs, which were still clean, surprisingly, gathered her non-poisoned cookies and knife and began to walk into the fog, not looking back and ready to face whatever came next. 

Danny, Christina, Liz, and Lance vs. Christian and Micah vs. Derek and Emma
Brass knuckles | Hand axe | Gray Drawstring | Awl | Satchel | Serrated sword | Brander
Throwing knives | Rope | Vile of oil (2) | Sword | Razorblades | Bandages | Bow and arrows (10)
Crackers | Brass knuckles | Hunting knife | Rope | Bladed Tonfas

“I guess the river’s as good a bet as any,” Lance announced to no one in particular, shielding his eyes from the golden rays of the just-risen sun. Maybe it was an arena trick, or maybe light just moved differently in the grasslands — Danny didn’t know, but whatever the reason, he thought the sun’s arc across the sky was taking longer than usual, like it was waiting for a show to start before it moved on. As it hovered just over the horizon, heavy with its light, the sun gave the only remaining tribute from Three a tingly feeling in the pit of his stomach; it told him that if a show was about to start, he and his alliance would be the actors on the morning’s center stage. For better or for worse. Liz silently took in the dynamic of the alliance she’d somehow stumbled into — there was banter and an underlying challenge, but she figured that was inevitable whenever four people of such strong will collided. But through it all ran a current of trust, and for that reason alone, she wouldn’t question it. For now. 
     Derek and Emma set out at the crack of dawn, heading back east, where they were sure of one thing; the river running through the Arena. As they made their way back, getting a head start on Day Three, the allies made out two figures at the golden horn, not yet fully alert or aware of their approach. Derek reached for the hunting knife in his boot, but Emma stopped him, quickly crossing a tonfa in front of his path. She nodded towards the horn, signaling that they were good to go. Not fully trusting, Derek clenched his fists, letting his brass knuckles gleam under the rising sun. As they approached, Christian and Micah emerged from around the Cornucopia. Emma made a weary sideways glance at Derek — another fight? “We have other worries,” Derek said, motioning towards the river not too far away. Approaching from the other side were Danny, Christina, Liz, and Lance, all four brandishing brand new weapons. There was no way the alliance of two could fight off six other tributes.. but could they trust Christian and Micah enough to ally? Of course not. Emma, though, had an idea. She smirked at Derek and waved her weapons in the air at Christian and Micah, who hesitantly waved back. Why not use Christian and Micah to take care of the other four, and then dispose of them afterwards? A double betrayal of sorts to make this a fight to remember.
     Lance quietly slipped his hand into the brown satchel that now was around Danny’s shoulder. He grabbed one of the vials of oil. The glass was cool and silky in Lance’s calloused hands — he knew this would be his secret weapon. He grabbed the rope off the back of his harness and tied the vial to the end before tucking it back again. Just as he did, Lance looked up with start as he heard the sound of an arrow whizzing towards him. He barely had time to gasp before the arrow made contact with Liz’s shield, which she had, thankfully, quickly stepped in front of him with. He showed her a quick smile, passed her the serrated sword from his harness, and charged through the river with the rest of his alliance.

Another fight. Another brutal, bloody fight. His blood swelled on. Christian, Micah, Emma. Lance, Liz, Christina. It all made sense, as did the tension that weighed down the empty distance between he and Derek. The boy from Three knew that this was a fight he’d have to take on smartly. Derek had vengeance on his side, and spirit. Danny remembered the boy from Five’s interview; his guilelessness, and his respectable will to get home. Without a second thought, Danny ran forward. Derek, too, was charging at full speed, his brass knuckles that matched Danny’s own outstretched.
     Danny saw the knife coming — really, it was a half-hearted attempt – and raised the controversial tan satchel just in time for Derek’s blade, attached to the end of a rope, to pierce it. Derek knew as well as Danny that this fight would be hand to hand. Before the tribute from Five could pull his makeshift whip back once again for another attempted slash, Danny grabbed the rope extending from the knife’s hilt and yanked it out of Derek’s hand. The blade still stuck in the satchel, and Danny threw the contraption aside.
     “I guess that fucking satchel had it coming,” the boy from Three joked as he stared his opponent down. Both had their fists up and were hunched over, like true and natural fighters. Clearly Derek had brawled before. Danny was never more glad for the bullies who’d littered his childhood than in that moment. Silently he thanked them for being unknowing training dummies. 
     “My brother died for that satchel,” Derek snapped. “In case you forgot, you cocky asshole.” 
     “Trust me, I didn’t forget. He left me with quite a nice souvenir,” Danny replied. Derek’s eyes flickered to his enemy’s scar, and he didn’t bother trying to suppress his smile.
     “My brother was always a fighter. A generous one, too, considering how he’s left me to finish what he started.” No more words were necessary — Derek lunged, slipping his fist in a gap just beneath Danny’s arm and getting in a solid punch to his opponent’s gut. Danny took a swift backstep, just quick enough to prevent the knuckles from puncturing his skin but not quick enough to avoid a good gash. “Guh,” he groaned. No matter the caliber of the fighter, pain was something that no man could ever get used to. Danny took a deep breath and leaned to his left, shoving his shoulder into Derek. The boy from Five stumbled backwards and lifted his arms to push Danny back, though the boy from Three was ready. He swung his fist sideways, the bronze of his knuckles connecting with Derek’s temple. Derek fell to the side, breathing heavily. Looking down at the other boy, Danny weighed his options. Though it would be easy to stomp down on the his throat, Danny left the boy behind and looked out towards the rest of the tributes. He planned to return with a weapon to kill — Derek would not be living to see his fourth day.

