User blog:Tiki tooki/The Nemesis Games

Welcome, one and all, to Tiki tooki's NEMESIS GAMES!!! These games will be unique from all others, and I'll be using an idea I've been dying to try out for ages! I will explain the rules and such in a while!

(I will be disabling commenting until I have everything set up, I don't want an overload of comments).

Rules For Entering
In these games, you will enter homemade tributes, not characters from the actual series. District's 13, and the Capitol are also in this game, so there will be 28 tributes total. You are allowed, and recomended, to enter tributes from more than one District, but there is a limt of two tributes per User.

Reservations last 24 - 48 hours each.

Twist #1
For these Games, the Tributes will undergo training as usual, and then, based on their scores, they will be paired up with another tribute. The highest score with the lowest, secong highest with secong lowest, etc. They will battle eachother in a on one battle to the death in a small 20x20 room, with varying settings and weapons. The 14 winners will advance to the Arena, and the looser, well, dies. When two or more Tributes are tied, the younger Tribute gets the higher seed.

Twist #2
The top four scores in training will get a bye to the arena, meaning that they will not have to participate in the 1-on-1 Round and risk an early exit. Four of the tribtues who die in the-on-1 Round will be revived (see Twist #3), and they, plus the tributes with byes and the winners of the 1-on-1 Round will advance to the Arena.

Twist #3
In this twist, four of the tribtues who perished in the 1-on-1 Round will be brought back to life to copete once more. Choosing of these four lucky tributes will be done by lottery, which I will do on an RNG. each of the twelve automatically has two entries. If a deceased tribute has been sponsored previously by a reader (someone without tributes in these Games) will receive 1 extra entry per $5 sponsored. Readers can continue to sponsor, but until the four tributes are chosen, each tribute only gets 1 extra entry per $10. Each Reader can also give away two extra entries to the tribute of his/her choice. Readers can not split up the entries. So, for those of you with deceased tributes, you may want to start trying to convince people to give your tribues entries.

Tribute Chart
" Tribute killed in 1-on-1 Round.

`Tribute killed in 1-on-1 Round, revived.

^ Tribute was killed by Gamemakers, traps/mutts in arena, etc.

= Tribute recieved sponsor money from challenges (One per $5).

+ Tribute received sponsor money from sponsors (One per $5).

The "Kills" column does not include the 1-on-1 Round.

Sponsoring
Sponsoring will begin after the 1-1 tournament. Each of the 14 remaning Tributes will get $100 to spend on items at the User's request. From time to time I will do challenges on the commenting section to earn your Tribute(s) extra Sponsor money. (Users can not win twice in a row).

Any users who have not entered tribtues in these Games may give away up to $10 to the tribute of their choice. They may also give $5 to two individual tribtues, but cannot split up the money any more than this. If you have given either sponsor money or extra entries into Twist #3, you may not sponsor again.

Sponsor Gifts:

Weapons
Sword- 60

Spear- 46

Extra Spearhead- 15/each

Single-Bladed Axe- 33

Double-Bladed Axe- 39

Bow & 12 Arrows- 45

Extra Arrows- 28/dozen

Lance- 40

Knife- 20

Throwing Knife- 18

Machette- 26

Scythe- 38

Sickle- 44

Shield- 40

Armour- 65

Helmet- 40

Net- 22

Staff- 18

Shot Put Ball- 14

Heavy Weights- 23

Food
Fresh fruit- 10

Dried Fruit Pack- 6

Dried Beef- 10

Other Meats of your choice- 20

Bread- 15

Soup- 12

Water- 18

Cheese- 10

Milk- 15

Nutrition Bar- 25

Powdered Nuts- 8

Medical, Sheleter, & Clothing
Bandages- 15

Basic First Aid Kit- 15

Advanced First Aid Kit- 35

Iodine- 22

Antidote of your choice- 30

Syringe w. Poison- 35

Small Tent- 30

Large Tent- 45

Thin blanket- 10

Wool Blanket/Sleeping Bag- 20

Pillow- 10

Raincoat/Windbreaker- 15

Sweater- 15

Extra Socks- 5

Sweat Pants- 12

Gloves- 8

Boots- 18

Day 1
Elder Thorne

"Hurry UP Eli"!

Elder. Eli. Big E. WHY did my parents give me such a ridiculous name? I had countless nicknames too, and Eli was the latest, devised by my dear District partner, Azalea.

"I'm coming! Sheesh, why are you in such a hurry?" I asked, rather annoyed.

"We're late for training!" she retorted.

"That's not my fault!"

Then who's is it? You were the one that switched Jardin's whipped cream with sour cream this morning! And you know he's allergic!"

I smirked as I remember that little prank. The look on our mentor's face was priceless, even if he did get a little puffy from it. But seriously, who's allergic to sour cream?

Typical Azalea, worrying about such little things. You could have killed him! ''He's our mentor! You're so immature''! Blah blah blah. I was hoping at the very least to get a district partner with some sort of sense of humor.

Anyway, we rushed through the Training Center doors, where the other twenty-six tributes were gathered in a circle on the wrestling mats.

"You're late," said a cool, female voice.

"Sorry! It was Elder, he-"

"Doesn't matter, just come here. Now, as I was saying, you will have six madatory..."

I tuned out the trainer's voice. Atala, I think, and surveyed the copetition. The reruns of Tuesday's Reapings were a blurr to me. I couldn't remember a single one, so I wanted to concentrate on studying them now.

The Careers all stood together, as usual. There were four eighteen year olds and a seventeen year old. That's wasn't good news for the rest of us. Only one Career District tribute wasn't standing with them. I could tell from his cheesy ''Hello! My Name Is ''nametag that him and everyone else was wearing that his name was Scorpius, from District 4. He was yonger than the rest, only fourteen or so. He had a determined look on his face, and was soaking in every word that came out of Atala's mouth.

I turned my gaze to the other tributes. The tributes from 13 had the apperance of military brats, with their short cut hair and straight posture. The Capitol tributes looked barely human, with their unnatural cosmetics and stuff. They were clutching eachother, looking terrified at the prospect of being in the Games.

The tributes from 6 and the male from 8 also looked very strong, they could be a threat. The tributes from 3 looked stronger than the usual pair from that district, but not any less intimidated by the older career crowd. Other than that, not many tributes registered with me as anything out of the ordinary.

"...at which time you will head back to your District's floor. Go!"

Atala's voice rang out, and all the tributes headed towards the many stations. I ran up to Azalea.

"So, which station do you want to start at?" I ask her, trying to sound friendly.

