Athenia Graceum(District 9)
I can't say for sure how long we've been waiting but my legs have gone numb so I know it's been a while. Gigi and I took the long way to the feast site hoping to avoid any confrontation before it starts, and for the most part we have. The only hairy spot was when we ran into a rather large crocodile mutt, but it seemed to me more interested in whatever it was eating to bother with us.
Shifting uncomfortably I do my best to find a position that can alleviate the cramping in my legs, but all I manage to do is cause them to spasm, forcing me to stifle a cry. Gigi quickly turns to me and takes my face in her hands, giving me a quick kiss and the chance I need to let out my pained yell. Breaking the kiss she looks me in the eyes and winks, giving me a silent 'you're welcome' for the release. Suppressing a giggle I finally manage to find a semi comfortable position and settle in to continue our wait.
Luckily it's not a long one as no sooner have I positioned myself then the familiar voice of Caesar Flickerman comes ringing out from all around me.
" Attention tributes attention, the time has come for me to divulge to you how to deactivate the explosive in your trackers. At the conclusion of this address the feast tables will be raised from the far side of the waterfall and deposited in the intended area. Upon the tables will be the normal assortment of feast goodies and toys for your use, while in small specially colored bags will be the control wands needed to neutralize your explosives. The bags are marked with your district number so make sure to take the correct bag. Each wand is specifically tuned to your individual tracker so attempting to use the wrong wand will result in detonation. The only other way to escape the feast area is to be one of the final five tributes standing. Good Luck, and May the odds be ever in your favor."
As soon as his voice cuts out the soft wine of repulsor engines can be heard off in the distance, and a few seconds later the hovercraft shoots up over the crest of the waterfall and begins to gently lower the feast tables toward the ground. Gigi quickly turns to me and whispers in an unnecessarily quiet voice. "As soon as the tables land i'll make a dash for our bag, you stay out of sight until I get back."
"What if you need my help, I can't just hide here."
"You need to, I couldn't live with myself if you got hurt Athenia. So please stay here and stay safe. Let me take the risks ok." I can tell she's hoping I won't press the matter, as if arguing this with me might be worse than either of us getting hurt. I nod in confirmation and she quickly kisses me before crouching down and preparing to run.
The tables land with a resounding thud and all hell breaks loose, and Gigi is darting forward right at the heart of it. My heart jumps into my throat and refuses to leave as she dartz around the rocks and attempts to avoid the avalanche of incoming tributes. My heart almost stops when she slips and falls to the ground with a near audible thud, but she's quickly back on her feet and my heart rate returns to something resembling normal.
After what seems like an eternity she reaches the tables and begins to search frantically for our bag, which seems like an impossible task with the mountain of supplies to go through. I watch with bated breath as she sifts through the mess of supplies, praying with every second no one notices her and decides to take her out.
However after a bit of searching and against all odds she manages to find it, and a few seconds later she's racing back toward me, the wands and a pack of supplies clutched tight to her chest. Despite my fears I manage to smile as I catch her eyes and she adjusts course toward me. However my jovial mood is shattered when I see her drop to the ground, our hard won supplies flying every which way as she goes.
My shock quickly wears off as I see Elsa race out from her hiding spot and chuck another rock toward Gigi's face. The shot connects and before I know what's happening Elsa's upon her. forcing her head below the water with an almost primal ferocity. I don't know what comes over me, but before I realize it i'm halfway to the them, my fists balled up in barely controlled rage.
Reaching the struggling mass I quickly throw a blind punch and it manages to connect with Elsa's temple. Taking advantage of her momentary daze I grab her by the back of her head and smash her face into the ground, a sickening crack reverberating as her face strikes the rocks below the surface of the river. Summoning all my strength I hold her there, watching as the air bubbles surrounding her head begin to thin out. After a moment her thrashing ceases and she goes limp, a moment later the resounding crash of a cannon signals her end and I release her lifeless corpse.
~BOOM~
Racing to Gigi's side I immediately check to see if she's breathing, and am almost brought to tears when I see her chest rise and fall as she takes ragged and shallow breaths. I quickly pull her up into a kiss before helping her to her feet and grabbing as many of the supplies as I can manage.
We make our way back to our hiding place where I attempt to deduce which wand will work on our trackers. Lucky for me each one is engraved with our initials in the handle, and I quickly take mine and run it over my arm. The crystal like attachment at the top flashes red for a few seconds before turning green, signaling that my explosive is disarmed. I grab the second one and quickly run it over Gigi's injection sight and a few seconds later it too shines green.
