The Crafters' Battle

five

*three days later*
Ty's POV
The day had arrived.

It was time to decide who was going into the Hunger Games.

I stared at everyone from my seat at the table. Adam had said nothing since he had woken up before the sun even rose, and it was one of the rare moments where he had his glasses off, and his amber eyes were sad. Ian also had his glasses off, and he simply stared at his still-full plate with the saddest expression he had wore in a long time.

Mitch and Jerome were as close to each other as possible, afraid of losing each other during the Games, and you could easily see Jerome's fur was wet from tears. Jason, his helmet removed, slowly ate his food, and was one of the few of us who had said something all morning. Quentin was, surprisingly, talking up a storm, making lots of jokes at an attempt to lighten the mood - which didn't really work. But I'm sure that we all appreciated the effort he made.

And myself?

I honestly didn't know how I felt about everything.

I was scared, obviously, but I had to try and stay positive. One of us would be lucky enough to not be chosen to compete, but I couldn't remember what would happen if we lost to the person who didn't even compete. Would Notch kill them? Would he spare their memories?

I ignored all of my thoughts and poked at my food with my fork, and I listened to the silence amongst us all. Suddenly, Mitch spoke up. "Did Notch say if we could invite our families to the choosing thing today?" "I think we'd be allowed to. I'm bringing Alesa; she's heartbroken, with us recently engaged and stuff," Adam said sadly, and I nodded solemnly. "Yeah. I don't think my family would be able to stand seeing that happen to any of us, so I'm flying solo."

"I'm definitely inviting Maddie and Colton. They're so scared, you guys; she's afraid that I won't remember being her husband, or Colton's father, or my unborn baby's father. Colton doesn't think I'll love him even if I die," Ian explained sadly. "You'll eventually learn about them both if you die," Jason assured with a nod.

"I don't know if my family's coming. They were all horrified at the thought of me turning into a Human and killing people for no reason," Jerome said, frowning slightly. "Aren't all of our families against it?" Quentin asked. "Look, guys, all of our families are dreading today just like we are. But let's not worry about that; let's worry about powering through it if we do get chosen," Mitch argued immediately.

"And if we die? If we lose? What then?" Ian snapped, and Mitch narrowed his eyes. "No need to think like that. One of us have to win; we can't lose!" "You know how they are! They're just as strong as us, if not stronger! What else can we do?!" I asked angrily, and he shook his head with a frown. "We can hope. That's all there is to it."

All of us were silent for a moment, comprehending our thoughts with ourselves. All of us wanted to think like Ian was - that'd we all die and lose our memories and fans - but Mitch was right. We couldn't just give up that quickly. "Mitch's right," Jerome pointed out nervously. "That's all we can do: hope. It's the only reasonable option."

"How much hope can we possibly have if the majority of us will die within the next few days?" Jason asked dryly. "Just enough to know that we'll all be alive when it's over," Quentin answered with a small smile. None of us responded immediately to Quentin's words, but we all nodded at them.

"What time do we leave to get chosen for the Games?" Ian asked after a long silence. "Around 11:30. Why?" I answered, and he sighed fearfully. "Shouldn't we get going soon then? It's already past 10:30 now." He pointed to the clock, and he was right; it was well past 10:30. "Yeah, I guess. C'mon guys," Adam said, and we all stood from the table in unison.