The Thirty Ninth Annual Hunger Games
Introduction
While rebellion had cropped up in numerous locales the year prior, this Thirty Ninth year post Dark Days was rather quiet and timid. Although there was no direct correspondence between Districts, rumors seeped across borders and slowly spread until the entire nation at least had a small inkling of what had occurred in Six, Eight, and Nine the year past. Peacekeepers moved from one of those Districts might tell his fellow Peacekeepers of the uprisings. One of those Peacekeepers might tell his wife, who might tell a friend, who would tell her family, who would spread it person by person throughout their District until it leaked into the next District over. It was slow and deliberate, and Snow was pleased with the fact that the nation was now truly scared of him. Despite the warnings that came from the cullings in Six, Eight, and Nine, there were still recaps shown in Ten and Eleven during this year due to some mild restlessness and merely missed quotas. President Coriolanus Snow would not relinquish his title of President any time soon. Burtlas Curvanith did not return as the Head Gamemaker. After 13 successful, exciting years of Gamemaking, Burtlas had sparked a new generation of Gamemakers with fantastical ideas and new twists and turns, like Feasts. He was a Head Gamemaker to be remembered, and the Capitol named him a national hero that year after he stepped down. Young and idealistic Ilius Turum, 26 years of age and bursting with ideas and enthusiasm, was elected the new Head Gamemaker for this year, and he would prove his worth by concocting an interesting arena. Caesar Flickerman also returned as the sole commentator of the Games, though that would soon change, as a partner was due to appear beside him in several years time. Caesar added his own dash of creativity to the Games that gave it its spice and flavor in those early years. The Careers this year were rather average. The pair from 1 was striking and beautiful as always, although they weren't very adept this year. The pair from 2 were spooky and haunting with their sharp features and dark eyes and hair. They were both rather skilled. Then there was another mishap in 4; stomach flu was rampant in 4 at the time of the Reaping, and all three possible female volunteers, along with the male chosen volunteer, were out terribly sick. That left no female volunteer and a lacking male volunteer that took the stage. The Careers scored 2 10s, 1 9, and 2 8s. Besides the Careers, there were no other high scorers and no volunteers; the rest of the tributes scored between 2 and 6. Here are the tributes:
District 1: Fragrance Eloe, 17 (9) 8-1 and Graceo Bronte, 18 (8) 10-1
District 2: Shannon Caperly, 18 (10) 4-1 and Coro Schumacher, 18 (10) 4-1
District 3: Rei Pampona, 14 (4) 43-1 and Techo Dis-Paldo, 17 (5) 31-1
District 4: Apryl Cruette, 15 (5) 32-1 and Glance Iott, 17 (8) 12-1
District 5: Evette Groza, 15 (5) 32-1 and Kyong Ellington, 18 (6) 22-1
District 6: Paulene Shumate, 17 (4) 42-1 and Clarice Rodd, 16 (5) 33-1
District 7: Venita Enriquez, 16 (6) 23-1 and Jerry Marroquin, 16 (4) 44-1
District 8: Bettyann Pulliam, 18 (6) 23-1 and Harland Spooner, 17 (5) 31-1
District 9: Usha Landis, 17 (6) 22-1 and Irwin Pina, 15 (5) 31-1
District 10: Madalene Weston, 16 (4) 43-1 and Nell Geiger, 13 (3) 52-1
District 11: Seeder Howell, 18 (5) 31-1 and Tobin Sheridan, 16 (6) 22-1
District 12: Carolin Whitley, 14 (2) 63-1 and Hewitt Vernice, 16 (4) 41-1
HGBA Odds: 25% on Shannon and Coro, 17% on Fragrance, 12% on Graceo, 9% on Glance, 2% on Kyong and Tobin, 1% or less on Rei, Techo, Apryl, Evette, Paulene, Clarice, Venita, Jerry, Bettyann, Harland, Usha, Irwin, Madalene, Nell, Seeder, Carolin, and Hewitt
The Games
The tributes arose in a fantastical creation of an arena. The entire arena was a mammoth oak tree. Falling off meant certain doom. The tributes were about the size of a speck of dust, so they were thousands of times smaller than the tree. The Cornucopia, crafted out of several giant, colorful fall leaves, held climbing supplies, water, and a variety of the more common weapons. Throwing knives, swords, and hatchets were in great prominence within the great golden Horn. One thing that this Cornucopia lacked was food of any kind. All food would have to be scavenged from the arena, and there was little chance of sponsor gifts of food being sent down; Ilius had made sure that the prices of food was jacked up for this Games. The tributes were all dressed in tree-inspired camouflage outfits. It was all very showy and even a bit overdone, but Ilius Turum wanted to make his name known, and he was succeeding in that regard for sure. There were many tricks and traps among the branches and leaves of this monolithic tree arena, and it would be hard to navigate. It was almost any tribute's Games at this point.
