Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games. They belong to Suzanne Collins.
Note: And here we are, not at the end of the story yet, but at the end of the Games. With 4 tributes left alive and some very deadly Game-Maker traps, some you may not expect, it's gonna be something no tribute will forget for a long time, assuming they do not die first. I should be able to finish this story within a week at most, I think. It seems a first person POV is easier to work with than a 3rd person POV. Who knew? Hope you guys enjoy the 'finale' of the Games! Oh, and also, the next clue to who the next protagonist of The Nameless Chronicles will be.
Hint #1: This tribute died during the Cornucopia Bloodbath.
Hint #2: This tribute's face was clearly seen in the first death recap, unlike some who were not shown at all.
I'm scared.
Actually, both Rue and I are beyond scared. We walk together through the dark forest, heading back up the hill that leads to the top of the cliff. From there...it's off to the Cornucopia. It may be a bit of a journey, but when we get there we'll have to fight a boy with a bow-gun and a Career who is...pretty mad at me, by now.
It will not be easy, and we both know it. But it's either kill them...or sit down and let ourselves get killed.
Neither of us know where Glimmer or Weldar are right now. They might even be at the Cornucopia already, perhaps making a small truce so they can take us out. Thoughts like that make me ill. The fact they seem very possible makes it even worse.
Rue leads the way with the night vision goggles, holding my hand tightly as we go. I may be able to see around me due to the moonlight being rather generous tonight, but I trust Rue's vision much more than my own. Who knows what could be hiding in these woods at night?
Hopefully not a Scorpion Mutt…
It seems that the Game-Makers have made the path to our destination a bit easier. I'm sure some trees that were here before have now vanished. Of course, they don't just have the power to take things away, but also to add them. Like...a pool of lava? Maybe it'd be silly to have one in a forest, but in this Arena the Game-Makers control literally everything.
"Scared?" Rue asks.
"Yeah," I say, gripping her hand tighter. "You?"
"Never more than I am now," Rue whispers. "But...we can't give up. Katniss wouldn't."
"Let's make her proud by winning," I say, nodding. "You still got the knife I gave you?"
"Uh huh," Rue nods, holding it up. "So, do we have a plan? Besides stabbing them?"
"...I guess we see what state they are in, if they are hurt or not...we should go for the toughest one first," I say after a moment of thought. "With Glimmer being a Career, and Weldar having that nasty bow-gun...it's hard to say who the most dangerous one between them is."
"Maybe it'll come down to who we find first..." Rue says, looking left and right.
"Guess so," I say anxiously.
"Found you," says a voice from behind us, icy cold in tone.
I fly forwards from something kicking me, groaning as I lay on the ground. I quickly turn myself around, knife in hand just as Rue is hit down next to me. As we look up, we see Weldar looking right back at us, his night vision goggles hiding his eyes eerily and his bow-gun aimed right at me. He has blood stains all around his nose, and what seems to be several bruises on his arms.
"I've been looking for you kids all day," Weldar says. "Glimmer got her weapon from the Feast from me, but I left her in no real shape to fight. I figured I should take you two kids out and catch up to her later. I think I know where she'll be."
Rue tries to kick at Weldar's leg, but he quickly steps back. He now aims his bow-gun towards her. Somehow, this makes me feel even worse.
I notice a quiver of arrows on his back, probably what he got from the Feast, and...for some reason, it looks like the tip of the arrow loaded into his bow-gun is covered in...I don't know, some kind of goop? It's too dark to know what it is.
Weldar seems to see where I am am looking and, keeping the bow-gun aimed at us and not taking his sight off of us, gives a short statement.
"Poison," he says. "It was in Clove's bag. One shot anywhere on your body from this arrow, even on your finger, and you're dead."
Weldar puts his hand near the trigger.
"Don't bother running," he says coldly. "...Or do, if you want. I don't really care. I have plenty of arrows, and I only need to hit you both once, so-"
At that moment we all go silent as a guttural howl of some kind calls from somewhere nearby. We all freeze, quickly looking around. I take this chance to rise to my feet and help Rue up as well.
"It seems we're not alone," I say, my voice wavering a bit. Maybe more than just a bit.
"Yeah, but soon I'll be alone with Glimmer," Weldar says, aiming his bow-gun at my face. "Bye."
"Watch out!" Rue screams.
A second later something, I have no idea what it is, leaps out from the overgrowth and barely misses Weldar. A quick glance at it tells me all I need to know. It's some kind of vicious dog creature. It's a mutt. More will soon be coming.
We need to get the hell out of here!
