User blog:Beetee19/The Iditarod Games

Hey, y'all! I'm reaping for these Games as my previous ones finish up! So, yeah! I'm excited! Are you?

The Twist
These games are based upon the Iditarod, a 1,000 mile dogsled race across Alaska. I won't go into the history of it. In these games, tributes will be split up randomly into 6 teams of 4. Each will be guided by one tribute-aged person from District Zero (since it's in Alaska). Tributes will race from Anchorage to Nome following the North Route of the Iditarod Trail. The sleds will start containing some people food, dog food, clothing, etc. but tributes will have to pick up more at each stop. Not only will they be battling each other. They will be battling the elements. Frostbite. Starvation. Wild animals. The terrain. And yet, their task is simple. Finish first, or die.

These are no ordinary games.

These are the Iditarod Games.

Tributes
There will be 24 tributes like normal. Each user can submit up to TWO tributes. I don't have a template for you, but please be as detailed as possible, as it will only improve the chances of your tribute doing well.I really don't need 12 couples in these games, so...yeah. Try to refrain from this (as well as brother/sister pairs).

I won't be making a slideshow or anything, but if you have a lunaii or other tribute picture, feel free to post it in the comments or on my talk page.

Also, tributes do not have to be brand new, but please don't use them if they have been in any of my previous games.

So, that's pretty much it. Thanks, and may the odds be ever in your favor!

Team RED:
Harmonia Felton (1), Drake McLeaf (7), Kyla Chrome (10), Amazonia Fallow (11)

Guide: Starry Knite

Team ORANGE:
Jason Whitacre (1), Glitter Tyson (5), Isabelle Shellwood (7), Domino Opaque (11)

Guide: Aquila Melina

Team YELLOW:
Hitomi Usake (2), Nico Sirena (3), York Leabowl (9), Rockelle Silver (12)

Guide: Breeze Moon

Team GREEN:
Klaver Fritz (4), Anderson Gasteryt (6), Killigan Isselli (6), Devin Levenhire (10)

Guide: Cotto Crest

Team BLUE:
Elisa Freighter (4), Down Smith (8), Spring Howards (9), Hudson Rylie (12)

Guide: Eclipse Icefall

Team PURPLE:
Woody Thatcher (2), Ebony Bronze (3), North Baron (5), Roxy Clover (8)

Guide: Comet Ash

Comet Ash's POV
"We are gathered here today to celebrate the 176th annual District 0 Salmon Festival! I don't know why this holiday exists, but it sure is fun! So enjoy yourselves! And be back here in two hours!"

Gosh, the mayor can be...interesting sometimes. I must say, the Salmon Festival isn't the best day to go off on a random tangent about how grizzly bears will soon replace polar bears...gosh, I don't even know what the mayor's up to most of the time. But I suppose I won't criticize.

Better not to anger him, I would think. After all, I am dating his daughter. "Hey, Comet!"

I turn around and Venus Blizzard is smiling at me. "Venus! Long time no see." I take her hand and we head down to the center of the square.

"Comet, we were at the game together. Like, yesterday."

I just laugh. "Twelve hours is longer than you think. Come on, let's get some food." Today is shaping up to be great.

Two hours later, the mayor is back on stage to present trophies to the victors of the Salmon Races. They put people in large salmon costumes- no arms or legs- and you have to swim. Upstream. Half a mile. I'm serious here, people freaking train for this. It's the dumbest race I've ever heard of. And today, watching with Venus at the finish line, I wouldn't trade it for anything.

"Before you leave, people, one more thing." The crowd becomes quiet and the mayor assumes his 'I'm actually going to say something so I better pretend I'm not drunk right now' pose.

"This year the Capitol wishes for us to provide them with six brave, able-bodied young men and women to lead others across the tundra in a pageant of honor and courage."

Stunned silence.

Some guy yells out, "So this is a reaping, then?" The mayor nods.

"AWW WHAT THE HECK, MAN!"

I turn around to face Venus, for the first time scared about our relationships. She feels the same way. "It'll be okay," I tell her. "Did you...did you know? About all of this?" She nods without meeting my eyes.

Some random Capitol person wheels out a ball filled with slips. No doubt, at least one of them has Comet Ash written on it. And Venus Blizzard, too. I hug her and barely hear what the escort is saying. Something about choosing people one at a time.

The escort plucks a single strip of paper from the reaping ball and approaches the microphone again.

"Cotto Crest!"

A young boy I don't know slowly makes his way towards the stage. I had hoped no twelve-year-olds would get reaped, but that's already out the door. At least we could all make it back home. It's unlikely, but it could still happen.

"Starry Knite!"

"Aquila Melina!"

"Breeze Moon!"

Four down, two to go. I think I'll be safe. This day will just be an unfortunate day in the history books for District Zero...

"Comet Ash!"

Well.

Kinda jinxed that one.

Venus cries out and rushes up to hug me. I embrace her. Could it be for the final time? I'm not sure. "You'll make it back, Comet. You have to."

I nod. "I'll be back, Venus. For you." I give her a kiss on the cheek and run up on stage, ready to get this torture over with.

"Our final representative, Venus Blizzard!"

Silence. Stunned silence.

They wouldn't reap the mayor's daughter, would they? They couldn't do that! I must be dreaming. I must have heard the wrong name. But Venus, my lovely Venus, is walking up to hold my hand on stage. I can tell she is struggling to hold back tears as she reaches the bottom of the stairs.

"I VOLUNTEER!"

Venus whips around and the whole district stares at the girl that might have just sacrificed herself to save my girlfriend. "Eclipse Icefall." I recognize her from school. And for her, well, this is part punishment. But her life isn't anywhere near what Venus's is. This is also an opportunity to make her life a whole lot better. And she's never been one to turn down a good adventure.

As the mayor finishes reading, I look into the deep brown eyes of Eclipse Icefall and whisper, "Thank you."

"Don't."

"Don't?"

"Don't even," she says. "I know you're glad your girlfriend's safe. I am, too. But this isn't a sacrifice. We're coming home, you got that?"

I nod. One way or another, I do believe I've got quite an adventure on my hands.

Head Trainer's POV
"So, you know the situation you're facing is different," I instruct the tributes. "Therefore, training this year will be a little different. I'd recommend you'd all learn how to build a fire. You'll probably be hunting and will have to clean a kill. And you have to learn to blend in with your environment. Become one with it. And then, of course, there's everything that a normal game offers. So you guys have a lot of work to do here. Dismissed."

The entire group of tributes instantly rushes off to the fire-building station. Gosh, so eager. Most of the tributes in normal years aren't like this.

Then again, most of the tributes in normal years don't die due to hypothermia, frostbite, or caribou. These games could be quite...different. I'm not sure if that's good or bad yet, but different means the crowd will stay interested. The Head Gamemaker should be spared one more year. Never a problem with that.

"Guys, guys, you can't all do this at once! Anybody up for a compulsory agility assessment?"

York Leabowl (9)
Team Yellow has gathered around the station where you learn to take care of your dogs. This is actually quite a crucial station. Alaskan Malamutes are some of the strongest creatures you'll ever see, but they too get tired. And cold. And boy, do they ever eat. At least, that's what I've heard.

