It's here.
Austin. Izzy. Lewis.
For two of them, their end has come, and for one, this is their victory!
I won't waste your time - let's get into it.
Thank you to contemporarydancer2, Remus98, FireflyLlama and BamItsTyler who reviewed!
"Death is the sound of a distant thunder at a picnic." ~W. H. Auden
Austin Ogara, Eighteen, District One Male
I ascend.
I breathe. In. Out.
I must compose myself. In. Out.
I must remind myself of my reality.
I'm here. I knew I could get here, but living it feels so different. The electricity in the air sinks into my skin and flutters through my veins. The dark clouds send the arena into a damp dimness. Thunder rumbles overhead and the hairs stand up on my arms. Despite all of the background noise, I am still focused. I am still prepared. I am still fighting.
I'm the first one to the golden payette at the top of the arena. There's nothing else around me; merely glass, and the faint fogginess of the abyss below. The rain fades into something lighter, my matted brown curls dangling before my eyes before I sweep them away with my fingers. Aline's wound in my side still stings, even with the medical paste on it. I don't think even the paste will heal that fast but I can hope.
Hope.
That's all there is left.
A glimpse of bushy brown hair shines from across the platform, and the glistening brown eyes of the girl from Five, Izzy, meet my own icy gaze. I expected as much. Izzy seems like a tough competitor, and somehow I feel like Lewis dispatching of her allies wouldn't have deterred her from making it here. Still, she walks alone. Her allies must have fallen. Taking all the other alliances out of my head, the only other tribute that would be alive is Lewis.
I remember our deal, but unless he kills Izzy, it's void and null. It's kind of pointless anyway because even if he killed Izzy, there'd only be the two of us left, so the "kill me last" thing doesn't really work here. Even so, I don't see him anywhere, which is strange. I guess this first match will be a battle between myself and Izzy. I may be wounded, but I'm still stronger and faster, and likely more skilled. Still, why do I feel like I have to watch myself and be careful around this girl? Maybe it's the storm clouds she's unbothered by or the unmoving stare that threatens to burrow deep within my soul.
"Just us two," the girl notes, looking around the rest of the platform. "I'm fightin' a Career? Really? Damn."
She whistles, almost as if she's impressed yet unsurprised that it had to come to this. It makes sense. Careers tend to dominate the Games, and even though there are some years where they don't do the best, a member of the Career pack always seems to make it to the finale. That's fair, and I don't mind, since I'm the one chosen to be here. Obviously losing Vanity and having to watch Aline die has somewhat broken my heart on the road here, but I can't allow myself to be consumed by that. It's all in the past. I need to be here, in the present.
"I guess you are," I smirk, hamming it up a little for the cameras. "What happened to your allies?"
Izzy shrugs, but I can tell she's grieving.
"Leigha died a couple of days ago. Ashton betrayed us an' stabbed Lenore. Someone else finished her off."
"Lewis," I say, and Izzy raises an eyebrow. "He made a deal with me. He killed her quickly and showed mercy, or at least I think so."
"Makes a lot of sense," Izzy agrees. "The wound wasn't big enough to be done by that spear of yours."
Huh, so she's smart, or at least, smarter than I took her for. Suddenly her being here makes even more sense than it did before. Despite this fire she has in her eyes, there's this intelligence hidden behind them. A worthy opponent for this finale, then. I can't say I think the same about Lewis, but if he finished off Lenore, then at least he had the guts to take a life. It's not a pretty achievement, but I respect it. In this situation, taking a life is something you kind of just have to do, whether you like it or not. I don't think I've ever seen a victor of the Games without a kill.
"It seems that Lewis finally did what he had to do," I nod.
"Lewis?" Izzy asks, wrinkling her nose slightly. "He got to the finale?"
"Why does it matter?" I ask her. "Do you two have bad blood?"
"Y'know the training argument and all of that stuff," Izzy waves a hand in an almost lazy fashion. "Well, he was part of that alliance, and we had this whole rivalry thing goin' on. The boy from Ten, Dathan, killed Leigha and then I killed Shura, the jumpy boy from Eight, and Lenore killed Dathan. Lewis, well, y'know, just ran."
"He…ran?" I question.
I don't really remember many names of the tributes, but Izzy helps me piece it all together. Did Lewis run from his allies, even in a time of need?
"Yep," she shrugs. "I guess that's just how it is, right? He ran to save his life."
