Ceto Preston, 18

District 4 Female

The sun shone in Ceto's eyes as her pedestal locked into place. Squinting, she looked out over the sandy beach she found herself on. The Cornucopia was a pale gold color, making the sunlight bouncing off of it even more intense. Seagulls called overhead and waves lapped against the shore. In the distance, she could see two small islands.

A glittering countdown hung over the Cornucopia as Ceto turned her gaze to her secondary focus. Weapons and supplies were stacked just within the mouth, and she smiled as she spotted a large trident. Perfect.

She scanned the group of tributes, looking for Connor or Gigi. She didn't see the latter, but Connor was near the end of the line on the right side. He would be her target. District 5 would be eliminated early. She would make sure of it.

The gong rang and she lunged forward, feet scrabbling in the sand. Everyone else seemed to be struggling, but being from 4 had its benefits. She could easily run in sand. Though it meant that she and Anthony reached the Cornucopia at the same time. He snatched the trident before she could reach it. Growling, she grabbed two long knives instead and turned away from her ex as he threw his trident straight into the conjoined twins.

The scrape of metal on metal came from behind her and she whirled around, only to come face-to-face with Connor. With a yell, she slashed with her knife, but he turned his head at the last moment to avoid the strike to his eye. Instead it scraped down the side of his face.

Connor stumbled backwards and Ceto lunged forward, slashing again. He parried it with his blade. The two dueled across the sand, slashing and stabbing. Ceto cut through his wetsuit to deliver a sharp strike to his right shoulder, nearly making him drop his knife. She struck again with her other hand, delivering a sharp blow to the side of his head with the knife handle while he was off balance.

Connor fell back, landing in the sand as Ceto pounced. She began to slice and stab at his face when a sharp pain blossomed in her gut. Someone screamed. It might have been her. Looking down, Connor had sunk his knife deep into her stomach. She raised her eyes back to him, only to see a trident pierce his neck.

"Anthony!" she screamed, lunging to her feet. "He was my kill, you bastard!" Ripping the knife out of her gut, she stabbed at Anthony, who easily sidestepped. The world spun around her and she staggered. Anthony stuck the end of his trident out, tripping her. As she fell, the world began to go black. The cold steel of Anthony's trident sunk into her chest, and she thought of her uncle.

Culter Spring, 17

District 11 Male

Somehow, Culter had gotten extremely lucky. He was between the kids from 12, both of whom were weaklings expected to die in the bloodbath. Neither of them would pose a threat, and the nearest Career was Ceto, who was completely focused on someone else.

When the gong rang, he rushed forward. He was fast, but the sand did slow him a bit. Surprisingly, Morty was making a decent pace beside him. Culter pushed himself to go faster.

He reached the Cornucopia and slid to a stop. A medium-sized backpack was leaning against the side, which he snatched up. There was also a water bottle on top of a crate, which he grabbed too. Then he began to sprint away

Something pierced his upper arm, making him shout. Foolishly, he turned around, only to be caught in the chest by two more arrows. As he fell back, he saw the girl from 2 frowning at him, bow in hand.

Nero Inculta, 18

District 2 Male

Nero scanned the crowd of frantic tributes, looking for his first target. He gripped his throwing knives tightly, back against the Cornucopia so no one could sneak up on him from behind.

From what he could see, Ceto and Connor were dueling, but Ceto clearly had the upper hand. Nailah had just fired several arrows into the boy from 11's chest before ducking inside the Cornucopia. After a moment of thought, he decided to leave her alone.

His gaze settled on R.J., the boy from 6, who was carrying a small backpack. Nero's mind flashed back to a day during training when they were in the lunch line together, and R.J. made fun of his size in Latin. Little did R.J. know, Nero understood Latin fairly well. The perks of having a victor for a grandmother.

Falling into his stance, Nero took a deep breath before throwing his knife. It was right on target, sinking into the back of R.J.'s neck, right between the vertebrae. The boy fell flat on his face, dead.

"Um, excuse me?" someone said from beside him, making Nero jump. He turned around, knives out, to see the boy from 12. He looked perfectly calm.

"Could you please kill me?" he asked. "Ideally in a non-painful way."

"Um, sure?" Neo said, squinting at him in confusion. He tucked his knives away. "I can snap your neck. That will be quick."

"Okay," the boy said, closing his eyes. Nero places his hands on either side of his head. But he couldn't help but hesitate. The boy opened one eye.

"Can you do it?" he asked. Nero nodded.

"What's your name?" The boy raised an eyebrow, but answered.

"I'm Morty."

"Nice to meet you Morty," Nero said before breaking his neck in one swift motion.

