Chapter Text
Arena: An old colluseum type arena with crowds filling the stands. This used to be used to watch theatre before the rebellion and had not been used since, until the Capitol thought to use it for the hunger games.
As the 24 tributes are escorted into the arena, the crowd cheers for them as they enter the arena, however, the tributes look around with wide eyes., mostly from the confusion and fear since they didn’t know what to expect. The cornucopia was filled with a variety of weapons, including swords, axes, throwing knifes and many bags of supplies. Once all the tributes were on their podiums, they awaited the claxon sound, which came after roughly a minute.
After the claxon had sounded, all the tributes stood there in confusion, no-one daring to be the first to move, worried about the consequences, until Rowan (11) ran from his podium and into the cornucopia. His simple action caused a few other tributes, including Cedar (7), Caspain (1) and Steel (2) to also run to the cornucopia, while Coal (12) decided to try and run away, shouting for Slate, her district partner, to join her as she ran into one of the nearby tunnels.
As more tributes started running, Cedar walked over to Ember (5) with an axe and smashed it into her throat before she had a chance to scream, which caused a major uproar from the Capitol viewers as the first tribute in the history of the hunger games had been murdered. This immediately made the remaining tributes who hadn’t yet moved realise that this was reality and that only one of them would be able to return home with their life.
As he was running after Coal, Slate got distracted by Ember being killed and stopped in panic, getting run into by Logic (3) with both tributes falling to the floor, but Logic getting up quickly and running away as Slate got impaled with a sword by Caspain, causing Coal to scream out for him, as he took his last breaths.
With more tributes running away from their starting positions, it was expected for more of them to go for weapons or supplies, which much to the dismay of the viewers, was not the case, instead with Steel and dragging his district partner, Flint, into the closest tunnel to try and protect her while Logic, who had run for a bag of supplies, got stabbed in the back of her head by Tide (4).
The 21 tributes who survived the opening 5 minutes had run straight into the tunnels, meaning that the Capital were unable to watch the events in person, since cameras had not yet been installed. From the information given to the capital by this years victor, the remaining tribute had mostly stayed with their district partners, trying to maximise the chances of one of them being able to return home alive.
As they walked through the tunnels, trying to remain as silent as possible, Coral and Tide, both from 4, encountered many blocked off passageways, which they silently agreed would be a great way to get rid of their competition, and so, they started hunting for tributes in an attempt to lead them to these dead ends.
Axle and Journey, both from 6, thought it would be a good idea to return to the cornucopia and try to find any leftover weapons or supplies, since neither of them had grabbed anything before running away, so made the decision to return to the centre of the arena. The audience cheered louder than before, which alerted the stronger tributes to the pair’s location, and made them easy targets.
Axle managed to grab a backpack and fill it with water bottles and bread, grabbing 2 small knifes for him and Journey, while Journey kept watch for any oncoming threats. They then managed to get back into the tunnels safely, as Coal emerged from the tunnel on the other side of the central area, with a knife in her shoulder and a large cut on her leg, being closely followed by Cedar and his district partner, Birch. Birch hid behind her district partner as he brought the axe straight down onto Coal’s throat, crying as she looked up and saw he blood dripping from the axe and the pool of blood around Coal’s head. To make himself fell less bad, Cedar killed Birch with the same axe as she walked ahead of him, putting her out of her misery in the most humane way he could think. He quickly returned to the tunnels, leaving the body of Birch and Coal in the center.
Sticking to their plan, Coral and Tide managed to hunt down and kill Circuit (3), Harvest (9), Sow (9) and Pasture (10) while Meadow (10) barely managed to make her escape from the dangerous duo.
As it approached midday, 15 tributes remained after only 3 hours. It was bery rare for tributes to emerge from the tunnels, until Meadow decided to leave one tunnel and make her way to the centre of the arena, openin one box and hiding herself inside, in an attempt to be overlooked by the remaining tributes and to be able to return home once the last tribute had died of or thirst, though, she did not have any water herself.
Through the tunnels, at roughly 12:15, a scream was heard, which the audiences assumed came from a weaker tribute from one of the outlying districts, but it was in fact Aurelia when she turned a corner and saw Coral and Tide walking towards her, each with a bloodied spear, and blood splattered on Tide’s face. This scream made Caspian immediately feel uneasy and he joined her quickly, also feeling intimidated by the duo from 4 within seconds. A fight broke out between Coral, Tide and Caspian while Aurelia ran away as fast as she could, but unknowingly ran straight into Rowan’s sword as he protected Saffron from any threats.
The fight between Coral, Tide and Caspian finished quickly with Caspian killing Coral before being killed by Tide. as he stood over the dead body of Coral, a single tear rolled down Tide’s cheek as he whispered “I will get out of here for you” before placing a soft kiss on her forehead and walking away.
