THE DOTD HUNGER GAMES [OPEN]

[Pandora Relenta]

The arena is simple. Tall mountains, possibly volcanoes. The mountains are at the center of a large, rich forest. At the edge of the arena, there's a freshwater lake that is unknown until you find it. The Cornucopia is right near the mountains, the center of the forest. Now, let the Domain of the Delphi Hunger Games begin!

Vee knew that risk she was taking.

Everyone probably thought that a thirteen-year-old girl had no idea WHAT the hell she was doing in the Hunger Games, but Vee thought knew that she was probably going to die and never see her family back in Four ever again, but she was taking this risk. She was the youngest tribute, and willing to take this risk. When the anonymous announcer told the tributes to go...

Vee made a run for it.

She was fast, no doubting that. She dodged knives and flying arrows, quick and shadowed. On her way to nowhere in particular, she somehow managed to pick up a bloody knife that someone had dropped. Then she put as much distance as she could between herself and the Cornucopia.

After seven minutes consistant minutes of running, Vee felt sweat start to form on her forehead, and decided to take a bit of a break. Then she realized how stupid she had been. She would drain out whatever liquid she had in her body before she even found water! She then decided to take a it a bit slower and take the time to examine her new knife and figure some stuff out.

The knife was dripping with someone's blood. Ew. But it had a sharp point and a good hilt. Good for throwing and gripping, that is. Then Vee started to cook up any strategy she could.

Luckily, she had actually taken the time to look at some pictures of berries and other fruits when she had been training, because any source of food would be nice. That would be her strategy for finding food. If there were any fish, she could always go fishing. After all, she was from District Four, the main industry of fishing. She just prayed that there was a lake or stream or river. She walked along, beginning to hunt down water.

Vee had reduced her running to a jog, then to a fast walk. This was no place for a thirteen-year-old to be roaming around. Maybe if she found a squirrel she could throw her knife at it? Possibly. Probably not. Vee knew how to throw a knife, but she wasn't exactly very skilled at it. Luck would be her best option.

The sun was just beginning to set, and Vee had found no source of water. But she could feel in her gut that she could possibly find water soon. Maybe. She scrambled up a tree, and decided to sleep in it for the night.

The next day was sunny. Not, like, so hot that it was unbearable, but it was kind of warm, a bit humid. The ground was slightly damp as if it had rained just a little during the night. Vee slowly and carefully climbed out of the tree. She was clumsy, so she made sure that her foot didn't slip.

It took her four minutes to climb down that tree. Slow, she was, but only in the air. She felt like she was being watched, so she hustled up and walked fast.

Walking was agony. Vee's throat was on fire. It was at least three hours since she had climbed out of that tree, so it must have been around noon. And she hadn't had anything to drink. Parched. Thirst was slowly killing her. Vee needed to either find water or curl up and die. That's when she heard it. It was a faint noise, but Vee picked it up like a radar.

Small, very small, waves. And she broke into a run. And that's when she finally saw it.

The lake.

It was large, and no one appeared to be there. Vee sprinted towards it, and did an elegant swan dive into the water, still in her clothing. She felt reborn the second her face hit the cool, cold liquid. Perfect. It was freshwater! There was always the possibility of fish. She swam for a few minutes, then got out, sopping wet.

And that's when she heard it.

A soft rustle in the bushes.

Tying her wet hair up into a high, tight ponytail with the elastic band from her wrist, she crept nearer to the bush, curiousity bringing her forward. She saw a crack of blonde from in the bush, and identified it as a person now. A person. Vee ripped out her knife, ready for anything that was thrown at her.

[Amber Craze James]

Aries bent down on her plate, ready to run when it was announced. Only a few more seconds. 3... 2... 1... Go!

The District 11 girl ran. Her long legs falling in front of her at a fast pace. She didn't exactly know what she was running for, just that she was gonna get to the cornucopia. She got there, a backpack was sitting on the ground. She grabbed it and strung it across her shoulders before a large object hit her back.

Oh crap.

Aries turned, her eyes wide with fear. It was the District 2 boy. Even worse. Luckily, he didn't have a weapon, so all he did was punch her hard in the face before scramblingg to get hhis supplies. Aries nose gushed out blood, her head spun from the impact. The fact that she just might be part of the first bloodbath dawned on her, making her regain herself. She was closer to the cornucopia now, because she had stumbled over there when her nose was hit. She ran flat out to go and grab something else. She was right there, and her hand closed around something small and round. Satisfied, she started running again. A shadow filled her vision, and there was someone infront of her. Did I mention that she had a weapon? Well he did.

