Chapter 39:

Darach Westmann, District Two, Age 18

Victor of the 114th Hunger Games

Darach has no idea what to expect from the arena as he steps into the launch tube. He has no references, no previous years of the Head Gamemaker's creations to look at. But everyone else also has no idea what to expect from Grisham, and that's reassuring. Evens out the playing field – not that it's even to start with the training available to careers.

He knows he's about to enter the arena, and yet, he doesn't feel that nervous about it. Just that same kind of nervous excitement he's always felt before any big test in the training centers where his skills are being put on the line, make or break it. This is just the biggest test of all. But he knows what he is capable of and exactly what he is going to do. Why feel nervous about that? He's the best trained volunteer District Two has had in years. If he doesn't win…well that's some rigged bullshit happening. But in a test of skill alone? Darach wins against all of the other tributes.

The tube closes around him and Darach takes a deep breath before rolling his shoulders and stretching his arms, feeling his heart rate starting to pick up in the anticipation of a good fight. Soon, the platform begins to rise beneath him, pushing him up towards the surface. Darach puts his shoulders back and stands tall, wanting the Capitol to know there is no fear in him as he enters the arena.

Darach can feel himself starting to sweat almost immediately when he enters the sticky summer air of the arena and the sun beats down on him, the canopy surrounding them not blocking the sun in his current position. A cacophony of sounds hits him from a plethora of wildlife he's never heard before in person surrounding them as they stand at the edge of a jungle. In the distance, he can hear the sound of rushing water, something other tributes are noticing as they look towards it and the promise of safety – and danger from everyone else knowing what it offers. Darach turns his focus to the valley they stand around, the cornucopia sitting in the center surrounded by so many tempting supplies. It will be easy to get down to it, but to get back up…well, Darach doubts some of the tributes are thinking about the challenge to get back up the hill to safety, leaving their backs vulnerable to the careers.

Darach stands there, waiting to feel something about the arena and yet, just that nervous excitement. Not anything to freeze him up, but just enough to make him want to prove everything he is capable of. And really, it's just like the training exercises…except instead of dummies or blunt weapons, the blades surrounding the cornucopia look very sharp and the tributes are very much alive.

Just pretend it's like in Two.

Darach braces himself to run down the hill as the timer reaches thirty seconds, taking the time to assess the tributes near him. None of the careers are close to him, which is just what he wants. No one to take away the kills he's about to earn – especially since most seem tempted to at least venture partially down the hill for some bags.

Three…two…one…

Darach jumps off the platform immediately at the sound of gong, moving not towards the cornucopia but instead to the tribute closest to him, the younger boy from Six, as he nervously steps off his platform, seeming unsure what direction he wants to go. But that hesitation is all the time Darach needs to reach him and quickly snap his neck, letting his body drop to the ground and roll a bit down the hill.

Darach doesn't think before running down towards the cornucopia, doesn't dwell at all on the tribute he just killed. It's like any other training exercise: get in, make as many kills as possible, and don't let the other careers do better than him.

The next tribute falls quickly at his hands, the girl from Nine as she struggles to get back up the hill after grabbing a bag. Her scream fills the air before suddenly getting silenced, and Darach keeps moving. As he runs down the hill, he gets one more kill, and then he slows as he reaches the weapons, feeling himself smiling a little at the excitement in him over using them, at feeling the power of handling them efficiently.

Darach picks up a belt of throwing knives and gets one ready to throw immediately as he steps out of the cornucopia, lining up the shot for a split second before throwing it into the back of a tribute, getting a cry of frustration from Lexine as she was heading towards that same tribute. But Darach's focus has become tunneled, only able to think about the knives in his hands and where they'll land next. He doesn't hear the screams of the tributes as they try to get away from the cornucopia, regretting their decision to risk their lives for supplies. He doesn't count them as they fall, their bodies often rolling down the hill and coming to a stop not too far from where he stands.

It's only when the screams have stopped and he can't spot anymore tributes running that he becomes aware of what is going on around him, of the carnage surrounding the cornucopia. He's breathing heavy as he turns around, finding only his allies standing nearby and wearing a variety of uncertain expressions as they stare at him holding a knife poised to throw and hold their own weapons at the ready. "Is it over?" Darach asks stupidly as he lowers his hand, but keeps ahold of the knife.

