Leo-

I threw spears while pinching the most poisonous little plant between my teeth. I had stuffed the antidote in with it so it wouldn’t kill me.

Nothing special. I did smash the glass in the cases while trying to take the splant out. And the shards didn’t cause one little drop of blood to appear on my callused hands. I threw a spear at each of the Gamemakers’ heads, missing them by an inch.

“How did you do?” I ask Menola, trying to be as gentle as possible. 

Being gentle. Abigail often complained that I always made sweet things sound forced. If I come back alive, I’ll marry Abigail on the spot.

Menola gulps and grinds her teeth against each other. “I dunno. I-I just tried to be myself.” I can almost imagine the girl shaking in front of the brooding judges.

“You?”

“Okay. I really didn’t do much.”

She nods and bites her lip.

*

This time stuck in a suit with the texture of tree bark with a pattern of apples, I walk out onto the stage.

Ekambar Brolgan has his yellow hair sleaked back with some type of unnatural grease.

The Career tributes are strong, dashing, and frightening as ever. A twelve from District seven begins to cry in mid sentence. A thirteen year old boy from Ten is surprisingly brave. He states his answers in an almost manly way. Then Eleven.

“Leo. How are you feeling?” Ekambar musters my garments with more than slight distaste.

“As well as one can feel here, Sir,” I answer shortly. What I really mean is: “Awful, ready to die.”

“Tell us a little about how you felt when you were chosen, Leo.” I can feel the bright lights and the camera on my face. I don’t even allow the corners of my mouth to twitch.

“I had to leave loved ones behind, you know. It’s scary, knowing that--“ I stop in mid-sentence. What am I doing?! I cannot give in. I clear my throat once more. “I felt like one of those juicy apples that always fall from our trees. And the honor of being chosen. What an honor it was. Abigail was so proud.” Actually she was devastated but who really cares.

“Abigail. Your sister? Mother?”

“No, no. My bride to be.” A sigh from the crowd.

“She must be so proud to see her fiancé up here.” I can almost see a slight pity in Ekambar’s dark face.

“Very proud.”

“She must be a lucky girl to have such a strong young man on her side.”

“Yes, she is. And I am lucky to have such a beautiful bird on mine.” I can almost hear Abigail wailing far away in District 11. I look straight into the camera. “I love you, Abi, I always have.” 

//Jonatte//

"Please! Just make it stop!" I fell to the ground, shaking, and leaned against the bed frame.  "Please."

“Jo, I won’t hurt you ever. Never, okay?”

I slightly nod, my eyes glued shut, so I couldn't see what he was doing next. His lips brushed against mine, and an odd feeling came up in my chest, and I didn't like it. I knew that it'd make the next few weeks harder. I didn't like it, I didn't like it one bit. But I didn't pull away. He did. He pulled away and left the room. I went to bed last night, without looking at my score. I heard it was a six. Pretty good, I guess.

The next morning a beautiful deep blue dress with traces of gold around the chest and ruffles on the bottom, going down to my ankles. As soon as work escaped that I was awake, my prep team charged into the room, not even caring that I was practically naked, and into the tub. They had me soak for about an hour while they told me stories of stuff in the capitol, how excited they were for the games, as they did my nails a beautiful blue. Though I didn't register any of it. All I could think about was the feel of Kili's lips on mine. They finally told me it was time to get out, and after a long time of arguing, fighting, and negotiatiating, they turned around while I dried and slipped into a fuzzy white robe.  My nails were dry now and two of them started on my toes while the other grabbed a brush and tortured my hair. Soon it was lucious and knot-free, so the started styling it. They sprayed some weird smelling stuff into it, then let it sit in curlers. After about an hour of changing and readjusting of this, they let it fall down on my back in loose curls. One of them did my makeup, which was faint but extravagant. Then Arab scurried them away, readjusted my makeup, then took it all off.

"Wait, what?!"

"That was your prep. Now your mentor will talk to you about your angle, then we'll do it all over again." Sigh. Of course, they we're going to be doing it again. Just my luck.

Afer meeting with the mentor, my angle has been chosen. Be myself. Should be simple enough, if I don't lunge for thier throats in the middle of the interview.

After they re-did my entire look and put me in the dress, I walked out of the bathroom and into the elevator. I managed to get there early and I really didn't want to wait for Kili, after the last scene in the elevator along with what happened last night, so I was the only one there. I managed not to cry, only to preserve the work that the preps did. We were ushered onto the stage and the bright lights immediatly blinded me. District three went up. Then it was my turn. I slowly walked up to the stage and sat down. Ekambar smiled and kissed my hand. His lips were cold and fake, and it took all I had not to wipe off my hand on my dress. Instead I did it on the chair.

