Cahlia Moreno (D2F)
As I watch the life drain from Norene's eyes, I hold the crumpled paper that Norene used all of her energy to give to me. The markings on the parchment confused me, they were several shapes and markings all centered on top of some horizontal lines. But it wasn't the markings that caught my attention, it was the words. "Rebellion", "Mockingjay", "Free". This was a war cry, a dangerous one at that. In a panic, I quickly fold the paper back of and shove in my pocket. What am I supposed to do with this? Norene couldn't expect me to stand up in front of all Panem and shout these deathly words for everyone to hear! I'd be dead before I could finish. I'll just keep it hidden and decide what to do with it once I win. But there was something about those words that made my heart beat lighter, to realize that there is more to life than killing for the Capital. Yes, that's exactly what we do, kill for their enjoyment. And it should be my enjoyment as I have trained for years to entertain the Capital. Shut up, Cahlia! There's only four of us left, now is not the time to question your morals.
"Watcha got there?" Falcon bounds over to me. He saw it?
"It's this stupid thing Three gave to me. Pathetic," I try to shrug it off in the most convincing way. Maybe I could even fool the Capital by putting on the Career façade. And luckily, it works, at least for Falcon.
"Eight and Six got away, but that's four more tributes down!" Falcon both pouts and grins while saying this.
"You don't seem to bothered by the death of your District partner," I point out, confused by his casualness.
"Now we don't have to kill her, which was going to happen anyways. At least she went quick. The knife wound didn't kill her, it was the impact when her head hit the floor. If the knife killed her, she would have suffered or we'd have to put her out of her misery. Anyways, it's less for us to do," Falcon states. He has some nerve talking so casually about our friend's death mere moments after it happened. He changed, with the snap of a finger. Still disgusted, I try to change the subject before he exacerbates my fury.
"What did you get?" I ask, gesturing towards the satchel hanging from his broad shoulders.
"This? I think it's some kind of whistle," Falcon ponders, holding up the flute-like toy.
"Wonder what it does?" I ask, grinning.
"Only one way to find out," Falcon smirks as he raises the bronze whistle to his lips and blows. I wait for a second, but no sound comes.
"Must be bro-" I begin to say as I hear a deafening roar from behind us and the shattering of brick walls. Without a second thought, we both turn and flee into the opposite maze, and I realize exactly what the whistle was. The Finale Whistle. As we sprint through the brick maze, we hear stomping and smashing behind us, getting closer every time. Continuing our run, the scene around us begins to change, the walls becoming a royal blue with a shimmering layer of gold sparkles overlaying them. Mystic Maze. Aside from our panicked sprinting and the monster's smashing, the maze was eerily beautiful. Hummingbirds flit about as we run by, their silver wings a blur on the shining stone. Everything is gleaming brilliantly and the shines flash past my eyes as Falcon and I sprint side by side, our only goal being to escape the monster.
Suddenly, from our right, we hear the scream of a girl, and both Lorry and Mauve come flying about a corner and practically run straight into us. Both groups are too shocked to respond as we all turn and flee for our own lives. But that did little good. With one ear shattering crash, every wall around us disintegrates, and I duck to cover my head from any debris. Looking up, I finally get a glimpse of the monster. I can hear Falcon gasp at its gargantuan size and everyone else seems equally as impressed. The mutt was a crazed looking beast with three sneering heads and a spiked tail. With a roar that could break glass, the beast stomps and slams its tail down as it begins to walk towards us. Finally pulled from our state of shock, all four of us jump up and attack the creature. With my sword, I swipe its legs, not paying any attention to the girls who were trying to climb the beast's tail to get a head shot. For a good two or three minutes, we were trying our hardest to kill the mutt, screaming in frustration every time our blades couldn't perpetrate its scaled armor. This is pointless, I should be going for the tributes. And it seems like Falcon has the same idea as me. While the girls were still distracted, Falcon leaps behind Lorry as she is repeatedly stabbing the three headed mutt's foot with her knife. In one swift motion, he runs his katana through her back and she crumples to the ground with a cannon fire. Startled, Mauve looks up and screams at the sight of Lorry and immediately leaps down towards Falcon.
"You will pay for that!" she screams, outraged.
"Your District killed my cousin, think of that as revenge part one!" Falcon spits at her, elbowing her in the face. "Your death is going to be slow and painful!" He screams as he grabs Mauve's neck in a chokehold and flings her to the ground. Leaning over her, Falcon prepared his leg to kick her in the side, only to be met with a punch to his knee sending him to the ground as well. Recovering from her attack, Mauve rolls over on top of Falcon and uppercuts him in the jaw.
"I am going home! For Iris, for Lorry, for Beyon, for everyone!" she screams as Falcon takes over again, this time with his katana I'm hand.
"You'll be going home. Home to the pathetic dead losers you called friends!" he says as he slams his sword down, "You're dead now, but how could I make this more fun?" I think I could be sick, and that's saying something, coming from my background. Watching Falcon torment Mauve like this, it reminded me of when I was fourteen and I saw my entire family be murdered by a man much like Falcon. Mauve was dead already, but she doesn't deserve to suffer. Grabbing my whip from my belt, much like the one I used t avenge my family. I run up to Falcon in a daze and wrap the whip around his neck, pulling with all of my might, not daring to let go. I felt like I was avenging my family all over again, but this time to stop the pain. When the cannon for Falcon fires, I drop his body to the floor and I follow, panting. Did I do it? I won! I won the Hunger Games! But there is something that doesn't feel right...
I walk over to Mauve and see that she is still breathing faintly. Her hand is clutching her stomach and I can see in her eyes that she is full of agony. Looking around, I realize that the mutt was gone, probably called off by the Gamemakers once the action had started. It was only a tool to get us all together.
"Thank you, Cahlia..." Mauve whispers as her eyes shut and the final cannon fires, followed by trumpets. But in my mind, I can only think about everything that happened in the last five minutes. The whole scene replayed itself in slow motion. Could it be that less then ten minutes ago, it was the end of the feast and Falcon was about to blow that whistle? Five minutes ago, the four of us were fighting the three headed mutt. And now three are dead and I am the last one standing. Then a though occurs to me. The song! I still don't know what to do with it once I return to the Capitol! But that doesn't matter now. I'm alive! I can go home to Shar and live the life I always wanted. This is, of I still wanted it. There are so many decisions that I need to make, but now, I feel like I can make them because, I, Cahlia Moreno, have won the Hunger Games.
A/N
And that is the end of this Game! Stay tuned for an epilogue and the beginning of the next story! What did you think about Cahlia winning? I had reasons for this and you will all find out in the next story. Also, don't be too disappointed if your character died, you can never know what to expect in Panem...
And happy one hear anniversary to me on FF! One year ago I started the random fic called Fearstruck and look at what has happened since! In your reviews, could you do me a favor for my one year FF birthday... say one thing that has improved from October 15 2013 and one year later. Thanks!
Christine