The Fifty Ninth Annual Hunger Games
Introduction
Following a second successful year as the Head Gamemaker, Creon Baxter was thrilled to have another chance at flexing his newfound prowess as a popular fixture in the Hunger Games. The entire Capitol had loved the harsh desert arena of the 58th as well as the cast of strong tributes that emerged in its endgame, especially the boisterous Victor Kyla Burks. Creon had ascended to new levels of popularity in the Capitol, and he once again kept his new arena a mystery, exciting the country to see what he would create next. President Coriolanus Snow maintained his stranglehold on Panem for yet another year, pleased once again that there seemed to be little stirring in the Districts due to the harsh Career dominance of the last Games. The only instance was a small riot in District 5 after Kitt and Beam were savagely murdered by Kyla, but those insurgents were easily put down, and the country remained subdued otherwise. Caesar Flickerman and Claudius Templesmith remained the announcers for the Hunger Games as they had been for many-a-year, having plenty to guess about with Creon's secretive next arena for these 59th Hunger Games. While everyone was kept guessing about the arena, they did not have to keep guessing about the tributes for much longer. The Careers this year were not as spectacular as the impressive pack from the Games prior. District 1's girl was a tall, willowy thing with long, mousy brown hair and a small, cute face. She looked much younger than 18, but this look was deceptive, as she was actually incredibly swift and skilled with a spear. Her District partner was the strongest male of the year; standing at an impressive six and a half feet tall, he seemed quite like some of the brutes that came out of District 2, and he favored a sword as well. However, he still had the characteristic blonde hair-blue eyes look of his District. District 2 produced overall the strongest pair, as had become quite common. The girl was the frontrunner before the Games began, but she was much different from Kyla who had won the year before. She was quieter and more stoic, although she also did enjoy cracking some jokes at her friends' expense. She was incredibly talented with both swords and throwing knives, and she was also an accomplished tactician. Her District partner, named after the Victor of the 27th Games, was also rather talented with throwing knives. He also was not very boisterous, with a more feminine aura and white-blonde hair that made him look almost like a 1. He revealed during his interviews that he was intersex, opening up about his struggles with his identity that made the Capitol like him. District 4 had a rougher year in producing tributes. They managed to produce a pretty strong female tribute; she had a shaved head and glittering blue eyes, and she was extremely talented with a trident and seemed to be incredibly energetic. However, there had been no male volunteers aged 18 this year, and a younger male had volunteered in the open spot. While he was pretty talented with a spear, the 16-year-old volunteer was not up to par with the rest of the pack; only scoring a 7, he was kicked out by the other Careers despite his District partner's protests, meaning he would have to go solo. While last year had been lacking in the way of Outliers, this year there were a couple more memorable tributes to go against the Careers. The pair from 7 were the two main stars of the show. The male, Spruce, had managed an 8, while his District partner Silvia had gotten a 7. They were both incredibly muscular and skilled with hatchets, and due to the nature of this arena, Creon believed they could fare rather well. They both had likable personalities that endeared them to the Capitol, especially Spruce who was very handsome and good at kissing up to the Capitolite audience. Besides these two, another notable tribute was Cecelia from 8. She had scored a 6, but her memorable moment was during the interviews when she broke down crying about her 11 younger siblings back home, and how she hoped she could protect the younger tributes who reminded her of her siblings, making the Capitol pity the poor girl and become curious about what she would do during the Games. There was also an unfortunate Reaping from District 9; a boy with Down's Syndrome had been Reaped, and no one had volunteered to take his place. The rest of the tributes scored between 6 and 2, and there were no volunteers besides the Careers. Here are the tributes:
District 1: Amethyst Marsden, 18 (9) 9-1 and Stunning Skylstad, 18 (10) 5-1
District 2: Portia Schalley, 18 (10) 4-1 and Florian Kissinger, 18 (9) 7-1
District 3: Silica Refardik, 15 (4) 43-1 and Johnson Connors, 17 (6) 25-1
District 4: Beluga Cardiff, 18 (9) 8-1 and Diego Maduro, 16 (7) 16-1
District 5: Kasie Barnaby, 14 (5) 38-1 and Charge Bantam, 15 (5) 32-1
District 6: Axella Walsh, 16 (4) 49-1 and Senn Fulghum, 16 (3) 54-1
District 7: Silvia Barrowe, 18 (7) 17-1 and Spruce Takach, 18 (8) 11-1
District 8: Cecelia Lahren, 18 (6) 20-1 and Yarnley Kratz, 16 (4) 48-1
District 9: Rosemary Dzuro, 17 (5) 38-1 and Richie Kraemer, 15 (2) 67-1
District 10: Evi Panner, 13 (4) 44-1 and Phillip Dartmouth, 16 (5) 35-1
District 11: Komba Purcell, 16 (6) 28-1 and Gourdon Travis, 14 (5) 32-1
District 12: Isidore Montgomery, 17 (5) 36-1 and Darry Sainte, 12 (3) 55-1
HGBA Odds: 19% on Portia, 18% on Stunning, 16% on Florian, 14% on Beluga, 11% on Amethyst, 10% on Spruce, 4% on Diego, 3% on Silvia, 1% or less on Silica, Johnson, Kasie, Charge, Axella, Senn, Cecelia, Yarnley, Rosemary, Richie, Evi, Phillip, Komba, Gourdon, Isidore, and Darry.
The Games
The first thing the tributes noticed when they rose up into the arena was the mist. The twenty four pedestals ringed a misty circular meadow that was strewn with various supplies. The Cornucopia, back to its usual golden color this year, stood in the center of the foggy clearing that the tributes all stood around, dressed in charcoal gray-colored pants and jackets. Just beyond the ring of pedestals was an expansive birch forest that spanned for two and a half miles in all directions. The only plants in the entire vast forest were these tall, pale birch trees with their silvery scars along with some undergrowth. There were various creatures in the woods, from deer to rabbits to groosling, but none of them were deadly. The only creatures that provided any danger were the jabberjays that roosted in the southern part of the forest. While this arena at first seemed quite similar to the redwood forest of Blight's Games, when one reached the edge of the forest, it instantly became clear that this arena was much different. At about two and a half miles from the central meadow where the tributes began the Games, the forest suddenly dropped off into jagged stone cliffs that led all the way down thousands of feet to a rocky beach. These jagged stone cliffs surrounded the entire forest, and the slim rocky beach ringed it as well. A roaring ocean, too dangerous and cold for anyone to enter, beat against the rocky shoreline, showing that this birch forest was actually an island. The cliffs surrounding the forest were pocketed with thousands of caves and nooks for the tributes to hide within, and the sea was teeming with fish and other creatures. Overall, this arena was very unique, and many in the Capitol were excited for these Games to begin. Creon had wanted plenty of tributes to explore his arena, so he had put less food and water in the Horn than usual, and a few more weapons of all kinds. This terrified many of the Outliers, and they saw the misty birch forest around them as potentially offering safety. The Career pack was also not the strongest this year. Thus, only 9 tributes would be killed within the opening minutes of the Games.
5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
When the gong rang, five tributes instantly ran away from the Bloodbath. The girls from 3 and 12 as well as the boy from 11 all sprinted as far as they could into the birch forest once the gong had rang. Meanwhile, the girl from 10 and the boy from 12 waited at the northern edge of the forest for their ally Cecelia, who was going in to get supplies and had vowed to protect them since they were the two youngest tributes in the Games. While these tributes escaped, the other 19 ran into the fray desperately for supplies.
The Careers were again the fastest tributes this year, although Silvia from 7 was able to keep up with most of them. She quickly snatched up a pack and hatchets and tried to get out of the way, avoiding the Careers while they grabbed weapons as well. Amethyst and Beluga both grabbed spears, while Stunning grabbed a broadsword and Florian and Portia grabbed belts of throwing knives. Instead of taking a practiced approach like the Careers the year prior, all five Careers just went out to attack anyone they could, coldly murdering any of the tributes that came into their way.
Stunning was the first one to find his weapon and rush out of the Horn, growling hungrily to attack a tribute. He quickly spotted the stocky boy from 5 rushing towards a pack full of ropes and twine, and Stunning sprinted towards him, unwilling to face a 5 like Kitt and Beam the year prior who had been able to set elaborate traps. Charge saw Stunning coming for him and desperately tried to sprint away, but the 1 boy was already closing in on him, sword lofted menacingly. Stunning was able to bring her sword down on Charge's neck hard when he got into range of him, cutting through his spinal cord with one deft chop. As Stunning ripped his sword free, the life flooded from Charge's eyes, making him the first casualty of the Games.
Charge Bantam, District 5 Male; 24th, Killed by Stunning, Bloodbath
Meanwhile, Amethyst spotted a girl rustling around within the Horn, searching for her favorite weapon she had learned how to use in training: a scythe. Rosemary from 9 finally sound a scythe propped up in the back of the Horn, but the moment she wrapped her hands around its polished silver handle, she felt a sharp pain in her back. She screamed as she saw the point of Amethyst's spear sticking out of her chest, the weapon having been jammed all the way through her body. She slumped off of the weapon and quickly bled out as Amethyst sprinted out of the Horn to hunt down more victims.
