Hello everyone, it's now 2016 and it's been far too long since I was active on this story. It was my first SYOT, and I had an epic story line that I wanted to do, but procrastination, writing other stories to try and get better at writing so that I could make this story better, and stuff got in the way. I don't think I'm ever going to write the rest of this story, and that's not really fair to all of you. Even though I only know two people who submitted to this story are still active on the site, I think that they deserve to at least know what happens to the tributes.
So to give all of you some sort of closure, I'm going to do a summary of what I had planned.
I divided the story into seven parts, all of which represent a different part of the story.
We've already covered two parts: Part 0 (Prologue), Part 1 (Death lottery), and were just starting Part 2 (Just a game) when Disaster Dominoes ended, and were almost to Part 3 (Our true selves) when The Monster Within Us ended. Even though I had said that I would finish this thing.
So without further words, I'll summarize what was to come to the best of my memory.
Part 2 (Just a game)
Alliances at the start:
Careers: Griffin, Lynsa, Lucifer, Howl, Tharizdun, Shoney, Eva, Arrowe
#1: Aerin, Sami, Angel
#2 Max, Nessa
#3: Rayne, Life
Death list:
(Bloodbath)
24: Colin
23: Valerie
22: Talliana
21: Ricky
20: Dav
(Non-Bloodbath)
19: Max
18: Nessa
17: Sami
16: Shoney
15: Arrowe
After the bloodbath the careers would of gone out hunting for tributes while the other tributes would do their best to survive in the conditions that the gamemakes and the arena would of thrown at them.
During the day, the heat would be sweltering hot, while during the night, it would be freezing cold.
Aerin, after chasing Eve and failing to catch her because he remembered his allies, would of ran back to them and Eve, injured, would heal herself using improvised bandages and go into survival mode, construction a homemade shelter to shield herself from the elements.
At the same time, Aerin, Sami, and Angel would be using their sleeping bags to shield themselves from the cold of the night. Angel wants to be with Aerin, but gets stuck with Sami instead because Aerin wasn't the girls to be together instead of being stuck with one of them because of their different genders.
Later that night, Sami wouldn't be able to sleep and gets out of her bag, only to see that Aerin's also awake. Both would confess to each other that they couldn't sleep and they would chat with each other for a bit. Both would admit that they're scared and both say that they'll do their best to protect each other. Aerin says that he'll try not to leave the girl unprotected again, and Sami would say that she'll be there to stop Aerin from running off again.
Elsewhere, Shoney, Eva, Arrowe, and Lynsa would be patrolling the forest, looking for non-careers when they finally decide to call it a night. But when Arrowe and Lynsa discover that both District Four tributes are missing, they decide to go searching for them. Lynsa thinks that the two of them want some alone time because they feel something for each other, Arrowe finds that funny.
It then turns out that Eva's planning on leaving the careers since she doesn't feel like she belongs with them. That Griffin, Lucifer, and Howl think of her as a useless career member, and that she'd be better of on her own before one of those three decide to do her in themselves.
Eva almost makes it to freedom with some stolen supplies when Shoney confronts her about it, saying that she forgot a medical pack. Shoney tells her that if she leaves the pack, she'll have more enemies than ever before, and Eva says that she's willing to take that chance. And when it looks that Shoney's going to let her go, he attacks his district partner, and a fight ensues.
The two careers would lash out at each other, injuring each other in the process, before Eva gains the upper hand and repeatedly slams the back of Shoney's head against a tree, effectively knocking him out before she escapes.
It wouldn't be until the next morning that Shoney awakens and thinks to himself that his plan went along perfectly, as he was holding back on his district partner and let her escape. The injuries that he received make a cover story of how he tried to stop her but he got caught from behind by surprise, and when he makes it back to the cornucopia, he's lie is believed by all. Griffin, Lucifer, and Howl think of Eva as weak because she couldn't finish off someone, and everyone resumes their work.
Griffin, Lucifer, and Howl end up searching the city for non-careers when they encounter a horde of giant rat mutts. Griffin wants to stay and fight them, but reluctantly retreats after a few words from Lucifer and Howl. They run across the city in an attempt to escape, and nearly run into Rayne and Life.
The two girls decide to hide from the careers and the mutts when a group of rats come searching for them. Rayne, desperate to keep Life from screaming out, holds her mouth shut, and holds it hard, nearly strangling Life to death, starting a tiny rift in their alliance.
Elsewhere in the city, Max and Nessa would be wondering the city in search of supplies when they are met by Tharizdun, who Max decides to fight when Nessa wants to run. Tharizdun then effortlessly destroys Max by crushing his skull beneath his boot. Nessa then runs away, and Tharizdun follows.
Nessa finds a building with places to hide, and she does just that. Hides. She hides in a wardrobe and locks it.
Tharizdun enters the building, and starts searching for her as Nessa holds her breath and tries not to make a sound as Tharizdun punches and kicks everything in search for her. He nearly finds her when he punches a hold in the wardrobe door and peeks inside, but he doesn't see her. And when Nessa thinks that he's gone, she lets out a sigh of releif. Tharizdun hears that, and breaks the wardrobe doors down and drag her out.
Nessa tries to fight him, but is overpowered as Tharizdun punches, kicks, and drags her across the room, occasionally throwing her into the wall and cupboards. Nessa, too weak and injured to fight back, gets dragged back to the cornucopia to get raped.
