A/N: Thanks to richards25, coaster317, charliesunshine and Burningbrightforever for reviewing!
After requests for this from both coaster317 and Chop n thunder, I will now be writing how the Games were won by each tribute in the author's notes at the end of the chapter, if the final showdown isn't included in the oneshot.
But anyway, on with today's oneshot; the 26th Annual Hunger Games.
I hope you enjoy the chapter :)
"I never thought you'd understand
The years were slipping out of our hands
And all we ever wanted to be
Was floating in the emerald sky
Our skeletons remain under a Neon Noon."
- Sergio Pizzorno, 2011.
The 26th Annual Hunger Games
Ivy Grant (18), District 2 Female
Kasabian - Neon Noon (2011)
The late morninglight shines down upon the arena. Watery light, as in the arena it feels like it is only the first week of March, not late July. I sit alone, huddled up by the fire on the ledge outside the cave that I now know as home.
I sit alone.
I can't break down again. Not like I did yesterday when he died. But I can feel the pain welling up inside me, and I know it is all I can do to keep my composure. I can afford to let anyone see just how much his death affected me.
I always knew this would be the case. For as long as I have known Darius, I knew that there would be the day that we would have to fight each other. I never ealised how important that day would be, though. Until now.
I retrospect, I would have preferred for him to have died in the reaping trials. There, in an arena full of twenty other boys his age, where Darius' fate was out of control. Here, in the Capitol's arena, I only have myself to blame for his death.
At least in his final days he was in a place of beauty.
It seems as though all the Gamemake's creative capabilities were thrown in the Quell arena, and so very little has been done to make this year's arena a challenge for us. Most of the time, the Gamemakers leave us to fend for ourselves with no intervention. The arena is faily bland, although there is a serene beauty to it. A wide, near-circular grassland that holds the corncucopia, ringed with steep slopes lined with deciduous trees. It must be four miles from one side of the arena to the other, but everything is open. There are very few places to hide.
Which is why I thought that we would be safe when we fought off the other Careers and found refuge in this small cave. The District 1 tributes argued too much between each other too much to give much resistance against me and Darius when their time came, and no matter what the girl from Four tried to do, it was two against one. The boy from Four was never included in our alliance; he was only fourteen, and no-one volunteered for him. He died at the cornucopia bloodbath on the first day.
With only seven tributes left alive and no more highly-trained Careers in our way, I thought that Darius and I wold have an easy run to the final two, where I would finally have to make the choice between friendship and survival. I never anticipated that another tribute would actually seek us out.
But seek us out, he did. The boy from District 5, armed with two spears. I wasn't even paying much attention on guard duty; a mistake that I will always regret.
The first that I knew of the threat, the spearhead was poking through Darius' bloodied chest. I didn't even see the other boy until my district partner collapsed, allowing me to see his assailant.
The thought of Darius' pale body lying on the rocky ledge where I sit now bring tears to my eyes again. My heart sank like a stone as I watched him collapse. I remeber staring for what seemed like eterninty as he cried out, like spilling out of him with his blood. All my senses were focused on him. The boy from Five no longer mattered. Time stood still as I watched my friend die.
And then he was gone, and he created the void in my life that I hoped would never be made. He was gone, never look back upon what he had, and what might have been.
You never realise how close you are to the end until it is all gone.
And I know that me and Darius had it all worked out wrong.
Why train for seven years for something that is always likely to kill you? Your odds of winnning might improve from 4% to maybe 10% due to training, but giving away a third of your life and still end up losing the Games? It really isn't worth it.
We never understood that whilst we spent eight hours a day training, our remaining years were slipping away. We should have done more with our life. We have spent seven years preparing for our deaths.
In my mind, I can still see Darius' limp, pale, lifeless body lying on the cold stone. He should have been given respect; buried where he died. He'd have liked that. For a Career, Darius was quite a caring and considerate person, particularly to the world around us.
His body should have remained in this tranquil woodland, under the synthetic noon.
The boy from District 5 died, of course. Slowly and painfully. I deliberately used Darius' combat axe (a weapon that I most definitely do not prefer) to kill the boy, because I knew I would make a bad job of it. His death was slower and more painful that he could have ever imagined.
Aside from the axe and the spear that I took from the boy from Five, all I have is my bow and seven arrows that I haven't yet used. Yesterday evening, another tribute died, meaning that only four of us now remain. At some point soon, I imagine that the Gamemakers will force us together. And when they do, the other three will die slow, torturously painful deaths, just as the boy from District 5 did.
And I will kill them all.
For Darius.
Two days after this oneshot, forest fires set by the Gamemakers forced the remaining four tributes into the grasslands near the cornucopia. One, the girl from District 12, was killed by the fires, but the other two, the boys from Seven and Eight, survived to fight against Ivy. The boy from Eight was quickly downed, but the boy from District 7 died a slow, painful death at Ivy's hands.
A/N: I hope the summary of the Games (above) was useful! Please let me know if you think it's a useful addition to the chapter.
If you enjoyed the chapter, please review! Constructive criticism is most definitely welcomed.
