AUTHOR'S NOTES: At last, one of the most hotly anticipated chapters of "The Victors' Chronicles" has arrived! I actually had this chapter written several chapters in advance, but I obviously couldn't put it out of order. Some of you may already know the victor, but here is the story of how they got where they did. Ladies and Gentlemen... here is the pivotal 1st Quarter Quell chapter and how it actually played out.
Happy Reading!

The 25th Annual Hunger Games

The Capitol was consistent with a few prominent things as it retained its iron grip on Panem. One of these were the annual Hunger Games, which, to the Districts, was little more than a death pageant. Another, however, was a reminder of their power. Sometimes, the two of these things mixed.

The 25th Annual Hunger Games was one of them. Dubbed a "Quarter Quell", this would be a special Hunger Games where the rules were slightly altered. To everyone's shock and disgust, the rule change this year involved the districts having to choose their own tributes to send to the arena—a grim reminder that the rebels sent their children to their deaths during the first rebellion.

In many of the districts, this did not sit well. A few nominated the boy and girl they felt were most likely to win, while in others, such as Districts 5, 9, and 12, the unpopular kids were chosen. Levi Darron ("It's Leh-vee" he informed the others) and Laurel Fox were some of these, with both of them, particularly the latter, being fairly belligerent, even towards each other.

The two tributes actually had to be pulled apart from each other on the District 12 stage so that they wouldn't strangle each other before the Games had begun, because with the new rule twist, this year's Hunger Games would be more exciting than the ones before it, which meant that the tributes would surely be groomed in all kinds of ways. This theory proved true in the next couple of days, where the parade was considered by far and wide the best one that Panem had ever seen. Even Districts 11 and 12, which usually had the 'lesser' stylists, shone that night, and it was clear that these Quarter Quells would become one of the more glorious events and twists to happen in the Hunger Games.

Tributes had various scores over the next few days, but many of them scored on the high end. Laurel surprised everyone by scoring an 11, while the boy from District 2, a strapping fellow named Remus McAuliffe, wowed the crowds by scoring a perfect 12. A little research on the young man revealed that he had been training to be a Peacekeeper, like many in District 2, and that his name was chosen not from lack of popularity (the opposite seemed closer to the truth), but from people believing that he could win. If not him, District 2 felt that Valerie Mason, their female tribute, would stand a chance. Her score of 11 as well, seemed to support this claim.

Districts 2 and 12 were not the only ones with a viable presence in the 25th games, however. District 11 produced April Carlin and Pablo Brown, a pair of fighters who both scored 9s; while other districts like 1, 3, 4, and 5 also all scored 8s or higher.

But of course, for all the glitz and glamour that happened before the games, nothing truly mattered until they reached the arena, where the eager Capitol awaited to see what the Gamemakers would have in store this time. This year's arena was breathtaking. It appeared to be something like an abandoned city that was overgrown with flowers and trees, meshing the urban and the rural in one picturesque landscape. On the other hand, tributes were wary of something this beautiful, figuring that it might be a trap of sorts—more than just the deathtrap that all Hunger Games arenas were.

The gong rang out to signal the start of the quell, and 8 children picked by their peers would never come home. The others began to explore the arena to get a good idea of what it entailed. Some thought that it was the remnants of District 13 after 25 years, but others dismissed that theory, reminding themselves that there were toxic bombs dropped on it that were still smouldering to this day.

Laurel surprised the others by sniping her own partner Levi on the night of the 2nd day, shortly after the three additional tributes' faces showed up in the sky. It seemed tactical to the others. Now there were 23½ hours they would have to wait before they got to see who had died.

The career pack, which consisted of Valerie and the tributes from District 1, was having a bit of trouble with a particularly pesky girl from District 3. This girl, Ratchet Clancy, utilized the urban aspects of the landscape to her advantage, and her quick wit saved her from the clutches of the three careers well enough. After finding shelter again from a well-constructed trap that Ratchet had set off, District 1's Cherrie Pajaro was fuming. Two more tributes had died, and the careers blamed Ratchet (even though footage would later reveal that one was killed by Laurel).

"That's it…" the District 1 girl huffed, "Ratchet needs to die, and if we can't bring Remus back into the pack, then we need to find more allies to help take her down."
"What makes you think we'll be able to even get more of those allies," Valerie sneered, "we've still got District 11 to worry about, no less."
"Don't forget about crazy-girl from '12," Cherrie's partner warned, "she could—"

Almost as if she had been watching the whole time, Laurel's arrow sank into the back of the boy's head, popping out of his forehead as he fell over dead. Glancing up near where the roof of the ruined building had once been, they saw her just enough to dash out of sight.

