THE NINETY SEVENTH ANNUAL HUNGER GAMES
"Eye Candy"
INTRODUCTION
As the year of the ninety-seventh Hunger Games rolled around, it became impossible to ignore the strange signals coming from the east. Given their strength, scientists estimated the source of the signals to be around five thousand miles away, across the Atlantic Ocean. What also became apparent was that the people, whoever they were, weren't just trying to let Panem know they existed; they were actually trying to communicate. There weren't exactly any cell phone towers in the flooded wasteland that constituted most of the planet, and it was the best method of communication these people had. The Capitol sent a fleet of two dozen hovercrafts out to investigate, and they landed in a place once known as Paris, France. The city was in remarkably good condition, with many of its buildings having been repaired, and it was bustling with people, at least twenty thousand of them. The new settlement was called Starlight. In fact, Starlight wasn't a new settlement at all; it'd been established a century ago, around the time when the Hunger Games were instituted. Starlight was surprisingly similar to Panem; it consisted of five small sectors, which all supplied something different to the central Capitol. Sector 1 was the security district, and it defended the city's outer walls from coming predators and other threats. Sector 2 was the legal system, providing lawyers, judges, jail keepers, and more. Sector 3 was the police force, and children born there were trained from an early age on self-defense and even how to kill. Sector 4 farmed the land for food, and it was filled with trees and plants, the greenest of the five sectors. Sector 5 provided scientists, engineers, and inventors, and it had a rigorous schooling system for its youths. Their system of government was much more democratic than Panem; every five years, the citizens of each sector elected five people to represent them in the government. These twenty-five representatives made most of the decisions in Starlight. For the time being, President Stinn Hawke decided to leave Starlight alone, and the knowledge of its existence was kept strictly confidential. If district residents learned that there was anywhere better to live then Panem, they would leave in the swarms, and the Capitol couldn't have that. Orestilla Frondel was back again for her second and final shot to wow Panem into voting for her. The ninety-fifth Hunger Games were considered a masterpiece by many, and the pressure was on to match and even outdo her own splendor this time around. The idealistic Orestilla was ready to do so.
The career team was a pretty average lot, and they all scored well. They were both the same age, and their personalities were strikingly similar; they were sure to get along well in the games. The boy was the son of an academy trainer, and the girl was a perfume factory worker. District 2 provided the strongest lot: the boy was older and leaner and liked swords, while the girl, his junior by one year, was similarly feisty and spirited. District 4's boy was the oldest, and the only eighteen year-old in the pack, and he was funny and witty and never took anything seriously. The girl was the youngest this year at only fifteen, but she had definitely earned her promotion into the games via her skills with projectile weapons. The scores of the pack were pretty ordinary: two elevens, two tens, and two nines.
Four tributes banded together to form this year's anti-career alliance: Piston from 6, Poppy from 7, Cyndra from 8, and Mattin from 9. Piston was the highest-scoring tribute outside of the career pack, with an impressive eight, and he wowed the gamemakers with his swordplay skills and his survival tactics. Poppy was much more focused on the survival skills, and she was also adept enough with a hatchet. Cyndra was just a seamstress girl, and Mattin was just a baker boy, but they both managed admirable sixes with their knife skills. Psyella from 3, who scored a seven, was on the only other real outlier standout. There were no volunteers besides the careers. Here are the tributes:
District 1: Magnus Duviver, 16, (11) 3-1 and Incense Crothers, 16, (9) 8-1
District 2: Glaive Russak, 17, (11) 3-1 and Rena Lenard, 17, (10) 5-1
District 3: Pacman Clauss, 12, (3) 36-1 and Telestra Graham, 14, (4) 29-1
District 4: Water Cosmides, 18, (10) 4-1 and Cascade Berra, 15, (9) 9-1
District 5: Grindon Ibes, 16, (5) 24-1 and Psyella Gunder, 18, (7) 15-1
District 6: Piston Wyshak, 17, (8) 13-1 and Aiya Skane, 16, (4) 26-1
District 7: Vincent Buckley, 13, (3) 33-1 and Poppy Valentine, 18, (7) 14-1
District 8: Malcolm Jost, 12, (4) 35-1 and Cyndra Stockton, 14, (6) 18-1
District 9: Mattin Ryde, 17, (6) 17-1 and Errota Chen, 15, (4) 27-1
District 10: Prongs Raskino, 18, (4) 25-1 and Colie Tethers, 18, (3) 29-1
District 11: Vine Lilard, 14, (4) 30-1 and Orchid Richards, 12, (3) 35-1
District 12: Darryl Witzel, 18, (5) 23-1 and Mitzi Tone, 16, (5) 26-1
HGBO Bets: 20% on Glaive, 19% on Magnus, 10% on Water, 8% on Rena, 5% on Incense and Cascade, 4% on Piston, 3% on Psyella and Poppy, 2% on Cyndra and Mattin, 1% or less on Pacman, Telestra, Grindon, Aiya, Vincent, Malcolm, Errota, Prongs, Colie, Vine, Orchid, Darryl, and Mitzi.
THE GAMES
The delectable sugary scent of this year's arena could be smelled even from down in the launch rooms. When the tributes could see, they quickly learned where the smell was coming from. They were standing in a sugary candy wonderland, reminiscent of the twenty-third games' arena. The cornucopia was fashioned entirely of gingerbread, and housed a wide variety of weapons this year. A candy cane forest sprawled out to the east, and it was inhabited by fluffy unicorns and birds made of cotton candy. A large river of honey sliced through the arena, flowing in the slow fashion that only honey can. The honey river marked the boundary between the candy cane forest and the sugary field that made up the rest of the arena. The bright-green grass was edible and tasted just like sugar. The field was dotted with trees bearing gummy bears, bushes of gummy berries that squirted out flavored juice, entire lakes of sweet-smelling chocolate, and life-sized gingerbread houses. A mountain made entirely of chocolate loomed in the distance, and it housed a large yeti mutt inspired by the one from the eighty-third games, a new addition. The seemingly passive unicorn mutts could become extremely violent when provoked, and they were more than ready to gobble up any unsuspecting tributes at the gamemakers' command. The smell of so much delicious candy morphed together into the most tantalizing, mouth-watering aroma imaginable, even more delectable than the arena of the second Quarter Quell. The smell, and the taste, of everything in the candy wonderland made the tributes feel as though they'd been ascended. This paradise would not remain so perfect for very long, however. As the games progressed, the candy would begin to rot and melt, eventually turning into a mushy brown land of mold and spoilage that stank to high heaven. For the time being, however, the tributes were left standing on their pedestals, sniffing like there was no tomorrow. Orestilla's re-use of the seventieth games' arena had stolen the hearts of the Capitol citizens two years prior; now, she was hoping to strike up even more nostalgia by re-using the arena in which Ashlyn Breston's legendary victory for District 6 had taken place.