Lynsa, Arrowe, and Shoney are at the cornucopia, but Lynsa's the only one that tries to stop Tharizdun. Arrowe and Shoney in turn stop Lynsa from interfering because even if they manage to kill Tharizdun, they know that the rest of their alliance will kill them in turn. And as the three careers fight each other, Tharizdun rapes Nessa before ripping her throat out with his teeth.
As Nessa dies, she thinks of how she failed her family and how they had dubbed her a miracle.
When Griffin, Lucifer, and Howl come back to the cornucopia, they confront Lynsa about how Tharizdun treated Nessa, telling her that they don't care what he does to other tributes as long as he kills them and is on their side.
The second night of the arena comes, and Sami is standing guard for Aerin and Angel when Aerin comes to her and says that he doesn't think he'll ever sleep well as long as they're in the arena. Sami agrees.
Both then get to know each other better, telling each other about their family and their life back in their districts. Aerin notes that he's glad that Sami has opened up to him and Angel, and Sami is happy that Aerin and Angel took her in to be their ally. Even better is that she says that Aerin refused the offer to be in the career pack.
Aerin would then admit to Sami that even though she's the older one, she feels that she's the shy little sister to Aerin. Aerin then says that Sami's more of the mother of the group, trying to take care of everyone.
The two of them then put their arms around each others shoulders before they look out at the night sky together, wondering what they would of been back home if they lived in the district the other did. Aerin thinks that they would of been good friends, and maybe more. Sami thinks the same.
Later in the night, Aerin is asleep, but Sami is still awake with the guarding. Sami places a sleeping bag over Aerin before she heads out to relieve herself out in the woods. She finishes up, only to get knocked out by Alexander and taken to a hut in the middle of the forest where Alexander tortures Sami for fun.
He taunts her, saying that she's weak and that she's nothing as he cuts her many, many times until she dies. He then severs her head off before heading back into the forest with said head.
The morning comes, and Aerin wakes up to the sound of a cannon being fired. Noticing that it's morning, and that Sami never woke him up for his shift, Aerin goes into a panic and wakes Angel up and demands that she help search for Sami.
The two then search the camp before heading out farther.
Aerin then finds Sami's head on a sharpened stick, and it reminds him of how he failed to save a friend of his back in District Eleven because he was clumsy.
Aerin takes Sami away from the stick and lays her on the ground far enough away from him and the camp for the Capitol to take her away.
When Aerin gets back to the camp, Angel sees that he's been crying. She asks if he found her, and Aerin lies to her, wanting to spare her feelings, before he says that it's time to move.
As the loners are having trouble surviving by themselves, the careers are having trouble dealing with each other. Griffin, Lucifer, Howl, and Lynsa are in an argument about Tharizdun when Griffin finally has enough of Lynsa's whining and punches her in the face. Shoney then starts to figure out how Eva felt when she decided to leave the career pack, feeling that they're more of a danger to each other than the other tributes.
Across the Arena, Life and Rayne are out hunting for food, when they spot mockingjays. Life starts to have fun with the birds as Rayne tells her to keep singing. And while Life is feeling happy for the first time in days, Rayne is climbing the back of a wall, hidden from Life's view. And when Life is finally feeling joy, Rayne cuts that feeling short by killing some mockingjays, silencing their songs. Life then thinks of how Rayne is willing to trick her and use her, and wonders if she'll do that again.
On the other side of the arena, Eva and Eve meet each other by literally running into each other, and a fight looks like it's going to happen, but Eve runs away and Eva runs in the opposite direction.
The reason Eve didn't fight Eva? Because she thought she was too much of a threat, and she didn't need to necessarily fight her if she could run away.
Night comes around and Arrowe is on night duty for the careers when Shoney shows up and admits that he can't sleep. Both of them think that Tharizdun never sleeps before Shoney decides to go out for a run. Arrowe advises him that it's a bad idea and that he should wake up Griffin or Lucifer so that they can go together, but Shoney convinces him that he won't go far and that nothing will happen to him.
unfortunately, trouble finds Shoney in the city part of the arena when he thinks that he can silently assassinate Rayne and Life in their sleep when he see's their camp fire light from inside a building.
Rayne hears him and wakes Life up before she attacks Shoney.
Shoney manages to get away from Rayne before he starts running away. Rayne chases after him, only to get knocked down again and again whenever she gets close to him. That's when Rayne discovers that Shoney isn't running, but toying with her in order to weaken her. Rayne then throws her machete at Shoney, and severs half his left hand and make three fingers fall off.
Shoney and Rayne get into a struggle where they're both almost equally fast, but Shoney's more experienced at fighting, and Rayne's stronger than Shoney.
The two attack each other with all their might, clawing at each other, cutting each other, and ripping flesh out of each other, until it seems that Shoney's about to get the upper hand when Life comes up behind Shoney and stabs him in the back of the neck with a dart.
Shoney feels agony before the two girls continue to attack Shoney. The two girls gain significant injuries before Shoney is finally put down after half his face is torn off and Rayne breaks his neck.
Rayne, exhausted from fighting and the injures that she received, falls to the ground just as she receives her weapon back from Life.
Life then drags Rayne back to their hideout when she's confronted by Bo. Life thinks that she's in danger, and has a short struggle with Bo before Bo's hatchet blade is pressed against her throat. Bo doesn't kill her, and that confuses Life before she finds out that Bo doesn't want to kill her, all he wanted to do was steal her food.
Life tells him to keep the food, and in return, even though Life asked for nothing, Bo gives her a hatchet before running off into the night.
