XX. FAVORITISM
DAY 5
DEMETER JARNIVEN, DISTRICT 9 FEMALE (16)
She was ready.
Two of the Careers were down now, and at that some of the strongest ones. As was the girl from 12, who everyone had been surprised was still alive- but she'd fallen, like all 12s did. Demeter envied them: their time in this hellish arena was finally over.
She didn't want to die, though. Demeter was still fighting.
Her snare hadn't caught anything yesterday and so far today, so Demeter was a bit worried.
Where were these sponsors she thought she had so many of, and why were they slacking?
Demeter had enough water though, as she'd kept close to the clean stream even through the previous day's events.
She clapped her hands, giving the cameras a charismatic grin and saying, "I'd love some food, please." Demeter tried to hide the desperation behind her voice, but it wasn't easy.
At all.
Demeter heard the small, tell-tale, twinkling of a sponsor gift, and she narrowed her eyes, scanning the direct area around her. The parachute was coming from behind her and she stood up, practically bouncing on the tips of her toes.
Hopefully they had finally gotten her food, because Demeter was hungry.
The parachute slowly descended, and Demeter immediately could tell it wasn't food. There was a note attached, though.
She read, "Come on Demeter you absolute queen, show them what you're made of! -Rafaël," and grinned. They really didn't underestimate her, do they?
Demeter didn't wait before unwrapping the package to find a bundle of trap materials- spikes, poles, and more. The trap is definitely helpful- maybe she could get rid of some vermin with it, though. Demeter was still hungry, though, and that's when she heard another parachute.
Demeter was positively enthralled as she watched the sponsor gift drift down to her. It was obviously heavier, and smelled heavenly. It was a cardboard box as well, and she waited eagerly until it dropped down.
Like always, she read the note.
We bake it, you take it! Good luck Demeter, here's your baked delights from Rosemary's Pizza, go win for us! Today, you were served by Ben.
She lifts the top of the cardboard box to see a probably twelve inch pizza steaming and ready.
Demeter had only eaten pizza three times before: once at the mayor's daughter's birthday party in preschool, and twice when her dad had managed to hijack some Capitol trains and used some of the flour and grain to bake pizza and get rid of the flour as soon as possible.
But she'd never had a whole pizza to herself.
Demeter limited herself to one slice, but she's starving, so she allowed herself two and tightly rationed the rest, packing it away in her pack and saved the second slice for later.
Then she began to set up the trap.
It was tedious work, since Demeter started by digging a pit around her vicinity. Spikes decorated the bottom once she was done, and she finished the kit by stringing blades and trigger points.
A few hours later, Demeter returned to her campsite, thoroughly exhausted.
It sank in that the traps could save her.
They could maybe even be able to even her chances, and take out some of the stronger t
Snacking on a slice of pizza, Demeter felt free to assume that she'll be safe for the day.
HESTIA MCLEARSON, DISTRICT 2 FEMALE (18)
Two of them were dead.
What?
Hestia saw it in the projections, and simply felt numb. Merlot and Tempest, both of whom had such… large personalities in the group, were gone. Buried. Dead.
It didn't feel right by any stretch of imagination.
Lux was consumed by a quiet sadness, being as sweet as she was. Angelo didn't seem happy, but as he's more Career material, he hid it much better. They should've expected this, because only one makes it out, Hestia thought. So should the Capitol, which was probably in upheaval at the deaths of two favorites.
And the District 2 pair?
They were simply dumbfounded.
Hestia especially.
Do you not expect people to die or what?
At first, since Tempest and Merlot hadn't returned for a while, Hestia had assumed they'd run off. Then again, the pair didn't get along well, so it was definitely strange. The cannons? Probably outer district deaths the Careers had taken out. Hestia had been forced to come to the conclusion they'd broken off, which, again, was a shocking thought because Tempest had hinted at an interalliance with her, not Merlot, who would probably try and kill them if he were to break off. Of course, as Tempest was probably one of the smartest of their whole pack, so Hestia wouldn't be surprised if the supposed trust in her was fake.
Of course it was. Nobody would ever want to ally with you.
She shook the thought off.
But then Merlot and Tempest decided it was a good idea to light up the skies, as well as the girl from 12, meaning the field had shrunk down to ten. Ten, so soon.
Now the Careers were simply thick with tension, scared one word will shatter the tentative silence (especially Lux).
The ice was broken by the whizzing of a parachute. Hestia standing up eagerly as it zoomed to the Career pack, but it drops at the feet of Lux.
She stared at it, openmouthed, before uttering a small "yes!"
Of course no one would sponsor you. You're pathetic.
The district 1 girl was clearly trying to hide her delight at the sponsor gift to not make the others jealous, but it was failing with Hestia. She tried so hard, but it was never enough.
Hestia tried to divert her attention back to Lux, who was carefully unwrapping the gift.
"What did you get?" Angelo asked.