Christian could feel the adrenaline pump through his veins. He could feel his muscles flood with the hormone, his eyes glued to Liz. He knew that nothing would get in the way of him spilling her blood. Nothing mattered more than avenging his friend. Liz took a deep breath. Christian wasn’t the only one fighting for an ally’s honor. Liz had known Elena from the Games prior, and through this experience they connected during training. Seeing her face shine in the night sky not only filled her with grief but also with a simmering anger. She vowed that when she came face to face with her killer, she would use this anger combined with strategy. She wouldn’t let herself lose control; she would use it as a motivation to win. 
     Christian screamed, warning Liz of his incoming attack. He charged at the District 8 girl, but she was quick, and slid out of the way. He reminded her of the Minotaur from the stories her father used to tell her — the half bull, half man that had so much momentum he could only run straight. Christian turned quickly with his sword, but Liz was ready. She pulled her shield and Lance’s sword up in defense; she was bouncing back and forth, ready on the balls of her feet. Two steps forward and a quick jab with her sword. She felt the power of Christian’s parry on the metal of her blade and she quickly jumped back in anticipation of a response. She was right in her foresight; Christian swung his sword at her side, though she parried. Seeing an opening at the connection of their blades, Liz slammed the shield into her opponent’s nose, wary of the razor in his other hand. It connected and she was almost positive she felt a crack, though it didn’t do much in the killing aspect of the fight. Angry from the injury he had thought he wouldn’t receive, Christian slid the razorblade into his pocket and put all his might into the sword. Two hands on its grip, Christian slammed forward into Liz, who had pulled the shield back quickly, sending her back towards the river. The girl stumbled and set her hand down to catch herself. Christian charged forward, ready to end this quickly and painfully, though he was caught off guard by Lance’s cattle brander, which had found its way into his side.
     With finesse and a slight hint of panache, Lance twirled the rope above his head, using the glass vial as a weight. With a small flick of his wrist that was nothing short of inborn into his psyche, Lance hurled the rope towards his opponent in a swinging fashion. Without missing a beat, Christian stuck up his sword to protect his temple from an attack — exactly as Lance had planned. The vial shattered upon impact with the sword, the momentum of the throw causing the liquid to spatter along the boy’s right arm. Liz had since regained her balance and charged forward, slamming her shield into and badly bruising the boy’s left wrist.
     In the split second that Liz had presented, Lance had already pulled out a match, struck it on his own boot, and flung it towards his opponent’s shoulder. The flames took no time to arrive, coating Christian’s arm and spreading fast. Christian let out a screech and, knocking Liz to the side, sprinted towards the river without finishing off either opponent. Lance looked at his ally. “Take care of him, I’ve got the monkey,” he muttered, motioning towards Micah, who had climbed his way atop the Cornucopia. The boy from Ten took off running, and Liz looked towards Christian, who was now wet, burnt, and angry. Liz turned quickly and noticed the other chaos that had ensued around their fight. The tributes were in bad shape. She realized what she had to do, and with remorse she looked over them one last time. Even though she knew they eventually had to die, she went against her better judgment and grew fond of them. In the end, though, her life had to come first. Shield and sword in her hands, she fled the scene, leaving Christian confused in the river. Her heart sank at the sound of a scream, though she didn’t dare look back to see who it came from. 