Not knowing what exactly to do, the dirty blonde girl struck the person infront of her with her round thinggy--that was turning out to be quiet heavy--on her head. Aries then took the blow to her stomach with a golden rod, and she was sure she would puke. But she pushed through, twisting around so her backpack hit the girl in the head with a sickening crack. Aries didn't wait to see the result, she just wrapped her free hand around her still-bleeding nose and ran, the hand with the heavy round thing around her stomach. She was ready to collapse. But she didn't.

Running flat out again, Aries heaved. her whole worl was a blur of color, a small tunnel of what was infront of her. She found no one in her way, and heard screams behind her. No! Don't look back. It doesn't matter! running matters. Running.... Matters... She was in the woods now. She stopped to take a small break to identify the heavy thing in her hand, she would take inventory of her bag later. The thirteen year old girl had no idea what the heck was in her hand. It was just a ring of metal, around two feet in circumference. It was heavy and bronze. What was it for? No idea. But would she discard it? No.

You keep everything you can get your hands on in The Hunger Games.

She was exhasted already. It's only been what, an hour? Two? Three? There was no way to tell. She just had to keep going. She was only ten yards from the edge of the woods. But maybe she could just take inventory of her backpack and rest a moment longer... No! No resting! She told herself. Just go!

It took all her mental strength to not sit there. She slipped the bronze ring into her backpack, re-adjusted the dark green pack then started walking, her legs weak yet fast enough. Her nose was still bleeding, and her stomach still hurt like... Well, like a girl had hit it. walk... Just walk... Keep walking... She told herself over and over again.

While she was walking, she drifted into dreamland about her and her family. How her big brother kissed her on the forehead during the last goodbyes before he was yanked out of the room. He had said he loved her... But not enough to die for, she guessed. And then there was her mom... She actually had tried to voulenteer for Aries, but that just ended up in embaressment because she was much to old. Then there was her friend who came up to her during the goodbyes, crying to hard to speak. Aries just had to tell her that she would win... Even though she wouldn't.

Aries KNEW she couldn't win. She had almost no skill. All she could really do was identify plants. She could wrestle, she learned that from sibling fighting with her big brother. She found out how to react with punches from him, too. She had always begged him to go easier on her, and her did, but now she was wishing that he had unloaded everything on her so that she would have some skill coming into the fight.

She thought about her boyfriend... Oh, Jason((Making that name up xD)) was the sweetest guy ever. When he came in to say goodbye, he had wrapped her in his arms and told her that she could win. He had held her then told her that she could cry. That meant more to her than anything because every time she had ever cried, she had been scolded. She had been told that that was not what you where supposed to. But Jason saying that she could cry was... Amazing.

Then she held on to him so the gaurd had to smack her arm and pry her off. And I mean pry her off. Like, yank her back to her seat. In her interview the night before the start of the ACTUAL Hunger Games, she had sent him a shout-out. It was like, ''Hey, Jason, if your watching this... Well, I love you. I just wish I had told you.'' And of course, there was the shout out to her mom and brother: ''Mom, Magnus... I love you guys. I'll win for you. I'll come back, and bring fame with me.'' She had said. She devoted another moment of her time to making a sign to her bestie. She had just held up two fingers with her pal facing herself. It was sort of an inside-joke between them.

The whole audience has ''Ooo''d and ''Awwwh''d at her. That was something Aries was good at. Wooing crowds was easy to her, all you had to do was get up and say some crowd-pleasing things. like ''Hey! Who's ready for this!'' Or just reply to an question with a funny answer. She was a people person, no doubt.

Aries stopped for a moment, realizing that it was almost dark. She has forgotten about her bloody nose and aching limbs in dreamland. But with realization of where she was, these senses cam running back to her. She was really tierd. So, she sat down on a stump, taking off her abnormally heavy, dark green backpack. She opened it up, pulling out each item and examining it. A short peice of rope, a velvet blanket, the bronze ring-thinggy, and a load of hairties. What good what that stuff do her? Wait a minute...

A small object was at the bottom. She reached down and pulled it out. It was a black rod, six inches tall and seemed to thick to go along with it. She squeezed it and a black metal shot out of both ends. Now she was holding a yard long staff. Yes! She could fight with this! Finally something of some use. But Aries was exhausted, she needed shelter.

