Arena 'Night' 4

JOTHAM VELASQUEZ (14)

DISTRICT TEN MALE

Jotham was tired.

The perpetual traverse through acres of darkness in vain hopes of waiting this whole Hunger Games out was starting to register in his mind, dulling his senses into a slow lull of monotony that was jolted every now and then by the sudden fear that something could go wrong. The panic that would spring up in seemingly random bursts that his life was in imminent danger freaked him out, sending his mind into a downward spiral of anxiety.

But through it all, he reminded himself that his mental strength was his greatest weapon in this arena. Losing it would spell trouble for him, causing the walls to come caving in. And he'd seen how that went for Evie. A part of him still mourned for his District partner, but he understood that it had to happen for him to win. Still, he wondered how her child back home was doing. Perhaps if he won, he could help take care of the kid.

But that was a problem for later.

Ahead of him, Laura led the way, meandering around the banks of a river she'd tracked down some time ago. She was trying to find a good shelter along an otherwise exposed and brightly-lit riverbank, though thus far Laura had admitted there were few tracks and leads to go by. She seemed to have a good idea where she was going, Jotham frankly couldn't tell the difference between one section of the woods and another. Plus, she'd been preparing their meals. Which was why Jotham really appreciated her, he'd even offered to give her a massage when she'd briefly mentioned her ankles were sore.

Of course, that suggestion was quickly shut down by a rather hot-headed Ceri.

Ah, Ceri.

Jotham didn't know where to start with her. She was a bit of a loose cannon, spouting curse words here and there, which Jotham didn't quite approve of. But perhaps that was just her being a teenager having a foul-mouthed phase.

Apart from that though, she always seemed to soften around him, melting into a sweet girl always there for his every whim and fancy. Well, not quite, but she certainly acted a lot more mature when he was in the picture.

Not to mention, Jotham had to admit, her feisty nature was kind of cute. It was the polar opposite of his more subdued nature, but Ceri sparked a fiery spirit within him and while it was foolish of him to think in such a way, he did find himself slowly being attracted to her.

Ceri flashed him a cheeky grin, one that she always seemed to have even when trouble abounded. "You're lost in thought again," she pointed out. Leaning closer, she whispered, "What's shakin'?"

"Oh, uhm, nothing," Jotham murmured. "Just thinking about the Games and everything. The usual stuff."

Ceri laughed, giving him a playful smack in the arm, though her fingers brushed against his skin for a little longer than a 'playful smack' usually would've entailed. "Maybe you should think of something else. Something- or someone- much nicer."

Jotham chuckled. "Are you insinuating that I begin daydreaming about you?"

Ceri blushed furiously. "Erm, no, I-"

Before either of them could say anything further though, Jotham heard the faint rustle of leaves. He froze. In front of him, Laura had paused too, her face contorting into a grim frown as slowly, she tiptoed over to investigate.

Then, something emerged from the woods. A figure, humanoid in posture, a dark silhouette creeping through the shadows and materialising right in front of them.

A cold chill shuddered across Jotham's face. His mouth twitched as he took a step back, raising his finger to point in disbelief.

"Abi?"

LAURA ACKERMAN (13)

DISTRICT NINE FEMALE

Laura was confused.

She stared ahead of her, her mouth agape as the humanoid shadow loomed over them, red blotches that she could only assume were eyes staring right back at her, unblinking. It was covered in dark crimson patches and a few strands of dark brown hair and it dawned upon her that this creature must've killed at least one tribute prior to encountering them. Or perhaps it was just a trick by the Gamemakers. She glanced at her friends. Jotham and Ceri were both rooted to the ground, their eyes glowing with fear as they stood still as statues. They were almost hyperventilating now, and Laura had a feeling she knew why.

"Abi?" Jotham stammered.

"No, you were executed all those years ago, they caught you after the riot, it can't be-" Ceri whimpered.

This shadow, this humanoid mutt, it was taking on the image of their worst fears, ensnaring them in its deadly trap of sheer horror.