Micah quickly pulled an arrow from his quiver and nocked it. He drew back, feeling the tension in the bow and his arm. Lance was running right towards him. He saw the skinny boy reach into his harness, no doubt grabbing for a knife Micah had noticed earlier. At that instant, Micah let the arrow fly, letting himself avoid whatever it was Lance had sent his way. Micah dove to his stomach quickly as the throwing knife whizzed over his head. He jumped back up and nocked another arrow, seeing that his arrow made contact, but only in Lance’s thigh. He was slowed down a bit, but still running his way. Micah sent another arrow at Lance, but missed his mark as Lance slid forward, feet first.
     “Dammit,” he muttered. The arrow went right over Lance’s shoulder and stuck into the ground. Seven arrows left. He knew he needed to use them wisely. As he knocked his fourth arrow, Lance sent another knife flying towards the boy on top of the golden horn. This time, it connected. The knife sunk into the soft flesh between Micah’s shoulder and chest, although only sinking in a couple centimeters due to the underhand throw that gave Lance his accuracy, and Micah quickly pulled it out, knowing he may need it sooner rather than later. He glanced down and saw Lance running into the Cornucopia. “Shit.” He knew he couldn’t shoot Lance while he was above him, and he knew Lance would attack as soon as he was in sight. He had to figure something out, and Micah quickly ducked towards the back of the Cornucopia.
     “That brat is trying to sneak away” Lance thought. He took a deep breath and yanked the arrow out of his leg. This time, his pain wouldn’t be a distraction. He clenched his jaw tight, grinding his molars against each other for just long enough to regain his composure, tucked the arrow into one of the empty knife slots in his harness, and then looked back to snuff out Micah from his hiding spot. He listened quietly to the area surrounding him. Out of nowhere, Lance heared footsteps pounding to his right, adjacent to the mouth of the Cornucopia. Without hesitation, Lance took off after him.
     Micah kept sprinting, not looking back at the District 10 boy that he knew was giving chase. About 25 yards out, Micah knew that it was now or never. As if out of nowhere, he somersaulted on the ground and turned his body so he was facing both the Cornucopia and his opponent all in one swift movement. He got to his knees and aimed. Lance was still charging straight at him, his fingers locking tight around the grip of another weapon. Before Lance could throw his third knife, Micah fired.

The hectic arena seemed to have been put in slow motion, like the Gamemaker themself had slowed down time and space with the push of a button. Emma concentrated on the axe in Christina’s hand as it got increasingly closer, closer, closer.. until it was accelerating full speed toward her face. Born and raised in District Two, Emma was ready for what was coming at her. She doubled over, thrusting her right tonfa directly out to her side as she slipped past Christina. The blade missed the tall girl’s major organs but left a long gash along her hip, sawing through the thick material of her bright blue vest.
      Having been caught off guard, Christina dropped to the ground, landing on her left knee, but maintained her other foot planted on the floor. The blood began to paint any fabric it touched a grim dark red. The sight of damage on her opponent enlightened Emma, as she made no effort to hide the demonic smile that grew upon her face. This only caused to further infuriate Christina. At that point, she lost what sense of character she had left and let instinct take over. Facing her opponent, Christina grabbed Emma’s hair with her left hand and pulled her down towards the ground. Not suspecting such a catty move, Emma had no time to stop herself from hitting the ground.

Christian was quieter than most people gave him credit for. Although he decided against giving chase to Liz, he was sure that he would be spilling his opponents’ blood once more. As she stood above Emma, Christina was oblivious to the large District 6 boy approaching from behind. “Do it, Christian,” he heard LeaAnn mutter in his ear, though he needed no encouragement to get this done. As he approached, he noted that although Emma was fighting back valiantly, one quick strike from Christina’s axe would set off her cannon. He wouldn’t let that happen. Christian charged forward, sword at the ready above his head, ready to strike through Christina’s drawstring and spine. Christian, though, never got the chance.
     Making his way over from his own postponed fight, Danny tackled the large boy, knocking him off his path. Christian grunted, prompting Christina to turn and look and Emma to slide out from beneath her. Christina turned back in time to see Emma jab her right tonfa directly through her throat. Emma slid her blade out and Christina moved her hands to the hole in her throat, choking as the blood filled up her lungs and spilled out of her wound. She stumbled forward, reaching towards her back-stepping opponent, and fell. The cannon thundered through the arena.

Danny rolled on top of Christian, their fists both landing blows to one another’s faces. When they stopped finally, Christian was on top of Danny, both boys bloody from the impact. Christian grabbed Danny’s collar and pulled him up, causing the District Three boy to respond by spitting in his face.
     ”Are you a black hole? Because you suck,” Danny said, chuckling at his own joke. Christian looked him over, his eyes fixed on his opponent. Danny ceased his laughter quickly and brought his fist up again, the brass connecting with Christian’s face, getting him directly under his eye. Fed up with him, Christian threw his opponent to the ground and grabbed the sword that had fallen in the tackle. “If you were an animal, you’d be an ass,” Danny said, trying to stand. “Your mom.. no. LeaAnn was so stupid, she —”
     Danny didn’t get a chance to finish, his cannon instead filling in the sentence for him. Christian pulled the blade of his sword from his opponent’s chest and looked back at the scene. 