After she put all the stuff back in her bag, she took the metal ring and used it to hit a branch off of a tree. Why? Because it worked in her head. And as it turned out, it worked in real life, too. She hit it at joint where it connected with the tree as hard as she could. The branch eventually fell off. She did this with several more branches.

Then she pulled all her stuff into her bag except the velvet blanket and slipped it under a carefully selected bush, coming in after it. She then pulled the blanket on and used the branch to cover the side of the bush she had entered from. Aries had curled up under the bush as to not be seen, clutching her backpack around her.

She let her thoughts turn into dreams(yeah, she was ignoring the anthem), and her dreams to back, and the black to turn to light. In what seemed no time of all, she was awake. Her throat was partched, dry and achey. She had dry blood all over her nose and face. Her feet, legs, and everything up hurt like You-Know-Where. And then there was her stomach which hurt worse then You-Know where. Overall, she felt like crap.

Aries forced herself up and out from under the bush, stuffing the blanket into her bag and pushing the branches away. Today was going to be a REALLY long day.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • •

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Aries drew her hand over her mouth, she had a bellyful of water from the lake she had found. In other words, it was her savior. After a long day of walking, dehydration and hunger, she had found water. She now felt refreshed. She sat back against--you guessed it--a bush. It seemed that bushes where the best thing in this Hunger Games, because they seemed to be everywhere. After a moment of rest, taking in the feeling of her throat not dry anymore.

But of course, that serenity had to end.

She heard footsteps, and dived under the bush. Crap! Someone to find her and kill her. The person didn't know she was there, she was just... Swimming? Yeah. After an hour or so of painful waiting for her to leave... She never did. She was just swimming... Aries felt really cramped, not daring to move a musle. But after a while longer, Aries slowly and soundlessly took the short black rod from her bag and pressed the middle. It slid out and hit a branch cause a russle.

GAHHH!!! Aries almost wanted to scream, she was so stupid! She just wanted the security of a weapon, and she caused herself to make noise. She could her the person walking to her. She wasn't sure who it was because she couldn't get a good look, but she was picturing the big intimadadating boy from District 2 that had hit her during the bloodbath. It wasn't long before Aries stomach was clenching in fear because they where standing right infront of the bush. The District 11 girl readied her weapon, waiting for impact. [/blockquote][/blockquote]

[Pandora Relenta]

Avie stuck her knife up to the blonde's neck, "Run away," she said "and maybe you can live a bit longer in this. Stay and fight me, and it may be the last thing you ever do." Vee's heart thudded. This girl wasn't one of the Careers, she knew that, definitely from one of the minor districts. Vee knew that she could easily kill this girl, end her life, end it now, but Vee was curious to see how the girl would respond. Then it struck her. This was the girl from Eleven! Avie could take her down with one chop! But maybe she was stronger than Vee thought. She decided to give the girl a chance.

"I can end this now," she said, near to the girl's face, yellow eyes in blue ones "this can be all over for you, Eleven." Vee's cold hawk-like eyes bored into the other girl's eyes. This could be the end for Eleven, and Vee's first kill. She had been training to be in these Games for her whole life; she was a total killing machine, and she had a silver knife. Easy.

"Well?!?!" Vee shouted, up in the girl's face now, getting impatient "Feel free to answer!" her chest rose and fell, her knuckles white from the intense grip on her knife. Her face was tight, her jaw clenched, her cheeks thin, her shoulders tensed. She hoped to win this. Vee wanted nothing more than to bring home that trophy to Four. To live in the victor's village. With her brother, her sister, and her mother and stepfather. She knew that this girl wouldn't kill her. That wouldn't happen. Vee was too stealthy, for one thing, and this girl just didn't seem like the murdering type.

Feeling pumped, Vee pushed the knife closer to the girl's throat, the tip just brushing her skin. Vee's face was a light pink with energy, like she was ready to rip someone's throat out. And she was. If this girl didn't stand up to her, she would kill her. That's when her throat dried, and she said in a raspy, cold voice "I can kill you faster than you can blink,"

[Amber Craze James]

Blood rushing, heart pounding, instant fear. A knife was to her throat and a voice was shouting at her. Aries ignored what was being said and instead focused on her options. Option one: Fling head back and kick in the stomach. Option two: Grab the others girls wrist, bend it around and take the knife and wrestle her to the ground. Option three: Surrender then turn back on later. Option four: Strike in the side with metal bar then hit with backpack and run. Option five: Try to talk a way out of this and team up. Each of them appealed to Aries. See, most people didn't see her as the cold-blooded killer type, but she could be when she wanted to be. Aries surrvayed the girl infront of her, looking for weaknesses before she realized something...