"Jonatte, can I call you Jo? Good, good. Now, what I think will be on everybody's mind tonight is your dress. You look absoulutely ravishing tonight. Let's have your stylist stand up, shall we?" He gestrued to the stylist panel and Arab stood up and waved, welcomed by wild applause. "Now, how did you feel when you were called up on that Reaping day."

I pretended to recall the memory and a rush of happiness flooded on my face. "Gosh, I was so excited! I mean, I was going to the Capitol! I've been here once before, my father was on government business, but I really didn't do much. But now I'm here! Of course, I'll miss my home, and my friends, but I'll be back with them soon. Trust me."

He laughed, "Well, I trust you Jo. Now, before you have to go, tell me this: You're a beautiful young girl, " Blush, "You're 15, practically an adult!" Smile, "There's got to be a man back home!"

Okay, okay, what to do. I can't say that there's no one, then I'll have to sell my body and I'll never make it home, that is, if I win. No. I glance at Kili. A look of hurt in his eyes, he's anticipating the answer too. I lean forward, Ekambar does too. "Well, I dunno. I sure had a lot of boys in my life, like Kili's always been my--" The sharp buzzer cut off my sentence and I was ushered away as Kili took my place. I gave him a panicked look and a thumbs up. I sat back down and listened quietly.

//Jonatte//

My heart was beating a million miles an hour and my head was racing. What was he playing at?! Was this just an angle that he was assigned, or or was he telling the truth?! There's never been anything romantic between us until, well, I guess that was the first romantic thing that's ever happened. It was a while before the Reaping, about half a year, during storm season. I had a horrible disease, not even the head healer could heal me. Kili, his dad, Jimetri, my dad, and a few others guys from our neighborhood were out on a fishing trip. My mom shone a mirror toward them, signaling for my dad to come in. Later, he told me that he told the crew that I was horribly sick and apparantly said that there was an herb that could heal me almost instantly, but there was almost none in existence. He said instantly something flashed across Kilian's face. He jumped into the water and swam all the way to the coast and towards his house. He said that he plucked the herb from his garden, ran all the way to our house,  and gave me the herb. I don't remember much, my parents told me it all, but Kili saved my life. Kilian O'Dell saved my life.

Sorry that really didn't go anywhere. 

Kilian O’Dell-

Morning. Jo hadn’t spoken to me since the interviews and somehow, I felt okay with that. My mind had been jumbled up by such odd emotional feelings and worries that I had needed my space.

Breakfast goes on in a sort of silence. Of course, Bellatrino doesn’t waste a single minute without saying something about “what a special day it is”.

And then, I am whisked off into a room with my prep-team.

I am shoved into a hot bath, similar to the one from last night. I don’t understand the whole to-do when I’ll be dead in a few days anyway.

After the bath, Galhaud sprays and gels my hair until it is slicked back so much it won’t move if I shake my head. Ceri gives me a pair of white pants with pockets, a light gray close-fitting gray shirt and a matching gray sweatshirt with a hood.

Nothing special. The outfit doesn’t give even a little hint to where we are going.

*

Only a few seconds until I will be let out and I am studying the landscape. A vast expanseof never-ending sand. The heat is almost unbearable and the sun feels like it’s already burning my neck.

A mound of things  rises up in the middle of all the tributes. A few yards and one can get to it.

I see backpacks and weapons glinting. I need a pack, maybe two and weapons, lots and lots of weapons.

Ding.

I jump onto the burning sand and begin to run. The tributes from one and two are already ahead of me.

I keep my eye out for nets, tridents and spears. At the Cornucopia the other Careers are already foraging for weapons.

I get a large backpack, a smaller one and then notice the trident and net duo ahead of me. I climb onto the pile an inch away, closer…

Something sharp hits my shoulder and I yell out in pain.

The tribute from District Two has a good aim, really good but not good enough. I pull out the knife and prepare to hit him with it.

“Surrender. You’re a Career. You work with me.” He raises his eyebrows, waiting for my answer.

“Sure,” I growl, grabbing the net and trident and following him. The tributes from one and three join us, too. Jo is nowhere to be seen. 