Rosemary Dzuro, District 9 Female; 23rd, Killed by Amethyst, Bloodbath
Back out on the Cornucopia field, Portia went prowling immediately, intent on hunting down some of her stronger competitiors. She did not immediately spot Spruce or Silvia, who were doing well at moving fast and collecting supplies. However, she spotted Diego from 4, the boy who had been rejected from the Career pack, fighting the willowy girl from 6 and trying to kill her to prove that he was a force to be reckoned with in the Games. As Diego lifted a dagger to stab the girl in the chest, Portia flicked a knife at him, and it slammed into his temple. The pack-reject boy stumbled and fell to the ground, the fatal wound taking him out quickly as Axella from 6 screamed and ran away from his corpse.
Diego Maduro, District 4 Male; 22nd, Killed by Portia, Bloodbath
Back closer to the Horn, Beluga had not noticed her District partner's murder, instead focusing on a boy she saw picking up several packs full of food on the side of the Horn. They were too heavy for him to carry at once, and he dropped all of them but one when he saw Beluga pursuing him. However, his malnourished body could not outrun the Career girl's spear; as he poorly tried to weave as he ran to avoid her throw, Beluga prepared to take him down. With one deft toss, the spear slammed into the back of his neck, killing him in a swift fashion.
Phillip Dartmouth, District 10 Male; 21st, Killed by Beluga, Bloodbath
Stunning saw the little girl from 6 running away after Portia had murdered Diego from 4, and he quickly pursued the weeping girl, eager to take out one of the weaker tributes. The moment he was close to her, he used his sword to cut open her front from her navel to her sternum. The little girl wept as she collapsed to the ground, her guts spilling out onto the Cornucopia field grotesquely and causing her to bleed out painfully while the hulking boy from 1 chuckled over her corpse.
Axella Walsh, District 6 Female; 20th, Killed by Stunning, Bloodbath
Florian, meanwhile, had been picking his way through the Cornucopia field towards where he saw Spruce and Silvia escaping into the birch forest with a good deal of supplies. However, before he could get there, the boy from 8 attacked him, thinking the 2 boy was not paying attention and that he could make a big move by taking out a Career in the Bloodbath. Florian noticed Yarnley coming at him with a dagger in his hands, however, and the 2 boy quickly stepped out of the way before hurling two throwing knives into the boy's neck, killing him. As Yarnley bled out on the misty ground, Florian sighed at seeing that Spruce and Silvia had escaped into the woods and ran off in search of other tributes to kill.
Yarnley Kratz, District 8 Male; 19th, Killed by Florian, Bloodbath
Portia began to chase after another tribute after murdering Diego and taking out one of the stronger non-Career alliance tributes. She had spotted the stout yet agile redhead from 5 doing her best to escape from the Horn with a spear and a jug of water, and Portia refused to let a 5 tribute escape so easily, the memory of Kitt and Beam's work the year prior blaring in her head at the sight. Kasie did her best to escape, being swifter than many other Outliers her age, but Portia's knives allowed her to take the girl down from a distance, as she was able to throw two into her back that made her collapse. Kasie tried to crawl away, but Portia caught up to her, pulling out one of the knives and stabbing it into Kasie about a dozen times until the 5 girl finally stopped breathing.
Kasie Barnaby, District 5 Female; 18th, Killed by Portia, Bloodbath
Many of the tributes had already escaped from the Bloodbath, many more than last year making it away with supplies. However, at the mouth of the Horn, Amethyst could be seen torturing a slim boy from 6 with yellowed skin and gaunt eyes, signs that he was a morphling addict. The boy could only whine and kick at her weakly as she stabbed him over and over with her spear until his entire body was torn and bloodied. She finally put him out of his misery after about two minutes, jabbing the tip of her spear into his skull to make his bloodied body stop quivering.
Senn Fulghum, District 6 Male; 17th, Killed by Amethyst, Bloodbath
As the Careers combed the Cornucopia field to see if there were any victims remaining for them to kill, they discovered the boy from 9 who had Down's Syndrome, Richie, huddling inside of a crate, moaning and terrified. None of the Careers particularly wanted to do him in, so Stunning did the honors, talking to the boy and calming him down with some jokes before snapping his neck with his hands in a way that would kill him nearly instantly with very little pain. The entire pack was silent after that, staring at the disabled boy's corpse as the nine cannons signaling the end of the Bloodbath rang throughout the arena ominously.
Richie Kraemer, District 9 Male; 16th, Killed by Stunning, Bloodbath
After Richie's death, the Careers regrouped at the Cornucopia. Beluga was stunned to discover that Portia had murdered her District partner Diego during the Bloodbath. She had known he was not allowed to be part of the pack, but she had not thought that the others would make it a goal to kill him during the opening minutes. This made Beluga very distant on the first day, worried about her place in the alliance. However, the 1s and 2s did not really notice how quiet and bothered she seemed, chalking it up to aftershock after making her first kill, as some Careers often had very spacey and depressive reactions to entering the arena and killing other children. While the arena seemed very simple, the Careers agreed it could not just be a meadow and a birch forest like it seemed at first, and they agreed that hunting during the evening in this arena would probably not be a good idea. They all agreed that since the previous Games had operated during the night with the desert, this one probably operated during the day, and some horrors would emerge during the night. Thus, they all pulled the corpses of the dead to the edge of the meadow for the hovercraft to retrieve before huddling together inside of the Horn and organizing their supplies dutifully.
While the Careers cooped themselves up in the center of the arena, the other ten remaining tributes quickly spread throughout it in search of places to hide. Silica from 3 had run from the Bloodbath instantly. She was a pretty decent runner despite not having much other skill, and she made it to the eastern edge of the birch forest before the sun set. Shocked to see the ocean crashing the rocks thousands of feet below, she began to climb down the side of the rocks. On her way down, she slipped on a stone and feel fifty feet onto an outcropping, breaking her left arm. She stayed on that outcropping, unable to move from it and crying herself to sleep from the pain of her shattered arm. Her District partner Johnson had escaped the Bloodbath with a jug of water as well as a pack full of electronical supplies. He was a pretty good engineering student back in the District, and he planned to set up a complicated electrical trap like Beetee had over two decades ago to kill many tributes at once. He settled in the eastern part of the birch forest, sleeping in a clump of bushes after fiddling with some of his supplies. The pair from 7, Silvia and Spruce, had made it away from the Bloodbath with a bounty of supplies: several packs laden with food and water as well as a hatchet for each of them. Feeling at home in the forest, they found some of the largest and oldest birch trees on the edge of the southern part of the arena and climbed them, sleeping inside of them for the night before devising what to do in this arena the following morning. Cecelia from 8 had managed to grab a pack of food as well as a jug of water, although she had gotten no weapons except a small dagger. She had found her little allies, Evi from 10 and Darry from 12, waiting for her in the northern edge of the woods. They had run together to the edge of the forest, and then as the sun set, Cecelia had helped the two youngest tributes climb down the cliff face. They made it almost halfway down before discovering an expansive cave, where Cecelia had the three of them rest for the night, her keeping watch almost the whole time. Komba from 11 had gotten a sickle as well as a string of full canteens from the Bloodbath. She also went north like Cecelia, and reached the edge of the cliffs. She saw Cecelia and the little kids climbing down the cliff face, and she decided to do the same, albeit a bit farther down as she did not want any conflict. She was able to climb all the way down to the beach and found a tunnel there that went deep into the island and actually led to the beach on its opposite side. However, Komba did not explore where this tunnel went yet, instead just sleeping in its mouth. Her District partner Gourdon had run from the Bloodbath instantly, and he found himself wandering through the western woods, instantly disoriented by the unfamiliar surroundings. He suffered a severe panic attack on that first night, but he was able to keep himself from screaming and no one discovered him. When he was able to calm himself down, he crawled into a berry bush he recognized from home in 11 and ate the berries while he cried quietly for his mother. Isidore from 12 had also fled immediately from the Bloodbath, and she went west like Gourdon. She kept going until she reached the cliffs, and she discovered a small cave about twice her size and barely deeper than her height a couple of feet down from the drop off. Seeing this as an easy place to stay where she could access the cliffs and the forest, Isidore settled herself inside the snug place to sleep.
The next morning, the Careers woke up and found that the birch forest around them was exactly as it had been the day before, with a slight layer of mist still clinging to the ground. They agreed that whatever the trick was to this arena, it was not something crazy or violent happening in the forest, and they agreed to go hunting during the day. Beluga asked to keep guard of the Horn, still shellshocked by Diego's death and starting to regret her decision to enter the Games. Her allies complied with this, worried about how Beluga was still seemingly off from the Bloodbath but saying little about it. They decided to go hunting in the western portion of the arena, quickly spreading out to cover as much area as possible.