5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
Seeder from 11 and Hewitt from 12 sprinted away from the action, scrabbling up the nearby limbs, while the other 22 tributes headed into the fight. The five Careers sprinted to the front of the rush for supplies along with the surprisingly fast Jerry Marroquin from District 7. The boy was beat to the weapons by Fragrance, however, and she quickly turned around, flinging a knife into his forehead making the first of eleven bloodbath kills.
Jerry Marroquin, District 7 Male; 24th, Killed by Fragrance, Bloodbath
Moments later, the fragile girl from 12, Carolin, was struck down with a hatchet by Coro from 2.
Carolin Whitley, District 12 Female; 23rd, Killed by Coro, Bloodbath
The pair from 3, Rei and Techo, ran together into the leaf-like Horn. They rummaged through supplies, frantically searching for wire and batteries, even rope, just something to build traps with. But they could find nothing. The supplies were large in quantity but not in uniqueness. Rei and Techo soon found themselves face to face with Shannon and Graceo, who both used hatchets to disembowel the allied pair from 3.
Techo Dis-Paldo, District 3 Male; 22nd, Killed by Shannon, Bloodbath
Rei Pampona, District 3 Female; 21st, Killed by Graceo, Bloodbath
Glance, the inadequate Career male from 4, started to freak out. He leaped forward and slaughtered his own District partner by accident. He screamed and took off running as Apryl bled out fully onto the bark below her.
Apryl Cruette, District 4 Female; 20th, Killed by Glance, Bloodbath
Shannon stepped out of the Horn and threw her hatchet into the back of a running tribute. This girl, the one from 6, went flying, screaming bloody murder. She collided with Glance, who was running away, and both of them went flying from the tree, falling to their deaths hundreds of feet below.
Paulene Shumate, District 6 Female; 19th, Killed by Shannon and falling, Bloodbath
Glance Iott, District 4 Male; 18th, Killed by Shannon, Paulene, and falling, Bloodbath
Nell from 10 was the next to fall. He was being chased by Coro, and took his own life by leaping off of the tree.
Nell Geiger, District 10 Male; 17th, Suicide, Bloodbath
Moments later, his District partner Madalene was struck down by Graceo.
Madalene Weston, District 10 Female; 16th, Killed by Graceo, Bloodbath
Shannon chased around the allied pair of Harland and Irwin. The other Careers joined in the chase, following them up one of the limbs. Harland slipped and fell, and Shannon finished him off. Then they continued to pursue Irwin.
Harland Spooner, District 8 Male; 15th, Killed by Shannon, Bloodbath
Fragrance made the closing kill of the Bloodbath, chucking a knife up at Irwin. It planted itself in the base of his neck, killing him.
Irwin Pina, District 9 Male; 14th, Killed by Fragrance, Bloodbath
With that, eleven lives had been snuffed out, while thirteen tributes still burnt with fervor. The now 4 member Career pack, containing Fragrance and Graceo from 1 and Shannon and Coro from 2, camped out at the Cornucopia, quickly realizing the lack of food would be a nagging problem. The other nine tributes spread out through the tree. Slim Hewitt from 12 climbed as high as the giant branches would support him, and he was safe from the Careers. His only problem was that he had no supplies, so he was basically stuck in the canopy without a drop of water or a crumb of bread. The pair from 11 were split; Tobin was navigating the mid section of the tree like most of the tributes, while Seeder had climbed down to the thick roots of the tree by the time the faces shone in the sky. She found a dank, damp earthen cave supported by several thick roots. She found pools of muddy water that were drinkable enough along with large, half buried acorns that, when broken open, revealed strips of jerky and crackers. Seeder had struck the jackpot. Usha from 9 and Bettyann from 8 had allied themselves, but the alliance was shaky, and Usha was constantly thinking about pushing her ally to her death as they settled underneath a large leaf in the midsection of the tree. Venita Enriquez from 7 was at home in this arena. She constructed a sturdy teepee shelter out of leaves and bark, and then crafted herself several crude weapons out of wood. Clarice Rodd of 6 was following the alliance of Usha and Bettyann, stealing small bits of food and water when they were away from their camp. And the pair from 5, Evette and Kyong, were attempting to construct some sort of gliders out of the leaves, and so far their efforts weren't very successful. Well, they thought that they were doing well in their project, but it was rather obvious to most viewers that their gliders were thrown together and would not work well.
