Crash Hatch, 11
District Two Quell Male

"One last time, ladies and gentlemen, the tributes of the One Hundredth Hunger Games!"

Crash filed onto the stage with the other tributes for what one of the black-clothed people termed "The Grand Finale." Really, the finale didn't feel all that grand; it was just the tributes all standing awkwardly on stage together as the Capitolites cheered wildly. To Crash, it just felt like a waste of time. If there was no grand finale, he would have been able to go back to his floor ages ago; instead, he had to putz around in the green room for two hours just to stand on stage for maybe two minutes.

It was all just stupid.

Thankfully, as soon as the feed cut out and the lights went down, Acacia grabbed Crash's hand and bolted to the elevators, with Nikau and Smash close behind. The Twos managed to get on the first elevator to come and went straight to their floor, rushing for a last chance to strategize before the launch.

It was only when they arrived on their floor that Crash sensed… something. He wasn't quite sure what it was, but the atmosphere in the room had definitely changed since they left for the interviews. Crash could only assume that things were different because they were something like sixteen hours away from the start of the Games. He brushed his concerns away and casually took a seat on the couch, looking to the mentors for directions. "Take some time to decompress," Brutus instructed. "We will check in after dinner for our final preparations."

As Brutus retreated to the mentors' wing of the floor, Smash took a seat on the other couch, as far away from her brother as she could. The normally bubbly, happy girl seemed uncharacteristically subdued; curled tightly into a ball in the corner of the couch, she seemed completely uninterested in talking to anyone. Something was clearly different about his sister. And what kind of a brother would Crash be if he didn't investigate?

What was the worst that could happen?

"Smaaaaash," Crash crowed, getting up and approaching his sister.

"Shut up," Smash murmured.

"What's going on? Got too worn out from the interviews?"

"Leave me alone."

"Come on! Don't you want to strategize?" A smirk formed on Crash's face. "We have things to do, preparations to make! The Games are so soon!"

"Shut UP!" Smash snapped. She pushed Crash out of the way and stormed off. A moment later, the door to her room slammed shut with such force that a vase fell off a pedestal and shattered.

"What happened?" asked Zareth Cullen, coming into the common room from the other hallway.

"I don't know," Crash fibbed. "She was just on the couch and then she stormed off."

"Let me go check in on her. I'm sure she'll be fine."

Crash knew that he should leave his sister alone, that nothing good would come out of following Zareth towards Smash's room. But he'd never felt a burning curiosity quite like this before. So, against his better judgement, he crept over to Smash's door and positioned himself a few feet away from it, as far away as he could be while still able to hear the words that snuck between the door and the frame.

"The interview was just… so hard," came the wavering voice of Smash. "I didn't think it would be, but she asked these questions and I… I don't know."

"What don't you know about?"

"I don't know if I can do this! Celestia kept pushing me and asking how I felt about being so young and so unprepared and getting one of the lowest Career scores and I know I've spent forever training but… I just don't know."

"You don't know what?" Zareth nudged.

"I don't know if I can do this!" Smash broke down into violent sobs, sniffling like a child far younger than she.

It occurred to Crash that he had never heard his sister cry.

"I know this is scary, Smash," Zareth cooed. "But you have a lot going for you! You have a lot of potential for someone of your age, and I'm sure you'll be able to catch the other tributes by surprise in the Arena. Plus, you have a great team to help you out – me and the other mentors and your district partners too. The Games are hard. I don't want to downplay that. But you can definitely do this. You just have to believe in yourself."

Crash had never heard any Victor from Two speak as softly and kindly as Zareth. Every adult figure in his life had been so harsh on him and his sister, so intent on pushing them as hard and as far as they could, that he couldn't remember the last time that he heard someone speak with compassion. Crash was unsettled by that thought and chose to push it out of his mind. Now was not the time for an existential crisis.

After a few minutes, Smash's sobs had subsided. "Thank you," she said softly. "I feel better."

"Good! It's OK to be scared, but everyone is going to do everything we can to help you out."

