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Only the Innocent: Day 5

District 3 Male

Caruse Lontaine (16 years old)

What else could I have done?

I couldn't tell Sebrina the truth of what had happened with Candolph, so when she continued to ask me questions about it, I remained silent.

I didn't really know what happened myself; it all seemed to happen in a blur. One moment, Candolph was alive and the next, he was dead.

All that mattered to me at that moment was that Sebrina and I had both made it out alive but Sebrina still seemed so hung up about her District partner.

Wasn't it better that he died rather than us?

I stayed awake through the entire night and Sebrina kept slipping in and out of sleep, the events of the day before had clearly taken a toll on her. Everytime she woke up, she would turn to me and ask the same question, "Did you kill him?" And then she would fall back asleep.

It hurt me deep inside when she asked me this, I knew I couldn't answer her truthfully, so everytime she asked me I would answer with a simple, "No, the spiders did," and everytime I said that, I would hear a woman call me a liar inside my head.

It had been an accident.

How was I supposed to know there was someone else in there with me?

I had been so focused on killing the spiders that I just didn't see him, he could have just been another spider for all I knew. The worst thing was; I was pretty sure he was just trying to save Sebrina. I didn't realise who he was until my weapon entered his stomach and he looked up at me with them desperate, pained eyes.

I couldn't have apologised enough, it was the only thing that exited my mouth as he sunk below me. I had cried a lot before I awoke Sebrina, I didn't want her to see me that way. I didn't want anyone to see me that way, but that was inevitable.

I thought I would have been over the sensation of killing at that point, but it hurt more than ever before. It wasn't just like killing Bellona again; it was killing a whole other person. Two tributes had died by my hands and it was all to save one life; my life. It was beyond selfish but if that wasn't the case, I wouldn't have been human.

"I know you didn't mean it," Sebrina whispered.

I looked up at her in shock as I heard her voice. I thought she had fallen back asleep and I definitely didn't expect her to speak coherently yet. I was about to act like I didn't realised what she was speaking about but by the time she spoke again, I realised it was pointless, I knew exactly what she was talking about and she knew that I knew what she was taking about.

"I know you killed him and it's okay, I forgive you."

I shook my head and stood up, how could she even be around me? How could she forgive me? I had turned into such a monster and it pained me to be that way. I had to go and I had to leave her.

Only, I couldn't, she looked at me with the same desperate and pained eyes that Candolph had looked at me with and I just wanted to wrap my arms around her and hold her close. She was injured to such an extent that she couldn't possibly survive on her own and I couldn't do that to her.

"Don't go," she whispered.

That was the final straw and so, I stayed for at least another day.

District 9 Male

Corick Lepou (18 years old)

He had crashed.

He just fell on the floor and fell asleep. He had been falling around aimlessly beforehand and after a few hours of me following him, he finally crashed. I guessed he must have had sleepless nights since entering the arena, which was not a very smart idea. After all, a human being could only stay awake for so long.

When he passed out last night, I didn't bother waking him, I didn't even bother waiting for him.
I carried on ahead to find the girls myself.

My 'leader' had told me to bring them back and to only kill them if they didn't return to us by morning, well it was morning now and I didn't wait to make my kill. Xavier's little sister didn't deserve to make it this far anyway; she was weak, she was small and she was too kind for her own good. Those types of people never made it to the finale and I had to ensure that tradition didn't end.

The sting in my arm hadn't gone away yet; it was still there like a continuous fire which could not be put out by a simple drop of water. It was the worst pain I had ever felt but I was a career and I could go on through the pain, I could forget all about it and I could kill again.

"Who's there?" A girl's voice called out before I could even see them, catching me by surprise

I pursed my lips and halted to the stop. I would never get to them if I acted as the aggressor, plus the audience would like a show. I guessed it was the two girls due to the questioning; only someone who was waiting for someone would ask a question like that.

"It's Corick, District 9, Xzavier has joined us and he's in trouble."

It was the truth -more or less.

I heard some whispering between the girls and then decided to walk around the corner. Xana was on the floor besides Raven, both girls clutched onto small daggers as they stared at me.

How cute, I thought. They thought they could fight.

"I don't believe you," Xana said quietly, "my brother wouldn't join you."

I smirked and shrugged my shoulders, "why not? He is one of us after all."

The two girls looked between each other, it was a petty sight really and it filled my stomach with humour. I was rather tempted to just kill them there and then but I had to entertain the capitol first with my lies.

