Chapter 28:
Bloodbath
Odyssey Gunderson, Victor of the Sixth Quarter Quell
"I thought I was ready for this," Odyssey says quietly, shaking his head as he stands in the doorway to the mentor room. How many times has he heard stories from the victors about what this room is like? He knows what to expect in there and he's known for almost a year now that he would be here. But there was a big difference between speculation and actually seeing it in front of him now. "But I don't think I am."
Misha takes his hand, holding it close to his chest tightly. "You're not doing this alone," he says softly and Odyssey gives him a pained look, making him sigh quietly. "I'm not ready either but I have a feeling none of us are."
"You're blocking the door, nitwits," Clark says behind them, pushing the two apart and ducking under their hands to get through the door. He glances back over his shoulder at them, trying to glare but there's so much pain in his eyes. "Don't worry, the first year is as awful as you're thinking it will be."
"That's so reassuring," Odyssey says quietly and Astrid laughs a little as she squeezes past them, putting a hand on his shoulder for a moment before following after Clark, where he's quickly taken up a couch by lying face down on it. Astrid sits on his back, making him groan at the weight before slapping blindly back at her until she moves. He sits up, arms crossed as he glares at her, but his focus at least has been temporarily taken off the Games. "I wish I could get distracted like that."
A person clears their throat behind them and Odyssey glances back to find the District Four pair there and Muir gives him a comforting smile. "No matter what happens, we're all here together and you don't have to go through it alone."
Odyssey sighs loudly and puts his head down, letting go of Misha's hand to fidget with his prosthetic hand. "It's just bringing back a lot of memories," he says quietly, not wanting to meet Misha's gaze and see the worry there. "And I wish they were more…"
"Functional?" Muir offers and he looks up to see her shrug. "Less of a hot mess? Oh me too. I can't even tell you who Juno is working with and he's my own damn tribute. So at least consider yourself lucky Bez is so clear with their intentions."
"That is true," Odyssey agrees slowly and Muir gestures into the room. He slowly walks in with her, Misha right at his side, as always…being his rock and the one thing keeping his sanity through this all. Drazen glares at them across the room where he sits at the bar, already halfway through a drink as Jory watches on with disapproval as he gives Misha a wave.
"Come on, you can sit with us," Muir tells them and Odyssey gives her a surprised look. "I don't care what happens with our tributes when that gong starts. I care about supporting someone who I know what they've gone through."
"Thank you Muir," Misha says when Odyssey can only nod his head, too afraid to speak and have his voice waver with tears. He has to be strong… All of his friends are looking to him to lead them – even Anastacia. Misha sits down and pulls Odyssey onto his lap, arms around his waist tightly as he presses his face into his shoulder. "No matter what they do, we're a team. We focus on getting one of them out, regardless of if you're their mentor or I am. Okay?"
Odyssey lets out a shaky breath before nodding his head. He leans back against Misha, needing to hear the reassurances from him. "We can do anything as long as we're a team," he says quietly as he watches Emilio guide Elias and Anastacia into the room, a hand on both of their shoulders. Odyssey nods at the older victor as he gets them to a couch and his two friends curl up against each other immediately. His eyes start watering at the pain on their faces and he has to look away from them. "I can't watch my friends hurting."
"Let's hope we don't have to see that yet," Misha says, but there's no way for them to know if they will or not. With the careers being split and there being five tributes they're mentoring… It doesn't look good.
"It will be a miracle if they all get out of this alive," Odyssey tells him, watching Amelia walk in with Letha, both of them holding each other, and Matla and Galen walking in behind them. Amelia has her head up, despite the glisten in her eyes, and Odyssey has to turn away. Here he is, pretty sure their pair can get out of the bloodbath alive with their training, and his friend has someone who is on the borderline of malnourishment. How is that fair?! "I can't do this."
Muir gives him a sad look, which only makes him feel worse. "I still don't know what is worse," she starts as the District Eleven mentors walk in, arms looped and both women standing tall as a collective unit as they find an open spot. Muir watches them for a moment, smiling a little at Pinova, but when she turns back to Odyssey, the smile has faded. "Living with what I did or having to see the mentors in pain each year."
