Chapter 5: The Cain Instinct
Leaving their 'dead' friends and enemies behind, Venatrix and Percy headed deeper into the woods. They decided to follow the slope of the ground further into the valley, back in the direction of the fake Cornucopia. In the real Games, tributes were often forced back to the horn of plenty for their final battle. As not many competitors were left, Venatrix fully expected to see her brother waiting there for her — if he was still alive, at least. Frankly, she'd be disappointed otherwise.
At this rate, it'll be over by evening, she thought with amusement. Her father's threat of mutts had apparently been enough to spur the tributes into action.
She and Percy walked side-by-side through the forest, keeping a lookout for their remaining competitors. "So, Lancelot," Venatrix said knowingly, nudging her friend with an elbow. "When you said you wanted to nail him, I didn't think you meant it that literally."
"Trix! I did not say that," Percy huffed, indignant. He frowned, fiddling with his loaded bowstring. "Doesn't matter anyways; he probably hates me now."
Venatrix shook her head. "Nah, I doubt it." Percy gave her a disbelieving look. "No way," she insisted. "He's not that petty."
Percy opened his mouth to argue when a sudden yelp sounded between the trees. Venatrix threw her arm in front of her ally, halting his tracks. She recognized the voice immediately: Iago. Together, they crept toward the sound, weapons at the ready. No way in hell am I gonna let someone kill him before I do.
Movement flickered through a gap in the trees. A sandy clearing opened up before them, and Venatrix and Percy appeared just in time to see Iago drive a knife into another tribute's stomach, a victorious grin marring his face at the sound of the horn. The armor stopped the kid from getting too dangerously hurt, though he groaned in pain, remaining on the ground as Iago's attention turned towards the newcomers. "So, dear sister," he said dramatically. "We meet again."
Venatrix rolled her eyes, shedding her pack. To her right, Percy stood beside her, an arrow pointed directly at Iago's heart. "Nice to see you still alive," she said, twirling her sword. "Too bad it won't be for much longer."
Chuckling, Iago pulled a handful of knives from his belt. "I like to think otherwise," he said, sending three of them hurtling towards her at once.
Venatrix dove out of the way, tucking into a roll with her sword in hand. Mercilessly, Iago sent another towards her chest; she batted it away with the flat of her sword, closing the distance between them. Smartly, Iago used his now-free hand to unsheathe his own sword, parrying his sister's blow with apparent ease. He swiped at her with the knife in his offhand; she ducked under the blade, kicking him sharply in the stomach and, conveniently, right into the path of one of Percy's arrows.
The hit wasn't deadly, only striking him in the arm, though it forced Iago to drop the knife. He scowled, and Venatrix shot Percy an appreciative glance. Now on the defensive, Iago struggled to dodge Venatrix's swings, Percy saving his arrows for a different fight. Wise.
The two siblings danced around each other, scoring shallow hits, but nothing major. Venatrix caught Iago's supposedly still-numbed hand twitching towards the remaining knives in his belt, and she landed a hard strike on his wrist, causing him to snarl in pain. She smirked, taunting. With a flourish of his sword, Iago lunged, aiming to skewer her in the stomach. She sidestepped the blow, planting a solid kick at his knee. Suddenly unbalanced, Iago could do nothing as Venatrix's sword struck him in the back, his armor lighting up bright red.
Iago fell to his knees, clutching at the imaginary sword piercing his chest. "No!" he gasped as the death horn sounded. "How—could you… My own sister…" He made a choking noise, falling over to one side into the dirt. "The betrayal… It burns!"
"You can't talk if you're dead, idiot," Venatrix reminded him with a snicker.
"Hey, it's my death, I can make it as dramatic as I want."
She snorted. Across the clearing, Percy shrugged in amusement. "Can't argue with that," he said, a grin playing on his own features as well. Venatrix noticed the arrow subtly strung in his bow. Discreetly, she counted the remaining arrows in his quiver: four. It would only take one well-placed shot to be her undoing.
Iago's eyes flicked between them. "Congrats to our final two," he said, scooting out of the clearing to watch from the edge with the other boy he'd previously killed.
Venatrix and Percy saluted each other with their weapons. "Sorry it has to be like this, Trix," he said, turning his bow on her.
"I'm not," Venatrix quipped, sprinting towards him before he could flinch. Percy's grey eyes widened; she dodged the first arrow he sent, deflecting the second with her sword. He barely managed to leap out of range of her strike, stringing another arrow as he went. She struck at him again, her sword catching on the curve of his bow.
Percy grimaced, retreating backwards though he didn't fire again, conscious of his arrows. Unwilling to give him a break, Venatrix charged again, though she earned herself an arrow to the side for her troubles. The brief, stinging pain barely registered as the arrow glanced off her armor, striking the ground behind her. He sent another towards her chest, and she dodged under it by a hair, skidding on her knees in the dirt.
Kneecaps smarting, Venatrix carefully stood to her feet. Percy's last arrow pointed directly at her, aching to leap from his bow; her friend's laser-focused expression met hers, equally keen on victory. Venatrix gripped her sword defensively in front of her chest.