She completely ignored me, and met up with the tributes from 11, a friendly looking pair. They headed over to axe throwing, without a second glance towards me.

Jenni Frost

I headed over to the obstacle course, with the tributes from 12 and 7. I was hoping Jake wouldn't follow us, but no such luck.

He thought he was a tragic little hero, with him running away from 4. He got all the publicity, and then started thinking he was superior to me. He might have been two years older than me, but I could take him down in a heartbeat if I wanted to.

"Come on darling, I'll show you how it's done!"

Did I forget to mention he has a crush on me, atop of all that? He calls me "Darling", and it makes me want to puke.

He skipped to the front of the line, and started by falling ten feet from the monkey bars when he lost hold of the rungs. He fell into the mud pit bellow, and beamed like it was all a big joke. I repressed a smirk, and took my turn on the bars. The rest of us made it through with ease.

"That oughta wipe the smile off his face," I said to myself.

"Gonna go help your boyfriend?" A voice said from behind me.

I wheeled around to face the guy from 7. "He is not my boyfriend!" I argued, but I could feel my face growing red.

He smirked. "Whatever you say".

Matt Coupe

Me and Zara headed over to sword fighting with the careers, even though we were't planning on aligning with them. It was actually kind of amusing, how they thought they had these Games in the bag, and how they assumed weapons alone would win it all. Jade, the girl from 1, seemed the most lethal of the group.

Eventually that inside joke between me and Zara kind of lost it's novelty, and we decided to move on. We saw the girl and boy from 3 at knife throwing, and we decided to go have a look. "Hey! Hows it going with you guys?"

Mica turned and gave us a suspicious look, like he wasn't sure if we were teasing or not. It's the girl, Kalita, who answers cautiously, "Okay. How about you guys?'

We tell them about the careers, and while we find it slightly amusing, they seem to be terrified. We join them at archery, and it's quickly evident that Kalitha is a master at knives, while Mica seems to be eager to move on.

"Hey, you guys want to try out knot-tying?" he asked.

"I think we'll stay h- "

"Yes, actually," I interupt. Zara gave me a look of protest, and it was obvious she wanted to team up with older tributes, but these two have their strengths, and could be valuable assets in the arena, if any of us make it past the One-on-one competition.

Luna

The second Atala stopped talking, Jonothan left me in the dust.

Typical. He always judeges me because of my age. Okay, mabye I'm not the strongest or the fastest or the best fed tribute, but I can think. I can survive.

He rushed over to the careers, where they welcomed him with open arms.

I cursed under my breath, and headed to the Hunting & Tracking station, where the tributes from 10, and Scorpius were there, practising snares.

You guys mind if I join you?" I asked.

The tall blonde from District 10 steps forward. "Not at all. I'm Tristan James, and this is my district partner, Rose Jones, and Scorpius from Four"

"Luna Snare," I reply. He gave my hand a firm shake.

"So where's your District partner?" asked Rose, now coming to join us.

I scowled. "He's teaming up with the careers, he said they needed someone else beacause one of them quit-"

I stopped short as I realise Scorpius was the one who backed out of the careers gang.

"So why did you leave?" I asked him. "You too young or something, did they throw you out?"

"I chose to," he replied. And with that he turned back to his half-finished snare.

My head spun. Why would he back out of the careers? You don't do that! If the careers invite you into their group, you either accept or they gun for you in the arena. And if there's one thing you don't want, it's the careers trying to do you in.

All of a sudden I heard a snap, and a scream coming from behind me. I whipped around to see Rose dangling by her foot from the snare which was connected to the metal beams on the ceiling. Scorpius is starring at her, horrorstruck.

"Sorry!" he yelled, trying to bring her down. "I forgot I'd already primed it!"

But at that moment, the rope snapped, sending Rose plummeting ten feet down, head first, onto a metal table. She hit the surface with a thud, and collapsed onto the tiled floor bellow, unconcious. Not only that, but a gash had opened up on the back of her head, and blood was pouring out of it.

Lots of it.

Derek

Me and Ebony ahd been throwing axes for a while when we heard a scream from another tribute. What happened? Was someone hurt? I flinched at the thought of wounds.

"Man up," I told myself. "If you can't even think of blood without passing out, how're you going to survive the arena?"

Atala rushed over to the hunting station, and medics were lifting a girl onto a stretcher. Sure enough, she was bleeding.

"Alright everyone, back to your rooms!" she yelled at us. "This all we're going to do today!" I was confused. Why was she cancelling the rest of training? We still had two or so hours left. I had heard that head injuries usually look way worse than they actually are, but was this different? Was there a posibilty of serious injury or wrose, and that's why Atala was freaking out?

End of Day 1 of training.

Day 2
Ryak

I woke up early the next morning, I wanted to make up for the time I had lost yesterday with training being cancelled.

The rest of the tributes seemed to have the same idea as me, and were eating an early breakfast. I swept my eyes around the room, looking for Rose, the girl they carried away on a stretcher. She was nowhere to be seen.

I gupled down some cereal, even though there was a vast display of delacasies available, from omlettes and eggs benedicte, to steaming hot chocolate, creme brulee, and pancakes with about 40 different toppings. My stomach rumbled, eager for more, but training was more important than gorging myself on rich food.

I joined up with Detora and Azalea, but for some reason her district partner was absent from our group again.

"Hey Azalea, why is Elder always by himself? Shouldn't you two be working together?" I asked her as we made our way to the sword fighting station.

"Oh, he likes training by himself," she answered dismisively.

"Well, why don't you see if he wants to join us?" I asked.

"I told you, he doesn't want to train with me," she replied. It was clear she wasn't telling us everything, but I decided not to pressure.

Jason

Me and the rest of the careers started with spear throwing. Atala kept on telling us not to ignore the survival stations, but I really wasn't that worried. There'll only be sixteen tributes in the arena, it'll be over way quicker than usuall. I probably won't even have to worry all that much about food.

Secretly, I was hoping most of my fellow careers wouldn't even make it past the 1-on-1 Round. It's be nice to go solo in the arena, or with one reliable partner, like Jade or Halo. I wanted to win differently from the rest of the careers victors in the past. Tributes that win solo are usually received better by the audience. Makes a good impression, shows you can survive by your own wits.

Eucy

We had a big group yesterday, with tribtues from Five and Seven joining us, and today it was even bigger. The tributes from Six also joined us, a pair of well-built tributes named Max and Zola. We did a range of survival stations. like edible plants, knot tying, and terrain. We got along fairly well, but there seemed to be a bit of a rivaly between the tributes from Seven and Five. They always try to best eachother in every station they can get their hands on, and it reached it's climax when Travis started whacking Jeni over the head with a fake sword, telling her where to go and how to get there. Me and Kole, looked at eachother, sceptical.