"Is it over?" Roxy repeats, scoffing and shaking her head as she gestures around at them. "Uh, yeah, I'd say it's over alright."

Darach follows her gestures, counting up all the bodies he can see on the ground and… "Oh," Darach mutters, feeling his eyebrows starting to raise at the high count, but stopping the action before the others can see his surprise. He had just gotten so focused on getting as many kills as possible, he didn't even stop to think about how many there were… "How many did you kill?"

"I got one and so did Roxy," Tore says apprehensively as Roxy nods her head in agreement, looking Darach over as he stands there. He glances down at his hands, finding blood on them from some of the tributes he killed.

"One from me as well," Armand adds as he pokes his head out from inside the cornucopia. He glances over at his District partner as Lexine stands there, arms crossed and scowling at Darach, before going back inside the cornucopia to stay out of it.

"So how many does that make?" Darach continues to ask stupidly as Av approaches him slowly, no blood on her at all. Not a single kill from her? Disappointing. Wait…no, he shouldn't think that way about Av.

"Eleven," Av says, bringing Darach's gaze away from where he was starting to scan the bodies scattered around them. He blinks a couple times and raises his eyebrows as he does the math in his head – yes, he can handle this kind of math, he's not that kind of brutish career – and lets out a whistle when he realizes just how many kills he made.

Eight. That…that passes any previous record for bloodbath kills since the Second Rebellion.

Pride swells in Darach's chest and he starts to smile at the achievement, before a wave of guilt smacks into him as he realizes what that means. Yes, he just got eight kills…kills. That's eight tributes now dead at his hands. Not even one hour into the Games and they're already at the halfway point, thanks mostly to him.

Wow…

But they have to die for him to win. Be it in the bloodbath or day eight or fifteen – although he doubts these Games will last that long at this rate – eventually they would all die. It's better for them to die now and not get their hopes up for Darach to crush them…right?

"Darach… We're down to half of the tributes already," Av says in disbelief as she takes a hesitant step back from his slowly. She refuses to meet his gaze as he stands there, breathing heavy as he stares at the arena around them, staring at the bloodstained ground, the bodies… "You killed most of them."

Darach turns his gaze back to Av when he starts to recognize the wavering fear in her voice, the same bit of fear she had just before the chariots and their interviews. But now…now that fear is directed towards him. "It's the Hunger Games, Av," Darach responds, turning his head away from her and focusing on wiping his bloody hands off on his clothes. If he doesn't look at her, he can pretend he doesn't see the fear towards him in her eyes and ignore the unknown feeling rising up in his stomach from it. "I'm just doing exactly what Kat told me to do."

With that, Darach walks away from Av, unable to stand near her any longer, not if he wants to push down these unwanted feelings in him right now. But as he moves closer to the cornucopia where their allies are sorting through supplies and watching him carefully, the metallic scent of blood fills his nose. Blood he was responsible for. Darach's steps slow as he tries to push back everything in him right now. He didn't expect killing to be so…so easy. It was so easy to take a life for him, so easy to drive a knife into their neck or a sword through their chest. So easy to take away the life from their eyes in a moment. But after…that part isn't easy at all.

And Darach so badly wishes he could completely ignore the aftermath of taking that many lives.

Darach has to keep moving. If he forces himself to keep moving and have something else to focus on, he can hold back the guilt threatening to overwhelm him. And…fear. Fear that he can kill so easily without blinking an eye in the moment. He doesn't know who he'll become if he lets himself think through everything that has happened in these first few moments of the Games. But he knows he won't make it out alive if he does dwell on it.

That's it. No feelings, absolutely none while he's in this arena. Darach needs to just focus on killing as quickly and efficiently as he can to get their numbers down to one and hear them announce his name as the victor. He can deal with the aftermath of all of this when he's safe and back home in Two, living in the Victor's Village.

That is, if he even wants to deal with these feelings at all…

Another week of content from another story lol oops XD But I wasn't gonna go write new stuff when I wrote Darach's Games lol. So there we have one of my favorite dumbasses, Darach Westmann! And, you know, if you liked this and want more Darach, you can go read Ashes if you like and see his full Games (plus the infamous plant ripping story lol).

Alright, next week will be back to back D2 victories - and a very fun arena with a very sneaky victor. He's a fun one so I'm looking forward to that!