Filly, Dorian, and Corinna have settled inside the mountain. As a new day passes, a bot comes to show them who died within the day. The anthem plays and shows the face of the boy from Twelve.
"Sorry," Filly tells Corinna as he hugs her.
"We barely talked, but he's from home," Corinna responds. "He's in a better place now."
Dorian doesn't remember Dante. He feels indifferent about this death, other than he's a step closer to winning the Hunger Games.
Filly feels bad for Dante. He didn't deserve this. In fact, none of them do. He's just living in the present, and this is the present. He lets a few tears slip his cheeks that another tribute died, who did nothing wrong to deserve this. Thomas died a few days ago, and he can't stop more tears from coming. Then Macy is gone too. He cries until he falls asleep.
Corinna can't stop thinking that she's still in the Hunger Games. The moments she enjoyed staying in the zero-gravity tower with her friends distracted her from where she really is. It was a good way to spend the last days of her life, and yet she should find ways to make her way out. She's not just accepting her death here. If she can make it to the end and hopefully get lucky enough to not kill any tribute, that would be awesome for her. Yesterday, she lost her district partner. The other day, it was Tira and Macy. Macy... her death was on the TV screen while they were playing games. Macy is gone, and she's letting that fact sink in. Part of her thinks that maybe she's out there and successfully escaped the arena. She doesn't know any instance of it happening, but anything is possible. Yet, there's also the bigger possibility of Macy being dead. It left a hole in her heart, and she couldn't play well after learning that Macy was gone on Day Two. Corinna was lucky she got to chill in the tower with Filly, Dorian, and Titan. Poor Tira and Macy never got that chance.
But wait. Chip is still alive. That's what she knows. Where could he be? Maybe he went to the same tower they came from, or maybe he's inside the mountain. Corinna doesn't really know so much about Chip, besides him being Tira's quiet district partner. She doesn't know what she'd do if they meet. He's not a friend, yet he's not a stranger. He hopes they'll meet, so he'll be part of this friend group more. Corinna had the opportunity to make friends with Chip. Too bad she was talking to Macy all that time, and now Macy is gone. She wishes she never had to be in the Hunger Games, but she can cling on to any hope she still has.
Brenna is aware that it is very early in the morning. She is aware that her allies are sleeping. She is aware that she is in the Hunger Games. Psssh... her allies are useless. What hunting did she do ever since she stepped foot into this arena. She hasn't made a kill since the bloodbath, and it's already Day Five! Some tributes from Two didn't make a kill until a week after, but right now, she thinks she's incompetent in the eyes of the audience. She thinks she's just riding the coattails of Argentum and Jeanne, which she's not! She thinks she's doing nothing useful when she's supposed to kill because she's in the Hunger Games!
Brenna considers waking up her allies and convincing them to hunt, so that she'd have allies to watch her back. But... what the fuck. She didn't expect the pack to go this way. Half of them went rogue, and the other half are doing nothing. Why the fuck is she here if she's not killing her fellow tributes!? If there's a tribute easy enough to kill, that'd be the doofus she injured whom she also called her ally. Ugh. It didn't have to go down like this yet. If she's gonna betray her allies, she's wants them to put up a fight against her and not kill them in her sleep.
Is this really the Hunger Games or is this some reality show where they have to live in a hotel made of marble? Brenna shakes her head. She's getting sick of staying here. She doesn't want to watch movies or play games. She's hear for one reason: Win. The. Hunger. Games. For her to do that, she has to be done with Argentum and Jeanne, then she mutters, "I'm done." She wishes she had done it earlier, but she storms out of her room and floats her way downstairs. She wants to kill. She wants to hunt. She wants to get the job done and come home victorious. Now is the time for action.
Brenna reaches the living room to find three bags floating on midair. They left it there because Jeanne said it was safe to. Indeed, she wasn't wrong, but now, she won't have to listen to Jeanne like she's a dog on a leash. She looks at the contents of each bag, remembering that they don't have food. She mixes the contents of each bag so that she'd have items that are useful to her. She'll leave the useless stuff for them. If she needs food, she can at least come back to steal food in this marble tower.
"Brenna."
She looks back to see Titan.
"I understand wanting to leave, but you will need to take food with you on this murderous journey."
Oh. The guardian is offering her food. He knows what she's up to. Normally, she'd be skeptical because the food can be poisonous, but she's eaten a lot of food from this tower already. Even the guardian eats the food himself.
Titan reaches for a dirty white eco-friendly bag that contains packed food. "Here."