On Day 2, tragedy befell the District 5 pair. The Career pack had taken to scaling the rough branches that they were perched in. They claimed Evette's life after Shannon threw a throwing knife into the girl's chest, but Kyong ran forward with his glider and leaped from his branch.
Evette Groza, District 5 Female; 13th, Killed by Shannon, Day 2
Graceo, who was an accomplished archer, shot two arrows at Kyong as he floated down. One missed, and the other hit his left calf. At this point in Kyong's descent, his glider began to rip and tear, and Kyong lost control of the misshapen leaf craft. It spiraled down to the forest floor, and halfway through its fall Kyong's hand slipped and he plummeted, screaming, to the ground, where he was dead instantly from the impact.
Kyong Ellington, District 5 Male; 12th, Killed by himself and glider, Day 2
Day 3 passed without much action, although a strong breeze almost sent Hewitt spiraling from his high perch in the thin canopy of the tree. The Career alliance was getting along great, and tensions were growing between Usha and Bettyann.
On Day 4, Usha finally broke and leaped at Bettyann, trying to shove her off of the branch. Bettyann whirled around and planted a dagger in Usha's stomach. The girl mewled, and Bettyann sprinted off, leaving Usha to bleed out on the branch alone. Usha would do so three hours later, and her cannon was the only one that fired on Day 4.
Usha Landis, District 9 Female; 11th, Killed by Bettyann, Day 4
Days 5 and 6 passed with several close encounters. On Day 5, Hewitt did fall, but only about fifteen feet. He still broke his left arm, and was near death by Day 6 from dehydration. Also on Day 5, Seeder had a close scrape with death after her safe haven of a root cave trembled and nearly collapsed, crushing her. On Day 6, the Careers spotted and then in turn chased Clarice for a good hour. Graceo planted an arrow deep in the boy's back, but he kept running and evaded them.
On Day 7, two deaths would come to fruition. Hewitt finally passed from dehydration an hour or so before noon.
Hewitt Vernice, District 12 Male; 10th, Killed by dehydration, Day 7
Six hours later, the Careers locked their sights on Venita Enriquez. The girl lead them back to her camp and managed to wound Coro significantly with her wooden weapons before slipping off of her branch and plummeting seventy feet to the next branch below. Her neck snapped upon impact, and Venita was dead.
Venita Enriquez, District 7 Female; 9th, Killed by falling, Day 7
The Top 8 had been determined: Fragrance Eloe from District 1, Graceo Bronte from District 1, Shannon Caperly from District 2, Coro Schumacher from District 2, Clarice Rodd from District 6, Bettyann Pulliam from District 8, Seeder Howell from District 11, and Tobin Sheridan from District 11.
On Day 8, Seeder's safe haven collapsed, but she was plump and full, fuller than she'd ever been in her life, from all the food in the cavern. All of the other tributes were weak and feeble from a week of next to no food. This might prove to be an advantage that would greatly help her.
Day 9 came around, and Coro Schumacher of District 2 died from wounds sustained from his fight with Venita. He hadn't let on how bad his injuries were, trying to tough his way through them. They were much worse than even he realized, and he died from them early on Day 9.
Coro Schumacher, District 2 Male; 8th, Killed by Venita/wounds, Day 9
The wily and agile boy from 11, Tobin, would die the next day after the bloodthirsty pack of three Careers would discover him. Shannon cut his knees before tossing her sword straight through his head, giving the Capitol an especially gory death that they'd been thirsting for.
Tobin Sheridan, District 11 Male; 7th, Killed by Shannon, Day 10
Day 11 had a strange event occurring in the arena. The branches started rearranging themselves, and leaves and branches started to fall. Fragrance was separated from Graceo and Shannon and was hit by a branch. Struggling to stay on the branch, she came face to face with Seeder. The girl freaked out and plunged a dagger she'd received as a sponsor gift into Fragrance's chest before stalking away, changed and hardened.
