Victory | By : Spleef Category: G through L > The Hunger Games Trilogy Views: 5020 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0 |
Disclaimer: Hunger Games does not belong to me and I make no profit off it. |
Victory
I
Hunger Games belongs to Suzanne Collins, I do not claim ownership of the HG universe nor do I make any profit off this story, it is just a fun fic from a fan impressed enough by the HG to do this. While I love the books, I do wish they had been longer, to explore more of certain aspects of Panem, as well as exploring the backgrounds of more characters (Enobaria, Wiress, Chaff, Seeder, Cecelia, etc)
I purposely left out the name of this character and what District they belong to, you can imagine who this is for yourself. I tried to stick with the canon of the books as much as I could and only filled in the blanks that Suzanne Collins never elaborated on or detailed during her books. This story is split into three parts. It was originally planned as a one-shot but then as the idea developed itself it seemed best splitting it up into 3 installments.
If you enjoyed this, please don't forget to leave a review, they are lifeblood for an author.
o0o0o0o
The first Hunger Games she had ever watched was the Forty-fifth Hunger Games. The carnage played out before her seemed unreal to her young mind, even after the boy from District 11 lost his hand and managed to win the Game.
Sure, she had heard of the Hunger Games, and Reaping Day was such a huge occasion. She did not understand it back then, but the Tributes from her District were predominantly Careers. They volunteered for the Games, and if they volunteered, why, it must be fun!
o0o0o0o
It was not until the 50th game that she saw what it was they were getting into, since last year, her parents had tried to keep her away from the television, letting her watch the interviews, some of the footage where the Tributes just looked for food or shelter, and the victory interview in an effort to shield her from the violence, but she had managed to glimpse some of what her parents did not want to see because they also played it at school, and she would also watch some of it at her friend's houses. Even after seeing children kill one another, her friends laughed at it, it was a game, heck, it was even in the title of this annual event!
That year, she remembered, double the number of Tributes were to be Reaped from each district. Since being a Career Tribute was a very specialized choice, usually just one eighteen-year-old boy and one girl the same age was chosen every year by the elite, to train for the Hunger Games. The Quarter Quells were surprises, and so this year, the same amount of Career Tributes turned eighteen, their last year for Hunger Games eligibility. Since two more positions needed to be filled, the next available Career girl, a tall brunette girl of seventeen, volunteered.
The next Career boy did not volunteer, wanting to save his victory for the next year. She remembered the unfortunate boy who had never considered being an Hunger Games participant, not when a Career would almost always volunteer. He stood next to the three Careers, his misery and fear a sharp contrast to the smiling and waving eager Tributes, accentuating his somewhat pudgy build.
She would find out why the boy looked so afraid. Double the amount of Tributes meant a longer game and more deaths. Again, her parents tried to shield her from the carnage, but since the Hunger Games was such a big part of society and the media, this was impossible.
Her parents took bets. One of the Tributes from her own district had been in the final four, and her parents gambled on the fact that they would receive the monthly bonuses over the next year, even the children. It had happened several times in her parent's lifetimes.
o0o0o0o
No one could be more surprised when the Victor of the Second Quarter Quell was a poor chap from District 12, an area that was just about the opposite of her own, or so the media showed her. Her parents lost quite a bit of money on that.
They had never been wealthy, but her father made enough to keep his family well-fed and clothed, a warm roof over their heads. She never had to worry about where her next meal came from. She might not have the prettiest dresses or be able to keep up with the latest fashions, but she still liked her clothes. Tessera was not a consideration for her family, but she knew that many in the District were wealthier than her family would ever be.
Her father lost a bit of money, so they had to limit their budget for the next year. Still, it wasn't so bad, it just meant less allowance and just one present for her and her younger siblings on their birthdays, no new dresses for Mom, and her father couldn't buy the new car he wanted.
o0o0o0o
However, the nest year, the Victor was from their district – the very boy who refused to volunteer the year before. so she celebrated her first Parcel Day, enjoying the goodies that she usually never did, and seeing the tall, strong youth smile and wave to the cameras and crowds when he came to his home district during the Victory Tour. She had nearly forgotten the look of the unwilling Tribute from the 50th Game.
o0o0o0o
The years went by. She was twelve. She was a good student in school – perhaps not the best, but she pulled good enough grades that if she kept up, could earn her a better-paying job down the road. All the children her age had to take a test. It was a different test than she was used to. There were puzzles to do, and word questions, as well as a physical fitness test.
A week later, she was called to the principal's office along with about fifteen other children from her grade. At first she thought she had done something wrong, but the principal beamed down at the group standing in front of his desk. They had been the highest scorers in the school, which qualified them for training to become Career Tributes.
o0o0o0o
Technically, becoming a Career was supposed to be illegal, as all of the Districts were supposed to have an equal chance at earning the Capitol's forgiveness and its generosity.
But apparently, the Capitol turned a blind eye to this, because even though they could see that three Districts usually had the best and strongest Tributes, they had chosen to not take note of this.
And the Districts that fostered Careers were quick to reap the reward of one of their Tributes winning any given year. In her District, being a Tribute was a honor, if you submitted yourself to the arena in which 23 children would die, you were brave, and your District would often send gifts to you through your Mentor in the hopes that you came home alive to thank them for their generosity. If you won, you were practically a hero, thanked for increasing the fortunes of everyone within the District for the next year.
o0o0o0o
Every year, there were fewer children in the Career training track. A few of the children left the principal's office that fateful day. Others would drop out through the next few years, if the training or psychological pressure became too much for them. The first four years, one could drop out without reprisal, for only the best, smartest, and fittest were worthy enough to try to prove themselves in the Hunger Games. The only privileges the children got through these first four years were better meals and martial arts or weapon training sessions outside of school. None of this was flaunted, of course. She went to school as she always did, and her parents did not receive any bonuses for this.
