🦋 The 20th Hunger Games ➵ Victor: Penny

[honeybee.]

Caspia Searobin | District 4 | Location: Camp | Tags: the Careers|
"Oh." A sound of surprise passed Caspia's lips after Chaska breathed his final words, 'I love you'. Her mouth formed the shapes of the same words in return, but it was too late, the cannon had fired. And of course, she did love him. It was everything that made sense. There was no one else she'd have rather spent her final sunset with. Every ounce of pain she'd felt in this arena was worth it to have fought alongside him.

Hearing those words had filled her with joy and agony at the same time. Joy that he loved her, pain that she'd never hear him say those words again. Not in this lifetime.

Quickly she stepped back and pushed the pain deep down, watching Eden perform some strange task. When he wrapped his arms around her she was filled with gratitude, breathing shakily into his shoulder.
"Of course," She wrapped her fingers around the note he gave her and then nodded as Eden thanked her. "He was everything." Her words didn't really make sense but it was the best way she could describe how she felt. Now she stepped back from Eden and gave another nod to him and Madeline. It seemed it was there turn.

[DetectiveLunar]

Madeline Gomez//District 1//Female//A brat//Tagged; Eden and Caspia

”Th-ank you…” Madeline replied, trying to wipe away any remaining tears. “That….mea-..ns a lot... to me an-d it’s been an hon..or to have fought besi—de you idiot..s as well.” She wiped away her tears for what might’ve been the thousandth time in one day. She was actually starting to get kind of annoyed by it. Sure she was fine with her emotions now but the tears made her hands all wet! These tears were going to mess her up in the battle if they kept flowing! They were going to make her hands all slippery and she would have a hard time holding her spear! Gosh how rude these tears were.

She watched as Chaska’s battle finally came to an end, the cannon firing a few seconds before his body even hit the ground. He died as he had lived. If she was the one to leave this arena she would make sure to never forget him nor the others that had drawn their final breaths within these deadly games, but for now she couldn’t think about later. It was their turn now and she had to give her full focus to Eden’s battle. It would only be rude and highly disrespectful if she didn’t give it her all during her friend’s final moments. She quickly wiped her hands on her clothes, attempting to get them as dry as possible before the battle began. She didn’t want her spear to slip out of her grasps mid-battle! That would be extremely moronic and completely awkward. She would become a laughingstock to everyone watching!

She picked up her fishing spear and got ready, waiting for Eden to finish up whatever he was doing. When he finally appeared before her, swords at the ready and full of excitement, she too began to twitch in anticipation. With a simple nod the fight she had awaited finally began. She dodged to her best ability, ducking under the slashing blades and jumping just out of reach before retaliating with her own strikes, jabbing at him with her spear as she screamed out vulgarities and insults between small fits of laughter brought on by excitement.

“REALLY?” Her throat burned but she kept going. She wasn’t going to go easy on Eden just because of a sore throat. “IS THA-AT ALL…?” She could completely injure her vocal cords beyond repair and she would regret nothing. “EVE...EN A MATT...ED SEW-ER RAT C—OULD DO BE..TTER THAN YO..U!” She just wanted Eden’s final battle to be the best battle he could ever ask for and if that meant she had to risk completely destroying her vocal cords just to tease him a bit then so be it!

“YO..U IDIO-TIC ROACH!” She called out in-between giggles. “CO-ME ON!! GI-VE IT.. YOUR ALL!!”

[SunnyJustice]

➵ Eden Beauregard • District One • Career
➵ Location: Careers' camp
➵ Tagged: Madeline, Caspia
"Come back here!" Eden shrieked with laughter as Madeline dodged his initial blows. As she jumped away from his blades with dancer-like nimbleness, she stuck back with a jab which nicked his side. He couldn't even feel it, the thrill of the fight numbing any pain it might have brought. Profane insults spouted from her hoarse throat, determined to claw their way out at any cost to her ruined vocal chords. It made Eden laugh so hard that he was barely able to parry the next spear strike.
"Maybe you should go easy on yourself. Your screams will tear out your own throat before you can even touch mine!" Eden taunted, swatting her weapon to the side with one sword while he attacked with the other. His swordsmanship was so sloppy that he burst out laughing again. Every strike, whether a hit or a miss, brought a new surge of exhaustion to settle deep in the marrow of his bones. Morbid as it sounded, this was a good sign. Only when he'd expended the last reserves of energy and determination keeping him alive could he lay down his swords and depart this world in peace.
She'd called him a roach and a rat, two of her most famous insults. Linguists would forever associate those words with her no matter how ancient the literature they studied. The word "rat" appeared in Shakespeare? Clearly a ripoff of Madeline. "Oh yeah, well you look like a ruffed grouse! And you'll look like a rotisserie one once I'm done with you!"
As the fight wore on, Eden found himself tiring faster than expected. That was alright. It wasn't humanly possible to surpass the high standards set by Caspia and Chaska, especially considering his Career brother had more determination than blood in his veins.
With a laugh, Eden charged at Madeline like a reckless idiot, but at the last moment he tossed both swords to the floor. Cold arms wrapped her in a tight hug. "That was the best fight I've ever had," he laughed, laying his head against her warm shoulder. "When I'm gone, don't burn down the camp or I will come back and haunt you." Narrowed green eyes darted from Madeline to Caspia in a mock glare, but Eden couldn't maintain the stern expression for long as a smile spread across his face.
"Take care, alright?"