Odyssey turns away, watching Fox and Johan walk in. His friend nods his head and barely forces a smile as he goes to where Amelia sits with Letha. As soon as he sits down, Amelia puts her head on his shoulder and he pulls her closer. At that, Odyssey shuts his eyes, barely holding back tears at this point. "I'd rather suffer myself ten times over than see those I love hurting." Especially Misha… God, how is he supposed to watch anything happen to either of their tributes? Or root for one over the other when it means seeing his love hurting?
"We never should have agreed to this," Odyssey says, opening his eyes and shaking his head as he watches the Nine pair sit down near Astrid and Clark. "No wonder Seraphim quit."
"I can't say I blame him," Misha replies quietly, turning his head on Odyssey's shoulder, but not before he feels a dampness from tears. He sniffles a little and tries to subtle rub his eyes, not wanting Misha to know he is nearly crying. "But they need us."
"I know, that's the only reason I'm still here," Odyssey nods his head as the District Six mentors come in, looking quite frazzled, no doubt from mentoring a pair of siblings. Elias stares at them and says something to Anastacia, but before Odyssey can really question it, the last pair enters and the room gets quiet. Glen and Cal cling to each other, their faces so worn out from this week, and Odyssey feels a pang in his chest for them. Not just for what they've gone through this week but for the last two years of Games… How they're still going is beyond Odyssey. He doesn't know if he could go through what they've gone through and still come back to mentor…
"And now the circus can start," Astrid says loudly, getting the attention of the other mentors. Clark rolls his eyes at her and she shrugs at the others.
"Does that make us the clowns?" Jory asks, somewhat joking and Misha scoffs at his comment.
"Just you, old man," Clark says without missing a beat and Astrid leans over to give him a fist bump.
Jory scoffs at that and puts a hand on his chest. "Me? Have you seen Fonio? Because he's the real old man."
"Trust me, I'm seeing his wrinkles up close and personal," Clark makes a face at Fonio, who can only give him an offended look.
"This is not the time to be joking!" Letha says loudly, getting the others to quiet down right away. She stands up and stares them down, hands on her hips and eyes watering. "Can't you all take things seriously for once?!"
Everyone looks around awkwardly and Odyssey clears his throat, holding back a grimace at everyone focusing on him. "She's right," he says, hating the waver in his voice. He just wants to be strong for all of them, be the leader they expect him to be… "Tributes are about to die…and we shouldn't be joking around right now. Not with the threat looming over our heads."
"Here, here," Anastacia calls out, holding up her glass of water somewhat in his direction.
But their focus is all soon taken away from their bickering when the 24 screens light up, each one focused on a different tribute as they get ready in their launch rooms. Odyssey finds Bez and Adonis right away, his tribute hyping herself up as she bounces on her toes and shakes out her hands, while Adonis just sits there, staring at the wall deep in thought. Odyssey glances over at Drazen, wondering if he will acknowledge him at all, but he is keeping his focus entirely on the District Two pair. He turns back, skimming over the screens, unable to help but acknowledge all of them. Someone has to acknowledge them, knowing that in one hour from now, an unknown amount of them will be dead…
Mercy stands there, shaking out her hands and mumbling to herself, her anxiety over the launch showing on her face. Ardent sits with his head in his hands, taking deep breaths as he waits.
Chantelle is doing jumping jacks and other warmups as she waits, her face a mask to hide her emotions. Vulcan does some mild stretches, but their gaze is locked on the launch tube, waiting for it to be time.
Riley is using her arm to brush back her tears, taking shaky breaths as she tries to calm herself down. Ryam's face is full of worry as he sits there, staring at the blank wall across from him.
Valletta has some concern on her face as she stretches her legs, no doubt from the fractured careers. Juno rolls their neck before swinging their arms around, not looking too concerned about this.
Ciana has a stubborn look on her face, even as her hands shake a bit in fear, but her shoulders are back and head held high. Morris is the picture of calm, standing in front of the tube and waiting to enter it.
Kasada has a slight pinch to her brows as she leans down to touch her toes and when she stands, she does a few high knees, no doubt getting ready to run – be it towards her brother or to leave him… Farren looks a little pale as he sits there, getting ready for this, and maybe even a little worry on his face for his sister.
