Paloma Bennett- District Ten female

How does it not bother her?

Jezzebell was completely unaffected by what she'd done to Yttria. Not that she'd done anything bad- she was acting to defend us against someone who was actively killing an ally. But she killed someone. She stomped Visenya's head into the ground until it made the sound of porcelain trod on by an ox. Even if it wasn't wrong, that would be something that haunted me. Jezzebell was only grieved that it wasn't enough to save Yttria. She didn't even have guilt, exactly, over that. She regretted that we weren't fast enough to save her, but she accepted that we'd done all we could and it wasn't our fault.

"Ugh," Jezzebell growled, fiddling with her hand. We'd done our best to make something like a splint with what we had. Her middle finger was held out almost straight, which was pretty much appropriate for Jezzebell. It was driving her crazy to be constrained like that. She looked so unaware. She was just peacefully complaining about her finger. I was about to change everything. It had weighed on my heart ever since it happened, and I was going to let it out.

"Jezzebell," I said. I wished for all the world that I was saying anything else. "I've done something very bad."

She looked up, about to say something flippant, and saw my face. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"Before, when the mutt attacked us. It got Othella while we were helping Yttria," I said.

Jezzebell looked at the ground. I could see the memories in her eyes. "Yeah," she breathed.

"I saw it get her. I was holding on to her," I started. I thought it would get harder to talk, but it got easier. Like a popped plug, the words poured out of me. "I let her go. I let her go. I couldn't hold her on my own and I let her go to help Yttria."

Jezzebell didn't say a word as she came toward me. She sat next to me and grabbed me close. We sat for a moment, swaying slightly like when we were little and our mothers rocked us.

"Sometimes you can't," she said.

Elissa de Angelo- District One female

We'd spent two days looking for Jezzebell and Paloma. Caverns and tunnels blurred into each other. We scratched marks on the wall to signal where we'd gone before, but it wasn't foolproof. It only made a difference if they weren't moving.

It was an echo that finally did it. We couldn't tell what the words were, but the timbre of the noise was unmistakable human. The faintest whisper of human speech was coming from down a tunnel. Grande and I looked at each other, then started down.

At the corner of the tunnel, I peeked around. When I saw it, I shrank back and crouched down. Jezzebell and Paloma were right in front of us in the middle of a huge cavern. They looked like they'd just broken out of a hug. One was facing us, one was facing away. It was too dark to tell who was who. As Grande drew his sword behind me, I threw a knife.

Jezzebell Fern- District Seven female

Paloma hadn't let go of Othella. She'd been bearing her full weight ever since that moment. But Othella was dead. She wasn't hurting anymore. The only one hurting was Paloma, and I hoped she could let go someday.

I sat back and tried to think of how to say that. Paloma leaned forward. She took in a breath. It hitched up in a whistle. She coughed, but it cut off halfway. She fell sideways and I saw Elissa behind her, aiming another knife. Grande was right behind her.

I threw myself down and Elissa's knife flew over my head. I picked up a rock and threw it in her direction without taking the time to aim specifically. The tennis ball-sized rock hit her in the hip. She grunted and put her hand to the wound. It slowed her for the moment, but Grande was still coming. I felt around and found the bottle we'd been sponsored.

No better time, I guess, I thought as I yanked at the abrasive strip that ignited the wick. It's finally time to let it burn.

Grande was only a few steps away when I threw. The bottle hit him straight in the face and exploded. Glass flew everywhere, from his face to my crossed arms. The sheet of alcohol that sprayed over him ignited immediately. I was treated to the sight of his head in flames and the sound of his screaming before he dropped and started rolling.

Elissa jumped over Grande and threw another knife at me. I got my arm up and caught it there instead of my chest. She reached me and grabbed my shoulder and my hip. With a practiced flourish, she threw me to the ground. I tore the knife from my arm and stabbed her in the leg with it. At the same time, she stabbed me in the neck. I shoved my knife in deeper until it tore out the other side of the flesh it had lacerated. As the last of my blood left me, I wrapped myself around her leg and bit out a chunk of flesh. As I died, I was treated to the sound of Grande and Elissa screaming.

Paloma Bennett- District Ten female

I pawed around with my arm bent behind my back. I couldn't reach the knife, not that it mattered. The real damage was inside. I couldn't breathe through all the blood in my lung. Whenever my chest heaved and tried to take in air, fluid gurgled and bubbled up inside of me. I could hear the tortured noises of my own death.

Grande was screaming. Of course Jezzebell was giving them hell. Then Elissa was screaming too. Jezzebell was probably in no great shape herself, but I never heard her scream.

In a flash, I saw Verlynne in my place. In the horrors of the Arena, I'd forgotten my life before. I'd forgotten how I was only here because I wouldn't let her take my place. My big sister was safe now, and would never be Reaped. Like a bird lifting off, the guilt left me. I hadn't saved Othella, but I'd saved Verlynne. Verlynn and Yttria. One life I lost, two I saved. More than enough.

7th place: Paloma Bennett- knife thrown by Elissa

Paloma grew. That was pretty much her thing. She aged, you might say. She went from a little sister to probably the most adult Tribute remaining once Donnatella was gone. She made the choice to lose one life to save another and after confronting that level of morality, she couldn't go back to being a kid. She acted above her age the entire time, from putting her sister's life before her own to recognizing that cold realities sometimes leave no room for sentiment. She bore more weight than anyone should have to, and as is usually the case, she didn't deserve any of it. But she came out ahead in the end. Thanks Daughteroftheonetrueking for Paloma, whose kill/death ratio was on point.

6th place: Jezzebell Fern- stabbed by Elissa

Jezzebell lived and died hard. She came into this knowing she would probably die but never letting that stop her. She chomped a hole in Elissa and lit Grande on fire. So literally pyrrhic victory there. Characters like her tend to be agents of chaos more often than they're Victors, and she lived up to that. Thanks Tinks for a candle that burned twice as bright for half as long.

ATTENTION: CarlpoppaLOL has a new SYOT seeking Tributes! Submit some so I can read about my submission! s/13476814/1/Requiem-125th-Hunger-Games