As the 1s and 2s were picking their way through the western part of the birch forest, Gourdon woke up and heard their far off laughter and the sounds of them trooping through the undergrowth. Terrified, he huddled inside of his berry bush and prayed that they would not find him, tears streaming down his dark-skinned face that blended in with the gloom of the bushes he hid within. Florian was the one to walk right past Gourdon's bush; the 11 boy was able to stay incredibly still and silent, and Florian did not notice him, passing on by. Once Florian was out of earshot, Gourdon began to blubber his thanks and let himself cry fully, wailing softly into his palms out of fear.
The Careers found themselves all finding the edge of the arena at around one or two in the afternoon, shocked to find how the forest suddenly dropped off into such violently jagged cliffs with a wild ocean raging beyond. They all agreed that many of the tributes who had gone as far as them would probably be hiding in the various caves and crannies they knew would be nestled within the folds of the cliffs. In fact, Isidore was hiding in one of them beneath their feet, with Stunning standing only a dozen yards from the spot where she was hiding. However, she remained silent, and the Careers agreed to sweep the entire forest first before they would try to explore the cliffs, which they all knew would prove to be more treacherous to hunt in. Thus, as a group they walked back into the forest to head back to the Horn for some food before searching more of the forest that they now knew was not extremely massive as they had predicted.
As the Careers were bantering and striding back to the Cornucopia, Portia heard nearby rustling and immediately went to investigate, believing it might be one of the mutts of the arena. Her allies followed her, curious to see what creature they'd discover. Instead of a mutt, they found Gourdon, who had thought the Careers had passed his area. He had climbed out of the bushes to relieve himself, and as he finished, he turned and saw the Careers all standing several hundred feet away. The 11 boy screamed desperately, running out towards the cliffs, and the Careers eagerly gave chase, whooping in glee. The others fell back and let Portia have the kill since she had heard Gourdon's movements first. The 11 boy tried to run, but Portia was simply faster than him, and she tackled him hard to the ground. Gourdon began to weep and beg for mercy as Portia skillfully sliced open his chest and stomach with her throwing knives, blood bubbling up instantly. She cut several deep cuts that formed large Xs down Gourdon's front and sides, causing blood and gore to pour out onto the ground. Gourdon didn't even fight it, knowing he was not going to be able to beat her. He just fell still beneath her, letting the 2 girl cut him open savagely until enough blood poured out of his body that his eyes rolled into the back of his head and his cannon boomed loudly.
Gourdon Travis, District 11 Male; 15th, Killed by Portia, Day 2
After killing Gourdon, the 1s and 2s were in high spirits and were eager to find more tributes to hunt down. They returned to the Horn to get some food and water. Amethyst offered to relieve Beluga of her guard duties, but the 4 girl refused, saying she was alright staying at the Horn. This perplexed her allies, but they did not question her. They decided which direction to go in next by spinning a water bottle on the ground for fun. The tip of the water bottle pointed roughly due east, so the Careers agreed to head out that way and hunt for more tributes for the rest of the day. As they trekked off, they gossiped about how weirdly Beluga was acting and agreed that if she didn't shape up soon, she would become a liability to their alliance.
While the Careers began to hunt in the eastern woods, the surviving Outliers also were going about their days. Silica had woken up on the outcropping of the cliff, remembering her arm was still broken, and she had begun to weep pitifully. Without any supplies, the girl knew her only way of survival was by finding somewhere to hide that had food and water. Thus, despite the fact that her left arm was dangling completely useless at her side, she slowly picked her way down the eastern cliffs for hours until she reached the beach. She was exhausted when she reached it, falling asleep for an hour before waking up. She managed to find a cave on the very bottom of the cliffs, and it contained several little crabs that she killed with a rock. The wounded 3 girl eagerly sucked the salty flesh from their shells before falling asleep in the cavern. Her District partner Johnson had a less action-packed day, but he was still industrious, using his time to begin building an electrical trap with the supplies from the Cornucopia. However, he quickly realized he did not have a power source. Beetee did not have enough sponsor funds to send him one yet, as the field was still too wide and Johnson had not been notable in his interview. Thus, the 3 boy did his best to assemble every part of the trap except for the power source, stringing the wires and such between the branches of several trees. Spruce and Silvia had woken up in the southern sector of the forest and had immediately agreed to explore the area to see what was there. All they found were more birch trees, but as they were nearing the cliff's edge, they discovered the colony of jabberjays roosting in the area. They both began to freak out as they heard the voices of their families calling for help and ran the other way. Afterwards, they realized what the mutts were, and they agreed that they could potentially use the jabberjays to their benefit in the future, perhaps to confuse an opponent. Halfway down the northern cliffs, Cecelia had woken up early and roused Evi and Darry. The three spent all day exploring every nook and cranny on the cliff face in search of water and anything to eat; while Cecelia had gotten enough supplies from the Bloodbath to hold them over for a couple of days, she did not want them to ruin out of supplies and have to go hungry, and thus she wanted them to start searching early. As they all searched, Cecelia made sure the little kids stayed safe, and the audience was endeared by her motherly nature and the little jokes Evi and Darry cracked as they worked. They were able to find some edible mosses as well as a little crystalline trickle of clean water coming from one of the crannies. While the alliance had been underestimated early on, maybe people began to root for these three although most people agreed they had little chance to win the Games. When Komba woke up in the mouth of her tunnel, she decided to explore it more thoroughly, and she started walking into the dark structure. As she realized it kept going deeper and deeper, she guessed it must be some sort of tunnel. She decided to stay near the front of it, too terrified by what might be waiting in the pitch blackness of the inner tunnel to venture much farther. Isidore was absolutely breathless after being nearly discovered by the Careers when they had stopped at the cliff's edge a dozen feet from where she was hiding. She refused to move for the rest of the day although she was becoming hungry and thirsty, too worried that the Careers were still hunting around her part of the forest and would find her if she tried to move down the cliffs in search of nourishment.
Back in the eastern swaths of the birch forest, the Careers could be searching the area thoroughly for tributes. Florian was the first one to spot the silvery wires gleaming in the branches of the birch trees as he hunted, recognizing the yet-to-be-disguised wires as the makings of a trap. He quickly called over his allies, and as they were coming, he spotted movement in a nearby bush. In fact, Johnson was still hiding nearby, having been working on his electrical trap until he heard the Careers coming. He had hoped hiding in a thick clump of thorny bushes would conceal him, but the silvery net of wires he had woven between the nearby trees had given him away. Johnson began to scream in agony as Florian pounced towards him, tossing throwing knife after throwing knife at the 3 boy. By the time the other Careers arrived, Johnson was twitching on the forest floor. Florian dragged his body out of the bushes and began pulling his knives out of his body as the 3 boy's cannon rang.
Johnson Connors, District 3 Male; 14th, Killed by Florian, Day 2
The sky was beginning to darken soon after Florian had finished killing Johnson, and thus the Careers agreed to head back to the Cornucopia for the night, pledging to explore the rest of the eastern forests in the morning. They knew two kills on the second day would be more than enough to appease the Capitol, and they did not want to risk their luck by continuing to hunt, especially in the dark when mutts or tributes more accustomed to the arena could gain a noticeable advantage over them. Thus, the 1s and 2s returned to the Horn, where Beluga had just finished making soup for herself. The 1s and 2s were wary to accept soup from a girl from 4 after what had happened with Coralie two years earlier, but Beluga drank lots of it and sat there while the 1s and 2s watched her to prove it was safe. Thus, the 1s and 2s feasted heartily on the meal and thanked Beluga for it. However, the 4 girl was more terrified, taking this testing of her soup as yet another sign that she was on the bottom of the alliance and that the others did not appreciate her.
In the morning, the Careers began to go searching through the eastern parts of the forest. They asked Beluga to come with them this time, leaving Amethyst back at the Horn, and the 4 girl agreed, as she was realizing how frantic and worried she was coming off. Her training began to kick in as she tried to get herself back into the right state of mind for the Games, knowing she needed to seem less sketchy if she wanted the pack to not take her out soon. The Careers spent much of the day hunting through the eastern forest, suspicious that Silica had also been with Johnson since the 3 girl was nowhere to be found. In fact, Silica was in the eastern part of the arena; she was just thousands of feet below their feet in a cavern on the rocky beach below. Silica was oblivious to the fact that the Careers were hunting for her, spending her day trying to make a split for her arm out of driftwood while also finding more little crabs in the surroundings caverns and sucking the salty flesh from their shells.