Crash took that as his cue to scurry back to the couch where he'd been sitting before. He quickly picked up one of the books on the coffee table and flipped to a random page, hoping to seem like he'd been there the whole time. A moment later, Smash's door creaked open and the girl crept out, avoiding looking at anyone with her red-rimmed eyes. She sat back in the same spot on the couch, but this time, Zareth sat next to her, placing a hand softly on her shoulder. He looked over at Crash and gave the boy a knowing look, then turned his attention back to Smash.

The more Crash sat, the odder he felt. He had assumed he'd want to gloat to Smash when she came out, to point out the irony of her constant insistence that he wasn't ready for the Arena when, in fact, it was she who felt more unprepared now. But now… now Crash wasn't so sure. Something about seeing his sister so broken had hit a nerve that Crash didn't even know he had.

Was it possible that Crash cared about his sister?

No, that was preposterous. They'd been pitted against each other for their whole lives. He couldn't start to care for her now of all places.

Not while his life was at stake.

Orchid Ursinia, 16
District Eleven Standard Female

"All right, guys! We need to talk about a few things," Rue called, summoning her tributes into the common room.

"Can I keep doodling?" Orchid asked, hard at work at the dining table.

"Sure, but I will have to ask you to pause at some point. I have a task that I need you to complete."

"A task?"

"Yeah. I've been given very few specifics, but they told me they needed it done within two hours of interviews ending, so that's what we're going to do. Now. Cyei, you're here, Camden, you're here… do any of you know where Quiinn is?"

"We got separated after the interviews. I got these two up here, but I haven't seen him since."

"Well, hopefully he gets here soon. I don't want to have to face Amethyst if this doesn't get done."

The Elevens waited for a few minutes, the two younger kids chattering casually amongst themselves while Orchid continued to draw. But there was still no sign of Quiinn. With every second that ticked by, Orchid felt herself getting more and more irritated. Quiinn's disappearance was wasting valuable time that they could be using to help keep themselves safe! What kind of selfish idiot would do that?

"I think we have to start without him," Rue conceded. "Now. As I was telling Orchid a moment ago, we have a quick task we need to do before we can really start strategizing. What I need you guys to do is look through a list of supplies and pick out twelve of them, ranked in order by how much you want them. If you want two of an item, like two water bottles, you have to rank it separately. Does that kind of make sense? I don't know how well I explained it."

"What do you mean by rank it separately?" Camden asked, reaching out to take a tablet from Rue.

"Well, let's say you want two bottles of water. You need to put one in the first slot and one in the second slot, instead of just saying that you want two bottles."

Orchid scrolled through the list of supplies for a moment, then turned to Rue. "I assume these are going to play into the Arena somehow."

"I was not told that," Rue replied carefully, "but it's a pretty safe bet if you ask me."

"Are we going to get all of these supplies?"

"My understanding is no, but I don't know how many you will get. I don't know what the Gamemakers are cooking up. Which is why all of your first three slots are going to go, in order, water, trail mix, water. Between the four of you, that should be enough to get you through the crucial first few days in the Arena."

"What about weapons?" Cyei piped up.

"Well, now we can start to distribute the other supplies you guys think you'll need between you. I do agree with giving everyone a weapon if we can, but we need to think big picture too, about what things you guys need as a larger group. Why don't you guys all go through this and see what you'd be interested in having?"

Orchid skimmed the list of supplies, sorting them in her mind between useful and not useful. As she did so, she also noticed what was not on the list. Her interest in science had helped her cultivate an analytical mind, but she'd never really been able to use it back home, where science and math were nobody's priority. But now those skills were coming in handy, and that reality made her feel just a hair more confident, even as the odds seemed stacked against her; with her creative side sure to come in handy once she reached the Arena, maybe she did have a chance.

"Do you think there could be clues to the Arena based on the supplies?"

"Possibly. Why do you ask?"

"There's nothing here for warmth," Orchid pointed out. "No jackets, no blankets, not even a sleeping bag."

"Well, usually, if a jacket is deemed necessary, they'll just give it to you as part of your Arena outfit. But that's a good thing to notice, because it probably means the Arena will be somewhat warm, or at least not too cold. Great thinking."

"There's a lot here," Camden said. "Can we try to make some sort of a list as a group or something? I don't know what makes sense to pick."

