Christabel Rose Clade - District 12 Female - Age 13
Christabel Rose had barely had the time to fully process the fact another human was dead because of her own doing when Simon's cannon fired. It was nearly instantaneous after the cannon fired for the boy from 6. All she could remember was saying a few words to Simon about how she was horrified over what she had just done when he screamed "RUN!" which Christabel Rose did for thirty seconds until she heard another cannon and turned around to see her brother's cold body on the floor. She thought about running towards him, and seeing if it actually was his cannon, but she knew that it would only put her at risk once again so she did what her brother had told her to do and she ran.
She ran far, through trees and across logs, never looking back once. She periodically heard more cannons fire BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! If the first one she'd heard wasn't Simon, the following ones definitely were. Eventually, Christabel Rose reached an open meadow and simply laid out on it staring at the sky where her brother was looking down at her. Obviously she missed him dearly, but she couldn't bring herself to cry. It just didn't feel natural for her to cry in front of nobody because it wasn't like somebody would be able to comfort her and what was the point of crying if nobody told her to stop? She slowly fell asleep on the grass, and dreamt about a life where her and Simon were once again together.
Once she woke up, her guilt towards killing the boy from 6 resurfaced. He'd kept wanting to kiss her, and Christabel Rose was wise enough to know that his intentions weren't pure, and she'd given up on her dream of finding love in the Capitol just like her aunt. Still, that didn't mean he had to die. Christabel Rose had no idea what had gotten into her. First was her refusal to kiss him, and before she knew it she was jumping on his neck, making her last real memory with her brother when CRACK he was gone. It was a much sadder day than Christabel Rose had expected it to be, even though she expected it to be her last day, because living without her brother was somehow worse than not living at all. She'd half expected to never wake up from her nap, because surely a career would be able to find her, but alas she was somehow still alive. She sat in the field and ran her fingers through the grass, humming a melody she'd learned from her family.
Deep in the meadow, under the willow
A bed of grass, a soft green pillow
Lay down your head, and close your sleepy eyes
And when again they open, the sun will rise.
It was a song Simon occasionally sang to her during their lunch breaks at school where Christabel Rose would put her head in his lap before dozing off for a few moments before it was time to return to class, so naturally the song sounded bare without her brother's voice. She hadn't been allowed her flute in the arena since it could apparently be used as a weapon, but she was still eager to add some sort of flavor to the song so she derooted a piece of grass and softly blew in it until it started to produce a noise.
Here it's safe, here it's warm
Here the daisies guard you from every harm
Here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true
Here is the place where I love you.
Christabel Rose began to cry as she blew in the grass shard. She'd known the song was sad and sentimental, as her parents had taught her, but as she once again imagined Simon, it only became more somber. Hopefully the cameras weren't capturing this display since surely her parents would recognize the melody which would only make them more upset about the loss of their son.
Deep in the meadow, hidden far away
A cloak of leaves, A moonbeam ray,
Forget your woes and let your troubles lay
And when again it's morning, they'll wash away.
The song was still missing Simons' voice but it wasn't like he could just magically begin singing. For once in her life, Christabel Rose had to be the lead singer. She'd spent her whole life being Simon's backup, both in music and in appreciation from their parents, surely, but she had no choice but to be the lead. She couldn't sing well, since she'd never practiced, and singing is the sort of thing where practice can make all the difference, but it was cathartic as she sang line after line, her voice amplifying each time.
Here it's safe, here it's warm
Here the daisies guard you from every harm
Here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true
Here is the place where I love you.
By the time the song ended, Christabel Rose was exhausted both emotionally and vocally. She had forgotten how loudly she screamed when the boy from 6 first approached her, but her vocal chords had reminded her. She missed her brother so badly, but he was with Lucy Gray, watching her sing and thinking of how proud he was that his sister was no longer in the shadows.
Cedar Ranthine - District 7 Male - Age 15
In what seemed like a stroke of dumb luck, Cedar and his allies' plan to avoid the bloodbath and meet up together went off without a hitch. They'd somehow managed not only to find a beautifully tall redwood tree turned on it's side and hollowed out that they could use for lodging, but they also were graciously given a package from some sponsors that had a first aid kit and some canned food. The charm the trio showcased in their interviews had clearly paid off, and they had a good feeling they were the only alliance besides the careers that saw no damage since they'd heard nine cannons since the start of the Games.
"It appears we are once again dining fine!" Logan laughed as he pulled a can of refried beans from the sponsor package, "Or maybe not," He whiffed the can and made a disgusted expression, "I'm glad we agreed to only eat when we're hungry because this does not look like it came from the same Capitol that made us sausage risotto and seared scallops.
