Contest: Hunger Games Competition #2

Host: CraZCanuck

The artificial sun was finally climbing up along the metallic sky, the temperature rose a handful of degrees and my headache dimmed just a bit. It had been a long night, the wind had burned the skin on my cheeks and my eyes were heavy from the lack of sleep. I'd dozed off only a couple moments, every time I'd reach the edge of oblivion I'd be viciously pulled back into reality with the dramatic dashing of the wolf on which I rode.

At one point in the night, I'd been awakened by the sound of the sky lighting up with faces of dead tributes. It astonished me how many had died in so little time, but my biggest issue was seeing both off my allies up there. I was screwed. Royally so.

I lift my head from the warmth of the wolf's fur and blink, feeling a twinge of pain glitter behind my eyelids from the bright sunlight raining down on me. There were snow covered trees in every direction and the sight left me feeling discouraged. I needed to find shelter, soon. Or I feared I might freeze.

"Attention remaining tributes," A loud voice announces, booming throughout the entirety of the arena. I cringe, covering one ear with my hand as a sharp bullet of pain zings through my skull. "there will be a feast at the Cornucopia later today. We're decided to be generous; anything from weapons to warm clothes will be there." The voice cuts off and the stillness of the arena descends heavily on my shoulders.

It was a trap, too many of us had died in the first day and now they were getting restless. The feast was a trick to round us up and force us to pick each other off. I hated it, but I was freezing. I pull on the wolf's fur, slipping off the animal's back as it comes to an abrupt halt; sending me sprawling into the fluffy snow. "Oof!" I grunt as the cold seeps into my body, freezing my semi-warm fingers all over again.

"Oh, well great. I'm cold again. Stupid wolf." I comment, turning to glare at the creature sitting silently in the snow, its black nose turned up to the sky. Then it looks down, creepy blue eyes drilling into me. "Okay, listen here, you're a Capitol mutt and I'm a Capitol sacrifice. We have everything and nothing in common with each other. And now, you're going to take me to that damn feast. And then I'm going to kill you. Clear?" The wolf tilts it's head and growls, I gasp and grip the snow in my hands as a shock of fear penetrates my nonchalant attitude.

"Damn you dumb animal." I bite, pulling myself up from the wet snow and climbing back onto the wolf's back, but only after turning it's fat butt around and directing to the Cornucopia. Capitol mutt means genetically altered, I was hoping "understand Capitol sacrifices" was one of those brilliant alterations.

The wind whips at my face as the wolf runs into the wind, a deep chill swirls through my bones and makes itself comfortable in the center of my being. I was never going to be warm again, not after this experience, if I even lived through it. I lay my head down on the wolf's fur, watching the white wonderland in all of its cold, yet enchanting, glory as we make our way toward the Cornucopia.

After some time, the wolf slows to a stop. I lift my head up from the warmth of its fur and look around, trying to judge our location. Clearly the wolf didn't have any supernatural abilities to understand me because it hadn't taken me to the Cornucopia. In fact, I'm pretty sure it dragged me in the entirely opposite direction. I sigh and mentally kick myself for being such an idiot, who in their right mind puts their life in the paws of a dumb wolf? Me, apparently.

I huff, my breath clouding in front of my face as I climb down from the wolf's back and cross my arms over my chest. "I hate you." I growl, whirling away from the blue eyed beast and stomping my way through the knee deep snow, shivering fervently.

Something bumps my arm, I jerk and look over my head to see the blue eyed creature following me like some lost dog. I grind my teeth together and pull a knife from my belt, gripping it tightly in my tingling fingers. "Okay, now this is just weird." I comment, about to drive the knife up through the wolf's jaw when it growls and dips down into a fighting position. I still, watching the creature warily when a light laugh carries on the wind from behind me.

"I didn't think any of them were still alive." A girl comments, I turn around slowly and bring the knife behind my back, out of her line of sight. She has dark brown hair and her face was sprinkled with freckles, her haunting gray eyes were full of malice. A boy stood to her right, he had dark brown hair and enchanting blue eyes; I swore he could've seen into my soul with them. I hated it but I kind of felt bad for him, every time he took a step he would cringe. His stomach was wrapped and his right arm was held close to his body, they were both shivering.

"Well the arena is just full of surprises, now isn't it." I retort, a surge of anger bubbling up in me. I take a step away from the wolf, putting distance between us in case it decided to turn on me too. I

"How'd you tame it?" I shrug, glances sidelong at the wolf and then back at the duo.

