Chapter 31:
Day Two
Riley Roomer, 15, District Three
Riley had finally been able to block out the constant shuffling of the mutts and doze off for a few minutes when the door slammed shut. She jolts awake and grabs onto the beam in the ceiling she tied herself too, trying to come to her senses and figure out what is going on around her. She blinks as she looks around the intricate beams in the ceiling that made for a great hiding spot, knowing it was nothing up there.
Riley looks down when she hears the voice speaking and rubs at her eyes when she sees Sonya and Ricky standing by the door. This…isn't what she expected, yet she doesn't know if she can trust those two. She really doesn't trust Ricky after he hurt Ryam so badly and left him to get killed in the bloodbath, leaving her to fend for herself. Yes, she wasn't close by any means to Ryam, but…he was still from home. He didn't deserve to die so soon like that, without really getting a chance to fight and prove himself.
But Sonya…well, she was at least kind to Riley, if not blunt. But the fact remains that at the end of this, only one of them is getting out alive. And no matter what the Capitol said about helping her family while she's here – who knows if that promise is still being upheld since Seraphim stepped down. She can't do anything to risk being the one getting out alive as victor. She can't be the reason her family loses yet another child to hunger.
She settles back into her spot quietly, deciding it's for the best to just keep her mouth shut and let them not even know she's right above them. She's safer on her own and she doesn't have to constantly watch her back around allies. She's smart enough to figure this out on her own. Allies will just slow her down, if not get her killed. Sure, maybe she should try to fight and prove she is willing to do whatever it takes to win this…
But that isn't necessary at all.
Riley hears the groaning sound from the mutts and glances down as Ricky yells about them. Part of her wants to just watch to see if her theory about them is proven correctly. But also, a part of her can't just sit back and watch these two get torn apart by mutts, no matter what they did to her or Ryam…
Sonya presses her back against the wall as Ricky tugs on the door, yet it doesn't budge as the mutts come down both ends of the hallway towards them. "Fuck, I don't wanna die!" Sonya yells and Riley winces at the fear in her voice and quickly starts untying herself.
"Help us!" Ricky screams as he pounds his fist on the door for a few seconds before turning to face the mutts, holding out his knife defensively as his hand shakes. But the mutts are still coming towards them, showing no sign of the weapon phasing them.
"Hey!" Riley shouts to them as she swings down onto the second floor balcony overlooking the entrance. Ricky and Sonya snap their attention up at her as she leans over the railing, waving them towards the broken staircase. "Get climbing! They can't follow you up!"
They don't need to be told twice and they quickly scramble over to the broken staircase as Riley runs over to meet them there. Sonya tries climbing up first and Ricky helps push her up as Riley gets there, grabbing onto her legs and pulling them up so they don't hang in reach of the mutts.
Ricky looks back at the mutts picking up pace and getting closer to them as Sonya holds her hand down to him. "Fucking hell," he mutters as he takes a couple steps back to get a running start. He jumps up and gets his upper half on the stairs and Sonya and Riley start grabbing at him, trying to pull him up, as the Ryam mutt lunges towards him and grabs his shirt, pulling him back down to the ground.
"No!" Sonya yells as Ricky lets out a scream of panic as the mutt tries clawing and biting at him. Ricky starts stabbing his knife into its side and back, over and over again, but it doesn't let up. Riley watches in horror as it scraps open deep gashes on his chest and Sonya takes out her knife with a sob. Should she try to help him? Or does he deserve this for what he did to Ryam?
No…no one deserves to be killed by a mutt like this…
But before Riley can muster up courage to jump down towards the mutts – even with her theory… Sonya jumps down onto the Ryam mutts back, causing the Amelia and Matla mutts to pick up their pace over to them. "Die!" she yells at it as she starts stabbing her knife into it as well and when she lands a hit in its skull, it quickly stills and collapses on Ricky. He groans at the weight on him and Sonya quickly rolls it off of him, her face full of panic at the injuries on him. "Shit…shit, shit, shit."
Riley finally jumps down seeing the other two mutts approaching and takes out her knife as she stands between the mutts and the District Eleven tributes. Sonya makes a noise of protest and Riley holds up her hand to stop her. "I got this," she tells her, fairly confident that she is the only one who can get close enough to the mutts to kill them without harm. And yet…can she really drive a knife into the heads of mutts looking like her mentors? She knows it's not them, but…
The decision is made for her when Ricky whimpers in pain and the mutts snap their attention to him. Riley doesn't let herself overthink it and marches up to the Matla mutt, who doesn't even try to hurt her, and quickly drives her knife into its temple. The mutt collapses to the ground and the Amelia mutt looks at her, tilting its head a little. Riley shudders at the red, dead eyes of the mutts, knowing it's not really her mentor, and quickly finishes it off with another stab. She watches it collapse and holds her knife tightly at her side for a few seconds, almost waiting for them to get back up and fight them… But they stay dead – actually dead this time, and she turns back to the pair, knowing she isn't going to be able to sleep again without seeing the faces in her nightmares.
