AUTHOR'S NOTES: This was actually another one of my earlier-written chapters, and so names that sound familiar might have actually been here first. Odds are if you get 2400 people together, some of 'em are going to have the same name, but don't think too much about it. Like almost all of the victors in this era, this character also appears in some of my other works as well; and like at least one other arena I've designed, this one's landscapes are loosely inspired by the state of New Mexico.
Happy Reading!
The 83rd Annual Hunger Games
After the last two horrifying years of the Hunger Games, Panem was back on edge, wondering if the Capitol was going to come up with something equally sinister for the 83rd Annual Hunger Games. Thankfully, they did no such thing as the tributes later learned. Despite the reservations that the districts had about the last two nightmares passed off as arenas, volunteers still sprang up from Districts 1, 2, and 4, bringing with them a couple of surprises. Despite a lot of people considering District 4 a career district, it was more from their performance in the games rather than their training centers or loyalty to the Capitol. Still, it produced a couple of memorable tributes this year: Zeke Leazha and Mandy Ikezhen. Neither one seemed very assuming; Zeke was a shorter fellow with messier hair, while the only thing that really stood out about Mandy was that she had long, fiery-red hair. Unless the Capitol went with another pure darkness arena, she would almost inevitably stand out in all the wrong ways.
Scores that year were rather intriguing. One of the tributes, a District 5 girl, surprised everyone by scoring a 0, which was a result of not showing up. On the other hand, the District 4 pair surprised everyone when they both scored 12s, which became even more surprising when they refused to join the career pack.
Still, Skylar Rose and Rosalie Brie from District 1 joined forces with District 2's Ike DeLeon and Leslie Brown, all scoring between 9s and 11s, and establishing themselves as a threat. Another frighteningly unusual threat was little Arya Zendenga, a seemingly unthreatening 12-year-old from District 12 who somehow scored an 11. There had to be a fluke, or so everyone thought.
Elsa Alto and Cordin Bittanti were particularly analytical of these tributes, but being from District 3, this was considered normal to them. There would be a lot of dangerous tributes to watch out for this year.
The bloodbath proved this to be the case as weapons were drawn against one another, and Arya proved herself to be a trained killer of sorts as she stabbed Skylar in the back in the opening minutes before running. His partner Rosalie managed to kill Arya's partner in retribution, but the damage was done. The meadow the tributes had started the games out in was now soaked with the blood of nine tributes.
District 10 managed to escape the bloodbath, while their comrades from District 9 were not so fortunate. Antonio DeVacca managed to rescue his wounded partner Lucia from the fray as he headed north into the lusher parts of the arena. By contrast, the southern half looked more barren and arid, and was one that only the District 4 pair dared venture into for the time being.
Zeke and Mandy were eventually approached by Elsa and Corbin, and to their great surprise, the pair offered an alliance. Neither one seemed to be taking the games very seriously, which kept the District 3 pair on edge, but it was not enough to deter them from staying close to their newfound allies.
The careers wandered far north into the lushness of the northern arena, only to find that it was eerily devoid of anything edible. The water was okay, but the plant life was either poisonous or inedible, and there seemed to be almost no animals or creatures anywhere. This is the same problem that Antonio and Lucia faced, which was problematic because he was unable to properly nurse his partner's wounds back to health. Lucia died later that night, bringing the death count for the first night up to 10.
However, the games had only begun. The careers continued to venture north until they followed a small river. Rosalie broke from the District 2 pair when they found a river. They continued north, consuming what little food remained from their packs, while the District 1 girl jumped right into the river and followed it downstream to wherever it led.
Rosalie soon found herself in a picturesque glade loaded with food ripe for the picking, and with fat birds that were completely suitable for eating. She settled herself down after a swim in the lake, and was ready to camp out here as long as she needed. Ike and Leslie would either find her or not.
The next few days were interesting, and resulted in a few tributes, including Antonio and the District 2 pair nearly going crazy as they scrounged around for food. On one of the days a lightning storm struck some of the thick trees outside of Rosalie's glade, blocking the way she had come in. Ike and Leslie were therefore unable to find out where she had gone by following the river, which now led under a mess of trees that they did not want to risk exploring. She was alive and had presumably gone south, and so they, as well as the District 10 boy, forged separate trails down south, not running into each other at all. Over these last few days, 4 more tributes had died, although the District 3 and 4 alliance, as well as little Arya, were still alive. Her buddies from District 11 were still out there too, and they had blazed a trail first to the eastern fringes of the arena, before doubling back and aiming for the western side. Since they were skirting the fringes of north and south, they found scarce amounts of food, but enough to live off of. The arena was an interesting paradox. The barren, arid climate was actually the area richest in food, while the lush, lively climate to the north was devoid of anything edible with a few special exceptions.
