AUTHOR'S NOTES: I've been on a roll with these chapters lately, and so we might see an increased posting rate of them for a little bit. I've got the "masterpiece" chapters (44-48) all written out, and so those will be really fun to post. Also included between now and then are Wiress and Blight, with Haymitch following shortly after 48 (at 50 of course). In the meantime, enjoy the 37th installment of the Hunger Games as we follow the footsteps of another victor as they make their way to fame.
Happy Reading!

The 37th Annual Hunger Games

After the previous year which was slow and less eventful, the Gamemakers decided to mix things up a bit more in the hopes of creating a more memorable and exciting Hunger Games. This year they tweaked one of the arena designs they had been working with for a while, figuring it was high time to throw something in with an exciting twist.

Of course, the arena and the hazards therein were only half of the fun. Another driving factor that could make or break a Hunger Games was the tributes, and this year had produced a promising set. From District 2 as leaders of the yearly career pack were Daniel Gregory and Lyre Kovak. They recruited Vahl and Aura from District 1, and the careers were born. They also recruited Aksum and Bertrand from District 3 into their group to bolster the size, and figured that they had an edge from there. All of them wound up scoring high, with 9s, 10s, and 11s across the board. The only other tributes to score in this range were Jack and Chelsea from District 7, who scored 9s. Daniel and Lyre turned it into a competition between one another, especially after both of them scored 11s.

The cornucopia clearing this year seemed very blank compared to other years, almost as if it was in a featureless little bubble. There did seem to be some sort of illusionary shield around the golden horn and the pedestals, preventing the tributes from seeing what lay on the other side.

Incidentally, with a promising arena and intriguing tributes, these games would become much more memorable than the ones the year before. The bloodbath almost proved this when District 6's Zerviah Hawke nearly threw a wrench into the system by attacking the careers, stealing some of their supplies, and actually managing to get away. As a porter back home, she was used to lifting and moving large packages of supplies, so she hauled it out of the cornucopia shield with a large pack full of supplies, and ventured southeast, while 12 tributes lost their lives in that clearing. Gamemakers theorized that they might have been too intimidated by wondering what was on the other side, but for tributes like Zerviah District 7, and District 8, such thoughts could not be afforded too soon, and so out they went.

Zerviah was surprised to find herself in a deciduous forest cloaked in a wintry chill. Obviously the Gamemakers could engineer artificial seasons if they were able to artificially produce various other crazy "natural" features in the arena, and so this didn't surprise her. What truly surprised her was that as she headed west, there was an invisible dividing line and a sense of illusion. Suddenly, the winter was gone and a spring breeze filled her nostrils. The most unusual aspect about this though was that as she turned around, the forest behind her looked like it was cloaked in spring as well.

To test her theory, Zerviah took a few steps back, and suddenly was back in the "winter zone" again. Adding to her theory was that as she gazed forward, the part of the forest she knew was in the "spring zone" also looked like winter.

The Gamemakers were pretty proud of this accomplishment. They had managed to divide the arena into four quadrants, and as Zerviah and others discovered, they had four different seasons. Starting from spring in the southwest, Zerviah ran clockwise around the cornucopia shield and found summer in the northwest, autumn in the northeast, winter in the southeast, and spring in the southwest where she originated.

On the 3rd morning, Daniel and Lyre led the other careers on a manhunt for the other tributes, where they ended up having an altercation with the tributes from Districts 7 and 8. Both kids from District 8 were killed, as were both Bertrand and Aksum. Lyre was slightly injured, much to her chagrin, while Vahl and Chelsea left the clash limping.

Zerviah was grateful for the time she spent during training learning to identify plants and poisons, because in the autumn section of the arena, she found a myriad of these plants, extracted their toxins, and built a dart blower. In the event that that failed, she still had some knives from the sack she stole from the careers. She made camp in this quarter of the arena and waited.

Jack and Chelsea ran into a blizzard in the winter quadrant, and the latter of the two did not make it due to her wounds. Jack ran northward and right into Zerviah's trap, where the District 6 girl caught him with an old fashioned pitfall, before stabbing him with a sword.

The remaining tributes had taken refuge in different parts of the spring quadrant, but were soon flushed out by the careers at the cost of Vahl's life, and Aura's health. One of the District 11 kids managed to poison her before the careers could kill him, and so Aura succumbed to her injuries as well over the next day, ending up in excruciating pain before Lyre elected to put her out of her misery.

Even with their numbers down to two, Daniel and Lyre were still pretty stoked. All that stood between them and victory were each other, and then Zerviah.

Unfortunately, their own pride got in the way, and their biggest mistake was underestimating the cunning of that District 6 girl. She managed to shoot them both with slow acting paralysis poisons, before leaping down and watching them die. Their expressions were almost tragic as they realized their dreams would never become reality, but Zerviah did what she had to do, and the games were over. She had just become the 3rd victor from District 6, and the 37th victor of the games overall.

Zerviah was a rebel at heart though, but her mistake was voicing displeasure with the games after her victory interview. In retribution, Zerviah came home from her tour only to find her older brother, two younger sisters, and both of her parents, mysteriously gone. She heeded this as a warning, but deep in her heart, she knew that the rebellion that had failed 37 years ago had never truly died—and that if it ever revitalized, that she would be a part of 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)
23HG: Ivette Coronado (#3, District 5)
24HG: Olivia Thurman (#1, District 9)
25HG: Laurel Fox (#1, District 12)
26HG: Daron Armstrong (#5, District 2)
27HG: Cobalt Evans (#5, District 1)
28HG: Lyme Golding (#6, District 2)
29HG: Ash LosDias (#3, District 7)
30HG: Challis Worth (#2, District 8)
31HG: Beetee Latier (#3, District 3)
32HG: Fletch Crossley (#4, District 5)
33HG: Seeder Howell (#3, District 11)
34HG: Price Emerson (#6, District 1)
35HG: Leto Irizari (#7, District 2)
36HG: Jackson Kjelle (#5, District 5)
37HG: Zerviah Hawke (#3, District 6)