Oswine Nanshope,12, Victor of 81st hunger games
"Beep…beep…beep" I hear in the distance followed by my soft breathes and I let out a low groan afterwards.
"Oswine?" I hear a soft voice and I groan again.
"Oswine?" The soft voice repeats and my eyes slowly open to see I'm staring at a bright ceiling with the beeping noises continuing, where am i?
I slowly turn my head and see Charlotte sitting next to me and she greets me with a warm smile.
"Hey there, you're finally up!" She continues smiling.
Finally up? Where am i? It feels like I didn't exist for a little while and now I wake up here? What is going on? I start having some flashbacks and think of Xavi,Barbel and Victoria and wonder if this was all a dream?
This sudden flood of thoughts causes me to panic and I try jumping out of the bed but there's a bunch of tubes and machines connected to my body and Charlotte quickly leans over me.
"Hey it's ok Oswine, it's ok! I'm here right next to you, ok?" she tries to calm me down and rubs my shoulder and it causes me to start breathing a little more normally.
"Where am i? Was I dreaming about all of this?" I ask.
"Oswine, you're back in the capitol, you…you're the victor, you won." Charlotte explains to me and I blink several times. What? I…won?
"What do you mean? What are you talking about?" I try to raise my voice but my throat is dry and my voice comes off as raspy followed by a small cough.
"You probably won't remember most of what happened, you were poisoned afterall but… you won the hunger games Oswine, it was close though, you're lucky to be alive right now…" she continues rubbing my shoulder.
I have small flashes of the games, but most of it is a blur honestly, I don't even remember how the games ended, I just faintly recall seeing Barbel sitting across from the body of Xavi, wait…
"Barbel I remember him, he was the last person I saw!" I speak up and I only see some concern across Charlotte's face.
"Oswine…" she mumbles.
"How did I win? I remember seeing Barbel..." I try to wrap my head around all of this.
"Oswine, you were poisoned. One of the tributes released an airborne toxin into the air and it affected the rest of the tributes including you. It caused hallucinations, caused you to see and hear things that weren't actually there." She explains and that's when I remember my parents and them telling me how much they hated me.
"My parents, I saw them." I recall.
"They weren't actually there Oswine…" She tells me.
"Barbel was though, I remember seeing him, I remember stabbing him but nothing after." I remember and she looks down at the floor for a moment.
"Oswine that wasn't Barbel…that was Winter." Charlotte reveals and I look at her for a moment. What? Did I kill….
"No…" I mumble and stare at my bedsheets. I remember her, the nice girl from district 9. We never spoke, but she'd always smile at me whenever we passed by each other. I still remember her warm smile, and it hurts so much knowing I'm the reason why she's no longer alive. I feel my eyes begin to water and Charlotte puts her hand on my back.
"You didn't know Oswine..." She tries to tell me.
"She's still dead though, she's still dead because of me…" A tear falls out of my eye and Charlotte only remains silent. I'm still alive but I really feel no satisfaction at all, nothing but guilt and pain. Is this what being a victor is like? In that case, I'm better off dead.
"Oswine…I'm sorry." Charlotte mumbles and several more tears fall out of my eyes as I think of my parents. I'm happy I'll get to see my dad again, he's my hero after all and is always there for me. I love my mom too but, she made it quite clear she doesn't feel the same way and that's fine, but after those horrible things she said to me right before I was being shipped off to my almost certain death, I don't think I'll ever be able to forgive her for that.
"Whoa, he's up!" I hear a deep voice, see Bretson entering the room and he sits next to Charlotte.
"Hey Oswine, how you feeling? You were out for a few days, that toxin you were infected with, it really was like no other, hear the Capitol really had to scramble around to find the actual cure." He explains but I only remain silent.
"Here Oswine, try and drink some water." Charlotte hands me a bottle of water and I take it but do nothing further and Bretson only sighs.
"I know that feeling Oswine, I know that feeling…" Bretson pats my shoulder. Barbel, I'll kill him a million times over if I can. I'm likely forever scarred thanks to him but…Winter, I will never be ok with myself knowing what I did.
"There really are no winners, I realized that too. You just always leave a part of yourself behind, it's ok to feel terrible, that's only normal. Someday though, you'll see that this is a new chapter in your life and you'll get to continue your life with your loved ones, You'll find some peace in knowing that kid…" Bretson assures me but I just want to go back to sleep, to just not exist for a little while, I do miss my dad though and it does make me feel a little better knowing I'll see him again.
"It's never easy, it never will be, knowing you took someone's life is something you'll have to live with for the rest of yours, and it's going to be tough, real tough but you'll see your family, you'll see your friends and they'll give you the strength you need to move forward, you won't be alone…" Charlotte rubs my shoulder and I lean my head onto her shoulders and begin crying but she cradles me in her arms and just allows me to soak her clothes in all of my tears.
"It'll be ok, let it out. You don't need to suppress your emotions." She continues holding me. I just have so many different emotions flowing through me, I took lives, i managed to outlive everyone else in that arena. I would've never expected that, after all I was nothing but a weak small guy with little to no talents and now, i get to return home where I just hope my father will be able to pull me out of this darkness, the darkness of knowing that I'm a murderer…that I'm the reason why Winter's family won't be able to ever see her again.
