My computer decided it would crash after the Bloodbath, so you guys can blame it for the wait. Thanks for all the reviews last chapter though! I apologize to all those who lost their tribute. That's (sadly) the nature of the Games. As with the 76th Games, I'll be writing a short eulogies for each of the Fallen, just to express my own personal opinions on each one of them. These eulogies won't be in the chapter they die because I know some people scroll all the way down to the bottom to review as they read, and I'd hate to give a death away! So, eulogies will usually be in the chapter after the tributes die. Except for Day 1, where they'll be at the end of the story day.
On another note, the first trailer for Mockingjay came out! I'm still not 100% behind splitting it in two though. I think Harry Potter was the only one that needed that because they really needed to highlight the Battle of Hogwarts. I suppose they could do that with the invasion of the Capitol, but Katniss' mission wasn't combat heavy, more just to show the Capitolites dealing with the war. Besides... it wasn't even a battle. The Capitol's army was broken to the point they had to rely on mutts as defense. The invasion was just revenge killing on part of the rebels who decide to try and slaughter as many Capitolites as they could. President's Coin way of soothing the rest of the Districts' tempers.
Now, enjoy the second Games chapter! Not as action packed as the Bloodbath I'm afraid, just setting up characters for what's to come.
Chapter 20 Divide and Conquer
Day 1 of the 77th Hunger Games
Eight canon blasts sounded through the arena, drawing the Career pack out of their bloodthirsty states. Each blast told of a tribute's death, though the Careers were hardly concerned with remembrance. Only Aileen was rattled by the murder they just participated in. Leaving behind the bodies of Bruce and Rufus, the pack returned to the Cornucopia and began gathering more weapons before they headed out hunting. As Griffin remained behind to fix his appearance, Sky turned to her allies and began addressing their plan of action.
"First off, who did we kill?" she asked.
"Districts 7 and 9 are out." Ansel said, looking around. "The male tributes from 5, 6, and 12 are gone, along with Amélie from 3."
"They smell." Krystal commented. It didn't seem directed towards anyone, as if she were in shock.
"That's not a bad start." Sky said, ignoring Krystal. She was still rather annoyed with the District 1 girl, but couldn't waste time addressing it. Sky had expected Griffin to seize control of the group, as had others in the group it seemed, but now the duty had fallen to her. Regardless, they seemed willing enough to listen to her. "Next, where did everyone run? I saw the girl from 5 and the boy from 11 run to the right side, but no one else."
"Luna probably ran that way as well." Ansel said. "She didn't run across the sheet for her allies."
"Everyone else ran to the to the other side. Except for Watt." Chance said. "How did he escape you?"
Sky's expression tightened at Chance's criticism. "The pathway to the glacier collapsed after he ran across it. It doesn't matter though, he's stuck out there alone and will die alone."
"Unless there's something over there he could use." Chance persisted. "The Gamemakers wouldn't have added the glacier if there wasn't something of importance on it."
"If there is," Sky began, teeth tightened. "He won't get an opportunity to use it. I put a knife into his shoulder and cut him across the leg. He'll die of infection soon enough."
Before Chance could comment further, Griffin rejoined the group and spoke. "We're going to kill Sterling Taylor." Griffin spat, pointing his sabre at Sky. His hair only covered his scars a little better, making him only more disheveled in the process. "You and I are going to take the left side and hunt him down! And when we catch him, we're going to gut him and his entire alliance!"
Snorting at Griffin's overly dramatic nature, Sky reminded Griffin of what had to come first. "Before we go out hunting, we need to decide who's guarding the Cornucopia."
Eyes looked down to express disinterest, but someone volunteered still. "I'll do it." Aileen said, stepping forward slowly.
Sky nodded, comfortable with that suggestion. Griffin had done the right thing by making her kill her partner. Aileen was stuck with them now. If she left, she'd be seen as an opportunist and no doubt become hated by her District. "Alright," Sky began. "Krystal, why don't you guard it with her?"
Sky had expected Krystal to look offended at the suggestion, but the look of relief that passed across her face was blatant. "Ok." she replied softly. Chance looked at her anxiously, knowing how weak she looked. He turned to Sky, who scoffed at his partner. She finally had her confirmation for how weak Krystal actually was. She hadn't even tasted blood and she was already cracking.