"No frickin' idea, ask the Capitol and then let me know. Damn thing won't leave me alone." I bite back, the girl snorts and pulls a shiny looking knife from her sleeve, trying to grip the object tightly but her fingers are too cold. The hilt slips from her grasp and the blade slices her palm, she gasps as drops of red trickle to the white snow, staining it a deep ruby red.

"Damn it!" She shouts, head whipping around to give the boy behind her a glare. He shrugs and glances between her and I, still having not spoken a word. I suppose when you're beaten up and half dead you lose a bit of the fight you once had.

"You're too cold to fight me, so just walk away." I try, thinking up ways to avoid the possibility of taking a life. The girl's head snaps around, her face red with fury.

"That's what you'd want, right? To just walk away and keep your hands clean, that's not happening. I'm cold and you've got a backpack." The girl challenges, I sigh and tighten my muscles; curious to know just how hard it's going to be to fight in this state. Not to mention my leg.

"Fine, have it your way. I'm Nyxi, by the way."

"Luke and Addison." The boy speaks up for the first time, leaning his uninjured shoulder against a tree. I tilt my head at him, a slight frown overtaking my features. He looked unworried as Addison picks the dagger up from the snow, clamping her bloodied and cold fingers around the freezing metal hilt.

"And you're dead." Addison comments, flinging the dagger at my chest. I gasp and duck to the snowy ground, still holding my knife in my hand. The dagger embeds itself in a tree trunk behind me and Addison gives a frustrated shout. I lift my head to see her charging at me, her eyes full of determination; an undeniable drive to survive.

Red hot adrenaline explodes through my veins, sending me on an emotional and physical high that I knew I'd be paying for heftily later. I jump to my feet and dodge her outstretched hands by dodging behind the tree to her right, using my foot to trip her as I do so. Addison face plants in the snow and screams as the cold slithers along her skin.

I wait behind the tree, watching her as she stumbles to her feet and reaches for the dagger in the tree trunk before pulling my arm back and driving my knife into the back of her thigh. She squeals in agony, falling against the tree trunk and using her hands for support.

"Bitch!" Addison yells, tugging the knife from her leg with a grunt and tossing it to the ground angrily.

"Maybe, but atleast I'm smart." Comes my smart reply just as a strong arm slides around my neck, catching me in a headlock.

"You seem pretty dumb to me." Luke whispers into my ear, his hot breath fanning my face. I scowl and feel for another knife hilt but Luke's hold tightens impossibly so, cutting off my air supply. I gasp and claw at his arm, my lungs screaming for oxygen. "Stop fighting Nik." He growls, I still and his hold loosens just enough for me to breathe. I suck in a huge gasp of air and stare up at the sky, shock resonating throughout me at his use of my nickname.

No one had called me Nik in a long time. No one had dared to arouse the sleeping giant within me. Only a handful of people ever called me that and three of them were dead.

A shooting pain erupts through the right side of my stomach, I cry out as my back arches and fire laces through my chilled body. I grit my teeth and blink back tears of agony, brown hair and gray eyes dance before my blurry eyes. A satisfied, sadistic smirk stretches along Addison's face, contorting her beautiful face into that of a bloodthirsty monster.

Luke tightens his hold on me again and the air leaves me in a rush. The need to fight back eats away at me but every time I try Addison twists the dagger, causing more and more pain and bringing a wall of red dots glittering behind my eyelids. Luke releases just slightly, I gasp in a breath and slump against his chest, the fight having been beaten out of me. Shooting pain shocks me as Addison wrenches the dagger from my side. Warm, blood drenched fingers grasp ahold of my chin and force my head up, Addison's disgusting face swims across my vision.

"I told you that you were dead." She lets my chin fall and my eyes close, a white inviting light glitters in the far distance and for a precious moment in time, I see them. Waiting for me. Tanner, Jacob, and Jonah. But they looked scared, their faces twisted in torment the close I got to them.

"No! Nik, fight back!" Jacob yells, flailing his arms wildly through the air. I frown and tilt my head, not comprehending his confusing words.

"Nik, fight back! Please!" Jonah shouts, his eyes full of terror.

"Live Nik! Live for what we lost!" Tanner screams, gesturing for me to go back.

I didn't understand, I wanted to be with them. They were my brothers and best friend, didn't they want to be with me?