In the forest part of the arena, Angel is taking guard at their new camp location when Alexander sneaks up on her and beats her face in as he tells her what he did to Sami. It seems like he's going to kill her before he kills Aerin when Aerin, awake from a bad dream, confronts Alexander and delivers some serious damage before Alexander retreats. Aerin almost chases him into the forest when Angel grabs Aerin and tells him not to follow him and leave her alone. Aerin, looking at Angel, decides that he needs to protect her instead, and stays.
Elsewhere in the forest, Eva sees Shoney's face in the night sky and thinks about her choice about leaving the career pack before she painfully falls down a hill and finds a source of water. She decides then that that's where she's going to set up her own camp.
During the morning of the following day, the tributes are greeted by rain. Most celebrate while they can while thinking about home and family. Alexander plans his revenge on Aerin. Angel confronts Aerin about why he didn't tell her about Sami's fate, and Aerin tells her that he didn't want her to be upset. Angel then demands to Aerin that he won't lie to her again, and Aerin promises not to.
Bo is wondering why he acted the way he did when he was with Life, and Life is feeling useless as she takes care of Rayne, who is still unconscious, but alive.
Tharizdun is thinking about hunting other tributes.
Later in the day, Tharizdun chases December across the forest, and December runs as fast as she can, jumping over obsticals and stuff while Tharizdun simply carves a path of destruction to anything in his way. December tries to stop him by running, jumping, and making things get in his way, but it's no use. She then throws some knives at him, but even the one that sticks into his gut doesn't slow him down in the slightest.
Tharizdun nearly catches December a couple of times, and she barely manages to escape each time. Every time she hides, Tharizdun seems to find her. Tharizdun is faster and stronger than her, and she knows it. And just when she's thinks she's about to be caught, she falls down a steep hill and goes tumbling down it before she loses Tharizdun in a thick mess of plants.
Tharizdun, enraged that he lost her, almost unwillingly kills her when his mace misses her my mere inches. Tharizdun then rips the knife out of his stomach before returning to hunting, in a foul mood.
Meanwhile, Life thinks about how her entire family died, and how she lived her life after her father died trying to keep whatever was left of the farm from the peacekeepers.
Rayne on the other hand, dreams of her mother, who she doesn't remember much of and doesn't seem to even care about.
At the career camp, Lynsa gets placed with Griffin and Lucifer, which both of them don't seem to like, while Arrowe goes into the city part of the arena with Howl. Howl says that she can go in there alone, but Arrowe convinces the pack to let him go with her. Arrowe says that it's not to avenge Shoney, but that would be a lie. At the same time, Eve arrives in the city part of the arena to search for supplies.
This is where The Monster Within Us ended and what would of happened if my plans went forward and didn't change when writing Disaster Dominoes. I'll do my best to summarize it.
At this point in the game, Arrowe and Howl would of been trekking around the city, looking for tributes on their way to Howl's destination and Eve would be searching the city for supplies when they run into each other on the streets.
Howl, armed with a crossbow, would fire a shot at Eve, only for Eve to round a corner and the arrow misses. Howl and Arrowe would chase after her, and they would see Eve swiftly climbing the side of a building. Arrowe would run after Eve as Howl loads her cross bow with another bolt. By the time said bolt is in the weapon, Eve would already be through a second story window with Arrowe closing behind.
Howl, angry at her prey getting away, tells Arrowe to not let her get away as she runs into the building herself, only to find that most of the pathways are block or hard to navigate through. Howl, with great frustration, takes one of the hard routes to the second floor.
Arrowe, at the same time, would be chasing Eve through a maze of obstacles that are either in the way by themselves, or thrown into his path by Eve.
Eve would try to escape Arrowe by climbing out windows and climbing them to higher parts of the building as well, thinking that she can escape Arrowe. She was wrong.
Arrowe and Eve, after running from one part of the building to the next, going from floor to floor, finally reach the top of the building, where both of them are exhausted.
Both tributes catch their breath for about five seconds when Arrowe tackles Eve to the ground and tries to stab her in the face, but Eve escapes by biting Arrowe in the wrist.
An epic fight ensues and both tributes are trying to best the other. In the middle of the chaos, both tributes would lose their weapons. The fight would end with Eve, very injured from an older and stronger Arrowe, would rip the piercings from his ears and shove him over the edge of the building with all her might.
Arrowe would then fall to his doom while thinking of his father being trapped in the middle of the mountains. Arrowe would reflect that he had always thought that his father was a coward for starving to death as he was trapped when he could of found a way to save his life, such as rolling down the cliff after getting his foot set free. But as Arrowe falls, he thinks of his dad and tells himself that he now knows what his father was thinking. Falling is scary.
Arrowe would then land on an old concrete fountain. The sharp point in the center stabbing through his spine before his blood starts to fills the bowl. All of that witnessed by Howl and Eve. But while Eve feels guilty over Arrowe's death and how she created it, Howl just wonders if Arrowe weakened Eve enough that she won't escape.
Eve vomits up everything in her system before she makes her way down the building and away from a Howl that never saw her get away.
Meanwhile, Rayne would finally wake up. She would ask why some of the food was missing and where Life found the hachete she had. Life would tell her, and Rayne would wonder to herself why Life hadn't just killed Bo. Rayne shrugs it off before telling Life to pack up before they leave the building they were resting in.
(Part 3) Our true selves
14: Angel
13: December
12: Lynsa
11: Life
10: Eva
9: Howl
At this point in the games, the careers aren't getting very friendly with Lynsa, but the only consolation for them is that she isn't complaining as much as she was before Griffin punched her. Griffin wants to get rid of her since she's been useless in the game so far, but Lucifer tells him that she could have a use later on in the game if they wait. Griffin doesn't think so, but he keeps her around just in case.