Riley winces as she sees the deep wounds on Ricky's chest and the blood pooling around him. This…did not look promising for his survival. "Help me, please," Sonya begs her and Riley can't say no, even though she knows there's no saving him.
She crouches down beside Sonya and starts putting pressure on the cuts as Sonya digs through her bag. Ricky groans in pain and shakes his head, starting to pale a bit. "This is fucking ironic, huh?" he asks with a sharp laugh that makes him wince and put a hand on his chest. "Killed by a mutt resembling the tribute I let get killed."
Riley didn't want to say it, but it absolutely was karma for what he did to Ryam. Despite that, she isn't actively wishing for his death, just…a little happy that their numbers are one step closer to her winning without her making a kill. And she proved she is willing to fight the mutts… These are all good things for her victory…right?
"You're not dying," Sonya tells him firmly and Riley raises an eyebrow at her. Sonya shakes her head subtly at her before focusing on Ricky's wounds.
Ricky laughs again at that and starts coughing, a bit of blood coming out of his mouth. "I thought you were the smart one of us while I was the good looking one," he says, his voice quieter, but he still manages to crack a small smirk at her when Sonya scoffs at him. "Ask Riley, she's the really smart one."
They both look at Riley and she sighs before nodding her head. "He's right…" she tells them quietly with a sigh. Watching someone's life leave them right in front of her…she just can't help but imagine what her family witnessed when her youngest sibling died in front of them… "I'm sorry Ricky and I forgive you…"
Ricky blinks at her in surprise and he's quiet for a few seconds as Sonya rubs bitterly at her eyes. He finally nods his head and slowly lifts up his shaking hand to try and give her a thumbs up. "I've never gotten forgiveness before," he says quietly. "Huh. It feels…weird."
"Thank you for helping me," Sonya tells him, sniffling a little bit as she leans down to hug him. "I…don't deserve you helping me. Thank you, thank you."
Ricky smiles at her and tries to give a shrug. "Just…give 'em hell and win for me," he says softly and Sonya nods her head as silent tears start falling down her cheeks. Riley just sits there awkwardly, feeling like she shouldn't be witnessing this goodbye…yet she can't bring herself to leave Sonya. "That will make it worth it…"
Ricky's voice trails off and Riley can feel his chest stop moving under her hands. She reaches up to check for a pulse on his neck, just before a cannon fires.
Boom.
"It's his," Riley says with a sigh as she sits back and tries to wipe the blood off of her hands on Ricky's pants. She thought she would feel more sadness at death, but…she just feels numb to it.
But Sonya surprisingly seems pretty upset by Ricky's death and Riley watches her for a few seconds as she brushes tears off of her cheek. She reaches down and puts a hand on his cheek for a moment before shutting his eyes. "I'm going to win for both of us," she whispers before sitting back and looking at Riley. She takes a shaky breath, "I…don't know what to do now…we came here looking for you… This is my fault."
"You didn't control the mutts, it wasn't your fault. Now come on," Riley tells her, pulling her arm gently to get her to stand up. Sonya's legs shake a bit as she clings to Riley, small whimpers slipping out as her eyes are glossy with tears. "There's a bathroom down the hall with running water. Let's get you all cleaned up."
Despite everything she said about being alone…Riley knows there's just no way she can leave Sonya on her own now. But maybe she can trust her to have her back… Just look at how quickly she threw herself into danger to help Ricky.
Maybe she'll be willing to do that for Riley.
Bezel Dorsey, 18, Capitol
Bez jolts awake at the cannon firing and starts slapping around on the ground for their bow. But after a few seconds of looking around and not seeing see anyone threatening them, they settle back into Juno's arms with a content sigh. Nothing like walking up in a pair of nice strong arms. But that comfort doesn't keep back the warring jealousy and happiness in them from the cannon. They should have been the one making that kill, yet at the same time…any kills in the arena are good.
"Better not have been either of those careers," they grumble to themself and cross their arms as Juno chuckles lightly behind their ear, making their pout fade away quickly. What can they say, they simply know what they like.
"Who would put up a fight against those three that isn't us?" Juno asks Bez quietly as they twirl a strand of pink hair around their finger before pushing it back off of Bez's forehead. "They're still out there, just waiting for us to find them."
"And kill those bitches," Bez says, laughing a little as they smile and lean back against them. Something about being in their arms…well, they're happy they have Juno by their side through all of this. They knew Juno would see that they're the more fun person to ally with and stick with them. And why would anyone want to ally with those stick up their asses, pieces of-
"Dude, why wasn't I woken up for watch?" Farren asks, rubbing his eyes as he yawns, and Bez can feel Juno tense up around them. Next to him, Kasada is stretching out her legs as she looks around, eyes full of distrust. A look that Bez gives her right back when she looks at them. Bez knows a schemer when they see one and they don't trust Kasada one bit.
"Where's Ardent?" Kasada asks, standing up to look around the cornucopia.
"What?!" Bez jolts up at that, pushing Juno's arms off of them. They scramble to their feet, grabbing their bow and slinging their quiver on their shoulder as panic starts coursing through them. Did someone sneak into their camp and kill him while they were sleeping?! They notch an arrow as they spin around, searching for a threat around them. "Where is he?!"
