We'll never get free
Lamb to the slaughter
What you gon' do
When there's blood in the water?

Pluto Rose

District 1, Female

Boom!

The deafening noise sounded for the 22nd time as the boy from 2's head rolled through my legs. Ethan was strong and good with a sword, his only weakness was his compassion and sympathy. He had shown me mercy the night before when the last 2 cannons sounded to signal it was the final 3, Ethan and I had promised it wouldn't come down to the 2 of us. Therefore, I had stood, staring into his chestnut eyes, waiting for the moment he'd strike but it never came, we stood there for a little while, weapons in hand, just waiting until he finally dropped his long, thin sword that would've cut me in half in an instant and slid into his sleeping bag without another word.

I sat on the log beside his resting body for a couple of hours, I knew what I had to do and I was in no way dreading it but in some way, I felt bad for him. He could've won, he could've easily towered upon me and shot his sword right through my skull and done the same to the District 3 girl but he didn't. His mistake. Never hesitate was the one thing my sister had told me at the goodbyes and as I thought of it, I decided it was now or never. As silent as possible, I slipped the knife from the right of my belt and kneeled beside his head.

"Goodbye, Ethan." I had whispered before cutting straight through his neck, I didn't stop cutting until the head was off. I then sat, waiting, waiting for something to happen, anything to start the final battle, the one fight that finally decided if I had wasted my life or fulfilled it. It felt like months as I kneeled beside the boy I had just killed and waited, all the way up until I assumed that nothing was going to happen, but no. This is The Hunger Games after all. The forest fire began just 100 meters left from me, the trees began falling and my lungs filled with smoke.

My usual Cheshire cat grin appeared upon my face as I let the fire surround me, this finale is going to be no fun without a little action, I thought. As soon as it looked as if the flames were about to engulf me, I rolled through an opening that I spotted before the fire had even started, this is going to be fun. As a tree beside me fell, I made sure to barely miss it as I dove out of the way before sprinting toward an exit in the fire and pulling a couple of acrobatics I had learned in my spare time.

As I approached the clearing of grass, a strong wind began to blow, pushing smoke from the blazing fire around me and making it hard to see. Just a little more fun, the Gamemakers wanted us to be blinded. I stifled a laugh as I heard the coughs from the District 3 Girl, Eliza, she was short and round and - as far as my knowledge went - had done nothing but hide and outlive. Not a worthy victor. Not a worthy competitor. Which meant I just had to add a little more fun to this. I saw the silhouette of the girl as she walked through the smoke, one hand to her mouth as she coughed and the other holding a short knife.

I slipped behind her and teased the audience by faking a clear shot at her back. Then, I began to tap her on the shoulder and giggle before slipping off into the smoke. For the grand finale, I screamed and fell over in front of her, I saw her smile, she knew she was going to win. The shock was in my eyes as she approached me but it quickly turned into fake pleading. She kneeled over the top of me and that's when I made my move, stabbing my knife right through the center of her stomach and again, and again all around her torso. I must have stabbed her at least 30 times before she finally fell limp and the last cannon sounded.

"The Victor of the 98th Hunger Games...Pluto...Rose!"

I laughed to myself, that wasn't too hard.

A/N: Hey all! I hope you enjoyed the first intro/chapter to my SYOT. All information for submitting is on my profile and I'd appreciate it if you checked it out and maybe sent a PM my way. Just to let you know, the chapters won't always be very long and if you dislike that, you don't have to read it! I'm doing this out of pure enjoyment and in no way want to turn it into work. Thanks!

- neb