Anyways, a few minutes ago, we finally had the sense to split up as a team and get to know each other.

And guess what? They decided I should be the leader.

Gosh. No pressure or anything.

I think we're all quite surprised that I'm the oldest on the team at just fourteen. But it actually could make sense. Hitomi isn't your typical Career. She's shy and quiet. She seems to know how to survive and stuff, but her weapons knowledge is limited. I see a lot of potential, but she's not there yet. (Seriously, is she my student now or something?) Nico's kind of the same way. He's very quick, but he's also shy, and he's not a great fighter yet. And Rockelle, well...she can throw stuff at people. So apparently I'm the 'natural choice.' Because I'm the oldest and I can handle a bow without looking stupid.

We don't meet our guides until tomorrow, but I'm told that ours is only fourteen as well. We'll be at a significant disadvantage to the other teams.

At the same time, though, we'll be under the radar of the stronger Careers. I smile. I'm from Nine. I've been an underdog my whole life. This is just my chance to rise to the top.

Isabelle Shellwood (7)
I've always had kind of an issue with trusting people. It doesn't appear that these games will be a whole lot different.

Jason, we've decided, will be the leader of our team. It makes sense, really. He's strong, experienced, blah blah blah. To me, that seems to be the problem. He seems a little TOO perfect. I have yet to see the sort of arrogance that Careers often show, but something just doesn't quite feel right. I just hope it isn't a liability in the arena.

Glitter is just WAY too perky and upbeat for a tribute. I don't really know what to expect from her now, but I'm praying she isn't like this in the arena. She scares me, quite honestly. She seems almost like some of those ditzy Career girls you see every few years. I don't have a good feeling about her.

Domino...well, I don't know why, but he just freaks me out. And it's not just his weirdly pale skin. He claims the president rigged the reapings so he would be drawn. What could he have possibly done? His whole life seems shrouded in mystery. At least to me. And he's freaky good with weapons. Like, Career-grade, almost. And he knows every single poison that ever existed. Tell me that wouldn't make you a little paranoid. But he's told me himself, he doesn't want to kill. Interesting. What is going on in his head?

We've made our way to the moose-killing station, because an angry moose could be quite a problem, apparently. It makes sense. It doesn't matter how strong us tributes are: if a moose takes out our dogs, we're toast. I don't see what we could really learn here, and Domino is the only one who actually seems to be paying attention. Wonderful. Another possible liability.

Anyway, my team is...sketchy. The good news is, we meet our guide Aquila tomorrow. Hopefully, she can help us sort out all of this.

Hopefully.

Ebony Bronze (3)
Woody has decided that we officially don't have a plan right now. Wonderful. I could do a better job then him.

He's unbelievable with an axe. I'll give him that. As far as leadership...well, he hasn't shown it yet. His thought behind not having a plant is that we have 'versatility' so we can make it up as we go. It's true. He's got the axe. I've got my deception. Roxy has her stealth. And I think we're all pretty good fighters. Woody and I were trained, and North and Roxy are picking up very quickly.

However, that really doesn't mean we can afford to not have a plan and still expect to go out into the middle of nowhere in a week's time and survive. So I've decided I'm going to present him with a plan before the games start. Right now, that depends on me watching us all very closely during training. Our team doesn't really have an identity yet. Once we figure that out, we can analyze our strengths and weaknesses and come up with a plan to exploit the strengths and minimize the weaknesses.

Since everybody else has gone to survival stations first, we figured we'd go to the weapons just to get some time alone. You know, to plan stuff out. Or not plan anything. Roxy's looking good with a slingshot. I don't really know how much good that'll do in a fight, but I'll let her keep up with it for now. Woody...oh, Woody.

"Woody, you want to learn to use something besides an axe? We get it. You're good."

"Hmmm...no. I won't use it in the games."

Can you say arrogant? Come on, dude. Come on. I can do better than you.

I can lead this team to victory.

Right?

Killigan Isselli (6)
I suppose I should just say it right away. Klaver creeps me out a little.

He seems like a typical Career at first, but he's kinda scary. Well, obviously there's the eyes. Kinda creepy. Red hair is just...mysterious. And he has this freakish scar thing right in the middle of his forehead. Tell me that isn't weird. He has the type of personality where it just seems like he could explode at any moment. I don't like being one to judge, but he's...well, not normal.

The (is it good or bad?) news is, Klaver will probably lead the team, since he's the most experienced. I guess I can't really say too much about his leadership because I've yet to see it in action. Hopefully it'll grow on me. He doesn't seem like the guy who'll turn out to be a great leader, but I'm okay with that. I'm the girl who's blind in one eye. I'm used to all sorts of stereotypes and assumptions against me, and I know how it feels. I'm not about to make one about him.

We've gotten along well so far, but we really haven't made any plans. Or talked at all, for that matter. Klaver is maintaining his focus. Anderson and Devin, so far, have seemed to go along with him. They've gotten pretty good with knives, so...actually, now that I think about it, we're all good with knives. Take them away, and we're pretty much screwed. Thank goodness Klaver's trained with a spear.

We met our guide Cotto today. He seems okay. I don't really have much to say here. So...yeah.

So anyway, things are looking good right now. I may be under the radar, but that's just where I'm comfortable. I've been doing that my whole life. Two weeks in the wild? Under those circumstances...well, I'll roll the dice.

I don't have a choice in this matter. But I do have a chance.

Down Smith (8)
I never thought I would say this, considering how much I hate the Capitol. But I've quite enjoyed it so far.

The food is one thing. There's actually enough, and it's good. But even in just two days with my team, we've become very close. I don't know how it happened, but we're looking good so far.

Hudson, as it turns out, has been illegally hunting with throwing knives for two years. The kid is incredible. I don't know how he'll react to hunting people, but it's clear he has the skill. Elisa is also a good hunter. Being from Four, she's good with a trident. No surprise there. She's kind of been the leader so far, since we're a younger team. She seems nice, and thoughful, but I get this feeling whenever I talk to her...it's like she's keeping something from us. It's weird. Ah, whatever. I'll figure it out later.

Eclipse Icefall is our guide. She seems nice and all, and she knows what she's doing with survival stuff, but I have never seen such a good natural leader. We lucked out on this front. If there's anyone who can lead us to victory, it's Eclipse.

And then there's Spring. Oh, boy. Spring is...an enigma, to say the least. I've seen just about every side of her you could imagine in two days. She's kind, sweet, brave, determined, intelligent, athletic, bubbly, and just about every other adjective you could think of. (Except for maybe chartreuse. Seriously, what kind of a color name is that?)

But anyway, Spring...she's a good person. Back home, I worked. A lot. I never really had many friends. I hope Spring could change that, because I'm quite glad to have her on my team, and I think we'd make good friends.

I just hope she thinks the same thing.

Kyla Chrome (10)
So, our team is...interesting. Basically, this is the story of training:

"Yo, Amazonia, do you want to shoot targets with me?"

"I'm building a fire, yeah, whatever, later."

"Harmonia, what's up?"

"I'M THROWING A FREAKING AXE, WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE I'M DOING?"

"Drake, the others are ignoring me. Can you help me build a fire?"

"I'M SEXY AND I KNOW IT!"

"Starry, a little help?"