Kjole Schmeichel, 16

District 8 Female

Kjole scrambled across the sand, frustrated. There was no sand in District 8, so even though she was a soccer player, she felt slow and clumsy. She'd gotten very lucky; her ally Taroh was on the podium next to hers. She stayed with him, keeping an eye out for Pell.

But right in the mouth of the Cornucopia was a massive glittering sword that no Career had claimed. She stopped in her tracks, suddenly questioning her plan. She was going to make sure Pell and Taroh were safe, and hopefully get a backpack. But if she got that sword, she'd be much more powerful.

Taroh must have noticed her staring because he gave her a light push.

"Go get it!" he said. "I'm going to find Pell."

"Okay," Kjole said, taking a deep breath. "Be safe."

"You too." Then she rushed forward.

On her way to the Cornucopia, Kjole grabbed a backpack, barely slowing her pace. She slung it over her back without stopping and pushed herself even harder. She'd never run faster. There was an opening in the Cornucopia too. None of the Careers seemed to be guarding.

She skidded to a stop, spraying sand as she grabbed the sword. But as she turned around, she heard the backpack rip. Allure was standing directly behind her, holding a rapier.

Kjole parried her next strike, but Allure just attacked again. She liked to think she was good with a sword, but compared to Allure, she was hopeless. Kjole found herself solely on defense the entire time. Her arm was beginning to get tired, and she slipped up on one of her blocks.

Allure slashed her across the face and kicked her in the knee. Kjole dropped down to the other knee, breathing hard. She looked up at Allure, unable to raise her sword. This was it.

Then Allure stumbled forward with a shout. She whipped around, striking at someone, who dodged. They ran to stand between Allure and Kjole, and she gasped. It was Pell!

"Run!" he shouted.

Neither of them could react before Allure. She was a trained Career. She turned again, using her rapier to pierce straight into Pell's chest. Groaning, he leaned forward to grab the rapier, slicing his hands.

"Run," he repeated in a strained voice.

The only reason Kjole made it away was because Pell had grabbed the sword. He was pulling on it as Allure tried to pull it back. Kjole grabbed her sword, staggered to her feet, and ran. She saw Taroh standing near the pedestals, squinting against the sunlight. She grabbed his hand and pulled him away, tears in her eyes.

Hi everyone! I know I said I'd do some Capitol overviews, but I'm working on my own SYOT already and I was getting a little burnt out with so many Capitol chapters. So, here's the bloodbath!

EULOGIES

24th: Samantha Von Hindenburg (killed by Anthony Morgan)
I had fun writing Samantha as a conjoined twin, but without the pre-Games, she didn't get a chance to develop. I'm sorry Samantha. I did you dirty. RIP.

23rd: Culter Spring (killed by Nailah Nebit)
I really loved Culter. I liked his relationship with his girlfriend, I liked his motivation, I liked his personality... I just really liked him. But I needed more bloodbaths and I didn't have an arena arc for him. So he had to go. RIP.

22nd: R.J. MacReady (killed by Nero Inculta)
R.J. was a really cool tribute, but I struggled to write him. He and I just think very differently. And I needed a few stronger tributes to die. RIP.

21st: Morty Sonym (killed by Nero Inculta)
Morty is such a sad boy and he deserved so much better. But I had this scene planned with Nero for a long time, so he had to go. Andd he was ready to die. RIP.

20th: Archibald Pell (killed by Allure Beldam)
Pell was such a good bean, and I wish I could've shown him, Taroh, and Kjole all being allied in the pre-Games. But it was just too much for me. And he went out in a noble way; saving his district partner. RIP.

19th: Connor Merlyn (killed by Ceto Preston)
Oh Connor. You were a great victor candidate, but I personally didn't vibe with you being stronger than a trained Career wanting vengeance. I promise your girlfriend will be safe. It's the least I can do. RIP.

18th: Ceto Preston (killed by Connor Merlyn and Anthony Morgan)
Ceto was actually an interesting character for me to write. It would have been cool to keep her around, but she was submitted as a bloodbath and I liked the idea of her going a little bit crazy and turning on Anthony when he took her kill. And this way, Connor could still be partially responsible for her death)

ALLIANCES (the deceased are in italics)

The Careers:
- Allure
- Dionysus
- Nero
- Nailah
- Ceto
- Anthony

The Motivated Ones:
- Cheyanne
- Gigi
- Connor
- R.J.

The Cat Lovers:
- Taroh
- Pell
- Kjole

Joy:
- Martin
- Maize

Muscles & Horses:
- Desiree
- Bess
- Omar
- Soleil

Loners:
- Porsche
- Oberon
- Culter
- Morty
- Samantha

Have a nice day, be kind to each other, and never stop reading!

- Fiona