Vetiver Brune, 19, Victor of the 110th Hunger Games
District 10 ~ Reaping Day ~ 111th Hunger Games
Vetiver and Ellis sit on the stage. Vetiver's leg can't stop bouncing.
The whole event brings him back to his own reaping. It makes him sick. He thinks he might pass out, sitting on that stage as the escort prepares to read two names.
He sees himself in the crowd. He remembers his fear.
It's only worse this time.
The two kids that do take the stage are both twelve, thirteen at best.
He might be as scared as they are.
The reapings end and they're all shuffled into the Justice Building. Vetiver thinks he should say something reassuring to the kids.
Right?
He can't think of the words, so he doesn't say anything.
The goodbyes are shorter than Vetiver remembers. He hears the tears through the weak wooden walls. There's nothing he can do to console them.
— — — — — — — —— — — — — — —— — — — — — —— — — — — — —— — — — — — —— — — — — — —
Ellis and Vetiver sit across the table from the two kids.
Griffin and Jada. Those are their names. Griffin is the youngest of a family of five. Jada is an only child.
They're both thirteen. They vaguely know each other.
Vetiver's heart breaks for them already, but he has to give them hope.
He has to try.
— — — — — — — —— — — — — — —— — — — — — —— — — — — — —— — — — — — —— — — — — — —
It's a hard few days for Ten.
Despite it all, Jada finds an alliance with the pair from Seven. Vetiver is proud of them. He's just starting to believe they have a shot.
Ellis spends a lot of time mentoring Vetiver, helping guide him through the sponsorship process, interactions with other mentors, and interactions with the Capitol. Cameras find Vetiver much less than they did when he was a tribute or a new Victor, but they're still around. Fortunately, when questions are geared toward the new Ten tributes, Ellis is able to take the lead.
Vetiver has hope for Jada and Griffin.
Until the bloodbath.
— — — — — — — —— — — — — — —— — — — — — —— — — — — — —— — — — — — —— — — — — — —
He's gone.
Vetiver can't believe how fast the bloodbath moves when you're a viewer.
He didn't even see the spear enter Griffin's small body. One moment the boy is standing, the next…
Vetiver eagerly searches for signs of Jada. When he does see her, he can breathe a little.
(He can focus on her. He can-he can still save one of them.)
Ellis tries to reassure him. Vetiver doesn't listen.
He needs to save her.
— — — — — — — —— — — — — — —— — — — — — —— — — — — — —— — — — — — —— — — — — — —
The arena is hot.
Vetiver sweats just watching the tributes traverse it. The ground is scorched an unearthly orange, and the water is tinted green. Vetiver watches as an older girl, maybe from Twelve, takes a sip from it.
The water seems to literally burn her from the inside out.
It makes him sick. It makes him scared.
Jada still pushes forward. She and the two from Seven stay on the move at night, taking shelter from the heat underneath rocky formations during the hottest parts of the day.
Funds are low between them and Seven, but they sponsor what they can. The trio only managed a meager tarp and knife from the bloodbath.
Vetiver can't fail her now.
— — — — — — — —— — — — — — —— — — — — — —— — — — — — —— — — — — — —— — — — — — —
"There wasn't anything you could have done, Vetiver."
I failed.
"The…the Careers are just so threatening. They're wellfed. Well hydrated. Well armed. We can't beat that."
Ellis' words go through one ear and out the other.
Two days. That's how long it took him to fail them both.
He feels sick.
Vetiver Brune, 20, Victor of the 110th Hunger Games
District 10 ~ Reaping Day ~ 112th Hunger Games
How does a year pass so fast?
How is Vetiver expected to sit on this stage again and send two more kids to their deaths?
(They don't have to die. You just can't fail them again.)
— — — — — — — —— — — — — — —— — — — — — —— — — — — — —— — — — — — —— — — — — — —
The two this year are older. Two sixteen-year-olds, Rowan and Cliff.
Rowan is quiet. Vetiver sees a bit of himself in them, if he's being honest. Cliff likes to talk.
Regardless, they both seem strong, and they both seem determined.
— — — — — — — —— — — — — — —— — — — — — —— — — — — — —— — — — — — —— — — — — — —
Rowan secures themselves a spot in the Career pack with their ten in training.
Cliff paired up with the boy from Five.
Funds continue to grow. Ellis warns him that the One, Two, and Four mentors might not work with them as easily to sponsor Rowan, but that's okay.
That's okay. Vetiver can do this. He can support them both.
(...right?)