"Time to go", I read in his eyes.

"Can you believe them!" I said to Kole once we were out of earshot.

"I know. So much for an alliance," he replied, equally annoyed at our ex-group's behaviour.

Elder

Rose finally returned near the end of the day, with a large bandage on the back of her head. She had a dazed look in her eyes, and I couldn't shrug off the suspision that she had a concusion.

The people she was with before had all gone off by themsleves, and she was alone, wandering around the training center. Go figure, I went and joined her.

"Oh well," I though to myself as I was striding towatds her. "If I'm going to have an ally, it might as well be someone I can pick off at any time if I need to."

"Hi, I'm Elder," I said to her, putting on a smile.

"Rose. So... do you think mabye- "

"-we could have an alliance?" I finished for her.

She seemed taken aback by my eagerness. "Are you- are you sure?" she asked.

"Positive." I replied. "Anyone who can get their head cracked open and train again the next day is fine by me."

She winced and reflexively pulled her hand up to the back of her head. I realized I had said the wrong thing.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have-"

"No, it's fine," she said unconvincingly casually. "It doesn't even hurt that much any more."

I noded uneasily, still wondering exactly how badly she was injured, and how she'll make out in the Games.

Courtney

I'm probably the worst Career tribute ever.

Okay, mabye not the worst. Scorpius completely ditched us, but atleast he can hold a spear the right way up.

It all started when Jade, that monster from One (no fashion sense at all) started screaming at me for almost hitting her with a knife, and ever since then, I've been a total wreck. I'm not even that bad with weapons, but ever since I screwed up with the knives, my confidence went down the drain.

"Hey, Courtney, who d'you you'll be up against in the one-on-one Round? That guy from Ten looks like he could do you in," said Halo from 4, referring to the youngeest tribute this year.

"Atleast my opponent won't umm... die the minute they sees my hair!"

I realised what a pathetic insult that was, and I started to blush, while the rest of them howled in laughter.

"How much you want to bet she'll faint in front of the Gamemakers?"

"She couldn't win the Games if all the other tributes were blind!"

They continued to jeer at me until Atala told us to head back to our rooms, with me feeling absolutely miserable. My partner, Brass, was no exception. He teased right up until we reached the door.

"That was hilarious courtney! The way you almost shish-kabobed yourself with your own spear, you-"

I slammed the door in his face, strode into my room, and covered myself in the warm, fuzzy blankets, and began to cry.

End of Day 2 of Training

Day 3/Training Scores & Placement
Scorpius

I sat down on the plush couch, as they were getting prepared to show the training scores, and ultimately, the pairing for the 1-on-1 Round. I was mildly pleased with my performance. I basically ensnared and decapitated robotic, moving dummies with my net and trident until I was told to leave. The Gamemakers looked somewhat impressed, so I'm hoping for a decent score.

Halo, on the other hand, was a different story. She came back from her session grumbling about who knows what, her hair soaked. Don't ask me how she got wet, she refused to speak to anyone about what happened. She spent the next day snapping at anyone who came across her, so I tried to stay out of her way as much as possible. It was unavoidable for watching the training scores, but thankfully she had stopped being rude for the moment, and was finally, grudgingly begining to tell us what happened in her session when Caeser came on the screen.

"Shut up guys, it's starting!" said our mentor, Berezay, an energetic young woman who won the Games three years ago at 17. She hopped onto the couch, and Caeser began.

DUH DUH DUH! (I'll wait a while to post the scores, as to build suspense!)

Pairings:
Top 4

Zara Lancaster

Jade Seeku

Zola Karris

Elder Thorne

1-on-1 Round Matchups

Maxwell Liang vs. Rose Jones

Matt Coupe vs. Ebony Ivory

Jonothan Burrows vs. Jake Odair

Halo Zee` vs. Calina Rosette

Jason Noels vs. Derek Trike

Tristan James vs. Courtney Thorna

Scorpius Flame vs. Kole Roch`

Jeni Frost vs. Ryak Torg

Eucy Collier vs. Micelangelo DeSantillo

Azalea Firethorn vs. Travis Oak`

Brass Sater vs. Detora Brandy

Luna Snare vs. Kalita Jerona`

Bold=Winner

`=Tribute revived

The Arena
For these Games, the arean will consist of the terrain of Vancouver Island. The island will be about sixteen kilometres long and about 4 kilometres wide. In the middle of the island there will be a mountain chain, and near the north end of the chain will be the Cornucopia. The Coastline is divided into six different sections, two on each side of the island, and one on each end of the island. Each of the costline sections will have a different type of beach. The north end will be an Icefield, and the south end will have a harbour that represents downtown Victoria. The Cornucopia will have very few weapons and supples, and the tributes will have to make their way down to the Harbour or to the Icefield, which both have a certain area that contains weapons and supplies. The will either have to go down one of the two costlines, through the Mountains, or choose to not go after the weapons and supplies.

1-On-1 Round
Rose

We sat there, the cold, hard benches beneath us, waiting in silence for our names to be called.

All twenty-four tributes were there, alert and ready, for in a few minutes, we would have to fight to the death with one of our fellow tributes. Only the top four had been told their scores, so we did not know who our opponents wouold be. At the last moment before Caeser announced the scores, the peacekeepers had ordered us both out of the room, away from the TV, so we couldn't see the scores. Everyone else knew of course. Our stylists, mentors, eveyone. The Capitol seemed to think it would add to the effect if it were a surprise.

But it doesn't matter. I know I got the worst score, I must have. My concussion kicked in when I had my session, I spent the whole time wobbling around like a drunk!

My suspicions were confirmed when they called my name, and Max's, from 6. He defenitely didn't get last place, so it must have been me...

I was even more confused when they called Matt and Ebony as well, but before anyone could ask, they led us away

There were two corridors leading away from the benches, the guards lead me and Ebony down one and Maxwell and Matt down the other, until I arrived at a doorway labled 1/24. Ebony continued down the corridor. The guards led me through the door into an antechamber, and then through another door into the room where we would fight to the death.

On the floor was sand and two swords laying on the fround in the middle, nothing else. Just the brown powder and the two weapons in the twenty-by-twenty room, other than that, completely empty. I looked to my right, and instead of the solid cement walls on the other three sides, there was a mesh barrier, and on the other side of that was Ebony and Matt, in the exact same type of place as us. I shouted for her, but evidently she could not hear me. Several seconds later she spotted the mesh wall as well, and opened her mouth, but no words came out.

