I walked across my district, eyes cast to the ground. The Hunger Games were almost here: two months, eight weeks, sixty-one days, and one thousand, four hundred, sixty four hours.
It was all happening too fast.
President Kaine had announced for the district tributes to meet together. He said over television that he was too excited for the upcoming Hunger Games, and told our districts to pick the tributes earlier.
Whatever.
Only seven tributes were chosen so far, or the others made a suicide attempt when they found out they were chosen. Either way, only seven showed up at the designated place.
We stood there, face to face, in complete silence, the sun just rising over the horizon.
Did I mention it was 5:45 in the morning?
President Kaine appeared behind a few trees, brushing dirt off of his coat as he looked up and greeted us. "Welcome, tributes." He blinked as he did a mental head count. "Where are the others?"
No one answered.
Kaine cleared his throat. "Well, no matter. I brought you here this morning so you can practice your fighting skills before the Hunger Games and form alliances. We eliminated that part of the Hunger Games so we could do it here."
I glared at him, wanting to impale him with one of my knives. The others looked as if they were having the same thoughts.
"I have a meeting I have to attend now." He bowed dramatically, earning a scoff from me. "Weapons are to your right, and...try not to kill each other before the Hunger Games." He winked, then made his way back.
Shayxx
(I know it's not a very good first post...but continue?)
Well. This was pretty boring so far. I lazily studied the other six, looking for possible advantages I could have over them. Don't get me wrong- I didn't want to be a sodding tribute. What I did want, though, was to throw a knife at Kaine. I knew I wouldn't miss. I never did.
ReplyDelete~ Sargas
My eyes narrowed when they met the tallest boy's blue-grey eyes. He gave me a slow smirk and a wink. I snarled, and looked away, fingering my seax knife. There was something about him that simply rubbed me the wrong way. I crossed my arms. Nobody was saying anything, just staring at each other, evaluating if they could kill us easily or not. Pleasant. "Well. Are we goin' tuh keep starin' at each other, or are one of yuh goin' to say somethin'?" I said finally in my accented lilt, willing myself not to blush when everyone stared.
~Kate
(Have you ever heard an Irish accent? I thought that since Districts were a bit like countries, they'd better have accents as well. Kate has a District 3 accent, which is very similar to the Irish accent.
(Was the Hunger Games after the whole world was destroyed, or only America? I remember reading somewhere that after one of these 'choices' were destroyed, they divided it up into districts. But yeah, okay.)
ReplyDeleteI blinked out of my thoughts as a girl's accented voice cut through. "Kaine expects us to train or something. And not kill ourselves. You can already tell by that glint in his eye that he arranged us so exactly that could happen." I knew a scowl was showing through, but I didn't bother to hide it.
I watched the tributes carefully, noting their districts. District One and Two are the Careers, along with me. Districts Three, Six, and Seven I'd have to keep a note of though, along with the other districts, if they actually go along with Kaine.
Damienxx & Shayxx
(I think it was the entire world.)
ReplyDeleteAnother girl's gaze fell on me (Shay) and I turned around slowly. I gave her a little smirk, and she scowled at me, looking away. My smirk grew wider and I opened my mouth to say something when the girl who had growled at me earlier spoke first. She had a strong accent, distinctly District Three.
~Sargas
I nodded slowly. "So... he wants us to train... with each other? And... form alliances, did this bloke say?" I snorted. "He is a bloody idiot, isn't he?" The boy with the blue-grey eyes snickered with me, and I instantly stopped smiling.
(Oh, alright. Let's go with that. xP)
ReplyDeleteThe male tribute from District 2 met my eyes when I was figuring out what District they belonged to. I gave him a scowl, and eyed the stockpile of weapons instead as the others talked.
My lips tugged into a faint smile at the girl's comment. "We can't just stand here, though." The axe strapped onto my back came to mind, but I pushed it away quickly. It wasn't the Hunger Games yet.
Shayxx & Damienxx
I glanced over to my right, eyeing the weapons, then glancing over at the other tributes. Something in my heart felt...weird. Something like a mix of sorrow and anger at the same time. The thought of having to kill another disgusted me, and that made me wonder why my name had been pulled out. Why mine?