"Your arm," Xana said softly.

I narrowed my eyes and looked down at my burnt mess. "Yes, I burnt my arm. What about it?"

"No, I mean, It's infected, badly," she whispered as she pointed towards it. "Come here."

I was a bit sceptical at first but decided to go with it anyway. I walked towards them, holding my spear behind my back.

When the time was right, I would attack.

"But, put your spears down," Raven ordered as she threatened me with her puny little knife. This was ridiculous. I was being threatened by a little girl.

Reluctantly, I placed my spears down on the ground but I ensured it was close enough to me so I could still reach for them when I needed to. I crouched before the girl and offered her my arm.

"Okay then," I whispered.

She was hesitant at first but then she took my arm and ran her fingers across it. "See this green thing? If you leave it, you will be dead in a day."

That's a joyful thought, I thought.
I shook my head and sighed. "Then, sort it out!" I almost shouted. The last thing I wanted to do was to die from a stupid infection.

After that, both girls seemed to be more cautious and hesitant towards me. I wanted to scold myself for that but at the same time, it clearly signalled their rapidly approaching death.

Xana dropped my arm and shook her head. "I can't, I'm sorry." I noticed how she clutched her knife closer to her. She wasn't a stupid little girl; that was a definite.

But that small, almost insignificant movement gave me the signal to act.

I quickly grabbed my spear and plunged it towards Xana's chest. Raven screamed but surprisingly, Xana did not. Even more surprisingly, the spear did not enter her. Instead, her knife stopped it in its tracks.

"So, you have trained," I said with a smirk on my face.

Xana nodded. "Of course I have," she said.

District 1 Male

Xzavier Wingmen (17 years old)

When did I fall asleep?
My head pounded in pain and I didn't fully understand why. I hadn't had a wink of sleep since the games had begun. Why would I have chosen to fall asleep today of all days, when I didn't have Xana safe by my side? I groaned in anger at myself as I stood up, but my tiredness soon became apparent. My head span and my eyes threatened to drop back into a never-ending sleep.

I stood up, almost loosening my balance and rubbed the back of my head, only to find a bump rising up on the back of it. Had someone hit me? Or had I just clumsily fallen asleep in the middle of a large corridor?

I punched the wall in anger but the pain that ran through my arm, was more intense than any other time I had done that.

As much as I hated to admit it, I was weak. Our food supplies were at a minimum and our water supplies had run out. I needed help but I had to face it, only the careers received sponsors and I wasn't in the career pack and despite what happened the day before, I had no intention on joining them.

I was about to carry on my search for my sister, but then I heard a package drop down beside me. I looked at it in surprise; I guessed I was wrong about the career thing. I thought all my chances of receiving sponsors had vanished after my days of sitting on my backside doing nothing. I guess not.

I scooped down and picked it up. What was inside was really laughable; it was a shot of coffee. Clearly I didn't have many sponsors if this was the only useful thing they could afford to get me. I unravelled the message and read it, the fact that Leonis even bothered to send me a message surprised me.

'Down it and run- the girls are in danger- Leonis' it read.

My eyes widened and I did exactly what the message said; I downed it and I ran as fast as I possibly could.

The coffee was strong and the effects came around almost immediately, it caused my head to feel funny but I pushed through it and sprinted as fast as I could.

"XANA!" I shouted, "RAVEN!" I didn't care which other tributes I attracted. I could fight them off.

All that mattered right now was my sister.

It was Raven who answered my call, "XZAVIER!"

I followed her voice and sprinted but I ended up running face first into a metal wall. Frustrated tears entered my eyes as I began banging on the wall helplessly, they had been locked in.

"Are you girls in there?" I asked.

"Yeah, we're here," Xana answered. She sounded breathless and that caused my emotions to be on high-alert.

"Are you safe?"

"No, Corick- he," she got cut off and I began to bang on the wall again as I shouted her name but there was nothing I could do. It was down to the two girls now.

They were alone.

District 5 Female

Raven Harrison (15 years old)

I tried to help.

The two of us tried to fight off this strong career with simple knives but it was difficult. It had been a shock at first to see how skilled Xana truly was, especially for a twelve year old. She wasn't about to give up easily.

Xana managed to get under his spear and she stabbed him the thigh, he cried out in pain before getting back to fighting. With the two of us on his case, he had to put in a lot of effort to fight us off and for a moment, I thought we almost had the upper-hand.

