THE SIXTY FOURTH ANNUAL HUNGER GAMES
"Not Even a Mouse"
INTRODUCTION
With the streak of career victors growing longer and longer, some of the outlying districts began to worry that the careers were simply getting too strong. This wasn't just a worry that the poorer citizens of Panem faced, though. It caused President Coriolanus Snow a lot of trouble as well. How boring would the games be if every single year was won by a career tribute? Snow didn't have intentions of deliberately breaking the streak by ensuring an outlier victory this year. He ordered that Head Gamemaker Feodore Elliot's next arena fit a few very specific criteria. Firstly, the arena was to be entirely indoors, which largely favored outliers in many scenarios. Also, there had to be another very small bloodbath this year. This would increase the number of outliers surviving the first day, thus increasing chances of an outlier victory. These requirements were only very temporary, and they were to be lifted after the sixty-fourth Hunger Games came to a close. Meanwhile, construction of a new project began in the Capitol—The Walk of Victors. The walk to the presidential mansion was stamped with the names and districts of all sixty-three Hunger Games victors. Victors would be added to The Walk of Victors as they were crowned. It would be centuries before space ran out.
This year had one of the weaker career packs, but there were still several very strong ones that would make for an interesting games. District 1 offered forth the strongest pair. The boy was the whole package: tall, strong, brutishly attractive, and extremely talented with throwing knives and spears. Given his looks and skills, he was the favorite before the games began. The girl was the twin sister of Victor Gloss Linden, and many quickly grew a liking toward her. She was very classically beautiful, and very elegant and graceful in her movements. She was a bit too conceited for many but was tactful enough to earn an outstanding ten with throwing knives. District 2 provided two smaller kids this year. The boy was shier than most, and he was younger and more laid-back; while the girl was very prim and proper and liked to go by the book. She fancied swords, whereas the boy liked knives. District 4's tributes weren't the strongest; in fact, they earned the lowest scores of the career pack. The boy was more handsome than anything, but while he was very good-looking he didn't have much going for him anywhere else. He was greatly empathetic as well, but ironically didn't mind killing. The girl only scored a seven. She was very shy and nervous and socially insecure, but she could be cute. The training scores weren't the best: two tens, two nines, one eight, and one seven.
After the ridiculously powerful outlier crop of the year prior, the high-numbered districts reverted to their usual model, with a few strong tributes sprinkled about the crowd. Two different tributes scored eights, both of them male coincidentally. Bo of 7 was very good-looking and multi-talented, and he was great with an axe. He was the early favorite amongst the outliers. Meanwhile, Lettuce from 11 was a large and muscular boy with a knack for sickles and a way with words. Sevens weren't plentiful this year. Only three of them were scored outside of the career pack: Inertia from 5, Dmitri from 9, and Cameron from 12. The rest of the tributes scored between six and three in their private sessions. Hermione from District 9 was another standout. Hermione was a full-out hula hoop champion, able to spin ten hula hoops around her body at once, all while jumping around and swirling her limbs through more and more. She showed off her skills during her interview; it wasn't long before the supply backstage ran out and she had to stop. There was only one volunteer outside of the career pack: a boy from District 6 named Tire, who volunteered to escape abuse and awful living conditions in his home. Here are the tributes:
District 1: Guild Decesare, 18, (10) 3-1 and Cashmere Linden, 18, (10) 4-1
District 2: Sixto Katzmann, 16, (9) 7-1 and Minueta Bird, 17, (9) 6-1
District 3: Function Craft, 14, (6) 21-1 and Samba Luongo, 15, (5) 25-1
District 4: Salton Rivera, 18, (8) 9-1 and Cuttle Ruyle, 17, (7) 15-1
District 5: Zeller Lechten, 16, (4) 42-1 and Inertia Harris, 18, (7) 16-1
District 6: Tire D'Ambrose, 18, (6) 20-1 and Bonnet Dressler, 18, (6) 21-1
District 7: Bo Phoenix, 18, (8) 11-1 and Shelby Mintz, 15, (4) 43-1
District 8: Foulard Stuppord, 13, (5) 28-1 and Taffeta Olivier, 12, (3) 48-1
District 9: Dmitri Sciscores, 16, (7) 17-1 and Hermione Macrae, 17, (6) 22-1
District 10: Cuckoo Aminoff, 18, (6) 20-1 and Wrena Vaccaro, 16, (6) 21-1
District 11: Lettuce Ekstrom, 18, (8) 12-1 and Petunia Dokidis, 13, (4) 46-1
District 12: Cameron Sine, 14, (7) 20-1 and Allison Lewalski, 18, (5) 29-1
HGBO Bets: 13% on Guild, 11% on Cashmere, 7% on Sixto and Minueta, 6% on Salton, 5% on Bo and Lettuce, 4% on Cuttle, Inertia, Dmitri, and Cameron, 3% on Function, Tire, Bonnet, Hermione, Cuckoo, and Wrena, 2% on Samba, Foulard, and Allison, 1% or less on Zeller, Shelby, Taffeta, and Petunia.
THE GAMES
This Hunger Games' arena was likely the most festive yet; it took a break from the harsh and brutal concepts the Capitolites liked and delved into the innocence of childlike faith. The arena closely modeled the cultural depiction of Santa Claus' workshop at the North Pole. The cornucopia was housed in the cafeteria in the center of the workshop. It was made of a creamy material that looked like frosting. The tables in the café were covered with trays of cookies, ice cream pops, and candy canes. Lights were affixed everywhere, casting a warm and cozy glow over the sweet-smelling elf cafeteria. Spindling off of the center were dozens of hallways that led to various rooms for things from wood carving to painting to wrapping. Most of the rooms had windows, but the snow outside was falling so heavily that the tributes couldn't see far out of them. Festive holiday bells jangled here and there. The mutts of the workshop were rather cute and seemingly harmless. Elves with pointy ears and noses and green hats roamed the place, humming and whistling tunes and feeding on holiday treats and occasionally sitting down to make a toy or two. The big man in red himself stayed in a very sweet-smelling bedroom near the reindeer pens. Outside of the building, a wide fence (too tall to climb and too strong to cut through) encircled a pen where the reindeer stayed. There were tall and small reindeer, reindeer with curved antlers and funny faces, and, most importantly, the one and only Rudolph, his nose shining through the white-out like a glowing lantern.
The aroma of gingerbread cookies and sweet frosting wafted around the tributes as they rose up into the central cafeteria of Santa's toy factory. They were all dressed in cozy Christmas Eve pajamas, which depicted reindeer and elves. Several of the tributes also wore Santa hats, made of red cloth topped with white fuzzy puff-balls. The tributes gazed all around. They looked at the tinsel that lined the walls and the cookies that sat, perfectly baked, on the tables in the cafeteria.
A loud boom shook the room. Young Taffeta from District 8 had been swiveling her head every which way, gawking at all of the festive holiday decorations. About twelve seconds before the countdown ended, her Santa hat fell off of her head. Screaming with panic, Taffeta clawed at the air, trying to regain the hat as it fell closer and closer to the ground. It landed at the base of her pedestal, and the land mines were activated. They weren't strong enough to blast her against the ceiling, but they were strong enough to throw her against the nearest wall, shaking and dying as blood leaked from everywhere on her body.
Taffeta Olivier, District 8 Female: 24th, Killed by Land Mines, Pre-Bloodbath
When the gong rang, a number of tributes fled immediately into the depths of the toy workshop. They were Zeller from 5, Dmitri from 9, and Wrena from 10. The rest of the tributes decided to run head-first into the fray. On President Snow's orders, this year's bloodbath would be another very small one.
