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.

She knew the guy from Four would head into the mountains, probably to get away from the others and watch over the arena. She knew One and Two would opt for that or the forest, and it made definite sense that the Woody guy would go there too. All too soon a buzzer sounded and time was up. It was sink or swim, and Katie prayed to gods she didn't believe in that she'd be able to swim.

"Here goes life," she muttered. And she took the plunge. Falling was easy. Landing in freezing cold water and nearly drowning? Even easier. What was hard was getting back to the surface. Bubbles pooled around her as Katie hit a rock and propelled herself back to the surface, where she floated. Around the unlucky girl were tributes already beginning the bloodshed. Fists connected and groans filled the air. Sarah would've called it a bad group sex session.

The joke caused her to laugh, making salty water fill her lungs as she desperately tried to swim to shore. Every stroke caused her body to rise and fall. The waves grew high and she began to rock about, hands gripping air and water in a useless attempt to fight against herself. The huge layers of clothing they wrapped her in kept out the water but also weighed her down, making every stroke smaller and smaller. Ahead of her, a cannon sounded as the Careers reached the Cornucopia and started the killing. Someone grabbed a sword and she glanced over just in time to see the guy from Eleven lose an arm and get stabbed in the back by Samuel. The supposed pacifist sure didn't seem it as a grin spread over his face and he attacked those around him in a rage. Hell, she thought, that's a sweet twist.

During her struggle, Katie swam into the girl from Ten. The girl's muscular arms wrapped around Katie, both fighting to stay afloat. Katie, however, ended that with a punch to the guy and by wrapping her legs around the girl and squeezing tight. Grunting, they shared hits in the water. Ice flew up, hitting both in their battle. It was when Katie managed to draw blood by smacking the girl in the nose that someone came up from behind and hit her square in the spine.

Pain popped up along with the punch, spiking and dulling as she turned around, only to receive another punch to the face. It was Ten's brother, or something like that, the boy from her District. Vinchense's face was tight as he hit her, pulling Katie off of Tombra and continuing to strike. Bruises formed and Katie's lip burst, blood pooling down in long streaks. In the water there was little she could do to fight back. He had on the same outfit as she did but his hair showed through the waterproof cap--meaning he tried to take it off before realizing he needed it. With that random spurt of knowledge, Katie ducked and yanked it off his head.

For a second he lost balance and in that second she struck, hitting him hard in the jaw--damn, that hurt!--and swimming away from the two. She needed to get to the shore, to where the red seaweed floated about in chunks. The shore held the most promise to her. Though open for all too see, there were lots of snow build ups taller than ten feet and several potential places to hide. It was closest to the Cornucopia and the easiest place for her to stay hidden and watch the others, while having access to the waters and supplies.

In theory, perfect. Then, pain, rising up her spine and growing as something pierced the clothes. A blade, stopping just before the skin. It jutted out with sudden pressure as it did go further, drawing blood up right on her shoulder. Katie could neither write or narrate a fight scene, and what happened next was a red blur. A knife floated past and she picked it up, swam until she had turned around, and threw it at him. Blood splattered out as it hit him in the neck, stabbing Vinchense right in the jugular. Four cannons boomed at once--five dead in the first ten minutes.

Vinchense's sister had swam away, and at the sight of her dead brother her dark eyes locked with Katie's and she drew a line across her throat as the tears fell. I'm dead, Katie thought. No, she corrected, he is, and I'm wanted dead. Dammit! Get out of the water, get out of the water...

Swimming was tiring her out, and by the time she'd gotten to shore all Katie wanted to do was sleep and never wake up again. Slumping against the snowy ground, Katie's face hit it hard and she could feel the blood still flowing from her wound. If I lay here will I freeze to death?