There was a bit more action than the day prior for many of the other tributes. The 7s, Silvia and Spruce, decided to take fully advantage of the jabberjay flock they'd found nestled on the southern tip of the island. They made a point of creating a very noticeable trail on the forest floor leading to the trees where the mutts were roosting. They then crafted handmade earplugs out of clay they found on the forest floor along with leaves that helped block out much of the sound. Then they set up their camp in a tree near the jabberjays; the birds bothered them, but Spruce and Silvia were able too tune out the voices of their screaming families due to their earplugs. However, they hoped the obvious trail would lead unprepared tributes into the jabberjays' den, where they would become flustered and easier for Spruce and Silvia to attack. Back on the northern cliffs, Cecelia, Evi, and Darry continued to collect edible mosses and drink from the little stream they discovered, bonding very tightly and cuddling like a little family in their cavern when they had eaten and drank their fill. Komba woke up in the mouth of the tunnel yet again. She still had plenty of water and her weapon, but she was hungry, and she knew there might be something to eat inside of the tunnel. Thus, she walked deeper into the vast tunnel. As she got into the darker parts, she found that the bioluminescence of the mosses and fungi down here allowed her enough light to keep walking, and she was able to discover some edible mosses and insects she remembered from training inside of the tunnel to give her some nourishment. The 11 girl decided to stay deep inside the tunnel, feeling it was the best place to hide for now and thinking of how Seeder, the last girl to come home from her District, had used a similar strategy in her own Games. Isidore forced herself to leave the safety of her little crawl space in the rock on the morning of Day 3, as she was desperately thirsty and hungry and knew she needed to find stuff to satisfy her. However, as she crawled over the rocks, she was unable to find any food or any sources of water she felt were safe. She ended up returning to her little cranny, very thirsty and knowing she was in trouble of becoming overly dehydrated if she did not find water soon.
At around two in the afternoon, the Careers gave up searching in the eastern forests and headed northward in search of tributes. They spent the rest of the day searching through this portion of the arena, finding no one. In fact, the only two tributes left in the birch forest were the 7s, Spruce and Silvia; the other six Outliers were all hidden on the cliffs surrounding the island that the Careers had yet to explore. That night, after clearing the north, the Careers agreed to venture south on Day 4. Once that area was cleared, they would make their way down to the cliffs and begin hunting in that less-navigable terrain.
Early in the morning, the Careers ventured south. Beluga stayed back to guard the Horn again; her morale was back up, and the 1s and 2s had agreed that she seemed to be settling into Games mode and was no longer at risk of being a liability to them. However, as the other Careers left, Beluga began to stow away some supplies and hiding them in the edge of the forest, believing they still did not trust her and that she was going to have to try to escape from them in the future. While Beluga did this, the other four Careers made their way deeper into the southern forest, quickly hunting through the area. They were on alert, though, knowing the lumber-loving 7s would most likely be residing in the forest part of the arena, and they suspected they would indeed be waiting for them somewhere in the southern portion of the forest. Thus, all four Careers out hunting stayed in a close cluster instead of spreading out, unwilling to face the 7s on their own if they ran into them while hunting.
It took them most of the day hunting in this fashion to reach the southern edge of the birch forest where the roosts of jabberjays could be found. Spruce was on guard while Silvia took a small late afternoon nap, and he spotted the Careers through the gaps in the canopies several thousand feet away. He quickly roused Silvia, and the two grabbed up their hatchets and prepared to fight. They quietly shimmied down the trunk of their tree, knowing they could not throw their weapons and waste them. The 7s waited silently as the Careers came closer, praying that the jabberjays would notice the Careers and distract them before the trained killers spotted them and attacked them. Luck seemed to be on the side of the 7s; as the Careers were getting in the range to spot the 7s from the forest floor, the first jabberjays spotted the Careers and descended on them, screaming for help in their families' voices. The Careers all freaked out instantly, overwhelmed by the sounds as they sprinted south towards where the jabberjays were herding them. In fact, the mutts were herding the Careers towards Spruce and Silvia, ready for the showdown between the two strongest factions left in the Games. Creon knew it might be a little early for such a showdown, but he also knew he could not avoid them meeting for much longer since they had all remained on the forested top of the island. Thus, he allowed the mutts to push the confused Careers towards where the pair from 7 was waiting with their hatchets, ready to disembowel the Careers if they could manage it.
Florian was the first to spot the pair from 7, and he screamed at his allies and gestured towards them. Amethyst was on the ground sobbing, overwhelmed by the voice of her dead mother in her ears, and she began to crawl in the opposite direction of the 7s. However, Portia and Stunning both also noticed the 7s and charged them alongside Florian. Spruce and Silvia did not hold back, their earplugs helping them attack more confidently and strongly than the Careers. Instantly, Spruce took on the boys while Silvia danced with Portia on the forest floor, the jabberjays evening the odds for the 7s as they faced off against the three strongest Careers left in the Games. Florian was little help in close range, as he was a poor knife fighter up close, so most of the fighting was between Spruce and Stunning. Everyone in the nation was shocked to see Stunning cut off Spruce's arm not holding his hatchet from the elbow down. The 7 boy watched his arm fall to the ground, stumbling away and retching. Before Stunning could go in for the final kill, however, Spruce suddenly burst forward and slammed his hatchet into the 1 boy's skull with a deft throw. The hulking Career's head was split completely open after that, and his cannon boomed as his body falled to the ground limply.
Stunning Skylstad, District 1 Male; 13th, Killed by Spruce, Day 4
Spruce leaned against the birch tree behind him then, knowing he had no way to escape now that he was weaponless and that blood was pumping swiftly out of his severed forearm. Silvia was screaming in agony at fighting Portia, barely staying out of reach of the skilled girl's sword and knives that she used together. She wished to help Spruce, but knew that doing so would risk her own life. Thus, Silvia continued dueling Portia as Florian rushed at Spruce with a roar. The 7 boy tried to punch him with his good hand, but Florian ducked under his hit and carved a spiraling gash from his belly button down to the inner side of his right thigh with the knife all the way up to the handle in the 7 boy's gut. Spruce huffed then as Florian drew back, collapsing on the ground as his guts spilled out across the grass with a mortifyingly wet sound swiftly followed by a cannon.
Spruce Takach, District 7 Male; 12th, Killed by Florian, Day 4
Meanwhile, Portia had been quickly gaining on Silvia despite the jabberjays screaming in her ears, and when Florian came to join her, it made the fight easier. Silvia turned to run then, knowing that she could not beat either of the Careers, and they pursued her hotly. However, Silvia was fast and agile, and she was able to evade the knives they threw until she reached the edge of the cliffs. She stood on the edge, looking back between the 2s rushing towards her and the drop that was thousands of feet long below her. With a sad sigh, she turned towards the 2s as they ran towards her.
"You can't get me," she snarled before throwing her hatchet hard at Portia. The weapon sank deep into Portia's side, making the girl fall back. Florian tried to reach Silvia to cut her down, but then the 7 girl turned and jumped off of the cliffs. Both Florian and Portia listened, mouths agape, to the sounds of her body snapping like a twig against the rocks thousands of feet below before a cannon fire, signaling that the 7 girl had successfully taken her own life instead of letting the 2s take it from her.
Silvia Barrowe, District 7 Female; 11th, Suicide, Day 4
After Silvia's plunge, Florian ran to Portia's side. The hatchet had cut pretty deeply into her side, but it had not hit any major organs and the 2 girl was still surviving. Florian picked her up and carried her back through the forest. On the way, he found Amethyst still on the forest floor crying from the jabberjays. He pulled her to her feet and dragged her by the hand until they were out of earshot of the nasty mutts. Suddenly, Amethyst regained her composure, apologizing for how she had lost it at the mutt-produced sound of her late mother's voice. The 2s were angry with her, feeling as if Stunning's death and Portia's injury would not have happened without her. Amethyst felt very worried as she arrived back at the Horn with the wounded Portia and Florian. Beluga instantly ran to them with a medkit, anticipating injuries, and she helped Florian remove the hatchet still buried in Portia's side and apply antiseptic and many, many bandages to cover up the bleeding wound. However, within an hour, Portia was able to limp to the Horn, where she sat down with a sigh and again ridiculed Amethyst for her weakness against the jabberjays. Amethyst bantered back playfully, but as she strode behind the Horn afterwards, angry tears could be seen in her eyes about being taunted. Beluga saw this and comforted her; the 1 girl was wary of trusting the 4 girl, but she let Beluga comfort her, and over the rest of the day the two girls began to bond as Florian spent most of his time attending to Portia's injury.
The rest of the tributes were shocked to hear three cannons, anticipating it meant that at least one Career had died. Silica didn't really notice the cannons much; she was half disoriented from being alone on the rocky beach with a bloodied, broken arm for so long, and she was slowly losing her grip on reality day-by-day. Meanwhile, Cecelia and her little charges, Evi and Darry, were doing much better. Their playful banter and the fact they were all in a group made them the most likely Outliers to defeat the remaining four Careers despite the fact two of them had atrocious odds at winning, and they began to receive sponsors gifts of cookies and blankets that thrilled them. The three continued to bond, and Cecelia sang them to sleep at night like she did with her younger siblings back home in 8 every night, making much of the country swoon at her kindness. Meanwhile, Komba was continuing to love exploring her tunnel, and this day she walked all the way to the other end at dusk and realized it must lead to the opposite side of the arena. She had suspected that the cliffs ringed the whole arena, but now she knew her theory was true and that the arena was in fact a wooded island. She ended up crawling back to the center of the tunnel to sleep, however, feeling safest there.