The figure seemed to float closer to them. Laura scowled at it, raising her knife in defiance, but then her vision began to blur for a quick moment.

And then she saw him.

"Hello there, Laura, looking ravishing as always."

"Catullus," she snarled.

She tried to take a step forward, but something about this mutt seemed to dull her senses. Her muscles felt more rigid, more vulnerable to losing control. Her mind swirled and she could feel herself being frozen in this creature's embrace.

Catullus flashed a toothy grin at her, his eyes drifting towards her chest area. Years upon years of harassment crashed into her like a tornado of painful memories as the mutt floated even closer to her, his hand outstretched as though he were ready to touch her.

Not again.

Laura charged forward, raising her knife high into the air. She lunged forward and slashed her knife. Catullus growled as the blade ripped through his outstretched arm, a golden ichor oozing from the wound. His image flickered and the original form of the creature began to emerge once more.

Behind her, Jotham yelped, "It's a trick!"

The creature roared in fury, its uninjured arm bursting forth and grabbing Laura by the neck. She wriggled around, trying desperately to break free but its grip was iron-clad. The creature's hand pressed against her neck and Laura could only grasp at it as she struggled for air. She clawed her fingers uselessly, letting out a choked scream of alarm.

But the life was draining out of her.

From the corner of her eye, she could see the creature kicking Ceri down to the ground before grabbing her and hurling her right into Jotham. The pair crashed to the ground, groaning in agony.

Leaving the mutt distracted.

With one final, desperate attempt, Laura stuck out her knife and swung forward as much as she could, striking the creature right in the chest. It hollered in pain as it made a final swing at her, striking her right in the head. Laura screamed as pain shot through her skull. The creature flung her to the ground, sending her crashing straight into a hard rock.

She could feel a million bones cracking under the force of the fall and she could only lay there, writhing in tormenting agony as the life began to slowly bleed out of her.

She could hear the creature roar and topple to the ground as Ceri let out a tyrannical howl. But her vision was starting to blur, her hearing slowly diminishing until all she could hear was a soft, ringing sound that seemed to go on forever. Two figures appeared before her, both shouting and desperately trying to shake her awake, which only intensified the excruciating pain within her bones.

A tear trickled down her eye.

Maybe there was a better world than this out there.

ALEA KORAH (18)

DISTRICT FIVE FEMALE

Alea was mistrustful.

She made sure to keep a watchful eye on Quianna at all times, not even daring to let this smooth talker from Four out of her sight. She'd abandoned her Career pack, or whatever was left of it anyway, and Alea knew Quianna was the sort to do anything to achieve victory.

Disposing of Alea seemed only natural, then.

So Alea had already begun thinking of how she could quietly get rid of Quianna, perhaps in her sleep.

Not yet though, she was a useful ally for the time being, especially since Alder and Fleur were still at large. Besides, Quianna made a pretty good meat shield if they ever ran into one of the many traps Alea was almost certain Ithaca and Persey were making.

They had yet to find any signs of Esma's secret stash of supplies, which was unfortunate since those might've come in handy. Quianna had managed to craft makeshift bandages using some leaves which were apparently medicinal. Alea didn't recognise the plant type, but hey, it seemed to be working. "I used to find these in the northern sections of Four," Quianna explained, "Pretty handy things, shame my family always dismissed these sorts of medicinal plants."

Alea nodded blankly, not quite expecting Quianna to engage in any sort of small talk.

"I hear you guys are geniuses over in Five, maybe not on Three's level but I've been told you guys have insane tech, at least compared to Four," Quianna murmured.

"Well, you could say that, I guess," Alea replied, not quite sure where Quianna was going with this.

"There's been a surge in demand for new tech from Five these days in Four, I wonder why," Quianna mused. "I've seen plenty of radioactive crates and other strange boxes with Five's crest on them."

"We've had a lot of reports of power shortages and other problems with Four," Alea remembered. "Not sure if that's related but a lot's been going on."