"Ansel, Chance, you two head over to the right side and try and find the three tributes over there." Sky continued. "They'll probably go for the ice bridges so stay near the bank."
"Got it." Ansel said.
"Aileen and Krystal, you two organize the packs and see what we have." Sky instructed. "Try and break open the crates as well. I'm very interested to see what inside of them."
"Sure." Aileen replied, trying her best not to look at the body of Fuze behind Sky. He was sprawled across the snow, eyes wide and blank while his blood stained the snow. He looked oddly peaceful for having his throat cut open. Not that any of the Careers would think of it like that. To them, Fuze was a nobody. A sack of meat for them cut open for sponsors. 'What is wrong with you people?' Aileen wanted to scream, barely holding back tears and visible disgust. But then she'd have to ask what was wrong with herself. 'I'm one of them too.' she thought bitterly.
"Let's go then!" Griffin shouted, running off to pursue his enemies. Sky rolled her eyes once more and quickly followed, just as eager for blood. Aileen walked to the Cornucopia, looking to escape the stench of death, while Ansel moved away from the District 1 team, realizing that they needed a minute alone.
"I'll be waiting over there." Ansel pointed, walking away from them quickly as Chance nodded appreciatively. Once he was gone, Chance turned Krystal towards him and spoke softly.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
"Of course I am!" Krystal scoffed. "I didn't do anything! Are you ok?"
"I am. I got the first kill, the boy from 5." Chance said, looking down at the bloodstains on his clothing. He doubted they'd ever come off.
"Congratulations on that." Krystal snorted. His speech sounded off to her, so obviously he wasn't as ok as he thought he was.
"You'll get your chance to kill too." Chance comforted.
"That's not..." Krystal began, only to cut herself off. No need to confirm what everyone probably already thought. "Thanks. I've just got into it, I guess."
Chance turned to Ansel, seeing him giving him an expecting look. "I've got to go. But you'll be ok here! I promise."
"Chance, don't." Krystal snapped. Chance sighed, remembering their conversation from the previous night.
"Ok." he said, stepping away from Krystal. "I'll be back."
With that, he dashed off towards Ansel and left the Cornucopia. Krystal was glad that he was gone, having felt weaker when he was around.
"Aileen! Call out!" Krystal shouted.
"I'm over here." Aileen replied. Krystal turned and walked towards the sound of the voice, hitting a body with her foot as she walked. Embarrassed, Krystal kicked the corpse angrily before stepping over it. For a moment, she considered asking Aileen who it was, but decided that it would be a waste. They were dead in the Bloodbath, not worthy of her attention.
As Aileen and Krystal began gathering the supplies, they were unaware of a pair of eyes on them. Ansel and Chance had been unaware of them as well, far more interested in exploring the arena than the area around the Cornucopia. If they had, they would have discovered the hiding figure of Haspen.
As he crawled out from his hiding spot, Haspen smiled brightly at such an easy opportunity the Careers had allowed him. They had left behind a blind girl and a District 12 tribute! They were just begging to get robbed. Haspen would sneak in, grab a pack and a weapon, and escape before either were the wiser. The Cornucopia's bounty seemed to be plenty, so he doubted they'd miss any of it. Once he had those items, he'd hide out once more, wait until Ansel and Chance returned, and escape the area once night fell.
Raising his hood, Haspen moved in slowly and awaited his opportunity to strike.
Watt's entire body was wracked in pain, every breath feeling like a hardship. The knife in his shoulder sprouted pain with every small movement, refusing to give him any respite. The cut across his leg wasn't severe, thankfully, but the thin amounts of blood from the wound still caused Watt to panic. It was a miracle that he survived Sky's attack, though Watt hardly looked at it as such.
'Amélie... Ayla... they're dead!' he moaned internally, tears spilling for them and his pain. Amélie didn't even have a chance to defend herself before she was sliced to bits. The look of terror in her eyes refused to leave Watt's mind. His thoughts on Ayla's death were convoluted by her actions. She had fled him, leaving him to his supposed death, only to be axed by Sky. Part of Watt felt anger over her attempted fleeing, finding sick pleasure in her death. But another part understood, he had been just as terrified.
