AUTHOR'S NOTES: And here I bet everyone thought this story was dead and had gone the way of the world. Well, it nearly did, and I sort of loosely call myself out for it in this chapter. Anyways, I recently got back on a huge Hunger Games kick for some reason, and so hopefully I'll be able to get around to wrapping up the tales I've told in my extensive Hunger Games AU, and give closure to our friends in the 94th (and 95th) Hunger Games. Long story short: I apologize for leaving this story on hiatus for over 9 months. It is not dead, and not forgotten. The show must go on, and so I leave you with the penultimate chapter of the 'games before we hit the post-games and tour.
Happy Reading!

CHAPTER 22: A Contemplative Conclusion

Time seemed to come to a stop or at the very least, slow to a halt for a while after the anthem faded. The faces of Nazir and Sudi had vanished as well, and the arena grew quiet as the final three tributes went to sleep for what may have been the final time.

Cadence was not sure what time it was when he woke up, considering that he didn't have a watch and that he was fully convinced the sun, moon, stars, and the sky itself, were all fake illusions of the Capitol Gamemakers. Either way, it felt like he had been asleep for an eternity, as if everything around him had just been frozen in time.

Maybe it was. Cadence was not by any means foolish enough to trust the Gamemakers with anything, and even the arena itself was full of far too many dangerous tricks. Still, as he gazed at the dark sky which would surely light up as the morning broke through, he thought about the last few tributes.

Nazir and Sudi were dead, which meant one of three different scenarios: either Xandra and Sudi had confronted Nazir and Serendipity, and they had fought to the death; or perhaps it was only Nazir and Sudi. That would mean Nazir had slain Sudi, only to be slain by Xandra, or backstabbed by Serendipity. Cadence didn't imagine that to be the case though. Serendipity relied too much on her friends to want to take them out while two of her most powerful enemies still lurked in the arena. Cadence and Xandra might not have been allies at this point, but both of them wanted to kill Serendipity, which meant that career girl would have to tread lightly.

The third potential scenario Cadence envisioned was that perhaps after the deaths of the District 2 boy and the District 12 girl; that the last two girls had decided to take him out so they could end the games with a glorious battle. That had been a tactic used by tributes in the past before when they clamoured for a more theatric finish, but at the same time, Cadence couldn't imagine Xandra siding with Serendipity over that. He could see Serendipity proposing it to her, but if Xandra turned it down there would likely be a fight and one of them would not leave that spot alive. Cadence loosely hoped for such an event to transpire, but if it did, it did not happen before the sun came up, and when this happened, Cadence knew it was time to start his day and get moving.

From here his goal would be to try and spy on whichever of the two remaining tributes he ran into first. He was not sure if the arena had contracted at all, or even which direction the walls were as opposed to the cornucopia. Thus, he simply picked a direction and ran. He had no real destination in mind; he simply hoped that if he ran into Xandra, that she would want to kill Serendipity before turning on him. Cadence figured she would be much more dangerous than that District 1 girl to face in single combat, and so he wanted her on his side.

The waiting game continued as Cadence recalibrated himself to the patterns of the shifting stones. He rode a few to get to different parts of the arena until he had memorized the patterns, and used this to discover a trail fresh enough that it had to belong to either Xandra or Serendipity. The prints were distinctly human, and so unless those diabolical red-eyed, grey-skinned humanoid monsters from the last three years were making a comeback, Cadence decided to follow quietly.

His bare feet and light frame left little impact against the grassy rocks, nor did he leave any footprints. He decided to pursue the tracks, since he could theorize and sped the entire day making conjectures, but if he spent all his time thinking but failed to act, he would just be another statistic when Serendipity or Xandra took him out. He had to win at this point—if not for himself, then for Lucia.

The lack of trees made hiding trickier, but the different rock formations made a reasonable enough substitute. Cadence fashioned a makeshift hood out of some old supplies from Lucia's old pack, using them to fashion a hood to cover his fiery red curls. He stood out far too well with them, and right now, not being seen was of utmost importance as he crouched in wait to see which tribute he had been tracking all this time.