"I last saw him after I had first watch and then woke him up," Juno says, shaking their head and furrowing their brows as they start looking around the camp. "Wasn't he supposed to wake up Farren?"
Farren lets out a loud yawn in response and nods his head. "Clearly he didn't because I slept like a log straight through the night."
Bez lets out a loud cry of frustration at this and stomps their foot a bit in disbelief. How could someone have done this to them?! Surely that cannon must have been for Ardent…those bastards, taking down their numbers without them even knowing it! "I'm gonna kill those bastards for doing this."
"If by bastards, you mean Ardent," Kasada says and Bez whips around to face her, drawing back their arrow a little bit. Kasada tenses up as she stands there facing them, hand on her hip defensively by her knife, until she points around. "There's no blood around."
"Or sign of a scuffle…" Juno adds quietly as they poke around the area Ardent was sitting in when they went to sleep. "In fact…looks like there's some supplies missing."
Bez stares at them for a few seconds as they all stand around in silence at that realization, before they scream at them. "What the fuck?! No! No, no, no," they mutter as they start searching through the supplies, desperately trying to see if there is any sign that Ardent really did take some and leave. This can't be happening, their plan! Their glorious plan to feel everything the arena has to offer…but they can feel it slipping through their fingers. And all they can do is let out an angry cry as they fall to the ground and slam their fists. "Rotten bastard! I'll fucking kill you Ardent!"
Bez puts their head down as they keep slamming their fist on the ground, feeling the stone digging into their hand, yet they don't do anything to stop the pain. Instead, they embrace it, relishing in the feeling. After all, they came here to feel things they can't in the Districts. And yet…this isn't how it was supposed to go! They got the cornucopia! They were supposed to take the arena by storm, picking off the other tributes and then they'd find the other careers and destroy them. But now…
Why the fuck would he betray them like this?!
They're so caught up in their spiraling gray despair that they don't even notice the movement around them until Juno speaks up. "What are you doing?"
Bez whips their head up and glares at the Six pair standing there, backpacks on and holding out weapons defensively. The two share a nervous look before turning back to Bez, making them jump to their feet and notch and arrow, aiming it at them. Oh no, no, no, they are not leaving this alliance too. Not alive. "Sit the fuck down you two!"
"Fuck that," Kasada says, tightening her grip on her machete as she narrows her eyes at them. "We're leaving, you're fucking insane!"
"What she means is…" Farren says quickly and trails off with a nervous laugh at Bez aiming at them. "Well…yeah, we're leaving. It's just…not working out."
"Not working out?!" Bez screams at them and Farren pulls Kasada away just before Bez fires their arrow, completely missing them. "You leave when I fucking tell you that you can leave! In the fucking hovercraft after the cannon fires!"
"You're fucking nuts!" Kasada yells at them as they notch another arrow and Farren puts his arm around her protectively and starts running away from them.
"Get back here!" Bez yells after them as they start jogging after them, before stopping to aim. They cry out angrily as they track the two running away and fire an arrow that lands in the dirt to the side of them. "Shit!" they yell as they quickly get another arrow notched and track them for a couple seconds, before letting it go and pumping their fist when it lands in Farren's calf. "Suck my titties, you bastards!"
"Bez," Juno says carefully and puts a hand on their shoulder, making them whip around as they draw an arrow and hold it to their neck. Juno raises their hands slowly, watching Bez as they breath heavily in their rage. Slowly, Juno reaches over and puts their hand over Bez's on the arrow and lowers it away from them. "They're both injured now. We'll find them again, just like we'll find the others."
"They better pray I don't find them," Bez tells them with a dark laugh. They twirl the arrow in the hand as they move away from Juno to start angrily pacing around the cornucopia. This is just…un-fucking-believable! How the hell did their alliance go from five to two in less than 24 hours of entering the arena?! They had the strongest alliance and now it's just…Bez and Juno. They had such grand plans for the arena, to feel so many colors and emotions, and now those plans are just down the drain.
And Ardent, Farren, and Kasada are all to blame.
"We can start looking for them today," Juno says calmly to them, which just makes Bez's anger even worse. How can they be so fucking calm about this?! "Bez…take a deep breath. People make foolish mistakes in the arena when they're angry."
"I don't want to take a deep breath, I want revenge!" Bez snaps at them and grabs at their hair as they let out a loud cry of frustration. They're just feeling so much anger and betrayal and without any outlet for it, just making it build and build in them. They're so tense that the smallest little thing right now could just make them completely snap – and they kind of want to snap. They point at Juno as they keep pacing, egging them on a bit. "I swear, if you try to leave me too, I will castrate you and shove your balls in your mouth."
"Hun, I'm may be ace, but that doesn't mean I want to get castrated," Juno chuckles a little at that while also covering up their dick casually with one hand as Bez narrows their eyes at them. They keep up that cocky grin as they look at Bez. "I'm not going anywhere. You've proven to be the most entertaining tribute to be allies with. So, what's the plan?"