Lux retrieved a glass vial from the pack, swirled it in her fingers and frowned. "I think it's poison."
Hestia's breathing increased. Poison was definitely a valuable weapon in the Games, especially in big alliances. She tried to seem happy for Lux, though, elbowing her friend and grinning. "Well, you're the most popular of us so far then."
"I hope someone sponsors me a blowtorch," Nero dropped a hint, grinning.
With his joke, which might not have even been one, Hestia relaxed a bit and felt free to laugh. Angelo did too, but it felt strangely empty in the absence of Tempest and Merlot.
"Look, there's a note," Angelo pointed out.
"Thanks," Lux unfolded a small slip of paper, reminding Hestia of the reaping slips.
The Careers separated, allowing Lux to read the note on her own. Hestia was definitely envious, but tried to keep it to herself, giving Lux a congratulations.
The excitement at a new sponsor gift faded in moments, though, and the Careers dispersed, the excitement mostly gone except for Lux, who was still examining her new gift with awe.
As the Careers had ventured away from the Cornucopia (and taken most of the supplies with them), they had made a makeshift camp in the rainforest.
The morning had been relaxed and silent for now, as they hadn't headed out to hunt.
Then Hestia heard footsteps as someone neared their camp.
The boy from 12 stopped, seeing Hestia and the rest of the Careers. He had lost his district partner and his ally the day prior, hadn't he? Well, they were in the same boat then in terms of allies.
For a few seconds, the boy stared at them, and they stared right back.
Then he ran.
And the chase was on.
He didn't make it far before Hestia reached him and her sword through his back. The District 12 boy fell, gasping at the shallow wound and tried in vain to move away.
"Please… I have a family-"
Hestia drove her sword into his skull before he could run again.
There was a sickening CRACK as the boy slumped, then an immediate BOOM! Hestia felt sick at the sight of all the blood, but brushed it all off her hands.
Lux looked shocked, as Hestia would expect her to be, given Hestia has been a bit brutal with her kills. She was not out to torture anyone, though, and felt glad that the boy from 12 died so quickly, even though it was at her own hands.
ARDEN GOLDENROD, DISTRICT 3 FEMALE (14)
When Deiondra got the sponsor gift, Arden wasn't necessarily surprised.
Deiondra was likeable and charismatic, much more than Arden herself.
The parachute arrived for the duo, which was good because they had slowly been starting to run out of food. After the deaths of three more people, two Careers, Arden was sure she could carry Deiondra to the end.
If it came to the two of them, Arden would be the one to die.
Her strategy had never been to get out. It was to go in, then die in some way that compromised their stupid expectations which she'd never made any promises surrounding anything about the Games.
And yet, now they were down to nine people, having there been a death earlier.
Now, though, she was conflicted. Arden wasn't sure at all if she wanted to die. It- death, she meant- wasn't foreign to her at all, the concept, what with the miscarriage years back and a few attempts.
But now? Arden wasn't sure quite what to do.
But she was going to keep surviving for Deiondra's sake.
She didn't know and didn't care whether her friend needed help surviving, because Arden was going to dedicate that help no matter what.
Arden was happy for Dei when she got the sponsor gift, she really was. The girl wasn't anything like Faith had been- and the irony of Faith's name had not been lost on Arden. Never. Deiondra was honest, if a little pushy. The thing is, they were completely different in almost every way Arden could imagine.
And that was what she found such a good friend in Deiondra.
She'd had friends before, of course. Faith, Arden thought with disgust, and then Linden. The last name she didn't think with disgust, because maybe it had been her fault they'd fallen apart because Arden was so broken.
Maybe just disbelieving would be a better word- because even if there was hope, Arden sure wasn't looking for it.
The gift had come whizzing down in midday when the pair had been hiking, and Arden had watched with awe, until catching herself and keeping the usual unimpressed look.
If she approved of the Capitol, Dei would only fall into their web even more. Arden was never going to let Deiondra lose herself that way.
It had been a simple pack of trail nuts, but the sentiment was appreciated on Dei's end. Arden's- not so much.
Arden had taken the pleasure of reading the sponsor note attached. "Keep surviving, Deiondra!"
It was unsigned, and Arden stared darkly at the note.
Deiondra's face split into a grin, "It's nice of them to do this."
Arden shrugged weakly, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. Dei noticed- Dei notices everything- but didn't say anything.
A silence hung over the pair before Deiondra did, in fact, break it. "Should we head back to camp? We can save the nuts for later."
Arden nodded mutely.
It wasn't like her to be at loss for speech, but a thought had just processed in her mind.
If she showed how strongly she was anti-Capitol, they would go after Arden. They'd go after Deiondra, her ally.
She didn't want to drag Dei down, because Arden knew the District 11 girl actually had a chance to win it all and go home.