It turned out to be Xandra. Either she was completely unaware of Cadence's presence, or she simply chose not to acknowledge it. She was unfazed, peeling pieces off of her latest catch as it cooked over her fire. If Serendipity was stalking her the way Cadence was, she could very easily get the drop on her—or so Cadence assumed. Even in her laid-back state, Xandra's weapon remained at her side and while it was hard to tell due to her mop of dark hair, he was fairly certain her ears were perked in case of any sound. Serendipity might have been many things, but subtle and stealthy were not one of them.

Xandra finished eating, and while Cadence swore she looked right at him, she did not react to his presence at all. She simply rose to her feet, cracking her knuckles and rolling her shoulders, giving her body one last stretch as she picked up her battleaxe and moved out.

It was clear that she did not expect to be ambushed by Serendipity, because she herself made no attempts at stealth as she trudged across rocks and valleys. At one point she jumped on one of the shifting square platforms, which moved only moments later. Cadence knew he would have to either be seen or get left behind, but as the rock began to shift, he had a different idea. He moved himself to a vantage point and made a glorious leap towards the platform that was literally a do or die.

A rather curious image showed up in the large hologram of the arena that the Gamemakers used to directly monitor the tributes' location, thanks to the trackers in their right arms. The number 11 that represented Xandra sat atop the slow-moving stone platforms, and was indeed moving towards the number 1 that represented Serendipity. Near the base of the shifting stone, hardly a few meters above the tree line (which was clearly the kill zone if Faren's demise was anything to go off of) was the number 5, which indicated Cadence.

"He survived the jump," one of the Gamemakers turned to Head Gamemaker Zurok, who had clearly been about to give the signal to fire a cannon.
"Let's get a visual then," she ordered. Sure enough, as cameras panned in on him, there was the curly-haired boy clinging to the vertical-sloped rock with both hands and one of his feet. He glanced down at the rustling trees, wondering how the stone carved a path through them without leaving cleared land in its wake, but he decided not to question it. For all he knew, it might have been an illusion—and he had not been there when Faren had died.

When the rock stopped at its destination, the lurch nearly shook Cadence off. However, only one boy's life would be claimed by the bottomless forest, and said life had already been claimed after Faren had died. Cadence quietly climbed back up, almost like an insect with the swift and graceful way he clung to the walls with the tips of his fingers and toes. However, by the time he reached the top, Xandra was long gone. Fortunately for someone quiet and stealthy like Cadence, following the heavy and unsubtle footfalls of Xandra Kanosh took minimal effort.

Cadence wondered why she was in such hot pursuit of Serendipity, but perhaps the gut feeling in his stomach that the end of the games was approaching was in hers as well. His calculations might have been a little off, but he had slept a dozen times since the games began, not counting naps. This would put the games at day 13—and since most recent Hunger Games had lasted 14 days, this would mean the Gamemakers would likely be forcing them together soon—which could very well be their undoing if they weren't careful.
As Cadence trekked across the mossy rocks, he contemplated the last two women standing. Of the two, he definitely wanted Xandra to win. He could not forgive Serendipity for allying with those District 9 tributes that had slain Lucia. He didn't want to kill Xandra, but would if it took him home. It was the last he could do to honour Lucia's memory. Without him, she would just become another statistic—one of the 2,187 tributes that had died in these barbaric games.

He eventually caught up to Xandra, and hardly 5 minutes after doing so, Xandra had cornered Serendipity, who had drawn her weapon.

"I was wondering when you'd ask me to dance," she blew Xandra a kiss. "let's do this."
"Winner gets ganked by Cadence," Xandra quipped, pulling out her battleaxe. "Let's go."

Cadence was slightly vindicated by these words; it meant neither of them knew he was only a few meters away—and he planned to keep it that way until only one of them was left standing.