5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
Glaive from District 2 powered ahead of the others due to his sheer speed, and he was the first to find a weapon. Like the Talbot siblings, he favored swords. He grabbed one and tackled nearby Grindon from 5, who was zigzagging to avoid attacks as he thundered toward the cornucopia. The blade connected with his gut, and he fell to his knees, gasping while Glaive cut open his torso with two heavy chops.
Grindon Ibes, District 5 Male: 24th, Killed by Glaive, Bloodbath
Vincent from 7 and Errota from 9 had allied prior to the games, and they were down on their hands and knees, shoving supplies into a butter-yellow pack. Glaive's district partner, Rena, spotted them from about fifty meters off and grabbed a sword of her own, ready to kill one or both of them. Errota froze dead in her tracks as the sword landed in her back and protruded from her stomach, and Vincent gasped with horror as she fell flat on the ground, never to rise again.
Errota Chen, District 9 Female: 23rd, Killed by Rena, Bloodbath
Vincent leapt to his feet, screaming. As soon as he turned, he felt the bite of Magnus' sickle in his gut. Vincent's dead body landed on top of Errota's, and then Rena and Magnus sprinted their opposite directions.
Vincent Buckley, District 7 Male: 22nd, Killed by Magnus, Bloodbath
Glaive had wrenched his sword out of Grindon's abdomen, and he fluidly attacked his next victim, the factory girl from District 3. With one heavy thrusting motion, Glaive had her impaled to a lethal degree. Bits of blood flew through the air as he yanked the blade's sharp point out of her neck, and she bled out swiftly.
Telestra Graham, District 3 Female: 21st, Killed by Glaive, Bloodbath
Incense spotted the boy from 12, Darryl, darting frantically back and forth across the horn's mouth, trying to figure out a way to escape without being noticed. Incense hurriedly grabbed two daggers and sprinted in Darryl's direction. The first of the daggers dug into his chest with surprising ease. He fell to the ground, flopping like a dying fish, and Incense sedated him with the other knife before sprinting away.
Darryl Witzel, District 12 Male: 20th, Killed by Incense, Bloodbath
Water and Cascade from District 4 were extremely close friends and neighbors, and they ganged up to make the bloodbath's last kill. Cascade had a bow, and Water had a sword. As they stalked through the cornucopia field, they spotted a pair of eyes staring at them from underneath a red crate. Water kicked the crate away, and the small girl underneath leapt to her feet, screaming. Water's sword found a home in her upper abdomen, and she fell into the paths of two of Cascade's arrows. The district partners shared a high five as Psyella fell to the ground with a loud noise, dead.
Psyella Gunder, District 5 Female: 19th, Killed by Water and Cascade, Bloodbath
Those were the only deaths to take place on the first day. Eighteen tributes were left in the arena, and it was hard to cover them all. The cameras mostly focused on the careers as they went about their post-bloodbath rituals. Glaive from 2 and Magnus from 1 sifted through the weapons, trying not to get distracted by the sugary smell of, well, everything natural in the arena. Incense from 1 got six packs ready, stuffing them halfway full with supplies and the other half full with every kind of candy she could find. Water and Cascade from 4 sorted the food rations, talking. They had a great friendship and a great dynamic, and the Capitol gobbled it all up. Rena from 2 just rested in the back of the cornucopia, toying with her sword. She felt pretty useless, as there weren't any more jobs that needed to be done. When the careers left to go hunting, they left Rena to guard the horn.
The outliers went their separate ways, sprinting, crunching, or sliding over the grass made entirely of sugar. Pacman from 3 had narrowly escaped death from Incense's knives during the bloodbath. Terrified out of his mind, he sprinted downhill, and he settled near the sweet-smelling lake, guzzling greedily from the water before passing out. The anti-careers (Piston from 6, Poppy from 7, Cyndra from 8, and Mattin from 9) ran away from the cornucopia, each of them carrying a pack stocked with useful supplies. Their mad sprint slowed to a walk when they reached the candy cane forest. By that point, night had fallen, and the candy birds trilled terrifying. Aiya from 6 was too weak to reach the candy cane forest or the chocolate mountain. She ventured through the field, munching on candy, and she came to a stop in a green bush bearing sugary red blossoms. She crunched on the blossoms until she fell asleep. Malcolm from 8 made himself at home in the gingerbread village. He closed himself inside one of the square houses and raided the cupboards of peppermint and hot chocolate. He'd never seen the twenty-third games on television before, and he didn't know about the deadly gingerbread man mutts that had inhabited the village of those games. Nobody was sure if Orestilla had decided to include these mutts in her modern take on the arena, but time would tell. Prongs and Colie were from District 10, and the district partners had readily allied for company and safety. They spent the entire day jogging and walking toward the large chocolate mountain at the north end of the arena. They settled at the base of the mountain, near the rolling foothills. Vine from 11 ate a lollipop as he strolled along. All he'd gotten from the bloodbath was a belt containing three throwing knives. His young body was too weak to make it all the way to the foothills in one day, so he rested in a cluster of trees bearing cotton candy and went to sleep. Orchid from 11 had a run-in with a duo of unicorn mutts about halfway through the day. She ran from the mutts for about fifteen minutes before they were removed by the gamemakers. Orchid had reached the wide honey river, and she settled near the bank, scrubbing the sticky sugar off of herself. Mitzi from 12 traveled about two miles away from the cornucopia before night fell. By that point, she was about three quarters of the way to the candy cane forest. For now, she sat down under a tree bearing gummy bears and tried to sleep. Things were pretty peaceful in the candy wonderland as day turned into night.
The next death occurred in the early morning of Day 2. The two unicorn mutts that Orchid evaded were still as bloodthirsty as ever, and they were eager to gore and feast. The nearest tributes, the anti-careers, were in for a nasty shock when the unicorn mutts smelled their blood. The four tributes woke up in a frenzy when the unicorns tromped toward them through the wide open meadow, crunching candy grass and colorful blossoms under their hooves. They were all well-armed: Piston with a sword, Poppy with a hatchet, Cyndra with two knives, and Mattin with a spear. Their turnout from the bloodbath was grand, but whether it would be enough to fend off the unicorn mutts was for time to tell.
