The 48th Hunger Games: The Dark Descent
Prologue
Unearthly screams of terror fill fragile ears, forever searing the inhuman sounds in newly traumatized brains. Crimson splatters all over, permanently tainting once pure, innocent hands with red, leaving a mark that will never truly fade away.
These are ever present factors in the Hunger Games, and it is the time of year again to take twenty-four unfortunate souls to reap of their sanity.
For the past few years, the Gamemakers have procured intriguing Arenas and thrilling, heart-pumping, adrenaline-inducing Games which have had Capitol citizens at the edge of their seats as they constantly craved for more.
These particular Games are sure not to disappoint.
Or, at least, that is what Dove thinks as she surveys the layout for the current Arena. It seems simple enough, yet with underlying subtle features that are certain to shock the audience.
She turns toward her fellow Gamemaker, eager for the other's opinion on the setting of the forty-ninth Hunger Games. "Isn't it awesome, Parsley? I mean, I can't believe they thought it up this quickly!"
At the sound of her name, the other woman looks up and arches a single eyebrow. "Thought what up?"
"The Arena," Dove says simply, looking over at the holograms of the blueprints. "Simply astounding, ain't it? It's lucky we have a Victor for an assistant to the Head."
Parsley fixates her gaze on the glowing diagrams, a bit taken aback at the sight before her. "Er, Dove?"
"Yeah?"
"You doknow that there isn't anything there, right?" She enunciates slowly, gesticulating towards the blank blueprints.
"Yeah; it's an invisibleArena, right?" Dove pauses to emit an awed grin. "It's so cool; he is a bonafide genius, no doubt about it."
"Despite the fact that I do not deny your claims on my apparent adroitness on formulating such ideas, I wager Miss Parsley España is trying to inform you that the plans for the invisible Arena are cancelled."
Heads automatically swivel towards the tall, dark figure lingering in the door. The Gamemakers' conversations morph into halting hushes as the Victor of the forty-third Hunger Games swiftly approaches his designated seat, all too aware of the eyes trained on him.
Though his personality has evolved remarkably over time (in fact, learning the art of tact had been a particularly useful skill for him), some of Seth Strider's rather eccentric traits still linger. Analytical, cautious and blunt to a fault, he remains as idiosyncratic as he was seven years prior.
Seth fluidly settles into his seat all the while explaining why the invisible arena won't quite suffice. "The Capitol, and Snow for that matter, wouldn't take too kindly to tributes offing themselves by repeatedly smashing into walls, now would they?"
With a roll of her eyes, one of the more rowdy Gamemakers humbly puts her two cents in. "Ugh. Laaame. Even Dove's nerdy boyfriend couldn't be more boring than that."
"Hey," Dove snaps indignantly, "I'll have you know, Tyler does do things aside from playing chess."
"Yeah, but not everyone gets a boner from staring at a checkered board for hours on end," the other woman retaliates, giving a derisive snort.
"Why you little—"
Fortunately, Seth interjects before Dove can resort to physical violence in order to defend her love's admittedly unconventional interests. "As much I would love to discuss the titillating effects of the human male appendages, I'm afraid we have to veer away from this topic lest Snow demands us to be beheaded."
Silence falls on the others as they notice at the sliver of ire in Seth's otherwise toneless voice.
One such Gamemaker decides to break the silence, his ever cheery demeanor making it easy for him to recover from the sudden hint of emotion the previous Victor exhibited. "How about we play with the elements? You know, manipulating fire, water, air and earth…?"
The Head Gamemaker's response to that is to raise a brow dubiously. "We already had a disaster-filled Arena during the Forty-Second, didn't we?" She lifts her other eyebrow in a subtle gesture of enforcing her superiority. "And the 'Fire and Ice' concept was done during the Forty-Third." [1]
"I know, but–" The usually perky man is interrupted by a hand flying in the air.
"How about we watch the Forty-Eighth Games once again?" Another Gamemaker suggests, strands of her obnoxious fringe barely veiling the excitement in her eyes. "If we are to recall what happened in the past, why not view the past Games for inspiration?"
Countless pairs of curious eyes settle themselves on the lone Victor in the room. Ordinarily, said Victor should have felt pressured by their expectant gazes, but, as it is, Seth Strider has never been considered normal.
"…All right," he agrees in an emotionless tone of voice, contrasting the enthusiastic atmosphere. "We shall see if we are able to garner any… refreshing concepts for the Forty-Ninth." There's a flurry of fingers, and floating, blue words materialize in front of the Gamemakers' eyes.
District 1 [Luxury]
M: Glimmerich 'Richie' Spinelli (18)
F: Serra Ingot (17)
District 2 [Masonry]
M: Jared Calibre (17)
F: Clarence Endor (18)
District 3 [Technology]
M: Mac Challis (17)
F: Sigrid 'Siri' Rosaceae (15)
District 4 [Fishing]
M: Zire Prang (16)
F: Kiara Wilson (13)
District 5 [Power]
M: Thaddeus 'Deus' Lupin III (14)
F:
District 6 [Transportation]
M: Trail Darner (16)
F:
District 7 [Lumber]
M: Waldorf Mahoney (17)
F: Cypress 'Cy' Thormac (15)
District 8 [Textiles]
M: Avis Rodanthe (16)
F: Catherine 'Meow' Skye (17)
District 9 [Grain]
M:
F: Corinne Bandy (14)
District 10 [Livestock]
M: Shawn Chukar (18)
F: Brie Butterfield (17)
District 11 [Agriculture]
M: Rocky Dovlin (16)
F: Jennifer Stark (16)
District 12 [Mining]
M: Ulrick Ashbarry (15)
F: Elise Durelle (12)
Seth doesn't wait for the others to finish reading the list. Partly, because the tributes' names have been branded in his brain as they always have been; though, mostly because it doesn't really matter. He pointedly ignores the murmurs of protest as he closes the list and opens up a new window.
On the screen, the Gamemakers watch as the escort of District One makes her way towards the stage.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the Reapings of the Forty-Eighth Annual Hunger Games."
L's A/N:
1– The 42nd and 43rd Hunger Games, written by the wonderful Hoprocker. I highly advice you lot to check them out; they're fantastic pieces of literature you'd never get enough of.
A few reminders:
We do not possessthe Hunger Games series, and we do not own the majority of the characters present.
And yes, this is a SYOT, but we aim to strictly abide by the rules on this site; which means no random author's notes as chapters and other illegal activities.
If you decide to donor a tribute or two, please remember that you are giving us creative license to do as we please. We shall try to give everyone appropriate screen-time as well as doing our best to be as accurate as we can to the profile you submitted.
Once the Games begin, you may sponsor a tribute that is not your own.
Please do all this via PM.
Anyway, thank you for reading thus far! I hope you'll stick around to enjoy the story.