Brilliantly written!
In the early morning rays of sunshine, a hovercraft was approaching. It was almost invisible because of the artificial fog that surrounded it. The impeller blades that were used to keep it up created small cyclones over the surface of the lake, drawing up water and turning it into a mist that swirled up and around the hovercraft, similar to the mist found at the bottom of a waterfall. The early morning sun was turned into rainbows around the craft for a brief time before the temperature turned it into snow. When the craft approached the shore, it was accompanied by a miniature blizzard as well as a mist. When the craft landed and the impellers spun down, the mist settled and immediately froze on the foliage as if an ice storm had just passed through, the ice glittering in the sunlight.
Nice visual, the small ice storm makes for the interesting mixture of nature and technology.
Mayson was startled and stopped struggling. “What do you mean, you killed her? You didn’t kill her! She hobbled back to us after your encounter with a broken collarbone. Her right arm was useless! Lumen killed her, even though she was his district partner. Lysander almost killed him for doing it — I think he liked Platinum. Lumen finally convinced Lysander that she was a liability with an arm she couldn’t use.”
Lumen was a definite monster, but than that's what the Capitol wants for entertainment ... monsters. At least poor Lois doesn't have to beat herself up with guilt over Platinum's death.
“Those rats … they were meant for you, Clark. They sounded so much like Becky when she coughed …”
“And their fur was the color of her hair.” Clark nodded. “The Gamemakers were getting back at me for trying to help her. Haver warned me about arena traps, but I never thought they’d use a dead tribute to try to punish a live one.”
“Psychological warfare,” Lois said quietly. “Some people in District 3 work on traps for the arenas. They aren’t just meant to kill or injure — they’re meant to terrorize tributes and keep them off balance. Nothing can be relied upon and nothing is safe, and even the dead can be used as a weapon.”
These rats were genetically engineered to remind Clark about Becky?
In that moment, he made up his mind. Lois wouldn’t die in agony like Mayson had, but the Capitol wouldn’t get to enjoy the moment, either. He pulled the poncho off of her shivering form, as though to make it easier to kill her, then tossed it with deliberate casualness over the camera, hiding them from view.
“I’m so sorry, Lois,” he whispered. He took a deep breath, then blew it out slowly, starting at her head and making his way down to her feet. Anyone who checked would think she had died of hypothermia.
The final cannon sounded.
Good solution. One that I suspect no one saw coming. But how will Lois survive until they meet again?
So far this has been the culmination of the games; Clark emerges as the victor but at a terrible cost to his youth and innocent.
Next week's installment Clark will be physically out of the arena. Now the real games begin.