They both moved at the same time, Venatrix's sword springing towards his gut as Percy's arrow planted itself in her left shoulder.
Venatrix grimaced at the numbing blow spreading through her armor. The arrow somehow stuck to her shirt, and she left it there, surveying her opponent. Her strike had been too low and shallow to instantly activate the "kill" sensors in the armor, but Percy was out of arrows now; judging by his expression, he was well aware.
Weaponless, Percy backed away from her. Venatrix advanced, and they began to circle each other.
"Yo, Percy!" Iago called from the sidelines. Percy's eyes flicked towards him; they widened as Iago unexpectedly tossed him the sword he'd fought with. Percy caught it by the hilt, a smile flashing across his features.
You're kidding. "Hey!"
"Avenge me, my brother-in-arms," Iago said gravely, and Percy saluted him with the blade.
"Dirty cheater," Venatrix scowled, brandishing her own sword; Iago only smirked.
Percy circled her with a new confidence, no doubt misplaced. As far as she was concerned, they were evenly matched in terms of injuries, and Venatrix knew her swordsmanship skills far outmatched her friend's despite his muscular stature, just as Percy's archery skills far outmatched hers. Venatrix grinned at him, a threatening flash of teeth.
Steadying her breathing, Venatrix readied herself to attack, anticipation pounding in her blood. Across the clearing, Percy tensed, sensing an attack. Just one more step—
Out of nowhere, a sharp impact struck her in the back. Automatically, she fell to her knees, her armor glaring red as she went.
What? He's out of arrows; how did he—
But Percy looked just as surprised; as she watched, an arrow flew from behind the trees, striking him in the chest as well.
Venatrix heard a rustle of leaves from behind her, but the numbness in her back prevented her from moving. The sound of Iago's howling laughter echoed through the clearing, through the entire damn valley.
Dumbfounded, Venatrix watched as a girl stepped into view between her and Percy, a bow in hand. It took Venatrix a minute to place her: Coquina, one of Morwenna's archery students. She'd never stood out to her as much as Percy, though evidently, she was a decent enough shot.
"Did—did I win?" Coquina asked, sounding just as shocked.
Iago paused in his gasping laughter to answer. "Hell fucking yeah, you did," he said, a wide grin splitting his features. "Rest in fucking pieces, Trix."
We forgot about her, Venatrix realized. How…
Venatrix exchanged glances with a stunned Percy as her brother continued his madman's laughter. Suddenly, she realized something else. "You knew!"
"Ha! Of course I knew!" Iago gloated. "God, I can't believe you two dumbasses forgot how to count!"
Seething at his unabashed glee, Venatrix shifted into a sitting position as she rubbed her backside, still sore from the arrow impact. Percy met her eyes, and he shook his head in incredulity. "Damn, that was well-played," he said to Coquina.
She flushed, mumbling a quiet thanks, though the smile couldn't seem to disappear from her face.
It wasn't more than five minutes before the mentors appeared to collect them, stepping out from a trail Venatrix hadn't seen before with her father at the lead. Dagmara and Morwenna followed; the others must still be at the Nut.
"I have to say, that was quite an impressive Victory, Coquina," Oberon said, smiling appreciatively. Something underneath told Venatrix he wasn't exactly pleased with the outcome.
Coquina beamed at the praise, and Venatrix tried to ignore the tiny flare of jealousy in her chest.
"An impressive victory for an unexpectedly swift Games," he continued. "Perhaps you guys had a little too much fun in there," he said, taking in his son's overly gleeful expression.
Iago placed a hand over his chest in mock defensiveness. "Who me? Never."
Dagmara surveyed the group, mouthing numbers and counting heads as Morwenna congratulated her Victor. "That's all of them; the rest are back at the center." She paused, addressing the trainees now. "Is anyone too injured to walk back?"
The five of them shook their heads 'no', and they started back along the trail, a relatively kind pace for the four 'dead' tributes. Venatrix fell into step with Iago, pointedly ignoring his irritating grin, and their mother quickly appeared at their side. "So, how'd it go?" Dagmara asked, despite having watched along with the other mentors.
"Great!" Iago said cheerfully. "Trix stabbed me in the back."
"And I was just about to kick Percy's ass when that bi—" she faltered under Dagmara's raised eyebrow "—Coquina showed her face."
"She forgot how to count," Iago supplied unhelpfully while Dagmara's lip twitched. Venatrix glared at him.
Dagmara shrugged. "It happens. You both did quite well, either way."
Iago beamed while Venatrix let out a frustrated sigh. "Whatever," she said, purposely lagging behind them to walk next to Percy at the back of the group instead.
He quickly picked up on the irritation streaming from her in waves as she replayed the final battle in her head. "Hey," Percy said, nudging her arm. "Don't beat yourself up about it, mkay?"
"I'm not," Venatrix said unconvincingly.