"Hmm," Quianna muttered, seemingly lost in her own world of thoughts. Alea raised an eyebrow, but she didn't comment any further. A part of her suspected District Four was undergoing some sort of internal turmoil that led to the power cuts and weird supply demands. And Alea didn't think the Gamemakers would be happy with them talking about it.

Suddenly, she heard a faint hissing sound.

Instantly, her body tensed. "Did you hear that?" she asked Quianna, not daring to look behind her. The hissing grew louder, and she was suddenly hit by the realisation that something was watching them. She could feel their gaze upon them, her sixth sense tingling with fright as she dreaded the worst. She risked a quick look to her left and let out a petrified gasp of horror.

Snakes.

These weren't the usual smaller ones back home in urban Five that were already terrifying for Alea. No, these were much, much worse. An entire brood of dark snakes slithered from the shadows, each of them at least a few metres in length. They snarled and hissed, their razor-sharp fangs glistening in the dim blue light of the trees. Their jaws were huge, large enough to fit perhaps even an entire human in them.

And tonight, it looked like Alea and Quianna were on the menu.

"Shit," Alea cursed. "Damn it, no, no, no." She whipped out her knife, her hands trembling as she tried to distance herself from the snakes, but they emerged from all directions, surrounding her in a circle of doom. Fear began to gnaw on her insides, as though the snakes had already begun to devour her psychologically and soon, she was taunted by the haunting image of their slimy bodies slithering over her skin.

That was nearly enough to make her faint from sheer terror.

"Stay calm, Alea," Quianna urged, brandishing her rapier as she defiantly marched to meet the snake mutts. "We've got this."

The first snake mutt attacked, launching itself forward with such otherworldly strength and speed that Alea barely had time to register a scream before she sliced her knife wildly into the air. She decapitated the snake mutt, sending its head soaring into the air before landing right in front of one of its peers, who hissed in alarm. Another one lunged at them but Quianna struck it clean through with her rapier.

And soon, the full-on assault of slithery, scaly terrors had begun.

Alea screamed, whimpering as multiple mutts began attacking her at once. She dodged, struck, sliced, desperately hoping to avoid any sort of physical contact with these beasts. One flicked its tail, and when it grazed her leg, Alea went into full panic mode, descending into a cacophony of yells, screams, insults and plenty of other words that on a normal day she would have never even dared to utter. Her knife flung catastrophically around, lobbing off head after head as the snake mutts continued to attack her. From the corner of her eye, she could see a snake mutt lashing itself around Quianna's arm as she swung her rapier to slice its body clean in half.

But her thoughts were not with Quianna, Alea was much more concerned about the slithery being that she'd accidentally stepped on. She screamed as her boot sloshed in goo, squirming in disgust as she continued to flail, cutting down the snake mutts one by one as they continued to attack her, although some seemed to be holding back, perhaps terrified of its crazed madwoman hurling a thousand generational insults upon them.

One final snake lunged from behind her, baring its fangs to strike and Alea was certain she was done for, until Quianna struck it down with a resolute strike. As Alea shivered uncontrollably around the pile of snake mutt carcasses that now lay in heaps around her, she could feel Quianna's arms wrap around her, the girl from Four's voice whispering that it was alright.

For once, Alea decided not to protest this unexpected show of care.

11th: Laura Ackerman (by arena mutts)

A/N: Oh, poor Laura, she struggled through thick and thin, and in another world had a bright future waiting for her. Smart, kind and mature, she was the glue that held the alliance together and proved herself to be a great friend to Jotham and even Ceri despite Ceri's constant jealousy. Ultimately, she vanquished her worst fears and helped the others do the same, and even if she did go down here, that's a great legacy to leave behind. While Laura's story ends here, this won't be the last we hear of her, and the same can be said of Catullus back in Nine, who might show up again, but that's a story for later on. Thank you to LadyCorneliaStuart for submitting her, I loved Laura.