Guild sprinted at the head of the onrush, powered onward by the sight of a spear that leaned against a table near his pedestal. His fingers locked around the spear, and he twirled around, spying over the droves of outliers in search of worthwhile prey. Guild tackled a muscular boy to the ground, pulling his spear out of his belt to do the dirty work. The boy thrashed under Guild's weight as the 1 boy thrust the point of the spear into his neck. He stopped struggling almost immediately. The boy let out a strange, oddly-creepy moaning sound until his death about thirty seconds later.
Cuckoo Aminoff, District 10 Male: 23rd, Killed by Guild, Bloodbath
Cashmere had run all of the way into the cornucopia for a belt of throwing knives. She began throwing as soon as the belt was clipped around her waist. Her cascading golden locks rippled behind her as she sprinted toward a nearby girl. The girl in question was leaning against one of the tables, stuffing cookies and pieces of Christmas pie into her mouth while simultaneously shoving as many treats into her pockets as she could. The girl screamed and let out her whole mouthful of sweets as two of Cashmere's knives dug into her chest, ending her life. At least she was happy in her final moments.
Samba Luongo, District 3 Female: 22nd, Killed by Cashmere, Bloodbath
Sixto gritted his teeth as he dueled with the boy from District 12. Each of the boys had a knife; sparks flew and metal screamed against metal as the blades clashed into the air. The battle came to a close nearly two minutes after it started. A testimony to his spontaneity, Sixto lunged forward, shoving the 12 boy against the ground. Shocked at the career's sudden burst of energy, he was unable to move as the knife was slid down into his throat.
Cameron Sine, District 12 Male: 21st, Killed by Sixto, Bloodbath
Mere seconds later, Cashmere went in for another kill. She had spent the last minute or so chasing a screaming girl around the cafeteria with her throwing knives. The girl couldn't flee forever, and she collapsed, shaking underneath a table, unable to move any farther. The much stronger Cashmere had a lot of energy left. The girl under the table tried to crab-sprint away, but one of Cashmere's throwing knives found a home between two of the plates of her skull. She tumbled at the feet of another career (Guild, Cashmere's district partner) who finished her off with a spear to the windpipe.
Petunia Dokidis, District 11 Female: 20th, Killed by Cashmere and Guild, Bloodbath
Salton made the final kill. Hailing from District 4 meant that he had a lower standing in the eyes of the sponsors, but he was ravenous to prove that he had a career-like streak in him. Arming himself with a trident, the 4 boy pounced like a cat toward a very small boy from an outlying district. Salton didn't hesitate before thrusting the prongs of his trident into his chest. The six careers (only four of whom had actually made kills) gathered around to watch him die, a process that took a little under half an hour.
Foulard Stuppord, District 8 Male: 19th, Killed by Salton, Bloodbath
The careers went about their pre-hunting rituals very quickly. After the very small bloodbath of six kills (only five of which were actually made after the countdown) they were eager to get hunting and thin the massive crowds of outliers. Guild, the strongest tribute this year, did a quick check of the hallways around the cornucopia for prey. A smell of cake drew him into the kitchen, where he feasted on peppermint swirls before returning to the horn with a dreamy look in his eyes. Guild had brought back several of the mint sweets in a bucket, which the other careers snatched up to suck on every once and a while. Cashmere organized the cafeteria a bit more. She piled all of the sugary snacks onto one of the tables near the cornucopia and then wheeled the other tables to the edges of the room, giving them all more room to move freely. Sixto pillaged the dead of their supplies. Due to the smaller bloodbath, there wasn't much to take, but he did get a considerable amount of first-aid supplies as well as knives. Minueta, who was very much a beaurocrat and lover of order, patrolled the cornucopia adjusting anything that was out of place. Her district partner Sixto mentioned to her that she was being bossy, but she didn't stop. Salton struggled to wrench his trident out of Foulard's chest for several minutes. The prongs were lodged so far into the tissue that he had to grab onto nearby objects to gain extra leverage. After nearly twenty minutes, Salton finally extracted the prongs. He spent the next few minutes wiping the blood off of it and swiping away the tissue and skin chunks. Cuttle wasn't doing much. She was just sprinting around the cafeteria, overjoyed at the festive atmosphere of Christmas. Of course, it wasn't actually Christmas (the Hunger Games begin on the third Saturday in June, essentially as far away from Christmas at it can be) but it felt like it nonetheless. When hunting time arrived, Sixto volunteered to guard the cornucopia while the other five spindeled outward to hunt for more victims. The outliers scattered every which way, clinging onto their supplies from the horn. Function sprinted through hallways for several hours before coming to a sudden stop in front of the doorway to a toy-making room. Long tables stretched across the room, covered with half-painted toy cars and trains. Function ducked under one of the tables after opening his pack and finding it filled with wire and a thermos of water. Zeller had spent much of the bloodbath shoving as many sweet treats as possible into his bag. As he walked, he munched nervously on the food. He hardly made a dent on the huge supply of sugar-cookies, frosting, and pound cake slices. It was only when night fell that Zeller grew conscious of the way the smell was alerting the others to his position. He crashed in a room designed for doll-carving, making sure to shove a bit of spare carpet under the door so the smell of the sweets couldn't escape. Inertia had gathered two wicked-looking hunting knives; she held them tightly in grasp as she ventured outward, through twisting corridors and around rooms meant for the strangest things. Being thrown into a fight to the death wasn't exactly her cup of tea, so she slept the night away shaking and scared in a large, unused, and ill-heated room. Tire did deep-breathing exercises as he trekked down one of the hallways. It was several hours into the day that he realized the factory was shaped like a snowflake, with six large spindles each with small hallways of their own branching left and right. Tire was strangely unfazed by the stress of the games; perhaps he thought anything was better than the horrible things he had been living with in District 6. He made himself at home under the warm blankets in a supply closet, though it grew a bit scratchy and hot quickly. Bonnet was scared; she had nothing but a coil of twine and was alone in the workshop. Figuring she might as well be resourceful, the 6 girl found a pair of scissors in one of the rooms and tore it in half, leaving herself with two knife-like weapons. She slept near the scissors that night, wanting to have a supply of sharp objects near in case the enemy discovered her. Bo, the strongest outlier, had an axe but not much else. Fortunately, the factory provided much. He spent the evening scavenging for things from ropes to knives to use in the future, storing them under a wheelie cart in a room filled with half-sewn stockings. Shelby was too traumatized from the bloodbath to do much for most of the day. Instead of hunting for more supplies than she already had (a pack of dried fruit and a jar of a weird jelly-like edible substance), Shelby sat cross-legged in front of a crackling fire in a rec room far away from the horn. Dmitri camped out in a room populated by tall wooden nutcrackers like guards. Coincidentally, one of Dmitri's supplies was a pack of nuts with hard shells. He was able to crush the shells under his feet, rendering the nutcrackers useless, but they still kept him a sort of weird company. Hermione had nothing but a pack of beef strips from the bloodbath; she ventured through hallways for the whole day. At dusk, she found a room filled with presents that needed to be wrapped, including… a hula hoop! Hermione spun the hoop around her waist for nearly an hour before stopping due to exhaustion. Wrena, having chosen to flee from the bloodbath the second the gong played its note, had no weapons nor supplies of any kind. She had fled to an area where there weren't many well-stocked rooms, and she wasn't finding much. However, she found a cart of gingerbread cookies in a pantry and fell asleep halfway through shoving down the load. Lettuce had a quart of milk from the horn, and he knew exactly what he had to do. He poured the milk out into a wooden bowl and broke several cookies into the milk. Lettuce kneaded the cookies and milk together until he was left with a pasty and dough-like mixture he ate before settling in a toy-making room. Allison was a hard-working poor girl, and she was shocked when she saw the hundreds of diamond necklaces and rings kids had wished for stowed away in packages in one the rooms. She couldn't have left the room if she wanted to; she was entranced with the diamond jewelry. Allison didn't sleep until she had tried on everything. At least she had enough sense to close herself in the back room for the night. There was relative peace in the arena as day turned into night.