In the city, Howl gets really angry when she can't find Eve and eventually manages to get out of the building after she reaches the top and back to the bottom again. Howl then resumes her original plan and heads back into the city, heading to the high tower she spotted during her first journey into the city part of the arena.
A bit later in the day, Life and Rayne would spot a building that they would think would make an excellent choice of shelter since the building will keep them out of the elements and provide great protection. It was relatively comfortable, and even better, it had a well that could catch the rain water.
The two girls decide to scout the building and find nothing odd about it. Life decides to drop their equipment before going outside and gathering some water. As life thinks about the shelter they found and how it reminds her of home, Rayne is relaxing with her feet up against one of the many pews lined in the building before Bo starts strangling her with a hatchet handle.
Rayne, unable to grab her fallen machete, grabs the wooden handle as hard to allow her to breathe. Rayne then easily escapes by smashing her elbow into Bo's face, effectively causing Bo to release his grip on the weapon before Rayne spins around and strikes him across the face with the back of the hatchet.
Bo losses a couple of teeth before Rayne slams her foot into his chest, turns the hatchet blade around, and is about to sink the blade into his skull when Life jumps in front of Rayne and says that he's harmless.
Rayne tells life that Bo just tried to kill her and that she's going to kill him before he gets a second chance. Life counters by saying that if he really wanted to, she'd be dead by now. Rayne, not wanting to admit that Life's right, releases Bo, but not before telling him that if she wanted him dead, he'd be dead.
As Rayne wonders how Bo snuck up on her, Life comforts Bo and asks why he attacked Rayne. Bo just turns his head all around the building, and Life then realizes that this was his place in the arena, and just like what Bo had done with her, he wasn't really going to kill Rayne, just try and scare her away or something.
Life then asks if Bo would like to be in their alliance, since he's got a building and a source of water while Rayne and Life have food and can hunt. Rayne tries to object, but Life tells her that Bo could be an asset to them. Bo looks at Rayne, then Life, shrugs his shoulders, then gives a little nod, making the three of them allies.
Elsewhere in the arena, Angel is trying really, really hard for Aerin to notice her, but no matter what she says or does, Aerin just sees her as an ally and friend that he made not too long ago, which is making Angel frustrated. She wants Aerin to see that she likes him, and wants him to like her back. That's she's liked him ever since she saw him stand up to a group of peacekeepers back home two years ago.
When their teacher was caught doing a crime, peacekeepers broke into the classroom and were about to kill the teacher in front of them. But their teacher, even though he knew that they were used to seeing death in front of them, didn't want the kids to see what the peacekeepers were going to do to him.
The teacher then had to cut off one joint from his fingers for each student to get out of the classroom. Doing the math, Aerin found that one student would have to be left behind if he were to sever off all finger joints. Aerin then convinced his friends and some other classmates, Angel included, to stay behind so that their teacher wouldn't have to suffer. And so, with only six joints severed, the peacekeepers shot their teacher to death.
Aerin denied the peacekeepers wanting to see someone in agony. And so, Angel developed one sided feelings for him, never telling him how she felt, until she tried to in the arena. without actually saying the words 'I like you'.
As Aerin and Angel head towards the city in search for supplies, feeling that it's too dangerous in the forest because Alexander killed Sami and found them once again and almost killed Angel, the two head towards the city. Angel's feelings towards Aerin's ignorance getting deadly.
As that's happening, December would be starting to get weak from lack of food and water and injury and would just result to crawling along the forest moss until she finds some mushrooms that she doesn't recognize. Too weak, hungry, and injuries to wonder if they're safe, she eats them.
She feels slightly better when she starts to think of her father and how he could possible kill himself in front of her before entering this death world she's in. She thinks about their time together in the Capitol, and thinks about how it all started. How he stole from some merchant. She wonders why he would steal from them, even though they're middle class and could afford whatever he had stole.
She then starts to break down, thinking of everyone in her life. Her friends only just got back with her, but she doesn't know how long that'll last, because she thinks she's going to die. Her sister came crying to her, telling her that she really did care about her, even if she thought it was a lie. And her father, she had just meet him again before he died.
And now she was going to die, because life just wants to ruin her.
That's when December starts to see her dead father, the back of his head still smoking and dripping brain matter, come walking towards her. At first December doesn't want to believe it, but then it starts talking to her, saying that she's the reason that he stole from that merchant. He then explains that he stole from merchant to get away from her because she was a brat who brought disgrace to their ancestors.
December can't find the courage to speak, as she's in shock from what she's seeing and hearing. Her dad then proceeds and tells her that instead of trying to learn everything, that she should of been out in the real world, like her sister, June.
December tires to apologize to her father, then asks why he's treating her like this. He then replies in a deep, demonic voice, "I thought you wanted to know everything!" Before he appears right in front of her face and vomits spiders all over her. December is unable to scream and passes out from fear.
Eve soon finds December, passed out. She realizes that December is an easy target and that she could kill her easily. But she doesn't, because she knows that she's not a murderer and feels guilty over killing Arrowe, even though it was in self defense and she doesn't think that she could do that again. So she goes to her default training. She steals everything from December and leaves her for dead. Feeling that the arena is just like District Twelve, you're either the one that's surviving, or the one dying. And she doesn't want to be the one dying.