That was Four!

The very girl she wanted to team up with was threatening her with a knife. Now she didn't exactly see why she wanted to team up with her; not bigger then Aries, not a people-person, not very strong... She was just the only person who would accept a smaller girls help, probably. I mean, what did Aries have to offer? Quick wit and maybe a sponser. That's it, and those two things where highly underestimated in The Hunger Games. Aries was still thinking about what to do when the knife was thrust towards her neck, hitting skin and breaking it, a small drop of blood oozed out.

''Yikes!''

Aries let out a yelp pitifully. Not that it hurt, it more so startled her. ''No need for that!'' Aries scolded. ''Look, why don't we--'' in a flash, she lifted her metal rod and yanked her head back so the knife wasn't against her neck anymore, then used the metal rod to smack Avie's knife so hard it fell on the ground. Then to show that she didn't want any trouble, she threw the rod on the ground and put her hands up in treaty. ''--Just team up?'' Being quick like Aries was is handy when it needs to be. That all happened so quickly that Avie probably had no idea what happened. Just catch 'em off gaurd and stuff, then BAM! you got yourself a dead guy or an ally. That was Aries' stratagy, anyway.

Aries seemed to wait an eternity for the answer, each second clung to time like it didn't want to leave. Each moment seemed to move as though it was moving through syrup. Birds chirping, leaves swaying and water overlapping sand. That was the only sound besides the breath of Avie and the pounding in Aries' ears. She just waited. And waited. And waited. Aries waited to see if this would break out into a fight, or if it would begin with a team. But Aries was sure that either way it would end in a kill.

[Jenna Moretti]

Once Night heard the bell she ran towards the forest. Knowing how to get supplies and a weapon, she didn't want to take the chance in the cornucopia. She could hear somebody following her. She didn't want to turn around though. All she knew is somebody is following her and she could lose them in the forest. Only she felt a pain in her right arm and then she felt the cool rush of blood trickling down her arm.

She turned around to see the Tribute from 2 behind her. She stopped and he other Tribute ran into her and took her knife and almost slit Night's pale throat if it wasn't for Howi. The other District 10 member. Howi helped her up and they ran into the woods.

Once they go to the middle the stopped but Night wanted to keep going. She keep almost jumping into the trees only she couldn't leave Howi behind even if she wanted to. Howi was her boyfriend. It would just be wrong to leave him behind. And with him not knowing how to climb Night offered to take first watch.

Once Howi shut his eyes Night ran up the tree to the point she could look down and still not be able to be seen. Now Howi on the other hand he was easy to spot. He was tall and not at all worried about dieing. He could be one of the last two and still not want to live.

Night could see a group of careers coming. Howi would want her to run and hide so that way she didn't die. Let him die alone. Night gathered up all her courage and jumped to the tree behind her. Looking back at Howi just as he took his last breath. She almost let her hand go that was keeping her on the tree. If she did that then she could die to.

Night turned around with tears in her eyes and jumped into another tree. She keep doing that until she saw a lake. With the girl from eleven and the girl from four. Four was holding the very knife that cut her arm. Which had dried up blood all around the wound. Night wasn't mad at four, it wasn't like i was her knife. Night slowly climbed out of the tree and picked up a rock. Looking around she could see Nightshade. Just the flower she was named after. It also doesn't help that is is deadly. Only if consumed though. Night knew it was Nightshade because of the four, purple leaf, and yellow inside the flower. Night stayed hidden until the two girls would think to come over here.

[Tara Winters]

Milo watched the clock time down above the cornucopia. He stood there, his arms crossed as the time ran out.

Sixty seconds, fifty-five, fifty..

He took a deep breath. This was what he'd been waiting for. This is what he'd been trained his whole life for.

Forty seconds, thirty-five, thirty...

He dropped his arms down to the side and looked out over the large opening. There were supplies everywhere. He glanced over at his district mate, Chloe, and nodded. They had a plan. They had always had a plan.

Fifteen seconds, ten, nine...

This was it. He got into position, and watched the clock.

Five, four, three, two...