Isidore from 12 had the roughest day of the Outliers hiding out on the cliffs. When she woke up, she tried to drag herself out of her little nook she'd been hiding in, resolved to find some water so she wouldn't die of dehydration. However, her body was already extremely weak, and she felt dizzy and could barely move. She tried to drag herself down the slopes, but ended up slipping and almost breaking her neck. She laid on the outcropping she had landed on, unable to move any further, her body too weak from dehydration and starvation to move. On the evening of Day 4, a couple hours before midnight, the 12 girl's body succumbed to dehydration, and her cannon rang through the arena, marking yet another death for the fourth day of the Games.
Isidore Montgomery, District 12 Female; 10th, Killed by dehydration, Day 4
On the morning of Day 5, there was a lot of tension in the Career pack. Sponsors grateful for the show they had put on against the 7s sent Portia some medicine that helped heal her wound from Silvia's hatchet pretty swiftly so that she was able to walk around decently by midday. Feeling healed, she and Florian were relentless about their criticisms and jokes of Amethyst, talking about how she had wept like a little girl while they fought the 7s. Amethyst tried to laugh along with the jokes, but she couldn't, and Beluga tried to get the 2s to be kinder. However, they ignored her although they had no problem with Beluga, writing her off as too nice and someone who didn't enjoy bantering. However, Amethyst was becoming very tired of the 2s jokes, and she also knew they saw her as the weakest link left in the Games after her episode with the jabberjays. She confessed these feelings to Beluga, and the 4 girl felt sympathetic, but she promised Amethyst that the 2s would get over it and that she would side with the 1 girl if need be.
While Portia was feeling better during Day 5, she agreed to stay back at the Horn to continue to heal while the other three went to hunt. They chose to examine the eastern slopes first, quickly crossing through the eastern section of the forest before beginning their descent down the eastern slopes. They moved slowly, checking as many caves as they could on their way down, but they found no one as they climbed down for hours. Eventually, they agreed that they might be able to spot tributes more easily from the beach below, and thus they all climbed to the bottom of the cliffs and began observing the cliffs from below to see if it would be easier to find their victims that way.
As they were going along, Beluga suddenly spotted a flurry of movement from one of the caves, and she shouted to her allies as she saw Silica from 3 haphazardly darting out of her cave and running down the beach away from them in fear. The girl was disoriented and half-insane, but she knew that the Careers were something to run from, and run from them she did. While Beluga had spotted her, the 4 girl knew that Amethyst had a lot of anger she needed to let out, so she let Amethyst have the kill. Beluga and Florian watched as Amethyst eagerly sprinted after Silica, quickly gaining on her. The 1 girl giggled maniacally as she shoved Silica to the ground, watching as her broken arm dangled around while the girl hit the rocky shore of the beach hard. The 3 girl whimpered at this, and she barely fought as Amethyst stabbed her in the chest three times with her spear until her cannon fired, the gore splattering all over Amethyst's youthful yet devious face.
Silica Refardik, District 3 Female; 9th, Killed by Amethyst, Day 5
That left the Top 8: Amethyst Marsden from District 1, Portia Schalley from District 2, Florian Kissinger from District 2, Beluga Cardiff from District 4, Cecelia Lahren from District 8, Evi Panner from District 10, Komba Purcell from District 11, and Darry Sainte from District 12.
After killing Silica, the three Careers climbed back up the eastern cliffs, not wanting to have to climb up the steep, rocky faces when it was getting darker out. Thus, they made it back to the forest by dusk, and they made it back to the Horn by the time night had fully fallen. When they got back, Portia told them she was feeling fully healed, which they all celebrated. However, Portia was in such high spirits that she continued to pick on Amethyst, and it was clear that the 1 girl was seething and did not feel very willing to put up with Portia's behavior any longer.
The next morning on Day 6, the Careers got up and decided to go hunting on the western side of the island now. They also knew that the beach surrounded the whole island, and they agreed that they should pack up their supplies and pitch a camp out on the beach so they didn't have to keep climbing back up and down the cliffs every night while they were hunting. Thus, the Career pack hiked through the western woods and began to climb down the western cliffs laden with supplies, ready to pitch camp at the base of the cliffs. Meanwhile, Cecelia was shocked to have gotten Evi and Darry so deep into the Games, but she was resolved to get them all the way to the end now, promising them she was going to do everything she could to make sure one of them went home. While this seemed like a crazy promise to make in the Hunger Games, especially when there were four Careers left in the Games, both Evi and Darry trusted Cecelia explicitly and trusted her.
Komba was in her tunnel for much of the day, but towards the end of the day she decided to emerge from the western end, wanting to look around for a water source as she was running out of water from her canteens. As she emerged from the tunnel onto the rocky beach, she heard the nearby noises of the Careers finishing their climb down the cliffs. Florian spotted her first as she tried to scramble back into her tunnel. He threw down the stuff he was carrying to chase her, calling out for his allies to grab flashlights as the 11 girl disappeared into the gloom of her tunnel quickly. Portia grabbed four flashlights and quickly caught up with the others, handing them out before they sprinted into the tunnel after Komba.
The 11 girl was fast and knew the tunnel much better than the Careers, while they were unsure where they were going. However, they still heard Komba's panting breaths ahead of them and thus knew it was safe to keep running. Soon, they were able to catch the girl in their flashlight beams. Florian was at the front, and he pounced at her with a knife drawn. Komba had a rock in her hand, and she was able to break his right wrist with it, forcing him to drop his dagger. She turned to flee again as Florian leaned against the curved side of the tunnel, groaning in agony, and the female Careers pursued her eagerly. Portia was at the front, but Amethyst shoved her out of the way eagerly to attack Komba first. Portia shoved her back before throwing a knife at Komba. The knife sank into the space between the 11 girl's neck and skull, quickly killing her, her body hitting the damp rock of the tunnel as her cannon fired.
Komba Purcell, District 11 Female; 8th, Killed by Portia, Day 6
As Portia walked towards Komba's corpse to pull her knife free from the body, Amethyst shoved her in the back, angrily asking her why she hadn't let her have the kill. Portia turned with an angry glare on her face, roaring in return that Amethyst had shoved her first and that she had been closest to Komba after Florian had been injured. Amethyst growled back that Portia had been domineering all Games, and that she was tired of her holier-than-thou attitude. Portia barked back with laughter, sneering at Amethyst and telling her she needed to learn how to not cry at the sound of a few birds tweeting in her ears, referring to the jabberjay situation. Amethyst's face got even redder at this, Portia's slander of her dead mother stepping across the line. Beluga did her best to try to diffuse the situation, telling both of them to calm down and that there were other Outliers left to hunt down, while Florian hung back, clutching his broken wrist and watching from a distance, unwilling to get involved. Amethyst hissed that no one was allowed to talk about her dead mother, who had died working as a Peacekeeper defending the country. Portia laughed and said she wasn't mocking Amethyst's deceased mother, just Amethyst's inability to be strong and stand up against some measly, feathery mutts. Amethyst would not back down, telling Portia she would like to challenge her to a duel. The 2 girl laughed at that, tossing her hair over her shoulder and telling Amethyst that she must be ready to die then. However, Portia agreed, and the two walk out of the tunnel and back to the western beach, albeit with Florian and Beluga separating them. Beluga kept trying to convince the two of them to give up on the fight, but Florian quieted her, telling that there was no reason for them to get involved now that Amethyst and Portia had both made up their minds to fight.
Thus, when the four remaining Careers emerged from the tunnel where Komba had been murdered, Florian and Beluga stepped back and leaned against the rocky cliffs behind them. Beluga seemed incredibly anxious, as she was rooting heavily for Amethyst to win out as she did not want to be left with the 2s who seemed to be extremely loyal to one another. Meanwhile, Florian seemed to have little interest, as he knew his competition would be thinned no matter who died, although he would prefer Portia to win since they'd been friends in 2's Academy for years. As these two watched, Amethyst and Portia began to circle each other on the rocky beach as the cold ocean roared behind them, beating the shoreline with vigor. Portia held onto her sword and then threw her knives to the side, telling Amethyst haughtily she would not need them. Amethyst gripped her spear tightly in her hands and told Portia she was going to regret her words when her cannon fired in a couple of minutes. Portia just chuckled at this before suddenly darting towards the 1 girl with her sword outstretched, beginning the duel.
