THE SECOND ANNUAL HUNGER GAMES
"Sticks and Stones"


INTRODUCTION

Jaycen Malix, the head gamemaker for the first Hunger Games, retired and was replaced by a thirty-seven year old man named Leto Spitz. The year before, the team of gamemakers was only four people small. This year, Leto appointed a team of fifteen gamemakers, fourteen of which accepted the job. The group of gamemakers assembled in a hotel in the south district of the Capitol and spent a few days planning an arena that they promised would be much more elaborate than that of the year before. Leto knew that, as the tradition progressed, each gamemaker would make an attempt to outdo their predecessor and create the grandest arena yet, something he was very enthusiastic about. The arena was an abandoned city, littered with ruined buildings strangled by mold and vines, rundown and destroyed by wind and time. The Capitol was very intrigued by the wide array of tributes, most notably the two volunteers. The District 7 female tribute had been abused most of her life, and volunteered for her first cousin knowing that her life had little worth left. But, throughout the diverse collection of tributes, it was Sapphire Waber who really stole the show. Inspired by Cordin's victory, Sapphire began training for the Hunger Games and shaped herself up to be what could be considered the first career. At the reaping, she lunged forward to volunteer and stormed proudly into the Capitol upon arrival. She instantly attracted the attention of the Capitolites via her remarkable training score and her confidence, something that no other tribute before her truly possessed. Here are the tributes:

District 1: Paris Benedict, 15, (4) 23-1 and Sapphire Waber, 18, (11) 2-1

District 2: Ashlar Sommer, 16, (6) 19-1 and Valda Graveline, 12, (2) 68-1

District 3: Ryam Brinton, 17 (6) 15-1 and Lanni Hyland, 13, (4) 21-1

District 4: Zale Romner, 18 (10) 5-1 and Sirema Korrik, 16, (3) 25-1

District 5: Sprites Collete, 17, (7) 14-1 and Bina Linz, 14, (2) 52-1

District 6: Aran Paynter, 18, (9) 8-1 and Demica Sternlieb, 17, (6) 19-1

District 7: Rowan Marvold, 17, (6) 18-1 and Ava Stacks, 12, (2) 96-1

District 8: Bobbin Wepsic, 16, (4) 20-1 and Twylia Artriver, 13, (3) 40-1

District 9: Omri Radeke, 18, (7) 18-1 and Zea Storo, 17, (5) 17-1

District 10: Angus Gomes, 18, (9) 5-1 and Fora Limes, 18, (10) 5-1

District 11: Briony Knuff, 14, (2) 43-1 and Pria Durian, 16, (5) 9-1

District 12: Collis Kramer, 13, (1) 74-1 and Hazelle Pakton, 17, (7) 14-1


THE GAMES

The bloodbath this year was much different than that of the year before; the tributes all knew what to expect after watching the first Hunger Games on television. If anything, that made it even more terrifying. When the tributes emerged into the abandoned city arena, they were all very surprised. Most of them rapidly whipped their heads around in panic, trying to take in as much of the arena as possible before the holographic numbers flashing above them reached zero. They all knew that, if they stepped off of their pedestal prematurely, their face would be the very first in the sky that night.

With about twenty seconds left on the counter, a bloated Twylia who had eaten a lot right before the games, vomited on her pedestal. Very fortunately for her, the bile landed on the pod. Had it gone over the edge, her mangled corpse would have been blown sky high.

When the gong rang signaling the start of the games, eleven of the tributes fled into the cityscape with only their bare hands to survive the difficult weeks to come. Of the others, they all raced towards the cornucopia to grab supplies in a daze of panic.

The very first death of the bloodbath occurred when Sapphire, wielding a knife, snuck up upon a distracted Sirema and threw her against the wall of the cornucopia. Sirema screamed in terror, but it was no use. Sapphire stabbed her in the forehead, and she fell to the ground in death twelve seconds later.

Sirema Korrik, District 4 Female: 24th, Killed by Sapphire, Bloodbath

At that, Sapphire had already established herself as a threat. The majority of the remaining tributes who had not turned tail at the very beginning fled now, dropping whatever they were doing and trying to space themselves as far away from Sapphire as possible. Sapphire quickly collected a bow and arrow from the mouth of the horn and nocked an arrow, shooting it at Aran's back as he raced away into the rundown city. Her aim was perfect, and the arrow lodged itself between his shoulder blades as he slumped to the ground.

Aran Paynter, District 6 Male: 23rd, Killed by Sapphire, Bloodbath

At that, all twenty-one of the remaining tributes had scrambled away and hid, leaving Sapphire alone at the cornucopia. She took her time organizing the supplies, knowing that no tribute in their right mind would attempt to steal them, less face her wrath.

Only two kills were made during the bloodbath, one of the least of any Hunger Games in history. The one downside was that, of course, since very few tributes actually had the opportunity to grab supplies from the cornucopia, everyone knew that there would be tons of natural cause deaths, leading to a rather boring games.