Micah’s arrow flew through the air smoothly, sinking into the soft jelly of Lance’s right eye. It continued its path, embedding itself into Lance’s brain. A direct hit. The cannon sounded before the body hit the ground. Micah approached Lance’s body and pulled his arrow out of the boy’s face, the eyeball coming with it. Micah shook it off and looked down at the boy with one gaping bloody hole where an eye should be and the other glazed over as if he were simply daydreaming. Seven arrows left. Looking back over the scene, Micah took off towards the west, where he had earlier agreed to meet with his allies after the slaughter.

Derek’s eyes opened slowly, and he was groggy. He didn’t remember much other than the District Three boy swinging at him, although he still had the hunting knife near his boot, the bronze knuckles on his fists, and the rope laying on his waist. As he looked over the battlefield, he saw only Emma and Christian standing. Walking over, Emma and Christian turned towards him, though he only laughed in Christian’s face.
     ”Like I’d ally with you!” he said loudly, a look of amazement washing over Christian’s face. It wasn’t that he didn’t expect it really, but that this smaller boy had the guts to verbalize it.
     “Boo hoo, you’re still upset about Elena? My ally died too. LeaAnn deserved to live just as much as Elena did.” Christian stepped forward, his fist connecting with the side of Derek’s face. He knew that this wouldn’t end peacefully, and he hoped Micah was ready with an arrow nocked. Raising his sword, Christian was met with nothing but pain as Emma jetted her arm across, allowing her blade to embed itself in his side, directly under his ribs. Derek lunged forward quickly and thrust the hunting knife into Christian’s gut, but the District 6 boy was barely hunched over. He gribbed his sword again, but this time was met with nothing but the feeling of steel on his neck as Emma placed her crossed tonfas on each of his shoulders and slid them back. The boy gurgled before stumbling forward and crashing to the floor. Emma stuck her blade through the back of his throat, collecting her fourth kill. Derek looked his ally over. “Shottying the next one,” he said, collecting Christian’s sword. As the two walked away from the carnage and back towards the Cornucopia, they couldn’t help but smile. Four steps closer to returning home.

Josh, Brett, and Jadie
Bladed whip | Double-ended glaive | Hunting knife |
Jerky | Bandages | Wolverine Claws | Sleeping bag | Canteen

The careers kept moving further to the west as the foliage in the distance grew ever larger and more vibrant. The more the trio continued into the orchard, the more beautiful it seemed. They found themselves immersed by the most luscious and vivid red apples they had ever seen. There was nothing like this in the Districts, but then again, none of them were from the farming Districts so perhaps there were…
     As the pack traveled further inward, they came upon an opening to the most dazzling lake one could imagine, but even its beauty was diminished by the glimmering light of the golden apples that hung from the largest apple tree by far. The tree stood in the very center with plenty of space around it, as if no other tree dared grow near it. Josh’s eyes sparkled as they fell upon the glittering fruit.
     Without a word, the smaller blonde boy began walking slowly toward the tree as if entranced. He was stopped as a stronger hand grabbed his arm to stop him.
     ”Josh, what are you doing?” Brett interrupted, pulling his ally back. “Those are Capitol creations, you know the Gamemakers had to have done something to them!”
     ”He’s right,” Jadie added. “We should just leave them alone.”
     Josh turned back around and face Brett with a lofty, dreamy expression upon his face. “When you were little, did you ever hear those really old stories? About princes and princesses and evil queens.. My grandmother used to tell them to me before I had to start training…” he sighed at the distant memory of happier times. His demeanor changed from dreamy to excited as he continued to animatedly tell the story. It was odd to see the bloodstained Career appear so innocent and childlike for the moment. “Well! In some of the stories, there are magic wishing apples!”
     ”But aren’t they usually poisoned?” Jadie interrupted. His smile faded as he turned to look back longingly at the tree. “That is true…”
     Brett smiled and pat Josh on the back. “We can use these to our advantage though. If any of the apples are poisonous, then we can put the juices on our blades. We’ll be to the final three in no time…”
     ”But what happens then…” Jadie said quietly. They all knew of course, so the two boys remained silent.
     Brett walked forward to the apples and Jadie followed suit, each picking a couple while Josh continued to gaze upon the sparkling tree with a doe eyed expression. Jadie cut into one of the apples carefully with her hunting knife and took a whiff of the overly sweet scent the fruit exuded.
     ”Yep, definitely poisonous,” she said, having spent a lot of time at the poison and healing stations in training.
     ”Perfect,” Brett said with an evil grin as he and Jadie began very carefully crushing chunks of apple over the team’s various bladed weapons: the glaive, the whip’s blades, the claws, and of course, the knife. The two went and washed their hands thoroughly in the lake. Jadie was setting up her net to catch whatever fish may lie in the lake when Brett returned to the tree to find Josh still standing in the same spot with a wistful look in his eye.
     ”Are you alright?” Brett asked, stepping in front of Josh to block out his vision of the shimmering apples.
     ”What?” Josh said blinking out of his trance. “Oh… yeah, did you want to put the juice on the weapons?”
     Brett gave him a quizzical look. “Jadie and I already did that… are you sure you’re okay? I don’t think we should stay here much longer… who knows what else could be poisonous, or what this tree could actually be home to.”
     ”Right…” Josh said vaguely. “Of course, yeah!” He smiled brightly. “Let’s go find some tributes and finish this!”
     Brett returned Josh’s smile halfheartedly. “You sure you’re okay?”
     ”Mhm! Why don’t you go get Jadie and we can leave?” Josh said bubbly and innocently, as he always did when he was up to something. Brett could tell the boy from District 1 wasn’t being honest, but he knew there wasn’t much he could do about that either. With a shrug, Brett turned back to the lake to retrieve Jadie.
     With the others away, Josh knew this would be his only chance. He walked up to the tree and lifted his arm to the nearest golden apple. It was cool to the touch, and even more beautiful up close if that was possible. He smiled as he plucked the fruit from the branch and carefully observed it as he twirled it in his hand. He had always wanted to live in a fairy tale…
     Josh quickly shoved the golden apple in his pack as he heard the footsteps of his allies approaching.
     ”Ready?” said Jadie with a perky smile as she showed off her latest catches. There were at least eight fish in her net.
     ”More than you know…” Josh said as his signature innocent smile slinked across his lips. 

