A/N: Thanks to richards25, nintendgal101, coaster317, Burningbright4ever and charliesunshine for reviewing!
After the last few chapters being (relatively) peaceful, here's a return to some proper action; the violence that gives the Hunger Games its sadistic reputation amongst the districts of Panem.
Also, thanks to richards25 for suggesting the name of the District 2 Male in this chapter.
I hope you enjoy it, it's been a difficult one for me to write :)
"Into the maze through your reflection
We enter from a terminal connection."
- Rob Swire, 2008.
The 28th Annual Hunger Games
Velvet Osman (17), District 1 Female
Pendulum - Mutiny (2008)
I trudge along the weary tracks as the day before, navigating my way through the arena using our alliance's well-worn hunting routes. I've been following the others through here for days, and the successes of our hunts are becoming less and less frequent. Admittedly, of the eight tributes that remain in the arena, four of them are in the Career Alliance.
I look ahead to the leader of our group; tall, strong, highly skilled, arrogant and unbelievably stupid Wonder, who is my district partner. Does the word 'predictable' mean anything to him? Probably not, otherwise we wouldn't scour the same section of the arena every night for tributes. Just because there is a pine woodland in the arena doesn't mean that all the tributes will use it as shelter. Yet Wonder seems to think that it does.
Nobody has dared to stand up to him yet. But I can see that all the others want to. But we daren't. Partly because Wonder is six foot four, and partly because of the longsword that he has become so attached to over the last fifteen days. But I can see that the others all want to be rid of him. We just don't know how to do it.
Personally, I'm betting on a confrontation between Wonder and the boy from District 2, Vulcan. He's almost Wonder's size, and what he lacks in strength, he makes up for in brains. At some point soon, the two are likely to want to off each other, and then I'm backing on Wonder's face being the one shown in the sky that night.
The fourth member of our alliance, the girl from District 4, is called Grace, and she's quite a shady customer. She's like me; sullen and moody, traipsing along behind the decision-makers, Wonder and Vulcan. She's not really shown any sign of her skills, barring one kill that she made with her bow on the first day at the bloodbath. But even I could have killed another tribute from the range that she was shooting at, and a bow is my third or fourth strongest weapon. I'm much more at home with the set of five sleek, silvery throwing knives in my belt.
As the evening turns to night, I notice Vulcan drop back from the leader to talk to me.
"Good evening, Vulcan," say formally, but apparently he has no time for pleasantries.
"I'm getting fed up with Wonder," he complains. "He's such a fool."
Well, here might be our chance to get rid of him. I've known for a while that Vulcan's been growing tired of him.
"Aren't we all growing tired with him?" I reply.
Vulcan smirks.
"We need to get rid of him," he says. "Quickly."
"Then go and confront him," I say. "You know that I'll be backing you up, if anything goes wrong."
Vulcan nods and calls out to the boy from District 1.
"Oi! Wonder!"
My tall, blonde-haired district partner sighs, and stops walking to face us.
"What is it now?" he complains childishly, as though we have just disrupted him from something that he did not want disturbing.
"Well, look," says Vulcan, slightly irritated himself. "We've been walking for hours, and what have we got to show for it? Nothing."
"We ned to change our strategy," I say, chipping in. "This is getting us nowhere. We are literally walking round and round in circles."
"There's nothing wrong with the strategy!" Wonder snaps defensively. "We just need to have patience, and then-"
"And then what, Wonder?" I snap. "We've been following your lead for the last fortnight, and nothing is getting done!"
"What we're really trying to say, Wonder," continues Vulcan, backing me up again. "Is that we feel that you should step down as leader of this alliance. No, forget that, we feel that you should leave the alliance."
"Leave the alliance?" says Wonder, flustered. I can tell by his quickly reddening cheeks that he's getting very, very angry. Last time he was like this, he killed the girl from District 2. My hand slips around the handle of one of the knives in my belt, anticipating the violence that is surely just around the corner, waiting to happen. "No! I'm not the leaving the alliance! This is my alliance; I formed it, and I-"
Wonder pauses, infuriated, as Grace's arrow flies over his shoulder. I jump backwards as Wonder approaches the younger girl as she fumbles to prepare another arrow, his longsword drawn. The cannon finally fills the void that is created when her screams eventually stop.
Vulcan and I immediately confront Wonder, sadly too late to save our ally. I throw a knife at my district partner, but in the panic my aim suffers, and the blade sinks into his thigh just above the knee.
Wonder curses and reels backwards in pain as Vulcan dives for him, armed only with a dagger.
The two collapse to the ground, and I am reduced to being a mere spectator as the two wrestle on the floor. I could throw another knife at Wonder, but the risk of hitting Vulcan would be too high. For now, we are on the same side.
Finally, I can see a winner of their bout, although I am not pleased with the result.
Wonder pins Vulcan to the floor, Vulcan's dagger at his own throat. I can see his eyes willing up with pain, and then I notice the gash in his right forearm, six inches in length, no doubt caused by his own blade.
There is only one thing that I can do.
As soon as the knife leaves my hand, I know that the throw is good. The blade buries itself up to the handle in my district partner's left temple. He doesn't even scream before collapsing to the floor, and the cannon is almost instant.
I run over to where Vulcan lies, pushing my district partner's corpse off of him before helping Vulcan to his feet.
Then I remember that, with the Career Alliance gone, we are no longer allies. As our eyes meet, I know that he has realised the same thing. And yet neither of us make a move on the other. For some reason, I don't want to finish off Vulcan. Not yet, anyway. And for some reason, he thinks the same about me.
We turn from the scene and run in opposite directions, fleeing into the darkness of the woods.
It took another eight days for the next for tributes to die, all of whom had been in the rocky mountains in the northern half of the arena, taking refuge in caves to escape the mountain wolf mutts that roamed the area. The only tributes in the woods had been the Careers, and so eventually only Vulcan and Velvet remained, yet neither would kill each other in the final showdown. Eventually, after a very tough decision on behalf of the Head Gamemaker, the entire woodland was set alight, leaving the two tributes to battle the fires.
Eventually, after three hours amidst the flames, Vulcan was the first to succumb to the heat, leaving Velvet Osman as the victor of the 28th Annual Hunger Games.
A/N: If you enjoyed this chapter, please review! Constructive criticism is welcomed :)
