Paradise: The 72nd Hunger Games (SYOT!)

by JStar14H

Every year, the Arena and the challenges within it change. This year, the Tributes will fight in an Arena that looks like a Paradise, but with challenges that will take away what they hold dear. And maybe sharks. Or maybe not sharks. Probably sharks. Will there be sharks? Read and find out! Closed SYOT, but, please, still read! This year promises to be as exciting as the past two!

28. The Bloodbath

Paradise: The 72nd Hunger Games

Chapter Twenty-Eight

The Bloodbath

A/N: So, this is the start of the Games. People will die. Hopefully not your favorite Tribute. But maybe… you just never know. Anyways, I hope you all enjoy this chapter!

Warning: This chapter contains descriptions of violence and death because it's the Hunger Games. I mean, if you weren't expecting that… I don't know what to tell you. As usual, nothing overly graphic, but still, violence, death. You have been warned.

Disclaimer: I do not own the idea of brutally murdering 24 children in an Arena competition. Suzanne Collins does, I just write fanfiction about it. Although I do lay claim to Lucy Snow and Emma O'Neill and her friends because they're all my creations. I also don't lay claim to the Tributes or their friends, even though I use some of them for years. :)

As all of our brave Tributes rise into the Arena, they take in their surroundings. The Cornucopia is on a large, flat, and sandy piece of land. A river separates the Tribute's platforms from the Cornucopia and each other, with short paths from their platforms to the Cornucopia itself. A few feet behind the Tributes' platforms, a large ocean stretches out. The water is blue, semi-clear, and looks inviting. Of course, so do invitations to dinner parties until you realize you're the dinner. Islands can be seen in the distance, some rather close and some farther away. If one could stay under the water, it would be easy to escape unnoticed. In theory. Assuming that the water is safe. The careers exchanged looks at each other, only briefly glancing around the Arena. They wanted to at least make the other Tributes think they were confident, even if some of them, like Eric, not being able to swim to save his life, wondered how well they would do in this new Arena. The Outliers exchanged a series of hand signals, which roughly translated to telling everyone to meet up on an island in the direction they wanted to go, which was towards a large, barely visible, hilly island, which Dante and Luz "said" was perfect for carrying out their plan. Caesar Flickerman's voice rang through the Arena.

"Welcome, Tributes and viewers, to the Seventy-Second Annual Hunger Games! You all know our Tributes, you all know the Game, so without further ado… the Games shall begin in sixty seconds. Fifty-nine. Fifty-eight."

The Tributes tensed, getting ready to move. "Thirty."

Several Tributes took deep breaths. "Twenty."

Everyone, even the most arrogant of the careers, was feeling butterflies by this point. "Ten."

"Five. Four. Three. Two. One." Dong!

Heller Horvath –14- -D12- POV

I take off of my platform, running straight for the Cornucopia. Technically, as per The Plan, we're supposed to just stay on the outskirts and grab what supplies we can, but screw that. He who dares, wins, right? Well, maybe. I dash into the center of the Cornucopia without resistance but hear footsteps from nearby. I look around. A bow won't be of any use and there isn't one around anyway. Maybe a sword. I grab a sword from in front of me and turn to face whoever is coming up next to me. Maybe it's one of my 'allies', coming to help me. No. It's the boy from Two. He also has a sword. He swings it at me and our swords meet.

Eric Torres POV

I ran into the Cornucopia and found a sword, before deciding to deal with one member of that 'Outlier' alliance. One less of them can only be a good thing. Most of them had already scattered by the time I got there, but one had run straight into the Cornucopia. After a quick search, I find the smaller boy, holding up a sword. I swing my sword and our weapons meet with a clang. He parries my blow, but barely. I swing my sword again. He parries my blow again but stumbles backward into a pile of supplies. He almost loses his footing but catches himself.

Heller Horvath POV

I parry the boy's second blow, but I stumble in the process, almost falling into a pile of supplies behind me. Luckily, I regain my footing. I duck beneath the boy's next strike, hoping to get a slice in at his legs. I swing my sword forward and – feel a sharp pain in my back, falling face-first onto the ground from my crouching position.

Eric Torres POV

The boy ducked under my sword but put himself below it. That was a mistake. As he goes to slice at my legs, I bring my sword back, turning it vertical, and pushing it down through his back in one fluid motion. He crumples to the ground and a cannon fires. I walk back out to where the rest of the careers are.

"Where's everyone else?" I ask, seeing significantly fewer dead bodies than I expected. I also notice that Ariadna is missing.

"Took off really quick," Sabine says. "Dived in the water like a pod of dolphins. Ariadna's following one of them now."

