Tribute

Let the 72nd Annual Hunger Games Begin

When Palmyra pulled back, I couldn't stop smiling. "I take it you liked that response?" She asked. "Yeah. I don't think I've felt anything that good before in my life," I said. "Well, the stylists aren't allowed to bet, but if I could, my money would be on you. I'd better go and get some sleep, but I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" She asked, but I didn't want to lose a moment with her before I entered the arena. "Stay with me tonight. I want to spend as much time with you as I can," I said. "Honestly... I want the same thing. I don't care if it's against the rules for a stylist to fall in love with a Tribute. Love is something natural. It can't be controlled by the Capitol," Palmyra said, and I nodded in agreement. We talked for a bit longer, then we went to my bedroom and fell asleep in each other's arms.

In the morning, Palmyra woke me up early to leave so that no one would suspect anything. "See you soon, Palmyra," I told her. "Plese, call me Myra," she said. "Okay. See you soon, Myra," I said. "See you soon, Tia," she replied, giving me a gentle kiss before leaving. I was told that I was to head to the roof, where there was a hoverplane waiting to bring the Tributes to the arena. Once I was on the hoverplane, I called upon all of my confidence. The ride was fairly short, and when the hoverplane landed, I was taken into a tunnel that ran under the arena. Waiting for me at the end of the tunnel was Palmyra, who waited until the Peacekeepers had left before pulling me into a tight embrace. "I'm rooting for you, Tia. Come back to me, okay?" She asked. "I will, Myra. I will," I said. We shared a brief kiss, then I entered the elevator that would bring me into the arena. I waved to Myra as I ascended, and she waved back until we could no longer see each other. 

When I was in the arena, I looked around, finding that the center of the arena was one large lake, with the Cornucopia sitting on an island. I saw a spear and a handful of throwing knives sitting near the mouth of the Cornucopia, and I thought to myself, Mine! Those are mine! Just then, the voice of Claudius Templesmith, the announcer for the Hunger Games, came over the speakers installed somewhere around the edge of the arena. "Ladies and gentlemen, let the 72nd annual Hunger Games begin," he said, and a timer above the Cornucopia began counting down from 60. I took a moment to mentally thank my father for teaching me how to swim in a small pond in the woods beyond the fence in District 12. I knew that the Tributes from District 4 would have an advantage, since theirs is the fishing District, so knowing how to swim is essential for survival there. When the gong sounded, I dove into the water and started swimming as fast as I could towards the Cornucopia, trying to be one of the first Tributes to arrive. I heard several cannon shots on my way, indicating that people had already been killed. When I reached the island, I looked around to find that it was just me and the Tributes from District 4, which was a good thing, until the female Tribute fell to the ground and the cannon fired again. The male Tribute from District 4 grabbed the nearest weapon, which happened to be the spear that I saw from my podium, and threw it at the girl who had killed the District 4 female. I quickly grabbed the throwing knives and turned around, stabbing one of the other Tributes just as she got out of the water. I left her for dead and joined the District 4 male, injuring several more Tributes before I saw Gemma beckoning for me to follow her back into the lake. The District 4 male quickly introduced himself as Fjord as he grabbed a short sword, handed me the spear, and dove back into the water. I grabbed a nearby backpack and put the knives inside, then put it on my back and put the spear in between the backpack and my back, before I followed Fjord back into the lake. 

Once we had reached the woods, Gemma led us to a clearing where there was the beginnings of a stockpile, similar to what I had seen in previous Games. "Okay, the others should be here pretty soon. They'll probably be getting all of the food that they can find to add to our stockpile," she said. We waited until sunset, during which time there were two more cannon shots, but the other Careers never came. We watched the sky to see who had died during the day, and the first face we saw was the District 1 male. Followed by both Tributes from District 2 and District 3, the female from District 4, and one Tribute each from Districts 6, 8, 9, and 12. The Tribute that I had killed was the female from District 8, and two of the ones that I had wounded were also dead. That meant that there were still fourteen Tributes still alive. I offered to take the first watch of the night so that Gemma and Fjord could get some sleep. I thought about the day's events, running through them over and over in my head. When it came time to wake Gemma for the next watch, I was struggling to keep my eyes open, I was so exhausted. My dreams were haunted by the faces of the Tributes that I had killed, in various forms, and they were all trying to kill me. I had to force myself to remember that none of it was real, that they weren't going to come back.

When I woke up, Gemma was still keeping watch, and Fjord was nowhere to be seen. I got to my feet, alerting Gemma to the fact that I was awake, and she followed suit. "Where's Fjord?" I asked her, and she simply looked at me for a moment. "He was attacked last night. The fighting woke me up, and I tried to protect him, but he was outnumbered. I killed the two who killed him, though," she said. At this point in the Games, Gemma and I were the only two members of this year's Career alliance that were still alive, and with eleven Tributes left, we were severely outnumbered. Gemma and I gathered everything we had in the stockpile, which wasn't very much, and made our way into the woods. We had become the hunted.

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Until next time!