THE THIRTY EIGHTH ANNUAL HUNGER GAMES
"Abundia"
INTRODUCTION
President Coriolanus Snow's promised punishments to the districts that were unable to produce last year's victor were executed the second that Lucy emerged victorious from the thirty-seventh with a smile plastered across her face. District 11 faced the harshest punishment. Having been the first district to lose both of its tributes, it faced nearly twofold increases in peacekeeper security and a similar decrease in food rations. Snow was quick to realize that he wasn't doing himself any favors by clutching his grasp around the poor districts and forcing down unreasonable punishments; the things that kept Capitolites bejeweled, bedazzled, and well-fed didn't come from nowhere, after all. Snow quickly began procrastinating in terms of running down the ordered sequence of districts, and he soon decided that all of the districts that had a tribute make it to the final eight would face no punishments. District 4, having produced last year's victor, received a marvelous reward from Snow, including a speech from the man himself. Parcel Day in District 4 was one of the most splendid events that the nation had seen in terms of post-games traditions.
For several months, year thirty-eight Post Dark Days seemed to be passing by without any rebellion at all. That was, until somebody trespassed into the presidential mansion. The intruder was a Capitol man by the name of Falcon Evergreen. He, for reasons that nobody is still quite sure of, broke into Snow's mansion and stole the box containing the twists for each of the quarter quells to come. He immediately opened the box and read the card for the second quarter quell. He was quickly captured by peacekeeper forces, and the box was returned to its resting place in the basement of the presidential mansion swiftly. This event was the spark for the hype of the second quarter quell. Soon, the public began demanding that President Snow announce the quarter quell twist twelve years early. Snow could not and would not do this, for it was written into law that each twist was to be kept a secret until its designated date of revelation. However, Snow had an idea. He proposed his idea to Head Gamemaker Yarrow Dawnbloom, now in his sixth year on the job. Each of the twelve arenas leading up to the second quarter quell would be modeled after one of the nation's twelve districts. The arena of the thirty-eighth games would represent District 1. The arena of the thirty-ninth games would represent District 2. This pattern would continue, ending with the forty-ninth games, whose arena would represent District 12. Yarrow loved the idea, as did the public after he announced the plan to the nation.
The careers this year were an average batch. It seemed as if Snow was finished with rigging lacking careers into the games. District 1, overall, produced the strongest duo. Their male, a stellar in hand-to-hand combat, was tall in stature and was broad and muscled. He was actually an orphan, and there were rumors that his birth father was Victor Gold Carson from the twenty-second. These rumors were later disproved. District 1's female had a fitting name: Cherry Montgomery, earning her name for her fiery blonde hair. She excelled in use of the spear and throwing knives, weapons that she had focused on during her time in the combat academy of District 1. District 2's tributes were dark and menacing both in form and demeanor. Their male was a greater with the knife, particularly the dagger. He demonstrated his techniques upon the master of ceremonies with an invisible knife. This made the master of ceremonies feel uncomfortable, but he played along anyways. This kind of tarnished his reputation. His district partner was a girl who was rather masculine in form. She was dark and cold, with eyes like ice and a willpower stronger than stone. District 4 produced a stellar male and a not-so-stellar female. The boy showcased his trident skills, earning him a ten. He was a very laid-back individual, unconventional. The District 4 girl was the weakest career. Scoring only an eight, this Sylvia girl acted childish and sweet in her interview. She was mostly filler and the careers, their leader being the male from 1, were hesitant to accept her into their alliance until she lied to them that her aunt was friends with President Coriolanus Snow. The careers' training scores were quite average this year: in total, three tens, two nines, and a single eight.
Outside of the careers, the training scores were remarkably high. The strongest outlier was the girl from District 5. She knew that Snow looked for loyalty in great tributes. As such, this Porter Tripp girl spent her time in the Capitol thanking the Capitol for its security and remarking how grateful she was for its sacrifices and endurance in both the good times and the bad. Her nine supported the popular rumor that she had been trained prior to the games, but this rumor was disproven. There were two eights scored outside of the careers. Chip Datacable of District 3 fascinated the nation with how she was able to score so high being so young, and she quickly became a Capitol favorite. The boy from District 10 won many popularity contests as well. He was a handsome boy, and he used his beauty as well as his talents with the knife to score a cool eight. Four tributes earned sevens, an average number. They were Ivory from 6, Beech and Heather from 7, and Basil from 11. The rest of the tributes scored between six and two in their private sessions. Millet Stalk from District 9 was openly non-binary. In this chapter, the pronoun "they" will be used to refer to Millet, as it was the pronoun that they preferred when they were alive. There was a single volunteer outside of the careers: Ivory Hope from District 6. She volunteered into the games to save her twelve year-old sister. Here are the tributes:
District 1: Jaguar Calloway, 17, (10) 4-1 and Cherry Montgomery, 17, (10) 4-1
District 2: Flavius Kerezaki, 18, (9) 5-1 and Magnolia Alicorn, 15, (9) 7-1
District 3: Cecil Legendre, 18, (6) 15-1 and Chip Datacable, 13, (8) 10-1
District 4: Island Isselhardt, 18 (10) 4-1 and Sylvia Prinicpato, 16, (8) 8-1
District 5: Asher Suzette, 14, (5) 22-1 and Porter Tripp, 18, (9) 6-1
District 6: Jayce Dimarche, 15, (6) 18-1 and Ivory Hope, 17, (7) 15-1
District 7: Beech Scarborough, 14, (7) 19-1 and Heather Salisbury, 14, (7) 19-1
District 8: Nylon Manger, 12, (3) 50-1 and Flannelette Seamstress, 18, (6) 17-1
District 9: Millet Stalk, 17, (6) 18-1 and Cobbia Shepherd, 15, (5) 19-1
District 10: Ocelot Lazzara, 18, (8) 9-1 and Raoul Caramel, 14, (4) 36-1
District 11: Basil Capewell, 17, (7) 14-1 and Scythe Kuze, 16, (6) 16-1
District 12: Darkhold Magnuson, 14, (5) 21-1 and Vicky Harlow, 14, (3) 40-1
THE GAMES
The arena for the thirty-eighth Hunger Games represented District 1. The cornucopia stood amidst a luscious green meadow covered with fuzzy green grass. Flowers dotted the landscape, their petals perfectly shaped and their aromas enticing to many a tribute. Puffy white clouds dotted the azure blue sky. Throughout the arena were marble statues. They were modeled after gamemakers, presidents, and tributes (both victors and fallen) from years past. The cornucopia was made out of the same marble that constituted the arena's many statues. The cornucopia contained little water, as the gamemakers expected that the tributes would easily be able to coax water out of the bountiful landscape. Although the meadow was beautiful, the real splendor of the arena sat underneath the ground. A massive jeweled cave system sprawled out beneath the arena, tunnels branching out and weaving around each other in the most intricately stunning manner. The cave was light enough to see, as the jewels that were planted into the walls and on the floors and ceilings gave off enough light for human vision to function. Scattering the cave system were pools of warm water, heating by geothermic energy from deep inside the earth. The entire arena was sculpted to perfection, not unlike the beautiful and bountiful luxury goods that District 1 manufactures for the nation each passing year. The real gem of the arena was the jeweled cave system, though. Scattering the arena were entrances to the system of caverns. Time would tell when and by whom these entrances would be discovered.