Brenna knew she wasn't the smartest person to have ever lived, but she's not so stupid to reject food when given one, especially during the Hunger Games. "Thanks," she mutters.
"You're welcome." Titan opens the door for her to leave.
Brenna doesn't waste another second as the opportunity to leave now presents itself to her. She's finally free! No more stupid bird. No more bossy and useless allies. No more obstacles suspending her from what she truly wants and needs to do. It's time to show the audience what she's made of. She can't help but let out a cold but excited smile.
Lainey left after learning that Lucius is asleep. She thanked the avoxes that gave her food. She left the cursed pagoda. She doesn't want to be back. She wishes she never met Lucius in the first place.
She approaches the prison in the middle of nowhere. She inspects it. It's locked. She tried to push or pull the door's handle, but it won't budge at all. She sees a white machine on the door. She wonders what's inside and why it's locked.
Lainey can just stay out here until the gamemakers open it for her. She sits for about five minutes until she remembers that Lucius will be activating Wave One. She gets up to her feet and immediately makes progress towards the mountain.
The weather is warm and the sky is very starry. It feels like walking on the park at night, except she's less safe here, yet she feels like this scenery is wonderful to her own eyes. She never imagined appreciating the night sky in a death match, but here she is doing so.
Chip feeds himself pudding, which he finds odd to be his breakfast, but it's what's given to him. Maybe if he asked for something else, he'd be given it too, but he doesn't waste time asking. Food is food.
Eltha says, "Chip darling, I'm gonna bring you to a lake exploration after breakfast."
Chip nods in response. Eltha has been treating him nice, but this whole guardian situation is jamming his algorithm. He doesn't know how long he should trust Eltha. What happens if everyone is stuck with a guardian and nobody moves anymore? That's not the Hunger Games anymore. Worst case scenario is the guardians themselves throw the tributes around to fight due to a lack of action. Chip doesn't want to end up in that situation. He doesn't know if it will happen, but he doesn't want to find out while resting in the royal territory of Eltha. Chip looks at Eltha long enough to get her attention.
"Yes dear?"
"For how long can I stay here?"
"Hmmm..." Instinctively, she would say for as long as he wants, but she knows they're not in her actual home now. "Until Wave Three."
"When is Wave Three?"
"Earliest is right after the feast."
Chip thinks that this can be his safety grounds, but Wave Three is the indicator of how long he can stay here. It may be dangerous outside, but he'll need to move sooner or later. If it will be after this tour, at least he can find a way to be ready.
"Can I ask for some food?"
"Sure dear!" Eltha gets a bunch of food from the kitchen, moving them into crystalline containers when necessary.
Chip prepares to stock them by opening his bag. Eltha puts the food on the table, and he puts them in his bag until it doesn't fit, so he just carries a box of cereal with his hand. When he's ready, he waits for Eltha's hovercraft at the castle's entrance.
Eltha is excited to personally see the sea creatures living under her lake. She's only seen them through the screens in her control room, but now is the perfect opportunity to go exploring under the lake. She arrives in her control room and starts her hovercraft. She then opens a hole on the floor of her control room for the hovercraft to leave the castle. She presses a button for her hovercraft to break the ice beneath the hovercraft. Now that she's ready too, she fetches Chip at the castle entrance for her to start touring him under the lake.
Annaleigh is glad to have the foldable fishing rod in Horden's bag. Little did she know that she would actually need it. Now, they have food! All they had to do was find a hole on the frozen lake.
It gets even better for Horden, who has seen his mother cook fish for the family. At home, he would be able to eat it at least twice a week. Fish is good food in District Four, and for him to be eating it in the arena of the Hunger Games, it reminds him a bit of home. It reminds him of Aurora too. They've eaten fish together countless of times. The fish itself simply reminds him so much of home, and he wishes he's back home right now, but he's here to make life better for his family and friends.
"Horden, are you f-f-freezing?" Annaleigh asks as she waits for a second fish.
"Yeah, but we need f-food," Horden replies.
"I know." Annaleigh already has her gloves on. She's trying not to get them wet but it's almost impossible. She finally knows why they were all given such gear. The gloves are good, but the jacket isn't really enough. It would've been too warm to have a thicker jacket at the summit, so maybe this one is enough but only for a short time.
When Horden gets the fire going, he starts cooking the fish. It is likely that they'll be sharing this one and perhaps a second one rather than both of them having a whole fish each to themselves. When the fish is cooked, Annaleigh brings over a second fish. It's smaller than the one he just cooked, but any food he gets will be good enough.