And every year, she would watch the Hunger Games, of course. She witnessed scores of children die from starvation, exhaustion, being attacked by animals, natural disasters, or being killed by other Tributes.
The grinning, confident, well-dressed Careers that were interviewed by Caesar Flickerman sometimes bore no resemblance to what they would become once they were thrown into the arena. Feral, bloodthirsty, desperate to survive, especially if they were pitted against the other Careers they were once allied with. That was inevitable if you and other Careers managed to make it to the final four and had no one else to fight or kill. When it came to life and death, friendships and whether you liked your fellow Tributes, ceased to matter.
o0o0o0o
In her sixteenth year, her District won the Hunger Games. The Victor was just two years older than she was. She remembered her first Parcel Day, and was eager for another year of Parcels. At sixteen, she understood better the honor that came with being a Career and hopefully a Victor. Why force an unwilling and unfit Tribute to be killed in the Arena, usually in the Bloodbath? If an Career died, the at least they went down fighting, doing their best.
There was a memorial near the Justice Building, for the fallen Tributes of their district. The epitaph mentioned their courage and willingness to sacrifice themselves for the good of their District. Sometimes she wondered if it really was a honor, but she never voiced these thoughts, and pushed it to the back of her mind.
o0o0o0o
To continue Career training, things would change. A little more than half of her starting class had been culled by this point.
The training would become more specialized, and they could even leave the school for half of the day. They would get the chance to have personal one on one time with the Victors. Their families would get a bonus, and even the Career trainees themselves would receive a monthly stipend.
Of course, all of this came at a price. The people sponsoring the training of Careers wanted to make sure they got their money's worth, so once you went into the last two years of training, you could not back out. If you did, you – or your family – were expected to pay back all the money invested in your training, including the meals, vitamins, and training you got for your first four years.
She was given an envelope to take home to her parents. If her parents agreed to the terms and were willing to risk the loss of their child in two years, then they would sign the contract, and she would return to the Justice Building the next day, her own signature also on the paper.
Her parents were reluctant, and didn't want to sign at first. They tried to reason with her. She had already gotten four years of training, that would go far when she went looking for a job. Why not just walk away with the experience she already had? It wasn't as if her family needed the money that a Victor could bring them!
However, she managed to convince them to let her officially become an Career Tribute. It was a honor, and she would be remembered either way.
o0o0o0o
She had celebrated her eighteenth birthday several months ago, and stood with the other eighteen-year-old girls, listening with half an ear as the Mayor delivered the annual Speech.
She was dressed in a new dress, her hair combed and pinned back from her face. Though some of the boys and girls took this opportunity to dress themselves up as much as possible, the dress she had selected had a quiet dignity she liked, with a high collar, her skirt stopping at mid-calf, showing a bit of her legs and the woman she was, yet with enough modesty to reflect her maturity. Careers in the past had gone for flash or glitz. Her only concession to this trend was a black and silver glitter silk scarf draped around her neck. Shouldn't a volunteer Tribute present herself on national television in the best way possible?
As soon as the Reaping Balls were brought forward, the attendant went to the one for girls, doing a small flourish with his hand as he reached down for a name slip.
He unfolded it, but before he could read the name out loud, she stood up. “I volunteer!” she said in a loud, clear tone. When she came to the stage, she did a brief curtsy before waving to the camera. As she looked out at the crowds cheering for her, she got the first taste of the honor that was lauded to the Career Tributes for their bravery and strength. However, she did not miss the sadness in her parent's eyes. Well, they would be proud of her when she came back home!
o0o0o0o
Her fellow Tribute sat across the table from her, dressed smartly in his Reaping Day outfit, his suit starched. She only listened with half a ear to the chatter of their chaperone. Next to her sat a female Victor, her mentor this year. Her partner also had his own mentor, the very same man who won the 51st games.
Her thoughts went back to the unedited videos she watched of previous Hunger Games. This material was made available to her and the other Careers to study in the last year. Not only had she studied the games where a Career had been victor, but she also studied the victory of the Tributes who had won by other means than might or ruthlessness.
One Tribute from one of the poorer District had managed to outsmart the entire Career Alliance and secure victory for himself, simply by hiding and letting the Careers destroy the rest of the players. Once he was the only non-Career left, he started stalking them, creating ruses and causing them to start quarreling with one another. This lasted several days, until he killed the last Career remaining in an surprise attack.
She had gone over hundreds of scenarios in her head, sure that she had considered every possible option and route to victory. Unlike most other Tributes, she was calm and confident. All she had to do was maintain that, and she would win.
I will put the odds in my favor.
While AFF and its agents attempt to remove all illegal works from the site as quickly and thoroughly as possible, there is always the possibility that some submissions may be overlooked or dismissed in error. The AFF system includes a rigorous and complex abuse control system in order to prevent improper use of the AFF service, and we hope that its deployment indicates a good-faith effort to eliminate any illegal material on the site in a fair and unbiased manner. This abuse control system is run in accordance with the strict guidelines specified above.
All works displayed here, whether pictorial or literary, are the property of their owners and not Adult-FanFiction.org. Opinions stated in profiles of users may not reflect the opinions or views of Adult-FanFiction.org or any of its owners, agents, or related entities.
Website Domain ©2002-2017 by Apollo. PHP scripting, CSS style sheets, Database layout & Original artwork ©2005-2017 C. Kennington. Restructured Database & Forum skins ©2007-2017 J. Salva. Images, coding, and any other potentially liftable content may not be used without express written permission from their respective creator(s). Thank you for visiting!
Powered by Fiction Portal 2.0
Modifications © Manta2g, DemonGoddess
Site Owner - Apollo