Author's Games Entries

Task Two: Katie Andy Derson *So Not Edited*

Warm was pleasant. Sweet, sweet warmth that flooded the body and left the mind in bliss. Katie enjoyed what was warm and comfortable. Hot, though, was another feeling entirely. It was blistering and evil, filled to the brim with hatred as it sucked away all strength and left one dead from heatstroke.

Katie, unfortunately, was hot as she ascended in the elevator. Rubbing her mittens, she looked over the outfit they'd stuffed on her. It wasn't the usual outfit that consisted of tights, a tight shirt, bad-ass boots, and a light jacket. No, she had on tight pants, warm socks that were just too big, combat bots that fit way too snug, a long thin sleeve shirt, and an extra jacket that was extremely thick. Plus, a blue bald-cap looking thing with ear flaps, and a winter hat. Her body stiffened and all too quick she figured out why they'd stuck so much clothes on her. Either the arena was freezing cold, or blistering hot. It was to help or hinder and Katie prayed it was the former.

"It's not cold here, but will it be when I reach the top?" she asked aloud. There was no answer and that was good--it meant no one was listening. For once.

Ever since she got to the Capital people followed her every move. Cameras decked the halls and the second she reached the arena they'd be hidden everywhere. No privacy at all, it seemed. What if I have to use the restroom? God, they better have the decency to hide that. She'd be live for all her family, and Sarah, to see. They're watching. God, don't trip, don't trip. Smile. Blueberry muffin, that's how you smile. Fierce. Fight.

For an entire week she trained. It wasn't much, but she'd gotten the slightest bit better at aiming and a lot better at hand to hand combat. The simple traps were easy to learn, but she doubted there'd be too much time to set them up. In the arena, she'd need to be faster than ever. Running was easy, but would the land be good for her to run?

Words, popping into place. Uneven lands shifting and clanking against one another in ferocious blows as the world blew itself apart. The thoughts were sudden and ended far too soon. She wasn't even able to recall them in the next minute, not that she'd want to. The elevator had stopped ascending and she wasn't feeling too hot.

"Ice," she whispered. "I'm up high, on some sort of glacier? The sky is vivid white with spots of gray, so it'll be snowing again soon. It's covering everything." Inside she groaned. While hot was bad, cold was the opposite of everything she enjoyed. It was a hell of ice and wind that burnt her cheeks with cold pain that never ceased. Chapped lips opened and closed as she took a breath in that way, her nose stinging from the intense change. The Cornucopia, usually a known place to get supplies, was definitely not solid. It rocked about in the waves, knocking some smaller pieces of metal into the water.

The sky changed for a second and a large, rounded box appeared. Spinning, it counted down from sixty in large, blue letters framed by white. Her eyes adverted from that back to the arena. She'd have to figure out where to go, what to do, and how to do it in one simple minute. Easy. At least...in theory.

"There's a mountainous region, a bunch of trees, mostly pine...the rest are bare and too thick, that could be dangerous," she muttered. There was really no need to speak so lowly, for over the wind the other tributes couldn't hear her. They too stood rigid on their platforms, looking at each other or the arena in fear. Pitiful, she thought. "There's a shore line, then a vast amount of water covering the rest of the arena. Hmm...the Cornucopia sits around sixty feet below me, floating on a chunk of ice in the middle of the water. I'll have to jump and swim for it."

Ideas fluttered about and by the time it reached thirteen seconds Katie had a plan. It was rudimentary, but not bad, and if she played her cards right she'd make it out alive for the first day. Twelve was normally a Bloodbath district, but Katie had watched the previous Games. She knew how they worked and from watching the other tributes in training, she knew how they worked as well.