The Second Annual Hunger Games
Lima Xabie, now age 25, returned as Head Gamemaker. She had learned much through trial and error during the first Games. Since 4 tributes had died from running into the electrical force field surrounding the arena, she increased the arena's size, doubling it. She also placed natural barriers around most edges of the arena so tributes would be hard pressed to run into the force field. She also had realized that a few small streams were not enough to sustain the tributes; a good handful of tributes had died from dehydration. She made sure water sources were abundant in the new arena, so natural deaths would be decreased by leaps and bounds. This meant that most of the deaths would be at the hands of other tributes, which the audience of the Capitol loved. In this Games, the Games took a more entertainment-focused approach, as it would for the 498 other Hunger Games that would follow it. A new host, much more experienced, took the spotlight. Boliviana Rare, 37 years old, had a pretty face and a way of making the harshest of news broadcasts entertaining and acceptable. She would host the Games for many more years to come. Narciso, still the President, encouraged the entertainment aspects as to please the citizens and dissipate rumors of how unfit he was to rule Panem. There were also rumors that Narciso was having romantic affairs with Lima, who was also single, but they were not proven. Boliviana and her creative team created the government funded betting system, HGBA, or Hunger Games Betting Association. After every list of tributes, the percentage of bets placed on each tribute through the HGBA will be listed. This year, a majority of the very high scores were in the upper Districts, though there were a few exceptions. Also, there was a brother-sister pair from District 9. Here are the tributes:
District 1: Cornelia Slaise, 17 (8) 12-1 and Clement Antiquity, 18 (10) 6-1
District 2: Latita Xi, 16 (6) 18-1 and Pumice Downe, 17 (10) 5-1
District 3: Silica Ree, 18 (8) 14-1 and Router Dahl, 15 (5) 29-1
District 4: Rosie Trinibog, 12 (4) 48-1 and Zoryn Temper, 14 (8) 13-1
District 5: Debbra Okray, 17 (7) 16-1 and Rolan Opray, 15 (7) 15-1
District 6: Fayi Venetrae, 13 (4) 46-1 and Nikolai Trumbardo, 17 (6) 17-1
District 7: Giana Celris, 12 (2) 69-1 and Gezo Li, 15 (5) 35-1
District 8: Bella Markis, 13 (3) 60-1 and Sam Illpray, 16 (4) 43-1
District 9: Cilla Tripp, 16 (7) 19-1 and Dillon Tripp, 16 (7) 18-1
District 10: Alana Horne, 18 (9) 9-1 and Jaime Frunkrich, 12 (2) 74-1
District 11: Sunflower Harrison, 17 (7) 18-1 and Bruce Ward, 15 (5) 32-1
District 12: Mathilde Leborale, 16 (4) 45-1 and Rambert Pilt, 13 (2) 78-1
HGBA Betting Percents: 24% for Pumice, 22% for Clement, 12% for Alana, 8% for Cornelia, Zoryn, and Sunflower, 2% for Cilla, Silica, and Dillon, 1% or less for Latita, Router, Rosie, Debbra, Rolan, Fayi, Nikolai, Giana, Gezo, Bella, Sam, Jaime, Bruce, Mathilde, and Rambert
The Games
The arena was an African savannah. Tall, dry stalks of yellowed grass covered the mostly flat land. There were several small clumps of trees, and there were 6 large watering holes were water was free and abundant. There were also smaller creatures that lived in the arena; guinea fowl, hyenas, and meerkats.
To the north, an orange ridge of almost-mountains blocked that part of the force field. To the west and east, two giant, impassable chasms guarded the force field. To the south, the largest watering hole, which could almost be called a reservoir, sat. Its calm, glassy surfaces would turn tumultuous and drown anyone that went too far into them before they reached the force field. Lots of water and no force field access meant one thing; lots of the bloody deaths the Capitol was starting to revel in.
The Cornucopia sat in a dry, dusty square of savannah, one mile wide and one mile long. The tributes could see nothing but a sea of dried grass and the Cornucopia and each other.
Since it seemed that there was nothing to run to, as the countdown ticked down, most decided to head for the Cornucopia and bloodbath.
5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Almost all of the tributes surged forward to the Cornucopia; only one or two ran into the tall stalks of grass. Tributes realized that they wouldn't last too long in their dusty, dry desert-like surroundings, so they knew killing would end the Games faster. Because of this, 7 deaths occurred at the bloodbath, 5 more than the measly 2 kills of the First Games' bloodbath.
Pumice was the first to reach the supplies. He grabbed a sledgehammer, waiting for him by a quart of pure, fresh water. He picked up the sledgehammer and spotted his target; a fairly capable girl with a decent score. He smashed her head in quickly before tearing the pack, full of iodine and beef strips, from her back.