Mary Rose
Twin sais | Canteen

Mary Rose was determined. She had been stumbling through the trees, hoping to come across some kind of food or water for hours when a silver sparkle above caught her eye. Stuck on a branch halfway up an apple tree was a parachute that she knew was withholding water from her. Mary Rose sighed. Ordinarily it would’ve been easy — just climb the tree and get the canteen dangling above her head. She was so thirsty though.. Her mouth felt as dry as the sand she left behind, and her head felt heavier than the Cornucopia back at the heart of the Arena. Maybe she should just wait. If she took a nap, she was sure a squirrel or something would pop by in no time and gnaw the parachute free..
     Mary took a seat at the base of the tree. The roots made the ground uneven under her, but she was so tired, so drained, she didn’t mind looking past that small annoyance. She yawned, though it only reminded her how uncomfortably dry her tongue was. As her eyes began to close, she started to wonder if they’d even open again. If it’d be better if they didn’t. A cannon fired, and for a second, Mary wondered if it was her own. She took a deep breath. No, it wasn’t hers. Hesitating for a second, Mary stood up again. The screams in the distance reminded her that any other tribute would literally kill to still be as alive and unharmed as she was. Taking another deep breath, Mary’s fingers gripped the bark of the tree, and the girl began to climb.
     Being from District 6, Mary Rose wasn’t as skilled at climbing as some of the other tributes might’ve been, but she certainly was determined. As she made her way up slowly, she began to rap to herself, keeping her mind off of the situation and letting her body do the work.
     ”Now this is a story all about how; My life got flipped turned upside down; And I’d like to take a minute, just listen while I tell; I’ll tell you how I became the victor of the first TriQuell.”
     Hand over hand, foot over foot. She was close, the branch only a couple feet out of her reach.
     ”In District 6 I was born and raised; On the road was where I spent most of my days;” Closer. “Chillin’ out, maxin’, relaxin’ all cool; And all running over hoes, outside of the school; When a couple of guys who were up to no good; Started takin’ tributes in my neighborhood; One little paper and my mom’s hopes fell; She said ‘Mary Rose, you’ve been reaped for—’”
     Mary Rose swung to the side, gripping onto the branch with one hand and the parachute with the other. She wiggled it loose and dropped down, rolling a foot away upon contact to avoid hurting herself on the landing.
     ”The TriQuell,” she finished, opening the canteen and taking several small sips. Mary Rose was ready for whatever the Arena decided to throw at her next.

Situation Five will be emailed to tributes tonight at 11PM Eastern.