"It must be sound proof!" I thought to myself. Only in the Capitol would they have sound proof string. How they made it, I have no idea.

But just that moment, Maxwell entered the room through a door opposite of me. We were momentarily frozen, and then a gong went off. The signal to start.

I raced forward and reached the swords before Max, but he hit me in the mouth before I could grab them. I kicked sand in his face, and wrenched a sword from his hands. I swung, but he deflected with the flat of his weapon. I stumbled back, and the world began to spin i my eyes. It was that stupid concussion!

"''Not now!" ''I thought desperately. "Why now?!"

Seeing my weakness, Maxwell struck. I dodged wearily, but took off a good chunk of skin from my arm. He knocked my sword away, and I stood before him, defensless.

He stabbed at my chest and I dodged, but too late I realised what he had done. That stab was just a ploy, a trick into me being cornered. I had nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. He raised his sword, and swung at my head. I raised my arms, expectng it to end, but all of a sudden I heard a clank, and Max gasping in surprise. I looked up to see Max gapping at me. Then I see my steel bracelt, my token, dented, and I realize what happened. By some infinitely small chance, he had hit my steel bracelet, but he didn't seem to realize that.

"How- how..." he said, still gaping, utterly perplexed.

I jumped on this oppurtunity, grabbed the sword from his hand, and stabbed him in the gut.

I stood there dazed, when I heard a buzzer. A ladder had dropped from the cement ceiling above, and I wlaked towards it. Then I remembered the mesh wall, and the other battle behind it, and I whipped around. My heart skipped a beat. There was Matt, standing there with a grim look on his face, sword in hand, looking down at the decapited body of the Capiyol's own Ebony Ivory.

Halo Zee

"Halo Zee, Jonothan Burrows, Jake Odair, Calina Rosette!"

I got up quickly when my name was called. Just like the four tributes before us we were split up and led down two corridors, me and Jonothan down one, and Calina and Jake down another.

"So who d'you think you'll get," I asked Jonothan, as we didn't yet know which of the other two was our partner.

"I don't know... if I had to bet, I'd say Calina."

The guards stopped him at one door, and stopped me at a door about twenty feet further. ZI stepped into the antechamber, and waited for the door to the room to open, and the fight to begin.

Well, Jonothan owes me some money.

It was Calina that was my partner, not Jonothan's. He got Jake, and i have to say, I'm a bit jealous. It'll be a much tougher job to kill Calina than Jake, even if she is younger. She's a fighter, that one.

They froze us in some sort of beam of light, and I waited for it to start. The other two started before us, to my right in the room enclosed by that mesh.

Both rooms were made entirely out of rock. The ground, the ceiling, everything. Stalacites hunge from teh ceiling, and stalagmites rose from the ground. The ground was jagged and uneven, it slopped down towards the middle, and up again back towards Calina. There were also loose rocks on the ground, from pebbles to boulders, and some of the larger ones were blocking my view of everything but Calina, and the other fight across the mesh.

On the ground before Jonothan and Jake were a knife and shield. In front of us, there was a spear and a net. The two of them picked up their weapons, and rushed towards eachother. Jonothan, instead of attacking with his knife, grasped the shield with both hands, and hit an unnexpecting Jake on the head, knocking him to the ground. Stunned, Jake dropped his weapons, and Jonothan jumped on him, and started stabbing him in the arm.

That was when our buzzer sounded. I was so preoccupied with the other fight that the buzzer's sound only registered with me right before Calina came at me with the spear. I dodged, picked up my net and spear, and dove behind a large boulder. Calina's spear came flying at me from the side, but I hit it in midair with my own. Unfortunately, I sent it flying back to her, where it landed safely at her feet.

Then she threw her net at me, and I was so surprised at this, I didn't even have time to dodge. She threw her spear at the ceiling, at the razor-sharp stalacites. They fell, and missed me, but pinned my net to the ground, trapping me. My heart raced.

"She's not going to kill me, she can't. She wouldn't kill another human being, looking her in the eye, she wouldn't... In no apparent hurry, she advanced towards me spear in hand. Her face was void of any emotion as she turned towards the other fight.

Jonothan and Jake were both battered and bloody. Jake had somehow gotten up after his first blunder, but was bleeding everywhere. He sunk to his knees, at Jonothan's mercy.

Like me.

The knife hit Jake right as Calina raised her spear. I looked her in the eye, desperate.

"Calina... please..." The words barely came out of my mouth.

Her eyes started to tear up, and she said in a ghostly whisper, "I am so sorry."

I close my eyes for the last time, and she swung the spear at my throat.

Derek

I entered the door labled 5/23, sure I was going to die.

Jason Noels was my opponent, and he's scary. Roughly the size of a small killer whale, all muscle, and from the look in his eyes when we were announced, merciless.

The tributes in the previous fights had not come back, so I had no idea what had happened to Ebony. Had she survived? Was she sitting in our room right now, cheering me on? Or was she dead, cold and white, no longer in this world...

When I entered the room/death chamber, I was momentarily confused. Why had my vision gone green? When my eyes focused again, I realized I was in a jungle, or something like it. Everywhere there were vines, and even in this small, twenty-foot room, I couldn't see Jason on the other side. What I could see though, stunned me.

Directly across from me was a mesh wall, nad on the other side of it was that careers, Courtney Thorna. She saw me, and her eyes widened, she screemed something, but the wall must have been soundproof. Then she unfroze, and bent down to pick up something. It was a weapon with a machete blade on one side and an axe blade ont the other. I realized there was one by me, too. Then the gong sounded, and we were off as well.

I grabbed the weapon and waited. I figured Jason would come barreling through the vines straight at me. He was a career, and they were generally known to be impuslive and irrational. I held the weapon akwardly. You never really used any type of weapon in the Capitol, not even simple things like a pick or a throwing knife.

Finally I accepted that he was waiting for me to do the same thing, so I thought I might as well make the first move. I advanced slowly, and caught Courtney's eye (who was doing more than less the same as me) once more before entering the thick.

I slashed though the entanglement, hoping to see Jason. Then I froze. Was that brown? I saw it, a tuft of brown hair amongst all the green, and I stopped, still as a mouse, waiting. I threw my weapon, but somehow it caught in the vines. As Jason wheeled around and saw me, I realized; the axe hadn't caught the vines, the vines had caught ''it. ''The spiky green tendrils wrapped around it tightly, and cracked the wooden shaft in half. Jason must have seen the same thing, because he did not attack, but stared at the vines.