When the gong's familiar note rang across the arena, two tributes turned tail and bolted away from the bloodbath as fast as their legs could carry them. They were Jayce from 6 and Raoul from 10. Flavius sprinted at the head of the onrush, warm summer zephyrs roaring in his ears as he affixed his gaze toward a serrated dagger than sat, tucked away in its black leather sheath, thirty yards from his pedestal. Flavius swept up the dagger and came to a stop. He turned sharply on his heel and grabbed a nearby outlier. Flavius threw the boy to the ground. Disoriented, the coast was clear for Flavius. He swooped down and sawed his serrated dagger into the sobbing boy's chest. He wheezed out choked pleads as Flavius continued to mercilessly hack away at his neck and upper abdomen.
Darkhold Magnuson, District 12 Male: 24th, Killed by Flavius, Bloodbath
Cherry, another fast runner, was quick to grab a belt of throwing knives that lay unrolled in the fuzzy grass about halfway between her pedestal and the cornucopia. Cherry wrapped the heavy belt around her waist and fastened the strap. The instant that she had fit the belt snugly around her muscular form, she grabbed the first knife in the row and threw it at the nearest boy. He screeched as the throwing knife dug into his chest. The boy dropped like a stone with a loud noise. At first, his moans of pain and his spasms of cold fear were loud, but they slowly began to fade away until his body relaxed and went silent, like a candle losing its flame.
Beech Scarborough, District 7 Male: 23rd, Killed by Cherry, Bloodbath
Ivory, being the only volunteer outside of the careers, was determined to make a splash with hopes of attracting the attention of the sponsors. She had seen enough of the games to know that the sponsors liked blood. The District 6 girl zipped toward a girl that had fallen off of her pedestal, broken an arm, and was on the ground, unable to get to her feet with only one arm. Ivory grabbed her and swallowed hard as she slammed the pitiful girl against the base of her pedestal. Two of the girl's teeth were knocked away and landed in a cluster of aquamarine blossoms about a yard away. Though her moral compass screamed for her to stop, Ivory did not. Bits of the girl flew. By the time that Ivory was done, she was caked with crimson droplets, her face displaying a torrent of emotions after making her first kill.
Cobbia Shepherd, District 9 Female: 22nd, Killed by Ivory, Bloodbath
Island's fingers were greeted with a cool sensation as he closed them around a bronze trident that leaned against the cornucopia, sparking in the brilliant light of the overhead sun. Island lifted up the trident, savoring the feeling that reminded him of home. The career boy, the weapon locked firmly in his grasp, ran into the midst of the bloodbath's chaos. His first prey quite literally flew by; mere seconds later, a stocky boy with a remarkable training score ran across his field of vision. Island hurled his trident, watching with satisfaction as it sailed into the neck of the boy. His sticky blood splattered red the fuzzy grass around him. Island pulled his trident out of the boy's limp form and wiped off its bloodstained prongs with a rag that sat humbly in the grass nearby.
Basil Capewell, District 11 Male: 21st, Killed by Island, Bloodbath
Cherry, having successfully wiggled her throwing knife out of Beech's blood-lathered form, quickly began throwing again. She was about to throw her next knife when a huge weight bumped into her and knocked her to the ground. It was an outlier girl who was trying to off her with a spear. Cherry wrestled with the girl and was dismayed to discover that she was actually quite strong. The girl was just about drive her spear into Cherry's chest when she went limp and collapsed on top of Cherry, dead. Cherry looked up and spotted a tribute, Millet from 9, lowering their bow.
Scythe Kuze, District 11 Female: 20th, Killed by Millet, Bloodbath
Cherry got to her feet and leapt toward Millet. She really should have been more thankful given how the boy had saved her life, but the career's constitution stated that a career should slaughter their prey mercilessly. Millet had been expecting Cherry to let them off lightly and be thankful after they had saved her life, but that was not so. Cherry lifted into the air the knife that she had been about to throw before her encounter with Scythe and hurled it toward Millet. They couldn't sidestep fast enough before the serrated blade cut into their neck. They fell, gurgling, as they clawed at their throat. Millet was dying rapidly. Less than a minute passed before Millet's form went slack.
Millet Stalk, District 9 Male: 19th, Killed by Cherry, Bloodbath
Jaguar bit his lip with envy as he watched Cherry make two kills. Jaguar had seen himself as more powerful than his district partner, and Jaguar now felt a raging jealousy. On a whim, Jaguar picked up a bow and quiver of arrows. He threw the quiver over his shoulder and nocked a single arrow, aiming for Cherry's back. Cherry's form stiffened as the arrow sank into her back. She waved back and forth for a few seconds before she lost her balance and fell forward. Jaguar smirked at the sight of the girl's eyes staring blankly somewhere into the distance.
Cherry Montgomery, District 1 Female: 18th, Killed by Jaguar, Bloodbath
"Hey!" shouted Flavius, who had seen Jaguar shoot Cherry and saw that his satisfied grin was a sure sign that it was not an accident. Ever since the twenty-second Hunger Games, the careers had engaged in a no-kill pact during the bloodbath. That meant that if a career betrayed an ally during the bloodbath they would be killed. Flavius didn't hesitate in the slightest to lay down the law. Flavius ran toward Jaguar and, before the District 1 boy could utter a word of protest, slit his throat with his dagger. Jaguar made a small noise before his knees buckled under him and he slid to the ground. Karma's real.
Jaguar Calloway, District 1 Male: 17th, Killed by Flavius, Bloodbath
Magnolia smirked when she spotted the black-haired merchant boy from District 5 stroll into the cornucopia. The boy got to his knees and threw open the nearest crate. Magnolia watched as the boy crawled into the crate and let the lid close on top of him. The career girl ran toward him and threw open the crate. "Surprise!" Magnolia cheered as she reached into her pocket and pulled out the twin shurikens that she had snatched up a few minutes prior. The District 5 boy yelled bloody murder as Magnolia threw the left one into the boy's chest. One of its sharp angles pierced his heart, and he was dead quickly afterward.
Asher Suzette, District 5 Male: 16th, Killed by Magnolia, Bloodbath
Porter's fingers wrapped around the handle of a sleek and metallic crossbow that she had found deep inside of the cornucopia. The audience could practically see the cogs turning in Porter's mind as she began to develop a plan. She quickly grabbed the crossbow and the sheath of arrows and then ran around to the backside of the cornucopia. She nocked an arrow and, for the shortest instant, peeked out from behind the cornucopia's boxy anterior. She pulled the trigger and instantly slunk back to her hiding place behind the horn. The arrow grazed the shoulder of a boy who was trying to run away from the bloodbath with a carton of water and a packet of wires and batteries. He was so shocked to see blood oozing from his arm that he fell and fainted. Nearby, Island held his bloodstained trident firmly and planted it into the unconscious boy's chest. He never woke up, and the nation lost a fantastic actor at that moment.