Will Lewis leave me behind to save his life? Will he use me as a shield to protect himself from Izzy? Surely he knows she can't take me out, right? Unless he thinks she can injure me and I'll be easier to take down. It's a smart strategy, one that I don't think I can get out of my head now that I'm thinking about it. Either way, he dies, so would it not be best to wait for Lewis and kill him now? As cold as that is, it makes the most sense. Take out Lewis so I'm not a meat shield and then tackle Izzy.
Take them both out and go home.
It seems like such a simple plan, and Izzy doesn't even seem to be aware of it herself. Her fingers run over her the knives at her belt, some switchblades, others kunais. I can only guess that her diversity in weaponry came from another tribute. Taking her out is very possible. Taking out Lewis, who could desert me, is favourable.
Obviously, I can't take Izzy's word as fact, but I don't detect a lie. Whatever happened between them really did happen, and so that means that Lewis really did run.
A squeak on the glass from behind me finally alerts me to Lewis' presence. He pants slightly, stopping at the top of the glass stairs, his brown hair a mop and his eyes are sunken. His skin is pale, almost ashen grey. He looks so weak that it's almost too easy.
"Austin!" Lewis grins, seeing my face.
I don't smile back. I can't afford to. Not anymore.
"Lewis," I sigh. "I'm sorry."
"Wha-"
My spear juts forwards, catching Lewis in the stomach and protruding out the other side of his back. Wrenching back the polearm, he cries out in pain and falls to his knees, his eyes flashing in a mixture of pain and anger. He brandishes a knife and swings for me, but I take a step back. Even at the prospect of death, he swings again, trying to crawl forwards with pained whimpers, trying to land a hit on me. He's so willing to fight even though he's falling down.
He's not giving up.
I grimace. I didn't want it to end like this, but this is how it has to be. I'd best make it quick. Hefting my spear once again, I lunge forwards and impale him through the eye, the force of the spearhead forcing its way into his eye socket and into his skull. Lewis screams and falls, his face a mask of pained determination, and with the same strength, I rip the spear from him, stumbling back slightly.
His empty eyes watch me as his cannon fires. I hear his voice before he dies, masked by the bubbling of blood and the tension of agony in his words.
"Why?"
Isabelle "Izzy" Moire, Sixteen, District Five Female
I don't ask him why.
I don't waste my time.
My first knife flies straight and true into Austin's shoulder, the one that holds his spear. He recoils from the attack, clearly not having expected an assault just as Lewis fell. From the way Austin looked at Lewis with so much sadness, I can tell that they knew each other. The glaze across his eyes as he asked why Lewis ran could be a part of whatever they were involved in. I don't need to know though.
I need to live.
Knowing isn't everything when there's a six-foot Career barrelling towards you. I slide away from Austin as he jabs his spear at me, avoiding his primary attack. He's fast, and not to mention strong too. His shocking blue eyes are almost as frightening as the watching Capitolites in all of their many colours. He's almost become some kind of animal, akin to the snowy tiger that chases after the arctic fox, desperate to kill, desperate to survive.
His reasons are different, that much I know. Well, who's to say that Austin even has reasons, but if there's any humanity left in him, then he's gotta have them. Everyone's got a dream, and Austin's is to achieve glory and some fabricated Career bullshit. I'm just a girl that nobody liked and that everyone underestimated. Like damn, all I want to do is to just go home. Let me prove them all wrong, Austin!
"Let me go home," I try to convince him lamely, dodging another of his strikes as he chases after me. "Let me have something."
It's a stupid thing, to even try to beg for my own life, because really, what else is there to live for? Sure, if I have to be pessimistic, then there's no end of material. I bet the bullies at home are still laughing at me as I twitch my way across the platform, earning shallow scrapes and light bruises trying to hold off Austin the best I can.
"Not happening," Austin remarks grimly. "I have a life to live for."
"So do I?" I scoff, blocking the butt of his spear with one of Shura's switchblades, the vibration sending the blade tumbling out of my hand. "Don't ya get it? We all have lives, dude. I guess I can't get ya to give up yours but still, give a girl a chance."
Austin laughs, but it's a little hollow.
"Look kid, I get it," he sighs. "It just has to happen this way."
"Does it?" I wink. "You could just, oh, I dunno, accidentally fall off the platform for me. It'd be awful chivalrous of ya."
"Funny," Austin chuckles. "But save your breath."
The butt of his spear soars into my stomach, and the sheer strength of the hit winds me. Choking, I stumble back as he bears down upon me, his jaw tense and his face set, the spear shooting downwards into my calf.
