AUTHOR'S NOTES: So I didn't get a whole lot of work done this week owing to certain things that may or may not have had to do with Fire Emblem. Still, I am not kidding when I say I will finish this, and as such, it will be finished. While some names in this chapter are coincidental, I know at least one that is not, and I am not even sorry. :B
But that said, here we go with nearly 4 decades of Hunger Games. Blight's games are not far off, and then we enter a period that I call "The Golden Age of Hunger Games". Ideally, you'll end up seeing why when it arrives.
Happy Reading!

The 39th Annual Hunger Games

With the shocking thrills and tricks played with in some of the last few games, the Capitol knew that their mission to keep their fellow citizens entertained at the expense of the lives of children from the districts was not over. Their quest to make each Hunger Games more memorable than the last was an eternal one from which they could not rest, especially as Gamemakers came and went. Rumors had it even that a few were removed specifically, for one reason or another, although President Coriolanus Snow and his inner circle never revealed the truth of the matter, always having other "official" excuses for such incidents for one reason or another.

The 39th Annual Hunger Games did not appear to have any such trends, although there were eyes particularly on the pair from District 4: Riley Gracia and Nephi Lott. While they did join up with the career pack that year it was unclear if they were doing it for the glory the way District 1 and District 2 did, or for the reason a lot of District 3 tributes did: to stay on the good side of the tributes who were usually the strongest ones in the arena.
They would definitely be a threat this year though. District 2's Aubree Weathers and Ricky Burns both scored 11s, while Riley and Nephi scored an 8 and a 9 respectively. District 3 produced Chrome, who scored a 9, and the oddly-named Glitch, who everyone teased for her name. They stopped teasing when she scored a 12 in training. Luckily, Glitch appeared to be a good-natured young woman who could take the taunts in stride, and she teased them right back as she joined their crew. Ricky and Aubree also recruited Riley and Nephi for similar reasons, bringing the career crew up to 8 that year.

There was something daunting about the arena that year as the tributes rose up from their pedestals. While the cornucopia clearing was no doubt stocked to the brim with crates and weapons, and seemed as clear and open as any other arena's cornucopia clearing, there was a thick, grey fog that had settled in the arena. Since it was already engulfing the tributes and limiting their range of vision to about the distance between the pedestals and the cornucopia, it was clear that it was not dangerous in any way. The Gamemakers didn't want their tributes all dying in the opening hours.

Of course, they did in fact want a bloodbath, and so had no qualms with watching 9 tributes lose their lives within the opening minutes of the games. After everything was settled, the tributes from District 2 and District 1 agreed to remain at the cornucopia and keep it as a base while the tributes from District 4 and District 3 elected to venture out and get a feel for the arena. While both sides thought they were getting the better part of the deal, Glitch and Nephi in particular felt that they were at an advantage. They would get to know more of the arena than their peers, and so when the time came for the large alliance to break up, they would know where to run and where to hide. Glitch had analyzed the food stocks and realized they would only last about 4 days with all 8 of them eating from them; and knew that if they tried to bar Districts 3 and 4 from the foodstuffs that they would rebel without hesitation.

The career alliances were usually a fickle thing when they involved more districts than '1 and '2. District 4 was strong and unpredictable, while District 3 was wily and cunning, often times even able to outsmart the powerful careers who had trained for these games. While plenty of past games proved that brawn could triumph over brains, District 3's win record was nothing to sneeze at.

All four of these tributes were quiet and stealthy, and so they split up in four directions: Riley headed west, Glitch went north, Chrome headed south, and Nephi went east. All four of them found similar landscapes: meadows and a few sparse trees and boulders, all cloaked in fog. Glitch managed to even rig up a set of traps around a pair of tributes from District 10, causing her to smirk a few hours later when she heard to cannons go off at the same time. Riley chased a tribute through the trees before she slammed into a rock she did not see through the fog, allowing her to finish the girl off without trouble.

Nephi discovered a river flowing around the arena, and used the deep water to maneuver himself around. Armed with tridents and a bow, he speared a few fish, and speared a tribute that was caught by the river with a campfire. Nephi put it to some use and cooked the fish he caught, and all of them returned to the career pack a few days later with the results.

By this point, there were only about 11 tributes remaining. Unbeknownst to even the wily Glitch, Nephi had befriended a boy from District 7 who had spared his life, and he would get back to him after Nephi had dealt with the other careers.

Sure enough, by the time the 10th day had rolled around, two more tributes had died, and the careers had turned on Districts 3 and 4, starting off by catching Chrome off guard in his sleep. Glitch, Nephi, and Riley all sprang into action, battling it out. They fled immediately into the wilderness together, and the careers gave chase. The pair from District 1 were stopped in their tracks by Nephi and Riley, who spun around and speared them. Glitch kept Ricky and Aubree at bay long enough for Nephi to come and backstab Ricky, while Glitch cut Aubree's throat and was done with it. It was in this moment that the three agreed to split up. They hoped they would find that District 7 boy and then meet each other in different circumstances as they fought to the death.

This plan worked fairly well except for one hitch. Shortly after she was out of Nephi's hearing distance, Glitch doubled back and sniped Riley, only to have an altercation with that District 7 fellow hardly an hour or two later. Nephi heard two cannons go off and realized that it was just him and one other tribute. He feared it was Glitch, and his fears were substantiated. Nephi was faster than Glitch, but Glitch was more cunning, and so the two tributes battled it out in the fog. Nephi tried to get in with his spear, but Glitch's knives blocked him at every turn, just as Nephi's trident deflected the blows from Glitch's blades. It took a couple of bold feints from Nephi before Glitch finally slipped up, and in this split-second moment, he thrust his trident into her chest and ended her life, and the games. A cannon went off seconds later. Nephi became the 3rd victor from District 4, and the 39th victor of the games.

A quiet and introverted young man, Nephi remained fairly level-headed after the games, wary when the coastal fog would set in, but otherwise mostly stable. He later did develop a drug addiction, but the tributes he helped produce afterwards were a different brand of fighter that would be remembered not just for their performances in the Hunger Games, but for things far greater as well.

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)
38HG: Wiress Plummer (#4, District 3)
39HG: Nephi Lott (#3, District 4)