I nod. "Good. Let's get sorting through the supplies."

Dante Myers –13- -D6- POV

Once the gong sounded, I took off of my platform, searching quickly for what would be the most useful. I grabbed a small, waterproof bag, a small dagger, and some odd contraption that I'll have to investigate later. After that, I turned around and dove into the water, holding the bag, with the dagger and contraption stuffed in it, in front of me and swimming to the island we had agreed on as our meeting spot before the gong went off. The water is warm and not salty, luckily, which means that I can see easily. I try to swim far enough below the surface to not be noticed, only coming up for air when I truly need too. Luckily, I'm successful and make it to the island just around the same time everyone else does.

Ollie Rousseau –17- -D8- POV

I managed to grab a sword and a small bag, which I think has food in it, before deciding that I've lollygagged long enough and getting the heck out of there. I successfully make it to our target island.

Vanessa "Nessa" Vandermeer –15- -D8- POV

I grab a pack of throwing knives and a backpack before I skedaddle off of the Cornucopia's island and make it to our island.

Olivia Dean –18- -D11- POV

By a stroke of good fortune, I locate a sword near me and grab it along with a small pouch of something before taking off. I make it to the island we were all aiming for.

Valencia Bisset –16- -D3- POV

I decide to go a little further in than perhaps I should have, but I just couldn't resist the sight of a glistening bow and a quiver of arrows. Once I grabbed that though, I saw a career headed my way and got out of there to meet up with the rest of the group.

Everest "Eve" Asher –12- -D12- POV

I manage to grab a small dagger and a backpack full of something before I depart the Cornucopia for our island.

Alita Whicker –17- -D9- POV

I grab a net (why that was there, I don't know), a roll of fabric, and a small knife before leaving the Cornucopia and successfully meeting up with my allies on our island.

Luzson "Luz" Byrne –12- -D7- POV

I grab myself a small knife, a backpack that seems oddly close, and a short sword that someone else might be able to use before I depart Death Island.

Griffin Jefferson –14- -D7- POV

I decide to go further into the Cornucopia than I was supposed to. Rushing in, I look around for useful things. I grab a large survival pack and a sword before turning and fleeing for the hills. Or, the water, more accurately. I dive in and think that I'm free, beginning to swim around the island to go towards the place I'm supposed to be heading. Then I think I hear something in the water behind me and I look back to see – the girl from Four holding a trident!

Ariadna Starsgaard POV

I jogged into the Cornucopia and grabbed a trident before picking a random direction and heading out. I figure that it'll be good to let the little fishes think that they've gotten away via water before snatching their hopes along with their life. I see one little fish out of water who evidently didn't get the memo to quickly skedaddle. I think it's the boy from Seven? Not that it matters. I follow him and leisurely dive into the water after him. He continues swimming, slowly, for a second, then looks back at me. His eyes fill with terror and bubbles escape his mouth. I hear what sounds like a scream as I pick up speed. He turns around, turning vertical and raising his sword to defend himself.

Griffin Jefferson POV

I raise my sword to defend myself from the District Four girl's attack. She rushes at me, her trident coming straight at me. I think that my sword will deflect it and steel my body for the shock – only to have a searing pain come through my feet, legs, and crotch. In a blink of an eye, the girl had dived below me, stabbing me from below. I drop the sword, forever lost to the depths, as she pulls her trident out of me, stabbing me again, this time through the chest. I feel three more points of white-hot pain before I black out.

Ariadna Starsgaard POV

That boy was an idiot. He didn't think in 3d. I can just come under or over him. I had more space under, so I went under. After he dropped his sword, I speared him again for good measure. This time, when I pull my trident out of his body, there is no scream, and he falls slowly, blood streaming from his wounds, towards the ocean floor. I swim back to shore, crawling onto land semi-gracefully, shaking the water out of my hair, and feeling the icky feeling of wet clothes on my skin. Ugh. Hopefully, they'll dry quickly. I walk back to the group, gathered around.

"Did we get anyone else?" I ask.

"I got one," Eric says. "But that's it. We should grab some supplies and get ready to head out. I think we should follow the Outliers and kill the rest of them first." I, Sabine, Blaze, and Aislie nod, but Aphelios takes offense.

Aphelios Asturias –18- -D4- POV

"Who put you in charge?" I ask Eric. "Why are you telling us what to do?"
"No one put me in charge," Eric responds, "but everyone agrees with my idea. You got a better one?"

I pause. "No. I still don't like you dictating to me."

"Well, you can not like it all you want," Eric says. "Let's get packing."

