Night 4:


Aurora Xu, 18
District 2 Female


"This fucking sucks," Void groaned. "Someone died today, and it wasn't even because of us."
Ember bit into an apple. "Just be patient."

Void sneered. "Oh, I almost forgot! You're little Mr. Perfect! How many kills have you got, huh?"
"Not everything in this arena can be about you."
"Wanna say that to my fucking face, Johnson?"

"Alright, that's enough!" Rosy grabbed Ember and pulled him back. "Void, stop antagonizing Ember!"
"Who said I was doing anything?"
"Well, you're clearly doing it on purpose."

"Um...guys?" Amperia was sitting inside the Cornucopia. "What's the dinner plan?"
"We don't have one tonight," Rosy sighed. "But everyone grab some fruit. We need to eat it before it goes bad."

Aurora peeled a banana, watching the sun set. Yet another day had gone by, without her or Void being successful. She wasn't sure why he always insisted on teaming up with her, but then again, Ember and Rosy were thick as thieves and Amperia was pretty useless. But why the hell wasn't she finding anything? Did the Gamemakers want her to fail?

How did this look back home? Thanks to Julius's incompetence, she was now 2's only hope for a Victor. She could pull it off. There were still quite a few tributes left, but that didn't mean anything. But what would her parents say, watching Aurora do practically nothing in an arena with a bunch of homicidal adults and the world's worst Career pack?

Maybe they were laughing at her and her shitty situation. Or her sister refused to acknowledge her. Or the district cringed in embarrassment, fingers crossed that the Games would be over soon so they could train a decent pair of competent Careers for next year...

No! Aurora refused to accept that. There were so many District 2 Victors, like Jumanji and Shale, that had dealt with way worse and managed to pull through. If they could rise to the top and win against all odds, then so could Aurora. This was nothing. She'd get through it just fine.

She tossed her banana peel into the shadows; there was a faint squish as it landed against the side of a tent. Then there was a faint beep and Aurora's ears perked up. So did the rest of the Careers. Everyone knew what that sound meant.

"Sponsors!" Rosy sang as she reached up to grab the floating parachutes. "Let's see...this one's for me, oh my God, two for Void!"
"It's such a curse to be so popular!" Void said in a fake voice as he unwrapped his gifts. "A tribute tracker...ah, that will be good for tomorrow..."

Aurora grimaced. Who the hell wanted to sponsor Void, of all people? And why wasn't anybody sending stuff to her, the only real Career?

"Now...what's in here?" Void wiggled his fingers. The second gift suddenly jerked to the side.
Ember frowned. "It's moving."
"Oh relax, Johnson. No need to be scared of a little package..." Void trailed off as he stuck his hand into the bag, and his eyes went wide.

Everyone jumped back as Void whipped his hand out, revealing the live lobster clinging onto it. Rosy burst into laughter and Ember let out a few giggles. In the safety of the horn, Amperia chuckled as well. Aurora couldn't hide the small grin on her face. Void just looked pissed.

"Well, don't just stand there! Someone take it off!"
"Are you kidding?" Ember snickered. "I'm not touching that thing!"
Void just groaned, walking up to the Cornucopia. He swung the lobster against the side of the metal horn until it finally let go of his hand. Void grabbed the nearest pot, then dumped the lobster in it. "There. He can stay in here."

"Are we gonna cook him?" Amperia asked.
"Eventually. Who says no to fresh lobster?"

Someone went out of their way to send Void a live animal. And Aurora hadn't hear anything from her parents ever since she left the District.

Not like they couldn't afford any gifts; her father was the freaking mayor, for crying out loud! They had to be ignoring her. Or Nike was purposely withholding gifts. Great. Her mentor was the last person she wanted to piss off.

"Another tribute tracker?" Rosy asked as she picked it up. "Who's it for?"
Void's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean by 'another', Rosy?"
"Um...nothing. I thought I had seen one before, but I think it was just something else."

Aurora stalked back into the horn. "Well, you might as well use it before everyone else dies again to outside sources thanks to our incompetence as a Career pack."
"It's too dark," Ember shrugged. "We'll go hunting again tomorrow."
"Wow. For once, I actually agree with Johnson."
"Can it, Void!"

"Idiots," Aurora muttered to herself.


Alexander "Alec" Thorngrove, 18
District 4 Male


The sky slowly dimmed as the flames died out. Alec felt cold. He wrapped his jacket tighter around himself, doing his best to stay warm. Who knew this arena could get so chilly at night?

Ace hadn't woken up since he passed out. Merona was also fast asleep; her jacket had been wrapped tightly around her leg to try and stop the bleeding. Too bad they didn't have any first aid to help her with. Alec just watched her chest slowly rose and fell.