Piston made the first move, lashing out and slashing his sword at the nearest unicorn mutt. It stood on its back hooves, and Mattin took a step back as it brought down its hooves near his feet. The two boys and Cyndra were so occupied trying to take down the mutt that they didn't notice the other mutt run for Poppy. With a heavy thrusting motion of its front hooves, the angry mutt knocked Poppy's hatchet out of her hand. The weapon went flying, and Poppy was hopelessly grasping for the furthering handle when the unicorn drilled its razor sharp horn through her chest. She was gone in moments.
Poppy Valentine, District 7 Female: 18th, Killed by unicorn mutts, Day 2
With only three members left, the stakes were rising for real. Piston was ultimately dealing the most damage, as his sword was the most efficient weapon. Mattin's spear also proved of decent use, while Cyndra's knives weren't very effective. It was about five minutes before the anti-careers accepted that they had no choice but to run. Cyndra's shoulder was severely injured, and Mattin had a bloodied arm. Even Piston, who was physically unscathed apart from a few minor cuts and scrapes, was too exhausted to fight any longer.
The unicorn mutts chased them downhill for several miles, to the sweet-smelling lake where all the arena's streams collected. What they also saw was a small boy curled up on the shore of the lake, dreaming about candy and smiling softly. Always the good anti-career, Piston reached down and thrust his sword into the sleeping boy's chest. Pacman woke with a start, screaming at the top of his lungs. He had woken from a dream into a nightmare. Piston, Cyndra, and Mattin ran for their lives, leaving the unicorn mutts to tear him to shreds and feast on his bloodied remains.
Pacman Clauss, District 3 Male: 17th, Killed by Piston and unicorn mutt, Day 2
The rest of Day 2 was pretty uneventful. The cannons shots of Poppy and Pacman spooked most of the tributes into staying still. However, Prongs and Colie continued their casual adventure around the enormous chocolate mountain, mostly unfazed by the loud, booming cannons. At nightfall, they retreated to the top of the mountain for safety, and they settled down in a small cave that sloped down to a lake of fizzy soda pop. They feasted on chocolate and soda pop and then fell asleep for the night, burping and giggling.
Aiya continued her travels through the central, meadow-like field. She was heading toward the candy cane forest, but she was making rather slow progress. Instead of the mad sprint most of the other tributes were using, she was taking it at a brisk walk, leaning down to sample the various blossoms and ornamental butterfly charms. Aiya wasn't a show stopper, but she wasn't staying completely inactive, so the gamemakers let her be.
On Day 3, the cameras mostly focused on the career pack. Rena was still guarding the horn, absentmindedly sifting through the supplies. The other five members of the group had moved from the candy cane forest to the large chocolate mountain. They knew more tributes were likely to be hiding in the loftier areas for safety. Water and Cascade, who weren't particularly fond of heights, stayed in the low levels of the mountain, while Magnus, Incense, and Glaive scoped out the top end of the large feature in their mad hunt for victims. Prongs and Colie from District 10 remained well-hidden, and they went unnoticed to the feverishly hunting trio.
Water and Cascade, having hunted for about half of the day, settled down in a cluster of trees bearing multicolored, sweet-smelling sprinkles. They sat cross-legged underneath the trees expansive branches and fanned themselves to cool down. Temperatures in the arena were rising, and while nothing had yet begun to rot, mold would begin to take root in the arena's foundations sooner than later. Water jokingly shook the tree, and he was surprised when the sprinkles started falling like rain. He and Cascade munched on the colored pieces of sugar. Unbeknownst to him, two of the famous cotton candy pink birds from the second Quarter Quell were roosting in the tree, hidden well by the overlapping branches. Water let out a scream as the first of the birds swooped down, and Cascade grabbed his hand, hurriedly trying to tug him away as the birds stabbed at him with their razor sharp beaks. Cascade gasped with grief as the birds peppered a multitude of holes into Water's chest, and tears started rolling down her face as she fled from her dying friend.
Water Cosmides, District 4 Male: 16th, Killed by bird mutts, Day 3
Vine was only fourteen years old, and he wasn't out of the ordinary for a young boy from District 11. It took him until the afternoon of Day 3 to reach the base of the chocolate mountain. His travels up and down the foothills at the base of the mountain had been rough, and they'd taken a toll on his mental and physical health. Vine soon reached the broad chocolate river that ran down the mountain, and he guzzled the hot sugary drink for several minutes before curling up for a short nap. He hoped to reach the halfway point of the mountain's altitude within the next few days. Mitzi had literally never eaten anything sugary in her life, and she was absolutely entranced by the gummy bear tree. She loved the unique flavor of each multicolored gummy bear, and she started playing a game where she closed her eyes and tried to guess the flavor of each bear by taste alone. Mitzi stayed put at the base of the whimsically curved trunk, shaking it whenever she got hungry and picking certain colors off of the low-hanging branches whenever her sweet tooth got picky.
Day 4 was deathless. The careers were getting pretty impatient with their inability to track down victims. They were hoping that prey would be abound on the mountain, but the only other tributes there were Prongs and Colie, and they were hiding well. Magnus, Incense, and Glaive trekked down the mountainside and met up with a grieving Cascade, who was traumatized after the death of her close friend. The pack made the risky decision to sprint toward the forest; this decision would ultimately pay off, as most of the tributes were hiding in the forest, and they would pass through the field on their way there, where a good number of tributes also lived.
The outliers moved a lot, but there wasn't a whole lot of interaction between them. The anti-careers were perpetually on the run. The gamemakers sent mutts after them in the torrents, from unicorns to the famous pink birds to bunny rabbits and puppies with deadly sharp teeth. They were a bit nervous about staying in the same place for very long, so when they settled down near the edge of the candy cane forest they vowed to leave early the next day. Aiya continued moving through the field, and she traveled in a diagonal direction. She would arrive near the border of the mountain and the forest when the time came. Malcolm was mostly inactive in the gingerbread village. He passed between the houses, raiding their cupboards and munching on the walls. Colie got a note from her mentor Alexander that the careers had left the mountain; the coast was clear. She and Prongs left the cave and moved in a circle pattern around the large mountain. They were nearing the huge yeti mutt, and a clash was expected within the next few days. Vine moved slowly up the mountain face. He was moving carefully and therefore inefficiently, and he stopped frequently for drinks from the chocolate river. He had put on about two pounds since the beginning of the games, and his feces was a multicolored rainbow mess from all the candy he had eaten.
Vine's district partner, Orchid, left the side of the honey river where she had been stubbornly staying put for several days. The gamemakers sent a single unicorn mutt after her to chase her about half a mile from the bank, and they let her do the rest of the movement by herself. The unicorn had been like a warning, letting her know the gamemakers were still watching her. She was travelling alone through the open meadow when she spotted a tall, curved tree bearing gummy bears. She was attracted by Mitzi's soft burps, and she crept forward. Mitzi leapt to full height in terror, and Orchid backed away, scared at the concept of Mitzi turning violent.
