Oswine Nanshope,12, District 10 male


I continue groaning in pain, clutching my wounded torso and stumbling forward as I pass by several trees that appear to be moving, I feel so dizzy and I can hear distant chatters, just random voices, why? I feel a sudden sharp pain in my chest and fall to the ground beginning to cough continuously, this goes on until I cough up a notable amount of blood and the voices are getting louder, what is going on? Could it be that I lost too much blood?

"Still alive Oswine, just die already!" I hear a familiar voice, is that…my mom?

I continue coughing as pain radiates through my body and more blood comes up and lands on the palm of my hand, I can't take a deep breath, I can barley move and it feels like, I'm dying.

I've been a bit dizzy ever since I found Victoria but it's only gotten worse since then and its now to the point where I'm coughing blood and hearing things.

"Oswine!" I hear a loud voice and I slowly turn my head to see my mother standing across from me with a scowl on her face holding a knife in her hand, mom, but what is she doing here?

"M-mom." I weakly mumble.

"Why are you still alive? Why?! Didn't I say I wanted you dead!?" She scolds me and I can only give her a sad look and gaze down at the ground.

How did she get here? Did she only come here to remind me just how much she hated me?

"Mom please stop…" my eyes water.

"I'll only stop once you cease you draw breath! I cannot fucking stand you! I knew I should've aborted you!" She yells.

"Stop!" I try and shout but a sharp stabbing pain runs through me and I wince in pain.

"Since you're so reluctant to just keel over, I'll just have to finish you off myself!" she states and begins pacing towards me and my body trembles as I struggle to get back to my feet.

"Mom stop….please!" I beg and she slashes me causing me to groan in pain as I feel a sharp pain across my torso but her attack doesn't draw any blood.

"Stop!" I cry but she stabs me in the torso and I feel another sharp pain but the stab doesn't draw any blood and I bury my head into the ground crying aloud as I feel multiple stab wounds entering my body.

"Stop it mom, stop it!" I cry aloud and it's now silence for a moment. I lift my head up and look around me but no one Is here. The trees are still bouncing around though.

"Your mother is right you know Oswine." I hear my father's voice and I spin around to see him giving me a disappointed look.

"I always hated you too Oswine, I wanted a son I can relate to, that I can spend time with, that I can pass the torch down to, but all you do is just sit in your god damn room all day, it fucking sickens me and you might as well just be dead!" He snarls at me.

"No…not you too dad…" tears roll down my eyes.

"Yes me too, how glad I am that I won't ever have to see your fucking face again after today, just roll over and die already!" he spits at me and I begin crying but it hurts so much to cry.

"You want this to end Oswine, you know what to do!" my father points at a tree in front of me and I give the tree a hesitant look.

"Put yourself out of your misery and make your parents happy, now go you damn bastard!" my father curses at me and I struggle to cry and begin crawling towards the tree hearing both of my parents cheering for me.

My mom…my dad, they really don't love me. In that case, I have nothing to live for. I fought so hard for them to try and see them again but it was all for naught. Mom and dad, I'll make you two happy and I'll do that by not existing anymore. Tears continue streaming down my eyes as I'm now on my knees in front of the tree and as hard as I can, slam my head against the tree and it feels like my head explodes as pain shoots through my skull and I can hear my mom and dad cheering as I slam my head against the tree again. I now see my blood splattered across the tree as everything starts spinning faster and I can barley see anything, but I can still hear my parents cheering louder and louder, I cry out in pain cause it's hurts so much, not just the pain of hurting myself but the pain of knowing I really have no one left…nothing to fight for, nothing to live for, but even then my parents will be happy, that's all that matters In the end…

I give the tree a hesitant look as I continue crying.

"Do it! Come on you disgrace of a son!" my father shouts and i close my eyes before slamming my head against the tree once more as darkness and silence envelops me.


