The Twenty Third Annual Hunger Games


Introduction

President Baenlas Curvanith exerts and plays with his extreme power, starting up an age deigned "the Dark Age of the Capitol" by many a historian. These infamous times were filled with traitorous politicians, lying scum, disgusting, utter enjoyment of the Games' bloodshed, and the use of Victors in uncleanly and disheartening ways. Baenlas did all of this and more, shaping Panem's near future into a dark and diseased one. Only soon after the 100th Games and the beloved 4th Quarter Quell would the Renaissance begin, and a Golden Era began that started around the 130th and still stretches to present day, though there have been dips and bumps along the way. But anyway, back to Baenlas' time. Taxes were as bloated as Baenlas' ministers, and minor rebellions were crushed underfoot as nearly two hundred malcontents were executed via firing squad between the end of the 22nd and the beginning of the 23rd. Hundreds more, nearly a thousand, were lashed for treasonous words or semi-treasonous words. Also, Baenlas was a heavy endorser of the Careers, and the opening of this year's Games would show his utterly disgusting bias. He vowed to treat the outer District Victors that fell under his reign with contempt and dishonor. President Baenlas' plaque was removed from the Promenade of Heroes, near the City Circle, around the 100th, along with that of many other slanderous politicians and "heroic" Peacekeepers. Anyway, he did away with his two Vice Presidents, deeming them "ministers" like hundreds of other, quote, "insufficient fools." The Head Gamemaker's position had been practically non-existent the previous year, though Nadoia Brutt, a Gamemaker, took most of the responsibility for steering the Games. Since last year's Games had been a brutal success and a Career success story, Nadoia Brutt was officially named Head Gamemaker three and a half months before the Games were to begin. With all the political uproar, the once proud Capitols binged and drowned themselves in decadent foods and clothing. The once honored upper class of Panem deteriorated into a motley group of overweight, lying, and scandalous criminals that the Districts were right to rebel against. Many good people remained in the midst of these "New Age Capitols", as they called themselves. But as the old saying goes, "One rotten apple ruins the pile." Everyone slowly converted to the "New Age Capitol" ways, and the Capitol lost itself for the better part of a century until the Renaissance rolled around. Now, to the Games. The Careers were a fine crop this year, as Baenlas made sure, as he loved his Careers. Their scores were minimally lower than they would have been, though, as the Gamemakers made scores of 11 and 12 nearly impossible to achieve. There were 3 10s, 2 9s, and 1 7. The Career who earned a 7, a pretty girl from 1 who wounded herself during training, was shunted from the Career pack. Besides the Careers, there was one other volunteer; a seemingly insane boy from the Livestock District who had no known relations to the little 12 year old Danny Hollfonger that was originally Reaped. There were some irregularities; the insane boy from 10 scored a 9, and the 15 year old boy from 11 nabbed an 8. The rest of the tributes scored between 7 and 4. Here are the tributes:

District 1: Opulence Petuti, 16 (7) 14-1 and Gaines Antebellum, 18 (10) 4-1

District 2: Victoria Platters, 17 (9) 7-1 and Gaius Mutch-Holn, 18 (10) 3-1

District 3: Monette Lilos, 12 (4) 43-1 and Kord Genia, 17 (6) 22-1

District 4: Clamma Hoser, 17 (10) 4-1 and River Plastdinian, 16 (9) 8-1

District 5: Boltana Kymire, 16 (7) 15-1 and Aaron Bussmure, 15 (6) 22-1

District 6: Jiraselle Fleef, 13 (4) 44-1 and Boxcar Opaque, 16 (6) 21-1

District 7: Lana Kang, 15 (6) 22-1 and Ali Numlarr, 13 (5) 32-1

District 8: Seamstress Adeller, 17 (7) 14-1 and Woof Parsons, 17 (7) 14-1

District 9: Kayleigh Osmond, 14 (5) 33-1 and Damion Flaherty, 15 (5) 32-1

District 10: Veala Darby, 16 (6) 22-1 and Sunbird Pronglet, 18 (9) 8-1

District 11: Shauna Carrietta, 13 (5) 15-1 and Cattail Lasher, 15 (8) 12-1

District 12: Lyla Moxer, 12 (6) 24-1 and Alexander Horase, 16 (6) 22-1

HGBA Odds: 20% on Gaius, 15% on Gaines and Clamma, 10% on Victoria and River, 9% on Sunbird, 5% on Cattail, 3% on Opulence, 2% on Seamstress and Woof, 1% or less on Monette, Kord, Boltana, Aaron, Jiraselle, Boxcar, Lana, Ali, Kayleigh, Damion, Veala, Shauna, Lyla, and Alexander.