"RUN!" I yell, grabbing Rue's hand and sprinting forth with her towards the direction where I know the lake is. It's a ways away, but I'll take a nasty, long run over that thing getting me!
I hear the sound of a shot of some sort, and a horrified bark. Weldar must have killed the mutt. But I can hear a lot of howling and barking and growling...and, oh no, it's getting closer! Screaming in fright, we both run for our lives as fast as we can go.
"Shit! More of these things!" Weldar yells from a bit behind us.
No arrows fly towards us. Weldar must be more focused on fleeing than on trying to aim his bow-gun and kill us both. Smart decision…
I risk a glance back over my shoulder. Weldar is catching up to us, but he's not the danger anymore. Not the main one at least. Behind him is a massive pack of those dog mutts, their growls and howls probably able to be heard from quite a long distance away. I let go of Rue's hand and sprint forth.
"This way!" I yell. "The lake!"
"Urchin! Look out! Jump!" Rue yells in sudden alarm.
I don't know what Rue means, but I know that I can trust her, so I take a big leap over the space between two trees growing near each other. Rue weaves around the trees and we run side by side, neither of us stopping.
"Oof! No! No!" Weldar yells, panicking.
I briefly glance back, and just a single second tells me so much. Weldar has fallen over, his bow-gun landing off to the side and the Mutts are closing in.
...It looks like the tripwire I set up when myself and Foxface were attempting to hunt never got taken down by anybody…
Weldar tries to get to his feet, maybe even abandoning the gun to keep himself away from the Mutts, but they pounce upon him. I can't watch, I just fight back burning bile as I run beside Rue in the dark forest, terror flowing through me.
Massive amounts of growing and snarling come from behind us...it seems the Mutts have stopped chasing us for now, no doubt moreso focusing on Weldar. His screams of agony are loud and horrible, echoing throughout the night and the forest. The last glimpse I have of him is his bloodied hand reaching out for us as upwards of fifteen of those monsters tear into him.
"Urchin, I'm scared!" Rue sobs as we run. "They're gonna get us!"
"We have to keep going!" I yell, panicking. "We have to get to the Cornucopia!...Or survive long enough until they get Glimmer, wherever she is…!"
"I can't do it!" Rue says, slowing and looking tired.
"You can! We're going home! Together, or not at all!" I promise, taking hold of her hand and leading her forwards. "Let me know if anything is coming!"
BANG!
The cannon has fired. For a moment all is silent in the forest besides our gasping and sounds of panic. A moment later Weldar's face appears in the sky. A few seconds later his face is gone, and there is nothing.
That's when the growling and howling resumes. We've gotten some distance between ourselves and the Mutts, but they know exactly where we are and by now they're probably already coming after us.
Neither me nor Rue look back for a second. Our bodies tired, we run for our lives, fleeing quickly. The path is clear and little in our way...the Game-Makers must want us to reach the Cornucopia for their 'final battle'...Glimmer might be there already.
It's not much but...if they want us to fight Glimmer, they might not let the Mutts catch us. Not easily at least. More just use them to chase us and scare us out of our minds.
I'm not going to get Weldar's dying screams out of my mind for a long time, I know it for sure, and one look at Rue's frightened face tells me that she feels the same as me.
(Not much later…)
My body feels like it is catching fire. My throat burns and I am gasping and moaning as I run. Rue does the exact same. It's become a horrible game of cat and mouse. The Mutts are still chasing us, their howls loud in the night, but it's clear the Game-Makers are toying with us. Frequently we get far enough ahead to stop and try to catch our breaths for a few moments, but when we do the Mutts are suddenly right behind us, making us run for our lives again until it all starts all over again.
"Are we nearly there?" Rue moans in pain. Pain that I feel as well.
"I...think so!" I wheeze.
Some trees are up ahead at the top of the hill we've running up, and behind them is sky. I hope once we reach the top we see the lake, or at least somewhere we could evade these monsters. Trees are out; the Mutts could possibly knock them down, and even if they could not...the Game-Makers can.
We sprint forth, practically leaping over the top of the hill. The lake! We're out of the woods!
"Quick! Along the lake perimeter, it's the fastest way to the Cornucopia!" I say desperately.
Rue nods, screaming as the Mutts once again draw near. The moonlight shines down and now the wind is howling. Even more than the Mutts! I bet the Capital are laughing so hard right now, seeing two little children run and cry from horrible monsters.
They're more monstrous than the dogs Mutts…
Gradually, the area that the Cornucopia lays in is coming closer. Maybe Glimmer is already there, maybe she's not. But either way, things will be ending soon.
