Chapter 47:

Barathea Pallas, District Eight, Age 14

Victor of the 122nd Hunger Games

Barathea is really starting to feel foolish for ever hoping that a new Head Gamemaker would mean the streak of career victors would finally be broken. Eight years and only one victor like her, a weak younger tribute from the outer Districts. She had wanted to hope so she wouldn't lose all of her will to fight.

But she's starting to feel really damn hopeless now and doesn't know how much longer she can keep fighting to stay alive. Not when it seems pointless.

Day five and all six careers are still alive, making up half the remaining tributes, just proving to everyone that Lisia Arune is going to be just like her predecessor: a career loving piece of shit. It's some real fucking bullshit in Barathea's mind.

But still she finds herself lingering in the trees near the cornucopia, keeping an eye on the careers. Probably a bit masochistic to watch them and know when her death is approaching. She isn't even trying to fool herself into thinking she's doing it to keep an eye on her enemies or whatever bullshit others have told themselves. She just wants to have a heads up if they are coming her way.

And…well, there is that small part of her that's been curious how the daily events work. But from up above, the large stone pieces surrounding the cornucopia that sometimes move along worn-out tracks means nothing to her. Surely the Capitol is controlling the pieces so no point wasting precious energy figuring it out. Energy she barely has any left to spare. Maybe she'll just die of starvation before she figures it out, or pass out from exhaustion and fall to her death out of the tree. Seems easier than letting the careers stab her to death.

She shuts her eyes to try to doze off, but the faint beeping sound has her eyes shooting open in disbelief. She's only ever heard that noise watching past Games – no one has wanted to sponsor her. But there it is, a canister floating down to her. But immediately she is on guard at the gold color, not the traditional silver… She doesn't trust whatever is inside, but it lands right in her lap and has her name on the lid, leaving her with no choice but to open it.

She doesn't have the energy left to be hopeful about what's inside.

The lid pops open easily and she finds a wooden board folded up inside. When she opens it up, she squints at the game board and tries to move one of the pieces, but they're firmly stuck on it. Yet there's a familiarity to it and she turns it around as she looks down below, until it finally matches up. A grin slowly spreads across her face as she gets the answer that's been bugging her about how they move.

The glass dome in the center lights up as fog swirls inside it, until a message appears. "Barathea…roll the dice to decide what new fate awaits."

Yeah…no way this is going to go well. But hey, who knows, maybe things will work out in her favor. She snorts at that thought as she picks up the dice and tosses them on the board. Yeah right, she's not a career. Things won't be in her favor.

Even her roll is pitiful, a measly three. But as one of the pieces moves on the board, there's a great rumbling of stone and she looks down to see the careers moving out of the way as the corresponding piece moves below. They all have their weapons out as they look around, seeming to know what was going on.

Barathea's attention is drawn back to the board when the piece stops and more words start to appear. "Stampede."

Oh shit.

She tosses the board away from her so she can cling tightly to the tree and it goes crashing to the ground, but the careers are too distracted by the rumbling sound in the distance to pay attention to her. She looks in the direction of the increasing noise and starts to hear some animal sounds as the careers begin to run, but there's no escaping the stampede.

All sorts of animals come barging out of the jungle and smashing through the careers' camp as they try to flee and Barathea shuts her eyes after seeing one of them get stepped on by an elephant. She just clings to the tree as it shakes, hearing the animals run by and the screams of the careers, and waits and waits for it to end. The animals soon run off to a different part of the arena but she can still hear them in the distance, until finally…

There's silence.

She starts peeking open her eyes to look around but quickly shuts them as she jumps at the new sound filling the arena. The cannons ring in her eyes as they fire one after another until they stop…at six.

No…it's too good to be true… The entire career pack wasn't just wiped out by her roll…

Yet she slowly looks down below her as the hovercrafts appear and watches as they pick up one after another. Sure enough, all six careers are taken away, leaving her speechless when the hovercrafts leave. Silence surrounds her, not even broken up by any animals, as she stares in shock, until finally a laugh starts bubbling out of her, slowly at first until she is full blown cackling, clutching her side as it hurts.

But her laughter stops suddenly when the branch under her snaps and she doesn't have time to catch herself before she starts falling towards the ground, crying out as she hits branches along the way. When she finally hits the ground, the air is knocked out of her and she gasps as her whole body aches.

"Okay…," she says quietly out loud as she starts coughing for a few seconds. That was not fair…her branch was study enough to keep her up. Guess Lisia didn't like her getting too cocky. "Ego check duly noted, thanks," she adds a thumbs up before her arm flops down beside her.

She just lays there for a few minutes, body throbbing in pain and a little worried that she broke something – she can feel something sharp beneath her. She slowly rolls over, wincing and whimpering in pain, only to find it's a piece of broken branch. She tosses it aside before shakily getting to her feet, her leg almost giving out on her. But she sets off towards the cornucopia to see what remains there, now that it's free for the taking.

Tonight she is going to feast and then tomorrow… She will set out towards victory, now that she has a new hope inside her.

And there we have Barathea Pallas, victor of the 122nd Games! Also known as the woman who threw Seraphim into a table once lol. This marks a new era with Lisia as the Head Gamemaker and she showed right away that she isn't going to play by the rules. I love a good Jumanji themed arena lol.

Been slowly working on this here and there so the stockpile is remaining lol. I think I'm up to...Jarle? Yeah, I think Jarle is next to write, so I have through 130th written at this point. It's weird to finally be getting to the well-known victors of my verse after starting this project so long ago lol.

Next up, the other half of the most well-known ship in my verse and I'd say probably one of, if not the most well-known of my victors!