Day 8: Contempt

Steeleia Sharpe

By the time she was emerging from the base of the mountain, the sun was setting, and day was becoming night in a very artificial manner. It seemed that the Gamemakers just wanted to let the other 3 tributes know what had happened on the mountaintop.

Tiberius' name and picture flashed in the sky, but this time Steele did not weep. She only felt a lump in her throat as she stared downwards at the sands of the desert, hoping to find Amruen soon. Right now she wanted nothing more than to just run into his arms and kiss him. His masculine body probably wasn't much different from Tiberius', so maybe she could pretend that it was Tiberius just for a moment, and that she was loving him back to life.

She was willing to do even that if it meant that her guilt would be erased.

But Amruen didn't seem to be around, so she had to keep going. Perhaps she'd find him soon—

She suddenly stopped as she heard faint sounds of clanging metal. She ran as fast as she could over the dunes, but after climbing over a few she nearly bumped into another surprise.

It was the muscular girl from 5, making a brief scream in shock before arming herself with a hammer.

"I don't want to fight right now," Steele insisted, glancing at her bandaged body rather than the girl's cautious gaze. "I just need to find Amruen."

"Listen, I get that you love your boyfriend and everything," the girl from 5 said, "But this is the Hunger Games. You don't need any allies anymore. Mine are dead, and yours will have to be, too, if you want to win." Steele blinked back more tears at the thought of yet another boy dying because of her. That would make the total up to 3 now, she realized cynically. She could probably add Thaleia to the list as well, so it was 4 people in all.

"I-I know. I just…he's the only person that's ever cared," Steele tried to explain, thinking that this non-Career girl probably wouldn't understand. The other girl gave a faint smile in sympathy.

"I'll bet you two are a cute couple," she remarked. "But right now, Steele, we all have to try and kill each other."

"I understand," Steele replied with a nod. "Just let me test my body. Make sure I'm ready."

"That's fine by me," the girl from 5 said. "Just don't take too long. It was great that you killed Tiberius, though. Saved the rest of us from having to do it. Nice boomeraing, by the way!"

"Thanks," Steele chuckled as she tried to practice moving around. Worry filled her mind as she tried a few sword swings and sidesteps with invisible foes.

Am I in good enough shape to fight her? If I run away could she chase me down?

All she has is that hammer, and she's a bit shorter than me. I could get rid of her now, or I could try and help Amruen. But what if he's winning and doesn't need me?

Or what if he's losing?

Why did I think an alliance was such a good idea?

Dorea Calis

Before the fight, she tossed him an energy drink, and they guzzled down their bottles in silence.

"Aw, man, what a rush!" Amruen cried, having apparently never tasted the drink before. "You know, I came in here thinking this was tyranny."

"And now?" Dorea asked.

"It's cruel," he replied, "But it's a great way to go." And so it began.

She had to admit, for an untrained, rebellious, and likely malnourished boy from 9 he really knew how to use that blade.

Amruen had stayed back and forced her to ready her bow, aiming for his head and hoping to intimidate him into moving. Her major advantage—and disadvantage—was that she had an arsenal on her, but Amruen had one weapon and no versatility. If she took too long switched weapons, he'd kill her, and if he made one false move she'd kill him. Ideally speaking, that is.

He ducked, of course, knowing that she'd take just a bit of time to either load another arrow or try and switch to something else, running at her with his flamberge. Sure, he was awkwardly holding it with two hands to the side like it was a baseball bat, but with all of its power and the high stakes of the battle his bad form wasn't funny in the slightest.

She wasn't able to get her sword and shield ready before Amruen brought the metal down on the shoulder of her chestplate, apparently familiar with his weapon's vibration-causing properties. She staggered a bit as Amruen raised his sword again but was thankful when she realized he was leaving himself vulnerable for a few crucial seconds.

She tossed her bow aside and got out her sword, ready to stab Amruen in the throat. But he caught her, kicking her in the shin with enough force to stun her for a bit to prevent her from delivering a killing blow. Amruen swung again, making her feel that same sensation where she felt her whole upper body was trapped in some low-magnitude earthquake.

It's not ending like this.

