"Welcome to the Liberty Province! Let the Games begin!"
Lara burst forward, immediately approaching the seemingly endless abyss, but not before grabbing a pack of food and a match box. She shook the box to make sure it had contents - she had heard of a Games where there had been empty backpacks - and satisified with the fact that it contained matches continued on her way.

She reached the edge of the abyss, skidding to a halt. She cursed unde her breath. No supplies were left in the abyss - or at least any where she was. A girl she recognised from District Seven - what was her name....something Wen, anyway - ran over to the abyss, probably hoping to find the same thing Lara was - supplies. She quickly leaped away from the edge, and pushed the unfortunate girl into the dark abyss below. Her screams seemed to echo in Lara's mind.

Lara stared at the abyss for a second, stunned. Then she noticed a rather burly man running at her from the corner of her eye. Without wasting a second, she picked up the food pack and match box which she had placed beside her and ran towards the foreboding forest.

She was pleased to hear her score was so high as, being a Career, it would be expected of Hadrian back in her District. She hoped her's and the male's were scores that impressed their District as she forced a smile to her face, glancing back at the television screen with only half her mind on listening to the other's scores. The one's with really low one's, 5's or lower, would most likely perish in the bloodbath at the Cornucopia. It happened every year.



As Hadrian rose into the arena to stand on her platform she had to blink several times to allow her eyes to adjust, just in time to be able to survey her surroundings. Then, suddenly;

"Welcome to Liberty Province! Let the games begin!"

She was off her platform instantly, aiming to get one of the backpacks before someone else did. A small body ran into her and she, being taught from an early age to fight, lashed out with her foot to force the person away. Her eyes shifted for a moment as she saw the tiny blonde girl from District 10 fall to the ground, crying out in pain as she grasped her side. Probably broken a few ribs, Hadrian thought as she turned back and dodged a punch by the male from District 9.

Hadrian managed to reach the backpack, her hands immediately slipping through the straps to pull it onto her back as the little girl from District 10 reached her, her small eyes scared as she tried to wrestle the item from the much taller, and stronger, teenager. Without a second thought, Hadrian reached out to tightly grab the girls head in her hands and gave a sudden twist, effectively breaking the neck of the young child. Syla, her brain drew up from its memory of the scores. She dropped the body of the girl to the ground before glancing to the people fighting around her.

She felt a sharp pain on her left shoulder and turned, ducking another hard blow by the male from District 7. The Career quickly punched him in the stomach to wind him before sprinting away, her eyes on the District 2 female. " Career time," she mumbled to herself as she quickly thought of the alliance that Districts 1,2 and 4 always came up with. What was her name again, Hadrian couldn't remember as her eyes glanced around the area; taking in the blood covered snow on the ground as she moved.

" District 2!" She called as she came closer, her light brown eyebrows raised. " Allies?" She hoped the girl would agree and, maybe, would tell Hadrian her name.

---

Thalia frowned, her eyes growing troubled at this as she kept her gaze on the scores. It wasn't high or the lowest but.. it definitely wasn't the best. Now, her thoughts went to the arena..



"Welcome to Liberty Province! Let the games begin!"

She was standing on the small circular plate that stood in a ring with all the others but, instead of heading for the bloodbath, the young girl decided she'd rather die of the cold or lack of food and water than be beaten to death at someone's hands. Thalia jerked back and turned to the woods, sprinting like her life depended on it as she raced toward the sparse trees and the mountains that lie behind them. She'd find a way to survive as long as she could but she didn't see surviving as a long-term thing for herself.

The blonde girl found a few trees that were close together and created a small space that could shelter someone small from the elements, at least for a short period. She quickly crawled inside the small space, her teeth chattering as she leaned against a tree and wrapped her arms around her legs. She'd stay here for a short time before she would return to the Cornucopia, she planned. Surely there would be something leftover for her, hopefully.

Cannon shots rang out and Thalia tried to count them to focus on something other than the cold that seeped into her body. She'd always wondered how a Tribute felt when they were a survivor of the initial bloodbath and she felt herself grow horrified but relieved. Afraid because it meant she was still a contender to fight to death.. Relieved because she had escaped with her life, for now.

But Thalia wondered if there'd be a chance of allying with someone as she silently crawled out from the trees and into the snow outside. It was darker and as good a time as any to return to the Cornucopia and search for something to keep herself alive. A jacket, a blanket, even matches. Warmth would be great but food and water would be better as she licked her already cracking lips, the moisture in her throat had dried up too which left it dry and feeling parched.