//Jonatte//

I'm dressed in almost all gray and whisked off to the arena. It's miles and miles of pure sand, a few trees here and there, but no sign of water. "Great," I mutter. Ding. I jump off my platform and race to the closest thing to me, a small backpack. A bit further ahead there's some swords, and, what may possibly be my survival, a huge trident with rope tied around it, connecting it to another small pack. I race for them, my heart beating wildly, and almost slipped on sticky blood. Already? It's just started. Instantly someone attempts to fling a knife at me. I turn around and there's a small girl from five, with wispy brown hair and a light build. I take the closest weapon to me, an axe, and swing it at her. She's dead in seconds. I shoulder my pack and continue racing to the trident. I see Kili on the other side of the pile, racing for another trident. Wow, two tridents in one game? It might be a win for four after all. I finally reach it and have to knife a girl from six. I don't even take time to accept the fact that I've killed two people, broke the hearts of two familes. Those girls could have boyfriends back home, and I've broken their hearts too. But no time for that. I grasp the smooth handle of the trident and run back, as far away as possible, making sure that I don't drop the two packages. I stop running and lean against a tree, out in the middle of nowhere. The blistering heat is making me sweat, and my heart is pumping. I'm in plain sight, so I scale the tree. It's nothing much, just a plain old sturdy tree. I don't even know the name of it. It's just one of those trees that's just there. Nothing special to it. Except now it may just save my life. No sign of Kili, or any other tributes, for that matter, so I empty out my packs. In one, there's a full canteen of water, a bag of jerky, a pair of sunglasses, some stale crackers, and a yoyo. In the other is a another full canteen of water (could I get any luckier?), a small blanket, some energy powder, a fan. Plus my trident and a knife that I got from someone else. Absentmindedly I finger with my fish necklace, longing for home. Seven cannons go off and two hovercrafts appear in the air, reaching down and picking up the remains of the dead tributes. I notice the two girls that I killed being lifted up, their hair flying in the hot wind, and I feel a pang of grief. I wasn't made for this. Kili was, the other careers were. I wasn't. I was made for, well, fishing.  This wasn't where I was supposed to be, and the Capitol knew it. Then, realizing that she was supposed to be 'in love' with Kili, she drew his name in the sand, letting the wind blow it away.

Oh, wow, I just realized that at the very end I switched to 3rd person. *fail*

//Menola//

I look around. Leo's a few platforms to my right, and I nod to him. He gets ready to run to the pile, and I prepare to sprint behind us. On the hovercraft we agreed to run for about a mile behind to cornucopia, then a mile to the East, and we'll meet up there ane figure out what to do next. I surveyed the pile. There were a few good stuff, but what really caught my eye was the bow that I had used in practice. Silver, smooth, and beckoning towards me. There were two quivers full with at least a dozen arrows. The bow was already strung, I just needed to use it. I needed to. The bell dinged and before any one else could get their bearings, I shot off like a rocket. Grabbing the bow and both the quivers. I even had time to grab a small, black pack just the size of a wrist watch. I charged back there, towards are meeting place, not daring to look to see how Leo was doing, because I knew that he was going to be okay. He always was.

//Jonatte//

The sun was sinking in the sky. There was no sunset, nothing, so it was obvious it was fake. In the last few rays of light I counted through all of my stuff again. No one stole anything, which was a given, seeing that I couldn't see anyone for a mile around. The Capitol's anthem blared in the sky and I glanced up to the hovercraft. Seven faces appeared in the sky. The boy from 5, along with the girl from 5 that I killed. They look like siblings. I think of Jimetri, but I shove the thought out of my mind. The girl from 6 that I killed. The boy from 8, girl from 9. Girl from 10. Girl from 12. As soon as it started it stopped. The sky was dark once again. I set up my backpack so it's more comfortable against the tree. Something snaps to my left. In one swift movement, I grab my knife and prepare to strike. It's not a tribute, but a bee. It's pure black with something sticking out on it's back. It's not a normal bee, not a muttation, but a--it's a camera! The stick on its back moves a bit, and I know it's moving in on my face. I don't look at it, but take the knife and draw a picture in tree. No one but Kilian would know it. It's the neighborhood sign, a closed circle with an arrrow through it.  I make sure that the camera sees it, that my family sees it. If Kilian comes by, then he'll know I've been here. But no one else would realize it. I shut my eyes and fell into an sleepless slumber.

Kyder Talorian

Here I was thinking that it was a good bunch this year, and look how I get stuck the worst Career pack ever.

Krisitrian: Scowling, sullen. Has something wrong with his foot. He's going to lose, and he knows it.

Luxuria: Oh my gosh. Insane. And I quote her interview, "Do you think people are yummy?" She's insane. The Gamemakers will never let her win.

Anise: One of the real competition.

Kili: Love-struck wimp. Could be a good fighter, if he'd stop worrying about fishgirl.

Fishgirl: Should be here, but isn't. From what I've seen, she's not that cut out for the Games. I did see her kill though, at the Cornucopia.

I got the  girl from 7. But not the boy. He's the one I want to kill.

I waited in the early hours of the morning. There was no morning, and then there was morning. That was how time worked this year. There was no light, there was some light, and in a matter of seconds the  "sun" felt like the middle of the afternoon.