The buzzer sounded a second later and he bounded off of his platform. He smirked as he met Chloe in the middle of the clearing."Let's do this."

She nodded, and the two took off. As the two ran he looked at the scene around him. Several of the females were already running away. Cowards. He was watching them as they ran, and nearly tripped over a small back pack. He smirked, he wasn't worried about something of such little consequence. He was after the jack pot.

He reached the cornucopia, and jumped into the action. In less than a minute he took out two tributes. He had been trained for this specific situation, this moment. He and Chloe were the best of the district. They knew how each other thought and fought. They knew each other's strengths and weaknesses. They'd been a team since they were twelve. They were best friends.

As the cornucopia cleared out he smirked, now they were alone. The other careers from district one were long gone. They would be the most difficult to take on, but there was plenty of time. Maybe they would take out some of the other tributes and leave Milo and Chloe with less work to do.

"Anything good?"

Cloe walked over to where he was rummaging through the supplies. He nodded. "Plenty. We're set."

She smiled, and together the two sorted through the various weapons that were available. There were swords, knives, bows and arrows, and it was easy to stock up. They each took a few knives, shoving them down their boots, up the sleeves of their shirts, anywhere they could fit one.

Knives were Milo's specialty. He could hit anything from a distance. It had taken some practice, but now that he was older he never missed. Cloe was good with a bow. Between the two of them, there was no getting close.

Their only concern was nature. But thanks to the training programs before the games, He was fairly confident in that now too.

He started looking around now, there were dead tributes everywhere. At least five of them were dead already. Slowly he walked over to the closet one. It was one of the kids from 12. He bent down and closed the eye lids. For the firs time in years, he questioned what they were doing. He'd been trained to do this, he'd been trained to handle it, but nothing could have prepared him for his first kill. His first murder.

He took a deep breath, and stood up. He couldn't let this get to him. He had to win. He or Chloe. District Two hadn't had a winner in four years. It's time.

His thoughts were broken by the cannon. Six. Six dead already. Not even half of what was to come. He looked at Cloe. "You ready?"

She nodded, "Of course."

We picked up the back packs that we'd put together, and headed into the woods. We needed to get this over with as soon as possible. Then either he could die and not worry about it anymore, or he could go home. Home to his family, and his girlfriend. Renny. He wondered if he'd ever see her again. If he did make it home, he was going to ask her to marry him. He'd be able to support her then, and a family. Maybe.

Milo and Chloe moved through the forest with ease. It wasn't long before they came across one of the District Six tributes. Chloe raised her bow to take her down from a distance, but the girl looked up just as Chloe released the arrow, and it missed her by mere inches. Together Chloe and Milo surged forward, he gave his arm a quick shake, and one of the knives he'd stashed slipped down and into his hand.

The girl was running, her hair was long and blond and whipped behind her. It reminded me of Renny. I shook my head and ran after her. I couldn't let Renny distract me. This wasn't Renny. Renny was safe at home. I calculated the distance between me and the girl, and the angle, and threw the knife. It hit home, square in the back, and she went down. I walked over to her, she was moaning and trying to scramble away from me. I sighed and stabbed her heart, more to get her out of her misery than actually wanting to kill her. Chloe came up behind me. "We good?."

Another cannon sounded. I nodded. "If that's what you wanna call it. Let's go."

We took off again. After a few hours of walking and getting no where I sighed. "We should split up, we'll cover more ground that way."

She didn't say anything for a moment, but eventually nodded, she didn't say what we were both thinking. We couldn't stay together the whole time. The two of us together were unstoppable, and even if we made it all the way to the end, one of us would have to kill the other. If we separated, we had a better of chance of one of us getting knocked off before it came down to that. "Alright, be careful."

I nodded. I would be. She would be too. We hugged briefly, then went our own ways. It wasn't long after that when I saw the guy from District Ten. He was standing beneath a tree. This was too easy. I glanced up just in time to see a girl hopping around from tree to tree. I recognized her too. I'd thrown a knife at her earlier, but the guy from 10 had gotten her out of the way, she'd escaped with little more than a gash on her arm. It had frustrated me greatly. But, now I would get my revenge.

I walked forward and threw the knife before he even had a chance to turn around. Another cannon sounded as he dropped to the ground, and I picked up my knife as I went forward. I looked up into the trees, but I couldn't see the girl anywhere anymore. No matter, I'd find her later. I kept going.