Day 2 had some action in it. The career pack of five got up early in the morning, wanting catch a few of the sleepier tributes off-guard. Their prey would be weaker so early in the morning, and, if they were lucky, they might just have come across a sleeping tribute or two. Guild lead the procession, walking quietly at the head of the pack. Cashmere and Salton were right behind him, while Minueta and Cuttle were at the back.
Dmitri was sitting cross-legged in the room guarded by tall wooden nutcrackers when he heard the familiar beep of a sponsor gift. The little drone slipped down to him. It was just a slip of paper. Dmitri anxiously tore over the note. The message was from his mentor, Barley. The note cryptically warned him of the nearby career pack, hinting that he needed to find a safe hiding spot quickly. Dmitri was unable to correctly interpret the note. The career pack was drawing closer and closer, but the 9 boy was completely unaware of their presence. After finally gathering up enough energy, he got to his feet and peered out of the room. It was too late. Just as his head poked into the hallway, the shaft of Guild's throwing spear sailed over his shoulder. Dmitri sprinted back into the room, shaking and trying not to scream. The career pack outside broke into a run, all five of them exchanging thrilled whispers. In the room, Dmitri stood completely still, his brain racing as he tried desperately to think up a solution.
Once he gathered the courage to move his wobbling legs, he reached out to shut the heavy wooden doors. He wasn't fast enough. The career pack burst in, thirsty for blood. Dmitri screamed and staggered to the back corner of the room. A parachute containing a serrated dagger was zipped down to him; he held the weapon firmly in hand, gritting his teeth as the careers grew closer and closer. He didn't want to fight, but he had no choice. Minueta broke into a run, and Dmitri lashed out with his knife, forcing it into the career girl's gut. She fell back, her steps choppy. Minueta clutched her side tightly, desperately trying to keep her blood inside her body. She was the first career tribute to die in the sixty-fourth annual Hunger Games.
Minueta Bird, District 2 Female: 18th, Killed by Dmitri, Day 2
Agitated by Minueta's cannon shot, the four remaining careers lunged forward, desperate to take down the 9 boy. Suddenly, an idea popped into his head. He grabbed the nearest nutcracker and rocked it back and forth. The wooden man grew more and more unstable until it finally toppled over. The nutcracker the size of a pickup truck came crashing down. Dmitri danced to the left, covering his head to prevent injury. Guild, Cashmere, Salton, and Cuttle yelped as they staggered out of the way of the falling object. Dmitri used his dagger to drive them out before finally closing the heavy wooden doors. He dragged as much furniture in front of the doors as he could, barricading himself inside with the dead Minueta and the huge nutcrackers.
Outside, the careers were infuriated. Cashmere, ever the patriot, suggested that they march to the horn right away to gather Sixto. He deserved to be informed of his district partner's death, and besides, they needed all the help they could get to bust into the room where Dmitri was hiding, she reasoned. Salton objected in a whisper that Sixto wasn't very strong; they wouldn't need him to bust into the room. Cashmere gave up arguing, but she insisted that a few of them stay and guard the doors in case Dmitri tried to make a run for it. She and Cuttle stood on either side of the doors, weapons at the ready, while Guild and Salton tramped away to continue their hunt.
After that, what could be considered late evening arrived, though it was difficult to define morning and night in the always-lit, indoor arena. Zeller was so terrified of enemies smelling all of the sweets he had stashed that he jumped between rooms every few hours, making himself virtually un-trackable. He also left decoy sweets in random rooms, hoping to throw any pursuers off guard. Zeller's actions weren't very sensible, but he was paranoid and wasn't thinking very straight at all. Wrena woke up in the pantries where she had fallen asleep eating cookies the night prior. Cookies and other sweets were broken and strewn everywhere. The doors to the pantry were wide-open; several things had spilt overnight. It looked like a tornado had struck the area. The ruckus Wrena made trying to put everything back in order attracted the attention of several nearby tributes, but none of them decided to investigate. Bonnet decided to put on her hair-stylist hat. Afraid her locks would get in the way of her vision, she snapped her scissor-halves back together and started snipping off her hair. She was deathly afraid that someone would find them, so she stashed them away in a garbage chute in a room meant for book binding.
On Day 3, the first mutts of the arena were unleashed. They were elves: creatures with pointed-ears and rosy cheeks that travelled in packs chortling with each other. Their toy-making belts included weapons from hammers to screwdrivers; it would be a mistake for any tribute to presume they weren't lethal. The elf mutts attacked four different tributes. Two of them would result in death, whereas two would be fended off.
Lettuce woke up gradually. He found that his hand was covered with the cookie-milk dough concoction he had feasted on the day before. He licked off his fingers and got slowly to his feet. He could hear the laughter of the elves ringing around him. They seemed harmless, but they were capable of performing vicious deeds upon tribute contact. The mutts smelled Lettuce's blood, and they would not give up until they either had a taste or were killed. Realizing the danger, Lettuce grabbed a hammer off of a long table. It wasn't a very efficient weapon, but it was far better than nothing. He ducked into a nearby wardrobe filled with cloth. Feeling through the darkness, he wiggled down into the mass of threads and blankets. Inside, he accidentally hit himself on the head with the hammer. He cursed, and that was what gave him away.
All five of the mutts bolted toward the wardrobe where Lettuce was hiding. He held onto the insides of the doors with all of his might. Even though the elves were small, their combined strength was far greater than the boy's alone. The doors were thrown open, and the elves poured in. Lettuce stood his steady ground, struggling to fend off the small creatures. One of them held a screwdriver above its head, eeking triumphantly as it stormed toward him. The boy thrust out a foot and knocked the elf to the ground. A striking motion of his hammer was enough to send in unconscious, but it would be back in combat before long.
Before he knew it, Lettuce was being overwhelmed by the three elves. One of the larger elves drove an awl into his calf, and the 11 boy slid to the ground, screaming, as blood poured onto the floor of the wardrobe. Next, the final two elves leapt on top of him, jumping down on top of him. Wheezing, his airways were crushed, and he suffocated to death around two minutes after he was rendered incapable of breathing.
Lettice Ekstrom, District 11 Male: 17th, Killed by Elf Muttations, Day 3
On the other side of the factory, Bo perked up at a high-pitched noise. The room he was inside was filled with stockings; sound didn't travel well when it was constantly being absorbed by the cushion-like material. Bo didn't hear the elves coming his way until it was almost too late. Knowing anything that made that sound was not human, he quickly closed the door to the room. Bo reached to lock it, but the door didn't have a lock. There wasn't any furniture to barricade the door shut either. He had no choice but to fight. Four elves scarcely the height of Bo's waist burst into the room. The boy leapt on top of a table, panting with exhaustion. The elves clambered to reach him. He had chosen a great strategy; the elves were easy victims from the high height. The crunch of bone was heard as the blade of the axe was buried into two elves' skulls in rapid succession. The two survivors were tricksters, but it wasn't hard for Bo to round them up. He didn't know what to do with their bodies, so he stuffed them into the wardrobe and moved to a different room before they began to smell.