"Well, um, I don't really know what I'm doing, so..."

The pieces? They're all there. We have a pretty strong team. But the puzzle is incomplete. We just haven't worked together very well yet. Harmonia might be the cause of some of this. She claims she's the leader, and I'm not about to question her (because she's destroyed at least fifteen dummies over the last couple days), but she's usually too busy pretending to kill stuff to communicate with the team. A normal year, this wouldn't be too big of a deal, but here, communication...it's essential, really. We won't be going anywhere without it.

Anyways, I think it's fairly safe to say that Team Red has potential. We have, quite simply, a little bit of everything. But as a group, we've yet to show it. The good news is that the sponsors aren't given a 'teamwork' score. They'll get our individual scores, which should look pretty good. We can get sponsors. Our first day out in the wild, we could be a little messy. But that's nothing, because I've managed to get myself into a pretty big mess just by showing up. And I'm determined to get out of it.

Training Scores
Composite Scores:

Orange- 8.75

Purple- 8.25

Red- 7.75

Blue- 7.5

Green- 7

Yellow- 5.75

Jason Whitacre (1)
Our team is finally in place, ready to start this race in about half an hour. And when I say 'our team', I mean us tributes, Aquila, and sixteen Alaskan Malamutes. Our full team.

If sixteen dogs seems like a lot, that's because it is. The sleds weigh about fifty pounds, but have to carry another fifty or so of food, supplies and weapons. Most of that gets restocked at each stop (at least, you're supposed to.) Add in the people, and the dogs are pulling probably eight hundred pounds. Despite how freakishly strong these dogs are, that's not an easy task. They actually wanted to go up to twenty, they say, but they couldn't find anybody to make the tow line (the one all the dogs are connected to) long enough. Wow. This is actually really complicated.

"So, that's pretty much it! Any questions? If not, you should get to know the dogs."

"Do they have names?" asks Glitter.

"Yes. I don't want to waste your time, here's a chart."

A weird thought comes to my mind. "Why do we have a minute head start? Not that I'm complaining, but is there a reason?"

The guy in charge of our dogs just laughs. "If we lined up six teams at once, there would be a large amount of yelping, growling, and trying to kill the other dogs."

"Oh."

"Yeah. So, good luck, guys! And remember, Marty's lactose intolerant!"

Um...okay. The random guy gives us a thumbs-up and heads out.

"So, Miss Guide, what do we do now?"

"Why do you assume I know what I'm doing? I just sit there telling the dogs where to go."

"You have to do something," I tell her. "For you are the eagle that soars, high into the sky, a magnificent, valiant, wild beast above the sugar-coated-"

"WHAT?"

"The guy told me that 'Aquila' is Latin for 'eagle'. You have to admit it sounds pretty sweet."

"What's Latin?"

"No idea. We ready, guys?"

"Um....yeah?"

"Haha. Very funny." Aquila and I start to run through our final checks.

-

Everything appears to be in working order. The lines are all good, and we have plenty of warm clothing. We should be able to make it to the stockpile.

So, with five minutes left, we're being led out into what used to be a town called 'Anchorage'. From here, we'll race over a thousand miles to District Zero, which many signs, apparently, refer to as 'Nome'. I glance off to my side and see about fifteen cameras supported by propellers. Is this how they're going to broadcast the race? Well, this could get interesting.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Iditarod Hunger Games! I present to you, Team Orange!" Mike, the annoucer, introduces each of us by name. I take note of the additional buildings behind me, and I can see Ebony Bronze peeking her head out, anxious to get out on the course.

Slowly, Aquila leads our team up to the starting line. It's a fairly short sprint to Eagle River, about twenty miles. Apparently there are Capitol people there with a bunch of supplies for a semi-bloodbath. Actually, there are Capitol people everywhere, since most of these towns are uninhabited now. But this stockpile is by far the largest. I'd like to grab a bunch of stuff and be prepared.

However, we have a bit of a problem. That would be the fact that the Purple Team is only going to be about a minute behind us.

Isabelle and I have decided that our plan should be first to get food (for us and the dogs) followed by any survival stuff. Then, as soon as Purple is closing in, we grab weapons and fight if they attack us. We don't have any weapons right now, but neither will they. It would be nice if we could just run a clean race. But this is the Hunger Games. Obviously, that isn't going to happen.

A bell sounds. Thirty seconds.

Aquila glances back at all of us. "You guys ready?"

"Um...sure?"

She just smiles. "We can do this, guys. Get ready, world, because here comes Team Orange!"

The clock strikes noon, and the bell sounds again. Aquila yells "Hike!", and we dash off into the distance. By the time Purple gets set up and introduced, we're already gone.

Let the Iditarod Hunger Games begin.

North Baron (5, Purple)
You want to know why I haven't moved to District Zero yet?

Because it is REALLY FREAKING COLD OUTSIDE.

Thankfully, we have plenty of insulative gear. Hopefully, we can grab some more. We just passed mile eighteen, so we're just outside of Eagle River. We're not overdoing anything yet with our dogs, so we haven't really gained any ground on Orange yet. Comet says we've probably fallen back about twenty seconds. Over the course of eighteen miles, that isn't too bad.

"Comet," asks Ebony, "should we have priorities here?"

I raise my hand. "Yes! Hot chocolate, then everything else!"

Comet just rolls his eyes. "Very funny. Well...food, I guess. For us and the dogs. Then grab a few weapons and a few survival things. We'll only have a minute or so before the next team shows up."

"Yeah, Red, right? Do we want to fight?"

"Well...if we can incapacitate Harmonia before the fight begins, then sure. Anybody else creeped out by her?" We all raise our hands. "Good."

All of a sudden, we are seemingly blinded. Well...we were already. The sun glinting off the snow is strong, but add in a metal Cornucopia and it's too much to bear. I'll be sure to see if they have sunglasses here.

Team Orange sees us and scrambles to get stuff back into their sled. They pull off just as our team comes into the square. I rush off to grab a pack of dog food. Hopefully, we can avoid a fight today.

Comet runs the show as we try to get supplies. “Firewood!” Ebony goes off to get firewood. “Dog food!” Roxy grabs some. “People food!” Woody comes back dragging two huge bags. We load the stuff into the sled. I figure we added…fifty, sixty pounds? Maybe a little more? Nothing the dogs can’t handle. Comet yells “Hike and the dogs race off.

But the weight…we’re moving at least as fast now. It feels like we haven’t gained any weight, or maybe even have lost some. I turn around to see if we’ve lost anything. And what I see gives me chills.

Roxy Clover lies in the snow, blood pooling around a wound in her neck where an axe is lodged.

Harmonia.

Nobody else could have possibly done this. But how?

The dogs keep on going as we leave Eagle River behind. I guess I may never know.

Gamemaker Central
“Will someone please tell me HOW THE HELL HARMONIA ALREADY HAS AN AXE?”

Harmonia Felton (1, Red)
These people are seriously idiots. Making an axe out of a sled? That’s child’s play compared to running this race. The sleds are made of wood, so I just skillfully chopped off a little bit of the thing everybody stands on to make it. Drake could be standing on one foot for a while, but that’s okay. After that…well, having ridiculously sharp fingernails can come in handy…

So Roxy’s dead. Now here we are, grabbing supplies and trying to make sure none of us are next. I grab a bag of dog food and a wooden plank. It’s probably supposed to be firewood, but we could probably cut it into whatever shape we need to fix the sled. Not that it really needs fixing, but I think Drake would appreciate it.