"You weren't kidding," Velvette sniffed the can, "Though I reckon it's rather hard to pre-package the fancy food we've grown accustomed to."
"It can't smell that bad," Logan said, grabbing the can from Velvette and taking a whiff, "I lied."
It smelled worse than the food in 7 which honestly wasn't that bad but paled in comparison to the food he'd eaten all week. He was glad the food was reserved for emergencies, since he wouldn't even attempt to eat it for fun. Granted, it was probably made to be awful so they didn't eat it all in one sitting, because they had surely gotten a reputation for being gluttonous, but in an odd way, it sort of meant their sponsors, whoever they were, planned on them being around for a while.
The sun was beginning to set though the portraits of the tributes killed in the bloodbath hadn't been revealed when Logan and Velvette declared they were tired, prompting Cedar to volunteer to keep watch in case somebody tried to attack them. He stood in front of the log for about thirty minutes when he heard footsteps. He figured it was some sort of wild animal, so he wasn't too concerned until he felt a hand on his mouth. He wasn't dead, which was a good thing, but he was being carried through the woods by somebody who he couldn't see since his eyes were covered too. Whoever it was must have had huge hands. He tried to scream out to Velvette and Logan, but he could barely make a sound. He almost wished he was dead. After what seemed like an hour but was probably closer to five minutes, he was dropped onto the ground with a large THUD!
"What do you want from me?" Cedar asked as he looked up and saw a tall man with dreadlocks, "If you want food, I can give you food!"
"We don't need that," An equally intimidating girl with a spear laughed.
"So then why did you take me here?" Cedar stuttered, "And not just kill me and my friends while you had the chance?"
"That's no fun," The man laughed, "Besides, we all know you're the weakest of the bunch."
Was that really true? Cedar certainly hoped not. He could pull his own weight. Right?
"Well I'll let you have what you want if you take me back or just let me go."
"That's hilarious," The man looked at the girl, "Sapphira, may I razzle dazzle?"
"Have a ball!" The girl handed him the spear.
Hopefully Cedar's parents were watching as he cried out that he loved them, but then again, that wouldn't be like them would it.
Sapphira Starlett - District 1 Female - Age 17
Sapphira did not really think that killing would be so utterly dreadful. She thought that maybe coming up with a festive little phrase to say at the end of her attacks would put some entertainment into the ordeal, but even that addition couldn't spice up the fact that ending somebody's life was not as marvelous as Sapphira thought it would be. That was why she had insisted to not kill the entire alliance that she and the careers could see from the clifftop they had settled down on top of. It was simply bad television, and it wasn't like the other alliance was any sort of a threat. Yes, last year's games were action packed for sure, but eight days is too little for any real drama to unfold, and the Hunger Games were equally about drama than they were about ending the lives of nearly two dozen children. Sapphira also loved playing the role of a mysterious sidekick as Ammo killed the boy from 7. It was easy for Sapphira to disconnect herself from the kills if she pretended she was simply acting, but that didn't mean she wasn't affected by the slaughter. Truly good acting did always take a heavy mental toll on a truly good actress. And to think Sapphira almost killed herself all those years ago. If killing other people required her to pretend she was a movie star, she had no idea how she could fathom doing it to herself.
"Look!" Brycen called from the side of the cliff where his feet were dangling off. Sapphira had a strong urge to push him, but killing your own District Partner wasn't glamorous at all, and Brycen was worth keeping around for the sake of entertainment, "They're showing the deaths from today!"
Sapphira sat besides him and watched as the names and the faces were projected into the sky. It was almost like the old black and white projector movies her father used to play when she was young and didn't want to sleep. When she saw the girls from 6 and 3's faces, a single tear dripped down her face. They were real people with real families and reasons for being in the arena and reasons they wanted to go home, weren't they? Well the girl from 3 actually asked to be killed, but that was besides the point. Anyways, if somebody was filming Sapphira's reaction to the tapes, surely that one tear would have won her an award, though seeing her kills was almost an award in its own weird way.
"So are we just not going to talk about how none of us killed the boy from 6?" Ammo stood up after the projections stopped, "At least I don't think any of us did?"
"It wasn't me." Brycen said, being echoed by Adira and Hosanna.
"It wasn't me either!" Sapphira loved having the last word.
"Who do you think it was?" Brycen asked, "Maybe the boy from 4? He was at the cornucopia briefly and definitely grabbed a thing or two, but nobody here was able to get him."
"Do you think he took a weapon?" Adira seemed a bit too excited to hear about her District Partner. Weird.
"No idea." Brycen said, "Does it matter to you?"
"Not at all," Adira nodded her head, "I was just thinking maybe he got one and used it to get the first kill of the Games."