Fragrance Eloe, District 1 Female; 6th, Killed by Seeder, Day 11
Also that day, Graceo and Shannon found Bettyann buried under a pile of branches, unconscious and bloodied. Shannon did the honors, slicing open the strong girl's throat before she came around and put up a fight.
Bettyann Pulliam, District 8 Female; 5th, Killed by Shannon, Day 11
Graceo and Shannon split to go hunting. The wounded boy from 6 and a girl from 11 who'd scored a 5 were the only ones left, and they suspected that they would not have any trouble hunting those two outliers down before having the final Career battle that the past couple of years had lacked.
On Day 12, Clarice inspected the puffy yellow wound on his back and knew that it was fatally infected. He also knew no one was going to be able to send him medicine (only Careers or really strong outliers got sponsor gifts that big or vital this late in the Games), so he vowed to help the other outlier survive. He spent the day successfully tracking Seeder down. He gave her his food and water, but she refused it, threatening to kill him. He left her then, leaving his supplies. The fatigue of searching for Seeder was what did him in the next day, as the fatigue and strengthening infection combined to take out the male from 6, Clarice Rodd.
Clarice Rodd, District 6 Male; 4th, Killed by Graceo/infection/fatigue, Day 13
And with Clarice's death, the 6 day game of cat and mouse ensued. Seeder, Shannon, and Graceo were all highly intelligent, and they all managed to avoid each other for the duration of Days 14 and 15. On Day 16, ravenous squirrel mutts enlarged to be on the same size scale as the tree were released into the arena, one for each tribute. Seeder managed to outrun hers, Shannon slayed hers, and Graceo managed to push his off of the tree after suffering the loss of three fingers on his right hand from the mutt's sharp, gnashing teeth. On Day 17, nothing picked up. A Feast was announced on Day 19 after another round of humongous squirrels did not stir the pot on the 18th Day. These Games were getting dangerously long, and the Feast should end it all in one fell swoop.
This was not so. Graceo was driven mad with hunger, so he blindly stumbled to the Horn and barely made it there alive without falling from the tree. Shannon had managed to receive some sponsor gifts of food from her vast sea of sponsors, and Seeder was accustomed to the hunger since she'd had malnutrition since her birth in 11, so she was fine eating very little. She was also still plump from her early arena days down in the root caverns, and in fact was the most healthy of the three on this 19th day.
Graceo arrived at the Cornucopia and nibbled up every bit of food in his pack, and the food in the packs of Shannon and Seeder. Ilius was frustrated that the tributes were refusing to play his Games, so he sent a giant hawk mutt that he'd yet to use down on Graceo. The boy was torn to shreds, and the bloody carnage of Mr. Bronte sated the Capitol viewers long enough for Graceo's face to shine in the sky that night.
Graceo Bronte, District 1 Male; 3rd, Killed by hawk mutt, Day 19
That left the fan favorite and the underdog to battle it out. It was a tried and true story line that would become iconic in future years. Sooner than later, in the outer Districts like 10, 11, and 12, the phrase "Seedering it" would become commonplace to refer to a tribute pulling an underdog win in the Games. This was surely what happened in the 39th Hunger Games to the nation's surprise.
Shannon marched through the branches, climbing and searching and hunting as Day 20 wore on. Seeder was tailing Shannon, following just out of earshot from the strong Career girl. Shannon was sure that she would discover a feeble and starved husk of a girl by nightfall. She thought she had the Games in the bag, and also thought she would bring 2 its fourth Victor in the 4th decade of Games. This was not to be. Seeder followed Shannon patiently and vigilantly, creeping behind her deep into the night as Shannon became more and more reckless. Finally Shannon gave up at around dawn on Day 21. She unclipped her scabbard from her waist, freeing herself from the weight, and gave herself a moment to rest. This moment was what Seeder had been waiting for. Now Shannon was unarmed, and Seeder could take her. She weighed fifteen more pounds than the now-emaciated Shannon, and their strength was about equal. Seeder leaped on top of her, her sponsor gift dagger that she'd used to kill Fragrance lofted high above Shannon's head. The girl from 2 kicked and screamed, trying to snatch up her sword, but the knife was a blinding silvery arc through the air and Shannon's struggles faded as red blood pumped out of the deep slit in her forehead. Seeder retched and rolled off of the now still Shannon as a cannon shattered the pensive silence of the arena.
