User blog:Tiki tooki/The Pinnacle Games

Welcome, one and all, to The Pinnacle Games! These are going to be much, much different than any games before this, and I hope you enjoy! Please read the Prolougue and Rules before entering!

Prologue
Shortly after the events in Mockingjay, the Districts started sending out expeditions around the world to find other human civilizations. They found a few large ones, mainly in Europe, China, and South Africa. One of the larger ones was located in Nepal, near Mount Everest. The team leading the expedition was in favour of the Capitol and the Hunger Games, and wanted it to take power again. By Mount Everest they found a large village with over a thousand people. Due to it's isolation, many were not even aware that Panem existed. Anyways, when the expedition saw Everest and the village, they got an idea. They desided to try to reinstate the hunger games, thousands of miles away from Panem. They went back and took the standard amount of tributes, two from districts 1-12, male and female, leaving out the Capitol and District 13. They took them to a secret base in the Capitol, and prepared them for the games.

In these games, the goal is not to be the last one standing.

The goal is to climb Everest itself.

1- Entering tributes
1.1: Please enter 2 tributes, one female and one male.

1.2: Please do not make them from the same district.

1.3: Please include name, District, gender, weapon choice, and characteristics. Other info is welcome, but optional.

1.4: Reservations last for 24 hours each if you reserve 2 tributes, and 48 hours if you reserve 1 tribute.

2- The Games
2.1: The goal of the game is to be on the first team the first to summit everest. You'll want to enter strong, durable tributes for this one.

2.2: Once all the tributes are entered, I will randomly divide them into 4 groups of 6. These wil be their expedition teams. The goal is to find their team, and proceed to the Base Camp. They must stay with their team until they reach Base Camp, and then they are free to do as they please, although they probably won't separate. The chances of summiting Everest solo... Not very high.

2.3: 8 sherpas have been hired to lead the expedition teams, two to each team.

2.4: The trbutes will be randomly placed in the village to start. they must find their team members, and try to get to Base Camp as quckly as possible. They must then proceed up Everest.

2.5: As usual, the tributes are allowed to kill eachother. Small stashes of weapons have been hiden aound the village. Sherpas and the other people in the village are fair game.

2.6: The sherpas know about the games, at least partially. They know that they are leading a dangerous expedition up Everest, and that they might die. Some of the villagers have been informed about the games. Some have been persuaded to help the tributes, other persuaded to kill them.

2.7: There will be no pre-games, and no events after the games. The tributes have all gone through three months of vigorous training to prepare for Everest, but there will be no training scores.

To recap, the tributes are in teams of 6. They have two sherpa guides, and they must make their way up Everest, enduring attacks from other tributes, mutts, and the natural hazards of Everest. The first team to make it to the summit wins it all, and survives. In a way, these games will be harder than any other on the tributes. In just five days, a collosal storm will hit Everest, almost definitely killing everyone on her. Instead of just trying to survive, they must now race. They must race against eachother, and the clock, to the top of the world. That, or die.

Let the Pinnacle Games begin.

Tribute Chart
"Tribute died due to Everest's extreme conditions (Includes mutts)

^Tribute killed directly by gamemakers

+Multiple tributes died at once.

Group 1:
Miley

Digit

Jupiter

Hunter

Venus

Griffin

Bangdau Sherpa (sherpa)

Mahzim Renan (sherpa)

Group 2:
Phantom

Swell

Sweet

Gimli

Mars

Vixen

Kami Delal (sherpa)

Salla Ramm (sherpa)

Group 3:
Colbie

Sarah

Malt

Jet

Max

Kestrel

Yann Jimau (sherpa)

Apa Bahadur (sherpa)

Group 4:
Gem

Blue

Rosemary

Lily

Winter

Aaron

Ang Jeto (sherpa)

Jangbu Sherpa (sherpa)

Yeti
Basically a cross between a gorilla, and orangutan, a tall human, and a tiger. It is 7 feet tall, and it will kill anything it sees. It has red fur, and has fangs like a tiger.

Snow Gnats
They attack in swarms, and are meant to disorient a tribute. Some can bite, and the bites are infected with bacteria that can kill a tribute.

Sponsoring
This year, I'll do sponsoring a little differently. Instead of giving each tribute a certain amount of money, I'll allow you to give each of your tributes one item every day. You can save them up, for example, if you don't buy anything on days 1 or 2, you can get 3 items on day 3. The items have to be reasonable, and I'll be the judge of that.