Karter lets his emotions show on his face as he sits there, shoulders hunched over and face full of pain and sorrow, before he puts the mask back on, trying to pretend he is alright.
Rhiannon is shaking from tears, letting out quiet sobs as she holds herself, trying to keep her head up and struggling. Kazu almost seems bored waiting for the launch, yet there's a hint of fear in his eyes.
Inutil is struggling to keep her breathing steady, but struggling as she rubs her teary eyes. Lobo is biting at his nails as he paces the room, continuing to look at the tube, the typical anger gone from his face.
Shams fiddles with her hands, head down as she takes controlled breaths, but her shoulders are tense as she waits. Cimmer can't seem to stay still, pacing the room and biting his lip as he stares over at the launch tube.
Sonya is doing a light warm up, keeping her hand on her chest to feel her heart as she does her best to keep breathing. And Ricky stands right in front of the tube, cracking his knuckles and seemingly ready to just get on with it already.
How many of them will be dead in the next few minutes? None of the deserve to die…and yet they will. He wants to just shut his eyes and block out the next few minutes, but he forces himself to keep watching. If this could be the last moments for their tributes…he has to be focused on them.
The tributes are given the announcement to enter the tubes and some enter right away while others hesitate, but eventually they're all in and getting raised up. Odyssey can feel the tension in the room as they all wait to see the arena and where everyone is launching. This could make or break their chances of surviving…
The first thing he notices is that the District pairs are all next to each other and in twelve clear sections like a clock. In the northeast section going clockwise stand Ricky and Sonya, Mercy and Ardent, Inutil and Lobo. In the southeast section stand Cimmer and Shams, Bez and Adonis, Chantelle and Vulcan. In the southwest section stand Karter, Kazu and Rhiannon, Ciana and Morris. And in the northwest section stand Juno and Valletta, Kasada and Farren, Riley and Ryam. The District partners that are allies show immediate relief at being next to each other, knowing it just bumped up their chances of both surviving. Ciana and Rhiannon share a relieved look, being next to each other, but soon start looking around, realizing how far away Shams is from them – and all the careers in their way. Cimmer visibly relaxes for a moment seeing Inutil close by and calls out to her, stopping her tears for a moment. But for the careers, they're all looking around, eyes narrowed as they figure out where the others are.
Odyssey and Fox share a pained look, realizing their tributes are right next to each other. Misha's grip around his waist tightens as Odyssey turns away from his friend, silently hoping that Bez will be too focused on the careers to get near Shams… But seeing all of the careers getting ready to run, Odyssey can't help but feel fear over how this is going to end. There's no way the bloodbath is ending without careers dying…
Please don't let it be the Capitol pair.
The countdown begins and the tributes focus in, getting ready to run once it reaches zero.
"It's time," Odyssey whispers, the room around him so tense as the mentors prepare for this, all hoping it won't be theirs, but knowing there's a good chance it could be. All he can do now is hope that they did enough…
The time ticks by quickly and soon they reach thirty seconds remaining. Until suddenly the timer stops and the tributes start looking around in confusion.
"What the fuck?" Drazen asks the room, but none of them have a damn clue what's happening.
Odyssey tenses up, unable to move a muscle as he watches the tributes with a sinking feeling in his gut that the rebels are responsible for this. Most of the tributes seem like they aren't going to move anytime soon but a few look like they're considering it…
"Are the mines still active?" Letha asks quietly, her voice wavering in fear as she clutches Amelia's hand close to her chest.
"The sixty seconds isn't up yet," Matla says, staring down at her watch.
They find out all too soon that they are still active.
The first tribute decides to take the risk going for the supplies while everyone still isn't moving, someone who hasn't stopped taking risks the whole time. But when the mines explode around Kazu, blood and guts going everywhere, the mentors all collectively gasp and look at the District Eight pair. Astrid's glass shatters in her hand and Clark stares frozen at the screen, slowly starting to shake his head as his eyes start watering.