The muttations of Santa's helper elves would attack two more tributes, but they would only succeed in killing one of them. Inertia awoke from a pleasant dream to a tickling sensation on her face. She just laughed and kept her eyes closed. It wasn't hard to imagine that it was just her pet dog back home in District 5. A few seconds later, Inertia groggily opened her eyes, remembered where she was, and screamed. A small elf was tracing its nose along her face. She sprang to her feet and snatched up her hunting knives before storming toward the exit. On the way out, two elves grabbed her feet, and she tripped. The knives flew out of her hands, clattering still on the other side of the empty room.
Meanwhile, Allison was chillaxing in the room filled with diamond jewelry. She hadn't done a good job of cleaning up after trying on all of the jewelry; several necklaces and bracelets were scattered here and there and a few boxes and bits of wrapping paper were on the floor. Coupled with the smell of her blood, the elf mutts had no doubt that a tribute was hiding in the jewelry room. Two elves burst into the room and stormed toward Allison, and she barely had time to deflect. She wasn't a strong girl (kids in District 12 didn't start work until age nineteen) but she was clever enough to evade the elves. Once, she leaped onto a table and then jumped onto the crowd of elves, trying to squash them under her feet.
The nation watched in anticipation as Inertia and Allison struggled to fend off the rogue elves. Whether both, one, or none would lose to the mischievous mutts was anyone's guess.
A minute or so later, Allison got the edge over the attacking elves. The jewelry room also contained sparkling shoes that children had wished for. Allison snatched up a shoe with a pointed end and gored it through the eye of the nearest mutt. Black blood rolled down its face as it staggered backward, scowling with pain and clutching its face as if it could draw away the pain with its hands. The other mutt ran to the help of its dying ally, and Allison managed to flush them out of the room with the shoe. Inertia, on the other hand, was not so lucky. Without her hunting knives, she had no weapon but her bare hands. She rolled over on the floor, struggling to kick off the elves that were wresting her down. Their leaping weights rendered her unable to breathe. As the seconds passed and Inertia's lungs started screaming for breath, she became weaker and weaker, before finally falling to the mutts.
Inertia Harris, District 5 Female: 16th, Killed by Elf Muttations, Day 3
No more deaths occurred that day. No one moved around much, utterly frightened by the sounds of the elf mutts and the two cannon shots that followed. The crowd had already been thinned down to fifteen tributes. That was a lot to be left on the third day in a normal games, but given how this games had an extraordinarily shoddy bloodbath it was a sight to behold.
Days 4 and 5 passed deathless. After three action-packed and thrilling days, it was only natural that a few less-exciting ones should come about. Guild and Salton returned to the cafeteria where the cornucopia was and met up with Sixto. In the time they were gone, Sixto had greatly organized the cornucopia. He had sorted the weapons into three categories (projectile, melee, and other) and the tools into three categories (food and water, health, and textiles). Sixto was greatly confused as to why they were the only two careers when he hadn't seen the faces of Cashmere or Cuttle on the death recap. They informed him that the 1 and 4 girls were guarding the room where Dmitri was hiding. Cashmere and Cuttle were growing extremely bored guarding the doors. Their daily schedule was very repetitive: wake up, eat breakfast, brush teeth, and then stand for ten hours before going to bed and assigning shifts. They hoped Dmitri would either starve inside or try to escape soon, just so they would be delivered from the monotony of their current lives. Inside of the room, Dmitri was panicking. He was incredibly hungry and thirsty. He had been surviving off of sponsor gifts delivered through openings in the ceiling, but they couldn't last him forever. He paced around the room crying, sometimes kneeling with his chin resting on his knees, trying to think of a method by which to escape.
As for the outliers, there was a lot of movement but little action. Function had spent the last few days assembling an electrical trap reminiscent of Beetee's; a spider-web of wires wrapped all around the room he was living inside of, and he waited for prey to come as he fed on sponsor foods and sweets that were scattered around the place. Zeller was getting more and more paranoid about people being able to track him. He was developing elaborate tactics, such as making loud noises whenever he had stayed in one place for too long and then fleeing. Zeller had eaten all of his sweets so the smell wasn't a problem, but he had the idea that the smell was somehow ingrained into his clothes and pack. Tire left the supply closet to search for food, as the cloth inside was irritating his skin and annoying him. He found a water fountain near one of the work rooms, which he moved his supplies to for the sake of easy access to hydration. Bonnet had been cutting her hair on-and-off for the last few days. She wasn't very good at it. Her tresses were very choppy and uneven and she had accidentally stabbed herself several times. She was getting extremely close to the entrance to the reindeer pen, and Bonnet was expected to discover it accidentally sooner or later. Bo was a little shaken-up from being attacked by the elves, but a few quick breathing exercises were able to calm him down by morning. He made sure to get the good night's rest he needed. Bo vowed to find a new home in the morning, as the bodies of the elves in the wardrobe were stinking. Shelby was trapped in a state of denial. She wanted to get up and find food, but her mind kept her trapped in front of the warm fire. She didn't want to do anything or go anywhere; she was in the Hunger Games and didn't know what to do. Chaff, her mentor, sent her a heads-up that the gamemakers were getting bored of her inactivity. But Shelby was too terrified to move despite the constant warnings from sponsors and Chaff. Hermione pawed around the room that contained unwrapped toys. Food was plentiful, and Hermione only needed to leave for a minute or so to get enough food for each new day. She kept the hula-hoop close at hand to impress the sponsors in case she was getting a little boring. Despite her enthusiastic hula-hooping, the Capitol was getting bored of her. Wrena was being, for lack of a better description, a lazy bum. She jumped between pantries, pulling out whatever looked tasty and leaving scenes of relative chaos behind her. She was what one would call a pig. At least she was sensible enough to have a definitive home at night: a large room with several long tables covered with half-painted toys. Allison was so terrified from the elf mutts that she barricaded herself into the jewelry room. The girl crouched down into the back closet, shaking and crying as the true stress of the games sank in.
Only one death occurred on Day 6, breaking the two-day-long streak of peace in the arena. Shelby finally got up the courage to leave her safe space by the fire, and she began exploring. She was surprised as to how much the workshop had to show. She passed by rows of rooms and corridors, gawking at the tinsel and holiday bells that hung from the ceiling. Finally, she reached the place where sweets were made. The smell made Shelby's mouth flood with saliva, and she was drawn into the room. Ovens lined the room, and baking ingredients were stacked neatly in a cupboard on the right wall. There was a door on the other side of the kitchen, and Shelby curiously opened it and walked inside.
The unfortunate girl, unbeknownst to her, had strolled into one of the large ovens. She whipped her head around as the door locked behind her, and, in her panic, thought that the heat dial was the exit key. She turned it all the way to super-hot and instantly realized her mistake. In mere seconds, the temperatures in the oven exceeded one-hundred degrees Fahrenheit. Shelby panicked and tried to push the lever back to zero, but the temperature had increased by several hundred degrees by the time she managed to make any sort of progress. Shelby collapsed to the ground, screaming, and every time she inhaled her lungs were scorched by the four-hundred degree air. In no time, her skin was melting off of her bones. It was one of the most disturbing deaths shown in games history up to that point.
Shelby Mintz, District 7 Female: 15th, Killed by Being Trapped in Oven, Day 6
The rest of Day 6 passed, deathless. Several nearby tributes (including Zeller from 5 and Hermione from 9) had been close enough to hear Shelby's screams of agony. They were terrified by the screams and ducked into their hiding places for the rest of the day, unable to shake out the screams that still rang in their ears.