[DetectiveLunar]

Madeline Gomez//District 1//Female//A brat//Tagged; Eden and Caspia

Madeline laughed at Eden’s responses, her attacks and dodges becoming messier and messier as she attempted and failed to contain her laughter. She couldn’t bring herself to respond back or yell out any insults, her words would immediately be cut off by bouts of gleeful laughter. Her eyes had even started to tear up from how hard she was laughing, making it even harder to properly jump out of the swords’ reach. A few nicks and small scratches began to form here and there, nothing major that she would be able to notice.
She felt like a little kid playing a more dangerous game of tag, it was fun, so fun that she almost completely forgot why they were fighting in the first place. Through her watery eyes she could barely make out Eden’s blurry form charging straight at her. She grinned and readied herself, preparing to take his attack head on only to get hugged instead. She returned the hug, wrapping her arms around her tired friend. “I’m gl-ad you li..ked it… I sti—ll kic..ked yo..ur bu—tt th..ough..” Despite the fact that they had both gotten super sloppy during the fight she still had to get in yet again another brag, it might be the final brag he’d ever hear from her for a long time. Who knows when they’d meet again.

She let out a small chuckle at Eden’s attempt to sound stern. It didn’t even look like he was trying to look serious, the idiot’s smile just made his attempt seem hilarious! “I pro—mise… we wo..n’t burn any..thing..” She readied her spear. “We will… And te-ll Gl—oria she..s still a r..at..” One final joke and the battle came to its end. She took a few steps back and plunged her fishing spear into his chest, sending Eden off into the afterlife as quickly and painlessly as possible.

[SunnyJustice]

➵ Eden Beauregard • District One • Career
➵ Location: Careers' camp
➵ Tagged: Madeline, Caspia
Eden scoffed in mock indignation as Madeline boasted to him one last time. The offended look on his face was so over-exaggerated, not even the most socially inept Career would misinterpret it as real. As his fake annoyance shifted into a sinister grin, his pinky finger - 'the finger' in Career culture - flipped up to curse her out. It was the worst swear possible: Disgrace!
Of course he didn't mean it, in fact he loved his final battle more than anything. But he was sure Madeline already knew. Her huge ego was not without its benefits; his silly insults wouldn't damage her self-esteem, they'd just bounce right off her thick skin. Or she'd laugh and hurl them right back in his face, even better.

He let out a laugh when Madeline promised not to wreck the place, but in return she had one last request: tell Gloria she was still a rat. He wasn't even surprised, although he had a feeling she meant the insult in an affectionate manner this time. With a chuckle, he nodded to confirm he'd carry the message to wherever lay beyond this life.
Green eyes closed for the final time in acceptance, just before the spear struck. Deep down, Eden had a feeling it was always meant to end this way, at the swift point of a friend's blade.
The cannon fired, followed by a dull rustle as the vanquished Career landed almost gracefully in the grass. Death left his smile untouched even as it claimed him.

[rose petals.]

ᑭEᑎᑎY ᔕYᒪᐯEᔕTEᖇ
|female|8|tribute|tags: none|

Penny watched another fight, this one seeming more playful, although there was a lot of screaming. From the girl's narrow vantage point she could make out some parts, but really only knew who was winning when the boy fell with a cannon. Penny jumped, but this death brought on more sadness, she didn't know the other career who had died, but this one she had met. Eden, Sienna's love. At least they could be together now, wherever that was.