'You need to think ahead.' he told himself. 'What do you do next?'
It took a while to get his mind off the pain and death of his allies, but Watt was finally able to concentrate on where he was. After he rolled down into the ice sheet, Watt had found himself near the entrance of a cavern looking area. Unable to climb back up, Watt crawled slowly towards the entrance, unable to walk properly. As he reached the edge of the cave, he forced himself to his feet, barely biting back groans of pain.
'Should I pull it out?' he asked himself. Watt had only a basic knowledge of medicine thanks to the training center, but he knew that infection was probably the worst thing that could come of removing the knife. Or perhaps muscle damage? The unknown terrified Watt more, who sobbed harder than before. Once more, he had to pause and compose himself. As he did so, Watt opened the pack he had retrieved, hoping that there was something in it that would help with his problem.
It did not appear that would be the case. The pack held only a few items, some of which Watt wasn't sure how to use. The most useful items were the canteen of water, a packet of water purifying tablets, three protein bars, an extra pair of socks, and a box of matches. The other two items, a small pocket mirror and what appeared to be tooth floss, were so out of place Watt debated ditching them.
In the end, Watt ended up keeping all the items and progressing further into the cavern. The inside of the glacier area was rather spacious Watt found, forming an oval shape with a walk way around the edges and two paths leading down into the center. It was what was in the center though that interested Watt deeply.
'Is that a submarine?; Watt wondering, shocked.
It was indeed a submarine, brown and rusting from age. Sliding down the walkway, Watt approached the submarine with caution. It was a smaller one, looking as though it could only fit two or three men. Beyond that, there was nothing stand out about the submersible. It had a rather large hole in its hull, but nothing inside of it except for two seats and a wheel. Watt circled the craft, startled when he came across an old diving suit.
At first glance it appeared to have someone in it, but a quick poke with his boot showed it was just air. The suit was very old, the material thick and brown while the helm was a large circle with several glass openings in it. Watt remembered learning about such suits in school. It was one of the earliest diving suits from the Old World. The air nozzle connected to the back of the helmet caused Watt to shudder. Who would ever want to get into one of those things? Watt knew he'd be panicking from claustrophobia within seconds.
Behind the diving suit was an interesting surprise. A rusting spear gun lay behind the diver, with four spears attached. Watt grabbed the gun, surprised by the weight, and studied it carefully. It looked like a thinner and longer version of the crossbow, but had a pulley on its side. Rope trailed from beneath it, implying that the spear gun also served as a grappling hook of sorts.
EEEEWK!
Watt screamed when he heard a foreign sound behind, turning to except some sort of mutt abomination. Instead, he came face to face with a white, fluffy seal. The seal looked at Watt with curious black eyes, scooting towards him and continuing to squeak. Watt couldn't help but laugh at the sight, comfort forming in him. Suddenly he was seized by fear, remembering how in previous Games cute creatures turned into monstrosities. One of Watt's earliest memories of the Games involved a male deer who had a penchant for impaling tributes with its antler before the female deers consumed the tribute.
But the seal didn't mean him harm. It got closer and began rubbing itself against Watt's leg. As he recoiled from the animal, the seal's expression turned to one of hurt and it began pleading with Watt for love. Touched by the animal's calls, Watt's will broke and he leaned over to begin petting the seal, who squeaked in delight from the humans touch.
"OK... you're not so bad." Watt laughed. The seal pulled back and nuzzled its head against Watt's leg playfully. Watt continued to laugh, though his hand didn't leave the gun, prepared to fire it if the seal turned hostile. As he touched the seal, the animal cooed happily and began crawling away from Watt. He followed it a few paces until they reached a hole in the ground, which connected with the water beneath them.
"I can't go down there." He laughed lightly, remembering the pain in his back. The seal seemed to realize this as it called out loudly, as if to say goodbye, before sliding back into the water.
Unsure of what to make of the encounter, Watt moved back to the submarine to rest, trying to plan out his next move.
