The gamemakers. Another chance to shine. If he could, that is. It wasn't easy for him though, as it was classified. Elijah had no idea what he had to do and wasn't prepared. He just hoped that his time spent at the training center would act favorably. With a deep intake of his breath, Elijah followed a peacekeeper into a room. Rather, a maze. He narrowed his eyes, but quickly melted his expression as a calm smile. He can do this. The other tributes would have gone through the same process. There was no way he would fail. Even if he was only twelve. He nodded towards the gamemakers. "Thank you for having me here. I will do my best to entertain you." He padded along the maze smoothly, with his ears pricked, and entered a room. Just as he had stepped inside, something sharp came whooshing towards his head and he ducked. So this was the trial. To get out of a maze filled with traps. This was going to be fun. Who didn't like a maze? A second object, seemingly a spear, hurtled towards him and this time, he was prepared. He grabbed it mid-air, but it dissolved as soon as his paws touched it. So it was a hologram. He had plenty of practice, of course, but where was he supposed to get a weapon, a real one? Across the room, there was a hallway leading into another room. He had to get there, he had no choice but to fight the holograms weaponless. Fixing his eyes on a hologram cat, he got into a fighting stance. Eyes narrowed and grinning, he leaped towards the hologram. Luckily there was only one, so he quickly scratched its eye and it disappeared. He bounded across the room and found himself surrounded by real weapons. This was exactly what he needed. He quickly scanned the room for possible traps but he was safe.. for now. He snatched a dagger and a long sword and shoved it in his waist belt, and took a spear to carry around. He twirled it around his hands. It was heavy for him, but at least it was balanced. He now raced along the maze, eager to fight. He was invincible, he felt, and he crowed with delight. But along the way, he faced more tougher opponents. They reincarnated almost endlessly, and the holograms -both cats and the weapons- became more solid than he ever thought possible. More and more holograms appeared and surrounded him. He was trapped. He raised his spear vertically and stabbed the floor. Using his spear like a pole, he launched himself onto a nearby wall. There was a stair leading down to a basement nearby. Good. He pierced one of the hologram cats in the chest with his spear and threw him down the stairs. Then he ran, hearing the thudding of paws as the holograms followed him. One of the faster cats caught up to him, digging its claws into Elijah's shoulders. 'Ow.' He could see his blood trickling down his pelt. He winced, but he didn't change his expression. He couldn't afford to show his weakness to the capitol. He rolled on the ground, shaking the hologram off him, and beat it with his sword. The sword sometimes went through but with more force, he realized that he could hurt the cat. After some stabbing and hitting, he finished off the hologram. He had no idea where the others went though. They were probably hiding somewhere around here and he was wary now. He realized that he could get hurt if he wasn't careful. Then he noticed an almost transparent hologram lurking around, and broke its skull (if it had one) with the hilt of his sword. In one clean shot. Two holograms left. He found one of them searching the treasure chest in the corner of a small room. Maybe it contained weapons that could kill him. He thought about running away, getting out of the maze as fast as he could, but thought better of it. It wouldn't look so good to show the capitol that he was a coward. And he wasn't one. He padded silently behind the cat, making no noise, and closed the treasure chest's lid. The cat's neck got stuck and he could hear the crunching of the bone. 'So it had a bone!' He thought, more fascinated than disgusted. Elijah was savoring his victory when he felt a searing pain on his left shoulder. A dagger was embedded in his shoulder, and he grimaced. He turned around slowly to see a cat holding up another weapon. Before the other cat could make a move, he threw his spear at him, but it just went through. Spent, he backed away and felt the treasure chest. Yes. Never taking his eyes off the cat, he put one paw inside and searched for something, anything. His paws hit something solid and he took it out. It was an explosive. His last chance. He removed the pin and threw it at the last remaining cat. Three... Two.. One.
A bright light erupted from the explosive and the hologram cat was gone, shattering into thousands of pieces. He instinctively shut his eyes and held up his paw to cover himself from the light and the explosion itself. He could still feel the brightness even through his closed eyelids, and a rumbling sound echoing around him. A few seconds later, all was quiet. He opened his eyes slowly and found himself standing in the middle of an empty room. He had blown up the maze. He smiled sheepishly and looked toward the capitol. Their expression was unreadable, even for him, and he just stood there, for once lost for words. Was blowing up the entire maze a wise choice? Well, he certainly caught their attention. All of them were staring at him. He quickly regained his composure and stood up straight. The wounds had disappeared, and so was the dagger in his shoulder. He never felt so alive before. “I hope you enjoyed... ah, the show. May the odds be ever in /my/ favor."