“Harmonia! I need an axe!”

“You think I don’t?” I scoop up half a dozen axes and head back to the sled. Team Blue is coming up fast. Starry urges the dogs onward, and we pull out of the square, ready to cross Cook Inlet and head into the sunset.

That is, if there is one. After all, this is the land of the midnight sun.

Spring Howards (9, Blue) A cannon sounds as we pull into the square. Far off, I see the body of Roxy from 8. That didn’t take long.

Hudson is the first out of the sled, running quickly to grab his knives, which could very well be the difference between life and death for all of us. Elisa and Eclipse go to get the food, and Down and I grab some wood. We do a few rounds of this, with Hudson grabbing weapons for the rest of us. There is no sign of any other team on the horizon.

<p class="MsoNormal">None. Wasn’t Green supposed to be just a minute behind?

<p class="MsoNormal">“Um, guys?”

<p class="MsoNormal">“What is it, Down?” asks Eclipse.

<p class="MsoNormal">“We have more than enough stuff. We should head out, we’ve been here, like, three minutes.”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Where’s Green, then?”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Well…”

<p class="MsoNormal">BOOM!

<p class="MsoNormal">A second cannon sounds and Team Yellow- the last-place team in training- appears on the city’s outskirts. Four faces look around in surprise. What could have happened to Green?

<p class="MsoNormal">“Let’s go,” I tell them. “It doesn’t matter now. Whoever it was, they’ll be in the sky tonight.”

Nico Sirena (3, Yellow)
<p class="MsoNormal">We passed Team Green a couple of miles back. The red-haired guy was arguing with somebody else pretty loudly. The dogs just stopped. Like, seriously, guys. Act like a team. (Or don’t. I really don’t care if you self-destruct.)

<p class="MsoNormal">We should have plenty of time here at the stockpile before Green comes, but I’d rather just grab a few things and get moving. We’ve been out here a few hours, and we are at least five minutes back. I’d like to get to Wasilla as soon as possible. And then…well, keep going. How is sleep going to work here? I can’t imagine anybody winning this race without severe sleep deprivation. Hopefully we can just keep it to a relatively mild level. I don’t think hallucinations would help us very much.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Earth to Nico! Dog food!”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Oh, ok.” I grab some dog food and am thankful that Breeze knows how to work with these dogs. Without her, we’d be lost. These dogs don’t listen to us. Then again, why should they? We sure as heck don’t know what’s best for them.

<p class="MsoNormal">I shove the dog food into the sled and we prepare to take off. Better to leave before Green shows up again. I examine the blowgun and darts I grabbed. They seem to be in great condition. No poison to work with yet, but hit the right points and you don’t need it. Breeze commands the dogs, and our team heads north.

Devin Levenhire (10, Green)
<p class="MsoNormal">I am freaking scared out of my mind right now.

<p class="MsoNormal">Seventeen miles. That’s how far we made it before Klaver decided to snap Anderson’s neck. He was being a little annoying, sure, but really? With a thousand miles to go, Killigan and I have to be careful. We could very easily be next.

<p class="MsoNormal">At this rate, we’ll be awfully lucky to make it to Knik by sundown (if, of course, there is a sundown.) We’re three hours into the race, and I bet we’re already back…twenty minutes? Possibly more? We certainly aren’t where we want to be.

<p class="MsoNormal">Perhaps the biggest problem, though, is that Klaver has completely taken over the team. None of us are going to stand up to him because we’re afraid of what could happen. As much as I don’t want him to be in charge, Cotto’s twelve, Killigan’s blind in one eye, and me…I’d rather stay alive, thank you very much.

<p class="MsoNormal">We end up cruising through Eagle River, barely picking up any supplies. Only what we need to make it to Wasilla, really. We need to make up time now. We’re behind. We have absolutely zero sense of team unity. And we’re already down one member.

<p class="MsoNormal">Suffice it to say, we have a lot of problems.

<p class="MsoNormal">It’s time to fix them.

10:30 PM- Amazonia Fallow (11, Red)
<p class="MsoNormal">The crossing over Cook Inlet went smoothly. Right now, we’re camped out maybe a hundred yards off the trail, about three miles past Knik. Ideally, we’d be a lot closer to the path, but the most important thing is staying unnoticed. We kind of have sixteen dogs that we need to be quiet.

<p class="MsoNormal">We never quite caught up to Orange. We were within about fifteen seconds of Purple, so we could see them. Unfortunately, this meant that they could see us as well. Rather than staying up all night and risking an attack by us (well, Harmonia, really) they elected to pull into what’s left of Knik as soon as we got there. They already know what she can do. We elected not to follow them, so here we are. We figured it would be a good idea to get some rest, even if it’s just four hours or so. It’s not like any of us slept last night.

<p class="MsoNormal">Yellow, apparently, elected to go on through the night. They passed us a few minutes back. No sign of Blue or Green so far.

<p class="MsoNormal">Two faces appear in the sky today, Anderson from 6 (Green Team) and Roxy from 8 (Purple Team). Roxy was the one Harmonia killed. I wonder how Anderson died. Blue was in front of them, and while Elisa and Hudson both got good scores, they don’t seem like the type to wait back just for a kill. I don’t know that Yellow is capable of taking down anyone on Green, because they have Klaver. What could have happened?

<p class="MsoNormal">Oh, yeah. I don’t really care.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Get some sleep, guys. I’ll take first watch.” I get out some food for our dogs. If anyone comes by, this’ll keep them quiet. Very helpful. We grabbed a little more at Wasilla. We should be good for a couple of days.

<p class="MsoNormal">As I stare off to the west, the sun is finally setting. Starry says that if we can get to Zero, we’ll have a full twenty-four hour day. How cool would that be, huh? Certainly good for the crops. Of course, not when the environment is freaking cold. And the Capitol is making it even colder. (Although, we kinda need snow, I guess. But really? The race just started, and twenty below?)

<p class="MsoNormal">I climb up in a nearby tree and watch out for nearby teams. It’s my job now. I’ll worry about tomorrow when tomorrow comes.

Stats- End of Day 1
<p class="MsoNormal">Yellow- Still on the trail, 15 miles west of Knik.

<p class="MsoNormal">Orange- Camping 5 miles west of Knik. Estimated departure 6:00 AM.

<p class="MsoNormal">Red- Camping 3 miles west of Knik. Estimated departure 4:30 AM.

<p class="MsoNormal">Purple- In Knik. Estimated departure 5:00 AM.

<p class="MsoNormal">Blue- 2 miles east of Knik. Estimated departure 5:00 AM.

<p class="MsoNormal">Green- In Wasilla. Estimated departure 5:00 AM.

<h2 class="MsoNormal">DAY TWO

York Leabowl (9, Yellow)
<p class="MsoNormal">At about four in the morning, we finally pull in for a rest five miles short of Yentna Station. It’s nice that we have been able to (I believe) build up a lead, but we need to take a rest now. Not even just the dogs; my team does, too. Why, you ask? Why do we need such a rest?

