The Writer Games | Once In A Lifetime & World Edition

Welcome: Azure Featherlin

My chest felt like it  was on fire, and I was getting a few worried glances from the medic my  mentor had called over. My throat felt like sand-paper, the bright  lights were hurting my eyes and I was getting a lot of strange looks  from the other tributes.

"It might be a chest  infection, or just something brought on by too much singing. Just take  it easy, drink lots and I'll give you some antibiotics afterwards,"  explained the medic, still carefully watching me as I doubled over with  another coughing fit. "Oh, and no more singing."

"But singing's his  interview plan!" cried my mentor, but the stern look given to him by the  medic silences him. I had the three minutes of Violet's interview to  come up with a new angle that didn't involve showing off my singing.

I was given a glass of water, and I gulped it down thirstily. Time was ticking - I had to be onstage any minute now.

"Well, just answer the  questions - you're bound to be given a lot - and try to act like you do  when you perform. Confident and fabulous, right?"

I managed a small smile. "Confident and fabulous," I manage to croak back.

---

For what it was, the  stool was surprisingly comfy. Still, it was nothing like they'd given  Helvetica, who was lounging back in her luxurious throne. I'd never even  met her before, but I hated her - she wasn't Brielle.

I was so used to cheers  and screams of fans, I didn't even notice them. I just smiled, waved and  just tried to act how I was instructed to act - confident and fabulous.

"So, Azure," said  Helvetica, with her voice as smooth as silk. "Nice to meet you in  person, but we must get on. What is your strategy to win these Games?"

Strategy? I haven't got  one, but if I say that it will make me appear weak. Luckily, the cold  air catches at the back of my throat and causes me to have another  coughing fit. It hurts, but it gives me chance to think of a good  answer.

Helvetica hits me on the  back in an attempt to stop my coughs, and she motions to an avox, who  brings me a glass of water. I gulp it back, and my coughing stops.

"Are you ok?" asks Helvetica, but I can't tell whether she means it or not.

"I'm fine," I manage to  croak out. "Well, I'm not, but it's ok. I've had enough medics swarming  over me to know I'm not going to die. As for stratgey, well, that would  be telling, wouldn't it?"

It's a terrible answer,  but the audience soak it up. Even if I had a strategy, telling the whole  of Panem would be useless. People would hunt me down and kill me before  the first anthem, and I'm not planning on letting Brielle down.

"Despite being annoyed  that your not spilling the gossip, I see what you mean," says Helvetica,  edging forward on her seat. "Anyway, moving on - what makes you a  contender in these Games?"

"Well, that's kind of  telling again, but I have to give you some sort of answer, so I guess  the reason I am a contender is the fact I am not going to give up, no  matter what happens. Plus, I'm used to being in the limelight.'

The audience cheers, and  I nearly cough again, but I swallow and stop myself. The lights are  making my head pound, and it feels, to put it bluntly, like someone is  playing football with my eyes, but I can't storm off stage now. I'm  making quite a good impression for a terrible interview like this.

"You're a natural in the  limelight, baby!" cried Helvetica, trying to be nice, but the use of  'baby' makes me hate her even more - that was what Brielle called me  when we met each other. She didn't care how accurate it was, that I  really was her baby. It was just a term of endearment, and it belonged  to Brielle, not Helvetica.

"Why do you want to  win?" was the next question that was asked, and it was one that required  more thought than the others. If I told the exact truth, I could get  Brielle into trouble. If I didn't tell the exact truth, and left a few  bits out, Helvetica would complain about me 'leaving out all the  gossip'. I could make something up, but I was terrible at lying, so the  audience would see that I was hiding something.

"Well," I stutter, but then I remember I can't be nervous. Confident and Fabulous, like always.

"Well," I begin again,  more confident this time. I can feel the audience hanging onto my every  word. "There's someone who...who I don't want to let down. Someone I  want to make proud."

The audience begins to 'aww', but Helvetica isn't finished.

"Someone...special?"

"Yes," I reply. "Someone very special."

I let the audience thing  that this special someone is a girl, a crush, a romantic interest. They  don't need to know it was Brielle - they wouldn't believe it anyway.

Helvetica looked like  she wanted more, but I refused to give it. I waited patiently for the  next question, still smiling, and she eventually gave up and read it  out.

"Who are the biggest and smallest threats in the Games?"

I paused. I didn't know - I hadn't payed attention to my competition.

"Well," I murmered, my mouth making it up. Even I was listening to see what I said.

"I think the biggest  threat is Mercy, just because she has experience, and she knows what  she's doing. But she's not the only threat, there's quite a few. As for  smallest, i don't want to underestimate anyone, so there isn't a  smallest threat. But, to be honest, Mercy scares me."

The audience laugh, and I  try to decide whether that was good to say or not. Is Mercy an enemy or  a friend now? Helvetica doesn't seem to care, and moves on to the last  question.

"How far do you hope to make it?"

"All the way," says a small voice that doesn't sound like mine, but I feel the words come out of my mouth.

"Are you sure you can do it?" asks Helvetica, in a voice that seems smaller than mine.

Can I do it?

I nod.

"I can try, and anyway, I have someone special to make proud."

The audience doesn't make a sound, but I ruin the silence by coughing. Helvetica hits me on the back again,

"I was hoping you'd end your interview with a little performance..."

"No, sorry," I  interrupt, once I stop coughing. "Medics have banned me from singing  till I'm better. Don't want to ruin my voice, right?"

The audience shouts in agreement, and Helvetica joins in. I just smile at their support until they stop.

"Well," says Helvetica.  "If you are that ill, I better let you get an early night. So, ending  with that, please give a warm goodbye to your male tribute, Azure  Featherlin!"

And thats it, it's over. And I managed to get through it without a question about my real name, or about Brielle.

Now I just have to survive.