Annaleigh and Horden share the first fish as they wait for the second fish to cook. Horden shares any fish stories he has with Annaleigh, and she would share a story she had about the first time she had lobster. When they're done with the first fish, they consume the second fish. By the time they're almost done, snowflakes slowly drop from the sky.
Annaleigh says, "I saw a big... figure somewhere there." Annaleigh points at an approximate direction of the lake. "I think it's a building. Want to check it out?"
"Of course. We still have to hunt." Horden's last kill was in the bloodbath. Anneleigh has yet to kill. It's about time they step up their game and start hunting.
Once done with the fish, both of them tried to keep warm for a few minutes before venturing to the opportunity Annaleigh saw beyond the lake's edge.
Lucius feels bad that Lainey's gone. It's just too bad he doesn't have anyone to look after for the next twenty-four hours. He is stuck inside too even though he doesn't plan on leaving. Oh well.
He activated Wave One some minutes ago. His monitors show him that lava is bubbling wildly from the lava lakes. The barbecue hole is also making sounds. The barren land is now filling up with small worm-like lava blotches. When the gamemakers told him that the lava will turn live, they're not actually kidding.
Lucius is still in disbelief that Lainey is gone, so he rolls back the footage, and he finds out that she left very early in the morning, about an hour or less after he fell asleep. He sighs in disappointment.
Chip can recognize some of the sea animals because of the mutts used in the simulations back home. He has never seen a jellyfish though, and now Eltha is showing him a lot of them.
"On this side, we have stingrays!" Eltha introduces.
Chip remembers stingrays from the 135th. The boy from Eight had control of one. It's not unheard of for tributes to have control over mutts by befriending them or riding them, but it's also a rare occurrence.
"Here we have mussels. Oh, and there's another crab up there." Eltha is reminded of her late husband. They had a date in a public aquarium once, and she's never been to another after that. This may not be an aquarium, but it feels just like one. "One last thing before we end our freshwater exploration." Eltha moves her hovercraft to a hole on the wall of the lake.
Chip can see something big in it even though it's dark. If there's a hole this big, he knows what it most likely means.
"Chip, meet Eel-C." Eltha can see the crystal eel slumbering in the big hole. "This big baby is the guardian of the lake, and she's the largest creature we have here. As you can see, Eel-C is sleeping in peace for now. Before Wave Three happens, she has to fulfill her duty."
Chip can piece it together. The gamemakers have something planned for the big eel. Seeing it makes him curious, but he can barely see its face right now. What else with the whole body?
"Every sector has its own version of Eel-C. Each of them are unique, and I wouldn't recommend you going near any of them without guardian supervision." Eltha makes her hovercraft ascend slowly. "With that, thanks for joining the freshwater exploration tour with Eltha. Thank you and have a wonderful day!"
Chip is thinking of these mutts, guardian-level mutts. If every sector has one, then there has to be one in the mudland he was in. He never encountered it though, and maybe that's because it was still too early. Thoughts race through his mind.
Eltha can see through one monitor in her hovercraft that there are incoming visitors to her castle. She should make it up to the surface before they arrive, and they're not too far. When the hovercraft reaches the surface, she sees them approaching. She hopes they did not see this hovercraft just appear from the lake.
It takes a while for Chip to notice that two careers are making their way to the castle. He runs his algorithm and thinks it is a good time for him to leave. He has prepared food already, and he doesn't want to live with trained killers when they can kill him without Eltha noticing it. "I'm leaving," he tells Eltha.
"Oh," is the reaction Eltha mouths. "I honestly wish that you wouldn't leave, but... but I need to flip the page and discover this new chapter myself." She hesitates saying it aloud, but she felt comfortable with Chip. "I'll miss you. Take care." Eltha gives Chip a hug before checking outside to see that the pair has already arrived in her castle's entrance. Now that she knows the pair won't see Chip, she opens the door for him and waves goodbye to him one last time as Chip heads to a direction no tribute has ever been to thus far.
"This castle is too good to be true," Annaleigh thinks. "How is this part of the arena?"
"Anything can be part of the arena," Horden shares.
While the two of them sniff around the castle's surroundings, a lady in blue emerges out of the staircase.
"My my, guests!" Eltha greets them. "Welcome to Cryo Castle. I am Eltha, guardian of the water sector of Elymantyl."