<p class="MsoNormal">We lost two dogs already this morning. One more is injured, being carried by the others. Every single one of us is absolutely exhausted. I’m out of arrows. Rockelle’s out of projectiles. We think Hitomi may have a broken collarbone. Our sled is cracked in two places. Oh, yeah. And we’re out of food.

<p class="MsoNormal">Oh, how I curse the day the first moose laid a hoof on this trail.

<p class="MsoNormal">We were just cruising along on the trail, headed for Yentna. It was probably…one-thirty? Two in the morning? Somewhere around there. And all of a sudden, a young moose pops out of the forest right in front of our sled. The dogs manage to skid to a stop and we wait for the moose to run off the trail.

<p class="MsoNormal">It doesn’t. The mother gets there first.

<p class="MsoNormal">We all instantly freeze. The mother whips her head around to stare at us. It’s as if she’s sizing us up for a fight.

<p class="MsoNormal">Our lead dog barks at her, and she charges.

<p class="MsoNormal">I pull out my bow and fire an arrow into the side of her mouth before she reaches our team. It won’t do much good. It takes an awful lot of arrows to kill a moose, if you even can. We need a distraction, and we need it now. Nico grabs a bag of food and tosses it out to the moose.

<p class="MsoNormal">Too late. It plows right into our lead dogs Alexander and Constantine. (Why they can’t be Mike and Bob, I don’t know.) The front part of the line snaps. Alexander goes down immediately. He doesn’t make it. Constantine’s alive but has a broken leg. No use running him. After Napoleon goes down fighting (he’s always been a bit rowdy) Cyrus becomes our new lead dog. If he’s up for the task, well, I’m not sure. But he’ll have to do.

<p class="MsoNormal">Anyways. The moose finally picks up on the scent of the food and leaves the dogs alone for a while. Long enough for me to fire arrows at it. Rockelle and Nico start firing rocks.

<p class="MsoNormal">And Hitomi, of course, has the wonderful idea to go try and stab the thing with her knife. It knocks her out of the way easily, and she goes down. She’s doing fine now, but it could be a while before she fights again.

<p class="MsoNormal">Finally, I get enough arrows in the thing to get it to go down. The baby has scampered off by this point. The moose is still on the ground, going through our food. I’m sure it’s still alive now, two hours later. But it isn’t going to be hurting us any longer. Which is good. I don’t think we can afford another injury at this point.

<p class="MsoNormal">In fact, we’re lucky just to be here right now.

Devin Levenhire (10, Green)
<p class="MsoNormal">“WAAAAAAAAAAAAKEEEEEEEEEEEEEE UPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

<p class="MsoNormal">If this has ever happened to you, you know this is not a very pleasant way to start your morning. “What is it, Klaver?”

<p class="MsoNormal">“LET’S GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Well then. Okay.”

<p class="MsoNormal">So that’s why I got up at 4:30 in the morning. Not exactly what I wanted, but we are in last. And I would rather stay alive. The good news is that we maybe can gain some ground here. We started the day in Wasilla, well behind many of the other teams, but we can push it a little harder today. The part of the trail from here on to Yentna Station and Skwentna is flat and pretty wide open. The only thing we could have a problem with would be a moose. That could, in fact, be a pretty serious problem.

<p class="MsoNormal">Cotto urges the dogs to go faster, and they comply. Yesterday was…well, not a good day for us. That’s not going to change unless we make it change. So we will.

<p class="MsoNormal">We soon pull into Knik. We’re still in last, but I figure we’ve gained some ground. It didn’t take us very long to get here. Klaver takes a look around, apparently eager for a kill, but there is no sign of a team anywhere in the area.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Can we have breakfast now?” I ask. “I’m starving.”

<p class="MsoNormal">Killigan tosses me a (very) frozen bagel. “Eat up.”

<p class="MsoNormal">“How the heck am I supposed to eat this?”

<p class="MsoNormal">“No idea. Breathe on it?”

<p class="MsoNormal">And so we spend the next half an hour back on the trail, breathing on our food to try and thaw it. It doesn’t really work, but you can’t blame us for trying. This is the Hunger Games, and as much as I don’t want to, you need to be willing to do just about anything to win.

Hudson Rylie (12, Blue)
<p class="MsoNormal">We woke up early today and got back on the trail. I know for certain we’re ahead of Green, but we could very well be behind everybody else. And we must take no chances. If you want to win, well, you have to finish first.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Hey, Eclipse?”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Yeah?”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Do you know what the typical concentration of muscle mass is for these dogs?”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Um…high?”

<p class="MsoNormal">“But how do they do it?”

<p class="MsoNormal">“No idea. Why?”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Just wondering. So, um, if we run into a moose, what’s our plan?”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Kill it,” says Elisa.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Well, yeah. How?”

<p class="MsoNormal">“KILL IT WITH FIRE!”

<p class="MsoNormal">I slowly turn around. “Was that necessary, Down?”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Oh, come on, man. You kinda set me up for that one.”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Fine. Let’s just make a good clean run today and gain some ground. We aren’t far behind. Eclipse?”

<p class="MsoNormal">"Sounds like a plan." She pushes the dogs onward as we ride off into the barren wasteland.

<h3 class="MsoNormal">Domino Opaque (11, Orange) We're about halfway from Yentna to Skwentna, and we're making pretty good pace. Aquila knows what she's doing with these dogs, and we've given them plenty of food. Somebody could have passed us while we were sleeping. I know Yellow did, but we retook them. They were sleeping, but they had a guard, so we just waved and rode on.

All of a sudden, the dogs start slowing down. "What's going on?"

Aquila turns around to face us and shrugs. "You tell me." They have stopped now. Not only that, but they're dead silent. Something must be wrong. Let's go through our checklist:

1. Are the dogs exhausted? No.

2. Are they running on a good snowy surface? Yes, thanks to the Capitol.

3. Do they smell food? Well, they've been smelling our food the entire time, so, no.

4. Did a hugongous freaking MOOSE just jump out in front of the sled? Yes. Yes it did.

(4 1/2. Is hugongous a word? It should be.)

"Everybody quiet," I whisper.

Well, naturally, this screws up everything. Glitter yells "AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH" and the moose charges.

I dive out of the way as the moose makes its first move at us, luckily avoiding most of the sled. Aquila jumps on top of our food supply and Jason shoves Isabelle to the ground. Glitter tries to follow in Aquila's path, but is too slow. The moose lowers its head and just manages to catch her in the side. Nevertheless, she flies off the sled ten feet onto the hard-packed snow.

Jason recovers first and grabs his bow, launching arrows at the moose. I pull my blowgun out of my coat pocket and look for a poison. The moose, meanwhile, hits Glitter again, with much more force. This time, she falls to the ground unconscious.

Isabelle has now recovered to throw an axe and I have found my choice poison. I quickly dip a dart in the poison and shoot at the moose. It's a huge target. I hit it easily, and within five seconds, the moose collapses.

Right on top of Glitter.

"No, Glitter!" I rush to her aid. But at the same time, I fear it's already too late. I check for a pulse, and my fears are confirmed. I'd never be able to get her out anyway, not with a moose on top of her. Her cannon sounds and I slowly walk back to the sled.

