Noah Brimms, 17

District 11 Male

Noah awoke to the pinging of a parachute. He rolled over in his sleeping bag and opened one eye, watching Mozu, who was on watch, stand to collect the large silver box. She looked at it briefly before setting it down and walking over to Wyler. Prodding him with her foot, she woke the boy from 3 and whispered to him.

"You got a sponsor gift," she said. Wyler sat up, blinking sleepily.

"Let me see," he said.

Mozu passed him the package and Noah watched Wyler open a long box packed full of wires and hooks and other gadgets. A small smile crossed his face and he pushed his glasses up.

"Did you get what you needed to make more traps?" Noah asked, sitting up. Wyler and Mozu both started, unaware that he was awake.

"Looks like it," Wyler said, closing the box. "I can work on this today while you hunt?"

"Sounds good to me," Mozu said, kneeling down beside their small camping stove and turning it on to get breakfast ready. Noah just watched Wyler.

Does he really want to protect the Cornucopia, or is he going to destroy our stuff? Noah wasn't sure. He never trusted Wyler from the moment Blitz saved him in the bloodbath, but Wyler was strategic, and it would be dumb to make an enemy of him. Conceding for the moment, he nodded and began to pull on his boots. Mozu was boiling some oats, and Wyler was already getting started on assembling his trap.

As he waited for food, Noah polished and sorted his knives, examining each blade for traces of blood or wear. But they were all in excellent condition, and he slid them lovingly back into their sheaths before accepting the bowl of plain oatmeal from Mozu. The small brunette sat down on the ground, cross-legged, and began to eat, pointedly ignoring Noah's stare. She's been awfully friendly with Wyler. Are they going to betray me? If they did, he had to be ready. Adelind had already proved that no one was to be trusted. Not that Noah didn't know that already, but it was a good reminder. He couldn't afford to lose.

Once they'd eaten, Noah looked around. Which way should they go? Only a few tributes were left, and the arena was vast.

"Where are we hunting today?" Mozu asked him.

"Let's go towards the meadows," he said, pointing to the right of the Cornucopia. "We never fully explored them." Nodding, Mozu grabbed her spears and set off. Noah turned back to Wyler.

"One suspicious move, and you're dead. And I promise it will be slow and painful," he threatened. But Wyler just glared at him, holding his gaze until Noah broke away. He hated that he was the one to flinch first.

Mozu Striker, 18

District 2 Female

Mozu and Noah had been walking for several hours, and had only just reached the edge of the meadow. The arena this year was large, and despite going on many training hikes back in District 2, Mozu was tired. She'd barely slept the night before worrying about Noah turning on her and Wyler, or Wyler leaving her with Noah, and many other scenarios only an anxious brain would come up with.

But she was distracted from her thoughts by a hand on her shoulder. Noah was pointing with his knife toward a curl of smoke coming from the treeline.

"Circle around," he ordered. "We'll flank them." Taking a deep breath, Mozu nodded. She set off in a wide curve around the meadow, keeping low in the tall grass. Once she was in position, she and Noah began to move in.

When she saw who was sitting near the small fire, Mozu's stomach turned. It was Colette. And her death at Noah's hands would not be pretty. Suddenly, someone from behind her shouted.

"Hey!"

It was Danse, with her arms full of firewood. As soon as she saw Mozu she yelled, alerting Colette and startling Noah. Mozu heard Colette scream, but focused on Danse, throwing her spear with deadly accuracy. But Danse threw her armful of branches and twigs, knocking the spear from the air. Mozu reached for another but Danse charged at her, knocking her off-balance long enough for the girl from 7 to rush by.

Mozu turned, about to throw her second spear when she heard Corrina's voice in her head. Don't be afraid to pick your battles. This could be the perfect time to eliminate Noah. A part of her felt sick at the prospect of willingly letting someone die, but then again, hadn't she already killed? And Noah was dangerous. Letting Danse and Colette kill or at least weaken him would be helpful. So she slunk back into the trees and watched.

Noah and Danse were fighting, knife to hatchet, while Colette sat on her hands and knees, gripping her stomach. A knife was deep in her gut. Her blonde curls hung around her face and Mozu could see her tears dripping onto the ground. There was a pang in her chest. Going back against her earlier decision, Mozu came forward again. She set her spear down beside her and knelt beside Colette.

"Hang on," she whispered. "It will be over soon." Then she gripped Colette's head and snapped her neck.

Her cannon fired. Mozu gently lay her body down as Danse whirled around.

"No!" she shouted. She lunged at Mozu, but Noah grabbed her by the hair and yanked her back. Then he threw her onto the ground and stood on her chest. Mozu heard her bones crack as Danse wheezed out a pained breath.

