Disclaimer:

I do not own the Hunger Games book series. It is the property of Suzanne Collins and the publisher Scholastic Press. The movies are owned by Lionsgate and other associated producers and creators. I am simply a humble fan, writing this for the enjoyment of other fans. Please support the official release.

Arena - Day 9

Aaron Lockwood

Victor of the Seventy-Second Hunger Games

"So, how did the meeting go?" He asked Caspian, the phone held tightly against his ear. The Victor on the other line paused, choosing his words carefully. With the Capitol authorities listening to everything they all said, it becomes necessary to answer in doublespeak.

"It went well," he finally said. "Gloss explained to me how they polished diamonds in One."

"Did he tell you the best place to buy any?" Aaron spoke back after a moment's wait.

"He said the best was in one, but he gave me a list of shops that should suit my needs here," Caspian replied, taking less time.

So Gloss decided that he'd rather side with them than the Capitol. Not that surprised Aaron. He had been under the impression that the Careers from One and Two were the more fanatical. Then again, since his own victory, he had been pimped out in Snow's special circle, though he was nowhere near as popular as Gloss, Cashmere or Finnick. He was quite thankful for that.

"Did you get the chance to speak with Cashmere?"

"Sorry, I didn't get the chance to meet her. I know you really want to get her out on a date," Caspian laughed like it was all in good fun.

Aaron made a disappointed sound. He didn't even have to fake it. It would have been best if they had been able to speak with his sister, but at least Gloss was on their side. The more Victor's in One and Two they could get on their side, the better.

"Thanks for trying. Maybe I can get Gloss to set us up," Aaron said laughing.

On the other end of the line, Caspian snorted. "Good luck with that. You don't know how protective he is."

"I guess. Thanks anyway," Aaron said, before clicking off the call.

"Everything okay?" Amelia asked him. Aaron nodded, slipping his phone back into his pocket. Normally he would be trying to tell her of the success they just had, but her daughter was in the games. Getting her out was more important, though it was his job to fight for Wallace.

"It's fine. Just looking for a nice diamond to give a girl," he shrugged, walking over to join her. He slipped back into his terminal, looking back at the screens below him. Wallace's vitals were still strong.

"Someone back home?" Amelia muttered.

Aaron nodded absently, pressing his finger to the Game Store icon. He just started to scroll through the food options (surprisingly low this far into the games. Probably because the food was so available) when Amelia yawned from his other said. For the first time since he had gotten up (at three in the morning), he got the chance to look at his mentor. Really look at her. Her skin was pale and clammy, dark bags under her eyes. She was nursing a cup off coffee and barely looked away.

"You should really get some sleep," Aaron told her. As the words left his mouth, the hollow feeling of hypocrisy surged through him. If one of his brothers was in the arena right now, he wouldn't be sleeping. He'd spent all his waking hours trying to get him out.

"My Maisie is in that horrid palace," Amelia started, not taking her eyes off Maisie's private stream. "If you expect me to-"

The cracking of the door interrupted her. Silas Safar walked into the room, two large white bags in his hand.

"He's right, Amelia," District 9's second Victor said. "You're no good to your daughter if you're dead on your feet."

Silas Safar was the man who pulled her out of the arena. If there was anyone who could talk her down, it would be him.

"Maisie is-"

Silas held up his hand. "Don't worry about her. I've had plenty of sleep. I'll watch her. I've done the same thing for you," he promised.

Aaron's mentor didn't look happy about it, but she eventually nodded. Aaron expected her to head to the bathroom and shower, but she walked straight to the room.

"Good job," he said, watching the older man sit down at Maisie's terminal. "I don't think she would have listened to me."

Silas shrugged. "I've mentored that girl for years. Steamed meat bun?" The older Victor offered, holding out a white bun. It was one of Aaron's favorite foods. As far as he knew, it was only available in the Capitol. It had come from a faraway land, long before North America was ashes. According to history, from a landmass called Asian. Or at least, that was the official Capitol line. Was there a large landmass that was once called Asia? It could be true, but the Capitol's official history was full of lies.