Day 7 was the day that the reindeer were finally discovered. Bonnet got up early. Ever since gathering the courage to start moving around more, she was fascinated as to how every turn seemed to bring about something new. At eight in the morning, she came across a door made of frosty panes of glass. It must have been the entrance to the outside. Preparing for a blast of cold, Bonnet tugged the door open. Snowflakes dug into her skin as Bonnet stepped outside. She could make out the forms of several roaming figures through the blizzard. One of the creatures had a bright-red light affixed to its face—Rudolph. Santa himself was out feeding the reindeer. He had placed a bucket of their food in the center of the field and was now walking back to the workshop. Santa spotted Bonnet standing in the doorway, and he let out a growl. Santa and his reindeer simultaneously began sprinting toward a large object to Bonnet's left. It was an object she hadn't noticed before. A sleigh. Realizing the severity of the situation, the girl turned around and ran back into the warm workshop, panting with panic. She had travelled less than ten steps when the sleigh broke through the door, pulled by nine reindeer. The back of the sleigh was loaded with presents, some of which fell out on the bumpy ride.
Bonnet raced through hallways, panicking and trying to escape the horrible sleigh team. She had her hands in the air, and she was screaming out, "Run for your lives!" After nearly ten minutes of running, Bonnet slumped to the carpeted floor like a stone, unable to travel any farther. Santa grabbed a present from the toy sack and threw it toward her. The present hit her in the head, and she reeled, nearly careening into the fire. She grabbed a stocking that was hanging over the fireplace and used it to deflect the incoming presents. The sleigh drove her farther and farther back; it wasn't long before she felt the smooth wall on the back of her neck.
All at once, the reindeer charged, running over her with their hooves. Rudolph himself placed his red nose to Bonnet's torso, and she screamed as it buzzed and burned a hole through her flesh. Blood spouted from everywhere on her body, and Santa cackled maniacally at the sound of her cannon shot, depicting a vastly different Santa Claus from his typical portrayal in holiday tradition.
Bonnet Dressler, District 6 Female: 14th, Killed by Reindeer Muttations, Day 7
Zeller and Tire both woke very gradually. They had heard Bonnet's screams, but they were in a state between sleepfulness and wakefulness and all of their thoughts were so dreamy that they hadn't really been understanding what was going on. When they finally heard the clatter of hooves, both boys left their rooms to investigate. Zeller and Tire spotted each other on opposite ends of the hallway, and they nervously approached each other. They weren't going to kill each other. Zeller proposed that they band together to find the source of all that hoof-clattering. They stood side-by-side, slowly creeping on their tip-toes…
All at once, the procession of Santa's Christmas sleigh burst around the corner. Zeller and Tire screamed and turned around to run. One of the reindeer had grabbed Tire with its mouth and was biting down on his neck. Tire could feel the reindeer's sharp teeth digging into his neck, and breathing was becoming more and more difficult. Zeller didn't care what was going on behind him; he ran and ran and ran and ran, hoping desperately to get away from Santa and his evil reindeer.
The news sank into Tire that he had no chance of survival. The reindeer had dragged him to the center of the pack. All of the deer were struggling against the reins, trying to get closer to him. One of them stamped his trachea flat with its hoof, and he was dead in minutes. There was a whole lot of blood over the next few minutes. Feodore had to actually send them reeling away with electric pulses so they wouldn't eat the whole body. Now only half of the tributes remained.
Tire D'Ambrose, District 6 Male: 13th, Killed by Reindeer Muttations, Day 7
Tire's cannon shot only made Zeller run even faster. Adrenaline was running through his veins instead of blood. He was fast enough to run from the sleigh, but he was getting more and more tired. When he finally couldn't run any longer, Zeller hurled himself into a supply closet, slammed the door shut (knocking down some of the tinsel on the ceiling), and prayed that the door was reindeer-proof.
Santa's reindeer crowd caught up to Zeller in seconds, busting down the door and crushing him against the back of the cabinet. Their hooves made quick work of him. They were satisfied by two kills, but their killer instincts fired back up at the sound of voices from nearby—the voices of careers.
Zeller Lechten, District 5 Male: 12th, Killed by Reindeer Muttations, Day 7
Those voices were the voices of Cashmere and Cuttle, dutifully guarding the room in which Dmitri was hiding. The two careers froze and grabbed their weapons. There was the unmistakable clattering of hooves and jangle of sleigh bells. All at once, the sleigh team burst around the corner, reaching them in no time at all. Cashmere had her throwing knives, Cuttle her whip, and they were struggling to fend off the reindeer mutts. With two cracks of her whip, Cuttle sent two reindeer flying. They were too shocked to move, but they would quickly jump back into the ongoing fight once the agony wore off. One reindeer stood on its hind legs and kicked Cashmere in the stomach. Cashmere reeled, gasping and moaning in pain. Her lungs had taken a small dent from the blow, but they were recovering. In the time the 1 girl was recovering, the 4 girl was left alone to take down the reindeer mutts. Cuttle slammed her whip down onto two reindeer, breaking off their horns. Each reindeer thought its partner had been the one to do the damage, and they broke into a skirmish with each other. Only six reindeer were left in combat. Santa himself wasn't doing anything much other than sitting in the sleigh smugly, tossing the point of his festive holiday hat around and around.
As the reindeer continued swarming forth, it grew harder for Cuttle to hold them off. Finally, she was overwhelmed. Two reindeer slammed their hooves into either side of her neck. She retched, hot bile staining their fur and the carpeted floor, and she was an easy victim in the end. It wasn't until several seconds after the 4 girl's death that Cashmere finally recovered from her agony. She shakily got to her feet. All nine of the reindeer were digging into Cuttle's body. Even the vicious 1 girl couldn't help but feel a little disgusted
Cuttle Ruyle, District 4 Female: 11th, Killed by Reindeer Muttations, Day 7
Cashmere looked up and made a strange discovery. As Santa Claus' hat wobbled around, she noticed something. A large metal chip about the size of a human hand was planted into his scalp. Whichever way Santa moved his head was the direction the reindeer ran. That metal chip was what controlled the reindeer!
Cashmere's feet were moving before her brain had time to catch up. She had learned a lot about controlling animals from her time in District 1. She jumped on top of the first reindeer and grabbed onto the scruff of its neck. Cashmere had to hold on with all of her might to keep on as the reindeer jumped up and down like a rodeo bull, trying to buck her off. The career girl hopped between reindeer before finally tumbling into the sleigh.
"Santa, Christmas isn't for, like, five months. GET OUT!" Cashmere tore off Santa's hat and yanked out the metal chip planted into his scalp. She then shoved the portly man off of the side of the sleigh before killing him with a few throwing knives.
Cashmere had complete control over the reindeer army.
The entire time, Dmitri had been rocking back and forth and sobbing inside of the room. The worst part was that, even though he could hear the screams clearly, he had no idea what was going on outside; sometimes not knowing is the worst feeling of all. When the sound finally died down, Dmitri got up and opened the door. He spotted Cashmere sitting in the sleigh were Santa should have been, and, as one could imagine, was extremely confused.
Cashmere moved the control chip sharply to the right, causing the reindeer to leap toward Dmitri. It was like she was using a remote to control characters in a video game. Dmitri tried to run back into the room, but Rudolph pinned him to the ground with his hooves, pressing his red nose into his neck. The skin melted away from the bone, and he was dead quickly after blood flow to his brain ceased.