Winter Baromet,13, district 9 female


I hear a loud noise and it causes me to jump, it almost sounds like a cannon but I'm not too sure, I hear so many different things around me and it's to hard to decipher what's real or not, but hopefully this'll be over soon. It didn't take me long to realize I must've breathed in some kind of toxin, the only tribute capable of that is Zananova, she must've created an airborne toxin to give herself an edge and if that actually was a cannon I just heard, it'll mean we're likely the only two left.

the main symptoms I'm experiencing is chest pain, coughing blood and hallucinating, I know none of the hallucinations are real but some of them attacked me and it seems like my brain registers it as an actual attack, I know it's not real, but my body says otherwise. It's terrifying to say the least but I open up my canteen that I had sitting over a fire I built.

"Winter, you can't run…accept it." A voice echoes but I try and ignore it. I mixed up a remedy that'll be able to treat the symptoms I'm experiencing, and I'm hoping this'll "cure" me. If it's successful, it should be a few minutes before I start feeling better, I'm having trouble moving and breathing though, with the way this is going. I'll be lucky to make it past today.

The contents of this canteen smells awful but without any hesitation, I begin consuming the thick and mushy paste and have trouble swallowing it, so use the last little bit of water I have in my bottle to force it down. I nearly vomit it back up, but I somehow manage to keep it down. I then rest my back against a tree trying to take slow and steady breaths waiting for this remedy to take effect.

"hmm hmm hmm hmm hmm!" I hear cackling nearby and it causes me to jump but I look across from me and see Zananova armed with a knife grinning at me. Is this a hallucination? I don't know…

"I'm impressed, you actually managed to diagnose yourself and fix up an antidote to try and counter my toxins." She begins spinning the knife in her hand. Just from the way she's doing that, I can tell she has experience in using them.

"So it was you." I mumble.

"Who else could it have been? Still though, i remember our first encounter, in the training center right?" she spins the knife again, good I need her to drag this out as long as possible, the longer she takes, the better I'll become as the antidote begins taking effect.

"Yeah, I remember it so fondly." I sarcastically say but begin coughing up more blood, the blood is now getting darker and thicker, she's doing this on purpose, she's intentionally trying to stall, is this how confident she is?

"To think we'd be among the finalists in this arena, it's quite poetic to be honest. Anyways you're skilled, you're probably even a league below me, but that 'antidote' you just consumed, it wasn't the cure. You did manage to suppress the hallucinations however and if I didn't alter the properties then you would've also cured the severe pneumonia you're experiencing. You'll be able to manage the symptoms a little a better but you're still dying, I'm the only one completely unaffected by this toxin since I already took the vaccine. I'll finish you off though and you'll be back with your brother whose probably the only reason you got this far in the first place!" She cackles and I bawl my fists clutching my knife tightly and begin making my way to my feet.

"Oh did I pinch a nerve just now?" She continues laughing and I stand across from her giving her an angry look but my body is in so much pain right now.

"He was the perfect meat shield huh? Pretty sure he died protecting you since you couldn't help yourself. He's was a good brother though, even if I view him as a fool. Give my regards to him when you reach him after I dispose of you!" She throws her knife in the air and catches it by it's handle and I lose it.

"Shut…up!" I yell, rush and swipe my knife at her but she weaves it and quickly stabs me in the shoulder causing me to groan in pain and stumble back. She cackles holding her knife in a defensive stance and circles around me.

"Oh you're angry, very angry, good!" She grins and closes in for a strike but I weave it and try striking her but she blocks my attack and our knives clash against each other, she continues giving me a confident grin and I can see my reflection in her piercing green eyes and it horrifies me, i…I look like death.

We both separate from each other for a moment but simultaneously both strike at each other and we both weave each other's strike as our knives clash again and I start seeing Zananova beginning to split in two, what, this can't be happening, I thought I cured the hallucinations?

I take several steps back and quickly shake my head as Zananova splits into three with her cackles beginning to echo.

"Its taking effect I see!" Her voice echoes and all three of the Zananovas rush at me. I dodge one of their attacks but the other one stabs me in the shoulder and I gasp in pain stumbling back onto a tree.

