Dionysus Bacchus (18) D1M
I can't believe they really left us. Allure and Nailah really just turned tail and ran. I had known that they weren't fully allied with us, that they'd fight together against me and Anthony when the pack split, but it didn't seem so... soon. There were seven of us left and we were supposed to stick together against the outliers. Of course, the mutts were something unexpected - the dogs were absolutely huge, and they seemed truly vicious - but I couldn't believe they would just leave us behind when the Games still had so much time left.
Anthony held his trident in front of him, backing away from the mutts, and I followed his lead. I was amazed that they hadn't gotten either of us yet with how long it took us to fully process the situation, but apparently the Capitol wanted a dramatic fight, not a sneak attack. We held our weapons up as shields more than actual weapons, blocking every lunge and holding the dogs back. The dogs yipped and growled at us, feinting and lunging without ever getting close enough for us to stab them while we slowly backed away. Neither of us were focusing on where we were being led until I got a bright idea.
"Left," I said to Anthony, twisting while we walked. The mutts didn't care where we were going as long as it wasn't forward, so they followed us while we kept backing off, leading them over dunes while they kept trying to lunge at us. With every lunge I just assumed it would be the last, they'd finally get one of our arms and we'd be forced to drop our weapons while they started mauling us. If we dropped our weapons we'd lose.
With a look behind my shoulder, trusting Anthony to guard me, I checked our path and adjusted it slightly. In a few more steps we had reached the outliers, who were understandably yelling at us to get away from them. It was probably a suicide mission to go straight to them with only the two of us, but it was the best option we had. They couldn't very well attack us and fight the massive mutts, and the mutts would probably take one or two of them out so we could win a fight against them. Just like that, we had the tables turned again.
Bess Carver (17) D10F
Des isn't even cold in the hovercraft. We didn't have time to mourn. We didn't have an hour after Des died before the Careers reached us - well, half of them. The two boys crested over the hill with mutts on their heels, hardly leaving me time to process that there hadn't been any other cannons. They'd split peacefully and left us to clean up the mess.
Oberon struck first, throwing his knife directly into Dionysus' back. He turned and looked at us in complete confusion, obviously not expecting us to attack him. Because he was an idiot who thought we valued our own lives over taking down some Careers. While he looked back, one of the mutts lunged. Anthony tried to block with his sword and succeeded in cutting the first mutt, but it still knocked Dionysus down, carrying him down the dune toward us.
I didn't waste any time in being the second to strike. With my greatest battle cry and Des's axe in my hands, I raced towards the fallen monster and the fallen mutt.
Dionysus Bacchus (18) D1M
What the hell? Who attacks a person when they're being mauled by mutts? I didn't have time to think. I only had time to swing wildly while the dog tore apart my arms, ripping off flesh like it was paper.
Culter Spring (17) D11M
They killed Kjole. The monsters who killed Kjole came back to bring dogs our way and make their own job easier. I was racing up the hill to fight Anthony, though I yelled that I just wanted to take down the mutt. He had no reason to believe me, but he also couldn't really turn around to check. Jumping up, I grabbed onto his throat, letting my weight pull us both down over the dune.
Anthony Morgan (18) D4M
This is madness. I stabbed down at my assailant's arms while I fell, trying desperately to shake him off while the dog mutt chased us. Each time I stabbed my sword glanced harmlessly off him, missing his arms and his torso every time. In a last-ditch effort with no real force, my sword at an impossible angle, I shoved my sword into his face. I didn't hear a cannon, but his scream would have drowned it out.
Oberon Murdoch (17) D9M
He was going to kill Culter. Anthony was going to kill Culter even though he had armor. I ran up to him to stab him, to take him down before he could kill my ally, but was drastically slowed down when teeth sank into my side. Pain shot through my whole body while I tried to turn and stab. The mutt just shook its head, flaying my flesh. Are you freaking kidding me?
Bess Carver (17) D10F
Des's axe sank into the mutt's hide before it could finish off Dionysus. In a second, he was up, trying to stab me before I could do much about it. In a blind panic, I swung the axe toward him, blood spilling from my arm while the blade sank into his side. It was a hopeless fight, an untrained child against a hardened killer. Except that Dionysus was falling apart and I only had one wound.
Dionysus Bacchus (18) D1M
It was a hopeless fight. I never should have attacked Bess. I should have ran. But her allies had attacked me and I wasn't about to lose to them. I swung and blocked while she swung and dodged. I never expected her to get into my swing, but she did, making both of our weapons useless. It wasn't until my jaw felt like it was flying off my body that I realized the rings she was wearing weren't just decorative.
Culter Spring (17) D11M
My face was a wave of red-hot agony. I could see Oberon struggling to reach me, trying to writhe out of the mutt's grip, but he was failing. All I could do was squeeze tighter and tighter while my eyes flooded with blood and Anthony's struggles slowly got weaker. All I could do was hope that Oberon and Bess would stick with me instead of leaving me to rapidly die.
Allure Beldam (18) D1F
Three cannons fired. Three. Of our five enemies, only two were left. Nailah and I sat at the Cornucopia, waiting to see what the tides would bring. We prayed the boys had died, but we didn't dare hope. Maybe they had taken down the mutts just to bring down the outliers, too. Maybe they had perished and the outliers had split again. We had no way to know until night fell or until someone tracked us down. Sure, we could take the fight to them, but that would be stupid. Why attack when we had the high ground and all the weapons in the world?
As the sun set and the cold settled in, I turned to Nailah. "Which of us will win?" I asked, not saying everything that had to be said. We were leaning on each other while a fire raged, fueled by the various weapons we had tossed in. Food cooked in front of us while we rested on each other, watching the stars come out. Which of us will win?
The question sat between us, dangling in the air with so much hope. We could lose. It could still happen. But that wasn't a part of the question. It was an if. If one of us won, who would it be? Would Nailah kill me in order to survive? Would I have it in me to kill her? She was the dearest friend I had ever had. I didn't want to have to kill the person I had been stupid enough to let myself love.
"I guess that's up to the Gamemakers," Nailah replied. I prayed she was telling the truth.
7th Place: Dionysus Bacchus - Head smashed in by Bess
Dionysus was a cool dude. I really appreciate someone being sent in with a very real weakness who probably should have been going through withdrawal this entire story. He deserved better than the nonsense he got, and I'm glad I was able to develop him a little bit, even if not a ton. Thank you to EvanPengu for Dionysus, who truly is the god of alcohol.
6th Place: Oberon Murdoch - Hyena
Oberon was ALSO a cool dude. I really liked his backstory, even if "orphans who aren't in the orphanage" is nothing new. His submitter took the time to flesh out why they weren't in the orphanage and give him some realistic strengths and weaknesses accordingly. If anyone's wondering, he would have been able to kill Anthony and make Culter's injuries much less severe if the hyena hadn't gotten him. Thank you to Sparky She-Demon for Oberon, whose little sister is doing much better nowadays.
5th Place: Anthony Morgan - Strangled by Culter
Realistically, strangling takes a very long time and Culter would have had a hard time. It was much easier than it should have been because Anthony was partially panicked and trying to stab through body armor. Anthony was an interesting tribute in that he was a normal dude. He didn't have an insane backstory or some wild personality issue. He was just a guy who the system tried to turn into a monster. Thank you to treblenotes for Anthony, who should never have lived in Panem.
Honorable mention: Hyenas
RIP the hyenas. Actually RIP one hyena. The other one, while not doing so hot, IS still alive.
Also I didn't intend to kill three boys this chapter it just kinda happened. Fear not there's a 3/4 chance a woman will be the next to die :P