AUTHOR'S NOTES: Obviously the Capitol uses different themes for the arenas each year (except 11 and 12), but eventually they will have similar ones. Still, two jungles or two ruins won't be the same, so it's not like it will get repetitive. Similarly, there may or may not be names that appear more than once throughoug this collection. It's not like names only get sued once. Not to say that it happens in this chapter; more just a heads-up.
Happy Reading!

The 22nd Annual Hunger Games

It was becoming clear that Districts 1 and 2 were formidable forces in each arena, and they appeared to be producing stronger tributes with each passing year. As the districts grew more accustomed to the Hunger Games, they began adjusting accordingly, but few outside of District 4 except for the occasional one from District 3 or 5, could keep up with the progress that Districts 1 or 2 were making.

Even if District 2 was only leading by a single victor, that did not stop the drive of District 1's Dash Sasori and Gleam DiFronzo, both of whom volunteered for the 22nd Annual Hunger Games that year. After an intriguing arena like the one before it, many people speculated what the Capitol would come up with next, but they knew that these nefarious Gamemakers always had a way of surprising and impressing the populace.

Similar to the year before, it looked like another year going to be dominated by District 1 and District 2, although Kaiza from District 4 did leave a rather powerful impression with the Gamemakers and other tributes when he scored an 11.

The arena that year almost seemed suited for him and his partner, it being a series of islands connected by shallow waters. It was bright and beautiful in contrast to the dark and dimly-illuminated chambers of the 21st arena, although that one had also been considered one of the most beautiful arenas because of the soft glow that the lights had thrown around them.

The bloodbath produced a dozen tributes to stain the beaches with their blood, and the games were on. Of those twelve, 4 of the kills had been by Gleam alone, with Dash taking another three, and District 2's Verge Rambin taking another two. The tributes scattered like cockroaches except for the career pack and Kaiza, who had joined them after his own partner had died in the opening minutes at the hand of a boy from District 7.

A few days later it was not hard to discover what was going on. The District 6 boy, another survivor of the bloodbath, had built a vessel on which he was sailing over the waters. With him were a boy from District 5 and a girl from District 3. They appeared to be following Kaiza, Verge, Dash, and Gleam from the water, and were definitely up to something.

The careers moved further inland to shake them off, also hunting down and killing two more tributes during this time. The next time they saw the boat however, only one of the boys remained. There had been no faces in the sky, apart from the careers' known two victims, and so that meant they were definitely still alive somewhere out there.

The following day, however, the other boy returned to his place on the boat. At this point, Kaiza had come up with a plan. Using bamboo stalks, a bit of rope, and his own ingenuity, he had constructed a catapult which he used to launch large coconuts at the raft and the tributes on it. The islands were loaded with more coconuts than any tribute knew what to do with (and after over a week of eating them, most of them were rather sick of them except Kaiza) and their size combined with their hardness made them formidable weapons in the right hands. Kaiza knew how to wind up his catapult and aim it well—and faster than the two boys could maneuver it. Most of the shots missed, but eventually two of them found their marks, knocking the victims unconscious, where they eventually drowned. Tributes from districts 6 and 5 weren't swimmers anyways, and dealing with a massive near-concussion from being struck by a high-velocity coconut had not helped. The Capitol actually found this aspect of the games to be rather comical, and thanks to the commentators and hosts, they got a good laugh out of watching tributes fling coconuts at each other.

Slowly the number of tributes began whittling down even further, with Gleam leading the career pack and Dash as her right hand man. As they hunted for Abigail, the girl from District 3, Kaiza got eliminated by stepping on a pressure trap, which was clearly the nefarious contraption of that girl. This of course, just made Dash, Gleam, and Verge angry, and so they continued their hunt with vigor, slaying the pair from District 10, who up until this point, had both been alive. They had simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time. They cornered her on day 13, with Dash stealing the kill. Verge returned from a hunt later that evening with evidence that she had slain the boy from District 7, as his face appeared in the sky right as she was sitting down and getting comfortable.

The three of them spent the rest of the evening together, figuring that they might as well let each other rest up a bit before they turned on each other the next morning, but Gleam did not want to give them that chance. After the others were asleep, her eyes flicked open and she smirked mischievously. With her eyes almost glowing in the moonlight overhead, she brought her blades down on Verge and Dash, killing them both right away, and within seconds of each other.

"There's a moral to this story," she later quipped. "Never sleep with your enemy." And then just like that, the games came to their end with the final two cannons firing off, and showing the names of the last two victims in the sky. A moment later, Gleam's name was up in lights, flashing the word "VICTOR"—for that was what she was now. Gleam had just become the 4th victor from District 1, and the 22nd victor of the Hunger Games.

Gleam had proven that she was a ruthless character and fighter in the games, reminding Panem and District 2 that the careers from District 1 were not all ditzy and airheaded. She would alter go on to have three children of her own, some of which even participated in later games. The Hunger Games could turn almost anyone into a killer, ranging from those who wished to survive to those who had no qualms murdering others. Gleam had simply embraced it.

VICTORS BY YEAR:
1HG: Fukaya Kerezaki (#1, District 5)
2HG: Lucy Takamatzu (#1, District 11)
3HG: Naseru Litzak (#1, District 3)
4HG: Naisha Szasz (#1, District 2)
5HG: Jade Prima (#1, District 1)
6HG: Cedar Hardin (#1, District 7)
7HG: Susan Jackman (#2, District 5)
8HG: Malcolm Reed (#1, District 6)
9HG: Mags Cohen (#1, District 4)
10HG: Faren Dragmire (#2, District 1)
11HG: Maius Karuha (#2, District 2)
12HG: Iunius Karuha (#3, District 2)
13HG: Hilda White (#1, District 10)
14HG: Minali Otoyome (#2, District 3)
15HG: Willow James (#3, District 1)
16HG: Lark Chandnea (#2, District 11)
17HG: Woof Casino (#1, District 8)
18HG: Leah Holden (#2, District 7)
19HG: Zeruda Mezkiel (#2, District 6)
20HG: Muscida Lee (#2, District 4)
21HG: Kada Lahka (#4, District 2)
22HG: Gleam DiFronzo (#4, District 1)