She held up her shield in her defense as Amruen readied his third strike, this time aiming for her face. With the force of that blade he could probably cleave her face off or make a dent in her skull, she realized, and so she blocked it with her shield as she strafed backwards, making sure to let go right before the blade collided with the metal alloy of the shield. Apparently the sponsors hadn't been aware of how disadvantageous a "shiny" shield could be.

I have too much stuff anyway.

Her blade, however, could not be discarded so lightly, so once Amruen had struck the shield she took care to slash at him in his left arm near where a bandage had been placed, hoping to reopen an old wound. Amruen screamed in agony, dropping his flamberge, and Dorea realized that she had been right. She wondered briefly who had inflicted that.

Maybe Clyde? But he was better with stabbing weapons.

Regardless, Dorea took the opportunity to get out one of her knives and was ready to slit Amruen's throat, trying not to think too much about the person who had just spoken with her minutes ago. But Amruen seemed to have expected it, punching her in the face and causing her to drop the knife. He then kicked her other shin, hoping that this time she'd be knocked down like some ordinary tribute might have been.

But Dorea had other plans. She took out another knife as Amruen's bear hands clamped down on her throat, stabing his left thigh. Him attempting to strangle her was quite a surprise, and so was him actually trying to squeeze her neck tighter as he was stabbed.

It's not ending like this, either.

She lifted both feet and slammed them into his chestplate with a powerful kick, pushing them both backwards in opposite directions. Now the advantage went to whoever had less fatigue.

Amruen Neversky

He was bleeding at one arm and one leg, and he felt like he could barely get up, especially with the chestplate.

Where's the flamberge? I dropped it when she cut my bandages open. Damn Careers actually know what they're doing. What was I thinking, fighting her?! Freakin' Capitolites have made me high on this stuff.

But as both he and Dorea slowly began to get up, the Capitol's anthem played, and they saw Tiberius' name appear in the sky. Amruen could only smile and shout for joy when he realized that his girlfriend was still alive.

"She made it, Dorea! She killed Tiberius!" he cried, practically bursting with pride. He hadn't doubted her, of course.

Dorea wearily stood to her feet with him, smiling faintly in congratulations. "She must have fought well. To tell you the truth, I had a feeling Tiberius would die. He was distant and feeling ashamed of himself. He wasn't that bad guy that Steele had made him out to be anymore."

"Serves him right, that Capitolite dick-sucking bastard!" Amruen remarked. Dorea hung her head when he said this.

Wait…did she actually DO that? Careers are psychotic.

"What if I told you…I was half-Capitolite?" Dorea asked.

What?

"What, is that some kind of a joke?" Amruen asked. "Besides, aren't you supposed a mayor's kid or something?" Dorea stared at him with all seriousness, and then he realized that she was being truthful.

"Everyone in the final 8 got those recordings," Dorea explained, her voice cracking. "Mine was from my mother. She…my father is an Avox!"

Amruen stood, stunned, not sure how to handle this. Apparently it was some sort of insecurity or weakness to her, like some sort of indication of her not having a perfect bloodline or some stupid Capitolite thing like that. But how was he, a tribute in the Hunger Games, supposed to feel?

"How would they feel about that?" Amruen asked. This was actually more interesting than the fight itself.

Dorea shrugged.

"If they like it, then I won't," he replied simply. "If they don't approve, then I do. Plus, I don't think it matters. If they considered you one of their own then they'd have airlifted you out of here, anyway. It also makes you the toughest person alive with a drop of Capitolite blood—in fact, possibly the only tough person alive with a drop of Capitolite blood."

Dorea smiled.

"It almost makes me ashamed to spill it," Amruen remarked with a smirk.

Dorea was stifling a chuckle, he could see, as she rushed over to where his flamberge lay just a few feet away from him. Amruen immediately brought himself back to a state of battle but felt a sharp pain in the side of his right upper arm.

He was still able to shove her with his elbow away from his flamberge, stooping down to pick it up while keeping his eyes on her so she couldn't throw another knife at him. She had two left on her tunic belt, he could see.

She wisely didn't charge towards him as he stood back up, his flamberge now carefully gripped in both hands, although now he found that with all of the pain and weakness in his limbs he could barely lift it.

How do I hide the fact that I'm becoming helpless?

