Hey guys! Sorry it took me so long to put up this chapter! Don't worry, I haven't lost resolve, I just despise junior year! For anyone who's recently out of high school, you have my utmost respect! Anyway, I have a very interesting chapter today! So please enjoy!

"Wait. You want me to what? Um, okay. I guess I could do that. Well, my experience with the Games was unique in the sense of that the large majority of my competition was killed by mutts. While this taught a valuable lesson to the Capitol about too much gamemaker interference according to president Lumi, it also taught a lesson to the districts: When you're in the games, assume everything is your enemy. Just because a plant looks harmless doesn't mean it can't kill you. A valuable lesson from a Victor: You can never be too cautious in the games." Mullen Chall

1f: Ruby Heart, 18 (8) 1m: Andrew Carver, 18 (9)

2f: Odessa Conaje, 17 (9) 2m: Gallius Ramin, 18 (10)

3f: Joule Watts, 12, (2) 3m: Kord Bunner, 16 (7)

4f: Tracey Auai, 17 (10) 4m: Kayne Neeks, 17 (8)

5f: Cynthia Inaya, 16 (7) 5m: Layne Ginga, 14 (6)

6f: Fiona Swift, 13 (4) 6m: Aketsu Komo, 17 (2)

7f: Maggie Harper, 16 (7) 7m: Hephaestus Grail, 17 (8)

8f: Teya Millye, 17 (5) 8m: Orson Poppy, 18 (4)

9f: Lillian Welkes, 13 (3) 9m: Peter Welles, 16 (6)

10f: Maybelline Carpenter, 12 (1) 10m: Abraham Vann, 15 (5)

11f: Robin Ilkes, 15 (6) 11m: Jonah Limo, 13 (5)

12f: Diamond Ross, 13 (4) 12m: Colton Ollen, 15, (7)

This year was yet another new arena, which most assumed would be a trend in the games. But on top of that, District 4 had also gotten two volunteers this year! Tracey and Kayne, emboldened by Mullen's win, decided to give it a shot as well. The Capitol had also declared that from now on districts would get rewards yearly for Victors, and if they won in a given year, they'd get the greatest reward, further lifting the tributes' spirits. However, on the flip side, they also warned that this year's arena would be the deadliest yet, and that it would be likely for certain districts to have an advantage in any given year's arena. The president of Panem, Lumi Derille, had also come down with an illness this year, one that no doctor could seem to identify. Whenever someone made a breakthrough, they either declared it to be a mistake or died soon after.

But the Gamemakers had plans this year, big ones that would affect the tributes. They wanted to see how different tributes would react in foreign environments, and if that would affect win rates. So this year was a snowy deciduous forest zone, with timber wolf mutts and falling acorn bombs. On top of that, the cornucopia had limited supplies for the tributes to keep warm, but many firestarters and axes. There were large clearings in various parts of the arenas, and two caves in the sides of hills on opposite ends of the arena.

When the tributes rose up, the first thing they noticed was that their suits were well insulated around their bodies, but their hands, feet, and heads were all instantly cold. The tributes from districts that got snow like Two, Twelve, and Seven had a clear advantage in this environment, as they were more able to adapt to the cold. However, before anyone could dwell on it too long, a massive BOOM was heard as an explosion occurred somewhere near the cornucopia, creating a burst of heat and steam that relieved the nearby tributes for a couple of seconds. Seconds later, the gong was struck.

Immediately Odessa, Gallius, Tracey, Kord, and Kayne ran towards the Cornucopia as young Joule, whom the other five had deemed too small to be of major use but let her in on account of Kord's insistence, darted in and grabbed all the warming supplies she could, stockpiling them in a corner as she grabbed an axe and timidly stood in front of it. Four tributes chose to run away from the cornucopia, choosing to take their chances in the cold instead. However, Ruby and Andrew chose to team up with the District Seven kids, Hephaestus and Maggie, and they ran into the cornucopia, Ruby and Maggie facing off against Gallius and Tracey as the boys grabbed heavy supplies like packs and weapons, before running off. However, before they could escape, Odessa threw an expertly aimed Tomahawk at Andrew, instantly lopping off his leg and causing him to fall to the ground, unconscious. Ruby screamed loudly as he fell, but Hephaestus yelled at her to keep moving before she ended up dead too.

