The pavestones around the tributes now shines a deep red with the blood of the injured. Buck's blood lies in a pool near the fence and a little further away where his body was dragged after his defeat; Titanium left small droplets of blood leading to the smearing of blood from the acid that fell on her legs and the chaffing from the horse; and scattered blood drops line the area from the hit of the lance on the tributes.
Cobra and Freighttrain step up to their horses to begin their run; they gallop at each other and the clash of metal on metal causes the tributes standing at the edges of the track to flinch, but neither tribute falls from their horse.
They turn their horses around for another go, and the force behind the lances forces the two battling tributes to clamp their legs to the horse. The tip of Cobra's lance pierces Freighttrain's chest and he gasps for breath, but remains on the horse.
They go again and this time one of the tributes is knocked off his horse. The non-career tumbles to the ground, deep red blood dripping on the pavestones as he walks to the edge of the ring of houses in defeat.
Velvet and Wisteria continue to whisper to each other as the jester calls them forward, two guards bring the two girls forward by force. They seem to have decided to take up the career strategy, as Velvet doesn't even try to hold her lance up. It falls to the ground and she falls from her horse as Wisteria's lance brushes her shoulder; a cloud of brown dirt envelopes the two.
This repeats a second time leaving Cobra and Wisteria competing for the prize. Savage smiles at Cobra as he gets on the horse and he salutes her before charging towards Wisteria. Cobra hits her but falls off his horse. In the next run, Cobra hits Wisteria but she manages to remain on the horse but she misses Cobra by mere inches. In the third run Wisteria hits Cobra and he clings to his horse with his legs, managing to stay on, but missing Wisteria in the process. If wisteria hits him, she wins. If cobra knocks her off, he wins.
The horses charge towards each other, the tributes hit each other and Wisteria falls backwards off her horse. I look over at Wisteria's mentor and see that he is as confused as I am.
The jester jumps onto the fence, "due to the tie between the two competitors, they will share the reward. If the two of you would follow me."
Cobra's hand rests on his sword as he follows the mutt to a tent at the edge of the clearing. The jester talks to them out of earshot and the two tributes respond quietly. They walk back to their teammates in silence.
"What did you get?" Savage whispers to him.
"It would have been ANYTHING we wanted. But now it's almost anything. No killing, no injuring, no magical healing."
"So…?"
"You'll see," he says with a smile.
The jester walks over to Wisteria, grabs a handful of dirt, cups his hands and two fans emerge. Velvet grins wickedly and I immediately know those are for her, but it's impossible to tell if the rest of the tributes know because Wisteria doesn't immediately hand them to her.
The jester walks towards the career pack and again picks up a handful of dirt. He opens his hands to reveal two daggers with blades that extend past the hilt, perfect for slashing. He picks them up and almost dances with them as he moves around the area. The other tributes take off, realizing that now that the competition has ended the killing can commence.
The careers head out towards camp, and a cannon blast is heard over the arena. I look towards the large screen at the center of the room to find Velvet standing in the middle of a young wheat field holding the metal edged fans in her hand, blood dripping from them. The camera pans to the fallen body of her comrade, red lines covering her paling body.
Velvet disappears into the town once more, either in flight or in search of prey. The careers turn to each other and shrug. Less competition. But they'll be breaking up soon, it's inevitable. I can see savage counting in her head, and on her fingers, before looking to Cobra and nodding.
They're definitely planning something. I check the other careers and see that they seem content, for now. They make it back to camp as the sun starts to set and Savage volunteers for the night shift, declaring that it her turn. The rest of the careers settle down to rest and she looks out over the area scanning for moving figures that aren't the village mutts, which is hard to discern in the odd lighting of twilight.
Eventually she stands up and walks around. Stooping to the ground she picks up a pebble and tosses it at the metal cornucopia. A light ping sound echoes from the depths, but none of the careers move after their long day of hunting and jousting. She walks over to their sleeping forms and wakes Cobra. He rises and upon seeing who it is a grin spreads across his face.
They grab their weapons and stand over their teammates, Cobra over his district partner, Silver, and Savage over Titanium. Cobra holds up his hand and counts down on his fingers. Three… Two… One.
I'm going on a roadtrip tomorrow, and I don't know if I'll be able to update in my usual timeframe. I'll try and write the chapter today and see if I have time to upload it. The next chapter will definitely be up by Tuesday at the latest!