"Don't kill me!" Mitzi shouted, voice quivering, knees knocking. "Just let me go. I won't give you any trouble, I promise."
"I won't give you any of my own," Orchid said. "There are fifteen tributes left. We'd best band together." And then they were allies. They hurriedly swapped and shared supplies, and Mitzi was able to heal most of Orchid's minor wounds with a jar of wound sealer she'd snatched from the bloodbath.
On Day 5, Prongs and Colie's alliance garnered another member. Prongs and Colie had traveled about halfway around the mountain, and they stopped around noon near a large, jagged section of the mountain that looked like a piece of rough metal. They sat cross-legged on the chocolate surface, and the weakening chocolate cracked under their weight, opening up the huge reserve of mold underneath. Noses wrinkling, they stood back up and moved about a quarter of a mile away. They crested the jagged rock and saw the enormous yeti mutt bathing in a fizzy pool of pale purple soda, its white fur gleaming in the sunlight. A rock slipped under Colie's foot, and the yeti mutt woke, roaring. The 10s ran for their lives, abandoning all forms of caution and barreling down the mountain as fast as their legs could carry them. As they barreled downward, they neared the small crevice where Vine was hiding. Prongs and Colie desperately dropped down into the crevice, and Vine yelped, the wind knocked out of him. The yeti clawed and roared at the small crevice, but it couldn't fit its hands or its jaws through. The three tributes cowered together inside of the deep fissure, shivering with fear.
Orchid and Mitzi left the gummy bear tree, frightened by the distant roaring of the yeti, and they quickly arrived at the honey river. Mold was growing on the shore of the river, and the slow-moving honey was starting to crystalize, giving off a smell reminiscent of stale milk. Aiya reached the border of the woods and the mountain and decided on travelling to the wounds, too intimidated by the mountain's rough slopes and too terrified by the loud roars. Rena was getting extremely bored at the horn, sifting through the supplies for the umpteenth time, and the other careers were scoping out the candy cane forest. They moved through the tall candy canes with surprising speed, especially Magnus and Glaive, who had both scored elevens. Incense was getting exhausted, and Cascade was going mad with grief; time would tell if she would break and split from the pack like a repeat Annie Cresta.
On Day 6, the careers and the anti-careers were closer than ever. The careers were hunting wildly in the forest, and the anti-careers were sprinting aimlessly around the place, terrified out of their minds. Their weapons were slowing them down, particularly Piston's sword. He, Mattin, and Cyndra took turns carrying the large weapon, and the person carrying it was always sweating profusely.
When the careers settled down that night, it became clear that Cascade had made her decision. She was going to split from the pack. She hadn't volunteered for the first shift, but when Magnus shook her awake around midnight, she knew it was her time. She grabbed her pack and her sleeping bag and silently ran for her life. Water's death was driving her mad, and she was truly realizing for the first time how unprepared she was for these games. Prongs, Colie, and Vine refused to the leave the deep crevice until they were sure that the yeti mutt was dead. The gamemakers removed its corpse from the arena with a hovercraft just to make a point, and the three tributes hesitantly tugged themselves out of the fissure, shaking. They engaged in surprisingly light-hearted conversation as they traveled down the slope of the mountain, sticking to the chocolate river to eliminate the threat of dehydration. They learned about each other's lives: Prongs' sister and her job as a rancher, Colie's pet dog, and the pile of rocks in Vine's backyard. They stopped about halfway down the mountain and curled up between two boulders that cast dark shadows over their sleeping bodies.
By Day 7, things were really starting to rot. Most of the candy canes in the forest had fallen over, and they were all melting and covered with ugly green growths. Most of the colored blossoms of the field were discoloring, and the sweet-smelling pool at the lowest point of the arena gave off an awful stench. The honey river was curdling and crystallizing, and the chocolate mountain was starting to sink downward into the ground. The stench was growing more and more repulsive, and things would only get worse as the games progressed.
The most famous fight of the ninety-seventh Hunger Games occurred in the early morning of Day 7. A stellar four tributes were killed in a matter of ten minutes, leaving a good portion of the Capitol grasping for the rewind buttons on their remotes. The anti-careers woke up early that morning. They broke camp and sped around the forest for about an hour. They crested a tall hill and spotted the career pack about half a mile away. The anti-careers turned to run and saw a trio of unicorn mutts charging toward them. Terrified, the anti-careers rushed away from the bloodthirsty unicorn mutts, toward the careers. Blood was certain to come, and lots of it.
When they ran down the hill, they lost sight of the careers. Mattin was the first to spot the pack, and he hissed for his allies to hide. The three of them leapt behind a cluster of standing candy canes and held their breaths anxiously as the careers grew nearer. Suddenly, Mattin leapt out of the shadows, brandishing his spear. Incense screamed as Mattin skewered the weapon through her torso in a matter of moments. She was too shocked to sidestep or even fight back at all. She slowly closed her eyes and slid off of the weapon, and her allies charged, ready to take down the anti-careers.
Incense Crothers, District 1 Female: 15th, Killed by Mattin, Day 7
Magnus and Glaive tackled Mattin at once. Magnus was particularly furious, bolstered on by the death of his district partner. Mattin let out a loud scream as Glaive swung his sword, nearly knocking his spear out of his hand. Piston and Cyndra leapt out of hiding, and they grabbed Glaive by either shoulder, tugging him away from the brawl. Glaive hurriedly swung his sword out of instinct, and Piston gasped when he saw the blade lodged into his gut. Cyndra scuttled out of the way so she wouldn't be knocked down by his falling body.
Piston Wyshak, District 6 Male: 14th, Killed by Glaive, Day 7
With two tributes dead, things were starting to escalate even more in the deadly brawl. It was Magnus and Glaive against Cyndra and Mattin, and both sides were prepared to win or die trying. Glaive swung his sword rather aimlessly through the fray. He hit himself and Magnus a few times, but he did manage to inflict a deep gash in Cyndra's side. Magnus was being much more tactical with his sickle, carefully lashing out to inflict the deepest wounds possible. Cyndra and Mattin fought back extremely well. Mattin had his spear and Cyndra had her knives. The gamemakers caused the career boys to grow somewhat sluggish and weak so that the anti-careers would have a chance at victory. This evened both sides out rather fairly, and the brawl went on for nearly forty minutes, their groans and screams carrying over the slowly rotting candy arena for hundreds of meters.