The Games
I will start when I have all the tributes!

The "gamemakers" are using the town hall as headquarters, and they have brought their announcer, the yogurt fanatic with them.

"Welcom, one and all to The Pinnacle Games, here in Nepal! Did you know they have yogurt here!? It's AMAZING! WAY better than in the Capitol. HEY, YOU, BRING ME SOME KEY LIME YOGURT MIXED WITH A BIT OF THAT GRANNY SMITH APPLE YOGURT THAT WE FOUND AT THAT COVENTION IN FRESNO, NOW !!! Ah, thank you. NO WAIT, IT'S CHUNKY, JUST LIKE LAST TIME! DON'T YOU EVER LEARN, SHELDON? That's better. Now, where was I? Oh yes, the games. Well, you all know what to do. Find your little climbing teams in a huge, chaotic town before sundown today, then climb the tallest and most deadly mountain in the world while avoiding bloodthirsty tributes and horrible mutts before and deadly storm strikes in just a week. Easy as that! Oh yeah, if your team doesn't get there first, we'll incinerate you. Now, I must be off. A local villager is going to teach me how to make traditional Tibetan frozen yogurt! Did I mention I LOVE the stuff?!"

Day 1
Narrator

Twenty-four hovercrafts appear simuntaneously over the village on the Nepalise side of Everest. The tributes are dropped off in different locations, and they wait. There are no platforms this time, but they have to stay in their general area until the gong rings. When it does, the tributes look around. It's minus 35 degrees, and the tribtues are freezing. Up above them, twenty-nine thousand feet above sea level, lies the pinnacle of the world, one of the most famous and deadly mountains on earth.

And it's the one they have to climb. That, or die.

Let The Pinnacle Games begin.

Vixen

I started outside of a small inn, so I have a direct view of Everest. They showed us pictures in training, but they just don't prepare you for the real thing. It's huge, beyond huge. And this is only the bottom. The top is covvered with clouds. I waste no time. I run through the streets looking for Team 2.

Gem

Me, Rosemary, and Aaron from Team 4 are together in a small shack, along with Digit from Team 1. The gong has sounded, and the three of us race towards eachother. We decide not to mess with Digit, as he's found a small sword in the corner of the room. We race out, and in the streets we see some of Team 3 getting together. Phantom and Sweet from Team 1 are fighting side by side against Team 3. Four of them are there now, and one of their sherpas has located them. They are still missing one sherpa and one team member. Phantom and Sweet can't hold them off, and they are overcome. Colbie knocks Sweet to the ground, and finishes her off with a knife. Thunder rumbles in the sky. I get it. They are using thunder as a cannon this year so the locals won't know what it is. The locals that see the fight have fled, and now I wonder if they have law enforcement in Nepal. Hopefully the gamemakers won't let them get involved, but you never know.

Kestrel

Almost all of our team is ready, except for Jet and Sarah. Our sherpa has found us, and we are beginning to hike to Base Camp. The village is only two miles away from the bottom, so we begin to run across the narrow path in the snow. We are all equiped with parkas and climbing gear, but we are still freezing. We can hear a number of tributes behind us, and we try to run, but our gear is too heavy.

"Come! We must hurry if we are to make it to our camp!" yells our sherpa, named Yan Jimau, who hasn't even broken a sweat.

We pick up the pace, and before you know it, we arrive at base camp.

Jet

Of all the places the gamemakers could have placed me, It's in a pile of snow.

I'm a mile away from the village, and I'm soaking from the snow that has gotten into my parka. I can already hear the yells of tributes, and i'm muttering curses as I hurry over to the village. It takes fifteen minutes with all the gear I have on, and when I get there, I waste no time. I run around searching for my team, but they're nowhere in sight. I see a man who looks like a sherpa, and I run up to him.

"Umm, excuse me, do you know where-"

"Where your group is?" he cuts me off. "Yes, I know a tribtue when I see one. I am Apa Bahadur. You are in Group 3?"

"Yeah. I can't find them."

"They may already be at Base Camp. Follow me, I will take you there."