Later, Aerin and Angel are searching the city, and Angel's attempts at being subtle are failing and she's getting more and more frustrated. Things finally come to a head when Angel lashes out at Aerin, asking if he would react the same way if she died instead of Sami. Aerin says that he would before Angel says that Aerin's been emotionally ignoring her, to which Aerin, confused about that, denies it. Angel then asks if he felt anything for Sami, and when Aerin says that he wished Sami was still alive, Angel goes into a rage and yells at Aerin before shoving him hard.
Little did Angel know, Howl was sitting in her lookout tower, writing about how bored she was when she heard Angel's frustrated words. At first she thought she was imagining things, but then she looked through her crossbow scope, and saw that there was Aerin and Angel walking in the street.
Howl takes aim at Aerin and fires, but Angel shoves Aerin, and the bolt hits Angel in the chest instead.
As Howl curses and tries to quickly reload a bolt, Aerin drags Angel away from Howl's line of fire, equally confused as his partner where the bolt came from. When they're safely behind a building, Angel is crying as her shirt and coat is getting covered in blood. Blood is also coming out of her mouth as she confesses her feelings to Aerin, which Aerin says that he doesn't return. Angel then starts to cry harder asking what Aerin saw in Sami that she didn't have. Aerin answers that unlike Angel, Sami actually tried to get to know him.
Angel then gets angry at Aerin again, saying that they could of gotten to know each other, but Aerin doesn't think so. If Angel didn't put in the effort before, what makes her think that she will in the future.
Angel then cries even harder and gets even angrier before asking Aerin why he couldn't of made her feel better and at least lied to her before she died. Aerin then answers that Angel told him not to lie to him anymore. And with that, Angel's will to live drains away and she dies quickly after, leaving Aerin alone in the arena.
Aerin stays with Angel long enough to close her eyes and remove the bolt, effectively breaking it in half and tossing it away before he takes her supplies and runs away.
Howl retreats from her tower, knowing that her location is compromised, and returns to the cornucopia and her fellow careers.
Night falls, and December awakes up, and is no longer in a psychosis. Because of what her not-father said to her, December feels that it's her fault that her father committed suicide. She believes that his spirit came down to explain that she was worthless and that she should of been like June. A girl that everyone seemed to like, was physically superior, and beautiful. December then walks around in a daze, thinking about how she spend all her time trying to get answers for everything. How she read what she could get and tried to get to know everything.
In her self loathing, she runs right into Alexander, who stabs her in the ankles to render her immobile before dragging her to the career camp. He then tells Tharizdun that he can have December in exchange for a knife. Tharizdun readily agrees, since he feels extreme hatred for December's father.
Alexander gives Tharizdun December before Tharizdun stabs Alexander in the stomach with the knife he was going to hand him. Alexander rages and asks why he did that. Tharizdun then tells him that he gave him the knife, like he wanted, and to be grateful that he didn't kill him with it instead. Alexander then runs off into the forest, raging as Tharizdun rapes his newest victim.
Nobody but Lynsa cares, and the only reason Lynsa doesn't try to save her is because her career allies point a sword, a knife, and a crossbow at her, telling her that if she tries to save a worthless non-career, she'll join her.
Tharizdun ends December after he rapes her and rips her throat out with his teeth.
Elsewhere in the arena, Life and Bo would be having a heavily one sided conversation with each other. With Life trying to get Bo to open up and talk, while she tells him about her life and her experiences in District Ten, while Bo remains silent and occasionally just nods and stuff. Rayne tells Life not to bother with Bo, but Life keeps on trying anyway.
Late in the night, Life tries to get Bo to open up, asking if he has any family. Bo just shrugs his shoulders before Life says that anyone that takes care of can be considered family. She then explains to him that she has nobody to take care of her, and that she works all the time in Ten just to stay alive. She then starts to break down and tells him about how each of her family members died, and she keeps on placing the number twenty five on events revolving around their deaths.
When she's done letting it all out, she says that she wishes that someone were there for her, saying that while she might of been friends with Laurel if she wasn't just a babysitter her parents called on, she wishes that there were someone to be with her. To take care of her. To make her feel wanted, just like her family did once for her.
After some silence, only broken by her sobs, she feels a gentle pat on her back. Only once, but for Life, it was enough.
The next morning, Rayne, Life, and Bo are out looking for supplies when Rayne pulls Life aside and says to her that she thinks that Bo's a burden to the both of them. Life tells Rayne to just give him a chance, and Rayne tells her that if Bo doesn't do anything, she's going to let him go. And by that, she means kill him to save themselves one less tribute from murdering them and returning home.
Rayne would then think of her mother, who she's been thinking of more and more recently, gaining back memories that she had long forgotten. Her mother's kindness. Rayne starts to think about what her mother would think of her if she could see her now. What she's planning to do. What's she's thinking of. And Rayne hates it. She wonders why of all times would she start remembering her.
At the same time, Lynsa, Lucifer, and Howl are out searching for non-careers, and it doesn't take long before they encounter Rayne, Life, and Bo.
Rayne and Lucifer charge at each other, and a fight ensues between the six tributes.
Rayne and Lucifer would get down and dirty with each other in close quarter combat while Life and Bo face Howl and Lynsa at a distance.
Lucifer and Rayne would try to stab and slice one another, and succeed to a degree before they end up just hitting each other with their arms, legs, and heads. Bo would throw rocks at Lynsa and Howl, wanting to save his hatchets, and Life would shoot her darts at the career girls. Howl would throw throwing knives, which would then be thrown back and so forth.