All of a sudden I felt a searing pain in my wrists and ankles. I heard Jason screem, and I realized that the vines had somehow grabbed us and picked us up! They shot me forward through the thicket concealing Jason, and all of a sudden i was facing him, both of us flailing around, struggling to get free.

Before either one of us could speak, the vines thrust us forward to the mesh wall, giving us a front row seat to the other battle.

The first thing I noticed was that they were not being strangled by bloodthirsty plants. On the contrary, the vines were quite silent, not even moving. Both of them had weapons, and were exchanging blows. As Tristan ducked Courtney's swing, they both caught sight of us. It must have looked funny, because an almost comical look came onto their faces. Then simuntaneously, they remembered this wasn't the circus, and they went back to attempting to slaughter one another.

Courtney landed the first hit, a light stab in Tristan's gut. It was not deep, mabye half an inch, but Tristan stumbled back, and barely managed to pary Courney's swing at his legs. He retalated and gave her a cut on the arm, much deeper. That's when _ made their mistake.

Courtney swung the axe-side at Tristan, and let go of her weapon, obviously overconfident and taking unnecesary risks now that she had managed a hit. He saw their chance, and with one slash at the ribs, finished off Courtney.

We turned back to one another, and eyed eachother. Our weapons were thrusted back into our hands by the moving vines. I lunged and thrashed, but I was too far away. We waited for the vines to carry us closer, but they did not. The pressure grew on my wrists, and I knew they must be trying to cut off our circulation, because I was starting to loose grip on my weapon...

Then I knew what they wanted us to do. Jason realised it at the same time as me, and we both threw our wepons, not able to move to dodge. Jason's wepon sank into my stomach, and mine hit his as well. The pain was indescribable. The vines released us, and we both sank into the fetal position. I yanked out the weapon, and my whole world was pain, blood, and more pain. We were both gave blood-curdlong screams, trying to stay consious, trying to outlast the pain.

I saw Jason closing his eyes, falling unconcious, and I could tell I was too. My last thought was, "which of us will die first..."

When I finally woke up, it was in a sterile, white room. I was surrounded by surgeons in masks, concentrationg on my wound, trying to fix it. Everything bellow my neck was frozen, but I didn't worry about that then. Only one thought entered my head before the anesthesia pulled me back into sleep.

"I'm alive."

Scorpius

I spent the hours leading up to my battle worrying about people whos last names I didn't even know.

Rose Jones, the girl who fell on her head because of me, and her partner, Tristan something-or-other. Of Halo, who's either relaxing in our room sipping a fruit coctail, watching me, or on her way back to District Four.

When they called me, they also called Kole, Jeni, and Ryak, from districts 12, 5, and 11. They led me and Jeni down one corridor, and Ryak and Cole down another. Sure, they both got a six in training, but mine was only two numbers higher...

They led me through a grey doorway, and into an antechamber. Another door swung open, and I entered the room.

It was pitch black, and sounded like- were my ears playing tricks on me- a swamp. Bullfrogs croaked, and crickets chrirped. The only light I could make out were tiny little specks, fireflys whizzing around the room, making me dizzy. I took a step foward, and placed my foot right into a puddle of mud. At least I thought it mud. A gong rung out, sending adreneline rushing through my body. It had begun, and somewhere in here was my opponent, looking for me in the dark. But how would we kill eachother? As far as I could tell, they hadn't given us any weapons at all. Then, all of a sudden, I could see.

I was confused. I looked up at the ceiling. No lights were on, yet I could see my feet and everything about a foot around me. I looked down, startled. It was my clothes! They must have been glow in the dark or something, becuse they illuminated me with a pale green light.

I saw another light to my left, andI jumped back startled, thinking that it was my opponent. But my adversary is suppost to be ahead of me, and this figure was to my immediate left. Then I saw her face, lit up by that erie green light. It was Jeni, and I could just make out a mesh net dividing us. That meant that my opponent was either Kole or Ryak.

I turned around, trying to catch a glimpse of my enemy, whoever it was, but they must have been hidden in a bush or something.

Then, on the other side of the mesh, another green light appeared. It launched itself at Jeni, and the two became a blurr. I heard a scream, and whipped around again. My opponent, Kole I could now tell, had found me. He tackled me to the ground, and I landed in the swamp. I scrambled up, and ran away from Kole, right up to the mesh. What if he had a weapon?

Jeni and Ryak were attacking eachother with their bare hands, inches away from the mesh where I was. I saw a light on my side, and he saw me. We stared at one another, unsure if the other had a weapon. Kole, apparently, didn't like to wait, and threw himself at me. I dodged, and he hit the mesh net, hard. It didn't tear though. It must have been made out of steel wool or something, because it took no damage when Kole, (who's no featherweight) barreled into it.

I ran at him full force, but I hit the mesh, and bounced back. It must have been Jeni or Ryak that I had seen, I still coudn't make out who was who in the dark.

A pair of hands grabbed my neck, and I gave a kick to Kole's stomach, like a horse. He let go and backed up, so all I could see of him was the greenish glow coming from his clothes. I seized him by the neck, and dodged the kick that I knew was coming. I forced him to the ground, choking him, and right before he faded away, I met his eyes.

I stumbled back from the body, no feeling in my limbs. What have I done?, I thought in horror.

I sank to my knees, vommiting. It had sounded so easy, killing people, when me and Halo were devising strategies on the train. Afterwards I decided not to join the careers, but I never thought that killing someone would... do this to a person. But how could it not? He was a human, just like me, with family and friends and people who loved and cared for him. Family and friends who would soon learn of his death, and weep over his body, which would never breath, think, or feel, ever again.

My vision went fuzzy as the truth sank in.

I killed him I killed him I killed him...

I looked over, dazed, to the other side of the net. Jeni was standing by the mesh, weeping. Ryak lay beside her, his head bent unnaturally sideways.

I got up, and stumbled towards Jeni, who must have been feeling the same way as me. I reached the net, and did the only thing that occured to me. I grasped her hand, and looked into her eyes, her icy blue eyes, as deep as the ocean...

Azalea

I sat there, shivering even though it was stuffy and warm, waiting for my name to be called.

"Azalea Firethorn, Travis Oak, Eucy Collier, Mica DeSantillo!"

I stood up, stiff as a tree, and began to walk towards the room.

It was a long ways to my room. Eucy and I walked side by side, but we said nothing. We passed several doorways, all of them labled with two numbers. Finally, they stopped Eucy at a door labeled ''9/16. ''I continued downt eh seemingly endless hallway, and Eucy's voice called out from behind me.

"Good luck Azalea," she said in a neutral tone.