Flint and Steel heard the commotion going on between Districts 1 and 4, but decided to stay away out of fear that both from one of those districts would still be alive. Little did they know that they were being approached by Cedar, who was much more of a threat to them both, but they were unable to hear him as he hid behind a nearby wall.
As the sun began to set, Watt (5) made his way back to the cornucopia to scavenge any leftover supplies that had not been touched. He even went through the box that Meadow had hidden in, screaming when he saw her lifeless body and even throwing up next to the box. His scream alerted Loom and Thread, both from 8, who quickly made their way to the cornucopia to see what the commotion was about. They slowly approached Watt, trying to see what had made him scream, but when they saw he was defenceless and unarmed, they offered to form an alliance with him. Without much of a choice, he accepted and the 3 formed the first official alliance in the history of the hunger games, which the capitol viewers was an interesting decision on their part, but didn’t question it at all, thinking one of them would now be able to win the games.
Cedar, stayed behind the wall, listening to the conversation between Flint and Steel, until they started to move again. The got up slowly and kept their weapons close, afraid of how close other tributes would be. As they walked, Flint was hit in her abdomen by Cedar’s axe and he ran away before Steel could react, knowing that Steel was much stronger than him and he would easily get overpowered in a conflict. Steel knealt by Flint’s side as she lay there dying, holding her hand until her grip finally let out and she fell to the ground, limp.
With their newly formed alliance, Watt, Loom and Silk decided to take it in turns keeping watch throughout the night, with Watt taking the first watch. He considered taking the small knife he found near the box where he found Meadow to try and kill Loom and Silk, but he knew that if he did that, he would not be able to survive by himself. However, behind him, Rowan and Saffron moved quietly across the cornucopia and tried to sneak up on Watt, until Saffron accidentally kicked an empty water bottle, alerting Watt to their presence. This caused Watt to get up and run away without a second thought, leaving Loom and Silk at the hands of the pair from 11.
Rowan watched in confusion as Watt ran back to the tunnels and stood over Loom and Silk, debating whether to kill them or to leave them without supplies. In the end, he decided to take their supplies and leave them sleeping alone. They walked away, speaking in hushed tones as they walked though some Capitol citizens say they overheard Saffron asking why Rowan didn’t kill the pair from 8 and he said they were too weak to do anything.
After returning to the tunnels, Watt tried to hide in the corner of a small tunnel, assuming that Loom and Silk were dead. He heard footsteps throughout the night, but never saw any of the tributes until the sun had fully risen.
As the sun rose, Silk woke up slowly, rubbing her eyes and realising that she was still in the hunger games and that it wasn’t some twisted dream. She then proceeded to scream in frustration, causing the viewers in the stands to laugh at her reactions and at Loom’s reaction at waking to her scream. The pair then argue and Silk’s shouts were clearly heard by the Capitol audience, who then began to laugh again while Watt made his way back to them slowly. Neither Loom nor Silk noticed him as they were shouting at eachother, so he sneaked behind Loom and stabbed him in the back of his head, splattering blood onto Silk’s face and causing her to scream again, while Watt ran away, immediately feeling regret at his actions.
Rowan and Saffron heard Silk’s scream and gently chuckled to themselves in front of a small hole in a wall, which was taken up by Steel after he somehow managed to hide just in time. He could barely move and had to stay still and silent if he didn’t want to get killed by Saffron or Rowan. He overheard them talking about their plans for each of the remaining tributes and when Saffron said she wanted to be the one to kill Steel, slowly strangling him to death, he knew he had to make his move. So he carefully moved his arm to get the small knife out of his pocket, and lined it up with the back of Rowan’s neck, before quickly shoving it into his neck as Rowan choked on his own blood. Steel then climbed out of the small hole as Saffron screamed at his sudden presence and tried to run away, but Steel grabbed her hand and shoved her into the floor, grabbing a small broken piece of stone and smashing it into her skull repeatedly, causing her to have a slow and painful death, much unlike the death of her district partner.
Axle and Journey stayed hidden since they got the supplies they needed and have been eating comfortably, still having plenty of water to share between themselves. They take it in turns to sleep and keep watch, never being approached by anyone because they found a corner that is hidden well enough that they would be safe from the sight of any threats. There were often times where they heard tributes walkig past, but had never been seen by any of them.
Tide walked slowly through the tunnels, making sure to look around every corner and behind him to make sure he was at no risk of being ambushed and always had his sword at the ready with a small knife to throw at anyone he saw as a distraction. As he turned another corner, he saw Cedar running quietly and crouching towards the exit to enter the central area of the Arena, where Silk had sat, hugging her knees, still trying to calm herself down. Tide decided to stay hidden and watch what Cedar decided to do, careful not to make a sound. Cedar walks over to Silk, and gently pulled her hair back, forcing her to look up at him. Her face was still damp from crying and she had accepted her fate. Cedar brings the axe to her throat and cuts it quickly, dropping her to the floor before making his way to a different entrance to the tunnels.