Dorea's eyes—one of them looked a bit off—were taking the scene before in, and then she picked up her sword and got ready to come at him.

Or maybe I don't.

He heaved his flamberge upward with all his might just as Dorea approached, hoping that he'd be able to surprise her with an uppercut.

He didn't remember much after that.

Riley Covington

It took about ten seconds for Steele to realize that she was still in somewhat decent fighting condition.

Once the pseudo-Career charged, Riley immediately deployed a kunai, not quite sure how to throw it but figuring it was at least worth a shot. The thing hit Steele harmlessly on her chestplate, however, and Steele responded by launching that strange shield-thingy she had been holding.

Riley's eyes widened in surprise when she saw the rocks launching at her, realizing that she had apparently come into possession of some god's artifact, just like she had Thor's hammer.

I'll bet the Gamemakers are saying to each other that making us two fight was "a match made in the Heavens" or something. Their sense of humor sucks.

She attempted the rocks as they came towards her with her hammer, causing one to bounce back harmlessly while the other two hit her chestplate, returing back to Steele.

"Guess it's gonna be a regular shield from now on," Riley mused, glancing briefly at the rock she blocked. No smile formed on Steele's lips as she readied her boomerang, hurling it at Riley at even faster speed than the rocks had gone. Riley could not dodge, and she felt as if she had just been hit with a punch from an unusually-shaped fist. She stood disoriented, noticing that Steele was coming closer but forgetting that the boomerang would predictably return to her, hitting her again.

How does she know how to use that thing?!

Riley had no time to theorize as Steele put her boomerang back in her tunic belt and rushed forward, this time readying her sword. Riley responded with a somewhat slow blow from her hammer, but when Steele tried to strike again she was ready to spar this time.

The two exchanged blows, with Riley occasionally managing to cause Steele immense pain when she hit an arm only for her to shrug it off, and Steele managed to occasionally land a slash or two onto Riley's own limbs. But neither girl really seemed to have an advantage.

I can't beat her like this. I'd love to pound her to a pulp, but that sword could slice my head off if I'm not careful.

So in the heat of battle, Riley decided to do what she was best at.

Waiting for Steele to be in some position with her sword strikes that would render her vulnerable for a split-second, Riley hurled her heavy hammer at Steele, causing the blunt corner of the mallet to knock the wind out of her when it collided with her stomach.

Her hands freed, Riley subjected Steele to a variety of punches to the face that only a boxer could master, giving her blows all over her face and head. Without gloves, she knew, the punches wouldn't be as effective, but they were definitely enough to knock Steele's lights out. All of the blows had to be rapid, and a few times Steele came close to hitting her, but Riley held her own, not stopping until Steele could no longer keep her eyes open.

And soon enough the girl from 2 collapsed, dropping her weapons and slumping to the ground. No cannon sounded; she was unconscious but not dead, Riley knew.

Once again, she realized, a helpless opponent lay between her and victory.

But then, the "helpless" opponent's eyelids fluttered. Riley wasted no time pounding on Steele's head with her hammer, but the girls seemed to be mostly unfazed by the few blows she could land on her, shoving Riley off of her and forcing her to stand back up.

"I came too far to die like this!" Steele cried, taking her sword and rushing at Riley, this time with no precaution for her hammer. Riley responded by treating her hammer as if it were a fist, swinging it into Steele's face with no precaution for her own safety.

But ultimately, Riley realized as her muscled limbs were being struck from all angles, a blade could do more damage than a blunt object.

And she realized as Steele bashed her face in with her shield that Steele had also mastered the art of blunt weapons as well.

And she realized that even though she had trained hard and fought against Careers, against this one she was no match.

It hurt, to know that just wasn't quite there. But all she could do was accept it.

For Darius' sake, she cut Steele's face with a kunai.

And for Lidda's sake, she muttered, "You bitch," when she finally fell.

And for Cornelius' sake, she whispered, "Please take us both home."

Dorea Calis

She screamed as she clutched at her side, realizing that Amruen's strike had made her mess up the knife throw. His blade had slashed upwards on her side, and she could feel that some of her ribs might have been fractured.