Because by no means was she determining Deiondra's death for her, especially on a Capitol basis, because even though Dei's paranoia could get frustrating, she obviously wasn't a huge Capitol fan, but neither was she anti like some in the outer districts.
The finish line was nearing.
Arden would bring Deiondra to it if it was the last thing she did.
It very well might be.
LUXANA LEBLANC, DISTRICT 1 FEMALE (18)
Lux doesn't show the sponsor note to anyone else because they would have killed her had they seen.
The note read, "Lux, you go girl! You need to show those Careers who's boss. Show them the poison that comes from your kindness and not to mess with you. Sneak my gift somewhere they will consume it and you win, my friend. Lots of love and luck, Olivia."
Lux was over the moon about someone sponsoring her, because she'd really thought she was someone in the Career pack who blended in and was forgotten about, but she wasn't! She hoped her parents were proud.
And yet, backstabbing an ally was something Lux would always hesitate to do unless it was truly, absolutely necessary.
She had grown close to the pack, whether she liked it or not, and had been devastated when they died. Merlot, in all his exuberant glory, was gone, and Tempest, a witty fighter, was dead. Now the auctioneer, the detective, the predicted winner, and who everyone thought was the typical District 1 girl were the only ones left in the pack.
Well, when you put it like that…
As such, Lux was a bit nervous about the home stretch. Few of the remaining tributes were threats like the Careers.
It had been Hestia killing the boy from 12 that had made Lux take Olivia's words into consideration. She had already shown them the poison, so they were on edge, but Lux was worried that if it was her and any other Career who ended up turning on her, she'd be down for the count.
And so Lux had never been more conflicted.
Her morals clashed with survival, and that was the true hardest choice.
The arena got chilly at night, so Lux suggested they make a fire. Angelo and Hestia began to do so, piling up wood and setting it alight with matches they found in the Cornucopia. Nero somehow found marshmallows as well, and the next thing Lux knew they were roasting them over the fire.
It only increased the eventual suspense.
These people were her friends.
And in Lux's mind, killing them was an unforgivable offense.
(Then again, they'd be dead, which would only make it more unforgivable.)
But the boy from 12 had changed that with his last words.
I have a family.
Lux had never considered that the other Careers had families too.
For that, she was ashamed.
But only now Lux realized that they all wanted to go home. Every single one of them.
Only one of the Careers would be right in the end, and though Lux had been confident about it being her, she wasn't so sure now. It hadn't been a matter of overconfidence on her part, though.
The other Careers were dangerous, no doubt about it. Lux was worried about being the last one standing out of them, because if she was she could probably- and she wasn't going to underestimate anyone- take out the outer district kids, though the thought of that didn't make her feel great.
At all.
So she wouldn't kill any of her allies, Lux decided. Unless she got the feeling that they were going to turn on her (which she doubted they would), then she would poison them.
Lux hated strategizing like this.
It was cold and cruel, but if she ever wanted to see her parents again, she'd learnt her lesson from the boy from 12's death.
It was to not trust the others.
Even though the mounting betrayal, perhaps not even on her part, would be hard to take.
KILL COUNT
Arena: III
Merlot Montague (DECEASED): III
Hestia Mclearson: III
Nero Blastaries: II
Tempest Trinidad (DECEASED): I
Lux Leblanc: I
Angelo Marris: I
Reyena Jensen: I
Alliances:
Careers: Lux, Hestia, Nero, Angelo
Sweetest duo, ngl: Arden, Deiondra
Kinda In An Alliance? Who Knows: Demmie, Reyena
Lone Wolf: Audi
10th Place: Tristan Sol, stabbed by Hestia Mclearson
Tristan. Tristan. Tristan. The last of the sweetest, most innocent alliance in this whole Games to fall. He had such a colorful personality like Peri did, and his desire to survive and win paired with his sweetness was just so fun to put into words. In a matter of years he went through so much trauma that I wanted to illustrate more, but I didn't find the time to do so before his death. Like Peri, he was originally going to die in the bloodbath, but he was just so wholesome I had to keep him around longer and I did. We kept going, and he came so close to killing Lyana, not knowing that it would've scarred him. But perhaps it was that which was part of what did him in, because he had to witness so much death going around by him that it just changed him like it did with Peri. Tristan had to survive so much, and then one time he just wasn't able to escape the obstacle facing him. Thank you so much to david12341 for submitting him, and I hope you stay around for Lux!
A/N
Well, there's Day 5 and a bit earlier than I expected! Thanks to averyrandomauthor and Mymentalmind for Demmie's sponsor gifts, 30777 for Lux's, and cartierscrown for Deiondra's.
Similarly, you may have heard that the sponsor gift system will be completely shutting down when we reach the final six, and we're getting there, so get in your gifts! (Dawn, reminder you still have a free gift, hehe.)
Not much more to say today, but we're nearing the home stretch here, and I'm super excited. Just wanted to say thank you to everyone that's been reviewing, has subbed, and given me encouragement in all.