Luna had not stop running since her escape, looking back constantly to make sure that no one was following her. She was relieved to see that no one had, the only person she had seen being the girl from 5. Luna had only been able to recognize her against the white landscape due to her black hair blowing behind her. It served as a good reminder to Luna to put her hood up, covering up her own brown hair. It was small actions like those that would protect her from joining the fallen.
'Eight dead!' Luna cried. 'Gone in less than five minutes!'
Thinking of the Bloodbath was a surreal experience, even though it had only been roughly fifteen minutes ago. While she had not been in the thick of it, the fear still pulsed through her. She had would forever be haunted by the image of Bruce towering over her, ready to plunge his axe into her. How she survived was a miracle, though it's effects were less so. Bruce would be after her soon enough, eager to finish what he failed to accomplish. And when he caught up to her, he'd find her defenseless and without an alliance, which was her second problem.
She had been forced to escape without her allies. Maybe she could have joined them, but that would have involved running across the ice sheet past Bruce and the remaining Careers. Luna doubted she would have survived it, but that didn't make her current predicament any easier. Her alliance hadn't thought of any back up plan to be separated, leaving her in a limbo of the worst sort.
So far, Luna had been sticking as close to the river as she dared. The bank was about ten feet from the water, covered with rough black and grey pebbles that crunch violently under Luna's feet as she ran across them. There were a series of hills and trees near the edge that provided her some semblance of cover, but none to any trained eye. She had seen only Jory and Haspen run to this side of the arena, the rest fleeing to the opposite. If the Careers had people on this side then they could find her easily. If she were them, she'd stick to the river bed.
But even knowing this, Luna refused to abandon the river. She kept hoping that she'd see Sterling on the other side, waving to her to come join him, Clair, and Brielle once she reached the first bridge.
'Oh god! What if they didn't survive!' she thought, breathing growing heavier with each thought. No... no, they survived! She had seen six of the tributes die... but what about the last two? Griffin was attacking Clair, and Sterling would have tried to help her!
Luna stopped running for a moment, gasping in horror. 'They're dead!' she thought, eyes welling with tears. 'They're dead and I'm all alone! Brielle would have run off on her own too! Oh my god, oh my god! They're dead!'
'Stop it! You don't know that!'
Shaking still, Luna calmed herself down enough to continue walking slowly. For now, she had to work under the presumption that they were still alive. The alternative would break her and it was far to early in the Games for that. She had to stick to her goal, get to the nearest ice bridge, cross to the other side, and try to find her alliance.
Readjusting her unchecked pack, Luna continue her run towards the ice bridge, all the while praying that her alliance was still alive and not sliced open across the Cornucopia.
"Hurry up, Flux!" Twill shouted, his fear serving as his drive at the moment.
"She needs a minute, asshole!" Tassel shouted at her partner, arm wrapped around Flux.
"We don't have a minute!" Twill shouted back, eyes wide and looking every direction for the oncoming Careers. Tassel saw this, her own paranoia running high. Tassel thought they could all use a minute to comprehend what had just occurred. Trent was dead, nearly cut in two by the monster girl from District 2. The sight of it was horrifying and Tassel was surprised she hadn't thrown her breakfast up already. Flux had been filled with rage earlier, but she had quick regressed to a pale faced, somber looking girl. The fight was gone from her.
"Flux, it's alright." Tassel said, trying to calm her ally. "We can morn Trent later! But for now, we need to get going!"
As Tassel tried to motivate Flux to move, Twill ran up to the top of one of the snow dunes, scanning the area to see if he could spot anyone else. His eyes drifted towards a trio of figures running, two of them tall while the third was shorter. They were too mismatched to be Careers. Further away though, two larger figures were running directly towards them.
"We need to go now!" Twill shouted, running down the dune and grabbing his allies. Flux wormed her way out of his grasp, walking away without concern for her safety. Twill was about to grab her again, but was stopped when he felt Tassel grab him.
"Can I say something?" Tassel hissed, sounding more like a statement than a question.
"What part of Careers are following us don't you understand? Like I said before, we don't have a minute!" Twill barked.
"I saw what you did with Trent." Tassel whispered harshly.
Twill gasped, face losing its intensity as he immediately tried to excuse his actions. "I know why you did it, but that doesn't make things right. Especially for saving your stupid ass!" Tassel said, before he could speak.
