Crash!

I gasped, waking up and instinctively jumping up into a defensive stance. Where am I? I wondered, disoriented from the loud noise that had shocked me awake. Taking a moment to breathe, memories of the past few hours flooded my mind. My eyes were immediately drawn to the bed in front of me, expecting to see Brooke's familiar figure lying on it.

Except... There was no Brooke. A chill ran down my spine as I imagined all the possible reasons Brooke wasn't lying here. What has the Capitol done this time? Was poisoning her not enough?! I thought angrily, fists clenching involuntarily. As I turned to stalk out of the door, determined to hunt down the person who had been foolish enough to harm my best friend, I heard a soft voice whisper, "Help, help me."

I whirled around, towards the table where the voice had come from, fear coursing through my veins. Who had said that? Who could possibly sound so broken and lost?

To my horror, Brooke was crouching on the table, eyes wild and panicked. Her eyes! Brooke's eyes were dark as a night without stars and in their unfathomable black depths, I caught a hint of mischief behind her anxious façade. Was this another trick of the Capitol's? Warily, I stepped closer to Brooke, taking in her torn and muddied hospital gown and the bruises on her face. Her hair was a mess and something dark was dripping from her blonde locks, something that looked strangely like blood? Brooke watched me with a hungry expression on her face as I walked ever closer to her.

I stretched out a hand towards Brooke, "Brooke? Are you okay?" I asked cautiously. Brooke snarled, baring her fangs before lunging towards me with a feral expression. I gasped and stumbled back, reaching for the doorknob in blind panic when suddenly, my world became dark and I was being dragged away by someone.

"Let me go!" I kicked and twisted against my captor, hoping that one of my flailing limbs would connect with him/her and at least injure them.

"Who are you? Answer me! Let go! Or I'll... I'll, uh, I'll hurt you!" I threatened, wildly making up threats while I continued to kick out at my captor.

"I said, let me go!" I repeated, almost screaming. Finally wrenching out of his/her grip, I quickly pulled the bag that had been blinding me away. The sudden lights assaulted my eyes and it took me a moment to see clearly again.

The first thing I saw was a Peacekeeper standing in front of me, looking very amused by my antics.

"What?" I snapped, annoyed by the rough treatment I had been given. Then again, what more could I expect from the Capitol?

The Peacekeeper gestured towards some clothes that had been neatly folded and put on the table beside me and told me to put them on, his tone implying that if I refused, there would be consequences. I sighed, rolling my eyes and taking that moment to look at my surroundings.

Where am I?

Realizing that I was in the Launch Room, I felt alarm begin to set in. This could only mean that the Hunger Games were about to begin. And without a good night's sleep and the assurance that Brooke was okay, how was I going to survive the games?

I swallowed hard and reached for the clothes that had been set out for me, praying that Brooke was alright and that I would survive the first day at least. The silence begin to gnaw on my nerves and I begin to gnaw on my fingernails, methodically chewing at my thumb as I thought of the days to come and of Brooke. What had the Capitol done to her?

Holding on to my clothes, I disappeared behind a wall beside the table and begin to change, the soft rustling of fabric the only noise in the room. Taking a deep breath, I calmed my fraying nerves and decided to just focus on the moment and not to overthink. But... Brooke. I'll ask the Peacekeeper, surely he'll know. I told myself.

Feeling a little more confident, I stepped out from behind the wall and walk towards the silent Peacekeeper.

"Hi? Do you know where Brooke is? The girl who had been sleeping in the room that you dragged me from? Any ideas? Come on, you have to know. Please." I asked, almost pleading.

The Peacekeeper glanced at me, his face unreadable before reaching to grab me and pull me towards the cylinder in which I would ascend into the arena.

"Please." I repeated quietly.

"I can't, I'm sorry, truly." He said, regret evident on his face. For a moment, his face seemed like an open book and his eyes were old, so, so old, beyond his years. Then his face clammed shut again and he led me into the cylinder where I stood, eyes squeezed shut.

Pressing a red button, the Peacekeeper stepped back and watched me rise. I could have sworn I heard a whisper, "May the odds be ever in your favour."

//\\//\\//\\//\\

As I rose, the arena slowly came into view. It was still dark outside and all I could hear was a constant soft swoosh sound all around me. What time is it? I wondered. Normally Hunger Games didn't begin this late or early. Was it morning or night?