It was rather embarrassing that there was an entire trained group of killers, yet none of them got the first kill of the game, but honestly it was kind of hilarious, though Sapphira would never admit it aloud.
"Well I need my beauty sleep!" Sapphira declared, "Ta ta to you all!"
"Goodnight princess," Ammo rolled his eyes.
"Goodnight price!" Sapphira laughed, playing into his joke as she headed to the tent, and began drifting asleep.
Summer Lindell - District 9 Female - Age 18
Summer never realized how important solidarity between queer men and women were untill she was sitting on a rooftop with Pow and Luca as they all sobbed their eyes out after seeing Ada's face projected in the sky. They realized that they'd only known Ada for less than a week, but that didn't change the hurt they were feeling as they saw confirmation that one of their own had fallen. While they'd all had suspicions Ada was dead, as they couldn't find her after they met up with Luca who had lightly raided the Cornucopia, seeing her smile from up above at them, as though she was watching over them like a heavenly angel, made the weight of the situation they were in suddenly feel all the more real. Summer had pondered about how if any of her friends won, they'd do so at the expense of the others dying, but she had avoided the thought for as long as possible. Before meeting Pow, Luca, and Ada, Summer was the only queer person she knew, and she had no idea how much she absolutely adored people that were like her. Even though Pow and her had very different backgrounds, while Luca was practically her twin, Summer felt a connection to them, as well as Ada, that was nearly impossible to describe. She loved her folks back in 9, but this alliance was almost like a chosen family in a sense.
"Who do you think killed her?" Pow asked, trying to break the tension of the group, "A career, surely?"
"I have no idea." Summer hadn't thought about it much. She was mainly hoping it wasn't Adira, since she didn't seem the type to do that, even if she was undercover, but Summer also hoped it wasn't Sapphira from 1 either. They'd briefly met before the launch, and Summer had helped her fashion her t-shirt into a crop top, and Sapphira had promised to not kill her, but that probably didn't go for her friends as well. Either way, Sapphira seemed sweet, and she winked at Summer from across the platform as they prepared to launch. Whether it was an act of seduction, or a reassurance of her temporary loyalty was anybody's guess.
"It doesn't matter!" Luca flailed his arms into the air, "She's dead and I couldn't protect her."
Luca had been taking the death particularly hard. He'd become the self appointed leader of the group, and he claims he should have seen her during his mission to the Cornucopia, but it wasn't his fault, and hopefully he secretly knew that.
"Luca," Summer wrapped her arms around him, "It's okay. And this is just the first of many."
"Why would you say that?" Luca flung himself away.
"You know it's true." Summer sighed, "I'm sorry."
Of the three of them, Luca seemed to want to win most. Obviously Summer and Pow, and even Adira had their own reasons for wanting to win, that were just as vocal, but Luca had gone on all day about how he was going to marry last year's victor Micah when he won and how he was so excited. Summer and Pow had to keep reminding the poor hopeless romantic that he had just met him and they had never discussed marriage, but their words meant nothing when Micah delivered Luca a red rose, prompting him to yell "I told you so!"
As pathetic as he was, it was kind of cute. It reminded Summer of the way she felt when she first came to terms with the fact she was head over heels with Brooke.
"We should probably sleep," Pow said, "Or at least two of us should."
They had settled in a building on what appeared to be the modern part of the arena with statues inside of it. While they weren't completely sure the statues weren't going to attack them, they figured that wasn't something that would happen on the first night of the Games so Summer stayed up as the boys got their beauty sleep, secretly wondering what Brooke would do if she came home a Victor.
Aww yeah! I don't have much to say but I liked writing that chapter and I hope you liked reading it.
15th Place, Cedar Ranthine (D7M) - Killed by Ammo Lawson
Cedar, you were pretty cool. I only kept you around past the bloodbath as a subtle fuck you to Sam but I enjoyed you.
KILL COUNT
Brycen: 3
Sapphira: 2
Ammo: 3
Adira: 1
Christabel Rose: 1
ALLIANCES
Careers - Brycen Rosenthal (D1M), Sapphira Starlett (D1F), Ammo Lawson (D2M), Hosanna Guerra (D2F), and Adira Price (D4F)
Wholesome Gays - Jacob "Pow" Powell (D3M), Luca Pargus (D4M), and Summer Lindell (D9F) (Adira?)
Hashtag YOLO - Logan Webster (D8M) and Velvette Wilmington (D8F),
The Fraternity - Brandon Colt (D10M) and Louis Staker (D11M)
Lone Wolves - Tulip Everly (D11F) and Christabel Rose Clade (D12F)