Narrator

Sarah from Team 3 has been cornered by team 1. She ahs a bow and arrow, and tries to fend them off. She pegs Hunter from 7 in the neck, and he goes down. She shoots arrows at Jupiter and Griffin, and hits them in the leg and the shoulder. Venus throws a knife, and hits her in the thigh. She crumples to the ground. Venus proceeds forward, and stabs her with a spear. Team 1 is almost all together, but they are on teh far side of the village, and they haven't found their sherpas. Their mood lightens when Miley receives a shield, but thats the end of the good news for Team 1.

Phantom

I've met one of our sherpas, Kami Delal, and we also met up with Swell from 4. We run around one of the busier parts of the village, and it's hard to move through the crowds. Out of the corner of my eye, I spot Jet from 6, and he is armed. We have no weapons, and I whisper to Kami.

"Another tribute's right over there. Keep walking!" He glances in Jet's direction, and turns back to the path in front of us. He hasn't spotted us yet, and I see an axe hanging on teh wall of a building. I grab it. This is a great time to eliminate Jet. I start walking in his direction. Swell and kami see what I am doing. Kami nods, and continues walking. When I am ten feet away, I throw the axe. He whips around when he spots me, and swings his shield to deflect the axe. It ricochetes off his shield, and hits a man in the back. He falls down, and people turn to us and start screaming something that sounded suspiciously like "police!"

He has a saber, one of those curved swords you see in pirate movies. He jumps at me, and bangs the hilt on my head, and then slices at my knees. He lunges at my gut, and strikes me hard. My last sight is a Nepalese law enforcer rushing towards Jet and his sherpa.

Swell

Me and kami are running now, trying to get through teh crowds that are now panicking. Behind us I see some of Team 4 fighting with Gimli from 8, who is in our group. He has an axe, and runs Lily through with it. We keep running, and eventually find Mars and Vixen, and Gimli is close behind.

Winter

I've separated from the main part of Team 4 to hunt Griffin from Team 1. He's with Jupiter and they are scouting for climbing supplies and weapons. I have a spear, but they are already stocked with weapons. Both have arrow wounds, and are going reletively slow. I'm on the second floor of a small building I snuck into, so I have a great view of them, and a good range for throwing my spear.

I know I won't be able to get both of them, so I go for Griffin. The window is open, and I prepare to throw the spear. I wind up, and chuck it out the window. It hits Griffin in the thigh. He screasm in pain, and shouts at Jupiter to go on. He's not dead, and he has seen me now. He draws his sword, and limps towards the building.

I rush downsatirs into some sort of kitchen. I grab a frying pan and run outside. He stabs blindly with his sword, and I dodge his strikes easily. I bang him in the head with the frying pan, and he crumples to the ground. I must have hit him in the temple, because I can't feel a pulse. Thunder rumbles in the sky, which must be a substitute for cannons.

Malt

We are still at Base Camp, and we are all grumpy.

The wind is too strong for anyone to start a fire, and we have little supplies. We can only hope that Jet brings some when he comes. IF he comes. We've already heard several thunder strikes, any one of them could have been Jet's. We've received several sponsor gifts too. I receive a sword, Kestrel gets a vile of poison, and Max gets what looks like an old, shabby hockey helmet. We think It's a joke at first, but then we realize it comes with night vision goggles, a heating system, it's own oxygen tank, a radio and a GPS, and on top in a hidden compartment is a collection of throwing knives. EASILY the coolest sponsor item I've ever seen.

Blue

Team 4 has assembled. Gem, Rosemary, and Aaron were togather from the start, and they found me and Winter as well. Our sherpas, Ang Jeto and Jangbu Sherpa are also here. We are on the trail leading towards base camp, but we have to go slowly. Police officers are in the woods. I'm guessing one of the tributes didn't do a good job at keeping the secret of the hunger games. That, or they stole some yogurt from the announcer.

Back at the village, we saw a good portion of Group 1 together. Jupiter Digit and Venus were together, with one sherpa. That would mean all the groups are together. Miley was nowhere to be seen.

I`m thinking about this as I hear a rustle in the bushes. The rest of the group hears it too. We slowly draw weapons and face the direction where we heard the sound. The rustling stops. Probably just a rabbit or something.

`We are close to Base Camp. You may want to draw weapons now. Other teams may be there," says Jangbu.

"But aren't we the only Team so far to-"

Something slams into me midsentence, and i am knocked to the ground. What do you know, It's Miley. She has a hammer in hand and swings it at my face. I feel a jabbing pain, and everything goes black.