Debbra Okray, District 5 Female; 24th, Killed by Pumice, Bloodbath
Clement and Pumice had made the first alliance of the Games; Clement picked up a sword, and the pair went after their next victim. Clement and Pumice were not only the first alliance, but since they were so capable from the work they did (working in the quarries and lugging carts of gold and silver to jeweler's homes), they were considered the first "Careers", in meaning that they were prepared for the Games. The preparation was unintentional, so many historians argue over such a fact (Some say it is Viveca Crane, District 1 Female, of the 7th Hunger Games, but we'll get to that later).
Meanwhile, while Clement and Pumice tracked down another tribute, Sunflower found a quart of water and a sickle. She tucked the water into an empty pack on her pack, and then she spotted a boy rifling through a crate of bread loaves. She stabbed him with her sickle, killing him, and taking his bread.
Router Dahl, District 3 Male; 23rd, Killed by Sunflower, Bloodbath
Meanwhile, Clement made an easy kill; a little girl with one of the lowest scores that year. His sword cleaved apart her tiny frame.
Giana Celris, District 7 Female; 22nd, Killed by Clement, Bloodbath
Another alliance had been assembled before the Games had begun; Cilla, Dillon, and Alana. As they ran out of the bloodbath with weapons and supplies, Dillon accidentally broke apart from them. A girl tried to attack him, but Cilla rescued him, stabbing the girl with a dagger.
Cornelia Slaise, District 1 Female; 21st, Killed by Cilla, Bloodbath
Clement and Pumice found their next two targets curled up in the Cornucopia, hoping to wait it out together until the Bloodbath ended and all the other tributes were gone. The two tribute's screams were loud and painful as Clement and Pumice killed them.
Mathilde Leborale, District 12 Female; 20th, Killed by Clement, Bloodbath
Rambert Pilt, District 12 Male; 19th, Killed by Pumice, Bloodbath
The last kill of the bloodbath was made by Alana. She spotted a boy running off into the dried grass. She lifted her longbow and fired an arrow into his leg. He fell, and she ran over to him. Cilla and Dillon hung back at the edge of the grass, wreathed by dried, peeling grass. She fired another arrow, and this one entered his chest, killing him.
Gezo Li, District 7 Male; 18th, Killed by Alana, Bloodbath
The tributes soon discovered that the arena was rich in resources. Most settled by watering holes, keeping safe distances from each other. That night, they all counted who was left. Clement from 1. Latita and Pumice from 2. Silica from 3. Rosie and Zoryn from 4. Rolan from 5. Fayi and Nikolai from 6. Bella and Sam from 8. Cilla and Dillon from 9. Alana and Jaime from 10. Sunflower and Bruce from 11.
In the morning, the alliance of Alana, Dillon, and Cilla stumbled across a wounded girl, who had a cut on her left calf from Clement's sword. She begged, but Alana put an arrow through the base of her neck before ushering her friends away from the corpse.
Bella Markis, District 8 Female; 17th, Killed by Alana, Day 2
Day 3 passed without deaths, so the Gamemakers made the hyenas in the arena agitated and made them kill a single tribute. They clamped their jaws on a poor little, weak girl who had been hiding at the base of an acacia tree. They tore her apart viciously. A later Victor would say that this death was the most scarring they viewed as a child watching the Games.
Rosie Trinibog, District 4 Female; 16th, Killed by hyena mutts, Day 4
Alana, Dillon, and Cilla knew, when Day 5 passed without a death, that they needed to make a big move. So they found Clement and Pumice at the Cornucopia, and Alana fired three arrows at them. All three sunk into one of their bodies, and while one scrambled away, the other lay dead.
Clement Antiquity, District 1 Male; 15th, Killed by Alana, Day 6
Day 6, another death occurred. Pumice, enraged about Clement's death, found a girl and murdered her brutally, only realizing afterward that he had killed his own District partner.
Latita Xi, District 2 Female; 14th, Killed by Pumice, Day 6
Day 7 was deathless, but Day 8 had a whopping three deaths. Sunflower stumbled upon a little boy with a wound from the hyena mutts. It was infected, and he was in deep pain. She stabbed him with her sickle after he begged her to.
Jaime Frunkrich, District 10 Male; 13th, Killed by Sunflower, Day 8
Zoryn, armed with two throwing knives, and running out of food, stumbled upon a girl who had a good store of food. They dueled for about an hour, but Zoryn came out victorious, shoving one of his skinny knives in the girl's throat.