Remembering that my clothes had come with a watch, I held up my wrist and noticed that it was 1:14 AM. That would explain the darkness.

The cylinder was slowly coming to a stop and immediately, I notice something strange. Though it was dark, there was clearly no cornucopia and the swoosh that I had been hearing was from the ocean! I marveled at the ingenuity of the arena. At the same time, I felt the beginnings of panic again, building up into a wave and threatening to drown me in mindless fear. I took another calming breath and begin to strategize. Thank goodness I could swim!

Suddenly, I hear a loud fwooosh sound behind me. Instinctively, I wanted turn around to look but remembered in the nick of time that I still had a minute to go before I could move or the mines would blow. I frowned as the sound came again, itching to turn around. It sounds strangely familiar...

Before I had time to register what was going on, the gong sounded, sending tributes everywhere jumping out of their cylinders and into the dark water. I turned around towards the sound that had come from behind me and was immediately blinded by bright flames licking the cornucopia. The oddly beautiful flames were reflected on the water, bathing the area in orange and red.

Blinking twice, I stared at the cornucopia once more in confusion. Aren't there supplies and weapons inside? And then, a glint of metal caught my eye. A tunnel! Leading to the cornucopia, no doubt. But should I go? Already, there were many tributes crowding up the small tunnel. Judging from their expressions, the tunnel was very hot, heated by the flames.

It took me a spilt second to make my decision and I jumped into the cool water, swimming towards land and leaving the other tributes to squabble over the supplies in the cornucopia. I'll steal some from others later or make allies.

The water was freezing cold and it took me a moment to recall how to swim, my skills rusty from lack of use. I gasped and dived, swimming as quickly as I could towards land.

Once I finally reached the shore, I pulled myself from the water and lied on the sand, catching my breath. Without warning, the watch on my wrist suddenly lit up and it read 1:45AM. A blinking icon resembling a ribbon above it caught my eye and I tapped on it, wondering what other surprises were in store.

A holographic 3D image was immediately projected from the watch, some sort of map, I gathered. Upon closer inspection, I noticed that it was a map of the arena with red and yellow ribboned icons running around. The red ones must be the tributes with the red ribbons and yellows those with the yellow ribbons!

Realizing that this meant that anyone could track me down, I stood up and began my hike through the dense forest, searching for yellow icons near me. Noticing that there was a yellow one to my right, I walked in that direction, hoping that I could find an ally.

//\\//\\//\\//\\

A small cave stood where the icon was indicated and I raised an eyebrow, surprised by the tribute's cleverness. I walked into the cave where it was drowned in total darkness and began to feel my way around. Within a few steps, I tripped over something soft and fell onto a net of some sort. Without warning, the net snapped shut, trapping me inside.

"Who's there?" called a young voice. Footsteps came towards me and a match was struck, filling the cave with light.

"Who are you?" A young girl came into view, demanding my name.

Her long platinum blonde hair was a little dirtied and her blue eyes were fierce, warning people away from her. Her skinny body had a defensive stance and she glared at me, waiting for my answer.

"I'm Crystal. Hi?" I raised an eyebrow at her intimidating posture.

"And you?" I asked, curious about her.

She didn't answer, checking her own holographic map to see if I was friend or foe. Realizing that I was, too, a yellow ribbon, her face softened.

"Sorry. I'm Rye. Hi." She finally responded, pulling out a knife to cut me free.

"So... Allies?" I asked as I stood up, finally free.

Rye nodded, walking back to her sleeping bag and supplies further inside the cave.

Following her, I asked, "Did you go inside the cornucopia?"

Rye lit another match, nodding her head.

For the first time, I noticed the burns on Rye's limbs. They looked painful and in that moment, I was glad that I hadn't risked entering the cornucopia.

A soft ping at the entrance of the cave distracted me and I walked out again to check on it. I was surprised to see a package outside which contained a pouch of dried fruit and berries sent from a sponsor.

"Thank you," I called softly before returning inside the cave where Rye was setting up another trap in case anyone tried to murder us in our sleep.

"Night." I said to Rye, walking deeper into the cave where I settled on the cold floor beside Rye's sleeping bag, closing my eyes and clutching the pouch, the only thing that I owned right now besides my clothes and watch.

Brooke's voice soothed me as I tried to fall asleep and she seemed to be beside me, comforting me, reassuring me that she was fine.

Within minutes, I had fallen asleep.

Score: 11/12
Bonus: Best Quote +2