The small girl blended in as she darted from shadow to shadow, only her pale hair seeming odd in the blackness.

Lara stared as the District 8 girl fell to the ground. She had been hiding in the trees, and held snow in her hands, just inches from her face. She immediately dropped the snow, just as another thomp sounded in the trees. She could just make out the sihouette of the District Seven boy. Then, the cannon shots. Lara countd them as they shot, eight in total. Then the anthem played, and the images showed in the sky. She didn't see the District Seven girl up there. Maybe she had somehow climbed out of the hole? Or she hadn't seen it...?

She turned away from where the hovercraft was picking up the dead bodies. She nibbled at a cracker from her food pack, then put it away. It was just making her thirstier. She turned around and used her nimbleleg to speed away. It was getting dark, and who knew what lay in store tomorrow?

When she was happy where she had chosen, she climed into a sturdy looking tree, as high as she could. Being dead, it didn't conceal her that much,but it was better than being on the ground.

The first thing he needed to do was find shelter and disguise himself so that he would be less visible in the stark black of this arena.
With his quaking hands before him, Leo made his way through the forest slowly, the bitterness of the wind and the cold had not diminished, and with no legitimate jacket to speak of his body temperature was dropping rapidly. The thick clouds in the darkened sky allowed no light through and made forward progress difficult, heavily falling snow also hindered free movement as the snow continued to pile up as he walked.

Figuring it would be best to find out what was in his bag sooner rather than later he stopped beneath one of the thicker branched dead trees and, placing the warm-ish sleeping bag which he had been clutching to himself to hold in his warmth, on the snow before him.
Pulling the pack off of his shoulders, He unzipped it, gingerly in the darkness Leo began to pull out the items within his bag. On the top was something soft and large, struggling to make out what it was that he was holding he lifted the object completely from the bag holding it up before him, and then suddenly it struck him he was holding a jacket, a warm heavily insulated jacket!
With a sigh of relief he unzipped the jacket and pulled it around his shivering form. Continuing on he removed two small daggers, careful not to touch the sharp blades, immediately he hooked them into his belt loops, there were a few other assorted things most of which would be extremely vital to his survival. finding a pair of gloves at and an empty water bottle at the bottom of the bag he quickly scooped some of the snow around him into the bottle and capped it off.
Before putting on the gloves he unzipped the jacket slightly and slipped the cold water bottle in, hoping that body heat would melt it and give him some water. Rolling up the sleeping bag tightly he stowed it in the now considerably lighter backpack along with the neatly coiled rope from the abyss.
Feeling warmer and slightly less tired Leo pressed on hoping that maybe in this frigid wilderness he would find an ally, perhaps even his district partner Lara. As he continued forward he began to warm up, sensation returning to his fingers and his breath becoming less labored.

And then he stumbled into a less snowy track, his eyes widened as he realized that these were distinctly human footprints. Looking back the way that he had come he realized just how easy it would be for another tribute to have been following him, less hindered by the snow. Silently cursing his stupidity he turned into the tracks and picked up his pace to a slow jog, not so much as to cause a sweat but enough to get his blood flowing and out distance his pursuers if there were any. Hopefully dumb luck had led him to Lara's tracks and he was trailing her now.

Just as abruptly as he had come upon it the trail of footprints ended, terminating at the base of a tree, Shit! he thought to himself. Now what? He looked up into the tree, hoping beyond all hope that whoever was up there was unarmed and willing to become allies. Pulling a dagger from his hip he positioned himself behind a neighboring tree and called out,
"Hello?" in a voice only barely above a whisper. The moaning of the wind through the dead trees masking his voice to anyone who wasn't in his immediate vicinity.

Serafina opened her eyes. It was darker than before, she suspected it was still night. Well, it's better to be creeping around now, hopefully everyone's asleep she thought. The girl sat up. What was she thinking? Why did she head for the mountains? Why didn't she head for the forest at the beginning? She sighed. She then remembered her backpack, and got it out of her sleeping bag. She unzipped it, revealing the contents. At the top was a thin jacket and a pair of gloves. Serafina slipped them on immediately, any extra warmth would do her good in this cold. Underneath the clothing was a flashlight and a little food and water. She was about to put her medical kit and sleeping bag in her pack, when something at the bottom caught her eye. She pulled it out out her pack. They were a pair of night vision glasses, a rare item in the arena. Serafina thanked her lucky stars and put them on. Her surroundings then became clearer. She put all her belongings into her pack, and began to walk in the direction of the forest.