"Can't sleep?"
"I know. I should."

Synth just yawned. "Well, I can't blame you. I feel like shit too."
"We left one of our allies to die."
"Don't forget the supplies. That was my fault."

Alec's cheeks began to burn. Why did Synth have to sit to close to him. "Well, I'd rather live, even if..."
"That's what I was thinking. But we need food and water..."
"Yeah..."

Alec trailed off, quickly glancing away and pretending that the burnt remains of their hideout was way more interesting than talking to Synth. God, this was so pathetic! Why couldn't he just act like a mature adult and say something?

"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine!"

"Okay..." Synth's voice was flat. "I can't help but feel like I did something wrong."
"No, no you didn't. You didn't do anything."
"Then how come you won't talk to me?"

Great. He had to open up now. "Um...it's personal...it kinda has to do with..." He quickly stopped. His family was probably watching everything right now and no doubt his father would be pissed off. Was it really worth the risk? To come out as the possibility of his own dad disowning him?

"Can I tell you a secret?"
Synth nervously laughed. "You do realize that..."
"Yeah. And I don't care. I'm done hiding it."

Synth didn't respond. Alec began to clench his fists. "I've been trying to hide my bisexuality for years. I didn't want my family to get upset if they ever found out. But that's stupid. And I just don't think I can do it anymore."

Silence. After only about a minute, but what felt like an eternity to Alec, Synth responded with a single, "Okay."
"You don't seem to care."
"This isn't my place to say anything. And I guess I can't relate. I've been out for almost five years."

"How did you find out?" Alec asked in a whisper. "And your parents didn't get mad, did they?"
"Well, I knew ever since I was a teenager that I wasn't into relationships with girls and got a few crushes on some very cute guys. And my parents were perfectly fine; it hasn't affected our relationship the slightest. I have a few siblings, so they'll get grandkids some other way. Why do you ask?"

Alec didn't say anything as his entire face turned red. He looked away.
"Oh...Oh, I didn't realize! Alec, I'm so sorry-"
"Stop talking about it!"

"Alec, I...sorry, I should've known. And I shouldn't be bringing it up either...I never knew you felt that way. But...well, I don't think I can-"
"Shut up. I get it, it's never gonna work. Because you're a grown man from 11 and I'm just some dumb teen who's supposed to be killing everyone with the Careers right now. Just...stop."

There was a faint beeping noise, cutting Synth off before he could respond. It turned out to be a sponsor gift, containing two big fluffy blankets. Synth rummaged through them, hoping to find some extra goodies tucked inside. When the blankets proved to be empty, he just sighed.

"Well, at least it won't be so cold tonight. They're showing the anthem now."
"Who died?"
"The man from 7. Arwan, I think."

Alec let out a low whistle. "Wow."

BOOM!

Instinctively, Alec looked over at Ace and Merona. They both seemed fine, just fast asleep...no, there was something off about Merona. In the dark it was hard to tell, but her skin was paler. Ace stirred, having been woken up by the cannon. He quickly shook his district partner awake.

"Merona! Merona? Come on, this isn't funny! You can't be...no...no!"
"Ace," Synth whispered as he reached for the younger boy. "She's gone."

Ace slapped Synth's hand away, then flipped himself over, muffling his sobs with his hands. Alec wanted to cry a well, barely registering the feel of the blanket Synth wrapped around his shoulders. All their food and water, gone. A hideout, reduced to ash. An ally, dead. A crush, rejected. A secret spilled. How much more could he take?

These Games were getting worse and worse.


DJ Verona, 16
District 8 "Male"


The sudden cannon snapped DJ back to reality; they had agreed to take the first watch tonight. If they had been properly keeping track of things, that cannon meant they were now in the Fina l12. Their eyes drifted over to their sleeping allies. DJ watched them for a little bit, before finally standing up. They had been considering this for a while and it may have been a bit too early, but something in their gut told them the right time was now.

They poked their sister in the shoulder.

"Rachel. Get up."
"Ngggh." Rachel swatted at them. "Five more minutes."
"Get up right now, or I'll pants you on live TV in front of all of Panem."

"You wouldn't dare," Rachel yawned. But she was up. "Are you okay?"
"Pack everything up. Quietly."
"DJ, what's going on?"

"We're leaving."

Rachel froze. "But...why? What the hell would that accomplish?"
"Shut up and get packing."
"You're just gonna leave Palatino here?"

"Yes." The word was like acid on DJ's tongue. For a second, they felt a little guilty. "He'll be fine. Everyone will wanna sponsor him now. He was just gonna slow us down anyways."
"At least give him the dagger. It's his."

