AUTHOR'S NOTES: A day and an hour late, I know! For some reason, I was able to write Cashmere's chapter before this one, but after I finished that, I was able to go back and write this one with ease. So, hopefully you can forgive my slight delay on this chapter. Considering how many other chapters I have written after this one, there shouldn't be any more delays from here on out, and so my 3-chapters-a-week schedule can continue.
In the meantime... Gloss! He's one of the four canon victors that won back to back, so we've got two more after him, and Enobaria before. I added a bit more characterization to them, and their surnames match that of an earlier District 1 victor named Aurum (you can read her tale in chapter 47). She wasted no time having children after she won the games, but Cashmere and Gloss are both strong enough that their young ages of victory shouldn't deter anyone. So... that said, here's Gloss's tale. Normally I don't spoil who wins like this, but with canon characters (at least until the AU parts), we know they'll win, so yeah.
Happy Reading!
The 63rd Annual Hunger Games
After the rather gruesome exchange that had happened the previous year, the Capitol, the victors, and even the potential tributes were all once again reminded that there were no real rules in the 'games once the gong had sounded. Technically there was no rule against stepping off of the pedestals before the countdown either; just that the consequences for doing so were explosive and bloody, considering that any tribute who dared make this colossal blunder was detonated by the mines that sat waiting to explode on anyone foolish enough to try. Luckily they had never malfunctioned, and so would always deactivate after the gong sounded to begin the games.
The 63rd Annual Hunger Games was setting up to be as intense as the others with more promising career tributes raring to join the ranks of their peers. If District 1 could clinch this one, they would be tied with their comrades from District 2 in total numbers of victories, and considering the egos of not only the tributes and potential tributes, but also of most of the district as a whole, this was exactly something they hoped to do. Perhaps this year they would succeed as well.
Shannon Williams was a beautiful sight both because of how attractive she was, and also because of how swift and strong she appeared to be. Her partner, 16-year-old Gloss Zianja, was equally promising, especially considering that he was the son of victor Aurum Zianja. Perhaps it was tributes like him that gave rise to the belief that children of victors were chosen more often, but if this was true, Gloss was not really applicable considering that he, like every other tribute from District 1 in the last 50-60 years, had volunteered for the games.
As always, they were joined by Jack Riley and Karissa Oakland from District 2, who were willing to create yet another alliance so they could sweep the arena and take out the other tributes in the hopes of being able to settle the scores between each other at the end of it all. While he didn't say anything, Gloss was less interested in that and more interested on how he could win. One did not have to be "honourable" to win the games, and so if Gloss could get an edge in the games by backstabbing them (metaphorically or literally) at the right opportune moment, he'd take that chance if he saw it.
This year, Derek and Lydia from District 5 were the primary contenders for people wanting to join the career alliance. Not to say that there was a limit on the size of it (there had been at least one year where there were 8 or 9 in this "career tribute alliance"), but the other tributes, even the ones from District 3 and District 4, just didn't match up this year.
Like his mother before him, Gloss scored a 12, and so did Karissa. Jack and Shannon scored 11s, and an 11 was still an extremely good score. The boy and girl from District 5 scored a 10 and a 9 respectively, and everyone else apart from a District 11 boy and a District 7 girl scored 8 or below. The boy scored a 10, and the girl took a 9. Eyes were on the high-scoring District 1 pair as they entered the arena, unaware of what awaited them until they arrived…
The arena this year reeked of a certain humidity, and the greenery around them warned that it was not likely just the tributes hallucinating. Instead, many of them looked to the cornucopia, with its mouth overflowing with food, weapons, and ample supplies. This was going to be a good year to claim the golden horn for the career pack.
The gong sounded, and the six-strong career alliance raced in, slaughtering anything or anyone that stood in their way. Ultimately, 9 tributes died in the bloodbath, and the surviving tributes noticed that most of the weapons here were hatchets or machetes. Perhaps that District 7 girl from earlier would be a prominent threat this year.
The arena was not necessarily a jungle, but there were dense bushes that created almost something of a maze, and some of the plants were taller than the tributes' heads. There were also bugs everywhere, which was the primary thing that kept the tributes from stripping down. The Capitol almost seemed to expect that one would be foolish enough to try it, but no one did, and thus day 1 ended in silence as the tributes spent the rest of the day exploring and settling down. Day 2 was no different, although Lydia scored a kill on day 3 as they were exploring.
Day 4 was fairly miserable, as it seemed the bugs buzzing all through the arena were becoming something of a menace.
"We've got a repellant made from some of these plants," Derek alerted them, "but it's only good for a few hours at a time and it's not too easy to make."
"Where's District 3 when you need smarts?" Jack frowned.
"Maybe you should have recruited them instead of trying to kill them," Lydia quipped, "If we're that bad of allies, we're not afraid to fight or go our own ways." District 3 was still out there, but it was not clear how long they would last with only middling scores and minimal melee combat skills.
"Hey," Gloss was the one to try and shift the discussion back on track, "let's worry less about the whole splitting up nonsense and more about how to deal with these damned bugs."
"So any suggestions?" Shannon groaned, "They're totally messing up my hair—among other things that I really don't want to mention in public."
Both tributes from District 2 snickered. Jack suggested they try to find water, since lighting a fire wouldn't be possible with everything being so humid. Karissa backed the idea stating that she highly doubted that the bugs were aquatic as well.
