***STOP! IMPORTANT!*** Do NOT read this chapter if you haven't REREAD the new Chapter 9 I posted! I replaced the one I put up before I left on vacation. If you don't, none of this chapter will make sense because I added a boatload of stuff in there. Happy reading! ***IMPORTANT***

10

The Victor

I woke up to a severe throbbing in my left arm. I looked down at it and gasped at the purple swollen quality it had taken on. I tried to move it, but it wouldn't budge. I tried my wrist, but still no response. I couldn't even get my fingers to move.

Great.

Whatever Hector had done to my arm, I didn't have the skill or the technology to fix it. Sitting up was painful, and so was drinking water. That's when I remembered that bone-crunching punch I took to the face and decided I was hydrated enough for now. My left arm felt like a foreign object sewn onto my body; I didn't like it. How was I going to win with a gimp arm?

A snap and a yelp told me that something else was caught in my snare. I picked up my trident and ran after it.

The orange palm trees

The steep riff

Rock that looks like a man

The indent in the cliff…

It sounded close, probably the rock that looks like a man. But by the time I got there, the net was broken and no one was around. I cut it down in frustration and stalked away. Then it occurred to me I had no idea who was still alive. After I'd passed out last night any number of canons could have fired without waking me. Now there was no way to be certain who was dead or alive.

Another snap. near the cliff I believed. I ran for it and saw the boy from six thrashing around inside. I felt bad for him, and for a second I almost put down my trident.

Not time to be weak, Fin.

I charged the net, and ducked under it, poised to strike. He caught my eyes and I froze, everything in me going numb.

"I'm sorry," is all I said before running him through the heart with my trident. I hated the way that felt, when your weapon breaks through flesh and bone. But it was fast. The life went out of his eyes instantly and the canon fired.

Well, I guess I knew for sure he was dead.

I also now knew that as long as they were in the net, it was easy enough for me to stab them just using my right arm, seeing as my left was rendered useless. I took the remaining scraps of my shirt from my backpack and made a sling so that my arm wouldn't be flying around aimlessly whenever I moved. It helped too, to have it cradled instead of hanging loose. I walked through the forest, trying to figure out where to go or what to do. I nibbled on a root that Carson had shown me, but it hurt to chew. These games would have to end soon or else I'd die of emaciation.

For four hours I walked, tried to get feeling back into my arm, and hid if I heard a sound. I checked all my traps; found one had caught an animal. But I wasn't going to eat anything if I didn't know what it was, so I left it. Who knew if it bit? I walked into a piece of the forest that looked broken and lived it. The ground looked disheveled, but nothing could have prepared me for the scene a few feet away. The leaves, tree trunks, grass, and ground was all splattered with crimson. The smell of old blood overwhelmed my nostrils and I gagged, backing away from the spot. What had happened here? Surely, whoever's blood that was, they were dead.

I cleared out of there as fast as I could, now paranoid of animals and beasts alike. The viewers were going to get bored soon, something was going to happen for sure.

I found myself at the edge of the forest, the perimeter between the plain of cooled rock and the trees. Goren was still out there, his back to the woods.

Well, what else do I have to do? He could be the only one left, for all I know.

I crept out to the plain, feeling self conscious about how open and visible I was. It anyone had a bow and arrow or even a good throwing arm with a spear, I was done. But Goren remained completely unaware I was there. I had to accredit that to my District once again; one of the first things my father taught me when learning to fish was how to focus my energy so that I can move without alarming other living things. I got so good at it; fish would swim unsuspectingly around my ankles, even though I had a trident just above the water waiting to impale them.

I crept silently until I was about seven feet behind him. My palm got sweaty against the hilt, terrified he would turn around and see me. But when I could tune out the sound of my heart and just listen, I could hear humming. It was coming from Goren from what I could tell. It was a cheery tune I'd never heard before, probably a folk song from District Nine.

If you kill them quickly, there's honor in that. It's the only mercy you can show in that arena, to kill someone quickly. Maybe even when they don't see it coming. Just a thought.

I remembered Mags' face when she told me that and knew what I had to do. Quietly as I could, I snuck up about three feet behind him. I didn't dare breath or move anything but my feet. He had his head propped up in his right hand, poking an extinguished fire with a stick. He was still humming that cheerful little tune and I had to wonder what he was thinking about. Was it a happy memory?

When they don't see it coming.