"You to," I said briefly.

They led me to another doorway, this one labeled ''10/15. ''I entered into a small concrete room, and then through another doorway.

I stood there gaping. Surely there was a mistake. This couldn't be it could it? This was- unless my eyes were playing tricks on me- a factory?

Converyor belts lined the room, rolling horizontally across the room. Each belt carried a different item, from backpacks and cardboard boxes to tool boxes and steel pipes. They traveled through a wall on my right side- no, not a wall, a net, a barrier made of mesh. On the other side was a room identical to ours. Eucy and Mica stood on opposite ends of the room, facing one another. On my side of the mesh was my opponent, Travis from Seven.

A gong rang out, and we were free to go. The converyors were only a few feet off the ground, so they were easy to hop over. The first belt in front of me carried pipes, and I grabbed one to use as a weapon. Travis oped up a box that lay on his first belt, and his eyes shone. He reached inside and picked up a huge golden sword. I looked down at my pipe, and then back up at Travis's new acquisition. Not exactly the most evenly matched fight ever, but what could I do?

I hopped over the next belt, and charged at Travis. On the other side of the mesh, Eucy had a bow and arrow, and Mica had a hammer and portable plasma cutter he must have picked up from the tool box. I turned my attention back to Travis, who was leapong over the converyor belts like hurdles. He approached me, and slahed at my midsection. I tried to block it with my pipe, but it cut through the metal like soft cheese. Luckily it slowed the sword down, but he still gave me a decent sized gash. I looked down to see blood oozing from the wound. My vision started to turn fuzzy.

I ran the way I came, and ducked behind the tool box conveyor belt. I opened one, hoping for a plasma cutter like Mica had recieved, or at the very least a hammer or a saw.

I drew out a nail gun that was connected to a pressurized air pack in the tool kit. Back in Nine, they took us on a tour of a granary that was being built, and they showed us how to use power tools such as nail guns.

It was already locked and loaded with nails. I grinned, thinking of Eli back in our room, no doubt watching me now, expecting a show. Well, I was going to give him one.

I turned towards Travis, and opened fire. He ducked quickly once he saw what was in my hand, and I stopped shooting. With most nail guns you had to press the gun against the object you were nailing or it wouldn't shoot, but luckily the Gamemakers must have made some adjustments on this one.

I kept my gun pointing ahead of me. One good shot to the head would do it.

Something in the corner of my eye drew my attention. I turned towards the mesh lining that divided the two battles. I heard no sound, but saw clearly. Eucy was on the fround, writhering in pain. Mica was drawing back the plasma cutter, and I could see the burn on Eucy's arm. How hot the plasma beam was, I don't know, but any pain that makes someone shriek in pain like that, I never want to feel.

Mica pounced on her, plasma cutter on full charge, and thrust the white-hot torch into Eucy's temple. She gave what looked like a yelp of pain, and then was still.

In my peripheral, I saw a silver blurr, and then a horrible pain on the left side of my head. I clutched my ear, and blood poured onto my hand. I saw a second knife coming, and hit the floor. I leaped up, side-stepped a third blade, and with a single nail, shot Travis in the heart.

He looked down at his chest in shock. "If I'm going to die, i'm taking you down with me!"

He leaped across the converyor belt, and shlahed his sword at me right hand, severing it in one swipe, blood spouting from the stump like a fountain. Strangely, I felt no pain, just a numbness that I can't really explain. It was almost peacful, tranquil.

travis collapsed before me, dead. I fell also. As people in white converged alound me, I started to fade into the black, still not feeling the pain that should surely have been there.

Detora

Me, Brass, Luna, and kalita were the only ones left. We were called, and like the tributes before us, went down teh seemingly endless hall. I reached my door, and Kalita continued down, fading into blackness. I entered the cold, rigid doorway, and continued through the antechamber. My thoughts strayed to Ryak, and his battle. Was he all right? He was a strong fighter, even if he did finish near the bottom. He either had to battle Jeni or Scorpius. I think if he was against Jeni, he had a good chance, but I don't know about Scorpius...

I entered into the room, and light filled my eyes. I blinked for a few seconds, and my vision cleared. The lights dimed down, and I could see what faced me. It was a plain grey room, the only object in it was the light on the ceiling. The decor was a lot like the room we waited for our battles in, except that the ground was uneven. The grey cement rose up in random places, created stairways to different levels around the room. It was like a giant toddler had dropped a bag of grey blocks all over the room. I had never seen anything like it, except the Gauntlet station in training. The instructor had strongly advised us to try out that station, and now I sorely regretted not following her advice.

On the otehr side was Brass from Two. I gulped. He had finished with an eight in training, and was no featherweight. A gong sounded from somewhere, and in a flash, Brass was in front of me, his fist shurtling towards me. I dove between his legs, and started moving towards the right side of the room, where the blocks rose the highest. Each one was about two feet high, and how Brass got over to me so wuickly, I have no idea.

I jumped and climbed to the highest block, and Brass was right behind me, maneouvering himself up the concrete. Then I realised I had trapped myself. I had nowhere to go but down to one of the lower parts near where Brass started out, and he would surely overrun me. I looked up, hoping for rafetrs, but all there was was the sole light in the room, hanging off a chain four feet in front of me.

I looked back. Brass had tripped, but had risen again and was almost at the top block. I braced myslef and leaped. I jumped surprisingly far, I almost overshot it, but I caught onto the chain with my left hand. My right hand grasped the bulb, and searing pain erupted from my hand. My legs were flailing, and Brass leaped and caught my foot. I shook him off, sending him and my show falling to the ground.

I hung there, not daring to lower myself to where brass was surely waiting. Unless the fall killed him? No, that was to optimistic. I glanced down, and there he was, already picking himself up.

I looked towards the other battle, where the blocks nearest to the mesh were painted with blood. Kalita's blood. Her clothes were torn, most of them ripped off. Luna was standing there with a chunk of concrete in hand, not looking much better herself. I thrust my sight back, and then I heard it.

It was a crunching sound, coming from above me. I looked up, knowing what I would see. Hairline cracks were spreading out from the light. Soon, the cracks widened, and sent me falling towards the ground. I landed on my foot, and I could feel my ankle give way and snap. Glass shattered on me as I looked into the cold, menacing eyes of Brass, who was standing above me, hand reached out.

He grabbed my neck and lifted me up as if I weighed no more than a baby. I was trembling, fear shooting through my veins, adrenaline coursing. I looked him in the eye and my lips started to form words. He thrust his arm out, crushing my skull against the concrete edge of one of the blocks. My limbs fell limp, and my vision started to fade. I could feel nothing but the pain in the back of my skull.