ReplyDelete~Carmell
I found myself feeling strangely drawn to this strange lilting accent that the girl spoke with, though I quickly banished the thought from my mind, instead concentrating on thinking of the many maneuvers of swordsmanship.
ReplyDelete~Sargas
I raised an eyebrow. "What do you propose we do, then?" I asked, crossing my arms, and though my arms were occupied, I knew if anybody moved I could notch an arrow and send it thudding into his forehead in a split second. My grey gaze roamed the six other people briefly before snapping back to the boy who had talked to me. I noted that a dark haired, dark eyed, kind-faced girl was gazing at her feet without seeing anything. It was obvious that she was in deep thought.
~Kate
My fingers tapped idly against the side of my legs, and I thought back to District 4, memories flooding back at me. I shook them away, focusing my sea green gaze to the girl that questioned us. "Spread out and train. Whatever allies you want, you can arrange in private." I blinked as the tributes led my words back to what Kaine had said. "We can't leave. I'm sure Kaine would make sure of that. One way or another."
ReplyDeleteShayxx
I nodded in agreement, though privately I thought about how awkward it would be to walk up to someone and ask if you could be allied with them. "Right, then. Use what space you can, I suppose." I unslung the bow from my shoulder, strung it, and looked around for something to aim at.
ReplyDelete~ Kate
I stared after the girl for a split second before turning and spotting a cleared area nearby, pulling out my sword as I made my way there and assumed a 'ready' stance. I paused, imagining my opponent drawing his own, and then leapt forward, the katana flashing a blinding silver in the sunlight.
~ Sargas
(So will they just... ask?)
(I...really have no idea. That would be awkward. Uhm, well the Careers usually always get together...and the others...Agh. I don't know. I guess they could all ask... :/)
ReplyDeleteI weaved through the trees before locating an area surrounded by trees. I closed my eyes in concentration, then slid out three of my knives, flinging them towards a tree with complete accuracy.
I slid my ax out, narrowing my eyes before sprinting, finding a fairly open place soon after. The weapon in my hands fit nicely as I gripped it, targeting a distant tree as I let go, watching it sail and imbed itself into the wood.
Shayxx & Damienxx
(Oh.)
ReplyDeleteMy second arrow split the first one down the middle and I smiled to myself. Good to see my aim was still near perfect. But that wasted another perfectly good arrow... I notched another greyish brown shaft onto the the bowstring and aimed. When I let go, it thudded into the wood just above the previous arrow. Letting out a sigh of relief that I didn't ruin the arrow again, my hand reached behind me for another arrow in the quiver.
~ Kate
I knew that I could be fighting multiple enemies at the same time, or just extremely fast ones, so I stuck with the countercutting techniques that had been taught to me. The idea was that when a blade came at me, there wouldn't be enough time for me to block it with my sword and then attack. Everything I did had to be both defensive and offensive at the same time, and it would all rely on my footwork and agility. I imagined a sword coming straight at my head from the side, and skipping lightly to the side, I slashed my sword towards it, at the right angle to keep it from slicing at me but also having the blade close enough to the opponent for it to attack at the same time. After all, the best defense is a good offense, right?
~ Sargas
My eyes narrowed instinctively as I turned, visualizing a blade swinging in a arch towards me. I ducked, rolled to the side, and slid out my sword, landing in a defensive stance.
ReplyDeleteIt was harder when the only weapon you had was an ax. I pulled it out of the trunk of the tree, side stepping as I did, as if someone were behind me. I cut down where the arm would be, jumped backward, then aimed it at the 'feet of the person'.
Shayxx & Damienxx
(So, are we all going to practice with our characters now, or go around awkwardly asking people for alliances, like selling Girl Scout cookies?)
ReplyDelete(Girls Scout cookies? xD We can try that.)
ReplyDelete(Haha XD)
ReplyDeleteI felt my eyes dart to a tentative rustle in the bushes, retrieving my ax quickly. Whatever was there-tribute, human, or animal-could hurt me, and I didn't want to find out whether or not it would. I gripped my ax, narrowing my eyes where the movement had come from.
ReplyDeleteDamienxx
(Whoever wants Damien to be their ally...go ahead. :P Otherwise, I'll just make it an animal.)