Silica Ree, District 3 Female; 12th, Killed by Zoryn, Day 8
Pumice found another weaker, smaller tribute and brought his wrath upon her. He chopped her into so many pieces she was unrecognizable when she was shipped back home to her devastated family.
Fayi Venetrae, District 6 Female; 11th, Killed by Pumice, Day 8
Days 9 and 10 had no deaths, though one tribute nearly fell into one of the chasms when escaping another tribute. Day 11 delivered a single death. Pumice found yet another victim, one he had almost pursued into the chasm. He finally cornered his target in a far out corner of the arena, and slashed his limbs from his body so he bled out. Pumice wiped his blade as the cannon boomed.
Nikolai Trumbardo, District 6 Male; 10th, Killed by Pumice, Day 11
Day 12 had another death. After this death, the Top 8 would be determined and interviews with family of the tributes (a new addition) would be made. Rolan found a boy, curled up in the interlocked branches of two acacias. He climbed up there and stabbed the boy, stealing his supplies and eating all his food to appease his grumbling belly.
Bruce Ward, District 11 Male; 9th, Killed by Rolan, Day 12
The Top 8 had been determined; Pumice from 2, Zoryn from 4, Rolan from 5, Sam from 8, Cilla and Dillon from 9, Alana from 10, and Sunflower from 11.
Day 13 had no deaths. Day 14 had two. One came for a boy who had survived much longer than he should have by purely hiding, and the other came to a favorite to win.
Cilla, Alana, and Dillon discovered a weak, emaciated boy hiding in the brush by the largest watering hole, at the south end of the arena. Before any of them could kill him, however, he squeezed out his last breath and died of starvation.
Sam Illpray, District 8 Male; 8th, Starvation, Day 14
Pumice stumbled upon a fellow strong favorite, and they began to duel fervently. After forty minutes of battling, Pumice, his left hand cut off and numerous other wounds oozing blood, smashed his sword into his opponent's neck, killing him.
Zoryn Temper, District 4 Male; 7th, Killed by Pumice, Day 14
Day 15, a boy who had climbed the orangish mountains to the north of the arena ran into the force field, and he was quickly electrocuted and killed.
Rolan Opray, District 5 Male; 6th, Killed by force field, Day 15
Day 16, the final 5 were pushed together by a rippling bush fire that roared across the arena, consuming the dried grass in seconds.
Dillon and Cilla, the strong siblings of District 9, ran with their ally, Alana. She was stronger than them, and they knew it. As the fire roared to life behind them, Dillon stabbed her in the thigh with his dagger, and Cilla pushed her into the flames with the bottom of her spear. She screamed as she was burnt alive.
Alana Horne, District 10 Female; 5th, Killed by Dillon, Cilla, and fire, Day 16
Dillon and Cilla arrived at the Cornucopia to see Pumice shove his sword into a soot coated Sunflower, who could barely breathe. Her cannon rang loudly.
Sunflower Harrison, District 11 Female; 4th, Killed by Pumice, Day 16
Dillon and Cilla fought Pumice together, brother and sister to the end. Dillon, armed with a sickle, a weapon he quickly grabbed from a crate, and Cilla, with her spear, faced off against Pumice, who held his blood soaked sword high.
The two siblings burst forward, and the skirmish lasted a half an hour. Pumice had managed to stop the blood on his handless left arm, but when Cilla cut off the bandage, and blood poured forth, he went berserk. His blade surged past Cilla's spear and plunged into her chest, killing her.
Cilla Tripp, District 9 Female; 3rd, Killed by Pumice, Day 16
Dillon, enraged, leaped forward and smashed his sister's spear into Pumice's throat, effectively killing him.
Pumice Downe, District 2 Male; 2nd, Killed by Dillon, Day 16
Dillon screamed, tears dripping down his face as he fell to his knees, gripping Cilla's limp body close to his chest. District 9 had its first Victor, but one that would be severely haunted for the rest of his life. Boliviana made a new announcement across the arena.
"Dillon Tripp of District 9, you are the Victor of the 2nd Annual Hunger Games!"
Dillon just cried even harder, stroking Cilla's bloody face.
Aftermath
Dillon was worshipped by his home District, whose tributes afterwards would be weak and subordinate to the extraordinary Tripp twins. Dillon would fall in love with a Victor from District 8, and bear her a child who would live in District 8 and eventually win a Hunger Games.
He would also have 3 other children with the Victor. He would live a long, albeit depressed, life, teaching dozens of tributes who would usually die in the arena.
His Victory Tour went well, and it was more embellished than Kelan's.
Victor's News
Dillon moves into the Victor's Village of District 9.
List of Victors
1st: Kelan Thather, District 4 (1, 1 Male)
2nd: Dillon Tripp, District 9 (1, 1 Male)