Dmitri Sciscores, District 9 Male: 10th, Killed by Cashmere, Day 7
No more deaths occurred that day. After pulling the reindeer away from Dmitri's corpse, Cashmere led the reindeer back to one of the warm toy-making rooms. Afterward, she traipsed outside and picked some of the frost-covered grass to feed them. The problem was that Rudolph kept burning up the grass with his nose, so Cashmere had to separate a portion for him while the other eight fed on the pile together. At the cornucopia, Guild, Sixto, and Salton were growing increasingly worried. They saw Cuttle's face in the sky, which meant there had to be some sort of event going on near the room where Dmitri was trapped. They knew Cashmere wasn't dead, but for all they knew she could be in life-threatening danger. Guild, her district partner, urgently demanded that they look for her in the morning. Salton and Sixto shakily said no. Cashmere was the strongest tribute besides Guild himself, and neither of them wanted her between them and the Victor's Crown. What they didn't know, of course, was that Cashmere was alive and well with an entire army of reindeer that she could control with a flick of her wrist. They were in for a surprise in one of the coming days, that was for sure.
A cannon shot rang through the toyshop on the morning of Day 8, causing the toys to shake on the tables and the frosty glass windows to rattle in their panes. While the entire nation had presumed that the Christmas trees all around the workshop were inanimate and simply for decoration, several of them were actually live mutts that could spring outward into huge dragon-like beasts with claws and talons.
A few minutes earlier, Wrena had broken into one of the pantries to stuff herself on sweets. She had gained nearly five pounds since the start of the games, but that wasn't stopping her from shoving down more. A large rumble broke out from a nearby room. With nowhere else to go, Wrena hurled her body weight into the pantry. It was extremely uncomfortable inside, and she had to fight with all of her willpower to keep from gasping out for the pain. There was an odd shuffling outside, coupled with the scraping of something sharp against carpet. Finally, Wrena could hold herself in the position no longer. She let her limbs go slack, and they pushed against the door of the pantry, opening her vision up to the hallway.
Only her screams did the Christmas tree mutt justice. It was the size of a pickup truck. The way it moved was halfway between a waddle and a sprint. Its green scales were the exact same color as the leaves of the Christmas pine tree it had once been pretending to be. The mutt saw her and came galloping her way. Wrena blanched, dropped the cookies she was holding, and bolted down the hallway.
The tree mutt followed her down the hallway. Its heavy footsteps knocked tapestries down from walls and caused the carpet to tear and wiggle underfoot. Once, it let out a huge breath. Instead of the dragon's stereotypical fire, a huge jet of freezing cold air came firing out of the mutt's mouth. All of the water vapor in the air condensed and froze. In seconds, the walls and floor were coated with frost. In the time it took to "warm up", Wrena had gotten a bit of a head-start. Tip-toing to avoid making noise, Wrena fell into a small room filled with half-painted toys and grabbed a drill, ready to fight the monster.
It burst into the room in seconds, instantly reducing the door and the wall surrounding it to rubble. Wrena held out her drill and turned it on. The mutt eeked with surprise at the sudden whining of the drill but soon realized it could go in for the kill. Screaming, Wrena ducked under the nearest table. The tree mutt brought down a huge arm and slammed the table straight in half before crushing Wrena to death completely. The second her cannon shot fired, the Christmas tree mutt collapsed, limp, nothing more than a holiday decoration.
Wrena Vaccaro, District 10 Female: 9th, Killed by Christmas Tree Muttation, Day 8
That left the final eight: Guild Decesare and Cashmere Linden from District 1, Sixto Katzmann from District 2, Function Craft from District 3, Salton Rivera from District 4, Bo Phoenix from District 7, Hermione Macrae from District 9, and Allison Lewalski from District 12.
Wrena's cannon shot acted as an alarm clock for the arena, welcoming the eight remaining tributes to the new day. The career pack quickly went hunting. Sixto guarded the cornucopia whilr Guild and Salton went hunting. At the cornucopia, Sixto quickly got to work sorting everything further. He folded up all of the cafeteria tables and shoved them into the corner where they wouldn't get in the way. He also sorted the foods and supplies and practiced with as many weapons as they could. Out on their hunt, Salton and Guild were clashing. Salton wanted to go to places the pack hadn't travelled as of then, where prey would be likely to be hiding. But Guild insisted that they search for Cashmere. The argument lasted only a minute or to, when Salton gave up. He didn't want to get on the bad side of the strongest tribute in the games.
The outliers weren't doing much but moving around the toyshop. Function occasionally travelled away from the room where his electrical trap was housed to collect food and water. He found that he could mix milk and honey and place in the oven for about five seconds to create a relaxing bedtime treat that he resolved to drink every night. Bo had spent the first few days in the arena hunting, but he had lost motivation by Day 8 and crashed in a lounge with fat sofas and a crackling fire. Hermione's sponsors sent her several more hula-hoops over the course of the day. She moved between rooms every three hours or so, and when she wasn't moving she hula-hooped and told stories to the audience. Allison was terrified. After hearing the roars of the Christmas tree mutts, elf mutts, and dying tributes, she was reduced to a sobbing mess. She hugged herself on the ground, rolling around and crying out to be sent home.
A few minutes before noon the next day, Day 9, Guild and Salton perked up. They followed Allison's soft weeping to the jewelry room, where they made out the movements of the girl's fiery-red hair. Guild and Salton crept toward her, Guild holding his spear and Salton brandishing a trident. Allison turned around slowly and didn't flinch when she spotted the two career boys. She just stared at them with wide, sad eyes.
"I just want to go home," Allison cried.
The careers, who hadn't made a kill in several days, were more than happy to comply. Without hesitation, Guild thrust his spear outward and upward, spearing through the 12 girl's ribcage. Allison tumbled backward, letting out a mixture between a pained scream and a sad cry of longing, as she quickly bled out. Salton ran forward to polish her off, but Guild held him back. They wanted to give the Capitol as much blood as possible before her life ended, after all. The careers were flushed out of the room by her spreading pool of blood.
Allison Lewalski, District 12 Female: 8th, Killed by Guild, Day 9
The remainder of Day 9, and the entirety of Day 10, passed without incident. Guild and Salton continued hunting, as they wanted to make a very spectacular kill to follow up their killing of Allison. They didn't find anyone, though, and they slept in a closet less than a hundred yards from where Cashmere was living with her reindeer. They were sure to meet in the next few days. Bo was the only outlier who did anything (Function and Hermione were staying still for the time being). Determined to keep from fading into the background after a note from his sponsors that re-kindled his games flame, Bo hunted for prey with his axe. He didn't find anyone, though, as there were so few tributes left.
On Day 11, Cashmere heard footsteps from outside of the room in which she was keeping the reindeer and the sleigh. Over the last couple of days, she'd learned what all of the controls on the small chip did. She was able to make the reindeers make noise, lift their legs, and move in any way she wanted them too just by pressing dials and such on the control chip. The 1 girl hushed her reindeer and walked to the door, adjusting her belt of throwing knives on her waist. It wasn't just one tribute outside of the room. It was the duo of Guild and Salton. They were in for a nasty surprise to find out that their ally was much more heavily armed than they were.
The second Cashmere made out Guild's and Salton's forms, she commanded the reindeer to tackle them. Salton blanched and tried to run out of the room as the herd thundered toward him, but one of the reindeer had planted its hoof into his ankle, pinning him against the ground. Salton lifted a foot to run but fell to the ground on his face, knocking out several of his teeth. Several reindeer pounced at the tooth, lightening the career's load ever-so-slightly. Guild was slightly more fortunate, as he had had time to draw his weapon before being attacked by the reindeer. With three thrusting movements of his spear, Guild managed to send three reindeer reeling. One of them even collapsed in agony. All three were sure to be back in tip-top fighting condition sooner than later.