Prongs, Colie, and Vine were nearby, in the midst of their daily relocation, and they perked up at the commotion. Prongs instinctively ran for his life, but Colie grabbed him by the shirt. They weren't stupid enough to rush straight into the battle, but they were dead curious to know what was going on. They slowly crept toward a tall hill, and when they crested the top, they saw Mattin and Cyndra fighting for their lives. The 10s and Vine had become friends with the anti-careers at the training center, and they knew what they had to do. Colie was at the head of the trio, with Vine hesitantly following behind and Prongs reluctantly at the back of the group, weeping softly.
Things were not looking good for Cyndra and Mattin. Magnus had managed to hit Cyndra hard enough with the butt of his sickle to send her flying. She was sprawled out on the ground several yards away, completely unconscious. Now it was Mattin's job alone to hold off the boys from 1 and 2 while Cyndra regained consciousness. Glaive's sword connected with his hand, and Mattin dropped his spear, cursing. In an instant, Mattin was on the ground, pinned there by Glaive. Magnus tossed Glaive his sickle, and Glaive slowly drove the weapon into a screaming Mattin's neck.
Suddenly, Glaive went completely limp. Mattin rolled out from underneath him and saw two of Vine's knives buried into Glaive's back. He looked up and saw Vine, Prongs, and Colie standing just beyond a nearby cluster of large candy canes, and Vine was lowering his arm, looking utterly mortified as Glaive spasmed and bled out.
Glaive Russak, District 2 Male: 13th, Killed by Vine, Day 7
By that point, Cyndra had regained consciousness. She was on her feet, watching in disbelief as Magnus clashed with Mattin and the three mysterious tributes from 10 and 11. Magnus was screaming for reinforcements at the top of his lungs. Rena was within earshot, and she sprang to her feet inside of the cornucopia, eager to help him out. Rena would arrive in minutes, and the outliers didn't want to be around when that happened.
Unfortunately, their escape plan claimed another life. Cyndra ran toward the others to help them, and the outliers had already started moving. They were trying to form a barrier around Magnus so that they could dive in and overwhelm him all at once, putting him out for long enough to escape. When the circle was complete, Magnus dived at the nearest tribute, Colie. She let out a scream as Magnus' sickle slashed across her chest, and Prongs watched with horror as his friend bled out. Now that Magnus was distracted, Cyndra, Mattin, Prongs, and Vine ran for their lives without looking back.
Colie Tethers, District 10 Female: 12th, Killed by Magnus, Day 7
The rest of Day 7, and the entirety of Day 8, was empty of conflict. The tributes were utterly frightened by the four cannon shots in such rapid succession, and the mutts of the arena were sedated by the gamemakers so they wouldn't cause any trouble until things cooled down a little. Rena was more than a little confused when she arrived at the scene, and Magnus explained everything as they trekked back to the horn together. Rena was furious, not only at the deaths of her allies but also at Cascade's abandoning of the pack. Magnus was more than happy to guard the horn and nurse his bloody wounds while Rena went hunting that day.
The new alliance of four was all the rage in the Capitol, and the cameras largely focused on them as they travelled through the arena. Cyndra from District 8, Mattin from District 9, Prongs from District 10, and Vine from District 11 were an extremely diverse bunch, and they all got along well. They arrived at the crumbling beach of the honey river and followed it toward the melting, rotting mountain, covering their noses to keep out the sheer foul stench of the arena. Orchid and Mitzi were in relatively light spirits; they'd always thought of themselves as hopeless, but with other tributes knocking down the careers it seemed like they might not have been doomed after all. They were perfectly content with milling around the arena, not actively hunting for fellow kids, and they talked about their lives back in 11 and 12 as the day trickled past.
Aiya was doing the same thing. She was terrified into the depths of the candy cane forest by two unicorn mutts. By Day 8, it was hardly what you could call a forest. Virtually all of the candy canes had toppled, and huge mounds of rotting sugar dotted the place. With the sun beating down over everything, the ground was mushy and uneven, greenish-brown in some places, and the stink was virtually unbearable. Aiya strolled aimlessly around the place, covering her nose. For the time being, she refused to actively stir the pot.
Day 9 was also deathless. Magnus and Rena were hunting wildly still, swapping out their roles several times a day so that one of them was always guarding the horn. They were starting to consider destroying the supplies somehow just so they could both leave the cornucopia without worrying about anything getting stolen. Frustratingly, they were unable to find any victims on the ninth day. Rena was getting especially antsy since her last kill during the bloodbath. Cascade meandered through the foothills at the base of the chocolate mountain. She hopped to and away from the forest twice throughout the day; the stench of the forest made it virtually uninhabitable, and she swore to never go there again as she curled up and wept softly from the memories. Aiya disembarked from the woods at last, driven out by the stench and the lack of cover now that most of the candy canes had fallen. She wandered through the field in search of a home, staying far away from the honey river where she thought most of the deadly tributes were hiding. Malcolm finally left the gingerbread village. Most of the homes had collapsed from rot; not like the rest of the arena was any better, of course. He returned to the village that night, however, fighting through a unicorn mutt to reach it. He was starting to seriously piss off the game makers. Cyndra, Mattin, Prongs, and Vine retreated from the mountain. They arrived at the base halfway through Day 9, and they were preparing to climb it when Vine spotted Rena hunting on the slope. They rushed back to the central field and the honey river, which flowed much more slowly now that it was starting to crystallize and spoil. Orchid and Mitzi stayed put in the field, too disgusted by the rotting mountains and forest. By this point, fuzzy growths had begun to take root in the sugar grass, and they settled on a hillock that had yet to rot, hoping the food supply around them wouldn't spoil completely before the games were resolved.
By Day 10, the arena was reaching an almost uninhabitable condition. The mountain was collapsing, the ground was squishy and unstable, the forest was in ruins, the rivers and lakes were spoiling, and the sugary green grass was like a carpet of black-green mold that squished repulsively underfoot. Even the mutts of the arena were starting to go bad. The unicorn mutts that had once looked so pristine and perfect were starting to turn grey, and their fur tumbled off in clumps. Some of their eyes were starting to pop out of their sockets, and their teeth were growing sharper and their eyes redder. With their sedatives having worn off, the unicorns were once on a mad rampage through the rotten field, eager to gore and feast.