Horden listens to Eltha's explanation, and as he continues to listen, he is convinced that he's in a safe place now. Annaleigh, on the other hand, has doubts. It's too good to be true. The Hunger Games was never like this in the past 139 years. Actual Capitolites? Impossible. Annaleigh is confused and annoyed at the unexpected hand she's dealt. She needs to have some kind of strategy. She can kill the Capitolite guardian and show her who runs this game, but if she's gonna do that, she will need to be patient.
Eltha calls the avox to give the new guests a pudding each. "Eat up while you're here. I'll tell the avox to prepare a room for each of you. If you need me, just let the avox know so she can call me from my room."
Horden responds, "Okay." He may be in the Hunger Games, but he doesn't see anything wrong enjoying an arena gimmick. Eltha ate a smaller portion of the same pudding with them, so he can tell that the food is not poisonous. There are rooms, and this castle is just so cool! It's like he entered a fantasy world in the Hunger Games. He should be killing, but maybe there's another tribute here for him to hunt down. He'll need to eat quickly so he can beat Annaleigh to it. If there aren't any tributes here, then he'll just sit back and enjoy. He wants to hunt, but he knows he will get his chance eventually.
As Eltha walks away, Annaleigh squints at an object on Eltha's left wrist. She can see Eltha holding and readjusting the cuff shortly after. There must be something with that cuff. These guardians aren't just thrown into an arena unarmed. They have food in the Hunger Games. They must have weapons too, and while it doesn't look like one, there's a possibility that it is one.
Ingeo is having lunch with Halizeia and her avox, the same one he almost killed yesterday. Every time he sees the avox, it makes him feel awkward for that reason.
Before falling asleep last night, he figured out what to do with the raw eggs he's been sponsored. He had some of them cooked for lunch, which is why he's having scrambled eggs with tomato and onions now. He had some of them kept in Halizeia's fridge. In case of emergency, he has three of them hard boiled and in his bag.
When he's done with his lunch, he remembers that he has an avocado in his bag. He brings it up to Halizeia, and Halizeia tells her avox to slice the avocado. Ingeo brings it out. The avox slices it. They all share it. Mm-mm! Ingeo doesn't remember trying avocados before, but he's not a big fan of the taste. Since Halizeia is sharing her food with him, he thinks sharing his food to them would be nice, and that's what he does.
Another thing Ingeo remembers is getting a golden fruit from the golden tree just outside the mansion. "I saw the golden tree outside yesterday."
"Oh!" exclaims Halizeia. "That's the goldenglorie tree. Legend has it that a fairy dropped a goldenglorie seed while on a journey. That seed grew to be the goldenglorie tree that you can see outside today."
The tale ignites the curiosity in Ingeo, leaving his mouth open as if he's saying, "Ooh!"
"But!" Halizeia continues, "Whatever you do, do not even consider eating the fruit of the goldenglorie tree. There's a snake that lives there, and it tricks anybody passing by to eat it. If you fall for its tricks, there will be a grave consequence." Halizeia knows fully well what this consequence is, and while it won't be harmful for her, she's doing what she can to protect the visitors in her green kingdom.
"Okay," Ingeo says softly. He'll keep the fruit in his bag. He'll keep it a secret from Halizeia and the avox. They don't have to know that the snake offered him the fruit, and he's glad he didn't fall for its tricks. He can use this forbidden fruit to his advantage. It can be a weapon for him but mere food to his enemies. He could've used this to betray allies, but he's too late for that game. He wishes to make good use of this forbidden fruit eventually.
Kobe and Orion went out shortly to drink water. They want to stay outside, but it's just too cold for them to venture. It doesn't take them long to return to the mountain, where the temperature is better for both of them.
"So there's a hotland and a frozen lake," Orion says. "Do you think there's more to this arena, or is it just a land of fire and ice?"
"I don't believe this is all the arena has," Kobe responds with a glare.
Rufus is walking with an injured arm. It hurts, but it feels better than yesterday. This injury threw a wrench in his plans. He was supposed to hunt and dominate these Hunger Games. Now all he can do is walk around and find someone weak enough in hopes to be able to still kill. He checks his holo map.
Oh?
The opportunity is within his reach. If he doesn't make his move now, he could lose them. This is what he wants, and he finally found them! Took four days longer than expected, but he's gonna get them today.
On the back of Rufus's mind is some form of doubt. The last time he attacked a pair, it did not go well. It would be foolish of him to attack a pair again, but with an added injury this time.
Should he take this opportunity presenting itself in front of him?