Soon though it started to get dark, so I started looking for somewhere to sleep. The first thought I had was to find a tree somewhere, but with the girl I'd seen moments ago hopping around up there somewhere, I wasn't ready to risk that yet, so I looked around a little lower to the ground.

There. It was a fallen tree. A very big, very large, and very round fallen tree. He pulled out his sleeping bag, and slipped into, then shimmied up against the trunk. It was dark enough that no one would be able to see him if they walked through, and the log was big enough that it was unlikely that anyone would try to climb over it. He pulled some leaves over the lower half of his body, and then the top of them too, and when he was confident that he was fairly well camouflaged in case he didn't wake up early enough in the morning, he settled in to get some sleep.

But then, of course, the anthem started. It showed the faces of all the tributes, and then all was dark again. He was safe. For now.

************************************************

The next morning he woke up early, so the camouflage hadn't really been necessary, and wasted no time in moving on. He walked for an hour or two, and suddenly a scream pierced the silence of the Forrest. He knew that scream. He'd heard it several times through the past several years of training. Chloe.

It had come from the right, so he started sprinting in that direction. He didn't want her to die, but he knew one of them had to. He didn't want it to be him, but he didn't want her to die alone either. Another scream, this one was different, "MILO!!!"

His name echoed through the arena, and he pushed harder. She was close, he could feel it. "Chloe!!"

"Milo!"

That was the sound of relief. She knew he was here. He made it over a small hill and saw her running towards him, stumbling. "Milo!"

He slid to a stop in front of her, and realized that her bow and arrow was missing. "Chloe? What happened?"

She slid to the ground, and he almost didn't catch her in time. He slid down to the ground with her in my arms. "Chloe?"

He lifted his hand away from her side to see what had caused her to stumble. She'd been stabbed, right in the stomach. He took a shaky breath. "Oh Chloe."

She looked up for him, her eyes wide with the pain. "Milo, you have to win."

He nodded meekly. "I will. I will, I promise...who did this?"

She coughed, "The boy from One."

He sighed, "I'll get him back Chloe. Don't worry, I'll get him back."

She nodded, "Can you just, end it, please? It hurts so bad."

He gulped. He didn't want to. This was his best friend. That's why they had split up, so that they wouldn't have to do the killing blow. He nodded. "We've had a good run."

She nodded. He pulled out one of his knives, and raised it to strike, but she touched his hand, pausing him for a moment. "I would have let you win."

He bit his lip. Hard. He couldn't let her see him cry. He bent down and kissed her forehead. "I'll win for you."

He shoved the knife into her chest, trying to keep it from hurting her as much as possible, she winced for a second, and then was still. The cannon sounded for his friend, and he knew she was gone. Then he cried. He cried hard and held his friend close to him. He hadn't planned on this. He hadn't planned on being here when it happened. He hadn't planned on doing it himself. He sat upright, and pushed a strand of her black hair away from her face. "I'll win for you."

He pulled the knife out of her chest and wiped it clean on her shirt, and kissed her forehead once more before standing up. He stared down at her for a moment, but then he heard the twig snap. "Good, now I won't have to finish her off."

Milo gripped the knife in his hand, and turned fast, the boy from one barely had time to raise his bow before Milo's knife flew into his chest. He hit the ground. The cannon sounded, and Milo took off again. Leaving the knife behind. He didn't want it. It had killed his best friend, as well as her killer. He didn't want the knife any longer. He had plenty of others.

After a few minutes of running he reached the lake. He hadn't been there more than a few minutes when he heard talking. He turned around quietly and moved through the trees. Not far off there were two girls. In his opinion, little girls. He reached for a knife before he stepped out from behind the tree. They were talking about treating up. He liked the one kid's display of defiance. A knife to her throat, and still she fought back. That was something at least. Sarcasm was sharp in his tone when he spoke. "Yeah, team up. That will work."

He threw a knife, aiming at the tree between their faces. He met his mark, harming neither of them but most likely scaring them. That's what he wanted, he wanted them to be scared of him. He'd just lost his best friend. He wasn't in the mood to be generous.

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Words;; 2,064
Notes;; Sorry it's kinda long lol got a little carried away :-D

[Summer Frost]

Chloe looked out over the cornucopia as the timer counted down. Her eyes swept to her opponents. She had studied them. Every day in the training arena, she had taken a couple minutes out if her training exercises to watch everyone. Some she was disappointed in, other she was surprised. She started at the District One boy for a moment. He would be a tough opponent but knew that Milo would be able to handle him.