"Fuck!" I curse, my eyes closing in pain as I stumble further backwards, feeling the blood beginning to coat my lower leg.
This can't be good. Sure, Austin's got a side wound from someone and a shoulder wound from me, but he's still in pretty good shape, even if he's just as tired and worn out as I am. We're both ready for this to be over, I know that much. Still, even with his strength and speed, I'm going to have to outwit him somehow.
How do I do that exactly?
When there's only the two of us and it's a straight fight, I'm basically fucked. Take me, some energetic girl who nobody believes in, versus a trained Career, however, many years in the biz, just swinging his spear like he's got no problems in the world. Like…bruh, we get it, you're good. That's the thing though, he's playing it all up for the cameras. I don't need to ask why, the sadness that haunts the shadows in his eyes lay his cards out on the table, open and vulnerable, ready for me to read them. They spell out my death at his hand, and to him, that's all this is and it really is that simple.
I try to run, but his spear sweeps under my legs, forcing me to jump. I duck into a forward roll and throw another of my knives at him. I don't know how many I have left. All I know is that I have to be careful with where I throw them. The blade grazes his arm, skidding loudly over to the edge of the platform. Patting my belt, I desperately fumble for more knives. I have two left.
That's not enough.
Austin's spear scratches my side shallowly, and a twitch happens almost exactly at the same moment, the spearhead grazing me particularly painfully. I ignore all of this though, letting my instincts take over and the adrenaline pump through my veins. I have to live through this, no matter how many times I've been put down. Will I let this lumbering idiot take over me? Not a chance.
I dive for the knife, but Austin leaps for me too. Twisting on to my back, I land harshly against the glass as he topples on to my legs, a little unbalanced. My fingers close around his spear, yanking it forwards with all my strength. The smoothness of the wood, combined with the unexpected landing, allows me to pull the weapon from his grasp. Another twitch, one of panic, flicks my wrist, and before I get a proper hold of the weapon, it rolls across the platform and over the lip of the edge, into the fog below.
Okay, not my ideal choice, but it's better than nothing I guess, right?
I search for the knife, but Austin's on me already, sending a punch to my face. The blood dribbles from my nose almost instantly as I see stars but continue to struggle, trying to shift his heavy weight off of me, but to no avail.
Warmth then surrounds my neck, followed by a suffocating pressure. Austin's bloodied fingers cut off my circulation and my oxygen in one, the stars growing brighter as I wriggle and twist, a fish out of water, trying to escape the hook and the line to jump back to safety. I can't die like this, no, I won't! As my vision becomes a tingling whiteness, I send a fist upward, connecting with Austin's chin. My swipes are weaker and I gasp for breath.
No…I can't leave Mallory or Zapp behind. I can't let Lenore and Leigha's deaths go to waste for no reason. They don't deserve to let me fail them.
Blindly my fingers frantically tumble over the loose threads in my bodysuit, finding the knife belt and closing around my last hope, a knife in each of my hands. I'll only get one chance to do this, and I have to do it now.
My two hands fly above me, wildly uncoordinated, and both of them miss as the pressure releases slightly. Shit, I missed my chance. Austin's most likely pulling back for a second. No wait, this is my chance.
Thank goodness, I know my way around a kunai.
Even as my vision is slowly returning and my body is coughing, gasping for air, I feel the fire. Perhaps it's just my aching lungs or my endless need to live, but my fingers twist and turn the knife, allowing me to jut the blade upwards and into something soft.
A choked gasp, followed by the warmth of blood running down my arm is a hopeful sign, but I don't stop there, pushing my second knife into the softness and using the remainder of my strength to dig into it, ripping it more and more. The hands have long left my neck, a hot iron grip around my wrists, tearing the knives away even though the damage is already done. The blood cakes my chest, dripping over my neck as Austin's gurgling scream deafens my ears, the whiteness around me coming into a blue focus as the lighting strikes through the sky and the rain begins another downpour.
He's heavy.
Austin's so heavy. His cannon hasn't gone, but from the trembling shock in his body, I can tell he's not far away. His pale face swims into view as I continue to cough and choke, drawing ragged breaths. I hang on to the sounds of the breeze, the lightning, the heavy rain, anything to remind myself that I'm still alive.
Austin's face is pale and pasty, almost as if it's a mask ready to slide off. His mouth hangs open, his throat torn, a mess of red muscle and oozing organs, a tube that can only be his windpipe slashed half open and hanging aimlessly, spinning slightly in the wind.
