Young Writers Society

Luce - 8

It was the smell of long winter nights inside with a glass of warm milk and some bread. It was the smell of the fireplace back home, crackling and warming up the room.

But this time, it was hellbent on burning us up alive.

"Fire!" I yelled as the fiery glow began to seep out from the trees. The smoke was already making its way towards us, the thick grey mist threatening to suffocate us. We all quickly got up and I slipped my hand into Edur's, what seemed like an old, natural routine. He grasped it tightly and with Alen, we began running away from the trees.

The smoke stung our eyes and burned our throats. The dull, throbbing pain of my ankle soon turned into a searing hot burning feel.

"We have to get in the water, the fire won't reach us there," I said, coughing.

"But we'll be sitting ducks there! What happens when trees start falling into the lake too," Alen yelled back.

Everything was blurring together and to keep running forward no longer seemed like an option when it was hard to tell exactly where 'forward' was.

Malaya Shearvine, District 7 female: DAY 2 MORNING
(Sorry if there's a lot of mistakes. I'm typing on my phone)

Malaya, with her hurt foot, had managed to sleep uneventfully in the undergrowth and bushes, camoflauged. But as the early morning heat woke her from her painful sleep, she knew she couldn't wait here hidden forever. If anyone found her, she'd be dead instantly. The other tributes weren't as kind as Edur and Luce. They would take advantage of her injured foot and kill on sight. If an arena creature attacked her, she wouldn't be able to defend. If she didn't locate a source of water quickly, she would dehydrate. Malaya made up her mind. She would get moving again.

After a few minutes, the girl managed to get her axe and other belongings together. She fastened a makeshift walking cane out of small bit of twine and ivy, and a narrow branch. She began a steady pace through the woods. Malaya's lips were cracked and dry, her throat scratchy, her legs achy, but she continued her trek. She knew she had to find more water. Malaya didn't know what time the arena had grown so hot, because she remembered it being cool, so the girl decided it had happened while she was sleeping.

The tribute finally located a small stream, filling up on the cool, sweet liquid, before setting off again. Malaya had gathered more strength. About ten minutes later, the girl smell something burning. It wasn't a small fire that someone had made to cook with, it was a forest fire. Malaya had heard stories of the poor lumberjacks in her District who were unlucky enough to be caught up in one. She knew these wild fires could be very deadly if they weren't controlled. A feeling of fear and dread rose up in Malaya's chest, like the smoke of flames. She could smell the intoxicating odor of trees burning. She could hear the cracking and roar of the inferno consuming the woods. The fire was very clfaya spun and ran, dismissing the throbbing pain of her leg and foot. She swung her axe whenever a vine or branch crossed her path. She didn't want to get caught up in the forest fire. After what felt like an eternity of choking and coughing and pain, Malaya stumbled into a long, grassy plain. She had looped back to the Cornucopia.

The girl glanced around quickly in search of other tributes, before jogging across the plain and past the golden Cornucopia. It would have been a gorgeous morning, with the pink and yellow hues of the morning sky reflecting onto the Cornucopia's surface, and the grass and flowers dancing in a hot breeze, except for the fact that Malaya was running for her life. Literally. She didn't know how far the fire could spread and she didn't want to find out. Plus, she could hear faint, heavy footsteps pounding behind her.

Past the Cornucopia she sprinted, closer to her goal: a small cliff and mountain area overlooking an ocean. She was almost there, so close to leaving the open plain, when a body crashed into hers, tackling Malaya and sending her into a tumble. She lay sprawled on the grass, staring up into a tribute's eyes.

Bronze- District 1 (with permission from Dragonette)

The Cornucopia had been a bloodbath. Bronze was one of the first to take off from the platform and make it to the supplies. After grabbing a sword he swiftly cut down three tributes who were stupid enough to get close.

Him and Nya had taken the Cornucopia and stashed some supplies, but that wasn't enough to win this thing. They needed to finish the others. The first day had been pointless. They thought they were on the trail of someone, but instead wound up running into one of those mutant wolves. It was rather difficult to kill, but the two of them managed to make it.

Both had spent the night in the Cornucopia, Nya nursing a wound she had gotten from the wolf. When they woke up, both were drenched in sweat from the temperature spike.

Bronze snorted. "Is that all they got? A little heat's not going to do much."

"Ssh," Nya snapped and looked around as if listening for something.

"Don't tell me to--"

"Quiet! Someone's coming," she whispered and got down behind a pile of backpacks. Bronze ducked down too, just in time before a tribute sprinted openly across the Cornucopia, her leg limping a little.

"Gotcha," he smirked.

"We'll flank her," said Nya, pulling a knife. "I'll go left you go--"

But Bronze was up and after the tribute like a lion after a deer, his sword poised and ready to slice. Nya frowned and chased after him.

The girl was slow due to her limp, letting Bronze barrel into her. Both fell to the dry grass, Bronze ontop of her. He lifted his sword and stabbed down at her head, but she moved it in time and kicked him away. Without missing a beat he rolled over and was back on his feet chasing her again.