"Urchin, the Mutts!...They're leaving!" Rue says suddenly.
I glance back, and much to my immense relief, Rue is right. Looking at us with vicious expressions, they turn and run back the other way.
Something was wrong about those Mutts. I have no idea what is, but something was just...off. Maybe I'd be happier if I never knew...yeah, I bet I would be.
Though the night is dark, the wind howling and a dangerous Career who we can no longer run from is probably hunting us...we sit down and try to get our breaths back. Maybe the Game-Makers are doing this to give us something of a chance in their finale, so that it won't be boring.
We sit here, just holding hands and catching our breaths, for about five minutes. Normally we'd talk, but that can wait for later. We know all there is to know about the situation anyway. We're a team, our last remaining opponent is Glimmer...one of us will have to kill her. Might as well be me, if only so Rue will not have to become a murderer too…
"Urchin..." Rue says suddenly. "Um...do you think it's getting a little bit warmer?"
...She's right, it is. But, how? The sun isn't rising, and why would they make the night warmer? A cold, miserable night is much more their style, after all.
Wait...what's that sound? It sounds kind of like...bubbling. But, how?
...Oh, no…
No, no, no, no, no…
NO, NO, NO!
"The water's rising!" I scream in panic, pointing to the lake. Rue screams a moment later too.
The lake has become a sea of boiling water. If anybody fell in, they'd be guaranteed a horrific, agonising death. It bubbles horribly, with both heat and death. Even from a very safe distance away, I can feel some heat from it. Not enough to be unpleasant, but enough to know it's there.
And, it's rising. Slowly but surely, the water is getting higher. And, why would this happen if...it would not soon consume the rest of the Arena too?
"Run!" I scream, helping Rue as we're once again running through the night. "There's only one safe place now!"
"Where?" Rue asks, her body shaking as she runs beside me.
"On top of the Cornucopia!" I yell, panicking. "Hurry!"
I can hear the Mutts barking and howling again. Maybe they're chasing Glimmer at this moment? They're nowhere near us right now, but that's little comfort. I bet it will be less than two minutes until it'll be too late to escape the rising water. Reaching the Cornucopia might not be the hard part...but climbing it...at our small size it may be harder.
We blaze up the highest point of the bank and run onto the grassy field, known for bounty and bloodshed. There is it! Ahead of us in the centre of the clearing is the Cornucopia, some light shining off it so as to ensure we know where we need to go. I can't see Glimmer anywhere so thankfully...thankfully...we've made it here first.
We run right up to the banked sides of the Cornucopia, the area it'll be easiest for us to climb, and start jumping up and down, trying to grab onto the top. But it's no use, it's too steep for us…
"I have an idea. Rue, I'll give you a leg up." I say quickly, kneeling and cupping my hands.
"I'll pull you up." Rue promises.
I give Rue the leg up she needs and she clambers up onto the roof of the horn. I can hear the bubbling of the water, but so far I don't think it has made it into the clearing...yet.
"Take my hand!" Rue pleads.
I jump up, grabbing Rue's hand, She grabs me hard with both of her own hands and pulls me as hard as she can. My arm stings from this, but I try to ignore it as I reach up my other arm to hold Rue with as I kick myself up the side of the Cornucopia with my legs as she pulls me up. I flop down onto the metallic roof of the silver horn like a fish, breathing deeply. Rue helps me up so that I am sitting on my knees.
We both look at each other and silently embrace, holding each other tightly. For at least a few seconds...we're safe.
The water is still rising and has very nearly reached the point where it will quickly spill into the clearing, and the barks and growls of the Mutts are getting closer.
There has been no cannon.
Glimmer is alive, and is quickly on her way.
"Ready?" Rue asks timidly.
"As ready as I think I'm ever going to be." I reply.
Until Glimmers gets here, we just kneel and hug, trying our hardest to get our breaths back. It hurts…
We hear a yelling. One that sounds like a feral growl...and it's not a Mutt. Still weary and tired, we look towards where it came from. A second later Glimmer blasts out of the forest, sprinting towards the Cornucopia...and us...all while making various angry screams and snarls. She sounds...um...very determined indeed…
The Mutts do not follow her out of the forest. It seems they have 'played their part' and are now leaving. But as they do, the water has risen high enough to spill onto the clearing and it is rapidly getting closer. Glimmer seems to notice this too and, with a yell of determination, speeds up just a little more as she makes a beeline towards us.