Cecil Legendre, District 3 Male: 15th, Killed by Porter and Island, Bloodbath
Porter's shot successful, she peeked back around from behind the cornucopia and tested her luck again. She cocked the weapon and fit an arrow into the empty slot. Porter aimed for a muscular and rather masculine girl that was a perfect target. Porter fired. It was only after her cries of pain were abruptly silenced that Porter realized she had killed a career.
Sylvia Prinicpato, District 4 Female: 14th, Killed by Porter, Bloodbath
Magnolia made the final kill. The only outlier remaining around the cornucopia was a sinewy girl who looked as if she hadn't eaten in her entire lifetime. She was mere seconds from escaping the cornucopia clearing when Magnolia hurled her two bloodstained shurikens into her back. The girl yelped as the sharp weapons dug into her back. She fell and tried to get back to her feet but was unable to as she slowly bled out.
Vicky Harlow, District 12 Female: 13th, Killed by Magnolia, Bloodbath
Twelve bloodbath cannons boomed across the arena, but Porter didn't stay at the cornucopia to listen to them. She knew that it was only a matter of time before the careers began to grow suspicious of the large numbers of crossbow darts in the corpses of the dead and began to realize that there must be an outlier lurking around the cornucopia. Porter watched, hardly daring to breathe, as the careers went around the field talking about their kills and discussing their tactics. Then, when she was sure that none of them were looking, she ran away behind the cornucopia. If any of the careers looked at the right time, they would easily be able to see her running across the grassy meadow and she would be a dead man. Fortunately, a gust of wind picked up that drowned up the sound of her footsteps thumping regularly over the earth. Porter wore terror over her like a second skin, but she miraculously managed to reach a thick area of the meadow without being seen or heard by the careers.
With the twelve piece bloodbath at its conclusion, the surviving tributes swelled out across the arena. The areas to the south were certainly the most popular; the grass was taller and thicker, and the river coiled across the landscape like a snake slithering through the terrain. Ivory had escaped the bloodbath with a bowl and a backpack filled with various supplies, and she kept running as fast as her feet could carry her without looking back. She collapsed with exhaustion beside the sweet-smelling river. She was apprehensive about drinking the water, figuring it could be poisonous. As if in prompt answer to her quarrel, a small mouse came to the riverside and took a sip of water. It eeked merrily and then scampered away. If the water was poisonous, Ivory thought, it would have died given its small body, but it didn't. Ivory dipped her hands into the river and began scraping off the coagulated blood that had stuck to them. She wanted to eliminate the thought of the fact that she had killed a human being, and the thought that she would have to do that again and again in order to win terrified her. Ocelot was also among the first tributes to reach the river. He centered his game plan around the river's trickling waters by setting up permanent camp on the river's bank. He found a hill near the riverside that had a cove carved out into its side and shoved himself inside. To camouflage himself, Ocelot smeared his backpack and his clothing with mud. Chip from 3, though only thirteen, had scored an eight, and she was determined to live up to the hype that had festered the Capitol, spreading throughout the audience in slow succession. Everybody wanted to see what the girl would do, and so when she reached the river she instantly got to work. Chip opened the bag containing the wires and such that she had requested from the gamemakers and began working on a complicated project. Chip had brought her glasses into the arena as her tribute token so that she could see. She ended up fastening a little hook out of a sharp stone to pull the wires through each other. Nobody could tell what Chip was trying to build, but the entire nation held its breath in anticipation as to what the intriguing girl would conjure up with her sharp mind and acute manual dexterity. She was a Capitol favorite, and her name quickly became a household one.
There were some tributes that did not head to the river, however. Perhaps they thought that the careers would flock to its grassy shores because of how many tributes would be there. Or perhaps they just didn't hear the river. Nylon, only twelve, was paranoid that the careers would be able to see him and stayed to the darker and thicker areas of the arena. He spent that night weaving himself a pillow from the fuzzy green grass to amuse himself and distract himself from his inevitable doom. Flannelette, Nylon's district partner, was a pragmatic girl that was comforted by cold, hard facts. She zigzagged back and forth and hopped in the tracks of animals that had trekked through the area, hoping to limit all of the traces of the directions in which she had travelled. She ended up sleeping against a large boulder in a clearing on the night of Day 1 in an area where she had a great view of the surrounding field of grass and could spot danger early while still having time to run away. Jayce from 6 had run away from the cornucopia with nothing but his bare hands to survive the difficult weeks to come. He darted away from the horn and settled down at the base of a series of foothills. His camp that night was less than a hundred yards from one of the cave's entrances, but he didn't know that
Heather from 7 had salvaged an axe from the chaos of the bloodbath and used the sharp blade of the weapon to slice through areas where the grass was tall. She walked throughout the day, taking minute-long breaks every fifteen minutes or so for a swig of cool water. At about two o'clock in the evening, Heather found herself before a gaping hole. Heather was the first to discover the cave system. The District 7 girl, intrigued and mystified, slid down onto a platform suspended above the blackness below. She spotted a glowing jewel implanted into a nearby wall. She fingered the jewel, perfectly formed and faceted to perfection. Suddenly, a hovercraft descended from the sky and out came Head Gamemaker Yarrow Skytide. Heather produced her axe and readied herself to attack, thinking that Yarrow was a mutt. Yarrow reassured Heather that he was the real deal by pointing to the two peacekeepers that were protecting him with guns.
"Congratulations, Ms. Salisbury, on being the first tribute to discover the arena's underground network of caves," Yarrow said. "I am sure that you are wondering why I am here. I am here to give you a reward for being the first tribute to discover the cave. Here is your reward."
Heather watched intently as Yarrow set down a case that he was carrying and unlatched it. He opened the case. Inside saw an ornate glass bowl. The bowl was filled with water, and in the water swam a beautiful goldfish. Yarrow set the fishbowl down at Heather's feet. He then closed his suitcase. Heather looked down at the goldfish. It was a beautiful sparkling gold that glimmered in the light of the sun with the brilliance of a thousand diamonds. Heather picked up the bowl and then looked toward Yarrow to ask him what it was for. Yarrow was gone, and if not for the bowl that she held in her hands Heather would have thought that he was only a dream. Heather had no idea what the goldfish was for, but as she ventured deeper into the cave she kept it with her at all times. When the time came for her evening snack, she fed the fish some of the rice that she had grabbed from the cornucopia.