"I made sure to coat my knife in a special toxin as well, what you'd think I'd just be out here pursuing my remaining opposition unprepared? This toxin also causes hallucinations, this was actually the same toxin I used to kill that girl from 8, don't really care to remember her name." She laughs and she now splits into four and the ground begins turning white as I start feeling chills running across my body. It's…snowing?

"This toxin has completely different properties from the other toxin I affected you with, so that antidote you took will be completely ineffective here, how many of me do you see though? Are you still in the woods lands? Is it raining or snowing?" her voice echoes as the four Zananovas begin circling me, I can feel my heart steadily beginning to pound faster and faster, if this continues my heart can give out. I can feel myself beginning to hyperventilate as the snow continues to chill my skin and I try to take several steps back but my feet only gets buried in a foot of snow slowing my movement, focus…just focus.

"Looks like you're having trouble moving, it must be snowing, correct?" She laughs as one of the Zananovas rush at me and I gasp dodging her attack and striking her in the shoulder but I feel a sharp pain run through my shoulder and I gasp in pain as Zananova laughs louder.

"Attacking yourself now I see, you must've just tried to strike me correct?" She giggles as three Zananovas begin circling me.

One of these must be the real one, there has to be something, something that makes her stand out from the fakes, something!

"You're running out of time Winter!" She warns me and she now splits into four, dammit!

Another one of the Zananovas rush at me and I try striking her but she dodges it and slices me across the cheek and I groan in pain and try to strike her back but my knife only goes through her and she disappears into a puff of smoke, oh no…

"I'm over here Winter!" I hear her voice and quickly turn my head to the direction I heard her in but see nothing, where is she!?

"Over here!" I hear her voice the opposite side of me and I quickly turn around but feel a sharp stab in my back as I cry out in pain and stumble onto my knees. I look back up and see six Zananovas infront of me only laughing hysterically. I see a gleam in one of their eyes though as they all continue circling me, that gleam…that has to be the real one! I make my way back up to my feet, and two of the Zananovas storm towards me, but I quickly stab one in the torso and she turns into a puff of smoke while I duck under the other one's attack and stab her in the arm but feel a sharp pain across my arm and stumble back wincing in pain, this is hopeless…I can't win…I cant…

I fall on my knees in defeat and tears roll down my eyes as I think about Fall, the promise I made him…I'm so sorry Fall.

"Giving up already? I was just starting to have fun, that can't be all you got!' She laments and I continue crying in defeat.

"Fall." I mumble.

"Believe in yourself..." Fall's voice plays back in my head and i grit my teeth.

"Fall..." I cry as my body trembles.

"Crying for your dead big brother again, I said before, you'll be seeing him again soon!" She barks at me and begins marching towards me.

Fall, i promised you and i won't let you down. I just have to think, just think! Wait, that's...thats it. I quickly slide the knife into the palm of my hand and swipe it, coating it in my blood.

"Hurting yourself again, who did you see this time?" She curiously asks and I see several Zananovas around me but it's the one with the gleam in her eyes that's marching at me and she prepares to finish me off.

"Its no fun when my experiments stop fighting back, so I'll just end it here, goodbye!" She prepares to stab me in the skull but I quickly plunge my knife into her torso and she gasps in pain with a shocked look on her face.

"H-how…" she begins to sputter.

"You said yourself that this toxin has different properties from the airborne one. This toxin is now flowing through my blood and since you only took the vaccine to counter the airborne toxin, that'll mean that even you aren't immune to this one!" I state and she gasps again as I pull the knife out of her and she clutches her torso, beginning to stumble away from me.

"No…N...No!" she cries out and I struggle to my feet trying to pursue her but my legs feel like jelly, I just have,I have to finish this!


Zananova "Zan" Pixa,13, District 3 female


"No…no…" I continue panicking as I try and create as much distance between me and her as possible. How can I make such a crucial miscalculation? I let my guard down, I underestimated her and now I have to fight my way out of my most horrifying creations.