Eventually, Bo would throw a hatchet at Howl. But he aims off and throws it blade facing away from the target, just to hurt Howl. He hopes that it's enough to make sure that he and his new allies have enough time to escape. But then Lynsa, who think's Howl's life is in danger, shoves Howl out of the way, and receives a hard thrown hatchet blow to the side of the head.
The blunt end of the hatchet blade caves a part of her skull in, and Lynsa is then in agony. In a trance, Lynsa drops her bow and arrows and falls to the ground. Howl ignores Lynsa and picks up her bow and arrows and start shooting at Life and Bo as Lynsa screams for help. Bo manages to slip away unseen, and manages to get behind Howl before he hits her in the back of the head with a thick branch before he grabs her bow and cuts the string with his hatchet.
Meanwhile, Rayne is losing her fight to Lucifer, because even though she's stronger and just as fast as he is, Lucifer knows how to fight. And her scrawny body just makes her get hurt that much more with each receiving blow.
With part of her face torn off and more than a few chunks of her hair torn out, not to mention all the cuts and lacerations she now has, Lucifer nearly stabs Rayne in the eye with her own machete before Life rips Lucifer off of her and slams him into a tree. Life then slams a knee right into Lucifer's balls before he falls to the ground in pain. The three non-careers then retreat into the forest before the three careers fall back to their base in defeat.
When the careers get back, Lynsa is demanding help from them, which they keep on telling her to shut up about. Blood starts coming out of Lynsa's mouth when Griffin, sick of hearing Lynsa talk, and getting approval from Lucifer, separates Lynsa's upper and lower jaw with his sword. Howl then comments on how that's one way to shut a girl up before they bandage themselves up, swearing revenge.
Elsewhere, Aerin would be raging at himself for not keeping his allies alive. Saying to himself that he's the strong one, and that he should of been better.
In the middle of his rant to himself, he crosses paths with Eve, and without anyone to stop him from containing himself, a fight ensues. It's a struggle between speed verses power, and both tributes get heavily injured with them trying to kill one another before they knock each other out.
When Rayne, Life, and Bo reach safety, Rayne demands to know what's going on. Who did they kill and why didn't they kill Lucifer. Life explains that it was all they could do to escape and that they were more focused on saving her. Rayne chews her out before pointing to Bo and saying that his useless ass was more useful than Life at this point.
An argument between Life and Rayne take place before the two of them turn away from each other and walk away. Rayne considers killing Life, but hesitates and lets her walk before telling her in taunting matter to come back when she wants to survive. Bo follows Life.
Life then says to Bo that she doesn't know what to do anymore, and wonders if she should stick with Rayne. Life then says that Rayne is right, and that she is worthless because she's unable to save anyone anywhere she is. She just can't do anything right.
Bo then hugs Life, and Life, taken by surprise, hugs him back. Life then starts to feel something for Bo, and she knew that since she had first talked to him in the Capitol training center, that she wanted to get to know him. She didn't know why, probably because she reminded her of her quiet could be friend. Probably because she really just wanted to help people, and she saw him as someone that needed help. And those feelings only grew when he gave her that hatchet.
On the other side, Bo doesn't know what he's feeling at all. He's wondering why a girl like her would even help him out at all. Why would he give her someone when she expected nothing in return. Why was he closer to her than almost anyone else? Why does he feel so funny and sick when he's around her?
And as the two have another one sided chat, Rayne is getting flooded with memories of her mother and how disappointed she'd be with everyone in the family. Rayne thinks of her older brother that no longer lives with them and the rebellious activities that he had conducted, the way her sister prostitutes herself to men and gets abortions whenever she gets pregnent, and the way her father always seems tired all the time. The only one Rayne thinks her mother would of been proud of is her five year old sister who is still as innocent as someone in District Six can get. And Rayne is getting edgy because of her impulse to steal, as she hasn't stolen anything in a while.
As Bo and Life are getting closer, Eve wakes up and sees a defenseless Aerin. She knows that Aerin's a large threat, and that he attacked her earlier. She wants to kill him, but can't bring herself to do that when it's not in immediate self defense, because as her mind keeps on reminding her, she's a thief, not a murderer. So she steals his supplies and runs off.
Aerin wakes up later, and discovers all his supplies have been taken. Aerin is fuel by anger and takes his rage out on anything that he can find, harming himself as he hits the trees and ground. And when he finally calms down, he thinks about his home and how once upon a time, he was someone that was super impulsive and acted before he thought and had little control over his feelings.
And that it wasn't until nearly four years ago that he finally tried to change himself when he shouted at his favorite sister, Cassie, and had hit her more than once before his eldest sister had beat him into the dirt and chewed him out. Since then, Aerin tried his best to be a better person, but alone he couldn't. He depended on people.
Aerin, now thinking about that, told himself that now wasn't the time to be thinking about that, and told himself that he was going to better himself without people before getting up and heading deeper into the forest.
Some time would pass, and it would be late one night when Bo is standing guard for his alliance when Rayne comes up from behind him and says that she's sorry for how she's been treating him. Bo doesn't know how to respond, so he doesn't. That's when Rayne grabs him by the front of his shirt and slams his back into a tree and tells him that she needs something from him before she forcefully kisses him on the lips.
Bo, taken by surprise, can't even find the will to move. At the same time, Life would see the act of Bo and Rayne kissing and start to chew both of them out before running off in a fit. Bo attempts to go after her, but Rayne holds him in place, telling him that she's gone now and that he should stay with her.
Rayne then reflects to herself that when she took Shoney's life, she realized that she didn't just have to steal physical objects, but stealing anything helps her with her Kleptomania. And with that, she stole someone's relationship, and it made her feel better. She then thinks of Shoney and when she killed him. She didn't feel regret or remorse, she felt wonderful.