On the other side of the cornucopia, Tracey and Kord were chasing down Teya, Peter, and Aketsu. Teya was swiftly brought down with a well-placed axe to the neck from Tracey, while Kord cleaved Aketsu twice over with two strokes of a sword, cutting the poor boy's arms off. Peter, younger than the other two by only a year, managed to safely make it into the woods with nothing more than a small shallow cut to his right hamstring, not severe enough to even pierce the muscle. He made it out with a fairly large pack, the reason that he was so slow, but also what would likely keep him alive over the next few days. Meanwhile, Gallius had a spear in one hand and an axe in the other, racing after Fiona from five and Lillian from 9. He launched the axe at Fiona, not quite killing her but putting her within an inch of her life as it rammed itself into her stomach, while he continued chasing after Lillian, who died seconds later as he cut off her head.

Meanwhile, Jonah from 11 and Maybelline from 10, the two youngest tributes in the game, were caught by Kayne and Odessa. Both of them had tears in their eyes, and the elder tributes were visibly regretful as they granted Maybelline's request to make it quick. Both of them died having barely felt it, with clean strokes to the back of their heads with axes. The remaining tributes who were in the cornucopia were either confident in their abilities, or attempting to hide, like Cynthia from Five. However, to her utter dismay, Joule heard her enter the cornucopia and, trembling, lit her crate on fire. Ironically, Joule was the one who screamed louder, despite the fact that Cynthia ripped her way out of the box and ran into the snow with only minor burns and parts of her suit having melted off or stuck to her skin. In the end, however, it was not the fire but Gallius who ended her life, stabbing her in the heart and collapsing her lung. The next kill was actually made by Cynthia's district partner Layne, who killed Abraham from ten in fear with a large hatchet he grabbed. Immediately his already pale face got paler, and his features tightened in horror as he realized what he'd done. He started running towards the forest, but before he could get to the safety of the trees, a tomahawk came flying out of the woods and impaled him in the neck, causing him to drop against the previously pristine snow, thoroughly dead!

24th: Andrew Carver, 1, bleeding out, Odessa

23rd: Teya Millye, 8, axe to neck, Tracey

22: Aketsu Komo, 6, bleeding out, Kord

21: Fiona Swift, 6, axe to stomach, Gallius

20: Lillian Welkes, 9 decapitation, Gallius

19: Jonah Limo, 11, axe to head, Kayne

18: Maybelline Carpenter, 10, axe to head, Odessa

17: Cynthia Inaya, 5, collapsed lug and spear through heart, Gallius and Joule

16: Abraham Vann, 10, hatchet to chest, Layne

15: Layne Ginga, 5, tomahawk to neck, Hephaestus

As the two-three-four alliance finished their perimeter check for stragglers, they listened to the cannons going off as Hovercrafts picked up the bodies of their fellow tributes. "Eight, nine, ten." Tracey counted. "Damn. We really did a number on them out there!" Kord commented. "And it was a good idea including Joule on the alliance. Not only did she help us get another kill, but she instantly figured out which supplies were most important!" Gallius exclaimed, clapping the young girl on the back. Joule smiled shyly at that, clearly proud of herself about her accomplishment. "Should we go after that other alliance?" Odessa wondered. "No. For now we can relax. Five kids escaped without anything, that nine kid only had a hatchet and a pack, and they're only a group of three to our six." Kayne replied.

"Five, actually." Joule replied. "Huh?" Gallius asked, confused. "Unless you want me to build something to kill the other tributes, you have five fighters and Cannon fodder." Joule explained. "Come on! You have to be more confident than that!" Lord told her. "It's not about confidence. It's about statistics. I literally would not be capable of beating many of you in a fight, and there isn't enough stuff here for me to make a good weapon unless you all want me to waste our heating supplies to build a flamethrower. The most I can do is dig up the mines and reactivate them for defenses, and set up lengths of wire to cut apart any mutts that try to attack us." The little girl told them. Kord and Odessa clearly wanted to protest, but Tracey spoke up. "And you're absolutely sure that you don't want to try fighting to the end?" She asked. Joule nodded. "Then we promise a swift death, and only once we hit the final six. Is there any particular way you want it?" Kayne asked. "Clean, and in my sleep." Joule replied. The five nodded, knowing that she had clearly made up her mind. "So who wants to go help Joule with defenses then?" Gallius asked.

Elsewhere, that night

BOOM! "That's three." Hephaestus commented as they huddled around their campfire. Earlier that night they had all been woken up by screaming, followed by two cannons. They were all quite nervous, as no one knew what was happening, and they'd already lost a member of their alliance. However, soon enough they realized what was happening. They heard howls, followed by screams of agony as another Cannon went off. Before they could react, however, a figure broke through the trees to their snowy grove, bloodied and covered in scratches! He collapsed, his uniform sliding off him in complete tatters as the three tributes gathered closer to the fire with their weapons. "Help…" the boy rasped. Maggie took a step towards the boy, but was stopped by Hephaestus, who pointed to glowing yellow eyes surrounding the campfire. None of them were staring at the small alliance, but all were focused on the boy.