— — — — — — — —— — — — — — —— — — — — — —— — — — — — —— — — — — — —— — — — — — —
The colors of the arena don't look real.
Vetiver doesn't know how that's possible, but that's not what matters. The tributes rise around a large cottage, and fields of brightly colored flowers dance around them. Vetiver gets a brief glance at a river, with stone bridges connecting the land on either side of it.
The gong rings and the Careers secure the cottage. Ten die in the bloodbath, and Rowan gets one of those kills themselves.
Cliff survives with a good amount of supplies as well.
Vetiver lets himself feel…feel hope again.
— — — — — — — —— — — — — — —— — — — — — —— — — — — — —— — — — — — —— — — — — — —
Hope is a mistake.
Four days pass before Vetiver sees that. Rowan hunts with the Careers, killing a few more in the process.
Cliff and his ally find a good forest to take shelter in. A few wild animals find them, but they always come out on top.
Until they don't.
He doesn't know how they both found themselves asleep when the giant mutt attacked. Cliff's ally didn't even wake up before he died. Cliff only barely gets to his feet when the mutt - some kind of bobcat - finishes him off.
It's horrible for Vetiver to watch. He gets nauseous and flees the mentor lounge before Ellis can comfort him.
He's a failure.
Again.
— — — — — — — —— — — — — — —— — — — — — —— — — — — — —— — — — — — —— — — — — — —
Rowan continues to do well with the Careers. The only death has been the Two girl after a snake mutt thing caught her by surprise.
Until the Feast.
Vetiver should have warned them. When six Careers find themselves in the final ten, of course the Feast would be the breaking point.
Rowan didn't see the boy from One raise the bow at their head. They didn't see the arrow fly through the air, finding its place in the back of their skull.
"It was quick. It was painless."
Ellis' words give him little comfort these days.
Vetiver Brune, 21, Victor of the 110th Hunger Games
District 10 ~ Reaping Day ~ 113th Hunger Games
Another year comes and goes and Vetiver can feel himself slipping away.
The boy is only twelve. The girl is eighteen but has no interest in listening to Vetiver or Ellis.
He can't even try to help her. She won't let him.
(He can't blame her.)
The boy tries, and Vet tries, but he can't stop crying.
Vetiver can't blame him, either.
— — — — — — — —— — — — — — —— — — — — — —— — — — — — —— — — — — — —— — — — — — —
The girl dies first in the bloodbath.
The boy dies last in the bloodbath.
Vetiver feels sick.
Vetiver Brune, 22, Victor of the 110th Hunger Games
District 10 ~ Final Eight Interviews ~ 114th Hunger Games
It's the first year a Ten tribute makes it to the final Eight.
The boy, Devan, has been more resourceful than many gave him credit for. No allies, no supplies from the bloodbath, he has nothing except the arena that surrounds him.
Yet he's scavenged the desolate wasteland and has been more successful than everyone that's left. Even the Careers have taken quite the hit, with the fast-spreading infections and disgusting living conditions.
The Capitol interviews his family. They even ask Ellis and Vetiver a few questions about their most successful tribute thus far.
Vetiver is glad he's too numb to hope. It would have been crushed with Devan dying eighth.
— — — — — — — —— — — — — — —— — — — — — —— — — — — — —— — — — — — —— — — — — — —
"I can't do this anymore." Vetiver paces Ellis' room on the train. The Games have ended and the mentors have been released to their respective districts.
"I know," Ellis says. "It's hard. I wish I could lie to you and say it gets easier."
Vetiver's back finds the wall and he slides to the ground.
(Failure never gets easier. Death never gets easier.)
"Do you want to watch a movie or something?" Ellis asks. Vetiver's eyes find his old mentor. He wants to ask him a million questions.
How do you do it? How do you cope? How do you live when they don't?
He doesn't. He simply nods and gets himself off the floor. They move into the large entertainment car and he curls up in the corner of the couch as Ellis puts on some movie made in the Capitol. He doesn't understand it and he doesn't care.
Anything to turn his mind off.
Anything to fly away, even for a moment.
welcome to Ignited! the newest syot in moose land! it will be the 120th Games. got a couple more prologues to go ;heart;
big thank u to cecelia for the last minute beta ;heart;
new here? thats okay! some basic lore info is on my profile but theres not a lot you need to know to submit. feel free to dm me questions here or on discord i dont bite
this'll be a selective fic that'll close on February 28th. form is on my profile and linked on discord. if you're not in the SYOT Verses Discord DM me for an invite! thats where the most up to date info will be.
ily
~moose