"What's the plan?" Bez asks as they shake their head as they turn back to Juno and point their arrow at them. "When I find those bastards – and it's not if, but when," Bez shakes their head and takes a deep breath, their anger boiling in them. Red hot anger. They cannot let them get away with spiting them like this. They will walk this entire arena, day and night, just to find those three and make them pay for this betrayal.
"When I find them, I'm going to paint red with their blood."
Karter Beckwith, 16, District Seven
Karter is in a dangerous place and he knows it, yet he is keeping his hand in the flame and clinging to it. Or rather it's not a dangerous place, but a person… He knows Lobo would never hurt him, which is part of the issue… If he's ever to win these Games, Lobo will have to say goodbye to Karter, and if he waits too long, Lobo will never be able to kill him to win. But Karter isn't going to let it get that far.
He's in a dangerous place because he knows he would gladly give his life for Lobo's at this point.
Karter's studied enough Games, he knows things don't turn out well for those who catch feelings for someone in the arena. Hell, just look at the mess of District Two last year when the Gamemakers exploited Bell's feelings for entertainment – and a lot of trauma for Odyssey. He can't let the two whackos in charge use their feelings for each other to hurt them… But it's too damn late for him to stop this. He's on a sinking ship and there's no stopping him from going under.
But, there's a lot worse ways to go out of this world than dying in the place of a cute boy. And he is going to keep Lobo alive until his victory.
"So, I think we're getting close to 24 hours since launch which means we need to move soon," Karter says, looking up at the sky through the trees for a moment. He can't risk the Gamemakers getting upset with them not moving for a whole day and sending mutts after them… At least, that's what he'd expect normal Head Gamemakers to do, but clearly the two in charge are not normal. And he hates not knowing what to expect. He thought he'd be a lot more prepared to anticipate the Gamemakers' actions in the arena with all the years of Games he studied, but everything is up in the air.
"Wouldn't want a killer tree or something attacking us," Lobo says with a quiet snort of laughter that makes Karter look at him with a smile at hearing his laughter. Lobo blushes a little at his attention and quickly clears his throat. "So, how am I doing doc?"
Karter stares at him for a few more seconds with a dumb grin on his face, before he focuses back on cleaning Lobo's wound. They really were lucky to get a medical kit in his bag, that stuff is working wonders on his cut. It looks like it's several days old at this point, not a day. If only they had this kind of medicine back in Seven…maybe his mother wouldn't be withering away… He clears his throat, keeping a pleasant smile on his face. "This is healing well so far, Capitol medicine really is great. How does it feel?"
Lobo rolls his shoulders a little bit and gives Karter a smile, but he can see the flash of pain in his eyes. "Feels good as new, really."
"You know I don't believe that for one second," Karter tells him quietly, putting some antibiotic cream on it gently. "You don't need to pretend to be strong for me…"
"It's fine, really," Lobo insists, but he doesn't meet Karter's eyes as he puts a bandage over it. He gently smooths it over and goes to sit back, before Lobo grabs his hand and keeps him close. "Thank you," he says quietly and gives him a small nervous smile. "I…haven't had someone taking care of me in a really long time."
"I'm happy to take care of you," Karter says and gives him a sad smile at that, his heart breaking for this poor boy who deserved so much love…but did he really deserve love from him? Not when he would break his heart sacrificing himself for him… Yet he can't stop this now. After all the shit he's seen – especially in the last week in the Capitol…he hasn't felt this alive in a long time. And if he's going to die for Lobo to live, he wants to truly live his last few days with him. He grabs Lobo's cheeks suddenly and pulls him close to kiss him, trying to convey to him everything that he's feeling for him right now, too afraid to say it out loud and have him try to change his mind. Lobo makes a small noise of surprise at his kiss and for a moment, Karter thinks he's going to reject him, before he grabs the front of his shirt and pulls him closer, kissing back with desperation.
Lobo pulls away first but keeps his forehead pressed against Karter's and his eyes shut, taking a few deep breaths and sharing the same air as him. "I don't want anything to happen to you," Lobo whispers to him and a flash of pain crosses Karter's face at that. Does he somehow know what he's planning on doing for him?!
"I'm not going anywhere," Karter whispers back, unable to tell him that he won't get hurt. He can't…not if it means keeping Lobo alive to win… He shuts his eyes for a moment and keeps in a sigh, not wanting to leave him with that pain. But Karter can't take the pain of knowing he could have done something to keep Lobo alive…
"Don't leave me," Lobo whispers to him, desperation in his voice. All Karter can do is nod his head and hope that they can have a while in the arena together before they have to say goodbye.
They stay like that for a minute, both clinging to each other and not wanting to let go of each other. When Karter opens his eyes, a bit of movement on the ground to the side catches his attention. "I hate to be the one to ruin the moment…" Karter starts slowly and Lobo opens his eyes to look at him, following his gaze to the side. "But we have an observer."
The two scramble to their feet and Karter holds his knife defensively in front of him as he tries to push Lobo behind him, only for Lobo to grab his axe and try to stand in front of Karter. They stare down at the rabbit nibbling on grass a few feet away from them and Lobo snorts a little as he lowers his axe. "A rabbit? What's it going to do to us, poop on us?"