He raised an eyebrow in disbelief but dropped the subject, instead suggesting that the two of them and Agate stop by the ice cream parlor downtown after meeting back up at the training center. A hard offer to refuse; she suggested inviting Lancelot, shooting down Percy's protests.
As they pondered over whether or not to include Iago as well (Percy in favor while Venatrix opposed the idea), Venatrix noticed that her father had slowed his pace to appear just ahead of them. He glanced pointedly at Percy, who followed the wordless order, jogging ahead to leave the two of them in private.
"Third place," Oberon commented as soon as Percy was out of earshot. He shook his head. "I won't lie; I expected an improvement from last year."
The coil of bitterness in the pit of her stomach re-wound itself into a tight knot, and Venatrix felt her cheeks flush with shame. Losing track of the number of tributes; what a stupid mistake. One that happened far too often with Careers in the real arena for her to brush it under the rug.
"Really, Trixie," her father continued, the disappointment evident in his tone, "I thought you would've known better than to listen to your brother like that."
Slimy little bastard. The scowl seemed to be permanently etched into her face. "I got the max kills this time, though," she argued, her feet dragging through the leafy trail. He'd said there was a prize for that.
"That won't matter if you're dead," Oberon said sharply.
Venatrix said nothing, stalwartly avoiding his gaze.
He sighed, pushing a low-hanging tree branch out of his path. "Listen, it's your last year," he said, as if she weren't well aware of that. "You've got the Selection Tournament and the winter Games to make up for this; it would take a lot for me to convince the others — let alone your mother — to validate your selection if you fail there, too—"
"I'm not going to," she interrupted through gritted teeth.
The sound of wetly-crunching leaves followed her words. After a second or two, Oberon spoke again. "Keep that attitude," he said, giving her a pat on the shoulder. "That's what'll get you through the Games."
That felt more hollow than a participation trophy, at least to Venatrix's ears. She didn't respond; the trail had turned steeper and rockier as they forced their way out of the valley. Soon enough they emerged at the overgrown parking lot that marked the entrance to the trail, and the eight of them piled into the pair of cars waiting to take them back to the Academy for Coquina's crowning as Victor. Venatrix couldn't help but think that the girl would never make it out of a real arena. What kind of Career sits and hides, anyways?
Despite her little Victory, Coquina had zero chance of being selected to volunteer. Absolutely none. Venatrix knew she could beat the girl in an honest fight, and that wasn't arrogance talking, just facts.
But she'd be damned if she was only chosen due to her parents' influence. Clearly she had the skills, if her eight kills didn't prove it well enough.
Venatrix rode the wave of her sour mood, still sporting her glower as they returned to the training center to prepare for the crowning. Iago poked at her as they filed into the auditorium, but she batted him away, not in the mood. She tried to push Coquina out of her mind, though it was difficult while watching Morwenna place the mock-Victor's crown on her head. Her own 'prize' for getting the highest kill count ended up being an autographed poster featuring every District Two Victor, living or dead; how they managed that, Venatrix neither knew nor cared. She gave it to Agate to keep herself from tearing it to shreds as soon as she got the chance, ignoring her friend's worried look.
After the stupid little ceremony, Dagmara found her before she could escape back to the training rooms, having forgotten all about Percy's ice cream offer from earlier. Her mother didn't say anything, leaning against the wall and waiting for Venatrix to talk like she always did.
Venatrix huffed a breath. "Dad's upset."
Dagmara raised a sardonic eyebrow. "I'm more worried about you, honey; he'll get over it." Her expression softened at Venatrix's frown. "Trust me, it's better to learn this lesson now instead of in the arena," she said wisely.
"What, how to count?"
"Well, that of course," her mother said with a light, though not-unkind laugh. The corner of Venatrix's lip twitched, albeit reluctantly. "But, more importantly," Dagmara continued, her voice taking on a serious tone. "Never underestimate the outliers."
A/N: Hmm, I wonder how much foreshadowing this is... jk, if this was how things were gonna go down in the arena, I wouldn't actually Say so... or Would I? ...I'll leave that up to you guys to think about :P
Anyways, there were a lot of things I really enjoyed writing about in this chapter (this whole little arc, actually).. the chapter title, the concept of a mock arena, literally Everything about Iago (if he can't win, he's gonna make sure as hell that Venatrix won't either lmao), Venatrix eating dirt at the end... hjfdfh.
There's still plenty of time before reaping day comes around.. plenty of time for things to Happen in between then (: What kind of things? We'll see. Anyways! I know I keep saying this like every time I update, but. Again, hopefully I'll start posting the Widow's Bite sequel soon (though I've been. admittedly slow on progress with that ;-; We'll get there I promise; I swear it's mostly written hjhj). But yeah, I'm out of my backlog for this, rip, but plenty of time to finish up what I've got so far for chapter 6 ! :3 Lmk what you think about the results of the mock Games too ! I had a lot of fun with them hjfj.
..Might end up posting the last part of 140 tomorrow I think.. In that case, I'll see you guys then !
- Nell