He's a goner.
He topples forwards, landing on top of me. I feel the lukewarm flesh batter my forehead and I thrash, wriggling out from him, trying my best to escape him even in death, trying to remind myself that I'm alive and that I'm here and that somehow I'm somewhat okay.
My throat burns. My leg feels numb. My side hisses. I crawl away, gasping more and more lungfuls of air as his cannon fires.
"Congratulations to Isabella Moire from District Five, the Victor of the Eighty-First Hunger Games!"
I did it. I think stupidly. I DID IT!
There are no other words to describe the sense of freedom that becomes my reality. So, instead of letting it all out, I look up into the stormclouds and close my eyes.
From this day, until my last, I'll let heaven fall at my knees.
Final Kill Counts:
Izzy - III
Austin - VII
Vanity - II
Aisha - III
Orion - I
Career Pack Assist - I
Ashton - I
Lenore - I
Dathan - I
Morgana - I
Lewis - I
Arena - III
Lewis Coltsfoot, Fifteen, District Twelve Male. Alec, I can't even. Lewis was truly brilliant. While the first time, I never placed him as high as this, I never got to capture his character in the way that I did this time around. Lewis' need to carrying on moving - his determination - was inspiring and really helped me to drive a lot of the plots that surrounded him. I loved how he bonded with Parker, Shura and Dathan despite the fact they were all different and a little weird. I really think their teamwork brought something new to his life. He hit rock bottom when his alliance died and I took him on a more serious route, a side effect of what was happening in the Games I think. I know at some points he didn't seem that caring, mostly because I wanted to capture the more realistic, blunter side of him. All in all, I hope I was able to portray a kid who wanted to get back home no matter what. I hope I did him justice, and maybe in another world, he could have been our victor. Placed 3rd. Impaled by Austin Ogara.
Austin Ogara, Eighteen, District One Male. Austin! Austin was awesome. As soon as I received Austin, I knew he'd place high. Just the way he was made, with his complicated backstory as well as his weaknesses and his strengths, his frostiness and his humour...he was a pleasure to write. I know Sarah's no longer on the site, but I was determined to take him far because he was so close to my heart. Despite it all, he didn't let anyone stop him from pushing on forwards and proving to himself that maybe he's not this emotionless, broken guy from the past, and instead a real contender with a purpose. He never wanted to kill for sport, it was always a get in, get out kind of situation, and I think, if he had won, he would have finally been able to live a life of peace. Placed 2nd. Throat ripped open by Isabella "Izzy" Moire.
Isabella "Izzy" Moire, Sixteen, District Five Female. Izzy, Izzy, Izzy. You have always been excellent. I loved her eccentricity and her uniqueness, that sense of weirdness that puts people off and leaves her outcasted. She was always the one who people didn't give a second glance, the one who was bullied just because of her differences. The readers of this story saw something different. They saw a light in her, a fire that wouldn't give up. Combine that with her brightness and easy-breezy personality, I was done for. I had an instant liking for writing her and when I decided to make her victor, I knew I'd made the right choice. Tyler, it's been a long time coming for this one, and for that, I apologise. Somehow though, I hope everything I've written has been so much more worth it, and that her journey to victory was a great one to read. With all of my victors, I love to teach people a lesson, to tell a story. In Izzy's case; just because you're seen as the lowest of the low, it doesn't mean you can't show them what you're worth - and Izzy did exactly that. Victor.
Well, there we have it. Two updates in one week and your victor.
I don't even know what to think right now, I'm in shock. I've done it! The finale is over.
What do you think about the finale?
Are you happy with the victor?
What advice do you have for me to get better in future stories?
Congratulations to BamItsTyler for his most recent victor! Izzy was truly an incredible character and I'm so glad that I was able to tell the story of how she won alongside all the other tributes of Picking Up The Pieces.
Yes, I know, some of you are likely going to say that Izzy's victory was predictable - but we all know why.
When I first uploaded a summary way back when I made Izzy my victor. While a lot of placements changed, my plans for Izzy were still the same, and obviously, it would be kinda mean for me to take away Tyler's victor when I'd already given him one. A few of you have read that summary so…it's not much of a surprise.
Still, I was dedicated to finishing this story, and I have very nearly done that! Thank you for sticking with me thus far and for your tremendous support – I hope you'll stay with me for the final two chapters of this story.
If you choose to stop reading here, I hope you've enjoyed our journey to the end of the arena, and I hope to see you over at Borrowed Time!
Over and out!
~Mental