"I don't trust any mutts in the arena," Karter says, shaking his head and not letting his guard down. Especially with Head Gamemakers he doesn't know…if it was still Seraphim in charge, there might be a chance of it being friendly. But with these two weirdos? Yeah, he isn't risking it.
"But it's a rabbit!" Lobo says and gestures at it. Karter watches it, hating that it looks so…adorable, just hopping around. "Come on, what can it possibly do to us?"
They get the answer to that question very quickly when the rabbit hisses at them and opens its mouth wide, showing off rows of very sharp looking teeth. Karter screams a little as it lunges towards their ankles and Lobo gives it a good kick, sending it flying off into the woods. It gets back to its feet, just looking even angrier, and Karter quickly grabs their bags as Lobo takes his arm, pulling him away from there. "Run!"
Karter doesn't need to be told twice and they take off running, weaving around trees as he keeps glancing back, seeing the rabbit still following them. But Lobo doesn't let go of his arm, holding on tight and making him run faster, and soon enough they run into a clearing of burned trees, and no rabbit in sight behind them. "Shit," Karter says, putting his hands on his knees as he catches his breath, continuously glancing back the way they came in case it was just waiting to attack them. "What did we do to get attacked like that? We were going to get moving soon!"
Lobo stands still for a moment and when Karter stands back up, Lobo turns away to hide his face, but not before Karter sees the flash of hatred in his eyes. "It's my fault," he says quietly and Karter frowns at that. When he reaches over to put his hand on Lobo's good shoulder, he quickly shakes his hand off. "Every time I think it's safe to kiss a boy…something bad happens." Lobo turns back to him and when Karter sees his eyes watering, he quickly pulls him into a hug. Lobo just stands there, not hugging him back as he shakes a little as he tries to hold back his tears. "Why me?"
"It's not your fault," Karter tells him, holding him tightly and rubbing his back to try to soothe him, but if anything, it makes things worse. Lobo lets out a small sob that he tries to hold back and Karter leans back to put his hands on his shoulders and look him in the eye. "There is absolutely nothing wrong with you liking boys, you hear me? That wasn't your fault at all. We have no idea why the Gamemakers did that, but it's not because we were kissing. Why would they do that when one of them is dating a boy himself? No, there's gotta be some other reason why they-"
Karter cuts off when he hears rustling of trees and steps in front of Lobo, holding out his knife to protect him. They get their answer to why when Ciana and Rhiannon burst through the trees into the clearing, stopping right away when they see the pair standing there. Rhiannon lets out a small cry of fear as she cowers behind Ciana's back, who quickly mirrors Karter's pose. "We're not here looking for a fight," Ciana tells him and he can see her hand shaking as it holds out her knife. "But we will fight back if you attack us!"
"We should fight," Lobo says quietly and when he tries to step around Karter, he puts out his arm to stop him.
"No," Karter tells him and watches the two girls for a few seconds before slowly lowering his knife – but keeping it by his side and ready to use if he needs to. "Go," he tells the two girls and gestures with his head. "Get out of here. But…" he sighs to himself, knowing it's a risky move to let two tributes go without fighting them…but he just doesn't have it in him to fight two girls who barely look like they could harm a fly – regardless of their convictions. "If we run into you again, I can't say our answer will be the same."
"Understood," Ciana says, nodding her head before lowering her knife and grabbing Rhiannon's hand. "We're not staying in Seven, just passing through to try and get to Ten. You won't see us again. Now come on, Ri."
Karter nods and stays quiet as he watches the two girls leave, before hunching over a little once they're out of sight. He was so ready to fight them for Lobo…
"Why'd you let them go?" Lobo asks him in a little bit of disbelief. "We're supposed to be fighting tributes!"
"That wouldn't have been a fair fight at all," Karter tells him, shaking his head as he keeps watching the way the two girls ran for a bit longer to make sure they wouldn't turn back to fight them. He knows they won't, but if they did…Karter would happily fight them to protect Lobo. "That's the reason the Gamemakers sent us here, to get us near them."
And he's sure there will be more times they try to push them near tributes. And when they do…he will fight anyone in this arena to keep Lobo alive.
Vulcan Adamos, 18, District Two
Vulcan wants out of this alliance. Who would have thought that getting chased by alligator mutts would be the last straw to set them off? But really…the reasons to want out have just been piling up, ever since the banquet when the first cracks started to show within the careers. And it is time for them to face the truth…
The careers have completely fractured and failed under their leadership…
Damn, is it a hard pill to swallow though, knowing the thing they strived for all this time they have failed miserably at. They're not the strong and confident leader they've been trying to be, all to impress their family… And the longer they stay with these two, the more and more insecure they're feeling about their failure – and the more and more they're snapping at them to avoid them seeing that weakness in them.
