A Game of Hearts (Haymitch x Reader)

Bloody Baths

"Cypress!" Jules ran straight into his arms, snuggling her face into his shoulder. "Thank god, I really needed to see a familiar face round here!" She was so glad that Cypress was there, really, she was, but she couldn't help but compare what his arms felt like wrapped around her to Haymitch's.

Cypress' were calm and kind, but a little stiff, while Haymitch's were strong supportive and felt like they were made to have her in them. In his arms was where she was happiest, she couldn't deny it any longer.

"Jules, I do hope you're coping well. I'm here to give you your clothes for the games. I couldn't find your thing you brought from home, so I hope it's alright that you won't have it." He spoke calmly in response to Jules's outburst, handing her the clothes she hadn't noticed before, lying crumpled on the ground, most likely from Jules running into Cypress at breakneck speed.

"Thank you, and I didn't have a thing from District 12, I couldn't find anything worth remembering." Her voice had a melancholy note as she realised the error in her ways. It would have been nice to have something to symbolise where she came from, the joys within the terror of the games. The beauty District 12 had to offer, if you knew where to find it.

Jules quietly got changed into the hundreds of layers she was given. Thermals, furs, coats, she ended up resembling the dessert she had taken to during her time in the Capitol, a marshmallow. It was sweltering hot under all the fabric, but that didn't stop a shiver running down Jules's spine when a clear tube appeared and a thirty second countdown began. She looked at Cypress desperately, giving a final hug before stepping into the tube.

With a few seconds left, Cypress, in his normal cool tone, reminded Jules, "Don't forget, you're a diamond amidst the coal, don't let them dim your light, they can't break you. I'll be rooting for you behind the screens. Shine, little diamond, and blind all your enemies." Before Jules could reply, the tube began to rise, sending her into darkness.

The pitch black concerned her, but as she was about to begin freaking out, she met the surface of the arena. Light seared into her corneas, and as her vision came around, she figured out why. The sunlight was reflecting over the thick blanket of snow that covered the entire of the arena.

All the tributes were placed in a circle around the cornucopia, which was surrounded by a circle of alpine forest. In the distance, towering glaciers formed a wall around the circumference of the arena.

Looking to her left, she saw a girl around her age whom she recognised as one of the Careers, preparing to bolt straight to the centre of the cornucopia, where the best weapons were held. To her right, luckily, was Xanther. Getting his attention, she subtly nodded to a large tree behind him. Nodding in agreement, they both returned their attention to the cornucopia, with only fifteen seconds left.

Jules noticed a large backpack, larger than any of the others she could see, stuffed with goods, only a few metres in front of her. Not believing her luck, she focused on it as her target, preparing to make a quick dash before running to the hiding place her and Xanther had agreed on.

"Five... four... three... two... one... happy 59th Hunger Games! May the odds be ever in your favour!" The voice called out as all hell broke loose.

The moment it finished counting down, before it could even mention it's message, everyone sprinted forward. Quick as lightening, Jules grabbed the rucksack and made a beeline for the safety of the trees, where she would patiently wait for Xanther to make his way across too.

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Haymitch watched the screen as the games began. He couldn't stop pacing during the short minute they had to wait before the first deaths would arise. He hoped with every being in his body that it wouldn't be Jules.

As the horn sounded for the start of the games, Haymitch hoped she saw sense and ran in the complete opposite direction to all the other tributes going for weapons. Instead, she ran straight in, making Haymitch hold his breath, but clearly, she had thought it all out. She only grabbed one thing on the outside and then quickly went to hide in the trees.

After knowing she was safe, Haymitch turned his focus on to Jonathan, and was surprised by what he saw. Three dead people lay by Jonathan as he retrieved a cleaver from one of their heads. It seemed Jonathan was more ruthless than anyone thought, and he was simply hiding his true skill.

Knowing the rocky ending Jules and Jonathan had, Haymitch suddenly realised something that made his heart sink, Jules was Jonathan's main target, which meant he would have to choose between his tributes.

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Jules had been waiting for longer than she should have behind the tree, flinching each time she heard the ear-shattering bang of a cannon sound, signifying the death of a tribute, hoping it wasn't Xanther. After a few more minutes, she decided that if Xanther didn't come by the next cannon, she would assume he had died, and she had to continue on her own.

Just as she had settled on this, Xanther ran behind the tree next to her, panting and clutching his side. Jules, noticing immediately, rushed to him. "Oh my god Xanther! Why would you run in there?! I was worried sick, and now you've gotten hurt. What's happened, because I don't know how much I can do to fix you up, and if you've been stabbed then we might as well just-"

"Jules! I'm fine, it's just a stitch, you worry too much. And besides, you know how I told the Capitol I was fast in my interviews? I think the tributes underestimated me, look at this!" Xanther interrupted Jules's worries, smiling as he showed her what he got.

He had gotten a lot. A whole set of throwing knives and two of hunting, another pack, not quite as big as Jules's but still life saving, a pack of dried meat and a spear.

"You've got to be kidding!? You got all this? We might actually stand a chance at winning." Jules grinned as they figured out how to carry all the equipment.

Jules strapped the throwing knives and one set of the hunting knives to each of her thighs for easy access and helped Xanther do the same with the last set of hunting knives. Jules would carry the large pack and Xanther the small, while Jules would use the spear like a walking stick, as she would lead the way. Once they had this all sorted out, they went through what was in the packs.

Starting with the larger one, it had two lengths of rope, a full water bottle, two small bottles of iodine, a few packs of food, a sleeping back and a pack of matches. The smaller one had some coiled wire, an empty water bottle, some more food and matches, another sleeping bag, two pairs of sunglasses and a map that seemed to show the arena.

"Why on earth would we need sunglasses? I mean, at least there's two, but still." Jules grumbled as she pulled them out the bag.

Xanther quickly snatched them, staring at them in awe, "Jules, I don't think you understand what these are. I've only ever heard about them, but these look like night-vision glasses. They are extremely rare and very valuable. They let you see perfectly in the dark, do you understand how useful this is?"

"Well then, better keep them close. I reckon we better get going, we're easy victims for the Careers right here." Jules suggested, already packing everything up, except for the map, which she unfolded on the ground. "I think we should head to the top of the glaciers, nobody else would think to go there, and besides, we could have a look at what the edge of the arena looks like."

"Good idea. Now that we have a plan in place, we've just got to survive long enough to win." Xanther joked, as they put on the packs and started heading in the direction of the icy mountains.

"Yeah, that won't be hard whatsoever."