AUTHOR'S NOTES: This one is on time since I actually wrote it before the previous chapter. Like her brother, Cashmere is described as "polite but cool", which made her really easy to write for. Some things seem to run in the family, not only between brother and sister, but also their mother Aurum (47th Hunger Games). I actually like these two enough that I might queue up full-length stories for them in the distant future, but for now don't hold your breath. In the meantime, here's Cashmere's tale as we delve into the third of the four-in-a-row canon victors.
Happy Reading!
The 64th Annual Hunger Games
With the streak of career tribute victories growing larger, the other districts began worrying about whether or not the careers were growing too strong. Surely at this point the Capitol realized what was happening, but it was obviously given them a good enough show that none of them really cared to do much about it. Not all the districts could afford to build such centers, and since most tributes lacked any kind of enthusiasm for the games that would most likely claim their lives, it was also impractical.
Either way, by the time the 64th Annual Hunger Games rolled around, there was a certain sense of camaraderie among most of the districts against the careers, particularly among Districts 6-12. District 3 produced more volunteers in the recent years to try and join the stronger tributes, and Districts 4 and 5 were similar in that regard.
A lot of eyes were on District 1 again, especially after Aurum's son Gloss managed to win the games the previous year. Now, they were watching Angelo Tadashi join Aurum's 2nd child, now 16-year-old Cashmere Zianja, as the volunteers for District 1. They were later joined by Cornelius Hawkes and Isolda Fuhrman from District 2, and even Blitz and Jocelyn from District 3 got in on the career alliance. Like the last few years, it was going to be a promising career pack.
Much like her brother, Cashmere scored a 12. However, Angelo managed to do the same, and the District 2 pair scored 11s. The pair from District 3 scored 10s almost comically, although District 4 broke the trends by scoring an 8 and a 10 instead of 9s. The others scored around average except for a rather prominent District 11 girl. Short and stocky, built like a dwarf from fantasy literature crossed with a brick house, she let a few of the tributes including the careers take shots at her. None of their punches even made her flinch. Unsurprisingly, her training score was 12, although no one was quite sure what her weapons of choice were until the games started.
Unbeknownst to her alliance, Cashmere actually encountered the girl on the rooftop of the Tribute Tower the night before the games started. The District 11 girl intrigued her, and she found herself drawn to her and wanting to learn more of who she was.
"Cassandra," she called the girl's name out, but the large, dreadlocked girl in the blazing green dress didn't even twitch.
"Cassandra Vine…" she used the girl's full name this time, stepping up to the point where she was right in the girl's personal space.
"Speak, '1." She grunted. Her voice was lower than Cashmere expected.
"You in an alliance at all?" It was hard not to notice the girl in training, especially since she was almost always on her own.
"Everyone was either a career or scared shitless of me," Cassandra explained, "so no."
"Well, I've got an offer for you if you're interested…"
"I'm not joining the rest of those rodeo clowns you call friends," Cassandra asserted right away.
"just me and you then;" she asserted, "I'll keep my tabs on the other careers to keep them from attacking you, and perhaps even give the right timing for when we should take them down."
Cassandra narrowed her eyes. "I'm watching you if you try to pull a fast one on me." She warned.
While it was clear that Cassandra was strong, the cornucopia bloodbath also proved that she was smarter than she looked. She aimed for the weak points, using her bare fists to disable tributes before drawing a sword and cutting them down. 3 of the 10 arena deaths were at her hand, and as she disappeared into the wilderness, the other careers regrouped, a bit skeptical on that girl.
"We've got too much of the arena to explore before we go blindly charging in," Blitz advised, "let's rest here, take advantage of the supplies the Capitol left us, and stay wary. We can move out tomorrow after we do a bit of scouting."
The cornucopia did hold ample supplies this year, much like the previous one. The arena, however, was cool and mountainous, with rocky canyons and valleys in every direction, and only a few trees and bits of vegetation. Cashmere figured her friend Cassandra would live off the land in some form or another, and so was not overly worried about her.
Angelo took the helm of the career pack over the next few days as they led raids. Days 2 and 3 didn't see any deaths, although they were hot on the trail of some tribute whose camp they had plundered. They found him a day later, and Cornelius took him out with a well-thrown knife.
The landscape was treacherous, and the canyons even more so. The rocks that made up the mountains and valleys were not very stable, and so they cracked and collapsed easily. A few tributes spotted caves, but most of them avoided these without question. If the rocks collapsed this easily, venturing into a cave was practically suicidal.
