Jorum Aneurin: District Twelve

Kirsi looked at me with wild eyes and brought her staff over her head. I instantly leapt off and slowly backed away. I wish I'd the courage to go to the Cornucopia like she did; I could have knives now. Not that I would kill her; I don't think I could. Kirsi was still stalking me, but she looked more in check with herself, she seemed to be calculating.

"So are you here to kill me?" She is being a huge idiot right now; I am obviously not here to kill her. Do you see any weapons? I wanted to say. And she was the one who said we should be allies! God, she needs to get a grip.

"You are the only human being in the immediate area that I would even begin to consider allying myself with. Why would I try to kill you?" I love answering question with questions. It gives more information about the person you are talking to and I like knowing everything there is to know about where I am and who I'm with. It makes me feel secure, like I'm in control. When everything else is going wrong, at least I will know what is going on.

"I don't know what to believe anymore." She mutters this, I don't think I was not supposed to hear her, and then she continues louder, "Well, how do I know if you are really going to be my ally, and not stab my in the back. Literally." I have to smile at this, even in this situation; she still has some dry humor.

In answer I show her how I have no way to defend myself. "I don't have any weapons, is that enough proof for you? I just walked up to a person with excellent spear throwing skills in the middle of the night. Unless I wanted to die, which I don't, then that would qualify me as insane. Which I am not."

Kirsi gives me one hard look before dropping her spear. I approach her slowly, never breaking eye contact. I have discovered that, if you want someone to trust you, you have to look them in the eye.

I had to get at least 10 hostile kids from the community home to trust me. Apparently, I wasn't enough for my dad. After my mom died of pneumonia, he just lost himself. So I had to be nice to the replacement children he got. I don't think he even wanted to see me, I must have reminded him too much of my mother. He didn't even come to say goodbye to me after the reaping, he just looked at me from the sidelines.

I was standing there, my body unmoving, while my eyes were looking everywhere at once. Finally, they landed on my one living family member. He was looking past me, like he was remembering some very old memory. My father. My disgusting, hatful, empty father. I think a part of him died with my mom, after she was gone, he was a disaster. He stated going to the community home about a year after she died. It surprised me because we were getting along, actually talking. But then he started drinking, drinking a lot. I would get up before school and find him in a pool of his own vomit. My father, who stopped going to work, stopped loving and caring about anything, including me. And now, my name was being drawn out of the reaping ball, and he didn't even blink. He just looked at me for a split second, then turned around and walked away. He walked away into his own personal hell. His wife was dead, his daughter going to die, and he hadn't had a drink in a day. What a life. My father, Jorin Aneurin, who I got my name from, walked away. And he never made eye contact.

An intense wave of sadness swept over me and Kirsi's eyes softened. She could see right through me. I like that.

"Is something wrong? I still want to be allies! I promise." She really is observant. I sit down and we talk for a while. Actually, we talk all night. She tells me about her home life, district eleven. It is so interesting, I wish I could see district eleven. It would be amazing to see nature being tamed, orderly rows of trees, where all the fruit is picked and processed. It sounds like a fairy tale.

As dawn is breaking, I yawn. This, of course, makes her yawn and the tension of the last week is so immediate that I cannot control myself. At this intense breaking point we look at each other and burst out laughing, which is not a good idea, but that doesn't stop us. By the time our little fit has pasted, my sides and cheeks hurt.

"We should get some sleep; I wouldn't be able to trek through this ridiculous jungle while I'm so tired." I say, because I am really tired, I bet she is, too. She nods and smiles at me, I know why she is so happy. I am almost delirious, I have a friend. I didn't have very many friends even back home, so the fact that we met because of the Hunger Games is so weird. I give her one of my best smiles and lay down. I am almost completely under when she hops up. I sit bolt up and look around. No one is near us. What is your deal? I think. Then she is running into the forest.

Kirsi comes back with a triumphant smile and dramatically hand me a leather roll. With a final flourish of her hand, I open the roll. I gasp because I have gotten the best gift. An intense roll of wicked looking knives. From dainty little life ending ones to giant meat-hacking ones. I love that I chose to be allies with her, she is the perfect person to team up with, especially because my mentor probably chose Davor to had all the gifts to. I will be getting no help from the outside world.

Then I lay down again, clutching my lifeline, because that is what these knives are.

***

When I wake up the anthem is blaring, no one has found us during the day. Or maybe they have, I look around desperately for Kirsi. I had only had as a friend for a day, I would not lose that. But she is sitting up, leaning against a tree. A look of relief spreads across my face, I'm sure she can tell because she gives me a curious look

"I thought someone found us and you were gone." I explain, I'm sure she understands why this would worry me, so I don't elaborate.

Kirsi nods and looks around, "We should get going, can you hunt? I could probably spear some rabbit or something, but I don't know how to skin or gut it. Do you have any idea how to do that?"