Not long after, Serafina heard two cannon shots, one after the other. She wondered if they had fought each other, then both died fighting. Serafina soon got thristy. She slid off one of her gloves and scooped up a handful of ice. She sniffed it, just to make sure no dirt or animal urine had contaminated it. The snow smelt strange, and slightly familiar. Serafina's blood ran cold when she remembered the smell. The ice was poisoned, she knew it. All district 4 children knew that smell, the smell of a poisoned fish. They had to learn it, to be sure a fish was fine to eat. Serafina dropped the ice, she would drink a little from her water bottle and drink fresh water when she got the chance. She continued her journey towards the forest.

Serafina arrived soon after. She began to walk into the forest, her night vision glasses guiding her. She heard a twig crackle in the distance. She followed the noise, as it could be an animal, leading her to food or a water supply. She soon realized she was following footprints. She shook her head. How stupid can you get? Those footprints are as clear as day! I might not be able to fight well, but at least I have the sense to cover up my footprints! she thought. She stopped. What if the footprints led towards a career? Should she tell them she was from district 4, and they should team up with her as district 4 was usually a career district? She decided to keep following the footprints, she had the edge, she could run away if needed. After a while, Serafina found she was following two sets of footprints. Would there be two of them? Against all her instincts, she kept walking. The footprints led towards a nearby tree, and under the tree stood a boy of about 16 or 17. She remembered him from the scoring, he was from district six. I could kill him easily and quietly she thought. Daggers hung from his belt, Serafina only then realized she had no weapons. She looked around desperately. A thick, dead branch lay on the ground near her. She snuck towards it, trying hard to not make a sound. She grabbed it and started to creep towards him. He was staring up into the tree.
"Hello?" he whispered.
Even though he only spoke in a whisper, Serafina was directly behind him, and she had not been expecting it. Serafina let out a scream; high-pitched and eerie in the mostly quiet night. The boy turned in suprise and shock. Serafina took off like a speeding bullet. She dropped the branch and ran. She did not think that she might be leaving footprints, or that he might throw his dagger at her, all she cared was that she got away, and fast.

Lara looked up as someone whispered, "Hello?" She was about to quietly slip aay, when someone screamed. "Ah, shit!" Lara hissed as she tumbled from the branch in surprise. She landed on her back, and gave out a small groan. Seeing the boy at the base of the tree, and the girl that had just sprinted off, she quickly jumped to her feet. Then she noticed the footprints. God, she was stupid. At least the snow seemed to be already covering them up.

She turned to the boy, and noticed the dagger in his hand. Why hadn't he just killed her wihout saying hello? It would have made much more sense.

Lara just stood there, not sure what to do. She felt like she couldn't move her feet, even though it was probably the smartest thing to do. She gave the boy a weak smile, and managed to take a small step backwards. Well, her feet were working again. Would he just throw the dagger if she ran now? She slipped amatch out of the box. She wasn't really sure what she would do, but ifhe did try try hurt her, she would want some form of a weapon.

"District 2! Allies?"
Mallory glanced up to find the source of the voice. Her gaze darted around the ring before resting on the district 1 girl, who must have been the one to call out, as she was now looking at Mallory expectantly.
"Allies." Mallory said in agreement and nodded her confirmation. She was relieved, she had heard that districts 1, 2, and 4 always formed alliances and then rocked the competition, she was glad this year was no exception.
The action in the ring had seemed to die down all of a sudden, everyone either lying dead in the snow, or made off into the woods. Mallory glanced around in search of Ian, her district partner. She had seen him in a fight just before the district one girl stopped her, and now he was nowhere to be found.
"Do you see your district partner anywhere?" Mallory asked the girl, "I can't seem to find mine, but it looks like we're the only ones still out here so we should see what supplies were left behind..." Mallory shrugged her backpack off of her shoulders so she could keep it handy for collecting more items, but when she went to open it, she saw there was already a huge opening in it, and about half the contents had been lost.
"What the..? Damn... Someone must have tore it open... The supplies could be anywhere by now, probably some people already grabbed them for themselves..." Mallory went through her bag to see what was left.
"Not bad. I still have some food, a flash light, and matches. And I snagged a jacket and water bottle as well." She saw something glint in the bottom of the backpack, and she reached in, pulling out the object. "Looks like I got a dagger as well." she said with a bit of a smile. Though she would prefer a sword any day, a dagger was close enough, and certainly better than nothing. In addition, she knew there had to be a sword around here somewhere, she'd just have to deal with the poor sucker who was in her way of it, that's all.
Mallory got to her feet and started to step through the bloodied snow, "Did you manage to get yourself anything?" she asked the girl, then realized she didn't even know what her name was, and seeing as she had referred to her as 'district 2' the other girl probably didn't know hers either.
"Oh right, I'm Mallory by the way, in case you had forgotten. And what was your name again?"