Eventually, Corbin, Elsa, Zeke, and Mandy stumbled across one of the most incredible features of the arena that they actually thought was a hallucination at first. In front of them were glistening sand dunes, but they were made of white sand instead of the usual tans or browns that sand was usually comprised of. The two pairs of tributes wandered deeper into these dunes, and found an abundance of food here. While they ate, they couldn't help but ponder these dunes.
"It's gypsum," Elsa indicated, "that's why the sand is white."
With that little tidbit of information the four tributes realized that this was not quite as likely to be a hazardous trap as they had expected, and that the sand was not secretly some sort of toxic chemical that would kill them. However, the career tributes that showed up two days later were definitely out to kill them. They had also run into Antonio and a District 7 girl named Isabela O'Donnel. Both of them agreed that the District 4 pair needed to be taken down, and so they joined Ike and Leslie in the hunt for the District 3 and District 4 tributes.
Unfortunately for them, they were only able to score deaths on the District 3 pair, but not without casualties of their own. They managed to eliminate Elsa and Corbin as well as injure Mandy, but Leslie and Antonio did not survive. Mandy fought viciously despite her injuries, and also managed to bring down Ike, thus ending the career pack save for Rosalie to the north. Antonio staggered, but knew his wound was mortal. As Zeke approached to finish him off, however, he snagged the boy's spear, pivoting it around before plunging it through Zeke's neck. This exertion of strength was his final moment, and he collapsed as he succumbed to his injuries.
Isabela left Mandy in a pool of her own blood as she wandered northward. There were only six tributes remaining at this point, and despite her high score from earlier, little Arya as well as Marcus and Lorena the District 11 pair that had managed to avoid being seen most of this time, were no chance for the girl. She managed to off Arya, and sent the District 11 pair southward as she continued north to find Rosalie.
Rosalie ended up becoming the victim of something far more unexpected though. While she was living the good life for the last several days in her little glade, the same lightning that had knocked the trees down over one of the entrances ended up striking the glade itself, electrocuting her. As Isabela heard that cannon, she turned south to try and find out who was still alive.
Mandy had survived the ordeal against the careers; staining the white sand with her blood as she hobbled to safer grounds. A sponsor gift saved her from bleeding out, but she was now armed with nothing but a knife and what little food her injured body could carry.
Isabela was surprised when two more cannons went off, and the faces of Marcus and Lorena appeared in the sky. That just left Mandy.
The two tributes met in the fringes of the desert, glaring at each other in a final standoff. The redheaded District 4 girl managed to limp towards her darker-haired enemy, tricking her with a feint before she threw herself forward, plunging the knife into the District 7 girl's forehead and bringing the wild games to a close. Mandy Ikezhen had become the 7th victor from District 4, and the 83rd victor of the Hunger Games overall.
For Mandy, the games had simply been business. She did what she had to do, and didn't look back. She kept her wild and carefree District 4 attitude all throughout her tour, and despite her popularity, Mandy seemed fairly oblivious or indifferent to it all. Her high training score and stellar performance in the games had just been something she did, rather than something she aimed for. That was how she lived her life, and even after the games, that had hardly changed at all.
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)
65HG: Finnick Odair (#5, District 4)
66HG: Elroy Trujillo (#12, District 2)
67HG: Varric Svenja (#6, District 11)
68HG: Carver Tabris (#2, District 9)
69HG: Bethany Shanza (#8, District 5)
70HG: Annie Cresta (#6, District 4)
71HG: Johanna Mason (#6, District 7)
72HG: Immanuel Cox (#3, District 10)
73HG: Paige DeSiete (#5, District 8)
74HG: Clove Kazera (#13, District 2)
75HG: Katniss Everdeen (#3, District 12)
76HG: Johnny Stallings (#9, District 5)
77HG: Ikki Ortolani (#7, District 3)
78HG: Ryuka Satoru (#6, District 6)
79HG: Nailah Zoraki (#13, District 1)
80HG: Zenzi Tallarico (#7, District 11)
81HG: Kaede Raiden (#14, District 2)
82HG: Katsuo Raiden (#15, District 2)
83HG: Mandy Ikezhen (#7, District 4)