"Maybe next time don't go throwing rocks into a pond for no fucking reason?" Vulcan snaps at Adonis, the boy hunching over to catch his breath from running away. Unbelievable, this man. And to think, Vulcan thought he would be useful. Where's the sponsorships Adonis promised they'd have raining down on them? Nowhere to be seen. Only thing he's been useful for is getting them nearly killed by mutts. God, they're so tired of this bullshit with him – even Chantelle is really starting to get on their nerves. She's just too much of the person they've been forced to be for years and years and seeing her is another bitter reminder of who they aren't.
"I didn't think fucking alligators would come running out of it!" Adonis snaps right back at Vulcan and crosses his arms with a sneer.
"Alright, stop this bullshit," Chantelle says, rubbing her face in frustration as she steps between the two of them. "You," she starts, pointing at Adonis. "From now on, assume anything and everything in this arena will try to kill you. Next time you stir up mutts, we're not saving your sorry mess. And you," she turns to point at Vulcan and they bristle at her glare. "Act like the fucking career you've been trained to be!"
"Well maybe I don't want to be a mindless fucking meathead!" Vulcan yells at her and the three of them fall into stunned silence at them actually saying that out loud. Shit, they shouldn't have admitted that… They're not supposed to admit any of their insecurities and doubts and now they have to try and cover for this. "I mean… I-I don't wanna run around chopping mutts and tributes down like the other meatheads our District has sent in – and who never come back out alive! And that's who we're on a fast track towards being right now. I wanna win because I'm smart and overcame them in every aspect of the Games! That's how I will become victor, not by running around swinging my axe at everything that moves."
But did they really deserve to win with the way they've acted for years and years? Only way it will be worth it is if their family finally accepts them for who they are… But will they accept them now that they've started to see the cracks in their outward appearance? The hints that they aren't the tough man they've wanted them to be for years and years, all because his father chickened out of training years ago and him and their grandfather couldn't let that failure tarnish their family legacy? How come Vulcan has to be the one to fulfill that legacy? Fuck that, fuck all of this. If they win this, they're winning it purely for themself, not for the victors, not for District Two, not for their father, especially not for their grandfather.
"You know what?" Vulcan continues, holding up their hand to stop Chantelle and Adonis from speaking, much to their chagrin.
"No, I don't know, so please tell us," Chantelle says to them, her upper lip curled in a hint of sneer. They don't need her damn judgement and better than everyone else attitude anymore. They are just as good as her, they earned this spot just like she did.
And they are going to win over her and without relying on her to help them along the way. And Adonis…well, he can run off and get himself killed by mutts or something, Vulcan doesn't know or really care. That man had no business volunteering for this and he'll learn that soon enough.
"I'm done with you people," Vulcan says, shaking their head in disgust for going along with them. "You know, Bez might have been right about us, but we just had our heads too far up our asses to realize it."
"That's real funny coming from you," Chantelle says as she gets out her water bottle, not even bothering to look at them. She sips it loudly as she gives them side eye, judgement so blatantly obvious.
"I'm peacing out," Vulcan says, throwing up a middle finger at Chantelle's silent judgement, watching her raise an eyebrow at them as she lowers her water bottle. They stare her down for a few seconds before turning and starting to head out of there.
"Really?" Adonis calls after them with a scoff, and they look back to catch him shaking his head. "All this because we got chased by some alligators? And here I was thinking you were competition for me to know who was more of a man, but you're a big pussy, huh?"
Vulcan stomps over to him and they watch his eyes widen in fear as they grab the front of his shirt. Adonis lets out a small whimper of fear as they hold their axe to his neck, showing just how much of a pussy Adonis is, not Vulcan. "You're big fat mouth is going to get you killed someday," they tell him quietly and watch him take a big swallow out of fear. They press their axe a little closer, watching a thin line of blood start to form as Adonis lets out a noise of pain. "Projecting your own insecurities isn't going to get you anywhere. Trust me, I've been doing that, it doesn't work and just makes people hate you." They let go of him and pat his shoulder a few times with a grin, watching him look like he's going to shit himself. "So good luck out there without me protecting you, because I doubt Chantelle will tolerate you."
"Oh he's proven to be absolutely useless, I'm not babysitting him on my own," Chantelle says quickly, tucking her water bottle away and adjusting her bag on her shoulders before starting to walk backwards from them. Not wanting her to beat them to leaving, Vulcan turns and starts walking away from there in the opposite direction, wanting to be the first to do so. "Thanks for absolutely nothing, Adonis – no, you did much worse than that. You got half our alliance killed and made one member betray us, all because you couldn't shut the fuck up for once in your life. So have fun on your own. I bet the mutts tonight will just love to stop and listen to you."
"Y-you can't just leave me like this!" Adonis calls after them, panic in his voice that makes Vulcan scoff and shake their head, not even turning back to look at him. What a pathetic man. All that acting tough and inflating his ego, yet he's just a sad boy seeking attention inside. Just…like Vulcan. Fuck this, they don't like this.
"Good luck and try not to get eaten by the mutts," Vulcan turns their head to call back to him over their shoulder, before watching Chantelle heading in the other direction. They don't care if the mentors or Kat are pissed at them – not when Drazen couldn't stop sucking Adonis's dick long enough to care about them. At least they're both alive and without fighting each other, which is more than they can say about the last couple of years when their District split up.