Narrator

Miley is gone as quick as she came, and the rest of Team 1 is not far behind. All the Climbing Teams are now headed to teh Nepalise Base Camp. They are using different routes, but are all heading to the same place, and will arrive by sundown.

At about 21:00, ever tribute and sherpa recieve a copy of a note, floating down from a golden, not silver parachute. It says:

Congratulations for making it this far, tributes! Just a little reminder, if you do not reach Base Camp and find your team by 24:00, we, the Capitol, will incinerate you! Now continue with your silly games while I gorge myself on this DELICIOUS frozen yogurt, made by the wonderful local elder, Mr. Yow G. Urte!

Jupiter

Almost everyone is at Base Camp now, but there is no fighting. Everyone is exhausted, and no one is in any shape to fight. Besides, we all want to conserve energy for the days to come. The groups make their camps as far away from the other groups as possible. Some of the more peaceful tributes even risk going and conversing with tribtues from other groups, such as Digit. The tension does not go away though, and we all have to prepare to start climbing tomorrow.

Colbie

The pictures just don't do the mountain justice.

We get our first good look at the mountain, and it is unbelievable. It's massive, I just cant't describe it. A feeling of hopelesness consumes me. How can we possible climb this thing? It just doesn't seem possible. But that's what we have to do if we are to survive.

Jet

I hate police officers.

They weren't exactly gentle when they arrested my and Apa, and my wrists still hurt from the handcuffs. Luckily, Apa knew the police chief, and was able to convince him that there was no way an innocent little kid could have possibly threw that axe at that man, and the let us go. We hiked up to Base camp slowly, wanting to conserve energy. When we got the note, we started running. The trail we were taking was rocky and uphill, and it was at least three hours to the camp.

We recieved another golden parachute, this one with a stopwatch counting down from fifteen.

Apa saw the watch in my hand.

"Come! We must hurry! We are almost there!" He shouted.

We picked up the pace, and when we got to the top of a small hill, we could see Base Camp. The watch was at four minutes.

We started sprinting. I was using every ounce of my energy.

Two minutes.

''Come on. Almost there.''

Ninety seconds.

A border made out of stones surrounded Base Camp. We were twenty yeards away.

''Thirty seconds. Come on.''

Just then, gasoline started shooting out around me, coming from hidden squirt guns in the rocks and trees. The border was so close.

Apa jumped over the border, feet in front of me, as I triped over a rock. He rushed forward, and dragged over the border just as the clock hit zero, and the trees beyond the border erupted into an inferno.

Narrator

All the tributes have arrived at Base Camp. There is no fighting, as all teh tributes are preparing for the climb tomorrow.

To be continued...

Day 2
Kestrel

Someone from team 1 is about to die.

That's why I've been given the poison. The sponsors want me to poison their food. I walk over to the camp, and see a water bottle lying on the grond. I uncap it, and pour a tiny bit of the clear liquid into it. I hear a rustling sound in one of the other tents. I don't hesitate. If i get caught, there's no way I can defeat al of them. I take off towards my camp, hoping they drink the water soon.

Gimli

Our team is the first to leave Base Camp. none of the other teams seem to bother us, probably still exhausted from yesterday. It's not just the long hikes wearing us down, it's the altitude. It's already thousands of feet higher than in Panem, and we haven't even begun the climb. All the other sherpas from all the teams have arrived, most of them were doing a sweap of the city to make sure they had everyone in their groups. We've met our other sherpa, Salla Ramm. I'm glad we have her as our sherpa, 'cause if we run into any of the mutts we were told about, they'll go crying to their mommies. Salla is about as ripped as you can get. She looks like a female G I Joe. Anyways, we make a quick exit out of camp, trying to get a head start ont the other teams.

Colbie

I'm just waking up when I hear Max screaming.

I rush out of the tent to see Miley from Group 1 attacking Malt, Max, and Kestrel. She's an amazing fighter, and disarms Max in no time flat. She stabs Malt in the ribs, and falls. Kestrel is no match for her, and she goes down with a wound to the arm. Me, Jet, and our sherpas are soon running into the fight as well. Max grabs a knife from the hidden compatment in his helmet, and charges Miley. She has a wicked grin on her face. She punches Max in teh face, and grabs his knife, and points it at his neck. At that exact moment, Miley colapses to the ground, and she doesn't get up.

We look around at eachother, bewildered, wondering what happened. I turn to Kestrel, and she holds up her vile of poison, with a grin on her face.