Amethyst was a little surprised by Portia's attack, and the 2 girl's sword sliced across the top of her right shoulder. Amethyst returned her energy similarly, jabbing at Portia with her spear eagerly. The two fought like this for several minutes, circling each other on the rocky beach and getting in little nicks and scrapes on the other when they were able to sneak past their defenses for a moment. A major moment in the fight occured about ten minutes in, when Amethyst's spearhead sliced open the bandages covering the mostly healed wound she had sustained from fighting the 7s. Portia roared as the cut was torn open anew by Amethyst's spear, and she began to fight back more savagely. The 1 girl was extremely exhausted from the fight, and she was shocked by Portia's increase of energy. Portia kept forcing her backwards until her singing blade was right in front of Amethyst's face and the roaring surf was right behind her. Amethyst desperately tried to stab Portia with her spear, but as she took another step back to avoid the 2 girl's blade, her foot slipped on the slick rocks beneath her. Tumbling to the ground, Amethyst tried to grab her spear to defend herself, but it was too late, and Portia's sword was able to cut a red smile across Amethyst's pale, thin throat. As the 1 girl fell backwards, breathing raggedly as the blood leaked from her slashed throat and the ocean lapped at her hair, Portia grinned. She walked over to Beluga and Florian as Amethyst stopped breathing and her cannon fired, the victorious grin seeming to be permanently stuck on her countenance.
Amethyst Marsden, District 1 Female; 7th, Killed by Portia, Day 6
Beluga was incredibly wary after Amethyst's death in her duel with Portia, stuttering as she asked what was going to happen next. Portia calmed her, telling her that while she knew the 4 girl had been closer to Amethyst, she still trusted her and did not want to fight her until they had taken care of the other Outliers. This relieved Beluga immensely, but deep down she still knew she was in serious danger and was racing to figure out a way to outsmart the 2s who she knew would defeat her in a fight. Florian helped Portia clean and bandage up her new wounds from the duel before setting his own wrist in a splint, and then the three remaining Careers took out the large slate gray tent they'd brought from the Cornucopia. They set it up on the rocky beach and slipped inside to rest, exhausted from the activities of the day.
Meanwhile, Cecelia, Evi, and Darry spent the day as they often did, collecting mosses and finding little trickles of water in the crannies in the cliff walls. Upon hearing two more cannons, they now knew they made up half of the remaining tributes. This excited Evi and Darry immensely, as the two of them believed that they were very close to going home, and they had even begun to tell themselves that the Capitol would let all three of them win since they were so close. Cecelia was old enough to know this would never happen, but she did not want to ruin Evi and Darry's naivete, telling them it was certainly possible. However, Cecelia was on high alert, knowing it was likely that she and the little kids were the only Outliers left in the arena. She knew that they had been lucky to be kept alone so far by the Gamemakers due to the amount of drama happening elsewhere in the arena, but she also knew that they could not avoid conflict forever and that it was coming soon. Before singing them to sleep, Cecelia did her best to fashion two knives out of stone and told Evi and Darry to use them if they ever got separated and got in trouble. Evi and Darry were both bothered by Cecelia's suggestion that they might become separated from her, but Cecelia assured them it was just a precaution before singing the two very innocent kids a lullaby to get them to fall asleep.
In the morning, the three Careers woke up early and began to go hunting. They left most of their supplies piled on the western cliffs of the arena, believing that they could end the Games today and hunt down the last three Outliers. Beluga remembered the girl from 10 and the boy from 12 sitting with Cecelia at lunch during training, and Portia mused that they could still be together and that they could all be killed at once. Florian was eager to see this done, but Beluga was more apprehensive, nervous about what would happen when it was just her and 2s left. She had been hoping that Florian would team up with her to take out Portia, but now that the 2 girl had been injured again in her fight with Amethyst, Beluga was worried Florian might think he could beat her without his help and take her out first. There were plenty of tensions between all three Careers, but they did not turn on each other yet as they started to head north as they hunted along the beach, scanning the cliffs surrounding the island for any signs of life.
Cecelia had been awake the entire night keeping watch, and she had fallen asleep for a couple hours in the morning. However, she woke up to the sound of rock beginning to slide. As she peered out of the cave where she and the little ones were sleeping, she saw that rock was sliding down the northern slope and crashing to the ground below. Terrified, Cecelia realized that the Gamemakers were trying to scare them out of their well hidden cave. The mouth was barely big enough for Cecelia to squeeze through, but the cavern inside was wide and expansive. Cecelia guessed that the Gamemakers believed that the Careers would not be able to find them in this spot, and thus the Gamemakers wanted to force the trio out to create a confronation. Cecelia quickly woke up Evi and Darry, telling them that something very scary was happening and that they needed to follow her down the slope. While Evi and Darry were both more innocent than most tributes who survived far into the Games, they were old enough to know that violence was coming their way. Evi began to cry a little bit as the three of them gathered their things and began to climb down the cliffs toward the beach, doding the falling boulders pushing them there.
Cecelia led the way down the cliffs, intent on creating a distraction and fighting the Careers on her own so that Evi and Darry could flee and potentially have a chance to survive the Games without her. However, Creon Baxter did not want this to happen. Cecelia had become wildly popular in the Capitol, the most popular tribute in the Games; many people did not really like Portia or Florian, for they were haughty and prideful without the same vigor as tributes such as Kyla from the last year. Beluga was also seen as a weaker Career who many people felt had survived too long. Meanwhile, Cecelia was very pretty and warm-hearted, and she had captured the attention of the audience. Creon did not want Cecelia to die yet, and he wanted to get rid of the tributes he saw as useless in the Games, Evi and Darry. Thus, as Cecelia was picking her way down the cliffs ahead of her little ones, Creon sent a boulder towards her specifically at an exact angle.
Cecelia screamed as the boulder suddenly hit her. It didn't break any bones, and it wasn't intended to, but it did pin her in between several other boulders in such a way that it seemed as if she was completely smushed within them. Cecelia started yelling for Evi and Darry to come towards her, but the crashing boulders and the roaring ocean drowned out her words. Darry and Evi were terrified, believing that Cecelia had been hit by a boulder and was dying. Evi began to weep bitterly while Darry tried to calm her down and get her to keep climbing down to the beach, as that was the only thing they knew to do. Cecelia soon realized what was going on as she struggled futilely to wriggle free from the boulder, and she began to cry and slam her palms violently into the boulders pinning her to the ground.
Evi and Darry eventually made their way to the beach within about fifteen minutes, while Cecelia was still pinned between several boulders about a thousand feet above. However, there was a useful gap between the boulders that allowed Cecelia to see what was happening on the shoreline. Cecelia clawed at this gap, desperately trying to widen it so she could be freed and so she could defend the little tributes she had been treating like her own brother and sister. However, there was nothing she could do. She even took out her dagger and tossed it through the gap in the boulders, but it landed somewhere in the cliffs and was no use to her allies. Cecelia continued to cry and wail as she spotted the three Careers jogging down the beach towards where Evi and Darry were huddling against the light rain that had begun to fall. Neither noticed the Careers coming towards them until it was too late, and there was nowhere for them to run.
Cecelia screamed and screamed as she watched the Careers leap on Darry and Evi as they shrieked and tried to run away. Beluga felt dizzy seeing two little kids weep so painfully, and she fell back, her old regret at volunteering coming back full force as she watched Portia and Florian chuckle to each other as they pursued the screeching children. She immediately turned tail and fled down the beach, tears gathering in her eyes. The 2s did not notice Beluga's departure, too focused on chasing down Darry and Evi. Evi was crying so hard that she could barely run, and Portia was able to grab her. The girl from 2 chuckled as she threw the little 10 girl onto the rocky ground while Evi wept, snot dribbling from her nose. Portia drew out one of her knives and began to carve open Evi's chest, red blood pouring out rapidly. Meanwhile, Florian did his best to catch Darry as the 12 boy ran as fast as he could down the beach, showing surprising speed in the face of danger. However, he paused suddenly when a cannon fired; he looked back and saw Portia standing up, covered in bood and grinning over Evi's still corpse.
Evi Panner, District 10 Female; 6th, Killed by Portia, Day 7
This pause was Darry's undoing; he and Cecelia both screamed in pain after Evi's cannon, and then Cecelia watched as Florian closed the gap between himself and the scrawny boy from 12. Darry valiantly fought back, wiping out the stone knife Cecelia had built for him and slashing its rough blade across Florian's thigh. The 2 boy chuckled at the insignificant gash, using his good wrist to toss a knife into Darry's throat. The little 12 boy went down without much more than a gurgle, twitching for a couple of moments as he stared up at the dark gray skies before slipping away, his cannon booming throughout the arena.
Darry Sainte, District 12 Male; 5th, Killed by Florian, Day 7
The 2s regrouped after Florian finished polishing off Darry. They quickly realized that Beluga had abandoned ship, and they mocked the 4 girl for her cowardice as they continued to pick across the northern shore, dodging the boulders that were still falling down the slopes. Suddenly the boulders pinning Cecelia in place slipped free once Portia and Florian were out of sight, and the 8 girl started sobbing even louder as she tumbled haphazardly down the cliffs. She cut open her arms and legs in many places as she staggered down the cliffs, but she did not care at all, only focused on getting to the corpses of her dead foster siblings. She ran to Darry, picking up his limp body in her arms and holding him in her chest as she walked over to Evi. She placed Evi's head in her lap and stroked her pale blonde hair that was matted with blood while rocking Darry with her other arm. Cecelia sat there, weeping bitterly for the two dead children. The Capitol ate up the drama, pitying Cecelia immensely, and Creon Baxter was pleased with the emotional response he was producing in the Games. However, President Snow was becoming uneasy with these Games, as he was uncomfortable with how Cecelia was being portrayed as a virtuous protector and the Careers were being portrayed as the nasty villains; he was worried what ideas a Games like this might put into the public's minds. However, he also knew he had to let the Games see their course, knowing that even if Cecelia were to emerge from the arena, she would have to become a murderer and ruin her saintly image.
