I put Siobhan instead of Aurelia in the Five obits. Oops! 5 and 6 look similar so I have a hard time. I'll put Aurelia with Tony if he dies.
Andromeda Dior- District One female
Geysers of mud and water rose in a trail as Pik ran in front of me. He had the advantage in stride and height. He also had a hard-earned store of endurance, won from a lifetime of hard labor instead of years training at the Academy. It was why I'd been trailing him by as much as I did. That and the old fable about the hare and the hound.
The only problem with my chosen weapons was how close I had to get to use them. Against another Career, fighting face-to-face, I could give as good as I got. Against a fleeing outlier, I had to work for it. But that was where I shone. Another Career might have given up by now- broken off to find easier prey. But no matter how my legs ached, or my side hitched, or my throat burned, I was set. Whatever it took, I would catch him.
I darted off to one side, herding Pik into deeper water, where we would both be slowed and I could catch my breath as I closed in. He overbalanced and half-fell, catching himself as the water slowed his fall. We left two wakes behind us as we ran through the increasingly deep water. It became more of a swim once it got to waist-deep. Clouds of silt darkened the water around Pik like a breadcrumb trail giving him away.
Swimming wasn't my strong suit, but to my relief, it wasn't Pik's either. I'd grown up a city slicker and he'd grown up among waves of crops instead of water. The distance between us stayed the same as we both clumsily dog-paddled. I was aware of how comical we must have looked from an overhead view. The joke would be over when I caught him.
Pik lit out for a patch of solid ground. Clearly he planned to start running and capitalize on the distance he could get while I was still getting out of the water. It would mean a lot more work for me if he pulled it off. He surged onto the ground like a lungfish and started to run.
Pik Reynolds- District Eleven male
I was not a fighter. I was a runner. As soon as I saw Andromeda, I booked it. Zigzagging, darting and weaving, running, swimming, whatever it took. I was panting with how long I'd been running and my legs tingled. I was getting that slack feeling I got after a ten-hour shift in the fields.
When I saw solid land almost in front of me, I changed course, shivering at how Andromeda gained on me. I made it to the land and practically vaulted out of the water. My feet slid down into almost-solid mud and I pushed off into a run.
Two steps later, I looked behind. Andromeda was still swimming. I had maybe ten seconds' head start before she reached land. In the corner of my eye, I saw the mud under me roil. A mud-covered arm snaked up and grabbed my ankle. Medusa's torso rose into view as she yanked my leg, pitching me face-first into the mud.
I'm caught I'm caught I'm caught!
Every thought fled. Like a pinned rabbit tearing at the trap until it stops its own heart, I tried and failed to rise twice. Medusa grabbed my collar and pulled herself up through the mud underneath me. I kicked and felt her yelp, but it only slowed her for a second. Her arm moved like a piston as she stabbed me over and over with a dagger, pushing up until I was lifted off her by the force of the blow. Andromeda waded in to the edge of the land and stopped to rest, hands on her knees, head down as she panted. I caught the look she flashed at Medusa and knew I hadn't been herded into deep water at all. I'd been herded here.
Medusa Gorgona- District Two female
"Nice," Andromeda said when she'd caught her breath.
"Next time you get buried in mud," I said. It sounded odd when it came out. I poked my tongue around in my mouth, feeling at the blood from where Pik kicked me, and it slid across a freshly jagged tooth that sent a flash of pain through my jaw. My whole face still throbbed from the impact.
"You sound funny," Andromeda said.
"You gotta be kidding. He broke my tooth!" I said. I pushed my lip up and pointed out my newly serrated lateral incisor.
"Ooooh," Andromeda said, cringing sympathetically. "That's pretty metal, though."
15th place: Pik Reynolds- Stabbed by Medusa
The Careers are finally starting to hedge their bets and play this for the long haul. Pik went into this doing what most of us would have done: running like a dog. And it got to 15th place, which he wouldn't have gotten if he'd fought. But you can only run so far, especially when two Careers post themselves on either side of you. This Arena is not kind to runners. Pik would have hidden and did as long as he could, but once Andromeda and Medusa saw him (before he saw them) it was game over. Thanks Lupin for an unabashedly realistic-about-his-odds and baldly pragmatic Tribute.
Short chapter since it was three POVs of one scene and adding something else would be awkward.