He grabbed the end of her jacket and threw her back to the ground. She struggled, but it was useless. He was too strong. He raised his sword again and stabbed. A cannon fired.

Edur

H

A canon fired.

Beside me. Luce gave a start, leaning closer against me for support and comfort. I looked closely and realized her eyes were swarmed with tears. Whether it was from the thickening smoke, the fact that another tribute died tonight or our dire situation in...it was hard to tell. Maybe it was an unhealthy mix of everything.

"Someone died, Edur," Luce said to me, her voice cracking.

I sighed and stopped running, pulling Luce to a stop. She looked terrible, inside and out. I wrapped my arms around her and let her rest her weight on me. I could tell she tired, at the point where she was caving in to the idea of giving up. Alen also stopped to a slow and for once, no one had anything to say.

I tightened my grasp and her and gave her a squeeze. Pulling Luce back, I brushed the strands of hair sticking to her forehead and tried to smile at her.

"C'mon guys, we have keep going."

HEALTH: 70/100 HUNGER: 68/100 THIRST:80/100



Arg, keep forgetting


Luce: HEALTH: 55/100 HUNGER: 60/100 THIRST:80/100

Des- District 10

Licks of flame leaped from tree to tree as the fire chased behind us. I looked back over my shoulder and only saw a wall of red and orange heat. Trees began to fall everywhere as they were consumed by the raging forest fire.

"We need to find water!" coughed Reed over the overwhelming roar behind us.

"Is there any left?!" Fiske hollered back. "You saw what the heat did to the river!"

"Do we have a choice?!" I asked and pulled his arm forward. We needed to move faster or we weren't going to make it any farther. The smoke was stifling and black. I could barely see what was ahead of me.

"DES! Watch out!" A flaming tree creaked and fell, almost on top of me if Reed hadn't pulled me back.

"We're trapped," Fiske moaned.

"No, we can go to the left," said Reed. "I'm not dying in this!"

We continued to run, adrenaline and the desire to live feeding the drive to keep going, but the smoke was getting thicker and thicker. We choked and sobbed and gagged through the mix of black and white for as long as possible. What was worse was that Ryder was in this somewhere alone.

"D-do you guys here that?" I managed to choke out of my dry throat.

"Y-yeah?" answered Fiske, not so sure if the sound was real or an illusion.

"Let's keep going," said Reed weakly. If our ears were correct, then we needed to move quickly again. We were so tired and so choked up from the smoke, we almost didn't care that there was water. It was a little pond, not too much far from the Cornucopia.

We ran to it, splashed in it, elated that the fire couldn't touch us here. And it didn't. We were so grateful to find water, we didn't even notice the three tributes on the other side of the pond nor the huge, hairy, drooling, snarling creature that lurked behind them. We must've all been driven here by the fire.

Reed Willimon, District 11 female tribute: Day 1, Late Morning

Reed had a few problems. One, the smoke was really getting to her. Two, the trio had yet to locate Ryder. Three, they were basically trapped in the large pond by the menacing wall of flames, tributes, and beast. Four, the other three teens seemed to be waiting for Des, Reed, and Fiske. Five, they still had to take care of the wolf that emerged out of the woods. Things were going great.

The girl waded out of the water, drawing her sword. She stepped onto the soft sandy bed of the pond, studying the opponents. The muttated wolf looked like it was about to pounce.

Reed wiped sweat off of her forehead, and gestured to the creature opposite of the water. "Six tributes against one animal stand a better chance," she called.

Des walked hesitantly out of the cool water, nervously watching th fire in the woods roar on.

Des- District 10

"Is that Alen?" I asked, still glancing at the fire around us. It seemed to be losing some steam, but it still kept going.

"Yeah, and Luce and... Edur!" Reed recognized her fellow district member. Maybe they could pull this thing off.

The wolf positioned itself to pounce ontop of them when Alen shoved Luce forward and they started running around the pond to our side. The wolf jumped in pursiut.

"Where's the bow?" asked Reed.

"Ryder has it," I answered.

"Are you kidding me?" asked Fiske, pulling out his knife.

"All we have are knives against that thing," I stated, holding my own. "Alen has the bow."

"ALEN!" Reed shouted. "USE THE BOW!"

"I'm a little busy at the moment!" he hollered back, still running and making sure Luce was keeping up. That wolf was gaining ground fast.

Alen was running to the other said of the pond when he heard a voice say "AlEN USE THE BOW!" But he didn't know where the voice was coming from he looked behind him and was looking at a big wolf behind him. Alen got his bow and arrow out as fast as he could but the first arrow missed then on his second shot he closed his eyes and wished it yo hit the wolf. When Alen opened his eyes the wolf was down but something was wrong where did that voice come from that saved his life. Alen looked around in a panic Edur and Luce Looked shocked at what Alen just did to save them.Then Alen found the person that the voice came from and was not happy with what he found Reed.