"They're heat seekers. All they see near us is the fire, but he's not close enough. When they're done with him, they'll go." He whispered. The two girls nodded, gulping as the boy tried crawling to them. Before he could get close, though, a massive brown wolf the size of a horse jumped into the clearing, pouncing on the boy! It howled victoriously as he screamed and screamed. Seconds later, the wolf bent down and crushed its jaws around the boy's neck, ending his cries. All three still-living tributes winced as blood spurted everywhere. However, Hephaestus was proven right as the wolf walked away, howling in victory. "That was awful." Ruby whispered. "It must have been one of the five who ran without supplies. They're nonfactors, so the Capitol wants to get rid of them." Maggie commented. "That was the twelve boy." Hephaestus agreed. "I think we should all stay close together for safety. And near the fire." Ruby commented, the other two nodding in agreement.

14th: Robin Ilkes, 11, clawed to death by wolf mutts

13th: Orson Poppy, 8, eaten alive by wolf mutts

12th: Diamond Ross, 12, head trauma induced by wolf mutts

11th: Colton Ollen, 12, jugular vein pierced by wolf mutts

The next day

The day after the wolf attacks, many of the tributes were on edge by such open attacks during the night waged upon all tributes. The two-three-four alliance split up into a group of two and a group of three to find tributes, while once again Joule stayed back, this time setting up more traps the group had discussed putting up while the cannons were going off.

Group one was Tracey and Odessa, both of whom brought projectile weapons along with their axes. And group two was the perhaps overly playful group of Kord, Kayne, and Gallius, the three of whom having bonded closely the previous night. Of the two groups, only one would cross paths with their competition that day, and it would result in disaster for both sides. The boys would end up encountering their fellow alliance near one of the groves. Immediately they clashed three on three, the boys gaining an upper hand due to their superior weapons. Gallius went up against Hephaestus, Ruby took on Kord, and Maggie was fighting Kayne. Gallius seemed to be evenly matched with Hephaestus, as even though he was the more experienced tribute, Hephaestus had used an axe all his life. However, the same could not be said about Kayne and Maggie. Maggie was clearly superior to him in battle, and managed to slash his leg and right arm, the one with the axe in it, and leave him virtually defenseless.

But before she could deliver the finishing blow, one of the pine trees near them suddenly shot off its acorns in every direction! One smacked the ground between Kayne and Maggie, blowing up and slamming Maggie into a tree, while sending Kayne into a snowdrift! Maggie's Impact against the tree was the catalyst that started a chain of acorn explosions that forced the four able tributes to run in opposite directions, desperately trying to survive as the land between them became nothing more than massive fireballs against the ground! When the acorns had finally stopped falling a couple minutes later, all the tributes heard two consecutive cannons that signified the deaths of Maggie and Kayne. Angry at himself for not trying to save her, Hephaestus started screaming at the sky loudly as Ruby tried to shush him.

But by the time she did, a new tribute had found them. Peter from nine, who up until then was doing well, came thinking he could make an easy kill. Unfortunately for him, Hephaestus had gone in a rage and threw the tomahawk at him, lopping off his left arm at the elbow. Immediately Peter started screaming in agony as Hephaestus pounced on him and carved into the poor boy from nine with two hatchets. When Ruby finally calmed Hephaestus down enough for him to be rational again, he stared in shock at what was left of the boy he had just murdered. Peter's entire chest had been carved out piece by piece, his organs and muscles slashed apart and bones violently broken. Hephaestus immediately hugged Ruby tightly for comfort, desperately seeking some form of acceptance or understanding. Luckily for him, he received it as she murmured in his ear softly, telling him that it was okay, he was angry and it wasn't his fault.

10th: Kayne Neeks, 4, blown up by acorn bombs

9th: Maggie Harper, 7, head trauma

8th: Peter Welles, 9, chest slashed apart, Hephaestus

That night, both sides mourned the losses of their friends, but also secretly were relieved that they were that much closer to freedom. Both sides also received sponsor gifts of firestarters and food, leaving an uneasy peace for the cold night.

The next day, however, was when things started becoming serious. Knowing only two others were left, the two-three-four alliance left both Gallius and Joule back at the base, knowing that Gallius, who had grown closer to Kayne than anyone else with their shared love of comedy and similar familial situations with three younger siblings each, would not be at his best in a hunt. Luckily for the three who were hunting, they found their targets quite easily. Ruby and Hephaestus were trying to figure out of the Acorns that had fallen but not detonated were any good, and had gone close to the cornucopia to test it out.