I managed to stab him in the back, causing him to let out another shout but that was when he pushed me away with such a large force that it caused me to fly through the air and hit my head against the metal wall.

Pain flashed through me in an instant and I cried out but I refused to let the unconsciousness which threatened to take over me.

"Xana!" I called.
She continued to fight, his spear met her knife a few more times but in the end she never had much chance against him. All Corick had to do was take a few steps back and throw the spear. She tried to dodge it but she couldn't move enough.

It entered her stomach.

Blood pooled out, covering her small, pale hands and innocent, blonde hair. She cried out in pain and I cried out in pain with her. The sweetest girl I had ever met was gone.

She was a strong willed girl who was able to put up a bigger fight than any of us thought possible, she cared about people, she cared about me. Over the past five days, she had almost become family, she was like my little sister and it stung my heart to see her go.

"Xana," I sobbed as I covered my mouth with my hand which was painted with Corick's blood.

Her eyes rolled back into her head and her body went limp.

Her cannon fired.

She never deserved this.

With that, the walls surrounding us lifted and Xzavier came stumbling in, as soon as he saw Xana's body, his eyes filled with furious tears and he turned to Corick.

Corick just laughed and shrugged his shoulders, "did you really think we'd let you go that easy?"

Xzavier seemed to growl as he charged towards Corick, lifting up his sword. Fuelled by hatred and anger, the fight didn't seem to last as long as ours. After a cling of metal on metal, Xzavier was able to pin Corick to the wall.

For the first time today, fear filled Corick's eyes, he was going to die, even if Xzavier didn't kill him, he would have died from an infection in a matter of days.

Xzavier's sword entered his throat in one small motion and I just sat there in bewilderment as I still struggled to stay awake.

His cannon fired and both of the boys fell to the floor; Corick fell over in a pool of his own blood and Xzavier fell to his knees beside Xana.

I had never seen a boy of his size and strength cry before but at that moment, his body shook as he cried over Xana's small body. He held her close to his chest and sobbed into her hair.

I stayed quiet and allowed him to let out his emotions. I was scared that if I spoke, he would take his anger out on me.

I wouldn't have blamed him if he did.

A/N- Only one chapter for Day 5...I think, there might be another I haven't decided. Anyway...

Deaths-

11th: (Died, Day 4) Candolph Antiquarta (District 12)- I didn't want to confirm his death last chapter because then I would have had to confirm what killed him. So here it is now you know. Candolph was an interesting character and he was actually down as a potential victor at one point but then I realised that Snow would have never let him live so I decided that this was his time. He was the last surviving tribute who never had any form of alliance so he did well with that. He will be missed.

10th: Xana Wingmen (District 1): Xana, Xana, Xana, writing her death scene has been one of the worst for me, I loved Xana, she was a little sweetheart and I WAS SO GLAD that I was able to show her strength before she died, I didn't want her to die and everyone think she was a weak little twelve year old. She couldn't walk but she still had skill. She has probably been one who hasn't jumped around much in the placement, she has always been in the 8th-12th spot, I chose the middle one for her. R.I.P little angel :'3

9th: Corick Lepou (District 9): He was a douche, pretty much. I actually liked his character, he was a great character he was just a douche. Which is always great to write about in the games. Corick actually jumped around a lot, he started off being the first career to die (after Kasey, of course) so he came about 16th or 15th, but then it all changed and he ended up just missing out on the final 8. I felt like I got more into writing him. I had to kill him off here in the end, he killed little Xana! and there was no way Xzavier would let him survive after that. Thank you for submitting him!

Eh, that was a lot of eulogies! We are in the final eight now! Yay! I will be posting the next SYOT VERY SOON, maybe before or after the next chapter, or after the chapter after that. I don't know, soon!

Well done to everyone and of course their submitters in the final eight! To remind you they are; Xzavier Wingmen (District 1), Catiel Valkyrie (District 2), Caruse Lontaine (District 3) Raven Harrison (District 5), Anders Quinn (District 5) Hatchet Parker (District 7), Sterling Rivers (District 7), Sebrina Edophle (District 12)

Questions-

Who do you think will be the next to die?
What do you think will happen to remain allies (Hatchet and Sterling, Caruse and Sebrina and Xzavier and Raven)

Can you predict the final three?

Till next time, bye!