Des- District 10

It was a brilliant shot. I was nervous when the first one didn't hit, but his second shot was square between the eyes. It collapsed on the ground, giving the other three tributes enough time to get around to our side of the pond.

When they were close enough, Edure put his arm out to stop the other two. Alen didn't look happy at all especially when looking from Fiske to Reed.

"Where's the other one?" he asked.

"We can't find him."

"He was probably the last cannon shot," he remarked dryly. And I lost it again. I was about to go and punch him in the face when Fiske pulled me back. Alen went for his bow but Luce stopped him.

"This is just what the gamemakers want," protested Reed. "A big showdown between the two big alliances."

Edur looked up at a burning tree and squinted. What did he see-- out from the trees came three more of those wolf things. They must have heard the other one and were not heading towards us.

"GET THEM IN THE EYES!" Fiske shouted and threw his knife at one's eye. It howled in agony and dropped to the ground, squirming to get the blade out. The fight was a mass of blood, sweat, and fur as the fire continued to rage around us. We were trapped.

Recenio Allack, Head Gamemaker: DAY 2, Mid Morning

Recenio ran his hand through his hair. For him, things in the arena were going wonderfully. The viewers were loving his wolves, and the tension between the two biggest alliances in the Games was growing. The wildfire was only used to push the District 10 girl and her allies to that District 11 boy, so now that those two groups met, he decided to cut off the flames.

"Jeren, shut off the fire in Section 5 of the arena." Recenio thought to himself for a moment before saying, "Grela, send another wolf toward the six by the pond, and one down by the beach for the boy there." He smiled, then continued. "Drop the temp in the Games slightly, and prepare for the thunderstorm."

Recenio seemed content with his decisions, and he chuckled with pleasure. He liked his job for the Capitol. "Now, get ready to cue the cannons. More tributes are getting ready to die."

"Cue death cannons!" another Gamemaker echoed.

The Head Maker paced the room slowly, arms folded across his chest, while
glancing up at the live feed from the Hunger Games. "Be ready," he whispered.

Reed Willimon, District 11 female tribute: DAY 2, MID MORNING

Reed, Des, and Fiske had managed to climb out of the water and join the others. She didn't quite feel right with them, it was the Hunger Games, afterall, but she knew she had no other option. The scaly wolves were closing in.

Alen let his arrows fly until his quiver was almost empty, while Fiske and Ree attacked another beast together. Reed's fear and anxiety was pushed away as she spun and jumped and swung with her sword. The girl backed up after she and Fiske had killed the wolf, shaking. There were still a few more creatures tackling the other tributes. Reed gathered all the courage she could muster and charged an animal Edur was hacking at.

"Some fun, huh?" Reed shouted over the commotion. The mutation fell over, dead as she delivered a timed death blow.

Edur laughed tiredly, then drew in shaky breaths.

There was a lot of blood spilled on the forest floor after the struggle, thankfully mostly from the wolves. The majority of the six kids seemed fine, just bruised, cut, and exhausted, but Luce wasn't so lucky.

Luce

Everything was passing by in a blur of blood and throbbing pain. I was dimly aware of Alen shoving me, desperately trying to get me to keep up and Edur flanking us, defending the three of us against the thing...things that were chasing us. My head was heavy and my throat burned. I wasn't cut out for this; I've spent all my life hidden indoors sewing and patching up clothing.

"GET THEM IN THE EYES!" a voice pierced above the struggles and growls. I saw Alen aim his arrow at something and- I swayed, a sudden wave of nausea coming over me. A strong hand gripped my shoulder, putting me upright again.

"Luce, hang in there," Edur said. I could see the fear in his eyes.

We kept running and dodging and I was slowing down, slowing Edur down. Alen was already off aiming at the things.

"Edur, go, I don't want to be a burden to you-"

"Jesus! I'm not letting you go, I can't Luce, I-"

I remember seeing his beautiful blue eyes and wishing to dear god that maybe I'd get to see them again and stare into them and tell them that both of us would be find. I remember the sweet tingles I get when he says my name - and thats when the thing ripped me away and tore me open.

It was gripping my shoulder, my neck, dragging me across the floor. I could feel a salty metallic taste rise up in my throat and see bright crimson bleed onto my shirt. My body was on fire, and I could no longer tell if the screams where from someone else or if they were me. I could still hear the voice of Edur calling out for me, but like everything else, it soon turned to static.

* * *

I never realized just how stunning a simply sunrise could be.

To me, my body was no longer there. I couldn't move my head and I was afraid to too; I didn't want to know what the thing did to me.

But the grass is such a lovely shade of chartreuse. I wish I could feel it between my fingers.

I wish I could have done so much more. I wish I could have seen my mum, my family and see Alen again. I wish I told them how much they meant to me.

I wish I told Edur just how much I love him.

Oh my gosh! That made me get tears in my eyes!

But for anyone whose character dies, and they'd still like to have a fun part in the Games, they can PM me and say that they would like to be a Gamemaker.This way, you can still have a say in what's happening.