Sapphire emptied out an orange backpack she retrieved from the horn and filled it up with weapons: a knife, a bow and sheath of arrows, and a magazine of throwing knives as well as a sword. The backpack bumped between her shoulder blades as she set out on her first quest to find and kill another tribute.

The tributes were startled awake by the sound of a cannon the morning of Day 2. Sapphire had made one wide sweep through the arena and stumbled upon Zea, who was hiding in the top floor of an old building. Sapphire quietly snuck up on the girl and stabbed the back of her neck with her machete, killing her almost instantly.

Zea Storo, District 9 Female: 22nd, Killed by Sapphire, Day 2

The rest of Day 2 was deathless, as was the morning of Day 3. Sapphire had retreated back to her fort at the cornucopia and set up a tent and fire there. However, at around 3 o'clock p.m. on Day 3, an unlucky Bobbin, who was already very dehydrated at the time, tumbled out of the top floor of a tall building, cracking his spine and arms the instant they made contact with the ground. He lay there for two hours before stabbing himself in the heart with a sharp rock to escape the pain of dehydration.

Bobbin Wepsic, District 8 Male: 21st, Suicide, Day 3

Around nine o'clock p.m. that day, Ryam died of dehydration. However, the exact cause of his death is a bit fuzzy since he allegedly licked condensation off of the walls of the building he was hiding in.

Ryam Brinton, District 3 Male: 20th, Dehydration, Day 3

At this point, Collis' body was so weak from dehydration that his only option remaining was to exit his hiding spot and find a water source to drink. He slowly creaked open the door of the old church he was hiding in, and snuck out. By a sheer stroke of horrible luck, Sapphire was less than ten yards away. She slung the backpack over her shoulder and unzipped it, removing her weapons and wielding them in hand. Collis ran up to the highest floor of the building in an attempt to escape the girl, but Sapphire found him shaking in a dark corner six minutes later. Sapphire nocked a bow in her arrow and shot him in the heart.

Collis Kramer, District 12 Male: 19th, Killed by Sapphire, Day 3

At this point, the Capitol was in absolute enthrallment at the state of the arena. Sapphire had made four kills in the first three days of the games, and showed no signs of stopping any time soon. Sapphire prowled the arena throughout the entirety of Day 4, with no luck. What Sapphire didn't know was that three tributes were, at that very moment, having a meeting in the cellar of an old tavern in the north portion of the arena. They were Ashlar, Omri, and Hazelle, and they knew that they had no chance of winning if they let Sapphire continue her strategy and rat them all out. They stayed as silent as possible and conspired to sneak towards the cornucopia while the murderous girl was away and blow up all of her precious supplies.

They sent Ashlar to be a scout from the top of an old cathedral, and he would signal when Sapphire was away by waving his hands in the air in Omri and Hazelle's direction. Once Ashlar spotted Sapphire far away from the center of the arena, he signaled for Omri and Hazelle to rummage through the cornucopia to find some kind of explosive with which to destroy Sapphire's supplies.

Little did the three tributes know that clever Sapphire (in communications with a group of wealthy men in the Capitol) had set up a system of detectors around the horn that would trigger a small explosion if anyone who didn't know the proper route to the supplies tried to steal them. Hazelle and Omri's corpses were blown sky-high when they triggered the bombs by accident. Their attempt to destroy the supplies had failed.

Hazelle Pakton, District 12 Female: 18th, Killed by a Bomb, Day 4

Omri Radeke, District 9 Male: 17th, Killed by a Bomb, Day 4

Day 5 saw three deaths, two of dehydration and one from a tribute who had eaten very poisonous hemlock berries she believed were edible.

Paris Benedict, District 1 Male: 16th, Dehydration, Day 5

Valda Graveline, District 2 Female: 15th, Dehydration, Day 5

Fora Limes, District 10 Female: 14th, Poisonous Berries, Day 5

One tribute died of dehydration on Day 6.

Sprites Collette, District 5 Male: 13th, Dehydration, Day 6

The morning of Day 7, the tributes were jolted awake by the sound of a cannon. Briony, who was wandering through the arena trying to find a water source, collided with the force field. His body was electrocuted instantly and he felt no pain at all.

Briony Knuff, District 11 Male: 12th, Collided with the Force Field, Day 7

The morning of Day 8, Rowan attempted to kill Sapphire by fashioning himself a bow out of stretchy cord he found in a rusty old house and made his own arrows by binding sharp rocks to the end of sturdy sticks. He watched as Sapphire prowled beneath the balcony he was crouching down on, and Rowan hastily stood up and shot Sapphire in the shoulder. Crying out in pain, her shoulder began spouting blood. Rowan shot another arrow, missing. Sapphire retaliated by reaching into her backpack and pulling out her own bow and arrow, shooting it through Rowan's eye and killing him.

Rowan Marvold, District 7 Male: 11th, Killed by Sapphire, Day 8

After his death, Sapphire ran towards the cornucopia and retrieved a jar of disinfectant cream, applying it to the wound. It wasn't very serious, though, and she was up and running a few hours later.