We all go to different sections of the Cornucopia to find supplies. I'm bending over something that says Drying Apparatus, when I see Aislie nearby, looking over a spear with greed. Hmm. I think that there's no love between her and Eric. She might be a good ally. I walk over to her.

"Hey, Aislie," I say. "Nice spear."

"Yeah," she says. "I could kill a lot of people with this. And it's beautiful."

"I agree," I say. "So, what do you think of Eric?"

"He's a bit controlling, a bit of a jerk," she says. "At first. I don't really know him though. And I plan not to. After all, one day, I'll have to kill him."

"Fair point," I say. I look around to make sure that no one is watching us. "What do you think about making that day come sooner?"

She looks up at me directly for the first time. "What do you mean?"

Aislie Dellarouse –18- -D1- POV

"I mean, how about we make sure he gets into an 'accident' after we kill that big alliance?" Aphelios says. "Get rid of that jerk once and for all. Besides, by that point, we won't need him."

I consider that for a second. "Sure," I say. "I'll be happy to help. But only after we kill those 'Outliers'. Just tell me the plan when you want to."

"Deal," Aphelios says, extending his hand to me. We shake. He walks away and I go back to inspecting my spear, at least from someone else's perspective. In reality, I'm planning what to do. Yes, we can kill Eric. Then I can scream, right before I kill Aphelios. When everyone else wakes up, I'll say that I caught him killing Eric and tried to stop him, but I didn't get to him in time. Then he tried to kill me and I stopped him. Yes, that'll work. With both of those boys out of the way, that will be much less competition.

Sabine Allaire –18- -D2- POV

I look around in the Cornucopia for some supplies, finding a survival kit and a variety of weapons.

Blaze Herrscher –18- -D1- POV

I also scout around the Cornucopia, grabbing a tent to add to our supplies.

Mouse "Mo" Conen –18- -D3- POV

I managed to grab a small knife and a survival pack from the outer edge of the Cornucopia before swimming to a nearby island different from the one that the Outliers had taken where I didn't see anyone else and was full of a thick forest from almost the shore. It should be a perfect place to live for now. Until I go hunting.

Casca Ishtar –15- -D5- POV

I run into the Cornucopia, grabbing a small knife, a pack of throwing knives, and a survival kit before turning around. When I do though, I hear footsteps. Crap! I duck behind a box of supplies, and the footsteps move on. Good. I stand up and run for the water, diving into it and making a successful escape to a small island with a lot of sand and not many plants not far from the Cornucopia. I'll need to keep moving.

Levi Nasue-Keenly –15- -D5- POV

I manage to grab a small backpack and a pack of throwing knives before quickly swimming away to a nearby island.

Miria "Ria" Wallace –16- -D6- POV

I grab a sword and a survival kit from nearer to the center of the Cornucopia before setting a course for a forested island not far away.

Toby Green –17- -D9- POV

I spot a machete, fairly, oddly, close to me, and I grab it and a small backpack before I dive into the water, setting course for a random, but close, island.

Elias McKellen –12- -D11- POV

I grab a small knife and backpack before diving into the water ringing the Cornucopia.

Freya Huede Swindlehurst –15- -D10- POV

I manage to grab a small knife, a sleeping bag, and a small backpack before I dive into the water next to Rudolf. We set course for and safely arrive on a small, forested, island not far from the Cornucopia.

Rudolf Urs Huber –16- -D10- POV

I find a large knife and a small bag by my platform, then join Freya for a delightful afternoon swim away from the Cornucopia.

A/N: Sorry this took so long and was so boring. I was busy with Emergency Services missions in Real Life along with errands so I didn't have much time to write and when I did I was really tired. So sorry about that. Also, with only two Bloodbath Tributes, this chapter is bound to be a little boring! I promise that the Games will get more exciting as we go on! Next up is the rest of Day One! With this chapter, the Outlier alliance has lost two members, so how will they proceed from here? We'll just have to see. :)

Dead Tribute note time!

Heller: Heller was submitted as a Bloodbath, so I knew from the beginning that he was going to die. He had more backstory than I expanded on, for example, his father was an Avox. With his cold, manipulative nature, he was an interesting character, but he was made to die. RIP Heller.

Griffin: Griffin was also submitted as a Bloodbath, which made me a bit sad because I liked his character, what with his humorous personality, and such. Unfortunately, I felt like I never really got to do him justice with his humor, as I don't really have a traditional sense of humor. I wish he had gotten to live longer, but sadly, that was not his fate. RIP Griffin.

The Fallen:

24th: Heller Horvath, 14M, D12. Killed by a sword through the heart by Eric Torres.

23rd: Griffin Jefferson, 14M, D7. Killed by a trident through the chest by Ariadna Starsgaard.