"Yeah. Why don't we all go around and say three thing that we feel like would be valuable to have, and then we can compare between us?" If there's overlaps, maybe one person can rank higher a supply that someone else is prioritizing."

"Smart idea," Orchid confirmed. "It'd be much easier to distribute them if Quiinn was here…"

At that moment, the elevator dinged, and a flustered Quinn burst through the opening doors. "Hi! Hi. Sorry."

"Where were you?" Orchid exclaimed indignantly. "Why did you not come right back up here."

"Orchid…" Rue cautioned.

"I saw the two little kids from Eight wandering around like lost puppies," Quiinn explained. "I couldn't see anyone else from their district so I brought them up to their floor and then they had to do this supply thing but they were confused and nobody was helping them so I…" Quinn looked around at his district partners, processing the scene in front of him. "Oh."

"The interviews ended like an hour ago! That's not an excuse! You can't be prioritizing those pipsqueaks over our kids."

"OK, OK, what's done is done, Orchid. We need to focus with what time we have. Something like half a day from now, you will probably be in your launch rooms, beginning your final preparations for the Arena. We need to do everything we can in the next hour plus to make sure that you are as ready as possible tomorrow. Let's focus back in. Quiinn, you already know what we're doing. We established that we're all going to place water, food, and water in the first three slots in that order."

Rue quickly filled Quiinn in, then began to put together a list of preferred supplies from the others. But Orchid was making a second list in her head: the supplies that she didn't want to let Quiinn have. She couldn't understand how he was so willing to throw district loyalty to the wayside, how he could help other children when his brethren were right there. If he wasn't committed to his district outside of the Arena, there was no way he'd be loyal inside it.

Orchid wanted to survive, and she wanted to survive with her district partners beside her. If she couldn't trust Quiinn to help her, she'd have to do it herself.

Runar Theron, 16
District Five Standard Male

The moon shone brightly outside his window, surprising Runar by how well it permeated the haze of the Capitol's neon lights. He wished he could say he was awake because of just how bright it was in his room, because that was an easy problem to fix. No, Runar was being kept up by his thoughts, by the swirling ideas in his head that Runar was desperate to make sense of before he entered the Arena.

From the moment he set foot in the Capitol, Runar had not been able to shake the feeling that he was being watched.

Sure, there were probably cameras everywhere; nobody would say it to his face, but the way that his mentors were so careful with every word they said were a clear indicator that they were being watched. No, Runar had a feeling that someone was specifically keeping an eye on him.

It wasn't the kind of thing most people would notice. Even in the Capitol, wearing a black long-sleeved shirt and jeans made it easy to blend in with your surroundings. But Runar could identify this man by his sunglasses, unmistakable with their thin rims and a small, reflective circle in the corner of each lens. Runar had not seen a single other person wear those glasses: not the Peacekeepers, not the other Games staff, not even the Gamemakers.

And that man with the dang sunglasses seemed to be following him everywhere.

As soon as Runar arrived at the Capitol, the man was there, escorting him and his district partners to the Remake Center. During the chariot rides, he was there, first in the hangar where the tributes were preparing and then, somehow, in the President's Box at the end of the route (though Runar figured legs were faster than the chariot horses). Each and every day of training, he stood in the back of the Gamemakers' box, silently watching the tributes. And during the interviews, Runar had spotted the man in the President's Box again.

Yes, he could just be there to supervise the Games' proceedings, especially given the significance of the Quell. But that answer didn't feel right to Runar, because after the Fives had entered the Remake Center, the man hadn't gone back outside to escort another district; instead, he scanned a key card on a reader and disappeared through a doorway that magically appeared into the wall. And at the end of Runar's private session, he'd done the same thing; Runar caught a glimpse of him sneaking out of the Gamemakers' Box after he finished his time in the clHe room. It was all just too suspicious to be a coincidence.

If Runar's theory was right, he wasn't quite sure what to make of it. All things considered, he'd lived a normal life: he went to school, he hung out with his friends, he did his homework when he needed to. Most of the time. Sure, he'd be late to class every now and then, and sure, he wasn't always the best at the whole "don't talk in class" thing, and sure, not every homework assignment was turned in on time. But those weren't things that got you surveilled by the government, right? There were absolutely people who had done far worse things – two of them were in the Arena with him, after all.