After nearly three minutes, Salton was able to get back to his feet. One of ankles was broken; he had to place his entire body weight on one foot as he limped away from the reindeer. He caught a glimpse of Cashmere's cascading blonde locks through the herd and lumbered toward her. Cashmere just grinned delicately as the injured Salton came into view, barely strong enough to lift his trident. The District 1 girl hurled two throwing knives, landing in her ex-ally's neck and hip respectively, he collapsed onto one of the reindeer (which quickly kicked him aside) and died in minutes, praying that Guild would be alright.
Salton Rivera, District 4 Male: 7th, Killed by Cashmere, Day 11
Guild muttered a string of curses as he realized that he was all alone to face the rogue reindeer mutts. He was running on the hope that Cashmere would recognize him as her district partner and command the reindeer to leave him away. Then again, she had done nothing to stop Salton's death, so why his?
The three reindeer that Guild had scared away before Salton's death were quickly back in action. With nine bloodthirsty mammals surrounding him, Guild was literally overwhelmed. The air was knocked out of him as Rudolph knocked him the ground. He tried to scream, but a little gurgle came out and nothing else. Rudolph pressed his blazing red nose to his neck, and Guild screamed as his cells started rapidly dying off. His skin was peeling away in sheets. More and more reindeer were piling on as they realized how vulnerable he was. Cashmere watched with a smug smile as her reindeer slaves mauled the strongest tribute in the games to death. The 1 girl was unwilling to let district loyalty stand between her and another kill.
Guild Decesare, District 1 Male: 6th, Killed by Cashmere, Day 11
Nothing of great incident happened as Day 11 came to a close. At the cornucopia, Sixto saw the faces of Salton and Guild in the death recap. For the entire games, he had been keeping a sheet of paper on which he crossed of the names of tributes that he saw on the recap. The sheet told him that he and Cashmere were the only remaining careers in the games. Pride and desire to win coursed through him, and Sixto slept beside his sword that night. He vowed he would search for Cashmere in the morning.
Days 12 and 13 were both deathless as the final five milled about. Cashmere spent most of her time nursing her injured reindeer back to health. She was hoping to get medicine from sponsors, but they didn't send her any. Feodore banned the sending of anything meant to help the reindeer. It was getting a little bland how she could kill any tribute she wanted with the army, so Feodore wanted to lose a few of the deer or convince Cashmere to part with them. Fortunately, there was just the solution. For nearly a week, Function had been polishing up his electrical trap. It was much less organized than Beetee's, but it still had a fair amount of logic to it. Feodore himself sent Function a note that he should hold out for just a day or so longer while he could flush Cashmere's herd toward the trap. All the while, Sixto hunted feverishly for the only other remaining career. The gamemakers used elf mutts to help contain him in certain areas of the arena; they didn't want Sixto interfering with the interaction of Cashmere and Function.
Bo continued hunting with his axe. Around noon on Day 13, he spotted Hermione wandering a ways down the corridor. Hermione screamed with terror as the sight of Bo's axe. A long chase ensued. At the end, Hermione managed to escape, ducking into a closet the instant before Bo rounded the corner. She locked the door from the inside and prayed that Bo would go away. The boy knew that Hermione was in the closet, but he didn't have the energy to break in. He thumped on the door twice with the butt of his axe and slept against a nearby wall, yelling a warning to Hermione that he would be there if she tried to make a run for it.
And, of course, Hermione tried to make a run for it. At four in the morning on Day 14, when she was sure that Bo was asleep, she unlocked the door and slowly pushed it open. Ring! Bo had affixed a bell to the door. Bo instantly awoke, grabbing up his axe, and Hermione bolted away faster than she ever had before. The boy chased after her, and Hermione couldn't escape no matter how fast she ran. She was so panicked that she ran right into a dead end. With a thud, she fell backward onto the ground. One second, she was squirming underneath the weight of the boy with the axe; the next, the axe was lodged into her forehead; the next, she was plunged into darkness, never to awake again. Bo felt a little icky as he wrenched his axe out of her skull, but he tried to best not to show it.
Hermione Macrae, District 9 Female: 5th, Killed by Bo, Day 14
After Hermione's death, the day passed with little in the ways of excitement. Bo holed up in a toy storage room and sharpened his axe. The gamemakers were occasionally sending swarms of elves to drive Cashmere and her reindeer closer and closer to Function's trap. Meanwhile, Function waited impatiently in the room filled with wires, fidgeting anxiously as he anticipated Cashmere's arrival. Sixto took a well-deserved rest after several long days of hunting, returning to the horn for a supply restock and then sleeping the night away as snow fell outside.
On the morning of Day 15, the first interactions between Cashmere and Function took place. It only took one swarm of elf mutts for the reindeer team to be driven all of the way to the room where the 3 boy was hiding. Hoping to keep the reindeer safe from harm until the elves were completely gone, Cashmere herded the group into the room where Function was hiding and shut the door behind her.
All the while, Function himself was cramming himself into a corner and making himself as small as possible so as not to be seen. Eager though he was to get up and dance to draw the reindeer and Cashmere toward him and into the live wires, his logical senses took over. Cashmere had a belt of throwing knives clipped around her waist. She could just throw through the wires. So Function watched, terrified of making a single sound, as Cashmere unloaded her supplies and took care of the reindeer.
A horrible screeching pierced the silence. One of the reindeer had stepped into the wire. The 1 girl inspected its hoof and knew immediately that some tomfoolery was going on in the room. She urged the reindeer out of the room, wanting to get as far away from whatever threat was inside as possible. Finally, Function had no choice. He leapt to his feet and waved his arms, shouting, "I'm right here! Come and get me!"
Cashmere hissed and tugged two knives out of her belt. Function shakily ran back and forth to avoid being hit by her knives. He was speedy, and all of the blades simply hit the wall and either bounced off or buried themselves into the wood. The reindeer all speed in a mob toward Function. Cashmere urged them to turn around and tried using the control chip, but their bloodthirsty instincts were taken over. All nine of them ran head-first into the electric trap. They spasmed and contorted violently, all dying in the space of five minutes.
Cashmere set her gaze on Function, who was standing on the other side of the web of wires. There was silence. Then, so suddenly that he didn't have time to breathe, Cashmere hurled a volley of four throwing knives. The first landed in Function's neck, essentially blocking his ability to breathe. He gasped and tried to wrench the blade out of his neck, but three more knives landed down his arm by the time he had made any real progress. Screaming, Function fell forward into the web of wire, finished off by the trap that he had built himself. Cashmere left his body to rot away on the floor and turned around, feeling oddly lonely without her reindeer companions.
Function Craft, District 3 Male: 4th, Killed by Cashmere and Himself, Day 15
As Day 15 turned into Day 16, the first elf mutts in nearly a week were let into the arena to run free. Their purpose was to drive the final three tributes toward the cornucopia for a finale. Feodore was hoping to fit in one more death before the tributes met, though, so the elves were travelling rather slowly. Cashmere was a little out of practice without her reindeer, so she practiced with her throwing knives whenever possible. As elves started trickling out of rooms to chase her, she did her best to fend them off. Sixto withdrew to the horn, hoping he would be exempt from whatever threat the other two would receive to force them toward the cafeteria center. There, he barricaded all of the doors except one, which he waited near to ambush any incoming prey. Bo was the underdog of this year's final three, but he was determined to beat down his two remaining opponents in one way or another. He practiced with his axe, thinking hard.