DJ gently tucked the dagger next to the sleeping Palatino. Hidden in the curtains behind the stage, nobody would ever notice him here. But DJ was done helping him. They had always gotten a bad feeling about Palatino and all the controversy surrounding him. And they were not going to die because they associated with the wrong 12 year-old.

Rachel handed them the bags, all neatly packed up. DJ grabbed their axe, then slung one bag onto their shoulders. "Let's go."
"I can't believe you actually want to do this."
"I want to survive."

Rachel awkwardly pressed her hands together. "I know. I want to as well. It's just...we're alone...in the dark..."
"Can you see? I know you don't have your glasses."
"Yeah, it's alright. It's not too bad." Rachel punched her twin's arm. "But if you lead me right to another tribute, I will haunt you forever."

DJ faked a laugh. It was awkward having to rely on their sister to watch their back, after so many months being at each other's throats. And that was something that couldn't be fixed in only a few days. They had a lot of ground to cover, so many apologies that needed to be said, before DJ could ever consider trusting Rachel again, allowing her to get close to them...

And yet she was their closest ally.

Nobody knew them the way she did.

Rachel instinctively brought a hand up to her face, then stopped. "Damn. I forgot."
"It's gonna be hard to get you new frames in here."
The twins both laughed. "Fucking Void," Rachel chuckled. "He owes me big time!"

DJ just shrugged. "If you didn't spend so much time reading scripts in the dark, you wouldn't have this problem!"
"A good actress has all of her lines memorized!"

DJ rolled their eyes. "You can be so dramatic sometimes...but in a good way."
"Same for you, dear twin of mine."

They could pretend everything was back to normal. A part of them still hated Rachel for everything she had done. Yet, they wanted to talk to her. To crack a joke and hear her laugh. They just wanted their sister back, to go back to normal before they drove her away.

It took the motherfucking Hunger Games to make that happen.

There was a small gust of wind and the weird noise of a tent flap smacking against the ground. DJ hefted their axe, just in case. They felt Rachel grab their arm. As it turned out, the tent was completely abandoned.

The wind was cold and DJ shivered. Where the hell was everyone!? Was this a cruel Gamemaker prank?

"DJ, maybe we should go back. I bet Palatino hasn't noticed yet."
"No. I stand by what I said."
"Come on! now's not the time to be stupid!"

Rachel's words cut like a knife. DJ forced themself to grip the axe tighter and hold it steady. "He's not my ally anymore. You're my ally and only you. I'm doing what I can to keep both of us safe and that's it. Don't go back, alright? Stay with me. We're family."

Was their sister crying? DJ couldn't tell. But Rachel just straightened up and brushed at her eyes with her sleeve. "Alright. I trust you."

DJ just dropped the axe, wrapping their arms around their twin. "It's okay. We can do this. We're Veronas after all!"
"You don't have a plan, do you?"
"Not in the slightest."


14th place: Arwan Falconer, District 7. Axed repeatedly by Hera.

I am always a sucker for parent tributes. Really, Arwan was just a caring father-to-be who wanted to go home and look after his expecting wife. He was a lone wolf from the start, which is fun in contrast to all the crazy alliances we've seen. And he's just a simple guy with simple goals. And now, here's where things will get really spicy, now that we know he went up against Hera, and was not victorious. Thank you so much for him, Sparky She-Demon!

13th place: Merona Timmons, District 10. Mauled by mutts and bled out.

Ultimately, I knew Merona wasn't going to survive the fatal clown encounter, causing a lot of grief and angst to her alliance. She was a cute kid, and I loved writing her and Ace. Their relationship was very clear and straightforward; they loved to hang out together. Merona was such great contrast to the rest of her alliance and I will miss this adorable cinnamon roll. To her submitter, if you're still reading this, thanks for her!


Alliances:

The Careers Plus A Lobster: Void, Ember, Aurora, Rosy, Amperia

Well, This Sucks: Alec, Ace, Synth

The Two Veronas: DJ, Rachel

Uhhh...what happened here...: Hera

In For A Rude Awakening: Palatino


Kills:

Void: 2 (Elana, Jenny)

Ember: 2 (Ezra, Powder)

Julius: 1 (Grey)

Hera: 2 (Deloris, Autumn)

Hera: 2 (Julius, Arwan)

Rosy: 2 (Aldair, Jonathan)

Other: 1 (Merona)


Woahhhhhhhh, we're halfway there!

Yep, it's the Final 12 already! Did the outcome of Hera vs Arwan surprise you? What's gonna happen to Alec, Ace, and Synth? Did the Veronas make a smart move in ditching Palatino, or is that gonna come round and bite them in the butt later? Are the Careers gonna eat that lobster, or keep him as a pet?

See you all in the next chapter!

-Vr