The night before, Cyndra, Mattin, Prongs, and Vine had settled down in the shadowy area between two large hills. The unicorns were attracted by the smell of their blood, and Cyndra was the first to wake up screaming when the razor-sharp horn of a large unicorn mutt pierced her chest. The gash oozed blood in the torrents, and Cyndra's screams woke her district partner Mattin, who roused Prongs and Vine awake. Cyndra ran for her life, blood streaming down her abdomen at a dangerous speed. Mattin was close at her heels, clutching his spear for dear life, and he tugged Vine along. Prongs froze dead in his tracks as the unicorn mutts bore down on him. He was paralyzed with shock, and he'd woken from one nightmare right into another. He was quickly surrounded. Vine tried to turn around and help him, but Mattin kept tugging him along; Prongs was beyond saving, and it would have been suicide to do anything but keep running. Back at camp, a small unicorn mutt tackled Prongs, and it skewered its horn through his neck with one deft thrusting motion. He gurgled and moaned, and blood pooled up in his mouth. His cannon shot terrified the unicorns, sending them reeling.
Prongs Raskino, District 10 Male: 11th, Killed by unicorn mutts, Day 10
Aiya was only a short distance away, and she instinctively took a step backward when she heard Prongs' screams and the frantic footsteps of the others. When everything was quiet, Aiya took several steps forward, morbid curiosity controlling her every move. The gamemakers terminated the unicorn after it killed Prongs, and the ugly horned horse was lying in a mangled position beside the dead body of the boy from 10. She turned around to leave, but then she caught a glimpse of the poison dripping from the dead unicorn's horn. A few sponsors caught onto her plan, and they sent her a pair of rubber gloves and a thermos. Aiya slowly crept forward and stretched the gloves over her hands, then held the thermos under the dripping horn until it was half full. She screwed on the lid and stared at her new deadly weapon for almost a minute before she remembered her feet could move.
The remainder of Day 10 was relatively tame and relaxed. The cameras mostly studied the three remaining careers and their whereabouts. Magnus and Rena were hunting more wildly than ever. When Magnus returned to the cornucopia in the late morning of Day 10, they knew they couldn't afford to swap turns any longer. They had to destroy the horn. Their sponsors sent them a small gun identical to the one Ashlyn Breston had fashioned in her own arena many years prior. Rena took careful aim and pulled the trigger, and the cornucopia suddenly exploded in a mass of hellish flame. Magnus and Rena thundered away excitedly, eager to resume hunting now that they had no permanent home.
Cascade was utterly frightened by the explosion of the cornucopia. She turned toward the mountain, thinking the noise signaled some kind of eruption, but then she saw the plume of smoke rising from the central horn. She was still too unnerved to stay in the chocolate foothills, so she sprinted downhill until she reached the bank of the honey river. Cascade hated honey, but she didn't have a lot of choice. She scooped up several handfuls of the old, crystallized honey and swallowed it down. Her hands were sticky for hours.
Aiya was combing through the arena the next day, Day 11, and she saw Orchid and Mitzi moving quietly through the wide open field. Like Aiya, they had recently abandoned the woods because of the rotting smell and the lack of cover. Aiya sprinted down a nearby hill and crouched down, waiting and watching. Orchid and Mitzi laid out a blanket for breakfast and started eating the berries and the sleeve of crackers their sponsors had sent them. Mitzi's mentor Arnold sent her a nope cryptically warning her that Aiya was near, but she just discarded the note and ate the strawberry flavored cookie that it had come with.
Aiya quietly got to her feet when the two girls fell asleep. Orchid and Mitzi had fallen asleep at opposite ends of the blanket, leaving the path to their thermos of water wide open. Aiya carefully unscrewed her own thermos and poured the entire contents into theirs, then shook it heavily several times. Aiya hesitated for a brief moment, then splashed the poisoned drink onto both of the sleeping tributes. Orchid and Mitzi woke up screaming as the highly acidic solution ate away at their faces, throats, and lungs, and they violently convulsed randomly, gasping and shaking. Aiya's face crinkled with disgust, and she stormed away, a torrent of emotions attacking her after making her first kills of the games. Fuming with angst, she hurled the thermos onto the ground. It bounced around and then rolled away, carrying the last few drops of poisoned water.
Orchid Richards, District 11 Female: 10th, Killed by Aiya, Day 11
Mitzi Tone, District 12 Female: 9th, Killed by Aiya, Day 11
That left the final eight: Magnus Duviver from District 1, Rena Lenard from District 2, Cascade Berra from District 4, Aiya Skane from District 6, Malcolm Jost and Cyndra Stockton from District 8, Mattin Ryde from District 9, and Vine Lilard from District 11.
The rest of Day 11 was deathless as the arena continued to rot and mold at a faster and faster rate. Cyndra, Mattin, and Vine were terrified by the two cannon shots, and they stayed near the honey river, moving short distances along the bank every few hours to keep the gamemakers from getting annoyed. The honey didn't exactly mold, but it started to stink, thicken, and crust up in an almost curdling manner. The three of them were staying extremely loyal to each other, and they learned a huge amount about each other's' lives and personalities through their conversations. Vine took a little while before he felt comfortable around Cyndra and Mattin, but they were all close friends before he knew it.
Malcolm hung out in the gingerbread village, keeping just as inactive and boring as ever. He was seriously starting to annoy the gamemakers. They knocked down several of the houses with the rabid unicorn mutts, and Malcolm moved a stellar ten feet. Orestilla liked taking her games slowly, and she didn't want to kill Malcolm just yet because of the two deaths that had already occurred on the eleventh day. She was planning to do so in the near future, however. Cascade was getting seriously sick; she was considered a coward or just plain stupid by many. Her decision to break from the pack was starting to take its toll; without sponsor food, she was forced to eat the rotting candy that made up the arena. Filth spewed from both ends of her digestive system, and Cascade curled up near the bank of the honey river, hoping for a miracle.
Cyndra, Mattin, and Vine were discovered on Day 12. Magnus and Rena had been scoping out the shores of the honey river for several days, but the three outliers had somehow managed to remain unnoticed. The careers were hunting ravenously on the twelfth morning, and their mouths both twisted into sick grins when they saw the three sleeping tributes. Magnus and Rena crept slowly forward. Magnus had his sickle and Rena had her sword; Cyndra and Vine had their knives, Mattin had his spear, and the three of them shared the sword that had once belonged to the dead Piston. The three calmly sleeping tributes were completely oblivious the entire time the careers neared, and they didn't realize what was happening until Mattin started screaming. Cyndra and Vine leapt to their feet, eyes agape with terror as Magnus repeatedly gashed open Mattin's abdomen with the razor sharp point of his weapon. Mattin thrashed his limbs and tried to fight back, but he was losing huge amounts of blood, and it wasn't long before his body gave up fighting.
Mattin Ryde, District 9 Male: 8th, Killed by Magnus, Day 12
Cyndra and Vine leapt into the river, and their feet hit the bottom with an ugly slurping sound. The honey had hardened into an odd texture reminiscent of putty, and the crystallized areas crunched under the tributes' panicked footsteps. The two of them had a fair amount of experience moving through the thick honey, whereas the careers had none. Magnus and Rena had no choice but to follow them into the river, and they were more than willing to do so.