One tribute died on Day 9. The creaking old stairs that a tribute was running on fell, and he tumbled to the ground, trapped under a huge pile of wood and metal. He struggled for hours but couldn't escape. He killed himself with a sharp rock, knowing that he would never escape and that it would be the most painless way to pass.

Zale Romner, District 4 Male: 10th, Suicide, Day 9

Infuriated at the attempt to destroy her supplies, Sapphire spent the whole of Days 10 and 11 scouring the arena for another tribute to kill. She eventually found Demica cowering in the closet of an old bank. Sapphire made quick work of the girl by stabbing her in the stomach with her knife.

Demica Stenlieb, District 6 Female: 9th, Killed by Sapphire, Day 11

That left the final eight: Sapphire Waber from District 1, Ashlar Sommar from District 2, Lanni Hyland from District 3, Bina Linz from District 5, Ava Stacks from District 7, Twylia Artriver from District 8, Angus Gomes from District 10, and Pria Durian from District 11.

On Day 12, three tributes died, all three of them from colliding with the force field. The gamemakers resolved to make the arenas much larger in later games to prevent so many deaths from the force field.

Twylia Artriver, District 8 Female: 8th, Collided with the Force Field, Day 12

Ava Stacks, District 7 Female: 7th, Collided with the Force Field, Day 12

Bina Linz, District 5 Female: 6th, Collided with the Force Field, Day 12

The gamemakers wanted to wait for two more deaths before driving the final three tributes in for a bloody finale. Their wishes were granted when there were two deaths on Day 13, another dehydration death and another force field death.

Pria Durian, District 11 Female: 5th, Dehydration, Day 13

Lanni Hyland, District 3 Female: 4th, Collided with the Force Field, Day 13

The gamemakers thought back to how they drove the final three tributes together the year before by lighting the perimeter of the arena on fire and forcing the tributes inward as the flame spread. This year, they triggered a massive earthquake on the perimeter of the arena, sending buildings crashing to the ground and ripping apart the streets like tin foil. The tributes were forced inward as the earthquake spread, less they be annihilated by the force of the quake. A very unlucky Angus was sleeping in the cellar of a pub when the quake destroyed it. He was killed by a combination of debris impaling his body and the force of the building collapsing atop him.

Angus Gomes, District 10 Male: 3rd, Killed by the Gamemaker's Earthquake, Day 14

Ashlar and Sapphire were the final two tributes, and they both hurled themselves towards the cornucopia as they ran away from the threat of the earthquake tearing apart their bodies. The two tributes had no option but to climb on top of the cornucopia. Sapphire had a huge gash running down her leg from the collision of a chunk of debris, and Ashlar's torso had been split down the middle by a similar cause.

Ashlar panicked as he frantically realized that he had no weapons with him, while Sapphire had a backpack full of weapons he had never even heard of or seen in his life. Eyes glittering with malice, Sapphire reached into her backpack and pulled out a knife, brandishing it in her right hand. She stalked towards Ashlar, forcing him either off of the horn onto the ground or into her knife. Ashlar backed away, but was running out of room very quickly. It was only a matter of time, and very little time at that, until Ashlar would have to make the most difficult and quite possibly last choice of his life.

What happened next is one of the most ground breaking events in the history of the Hunger Games to date. Sapphire cleared her throat and raised her knife, speaking eight words that would soon become the catchphrase of the Hunger Games for many, many years.

"May the odds be ever in your favor," Sapphire said mockingly as she brought down the knife and stabbed Ashlar's chest before kicking his frail body off of the horn.

Ashlar Sommer, District 2 Male: 2nd, Killed by Sapphire, Day 14

"Sapphire Waber of District 1, you are the victor of the second annual Hunger Games!" Leto announced as a hovercraft appeared to retrieve the girl. She raised her hands in the air and whooped victoriously, proudly celebrating her victory.

Sapphire Waber, District 1 Female: Victor of the Second Hunger Games, Day 14


AFTERMATH

The Capitol was absolutely enthralled by Sapphire. Little did they know that she was the very first of an entire 'species' of tributes who would enter the games to win money and fame known as careers. Sapphire became very famous for coining the phrase 'may the odds be ever in your favor', which is still the catchphrase of the games to this day.

Her victory tour was very quiet and somber, as the district citizens thought back to how mercilessly Sapphire slaughtered their children in the arena.

Sapphire moved into the victor's village of District 1. She would never marry or have kids, and would live a very quiet and reserved life to herself.

Sapphire would live to the ripe old age of ninety, losing a battle with liver cancer around the time of seventy-second annual Hunger Games.


NEWS

Sapphire moves into the Victor's Village of District 1, the first of many victors from the luxury district to do so.

Cordin begins dating a woman named Jesyka, whom he will marry around the time of the sixth annual Hunger Games.


LIST OF VICTORS

1HG: Cordin Frey (#1, District 3)
2HG: Sapphire Waber (#1, District 1)