Odyssey can't take watching them in pain, knowing he caused that reaction last year, and focuses on the tributes still standing. All around Kazu, the tributes are distracted by the explosion. Rhiannon has hunched over on her plate, sobbing as she struggles to take in breaths. Next to her, Ciana has a hand over her mouth in shock, barely holding it together, but trying her hardest. On the other side of her, Morris watches the reaction, focused on the spot where Kazu was just standing and making Odyssey feel so uneasy at their delight towards death. To the other side of Kazu's blood-splattered spot, Karter slowly sits down on his platform and puts his head in his hands.
"Karter! Get up, damn it!" Lobo yells from his spot, face full of pain seeing the careers between them eyeing Karter as an easy target. It almost seems like he'll be the next to step off the platforms.
But he's not and Muir takes in a sharp intake of breath and grabs Odyssey's arm as Juno rolls their shoulder and just after Matla announces the time is up, they step off the platform casually. They wait a moment and when there's no explosion, they take off running towards the supplies, keeping low to avoid drawing attention to themself. And most of them are still focused on the explosion, but those on the other side of Juno notice them first and after a few seconds of shock, start moving as well.
Kasada and Valletta start running first and Farren is only a few seconds behind them, as Juno gets to a bow. They whip around, notching an arrow as they turn, knowing they have to keep up their appearance with the careers. They aim at the tributes still standing on their platform, taking a moment to let out a small breath, before letting the arrow fly towards District Five.
Letha lets out a cry as Morris collapses to the ground, holding the arrow in their chest and coughing up blood. With their death, the bloodbath starts to really kick into action as more tributes start moving.
Kasada has gained a lead on Valletta, grabbing a bag before a pair of knives, spinning to face her just as the career tackles her. The two start fighting on the ground, slashing with their knives and constantly moving to not get pinned by the other. Juno lazily gets another arrow notched as they watch, but they make no move to aim at either of them. But Farren stumbles at hearing his sister cry out in pain as she gets pinned by Valletta and changes his path, letting out a yell as he tackles the career off his sister before she can stab her fatally. Kasada joins her brother in getting the career pinned down and Farren gets one of the knives dropped in the scuffle and brings it down on her neck. He immediately gets up and moves away at the blood gurgling in her neck and almost immediately he turns to the side and vomits, while Kasada presses her hand to the deep wound in her shoulder, staring at him in shock.
Having seen the District Six pair moving, the Three and Eleven pairs start moving shortly after them. Ryam goes in for supplies while Riley looks ready to just bolt out of there, similar to Sonya who goes for one bag very close to her. But Ricky is determined to go in for more supplies and seeing Ryam getting too close to him, he picks up a bag and swings it at Ryam's head, knocking him to the ground. Ryam clutches his head as Ricky tackles him, face full of anger as he starts punching him, until Sonya yells his name. At her voice, Ricky looks around, realizing the others – specifically the careers, are starting to move. He hesitates seeing Ryam beaten on the ground in front of him but gets up and grabs a bag, before choosing to run with Sonya, who is watching Riley run away.
In the southeast part, Lobo is the first to move and he sets off a chain reaction as he sprints past the careers, desperate to get to Karter and get him out of there. The Capitol pair starts running and Adonis tries to trip Bez, only managing to making himself fall to the ground as she runs ahead, eyes set on a gleaming bow that another career is eyeing up. Adonis pushes himself up as Chantelle and Vulcan run past him and he hesitates, before deciding to stay back and let the others do the fighting.
Seeing them running, Mercy starts running towards the cornucopia too while Ardent hesitates near his platform, looking at some of the tributes nearby. Mercy reaches the bow first and turns towards where Ryam and Ricky were scuffling on the ground. She tracks Ricky running away for a moment before aiming at Ryam, knowing she can score an easy kill. She fires the arrow and it strikes Ryam in the chest, finishing what Ricky started, just before Bez tackles her with an angry cry. "That's my bow, bitch!" Bez screams at her, getting on her back and pinning her arms down with her knees. She draws an arrow from the quiver abandoned on the ground next to them and with both hands, brings it down on Mercy's back repeatedly. Blood splatters on her face and she lets out a laugh at the action, making Odyssey wince at her willingness to kill.