The entirety of Day 2 passed by without any deaths. With only three careers, Island and Flavius hunted whereas Magnolia took camp and began sorting through the supplies. Island and Flavius prowled through the grassy meadow, and they soon realized that the arena was too simple for there not to be a hidden depth to it. Most arenas like this one were poisonous, but nothing in the natural landscape seemed to be harmful. Even the berries were all delicious and nutritious. Soon, the two boys began throwing aside whatever they could find in order to find the layer to the arena that must be somewhere. Eventually they disembarked from the meadow and went north to the foothills. Island and Flavius were strolling through the arena one moment. The next moment, Flavius tripped on a ledge and fell. Panicked, Island grabbed his hand before he could fall. The two boys hadn't noticed that they had found an entrance to the cave and Flavius had fallen into it. Island tugged with all of his might, and he ended up successfully retrieving Flavius from near-death. The two boys, knowing that they needed some way to get back to the cornucopia at the first song of dusk, began searching for some kind of easy path to the bottom. Ancient stone steps were carved into the walls, and the two careers walked down them. Soon, they emerged into the jeweled cave system. They gawked with wonder. Island ripped a gem out of the wall and admired its perfect shape and quality. Flavius wanted to venture into the cave. Island complied, but he made a note of their twists and turns so that they wouldn't get lost. They found their way back to the horn, and Magnolia insisted that she take a trip to the marvelous cave the next day, eager to see the misty caves and glowing jewels that the others had described.
Outside of the careers, there was a lot of movement but little action. Porter was quick to realize that she couldn't sustain herself by just leaning against a hill and hoping for the best. There would be dangers in the games, and she knew it. She woke up bright and early and found an area nestled between two foothills. She travelled to one of the arena's trees and broke off its branches. Trees were scarce in the meadow, so the wood was precious. She lay the wood across the gap between the two hills, leaving an area underneath for Porter to stay. Porter covered the top of the wooden branches with the long and fuzzy grass. Porter thanked the senders every single sponsor gift sincerely, remarking after each one how thankful she was for the Capitol's generosity and forgiveness. Heather kept travelling deeper and deeper into the cave system. She clutched the fishbowl by her side. Every few seconds she would hold the fishbowl close to one of the glowing gems to see if it was doing anything. It never was, unless you count swimming around in its bowl. Heather was beginning to grow frustrated because she didn't know what to do to make the fish "work". Ivory's camp by the river was beginning to grow rather uncomfortable; whenever she lay down, her back would sink into the mushy beach. This reminded Ivory of quicksand, something with bad connotations from previous games. Nylon kept up with his weaving. The fuzzy green grass was great for weaving; it was strong and flexible. A small loom was quickly delivered to him by a sponsor, and Nylon began to wrap the long strands of grass in and out of the wooden frame. He finished his blanket before midnight. Along with his pillow, he slept in a set made entirely of the grass. Chip continued working on her electronic machine, occasionally requesting pieces from the audience. It was an intricate job. Every hour or so, Chip would step back to admire her work. Nobody, not even the gamemakers, had any idea what the girl was attempting to build. They looked forward to finding out.
Ocelot, unlike many of the others, had actually found an outcoving in the side of a hill that he could use as naturally formed shelter. Ocelot spent the rest of the day expanding his shelter. In this arena, shelter seemed to be the tributes' number one priority. After all, it was too flat and open for anybody to feel safe without some sort of cover. Raoul had spent the entirety of the first two days aimlessly wandering through the arena. He discovered the winding river around noon and gulped down its sweet-tasting water, satisfying his raging thirst.
With Day 3 came a single death. The careers had been hunting along the river for the past two days, but on Day 3 they decided to disembark from the river's winding shores because of how easy it was to be hidden near them. The weaker tributes, the careers figured, would be in the foothills to the west and to the south. The rolling landscape made it difficult for the careers to see everywhere, and travelling required intense physical effort. With Flavius at the cornucopia, Magnolia and Island travelling through the cool landscape. Finally, around two o'clock in the evening, Magnolia turned around the jutting edge of one of the foothills and spotted Jayce quivering behind it. Jayce, who had run away from the cornucopia, had resorted to sucking the dew off of the morning grass. He was pale with dehydration and hunger. His stomach growled with a hunger that he was unable to quench, but Magnolia wasn't worrying about giving him food. When Magnolia called for her ally Flavius, Jayce leapt to his feet and tried to flee.
The trained careers were quick to catch up to the running boy, and Flavius knocked him to the ground with a slam to the side of the head. Panicked, Jayce leapt to his feet and kicked Magnolia in the stomach. Magnolia let out a little gasp as Jayce, a karate expert in his district, spun around and smacked her in the chin. Magnolia fell, and Flavius ran toward Jayce, wielding his serrated dagger. Jayce screeched at the sight of its metallic blade sparkling in the sun, but before he knew it Flavius had caught up to him and knocked him to the ground. Flavius sawed out his torso, and Magnolia, who had regained her senses after the attack from the martial arts expert, stood by and watched smugly.
Jayce Dimarche, District 6 Male: 12th, Killed by Flavius, Day 3
The outliers, frightened by Jayce's cannon, retreated back into their hiding places for the most part. Chip continued to work on her electrical project as intricately as before, fitting in pieces with all of the skill of a professional. She really was clever, testing her machine for flaws and then fixing them to see what new problems would arise from the solution. After the cannon shot she travelled back into her little hillside den and worked in there. Porter continued to expand her shelter, camouflaging it with several layers of mud and even giving it two rooms. She really was a phenomenal shelter builder. Ivory was sleeping in her den when suddenly the rocks gave way beneath her and she plopped into the cave system. Ivory sobbed with pain as she smacked into the stone ground, and it was only after she had regained her senses that she realized she was in the cave. As far as Ivory could see, there was nowhere to escape to, and so she set to work learning how to live off of the land.
Heather, also in the cave system, began trying some rather ridiculous tactics to make the goldfish "work". After trying every trick in the book and more, she tore a shimmering green emerald out of the wall and plopped it into the fishbowl. She reasoned, after all, that since Yarrow gave her the fish for reaching the cave first, the fish must be linked to the cave and putting something inside that reminded it of home might help. To Heather's fright, the moment that she dropped the jewel into the fishbowl it began dissolving. Soon, it was nothing but a thin layer of green power that covered the surface of the water. Heather cried as the green particles of emerald began to sink to the bottom of the bowl. Suddenly, the fish swam around the bowl and began eating the emerald. Soon it had eaten the entire thing and it retreated back to the bottom of the bowl to rest. Although Heather's knowledge set about fish was minimal, she knew that fish did not eat jewels naturally. This couldn't be a coincidence.
Nylon continued weaving his splendid creations from the arena's sturdy grass. Every human alive has had a "click" moment of sorts, where an ingenious idea flutters by seemingly from nowhere. Nylon had since travelled to the riverside and had found a little hole carved into the side of a hill. He crouched up inside and was pleased to find that he fit. An idea popped into his head. He grabbed his hook and began picking bundles of the fuzzy lime-colored grass to begin working on his project. He was making a tapestry of sorts. When he was finished, it looked as if he had torn a sheet of grass out of the earth and was carrying it with his own hands. Nylon walked toward his hillside home and draped the sheet of grass over the entrance, concealing it completely. Nylon nearly burst out of his skin with thrill. He was starting to use his creations for survival means instead of just to amuse himself in his last moments. Maybe he did have a chance of winning after all, the twelve year-old boy thought.