We cannot really react in time, like try to stop her from getting on here with us, before Glimmer makes a flying leap and grabs onto the edge of the roof, hauling herself on as she lays face down. Like us, she is not ready to fight, just taking big, gaspy breaths of air. Any supplies she may have had are gone. Indeed, the only thing Glimmer seems to have now is a baton...and the tip of it seems like it is spiked.
For the next minute, it stays like this. We just lay here, attempting to catch our breaths, as the water gets higher. Soon enough the water has risen halfway to the top of the Cornucopia and extends out for as far as I can see...maybe far enough to submerge most of the Arena? The amount of water used is insane, but...as I know by now, the Game-Makers can make basically anything happen if they want it to. The water bubbles and spits, hissing a little, and I flinch. Soon though, Glimmer has more or less got her breath back and rises to her feet. We both do the same, scared out of our minds.
Looking at Glimmer now, it tells me one thing...beauty can be tarnished.
Her previously flowing golden hair is now dirty and matted, and even has some blood caked within it. Her once attractive face is more of a grimace now, with scratch marks and a bloody broken nose, and her upper lip looks to be slightly cut. Her body is bruised, and the area around her left shoulder is totally soaked with blood...it seems that even though she had been able to evade Weldar and get herself armed once more, he did not leave her in good shape at all. Her shoes and socks also appear to be missing…
Glimmer stares at us, her bloody face morphing into a very nasty leer. It's like I am staring at a monster from within the nightmares Finnick once told me he sometimes gets. I remember training, and the scores, odds, stuff like that...Glimmer had been the weakest Career overall. And now here she is, injured...not at her full power. But, while I am a kid I'm not stupid...this is still going to be a very tough fight…
"I guess this is where it ends," I say quietly.
"What a finale..." Rue murmurs.
At that moment, a light shower of rain begins. It feels nice on my skin and hair, but with the boiling water around us...and the fact rain will make the Cornucopia slippy...things just got worse…
"So, it's just us left standing," Glimmer says, a wicked glint in her eyes. "A Career training for glory since she was four...and two twelve year olds who never held a sword before they got reaped."
She licks her lips...ewwww, she just tasted her own blood…
"If you just surrender, I'll make sure it won't hurt you...much," Glimmer offers, smirking.
In response, Rue and I hold up our knives, trying to be brave.
"So, you wanna fight, hmm? Ok then, sounds fun!" Glimmers shrugs, giggling. "RAAARGH!"
Before I can react Glimmer has punched me to the ground with her free hand. She pauses, and kicks me. Hard. I gasp, as it hurts so much. Rue jumps at Glimmer, trying to stab her in the hip, but she's knocked back with a strike of the baton. Rue slips backwards on the wet floor and falls on her back towards the tail area of the Cornucopia, her knife falling away into the boiling water. Kicking me once more, Glimmer stalks over to Rue with a menacing grin, clearly intending to use the spike on her baton. Even though I am hurting a lot, I get up to my feet, quickly steadying myself.
The ground may be soaked in rain, but I've been going out fishing since I was three. it rained lot of times. I can keep my balance on wet surfaces without too much trouble. It takes me barely more than a second to be back in the fight, and I lunge at Glimmer, landing on her back and grabbing her around the neck.
Glimmer gasps and chokes for a moment, before she slips backwards. She lands upon me, and we both groan. I scream as she elbows me in the chest from behind, before she quickly positions herself so that she is on top of me. She tries to bring the spike of the baton down on me, but I jerk my head to the side and, my arms still free, punch her in the face.
I may not be very strong, but punching her nose when it is already so broken and sore...it can't feel nice. Indeed, Glimmer screams as stumbles backwards onto her butt. She snarls at me, just like a Mutt.
"You're gonna die!" Glimmer screams. "You made these Games stop being fun!"
Rue jumps back into the fray, but slips and knocks into Glimmer who in turn knocks into me. We're all lying there, groaning and struggling to be the first one to get up. I can see Glimmer raising up her baton from by my feet, and I kick my foot at her face. Her eyes crazy, she shrieks and hits Rue across the thigh with the baton, which makes Rue yell and give a small punch to Glimmer's lower back.
I haul myself up to my knees, crawling away as I shakily stand up. My knife is still in my hand as I survey the situation. Glimmer and Rue have both got up and are trying to grapple with each other, Glimmer clearly having the upper hand. Though, Rue kicks her in her lower left leg and she kneels over for a moment. Rue takes her sharp stone out, ready to try and stab Glimmer, but the Career girl just uppercuts Rue over, the rock flying off into the boiling water.
"Come on brat, you show me how they do it in 11!" Glimmer yells.