Rosemary

Our team leaves at the same time as Team 3. Most of the routes used before Panem have been wheathered out or covered up by the weather, so it is now much harder to climb, and most of the routes are remote, and even more dangerous than before. Our sherpas will take us on the South Col route until we reach the death zone, and then we will use smaller routes to the top. From what we've heard, Group 2 is taking the North Col route, and Group 3 is taking diverse route in between our routes. Group 1 was planning on climbing on routes around Nuptse and Lohtse, but after the death of Miley, they have stayed behind, and will now have to take a quicker route.

Mars

Our route will consist of a lot of hiking, and will be longer than the South Col Routes, but not as long as it was a few hundred years ago. We've been hiking for about an hour along the main trail without mishap before we hear the yeti.

It's a faint howl, barely noticable. The trbutes dismiss it as the wind, but the eyes of our sherpas widen. They obviously recognize this sound, and they run. We race after them leaving the main trail, and heading into a rocky area. We hear teh howl again, and this time it's louder. A minute later we hear it once more, and this time, it is right behind us.

We get our first look at the thing. It's about twenty meters away, and it s huge, at least 8 feet tall. It's redish brown in colour, and looks like a giant ape. It has huge fangs as long as an arm. It's roar is a shrieking sound, like someone scraping their finger nails against a chalk board. It charges at us, and we all run. Vixen shoots an arrow at it, and Gimli throws an axe, but it won't stop. I duck behind an outcropping of rocks, and wait for it to charge by. When it does, I slah my sword at it's meaty leg. It snarls, and turns around at me.

"Oh crud."

I dive under it's legs as it tries to tackle me, and luckily it's not agile. I get up and run, and luckily the beast turns. But it turns right at our sherpas, our best chance at making it up Everest. The beast charges towards Kami and Salla, and they both dive out of the way into some snow banks. We continue to pelt it with arrows and dodge it's clumsy strikes, but it's only a matter of time before one of us makes a false move. And it's me that makes that false move. It bats me away with it's huge hands, and rushes in for the kill. I brace myself, but as it is two meters away, it stops in its tracks. Two arrows sprout in it's neck, and an axe hits it's head. Slowly it falls rowards me, and I just role out of the way when it hits the ground with a collosal thud!

Max

Our sherpas have decided on the South Col route, the fastest but also one of the most dangerous routes to the top. We have to pass over the Khumbu ice fall, a frozen waterfall with creveces, thin ice, and incredibly tricky pasages. It didn't look so bad when they showed us pictures in training, but now that I have seen it with my own eyes, I'm incredibly thankful for our sherpas. They know everything about this place, and without them, we would already be dead.

We have a number of laders to get across the creveces, and we need it within half an hour of climbing. It's about five meters wide, an we won't risk trying to jump. Apa lays out the ladder and makes sure the ice on the other side is thick enough. He gives us the thumbs up, and we crawl across one by one.

We continue climbing the waterfall for an hour, using the ladder every once in a while.

Venus

Group 1 is the last to leave, as we stayed behind after Miley's death. We will be climbing closer to the North Col route, but not going on the main path. We take various trails, climbing up adn rappelling down small ridges as neccesary. It's grueling work, but after about three hours, we make a temporary camp, and take a short break.

Aaron

We've started up the Khumbu ice fall, and we can see Team 3 up in front of us.

"They're ahead of us! We need to go quicker!" shouts Winter.

We charge forward, but our sherpas call us back.

"We need to pace ourselves. Remember, we have plenty of time to gain ground, and the icefall is not a place to rush," says Jangbu.

We slow down, but try to go quicker than usual. We climb, crawl, and hike onwards until our path is blocked by a huge crevece, at least twenty feet across. We go up to the edge, and look bellow. It's just a big black abyss. Our sherpas lok unconcerned, and sytart laying across the ladder. Ang goes first and starts crawling across, and in no time flat, he is across. Gem and Winter go next, followed by Rosemary. Jangbu nods at me when the others get across, and I start across the ladder. Jangbu is a few feet behind me, and we almost at the other side when we hear a crack. Ang's eyes widen, and he comes to teh edge of the ladder.

"Quickly! The ice is breaking! Come across, now!"

Both of us pick up the pace, and I am relieved when I make it to the edge.