Vulcan gets ahold of a throwing axe and turns back towards Lobo getting to Karter, taking a second to aim before throwing it at him. It lands in his shoulder and he lets out an angry noise at the pain but keeps moving, grabbing Karter with his undamaged arm. He pulls him up and all but drags him out of there, axe still in his shoulder and arm hanging loosely at his side. Vulcan looks disappointed for a moment that Lobo is getting away before focusing on the other careers near them, specifically Chantelle grabbing a spear and facing off with Bez who holds her bow aimed at her.
The most hesitant tributes of all are the remaining ones in the northeast. In the chaos of everything, Inutil is getting close to a full blown panic and she runs off towards supplies, while Cimmer yells at her to stop. He starts running towards her, realizing she's getting too close to the cornucopia, as Ardent starts running in, face full of hesitation to kill. Yet he picks up a knife as Bez glances back to yell at him to do something, and he does, even though he doesn't want to. He quickly drives the knife into Inutil's neck and steps back as she drops to the ground, staring in shock at what he did, as Cimmer lets out a guttural scream of pain at seeing her death.
Shams hasn't wanted to move, knowing there is no way she's getting to her allies, not with the careers between them, but not wanting to abandon them. Her hesitation only gets worse when Ciana calls for her after the careers are distracted, running a short distance in to get a bag and a knife, but she soon realizes what Shams has realized from the start. There's no way they are reuniting now and Ciana soon pulls Rhiannon away from there. Seeing her allies run away and Cimmer starting to move towards Ardent, wiping away tears from his eyes, Shams finally moves, running towards her District partner and grabbing him before he can get too close. She grabs him around the waist and starts backing away with him, screaming in his ear to stop. He soon stops his struggling and gives in to her dragging him away, and Shams quickly grabs a bag before getting out of there quickly as the careers get into a standoff.
"Fuck off, Bez!" Vulcan yells at her, axe held up and ready to throw it, despite her aiming her bow right back at them.
"Like hell I'm doing that!" Bez laughs at the suggestion as Ardent slowly steps up beside her. "You can go right ahead and fuck off, the cornucopia is mine!"
"You're a fake ass career!" Adonis shouts towards her, still a small distance away.
Bez turns towards him, firing an arrow that lands at his feet and making him jump back with a small yell. She casually notches another arrow and aims at his chest. "That was a warning shot. The next one won't be."
"We might have an even number, but we can still take you on," Chantelle says, keeping her voice calm but the tension in her shoulders betrays her readiness to fight. She glances over at the siblings hobbling over, Farren supporting his sister, and she smirks a little, clearly thinking she can take them down.
Kasada sneers at Chantelle before wincing in pain. "Bitch, we took down Valletta. Don't doubt what we can do."
"You wouldn't even get close to us before my axe was in you," Vulcan says before gesturing at Chantelle. "Or her spear. Or…" they look over at Juno, who is still standing in the cornucopia entrance, bow held casually with an arrow on it in front of them. "Or Juno's arrow?"
They all turn to Juno and they roll back their shoulders as they take a few steps forward, noticeably in the middle of all of them and they all seem hesitant of which side they're actually on. "Both of you have thought I've been your double agent," they say, a smirk tugging up one side of their mouth. "But the question is, who have I really been allied with?"
Bez tightens her grip on her bow, eyes full of betrayal. "You wouldn't," she says, hurt in her voice. "Juno! Don't you dare!"
Juno keeps their body turned towards Vulcan and Chantelle as they look over at Bez. "Sorry Bez," they shrug casually and the Two pair starts to look smug at them siding with them, until Juno starts walking over towards Bez. Now it's their turn to look betrayed, especially when Juno gives Bez a kiss on the cheek before standing next to her, holding their bow tighter to actually shoot. "Who are you aiming for and who am I aiming for?"
Vulcan and Chantelle share a nervous look before starting to take a few steps backwards, until Juno raises their bow and clicks their tongue. "I don't think so."
"No," Bez says, putting her hand on Juno's bow and pushing it down. Juno gives her a bewildered look, but she's focused on the District Two pair. She grins at them and points at the supplies. "I came here to feel the full emotions of the Games. I've gotten the bloodbath and I want to know what it's like fighting them. But later. You can each have a single bag and weapon and then I want you to get out of my sight."