 Saturday, February 25, 2012

Derek and Emma vs. Kaelaunie
Bladed tonfas | Hunting knife | Rope

As Kae made her way west, she collected a silver parachute that her mentor had happened to send: a Capitol grade hunting knife, nearly identical to the one that Jadie had tried to use on her the day prior. She trembled and tried to shake the images that clouded her mind, images of her dead allies. She had to be extra cautious now that she was alone. She tucked her knife into her boot and picked up a few small rocks from the grasses around her. She allowed herself to stroke a rock now and then as she walked, reminding herself of what she had to be—strong, hard, and overall solid. “Kae, we just want you to get out alive.” Stephs voice rang throughout her head as she replayed that last peaceful moment her and her allies shared. As she walked, she was careful to avoid any chase that the Careers may have given. Finally, Kae sat down and began thinking of ways she could fend off any possible hazard she may have to face. She picked up a few small rocks and put them in the front pocket of her vest, then picking one out and tying it to the end of her rope, mimicking Steph’s movements so that the knot would not become undone. She gained back onto her feet and began walking westward again. Unfortunately, her earlier precautions proved to be futile. Not too far ahead of her were District 5’s Derek and District 9’s Emma, their eyes already trained on the small District 11 girl. Although she wanted Emma to be her kill, she knew it wouldn’t be as simple as that. Kae walked toward Derek and Emma wielding her makeshift weapon. 
     ”Well well well, did the District 11 girl decide to betray her alliance this early in the game?” Derek jeered at Kae, recalling the images of Brett and Steph’s pictures in the sky the past night. Kae didn’t even look at Derek. It was Emma she wanted dead, not him.
     ”They’re dead” Kae said with eyes still trained on Emma. “And you will be too, if you don’t get out of here.”
     Derek laughed at the threat coming from this smaller girl. Kae spoke again. “You know whose fight this really is,” she warned, “no need for you to get caught in a little teenage girl drama.” Derek rolled his eyes, and he exchanged a quick glance with his ally. Kae seemed to notice and braced herself when, only seconds later, Derek and Emma began to charge at her.
     The two allies leapt from the ground like wild animals going in for a fresh kill, hungry for flesh. Kae lunged forward as she slashed her knife out in front of her while the two tributes approached. With Derek on the left and Emma on the right, both tributes ran at Kae, cornering her and leaving nowhere to run or hide. The small girl lunged at Emma, rock and rope twirling, but Emma meets her arm with the flat edge of the tonfa. Thinking quick, Kaelaunie brought her other arm to guard against Derek’s incoming attack. Her attempts failed as Derek’s fist collided into the side of her face, the boy then tackling her to the ground with all his weight, causing her to drop her knife. Scrambling on the ground, Kae swung the rope, lashing up at Derek above her. With Derek’s hands clamped around her throat, the smaller girl was attempting to wrap the rope around his throat. The District 5 boy was straining against her efforts when a foot came down hard towards Kaelaunie’s face, stomping down on her nose. Taking advantage of his ally’s assistance, Derek took the rope from Kae’s grasp and tossed it aside.
     “Wow Emma, nice shoes, where’d you get them?” Kae choked through the blood. Was that a joke? Emma rolled her eyes. While Derek held the girl’s wrists pinned to the ground, now easily overpowering her, Emma looked down and, without a second thought, plunged her tonfa straight through the girl’s throat. Blood began to bubble up in her mouth and the cannon sounded almost immediately. Derek got off the girl, collecting the fallen weapon and making his way over to where the rope had landed.
     The dark haired boy wheezed as he thrusted his new knife into his belt loop and exchanged a devilish grin with Emma. “Well that was fun.” He remarked, observing a few stained blood spatters on his body. Emma smirked as she looked down at the bloody, yet innocent looking body curled up in the grass. Derek shook his head. “Well we should get going. Kae’s screams could probably be heard for miles. She really should learn to keep her mouth shut…” he paused. “Well, too late for that now I suppose.” With that, the two allies continued their journey west under the scorching sun.

Josh, Brett, and Jadie
Bladed whip | Double-ended glaive | Hunting knife |
Jerky | Bandages | Wolverine Claws | Sleeping bag | Canteen