"Wow, that was a close one. I'm just glad that-" The ice cracks, sending me and Jangbu tumbing into the abyss. Jangbu jumps to the edge, and gets a handhold on the ice. I fall until I land on a ledge, ten feet bellow. The others have lowered a rope to Jangbu, and he is slowly climbing. the secng he gets to the top, Winter sets up the ropes, and starts rappeling down.

"Get the harness on, quickly!" she shouts when she reaches me. I click in my harness to the ropes, and just as we begin climbing, the ledge gives way.

My harness isnt in completely, and I begin falling slowly, trying to get a grip on the rope.

"Aaron, grab the rope!" she calls from above me.

"What do you think I'm trying to do?!"

"JUST GRAB IT!"

My harness slides clean off the rope, and I make one last desparate attempt to grab it. I miss, and I tumble into the darkness bellow.

Gem

After we hear the thunder, we continue on, luckliy with no more casualties. We are even farther behind Team 3, but that has just made us more determined to catch up. Onward we go.

Jupiter

As night falls, we are in high spirits.

We've climbed and hiked the whole day, but we have a feeling we've covered more ground than any other Team. Our route is a long one though, and we have to keep moving if we are to win. Despite all the good news, there is some tension in teh camp. We've already lost half of our team members, and Digit even talked about possibly deserting. I'm pretty sure he was joking, but you never know.

Narrator

As night falls, the teams slow down, and begin to make camp. There has been only one casualty on the mountain today, but tomorrow, expect more bloodshed. Much more.

To be continued...

Day 3
Colbie

Our team continues up the South Col, Team 4 close behind us. We are at the top of the icefall, and are diverting to a smaller path for a while until we lose Team 4. They don't look like they are in any shape to fight though, and another thunder tells us that someone has just died. We try to go quickly to lose any pursuers, and we run for half an hour straight. We stop at the end of one of our trails. It's blocked by a slab of rock, so we'll have to climb up it. It's right then when we check to see if everyone's here.

Everyone is, except Max, who is nowhere to be seen.

Gem

First off, let me say I was against taking Max.

We found him just laying on teh ground at the top of the icefall. His team was in such a hurry they probably just forgot him. We took him with us, but resisted and just wouldn't stay still, and eventually we had to gag him to shut him up. We found some cables to tie him up with, but he kept on squirming. His team, Team 2, is nowhere to be seen. Jangbu carries him on his shoulder like he weighs no more than a rag doll. We plan to use him as ransom. We have so few supplies and people, we need everything we can get, even if we have to kidnap people to get it.

Sure enough, within an hour Jet from Group 3 comes running towards us, sword in hand.

"Stop, or he dies," says Rosemary, holding a knife to Max's throat.

Jet stops in his tracks, but the rest of his team is right behind him. They draw their weapons, and the two groups face eachother.

"What do you want?" asks Kestrel.

"Your supplies. Your food. And any other equipment you have. That, or the boy dies." I'm surprised to find myself answering.

Keeping her gaze on us, Kestrel takes off her backpack. Colbie and Yann do the same.

"We outnumber you. You give Max back as soon as you get the equipment, or things wil get ugly," says Kestrel severely.

"Okay then," replies Rosemary. They toss us their backpacks, and we pick them up. Rosemary gets ready to release Max when thunder booms in the sky. We look around at eachother, but then we realize it's just natural thunder. It sounds different than the cannons. Team 3 is distracted, and Winter charges at Jet. Our shepas draw crossbows and load them. We attack before they even realize what's happening. Jangbu fires his crossbow and hits Yann in the heart. Jet throws a knife that hits Rosemary in the arm. She drops Max, but he is trampled as our team charges. Jet fends off Winter with a sword, and Ang tackles Apa with his bare hands. Apa shoves him to the ground, and Jet pushes away from Winter and the team retreats. Colbie grabs Max's arms and drags him away, aided by Apa.

Kestrel

Our two teams have taken different paths, both close to the South Col route. Max is unconcious and barely breathing. He was trampled during the fight, and we think he has a serious head injury. Once we're sure Team 4 isn't following us, we stop. We turn to Apa, who has the most experience with these kind of things. He looks gravely at us.

"There is little we can do. He has lived a good life, but it is his time now," he says to us.

Sure enough, we hear the lighning within the hour. The hovercraft picks up his body and we carry on.