"Here's how we do it in 4!" I yell as I leap forwards, the knife raised.
Glimmer ducks just in time as I swing the knife through thin air. Glimmer grabs me by my collar and hurls me to the ground, the knife flying away into the boiling water. I may not have time to take any of the others out, so with my legs shaking I try to stand up, balling my fists.
"Urchin!" Rue yells.
Glimmer is atop Rue, striking down the baton over and over. Rue kicks and cries, kicking and struggling. I run forwards, slipping a bit, and punch Glimmer in the back of her head. She shrieks and roars as she is knocked forwards, the baton flying out of her grasp and away into the boiling water.
Glimmer leaps up, stomping on Rue. My friend screams, curling up and whimpering. The whole palace is hot and unpleasant now. So horrible. Glimmer turns to face me, blood dripping down her brutalised face and begins trying to rain punches upon me, each with killing intent. I nimbly dodge each one, but sooner or later she'll hit me, and I'm being backed towards the front of the horn, the boiling water hissing loudly. If I fall over, I'm dead...well, after an extended amount of agony I can't imagine…
...Or maybe I just do not want to imagine it.
Adrenaline fuelling my young body, I dodge Glimmer's harsh punches, her snarling filling my eyes.
"You ruined everything!" She screams. "It was supposed to be me, Marvel, Cato and Clove at the end! Not this! You ruined my happy ending!"
I prepare to dodge the next punch, but instead Glimmer roundhouse kicks me in the chest. I sob out a scream as I fall back onto the metallic ground. I can hear the bubbling right behind me. Over at the other side of the horn, Rue lays injured and dazed. I can't even start to think of a plan to evade Glimmer before she looms over me, kneeling upon me. But rather than finish me off, making a pulp out of my face, she just stares for a moment.
"Well? Aren't you going to keep fighting? You've already lasted this long." Glimmer mutters.
I don't have a chance to respond before Glimmer continues.
"You might as well keep on fighting. Unlike you, I've lost no matter what happens," Glimmer says, a look in her eyes I cannot quite understand. "If I die, then I'll be remembered as a failure, a laughing stock...a Career who would have been killed by two weak, small, pathetic twelve year olds! And if I win, then what then? I'll have won the Games I've trained my whole life for...what do I do then?! Be prostituted out to the Capital, used by men and woman I don't even know! Is that all I would get for my hard work?! Nobody...nobody told me about that!"
What...prostituted? What does that mean? What is Gimmer talking about? I struggle as she rants, but I have no way of getting free.
Wait, that little thing just beside me, glinting...what is it?
The Mockingjay Badge.
Katniss said that as long as we have that, nothing bad will happen to us.
She promised…
"No...no...even if all that awaits me is being seen as just a pretty face to be used for pleasure at beck and call...I'll still be a winner!" Glimmer yells, dryly sobbing...she seems to be talking more to herself than me by now. "I'll be amazing! A God! I'll be what less than one hundred people have ever been! I'm not just a slut!"
Glimmer leers down at me, any trace of beauty gone, with only a bloody sneer remaining.
"And to do that...I'm gonna kill you Ankles," Glimmer whispers darkly.
I feel Glimmer's hands around my neck. I gasp, choking as I try to breath and get her off me, but she has the complete advantage and I can't move! But my hands are free...I may not be able to punch her, but I can still do one thing.
Looking her in the eye and trying to conserve my little amounts of air for as long as I can, I reach to the side, grabbing the Mockingjay Badge. It's open, the sharp pin exposed. I hold it steady, the pin facing outwards.
I spit, right in Glimmer's eye.
She shrieks in disgust, her grip loosening for a single second...which is all the time I need. Not stopping to worry or doubt my ability to do it, I stab Glimmer right in her exposed ankle with the pin of the badge.
"Owwww!" Glimmer wails, agony on her face.
With Glimmer distracted and no longer holding me, I shove her as hard as I can with both hands. I just need to get to my feet, to run over to Rue and make sure she is alright.
As I weakly get up to my feet, trying to steady myself, I see Glimmer stumble roughly backwards from my shove. Her ankle bleeding and no doubt hurting her immensely, she fails to steady herself and, with an alarmed cry, falls backwards into the boiling water.
It's the most horrible thing I have ever seen in my life. Glimmer's face is burning and bloody, her screaming non-stop. She thrashes around, her screams all echoing in the dark night. In seconds her skin is red, raw and possibly peeling from burns. She fights to try and get back on the platform, but she's quickly going under, her agonised screams bubbly and soon not sounding like an actual voice anymore.