I turn around and everything around me is set ablaze, all the trees are burning, the smoke is covering the clouds and I see two Winters walking towards me.

Two Winters, now what makes one of them stand out from the other?

"I can see you starting to panic, are you afraid?" I hear Winter's voice echo and I tighten my grip around my knife, focus, concentrate, I'm poisoned now, but I can fight through this, my heart rate is going to start increasing shortly and the hallucinations will worsen but there's still only one girl in front of me, just one girl!

The fire continues dancing around me and Winter uses this opportunity to pounce on me and I narrowly dodge her attack but she counters and tries stabbing me in the arm, but I block it with my knife and she punches me in the nose which knocks me to the ground but I quickly jump back up to my feet, ignoring the blood that I feel begin to seep out of it. Winter then splits in three and one of them rushes at me but she isn't the real one! I let her attack me and it has no effect on me, I just have to convince myself, convince my body that most of this isn't real…that'll naturally ease my heart rate and I won't have to worry about dying of a heart attack.

Another Zananova strikes at me and this is the real one, I can tell it's her because I can see co2 coming from her mouth, I block her attack and counter but she also blocks it and we continue circling each other trying to stab each other but we only continue blocking and evading each other's attacks. I block one of her attacks at the perfect opportunity and it causes her to stumble slightly and I use this opportunity to try and slash her neck but she weaves it and stabs me in the right side of my chest causing me shriek out in anger and pain but I punch her across the face and she falls to the ground.

"Zan…" I hear a voice across from me. Ignore it, just ignore it, it's not real!

Winter tries crawling to her knife but I kick her in the head causing her to groan in pain.

"My daughter…" I hear the same voice and I turn around to see it's my mother!

"Zan…look at what you've become, look at what my daughter has become!" tears stream down my mother's eyes as she only looks at me in disappointment, it's not real, it's not real! I can feel my heart rate increasing and I try to shake this hallucination free, but why do I sense some truth in it all?

"I too am saddened to see what you've become Zananova, you were our daughter, you were supposed to carry on the ground breaking research we've left behind but…you're only a monster now!" my father scolds me and I feel my eyes twitch, no, this isn't real Zananova, this isn't real!

"Mom…dad, y-you're not real, none of you are!" My voice cracks and I close my eyes for moment, and open them to see I'm now sitting in the back of a classroom, all my classmates laughing at me and teasing me.

"Look at that nerd, sitting all alone!" one of the class mates tease me before throwing a paper ball at me that bounces off my head but I can only sit at the desk helplessly and stare at the drawings I made of me and my parents.

"Bet she drew another picture of her stupid parents! Too bad they're dead though!" another classmate teases me and the entire classroom bursts in laughter.

"I bet it's her fault they died in the first place!" Another student manages to get out through their laughter and a tear falls down my eye, soaks the paper and I feel my lips begin to quiver.

This is how it's been, this is how it's always been. No one has ever accepted me, no one. Take a look at me, one look at me and you'll just see a monster, a monster who only ruins everyone and everything…

More tears begin coming down my eyes and my teeth tremble.

"It's not real, it's not real, no!" I begin crying and I close my eyes again and open them to see I'm now in my parent's room, sitting in their puddle of blood around their decomposing bodies. Is it really my fault, is it really my fault they're gone?

I still remember them, just holding me in their arms, loving me. I wish I could feel that again.

"Zan…" I hear a deep voice in front of me and I look up to see it's Tyvon standing in a door way with a wave of light behind him.

"These people, these ignorant fools don't understand you, they don't see what a bright and talented child you truly are. They don't understand you, but I do." He states and tears continue running down my eyes.

"Tyvon…you accept me?" I ask.

"I will always accept you Zananova, I consider you one of my own. You can be yourself around me and you'll never have to be afraid again." He assures me and holds his arms out to me.

"Tyvon." I sniff and stand up, walking towards him while holding my arms out as well. I finally reach him and throw my arms around him and he does the same to me.