At the same time, he couldn't see a reason while the Capitol would make up some old landmass.

"Thanks," Aaron said, biting into it. The flavor rushed into his mouth, and Aaron had to hold back a moan of pleasure.

Ryker Bedford

District 2 Male Tribute

Ryker yawned, rubbing his closed eyes. It had been a few hours since Gleam, Cassandra and Margaret went hunting, leaving him with the boring job of guarding the Cornucopia. The sun moved upward in the sky, beating overhead. It had to be the hottest day in the arena by far, and he was stuck out in the burning sun.

Ryker had sought shelter in the Cornucopia, glaring reproachfully at the brilliant blue sky, avoiding the sun. As he glanced over the walls, Ryker spotted white smoke. At first, he wasn't sure he was seeing it right, but the longer he stared at it, the more he was sure it was there. Margaret hadn't had any luck finding whatever tribute was out there. But that smoke would lead him right to whatever it was.

He was supposed to stay alone in the courtyard and guard the supplies. That was where Gleam had ordered him... Gleam wasn't here right now. None of them were. Most of the tributes were probably lost somewhere in that giant palace. No one was going to be coming out right now...

Not wanting the chance to slip by (how long would a tribute be stupid enough to stay near an open fire?), he grabbed two spears from the pile of weapons and loaded down his belt with knives.

Ryker walked quickly through the open gates, turning left as he entered the forest. He could see the smoke over the treetops, and Ryker had to wonder what idiot would start a fire. Had the tribute gotten too comfortable? The pack hasn't come from them yet, so many they were safe enough to freely use fire. If that was the case, then Ryker would gladly tell them how wrong they were as he speared them.

Getting closer and closer to where the smoke was coming from, Ryker could feel his blood beginning to hum. It rushed through his body, the thrill of the hunt. He hadn't gotten any kills since the boy from Three and he was ready to up his count.

As he approached, he took care to move quieter. If he spooked whoever it was, they might run. Not that he minded giving chance, but if he could do it now, it would secure him more sponsors.

Ryker stopped at the edge of a clearing. A fire roaring below a pot, where a girl was tending to it. His eyes scanned the area, but he couldn't find anyone else. That was fine. He'd kill her quickly, see what she was making (before deciding if he was going to take or dumping it), and then get back to the Cornucopia. None of the others had to know about him leaving his post.

Ryker carefully took hold of one of his spears. He moved one leg back, positioning his arm and torso. It was the form he learned so long along when he was only a Stone rank back at the institute. Unfortunately, as he pulled back, his foot connected with a twig, and made a snapping sound. It was only a second later that he left his spear fly, but it was enough time for the girl to dive to the ground.

His spear sailed harmlessly over her head. Ryker cursed and grabbed the other spear. The girl turned around in a crouch, an axe held in her hands. He recognized her as the girl from Seven, which explained why she had it.

Ryker dived behind the closest tree, avoiding the smaller axe she ripped off her belt and hurled at him.

"What's wrong Two?" The girl called, a certain smugness in her voice. "Why don't you stop hiding?"

Ryker grabbed one of the knives off his belt, bolted out left from behind the tree, and threw it at her. The girl brought her axe up and deflected it. It was sort of surprising that an outlier could pull something like that off, but Ryker didn't dwell on it. He raised the other spear and once he was close enough, he thrust the end of the spear into her stomach. He wasn't able to get it all the way through her stomach, but it went in deep.

The girl bared her teeth at him but didn't let a sound of her pain through her lips. Instead, she raised her arms, axe in hand. Ryker pulled the spear out of Seven, and jumped back in an attempt to avoid her strike. He avoided the worst of the blow, but the axe blade carved through his arm.

Pain flared through his body, his vision turning red. He drove his spear forward toward her stomach, but she weaved out of the way, bringing her axe toward his neck. Ryker barely avoided having his head chopped off when he ducked.