"Welcome to Liberty Province! Let the games begin!"
Jiyong Stayed silent on his platform as everyone raced toward the center of the ring. Like a lion he watched everyone’s movements picking out the weakest links. Through the times of training JiYong watched everyone and how they performed. He had been working his whole life for this and knew that to get somewhere you had to think, use surroundings, and never let your guard down. he continued to eye a safe route and when there was an opening the boy made his move.
Cracking his knuckles the black haired boy jumped of his platform and raced to a bag. He had reached the bag in a mere minuet and once his fingers touched it and got it around his back he was jerked around and pounced on. Glaring at the person who instantly went for his throat JiYong yanked the hair back on District 8’s Male Tribute Jaylin Nether. A smirk played on the 17 year olds face as he instantly grabbed ahold of the boys black hair and yanked harshly on it as Jay tried to strangle him. Jiyong felt a sting when Jaylin punched him square in the face and a bit of blood rushed out of his nose. The boy must have thought he looked cool as he pinned the much skinnier boy down and decided to beat him before he actually tied to kill Jiyong. But of course the career boy would have none of that. Watching the boy train he knew his left arm was weaker than his right, and he focused on just training his right arm. Just as long as Jiyong could get his right hand out of the way he would be fine. While yanking the boys hair back his grasp on Ji’s neck loosened and tried to grab the black haired boys hands from his hair—allowing JiYong to maneuver their stance and be on top pinning the other down. JiYong’s hands flew to the boy’s neck instantly-it was a matter of life and death and Ji would not waste a single second trying to live. As he choked the boy who, underneath him, struggled for air he couldn’t and wouldn’t deny he felt bad for killing someone and as he eyed the boy. Finally With a soft mumble of sorry he twisted the blue eyed boy’s neck with a sickening snap. Grabbing the boys huge bag-Which JiYong prayed had a bow and arrow in it- he flung it over his own back as well as the other bag he had. JiYong let his head fall back limply before he roughly shoved his body over the edge of the abyss, not even taking a second to stop to watch him fall instead he went running to get more supplies.

JiYong quickly grabbed what he wanted and dodged others looking for the other careers. Spotting Hadrian his partner and the district 2 girl talking he ran over to them. “Are the Career’s teaming up?” He asked standing next to his partner. "Oh right, I'm Mallory by the way, in case you had forgotten. And what was your name again?" he arrived right as Mallory-district 2 was introducing herself. “I am JiYong District 1.” He stated with a blank expression.

Hadrian gave a tight nod of acknowledgement. Good, she had an ally now. That would definitely help, she knew that for a fact.

" Do you see your district partner anywhere?" The girl asked her, to which Hadrian thought for a moment as she looked around before shaking her head. " He was over on his platform," she said calmly as the girl began to go through her bag. The District 1 girl watching as she continued, " I'm not sure where he went after though." Her tone was frustrated as her high ponytail shook, whipping around the back of her head. The young woman quickly took this out and left the elastic around her wrist, it was much too cold for her to keep her hair up. " Someone probably tore it when they were trying to grab for it," the brunette answered softly as she looked over at Mallory.

" But we should check the Cornucopia for anything left behind," Hadrian murmured as she took her own bag from her back, curious as to what she had gotten. She unzipped it and quickly rifled through the items; a few full bottles of water, some food, a jacket which she put on, a tiny first aid kit, some rope and a sleeping bag. Hadrian re-zipped the bag and pulled it onto her back, " No weapons," she reported. " Some food and water, this jacket, some first aid stuff and some rope." She listed off the items, counting them on her fingers and coming up with several uses for each in her mind. " That's it."

