Author Games: The Last Cannon

TASK ONE: Should Tomorrow Start Without Me

The President of thirteen united lands marches down a long strip of marble corridors. Walking beside him on either side is a woman with short cropped hair and a strange looking man, even to the Capitol's extent. With not a single strip of colour, everything is white like a blank sheet of paper, ready to be filled with stories. 

The three officials arrive at a double doorway, and from behind the door muffled chanting pounds beside the clear beating of drums. 

"Nervous?" Athena smiles, not sparing a single glance for her colleague. 

"Give me a single reason I should be." Malum, the purple haired president scoffs.

"I can give you forty-eight..." Xavier says with a dead tone. Athena and Malum slide their eyes over to the man in decorated white, unsure of his humour. 

The great double doors slide on open, and the beaming daylight bathes the three Gamemakers. Guards bow to them, and they continue to move on through, toward the light of the sun and the sound of the cheering crowds. 

Before reaching his podium and addressing the nation, a little boy, not much older than Ten, walks over with elegance and rehearsed composure. In his hands is a small golden box and he stops just three feet in front of Malum, trying his upmost best to stay calm. 

The Head-Gamemaker grins and looks into the boys shimmering purple eyes. "And your name is, young man?" Malum asks.

The boy smiles a little before shaking away the excitement and responding immediately. "Vibbius, sir. Vibbius Cretore." 

"And would you like to be Gamemaker someday?" Malum asks, smiling warmly at the young child. With brown spiked hair and clumsily pattered freckles, Vibbius nods enthusiastically. 

Athena noisily grins, apparently unable to contain her thoughts over the cuteness of this child. Malum chuckles and kneels down to the child's height.

"Then heres a little tip for you Vibbius..." He begins and looks down at the golden box so tightly clutched in Vibbius' hands.

"Always watch your back." He nods seriously and lingers his gaze to behind Vibbius, who immediately looks over his shoulder. As he does, Malum takes the box from Vibbius' grasp, and the young paige boy snaps his head back to the older man with a face of pure joy. Malum smirks and stands up, keeping his eyes on Vibbius. "But never forget to keep both eyes forward."

And with that piece of advice, Malum turns around and faces the glorious crowd of the Capitol. They explode into an even louder noise than before and wait for their President to take finally his place on the podium.

Athena ushers the child to a seat, and soon the entire Capitol dies away to silence and stillness. Malum looks out at his crowd and opens the golden box, taking from within its only contents - a silver letter. A letter of which contains the twist to this years Quarter Quell, a letter of which will change a history of the Games. A letter of which says what will be his final Hunger Games. He takes one breath in shivering slightly as he tears open the envelope. But then he thinks of Vibbius. He thinks of Vibbius, and all of the excitement future generations have to offer... and then he is filled with great confidence, excitement and pride.

He opens the letter, and his mouth follows to speak.

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THE TASKS

I thought long and hard about this and in the end I just couldn't decide. I want these to be EXTRA perfect to thank so many people having faith in me to deliver entertaining games. I wanted the perfect way to repay all of you for entering and I realised that I just couldn't satisfy all of you... well... unless:

The Reaping 

The moment your name is called out from the reaping ball, or the moment you take someone else's place. OR the moment you say goodbye to your family in the Justice Building.

The Tribute Parade 

Enjoy description? This is the task for you, I want nothing but the perfect balance of storytelling and descriptive weight. You must write your tribute hand in hand with the other three tributes, gliding down the runway at the tributes parade. I want your outfits every last detail. You don't have to coordinate with your District partners.

The Training

Any part of training. Day one all the way to private training sessions. You should show a mix of action here and development in relations with other tributes.

The Interviews

The entire two minute interview. Tell me what you say, what the crowd does, what you wear. You make up the questions and on your head be it if you get the wrong Gamemaker asking your tribute these questions...

You may choose ANY ONE of the four tasks listed above, but choose wisely. Heres why:

THE SPONSORS

This single task will solely decide sponsorships, and oh yes, I mean to put pressure. Out of all of you, ten will be sponsored. On the Sponsors page, you can already see which Gamemakers are looking at what tributes. HOWEVER, there is a way to change that. Each Gamemaker has been assigned to one of the four tasks. If you do the task that they are assigned to, they will look at you for possible sponsorship regardless of District. Of course, I'm not telling you what Gamemaker is assigned to what task! You have to work that one out yourself! Each Gamemaker will have their own unique perks to give to the tributes they sponsor so pick wisely. The Head-Gamemaker, Malum, looks at everyone regardless of task and District.

THE DEADLINE

The deadline for this task is the 7th June 2015, 10PM [GMT]

For this task, you have a word limit of 1000 words. You may go over but I will cut off at exactly 1000 words. You have been warned ;) [1000+ to ranked tributes, although the entry is marked as a whole, not as each beat of story]

You must hand in your completed entry to Jackwardsauthorgames@gmail.com

Please message me as soon as possible should there be any problems regarding this. You can also message me at any time before the day of the deadline with advice toward the task, but I can only say a limited amount!

And so with that... should tomorrow start without you, what would be your last greatest moment? What would be your moment to prove that you are so much more than just a tribute?

Well...

Show me.