The Games

The tributes arose in the total opposite of last year's arena. A dying, desiccated forest with little to no water and no sign of human life, not a hint of metal, not even a rotting thatch hut. The grass was dried, crumbling, and yellow, the trees leafless and covered in fungi, long dead from some mysterious tree plague. A couple of rotting carcasses of wolves and deer could be found in the lifeless forests, and hundreds of white bones could be found among the heaps of dead leaves that obscured the dry forest floor. The only water was at the Cornucopia and in two small ponds, one in the north, one in the south, that were heavily guarded by the only living things in the arena besides fungi and the tributes; large, starved eagle mutts. They were light brown and could blend in well with the forest floor. Most of the arena, besides the small ponds, was plain, lifeless forest. The Cornucopia sat in a clearing of dried, dead grass. The Cornucopia was wooden and brown, blending in with the landscape. Baenlas' bias showed, as a sword lay ten feet outside of the mouth of the Cornucopia, right in the path of the male from 2, Gaius, a slaughtering machine.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

Because of the apparent deadness of the arena, the good pedigree of Careers this year, and the bias of the Gamemakers', the Careers would make a decent 11 kills at the bloodbath. The first came as Gaius swept up the sword and chopped off the head of the weakling that had been standing to his right, the morphling withdrawn girl from 6 who could barely manage real words.

Jiraselle Fleef, District 6 Female; 24th, Killed by Gaius, Bloodbath

Only moments later, the strong girl from 4 swept up a trident and made a show of spearing the mumbling genius boy from 3 in the chest. At least it was a quick death, his Mentor would later tell the press.

Kord Genia, District 3 Male; 23rd, Killed by Clamma, Bloodbath

Clamma grinned until she heard a growl behind her. She turned to see the towering frame of the boy from 10, insane Sunbird, a mace raised above her head. Her screams and Sunbird's cackling was deafening as the massive boy from 10 beat the girl from 4 into a bloody pulp.

Clamma Hoser, District 4 Female; 22nd, Killed by Sunbird, Bloodbath

Moments later, two spears stuck through Sunbird's back and out his gut, thrown by Clamma's infuriated District partner. The gleeful smile died from the large boy's face as he fell into the bloody body of Clamma, dead himself.

Sunbird Pronglet, District 10 Male; 21st, Killed by River, Bloodbath

In all of the commotion, the oddest alliance of the year, possibly ever, sneaks in and grabs weapons and supplies. The boys from 6 and 11, the girl from 9, and the pair from 8 all grab throwing knives, their preferred weapon. The girl from 2 spots them and buries her hatchet in the little girl from 9 while her allies escape.

Kayleigh Osmond, District 9 Female; 20th, Killed by Victoria, Bloodbath

Meanwhile, Gaius pinned a tiny girl, watching as she squirmed before digging his sword into her abdomen.

Monette Lilos, District 3 Female; 19th, Killed by Gaius, Bloodbath

Gaines cackled as he grabbed a running girl by her long, silky brown hair, using a serrated knife to slice open her throat as she fought and screamed and clawed.

Boltana Kymire, District 5 Female; 18th, Killed by Gaines, Bloodbath

River, who had been romantically invested in now-dead Clamma, hunted down her killer's District partner. He delighted in dragging his spear across her chest until her screams and sobs fell silent and she was cold and dead.

Veala Darby, District 10 Female; 17th, Killed by River, Bloodbath

Meanwhile, sneaky, shunted Opulence, holding a spear, killed the lanky, emaciated boy from 12 before dashing off into the woods.

Alexander Horase, District 12 Male; 16th, Killed by Opulence, Bloodbath

A pair of tributes tries to attack the 6-8-11 alliance; Aaron from 5 and Damion from 9. The boy from 11 quickly threw a knife into the boy from 9's forehead. He fell as his friend tried to run.

Damion Flaherty, District 9 Male; 15th, Killed by Cattail, Bloodbath

Cattail then proceeded to beat the boy from 5 senseless and unconscious before slashing open his chest and throat. Cattail stood, coated in blood, to see his horrified allies sprint and away, abandoning him. He narrowly avoided a thrown knife from Gaines before he dashed off into the woods.

Aaron Bussmure, District 5 Male; 14th, Killed by Cattail, Bloodbath

The Bloodbath had ended, and Districts 3, 5, 9, and 10 were out of the running, and the Careers had 4 members. President Curvanith was not pleased, but it would have to do.