The rest of Day 7 passed slowly; after holding Darry and Evi's bodies for almost an hour, Cecelia finally set them down and let them be retrieved by the hovercraft, watching as their little bodies were picked up by the hovercraft claw in one scoop. She wiped the tears from her eyes and steeled herself, intent on getting revenge on the Careers that had murdered her little ones. She began to pick her way back up the cliffs, deciding to go to the Cornucopia as it seemed like the Careers had taken up roost in the cliffs like her. She knew she needed a weapon if she was going to stand a chance at getting vengeance for Evi and Darry, and thus she climbed up the cliffs and trudged through the birch forest until she reached the Cornucopia. When she got there, the golden structure was abandoned, and it was almost midnight. She collapsed inside of it, falling asleep almost instantly due to the great amount of stress she'd been suffering so far in the Games along with the sleep deprivation from playing watch almost every night for Evi and Darry.
The Careers all stayed in the cliffs for the night. Beluga was terrified after abandoning Florian and Portia, knowing the 2s would not pause to speak to her the next time she saw them. She quickly ran back to their campsite on the cliffs, taking as much food and water as she could carry along with her spear before running around the beach. She eventually ran to the southern tip of the island before climbing up the cliffs. She eventually found a large, dry cavern in the side of the cliff. She settled inside of it, eating and drinking much of her supplies to calm herself before rubbing her arms comfortingly to get herself to be able to fall asleep. Portia and Florian, meanwhile, searched the rest of the northern shore for Cecelia, thinking the 8 girl might be hiding somewhere nearby. However, their search turned up empty, and by nightfall they returned to their old campsite on the western shore of the ocean. They noticed how Beluga had pillaged many of their supplies, but they did not mind, knowing they could overpower the nervous 4 girl.
On the morning of Day 8, Cecelia woke up in the golden Horn and immediately sat up with a scream, having woken from a nightmare of watching Darry and Evi die yet again. She let herself cry a little bit in self-pity before picking herself up and inspecting her surroundings. While many of the supplies had been picked clean by the Careers, she found several packets of jerky and a half-full jug of water left to satisfy her hunger and thirst. Then, she looked through the weapons left. There were a few throwing knives and daggers, but the weapon that stood out to her was a beautiful rapier nestled in the back of the Horn. It was incredibly light, with a razor sharp blade and rubies inlaid in the handle. Cecelia smiled as she picked it up, believing this weapon would be her salvation. She rested inside of the Horn for the rest of the day, knowing she needed sleep and more nourishment to give her the strength to go hunting Careers.
Meanwhile, when Florian and Portia awoke, they immediately prepared to go hunt down Beluga, believing she was their biggest competition left. They began going towards the southern part of the arena first, believing Beluga would've run in that direction after stealing many of their supplies. Beluga woke up soon after the 2s had, crawling to the mouth of her cave and peering out. She spotted Portia and Florian trekking across the rocky beach below, and she immediately blanched, snatching her spear and preparing for them to find her. Before Beluga could disappear into the shadows of her cave, however, Portia spotted her pale skin against the dark rocks of the cliffs far above and pointed her out to Florian. The 2s ravenously began to rush up the cliffs, climbing with ferocity, while Beluga also exited her cave and began to climb in hopes of escaping the 2s.
However, Creon did not want this encounter to end with no interaction, and thus he caused a massive rockslide on the southern part of the arena. Beluga screamed as the rock began to pour down towards her, trying her best to dodge it. Meanwhile, Portia and Florian were both taking different paths up the cliffs towards Beluga, quickly getting farther apart. Suddenly, as the rockslide reached them, they were both pushed off of their paths as well and forced to go in opposite directions. The rocks kept pouring down, and all three Careers had to do everything they could to avoid getting crushed by the barrage of boulders, none of them having any sense of where they were going. When the boulders finally settled about fifteen minutes later, the three Careers all looked around to see where they were.
Florian found he had been pushed to the western part of the arena, and neither Beluga or Portia was in sight when he climbed out of the small cavern where he'd ducked down for the last few moments of the rockslide. Annoyed, Florian took the rockslide as a message from the Gamemakers that he needed to split up from Portia. He knew that their alliance was coming to an end soon anyways, and he was content with the fact that the girls might have to face each other while he was given the opportunity to escape a fight for now and keep his full stamina. Thus, he went back to the campsite he had shared with Portia and gathered up everything he could carry before burning the rest. He then trekked north, intent on searching the cliffs there to see if Cecelia was hiding out there.
While Florian had not been in sight of either Beluga or Portia, the two Career girls were only about a hundred feet apart when the rockslide ended. Portia had always taken the least liking to Beluga, while Beluga had grown to resent her after her duel with Amethyst, and Creon wanted to see the two of them face off. Beluga wanted to run, but she knew there was no avoiding this confrontation, so she picked her way across the rubble towards Portia while the murderous 2 girl did the same. Within a minute they were on a flat outcropping of rock on the cliff, circling each other slowly. Portia continued to taunt Beluga while the 4 girl stayed silent, staring intently at Portia and focusing on the fight. Portia made the first couple of swipes with her sword, but Beluga was able to block all of them with her spear. Beluga then went on the offensive, jabbing her spear and slamming its pommel at Portia wildly. The 2 girl was surprised at Beluga's abilities with a spear, forgetting she had scored a 9 in training since she had been acting so nervous all Games. In her surprise, Portia did not see a move from Beluga coming, and the spearhead sliced across the top of her right forearm. However, Portia recovered from her momentary surprise and quickly overtook the battle. Beluga knew the fight was lost once Portia's sword sliced into her right knee-cap and made her topple, but she kept trying to block her blows with her spear until Portia disarmed her. Portia just sighed as she shoved her sword into Beluga's chest, seemingly tired from how long the 4 girl had made the fight as Beluga's eyes turned glassy and her cannon fired loudly throughout the arena.
Beluga Cardiff, District 4 Female; 4th, Killed by Portia, Day 8
After murdering Beluga, Portia wrapped the wound on her arm and then slowly began to pick her way up the cliffs back towards the birch forest. She knew that since Florian was not near her that they had been separated, and she knew his personality well enough to assume that their alliance was shot now that they were left in the Games with just the 8 girl, Cecelia. She also guessed he had already made it back to their campsite before her since she had been busy dueling Beluga. Thus, Portia climbed up the cliffs to the southern part of the arena and settled in one of the birch trees near the cliff, exhausted from the many battles she had waged so far in the arena. Florian searched through the northern cliffs again, searching relentlessly but turning up empty handed. He set up the slate gray tent from the Cornucopia on the northern beach and rested inside of it. Meanwhile, Cecelia stayed within the Cornucopia, feeling protected by its golden walls and wanting to stay with the supplies as long as she could.
The next morning, all three tributes got to the prowl as the sun glimmered over the horizon. Portia began to hunt through the southern forest, making sure to give a wide berth to the colony of jabberjays, while Florian began to climb up the northern cliffs, deciding Cecelia had probably fled into the forest after seeing her little allies murdered. Cecelia was up the earliest, however, steeling herself before walking into the northern woods with her rapier. By dawn she made it to the cliffs edge, and as she peered over, she could see Florian deconstructing his tent thousands of feet below. The 8 girl was terrified, but she forced herself to begin climbing down the northern cliffs. She had spent nearly the entire Games there, and she knew she would know the terrain better than Florian, and thus facing him while they were both in this area would give her the greatest advantage. Cecelia crept slowly down the cliffs, doing her best to stay out of sight, while Florian began to climb from the rocky shore up towards the birch forest above, not suspecting that the 8 girl was indeed advancing towards him.
About a half hour later, Florian was about halfway up the cliffs, and he stopped on a small shelf of rock to rest and drink some water, as his body was exhausted from the long days of hunting and fighting in the arena. Cecelia was near him then, and she crept as silently as a cat as she slid between spires of rock towards where the 2 boy was sitting, unaware of her approach. She was feet from the 2 boy before he noticed her, and then it was too late, Cecelia striking like a viper with her ruby-encrusted rapier jabbing out towards Florian violently. The blade went right through Florian's back, and the 2 boy screamed, trying to turn and face his opponent but only burying Cecelia's blade deeper in his back and causing more blood to burst from the wound. Cecelia screamed as she pulled the thin blade from Florian's back, and then she was on top of him, stabbing and stabbing and stabbing as she screamed and cried her grief onto the dying boy beneath her. Florian was so shocked that he could barely react, not even being able to grab a knife to defend himself. Cecelia stabbed him two dozen times and then started slamming her boot into his face, kicking him until it was nothing but a gory mess and his cannon fired.