She felt in control and powerful. Something that she had never felt before. And when she had stolen his life from him, it made her feel all the more better. And maybe that's why she felt so proud of herself when she killed the animals to feed her family.
Rayne then attempts to kill Bo, and a fight ensues. It's a one sided struggle as Rayne almost kills Bo multiple times, but by pure luck, Bo survives. Eventually, Rayne has Bo in a choke hold and is about to slit his throat open with her machete, but Bo gets his arm in the way, and ends up getting slashed across the arm instead.
Rayne, not expecting that, tries to swing at him, but Bo ends up spinning around and ducking the swing before he slams both of his fists into Rayne's eyes, blinding her. Bo then grabs Rayne's weapon arm and slams her wrist into a rock until she lets go of her weapon. Bo then grabs the machete and throws it out of sight before he finds his lost hatchet, and slams the blunt end of the ax head vertically down Rayne's face, effectively breaking her nose, before kicking her in the chest and running away.
Rayne, tries to chase him, but being blind, she runs into a tree and knocks herself out.
Bo would chase after Life and eventually find her. Life would then start shouting at Bo, saying how she should of seen it coming. How she was just being used and how when she thinks something good's going to happen to her, reality has to tell her something different. Life attempts to storm off again, telling Bo to leave her and go back to Rayne if he likes her so much. Bo grabs her by the jacket sleeve before Life rips it out of his grip and says that if he has a reason for her to stay with him, say it now or hold your piece.
Bo attempts to say something, but no words are coming out of his mouth. That's when Life turns away and starts walking away. Bo then starts trying harder and harder to get over his social phobia, as he doesn't want Life to leave. He keeps on trying, but keeps on failing.
Finally, words start coming out of his mouth, but they're far too quiet for Life to hear, as she's quite a distance away from him. Still in eyesight, but out of ear shot, and Bo isn't taking a step anywhere.
And just when it seems that Life's going to disappear from his life forever, Bo shouts three simple words as loud as he can. "I like you!" That's when Life stops in her tracks and starts to cry. She then turns around and walks back to Bo, and when they're right in front of each other, says says that she likes him too. And that's when they kiss each other.
Cut to the careers looking at the sunrise, who are having a difficult time in peace. All three of them are bored and are getting frustrated at not finding any tributes and foolishly decide that no one is going to come to the camp when they're gone, so with Griffin and Tharizdun in one group and Lucifer and Howl in another, they go hunting the arena for other tributes.
Rayne at the same time is having a serious fit as her plan failed and she's now considering what to do since she doesn't know where either Bo or Life are, so that's two kills that got away from her. Rayne decides that since she's alone and weaponless, she'll have to find a way to shelter herself and find a place that can provide just that, and a way to ambush unsuspecting tributes. So Rayne take what's left of her supplies, thinking that it was stupid of Bo to not take them, and heads off.
Meanwhile, Bo and Life have gotten to know each other better since Bo, while still extremely shy and doesn't say a lot, he's talking with Life just as much as he does with his adopted family. Maybe even more.
Eventually, Tharizdun thinks that Griffin is just slowing him down, and sees him as a threat to his legacy. And when they reach a swamp area, Tharizdun tries to bite Griffin in the side of the neck, but Griffin senses something off and avoids getting his neck chomped off.
A fight ensues as the two most powerful tributes in the arena face each other. Griffin, a trained career with his sword and mace verses Tharizdun, a man more powerful than he has a right to be and someone that can't feel pain with his mace and knives.
The two teenagers just utterly destroy each other, and if they were facing anyone else, the other would be dead, but the two of them keep on going.
Several missing teeth, broken bones, dislocated limbs, and many, many cuts and lacerations later, Tharizdun stabs Griffin in the gut before picking him up with both hands, raising him above his head, and slams him head first into the thickest, wateriest, muddiest part of the swamp. Griffin's entire body then sinks into the water that's more like quick hardening wet cement than anything else. Tharizdun sees that there's no way for Griffin to get out, and that there's no way for him to confirm that Griffin is actually dead without going into that part of the swamp himself, so he leaves Griffin to his fate. Griffin is trapped, so even if he does manage to break the surface, he can't escape and will die slowly at least.
Sunset comes, and Lucifer and Howl don't return to the cornucopia in favor of trying their luck at night. At the same time, Life and Bo are out gathering material for their camp to make a shelter and a fire. They aren't too far from one another, but Tharizdun manages to sneak up on Life and take her away without attracting the attention of Bo. Tharizdun thinks that Life is alone, and takes her to the cornucopia.
Bo, after gathering as much as he can carry, returns to the new camp site, only to find that Life's missing. Bo then drops everything, gathers what's left of his supplies, and hurries off in search for Life.
Bo follows the clues and eventually arrives at the edge of the cornucopia, where he hears Life screaming in agony as he legs are crushed by a mace. Bo is about to charge in and take Tharizdun on, but is stopped by Aerin. Bo and Aerin get into a brief struggle before Aerin pins Bo down and says that he's sorry for what's happening to Life, but if he were to face Tharizdun, he'd end up dead since he'd be facing the remaining career pack as well. Bo says that he doesn't care, but then Aerin asks him if Life would care to see him die in front of her.
Bo then stops struggling and reluctantly, doesn't nothing but look away. Aerin says that he's sorry and that they shouldn't be watching what's happening, and they walk away. Bo, angry at himself, Aerin, and Tharizdun.