Orion and Kobe decide that it's not worth staying near a very icy lake. They hydrated themselves at least, and nobody came to attack them, but they know somebody would eventually if they don't move.
"All we've been doing is exploring and wasting time!" Kobe complains. "I know we're trying to avoid tributes, but none of them are killing themsel- Ow!" Kobe can feel a rock on the ground with his sock. Someone hit him with a rock on the stomach, and he's far from happy. "Who the fuck!?"
Both of them look around to find any kind of threat around them. They can hear some more sounds of rocks being thrown, but it's too dark to see where it's coming from.
"Ouch!" Orion receives a rock to his leg. None of these rocks have been too big to kill them, but who would do this to them?
They hear a battle cry, and they look at a common direction to see a small figure, the boy from Two, sword in hand, charging towards them.
"Run!" Orion says in panic.
The boy from Two is still chasing them. They look back once in a while to check and see if he's still within their sight, and it's been consistent.
"What should we do?" Orion asks.
"What else!? Keep running!"
"Yeah Kobe, we can keep running until he gets to one of us."
"Well, what else do you- Look, stairs!"
"I'll take the stairs. You can run straight. If we split, he can't kill both of us."
"Dude, you want us to split up!?"
"I was just thinking he couldn't get both of us if we split."
Rufus roars a battle cry once more as he approaches the pair faster.
Orion thinks of another decision he can make. "Kobe, go ahead. I'll catch up."
"WHAT!?"
"Trust me, I got this." Orion has been holding his spear long enough to realize that he actually has something to fight the enemy and defend himself. He holds the spear and runs to Rufus's direction.
"Orion, don't be an idiot! ORION!" Kobe can't stop his friend without getting himself killed. All he can do is watch as Orion tries to stick his spear into Rufus' stomach but misses. Rufus tries to do the same but with a sword instead to Orion. He misses too.
Orion knows he can beat the twelve-year-old career if it's just the kid himself. That's what pushed him to think that he can just fight him off instead of running away and splitting them up.
"ORION!" Kobe wants Orion to stop, but if he runs away now, Rufus can stab him.
Rufus may have no use with his left arm, but his right hand alone can handle the sword. He really thought he didn't stand a chance against these two, but he took the risk and only one of them is fighting him. The other one is being an unsupportive cheerleader. Rufus dodges every spear attack from Orion, yet Orion has been doing the same to his sword attacks. He has to do something different to make a blow.
Orion needs to hit Rufus soon so that he and Kobe can go back to roaming around. He would get a kill too on his belt, and he thinks that's important for the audience to think he's a credible victor candidate.
Kobe stops shouting Orion's name. He's exhausted, and calling him back will not be doing anything. He stays alert though so that he can run when this fight is over. He hopes his ally will win the fight after risking himself into it.
"AH!" Rufus takes a hit on his left arm, again!
"Gotcha!" Orion says.
Rufus drops to the ground as well as his sword.
Orion goes for the back.
But Rufus rolls over before Orion's attack could put a nail on his coffin. He's not staying in a coffin anytime soon!
Orion can see that Rufus is weaponless, so despite missing the killing shot, he still has a chance. He goes for Rufus once again.
Yet, Rufus pushes the spear sideways with force, missing him once again. He needs his opponent to be confident enough to let that guard down.
Orion strikes again, but before he does, he receives a rock on the face.
"Right back at ya!" Rufus successfully pins down Orion. "Let me make this painful." Rufus slides the spear away from either of them.
Orion is able to escape from Rufus's grip as he rolls away. He grabs Rufus' sword and strikes it at Rufus.
"AH!" Rufus doesn't want to be hopeless, and he's glad he's not, but why his left arm AGAIN!?
Orion is at a disadvantage in position, so he pulls out the sword and gets up while Rufus is distracted.
Rufus can see Orion getting up, so now he takes the rock and hits it on Orion's head as fast and as hard as he can.
"Ouch!" Orion drops the sword.
And Rufus picks it up. "Let me make this-" He doesn't finish his sentence in fear that he's celebrating too early and gets stabbed while monologuing. He's not that dumb!
"Kobe, GO!"
"WHAT!? NO!"
"Go!"
"ORION! NOOOOOOOOOO!"
Rufus is laughing evilly as his foot pins Orion on the crotch while he slashes the side of Orion's body, swiping through his intestine once, then swiping it back. Rufus spits on Orion in success and frustration. "Any last words?" he says as he pins Orion with the sword.