Things usually settled down on the first night, but the Careers were bloodthristy. They spotted the smoke from the fire of a incompetent tribute. When they reached the source of the fire, it's lighter had already been decapitated a wayward Cattail. He'd killed his own District partner accidentally, and that was the last straw for him. Cattail descended into insanity, and he ran around the forest, screaming and singing in a high pitched voice, spooking everyone, even the nasty, bloody Careers, as they all tried to sleep.

Shauna Carrietta, District 11 Female; 13th, Killed by Cattail, Night 1

The Careers hunted ruthlessly Days 2 and 3, but found no one. Water supplies had been low at the Cornucopia, so they tried to get water from one of the ponds, the northern one. The eagles rose and managed to tear off the head of the girl before the Gamemakers could stop them. Minutes later a handful of Gamemakers were fired by an angry President Curvanith.

Victoria Platters, District 2 Female; 12th, Killed by eagle mutts, Day 4

The next day, a girl passed from dehydration after going without water for 5 days.

Lana Kang, District 7 Female; 11th, Dehydration, Day 5

At this point, the 6-8 alliance had discovered that you could tap water out of the seemingly dead trees with a spile, which Woof had received in his pack. They gorged on the water while the rest of the tributes barely managed to escape the clutches of dehydration.

Day 6 passed, deathless. Day 7, the boy from 4, tired and thirsty, staggered off into the woods in search of water. He was weak and not in his right mind, and it was all too easy for the 6-8 alliance to corner him. Seamstress did the honors, slashing open his throat.

River Plastdinian, District 4 Male; 10th, Killed by Seamstress, Day 7

The next day, Day 8, the 6-8 alliance found a tired and wounded girl from 12 caught in a crude trap made by Cattail. They freed her, and she tried to kill them with two big daggers. Before Woof knew what he was doing, he chucked a knife into the girl's head and she fell still. He began to cry in Seamstress's shoulder when Cattail emerged from the shadows, angry and wielding a rusty butcher's knife he'd received as a sponsor gift.

Lyla Moxer, District 12 Female; 9th, Killed by Woof, Day 8

As Lyla passed, the Top 8 was determined. Only two females made the Top 8 this year. Those in the Top 8 were Opulence Petuti from District 1, Gaines Antebellum from District 1, Gaius Mutch-Holn from District 2, Boxcar Opaque from District 6, Ali Numlarr from District 7, Seamstress Adeller from District 8, Woof Parsons from District 8, and Cattail Lasher from District 11.

Then Cattail, screaming and angry, leaped on top of Boxcar and dug his butcher's knife into the boy's chest ever so slowly. The 8s tred to fend him off, but when he broke Seamstress's left wrist without even looking up, they ran, leaving Boxcar to be tortured and eventually bleed out two and a half hours later.

Boxcar Opaque, District 6 Male; 8th, Killed by Cattail, Day 8

President Curvanith was disgusted with the Career's lacking performance this year, and he personally traveled to the Gamemaker's Control Center at night as the 9th Day began (he'd been a Gamemaker earlier in life), and sent the eagle mutts upon Gaines and Gaius. Gaines' throat was torn out by the vicious mutts, while Gaius was able to fend them off, though he was heavily wounded.

Gaines Antebellum, District 1 Male; 7th, Killed by eagle mutts, Day 9

Days 10 and 11 passed, deathless. Cattail rigged numerous traps, and even taunted an eagle mutt into a fight. He lost his right eye but made a showing of carving the dead mutt into hundreds of bloody pieces. What had once been entertaining was now grotesque and disturbing, and many citizens suggested that the insane boy be wiped out. President Curvanith wanted him to last a while longer, though. A small dose of insanity is always good, he always said, especially in Careers and strong outliers. So he let Cattail roam wild, and, on Day 12, the small, emaciated, and dehydrated little 13 year old boy from 7 stumbled into one of his traps. Cattail strung his guts from the branches of the dead trees around the trap, and a small group of 7's rioted at the Justice Building. They were "properly" cut down with several rounds of bullets from the Peacekeepers.

Ali Numlarr, District 7 Male; 6th, Killed by Cattail, Day 12

Day 13, Opulence, the shunted Career, grinned as she crept over to a sleeping Gaius. She cut open all of his water containers so he was left with nothing. Then he awoke, and he cut off her right arm before she stabbed him in the chest.

Gaius Mutch-Holn, District 2 Male; 5th, Killed by Opulence, Day 13

Opulence screamed in agony, attracting the attentions of Cattail. He dashed over to where she lay, bleeding out, and he carved intricate, gory patterns in her chest as she weeped for her mother and for mercy. Riots broke in District 1, and dozens were placed in the stocks, several lashed, two shot on site. President Curvanith would not be receiving his oh-so-special Career Victor this year.