"So what happens now?" Twill asked.
"Now, we try and get out of here alive." Tassel replied. "But I just wanted you to know, before we continued any further, that if you try to pull that on me or Flux, I'll kill you before you can!"
Tassel walked away, coaxing Flux to follow her before calling out for Twill. He did so, watching Tassel with uncertainty. For the first time in his life, he was actually afraid of Tassel La'Bowe.
Organizing the Cornucopia supplies was far from exciting, but Aileen was grateful for the distraction. The menial task of checking their supplies was oddly soothing to Aileen, who methodically checked each back and organized them into groups based on their contents. As she worked, Krystal remained at the mouth of the Cornucopia, trying to look imposing and confident. Aileen could see through it though, she was completely out of her depth.
"You doing OK?" she asked finally, finishing with the last bag. She dragged it into the Cornucopia and placed it next to Krystal in the pile of medical supplies.
"Of course." Krystal replied sharply, angry to have been asked by two of her allies. No one was asking the other Careers if they were OK. "Are you done with the bags?"
"I am now. Just have to open the crates now."
"How many are there?"
"Nine, and I don't know how I'm going to open them. They don't have latches or anything."
"I'm sure you'll figure it out. Get to it."
Aileen bit him lip angrily, considering being childish and making a face at Krystal. "Do you maybe want to help me?"
"How could I possibly help you?"
"You know, you're right! I don't have a freaking clue. But I thought you'd appreciate the chance not to be useless."
With quick reflexes, Krystal hand shot out and grabbed Aileen's jacket, spinning her around and slamming her into the Cornucopia's wall. "Look at you, coal stuffer! You killed one person and you think you're all that! I wonder how you're district is taking you killing your partner!"
"Probably better than your District accepting they sent a useless blind girl into the Games!" Aileen shot back, kicking against Krystal and escaping her grasp. The Career grasped out for Aileen once more, who had moved out of her range. Aileen was about to continue her taunts, when she brushed against a mace. An idea popped into her head as she grabbed the weapon.
"I know how to break the crates. Move." she said, stepping over Krystal's prone figure and walking towards the crates. Krystal hissed as she escaped her grasp easily, feeling herself loosing her composure. What was wrong with her? This what she wanted! She knew there would be difficulties and she had prepared herself to deal with them! But here she was, lashing out at her allies and acting like a baby!
A loud crashing noise caused Krystal to jump in surprise. "Aileen!" she shouted.
"It's fine." Aileen replied, looking impressed with her work. Her mace idea had worked and she had managed to break through one of the crates. The hole wasn't big enough to see through, so Aileen turned back to the crate and continued smashing it.
As she did so, Krystal leaned against the side of the Cornucopia, trying to compose herself further. She did a few breathing exercises Scorpio taught her when she was younger and more prone to panic attacks. Thinking of her brother only caused her to fill with shame. What was he thinking of her now? He had been the only one besides Jett that had been proud of her, was he regretting it now? Probably, she was a failure.
Suddenly, over the smashing sounds of Aileen's mace, Krystal was certain she heard a sound. The sound of snow crunching against boots. She remained still for a moment, concentrating on the incoming sound. Aileen brought her mace down, smashing through the crate and ruining her hearing. Silence followed, no sounds of crunching. Another smash and nothing. Following the fifth smash, Aileen heard the crunching sound, this time much closer.
'They're moving to the sound.' Krystal realized.
"Aileen!" Krystal shouted, grabbing two knives from her vest. "There's someone here!"
As she spoke, the steps became louder and turned to metallic bangs as the person entered the Cornucopia. "In front of you! Haspen!" Aileen screamed, as she saw Haspen launching himself at Krystal.
Krystal was ready though. With a set of quick slashes, Krystal drove him back, straining her ears for his movement. He was still in front of her, probably weaponless, which gave her an advantage. Adjusting her stance, Krystal delivered a quick kick outwards, connected with Haspen body. She laughed triumphantly as she heard him groan and his body hit the Cornucopia metal.