Runar checked the clock by his bed and groaned. The glowing red 1:00 indicated that there were now eleven hours until he launched up into the Arena, and even fewer until he had to wake up to travel there. He was losing precious minutes of sleep every time he tossed and turned or checked the time or took yet another glance outside the window to see if this nightmare was over, if he was safely back in his bed in Five instead. Runar needed to find a way to settle down; nothing would be worse than going into the Arena on zero sleep. He needed to clear his thoughts.

Maybe the outside would help. Runar couldn't remember the last time he'd breathed fresh air. They were technically outside for the interviews, but it didn't feel like it, what with all of the people and the lights and the cameras and the stage and the chaos. For the first time that he could remember, Runar just needed some time to himself.

Runar slid out of bed and shuffled over to the elevator, which he took all the way up to the roof, a probably not-so-secret spot one of his mentors had told him about on his first night in the Capitol. As the doors opened, the boy was assaulted by a gust of wind that nearly knocked him off of his feet. It was warm, though, not unlike the gales that swept through wind tunnels in Five during the summer months. Fighting against the wind, Runar crept to the edge of the roof, curious to see what the Capitol looked like from above. Noticing the net that stretched all the way around the center, Runar sat down and let his legs dangle over the edge of the roof, awed by the city unfolding in front of him.

He'd never seen anything like it.

Thousands of people gathered in the streets, obviously partying in the lead-up to the Games, but from where Runar stood, they looked more like ants. Neon lights lit them in vibrant colors, and as the occasional car passed by, it honked at the partygoers, who responded with cheers loud enough to reach Runar, even this many stories up. It looked like it would be a fun block party to go to, if it weren't for the fact that the other attendees were celebrating his likely death.

Runar kicked his legs a few times, amused by the feeling of them breaking through the walls of wind that whistled through. He closed his eyes and breathed in, surprised by how fresh the air felt even in such an industrial city. The rhythmic noise of cars drifting by and the faint beat of music were somehow calming to Runar, reminding him of the sounds of factories whirring that he heard at home back in Five. But then, that sensation that he was being watched returned with a vengeance. Runar quickly opened his eyes and whipped his head around. He nearly jumped out of his skin when he realized that the same man, the one with the sunglasses, was there next to him! Why was he here? And what was he going to do to Runar?

But the man didn't seem upset, nor did he seem alarmed by the boy's presence. Instead, he carefully lowered his sunglasses, looking the boy dead in the eye. And what Runar saw rendered him more speechless than anything else he'd seen since he arrived at the Capitol. He was so stunned that he scrambled to his feet and bolted back to the elevator, completely unable to process what his gut was telling him.

How could the eyes behind the man's glasses possibly be the spitting image of Runar's own?

Well, it only took 21 months, but we made it! The last chapter before the Bloodbath. I'm so thankful to those of you who have stuck around this long; it was a long wait but I hope it's worth it!

First off, a huge thank you to Platrium, who sent Orchid my way. I know it's been the longest wait for you to see her but I hope this was worth it! Crash is my child though we've seen him a few times before. And another Runar POV for Reasons, some of which you might be able to guess. Laney has requested an apology from me for what I am going to do to him which I am more than happy to provide so I am very sorry for what I have planned.

I'm so excited to announce that I'll be posting the Bloodbath next week, sometime in the afternoon. If you're interested in sponsoring, please let me know ASAP because if your kid dies, they won't get the gift! The first few Games chapters especially will be on the shorter end, but that's because I'm going to be using chapter breaks for emphasis. My projection right now is that the story will come in at around 45 total chapters, with, I believe, two epilogues? But don't quote me on that. I'll be listing deaths out at the end of every chapter, but I won't be updating the kill tracker or alliance list until the end of each in-Games day, just because of how bulky they are with the number of kids I have. Eulogies will either be on my profile, or I'll be making a thread in my channel on Discord; if you'd like to join the server, please DM me for the link!

I think that's everything? If I forgot something, I'll probably post on Discord, so keep your eye out for that, and if it's really important, I'll update my profile and put it here. Again, thank you all for sticking with me for so long. I'll see you on the other side ;)

xoxo, xxxi