The Hunger Games: Bad Beginnings

Chapter 6: Venus

A/N: That's Venus⬆️ She's portrayed by Camila Mendes.

Day 1

Name: Venus Kentwell
District: 2
Initial Scoring: 11
Weapon Of Choice: Axe
Weakness: Lack of outdoor survival training
Judges' Comments: Venus has a strong and independent personality. Although she is thoroughly trained in weaponry and killing, her inability to hunt and lack of knowledge in plants/animals could cause difficulties for her in the games.

*   *   *

THE horn sounds and I take off running towards the Cornucopia. As I look around me, I realize that most of the other tributes are running towards the woods, completely ignoring the bounty of weapons in the center.

"Bunch of cowardly bastards," I think to myself.

Fortunately for me and the rest of the girls, a few ballsy tributes have come to play and have decided to join us in a race to the Cornucopia.

I beeline it for a display of shiny swords, like the kind you'd see the knights hold in textbooks. As I approach the display, one of the girls from 8 gets there, too. We lock eyes, and she makes a 180, trying to make a break for the woods.

"Oh, no you don't!" I yell and sprint after her.

Grabbing her by the knees, I put her over my shoulder and head for the middle of the Cornucopia. Once inside the horn, the girl starts yelling, so I give her a good bang against the metal wall. She slides into a seated position on the ground, and I push a large plastic bin on top of her legs so she can't move.

"Don't go anywhere, I'll be back soon," I laugh as I head back out onto the field.

There are only so many tributes left and I don't want to miss out on any of the fun. As I survey the area, I can see that both Gem and Sapphire have double teamed a girl from 5. They're only 15, and she's huge, so I don't care how many of them it takes, just as long the girl goes down. Next, I spot Astraea on the ground, trying to fight off one of the tributes from 7. I grab a throwing knife and let it fly. 7 goes down, and that's one for me. I turn to the right just in time to watch Iris plunge a spear into 6's back. It distracts me only for a moment until I hear a struggle taking place close behind me. I look and Phoenix is pounding the crap out of a girl from 9, but taking a few hits to the face herself.

"Hey, P," I call, picking up a dagger I grabbed off the ground. "Try this." I toss it to her and 5 seconds later, the struggle is over. Phoenix is a master with a knife, I've never seen anyone better.

Now that I've helped these guys get their act together, it's my turn to get in on the action.

*   *   *

30 minutes go by. The bloodbath has ended and we begin to loot the Cornucopia. We each grab a backpack and start filling them with everything we think we'll need. Phoenix goes to the back of the Cornucopia and picks up a bin.

"Hey!" she calls. "Look what we have here."

The rest of us come to check it out, and sure enough, it's that girl from 8 I ran into earlier.

"Oh yeah," I say. "I ran into her at the beginning of the bloodbath, she's from 8."
I squat down over her legs so we are at eye level.
"What's your name, girl?" I ask, half whispering. Her eyes keep darting behind me and she is out of breath. I look, and find all 5 girls, armed and waiting for me to let them at her. I look back to the girl. "Don't worry about these guys, I won't let 'em hurt you. Just tell me your name."
"I-Ivory," She stutters.
"Well, Ivory, this is the Hunger Games after all, and people do die here. But I'll tell you what. If you can prove yourself useful to us, we'll let you join our little group here, okay?"