Bez turns away at that while Juno has a slightly amused look on their face, Farren and Kasada have various bewildered looks, and Ardent has his head down in shame. "Are you serious?" Vulcan asks.
"Did I fucking stutter?" Bez asks and gives them side eye over her shoulder before gesturing at the pile. "Hurry up before you make me change my mind."
Adonis is the first to move towards the supplies, not needing to be told twice after the warning shot Bez fired at him. Vulcan and Chantelle move slowly after him, both watching Juno with varied looks of anger and betrayal, while they keep their bow aimed at them. It doesn't take them long to get their supplies and they almost look like they want to fight, but eventually decide to bide their time.
"This isn't over, Bez," Vulcan tells her as they start heading away from the cornucopia.
Bez starts laughing and uses the arrow she was twirling in her hand to point at them. "Oh I do so hope it isn't. Have fun and try not to get killed for a few days!" Adonis flips her off and Bez feigns notching her arrow, making him flinch. She laughs loudly at that and waves her fingers at them. "Buh-bye!
The group watches them leave and as six cannons start firing, they look at Bez, all of them clearly questioning her decision. Across the arena, the tributes are all heading into different sectors: the careers head towards Four; Riley is in Three, with Sonya and Ricky in Eleven next to her; Shams is holding Cimmer up as they get further into Ten; Ciana and Rhiannon cling to each other in Eight; Karter is slowly with Lobo's injury among the trees of Seven; and Bez and her alliance have claimed the cornucopia.
And Odyssey stares at her screen, not wanting to turn and face the other mentors and be questioned by them for the things his tribute has caused. Four of the six deaths are at the hands of Bez's alliance…
"They're both alive," Misha whispers to him and Odyssey winces, knowing he can't say the same for others. Thankfully all of his friends' tributes survived too…but he has to face the others. He deserves whatever hell they give him…
The first he looks at is Iona, sitting just to the other side of Muir right near them. She stares calmly at the screen as Muir whispers to her, nodding her head occasionally and trying her best to keep her emotions in. She gives Jarle and Dampero a look and a small shrug of her shoulders before turning away, focusing on Muir.
He then turns to Amelia and Letha, the two hugging each other and mourning the loss of tributes from their Districts, even if they weren't mentoring them. Galen rubs Letha's back, frowning to himself and looking unsurprised after years of this. Matla, on the other side of Amelia, sighs to herself as she reaches into her bag, getting out her notebook and getting to work immediately, but she still reaches up to rub her eyes.
Near them, Astrid holds Clark tightly as he sobs quietly against her chest. Her eyes water with her own tears but she sits tall, staying strong for him. Nearby, Fonio looks torn between going to her or following after Lelantos as they storm over to the bar, before he gets up to go after his mentoring partner to stop them before they reach the bar.
Elias watches Lelantos, face full of pain as he talks quietly to Anastacia, no doubt describing everything going on. She nods silently, her face a blank mask, until she reaches over to Emilio beside her. She pats around his arm until she gets to his hand and holds it tight as she leans her head on his shoulder and says something to him. He nods and pats the top of her head, much better at keeping it together, before he gets up and moves away, turning his back to the others.
Jory glances between Emilio and Odyssey and Misha, until Misha waves at him to go to Emilio. He does so quickly, hugging him from behind, and leaving Drazen behind to glare at them. He slowly gets up, making a big show of stretching, before sauntering over to them.
"Drazen, please don't," Odyssey says quietly as Misha tightens his grip around him. "We didn't tell her to do this."
"That was ballsy," Drazen says, sitting next to them and taking up enough space that he makes them shift over on the couch. "I mean, he deserved that shot fired at him. Am I mad your tribute made mine have limited supplies and now I have to actively work for sponsors? Of course. But lucky me, I have Misha here to help me."
Odyssey narrows his eyes at him, not believing for a second that he is happy about that. Misha clears his throat, not moving at all. "Yes, that is how alliances work," he says slowly, leaning his chin on Odyssey's shoulder. "But if you're going to say a single thing bad about Odyssey or Bez, you can fuck off and work on your own."
