'euphoria of d1. please enter the gamemaker's room immediately, and may the odds be ever in your favour.' The dark-furred feline bounced up - at last, it was time to show the Capitol her true might, the blessings of the Generous Goddess herself, Cybele, the Great Mother. As if by ritual, she clasped her butterfly pin, whispered a few indistinguishable words, then disappeared into the room. At once her muscles began to tense. A dense forest lay in wait, tree branches tangling together, flittering leaves and the squelching moss under her paws. Euphoria couldn't help but feel..fear. No, that wasn't right. Fear shouldn't exist in the heart of one blessed by the Great Mother herself. Yet that increasingly irritating beat only increased when the sound of rushing water could suddenly be heard. Coming towards her. She was under the water before she knew it. Like a whirlpool, the river dragged her underneath, to the bottom of the forest floor. They screamed and gasped for air, but they knew they couldn't get help now. Her paws clawed at the water, but the water refused to part itself. A fain, distorted screaming could be heard. It couldn't be! Another cat? But of course, the water was so strong - perhaps another tribute. Or a gamemaker! She needed to save them from the lurking monsters beneath the waves. And with all the strenght that could be found, Euphoria leapt out of the water. Their butterfly pin sagged against their ears, yet she pushed on with perseverance, almost flying through the trees. The screaming was getting closer, more clear amidst the crashing of falling branches and the snapping of leaves, until abrupty, it stopped. "No!" cried Euphoria. Had they fallen into the water too? Wait, the water was rapidly receding. She had passed the trial..but how? Beneath her claws was the shredded body of vibrantly coloured bird-of-paradise, its once shimmering feathers stained with its own blood and bones. How pitiful...how interminable, that an innocent had to di3 like this. That she could not grant the bird the peaceful de4th it deserved. That the Capitol, perhaps even the Great Mother herself, had lied! As Euphoria let herself be carried away by these thoughts, she had not even noticed that she had thrown away the torn bird, right into the screen between her and the Gamemakers. The door slammed behind her