Two more cannons went off in the time passing, but she heard less and less people fighting. There was a few shouts and grunts, then quiet. Only wind passed, screeching as it went. That's a red noise, very high pitched, powerful. Sarah would call it red. Maybe even round, but she doesn't like calling high pitched things round...what did she call it? Sharp? Needles! God, she'd love this sound. Katie could remember the two of them sitting around one day after school and discussing noises. The girl had a weird way of describing things that Katie just couldn't understand.

The snow would be brownish-orange, Katie decided, because Sarah hated that color and Katie definitely hated it. Lips turning blue, Katie stayed there, not moving anything. A girl passed by, waiting a few moments besides her head. The water along Katie's boots and neck was freezing bit by bit, cracking along the edges with all the force of a raging river. Nothing was safe and the longer she stayed out in the elements it would remain that way.

"Damn, it's cold," she muttered. It was Natasha, from Five. Her voice was thin and edged, snappish. Katie wasn't looking but if she was she knew there would be blood coating the girl. Natasha had came directly from the Cornucopia and by her gait, she'd be injured in the desperate battle that took place there. Natasha kicked her in the head, her boot rough against Katie's scalp. A burst of pain, then nothing, silence descending. An arena of nothing, then an arena of talk as she began muttering to herself again. God, this girl talks a lot. "Maybe I should stay here? Not too many dead bodies...those hovercrafts should come soon to take them out."

Pain, sinking from her stomach. It rose and attacked, worse than the stabbing, worse than anything. It was worse than when Sarah was reaped, worse than when Madeline told her she couldn't go home, worse than watching her mother try not to cry because her baby girl was going into the Hunger Games. It was worse than dying, worse than anything. Anxiety ate away at her soul and there wasn't a thing anyone in the world could do to stop it. Katie couldn't breathe. She couldn't think. All her plans, everything she'd decided, was going to waste. She couldn't move and find herself a nice hiding spot because the tribute next to her was a viscous as they got and wouldn't blink to stab her in the stomach and run off. Nothing could fix what had become of the moment.

At least, not until a second later, when Natasha shrugged and walked away.

Her boots splushed against the snow, shaking it off and moving forward all in one fluid motion. Backlash coated Katie but there wasn't a single bit of her that minded. All the worry that had filled her dissociated and flew away on wings that became smoke in the wind. Once Natasha was gone, Katie stripped off her bad layers. The heating pad pants, while nice, had begun to melt the ice and they wouldn't do well with the home she'd decided to create. Next she took off her extra coat, as it was much too thick. An idea popped into her head and she stuffed them with snow and threw them out into the water.

"There," she whispered, "distractions. Or, if I have to hide out, I can swim under it and hide behind it."

Simple, but easy. And the girl worked, walking up to an ice deposit and digging underneath it. The hole she made was at the very bottom and only a foot and a half wide, meaning if anyone saw it they'd only think it was an animals burrow. Proud of herself, the tribute continued digging inside, making it much bigger than what the hole said it was. Once she was able to fit herself inside there well enough, she started the second phase of her plan, which was much more complex. While the arena was silent, it was only some time before the others returned again. Only six or seven had died, meaning that there were far too many left to kill or maim her. Katie's dialogue was comforting, if not tedious. Each word reminded her of home and gave her ideas for the story she'd left behind. I'll win so I can finish it.

Looking over the water, Katie's heart sank. She didn't enjoy swimming, let alone swimming in that freezing cold water that had chunks of ice floating in it. "I need weapons," she whispered. "God, how badly do I need them? Maybe I'll get by without them. Yeah...I can just...hide in here. I'll get some later."

Even while speaking she was walking back into the water, each movement stiff and awkward. She got fifteen feet in before grabbing two small floating knives and dashing back out. Katie hid herself inside her home and waited for her clothing to become ice and crack off. Nothing felt right, and she doubted it would again. Broken, off, and feeling far too wild, Katie slid back and sat on her butt in the snow. Head resting against the back of her hiding spot, her eyes closed and the world grew dark.

The beginning of the end was upon her.

*

So this sucks. Any advice for fixing this? Pwease? :)