I look away. I can't look. Nobody...nobody deserves that...NOBODY.
But, all I can do is limp my way towards Rue and kneel next to her. It's only seconds before we both puke over the other side of the Cornucopia, too horrified by what we are seeing and hearing to hold back. We hide our faces against each other's shoulders, trying to block it all out. Even if we cannot see what Glimmer looks like now...her screams, which now sound like loud blasts of throaty air, say more than enough.
And suddenly, it all goes quiet. Has Glimmer sank under…?
BANG!
...It's over.
Rue and I silently look at each other. She discards her night vision goggles, allowing me to see her eyes. Her beautiful, but very sad, eyes.
She flings her arms around me, hugging me close. I slowly hug her back too, not wanting to let her go.
We've won.
We're going home…
The water slowly starts to drain away. In only a minute or so, it's gone, as though it was never there. In fact, the whole clearing looks totally dry now, just like a normal field outside of the Arena would on a sunny summer's day. The darkness of night vanishes and slowly the sun begins to rise.
The Mockingjays lightly chirp in the distance.
"We did it..." Rue says, still embracing me.
"It's finally, finally over," I say, almost sobbing in relief.
We both shakily stand up on the Cornucopia, and risk a look at Glimmer. I wish I hadn't. Her body is scorched red all over, with a lot of her skin peeling off...she looks like she has been somewhat melted. There's nothing left of her face except a fleshy, melted blob…
We look away, shivering but thinking the same thing. Even after all she did, neither of us wished such a horrible death upon her, nor would we ever.
We gently slide down the Cornucopia's side together, and look around. Besides the birds, everything is silent.
"Um...isn't this usually the part where Claudius announces the winner?" I ask, confused.
"Yeah, it is..." Rue says, also looking confused.
Rue seems to realise something, her eyes widening.
"...What is it?" I ask, gulping.
"Isn't it obvious?" Rue says. "...We just need to move away while they collect Glimmer's body, that's all."
I nod, weakly smiling. Rue is right. No more fear or worries. Not now.
Holding hands, we walk side by side towards the lake and sit next to each other at the top of the bank. Sure enough, we both hear the hovercraft descend to pick up Glimmer's corpse. A few seconds later it heads back up into the air.
And then nothing happens.
"...Is Claudius' microphone broken?" Rue asks, looking confused.
"Maybe? I mean, why else would they not be coming to collect us?" I reply. "Just give them five minutes...after ten days of the Games, we can wait that long."
Rue seems like she is going to agree, but suddenly we hear a voice.
Claudius' voice.
"ATTENTION, ATTENTION FROM THE FINAL TWO TRIBUTES, PLEASE! THE RULE CHANGE MENTIONED PREVIOUSLY...HAS BEEN REVOKED. AFTER CLOSE EXAMINING OF THE RULE BOOK OVER THE PAST FEW DAYS, IT HAS BEEN REVEALED THAT THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE WINNER. GOOD LUCK TRIBUTES, AND MAY THE ODDS BE EVER IN YOUR FAVOUR!"
Oh no...oh no...please, please no…
My face pale and my blood running cold, I slowly turn to Rue. She looks pale and afraid too. We stop holding hands as for a few moments we just look at each other.
"...We were supposed to go home..." I whisper.
"They promised..." Rue whispers. "Why...why would they change it? Why would they…?"
"I don't know," I say, trembling.
We both get to our feet and look at each other. We're both nearly crying, tears dripping down our faces. Is this...is this the true final battle…?
"...I can't do it," I say quietly. "I can't do it...there's no way I can bring myself to hurt you."
"I don't want to hurt you either. I can't hurt you! We're...best friends," Rue says softly.
Rue looks up at the sky, pain written on her face.
"You promised!" Rue cries. "You said we could both go home! Why are you doing this?!"
"What did we ever do to you?!" I yell, barely able to get the words out.
Nobody responds.
We look at each other once again.
"What do we do?" I ask, bile rising in my throat. "...If we do nothing, they'll just send those Mutts back. I don't want either of us to die like Weldar did..."
Rue stands across from me, silent and sniffling for a few moments.
But then...a look of what seems to be acceptance appears on her face. She kneels down, looking up at me.
"You've still got weapons, and I don't. I dropped my Slingshot while we were being chased by the Mutts. You're in shape to kind of fight, and I'm not," Rue says gently. "...Do it Urchin, just one quick stab. End the Games, and go home to your family. Leave this terrible place. I'll be able to see my daddy again..."
Rue lowers her head, waiting for me to strike. I am frozen, barely able to breath. Kill Rue...how could I do something like that?