A few minutes after noon on Day 3, Ocelot became the third tribute to discover the cave system. He had been milling around the arena, hoping that it would be harder for him to be pinned down if he was always moving. He eventually spotted a hole punched into the ground as if some huge rock had fallen from the heavens and plunged through the ground. Ocelot peered over its edge. At the bottom of the hole he spotted a cluster of aquamarine jewels glowing brilliantly. Ocelot stepped onto the slippery wooden stairwell downward and went to the bottom of the cave. There, he ripped one of the jewels out of the ground and examined it. He decided to keep it as a flashlight. This later turned out to be pointless, for mere seconds later he realized that the entire area around him was covered with the gems. Ocelot took out his fanny pack and began collecting all of the colors that he could find. He then settled down in a relatively dark area of the cave near a pool of water. Flannelette was also fast to discover the cave. She was bathing in the sweet-smelling river to cleanse herself of the grime that caked her body when she spotted a hole in the riverbed. Curious, she held her breath and swam under. She needed not more than put a single toe into the hole that she was sucked down into the hole. She screamed, her lungs demanding air, as she was zoomed through a fast-flowing passageway of water. It looped around and around. Finally, nearly a minute later, Flannelette was plopped down into the cave. She was cold and wet and naked except for her undergarments. She buried her head in her hands. She had nothing. She left all of her things on the riverside when she went bathing, and now she was left to survive with only her wits.
The careers had been putting off Magnolia's request to go see the cave system, as they didn't trust the cave's darkness and the way that their reflections could be seen in every facet of every jewel in the place. It just seemed… creepy. Finally, on Day 4, they gave in, but not entirely by choice. The two awoke with knives at their throats. Magnolia was not actually going to kill them, but she mortified them all the same. Perhaps Flavius and Island were thinking of Dante Dalgarno or Luster Lemussurier, careers from past Hunger Games that were killed in their sleep by their stronger allies. "Listen carefully. Take me to that cave right now. I don't care that the sun isn't up," she said. The others obeyed, and Magnolia watched them with her knife as they quickly got ready. Magnolia gawked at the sight of the cave system that sprawled out before them once they reached its entrance. She spent the rest of the day in the cave. The others had been too distracted by the cave that they had forgotten to leave a guard at the cornucopia. For that, they would pay the ultimate price.
On the ground at that very moment, Chip finished her electronic project that she had been working on since Day 1. Chip found her way to the cornucopia by the sun. She set up a sundial and waited for it to read noon, and once it did she travelled toward the sun. The simple laws of astronomy and mathematics led her to the cornucopia. There, her job was simple. At least, it should have been. Chip was so precautious about keeping her creation in pristine condition that she waited for nearly an hour, when conditions were just right. She had just one chance to get this right. The minerals to build the grenade had taken nearly as long to gather as the wires and bits that made the technological part work; the thought of breaking the explosive prematurely terrified her.
Standing a good twenty yards away from the cornucopia, Chip lifted her hand into the air and pulled the pin. She tried to throw, but the "V" shape between the underside of the pin and the rest of the grenade got caught in the webbed area between her thumb and pointed finger. Chip panicked and tried to slide the thing off, but the fuse reached the explosive center of the weapon before she could do that. Chip was blown sky high, and there wasn't even anything to put in the tribute vaults.
Chip Datacable, District 3 Female: 11th, Accidentally Killed by Herself, Day 4
The boom shocked the careers, and it dawned upon each one of them in turn that the boom could only mean one thing. They began throwing ideas at each other. Who could have made the cornucopia explode? Most likely was the District 3 female. Island swore his vengeance on the girl. Within a few seconds, Magnolia pointed out that the boom had been followed by a cannon shot.
The careers were actually near the cornucopia when the explosion happened. Soon, the aftershocks occurred. Small bits of rock began to fall from the ceiling, and one landed in Magnolia's arm. She hissed and clenched her teeth as the sharp rock raked across the limb. Magnolia had been cataloging their twists and turns on her arm with a ballpoint pen. The rake from the stone had smudged many of the little letters that she had scrawled out on her arm. Within a few hours, the skin around the scrape began to inflame and the writing was lost forever. The careers were trapped in the cave.
"It was your idea to go into this cave," Island spat. "It's your fault this all happened."
"Hey, you told me about it. If you didn't want me coming with you back here why did you tell me?" Magnolia barked in rebuttal.
"It's still your fault!" Island yelled. Island surged forth. Flavius tried to stop the fight that was ensuing, but it was impossible. When Flavius tried to pull his allies apart Island threw a punch at him. He reeled as Magnolia and Island continued to smack each other with their fists. When Island grabbed his trident, it was all over. As quickly as the fight had begun, it ended. Island skewered the prongs of the trident into Magnolia's neck. She choked and tried to tear the weapon out of herself, struggling for breath. It was useless. Island kicked her away. "Stupid girl," he spat.
Magnolia Alicorn, District 2 Female: 10th, Killed by Island, Day 4
Ocelot continued to trek through the cave, seemingly unfazed by the two cannon shots that had fired that day. He never really stopped moving and developed the strategy of a nomad. Flannelette miraculously found a red child's hoodie in the cave. Where it came from she didn't know, but she put the coat on her body. It was a tight fit but was better than nothing. Heather continued to feed her goldfish the cave's jewels. The fish was only accepting one gem a day. Each day it was growing larger and larger. What this meant Heather had no idea. All she knew was that this fish was important. She fed it and cleaned out its waste dutifully each day.
After that, the rest of Day 4 crawled past without any deaths. It was rather lifeless for the rest of the day. The nation watched Nylon spin more of his beautiful creations from the arena's grass. Around three in the evening, a small parachute was delivered to Nylon. He ran to it, thinking that it was a sponsor gift. All that the parachute carried was a single piece of paper, folded three times in half. He unfolded it once, then twice, then three times, and read the note. It told him that he could sell his woven creations in the Capitol for thousands of dollars; his pieces were in high demand. Hardly daring to believe it was true, he set down a few of his creations and waited for the hovercraft to retrieve them. In their place, there came a silver parachute bearing sweet treats and tools. Ivory and Heather didn't do much on Day 4. Heather kept feeding her fish the jewels. At this point, its scales were beginning to grow tough and metallic. It was morphing from less of a golden yellow to more of a fiery crimson. Ivory kept milling through the cave, having done absolutely nothing of note throughout the games after the bloodbath.
In the cave, Flannelette was beginning to get extremely cold. She found that the glowing jewels of the cave pulsated with heat, and so she stayed in areas with lots of them in order to keep up her body temperature. Pneumonia and hypothermia weren't nonexistent risks in the arena, and Flannelette knew it. She did have a close call around six, however. She heard voices around the corner and threw herself in a dark corner. Fortunately, the careers passed her by without killing her.