Laurel's scheme was a fairly low blow, but it was effective nonetheless. She sprinted through the camp of a District 5 boy, and right as he got up to chase her, the careers smashed through, killing him on sight.

It was the 5th morning before any signs of life apart from the now 8 remaining tributes began to emerge. Large, moss-covered rock monsters resembling golems began to emerge from the rocky ground, or from the sides of buildings, or anywhere where plant life and stone met. The boy from District 10 lost his life to these monsters. Remus nearly died the next day, and perhaps he would have, had he not been saved by Laurel, of all people. Prior to this, the two tributes had been working alone.

"Why did you save me?" he tilted his head.

"Ah lahk you," Laurel replied, her thick accent showing prominently in her words, "Nuh-nuh, not lahk tha… Ah mean…" she scratched her head awkwardly, "y'er not lahk th'others. Most've 'em seem kinda lahk assholes. If Ah dun' win, Ah kinda hope you do."
"I am surprised." Remus admitted, "that is bold coming from a girl from District 12, but I appreciate your proposition. I see no reason why we cannot work together at least for a time. I heard that District 11 has joined up with Valerie and Cherrie in their search for Ratchet."
Remus and Laurel knew of Ratchet's treachery just the same, and Laurel had nearly lost an arm to one of that nefarious girl's traps.

"All th'more reason t'stick t'gether," Laurel suggested, "we gotta take 'em down."

Nearly a week passed without much in the way of events. Pablo and April helped the others defeat the rock monsters that occasionally popped in to harass them, and so thus far, they had not taken another life, but it did leave every surviving tribute (except perhaps Ratchet) warier than usual.

With Valerie and Cherrie using April and Pablo as scouts, Remus and Laurel quickly found a way to turn this against them. Remus did most of the talking, while Laurel kind of helped him plan it beforehand. She was not terribly charismatic, while Remus definitely was.

He managed to convince them that they were doing the dirty work, and that they didn't care about killing Ratchet as much as they just wanted to not be killed by District 11.

"That went well." Remus couldn't help but crack a chuckle later that evening as Valerie and Cherrie's faces appeared in the sky. April's cannon had gone off as well, meaning she had either died in the fight, or that Ratchet had found them. By this point, there were only 4 tributes left, and the Quell had been going on for 14 days.

Day 15 saw Pablo's death, which meant that Ratchet was back on the move. Laurel and Remus contemplated the notion of turning on each other, and surprisingly, both of them seemed to accept it.

"May the best tribute win," Remus indicated, and Laurel nodded.

"Ah couldn't say it better mahself," she smiled. "Still… we gots Ratchet to worry 'bout, so Ah woodn't be lettin' y'er guard down too soon, y'know?"

"Of course," Remus clutched his sword as Laurel kept her bow out, "I wouldn't have it any other way."

However, day 16 would prove that neither Laurel nor Remus would have to worry about killing each other. Both of them had been so worked up expecting Ratchet to try and lure them into a trap that even Remus had overlooked the cunning girl's fighting skills, and ended up with a knife in his back as Laurel spun around to confront her enemy. However, Ratchet's plan had succeeded. Now Laurel was so worked up about her attacking that she all but forgot about the girl's trap-building skills as she gave chase. Ratchet seemed too quick darting among the roofs of old buildings and scaling some of the derelict walls, and soon Laurel was left trailing behind. However, later that evening, she managed to catch that District 3 girl rigging up one of the buildings with traps, clearly meant for her. Deciding that she would only get one shot at this, she pulled her arrow and shot Ratchet's hand—the rest of her body was concealed or blocked by other material.

Ratchet cried out, losing her balance on the ruined wall she had been sitting on, and tumbled to the ground, triggering all kinds of demonic mechanisms that eventually chain reacted into an explosion that brought down the entire building, and putting Ratchet Clancy's face into the sky. Just like that, the 1st Quarter Quell had ended. Laurel had just become the 1st victor from District 12, and the 25th victor of the games overall.

Laurel never really liked the state of District 12 before the games; and so after them, she was even more cautious. She was aloof and sometimes disappeared for long periods of time, ultimately disappearing for good nearly 50 years after her games. Either way, she was known as a legend in District 12 for proving that even the poorest district of Panem still had a chance at winning the games, and that even with the sadistic rule twists on an already traumatizing game, they still had a shot at victory and survival.

Still—Laurel missed Remus more than her own partner Levi, remembering the honorable way that that career tribute had fought and died. If more Peacekeepers were like him, she thought, then perhaps Panem would be a better place.

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)
23HG: Ivette Coronado (#3, District 5)
24HG: Olivia Thurman (#1, District 9)
25HG: Laurel Fox (#1, District 12)