One stab...that's all it will take for me to win so I can leave this place, and go home. I miss my family so much...but, could I really live with myself if I did? Is a life full of guilt, nightmares and crying really what I want…?
No.
But I don't want to die. I won't let myself die, by Rue's hand or anything else's. But, what else can I do? If I fight her I'll hate myself forever...but if I show mercy, the Mutts will just come back and assure one of us has an awful death, even if we're not the ones doing it to each other.
But...The Capital need their victor. They need a winner after all…
Wait...why should they? After all they have done, throwing us and twenty two other innocent children into this arena...why should we give them what they want? What possible reason could we have to obey them anymore? Why, after what pain they have given us…?
I remember something I said to Rue while we were being chased.
...Together, or not at all…
I shake my head, pain and anger in my eyes, and open my back-pack. Beside some bread, all that is in there are empty bottles and my three remaining knives. I take them all out. With a yell, I toss the straight dagger and the serrated knife away into the lake. All that I have left is the double sided dagger.
...I have an idea…
This is crazy, it might kill me, it's just...idiotic. And yet...and yet...if this is the only chance, however small, that there is of me going home and Rue coming home as well...I'll do it. Rue is my best friend...we've been there for each other, and I'm only going to go home if she can as well.
And, if this idea fails...then the Capital can just deal with it, having no winner. When the Games began, I'd have taken the easy way out in a heartbeat, but by now...no, not this time. This time, I'll take the hard way...anything for Rue.
I kneel in front of Rue, knowing that all of Panem is watching us. We look into each other's eyes.
"When we were being chased, and you didn't think you could make it...do...do you remember what I told you?" I ask, tears in my eyes.
"...You said...t-t-together, or not at all," Rue says with wide eyes. "Urchin-!"
I gently press a finger to Rue's lips. I give her what I hope is a meaningful look. I hope she knows she can trust me, just like I have trusted her.
Rue is silent, and nods. Carefully, we position ourselves so that the double sided dagger, one of the things Finnick had been able to sponsor me, is between us and very lightly pressing against our outfits...right over our hearts.
"Your family would be proud," I say softly.
"I bet your little sister will never forget you," Rue says, smiling lightly.
Ula...I think of her face, for what may be the last time.
"Well...this is it," I say. "On three, we end the Games...with a hug. If we're going out...let's go out smiling."
"I like that," Rue says. "On our own terms, without fear or crying."
We look at each other silently, and with the weapon still between us, we hold out our arms.
"One..." I say quietly.
"...Two..." Rue says, reaching over to run a hand through my curls.
We both take a deep breath. I'm sure that, like me, Rue is thinking of her family.
This is it.
"...Three," I say.
We lean in, about to hug tightly one last time…
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...but just as the dagger pierces our zipped up jackets there is a voice.
"STOP! STOP!"
We freeze, not daring to move. Was...was that Claudius?
"...LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, MAY I PRESENT THE WINNERS OF THE 74TH ANNUAL HUNGER GAMES. URCHIN HOOK OF DISTRICT 4, AND RUE APPLEBEE OF DISTRICT 11!"
We are silent, wonder written on our faces. It...it worked.
We're going home.
I take the dagger and hurl it away into the lake. As soon as I do so, we both embrace rightly, cheering, sobbing in joy, feeling sweet, sweet relief.
"The nightmare is over..." I say, barely able to believe it.
"I couldn't have done it without you," Rue says, looking into my eyes with a sweet smile.
My chest warms up a little.
"...I couldn't have done it without you either," I say honestly. "Nor without Katniss...or Cinder."
We hear the low sound of an engine humming. Looking up, we can see the last hovercraft is gently lowering down above us, here to take us home.
We're sore, tired and we probably won't be sleeping well for a while, but...here we are, the winners, the last two standing...the Tiny Two, the littlest victors. We rise to our feet, looking up. A few seconds later, once the Hovercraft is in position, two ladders lower down.
"Together?" Rue says.
"...Together," I say, nodding.
We both touch the ladders, and we are suddenly frozen in place. The ladders raise us upwards and soon enough we're in the Hovercraft as it begins to leave.
More importantly, we're both out of the Arena.
We're soon taken to the medical room, doctors ready to look us over. We're told they will need to knock us out for several hours at least to make sure we are ok. I don't even have it left in me to argue...a few hours of silence, without worry of waking up to somebody looming over me with a bloody axe...it sounds really nice.
I've been told that the life of a Victor is not easy, but...looking at Rue, and she looking at me, we both know that no matter what, there is somebody here that we can count on for support and companionship.