I looked up at him, gasping for breath, and I saw soemthing in his eyes. Was it remorse? Regret? Sorrow? My eyesight gave way, as he closed his eyes tight and turned away, trying to wake up from this nightmare.

Day 1
Zola

Light danced in my eyes as my metal plate raced up the tube, into the arena. I was wearing a white hoodie, sweat pants, and thin but warm t-shirt underneath. I had flexible leather boots on, which felt like they had been custom made for my feet. With all their fancy gadgets in the Capitol, they probably were.

The tube carrying me surfaces, and the glass cylinder retreated down into the earth, leaving me on my metal plate.

We were in a U-shaped valley, mountains surrounding us. It wasn't as cold as it looked, but It wasn't exactly warm either.

The sixteen remaining tributes circled the Cornucopia, each about twenty yards away. Foure large snowbanks were placed around it too, a few yeards closer than the tributes. I squinted at them, and I gasped. What I thought were tall snowbanks were people! Some other tributes must have realized this too, because I heard several poorly concealed gasps from the circle. I looked closer, trying to see who they are. The plate under me lit up, and the number 60 appeared on it, like a flashing billboard. It started counting down the seconds until the gong.

I looked at the four people on the plates in front of us. They must be tributes, but how is that possible? Only sixteen of us advanced to the arena, and everyone else is dead!

I saw the flashing numbers coming from their plates too, but theirs started at seventy instead of sixy, probably to make up for them starting closer to teh Cornucopia.

BONG! The gong rang out, and we sprinted out from our plates. Ten seconds later, the four mystery people sprang from their plates, also running towards the Cornucopia. They were all too short to be adults, so they must have been tributes. Had the Capitol found a way to revive tributes from the dead? And if so, why would they bring back tributes when most of us will die anyway? Why wouldn't they do this to the countless people dying everyday in the Districts?

"Probably to add more drama to please the Capitol people," I thought bitterly in my head. These tribute's family had to deal with their children's death once, and at least three, if not four, would have to face it again.

But one question remained: Which of the twelve deceased had been revived to join the Games once more?

Kole

I stood on my plate, the cold wind slapping my face, mountains sorrounding the valley I was in.

I looked around in confusion. "Where am I? Why am I here? I- I can't even remember who I am!"

A flood of memories suddenly came crashing down on me. The reaping, the trip to the Capitol with Eucy and our mentor. Yes, that's it. I was in the Hunger Games.

Hazy memories of the training and and my stylists and the food thre and a thousand other things ran through my mind. Then I remembered the battle between me and Scorpius, and my concious drifting away, my body relaxing and then there was no more...

That's when it hit me. I'm dead.

Or at least, I was. I raised my hand up to my neck, and I felt a pulse. My heart was working. My mind and body were working. I was alive.

But how?

I tried to remember more, but I can't. Just feelings, no actual memories. The brush of a sterilized white glove against my face. The jolt of suddenly moving upwards. And most clearly of all, a voice in my ear, telling me everything was going to be alright, that I was safe. I couldn't identify it, but I knew that voice from somewhere other than the Capitol. Or do I? Is it just a trick, a false memory implanted in my brain, designed to drive me mad trying to figure out it's owner?

The sound of her words, whoever she was, made me want to cry with joy and collapse with grief at the same time. It filled me with anger and bitter rage, and endless joy and blissful hapiness all at once. It made me feel like I was going to explode, that the emotions would swell within in me until I figured out who it was, or until my body could no longer take it.

"I am going mad," I thought.

Azalea

The gong rang out through teh valley, and all the tributes jumped off their plates, ready to begin. I made a beeline towards Elder, who was only three plates to my left. We made eye contact, and I could tell that, even if he wasn't fond of me, he'd opt for an alliance.

We ran towars the Cornucopia, and we were sorely disapointed. Other than a few backpacks, food containers, and several knives, there was nothing. I scooped up a large backpack, and we took off.

The valley was a circular shape, with about a half-mile radius from the Cornucopia. I wanted to leave as soon as possible, but I stopped when I realised Elder wasn't running with me. He was heading back towards the bloodbath, yelling.

"Eli, come on! We need to get out of here!"

"Just give me a second, I need to find someone!"

He ran towards the Cornucopia, and the snow obscured my vision for a moment. When I could see again, he was coming back towards me, with Rose from Ten beside her, who had a dazed, dreamy look in her eyes, not entirely focussed. She must have banged her head hard on that table.

"I told her I'd have an alliance in the arena," he said briefly, and then we took off.

There was no time to argue. I heard a scream from behind me, from the sound of it, someone had just died very painfully, and I didn't want to find out who.

Tristan

Me, Luna, Scorpius, and the tributes from Five, Seven, and Twelve all joined up together. Originally, It was just Scorpius, Luna, and I, but Jeni adn Scorpius had been the ones that wanted a larger alliance between the two groups. The seven of us were at the Cornucopia, trying to find weapons among the meager supplies. I was looking through a bad with mountain climbing supplies when I heard footsteps behind, running.

"Tristan, behind you!" shouted Luna.

I wheeled around to see Mica from Three leaping at me with a knife. I dove to the left, and whacked him with my backpack. I reached in and grabbed a pair of crampons, climbing boots with spikes on the bottom. I lunged at him, thrusting the spikes in his chest. He stumbled backwards and fell, life seeponf out of him.

I heard an agonized scream from the other side of the Cornucopia. It was her partner, Kalita, whom Luna had originally killed in the first round.

"Get her!" I yelled.

Everyone but Scorpius and I ran after her. She was quick though, and didn't have any gear holding her down. She ran off alone, her weeping lost in the howling wind.

I saw Scorpius run past me, shouting at the other five members of our alliance. I whipped around to see four careers running at us, the three surving tribtues from One, Two, and Four, along with Jonothan from Eight. I scrambled after my alliance, trying to fight the wind.

"Guys! Help me!" I shouted as the careers gained on me.

One of them tackled me to the ground, Jade. She held a butcher's knife in her hand, and had it pointed at my throat. I heard a cry from behind me, and she faltered. I punched her in the face, and stuggled to lift myself up. When I did, I ran back to our group.

We stood there, facing eachother, about a hundred yards from the Cornucopia. Several tributes were still there, strolling around and picking out supplies with leisure. We could deal with the straglers later.

"So what's it going to be?" challenged Travis. "You can't beat us, we have almost twice the people you do!"

Jade, who seemed to call the shots with the careers, quickly glanced back at Brass, and he gave a sharp nod. She turned back to Traviss, glarring at him.