"Nik! Fight back! Now!" Jacob growls, anger coloring his face in a way I'd never seen before.

I gasp, my eyes flying open and a surge of adrenaline whirling through me. I couldn't die. Luke's hold tightens and Addison's eyes bulge. She raises the dagger up, ready to jam it into my stomach. But something in me had broken free, I wasn't dying by her hand.

I pull my elbow forward and jam it backward into Luke's wounded stomach. He grunts and stumbles back a step, releasing me in the process. I twirl myself out of his grasping fingers and grab ahold of Addison's arm as it comes down over me. The force of our hands colliding causes my hand to overextend, but I don't let go. The tip of the dagger pierces my stomach but only for a split second before I'm able to shove her backward into the snow and pull a knife from my waist.

"I'm trying not to listen to bitches these days, thanks anyways." I snap, releasing my knife to the elements of the air. It embeds itself in her neck, slicing through the wind pipe and the jugular. Addison gasps, blood dribbling down her chin as she tries to futilely force air down a broken tube. I watch the life flee from her gray eyes, feeling a range of emotions descend heavily upon my shoulders.

My internal roller coaster is interrupted by someone coughing violently. I turn around to see Luke bent over the snow, throwing up; his body jerks with each heave. I grasp ahold of another knife, worried that he might try something but unwilling to kill him when he's in such a poor state. Luke takes several moments to settle down before falling into the snow and glancing up at me, his skin giving off a sickly pallor.

Luke unexpectedly lunges to his feet, a wild look in his eyes as he throws himself at me. I gasp and raise my arms up to protect myself as his fist connects with my stomach. I bend over in surprise, gasping in air as the knife tumbles from my fingers.

"She didn't deserve to die!" He grabs a fistful of my hair and jerks my head upward, slamming the side of my skull into the tree. Dizziness overtakes me and a warm substance slithers down the side of my head, my headache flares and I slump against the tree, expecting more.

But nothing comes and I slowly open my eyes to see Luke bent over, breathing hard, his wounds having caught up to him. I breathe in steadily and fight against the fuzziness in my head, reaching down to grab a knife from my belt.

"None of us deserve this Luke, do you think I like being a murderer? I have to survive!" I shout, my voice escalating with each sentence. Luke jerks and advances, wrapping his hand around my throat and squeezing. His forehead was covered in sweat and his eyes were unfocused, I was surprised he was still on his and even more surprised by his strong grip.

"You didn't have to do it!" He screams, his voice echoing off the trees. I gasp as he continues to suffocate me and bring my knife up to his neck, he freezes and his hold loosens slightly.

"And if I hadn't, would I be standing here?" I question, Luke flexes his jaw and refuses to meet my gaze. "Exactly, let me go or I will kill you too." He narrows his eye and scowls.

"Says the girl in a choke hold." His grip tightens and I bring my arm down, jamming my fist into his stomach. He grunts but refuses to let go so I press the tip of my blade against his flesh and drag it down his chest.

"Let. Me. Go!" Luke backs off and falls back into the snow, the exhaustion finally claiming him.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Kill me and get it over with." He growls, throwing me a vicious glare. I sigh and roll my eyes, tucking the knife back into my belt.

"I should kill you but I won't if you don't kill me, alright? Just stop." Luke frowns, gaging me for a moment before sighing and nodding, his head falling against his chest. I grit my teeth and try to contain the anger bubbling within me. He's lucky I'm so forgiving.

"Deal." He responds miserably. I let out a breath of relief only to cringe at the sudden explosion of pain in my side and head. Carefully, I lower myself to the snowy ground and pull my backpack off my shoulders.

"So, what happened to you?" I ask while rummaging through the bag, pulling item after item out and dropping them in the snow. So far I'd discovered a canteen, some flint, gauze, a big fluffy blanket, and some rope. But no food. Dammit.

"Ran into a knife throwing psycho." Luke says with a shrug as I pull the gauze from the bag, stuffing everything else back inside and zipping it up. Then I freeze, his words sinking in.

"A girl?" Luke looks up, brow furrowed.

"Yeah, how'd you know?" Anger swirls through my stomach and I have to fight to keep our deal.

"What was her name?" My voice comes out hard and dripping with venom, Luke's frown deepens and he pulls himself into a more upright position.