He grabbed a knife from his belt and slashed it out across her stomach. As the blade cut across her skin, Seven raised her foot and kicked him in the face. The taste of mud and blood mixed in Ryker's mouth. In retaliation, Ryker lashed out and brought his fist against the spot where his knife cut across her stomach.

It had the desired effect and she pulled back. At that moment Ryker grabbed hold of his spear with both hands and drove it all the way through her stomach. This time Seven couldn't stop the scream from bursting through her lips.

She threw her axe, but he was easily able to get out of the way as it slowly left her hand.

His face was coated in her blood when Ryker pushed her down to the ground, twisting the spear. Wanting to end it, he grabbed another knife from his bed, let go of his spear, and cut her neck as deep as he could. Her blood gushed out of the wound, but already her cries of pain were becoming weaker. Her fiery eyes bore into his, and Ryker watched as the light left them.

As her cannon boomed, he stood up and grabbed his spear, ripping it out from her body. He was wondering how he was going to explain the blood and his wounds (he was supposed to stand guard) when something hit his back. The worst pain he had ever felt exploded from his back.

Katniss Everdeen

Co-Victor of the Seventy-Fourth Hunger Games

The entire world around her was crashing down, and all the blue-skinned Capitol woman could do was smile. Prim. Her sister Prim. Dead. The only person in the whole rotten world that she was sure she loved. Gone. In one swift moment of fire.

"Mr. Mellark has yet to be informed," the blue-skinned woman said, looking over her glasses. "As he still has a living tribute, it was decided that he should be kept in the dark about the event until the games are over... Or until his tribute is eliminated."

Eliminated. That's the official term for the games. The tributes aren't some pieces that just get eliminated as they're removed. They're people. They die.

If it was any other time, Katniss would have taken offense. Perhaps even made a passive-aggressive retort. Not with the world crashing down on her. Not with Prim's body back in District 12, burnt beyond all recognition.

"The president wishes he could be to deliver the news in person," the woman continued. "Right now he is attending another function that requires his attention. As the Secretary of the Office of the President, allow me to extend my most sincere-" was the last thing Katniss heard before she started crying.

She always hated being weak. Hated anyone to see her weakness. She even kept her cool when she was with Gale in the forest. Right at that moment, she didn't care because the sun of her world had been extinguished.

Katniss vaguely remembered the woman trying to calm her, before giving up and finally calling for someone. She couldn't remember how it was that she got into the black car, but the next thing she was aware of was watching the streets pass by through a wall of tears.

It was the worst pain she could possibly imagine. Even more, than being in the arena. Killing Marvel and Cato, and Glimmer and the girl from Four. Watching Rue die. Seeing Peeta near death. The tracker-jacker stings. That pain was like a river, making its course. Katniss now faced an endless ocean, where the only thing she could see was a future without Prim.

It wasn't fair. Life wasn't fair, her father used to say. For a moment she could clearly recall her father's kind face. He smelled of coal, and his close was darkened, but a wide smile was etched across his face.

Through her tears, Katniss could see the huge building they were passing. A familiar sight, as the neon lights spelled out Paradise. The place where Haymitch had taken them when he wanted to show them how to mentor. It felt like a lifetime ago, back where the pain wasn't all-consuming.

"Driver," Katniss choked through her tears. "Take me there."

A reply came moments later: "Are you sure, miss Everdeen? I have instructions to drive you back to Mr. Abernathy-"

"TAKE ME THERE!" Her scream ripped raw through her throat. The driver didn't speak again, but they slowed down, pulling into another lane,

The pain was the worst thing Katniss had ever felt. Only the day she heard of her father's death came close to what she was feeling now. Like Prim, Katniss knew loved her father. Her father and her sister. The two people that meant the most to her. Gone. Leaving her only with a pain that seemed endless.

Katniss didn't want to feel that pain. She'd reach into her chest and pull out her heart before she'd keep on feeling that pain. Luckily for her, she remembered a way out. Katniss didn't have to keep feeling the horrible pain.