"Let's get going again," I mumble. "We have a long night ahead of us."

Harmonia Felton (1, Red)
Today has been torture.

Teenagers killing each other? I can handle that. Moose attacks? No problem. Hypothermia? Bring it on.

A fifteen-year-old singing (and, may I mention, not very well) to cheer up his team?

Well, this is probably the time when I wouldn't really mind death all that much.

"Hey, Harmonia?"

"Yeah, Drake?"

"You're as cold as ice!"

"Well, duh, Drake. I don't think you're very warm either."

"Of course not. I'm cool, you know?"

"Really."

"Feelin' so fly like a-"

"DRAKE!"

"What?"

"Shut up already! I don't want you to keep-"

"We're not gonna take it! No, we ain't-"

"DRAKE!! Sweet moth-"

"Caroline?"

"Oh my god, Drake, I swear, I'm-"

"Sexy and I know it!"

"DRAKE, SHUT UP! WE ALL HATE YOU!"

Kyla chimes in. "I wouldn't go there, but it is kinda annoying."

"Fine." I wait about five seconds before I hear him quietly singing, "I can't get no...satisfaction..."

"GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"What?"

"JUST SHUT UP SO WE CAN CROSS THIS FROZEN TUNDRA OF DEATH AND DESPAIR AND GET BACK TO OUR NORMAL LIFE!"

"Harmonia, we'll do this. Don't cry."

I raise my eyebrows. "Who said I was crying?"

"And don't raise your eye."

"What exactly is your purpose for this?"

"It's only teenage wasteland!"

I instictively facepalm. "Never mind. I don't want to know. Just please, SHUT UP."

"Exactly what I said. You are cold as ice." I finally decide to ignore him and put on earmuffs as we head off into the distance with the sun setting on the horizon.

End of Day Two

Stats- End of Day Two
Red- Resting approx. 7 miles west of Skwentna.

Orange- Continuing through Skwentna, currently 2 miles past.

Blue- Continuing through Skwentna, currently there.

Yellow and Purple- Resting in Skwentna.

Green- Continuing, currently 12 miles east of Skwentna

North Baron (5, Purple)
<p class="MsoNormal">We woke up super early today to get a bit of a head start. We’ll need it. The next stretch of the trail to Finger Lake isn’t too bad, but after that, it can get a little nasty. We shouldn’t have to worry about this now, but Rainy Pass is not an area you want to negotiate after dark.

<p class="MsoNormal">Right now, it’s going smoothly. No moose, no blizzards (temperatures that are probably subzero, but what do you expect), no…”Wait a minute. Slow down, guys.”

<p class="MsoNormal">Comet rides the brake and we begin to slow down. I point off into the forest, where I thought I saw something…well, unnatural. As I look, I believe I’m right. Either the Capitol invented a severely deformed moose with random paint blotches, or we’ve just run into Team Red. I’m gonna put my money on the second one.

<p class="MsoNormal">We pull off to the side of the trail. I’d like to get back at Harmonia, obviously, but if she’s actually, you know, awake…well, I’m not an idiot. I’ve seen what she can do.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Guys?” whispers Ebony. “I think this is a trap.”

<p class="MsoNormal">“You bet it is. Oh, Harmonia! Wake up!”

<p class="MsoNormal">I whip around and find that my team is face-to-face with Amazonia from 11. I see what we have. Only Woody and Ebony have weapons. Amazonia has a dagger. She’s strong, no doubt, but I’ve yet to see her perform at Harmonia’s level. Maybe she still remembers that she’s supposed to be killing people. Four on one? We can take her. I take a step toward Ebony to whisper in her ear.

<p class="MsoNormal">That step saved my life.

<p class="MsoNormal">An axe comes whizzing out of nowhere, missing my ear by about an inch. We all whip around to see Harmonia getting ready to throw another. Ebony, reacting quickly, smacks Amazonia with the hilt of her sword and bolts. The rest of us follow. We quickly head back to the sled. Harmonia throws one more axe, but she doesn’t aim at us. She finds her mark in the ribcage of our point dog. I wince as he goes down almost immediately. Comet tries to save him, but he realizes it won’t be possible. Team Red pulls out ahead of us on the trail without making another attack. We’re left in their dust, trying to find a new point dog and overcome another great challenge.

<p class="MsoNormal">We can overcome it, though. We have to, because we are going home. Anything else…well, I won’t even think about it.

Klaver Fritz (4, Green)
<p class="MsoNormal">That idiot Devin got a basket of fruit. Good. I was hungry.

<p class="MsoNormal">Anyway, we’ve continued all night and we’re on our way to Finger Lake now. I have no idea where we are compared to other teams, but it doesn’t really matter at this point. I’ll just kill them all later and we won’t have to deal with it.

<p class="MsoNormal">“This is boring, guys. We need to kill something now.”

<p class="MsoNormal">For whatever reason, everybody looks at me weird. “Can’t we just, you know, win?”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Yeah. I want to win. So we should kill something.”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Kill what? We’re in the middle of freaking NOWHERE.”

<p class="MsoNormal">“A polar bear?”

<p class="MsoNormal">Cotto rolls his eyes at me. “There are no polar bears in the Interior, dude.”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Whatever. Somebody toss me some more of those peaches.” We keep on going. Where are we going? No idea. But why? I may be a Career, but I’m not stupid. We all have just one reason:

<p class="MsoNormal">To stay alive.

Spring Howards (9, Blue)
<p class="MsoNormal">We’re back on the trail again. This is already starting to get old, and honestly, I don’t want it to. It was kinda interesting the first couple times, but now…well, I don’t want survival to become a force of habit. But this is the Hunger Games. It has to be.

<p class="MsoNormal">Our team’s been doing fairly well so far. We haven’t had to kill anything, and we’ve been cooperating nicely. I know Orange is still ahead of us, but there’s a good chance we’re in second place.

<p class="MsoNormal">We’ve just reached Finger Lake. Like many towns on the trail, it was abandoned long ago, but it appears as if even back then, it wasn’t a very big settlement. It’s just a small outpost, really, on the Talachulitna River between Skwentna and Rainy Pass.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Okay, guys,” says Eclipse. “That was a good night of running. Who votes we take a break here?”

<p class="MsoNormal">I think about it. We’re about thirty miles from Rainy Pass. Rainy Pass is the most dangerous checkpoint on the entire trail, from what I’ve heard. We’re on the side of a steep slope in Happy River Gorge most of the way into Rainy Pass, and the way out is a brutal trip through the mountains, which will no doubt be under blizzard conditions, thanks to the Capitol. I’m tired and hungry. The dogs are tired and hungry. We could use a little rest.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Sounds good to me.” The rest of the team gives their approval and we settle down to find a place for a quick break: maybe six hours at most. We grab some dog food and look for shelter.

<p class="MsoNormal">“This building looks good,” says Hudson. “Let’s check it out.”

<p class="MsoNormal">Elisa agrees and we see if the building is locked. It isn’t. She pulls open the door, and we walk in.

<p class="MsoNormal">“This is nice. I think we can make do for a few hours with-“

<p class="MsoNormal">“Care to knock next time?”

<p class="MsoNormal">I whip around, prepared for the worst. A figure stands above us on the stairs, and I gasp. I know that ghostly pale face.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Domino?”