Tide carefully follows Cedar into the tunnel across the cornucopia clearing, however, the onlooking crowd cheered when they saw Tide, which alerted for Cedar to Tide’s whereabouts and he returned to the centre of the arena and stood staring at Tide, who was in the centre of the arena, carelessly kicking Silk’s body out of his way.
The crowds uproar echoed through the tunnels surrounding the arena and caught the attention of Journey and Axle. Axle decides to go and investigate what’s going on and tells Journey to stay hidden, but she disregards his request and follows him. When they get to the entrance and see Tide and Cedar getting ready to fight, she stabs Axle in the back of his head, not flinching and not fully facing him and lets him drop to the floor in a pool of his own blood. She then pushes his body into the central area so that the audience could see and the uproar at the sight of Axle’s body was almost deafening.
Cedar briefly looked at Axle’s body and then back at Tide, waiting for Tide to make the first move and holding his axe out ready. Tide gripped his sword and small knife tightly, watching Cedar intently and waiting for the slightest hint of uncertainty or hesitation to show on his face. He stood his ground and they kept watching, neither of them making the first move.
After roughly 5 minutes of staring eachother down, Tide threw his small knife at Cedar’s head, which Cedar managed to dodge with ease, and Tide charged towards Cedar with his sword in hand, swinging as he got within striking distance. Cedar managed to avoid each swing of the sword and blocked some of them with his axe, easily picking up the small knife that had previously been thrown at him. He then continued defending himself with his axe, but started making a few swings to try and get Tide back, cutting his arm in the process, before stabbing the knife into the side of Tide’s neck and letting him fall to the floor. He then picked up Tide’s sword and threw it out of reach and leaving his weapons out of reach. Cedar then leant down to speak with Tide, which some Capitol audiences say that he said he didn’t want to kill Tide this early and that he had done well. He then got up and left, leaving Tide to die, coughing up blood in his last moments.
While Cedar and Tide were fighting, Steel walked around the tunnels, looking in at their fight when he had a clear sightline and walking again. Once the fight had ended and Cedar had left the centre, Steel casually strolled in and sat on top of the box that Meadow had previously died in, waiting for someone to come and find him.
Journey returned to her supplies, wiping her hands on her trousers as she walked, trying to wipe the blood away. When she got back to her supplies, she saw that Watt was trying to run away with the bag of food and water. Without thinking, she slashed his throat and let him fall to the floor, ripping the bag from his grasp and leaving him to die.
Cedar was unsure as to how many tributes remained, though he assumed it was 5, so he made his way back to the central arena, seeing Steel sat on a box, seemingly bored. As he walked, he made sure nobody was following him, however as he stood and watched Steel, he didn’t look behind himself to see that Journey was now silently approaching him. She watched her footing to make sure that she didn’t accidentally kick anything to make him realise she was right behind him, carefully took off her backpack and smashed it against his head, the water bottles, made of metal, acting as a rough surface against Cedar’s skull and cursing him to collapse from the pain. Journey swung her backpack against his head again and again, following him as he crawled into the central arena until his arms gave away and he collapsed. She brought the bag down once more against his face, before getting her knife and slowly pushing it into his forehead, cutting into his brain as blood slowly escaped through many areas around his head.
Steel watches Journey in shock as she smashes her bag into Cedar’s head but simply shrugs it off like it’s nothing and hops off the box nonchalantly, slowly walking towards her as she finished Cedar off. She then wipes her long blonde hair out of her face, turning to face Steel as she picks up Cedar’s axe. “I’ll be honest, I’m surprised you’re still alive without Axle,” Steel calls to her, loud enough that the audience can hear and they gasp in surprise at his first statement. The 2 remaining tributes have a back and forth conversation, explaining the tributes that they’d killed, and Steel feeling secretly impressed that Journey had the guts to kill her district partner. They finished their conversation and Journey swung her newly acquired axe at Steel, which he easily blocked by grabbing the handle, overpowering her with ease. The joy in Journey’s face immediately left as she realised that she’d killed people just to get killed herself, no chance to change her previous actions and no chance to fix her mistakes. Steel then plunged his sword straight through Journey’s heart, causing the Capitol’s audience to cheer with excitement, assuming these were the last tributes. As Steel removed his sword from Journey’s heart and she fell to the ground, a loudspeaker crackled before announcing Steel as the victor of the first annual Hunger Games.
Upon winning the games at 16, Steel returned to District 2 and lived a normal life as a peacekeeper, retiring when he turned 72, and dying when he turned 87, 2 weeks before the 71st Hunger Games.