At noon on Day 16, a death occurred. Sixto's mentor Enobaria sent him a note that he had to leave the horn before the end of the day, warning him of danger that would be around the center of the arena. Heeding the warning, Sixto packed up food, water, and weapons and fled. Enobaria was really lying; there was no threat near the cornucopia, she just wanted her tribute to move around some to keep from fading into the background. Figuring he might as well get a few hours of hunting in while he was out, Sixto traversed the easternmost areas of the toyshop. The rooms there were mostly for toy storage rather for toy manufacturing. There were still lots of places were tributes could be hiding. In fact, one tribute was hiding there. Bo heard Sixto's light footsteps and quickly crouched down under a desk. He waddled behind a three-legged wooden stool to help hide himself from view. Finally, he placed his hands over the blade of his axe to keep it from catching the light from above. As Sixto strolled into the room, Bo remained silent.
Finally, when the 2 boy grew close, Bo leaped out from under the table and grabbed Sixto's legs. Sixto screamed and fell backward, blanching at the sight of the 7 boy's axe. Both tributes got to their feet and stood apart. Bo was incredibly nervous about facing a career but swallowed hard and sucked it up. Meanwhile, Sixto wore a delicate smile. He would be the one to kill the strongest outlier in the games.
Bo was the first to pounce, and Sixto barely had time to dance out of the way before making a strike of his own. Sixto's sword clashed against Bo's axe, and for a long time there was no clear-cut winner. He was lasting admirably long for a tribute from 7, especially considering he was fighting a tribute from 2, the district that had harbored the most victors and some of the best ones at that. After nearly thirty minutes, Sixto triumphed. Thrusting his sword sharply outward, he cast the tip of the blade into Bo's chest, driving it through his lungs and ribcage. Bo fell, dropped his axe, and slid off of the sword. Sixto just smirked and wiped the blood off his blade.
Bo Phoenix, District 7 Male: 3rd, Killed by Sixto, Day 16
At long last, the crowd of twenty-four tributes had been filed down to its final two. Both of the finalists of the games were careers, a spectacle that hadn't occurred in ages, and the Capitol was eager to see how their skirmish would play out. Sixto immediately began his retreat to the horn of plenty after killing Bo; Cashmere ran over battle tactics in her mind and adjusted her armor while cleaning her weapons.
The two tributes spotted each other from either end of a long hallway a few minutes before midnight. It was one of the latest finales ever; many Capitolites would wake up the next morning surprised to find that the victor had been crowned while they were asleep. They clashed in the center of the hallway. The first thing Sixto did was prod his sword into Cashmere's waist. The girl keened in pain. She clutched her side, blood pouring out plentifully from between her fingertips.
Sixto was strong, but Cashmere was stronger; however, the 1 girl's early wound evened the duo out rather fairly. As Cashmere attempted to juxtapose fending off Sixto's blows with keeping her blood inside of her body, her opponent was dancing around her, trying to make her disoriented so he could go in for his final kill. But it was not so. At once, so quickly that many games viewers jumped in their seats, Cashmere pounced toward Sixto. Stomaching the pain from her hip wound, she thrust two of her throwing knives into Sixto's back. Cashmere knocked his sword out of his hand, rendering him defenseless, and crushed his windpipe with a heavy stamp of her foot.
Sixto Katzmann, District 2 Male: 2nd, Killed by Cashmere, Day 16
"Cashmere Linden of District 1, you are the victor of the sixty-fourth annual Hunger Games!" Caesar yelled. His voice was rather sleep-addled, as he had just been roused awake in the middle of the night to commentate the finale.
Cashmere collapsed to the ground as blood poured out of her body. As the medics rushed down to help the famous young lady, the cameras picked up on the unmistakable smile that had crept across the newest victor's pretty face.
Cashmere Linden, District 1 Female: Victor of the Sixty-Fourth Hunger Games, Day 16
AFTERMATH
District 1 welcomed their tenth victor with open arms. They were very pleasantly surprised to receive their next victor so soon; this was only the third instance in Hunger Games history of a single district bringing home two back-to-back victors. Gloss and Cashmere were also the first two sibling victors in Panemian history, and were fraternal twins in fact. Cashmere was mostly beloved in the Capitol for her beauty, which of course meant that she, like many victors, would spend much of the next few years being auctioned off to spend nights with the highest bidder.
Cashmere moved into the Victor's Village of District 1, in the house right next to the one inhabited by her twin brother.
Her victory tour had a lot of drama. During her stop in District 7, no less than three attempts were made on her life. The first two attempted murderers were caught and tried, while the third succeeded in blasting a bullet hole through one of her hands. Unfortunately, the wound was severe, and it would take several years of treatment before Cashmere could use her hand again.
Cashmere would live to the age of ninety-six, dying from a heart attack six weeks before the one-hundred forty-second annual Hunger Games. Cashmere loved all the fame and attention she received, and was one of the most involved victors with the Capitol, a full supporter of whatever they did, and not a rebel at all. She used the wealth and privilege from her victory to integrate into the Capitol society, including by dressing how they did and paying for extensive plastic surgery to keep looking young. The one exception to this rule was that she would never dye her hair or skin, as she wanted to keep at least a small part of the District 1 look that everyone loved. In her lifetime, she would marry and have five children, though none of them would compete in future Hunger Games.
NEWS
Cashmere moves into the Victor's Village of District 1, the tenth victor to do so.
Mason Kittridge has his third child, a girl named Athena.
Margaret Cartmill marries her fiancée of four years, a nice man named Buck Henry.
Tiger Sterne comes out as homosexual and announces his engagement to a man named Kylo Huxley.
Valerie Easton gives birth to her first child, Reginald.
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)
39HG: Penelope Turek (#8, District 4)
40HG: Beetee Latier (#6, District 3)
41HG: Radiance Clinton (#6, District 1)
42HG: Technik Hartline (#7, District 3)
43HG: Dylan Levitt (#9, District 4)
44HG: Rye Boyum (#2, District 9)
45HG: Chaff Korsmun (#2, District 11)
46HG: Nolan Wrack (#11, District 2)
47HG: Klink Byrae (#4, District 5)
48HG: Brutus Cordley (#12, District 2)
49HG: Wiress Freid (#8, District 3)
50HG: Haymitch Abernathy (#2, District 12)
51HG: Lyme Mabbett (#13, District 2)
52HG: Ruby Rayfuse (#7, District 1)
53HG: Lily Eckel (#3, District 11)
54HG: Blight Holzer (#2, District 7)
55HG: Emily Pollick (#5, District 5)
56HG: Sally Vasilia (#6, District 5)
57HG: Mason Kittridge (#14, District 2)
58HG: Margaret Cartmill (#1, District 10)
59HG: Tiger Sterne (#8, District 1)
60HG: Cecelia Rieffel (#2, District 8)
61HG: Valerie Easton (#15, District 2)
62HG: Enobaria Rigatti (#16, District 2)
63HG: Gloss Linden (#9, District 1)
64HG: Cashmere Linden (#10, District 1)
A/N: This chapter turned out to be just shy of 13,000 words long. How does that even happen? I knew this would be a longer chapter but I wasn't expecting it to be this long! This story's certainly come a long way from the first 2,000 word long chapter.
This was a longer wait but I hope the chapter was worth it! And I have to say that this arena was one of my favorites. Certainly different than most of the arenas in years past.
Cashmere was a fun one to write. I also liked Hermione. Two butterbeers and a chocolate frog if you can guess where her name came from ;)