<h3 class="MsoNormal">Domino Opaque (11, Orange) "Why, come in, come in. I have been expecting you."

The Blue Team stares at me. "Really?"

"No, you dimwits! When I say that, I really mean 'Convince me why I should'nt kill you right now.'" I pull out my blowgun and show them the dart. "You? will be dead if you try to make a move right now, you know."

Well, that sure got them awake.

Hudson tells me, "You need to avenge Glitter. Kill whoever killed her first."

"That would be a moose fifty miles or so back. Next person."

Spring steps up. "We need to take care of Harmonia right now. She's the threat. And...she's just evil."

"Fair enough. But that has nothing to do with you."

Elisa looks around nervously before saying, "We...um....I love your boots?"

"Seriously, guys? This is all you can come up with?" I slip the dart into the blowgun for intimidation. The team stands still, eyes locked on the weapon in my hand.

Eclipse, however, jumps in front of the team she's leading. "Wait! We'll give you food!"

Finally. There we go. "Hmm...Okay, fine. We won't kill you yet. And you can stay here with us...how long are you going to be here?"

"Six hours? I don't know," says Elisa. "We'll give you ten minutes on us."

"All right. Just don't startle Jason. He does sleep with a weapon in hand, you know. Oh, and Elisa?"

"Yeah?"

"Be more careful next time. All bets are off now, and if you run into somebody else on my team...well, they likely won't be as forgiving."

Drake McLeaf (7, Red)
We're on the Happy River Gorge, making our way from Finger Lake to Rainy Pass.

I am not very happy right now.

Steep hills, you can assume, are not very good for dogsledding. If you try to go down, you'll be riding the brake and could wipe out. You really can't go up. And if you try to cross them sideways, you're probably going to swerve a little downwards. Not ideal conditions.

The stretch along Happy River Gorge is not very dog-friendly. It's on the side of a steep hill, so we're trying to cross it sideways. For the most part the dogs can handle this. Swerving a little bit shouldn't be a problem.

Shouldn't. Almost the entire hillside is covered in trees.

Oh, yeah. We're also going uphill to Rainy Pass.

As I stated before, this is ridiculously painful and difficult, and we are not happy. Not one bit. Starry is yelling a bunch of complicated commands that only the dogs can understand. I'm still working on 'gee' and 'haw'. The rest of us are busy trying to not freeze our butts off. As the elevation and latitude increase, it's sure to get colder. The Capitol will play a part in this, for sure.

We could go around Rainy Pass. But according to Starry, it'd be an extra twenty miles, at least, and the pass we would have to go through is nicknamed Hell's Gate. Um, no thanks.

I've tried to cheer up our team; I've taken this matter into my own hands. I've already discovered Harmonia does not like any kind of holiday song. Some of them are weird, though. Why would you want to take the letter L out of alphabet?

Gah. We have fruit. I had this really good thing called 'shaved ice' in the Capitol. If I just had a machine or something, I could grind up fruit and ice, slap them together, and voila. Unfortunately, that machine, if it exists, is not on the approved list of sponsor items. No idea why. I ponder this, and a whole bunch of other questions that the rest of my team would probably pass off as stupid, as we race onward across the Happy  Where's-A-Traitorous-Teammate-When-You-Need-One (coughcoughharmoniacough) River Gorge.

Then again, we are in first.

And that's the only thing that really matters.

End of Day Three

Stats- End of Day Three
Red- Continuing, 24 miles past Finger Lake (Finger Lake to Rainy Pass = 30 miles)

Orange- Continuing, 21 miles past Finger Lake

Blue- Continuing, 17 miles past Finger Lake

Yellow- Resting, 15 miles past Finger Lake

Purple- Resting, 7 miles past Finger Lake

Green- Continuing, in Finger Lake

Hitomi Usake (2, Yellow)
<p class="MsoNormal">Generally speaking, when you wake up to a guy screaming “DIE, PUNY LITTLE FREAKS!”, you know you probably won’t be having a very good day.

<p class="MsoNormal">We decided late last night to camp out about halfway from Finger Lake to Rainy Pass. Apparently we weren’t far enough off the trail. The Green Team found our camp, and Klaver, being Klaver, well…I think you can probably guess.

<p class="MsoNormal">If there’s good news, it’s that the rest of his team was sane enough not to assist him. Otherwise, we’d all be dead right now.

<p class="MsoNormal">Thankfully, Klaver was stupid enough to yell. He managed to wake us all up, and we were sent scrambling for our weapons as he readied his first spear. York looked to get his bow ready, while the rest of us were left with simply rocks. We were outmatched, and we knew it. Then I had an idea.

<p class="MsoNormal">“York! Take this vial!”

<p class="MsoNormal">We launched our first volley of rocks. One of them managed to hit Klaver in the leg, but it did no damage. He threw his first spear at Rockelle, hitting her just below the shoulder and advancing with the second. I glanced over, and I figured that it was likely too late for her. I had to act, or we’d all be gone. I tossed York the vial.

<p class="MsoNormal">Thankfully, he understood. The vial I picked up a couple checkpoints ago isn’t a poison so much as a tranquilizer. It’s been used, supposedly, to knock out large animals. I just hoped it would work. York dipped the tip of his arrow in the poison and shot.

<p class="MsoNormal">That arrow saved all of us.

<p class="MsoNormal">It hit Klaver in the arm just as he launched his second spear. It was aimed at Nico, originally. The impact of York’s arrow as he threw put it a little off target, but before Klaver passed out, I could swear I saw a small smile on his lips. Even if it was just in the shin, he knew his spear had found its target.

<p class="MsoNormal">'''BOOM! '''Rockelle’s cannon sounded as Nico crumpled to the ground. The rest of us quickly rushed to his aid. His injury wasn’t life-threatening, but the bone is broken in a couple of spots. He might not be walking again for another few weeks. Of course, at that point, we could all be dead.

<p class="MsoNormal">I’m sure this isn’t the medically correct thing to do, but Nico was in a ton of pain, so we decided to give him a small dose of whatever knocked out Klaver. The problem was…well, just a little tiny bit from the tip of an arrow knocked out Klaver. We may have given him a little bit too much. He could easily be out a couple of days. Oops.

<p class="MsoNormal">This left only the problem of what to do with Klaver. I’m sure after what happened, we all would have been perfectly fine with killing him, but the rest of the Green Team was sitting there watching the whole thing. They didn’t really support Klaver, I’m guessing, but they didn’t want to just go out and kill him. As much as I hate to admit it, he is a valuable asset.

<p class="MsoNormal">Killigan eventually decided to let us go. We loaded Nico onto our sled and hit the trail again, leaving them to figure out what to do with Klaver.

<p class="MsoNormal">This is what has already happened to me today.

<p class="MsoNormal">Judging by my luck, though, I’m guessing it’s going to get a whole lot worse.

<h3 class="MsoNormal">Killigan Isselli (6, Green) Klaver is an idiot.

I don't care how good you are. I don't care if you're stronger than all your enemies. You just don't charge into a battle when it's five on one and you're the one. You won't win. Now he's passed out and we have to lug him back to the sled. He'll probably try to kill something when he wakes up, which could be a problem. And honestly, we have no idea what to do with him at this point.