"Yeah, before my dad zoned out, he was a butcher. I can skin, gut and cook any kind of meat you give me." I say this quietly because the other players could be anywhere. I hate not knowing where everyone is, it is so frustrating! I feel very vulnerable now. So I stand and grab my knives, looking at Kirsi expectantly. She has spent more time in woods, technically orchids, than me. She starts walking into the woods, passing through some thick bushes. I am about to follow when she comes running back out.

"Wrong way!" She shouts, that's when I see the water slowly, but steadily coming faster, seeping through the foliage. Then I see the giant wave rising above the tallest trees. And before I can get swept up into the death trap, I am running blindly behind Kirsi. Running for me life.

Kirsi Paavo: District Eleven

In District Eleven there's water all around. We have huge irrigation canals that are constantly brimming with life giving liquid. Sitting still, or slowly sweeping from pipe to pipe, it looks totally calm and tranquil. Compared to the other elements, wind that can topple trees, fire that can burn down houses, earth that can crush people, water seems pretty harmless. However I was quick to learn exactly how dangerous liquid could be when one of the dams broke, flooding an orchard I was working in. The kids in District Eleven know how to swim, irrigation canals make great pools when the harvest isn't going on, so I wasn't afraid when the wave came crashing in.

Then the water hit me. It was like a punch in the gut and suddenly I was spinning in a great soup of darkness. Currents clutched at my body and I didn't know which way was up. Luckily the flood swept me into a thick tree trunk and I was able to scramble out of the torrent and climb to safety.

The trees in District Eleven were engineered to grow taller than normal ones, but here in the Arena climbing wouldn't do much good. So I ran. Jorum came behind me, clutching her knives in terror. I hoped, for her sake, that the roll of leather would make a good flotation device. The Capitol makes sure that we don't know much about other districts, but I'm pretty sure there isn't much water in District Twelve; just rocks. Which means Jorum doesn't know how to swim. Which means she's screwed if we don't get to higher ground.

I'm older and a little taller, so the running comes more naturally. Jorum's struggling after only five minutes or so, I can hear her panting. We're headed back towards the Cornucopia and as far as I know there's nothing between us and there but open woods. Crap. Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap. Then it hits me. There's food at the Cornucopia and usually the bulk amounts of it, the stuff the Careers get, is stored in crates. They probably took most of it to their camp, wherever that is, but surely they couldn't carry all the crates. And crates float.

"We've got to get to the Cornucopia!" I shouted over my shoulder, slightly adjusting my course. Too slow; water's already lapping at my feet. As the ground turns into a sloppy mess of mud it becomes harder and harder to run. It seems that the wave is slowing infinitesimally; it's not very entertaining if there's no suspense. The Game Makers will give us a small chance to reach the Cornucopia, for the audience's sake.

After what feels like an eternity I finally spotted the edge of the trees and beyond that a shining golden horn. And there in the mouth is a flat-ish crate. I feel like singing but the water is now up to my knees. Jorum's breath came in ragged gasps behind me. When I reached the mouth of the Cornucopia I quickly rolled the crate out and waited for Jorum, who reached me just as the wave overtook her.

Her fingers grasped at the slats of wood and the water lifted us upwards. I snatched Jorum's roll of knives from the frothing current and tucked it under my arm. We were swept past needle laden tree tops surrounded by other floating debris. I thought I saw a lot of food packages, so maybe the Careers would lose their precious resources in this flood.

Jorum and I clung, panting to the crate until the water finally lowered; sinking into the earth as though it'd never existed. Four cannons rent the moist air in quick succession. Eleven contestants left to kill. Twelve if I count Jorum, which I don't because I'd never be able to kill her. She appeared to be thinking the same thing.

"Thirteen overall," Jorum announced, sitting wearily down on our makeshift raft. "It's unlucky."

"Do you think the Gamemakers are superstitious?"

"Who knows?" Well, there'd been deaths now, so the audience should be satiated. It wasn't a guarantee that there wouldn't be any more tricks in the near future; drowning wasn't a very entertaining way to die.

"Where do you think we are?" I queried, totally unsure. There weren't any defining characteristics in the surrounding forest.

"I hear water," Jorum commented, tilting her head to listen better.

"That's a good sign," I commented. "Water's pretty essential."

"When you aren't drowning in it," my companion pointed out in a slightly joking voice. I nodded with a small grin.

"So…" My voice trailed off into a muddle of uncertainty. "I guess we should head towards the water." At that moment Jorum's stomach snarled, reminding me of another vital resource. "It would probably be a good idea to start looking for edible plants too. Or any animals that you can hit with a knife." I tossed the roll of weapons back into Jorum's arms. She hugged them to her torso and turned toward the waters sound. But she didn't move, I realized after a few moments later that she expected me to go first. So, just like earlier, I started into the woods with Jorum trailing closely behind me.