On the morning of Day 5, the nation was beginning to grow bored of watching Porter expand her shelter (which now included four rooms and a functioning door). Porter received a note from her mentor, Dina Wilmarth, saying that if she didn't pull something off the gamemakers might have to bump her off. Porter picked up her crossbow and exited her shelter, ready to do what she knew she had to do. She tribute hunted all day. She used the sun as her guide, and when the sun began to set she used the moon and the stars. She excelled in astronomy, able to name each and every star in the sky. She used to go outside with her father and spend hours looking at the stars before he died in the power plant accident. Porter was ten then. Eight years later, she still woke up screaming for him to run.
It was a few minutes before midnight when Porter stumbled across Ivory on the riverside. She was snoozing away contentedly in her riverside home, having escaped the cave and set up a house beside the rushing river. When Porter shot her flashlight beam upon Ivory's body, she boomed awake and beelined for her knife. Porter pulled the trigger of her crossbow and watched as the dart buried itself into Ivory's hand. She hissed and dropped her knife. She tried to reach the knife with her other hand but failed. Ivory resorted to throwing rocks at Porter. Ivory managed to land one into the side of Porter's head, and when her knees wobbled with pain Ivory tried to make a run for it. Porter threw herself atop the volunteer girl before she could scramble away, and she was dead, one of Porter's crossbow darts buried into the back of her head, before she had time to scream.
Ivory Hope, District 6 Female: 9th, Killed by Porter, Day 5
That left the final eight: Flavius Kerezaki from District 2, Island Isselhardt from District 4, Porter Tripp from District 5, Heather Salisbury from District 7, Nylon Manger and Flannelette Seamstress from District 8, and Ocelot Lazzara and Raoul Caramel from District 10.
Apart from Ivory's kill, Day 5 mostly consisted of a rush between the tributes to discover the cave system. Flavius and Island, the careers, were trapped inside. Heather was inside the cave, dutifully tending to her goldfish, which now made the glass bowl look miniature. Nylon continued to weave his creations. Around two in the evening on Day 5, Nylon strayed away from his hillside home to find an area where the grass was more cordy and less yarny. This led him to discover the cave, which he climbed down into, intrigued. Flannelette became the first tribute to discover the pools of warm water in the cave. She had discovered a pool filled with water that was nearly ninety degrees, warm enough for her to bathe in. She took a bath and then set up camp near the pool, where the hot rising steam would keep her warm. Raoul discovered the cave around six o'clock after stumbling into it when he tripped on some slippery riverside grass. He was plopped down into the cave and made camp there. Now, every tribute but Porter was in the cave.
Days 6 and 7 passed, deathless and without much movement. The careers hunted feverishly but were unable to track down any of the remaining outliers. In the cave, Nylon couldn't do weaving; there was no grass down there! Nylon ripped a jewel out of the wall in frustration and tried to form it with his hands. He was pleased to discover that the gem bent. He quickly rushed toward one of the hot pools that he had discovered a few hours prior and dipped the gem into it. It didn't dissolve. The gem only dissolved in Heather's water, which was treated with a chemical that would break down gems into powder. Once the gem was steaming hot, Nylon took it out and found that he was able to mold it like butter. He formed it into a little model of a horse and then set it off to the side to cool down. Once it did, it auctioned off for nearly one hundred thousand dollars in the Capitol. Flannelette didn't have much to do since she could just drink water from the pools, so she milled around. She didn't have many sponsors for food so she caught and ate the rats that were in the cave. She hated it, and she nearly retched every time she felt a rat's squirming form, but she did it anyways. Ocelot stayed near the warm pools, which he had recently discovered along with Flannelette and Nylon.
Raoul was wandering through the cave when he came to a long, wide hallway. This was not naturally made. The walls and ceiling were brick. At the far end of the hallway was a foggy glass sheet that he couldn't see through. A single door stood in the middle of the sheet. Above the door hung a banner. The banner read, in loopy cursive handwriting: Welcome one and all to the grand opening of Jewel Cave!
Raoul was confused. What did the sign mean by grand opening? Suddenly, the door burst open and a crowd of people poured in. They were holding cameras. They were taking pictures with their flashy polaroids and were talking and ooing and aahing at the sight of the cave. They were talking to each other about parts of the cave that they wanted to see. They burst through the hallway, and Raoul was too shocked to run as the tourists knocked him to the ground. He tried to get up, but people kept stepping on him. The tourists crushed his trachea and his ribcage as they trampled him to death and continued on in their violent rampage.
Raoul Caramel, District 10 Female: 8th, Killed by Tourist Muttations, Day 8
The tourists spread through the arena and filled up every nook and cranny of the cave. Flannelette spotted the onslaught of the mutts that was headed her way and threw herself into a corner, hoping that it would be impossible for her to be trampled if she stayed in a sharp corner. The tourists quickly filled the hallway, and Flannelette quickly realized that she had to fight. She ripped a jewel out of the wall behind her that had a sharp edge. She gored it through the eye of the nearest mutt, knocking it backwards. Now that it was gone, Flannelette was able to kick them away with her feet. Ocelot had a sword from a sponsor and was able to kill the creatures in the masses. He tried to run at first but was cornered into a dead end and needed to fight it out. He swung his sword, and the mighty breadth slashed across the chests of the three nearest mutts. Muttation blood—evil black and beady—oozed from their wounds as Ocelot bopped them in the heads with his spare hand. The next rush of the mutts was bigger. Ocelot used his sword as a rapier, spearing it through the chest of the nearest tourist and tearing it out. Its camera clattered to the stone floor at Ocelot's feet. The next tourist, Ocelot was able to kill by skewering his blade through its neck, choking it. The careers (Flavius with his serrated dagger and Island with his trident) were able to easily fend off their pursuers. Island was doing more stabbing and Flavius was doing more slashing. With Island's trident he was able to knock out several essential organs at one time, and with Island's dagger he was able to cut through the air with remarkable precision. The mutts were quickly gaining on them. One of the tourists was walking directly toward Flavius. Island ran in front of Flavius and stabbed his dagger into the torso of the muttation. The tourist's knees buckled and it fell to the ground. A trio of the tourists was now approaching the boys. Island killed one with his trident while Flavius polished one of them off by goring his dagger into its forehead. Suddenly, a large and pudgy tourist slammed into Flavius. He fell and was trampled by the onslaught of people. Flavius yelped as he was crushed to death. Island rushed off, cutting through the crowds of people that were continuing on in their mad rush.
Flavius Kerezaki, District 2 Male: 7th, Killed by Tourist Muttations, Day 8
Heather had barricaded herself into the operator's office and moved furniture over the door. She had her fish, and she had a few jewels that she had managed to tear from the walls of the cave. She dropped the first one, a blue sapphire, into the bowl. The fish ate it and grew slightly bigger. It was growing… legs. They were small at first. Heather hastily fed the fish another jewel. The fish's legs got bigger, thicker too. And it began to sprout wings. She gave the growing creature a third jewel and it was too big for the bowl. She fed the fish a fourth gem and suddenly the creature morphed into a beautiful, elegant crimson dragon.