District Two still has both chances of victory, they won't take that away from them. But Vulcan isn't going to win by playing their games and winning how they want them to. They are not this…this asshole that the victors and their family turned them into, but…they don't even know who they are anyone. And they can't let Adonis and Chantelle be around to witness them breaking down and not being the tough person they've desperately tried to be all these years, for a family that never approved of them. But their family isn't there and Vulcan can easily forget in this arena that they're watching them. And even then, they're past the point of giving a fuck what they say about them. It's time they said the things they were too scared to say in their interview, be the person they wanted to show them. Whoever that person might be…
They need to go alone and find themself because it sure as hell is not the person the training center turned them into.
Shams Seif-Eldeen, 18, District Ten
The night was exhausting, even if they weren't actually threatened by the mutts that were wandering around near them. But Shams couldn't sleep, not when she was haunted by Fox's face as the mutt wandered in front of them. But it wasn't her Fox…yet she couldn't help but worry about something happening to him.
Which…is silly. He's not hers and she's not his… She's just his tribute and he's her mentor. Of course he cares about getting his tribute out alive, that's all… She shouldn't care about him more than just that and save herself from the inevitable disappointment if she somehow makes it out of this arena alive. Because he'd never want a drunk, broken girl like her…not when he has his own list of issues to deal with. Not when he has children. What kind of role model would she be for them? An awful one…
No, she can't focus on that right now, even if the mutts have her still hunched over and hugging herself. It's all she can do now to try and stay awake. She has to stay awake and keep an eye on Cimmer, now that it's day and the careers might be out looking for tributes. He couldn't protect himself if careers found him, but Shams…she can fight them for him. Maybe not enough to actually beat them, but enough to keep them alive long enough to get away.
"Do you think everyone else was kept awake by those mutts?" Cimmer asks quietly as he adds another piece of wood to the small fire they have going to cook up some eggs. He sits back to yawn loudly, emphasizing his point. "Hoo boy, I haven't had a sleepless night like that in a long time."
"I have," Shams says quietly and shakes her head when he gives her a concerned look about it. "Just a lot to think about in the last few days, you know…"
"That's true," Cimmer sighs at that as he gently sets the eggs in the coals and pokes them with a stick. Shams had no idea if cooking them this way would work, but what could they do? They didn't have anything to cook them in and any food is good food. "I mean, I've had trouble sleeping too. But on the bright side, everyone else probably was kept awake by those mutts. Come on, you think they only sent mutts after us? Ones that didn't even attack us after we had friendly mutts? Nah."
But Shams could believe that they would send mutts after her… Not Cimmer, he's done nothing wrong to get their attention aside from association with her. Shit, what if she's putting him in more harm by being with him than she's protecting him? She very well could be…but can she really risk leaving him on his own in this arena?
Can she really be alone in this arena? Maybe he's the only thing keeping her from getting targeted right now by mutts… Is it selfish to stay with him for her own protection? Maybe…
They sit in silence for a little while as Cimmer continues to poke the eggs with his stick and Shams stares at the fire, trying to figure out what's the best move for their overall safety. Because she can't knowingly put Cimmer in harm's way…he's way too good for this arena, unlike her. She's made plenty of mistakes and deserves to be here.
But before she can make any decisions, her thoughts are soon interrupted by someone yelling.
"Would you stop head-butting me?!"
Shams and Cimmer share a tense look at that voice and she grabs her knife defensively as they jump to their feet. Cimmer jogs ahead of her to look out the door of their broken barn and Shams reaches for his shoulder, but when he sees who is outside getting chased by a goat, he runs outside before she can stop him. "Cimmer!"
"You!" Cimmer yells at Ardent as he stomps over to him, Shams running after him to try and catch his wrist to stop him. He yanks his hand free from her as tears start pouring down his cheeks as he faces Ardent and Shams gets out her knife defensively, watching the career cautiously. Yet Ardent stands still with his hands up – and empty – as the two approach him. "You killed her," Cimmer yells at Ardent and starts pounding his fist on his chest.
Ardent is barely moved by Cimmer and Shams makes a noise of protest as she steps forward to stop him from punching the career, yet Ardent holds up his hand to her to stop her. She trembles a little in fear, knowing that just because he doesn't have any weapons in his hand doesn't mean he can't still hurt them both… "I know and I'm sorry," he tells Cimmer, which only makes the young boy cry out in frustration as he tries punching Ardent in the gut. The career hunches over a little bit, but it's clear Cimmer isn't going to really hurt him.
"Cimmer, stop!" Shams says, grabbing him by the waist and picking him up. He thrashes against her as she takes a few slow steps back from Ardent, who still hasn't moved.
"Let me go!" Cimmer yells at her before sobbing as he glares at Ardent. "You have some nerve showing up here after killing Inutil! I-I'll kill you for that!"
"I'm not here to hurt either of you," Ardent says slowly, hands still raised up in the air as he stares at both of them. "Please…I…I shouldn't have done that and I know that now… You don't understand what it's like being raised in the career Districts, how ingrained in your brain they make it to just fight when you hear that gong go off. I shouldn't have listened to Bez and I'm sorry."