"No idea, she never said. But I didn't kill her, Addison did." I huff, turning my face away from him. My anger diffuses slightly, at least I was able to exact revenge for whomever it was; either Lacey or Ariel. "You knew her?" He questions, I shrug and unwrap the gauze.

"Maybe," I snap, Luke raises an eyebrow and I sigh, "probably yes. She was one of my allies, I think." Luke nods, leaning back again.

"Sorry, but she put up a fight." I bite my lip to hold back my heartless comment and wrap the gauze tightly around my stomach a few times, hoping to quench the blood flow. Then I wrap some around my head, cringing at the way it causes a dizziness to take over, but thankfully it passes quickly. Then I stuff the gauze back inside the bag and stumble to my feet, my lower body rigid with the cold.

"So, are you going to the feast or not?" Luke glances up and shrugs.

"Well, I was but I'm down an ally so I think I'll just sit here until I freeze to death." He comments bitterly, rolling his eyes. I sigh and pull my backpack over one shoulder, offering a hand down to him. He frowns, staring at my hand for several long moments.

"It's not going to grow claws if you stare at it long enough." I snap and Luke scowls.

"What do you want Nik?" He questions, a rush of fury spreads through me and I press my foot against his wounded shoulder.

"Do not call me that again! Do you hear me?" I growl, applying pressure. Luke's face twists in undeniable pain. He grunts and bites his lip, nodding quickly. "Good, now get off your ass." I snap, removing my foot and offering my hand again.

"Why?" Luke challenges, a look of hopelessness creeping into his eyes. "There's no point, I'm as good as dead."

"Maybe so, but I'm offering you the chance to live. I'll help you get to the feast and then we'll go our separate ways, take it or leave it." Luke huffs, astonishment dancing across his face.

"You're serious?" He questions, blue eyes full of disbelief.

"Yes, now get up. I'm freezing, starving, and exhausted. The feast is my best bet." Luke sighs and takes my hand and the two of us manage to haul him to his feet. He picks up the knife I'd dropped on the ground and I subconsciously reach for my own. Luke sees me and raises his injured hand up, cringing with the effort. But there's also a smirk on his face and the sight makes me angry since I'm trying to help him.

"Hey, relax. We have a deal, remember?" I snort.

"Yes, I remember. I wasn't sure if you did." I retort, leading the way back out into the clearing where my jaw just about falls off.

"He a friend of yours?" Luke teases, staring at the blue eyed wolf warily. The damn thing was still here, sitting in the snow, waiting. I groan and stomp my foot, forgetting about the wound in my leg.

"No, he's a pain in my ass. He saved me from one of his wolf friends and let me ride him, but when I tried to ditch him he just followed me." Luke is silent for a long moment before bursting out in laughter, quickly followed by cries of pain. I turn around and kick him in the leg, furious with him and the wolf.

"Stop it! It's not funny! I can't get rid of it!" I cry, pouting. Luke pinches his lips together and hobbles over to the wolf, it eyes him warily and backs up a step the closer he comes to it. Then Luke raises the knife and attempts to swipe at the creature's head.

"Luke, no!" I call, dashing forward to stop him from killing the animal. Luke frowns at me and then glances at the now growling wolf.

"Why? I thought you wanted it dead!" He snaps back, I sigh and run my hand over my curls.

"Okay, yes, I want it dead. But I'm not done abusing its child-like trust. It lets me ride it, which is a lot faster than walking...are you catching my drift? I'll kill it when I'm safe in a cave somewhere and need food." Luke scowls and rolls his eyes, but lowers the knife.

"Alright, fine." Luke says begrudgingly. "However, I highly doubt that thing can hold our combined weight." I shrug and approach the wolf with my hands outstretched, attempting to calm it down after Luke tried to kill it.

"I think it will, it's a genetically altered Capitol mutt after all."

"And you still want to eat it." I glare at him over my shoulder.

"Shut up and get on." I bite, pulling myself onto the wolf's back and tangling my fingers in its warm fur. Luke sighs and shakes his head, wobbling over to us and very troublesomely pulling himself up behind me. "Alright, now hold on." I comment, moments before the wolf darts off, this time in the direction I think is the Cornucopia. Luke jerks, his arm coming around my waist in a last attempt to hold on. I snicker and shake my head.