Unfortunately for them, their three opponents charged violently at them, and when Ruby shrieked in fear, she grabbed her weapon, threw her acorns, and figured out the answer to their question. Kord felt only a fleeting impact the first nanosecond the acorns struck him, before another nanosecond of searing heat, and then the end came. Horrified by the fact that all of the skin on Kord had been burnt off, the two remaining tributes on the hunt paused in shock. This gave Hephaestus and Ruby time to run away and head back towards their camp after throwing some more acorns at the trio, causing them to jump back and run to the cornucopia.

7th: Kord Bunner, 3, blown up by acorn bombs, Ruby

That night, Ruby and Hephaestus had an amicable split before sundown, choosing to wait until sunup before leaving. Meanwhile, the remaining three tributes at the cornucopia still awake were staring at a sleeping Joule, who took sponsor-provided sleeping pills to help her along the way. All three were clearly hesitant and sad about killing such a young girl, and a friend they had made over the past few days. Finally, Gallius did the deed, giving the girl a barely noticeable cut along her wrist, causing her to bleed out quickly and painlessly in her sleep, just as she wanted. All three remaining tributes in the alliance mourned as the cannon went off and the Hovercraft came to pick up her body, and also agreed to split up in order to improve their chances.

6th: Joule Watts, 3, slit wrist, Gallius

The next day was actually the second to last, despite the small number of tributes. Early in the morning, all five tributes split up and headed to various parts of the arena, hoping not to meet up with anyone before they set up camp. Unfortunately for two of them, this would not happen, as they crossed paths in the middle of the day. Ruby and Odessa were for the most part evenly matched, with Ruby's point below Odessa in training being made up for by her year on Odessa. They both fought with axes, clashing them together multiple times, as well as hitting the surrounding trees. Finally, Odessa landed a lucky strike and snapped Ruby's axe with her own, landing a deep cut on the One girl as well. However, Ruby still managed to smile, much to Odessa's belief. "Why are you smiling?" Odessa wondered. She had much respect for this girl, who had chosen to challenge her rather than run for the hills, and put up a good strong fight too. "Win this, Hephaestus." Were Ruby's last words, as she staggered against a tree trunk. Immediately, Odessa realized why Ruby was smiling, and her eyes widened in horror. "NOOOO!" She screamed, trying to outrun the tree that was now falling on her. It was too late, however, and she was crushed under the branches right after Ruby let it her last breath, slumped over in the red-tinged snow.

5th: Ruby Heart, 1, Axe wounds, Odessa

4th: Odessa Conaje, 2, Falling tree, Ruby

That night, before the stars were out, Hephaestus and Gallius had similar ideas and headed to the cornucopia. When they met up, both agreed that with only three tributes left, they wouldn't fight until tomorrow and instead chose to huddle together for warmth around the fire. "Why are you blushing?" Gallius wondered, staring at Hephaestus, who was wrapped in the blanket Gallius generously gave him. "You just remind me a lot of the guy I like at home. You're this big jock, and would probably be a lumberjack in my district. You're also really nice and a good listener like him. Honestly, the only differences between you two are that he has blue eyes to your green, and his hair is a lighter brown, and you actually know I exist." Hephaestus laughed. "So you're gay then?" Gallius asked. The seven boy nodded in response. "So's my little brother. Real sweetie, named Philippe. He wanted to volunteer when he was older, so I did it for him. Looks a lot like me actually, except blonde like our mom. And also he has a crush on pretty much only the absolute worst guys. There was this one time last year when he was fourteen, he was dating this total jerk who was stealing money from us and taking it from him. The guy blatantly asks him to top Philippe right there in front of me in the living room! I of course threw him out on his ass, and made sure he'd never come back. If I hadn't waited for a good excuse, I knew Philippe would have been pissed." Gallius laughed.

"Your family sounds like fun." Hephaestus commented, smiling sadly. "What's wrong?" Gallius Wondered. "My family's mostly dead. I've got two older brothers, but my parents are dead, they had no siblings, and their parents are dead. It's just the three of us." Hephaestus explained. "Oh. That must be hard." Gallius commented. "It's Not too bad. We work hard and make enough. Dad was the only blacksmith in seven and he taught my brother Vulco everything he knew, so it's not like we're on the streets." Hephaestus told him. Gallius just nodded, opening his mouth to speak, before a Cannon went off! "Tracey died? How?" He spluttered. His question was quickly answered by the sounds of wolf howls coming from one of the caves. "You don't think the wolves live in the caves, do you? Cause it's possible she made her camp there." Hephaestus realized. "Poor Tracey. I hope it was at least quick." Gallius commented.

