Arkane Erransaw (16) D11M

I was the first person to notice the other tribute nearby us. She was a couple yards away, far enough that she likely could have remained hidden easily enough, but that didn't matter too much. She was another tribute, meaning she was either with us for now, or she was against us, as everyone would be soon enough. We had to find out, no matter the cost, and we had to do it before she had time to make a plan against us.

"You see her?" I asked Amelia first, making a small gesture towards the girl. Of course, my District partner had to be the first person I spoke to. She was, after all, the closest thing I had to home, the closest piece to me of my family. She was the most trusted person in the alliance, at least to me. I wasn't going to break that trust, even if she didn't yet hold it for me.

"Hm?" was the first response I got, followed by a widening of Amelia's eyes when she saw the other tribute, crouched underneath a counter. She quickly called the rest of the alliance together, and we had to make a game plan.

"She can't kill us all," Lumara said, notably unsure of herself. The girl was hiding behind a bunch of weapons, for goodness sake. She might not be able to take down five people, but she could definitely take down one or two.

"Better we approach her before she gets to us," Nyle stated, and we all knew he was right. None of us wanted to get shot. None of us wanted to be sixteenth, following behind in others' footsteps. We were doing the best we could to stay kicking, and none of us was willing to die to let the others live.

"Either we risk one of us dying now, or all of us dying in a sneak attack. We have no choice but to approach her. She has a bow and arrow. That could snipe us from so far away," I said, and again, we all knew it was the truth. We had to risk one of us getting shot. We had to risk one of us getting killed.

"We all approach at once," Lumara said, looking around to make sure everyone was all right with that. "It'll scare her more, but that's the intent. Shooting one tribute isn't half as dangerous as shooting the ally of four nearby tributes, and we need her to know what she's getting into from the get-go. Maybe she's a friendly, but we can't assume anything.

We all nodded, Jacob grabbing a gallon of oil and Lumara grabbing her chest, presumably to whack the girl on the head with. What other choice did we have?

Nyle van Buren (17) D12M

It was decided that I'd lead the meeting, for some reason. Surely sending one of the strongest, tallest males was the best option for not scaring a child. The good news was that Amelia was right beside me. She was muscular, sure, but less intimidating to someone who didn't know they were being approached. People tended to assume women wouldn't attack.

"Hey," Amelia whispered once we were within hearing range of the girl. Amelia had crouched down, trying to seem as unintimidating as possible, and I followed suit, motioning to my allies behind me to do the same. The last thing we needed was a fight with a girl with... was that a key? And oh my gosh they have a bunch of guns what sort of weird grocery store just sells guns?!

Immediately, the girl jumped, pointing her crossbow at us. Amelia's hands flew up, as did mine, and she spoke quickly and quietly. "Hey, we don't wanna hurt you. We want you to join our alliance. We'd be even more of a powerhouse, and you wouldn't have to worry about being so close to us. Plus, there's no way you can kill all five of us. Just don't try." I was initially amazed by Amelia's diplomacy, then let down by her abruptness. Some people.

"You're... the big alliance. The one that can take down the Careers, probably," the girl slowly realized, lowering her bow. "I'm Rhiannon. I don't wanna shoot you or anything. I just had to be safe. You know. Better safe than sorry." With a nervous chuckle, Rhiannon set down her bow, looking at the rest of us. Her face lit up in surprise when she saw Lumara's chest. "Hey, is that thing locked?"

"How... how did you know that?" Lumara asked guardedly. She didn't trust this newcomer any more than I did. We befriended her out of necessity, not kindness.

"I have the key, right here. Do you wanna open it? You can use the key if you want," Rhia said, offering out the item she must have been sponsored. Lumara took it and carefully opened the box, all of us flinching while hoping we weren't being bombed or something. There was always a chance of someone being insane with their sponsor gifts.

"What's that?" Jacob asked, showing no understanding of the metal cylinder. Lumara was shaking with excitement.

"That's a bomb. We just won the Games."