Cimmer stops fighting Shams at that but despite him going limp in her arms, she still holds onto him, not about to risk him going after Ardent again. Because what if this time he does fight back? They all stare at each other in tense silence for a few seconds, broken only by Cimmer's small sobs and the bleating of the goat in the distance. Shams is the first one to speak up, still on guard. "Why are you here then?" she finally asks him. "If you're not here to hurt us…then why?"
Ardent's face darkens at that and Shams took a step back from him, shifting her hold of Cimmer to hold up her knife in front of them. "I made a mistake, Shams," Ardent says before sighing loudly as he pushes back his hair in frustration. "I never should have joined the careers and I should have stayed with Rhiannon. But I was scared to hurt her and defaulted back to what I knew with the careers, but it was wrong, so very wrong. I don't…I don't want to be that person. And now she's somewhere out here without my protection and now she might get hurt if I'm not there…" He looks down at the ground in shame and lowers his hands to his sides, not making any sudden moves, but Shams keeps her protective stance. "I don't know where she is right now but I knew you ran off in this direction and figured maybe…if I protect you and get you to her, maybe I can prove to her that I'm worth her time…"
Shams watches him carefully, not seeing any outward reasons to not believe him – and she wants to, for both herself and Rhiannon. She'd be so much safer in the arena with a career protecting them…but Cimmer… "You killed Cimmer's ally without thinking twice," she says as calmly as she can manage, hugging the boy closer. "And now you want to come ally with us…"
"But I did think twice about it," Ardent says, his voice full of pleading. He takes a step towards them and Shams raises her knife as she moves Cimmer behind her. Ardent stops and raises his hands again. "I haven't stopped thinking about what I did since the cannons fired. Please…let me prove to you that isn't who I really am… Let me protect you…"
Deep down, a part of Shams knows she shouldn't trust him for one second…but she wants to. She wants to feel safe and protected by someone. She wants to not be constantly looking over her shoulder, worried something was going to happen to Cimmer if she didn't keep constant watch. And part of her is jealous that Rhiannon has someone who wants to protect her so badly. Shams just wants that too…so maybe for a little while she can pretend that Ardent is protecting them for her. Pretend that someone actually cares about her…
They both turn to look at Cimmer when he suddenly gasps, Shams fearing the worst. But the boy just grabs his face with a look of despair. "My eggs, noooo!" Cimmer wails as he runs back in to the fire to check on them, leaving Shams and Ardent to face each other down.
"Alright," Shams finally says now that Cimmer isn't there to protest, lowering her knife but holding it tightly at her side as she stares Ardent down. "But I catch even a hint of you wanting to hurt Cimmer and I will protect him with everything I got – and I have trained this year. So I'm watching you."
"I have no intention of harming you two," Ardent tells her, giving her a tentative smile as he takes a slow step towards her. "Please…I swear I want to protect you both and help you find Rhiannon – and Ciana too, of course."
"I want to believe you," Shams tells him honestly and lets out a small sigh. Believing the best in people has always gotten her in trouble in the past…but she wants to cling to that hope. Hope is the only thing she has in this arena. "If you really mean it…come join us for lunch. But fair warning, Cimmer has adopted some headless chicken mutts as his friends."
Eulogies:
17th - Frederick Baldwin [11], Killed by Mutts: And now we start to get into the deaths that hurt me to write. Honestly this one crept up on me after writing Sonya and Ricky together in the arena and I low key considered keeping him alive for a little longer just to keep having that. But alas, here we are. Ricky was one of those characters who could have so easily just been portrayed as angry and uncaring, but that wasn't all he was - and we really got to see that right at the end. He was a lot of fun to write and he will be missed! HELF, thanks so much for all your support and for this boy! RIP Ricky.
Surprise, surprise. It's been a hot minute, huh? So long I had a different A/N typed up and decided to rewrite the A/N. This story isn't dead, just very low priority because I have an actual adult job now! So yeah, job searching was Hell and made me uninspired to do much with this story or even update, even if this chapter was written for a long time. But, I know the first few weeks are going to be very busy so I wanted to squeeze in this update now (and before end of the year).
I'll be honest and say that motivation hasn't been great with this story, but I will be seeing it through to the end, no matter how long that might take. So if you stick around and I know you're sticking around, your characters will get more screen time. If not, well, you're probably not here even reading this so I doubt you'll be around to read me not writing your character(s) really. I'm just at the point where I'm gonna write who I want and when, and won't be so focused on giving everyone a set number of POVs. Here's to hoping that getting this up will help motivate to keep writing (the next chapter is written so we'll see when I actually feel like updating it). If you've stuck around this long, thanks, you're awesome, and I hope you keep sticking through to the end. I have lots planned (and lots to still plan lol) and it should be a fun ride to the end of this story and trilogy.
No RQ because there's no point with no sponsorship lol. I will see you when I see you with Night Two - hopefully not too long, but let's be real, it probably will be lol. Stay safe out there, be nice people, and happy new year. Here's to hoping 2022 is better than 2021.