Swell

Our group treks onward up the mountain. Group 1 is close behind us, but we managed to maintain the lead. We've just heard the thunder in the sky, so we can asume Groups 3 and 4 have met up.

I bump into Gimli, who hass bumped into Kami. We stop in our tracks. In front of us is a huge slope covered with snow. It goes up for about a two hundred feet. It looks like a great place to go snow boarding, but the sherpas have a worried expression on their faces.

"We must split up, and climb the slope apart from eachother. We can not risk putting all our weight in one spot. Avalanches are common in this terrain." says Kami.

We start up the steep slope slowly, spreading far apart. We are careful not do disrupt the snow. Even the slightest movement could trigger an avalanche. Dark clouds start to gather over the mountain. Our sherpas look at the clouds nervously, but keep climbing. Lightning flashes in the sky, followed by thunder. (The natural kind, not the substitute for cannons). We quicken our pace, but the lightning continues to strike around the mountain, becoming more continous by the minute. We smell ozone in the air, but continue on. We are about 20 meters from teh top, and we go as fast as we can. Lightning completly lights up the sky. Suddenly Vixen screams.

"My hair! What's happening?" her hair starts to stand up. The other are confused, but I know what this means.

"KESTREL! GET RID OF YOUR BACKPACK! IT'S ATTRACTING THE LIGHTNING!" I scream. She rips off her backpack, and her metal sword into the snow, and we race to the top. Lightning strikes again in the distance, and part of it branches over to us, and hits the sword. Before we can say anything, the snow under our fett begins to crumble, and it feels like the whole mountain is falling apart.

Jupiter

"Avalanche!"

We hear it before we see it, hundreds of tons of snow and ice rumbling down the eastern part of the mountain. We are in its path, and we dive under a legde of rocks to get out of it's way. The snow flies over us, and I'm praying the thin layer of rock over our heads doesn't break. It doesn't. Minutes later, the snow stops. We're not trapped in, but the snow pile in front of us is at least six feet high, and it takes an hour to dig ourselves out. We survey the damage. This face of the mountain looks completely different. Any rocks, ropes, tracks in the snow are gone. As far as we can tell, we just caught the edge of the avalanche, so we skirt around the edges and continue our assent, nerves rattled by the disaster we narowly avoided.

Mars

It looks like I'm the only one who made it.

I climbed out of the snow pile I was stuck in, hoping to find familiar faces. No one. The avalanche swept us all down hill, tossing us around like rag dolls. I finally find my sherpa, Salla, and we are relieved to see eachother. Salla has an emergency kit, including a long, thin pole used for searching for people burried in the snow. She gives me a pole, and start poking in the snow. It's madness in my opinion. How are we supposed to find people burried in the snow this randomly? The area the avalanche struck is huge. Nevertheless, I keep searching. Salla gives a yelp of alarm, and I turn to see Kami standign behind her, bruised, but alive. It looks like he gave Salla quite a fright.

We can't find teh ohter trhee anywherte. We search for hours on end until we collapse from exhaustion. Any thunder claps could have been lost in the avalanche, so we won't find out until tonight. My sherpas convince me to carry on, and I know its too late. Sherpas would only abandon a member of their team if there was absolutely no hope whatsoever. I try to keep the tears from falling, and we carry on.

Swell

I'm cold, hungry and tired. I can't even remember who I am, or what I'm doing. For the past hour, my life has been a small air pocket in a snow pile.

I begin to remember the avalanche, and my team, and the games. I can barely move a muscle without pain shooting through my body, but I can't stay still. How much air do I have? Will I freeze to death if I am trapped here to long?

When I finally find the strength, I rise to my feet, but I bonk my head on the ice above me. the air pocket is only five feet high, so I have to crouch. I begin clawing at the snow above me with an ice pick, and try to reach the top. The snow is still soft and easy to dig through, but no matter how much I dig, I can't seem to reach the top. More and more sunlight begins to seep through, and that keeps me going. I realize something is blocking the sunlight, and I stop. It's a little black dot I think, and it's growing bigger, like it's coming towards me from the surface. All of a sudden it breaks through, and jabs into my temple, and I black out once again.

Mars

"I found something! Over here!"