“I should have chased after that brat,” Jadie sighed as the career pack settled down, recovering from their victory over the other tributes.
    Brett sat next to Josh, bandaging the boy’s injured leg with the roll that was inside their backpack. “Don’t beat yourself up about it. I’m sure we’ll see her face projected in the sky soon enough.” He turned to glare at Josh. “And will you stop squirming? I swear you never sit still.”
    “Hmph!” Josh said as he folded his arms in contempt, letting the boy wrap his leg. How had that ridiculous girl even touched him? Well regardless she was dead now, as she should be.
    As dusk fell upon the arena, the three tributes set up a schedule to keep watch and took turns with the sleeping bag they acquired from the green backpack. As Brett sat vigilant, the anthem began to play loudly throughout the landscape. He nudged his allies awake and pointed upward as the faces of the deceased tributes of their first day in the arena flashed before them.
    Brett blinked as he realized that with Elena, Mike, and James gone, he and Liz were the only veterans still alive from his games. In fact, half of the veterans were already knocked out. These newbies must be stronger than they looked. No matter, the careers would take care of them all in due time.
    Josh glanced over to Brett as the anthem ended. “You should get some sleep,” He said, passing him the sleeping bag, “you look like you can use all the beauty rest you can get.”
    “Shut it, barbie,” The District 2 boy said with a laugh. He settled into the sleeping bag and was out instantly, his glaive clutched tightly to his side.
    “Rise and shine boys!” Jadie called brightly the following morning, tossing some water from the river onto them. “I haven’t heard a single cannon fire all night; we have work to do! Also, I have a surprise for you!” She held up her net that contained a few fish from the river.
    Brett halfheartedly applauded Jadie for the food and then proceeded to groan and roll over into the grass. Josh stretched slowly as he stood up to take his first look around their area in full daylight. Some brush sat nearby with the mountains looming over them. They had traveled further than they thought the previous day.
    “So which way are we headed?” Jadie asked, playing with the wolverine claws and gathering up the purple sack.
    Josh eyed the mountains with uncertainty. He had faced an arena of nothing but unnaturally tall trees and the idea of climbing the mountains made him a bit uneasy for the time being. He looked out to the fields on his left where there looked to be a lot of foliage in the distance. “Let’s try this way for now. If we don’t come across anyone, we can always back track.” He looked down to see Brett still laying face down in the grass. “Get up, you bum!” He said, unfurling his whip with a loud crack.
    Brett bolted upright. “Ugh, fine,” He muttered as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and pushed himself to stand. He grabbed the sleeping bag and stuffed it into the other backpack. “Let’s go.”

Katie and Ally
Hunting Knife | Cookies

“Shit,” Ally said, collecting the two silver parachutes that she had stashed next to her. “Katie, we’ve got to get going.” Katie’s eyes fluttered open softly, but after realizing that the two had overslept, the District 1 girl was immediately up and ready to set out.
     ”You think they’re near us?” Katie asked quickly, looking around. Although it didn’t exactly keep up their Districts’ killer reputation, the two girls had successfully avoided dying for twenty four hours by keeping away from the other tributes.
     ”I think we’re good, but personally.. I don’t want to risk it.”
     Katie nodded in agreement, and the two set off, still following the river north. The girls kept up a fairly quick pace for the entirety of the morning with not a word passing between them. Silence had it’s benefits. For starters, silence meant tension, and tension kept the viewers on the edge of their seats. It kept them safe. Secondly, anything either of the girls thought of was too grim to bring up a conversation about. Home? Only one could return. The other tributes? No doubt they were hunting for them.
     ”Uh,” Katie stammered out, breaking the silence. Before the girls was a sudden change of scenery—a large overflow of brush, almost rainforest-like in appearance. “That’s one way to separate the mountains from the grassland..” Ally reached into the little bag that had come with a silver parachute, pulling out two chocolate chip cookies, homemade from one of the bakeries back in District 2. She handed one to Katie before readjusting the hunting knife in her makeshift beltloop holster and stepping forward.
     ”It’s do or die,” she said, taking a bite of the cookie in her hand. Katie nodded, and the two girls set out into the brush. 

Danny, Christina, Liz, and Lance
Brass knuckles | Awl | Aloe | Hand axe | Matches | Vile of oil (2) |
Fleece | Quartz | Shield | Cattle Brander | Throwing Knives (5) | Ointment

Lance woke up with a start, shaking himself out of the previous night’s nightmares. Apparently in the arena, peace was nonexistent in sleep just as it was when awake.
     ”These came last night,” Christina said, passing him two silver parachutes. Her eyes were bloodshot, and it was obvious that she hadn’t slept, even during his time as lookout. He took the parachutes graciously and silently thanked his mentor and the people back home. In one hand he now held a custom forged cattle brander, the iron rod ending in his initials, along the bottom of which were a countless number of small spikes, allowing him to literally puncture his initials into his opponents. In the other hand was a small container of ointment, which the two immediately spread over their various injuries.
     ”Come on,” Lance said, standing up. He shoved the ointment and fleece into the drawstring, collected his knives, and gripped his brander. “We’ve got allies to find.
     The two rookies set out west, using the mountains in the distance as their guide. They weren’t sure which direction the Crazors had chased them, but they were sure that Danny and Liz hadn’t passed them since the bloodbath.
     Lance and Christina walked for hours, and as the sun made its way across the sky, it was now obvious to the two that the Crazors had only chased them further east. As they began to give up hope, thinking that maybe it’d be another night of just the two of them, their spirits were raised at the sight of a barrage of silver parachutes coming down in front of them. One, two, three.. four. Four parachutes coming down, making their way towards the girl from District 7. Just as the two had begun to lose encouragement, Amaris had revived it just as quickly. Christina took three of her gifts, two viles of oil and a pack of matches, and shoved it into the drawstring that she had slung over her shoulder, and kept the other, a » spiked hand axe « in her right hand, holding it firmly. 
     As the sun began to make its way towards the western horizon, Lance turned to Christina. “Maybe we’re not going the right way,” he said, turning towards the mountains. Christina looked out towards the south, debating in her mind whether or not Danny and Liz would’ve set out towards one of the larger landmarks.
      “Not giving up so soon, are you?” a voice called in the distance. Lance and Christina both turned back towards their original direction and saw two silhouettes standing in the distance. Making their way towards them was, finally, the other half of their alliance. Liz walked ahead, holding a shield that looked to be about fourteen inches in diameter. She didn’t look too injured, so Lance and Christina took it that she got off pretty easy, unfortunately unlike her District partner. Danny walked behind her, not looking too bad either. As he got closer Lance and Christina noticed that his arm had been stitched up, and he was now brandishing a pair of brass knuckles. “It’s a good thing some people didn’t hesitate to keep looking,” he said with a smirk on his face. The four allies settled down in the grassland, resting up now that the situation presented itself, and braced themselves for whatever was to come.