Tossing the wands aside I pull Gigi to her feet and quickly sling our supplies over my shoulder. Handing her our knife I take her hand and quickly make our way toward the safety of the nearest structure. Against all odds we had both survived the feast, I wonder how long our luck can hold.
Verity Sangster(District 1)
It took us no time at all to gain control of the tables, which means anyone who hopes to escape has to come through us to do it. My only regret is that we didn't do it quick enough to stop the girl from nine, and by now she's long gone. Oh well that just means we get to do some hunting after we're done here, and that means more fun before I'm crowned victor.
After we established control of the table we quickly went to work finding our bags, a task made that much harder by the need to keep the other tributes away from the table while we look. Lucky for us the table came fully stocked with some deadly new toys, each one shining like gold in the morning sun. It takes me a moment to discover that's because they're gold plated, but I could really care less as long as they kill the same as normal.
Grabbing a golden sword I turn my attention back to the field, trusting my allies to find all of our packs in due time. A few moments later Vitaly joins me and I briefly glimpse Callum making his way to the far side, a golden bow clutched in his hands. Turning my head toward Vitaly I notice he has the same knife he's had since the beginning but in addition he has a small golden ax clutched in his off hand.
Turning back around I catch sight of Lynn, searching vigorously through the piled supplies for our bags. "Lynn you need any help?"
"I'm good, just keep the idiots off me for a bit."
Turning back I can't help but smile to myself as I catch sight of the little girl from 12 and the brutish boy from 10 both attempting to sneak by our perimeter. I turn to Vitaly and quickly nod in the direction of the approaching nuisance. "Which one do you want big boy?"
He doesn't even answer before he's racing off toward his target, a look of determination and joy in his eyes. "I'll take Scythe."
With that settled I make my way toward my target, with only one thing on my mind. Add to my kill count, put myself in position to be a winner my family can be proud of.
I do my best to remain unnoticed but she manages to see my approach all the same. She quickly zig-zags around a cluster of rocks and attempts to pick up speed, but her footing is bad and her forum sloppy and she quickly loses balance and face plants into the sandy water below. Taking advantage of this mistake I quickly close the gap and in an instant i'm standing over her.
She still has a trick up her sleeve though and in an instant I feel her foot connect with my knee and the splash of wet sand on my face. Wiping my eyes clear I quickly run her down, my sword delivering a nasty slash to her back as I do. She lets out a pained wail as she falls back to the ground, her fresh blood mixing with the water turning it a sickly red color.
Using my foot I force her over on her back, looking into her terrified eyes as I raise my sword up to my face. With a flick of my wrist I bring the blade across her throat and watch as the eruption of pressure sprays blood over her childish face. I stare down with grim satisfaction as she fights for air, stifling a laugh as the panic sets in on her face. A few terror filled seconds later her struggles cease and she falls still as a cannon sounds in the distance.
~BOOM~
Charlotte Woods(District 7)
I almost feel guilty letting Arya and Scythe take all the heat, but sometime you have to do awful things to survive and this is no exception. I cautiously skirt the perimeter, doing my best to keep an eye on Verity and Vitaly while keeping an eye out for the other two. After i'm sure it's safe I race out from my hiding place and straight for the tables.
Making it there without attracting attention I immediately begin to search for my bag among the jumbled mess of supplies. I haven't even had a chance to look when a sharp jab to my side forces me to my knees. Struggling to my feet I see the girl from 4 standing a few feet away, a deadly look in her eye.
"You're not supposed to be here."
"Where should I be then?"
"Dead, you're supposed to be dead. My sister went out looking for you and the boy from 3, and since he's dead that has to mean you killed her."
"Just returning the favor, after all you killed my sister too."
The fury on her face is evident as she reaches toward the table and comes away with a magnificent golden machete, the blade glistening in the sunlight. Reaching behind my back I rest my hand on the pommel of my sickle as she lunges toward me, the blade of her weapon missing my face by mere inches. I roll to my left and bring my sickle across in a series of quick and violent slashes, each one turned away with effortless ease by my attackers blade.
Deciding to change strategy I roll again, this time inside her guard and to close for her to bring her weapon to bare. I deliver another series of blows, each one connecting with my target though most of the damage is deflected by the vest of her uniform.
With a primal scream she brings her free hand across my face in a harsh and punishing slap, forcing me back on the defensive. Discarding her weapon she quickly picks up a trident from the table and proceeds to force me farther away, outside the weapons much larger reach.