Milo. Her head turned in his direction and she gave him a smile. He was probably the only one that she smiled at now-a-days. He looked to her and nodded. Her face went straight and she nodded as well. Their plan was good. There could be error, but it could be fixed.

As the last few seconds arrived, her gaze narrowed. The buzzer sounded and she was off. It didn't take more than a couple seconds to meet Milo in the middle. He spoke quickly and she nodded. They didn't have much time in here before it would be a blood bath. Without weapons they wouldn't be as powerful as those with weapons. She kept her eyes in the cornucopia. She didn't want to get side-tracked. But when a stumble from Milo came out of the corner of her eye she reached out to steady him. Natural instinct of course.

When he smirked she gave a smirky grin. She had to love his personality. It was great to have around. They both proceeded on to the cornucopia. As Milo took out two opponents, she watched his back and took out one as well. They were in sync. They were always in sync. That came with the territory of knowing some for years. Of being a team. Of being best friends. Her gaze swept to him as he finished. For her he was more. So much more. She really loved him. She had never told him though. He was happy. Happy with Renny.

Things could never work between them, especially now. Now that they were in this. One of them would have to die and she would. She would give herself up so he could go on and live. Live for the both of them. She sighed inwardly. This had to happen. It was fate. He needed to win. As the cornucopia finally cleared out, she turned back to him. He was kneeling over a bag and rummaging through it. "Anything good?"

[/b]

When he said that they were all set she smiled. This would help them out so much more. She grabbed a couple knives, leaving most of them for Milo. The two she grabbed she stuck in her boots. They were a last resort. As she slung a bow over her shoulders she looked around. Bodies lay everywhere. Some still holding weapons, others not. She walked over to a girl who looked like she had grabbed all the arrows. Chloe's eyes narrowed. The little witch was holding her weapons! She snatched them out of the girls lifeless hands and walked back to Milo.

He was just standing up from closing the district 12's eyelids. Her face softened and she ached to put a hand on him. But knew that somewhere Renny was probably watching. She knew how he was felling right now. Questioning this. Everything. But for her, she needed this. Her brother had died in these games. She was butter towards them, but wanted to win. She or Milo. No Milo. She couldn't let herself think about winning. Milo had to win. He had someone to go back too. She didn't. She wouldn't.

He turned towards her after the six cannons sounded. That left a lot still. Her eyes went to his and she nodded. "Of course." they shouldered the backpacks and started off to the forest. She took her bow off her back and knocked an arrow. She had to be prepared. It was a couloir moments before they saw their next opponent. The girl from District Six. Chloe lowered herself slightly and pulled the bows string back. Milo stood behind and to the side of her. Just as she was about to release the girl looked up. Chloe let the arrow fly but it missed by a mere few inches.

Milo took off running and shaking the knives down his sleeves. She followed suit pulling a knife out of her boot as the bow slid onto her back again. She could shoot while running. It would end up disastrous, especially if Milo was running in front of her. She watched as Milo threw a knife and hit her straight in the back. The girl fell and Milo walked up to end it. Chloe waited a few seconds before walking up behind him. "We good?"

His answer summed up my thoughts. He had compared that girl to Renny. He was bitter and why shouldn't he be. Chloe held in her sigh and reached out to touch him but pulled back when he started getting up. As they continued walking Chloe would pause. Every little sound was making her jump and the hours were seeming to go too long. Then those words. Those fateful words. Split up. She paused. She didn't want too. Together as a team they were amazing. Alone. Alone, Milo was great but she doubted herself. She knew it would have to happen at some point. But she was hoping for after the first night.

She nodded her head. "Alright. Be careful." She watched as he nodded back. They hugged for a couple seconds and then they separated. As she watched him go, she had every nerve in her body screaming at her to follow. But she didn't. She couldn't. This was the plan now. As she walked away she kept her eyes trained on the trees and ground. Her ears strained in the silence. There was no sound and this wasn't good. It could mean that someone was watching her. Not ever a couple minutes later though a cannon sounded. She jumped and her eyes widened. That could be Milo! She covered her mouth as she almost screamed out his name. If it wasn't him, then he would come running, but so would the other tributes.

She continued walking but didn't hear another cannon. It made her nervous not knowing. But as the sky darkened she started trying to find somewhere to rest. Then the anthem would play and the tributes who had died would be shown. She would know then. As she found a hold in a tree, she squeezed in. It had just been big enough for her to sit up and sleep. She had a view of the sky, but the vines from the tree hung in front of her.