Florian Kissinger, District 2 Male; 3rd, Killed by Cecelia, Day 9
Cecelia cried out in agony again after Florian's cannon before backing away from the bloodied corpse she had just created. She was a bit horrified by how violent she had been, but she forced herself to think of how this boy and his ally had tortured Darry and Evi on the beach below, and the remorse lifted. Cecelia pillaged Florian's body for his food and water as well as his sharpest throwing knives, filling herself up before climbing back up the cliffs, her entire being focused on tracking down Portia and murdering her violently as well in retribution for Darry and Evi's deaths. Meanwhile, Portia was on the other side of the island in the southern forest, and she believed that Florian's cannon was mostly likely Cecelia's, and that her District partner had beaten her to the punch on finding the last Outlier. Grinning, Portia began to jog towards the Cornucopia, believing that she would get to fight her old ally today and that District 2 would be getting repeat Victors for the second time in the history of the Games.
However, when she arrived at the Horn, she found no one there. Perplexed, Portia waited a while, but still no one came to meet her. Confusion began to eat at her, and she began to wonder if somehow the 8 girl had done in Florian. After waiting another hour, Portia realized this had to be the case, or that Florian was extremely wounded and Portia herself was moments away from Victory. Either way, she suspected that Florian had been staying on the northern side of the island since he had been convinced the day prior that the 8 girl was still hiding somewhere over there. Thus, Portia began to run through the northern forest towards the cliffs, expecting to run into Florian or Cecelia instantly. However, when she arrived at the cliff's edge and looked down, she saw no one, and she was immensely confused.
In fact, Cecelia had been dragging herself over the cliff's edge when she had heard Portia approaching. Knowing that this was the final showdown, Cecelia had slid down the cliffside and crouched down in a small cranny to disguise herself. As Portia lifted herself over the cliff's edge and began to climb down, searching intently for tributes, she saw a flash of red blood on the shelf many feet below where Cecelia had murdered Florian. She began to head down that way, and the 2 girl neglected to look around her and passed right by the tiny crack in the cliff where Cecelia had nestled herself. The 8 girl couldn't help but smile as she wormed out of the crevice and followed Portia down the cliff, staying silent and out of sight as she stalked the 2 girl.
Within an hour, Portia made it down to the bloody cliff where Florian had been killed, and she looked around for the injured Florian she was expecting. Instead of that, she suddenly felt a flash of pain on the right side of her neck, and she screamed as she turned and saw Cecelia standing behind her, her rapier's blade dripping with the 2 girl's blood. Portia tried to draw her own sword quickly, but Cecelia struck again, her fighting like that of a wild animal and not a practiced fighter. The razor-sharp blade of the rapier carved a crooked gash across Portia's stomach, and the 2 girl groaned as she clasped her hands across the gash desperately. Cecelia stabbed her again in the stomach with the blade, making Portia moan even more, the 2 girl completely surprised by the once-docile 8 girl's ferocity.
"You never touch my little ones," Cecelia growled before giving Portia a hard push. The 2 girl tried to save herself, but she just fell backwards, her wounded body slamming hard against the cliffs below. Cecelia watched with a vengeful relief apparent on her face as the 2 girl's body broke like fine china against the rocks below, her cannon booming with finality once her body came to rest on the rocky beach below.
Portia Schalley, District 2 Female; 2nd, Killed by Cecelia, Day 9
"Cecelia Lahren of District 8, you are the Victor of the Fifty Ninth Hunger Games!" Caesar and Claudius cheered excitedly into the arena while the trumpets rang out in glorious Victory. Cecelia just let herself keep smiling, although the weight of what she had done and what she had lost quickly began to hit her as the hovercraft descended to remove her from the accursed arena.
Aftermath
District 8 was shocked to receive a second Victor in a single decade, as with Cecelia they now had as many Victors in the past seven years as they had gotten in the first fifty one years of the Games. However, District 8 was joyous to welcome Cecelia, who was seen as someone who was sweet yet vicious and would be a wonderful influence for their District. Now having two young Mentors, 8's hopes for the future seemed brighter than many of the other Outlying Districts who were traditionally Bloodbath fodder. Cecelia was widely popular across the country; while Snow was not particularly a large fan of hers for her message of caring for the youngest, the Capitol loved her warm personality and her vengeful endgame murdering the 2s. The Outlying Victors all loved Cecelia for her kind attitude and for her utter hatred of Careers that she was not abashed about sharing, while the Careers were respectful towards her since they viewed her as one of the more deserving Outlier Victors. She would be considered one of the most likable Victors of the first century, quite like Mags, and remained popular for many years after her Victory. Despite her widespread fame, Cecelia struggled heavily after her Games. She was exceptionally pretty, and as penance for the things he considered unsavory in her Games, Snow prostituted her more than almost any other Victor. She struggled with addiction to stimulants for several years after her Games, but she was able to recover after meeting her husband and having a family with him. After that, Cecelia spent much of her time with her own children and the children of the District. Cecelia started a charity in her District to help the poor and uneducated kids in 8, and this started a trend among the Victors that they were all required to have a talent after Cecelia while many of the older Victors also picked them up. Cecelia was grateful for the wealth her Victory gave her despite her utter hatred of the Capitol, and she would be a strong Mentor to the children of 8 due to her unyielding nature and expansive empathy.
Cecelia would live to age 78, dying around the 118th Hunger Games from breast cancer. Cecelia would get married a couple years after her Games; while she desperately wanted a massive family of her own, she struggled to conceive children, and she would end up having only three biological children, although she would foster many orphans as well.
The payouts on her Victory were pretty decent, as .82% bet on her.
Her Victory Tour was a very good one; she was a pretty strong public speaker, and everyone across the country appreciated her sweet, motherly nature and did not hold it against her what she did in the Games. Even District 2 respected her, as she had taken out both of their kids fair and square.
Victor's News
Cecelia moves into the Victor's Village of District 8.
Romulus Armidale, Victor of the 19th Hunger Games, passes away from liver disease.
Beetee and Wiress's twins, Fibonacci and Euclid, are born.
List of Victors
District 1 (8 Victors): Guild Tonneroy (6), Salandra Valour (11), Clermont Lackrey (15), Mascara Curler (22), Ivelisse Horner (31), Zion Alvarra (40), Nefertiti Kouri (47), Chaise Schauwen (54)
District 2 (11 Victors): Noor Tuskararus (4), Romulus Armidale (19), Fitore Renoro (21), Florianna Urnston (27), Tarquinius Isselhardt (30), Januaria Shale (36), Gnaeus Deccum (37), Brutus Asesino (44), Lyme Harriott (49), Lucullus Cuerer (55), Kyla Burks (58)
District 3 (4 Victors): Chaplin Nastaro (7), Calculata Fenceley (26), Beetee Latier (33), Wiress Furuya (46)
District 4 (6 Victors): Kelan Thather (1), Mags Flanagan (11), Bex Martin (16), Dorsal Rance (24), Flotsam Bresten (34), Syren Calanthe (43)
District 5 (6 Victors): Tugra Ertra (3), Irmentrude Marley (8), Fox Rennolls (29), Porter Tripp (38), Surge Tomlin (42), Shyanna Lowell (51)
District 6 (4 Victors): Greason Trails (10), Mercedes Benson (28), Indigo Arnett (41), Dirk Tautson (57)
District 7 (4 Victors): Ishania Patel (5), Grover Elms (20), Pomona McCrea (32), Blight Jonson (56)
District 8 (4 Victors): Woof Parsons (23), Organza White (35), Tex Hannon (52), Cecelia Lahren (59)
District 9 (4 Victors): Dillon Tripp (2), Deana Mitchellson (18), Enzo Faithlen (48), Brandy Hooper (53)
District 10 (3 Victors): Barcelona Sepias (13), Jaguar Crusoe (17), Elaine Canterbury (Aux. 46)
District 11 (4 Victors): Vissarion Chamantel (9), Freeha Indepp (14), Seeder Howell (39), Chaff Abwenza (45)
District 12 (2 Victors): Venice Grammar (25), Haymitch Abernathy (50)
A/N: Hello again! I know this chapter is huge and out so fast after the last one, but I am on my winter break right now, and this chapter just possessed me to write it! This falls just shy of the longest 24-tribute chapter ever, the 46th. (Obviously the 50th is the longest chapter but it also had double the tributes so that makes sense). Cecelia is one of my favorite canon Victors, and I had great ideas for how this Games would go, so I just couldn't stop myself from going overboard and for writing this so swiftly. I hope y'all enjoyed it! We're officially done with the 50s, and we're heading into the hallowed decade of the canon series, the 60s! I think there's literally 3 non-canon Victors from the 60th to the 71st, so we're going to get to see a lot of familiar faces and I hope I can do them all justice!
Until Next Time,
Tracee