As fast as I could, I pulled the trident back and ran it through his back. The canon cracked not two seconds later. I hoped his last memory was a good one.

I ran back to the woods, longing for the cover of the trees. I hated the open, exposing air. Two down today, I was on a murderous roll. I glanced down at the shell bracelet and relaxed; a few more and I would be going home. I hoped that whoever was left was entertaining the audience enough to keep the gamemakers away from me. My arm was incapacitating me with pain and I had already killed two people today. Enough was enough.

I sat down in the cover of the plants and sat with my head propped up against a tree. I think I fell asleep, because when I woke up the sun was setting. I felt like I got to sleep a lot more than other people in the games I've seen, and yet I never felt rested when I woke. It was frustrating but more than that it was debilitating.

A snap. One of my traps caught something. I tcheck the one by the riff, but no one was there. I tried the oen enar the vines, and low and behold, there was my favorite person in the world caught in my net.

"Hello, Carson."

He wasn't struggling, in fact he just laid there with an exasperated graimce.

"Well, this looks oddly familiar," he sighed. I smiled but it wasn't' particularly funny, just ironic. We stayed silent for a moment, until he swung his head around and said, "Well?"

"Any last words? Final requests?" I asked. It wasn't patronizing, in an odd way I respected him. he got this far he deserved to say something if he wanted to.

"Don't toy with me, Fishboy."

I shook my head, "I'm not."

"I had a life back home, you know. I played this game hard too, to get back. But no, it's going to go to you. Or some other pathetic child running about this arena. Just do it."

I tentatively walked forward, my trident held above me. Right before I prepared to strike, he whipped his head around and his eyes bore deep down into mine. I was transfixed, frozen, like being looked in the eye by a cobra.

"You're going to lose it all," he hissed, right before I plunged my weapon into his stomach. The canon fire confirmed what I already knew; Carson was dead. A cold chill passed over me, remembering his icy cold orbs of eyes.

You're going to lose everything.

What did he mean by that? I was going to die? I was going to lose my home?

I decided he was probably just trying to intimidate me. He was about to die, after all.

When the sun completely disappeared and night was once again on the arena,. The anthem stated to play and the faces of the dead flashed across the skies. The boy from six, Goren, and Carson. All the deaths done today were attributed to me. They were my fault.

Who was left? surely it was close to the end now. Last I knew only Viper, the girl from five, Celeste, and Hector were alive. Maybe some of them had died too…

Suddenly the ground broke out in violent vibrations. What was happening?

It felt like it had when the volcano erupted. Sure enough, when I looked up, more liquid fire was spewing from its mouth. I ran in the other direction, for the cliff. I reached the base of it and started climbing, not bothering with a rope or hook. But it began to tremble when I got a few feet up, and suddenly rocks were flying down the side of it.

Come ON!

A rock hit my hand and I fell back to the earth. For the best I guess, I would probably have fallen trying to climb with one arm. The rock slide was picking up speed, so I ran for it. I wasn't sure where to go, so I went north. The Cornucopia had to be safe, it was usually the base of all the games. The air was heating up and I could smell the smoke of the trees falling under the lava's blanket. To my right they were breaking and crunching with the falling boulders.

This must be it. This must be the finale. They're rounding us together.

I made a beeline for the open clearing where the Cornucopia sat. the sounds of destruction were all around, but there was nowhere else to go. So I stayed put. Whoever I was going to fight would arrive any second now…

And there she was. Celeste came crashing through the foliage and into the clearing covered in soot and blood. Was it her blood or someone else's?

The noise ceased, leaving us to stand across from one another and catch our breath. She was doubled over, but kept her creepy beautiful eyes concentrated on me the whole time. When I'd caught enough breath, I called across the clearing to her, "Are we the last two, then?" She straightened up and nodded grimly. Fire was burning in her very demeanor.

This is it.

"Where have you been?" she asked me, taking one step closer.

"Oh, running about. Surviving. I met my friend, Marina."

She furrowed her eyebrows, as if trying to remember who that was, and then a look of realization came across her and she smiled.

"Oh, Marina. How nice."

Anger was boiling up inside of me, how could she look so pleased? Did I look like that after killing someone? Would I smile and brag when I looked into the face of a friend of my victim?

"You killed her," I snarled.

"Did not." She sounded like a child.

"You led her on, stole from her. Why?"