"Tyvon, I thought I was alone, I thought I was all alone!" I cry and he rubs my back.

"You don't need to be afraid anymore, everything will be ok…" he assures me and I sniff again closing my eyes but I feel a sudden sharp pain in my chest and my eyes shoot open to see I'm now back in the arena with a knife sticking out of my chest and Winter is standing in front of me with a concerned look on her face, holding onto the knife in my chest but she lets go.

"Ty-" I croak out and fall forward but Winter catches me in her arms.

"I got you, I got you." She assures me continuing to hold me in her arms as tears roll down my eyes and I begin spitting up blood from my mouth.

"T-" I try to croak out again but only more blood comes out of my mouth.

"Shhhh, I'm here, it's ok." She assures me continuing to hold on to me and I wrap my arms around her too continuing to cry.

That feeling, that feeling I wanted to feel again, it's here…it's here.

"No matter what you've done, if someone loves you, nothing will change that, your parents…they will be so happy to see you again." She tells me and I try to tighten my hug on her but I feel my grip weakening on her as I'm starting to fade away.

I made it so far…so far just to fall here, but being in the arms of someone who cares…I'm fine with this being the last thing I experience.

"Thank…you." I manage to get out and I feel my eyes close before I go off to be back in the arms of my parents…


Winter Baromet,13, District 9 female


"You can't escape, you can't escape your fate, this is your end!" ghostly voices continue to echo around me as the snow continues to fall but I do my best to ignore it as a loud sound that sounds like a cannon fires off, and I look down at Zananova who looks like she's asleep now. The lines from her tears are still on her face but she looks to be in peace now. I cross her arms over her chest and keep my hand over hers for a moment as my lips quiver.

You're not always in control of what happens in life, sometimes things just happen and you're now on an unpleasant route. I can tell she's been through a lot but I think we might've been good friends had things been different…

There's no one else left though, which means I'm the victor…

23 people are now dead and in exchange I get to return home. I know that's what most people believe, that there's a victor, a survivor each year but right now, I just feel empty. Everyone that goes into that arena dies, just because you're still breathing, it doesn't mean you're alive. Everyone loses themselves…

I look up at the sky to see snowfall, I know it probably isn't real, but still, it's so beautiful. It's been several minutes and yet, i still haven't been announced as the victor, why?

"Barbel!" I hear an angry yell behind me and before I can react. I feel a trident pierce me through my torso as I gasp aloud, is this a hallucination? N-no this feels…different.

I slowly turn my head around as blood pours out of my mouth and I see the boy from 10, Oswine, what…he's, he's still alive? He's covered in wounds and he has a deranged look on his face that's covered in blood with a gash on his forehead.

his eyes are widened and he shoves the trident deeper through me as more blood pours out of my mouth, I can't even cry out in pain, I feel so much blood trying to force it's way out that I'm literally choking on it.

"Barbel it's your fault! its your fault Xavi and Victoria are dead, now…you pay!" he releases his grip on his trident and falls face first on the ground next to me, he…he thought I was Barbel. More blood spurts from my mouth and I fall on my side, taking my last breathes and looking over at Zananova who looks sound asleep.

Tears stream down my eyes as I realize this is the end, but I find some peace in it all. Fall…I kept my promise to you, I, I believed in myself, and I'll see you soon…


We have reached the end of the games and a victor has been crowned! I will be saving euologies for the next chapter because i don't really want you guys scrolling to the bottom and seeing who won, i just want you guys to absorb this chapter and experience it all firsthand. Anyways I'm so glad that i finished or nearly finished my very first syot and it's all thanks to you guys for staying by me and continuing to motivate me! There will still be a few chapters left ofcourse to wrap up this story but in the mean time, I'll also be opening up submissions for my new syot madness returns. I hope to see you guys again and can't wait to see what tributes i get! The tribute form will be the exact same and can be found on my profile along with the tribute list! See you guys soon, till next time!