Cassiopeia Palassaqua (17) D2F

"Are you ready? You sure?" I asked Gallant, making sure he had everything he needed. Alexandria was taking care of Prosper, making sure no one was severely injured, making sure no one had forgotten anything. Really, they could have easily taken care of themselves. They were both grown and both Careers. We just wanted to fuss over them for a bit to pretend we weren't sending members to hunt right after one of our own was killed, to pretend that there wasn't a chance they'd run into the huge alliance and die. Even Careers could pretend.

Once the boys - men? - were gone, Alexandria turned to me. "They're an alliance, you know," she said calmly, not bothering to sugarcoat it. "They could up and leave. Sure, we have the deli, but they have... weapons. The Arena." Brute strength went unmentioned, though we both knew that, if it came down to it, we'd lose the fistfight.

"They're... they're not gonna do that," I said, admittedly unsure of myself. "If anyone, it'd be Prosper. Gallant... Gallant's a good guy. Even if we had to play the damsel in distress role, which would be embarrassing but perhaps a necessary evil, he wouldn't leave. We have that hold on him." He won't abandon people. Prosper likes art, so just convince him you're a work of it. Alexandria won't lose the factory. Be important to it. Even subconsciously, I knew how to manipulate. Now that it was conscious, it was all so clear.

"You really trust him. That's good. I'm sure they won't leave, too. We'd be too much of a threat, and there are so many tributes left that it'd be idiotic. Always gotta test people," Alexandria said. I knew she was lying through her teeth, but I was too polite to call her out on it. It wasn't worth risking having her trust me less. I'd have to put up with it.

Suddenly, I heard footsteps behind us, coming from the opposite way Gallant had gone. I automatically turned to see who it was, only to find someone frantically biking away from us. What? I casually noted the hissing noise coming from behind me, then actively noted it. Oh my gosh there's a hissing noise, that's never a good thing.

"Get rid of it!" Alexandria yelled, grabbing onto the canister behind me. "It's... gas, I think!" Gas was enough to make a Career tremble. Gas was unavoidable.

A gas would spread to the size of its container.

Alexandria St. John (18) D1F

Grabbing onto the canister didn't work. The second I touched it I could feel my hand get seared by the metal, which had obviously latched onto any heat that was near it. Even through my shirt, which I took off to wrap around the bomb, it burned. It burned to the point where my hand pulled back before I could make myself throw it, before I could really latch.

Still, I had to try. Cassiopeia was coughing up a storm, and I could feel the coughs I was barely holding in. I kicked the canister away, followed it, and kicked it again and again and again before heading over to my ally. "We're fine," I coughed out, trying to drag her away from the deli. "We're fine. We've gotta get away."

Her knees were weak. She fell to the ground, taking me down with her for just a second. I fell down with her, realizing slowly that I couldn't get up. The gas? Is it in my clothes? Am I paralyzed? How could this...

Surprise! I'm finally back. This story is currently in leeway as I quietly consider handing it off to LCS, who has volunteered to handle it for me while I'm having a terrible time trying to write. Hmu if you hate this idea or love it so I know what the fans think!

16th Place: Cassiopeia Palassaqua - Poison gas

Cassiopeia was real cool. Her submitter talked to me to make sure I could handle writing her, since she had some in-depth ideas to her. Honestly, I probably couldn't, at least not quite all the way, but here we are. I tried with her, and she was, doubtlessly, cool. Thank you to 66samvr for sending me a real contender, and for making sure I could handle her

15th Place: Alexandria St. John - Poison gas

She was so close, but she couldn't quite make it. It wouldn't have been in character for her to help Cassiopeia, except she thought she was safe to do it - no point in risking ticking off the Capitol, and it seemed safe enough. Alexandria was pretty interesting, with a neat family dynamic, but she wasn't quite the Victor I saw. Thank you to Caleb for Alexandria, who did stand a real chance. Just less of one than her allies now do.

Yes, the poison gas was a sponsor gift. I likely wouldn't have allowed something that's such a powerhouse unless it was going to happen anyways, which is funny, because it wasn't submitted as one. It was called "poison gas" without strength being specified, so I made it fast-action. I needed to get enough deaths in that I could handle writing the story, and that I could propel things forward.

Note: I haven't forgotten the loners (though now, with only two Careers, they'll be more prevalent). I also haven't forgotten cannons. I'm just dragging my feet here and this was all that got written. Better late than never!