Christian and Micah
Razorblades | Bandages | Bow and Arrows (10) | Sword | Crackers

Christian continues to walk East, passing clusters of trees along the way. He looks for more Tributes everywhere, but nothing. He is alone. He stops to rest at the base of a tree. The sun has been beating down on Christian for a couple hours now, and he is sweating. He sits and relaxes in the shade of the tree, lying in the warm grass. Suddenly, he hears something. 

“Christian?”

With a flash, Christian is on his feet with his razorblades out. He sees no one around. He hears the branches of the tree he was lying against rustle, and he looks up. About 10 feet above him is a boy crouching on a branch. It takes a second for Christian to process the face, but he recognizes him. It’s Micah, the boy from District 12. He can see the boy has a bow and quiver slung across his back, and is carrying a sword in one hand and silver parachute in the other. He knows this isn’t going to be an easy fight.
     “Christian… put the razorblades away. I’m not coming down until you do”
     Christian is confused. Why isn’t he trying to fight? Why didn’t he notch an arrow and end his life as he was resting? Christian says nothing, and creeps closer to the tree.
     “Christian, did Cassidy not tell you? You can trust me. I know about you and LeaAnn.” This throws Christian off. How could he know about their relationship? “What do you know?” Christian asks. “I know you knew each other before this mess. I know you’ve been to District 12. I know you and LeaAnn were real close. Cassidy told me all this. She told me I could trust you.”
     Christian is still suspicious. “Why would Cassidy tell him all this?” he thinks. “She must have set this up beforehand. But why not tell me…”
     He stares back up at Micah in the tree. He notices the boy is holding the sword a bit awkwardly. Christian realizes Micah doesn’t know how to really use it, but the sword is what he used in his own training. Sure, it’s only one, but one sword is better than none. “I will trust you… if you can give me your sword.” Christian knows he is taking a risk. Micah could still easily kill him, but if Micah is telling the truth, and wants to work together, he will give it to him. Christian can see Micah contemplating still. “Give me the sword, and I’ll give you one of my razorblades.” Christian offers. He knows he has to meet in the middle somewhere. Micah says nothing, but throws the sword down from the tree. The point sinks into the earth, and stands with the pommel to the sky. It’s a beautiful sword, sparkling silver blade, with a golden guard and ruby encrusted grip — and now it’s his. Christian pulls the sword from the earth and practices swinging and slashing. It feels good, like it belongs in his hands. Micah swings down from the tree, and puts out his hand.
     “Now for your part of the deal,” he says. Christian places a razorblade in his hand, and it’s official. The boy from 6 and the boy from 12 are now allies. They decide to walk back to the Cornucopia, sharing stories about their lives and talking about what other horrors the Arena may have in store for them along the way.

Mary Rose
Twin sais

“Stephanie, Michael, Elena,” Mary said aloud, recounting the images from the previous night’s sky. “James, Christopher, Dan.” The wind on the beach was getting stronger, but Mary Rose still felt as safe as one ever could in the arena. “Carson, Brett, LeaAnn.” Mary had been reciting those nine names to herself for hours as she walked along the shore. She hadn’t been responsible for any of their unfortunate deaths, though she couldn’t help but feel somewhat empathetic toward the few victims. She was sure that at least one of yesterday’s deaths had been at the hands of her own killer. For the time being, though, she put the thought out of her mind. She was safe, for now.
     By the time the sun began to set, Mary Rose nearly collapsed on the beach. She hadn’t had access to fresh water since she’d left the river, and the only food she’d consumed had been the one fish she managed to impale with her sai a ways back. As the sun began to set on Day Two, Mary Rose lay on the sand, looking out at the shore. Directly across from her on the horizon was the gorgeous orange sunset, its beauty masking whatever terrors could be waiting for her on Day Three.

Situation Four will be emailed to tributes tonight at 9PM Eastern.