Celeste shrugged, seeming to think it was unimportant. Maybe it was, but it was important to me. I needed to understand.

"We needed the extra supplies. It was clear she was weak, no matter how talented she was, she had victim written all over her face. We did show her some mercy, we let her run. Did we not?"

I shook my head and tightened my grip on my weapon, "You kill for fun."

Now she looked angry, "I kill to live. Are you telling me you haven't?"

"You prostitute yourself to the sponsors to get supplies! Where's the honor in that?

"Me?" she screeched, getting extremely worked up, "How about you? You flaunt your body this whole time, walk around like you've already won. I bet this whole Marina thing is just a ploy, to make yourself look vulnerable and caring. Am I right? That's where those shells are from, I recognize it. What did you have to do, Finnick, to get that shiny little stick you're holding? How many kids did you have to kill?"

"Enough," I demanded in a low voice. She was lying; she was trying to make me doubt myself. I shouldn't listen.

But I was.

She shook her head and took two more steps towards me, "You're worse than I am and you don't even see it."

I tried to stay still, I tried not to let my anger take over. I wanted to be in control. But I lost it when she reached forward, hooked her fingers under my bracelet, and tore it off with a beam in her eyes the whole time.

I leapt forward, whipping my trident around for her throat. She dodged it and got up behind me, pulling out a long dagger. I grabbed her wrist before she could plunge it down and twisted it until she yelped. Her face was wild and crazed and in the back of my head I had to wonder if I looked like that too. I pinned her and pulled myself to my knees—a challenge with one arm—and punched her. It went against everything I was raised for, but at the time it didn't matter. She wasn't a girl; she was a mutt in the way of my homecoming.

I was trying to get a proper grip on my trident when a burst of searing pain overtook me. Celeste was punching my shoulder over and over and over again. I felt the bones and muscles moving unnaturally under the trauma and suddenly she was up on her feet, plunging a knife into my back.

Cold and uncomfortable, but I didn't feel a lot of pain. Maybe I was in shock? Was I dead? No, I got up, my weapon still in hand, and attacked. She collapsed easily under my weight, but her fists were quick. I head-butted her with a blinding thwack, and took advantage of her momentary shock. I clumsily took up my trident and stabbed, the prongs finding a home in her abdomen. Apparently it wasn't deep enough to kill, because when I retracted my weapon she was on her feet. Her knife swept through the air and caught me on the cheek, tearing part of it open.

"That's for Brutus," she rasped, trying to slash me again. I grabbed both of her wrists, threw her to the ground, and then kicked her head. I didn't like how that felt, but I didn't have time to feel guilty or immoral. She grabbed my ankle as I started to run, and I fell, my left arm pinned painfully underneath me. She jumped on my back and brought a rock smashing down on my shoulder.

"Aughhh!" I cried out, rolling out from under her, stumbling to my feet and taking off. I needed to find a trap somewhere, but they were all gone. Either with the lava or the rockslide, any of the remaining few were lost to me. I couldn't go back to the Cornucopia at that point, so that one was no use. I kept running, feeling the blood draining from my body and the sound of Celeste's footsteps rushing behind me.

The big gray rock…

The orange trees…

The tree with the vines….wait.

The bed…no...riff…no….

Shit.

And suddenly I was in the clearing where I first met Carson, where I taught him to make a snare. Yes, there it was. I sprinted for it, standing right behind the trigger. Celeste emerged through the trees, spotted me and came to a slow halt.

"Accepting death?" she asked through heavy breaths. I felt weak and a strange metallic taste was in my mouth, but no I hadn't, thank you very much. Blood was spewing from the three gashes in her stomach, reminding me sickeningly of the volcano. I took and deep breathe and met her eyes with determination. I had to get home. I was not going to die.

"Try me."

She ran forward, her knife poised over her shoulder. I braced myself just in case the snare didn't work, but sure enough when she got close enough to reach me, the snare went off and swept her up into the net.

Eh, what the hell. Thank you, Carson.

"NO!" she shrieked, lashing around like a fish out of water. I clutched my trident firmly and positioned it under her.

"Sorry."

With a quick breath, I thrusted the trident upwards and into her chest. The death canon fired one last time.

Claudius Templesmith's voice rang out of the silence, bellowing across the world, "Ladies and gentleman, may I present the victor of the Sixty-Fifth Hunger Games, Finnick Odair of District Four!"

It was finally over.