Noah crouched over Danse and plunged a knife into her eye. She tried to scream, but nothing came out. Her hands clawed at Noah's arms but he ignored the scrabbling and examined her face instead. Bile rose in her throat.

"Noah, isn't that enough?" Mozu asked.

"Yeah. Kill me, you coward," Danse growled.

"Oh, don't worry. I will," Noah said. "Once you beg for it."

"Noah…" Mozu said in a pleading voice.

"Shut up," he spat at her. "Let me have my fun. She deserves it."

"No, she doesn't."

Mozu spoke before she had time to think about her words. Every eye in Panem was on her, and she said that. Noah looked over at her, a bit of shock on his face. He clearly wasn't expecting that either. But it didn't deter him for long.

Mozu couldn't pull her eyes away from Danse's dying form. Noah cut her mercilessly, his strokes strong and precise. But Danse never cried out. She lay with her eyes closed, body perfectly still.

Finally, Noah seemed to grow tired of his game. He dragged his knife across her throat in a red smile, and smirked in satisfaction when her cannon fired.

"All better," he said. And Mozu nearly puked.

Wyler Kline, 18

District 3 Male

Wyler had been in stressful time crunches before, studying for tests or taking quizzes, but he'd never been under this much pressure. His fingers flew across his wires, weaving an intricate net of death. He had to finish before Noah and Mozu came back, and two cannons had fired about two hours ago. They could be back at any moment.

As he worked, Wyler tried to push Regina's face from his mind. As strange as it was, he missed his former ally. When he was with her, he felt like he had a purpose beyond studying. And that was an incredible feeling. New, for sure, but amazing. He always had such a narrow vision for who he was, and with Regina, he finally saw more. And then she had to go and die on him, and now he was fighting for his life again.

Pushing her face from his mind, Wyler connected the last few wires and scrambled to his feet. Hurriedly, he began to place the thin metal netting all throughout the pools around the Cornucopia, leaving only a small gap near the back so he could leave. He had just finished placing the last piece when he heard voices.

"–bitch got what was coming her way," Noah was saying. He couldn't hear Mozu, but Noah had to be talking to someone.

Wyler didn't particularly want to kill Mozu, but she was a threat to him, and so she had to go. He backed up to his place near the mouth of the Cornucopia and pressed a small button he'd concealed behind a larger rock. He could almost feel the low hum of electricity fill the air.

Mozu and Noah came into view and Wyler looked down, busying himself with some spare wire. Hopefully they'd believe he was still working on the trap.

"Hey Wyler! Have you made lunch?" Noah shouted. Wyler looked up. He was steps away from entering the water.

"Not yet," he said slowly. "I can now."

"Good. You better get start–"

Noah's foot splashed into the small pool and his body began to jerk with electricity. Mozu jumped back in surprise, narrowly avoiding the same fate. Noah flailed and danced until he couldn't hold himself up anymore, and he flopped forward onto the stones. His cannon fired, but his body continued to twitch. Wyler locked eyes with Mozu.

"Clever," she said, her tone flat. "I suppose this is where we part ways."

"I suppose so," Wyler said evenly. Mozu nodded.

"It was a pleasure getting to know you," she said. And then she turned and walked into the forest.

Hey everyone! Here is Day 6, and with it, three deaths! We are down to the Final 5, and I have two arena chapters left to write. I am ridiculously excited to reveal the victor. I hope you all will approve of them. And I promise we'll check in with everyone else next chapter. In fact, next chapter will have a POV from every remaining tribute!

Questions:

1) Whose death was the most shocking?

2) Who do you think will die next?

Eulogies

8th: Colette Reilly (killed by Mozu)
RIP Colette. You were such a fun tribute for me and I really wanted to keep you around, but LCS won my last SYOT and that felt unfair. And up against everyone else, you didn't really stand a chance. I'm glad you found a friend in Danse before you went. Thank you LadyCordeliaStuart.

7th: Lavinia Danse (killed by Noah)
RIP Danse. I adored you. You were kind of a last-minute submission, and you were never my victor, but you were a joy to write for, despite being so surly. Colette brought out your best side, and you truly made a friend in her. You died courageously, standing up to a bully like you always did. I hope you're satisfied with how she went Nat. Thank you Carlpopalol.

6th: Noah Brimms (electrocuted)
RIP Noah. For a long time, I flicked between you and Ellie as my victor. You were mean through and through, and you were an interesting product of your environment. Your victory would have benefited District 11 too, which would have been interesting to see. But it didn't feel quite right, and so you had to go here. Thank you wiifan2002.

Have a nice day, be kind to each other, and never stop reading!

- Fiona