Heather was shocked. The creature was nearly as tall as her. Its head was elegant. It had whiskers and rows of sharp teeth. Its reptilian body sported two curved wings. The dragon's feet were decorated with brilliant ivory talons. The dragon motioned to its master to get on. Heather got on. Abruptly, the dragon burst out of the room and began racing through the onrush of the tourists. The creature scorched them with its fiery breath. Suddenly, the dragon landed in a clearing. The dragon looked around and spotted Flannelette at the end of a hallway, trying desperately to fight against the onslaught of the tourists. The dragon let out its fiery breath upon Flannelette and scorched her to death immediately. Her remains were rather unsightly, and the gamemakers cleaned them up quickly.
Flannelette Seamstress, District 8 Female: 6th, Killed by dragon, Day 8
Heather's dragon zoomed through the cave, slashing away at all that stood in its way with its mighty talons. The dragon flushed all of the tourists to the exit, where, with a single fiery breath, scorched the entire group of tourists from left to right. The cave was left in silence. Heather got off of her dragon. It became apparent that it fed off of the jewels, so Heather fed it one. The dragon's eyes held an expression of pride. Heather patted it on the head. For the first time in so long, she had a companion and she wasn't so lonely.
After that, Days 9, 10, and 11 passed, deathless. Heather zoomed through the cave with her dragon but found nobody. Island was reluctant to go hunting after the event, fearing some aftershock of sorts. There were none, but it wasn't until Day 12 that he resumed his normal hunting schedule. As the lone remaining career, he couldn't show his weakness any further. Heather zipped through the arena with her dragon sidekick, regularly feeding it gems to keep it strong and motivated. It really was a friend to her. She had a firm hand and she praised effort. Nylon was a bit shaken up after the tourist incident and stayed in his cove for Days 9 and 10. It wasn't until Day 11 that he resumed his usual schedule of forming the cave's jewels into little figurines. Ocelot milled through the cave, not wanting to attract attention to himself but also not wanting to completely fade into the background. On Day 11 he disembarked from that strategy and kept "hopping" by staying in one area for about two hours then moving onto another.
Up on the surface, the audience was beginning to grow rather tired of Porter once more. The gamemakers had seen her potential and protected her for this long, but now that the number of tributes was so low they wouldn't help her now. On Day 12, the gamemakers sent a large group of muttations after her. These muttations were butterflies. Every color of the rainbow and more, they fluttered through the air in a huge group. Their wings were coated with poison that would eat into the skin of any tribute that touched it. Porter's smile quickly turned to an expression of fright as searing pain shot up her arm. The District 5 girl ran for the exit. They were herding Porter toward the cave system. She was the only tribute aboveground at that point and the gamemakers wanted everybody to be downstairs so that whatever horrors they held in store would affect all of the tributes.
Porter sprinted at the head of the onslaught of butterflies, shaking and breathing heavily with panic. Her crossbow was useless against the creatures and so it was all she could do to swat them away with her arms. A long lineup of the fellows landed on Porter's arm a few minutes later. Porter crushed them all with her other hand and hissed as the searing pain exploded through her body. Finally, Porter reached the river. She dove into the river, and the swarm of beautiful but deadly insects flew away. Porter peeked up above the water. Once she was sure that they were gone, she began to take note of her surroundings. She was in a rather calm area of the river. On the right side of the river was a stone wall. Behind that stone wall was a gaping hole that wormed its way down into the earth.
Porter had an idea. The only thing stopping the river water from pouring into the cave was that stone wall. If she could break through that stone wall… ideas fluttered into Porter's mind just like the butterflies that had attacked her mere minutes prior. Porter quickly asked the sponsors for a pickaxe. The sponsors, intrigued by this girl's streak of what they saw as inspiration, delivered it to her. Porter got to work breaking the stone wall that separated the river from the cave.
It was hard, labor-intensive work; the stone was so tough that after nearly fifteen minutes of hard work the girl had made progress of about an inch. Suddenly, she struck lucky. With one mighty stroke of her pickaxe, she drilled into the stone wall. Water began seeping through and drizzling into the cave. Slowly but surely, that crack began to widen. Porter laughed with satisfaction as the entire stone wall collapsed and the river began pouring into the cave, filling it up.
It was several minutes before any of the underground folks realized that the cave was flooding. The area of the cave that was directly by where the wall had once stood filled up immediately. Ocelot was the first to notice the onslaught of the sweet-smelling water. He was sitting against a wall when he noticed a light flow of liquid beginning to crawl into the room that he was in. Intrigued, he got to his feet and looked into the hallway nearest to him. Water was sloshing around the corridor. The room he was in was filling up at a rate of about an inch a minute. He shook with panic and treaded through the soupy area, trying to get to higher ground. Nylon was working on a little project of his when a splash of water came into the room that he was in and washed away his work in progress. He wept as he realized that the room he was inside of was filling up. He picked up his things and ran toward the nearest exit. Island, the only remaining career, was in a dead-ended room when a huge wave of the river water sloshed into the room. The room was filling up so quickly that he couldn't escape. The strong current was pressing him against the back of the room. He tried not to panic, knowing that it would only make him use up oxygen faster. Once he had to have his mouth pressed to the ceiling to breathe, he began to thrash about violently with terror. He promptly drowned. He was the last career in the thirty-eighth Hunger Games to die; upon his death, it was set into stone that an outlier would win these games.
Island Isselhardt, District 4 Male: 5th, Killed by Porter, Day 12
When a huge wave of dark water ran into the cove that she was hiding in, Heather leapt atop her dragon and ordered for it to help her escape the cave, which would soon be filled with water. The dragon refused to step foot into the water. Heather yelled at the creature to move into the water, and it obeyed the orders of its mistress. The crimson dragon stepped into the water and suddenly groaned with pain as its foot began to emanate a sizzle. The skin that had touched the water had been scalded severely. The dragon was a creature of fire; it would rapidly dissolve upon contact with water. Heather urged her friend away from the flow and fly in the opposite direction, where they were met with a clash of water that combined with the other one beneath them. The dragon groaned with agony and leapt into the air, only to fall back into the water mere seconds later. A splash of the liquid had scalded the dragon's left wing, and it could no longer fly. Heather gasped with terror as she watched the dragon dissolve into the water until only ashes remained. Heather quickly picked up speed and ran through a hallway jutting out from where her companion had died. Nylon had picked up all of his supplies and, fortunately for him, was very close to one of the cave's exits. He was able to emerge from the cave unscathed. In the cave, Ocelot yelped. He found himself in a clearing from with five corridors sprouted. Four of the corridors had great walls of water flowing down them. Ocelot darted down the fifth corridor and found himself at a dead end. Ocelot had no chance of escape. He pulled out his knife and drew a heavy line down his left wrist, going all of the way down his arm. He repeated for his other arm. Blood poured from the sliced-open skin, dying the water around him red. His vision was beginning to become foggy. He saw black spots. Suddenly, he went unconscious. The water had completely covered him, and he never woke up.
