Chapter 21:

Julian Martinez, District Four, Age 17

Victor of the 96th Hunger Games

Julian doesn't think there could have been a more perfect arena for him to be placed in than a giant water park. Years of volunteering in the aquarium in Four and surfing has prepared him for this, way better than anyone else. With the use of the arena to aid him, these Games are his to lose.

Didn't mean he is completely void of fear. Someone could still stab him in the back and kill him. But he still has much greater odds than the rest of these tributes.

He knows he shouldn't be so cocky about his odds, but honestly, it's hard not to be when he's one of a small handful that can actually swim in a water park arena. He's comfortable with his position. So why can't he enjoy a nice float down the river in a tube?

"Ah, sure is a beautiful day," Julian says as he stretches out his arms before putting them behind his head, grinning at the Capitol watching. They've enjoyed the more theatrical tributes in the past so he's just playing it up for them. At least, that's what he's telling himself.

Honestly, he's enjoying himself in this arena.

"When I win, I'm going to get a water park built in Four," Julian continues, shutting his eyes and not paying attention to the gentle splashing sound that's approaching him. This river…this is amazing. Relaxation at its finest.

The pace of the river starts to pick up and Julian frowns as he's jostled a bit, quickly grabbing ahold of the handles on his tube to stay afloat. Okay, maybe not so relaxing. He opens his eyes to see what's going on and that's when he sees the tribute paddling towards him, gaining on him quickly. "Oh shit," he mutters as he starts kicking his feet, trying to stay ahead of the tribute.

The boy kicks it into high gear when he realizes Julian knows he's coming and with a cry, he leaps from his tube onto Julian's, flipping them over. They both cry out in surprise as they fall into the water and Julian quickly reemerges, only to get pushed back down by the boy as he clings to him. "Get off me!" Julian yells at him as he tries to push him away, getting a mouthful of water as the river starts flowing faster.

They get pushed under for a few seconds as they round a turn, Julian nearly smacking his head against the wall. Alright, this river is definitely no longer relaxing. It takes him a moment to start thinking as the boy shoves him under water again and when he reemerges, he takes one big gulp of air before hooking his legs around the boy and diving under.

The river is much deeper than Julian thought and the current pushes them along as the boy flails in Julian's grip. But he doesn't let go, having hung onto much squirmier things back in the aquarium when he swam with dolphins. It's all a waiting game and Julian knows the boy is running out of air much faster than him and using up too much energy squirming in his grip. Just a few more seconds… Julian can tell the moment the boy dies when his hands relax from around Julian, but he stays under for a bit longer as his lungs just start to burn, just to make sure he's really dead.

Crack!

The water around Julian starts to go red before his vision blackens and he tries to swim up to the surface…

Julian gasps for air and starts coughing up water as his lungs burn. The ground beneath him is soaked with water and blood and he gently reaches up to his head. When he pulls his fingers back, there's fresh blood on them. What just happened?!

"Good going there, pal."

"Regan," Julian says as he twists around, finding his District partner crouched beside him. She holds a knife casually in one hand, a simple threat to him. But her hair is dripping water, making him confused. "Did you…I…what?"

"I'd forgive your lack of complex words and blame the head injury, but I know words are hard for you normally," Regan tells him with a laugh as she sits down, setting her knife to the side. Julian eyes it and she shakes her head at him. "Don't even try it, pal. I might have saved your ass there but if you try to kill me first, I won't hesitate."

"Why would you do that?" Julian asks, confused by her action. "We're not allies."

"True," Regan shrugs at him. "But I figure we should guarantee Four's victory this year. Wreck some havoc on the poor other tributes that don't know how to swim. Have you tried the wave pool yet? Fun stuff there, killer for anyone that isn't us. Oh and you're welcome."

"I…" Julian shakes his throbbing head at his confusing District partner. She always was a weird one in the Capitol but she does have a point. He'd probably be dead right now without her. The least he can do is keep her around before backstabbing her. He won't make the dumb move to keep his District partner alive like she did. "Yeah, thanks… And sure, why not?"

Regan grins at his answer and holds out her hand to him. When he takes it, she pulls him up to his feet and slaps his back a couple times as he coughs some more. Man, that would have sucked ass if he had been the tribute from District Four, of all places, to die by drowning. "Alright pal, let's go kill some tributes."

And there we have Julian Martinez, Victor of the 96th Hunger Games! Yeah, I have a type of cocky victors, I realize this having Fonio and Julian in a row lol oops. Oh well lol. And yeah, forgot to update this again last Wednesday but I think it's safe to say that most of us were not thinking about fanfiction last Wednesday lol.

Anyways, we're starting to reach the point where most of the victors we see from now on should be familiar faces from my other stories! I definitely want to have posted through the 100th Games before the end of 2020, just as long as I don't forget to update too many times (since they're already written). So next week I'll see you with a somewhat familiar strong-willed victor from Ten.