"Well does anyone know where a river is?" Lydia tilted her head, "or better yet, a lake?"
"There's got to be water somewhere…" Karissa frowned, "unless we can just drink the air."
She was not too far off the mark considering how humid it was. Still, they hacked and bushwhacked their way through the jungle before stumbling upon a tribute's camp. Instead of raiding it right away, Gloss stopped them.
"Someone's going to come back." He whispered, "We can kill them then, but only after learning what direction he's coming from."
"How do you figure?" Shannon tilted her head.
"I can see his logic actually, Derek backed Gloss up, "Based on these supplies, I'd say he's got water—but it looks like he's run out, and so he's probably out getting more. So… whatever direction he's coming from when he comes back here is probably the direction we should go to find the water. Let's all find different hiding spots around camp so we can take him down."
It turned out to be two tributes, a boy and girl, both from District 4. Gloss took down the girl with a well-placed dagger, while Jack sprung onto the boy with his hatchet and took him down in one swing. They had come from the northwest, and so the careers raided the camp and then followed their footsteps back in the direction the District 4 pair had come. Sure enough, they found water. Furthermore, there was an abundance of the plants the District 5 pair had used to make their bug repellant, and so all in all it was a win-win that afternoon.
The games wore on, and two more deaths later, the careers suffered a rather nasty ambush on Day 7. The girl from District 7 and the boy from District 11 had formed an alliance and ambushed the careers, killing Shannon, Derek, and Jack; and injuring everyone but Gloss. He helped claim the lives of these two rouges, but as they lay down for the evening to recover and recuperate, Gloss started thinking about leaving what was left of his alliance. He decided to take his chances, and so fled on foot shortly before sunrise. He stumbled upon the District 3 pair's camp, and caught them off guard which enabled him to swing his machete a few times to strike them both down. Their cannons woke up the arena, and the games continued anew.
Further analysis of this camp indicated just how lucky Gloss had been. He had taken the one entrance to this arena that was not rigged up with a trap, and with the supplies and weapons he had, he decided to use this to his advantage. He constructed a trap in front of the last "clear space" surrounding the camp and then waited. He lit a fire and made no efforts to be stealthy, although also didn't try to overtly draw attention to himself. He knew that his fellow careers and former allies would try to find him and make him pay for this betrayal, but he justified his actions saying that they would have done the same if they had thought of it first.
While he waited for Lydia and Karissa to find him, two days passed and the District 3 pair were both killed on these two days. Three tributes remained: Gloss, Lydia, and Karissa.
Luckily for Gloss, the Capitol didn't try to collapse the arena to draw him in, and so instead he waited, and finally they arrived.
"So you abandon us to come live in the lap of luxury?" Karissa scoffed upon seeing Gloss' hijacked camp in the distance.
"I did what I had to do," Gloss shrugged, "there's only one winner in the games, and frankly, I'd rather let someone else kill you than have to do it myself." He was not really boasting as much as just speaking his mind. He was not an aggressive or egotistical fellow as much as just being cool and polite. This attitude had earned him a few sponsor gifts as well, so it clearly worked.
"But…" he got up, drawing his machetes, "I suppose we should end this…" he approached the fringes of his camp, only for the two girls to do the same. They triggered the traps, which peppered them with poisonous darts and killed them instantly. One satisfied smirk later, and Gloss sheathed his weapons, becoming the 11th victor from District 1, and the 63rd victor of the Hunger Games.
District 1 was now tied with District 2 for the most victors, and Aurum was rather proud that one of her two children had scored perfectly and then won the games—just as she had 16 years ago. Perhaps her other child, who was only a year younger, would participate in the games next year. She'd wait and see.
Gloss lived a content victor's life. His good looks and charming personality led the Capitol to take advantage of him the way they did with some of the prettier victors, but it was what it was. His mother had been a victim of this (although he and his sister were from the same father), and so the Zianjas kind of just accepted it. He was more pleased by the fact that he had followed in his mother's footsteps, and now he too would mentor new tributes and hopefully continue leading District 1 down its glorious path to victory again and again…
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)
40HG: Miriam Luxio (#7, District 1)
41HG: Marcelina Kovac (#6, District 5)
42HG: Niles Lincoln (#8, District 2)
43HG: Blight McKay (#4, District 7)
44HG: Sagittaria Svenja (#4, District 11)
45HG: Dezna Meraxa (#4, District 6)
46HG: Alice DeSiete (#3, District 8)
47HG: Aurum Zianja (#8, District 1)
48HG: Layla Aranai (#9, District 2)
49HG: Chip Sangster (#5, District 3)
50HG: Haymitch Abernathy (#2, District 12)
51HG: Derrick James (#7, District 5)
52HG: Chaff Mitchell (#5, District 11)
53HG: Brutus Gunn (#10, District 2)
54HG: Tiffany Waxler (#2, District 10)
55HG: Zak Dreggite (#4, District 4)
56HG: Zoroka Chandaki (#9, District 1)
57HG: Cecelia Sanchez (#4, District 8)
58HG: Meili Meisha (#5, District 6)
59HG: Zhin Lyautey (#6, District 3)
60HG: Lucas Drazen (#10, District 1)
61HG: Kara Petersen (#5, District 7)
62HG: Enobaria Taos (#11, District 2)
63HG: Gloss Zianja (#11, District 1)