Two more tributes died in a slot canyon after another tribute (revealed to Panem to be Cassandra) collapsed one of the walls in on them, and it was clear that these rocks were going to be vital in ending the major alliances.
Incidentally, it only took one more death and three more days for Cashmere to meet back up with Cassandra to lay their plan into place. She brought her alliance into one of the narrower canyons and since it was her turn to keep watch, none of them questioned her motives. They were sound asleep when she scaled the fragile walls, and the few tiny rocks that fell from them were not enough to make her old friends stir. Cassandra was waiting for her—a woman of her word as well.
Using Cassandra's strength and a Warhammer in Cashmere's hands, the two of them smashed the rim of the canyon, dropping rocks upon the party of careers. Only Jocelyn survived it, but Cashmere 'discarded' her Warhammer by chucking it into the canyon, striking and killing the girl. Isolda's face was the last one to show up that night, however, indicating that maybe the trauma didn't kill her as much as the bleeding had. But, with them gone, that only left five tributes. Cassandra seemed pleased about the victory against all but one of the careers (Cashmere), but they both knew their alliance couldn't and shouldn't last. As such, they negotiated parting ways.
"I'm impressed, '1," Cassandra grunted, "You're not as bad as I expected."
"I've got to say," Cashmere confessed, "you're much smarter than I expected—and a lot kinder. It's kind of a shame that we're here, y'know?"
"I'd drink to that if I had something besides water," Cassandra nodded, "you're cool, and you're polite. 'till next time… and may the odds make it true that when you're mortally wounded in an excruciatingly painful way, your body goes into shock so you don't feel anything when you die."
Cashmere actually laughed loudly at this. It was not a common phrase in District 1, but in districts including '6, '11, '12, and even '2, that phrase was a common satirizing of the brutality the Hunger Games entailed. Coined by District 11 victor Sagittaria Svenja twenty years earlier, it had established a permanent residence in District 11 culture—including for Cassandra.
"Same to you then," Cashmere smiled, giving her old friend a farewell wave.
"Take care out there, Cashmere." Cassandra put two fingers to the side of her eye before flicking them towards the District 1 girl in a sign of respect. To Cashmere, this didn't seem significant, but to the people of District 11, it was very much so. Cassandra was notorious for not using names for people unless she deeply respected them—and so using Cashmere's name meant the girl had earned respect.
The final day was Day 10, where only three tributes remained. Cassandra was badly poisoned and was racing to find another tribute. If she could kill Cashmere and that District 7 boy, she'd be heading home, and they could cure her wounds. If not… she would die here like the others.
The District 7 boy found Cashmere before Cassandra could find them however, and they got locked in fierce combat. Cashmere was swift, but the boy was strong, and he disarmed her, moving in for the kill. Cashmere delayed him using her fists and her powerful feet, but she knew she was just prolonging the inevitable—or so she thought.
Cassandra barreled in, plowing right through the two of them and giving Cashmere the wind she needed. She staggered to her feet, and briefly locked eyes with the District 11 girl.
"Win it, '1!" she wheezed, her face looking much paler than before, and her eyes bloodshot. She was succumbing to her poison and she knew it. "Take Rodney down!"
However, Rodney was clearly not ready to just take it, but Cashmere was ready to end his life this time. She seized Cassandra's sword and the two clashed once again with Rodney's axe and Cashmere's sword creating sparks with each hit. Only when a cannon fired to signal Cassandra's death from the poison did Cashmere gain the upper hand. It startled Rodney, who froze for a split-second too long—which was all the time Cashmere needed to split his skull and end the games. While slightly assisted, Cashmere's victory was assured, and whether anyone liked it or not, she was now the 12th victor from District 1, and the 64th victor of the Hunger Games.
Cashmere's victory was celebrated in District 1 as an albeit brief era where District 1 had more victors than its primary competitor, District 2. While the Zianja family was not overly egotistical, they didn't mind a little ego-stroking now and again as well. Similarly, Cashmere was an attractive victor, both in appearance and personality, and like her brother (and mother), the Capitol made good use of that. However, she was one of a few victors that held firm and fond memories of one of the fallen tributes of the arena, and she made sure that Cassandra Vine would not be forgotten. District 11 actually seemed to respect this level-headed District 1 victor, and so despite her continuing what was now a 5-year trend of careers winning the games, she was actually well-liked by most of Panem—and she was quite fine with that…
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)
64HG: Cashmere Zianja (#12, District 1)