Life on the other hand isn't giving Tharizdun his usual victim behaviour. She's defiant, and its screaming as he rapes her, and it annoys him so much that he starts on hitting her. Life counted on that, and as Tharizdun uppercuts her, Life bites off her own tongue in order to kill herself. Tharizdun, not wanting Life to die by that method, bites her throat and rips it out. Life, as she drowns in her own blood, reflects her life and how she just wanted to help people, even though she was pretty helpless herself.
Just before she dies, she thinks of how many times Bo said that he liked her. Twenty five.
Night falls, and Eva is loving her camp and lake. She feels safe enough to swim in the lake alone, which she's done several times now. Unfortunately for her, Alexander has also found the lake, and sees her camp site.
Alexander, not quite healed from his encounter with Tharizdun, wants supplies, and what better way to get supplies than a rouge career?
Alexander waits in the shadows before Eva comes to dry land. And when her back's turned, Alexander attacks her, and Eva quickly counters.
A fight ensues, and eventually drags them back into the water. Eva is on the winning side, because even though her former allies considered her the weakest career, she was still more skilled at fighting that non-careers, and eventually, the two of them are fighting underwater. Alexander can't hold his breath for as long as Eva and tries to surface for air, but Eva swings her knife at his throat and draws blood before she kicks him down and breaks the surface as Alexander sinks.
Eva catches her breath and thinks about how the lake is no longer a safe place when Alexander emerges from the water and slits her throat from behind. It turns out that Eva didn't slice his throat, but his hand.
And even though Eva is bleeding from her second mouth, she continues on fighting fiercely. Alexander then plunges her head underwater until Eva drowns in the water and her own blood. Alexander loots her supplies before resting for the night.
Meanwhile, Aerin would find out that looking after Bo is harder than it originally seemed. Bo is retreating into his own reality, shut in from everything and everyone, not responding to anything Aerin does or says. Then Aerin discovers Bo trying to kill himself by jumping off a tree. Aerin manages to barely stop him, and it's not all gentle either.
Aerin chews Bo out and asking of Life would approve. Bo responds that he wants to be with her, Aerin repeats his question, and Bo repeats his answer. Aerin then decides that he can't let Bo out of his sight, lest he die like Sami and Angel, so Aerin strikes him across the face before tying his arms and legs up.
Late at night, Howl is guarding the camp site that she and Lucifer have set up when Tharizdun tries to take her like he took Life, only it doesn't work. Lucifer wakes up and discovers that Tharizdun has turned traitor, and a fight between the District Two tributes and Tharizdun ensue.
The two careers do everything they can to bring Tharizdun down, but they can't stop him. The fight ends when Tharizdun breaks Howl's arms and legs and Lucifer falls down a steep cliff. Tharizdun doesn't think that Lucifer is dead, but he's not about to chance going down that cliff, so he grabs Howl and takes her back to the cornucopia before raping and killing her.
Griffin in the meantime, finally gets out of the swamp after hours of struggling. Griffin, exhausted and angry at losing and nearly dying, thinks back to his promise to his mother before unwillingly falling asleep.
The next day, when everyone is awake, the gamemakers announce that it's the final eight, and that because they're still alive, they can receive something that'll aid them greatly in the arena if they can get to them. The tributes then get sent a map for their item location.
Most of the tributes willingly go for various reasons.
Griffin and Lucifer because they want to get revenge on Tharizdun. Alexander goes because he needs healing. Rayne because she needs a weapon. And Eve goes because she needs supplies, as she's just been living off the land.
Tharizdun doesn't go because he thinks of himself as an invincible god, while Aerin is deciding whether or not to get his thing or Bo's. Aerin thinks about how much he could benefit from his own item, but then thinks about Bo and how he's planning on committing sucide. Aerin knows that he shouldn't care, but he does. So instead of getting his own item, he carries Bo over his shoulders and goes for his.
The interviews get carried out in the districts for both the tributes that are alive, and those that are dead.
Videos of family and friends as sent to the tributes remaining in the arena to give them hope and encourage them to go on. But in Tharizdun's case, to fail.
The tributes then get their items.
Griffin and Lucifer get body armor. Alexander gets Capitol medical supplies. Rayne gets her signature weapon, a kukri. Aerin gets Bo some pills that make him not think about suicide. And Eve gets warm clothes and a sleeping bag.
Most of the tributes are glad for their gifts.
Meanwhile in the Capitol, President Frost if overlooking the game when Marco, the young peacekeeper that was in the group of peacekeepers that December's father led, bursts into the control room, and throws in high powered plastic explosives. Before anyone can react, Marco detonates the explosives, destroying the arena control room.
Things in the arena go wild as the weather becomes stormy and mutts are released. Rain, wind, fire, and lighting dominate the arena as mutts search for prey.
Marco celebrates his success when President Frost emerges from the rubble and with one hand, raises Marco off the floor. Marco takes a look at her, and sees that while almost all her flesh had been stripped off or burned, what scares him the most is that underneath her flesh are metal parts. The young peacekeeper then realizes that President Frost is a machine before his throat is crushed.
Meanwhile in the districts, the screens are filled with static. And in some districts, some see this as the Capitol not having any control over them anymore. That someone from the inside got into the Capitol and ruined everything for them. And that's when some of the districts in Panem start a rebellion, and start attacking the peacekeepers.
A/N: This has gone on for quite a bit, so I'll do a part two summery when I can. I'll be PMing people when part two is finish.
Up next:
Part 4, Part 5, and Part 6.