"Misha," Odyssey says quietly, not wanting him to burn any bridges for his sake. The last thing he wants is to deal with an argument between the two of them, especially after everything that just happened… "Can't you two please put aside whatever issue you have for this? Please. There's too much going on right now with the rebels – who clearly did something for us to be fighting amongst ourselves."
Drazen opens his mouth to speak but shuts it, and after a few seconds, he surprisingly nods his head in agreement. "I suppose you're right," he mutters as he looks over at the screens with the remaining tributes. Odyssey follows his gaze over, the now black screens so painfully obvious. "One can't help but wonder if the Games aren't the only thing that is just getting started."
Odyssey freezes up at that comment and looks around the room with a large amount of Peacekeepers stationed to protect them. They are safe here, if anything were to happen…right? But he doesn't know if the tributes are. The rebels have shown once again they can interfere with the arena…
"I have a very bad feeling about this…"
Welcome to the 151st Hunger Games.
Eulogies:
24th - Baylor Lennox [7], killed by rebels: Last SYOT meant it was finally time to have a pre-Games death. And the most logical person was the one who's parents were killed by rebels. I knew with the rebel involvement, there was no way they were going to risk her staying alive and used her death to make a statement to the Capitol. Thank you to goldie031 for her! RIP Baylor.
23rd - Kazuyuki Ikeda [8], killed by mines: If there was one tribute I knew would take the risk with the mines early, it was Kazu. After all, he had a bad gambling problem and this was the biggest gamble of all. Unfortunately, he was also too reckless to stop and thing before doing this. Thank you to Yugi-Smallymcsmall for him! RIP Kazuyuki.
22nd - Morris Holmes [5], killed by Juno [4]: Morris truly had a very unique view of death and with their mission to become monarch of Panem and it was always fun writing them just unsettling people. But unfortunately, they caught the attention of the Gamemakers and with everything going on, they couldn't take that gamble with them. They at least got to experience death first hand before it happened to them. Thank you to ladyqueerfoot for them! RIP Morris.
21st - Valletta McClellan [4], killed by Farren [6]: I knew I was going to have career deaths this chapter and knew it was going to be the traditional careers. Unfortunately, Valletta ended up being one of the ones. Thank you to Sexybonbon for her! RIP Valletta.
20th - Ryam Driver [3], killed by Mercy [1]: Ryam truly did not think this whole thing through and really should have before volunteering. Unfortunately, he paid the price big time for his mistake. Thank you to Tyquavis for him! RIP Ryam.
19th - Mercy Merseille [1], killed by Bezel [C]: Again, another career who got caught up in all the drama. I knew as soon as I saw Mercy and Bez shared the same weapon of choice, those two were going to fight it out for it. And with how Bez is...this had to happen. Thank you to foxfox12 for her! RIP Mercy.
18th - Inutil Vaquero [9], killed by Ardent [1]: Inutil was one I was on the border with, hence the last death of the bloodbath. I knew she would be an early death and when planning out story arcs, I decided that I wanted to get Cimmer and Shams together with her death, as well as other arcs, so here we are. Thank you to goldie031 for her! RIP Inutil.
Alright, everyone still with me? Let's get this party started! Nothin' like a bloodbath not fully going to plan. If you thought it would go smoothly with rebels involved and Julian and Calisto in charge...you were mistaken lol. I would be very concerned for what is going to happen in the arena if I were you...
And now the usual stuff for bloodbath chapters lol. Blog will be updated shortly with arena map, deaths, items, all that jazz. I'm not sure if I'm going to do sponsorship this time around since there's usually not much interest. If you are interested, send me a message and we can discuss.
IMPORTANT THING FOR ESCORT SUBMITTERS! I am doing some planning ahead and trying to figure things out and need some additional information about escorts for potential subplot things. I have a form up on my profile that I need escort submitters to fill out by one month from now (August 16th). I will honor what you put on the form but if you don't fill it out, I am going to do as I wish with your escorts.
RQ: Any predictions for what's to come in this arena?
Well, hopefully I will see you soon with Day One. Said I was going to write ahead in this break but I didn't. But I think now that this chapter is up, I'm gonna feel motivated to get moving on it!