3rd place- Zananova Pixa-Stabbed by Winter Baromet: Zananova you were easily my favorite character to write in this story! I was intrigued by you the moment i received your form and i knew from the get go that you would lowkey be the strongest tribute in the arena this year. I know most people just considered you an antagonist even if you were a damn good one at that but i considered you alot more.
The trauma of your parents being brutally murdered right infront of you took an immense toll on you and i wanted to delve deep into your character like very deep where you buried all of those pent up emotions and finally released them all when your own weapon was used against you. I honestly did think of making you the victor at a point. The "good" guys don't always win and this isn't a movie. I don't believe in "plot armor". Ofcourse some tributes are more capable than others but they're all human in the end and can die at any time. The reason why i ultimately decided not to make you victor is because i couldn't really find any meaningful way to bring you and Tyvon closer together.
He'll probably just be like "Well you won, just as i expected." and that's that. You just always wanted someone to acknowledge you, to be proud of you and Tyvon was just not capable of showing that kind of affection. i also just felt there was alot more plot material to work with post games with Oswine or Winter. Both had their own conflicts back at home to resolve and it just gave me alot more options to work with in general having one of them as victor instead. You were amazing though Zananova, i loved you, had a blast bringing your character to life and now you can finally rest and be with your parents!
2nd place-Winter Baromet-Stabbed though torso by Oswine Nanshope: This hurt me immensely and i literally shed a tear. I know Winter was the favorite of this story and most considered her the designated victor and to be honest she was for a long time considered my victor for this story. She was extremely intelligent, strong, resourceful and incredibly kind. I know some of you pointed out that Fall saved her multiple times but she also saved him on multiple occasions.
From his infected wound, from the forest dwellers, the chainsaw maniac etc. So it's not like it was a one sided thing. It was shortly after Fall's death that i decided not to make her the victor as much as it hurt me. She lost her brother and she wasn't ever going to be the same again. Rather than her having to live without him while also dealing with her family who she would've never forgave for treating Fall so horribly, i just wanted her to be with him while also resolving her character arc where she gained more confidence in herself and her abilities which is all Fall wanted her to do.
Winter you were one of the most wholesome characters I've had the pleasure of writing and i just want to apologize to her submitter who also submitted Fall and Xavarion. I know you considered these three your children and it hit you pretty hard losing all three of them, but i also want to thank you for deciding to stick with me and also submitting to my new story! Love you Winter and now you and Fall will be in the arms of your loving mother who is so proud of her two amazing children!
Victor-Oswine Nanshope: Oswine, i wasn't quite sure how i felt about you at first. I even considered killing in the bloodbath or shortly after. You were an extremely quiet, reserved and solitary young boy and i was under the impression that you'll be a very difficult character to develop since you'll almost never speak or be around anyyone but i got more comfortable writing you and i realized just what a sweet and caring boy you are!
Yes you're shy and very quiet but once you become comfortable around someone and open up, that's when you start showing your selfless and caring personality. It was your interactions with Xavarion that drew me much closer to you and from there, i just came to embrace your character and your alliance/interactions with Xavarion and Victoria sealed it for me. You are the victor i wanted and you also have your own things going on at home. Your soon to come sibling, whether you are able to forgive your mother or not for being absolutely awful to you and how you're going to try and move forward with your life. Congratulations though Oswine and i look forward to seeing how you're going to deal with your situation at home, we'll be finding out soon though.
Hello guys, so here is the aftermath chapter where we get to see our little victor and just what exactly is going through their head as they come to terms with their status. Next chapter will be the post games interview and the chapter after will be the final chapter where he'll return home and how he'll tackle his family situation. I know there's still two more chapters but I'm very happy that I'm almost done with this story.
I have started reading so many syots only for them to be discontinued and i made a vow to myself that if i were to ever start my own syot, that i will never abandon you guys and I'll continue to stand by that. As most of you are already aware, i already started accepting submissions for my next syot. Some slots are still reserved and if i don't recieve a tribute or atleast a message from the the submitters within another day, I'll begin freeing up the slots again. There are still a couple of slots i need filled though so hurry up if you want to get a tribute in! They're filling up much faster than i anticipated.
I will also be pming every submitter this but i will really appreciate it if you follow the story after you submitted a tribute. I'm not very harsh when it comes to submitters not keeping up as much, i know life is hectic but i just want to know you at least intended on following the story.
This happened a few times here where an author submitted a tribute and didn't follow the story and/or leave a single review(which doesn't bother me as much as not following the story in the first place) and it was kind of a bummer since some of those tributes actually made it pretty far. I just want to know you at least plan on being involved in this story in some way before i start writing your character(s) and fleshing them out. Anyways guys after these next 2 chapters. Madness Returns will offically start but i may add some "filler" chapters there just to keep the story on top of the que since i still do need a few tributes there. Anyways guys, take care and see you all soon, till next time!