Salla and Kami wanted to carry on, but I insisted on looking, one more time. I can feel something with my, pole, and I'm sure it's human flesh. What are the chances that I would have found someone? They rush over to where I am standing, and Kami grabs the pole. He takes one poke and immediatly starts digging. We have no shovel or any other tool to dig with, so we use our hands. Time becomes meaningless as we struggle to find the person under the snow. I loose all feeling in my hands, and we are half dead from exhaustion when we see a glvoe sticking up. We dig some more, and we find Swell, unconcious but alive.

Narrator

As night fell on the mountain, and the dead tribute's head's lit up. Max fro Team 3. And yes, Gimli and Vixen from Team 2. Mars and Swell were the only two left, along with their sherpas. They made camp for the night, preparing for the next day. Little did they know that tomorrow, their numbers would be reduced almost in half, and the final push for the summit would begin.

Let the Pinnacle Games begin.

To be continued...

Day 4
Winter

We climb early today, trying to keep ahead on Group 3, who has fallen behind ever since we killed Max. We've reached the Death Zone, the area over 25,000 feet above sea level. According to Jangbu, Our bodies are slowly starting to die, and unless we reach the summit soon, we will perish. There will be very little hiking from this point forward, and mostly climbing and rappeling.

We reach the top of a large cliff, and we see it. It's the Hillary Step, and beyond that, the summit. It's not even a mile away, but it's all uphill, and up here, every breath feels like you're breathing in knives, an your muscles are ready to give out. Nrmally, we would be able to make the final ascent today, but the wheather has gotten bad. It's the start of the monsoon the gamemakers warned us about, and apparently tomorrow it will strike with full force. It's tempting to just rush to the summit, but our sherpas hold us back. Through the thin clouds, we can just make out Groups 1 and 2 in the distance on the North Col, doing basicaly what we're doing. They're not actually making any ground, just trying to endure the wheather and survive until tomorrow, when the real ascent will begin.

Venus

The monsoon has begun, and we take shelter in a cave. It looks like the avalanche took out Team 2, but we're not quite sure. The Hillary Step is visible now, not a mile away.

"So close, and yet so far..."

It's tempting, just to try to rush to the top, take our chances at victory, but we rstrain ourselves. Everest was not to be underestimated. Our biggest adversary isn't the Capitol, or fellow tributes, or even the mutts, like the Sasquatch we have spotted a few times over the week. No, our most dangerous foe is the mountain itself. Mother nature is harsh, unforgiving, and impartial. We are totally at it's mercy, and every time a tribute dies a horendous death, it reminds us of it all over again.

Jet

We set up our "camp" (which is little more than our rucksacks, a tent so small a child could barely fit in it, and two sleeping bags), near the edge of a cliff, somewhere near the South Col. The mood is grim, and we know we're in trouble. Team 4 has pulled ahead, and when we make the final ascent tomorrow, the chances that we can pass them are incredibly low. Our only options are to split up and try to join another team so we can win with them, or do what the other teams won't dare to do, to try to climb today during the beginning of the monsoon, and risk getting blown off the face of the mountain by 100-kilometer-an-hour winds.

Didgit

The winds aren't as bad on the North face of the mountain as they are on the South, so we've deided to split up into two groups. Me, Venus, and Mahzim will leave at once and make an attempt to reach the summit. If we fail, we'll either be dead, or we'll turn back, and the other group consiting of Jupiter and Bangdau will make an assault.

Jupiter and Bangdau escort us up the mountain until we reach a huge wall of rock. This marks the beginning of the Hillary Step, the final leg of the mountain. Jupiter gives us a grave nod.

"Good luck," she says. And with those two words, they turn back.

Mahzim, our sherpa, takes a pick axe, and uses it to grab on to ledges on the rock. Using this, her hands, and some more climbing tools we aren't familiar with, she starts climbing the ridge.

Her speed is unbelievable, she moves up the cliff like a mountain goat, finding ledges only centimeters thick. When she reaches the top, she secures our lone rope to an outcropping of rock. She gives us the thumbs up, and we attach our harnesses and begin to climb, Venus right behind me.

What would take Mahzim seconds takes Venus and me minutes. Despite our three months of vigorous training, we just can't compete witht the sherpas amazing strength and agility.

"Hurry up Didgit!" grumbles Venus from behind me.

I know I'm going slow and all, and fumbling witht the lines, but her comment strikes me in a bad way.

"I'm going as fast as I can, Venus. Stop whinning and focus on your own climbing!" I snap back.

She gives me a rather annoyed look, but she says nothing else and goes back to climbing the seemingly endless mountain.