Shannon Caperly, District 2 Female; 2nd, Killed by Seeder, Day 21
"Seeder Howell of District 11, you are the Victor of the 39th Hunger Games!" Caesar bellowed with glee. This three week long Games, the longest in years, would definitely be one to remember. Seeder just wiped the bile from her mouth with the back of her hand and walked away from the corpse of Shannon as fast as she could.
Aftermath
District 11 seemed to have been hitting its stride early on in the 1st-2nd decades, with Vissarion and Freeha claiming the title of Victor only 5 years apart. But the drought of Victors from 11 had lasted for well over 2 decades. Seeder broke this dry spell, and she was revered as a goddess in her homeland of 11. Vissarion and Freeha were both aging and were disgruntled with Mentoring, but a fresh set of eyes and ears in the Control Center would do miracles for 11's reputation and prowess in the Games. Seeder was a quiet, pensive woman, much more so after her Victory. She had been rather naive before entering the arena and claiming 2 lives, and exiting the arena she was cool and complacent, not the shy, nervous, naive girl she'd been before. She was able to embrace her change, however, and was one of the Victors that did better in the matters of coping with what she had done in the arena. This also led her to become a better Mentor and the saving grace for 11's reputation in the Games. While they would not win often at all, they would still flourish in the Games and have a reputation of being big players who would often take out Careers or other strong outliers like themselves. Seeder helped change the perception of 11, and started getting the citizens of 11 on the track that they could accomplish whatever they pleased. This would have negative consequences, however, as some of this new energy would be translated into rebellion during Snow's long and frozen reign.
Seeder would die at age 89, dying several weeks prior to the 110th Hunger Games from heart failure. She would marry but would have no children.
The payouts on her Victory were amazing, as about .31% bet on her.
Her Victory Tour was rather average, although she did stir the crowd tremendously when she returned home in 11.
Fun Fact: Seeder was the first tribute since Deana Mitchellson of District 9 in the 18th Hunger Games to become Victor with a training score lower than 6.
Victor's News
Seeder moves into the Victor's Village of District 11, in the house next door to Freeha.
Gnaeus becomes engaged to his girlfriend, Arma Umbridge.
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)
24th: Dorsal Rance, District 4 (4, 2 Male)
25th: Venice Grammar, District 12 (1, 1 Female)
26th: Calculata Fenceley, District 3 (2, 1 Female)
27th: Florianna Urnston, District 2 (4, 2 Female)
28th: Mercedes Benson, District 6 (2, 1 Female)
29th: Fox Rennolls, District 5 (3, 1 Male)
30th: Tarquinius Isselhardt, District 2 (5, 3 Male)
31st: Ivelisse Horner, District 1 (5, 3 Female)
32nd: Pomona McCrea, District 7 (3, 2 Female)
33rd: Beetee Latier, District 3 (3, 2 Male)
34th: Flotsam Bresten, District 4 (5, 3 Male)
35th: Organza White, District 8 (2, 1 Female)
36th: Januaria Shale, District 2 (6, 3 Female)
37th: Gnaeus Deccum, District 2 (7, 4 Male)
38th: Porter Tripp, District 5 (4, 3 Female)
39th: Seeder Howell, District 11 (3, 2 Female)
A/N: I AM SO SO SO SO SORRY!
Life has been a bitch. Cross country, school, clubs, family, friends, outside-of-school-activities...my life has been busy. But I should have been able to get this out earlier than like 2 weeks late. I am so sorry, again. The wait shouldn't be that long (I hope) ever again, and I have half a mind to churn out another chapter this weekend to make up for my lack of updates. Everything is okay, I just am really busy, and the free time I have I usually use to relax and do nothing instead of writing.
Anyway, I really hope I did Seeder justice! I also tried to make this chapter exciting, not only because I like Seeder as a character, but also because of the lack of updates. This Games was fun to write, and I love how they keep getting more detailed as I write more of them. I hope you enjoyed her as much as I did, and that her Games was fulfilling.
We have quite a few canon Victors appearing in the next decade or so! Wiress, Chaff, and Haymitch are going to be here in the next decade-ish, along with several unnamed canon Victors, but I will not reveal who so those chapters are suspenseful in the matter of who the Victor will be.
So sorry again. I hope you liked this. Have a nice day, and please review if you can! :)
P.S. Another longest chapter, clocking in at just over 4,400 words! :D
Until next time,
Tracee