But Amruen, she could see, had it far worse. His legs and arms were bleeding out, and it looked as if he would lose consciousness from the blood. He was struggling to lift up his flamberge, she could see, apparently unwilling to realize that unless his wounds were treated he wasn't going to make it.

She stood over him, watching as he looked up at her and tried to stand up without gripping the flamberge. Even then he couldn't do it, his limbs shaking and stained with blood.

"No, it's not over!" he cried. "I've gotta get out of here, I just have to!"

Dorea reached for her sword and went back to Amruen, whose position hadn't changed much even though it was clear he had tried some more. It was admirable, that determination against all possible odds he seemed to have. She just tried to survive things, but he sought to overcome them.

"It'll be quicker this way," she promised. "It will be a simple throat slit, and then—"

"Not on your life!" he protested, reaching his hand and grabbing her leg to try and bring her down. She kicked him off easily, her gaze at him full of contempt. Then she had another idea.

"The apple?" Amruen demanded when she got back. She nodded.

"Elodie…she gave it to me," Amruen informed her. "She probably lied. But...I still won't take it. It's what they—the Capitol—want. They want me to be ashamed and try to escape them so they won't have to deal with me anymore. And you don't want to kill me because you're only half a Capitolite; you still have that human side to you." In any other context Dorea would probably have asked him what was it about Capitolites that made them non-human, but not here.

"But I haven't done anything wrong," Amruen went on. "And neither have you. Neither of us should be punished. We shouldn't do anything to each other."

There was a period of silence as Amruen rested his head on the sand. "Leave me," he told her.

"I can just—"

"Let me go my way. I want to let the audience watching know just how sick they are for liking this," Amruen insisted. Dorea picked up the apple and gathered her weapons for safekeeping and walked away, glancing back at Amruen over her shoulder.

"Tell Steele I love her no matter what happens!" Amruen called out, his words finishing with a cough. Dorea looked back and nodded, then trudged on.

Minutes later, she heard two cannons fire, and seconds after that she witnessed an extraordinary event.

AN: Said miraculous event will occur in the next chapter—the final chapter that takes place in the Arena.

Riley Covington—Yes, you were the one that died in the fight with Steele. I had first considered you winning, but then I realized that although you were a great fighter, you ultimate weakness was your lack of experience with blades and overreliance on your fists and hammers.

Nevertheless, you were a very tough tribute, and a very great one at that. I really enjoyed being able to use you to give a backstory for Festus/Cornelius, and without you I would have just had to make up a dumb one or simply have written the character out altogether.

I loved your snarky, no-nonsense attitude, although given the situations in the plot and the tone of the story you didn't get to be as cocky as I had wished you could. Still, I hope enough of your personality shone through in what I wrote of you. You were amazing!

Amruen Neversky—The same can be said of you. Initially, you seemed to be a generic, clichéd rebel—I assume that the Capitol had dealt with such things. I can honestly say that a rebel was a bit of a wrench in the works—I could deal with you hating the Capitol, but I couldn't have you be the freedom fighter you wanted to be without making you realize your inevitable doom.

But thankfully for you, I had written Matthias as having this lenient attitude—he'll let you do what you want, but only because he can stop you at anytime and because he sees you (general you) as insignificant. That's why he didn't stop you (Amruen) and let you do what you wanted in the Arena. He's more concerned with the past and the future than the present.

But I made sure that you, by contrast, truly dwelled in the present, having a desire to fix the problems of Panem right at the moment and going through the Arena one step at a time. Thinking that your death was pre-planned, you wanted to make the best of the time you had—but I had never actually planned on killing you at a set point at all.

I didn't expect you to get so far, either, but when you got in the final 8 I realized that you could not win. It would be more than just a "bad" ending, trust me. Plus, you stood no chance against a trained Career as an untrained rebel from 9. If it had been the Quarter Quell Ernest had gone through, however…

Regardless, you were a very great and very unique "rebel" tribute to work with. You played a great part in the story, not just for the Arena but for the overall plot itself.

Now it's down to just Steele and Dorea! Which of these two Career girls should win? The one that wanted to change the Games forever, or the one that just wanted to get through them? The one with the neglectful parents, or the one with the deceptive mother? The girl with resolve, or the girl with purpose? The valiant fighter…or the valiant fighter?!

Seriously, though, who do you want to win?