3rd: Tracey Auai, 4, torn apart by wolf mutts

Both of them realized what this meant for tomorrow, but neither wanted to spoil the night by mentioning it as they were having a good night. Finally, they went to sleep next to the fire so as to keep from being found by the wolves, and the third day ended.

Next day

Both tributes knew it was the final day, and when they got up, Gallius smiled sadly. "Rematch?" He asked. "I really really don't want to kill you." Hephaestus told him. "Same. But one of us has to go. May the Odds be Ever in your Favor of winning, I guess." Gallius laughed. "Can we promise to take care of each other's family no matter who wins?" Hephaestus asked. Gallius quickly nodded. "Absolutely." The two boy agreed. Both boys nodded, before backing away with axes clutched in their hands. Seconds later, they darted towards each other, matching each other blow for blow! Neither one of them seemed to tire, but it was clear that, given time, Hephaestus was gaining an upper hand due to his experience with axes. Soon enough, Gallius stumbled, and Hephaestus went for the opening. He tried to make it a clean cut, running his axe along Gallius' jugular and causing the two boy to collapse.

Hephaestus immediately dropped to his knees and cradled his fallen friend in his lap as the sun steadily rose, brightening the morning dawn, with Hephaestus openly sobbing as Gallius closed his eyes for the last time. The Victor emblem appeared over the cornucopia with his picture on it, but he didn't notice. He was still sobbing and cradling Gallius' body until he was sedated on the Hovercraft just as the sun made it over the trees in the snowy forest.

Hephaestus had the first new arena that wasn't a disaster, and was the first Victor to be thoroughly traumatized, a pattern that would continue no matter who the victor on a near-constant basis for the rest of the games. Hephaestus was also the last Victor to never be prostituted or have his family killed due to refusal, as by the time the seventh games had rolled around, the games in which the Victors would be informed of this new rule, the first four had married or were deemed too old like Mullen. In district seven it was common to get snow during the winter months, and whenever there was thick snow on the ground Hephaestus would refuse to come out of his house, as he always saw the pristine white blankets of the stuff spattered red with blood unless they were already melting away. He also never picked up an axe or hatchet again, and wouldn't even let them in his house, as he would have PTSD attacks just from looking at them. He later married his crush, a man named Aspen Brunner, and they ended up having four children together, two girls and two boys. One of the boys, the younger of the two, would later move to the Capitol and become a well-known stylist for the games, his fashion becoming top tier with his streak of turning seemingly plain or ugly people into works of art. His name was Cinna, short for Cinnamon, and he would always make sure to have time to see his father when Hephaestus was mentoring someone in the games. Hephaestus lived a long life, and famously spoke these words to his great-grandchildren: "I'm only gonna die when Gally wants me to die, and he says I can't die until Philippe dies!" While nobody was entirely sure if he actually hallucinated Gallius' ghost, he was well known in his old age to speak to people as if they were someone he knew long ago, and sometimes talked to certain objects that most no longer knew what they meant to him. He would die at the ancient age of 105, only days after Phillipe's death, and seven years after Aspen. He died peacefully, in his sleep, and reportedly called his children that night and said goodbye to them, although this has never been confirmed.

Other news:

After Gallius spoke those famous words before his death, 'May the Odds Be Ever in Your Favor' became the new Capitol catchphrase for the hunger games, a phrase that would long outlast any of the presidents, Victors, and gamemakers.

Sirius Tyrun's first child, Andromeda, is born.

Jessica starts dating a man named Bolt Reuben

List of Victors:

1: Jessica Blake, 3, Death: 83 years old. 'The First Victor'

2: Sirius Tyrun, 2, Death: 91 years old. "The Fatherly Victor"

3: Mullen Chall, 4, Death: 80 years old. "The Broken-hearted Victor"

4: Hephaestus Grail, 7, Death: 105 years old. "The first true Victor'

Well, I hope you all enjoyed my chapter greatly! I promise I'm gonna try to update more often, but I can't give an exact schedule as junior year will most definitely interfere at some point or another. Still, I'm gonna try, so hit me with requests, with comments, criticism, theories, whatever! Oh and ships! I love hearing about who you guys ship with who! Just please review, as it actually makes it better for me to know that people care about my story and are reading it in detail rather than just skimming it over.