We settle into somewhat of a pattern after this, her slashing chopping and thrusting, me rolling diving and retreating. Before long I feel the cool rush of air and relies what she's done, she's forced me to the edge of the waterfall. I'm trapped and my delaying tactics won't work anymore.
I do my best to escape but it's no use, she's positioned herself perfectly to block my every move. Resigning myself to my fate I can't help but smile, at least Scarlett will be waiting for me on the other side. With a look of triumph in her eyes she brings the edge of the trident down against my hand, severing it at the wrist. In the most pain i've ever felt all I can do is shriek as she pulls the weapon back and drives the points into my chest, silencing my cries forever more.
Scythe Taron(District 10)
This has been the second most enjoyable part of the games for me, the first obviously being when I was working on Kradus. Vitaly is truly a prime physical specimen, if only I could dissect him, see what makes him the way he is. I doubt i'll get that chance however, even if I manage to win this fight i'd never be able to carry his corpse away in time. No i'll have to resign myself to a more limited study while we fight, after all i'll have plenty of chance to study once I get home to ten, perhaps i'll start with my sister.
By now the fighting has to have gotten boring for Vitaly, after all i'm not much of an opponent for him with the tree trunk I have as a weapon. I'm starting regret leaving my knives back in my safe house, if I had them this fight would have been over a long time ago. As it is i'm forced to play defense and wait for him to tire out, then i'll be forced to deliver the quick kill and escape.
"Is that the best you can do, i'd expected better from a 2 tribute." I'm trying to get under his skin but for the most part he seems to be immune to my antics so I guess i'll just have to find other ways to anger him. Lowering myself a bit I lunge at him, taking him out at the knees and sending us both tumbling into the water.
Taking advantage I quickly find myself in the dominate position and begin to deliver blows to his face and body chuckling to myself as I go. Jab here thrust there and before long his face and body are a bloody mess. I take particular delight when I hear one of his ribs crack under my relentless assault, my laugh quickly overtaking my whole body as I all but roll in delight.
This unfortunately is the opening he needs and he rolls to his left and grabs his knife, quickly turning back to me and driving it repeatedly into my gut. I stagger under his onslaught and he quickly regains his feet, forcing me back against a rock cluster.
Looking up into his eyes I can't help but make one final play for immortality. "What an artist dies in me!" My words take him by surprise as he hesitates for a brief moment, and in that moment i'm rewarded with an act of providence. An arrow strikes Vitaly just below the shoulder, causing him to drop his knife as he doubles over in pain.
The two of us turn to look as Callum notches another arrow and lets it fly, this one striking Vitaly in the chest. A third follows for good measure before Callum causally runs a peculiar object over his arm. Tossing it away a few seconds later he quickly collects a couple bags and runs toward one of the far buildings.
With a smile on my lips and glorious pain filling my world I set myself to my final task, racing Vitaly to the gates of death. Closing my eyes I finally slip away into death's sweet embrace.
~BOOM~
~BOOM~
A/N: Then there were 5, I hope the feast met with your approval as I truly enjoyed writing it. I also know this chapter is early but I finished the editing sooner than I expected and decided to post it, as I can't really start posting my next story until after a victor is crowned in this one as they will play a fairly decent role in the first few chapters of it. Anyway on to the questions.
1. How was the feast?
2. Most surprising death?
3. Predictions for how the top five will shake out?
4. How's the story?
5. Finally, bonus points if you can tell me whose final words Scythe mimicked?
I still plan to post at least one or two more chapters this week, it all depends on how I feel after work each day but I guarantee at least one more. Anyway I hope you all enjoyed the chapter and as always thanks for reading and please review. I'll see you all at the next update :D
24. Liana- Killed by Verity
23. Caspian- Killed by Verity
22. Braden- Killed by Rudra
21. Annika- Killed by Scarlett
20. Tate- Killed by Callum
19. Scarlett- Killed by Lynn
18. Marcus- Killed by Vitaly
17. Hunter-Killed by Vitaly
16. Clifford- Killed by Lilac
15. Lilac- Killed by Charlotte
14. Kradus- Killed by Scythe
13. Reina- Killed by Elsa
12. Rudra- Killed by Mutts
11. Nox- Killed by a fall
10. Elsa- Killed by Athenia
09. Arya- Killed by Verity
08. Charlotte- Killed by Lynn
07. Scythe- Killed by Vitaly
06. Vitaly- Killed by Callum
Current Kill Count
3- Verity
3- Vitaly
2- Callum
2- Lynn
1- Athenia
1- Mutts
1- Fall
1- Rudra
1- Scarlett
1- Charlotte
1- Scythe
1- Elsa
1- Lilac