Ocelot Lazzara, District 10 Male: 4th, Suicide, Day 12
Heather had managed to get to an area of high ground. The area was dry. It was dark because of the absence of the bioluminescent jewels that so brightly illuminated the rest of the cave. Heather, without her dragon comrade, could only survive using her flashlight and her wits. She quickly found herself in a hallway that was inclining upwards towards the surface. Heather laughed with relief and started up the slanted hallway. Suddenly, a torrent of water rushed in from the top of the hallway. It zoomed down the slope with great speed. The wave of water rushed over Heather. She screamed and scrambled for air, but the corridor had already been filled with the cool liquid. She thrashed around, hoping that losing oxygen faster would make her death swifter. After her cannon shot, her limp form sank to the bottom of the cave.
Heather Salisbury, District 7 Female: 3rd, Killed by Porter, Day 12
With the cave filled to the brim with water, only two tributes remained in the arena. Porter Tripp scored a nine, one of the highest scores that the power district had ever seen. Throughout her time in the Capitol and throughout the games, she had displayed traits such as loyalty, passion, devotion, and thankfulness. Loyalty was the foremost of these virtues, as the nation valued loyal victors especially given the rebellion that had cropped up in plentiful numbers in recent years. Nylon Manger was the true underdog. In his games, he had displayed his incredible talent and his incredible resourcefulness. His creations had sold for a total of nearly one million dollars. If he won, he could set up a crafting business. It would be impossible for any of his businesses not to boom! Who wouldn't want to buy a genuine creation of the nation's newest victor? However, he was only twelve, and whether or not he could outlive an eighteen year-old in a fight was a question that seemed to have an obvious answer.
After the flood that had claimed three lives, the gamemakers were happy to let one, even two days pass without any deaths. Porter spent this time not only hunting for Nylon but also gathering much-needed food and water for the final battle. Nylon, having seen the strengths and weaknesses of his final opponent during training, spent Days 13 and 14 practicing how to block blows from the crossbow and the sword, the weapons that Porter had excelled in during training. On Day 15, Yarrow lit the world ablaze. He created a brush fire by lighting the fuzzy green grass on fire. The fire spread quickly across the flammable material, forcing Porter and Nylon toward the cornucopia. Porter had her crossbow and Nylon had his trident, and so it was that the final battle occurred.
Nylon had only a three in training, and so Porter was surprised to find that he worked surprisingly well with the trident. Nylon's first few blows were powerful. His first nicked Porter's shoulder. She hissed as blood crept from the wound. Porter spun sharply and, in one graceful movement, pulled the trigger of her crossbow down savagely. The dart fired, and Nylon dodged it at just the right moment. The dart actually seared off a few of Nylon's stray curls.
Abruptly, Nylon lunged toward Porter. Porter was so surprised by this that she couldn't move out of the way fast enough before he delivered his blow. Porter had turned on her side when Nylon slammed his trident into her back. Porter yelped with agony and turned sharply on her heel, burying two of her darts into Nylon's upper chest. Nylon's wounds were far more severe than Porter's. Nylon crumpled to the grass at Porter's side, and the symphony of trumpets blared their tumultuous melody the second that his cannon shot faded away fully.
Nylon Manger, District 8 Male: 2nd, Killed by Porter, Day 15
"Porter Tripp of District 5, you are the victor of the thirty-eighth annual Hunger Games!" Yarrow cheered as a hovercraft descended to collect the nation's newest victor.
Porter just gritted her teeth and tried not to cry out from the pain that was exploding through her spine.
Porter Tripp, District 5 Female: Victor of the Thirty-Eighth Hunger Games, Day 15
AFTERMATH
Porter had sustained a severe injury to her spinal cord during her final duel with Nylon. The damage was too severe to be fixed by the Capitol doctors. Porter was fit into a head brace that she would be forced to wear for the next thirty years. District 5 was elated upon Porter's victory; it had been twenty-three years since their last victor with Dina. She was liked by the nation, and many would learn to love the third victor from District 5. Snow, however, was very displeased about Porter's move of flooding the cave system; he had never intended for the river to be used in that manner. As punishment, Snow forced Porter to watch as her boyfriend was beaten terribly in front of her.
Porter moved into the Victor's Village of District 5, the third victor to do so.
Her victory tour was a work of art, as Porter turned out to be a wonderful public speaker.
Porter would live to the age of ninety-two, dying from a tumor that had developed in her spinal cord around the time of the one-hundred twelfth annual Hunger Games. In her lifetime, she would marry and adopt triplet daughters.
NEWS
Porter moves into the Victor's Village of District 5, the third victor to do so.
Velvet Farrow has her fourth and final child, a boy named Glowing.
Mags Flanagan adopts her fourth child, a young boy named Urchin.
Magnet Lisagor bears a baby girl named Cyndala.
Troy Stiles and his fiancée, Anemone Davis, wed.
LIST OF VICTORS
1HG: Cordin Frey (#1, District 3)
2HG: Sapphire Waber (#1, District 1)
3HG: Molly Toliday (#1, District 4)
4HG: Amelia Spangler (#1, District 2)
5HG: Misty Sablone (#1, District 12)
6HG: Olivia Seager (#2, District 2)
7HG: Flux Stafford (#2, District 3)
8HG: Brandi Coyne (#2, District 1)
9HG: Isaac Crandall (#1, District 5)
10HG: Velvet Farrow (#3, District 1)
11HG: Mags Flanagan (#2, District 4)
12HG: Slate Ogston (#3, District 2)
13HG: Woof Dozier (#1, District 8)
14HG: Blaze Skalnik (#4, District 2)
15HG: Dina Wilmarth (#2, District 5)
16HG: Beatrice Toland (#1, District 6)
17HG: Amelia Bankston (#5, District 2)
18HG: Markus Gardd (#2, District 6)
19HG: Odius Ruttler (#6, District 2)
20HG: Seeder Kaiser (#1, District 11)
21HG: Freya Digard (#7, District 2)
22HG: Gold Carson (#4, District 1)
23HG: Ashlyn Breston (#3, District 6)
24HG: Dayta Albrand (#3, District 3)
25HG: Diamond Griego (#5, District 1)
26HG: Thor Rosner (#8, District 2)
27HG: Magnet Lisagor (#4, District 3)
28HG: Maria Dutra (#3, District 4)
29HG: Discordia Komine (#9, District 2)
30HG: Barley Chisolm (#1, District 9)
31HG: Marlin Coppi (#4, District 4)
32HG: Wyatt Kerdler (#5, District 3)
33HG: Molly Soltan (#5, District 4)
34HG: Grover Handa (#1, District 7)
35HG: Troy Stiles (#6, District 4)
36HG: Lana Voltaire (#10, District 2)
37HG: Lucy Said (#7, District 4)
38HG: Porter Tripp (#3, District 5)
A/N: This story has broken 100 reviews and is quickly approaching 120 reviews. I'm so happy that so many people are enjoying my work as it's what I want to entertain and grow as a writer. There'll be another canon victor soon: Beetee from the fortieth. Until then, I'll see you next time with the thirty-ninth! :D