Her victory was short lived though as she was hit by a large, rough object that knocked her off her feet. Haspen grabbed another pack and slammed it down on Krystal, knocking her head into the Cornucopia ground. Haspen swung the pack onto his shoulder, grabbed another, and sprinted out of the Cornucopia, only to be intercepted by Aileen.
"Now wait a minute!" Haspen shouted, holding up his arms in mock surrender. "You don't want to kill me, do you? I know you don't! So let me go and I won't come back here again!"
"You have to leave the bags!" Aileen demanded, raising her mace.
"That would defeat the purpose of me coming here. I'm unarmed, Aileen. I'm not going to kill either of you. Come on, Aileen, you're not a Career! You're better than tha-"
Haspen was interrupted when Aileen screamed and charged, swinging her mace at him. He blocked with his extra pack, stunned by Aileen's berserk demeanor. The mace tore through the pack, spilling its contents onto the ground. Aileen swung once more, smashing into Haspen's hand. The bag, and two fingers, dropped from Haspen's hand, causing him to scream and backpedal. Before he could escape, Aileen lined the mace up like a bat and smashed it across Haspen's face. Bones smashed inwards and blood spewed forth as the mace tore skin and muscle from Haspen's face.
Collapsing, Haspen continued to scream as his body went into shock. He began to crawl out of the Cornucopia, making it outside as Aileen walked slowly behind him. Raising the mace above her head, Aileen cried out and brought it down onto Haspen's spine, breaking it with a few sharp blows. The mace lodge itself into his back and Haspen jolted violently as his nervous system broke down. He became still after a few seconds and released one final breath, before his eyes closed.
Aileen remained above him, tearing the mace from his back and backing up in shock. It wasn't shock of killing though, it was surprise at the feeling that followed. A feeling that she felt as she plunged a sword into Rufus.
'That… that felt good…' Aileen realized, dropping the mace into the snow. She turned to Krystal, who had propped herself up against the side of the Cornucopia. Blood was trickling down her forehead, mixing with fresh tears.
As the ninth canon sounded, Jory finally had to come to a stop. She was surprised at her endurance, especially with all the clothing and two packs on her back. Coughing violently, Jory tore open her packs in search for water, finding several flasks of it for her indulgence.
'Ration!' she told herself, tearing the water from her lips. Realizing she hadn't bothered to check her supplies, Jory opened up her packs to see what other loot she had gathered. Several loaves of wrapped bread, a canteen of water, a box of matches, a lighter, a medicine box, two containers of morphling, an extra pair of gloves and socks, a scarf, and several feet of rope. She was disappointed that the bags didn't have weapons, but that was a small complaint compared to the massive amount of supplies she had made away with.
Which she only had because of Fuze's sacrifice.
Thinking of it only caused Jory's emotions to go into free fall. She had escaped the Bloodbath early and thus had no idea who else died, causing her mind to fixate on Fuze's only. His final words continued to come back her, pounding in her ears for hours. 'I'm not a bad person.' he had cried out, a smile planted firmly on his face as Chance slashed through his neck.
Why would he say that? The most distressing, and most plausible, reason for his action was because of her. Had her comments to him really forced him into death? Jory had no intention of that, finding death a terrifying prospect. Could she be blamed for his death?
No... of course not! Jory hadn't forced him to kill himself. She had barely had any interaction with her partner! If he had been gullible enough to kill himself then perhaps he had deserved to die!
But no one did deserve that.
'Fuze... that dumb ass.' she thought, looking back at the golden Cornucopia. 'That lunatic-'
Jory's mind froze when she saw two large, male figures rushing towards her with weapons in hand. Even from a distance, Jory could make out the faces of Chance and Ansel, both armed and eyes locked onto her.
Jumping to her feet, Jory quickly stuff her supplies back into her bags and started running as the Careers drew closer and closer, eager for her blood.
And Jory had no intention of joining her lunatic partner.
I really wanted the seal to be a penguin but I had to remind myself that penguins live in the south pole and this is the north. Damn nature!
Speaking of north pole... guess what other animal that may pose a threat lives up there?
Hints... hints.. ;)
Also, I'm considering making a map of the arena this time around. I'm not the best drawer though but maybe I could do something... just to give you loyal readers an idea of the arena. Tell me if that's something you'd like in your reviews :)