Her dark eyes turned to Mallory as she introduced herself, to which the other girl responded while her head tilted up to see the taller girl properly. Suddenly, she was startled as her District counterpart ran up to them and stood beside her, " Are the Career's joining up?" he asked. Hadrian nodded, half turning to look at him, " Yeah, the alliance has begun." Then she glanced back at the District 2 girl as JiYong introduced himself, not even blinking as she had barely remembered the male's name. " I'm Hadrian," she murmured, " Same district as him; 1."

With an emotionless expression on her face, Hadrian turned to look at the Cornucopia and the blood staining the white snow. " We should see if there's anything else that we can salvage," she said softly, " or find your district partner." Her eyes shifted to Mallory, " What do you two think?"

"Well, it's nice to meet you both." Mallory said in a flat tone as she glanced between the two district one tributes and nodded firmly. "We definitely should see what other supplies we can find, I mean, we already have enough by the looks of it, but there has to be some lying around here that got left behind, so why not get what we can?" Mallory took the jacket out of her backpack and pulled it on, instantly feeling warmer. The jacket was a great insulator and did a good job of shielding the wind, she was definitely glad to have it, especially in an environment like the one they were in. She hoisted her backpack up onto her shoulders, carefully though, so that nothing else would fall out.
She glanced around the ring, blinking slowly. She then turned back to JiYong and Hadrian, "It seems like Ian, my district partner made off already." she shrugged, not so sure why he would have taken off so quick without stopping to find anyone to stick with, "But chances are, we'll come across him eventually, right?" she did a passive wave of the hand before turning and heading back towards the center of the ring, the wind and snow blowing in her face, but at least her jacket protected most of her body.
As she trekked on through the mostly red snow, her feet creating a light crunching noise, she felt as though she was off to an excellent start. Two allies already, and they were all very strong and had received impeccable scores in training, so in combination it seemed they'd be a force to be reckoned with. Add that to the fact that they all had plenty of supplies to themselves, and now that everyone was gone and some items were left behind, there were still more to be found. A small smile tugged on the corners of her mouth, but then it occurred to her that no matter how strong the group of careers remained, there could still only be one who prevailed. By the end of all this, maybe one of them would come out on top... who knows what would happen to the others? Mallory chose not to think about it, not yet anyways. She knew that any fear, any doubt would cripple her and destroy her, and she couldn't let something like that ruin her strong start.

Serafina ran. And ran. And ran. Why did she do that? She couldn't take him on, he was taller AND probably stronger than her. She finally stopped when she could not hear anyone coming after her. Serafina gasped for breath, she had run at least a mile. She collapsed on the icy snow. It was tempting her, she could imagine it now; cold, refreshing snow to cool her hoarse throat. But she coudn't. She had to stay alive, for.... well, herself. She got an idea. She built a mound of the snow, at placed her water bottle in the centre. Just like a cool freezer. Once she was satisisfied, she pulled out her water bottle and drank a few mouthfuls. Serafina applauded herself for her idea. But now she was cold. She shivered, and decided to find a place to spend the rest of the night. She found a tree, whose branches were strong and thick and could hold her up easily. She climbed it easily and curled up into a ball to sleep.

"Arrrgh!" cried Serafina.
Light blinded her as she realized she had her night vision glasses on in the day. She took them off and stuffed them into her bag. She quickly realized she probably alerted everything in the area that she was there. She did a quick scan of the area and jumped down from the tree. She then realized she had no plans whatsoever about where to go. She stood there thinking about where to go next. She thought about how she could have used some backup when she was trying to kill that boy. She smiled. She needed an ally. But who? The careers? They could probably tell by the look of her she wasn't one of them. That boy and whoever was in the tree? No way, she tried to kill them. The little girl from district 3 she pitied? Maybe, if times got tough. Then, it came to her. She had to find her district partner. What was his name again? Kaiden? Yes, that was it. She saw him at the bloodbath, he was tall, strong-looking and as much as Serafina didn't want to admit, very good-looking. She knew he would still be alive, he would have smelt the poison, and he looked strong enough to take on a rhino with no trouble at all, let alone a puny tribute. She hoped with all her heart he had not joined the careers, so she would not have to join them herself. Serafina breathed in heavily. She would just have to look for him.