Opulence Petuti, District 1 Female; 4th, Killed by Gaius and Cattail, Day 13

Now it was just the 8s and Cattail. The Gamemakers flushed the two, who had been hiding ever since their run in with Cattail, to the Cornucopia via fires that burned the dead, dry forest to an ash in under an hour. As the fires died down, Seamstress and Woof stumbled into the clearing. Cattail cackled manically, throwing a knife into Woof's side. He fell, and he grabbed Seamstress, restraining her. He slowly cut off all of her fingers as she screamed inhuman sounds, and then he hung her by a noose at the mouth of the Cornucopia. The entire nation was aghast. It seemed that this monster might actually win the Games.

Seamstress Adeller, District 8 Female; 3rd, Killed by Cattail, Day 13

Cattail strode confidently over to the spot where Woof had laid only moments before, but now he only found bloody grass. He turned, and suddenly he was on the ground, Woof on top of him, a blade pressed to his throat.

"You deserve so much worse, but I'm not a monster like you," Woof hissed before pressing the blade into Cattail's throat as he choked out stunned pleads.

Cattail Lasher, District 11 Male; 2nd, Killed by Woof, Day 13

"Woof Parsons of District 8, you are the Victor of the 23rd Hunger Games!" Caius sang into the arena. Woof just began to cry, crawling off of Cattail's corpse and looking forlornly at the Cornucopia, where his ally was strung up by a rope, her hands bloody stumps.


Aftermath

Woof was a well liked Victor. He brought home the first Victory to District 8, and he subdued the monsterous Cattail. Cattail was later nicknamed in the Districts "The Serial Killer of the 23rd." Woof was called the "Vanquisher" and was heralded for some time until he faded from public memory as big, bad Career Victors took the spotlight. Woof remained relatively clean drug and alcohol wise, though he did love to indulge in a bottle scotch every now and then. Cattail haunted his dreams and the dreams of a generation as the monster from 11 who slaughtered 7 tributes. Woof would Mentor dozens upon dozens of tributes, who would often fall at the bloodbath, despite his dismay. He would be a strong supporter of Academies in every District, and an Academy would be built in 8 soon after his death, mostly built with the money from his will, which he left to his fellow Victors to build such an Academy.

Woof would live to age 89, dying 2 months before the 95th Hunger Games from a seizure. He would marry and have a son. President Curvanith used the good-looking young boy from 8 in ways that many future Victors, from Cashmere to Finnick, would be used. Most lost interest in a few years, so he was released from this disgusting job soon enough and was able to start a family.

The payouts on his Victory were pretty good, as 2% bet on him.

His Victory Tour was a good one; everyone heralded him as a savior, as the "Vanquisher", and he was embarrassed by all the attention.

Fun Fact: Opulence was the first Career to be shunted from the Career Pack before the Games began.


Victor's News

Woof moves into the Victor's Village of District 8.

Vissarion has his final child, a boy named Digger.

Mascara has a son with an on-and-off boyfriend, and she names him Dax.


List of Victors

1st: Kelan Thather, District 4 (1, 1 Male)

2nd: Dillon Tripp, District 9 (1, 1 Male)

3rd: Tugra Ertra, District 5 (1, 1 Female)

4th: Noor Tuskararus, District 2 (1, 1 Female)

5th: Ishania Patel, District 7 (1, 1 Female)

6th: Guild Tonneroy, District 1 (1, 1 Male)

7th: Chaplin Nastaro, District 3 (1, 1 Male)

8th: Irmentrude Marley, District 5 (2, 2 Female)

9th: Vissarion Chamantel, District 11 (1, 1 Male)

10th: Greason Trails, District 6 (1, 1 Male)

11th: Mags Flanagan, District 4 (2, 1 Female)

12th: Salandra Valour, District 1 (2, 1 Female)

13th: Barcelona Sepias, District 10 (1, 1 Female)

14th: Freeha Indepp, District 11 (2, 1 Female)

15th: Clermont Lackrey, District 1 (3, 2 Male)

16th: Bex Martin, District 4 (3, 2 Female)

17th: Jaguar Crusoe, District 10 (2, 1 Male)

18th: Deana Mitchellson, District 9 (2, 1 Female)

19th: Romulus Armidale, District 2 (2, 1 Male)

20th: Grover Elms, District 7 (2, 1 Male)

21st: Fitore Renoro, District 2 (3, 2 Male)

22nd: Mascara Curler, District 1 (4, 2 Female)

23rd: Woof Parsons, District 8 (1, 1 Male)


A/N: Here's Woof! I hope I did him justice! Review if you can. Thanks for reading, as always! (This is the longest chapter yet! (: )

Until next time,

Tracee