The careers caught up in no time, and Vine roared as the jagged edge of Rena's sword scraped across his upper back. The blood quickly starting coming. At first, Cyndra and Vine tried to fight back in a more defensive manner. It was a matter of seconds before they accepted they would never be able to win if they were so careful. Cyndra counted down from three, and then she and Vine tackled Rena with all the force they could muster. She stumbled backward, arms flailing, and she landed with a splash in the honey. It instantly started flooding down her throat, and Rena writhed underneath the surface, choking and shaking. District 2 would not be bringing home another victor this year.
Rena Lenard, District 2 Female: 7th, Killed by Cyndra and Vine, Day 12
Magnus was now outnumbered, but he was far from being outgunned, and he was fuming with adrenaline and pure fury. Taking him down would not be an easy task. Cyndra and Vine staggered backward as Magnus roared, brandishing his sword. Vine stumbled mid-step, and Cyndra grabbed him to keep him falling; the honey was so thick that anyone who went below the surface would never be able to fight their way out.
Magnus slashed his sword, and Cyndra barely avoided the blade, stumbling at the last moment so that it merely singed off a few of her stray curls. She hurriedly drew her knives, doing so for the first time in several days, and Vine did the same, holding his weapons at arm's length. Magnus just doubled over with laughter at the sight of their puny weapons. With his sword, he knew he could easily kill both of them. It was only a matter of time.
When the tears cleared from his eyes, Magnus saw only Vine standing in front of him; where Cyndra had once stood, there was nothing but lazily flowing honey. Magnus slowly turned his head around, and then Cyndra was on top of him, grimacing and gagging as she drove her knives repeatedly into the back of his neck. Magnus sputtered out flecks of saliva as he fell still, and Cyndra screamed at Vine to run. He was more than happy to do so, and the triumphant outliers trudged out of the river as Magnus bled out, coughing up blood the entire time.
Magnus Duviver, District 1 Male: 6th, Killed by Cyndra, Day 12
Little of consequence filled the remainder of Day 12 and the entirety of Day 13. By Day 13, almost the entire arena was a swath of blacks and dark browns and greens, the chocolate mountain had melted, crumbled, and spread out so that it covered a fifth of the arena, and the candy cane forest was an unstable mass of fallen sugar sticks that softened and broke on the slightest touch. Staying healthy was getting increasingly more difficult, and food was being sponsored at high levels to keep the tributes alive.
Cascade could not stop throwing up; she was seriously sick, infected, and overall miserable. She threw up at least five times over the course of the morning as she ventured toward the cornucopia, and she circled around the ruined horn several times before stopping on a small hillock. She was the second least popular tribute after Malcolm at the time. Speaking of Malcolm, he slept the day away in the melted, rotten gingerbread village. It was almost like he'd given up trying to survive, and he was just waiting for death to come to him. Orestilla cut off his flow of sponsor goods and made the preparations for the 8 boy to leave the world.
Aiya was relatively inactive, somewhat traumatized after killing Orchid and Mitzi. She was too exhausted to move very much, and her day of rest was well-deserved. She curled up on the bank of the sweet-smelling purple pool where all the arena's small streams collected. By this point, the lake was a soup of filth, and Aiya had to rely on sponsor foods for sustenance.
On Day 13, Cyndra and Vine made the decision to split up. They knew the gamemakers wouldn't tolerate an alliance, like theirs, for very much longer. They were both extremely nervous but knew it was the best plan. Cyndra headed in the direction of the forest and stopped about a mile from the first line of fallen candy canes. She was too nervous to sleep due to the possibility of rampant mutts, so she stared at the fake sky until a dark wave of sleep crashed over her. Vine alternated between jogging and walking for the first half of the day. Exhausted after his trans-arena trek, he laid down on a sponsored blanket about a quarter mile from the gingerbread village. He was so tired that he fell asleep almost immediately.
He woke up a few hours into the fourteenth day to the sound of Malcolm's screams. Orestilla had caused a kind of sinkhole to open up underneath the spot where he was sleeping, and Malcolm shook with panic, desperately clawing and scratching at the rotten sugar grass as the earth sank down into itself. Vine saw the sinkhole opening and ran for his life. The sinkhole quickly grew to encompass about a pizza slice size of the circular arena. There was no more land, no more gingerbread village, and most important, no Malcolm Jost.
Malcolm Jost, District 8 Male: 5th, Killed by sinkhole, Day 14
Vine kept up his sprinting for the remaining first half of Day 14. His training score was a four, and it was starting to become seriously obvious that he had not been displaying his full potential in his private session. He was remaining surprisingly calm and composed despite the rising stakes, and silver parachutes practically rained down on him as he made his second long sprint in the last two days. Vine came to a stop about half a mile from the ruined cornucopia. He didn't see any real problems with nearing the horn; Cascade was the only career left, and Vine knew that she was unlikely to be chillaxing at the cornucopia.
Vine was right. Cascade was indeed hunting, and she found a victim in the late morning of Day 14. Earlier that morning, Cyndra had managed to track down Aiya. Aiya had been lying down on the ground, absentmindedly staring off into the distance, and she leapt to full height when Cyndra pounced into her field of vision. Aiya ran as fast as her legs could carry her, and she fell into a deep ditch that appeared out of nowhere. Aiya stumbled down into the ravine, grunting and groaning as sharp rocks tore against her. She fell to the bottom a few seconds later, and Cyndra ran away from the ravine, unwilling to risk following Aiya inside. As far as Aiya was concerned, she was trapped inside of the ravine.
Cascade was exploring nearby, and she perked up at the noise of Aiya's panicked screams for help. She peered down into the ravine and saw her jumping up and down, waving her arms. Gulping, Cascade tore a sharp piece of stone from the side of the ravine and hurled it downward. Aiya screamed as it sailed toward her, and she dove to left. By the time the stone had made hard contact with the bottom of the ditch and broken in half, Cascade had thrown two more. Aiya was soon overwhelmed by the barrage of stones, and she curled up on the ground, holding her hands over her face and crying loudly. Cascade threw down a rock so heavy she needed two hands to lift it, and it killed Aiya immediately, bashing in the side of her head with unnerving force. Cascade left the ravine quickly, unwilling to risk staying and falling in herself.