She had to plan her next moves carefully. If the two remaining careers decided to fight one another, it could maybe give her a chance. They must be pretty tired from both already fighting their teammates to the death. One more fight and Penny just might win. She could try an endurance race... but even tired a career might have more stamina than little untrained Penny. What was she even thinking, toying with the idea of winning. It would be impossible! But all she could do was painfully watch, watch and wait.

[honeybee.]

Caspia Searobin | District 4 | Location: Camp | Tags: Madeline
The fight between Madeline and Eden was greatly different to her's and Chaska's, filled with playful insults. It was no less beautiful though and as the fight came to a close and Eden spoke Caspia nodded.
"You take care too." She echoed, before Madeline's spear pierced his heart and he fell softly into the grass.

Caspia had been sitting quietly in the grass to watch the battle, regaining some of her strength after fighting the mutts and then Chaska. Now the leader who had held them up was also gone and it was just her, Madeline and one non-career. "You fought well, the both of you did." She told her final remaining ally, standing up to speak, "I think we should battle each other next and then the winner can go after the final tribute alone. That's probably fairest," Caspia suggested. It was straight to the point, but it felt like the games were destined to finish today and there was no point in delaying.
The only issue was whether to rest first. Unlike the past two fights the winner here wasn't guaranteed, neither of them were racing against deadly wounds. But Capsia ached all over from both exertion and injuries, no doubt Madeline was too. She was exhausted, but it was probably the type of exhaustion that required a week in bed. A quick rest might only make her feel less ready for this inevitable fight.
"Should we just get this done? Or did you want to rest?" Caspia let the decision go to Madeline.

[DetectiveLunar]

Madeline Gomez//District 1//Female//A brat//Tagged; Caspia

Madeline watched as Eden’s body hit the grass with a soft thud, his face still maintaining the same content smile. By the time the cannon fired the fatigue and pain had finally caught up to her and hit her full force. Her throat felt like it had been clawed out by some rabid animal with dirty claws, she wouldn’t be surprised if she had completely lost her voice at this point.
She felt exhausted and she desperately wanted to just sit down and rest, but she didn’t want to put off the inevitable, it would only drag things out. As she attempted to respond to Caspia she found her suspicions had turned out to be correct, she had completely lost her voice. Her throat was just too raw for it to produce any words, no matter how small they might be, so instead she had to resort to just nodding. Even if she was absolutely exhausted and her throat was in incredible pain, she wanted to finish things up now. There was no point in waiting, it would only put off the fight, and it was better to get things done now rather than later. Plus it would be rude to keep the final tribute waiting. They were probably dreading their own final battle. It was better for them to get things over with, that way no one had to wait or dread their own final battles.
She readied her spear and waited for Caspia’s response, waiting for the battle to start. There would be no insults or taunts thrown this time, which was very unfortunate for Caspia. She wouldn’t be able to enjoy Madeline’s absolutely beautiful and poetic insults, how sad! That wouldn’t stop her from coming up with some though! If they ever met again after this battle Madeline would make sure to share the insults Caspia deserved to hear. It would just be unfair for only Eden to receive the high honor that was her insults!

[rose petals.]

ᑭEᑎᑎY ᔕYᒪᐯEᔕTEᖇ
|female|8|tribute|tags: none|

Penny could hear her heart thumping in her chest as the last two careers interacted. She couldn't hear them from where she was, and she hoped with every fiber of her being that they didn't glance her direction and see the wide-eyed girl from district 8 who had been watching them. Biting her lip, the blue butterfly that had been keeping Penny company fluttered over to land next to her clenched hands. The gesture made her tight muscles relax some, the nerves waning at the insect's peacefulness. In a bloodthirsty arena with so much violence and heartbreak, somehow something so peaceful existed.

[honeybee.]

Caspia Searobin | District 4 | Location: Camp | Tags: Madeline
Despite her now missing voice, it seemed that Madeline too was ready to get these Games over and done with.
"It's probably best you can't talk," Caspia spoke as she got into a ready position, trident held in both hands. "I don't think I could ever match your or Eden's insults."
As soon as Madeline was ready Caspia lunged forward, jabbing with her trident. Her moves were still a dance, but this time a much more desperate one. She was not only fighting Madeline this time, but also her exhaustion, muscles screaming for her to just give up. She allowed herself to still feel that thrill of the fight, the world around them fading to nothing, but this time it was sharp-edged, it's temporary nature undeniable.
The spear and the trident were both similar weapons, and Caspia found herself having to move around more, unable to parry, constantly trying to dodge and duck any attacks that Madeline threw her way. At least starting this new fight had now sent a fresh wave of adrenaline coursing through her, helping to fend off the exhaustion once more.