Right now, though, we should probably keep him. We do need to focus on, you know, getting back out of last place. Although, come to think of it, he's the reason why we ended up in last in the first place. Maybe we could be better off without him.

We'll figure that out later, though. We have to make it through Rainy Pass today to have any chance. Normally, it's not a checkpoint you want to rush through, but we don't have much of a choice. Maybe we can gain a little ground going back downhill at Dalzell Gorge? Maybe we can become sleep-deprived? (We'll do this anyways, though. Just, you know, so sleep-deprived that we experience ridiculous hallucinations and whatnot.) It would stink to have to do any of this. But if it comes down to staying alive...I'm willing to do whatever it takes.

That is, except for listen to Klaver.

Kyla Chrome (10, Red)
HOLY FREAKING CRAP IT IS COLD UP HERE. AND WINDY.

I suppose I should explain what's going on. We made it up to Rainy Pass (or, as Harmonia calls it, through the Forested Incline of Hell) and we've decided to continue on. After this, we're soundly in the Interior and can take a break. The problem is, the trail doesn't just go straight down from Rainy Pass. It keeps on climbing, straight up past the timberline and into the lower reaches of the Alaska Range (apparently this whole land was once called Alaska. No idea why.) So the highest point of the pass is at an elevation of about 3200 feet. We're just below that now.

Blizzards, obviously, are more common in the winter. January and February are terrible, but they can extend into March (well, they almost always do, really) and often well into April. But it's June and we're stuck in the middle of a full out blizzard. The Capitol must have something to do with this. Let's see if I can fully describe this:

The howling wind is all you can hear. Beneath you, the world is white. Above you, you see no sun, no stars, no clouds: only pure white snow. You have no idea where you're going because you can't even see your own dogs. And your only defense against hypothermia is a coat (helpful, but not enough). You can't exactly kill it with a knife.

Oh, yeah. This is how cold it really is:

Temperature: -41 degrees Fahrenheit (yes, we have a thermometer.)

Wind speed: Approx. 55 miles per hour.

Wind chill: about NEGATIVE ONE HUNDRED AND FREAKING TWENTY.

I'm from District Ten. We don't get bad weather. Heck, before I came here I'd never even seen snow before. I'm not used to this. So just let it stand for five minutes and your homemade frostbite will be ready to eat!

Yum. Like, seriously. I hate this place.

But in two weeks, I'll be out of here, one way or another.

Down Smith (8, Blue)
So it's really cold today, apparently. I've never had much of a reason to like the Gamemakers.

We've kept climbing through Rainy Pass and up into the mountains. It's, like, a total whiteout. Thankfully there are a few trees lining the trail. I can't really see them anymore, but the dogs see them about six inches before they would hit them, so we can avoid them (usually.)

Eclipse looks at this like it's nothing. I'm kind of jealous, because the rest of us are wearing about seventy-three high-tech insulative coats each. It sucks, but I'm okay with it, because:

A. Well, they do work.

B. It's a lot better than freezing to death.

C. The coats are...well, honestly, I can't tell because they're all covered with this snow that's all over the place. So right now, they're white. I think Spring looks good in white; I'll find out when I can actually see three feet in front of me.

Ideally, we'd be able to spot some other teams' tracks in the snow. Last I checked, we were in third. But with all this new snow, there's nothing. The entire trail (well, what I can see of it, anyway) is sparkling white. It's almost blinding at times, but it actually looks really cool. I guess I never realized that before; Eight usually only gets about ten inches or so a year.

Eclipse's plan is pretty simple. We're going to push through whatever crap the Gamemakers decide to throw at us until we get to Rohn. The worst parts of the trail will (hopefully) be behind us, and we can take a quick rest and gain some ground on Red and Orange.

In order to survive this, Hudson made up a game called Lyrical Blizzard. Basically, because the winds are so loud, you sing a line of a song at the top of your lungs right into someone else's ear. Then they sing the next one. Whoever screws up loses. It's actually kind of fun. And hard. This blizzard is so bad that I sang the first line of the Panemian anthem and Elisa thought it was the chorus of 'Imagine'.

So...to put it shortly, this day has been torture so far, just like every one since the reaping. But it's the kind of torture that, in this moment, I wouldn't trade for anything.

And by the way, I lied earlier. I already know that Spring looks good in anything.

Woody Thatcher (2, Purple)
It's late in the evening now. I think we've finally gotten past the top of the trail. After that, it's a pretty dangerous path down into the Interior, but I don't think the dogs will mind. Less work for them. Actually, I bet the sled would go faster if we put them in it and just coasted down the gorge. Well, maybe not. I don't know. But you get my point.

It's actually warmed up quite a bit since we got over the mountains. The winds have died down a little. Snow is still falling, but not quite as heavily. It's really not all that bad. Then again, maybe I've gotten used to full-out blizzards.

Comet's actually been riding the brake almost this entire time. Otherwise the sled would spin out of control. It's fairly narrow here, and we really have to be careful about a lot of-CRACK.

Oh, no, Not here, not now.

Dalzell Creek. The ice is melting.

That must be why the Gamemakers turned up the heat over here. We're only in fourth place; we could see Blue in front of us for a while. But the other teams have surely worn down the ice by going over it three times. No doubt the Gamemakers made sure it's fragile.

So fragile that as soon as our dogs cross over a small crack it cracks wide open and the front of the sled plumments into the still ice-cold creek.

Yeah. Um, we were told that if water wasn't frozen over it would be running at about thirty-eight degrees. Cue the hypothermia.

The front of our sled is now a foot deep in the water as the ice continues to crack. The dogs have stopped trying to pull out the sled. We quickly rush to try to pull out the sled before the water gets too deep. If we don't have a sled, we don't have a chance. So I try to figure out a plan to get it out of the water.

Instead, Ebony just dives right into the creek.

I yell, "What the heck are you doing?"

"Saving your butt! Now help me with this thing!"

Ebony dives under (how deep is this thing?) and lifts up the sled. North and Comet come to help me pull it off to the side of the trail. It's heavy, though, Ebony is holding it above the water with her whole body under. I don't know how long she can hold out.

We finally set the sled off to the side, and Ebony comes up, gasping for air...and a new piece of ice breaks off. Crap. Ebony, not listening to us, goes back under. We once again lift the sled, supplies and all, off to the side, where it's surely safe. This time Ebony lifts the front up a little higher and the rest of us pull the sled backwards.

Comet quickly throws down the brake and tries to help save Ebony. But I can already see it: She's been under too long, and it was too cold. Her body is turning blue already. She's trying to pull herself out of the water, but can't.

Finally, she succeeds, and another chunk of ice breaks off and drags her a few feet downstream. She sighs. Shivering, she looks at me and says softly, "Ggggo, Wooodddy. I cccan't mmmakke ittt."

I start to protest, but as soon as the words come out of my mouth, she slips back under water.

And somehow, I know that this time, she won't be coming back up.

"Come on, guys. The finish line isn't going to wait for us."

End of Day Four

Stats- Day Four
All the teams are past Rainy Pass at this point and are currently continuing on to Rohn. Red is in first, followed by Orange, Blue, Purple, Yellow and Green.

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