Aiya Skane, District 6 Female: 4th, Killed by Cascade, Day 14
Cascade hadn't made a kill with her bow since the bloodbath, but she did so in the late evening of Day 14. Cyndra had only gone a very short distance away from the ravine before settling down for the night; Cascade continued exploring well after nightfall, and she spotted the silhouette of Cyndra's still body, her chest rising and falling with her even breaths. Cascade crept forward, trying to remain as quiet as possible with the cushy, uneven ground squished and crunched underfoot. The place Cyndra had chosen to sleep was one of the worst-smelling spots in the whole arena, and that was really saying something; she was hoping it would keep the other tributes away, and it would have, if Cascade hadn't seen her silhouette.
Cyndra woke up when Cascade was about twenty meters away, and she hurriedly jumped to her feet, whipping her head back and forth in search of the sound. She saw Cascade just as two of her arrows entered her chest, and Cyndra collapsed, gasping and shaking. Cascade rushed forward and kicked Cyndra once in the upper chest, and the outlier girl curled up into a ball, rocking slowly back and forth and weeping softly. She swiftly bled out from the arrow implanted into her side, and Cascade was more than happy to raid her camp of all the things she had been carrying at the time of her death. Before they split, Vine and Cyndra had chosen to bury Piston's sword, unable to decide which of them should take it and not wanting it to fall into the hands of the already well-stocked Cascade. Cascade was disappointed that Cyndra wasn't carrying the sword, but she was excited that she had reached the finale.
Cyndra Stockton, District 8 Female: 3rd, Killed by Cascade, Day 14
Vine and Cascade met up in the early morning of Day 15. Orestilla had allowed each of them a full night to rest and recover their strength, and then she sent the tributes dashing toward each other with a couple of well-placed unicorn mutts.
The unicorns weren't meant to kill, but they did injure both tributes. Cascade was several precious strides ahead of the two mutts, and one of them poked her back with its greying, crumbling silver horn. She stumbled momentarily, allowing the other mutt to hit her in the back, and she fell onto her front, groaning with pain and panic. She jumped back to her feet and almost screamed from the pain in her back, but she kept running, and she started to speed up when she saw her final opponent, Vine, kneeling next to the horny river.
Vine himself was not uninjured. His unicorn mutts had gashed open his left arm, and blood poured plentifully from the wound. He leapt to his feet when Cascade came into sight, and he pulled out his knives, shaking, standing his ground as the 4 girl charged. Cascade had District 4 wildly cheering her on; even though she wasn't the ideal career, she was from their district, and the fishing district was ravenously thirsting for their next victor. Vine, however, was the real underdog—he had all of the outlying districts rooting for him, and it didn't seem impossible that he could pull out the win.
Vine took a huge risk that ultimately spelled his victory. As Cascade charged, Vine pretended not to notice her, curled up on the beach with his chest rising and falling. Suddenly, he jumped to his full height, and Cascade was too shocked to sidestep before the knife landed in her neck. She staggered backward, coughing up blood, and Vine sat cross-legged on the riverbank, praying that her screams would end soon.
They carried on for several minutes, and Vine couldn't bear to listen any longer. He grabbed Cascade's thrashing body and shoved her into the river. She quickly sank below the water and suffocated, and the trumpets sounded the second her cannon shot faded away fully.
Cascade Berra, District 4 Female: 2nd, Killed by Vine, Day 15
"Vine Lilard of District 11, you are the victor of the ninety-seventh annual Hunger Games!" Titanius and Dexter screamed. Dexter didn't know it, but in less than two weeks, he would be dead from illness.
Vine just put on a weak smile. Through more than his fair share of luck, he'd won the Hunger Games. The fourteen-year-old boy was nervous about the difficult life of mentoring ahead, but then he remembered the family and friends he was going home to, and it was enough to power him forward into an uncertain new world without fear.
Vine Lilard, District 11 Male: Victor of the Ninety-Seventh Hunger Games, Day 15
AFTERMATH
District 11 welcomed their fourth victor with open arms. An 11 tribute hadn't won since Lily back in the fifty-third games, and the agriculture district was relieved to see another one of their tributes come home. Vine came out of the games as a very changed boy, but he was ultimately one of the victors who would use his life toward good. He donated lots of the payouts of his victory to the poor of District 11, as he had been among them before he had become victor. He also paid for libraries and schools to be built in some of the poorer districts. He was well-spoken, influential, and overall liked. He tried his best to steer clear of alcohol and succeeded.
The payouts on his victory were stellar, as 0.3% bet on him.
His victory tour was one of the best yet; he turned out to be a great public speaker despite his nerves, and he was a symbol of hope for many of the higher-numbered districts.
Vine would live to age seventy-eight, dying from cancer four months before the one-hundred sixty-first Hunger Games. He would marry and have two children.
NEWS
Vine moves into the Victor's Village of District 11, occupying the first house.
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)
65HG: Finnick Odair (#10, District 4)
66HG: Victor Xhang (#17, District 2)
67HG: Augustus Braun (#11, District 1)
68HG: Iuna Mosier (#12, District 1)
69HG: Alexander Westlake (#2, District 10)
70HG: Annie Cresta (#11, District 4)
71HG: Johanna Mason (#3, District 7)
72HG: Remus Daley (#18, District 2)
73HG: Apollo Reinold (#4, District 6)
74HG: Meredith Powell (#4, District 7)
75HG: Struve Lockman (#19, District 2)
76HG: Porcelain Wing (#13, District 1)
77HG: Router Lowell (#9, District 3)
78HG: Surge Upsdell (#7, District 5)
79HG: Kasey Slosser (#5, District 6)
80HG: Tarquinius Orfe (#20, District 2)
81HG: Talisa Plummer (#12, District 4)
82HG: Poplin Amsden (#3, District 8)
83HG: Pixel Watt (#10, District 3)
84HG: Dock Elizabeth (#13, District 4)
85HG: Sycamora Bromley (#5, District 7)
86HG: Bobbin Chern (#4, District 8)
87HG: Organdy Karat (#14, District 1)
88HG: Sickle Salgato (#3, District 9)
89HG: Admired Thompson (#15, District 1)
90HG: Chipson Harris (#11, District 3)
91HG: Mars Talbot (#21, District 2)
92HG: Arnold Scruggs (#3, District 12), Wystella Knapp (#22, District 2), and Robina Caite (#3, District 10)
93HG: Taj King (#16, District 1)
94HG: Steer Drudgers (#4, District 10)
95HG: Diode Cooper (#8, District 5)
96HG: Pluto Talbot (#23, District 2)
97HG: Vine Lilard (#4, District 11)
A/N: Writer's block is a bitch, isn't it? I just wasn't feeling this chapter for some reason, I hope you all still enjoy it though.
It's been a long time coming, hasn't it? I've been meaning to fit in a District 11 victor for a while now, and I just guess this was the year!
