THE 68TH HUNGER GAMES - Book 1: Tribute

Chapter 23 - I Am Hyora Coco and I Am a Fierce Warrior

I cry in agony and without even thinking, I grab Ferdinand’s knife and stand up, facing Cassara.

“So you do cry a lot,” Cassara mutters maliciously.

I eye Cassara up and down, trying not to lose my concentration.

“It’s nice to finally meet up,” Cassara smiles vindictively, “I see you’ve failed pathetically at protecting your little district partner.”

“At least I didn’t abandon my partner like you did,” I say as anger boils up inside me, hungry for revenge on the pathetic Cassara Shine.

Cassara chuckles menacingly as she pulls out a machete and traces her index finger on the blade. I quickly get Ferdinand’s knife poised to attack.

“How’s it like in District 8?” Cassara says nastily.

“Not teh greatest district out there,” I say fiercely, “But we’re still very tightly knit.”

“I see. Will they miss you when you’re gone?”

“I don’t know, but I take it that your district won’t care when you’re gone!” I yell, and within that instant, I sprint towards Cassara and slash my knife towards the direction of her head. She swiftly ducks and then leaps to tackle me to the ground.

I curl my hands into a tight ball and manage to punch her right in the face. I get up and see that she’s on the ground holding her hands to her face.

“That enough for you?” I spit.

I crouch down beside her, use my knife and hack at her right arm, causing a pool of blood to form.

“Argh! You’re a crazy bitch!” Cassara yells.

She manages to throw a weak slap at my face with her left arm, but I manage to hold her down.

“Girl, I am Hyora Coco and I am a fierce warrior,” I exclaim as I stop hacking at her irreparable arm.

“You will go to hell!” Cassara shrieks as she notices the damage done to her arm.

I quickly trace the knife blade around her other arm.

“I wonder how it’d be like with no arms,” I say vindictively, “I would kill you now in one blow, but as revenge, I think it’s best if I kill you slowly and painfully,” I mumble, slowly falling into insanity.

“You wouldn’t!” Cassara shrieks.

I ignore her and slowly make tiny little cuts on her other arm. She shrieks as I’m doing this, kicking and screaming, but I manage to hold her down.

Cassara somehow manages to kick me away with one of her legs, causing me to topple over and nearly fall off the edge of the cliff, into the fiery hell below.

She gets up and I see that both her arms hang limp beside her. She places her foot firmly on my chest and smiles evilly.

“Wouldn’t it be nice if you fell,” Cassara snickers.

Within a second, I see a red headed figure tackle Cassara over.

“Aisling!” I say with delight as I get up.

I notice Aisling with her axe, ferociously hacking away at Cassara Shine. Cassara screams and thrashes about in agony as Aisling ends her life.

I notice Aisling stand up after attacking Cassara and I finally see the horrific scene in front of me. Cassara’s body is covered in blood and she has cut wounds everywhere.

“The cannon didn’t go off,” I say, “She’s still alive,” I correct her.

“Oh I don’t plan for her to die,” Aisling says.

“You just want her to be in pain,” I mumble, finally seeing her point of view.

Aisling turns to me and I notice that her clothes are all tattered and blood covered.

“Where have you been this whole time?” I ask in shock.

“Hannah Raivo and I went hunting on the second day of the games,” Aisling breathes, “Remember that? That’s when the flood happened. Hannah and I found refuge in one of the other ruins surrounding the arena. We were starving and freezing by then and I was in need of medicine after I caught a horrible cold. We both were on the verge of dying and that’s when we heard the announcement about the feast. I was in need of medicine and we were both in need of food. I wanted to go to the feast but Hannah locked me in one of the ruins because she thought I was too weak to be one of her allies. She wasn’t brave enough to kill me so she locked me in the room and hoped I’d die of natural causes. Later that night, I saw the announcements and saw that Hannah had died which led me to go a bit insane because no one knew that I was locked in this tower with nothing to eat or drink. Thankfully, I have sponsors who sent me medicine, but even then, I was still weak.”

“oh my gosh,” I mumble, ‘I’m so sorry.”

“That’s not all,” Aisling continues, “I finally managed to kick down the wooden door that locked me in the tower, and when I escaped, I promised myself that I would win the games, even if it means killing you.”

I slowly back away and pull out my knife.

“Aisling, think carefully about what you’re doing here,” I plead.

“Are you crazy?” She yells, “If it comes down to us two, one of us has to die!”

Before I can do anything, Aisling launches herself at me; grabbing at my throat. I choke as Aisling’s grip around my neck tightens. I claw at Aisling’s brutal force of her hands, but nothing worthwhile happens.

I manage to throw a heavy punch at her and she backs away angrily.

“This is what they want isn’t it?” she yells.

Without notice, Aisling swings her axe at my head and I shield my face with my hands. Her axe knocks my knife out of my hands and I see it tumbling down into the wildfire below.

“This is what they want!” Aisling shrieks hysterically, “They want a good damn show!”

I feel a throbbing pain in my right hand and I quickly look around for another weapon while Aisling is going about her mad rant. I notice a metre long stick right beside Aisling’s feet and while she’s ranting, I dive for the stick. She turns at me, but before she can do anything, I hit her in the head with my newfound weapon which causes her to stumble back and fall over the edge of the cliff. I hear Aisling scream as she tumbles down the sharp cliff, into the depths of the manmade hell below.

A cannon goes off marking the death of Aisling. I look around me and I notice Ferdinand’s limp body on the edge of the cliff and Cassara’s severed body only metres away. Without Aisling, I suddenly notice the eerie silence.  I get up and grab one of the smaller knives from my pocket and walk over to Cassara.

I notice her blonde hair covering some of her blood stained face.

“I’m so sorry,” I say as a tear falls down onto Cassara’s neck.

I stab Cassara right in the heart and I hear the sound of the cannon echoing through the entire arena.  

“Congratulations,” booms the voice of Claudius Templesmith, “The winner of the 68th Annual Hunger Games is Hyora Coco of District 8.”

A hovercraft appears in the sky above me and lowers down a platform for me to stand on. It then takes me up to an air conditioned cabin with a team of professionals.

“Congratulations sweetie,” says the voice of a woman standing behind me.

I turn around and see an eccentric looking Capitol official.

“Thanks,” I mumble, staring at the floor.

The cabin of the hovercraft seems like a striking contrast compared to the gruesome, horrific arena below.

“Goodbye, Ferdinand,” I whisper, staring through the glossy window.