"You leave now, and we won't hurt you," continued Traviss. "But if you don't, well, I guess there won't be any more of you stinking c-"

Jade gave a shriek, and it sent chills up my spine. It was almost unhumam. The careers charged. Some tribtues had actual weapons and shields, others used backpacks and shards of rocks. The two parties clashed, and it was utter chaos. I knocked Halo down on her back, and for good measure, kicked her in the face. I heard Calina scream, and saw her fall to the ground, Jonothan standing above her with a bloody shard of rock in his hand. I had no weapon, so I used my fists, punching any career I could find, until I stood face-to-face with Jade, who had that horrible knife. I heard a yelp from behind me, and I turned around. Brass was there, grinning.

It was a trick! I knew what Jade intended to do, and I dove to the side, but not fast enough to evade her weapon that plunged into my back as I fell to the ground.

Matt

Where were all the weapons?!

Other than a few rusty knives and a broken spear, there were no weapons at the Cornucopia. Zara, Derek, Zola, and I were trying to find anything that was more deadly than a shard of metal, but there wasn't much. Zara and I had previously decided on an alliance. We saw no need to pick a fight with either of the other two tributes yet, so we searched around in peace.

From the few short words we had spoken to eachother, Derek and Zola were each going solo. Each of the backpacks had a compass attached to it, and Derek had decided to go south, and Zola east.

Eventually, Zara and I decided to look for food and shelter. The mountain valley wasn't very cold, but if that was all the arena consisted of, we might've needed more than a hoodie. They were rather thin, but hopefully that meant we wouldn't need them all the time. It had two pockets, and out of curiosity, I reached in, and grasped a piece of paper inside. I felt wax on the paper, which must mean the Capitol seal. My heart skipped a beat as I pulled it out. It read:

''Greatings to the contestants of The Nemesis Games! As you may or may not have noticed, there are very few weapons at the Cornucopia this year. That is because the majority of weapons are located on other parts of the Island. Yes, an island. On the bottom of this letter you will see a map of the Island, and also where to find the Weapin Stockpiles. One is to the north, in a small wooden shack near the Ice Flows at the top of this Island. The other is to the south in a Harbour in the Town there. To reach either of these places, you must either take the West or East Passages out of the valley. From there, you can travel north or south along the shorelines. Each Shoreline has a variety of different beaches, each which hold a multitude of fun surprises! The other option is to travel through the Mountain Ranges directly south or north, both of which are more dangerous. If, however, you find the right paths in the Mountains Ranges, it is quicker than the Shoreline routes. Or, of course, you can choose not to go after the weapons at all and stay in this beautiful, always-windy, lifeless, depressing valley until you die! Choose wisely. Good luck, and may the odds be ever in your favour!''

-Carchador Baela, Head-Gamemaker #92, Order OT Cptl., 1st Cls.

I starred at the paper, hardly believing my eyes. Weapons! If we could get there first, the other tribtues wouldn't even know what hit them! They'd have no way to defend themselves- unless they beat us to the Stockpile that is.

"Zara? Zara, come here, quickly!"

"What is it?" she asked.

"I-I found something!" I yelped, barely able to contain my excitement.

"What did you find?" asked Derek, now walking towards us.

"Look in your pocket, all of you!"

Three hands silently reched into their pockets, pulling out the paper. As they read it, their eyes shone with excitement and fear. After a few minues of silence, Zara spoke.

"Come on Matt, lets go!" she shouted, her eyes as wide as deer caught in a headlight.

"Which way?" I asked, for the letters had given no detail about the passages, only that they could kill us if we were not careful.

"Let's go west. The careers and that other alliance are to the east, and I don't want to have to go through the mountains," she replied.

"West it is then," I said grinning. We grabbed our respective packs, and headed off towards the golden sunset, leading us towards the Western Passage.

Brass

We left the Cornucopia in high spirits. We had slew two of their number, and the only one with an injury was Halo, who had her jaw fractured when Tristan had kicked her, right before Jade put a knife in his back. They had underestimated us, and they had paid for it.

It was Jonothan that had discovered the note in his hoodie pocket. We took the East Passage. It was fairly short, just a small canyon that led out of the Mountain Range and into a forest. We coudn't decide whether to go north or south though. Accoring to the letter, the Cornucopia was closest to the Ice Flow, but there was a general consensus that the largest of the Stockpiles would be to the south, the longer and harder journey.

"Still, the journey north will be shorter, and with such a large group, we need weapons fast," said Jonothan once we had made camp on the edge of the forest. After the forest was the Shoreline, which ran north and south down to teh ends of the island.

"Bu dere will be mo weapund do da sowf!" argued Halo, who we could barely understand with her broken jawbone. As she said the words, she winced and clutched her mouth in pain.

"Sorry, what was that Halo?" asked Jonothan.

"I sa, der-"

"She said there'll be more weapons to the south!" I interupted.

Jade, who had sat silently in the corner until now, spoke up. "We're going north!" she shouted with such authority that no one dared argue. "Even if there aren't as many weapons, there are only four of us, and the Stockpile has to be large enough to substitute for what the Cornucopia lacked. That means there'll be more than enough for four people. So, we can camp here tonight, and we'll-"

She stopped suddenly, her gaze focused to the sky, eyes wide. A silver parachute was drifting through the branches towards us. The package was long and thin, just the right shape for a weapon. The others knew it too, for the parachute had our undivided attention. It drifted down, slow as a feather, right onto my lap. A bomb could have detonated and we wouldn't have noticed it.

"Well," said Jade in a terse voice. "Open it."

We all knew what it was, but that didn't take away any of the suspense. Or any of the tension.

I opened it to find a silver spear, polished to the point where I could see my reflection perfectly. It was elegant, and so light that I might be holding a twig. It was thin enough to wrap my hand around it firmly. The spearhead was rounded, and came to razor-sharp point at the end.

I felt Jade's pirecing gaze on me, and I turned to her.

"Well?" she said fiercly. "Now that you have your weapon, are you gonna leave us?" she said. She sounded aggresive, but I could see- was it fear?- in her eyes. She was scared of loosing me! With my new weapon, I could turn on them at any time, and until they reached the Stockpiles, they were at my mercy. Even if I left them in peace, they would only have three careers left, against an unstable, capricous, and strong group of tributes, many of them seeking revenge for past wrongs. If I abandoned them here and now, I thought, their chances of survival were very slim.

I looked back at her again. Jonothan and Halo were on edge, gripping their weapons, eyes darting around the group. This was the moment when I would seal our fate as a group.