Everthorne

The Games

Katniss's POV
It's been about two weeks since the reaping and it's the morning of the Games. Our time in the Capital has flown by too quickly. I feel like I've prepared Rory well, but I'm still nervous about sending him in. Anne on the other hand has refused my help, well any help at all. She stays in her room and only comes out for meals. Gale and Haymitch had to literally carry her down to training because she didn't want to go. I wish she would've opened up so we could at least have a conversation, but I understand the situation she's in, so I leave her alone.
Gale is in Rory's room, having a few last words together. This may be the last time they ever see each other and it pains me more than anything. Last night after his interview with Caesar, I gave him my mockingjay pin. I hope it'll protect him, even if I can't.
"Hey, we gotta go," Haymitch says, suddenly appearing behind me. I nod in response and follow him to the car that will take us to the lounge where mentors watch the Games. We've decided that Rory will be the one we send parachutes too. He's got the best chance of surviving and everyone seemed to love him in the interview last night. How could they not? He's such a great kid and I hope he was able to win a few sponsors.
~time lapse to the count down~
I hold my breath as I see the platforms raising into the arena. Scanning the group, I quickly locate Rory. He's close to the cornucopia. From what I can tell, the arena is set up similar to last year's. The tributes are starting in a field, but are surrounded by woods. This is another advantage for Rory, he knows the woods almost as well as Gale. The count down begins and BOOM! Some kid stepped off their platform early and bombs went off. But it seemed more like a suicide than an accident. Anne! It must've been her. I warned them of what would happen if they stepped off early and she must've thought it'd be the best way to get out- a quick sudden death as opposed to starvation, dehydration, or getting brutally murdered by another tribute.
"Haymitch, was..." "yeah, that was Anne," he says cutting me off, "I'm sorry she had to die so soon, but now we can really focus on Rory without feeling like we're neglecting her. It's for the best really." All I can do is nod and focus on Rory. He looks a little shaken, but he seems to be keeping his focus pretty well. The plan was for him to grab a backpack and weapon close to the outside and run to the woods. I told him not to get greedy at the cornucopia, that's the most dangerous thing to do. We're down to 10 on the countdown and my breathing quickens.
As soon as the gong rings, Rory has gotten a pack and is out of sight. I wish I could see him now, but the cameras are focused on the blood bath at the cornucopia. So far, Anne, the boy from 11, girl from 6, and boy from 10 are dead. It sickens me to watch. These kids are 11 and 12, not the older teenagers from last year. They're small and scared, but are making an attempt to kill as many of each other as possible. Rory seems to be the only one that has fled the scene, but it's hard to count with the battle going on. With luck, this thing'll be over tonight with the rate they're fighting. I don't know if any of them know to run away. The girl from 2 just killed the boy from 4. All of the sudden she melts down and bawls. The realization that she's just killed someone sets in and she can't take it. She turns and runs off into the woods, in the opposite direction Rory did. This gets some of the kids' attention and a few smart ones follow suit. Most of the tributes are left fighting at the cornucopia.
In the arena, the game makers mess with time. They've only been in the arena four or five hours when it begins to get dark, much earlier than it should. Alliances have been formed and most tributes have settled down for the night, a few left wandering around looking for a safe spot to set up camp. The anthem begins and the faces of the dead tributes are flashed in the sky. 14 are dead. Apparently this is a record for the most down in one day. The girl from two, Rory, the girls from 10 and 11, and the usual alliance of 4 careers and their pets are left.
As long as Rory can stay away from the careers, he should be okay. We had the discussion about staying away from the careers long enough for them to self-destruct. Usually, fights break out among the career group and all but one or two of them end up dead.
Right now, the individual groups are being shown. The girls from 11 and 10 formed an alliance and are making a fire when the Careers show up. Two cannons boom and two more faces are shown in the night sky. Now we're down to 8 tributes. The girl from 2 is by herself down by the small creek in the arena. Rory is the last to be shown. He's up in a tree, like I was last year, only much higher. He's checking out what he got at the cornucopia, which happens to be a backpack full of food and large bottle of water. He also happened to grab a bow and some arrows. He's not as good as me with a bow, but he's a close second. Suddenly, I feel confident that he'll be the one to make it out alive.

Sorry that I took so long to update! I've just been trying to figure out how many chapters I want to spend on Rory in the games. I think I'll probably do two more chapters but I may just get it done in the next one since it's supposed to be about Katniss and Gale. Let me know if you have input on how long I should make the games or if you have any ideas for them!! Thank you for all the reads!! Love y'all 😘