The Fifth Annual Writer Games: The Fall

The Fall of the Martyrs - Females

District 1 Female – Venus Iridium

The air stands still in the middle of the night.

    The wind doesn't shift, snow doesn't fall from trees, the occasional rock doesn't trickle from the boulders. Everything is silent and still, and Venus Iridium is a creature of sound and movement.

    It unnerves her how everything seems to come to a pause, but no matter. She's an actress, darling, and the action is at her discretion.

    It's been only two days since she and Chet split up—meaning it's day seven in the arena, and also meaning that he's had two days to plan a counter-attack against her. She doesn't blame him: even when they were allies, her plans revolved around him and accommodated for his needs; now that they're...not-allies, she has to include him twice as much, needing to pick up his slack and ensure he never figured out any of her plans. Venus knows not to underestimate anyone, but she has her doubts about Chet. She doesn't know how aware he was, but honestly, he could have fooled her: it never seemed as if he picked up on any of her side schemes. If he did, bravo. That's better acting than her own. (She's kidding; she knows acting is her thing, and Chet of all people can't even begin to compare.)

    She shifts in her sleeping bag, uneasy and restless. She's not going to lie: she misses Chet only because of the extra protection he offered. People always believed him to be the more competent of the two, no one dared say anything to her when he was around, and they took turns sleeping—not that she actually slept. It's an unknown feeling, this ambiguity towards Chet.

    But, again: no matter. She's an actress, darling, and the characters are at her discretion. This involves their motivation.

    Uncomfortable, Venus decides to do a midnight hunt. If she has energy, might as well do something productive with it. There's no need to sit still and waste time that could be used for something...well, useful. She packs up all her things—every item fitting in a single bag—and she ditches her little nook in the mountains. She constantly told Chet how she didn't particularly like the mountains—even if she insisted on staying there the first few nights—and she would always "sneak off" into the forests, where she excelled and from where she would bring back food, so she's positive he's staying clear of the snowy peaks if he's looking for her.

    If she was Chet and knew who was claiming the mountains as her own, she would stay far, far away.

    She's an actress, darling, and the setting is at her discretion.

    Venus begins her journey downwards, careful to dig her heels into the snow at all times. Though the snowfall has been light as of recent, it still piles up near the peaks. As confident as she is, she's not taking a dumb risk. She's smarter than that.

    Venus then faces the moral dilemma of alerting Chet that he's being stalked by a mountain lion but by the time she makes up her mind of letting him know (because duh she doesn't want him to die via mauling) it's too late and he's attacked and then she doesn't know if she should help (because duh he wouldn't help her) and then Chet dies and she's shooketh to her core and also sorry all but I've been working thirteen (or more) hour shifts for my job since Saturday the 10th and I am exhausted. Venus, babe, I'm sorry I couldn't do you justice this round, oop. I love you all, please listen to your bodies and like...sleep and eat and hydrate. Yerrr, goodnight. Sorry, Mags.

    To conclude, Chet dies and Venus is like...torn up about it, but only for the cameras (because duh as if she actually cares about anyone other than herself and all her various personas).

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District 2 Female – Eloise Edith Kovach

Warning: Contains (mildly?) sexual content.