As the anthem played she parted the vines and looked out. Her fingers lay crossed as she watched. He didn't show up. She closed her eyes for a moment and smiled. They could see each other again. She just hoped that it was before the final. She didn't want to see his face in the cornucopia again. It wouldn't suit the both of them. She leaned back again, the vines dropping to close in front of her as her eyelids closed and she fell into a light sleep.


🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹

Chloe woke up to the snap of a twig. Someone was near her spot. Her hand gripped her bow as she silently cursed herself. She was stupid! She had no room to maneuver in here. She was a sitting duck! She stayed silent and heard footsteps walk away. But she stayed. She needed to wait a couple minutes. When she decided the coast was clear she looked out for a moment. No one was there.

She gave a sigh of relief and stumbled out. Walking with her now and arrows in hand she continued. She needed food though. She was getting hungry. Oh so hungry. She leaned against the tree for a moment pausing to take a swig of water from a water bottle in the pack. The pack lay at her feet and the bow propped up next to it. She closed her eyes for a moment then heard a voice. "Oh too easy." Her eyes snapped open and she went to go roll out of the way, but she stumbled over a root. She picked herself up quickly. But not quick enough. She turned to grab her bow, not realizing where the voice had come from. It had echoed. She couldn't tell.

But she felt the cool metal slide into her stomach then back out. Her hands flew to her stomach as she screamed. The District One boy stood there was a sardonic grin on his face. She backed up and tried reaching into her boot but to now avail. He reached towards her grabbing her throat. "MILO!!!"[/b] He started coming towards her with the knife again, but this time she was ready. With her hands still to her stomach she swung up her knew and kneed him in the groin. He doubled over and she ran.

She knew she didn't have long and she had to get to Milo. Had to tell him. She had too. She didn't look back as she ran. It was a couple moments before she heard her name called out. A small smile came to her face. He came. Of course he would. She was in need of him and he always would. Soon he always would have. She was losing blood and fast. She called out to him again, her voice flooding with relief. "Milo!"

As she neared a hill, he came over the top of it. She started stumbling as she ran but was feeling joyed by seeing him. "Milo!"[/b] she came to a stop as he slid in front of her. And as he spoke, she felt her energy draining. She started falling to the ground and she closed her eyes for the impact. Her stomach hurt and his arms wrapping around her to catch her made her wince. He said her name and the worry in his voice made her start tearing up. His next words were shaky but she kept her eyes closed. It hurt so bad. The adrenaline had allowed her to run, but at what cost? She felt so tired. And sore.

She looked up to him, her eyes wide with the pain, after a couple moments of trying to get her breath. She needed to tell him. But the words wouldn't come out. So she went for something else. ""Milo, you have to win."[/b] She watched his head nod and he talked. But his voice sounded so far away. She didn't want to tell him. He would go on a rampage to avenge her death and he had to win. But she had to tell him. He would hate not knowing just as much. She let out a cough before speaking again. "The boy from One."[/b]

She nodded. Of course he would. That was how Milo was. But she was in pain. It hurt. It hurt terribly. "Can you just, end it, please? It hurts so bad."[/b] Her eyes closed for a moment as she leaned her head against him. She heard him gulp. She knew what he was feeling. But she didn't want to go on. She didn't need to. She would've died sooner or later and right now she would rather it be sooner.

He spoke and she gave a weak smile and opened her eyes up. She nodded. She watched as he pulled out one of his knives, and raised it to strike, but she touched his hand, pausing him for a moment. "I would have let you win." That was as close as admitting her true feelings as she could get. She just hoped he understood. She watched as he bit his lip and she had to admire his actions. He was being so strong. So strong for his best friend who was laying there almost dying. Her eyes closed for a moment not wanting to look at him when he did it. His lips touched her forehead and she smiled. She felt tears start coming out of her eyes and she murmured it softly. Not even sure if he could hear her. "I love you."

She felt the cool blade slid into her chest. Right where her heart was. She winced for a second and then went still. She was gone. Her light was out. Her last thought was of them before the Games. Of them sitting in a clearing near their houses. Of them laughing and smiling and joking about both winning. As her last heart beat left her body she felt his head on her and as she left the world she felt loved beyond what she could've imagined. [/blockquote]

OOC: Oh Jesus that was hard too write and long xD