"AH!" He screams in pain as the sharp end of the sword meets the blood on his left hand. He wanted to win and get out of here alive, but some things just do not go as planned. He can wish of making it out alive, but he can feel his organs sliced through and through like a tree being cut down with a saw. He wishes the best for his big brother Lake, and his newfound friend, Kobe.
Rufus slashes the sword through his left arm. "Don't you want any last words? Your family and friends are waiting."
"Don't bring them into this!" Orion replies angrily. "Fuck you!" He plans to spit to Rufus's direction, but he coughs up blood instead.
"Very well then." Rufus smiles as he brings the sword up then down to Orion's heart.
"Fire the cannon," Alistair commands.
Sol presses a button, and...
BOOM!
"Another death," says Sol.
"Another one bites the dust," says Al.
On one screen, they see Kobe running but stopping after hearing the cannon. He crumples down and cries.
"Well, it had to happen eventually," Genji says. "Maybe they should've split then."
"Yes, but also no, because Rufus would get one of them too," Sol says. "I'm impressed he managed to pull off another kill in spite of his injury. That's already his fifth, and we're not even halfway yet."
On the screen they were watching from, Rufus goes back to get the spear Orion was using. He pushes it into Orion's bloody mouth, then sits on the ground and rests.
"Ewww..." Alistair reacts softly.
"What about their district partner?" Al asks.
They look at another monitor, and Brenna is looking for someone inside the mountain. She hasn't had enough luck to find anyone yet, but she heard the cannon and ignored it.
Back at the tower, Jeanne is laughing at a romcom movie she's watching, while Argentum throws his console midair as he wins a round against Titan.
"Alistair, you heard Wave Two already, right?" Sol asks.
Alistair responds, "Yes, Titan informed them both, and Jeanne wasn't particularly happy about that news while Argentum is ignorant as expected."
As for the District Eight pair, Ingeo is still with Halizeia, having helped her with farming for the afternoon. Meanwhile, Lainey is resting inside the mountain staying as alert as she can.
"I'm glad she left the pagoda," Al says. "Why did we cast Lucius for this role?"
"Nobody else was stepping in," Alistair replies with shrug and a frown.
Genji shakes his head at that.
Lucius is drinking tea while watching his Wave One unfold from his control room.
Eltha has accommodated Horden and Annaleigh earlier during the day, and they're having dinner just now.
Arlenna and Ciara did not move at all today. This time, they took sleeping and guarding shifts.
Dorian, Corinna, and Filly are inside the mountain for the whole day. They've been moving around, but they're not really making any progress going anywhere.
Genji asks, "What happened to the little Chip who took off from the castle?"
"He's safe in the forest, see?" Sol replies.
They see Chip staying under a pine tree in the dark after exploring the whole afternoon. Eltha provided him with extra clothes to warm himself. He's wearing light blue all day.
"See you all tomorrow!" Al says as he clocks out for the day.
"See ya guys!" Genji says as he follows.
"Goodbye," Alistair tells them.
Sol says, "See you two! I'll anticipate because we've got tributes roaming."
"Ah, good point," Alistair reacts. "I was thinking of going home tonight."
"Nobody says you can't," Sol says.
"Yeah, but I'm the head gamemaker."
"Pffft! You went out to play the other day."
"Because I was sure nobody was dying and their schedules were all open."
"Whatever. Nobody's really telling you to stay, but I'll be here."
Alistair takes time to think whether he should go home or not, but eventually, he calls an avox to drive him home for the night.
16th Place: Orion Fleming, D7, submitted by beauthg03. Sword to heart by Rufus Cornelii of D2. I was switching back and forth whether I should kill him this chapter or on the chapter after. After writing the outline, I planned to keep him this chapter and end with a cliffhanger, but I checked his form and ended up not following my outline by killing him here instead. I enjoyed writing his dynamic with Kobe very much. Back then, I've never seen a tribute pair with one funny tribute and one serious and easily angry tribute, so I paired them up and had fun writing their story together. One had to go for the other to thrive, but Orion's more than just Kobe's arc material, because I really loved writing their interactions no matter how useless. Thanks Beau for this funny dude! :)
I had a hard time deciding, and I ended up not following my outline. Tbh it's one of the reasons that I took a week off. I stopped writing my outline about two weeks ago when I didn't know what to do after the chase scene. XP I got to do other stuff though last week, like drawing a part of the map for my next TARP episode. :3 Writing an arena chapter takes about a full day, two half days, or a day and a half. Regardless, updates are still weekly or biweekly.
Hope you enjoyed the chapter! :)