At least the worst is over now. Just interviews and being crowned now...and a party. After this nightmare, how bad can a party be?
Right?
I feel a prick in my neck and just a few seconds later, I flop down against the soft bedsheets, dreams already overtaking me…
END OF DAY 10…
END OF THE 74TH ANNUAL HUNGER GAMES…
WINNERS
Urchin (District 4 Male)
Rue (District 11 Female)
THE FALLEN
3rd- Glimmer (District 1 Female) - Boiled to death in hot water.
4th- Weldar (District 3 Male) - Torn apart by Mutts.
5th- Clove (District 2 Female) - Blown up by a landmine, and then shot in the face with an arrow by Weldar.
6th- Rammy (District 10 Male) - Stabbed in the back with a knife dozens of times by Clove.
7th- Lacey (District 8 Female) - Hit in the face with an axe by Rammy.
8th- Katniss (District 12 Female) - Speared in the stomach by Marvel, and bled out.
9th- Marvel (District 1 Male) - Poisoned by Urchin's tribute token.
10th- Cinder / Foxface (District 5 Female) - Impaled by shrapnel propelled via explosions.
11th- Thresh (District 11 Male) - Thrown off a cliff by Foxface and broke neck.
12th- Peeta (District 12 Male) - Leg cut by Cato with a sword, and bled out.
13th- Cato (District 2 Male) - Stabbed with a throwing knife covered in nightlock juice by Urchin.
14th- Marina (District 4 Female) – Beaten up by careers and neck crushed by Glimmer
15th- Jason (District 6 Male) - Tripped and then slashed to death with a scythe by Cato.
16th- Nettle (District 7 Female) - Speared in the heart with a spear by Marvel
17th- Sparky (District 5 Male) - Pinned to a crate and stabbed in the abdomen with a knife by Glimmer.
18th- Sickle (District 9 Female) - Knife to the lung by Clove.
19th- Wood (District 7 Male) - Slashed in the throat with a crescent sword by Thresh
20th- Miller (District 9 Male) - Knife thrown into back by Clove
21st- Tamora (District 6 Female) - Stabbed with a knife by Glimmer
22nd- Gadget (District 3 Female) - Slashed in the forehead with a sickle by Sparky.
23rd- Sable (District 10 Female) - Skull hit with an axe by Cato.
24th- Callico (District 8 Male) - Stabbed with a kukri by Marvel.
TRIBUTE NOTES
Weldar: Because not only the Careers can be the villains within the arena, right? I don't know why, but I always interpreted 'Landmine Boy' as a bit of a shady kind of guy. Naturally, he got Cato'd in canon...but with Cato dead before he approached the Careers, this gave him more room to argue his points and a little less to fear due to the Careers being on edge. With Weldar thus much more of a serious player then, he got sponsored a bow-gun. After all, it's a weapon that does not require much, if any, physical skill to use besides aiming. Perhaps Weldar was a bit under the radar despite surviving so long, but I think it worked, in a way. He was an independent antagonist faction of his own, and was always out there, very well armed. A constant nagging force who would be very dangerous for Urchin, or anybody, to come across. His main issue was that, even with the night vision goggles he had, he did not spot the tripwire Urchin set up days prior…
Glimmer: The Big Bad of the story! Given how the story was originally conceived to give depth to somebody who never had any, I felt it would be fitting to have the most minor Career has the main antagonist. After all, Cato was the Big Bad in canon, Clove stole the show in the Feast and Marvel was the guy who killed Rue. Glimmer...was just kind of a spoiled brat and never did much of anything. Here though, I hope I did something good with her character. While some Careers were very brutal and focused on killing, I always found Glimmer moreso creepy given she acts just like a typical teenage girl might in the real world, and this makes her coupled eagerness to kill a bit darker, to me at least. I tried to expand on that, making her the spoiled girl who gradually loses it until by the end she's breaking down, fighting like an animal with her beauty gone. But I think Glimmer deserves a bit of pity...after all, she eventually realised all too well what was going to await her if she won and how either way she's either dead, or would wish she was. Her brutal death only adds to it...and the two littlest winners won't forget it for a long time, if ever. Lastly, given how Urchin and Rue were the protagonists and also the smallest tributes, it was common sense to me to have the Big Bad be the weakest Career. With the lowest odds and lowest training score of the Careers, Glimmer seemed like the one they'd most believably stand a chance against...and even then, it was very close…
Urchin and Rue will have their own notes shown at the end of the final chapter of the story. Until then though, stay tuned for more! :)