I stretched and woke the others up. We ate in silence. "There's something coming, " Luxuria said absentmindly. "Do you think it's hungry?" Anise froze and looked at her water canteen, which lay open. The water rippled. Again. And again. And again.

I grabbed my sword and what was in my pack and ran. If I could outrun the mutt...

Luxuria ran past me. "It's hunGRY!" she yelled. She sounded happy.

Krisitrian screamed, and I dared to look back. He had been running as fast as he could. And his foot snapped. Must have tripped and fell. And the mutts. Oh my gosh. Something like a snake and something like a wolf and something with big dripping drooling fangs and scaly skin and horns and so terrifying I almost froze. And then I ran. Krisitrian was dead, and I could still hear him screaming. So he wasn't dead. Not quite yet. But soon. And oh so slowly.

I ran faster. There is nothing quite like the fear of being eaten. You run and you run and you run and you don't care about anything else except not being eaten. That was when I made the decision that I would kill Luxuria. No way was I going to wake up one night and find her chomping on my leg.

Gradually, I became aware that we were nearing the Cornucopia. There could only be one reason for that... there were other attacks by mutts, all around the arena, and they were driving a big group of us, and blood bath all over again. I could only hope that 7 was there. I'd dropped my pack, but I still had both of my swords. The hissing and barking stopped. Suddenly. I glanced back. Kili was just behind me, Anise was trailing by a few yards. Luxuria was still ahead of me. She gave a little gasp. "Come here." For that moment, she sounded sane.

I drew my sword and walked carefully toward her.

She was watching the mutts. And the mutts were holding council.

They were vaguely humanoid, with arms and legs and they stood upright. They had wings, and claws, oh the claws. They had large heads, fangs, and tails. One of them turned to look at us. And they were wearing clothes. Dirty, tattered, weird clothes, but clothes.

The mutt danced over and poked Luxuria before she had a chance to react. "Funny meat, funny meat," it cackled. "Runny meat, runny, runny runny." I swiped my sword, but it moved with amazing speed and flew up to a tree overhead. "No no killee, meat. You not allowed killee me. Me is Lyria, and me is a mutt, and me is to make your life hard. But no, you no killee me. This is very funny, it is. Funny funny runny runny meat, these Games be so ever intesesting."

Oh my gosh. The mutts were... sane. Not sane, not mindless...

They were alive.

//Jonatte//

Okay, I admit, before the mutts came I was kinda enjoying myself. I got up, had a decent meal, got some water, and continued walking away from the Cornucopia. I was humming a song that my dad had taught me when it came. There was only one, but it was this weird combination of snake and giant cat and bear or something. It started talking to me, for one. "Funny funny runny meat. I eat you funny runny meat. You no kill me. I kill you." Then it laughed maniacly. So I tried cutting its head off, but it was scary fast. It jumped behind me and I turned around. "Wait, so I can't kill you?" My voice was hoarse because I hadn't used it for a long time. "Nope nope nope nope. Run fun funny meat. Run. Run. Run." Then its eyes turned to slits and it bared its teeth. "Okay. I'll run. And you'll follow?" "Run run funny runny meat." It nodded its head behind it. I warily walked around it, then sprinted towards the Cornucopia. "Great," I muttered. Another blood bath. A few people were already there, fighting off their own mutts, and I almost stopped dead in my tracks, but thankfully I didn't.  There he was, there Kilian was. I almost called out his name, but that would've gotten him killed. Instead I whispered it. "Good good runny meat. Funny runny meat hahaahah" It laughed maniacly. "Make Games fun yes. Make Games fun with funny runny meat." I sighed, already sick of this beast. I wondered if it could sleep, because I could always kill it then. Then again, it's made from the Capitol. It probably can't sleep, even if it wanted to. I turned back towards it, but it was gone, along with the rest of it's pack, leaving us to do all the bloody work. A cannon sounded, signifying both a death and the start of a mini war. 

//Jonatte//

I creeped towards Kili. He was alone and didn't see me coming. I stepped on a stray leaf (what was a leaf doing here?!) and he turned around, trident at the ready. "Calm down, it's just me." He lowered the trident, though still held onto it. "So, Careers gone?" He nodded.

Gah that was short. I didn't really know what to do after that. SORRY!!

People still alive:

2: Kyder, Anise

3: Dom

4: Kili, Jo

6: Axider

9: Trad

11: Menola, Leo

Is this day 4? Wow, we are going through tributes fast.

Fortis is dead, but I can't say how it happens because I can't see ZB's post.

Ha Ha! Luxuria is dead! *does a little dance*