"Shut up!" Luke calls to me, muttering bitterly under his breath but he keeps his arm around me. The ride to the Cornucopia is awkward, tense, and cold. The wind bites at my face, whipping at my hair, and causing my body to tremble. Luke's presence at my back is unnerving and sends my mind into a frenzy. When the wolf stops along the edges of the open land around the Cornucopia, it's all I can do not to leap from the wolf's back.

"Alright, well. Good luck Luke." I comment as he climbs down off the animal's back and stumbles off.

"Yeah, you to Nyxi." I nod and watch his form recede into the trees surrounding the Cornucopia. Maybe he would've made a decent ally, but I wasn't going to ask. Not this late in the game and with so many tributes dead. I didn't want to get to know him and then have to be the one to kill him.

Once Luke is gone, I turn my attention to the Cornucopia and the sight before me warms my heart. It was overflowing with supplies. Everything from bags of food to piles of jackets and snow pants and more weapons than I'd ever seen. The only problem was I wasn't the only one here and those others wanted me dead.

"Alright, I'm going to go for it and you are going to stay here just like you did before. I'll be back." I tell the wolf before smacking myself in the forehead. I'm talking to a damn wolf. Ugh.

"Focus Nik, focus." I chide myself, the air was bitter and the wind was brutal but also so full of silence. They were all waiting for the first idiot to run out into the open and then they'd attack. I reach down and press on the wound in my leg, testing it for numbness. I could barely feel it, and that was both terrifying and comforting. "Okay, food and clothes. That's all I need." I tell myself, pulling a knife from my belt and stepping out into the open.

At first, nothing happens and so I start to run. That's when I see her. The girl with the brilliant white hair and the icy blue eyes. She looked beautiful, she definitely belonged here in the middle of winter. I swear if I hadn't known better I might've thought her to be the angel of death or winter's ghost in human form.

She was seated in the center of the pile of jackets, only her head and her white ringlets visible. She smiles when she sees me and stands up from the pile, a healthy rosiness to her cheeks. Something I didn't have because I wasn't warm, but she was. Her eyes were full of resolve; having succumbed to the knowledge that to survive was to kill.

The girl raises a hand, a tiny little dart caught in her first finger and thumb. Then she releases it to the air, it zooms toward me and would've impaled my shoulder had I not ducked and rolled through the snow before shoving to my feet and continuing my mad dash. I scowl at her and throw a knife at her, aiming for her heart but somehow missing it.

Instead the knife implants itself in her throwing arm, she screams and suddenly those blue eyes aren't so full of calm anymore. I stumble through the Cornucopia and grab a well packed bag of food with the knowledge that the angelic girl won't leave me be that simply.

"You!" She squeals, cradling both of her arms to her chest. One was bleeding profusely while the other was just dribbling a bit, but she looked sick at the sight of it all.

"Me?" I question, grabbing a few extra knives spread out along one of the tables and tuck them into the empty spots along my belt. "What do you want whitey?" I tease, referring to her hair.

"My name is Shimmi!" She shouts, I shrug and continue to grab things.

"Well I'm Nyxi and we're not having this conversation right now." I comment, dropping the bag of food at my feet to wrap a jacket around my shoulders, but I have trouble zipping it with my cold hands and Shimmi takes the opportunity to throw herself at me.

The two of us collide with the ground, her on top of me. I squirm under her as she rakes her nails down my cheek, consequently breaking the skin. I howl and grab ahold of her hand, squeezing the wound on her arm from my blade. She bites her lip, refusing to scream but a pitiful whimper escapes her as her face twists in pain.

"I said, I'm not doing this right now!" I shout and slam my fist under her chin, snapping her head back and causing her to fall off of me. I stumble to my feet and prepare to grab a knife but Shimmi doesn't try to get up, in fact, she doesn't move at all. I blink and shake my head, unsure of what to think. How could I have killed her?

"Nyxi!" Someone yells, I whirl around to see Luke hobbling toward me. He gestures to get out of here but I can't seem to move myself from this spot.

"I-but-" I glance back down at Shimmi and then at the snow pants, frantically pulling them on. In that time, Luke reaches me and looks between me and the dead girl.

"Man, you're just all kinds of bloodthirsty today. Looks like you snapped her neck, pretty good for a girl of your size." Luke comments, I swallow thickly and shove my feet in a pair of nice looking boots and grab the gloves from the pile before picking up my bag of food. Luke takes a long look at all of my supplies and nods.

"You'll survive, live for us all, will you?" He asks, my eyes widen slightly at the similarities between his statement and the one my brother said to me earlier.