A/N: Trigger warning for transphobia.

Chapter 8:

Cas Novak, District Five, Age 16

Victor of the 83rd Hunger Games

Every time Cas thinks life cannot possibly get any worse, it does.

He didn't think life back in Five could have gotten much worse after living through the Second Rebellion and having their family home destroyed, forcing them into poverty. But it did get worse when his parents turned against him when he came out and he constantly had to deal with their misgendering and constantly being called his dead name. He thought he could put up with that for just a few more years at home, but then they refused to let him get his name legally changed, forcing him to wait until he was eighteen and could move out.

And then the reaping came along. While his parents were shitty with their transphobia towards their own son, at least they weren't shitty rebels dooming him for their actions. He should be safe from the Games. His parents told him that he would be safe since they didn't do anything against the Capitol and have always been hard working citizens. But then he was still picked – and under his dead name in the wrong gender pool. If he was being forced into a death match, he was going into it as himself, so at least he got to tell the whole country who he is and they have actually listened. That might be the only good thing that has happened to him lately.

Cas thought he was pretty set for the Games and had a solid alliance with his District partner and the boy from Eight. But then the bloodbath happened and they lost the boy from Eight, yet they retained control of the cornucopia. Not the worst thing that could have happened – and Cas knows a way this could be worse and that's if there were actual careers. But then on the second day his partner was killed, leaving Cas all alone.

Which is how he's ended up curled in a ball against the cold metal inside the cornucopia, desperately trying to get a little bit of sleep, yet terrified to close his eyes. What did he do to deserve all of these shitty things happening to him? He's always done what he was told. He didn't go against the Capitol – he'd even call himself a loyalist now after they've fully supported him as a trans boy, unlike his family. But this? Struggling for warmth on his own and afraid of the other tributes out there? This fucking sucks ass.

"Ughhh," Cas groans in annoyance as he rolls over again, unable to get comfortable at all. He stares at the opening of the cornucopia, watching the small amount of snowflakes slowly drift down to the ground. It's not cold enough to make them all freeze to death, but just enough to make them all absolutely miserable. "Just a few minutes of sleep. That's all I ask."

Cas shuts his eyes again and curls up even more, trying to will himself to stop shivering. And slowly, his shivers start to slow and he actually finds himself growing warm. "Finally," Cas mutters to himself, eyes still shut and mind slowing as he finally grows comfortable enough to sleep.

But really, Cas should have known it was too good to be true and things can always get worse in the arena.

Cas is woken up suddenly from his sleep and he breathes in quickly, only to make himself start coughing and gasping for air. Smoke stings at his eyes as he scrambles for his supplies, brain muddled from falling asleep and unable to get enough oxygen. He gets his bag and knife and starts crawling over to the opening, only to freeze up when he sees the wood blazing in the opening. "Fuck," Cas yells out and slams his fist against the cornucopia, realizing the metal is steadily growing warmer and starting to get too hot. This is not what he wanted when he asked to be warm.

"Fuck me," Cas mumbles and he covers his mouth with his sleeve in an attempt to stop breathing in the smoke as he keeps crawling closer to the blazing fire. Through his thick clothes, he can feel the heat of the metal threatening to burn him as he gets closer to the fire, but he has no choice but to push forward. It's that or die from smoke inhalation.

With a yell, Cas jumps through the fire and lands on the cold ground and the temperature difference causes hissing steam to rise around him. He quickly rolls around before having to stop to hack up a lung, barely able to get any air in. His eyes water and he wipes at them as he lays on his back, watching the fire burn all around the cornucopia. Why would the Gamemakers do this to him? Was it because he hadn't killed in a couple days or done much?

But Cas gets his answer soon enough and only has time to partially dodge the club swinging down towards his head and instead it slams into his shoulder with the crunch of bone. Cas cries out in pain as he tries to push himself up, but he falls back to the ground, unable to use his arm at all. The club hits him in the back, pushing him closer to the fire. He groans from all the pain as he rolls over onto his back and stares up at the tribute approaching him – the ally of the tribute he killed for killing his District partner. "Fuck you, Miles," Cas tries to spit at him, but Miles just laughs.

Miles walks towards him and Cas knows he can't get away from him. Not with his arm fucked up and his lungs still struggling to get enough oxygen. "You're not the first one to say that," Miles sneers as he looks at his club before glaring down at Cas. "Did you really think hiding back in the cornucopia was the safest place to hide?"

"I mean, yea-" Cas breaks off to start coughing once more as he realizes maybe it wasn't the smartest idea. But then again, he's never had the best luck. "Should have gone somewhere else so I wouldn't have to see your little bitch face again."

That pisses off Miles – and yeah, Cas probably should have kept his mouth shut considering he is in a really bad situation, but fuck this guy. "Shut the fuck up!" Miles yells as he kicks Cas in the face, making blood start pouring immediately from his nose. "You're a little pussy that won't fucking win."

Cas has been called a lot of shitty names over the years, but pussy is the one that absolutely drives him over the fucking edge. Cas screams in anger as he kicks out his leg, knocking Miles to the ground. He immediately tackles Miles, screaming in pain and anger as they start rolling around, trying to throw punches at each other. Cas knows he can't take Miles in a direct fight. He has the build of a string bean. But if Miles wanted to kill him with fire, well…

Time to let this fucker burn.

Cas gets knocked onto his back and uses the momentum to keep rolling Miles over to the blazing fire surrounding the cornucopia. Miles immediately starts screaming as he's pushed into the fire and tries to push Cas off, but Cas throws all of his weight onto him, even as his own flesh starts to burn. Miles tries to sit up and Cas screams as he brings his head forward and slams it into his, making both of them fall over from the pain.

Cas lands awkwardly on Miles and the logs, making him fall to the side. He barely has enough strength to roll himself out of the direct fire, but not enough to put out the flames on him as Miles' screams get snuffed out.

Boom.

Cas slowly grins as he lays there, his back on fire, and begins to laugh. He's losing it. He's completely losing it and he's on fire and he can't even get himself to move.

Cas lays down his head, too weak to keep it held up anymore, and watches as the snow picks up suddenly with a big gale of wind that pushes him away from the fire that…is…being put out? He doesn't fucking know anymore. All he knows is that he's in excruciating pain that is only growing by the second. He groans as his shoulder is jostled around and his vision blackens from all the pain.

As he starts to lose consciousness, he can just barely hear the faint beeping of a gift approaching him.

We have the victor of the 83rd Hunger Games, Cas Novak! Cas is honestly just a mood and I don't blame him for being like so done with all of this XD I know you're probably wondering how he survived after the burns and the answer is he got sponsored burn stuff and was being a bit overdramatic about the fire and wasn't actually burned too bad XD

So yeah, there's Cas! I have a goal of having through the 85th Games posted by the end of 2019 so stay tuned for at least two more updates! The next chapter is already written so it should be up probably within a week!