Axel Early, 16
District 6 Male
I stalked across the muddy ground, hands locked tightly around my weapon; a rusty metal pipe. Scraps of metal and machinery were piled around me. The arena was a veritable junkyard. I was looking for Steele, the girl from 2 who was a favorite to win the Games since the beginning. I had no idea how he was supposed to take on a monstrous girl with an ax, but I had to try. My grandpa needed me to come home.
The sound of metallic scraping startled me and I whipped around. Steele was approaching, ax raised. Her red hair was uneven and choppy, as if she'd tried to cut it, and there was a bloody wound across her forehead. Her right arm–her ax arm–was bandaged heavily. I got into a fighting stance as she reached me, swinging her weapon down. It clashed against my pipe, sending sparks flying. Steele sneered.
She went to kick me but I stepped back, swinging my pipe at her head. She ducked and slashed with her ax. It cut through my jumpsuit and into my shoulder, making me cry out. But as she raised her ax to deal the killing blow, she paused. Then she stumbled back, and I saw the arrow sprouting from her throat. Behind me, perched on the rusty chassis of an old car, was Lee. An arrow was nocked on his bow, and he wore a determined expression. He'd just saved my life. But now I had to kill him.
Steele's cannon fired and I charged forward, ignoring the blood dripping down my arm as he fired another arrow. Somehow, I managed to swat it away with my pipe. As Lee went to fire another, I slammed my body into the hood of the car. The old thing shuddered and shook, pitching Lee off the roof. His bow flew in my direction and I kicked it away. Lee scrambled up from the mud, an arrow in each hand like a dagger. We charged.
He swiped at me first, but his arrow was unable to penetrate the thick fabric of the mechanic's jumpsuit we all wore. I slammed the pipe against his forearm and he dropped an arrow, hissing in pain as the bone shattered. We traded blows for a few more moments; Lee landing an impressive cut on my cheek. I tasted blood and rushed forward again, bringing my pipe down on his knee.
Lee fell back, a sob tearing out of his throat, and my pipe connected with the side of his head. He slumped down, unmoving. No cannon fired, so I closed my eyes and began to hit him again and again. Bile rose in my throat as I imagined what his bloodied, bruised face would look like, but I refused to open my eyes until a cannon fired.
Turning around, I let the pipe fall from my hand. Tears streaked down my cheeks. There was a brief silence, and then Caesar Flickerman's voice filled the air.
"Panem, I give you the victor of the 57th Hunger Games; Axel Early!"
Hi everyone! Welcome to my brand new SYOT! I'm not quite done with Open Arms, but we're in the Final 8, so I decided to publish this guy and open up submissions! The form and open spots are on my profile. I'd be super grateful if you guys could submit! And what are our thoughts on Axel? I know we didn't see much of him here, but I'll soon show more, I promise. I hope you enjoyed this prologue!
Have a nice day, be kind to each other, and never stop reading!
- Fiona