She pushed the door open as soon as the card pulled to a stop, running through the back door. A special entrance for Victor's who wanted to be discrete. Or mentors preparing to try and get as much money for their tributes as possible.

The luxury was the exact same way she remembers it. The scent of food was so expensive, the only way a dirt poor girl from District 12 could be near it was by winning the Hunger Games. The crowd of almost alien people, milling about the room. The richest people in the cursed city she was forced to stay in.

None of that was what she was looking for. Her make-up, no doubt destroyed from her tears, served to hide her face because no one gave her a second look. She had flash her Victor I.D. before they'd let her inside.

No, what she was looking for was the colorful drink. The same one that one of these people gave her on her first day here. She didn't have to search for long. Servers moved about the billing crowd, carrying glasses of the rainbow drink. Katniss pushed her way through the crowd, not caring about the freaks touched.

She grabbed a glass off one of the gold platters held by the severs and downed it all in one gulp. If rainbows had a taste, Katniss was she this is what they'd taste like. It was as if she was drinking color itself, and all her pain melted away. Suddenly Prim's death didn't seem so important. Honestly, she couldn't really recall why her sister's death had upset her so. Prim was gone. Katniss was still here, with the best tasting drink in the whole world. In a crowd of people who loved her.

"By thunder!" A young man next to her called. Katniss turned to look at him. He wasn't the most attractive, but he looked pleasant enough. His eyes were her favorite shade of green. "Are you Katniss Everdeen?"

She laughed. "I think so! Who are you?"

Wren Hyde

District 10 Male Tribute

When he heard Sequoya scream, he dropped the berries he had been collecting. He turned on his heels and sprinted down the now-familiar path, back to the area they had been staying in. He came through the trees and froze at the sight. The boy from Two stood over Sequoya, his spear firmly in her body. For a second, he was frozen in spot, watching the Career kill his ally. The girl who had been with him since the final day of training. Had gotten him out of the palace out into the forest.

Instead of the fear, Wren thought he would feel when finally confronted by the Careers, anger flared through him. Until that moment, Wren had thought he knew what hatred was. He hated the Capitol for taking his brother and forcing him into the Hunger Games, for putting his district under the boot. He hadn't the Peacekeepers for enforcing the abhorrent laws on his district. His people collaborated with the Capitol oppressors. The man who almost beat his mother to death while Baron was fighting for his life.

None of that compared to the hate he felt for the boy from Two. The boy who was taking his only friend away from him. The only person in the whole rotten arena that wasn't out to kill him. The only person he could rely upon.

Wren was debating the merit of just tackling him from behind when a glint on the ground caught his eyes. He looked down to see Sequoya's axe on the ground as if she had just left it there. Wren leaned down and grabbed it. Unlike Sequoya, he didn't grow up learning how to swing an axe. He couldn't fight with it as well as she could, but the boy from Two wasn't that far away, to begin with.

As the boy took his spear and pulled it out of Sequoya's body, Wren grabbed the axe with both hands. With a grunt of effect, he threw it at the Career, watching as the axe sank into Twos back.

Two screamed and collapsed, dropping his spear. Wren took one of his knives and ran over to the downed Career, stabbing him in the head. Again, and again, and again. Two tried to fight him, but the axe in his back must have stopped sapped his strength away. Wren kept bringing the knife down until he heard another cannon boom.

He had done it. Wren had killed a Career and now there were only three of them left. There were less than ten tributes, only three of the Careers, and he was so close to getting the hell out of the arena.

He was closer than ever before. He, some backward boy from Ten, who never learned how to kill, might actually be able to win. But as he stared at Sequoya's lifeless body, her eyes focused up at the bright blue sky, Wren couldn't find it in himself to celebrate how much closer he was. Sequoya was gone, and she was never coming back.

In the privacy of the forest, Wren began to cry.

Author's Note:

Hello! I hope you've enjoyed the seventeenth chapter!

No one reviewed my last chapter o.o Sadness