❝ ALONE WE ARE STRONG,
TOGETHER WE ARE STRONGER, ❞
in which talia riverthorn,
a citizen of district 4,
finds her heart torn
when she is forced into the
71st hunger games.
and the handsome,
mysterious finnick odair
is her mentor.
and as well...
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THE FINAL BATTLE
A single sweeping moment is all it takes. Talia Riverthorn had faced demon after demon in the arena, and the worst of all was going to be her own district partner. Four remained. Talia. Archer. Callius. Ethan. All of them would have to face each other, and Talia was ready to sacrifice everything to get Archer home. Her trident sat comfortably in her palm as she crouched just in the treeline, her heart thudded in her chest as she watched Ethan pick up weapon after weapon and place them on his belt, across his back, in the pockets of his trousers. He grins at the blood draped across his shoulders from his kills and then heads off in the opposite direction, towards the mountain. Talia breathes, glancing to Archer who was sitting low, Talia refused to let him see the chaos that waited beyond the trees.
"He's gone," Talia whispers to him, "Don't worry, we're safe for awhile,"
"I'm tired,"
"Rest," Talia replies and she keeps watch as he sleeps. Hours pass, day turns to night. She settles her back against the tree, waiting, ears trained to listen to any noise.
The moon is just above her when a scream wakes her from her doze. She curses herself for falling asleep, she sees Archer wake too, he grabs his knife and looks to Talia, his saviour. She gestures for him to be quiet as she sits up and peaks over the treeline. There it is, in the centre of the arena, the white bear that had attacked some of the other tributes just a few days ago, and in its jaw, Callius, the white teeth of the bear sunk into his arm.
Talia's lips part in a gasp as she watches the bear tear off his arm and Callius screams again. A glint of metal in another treeline alerts Talia to Ethan's presence. It lasts for what feels like hours, scream after scream as Callius is torn apart by the bear, blood covering its pure white fur. Talia can't stand it any longer, she aims her trident, throwing the weapon through the air, not caring if it alerted Ethan. The trident lands as aimed, Callius' chest. The cannon booms. Ethan bursts from the treeline and Talia turns to Archer.
"You run," Talia orders, pointing to the trees, "Now. Go,"
Archer gets up, running into the forest. Talia rushes out into the open space, her hand holding a knife left behind by Darius.
"I'm what you want, Ethan, let him go!" She calls. The bear, bored with his now dead meal, turns his attention to the pair of people a few hundred metres away. He growls as he starts his walk towards them. All Talia had to do was loop round, get her trident and kill Ethan.
Ethan grins as he stalks closer, "Don't you worry, little one, your death will come to you soon enough,"
"Try me," Talia says, she steps back, before twisting and running in a looped fashion towards the trident. The bear takes off too, heading for Ethan, blooded teeth bared in a vicious growl. Talia reaches her trident, unaware of Ethan running into the treeline as she grabs the weapon and turns, seeing the bear disappear into the trees.
"Oh no...Archer..." She mutters, replacing her knife on her belt and running for the trees, her boots heavy in the snow as she runs, her heart was racing, her ears pounding. Talia's feet carry her through the forest, her eyes scanning every inch of it as she followed the paw prints left by the bear.
A scream fills the air and her hand clamps round her mouth to stop her calling out for Archer. She follows the footprints and finds the bear, dead, bleeding out onto the pure white snow. She knows that this wasn't the cause of the scream. Footprints continue forwards, she takes off, following. Her heart stops when she reaches the scene of what could only be described as a crime.
"NO!" She screams, Ethan stood with Archer in front of him, a knife to his pale throat, "Please!"
"At last," Ethan grins, his knife lifts and he forces Archer's mouth open, cutting into the corner of his lip, dragging the knife into his flesh, "Time to give you a lovely new smile,"
"Let him go!" Talia yells, she walks forwards and Ethan drags the knife across the boys throat, blood pours out, across the snow. Talia screams, her legs give way and she drops to her knees, crawling closer as Ethan cuts the boys head clean off. His body drops to the ground and Ethan lifts his head triumphantly to the sky. The cannon booms above.
"To the Capitol!" He yells and Talia's eyes stream tears.
"Monster!" She shouts, her trident in hand, "You're a monster,"
"It's just a game. A game is made to be won. I'm just playing to win," Ethan says, throwing Archer's paled head towards Talia, it lands so the boys eyes meet hers and she holds the sick that threatened to spew from her mouth. She swallows it down and scrambles to her feet.
"You haven't won yet," Talia says, "You still have to face me,"
"You're not exactly a challenge, little one," He says, smirking as he picks up the mace he had previously dropped to the floor.
Talia backs away, watching as Ethan wipes off the blood covering his weapon. She takes the chance to turn and run, racing between the trees. She hears him following her, his feet pounding against the ground as she twists and turns through the trees. They find themselves back in the open arena and Talia runs for the frozen lake. She's light, she can make it across the ice, but she hoped that it would give way to Ethan. She crosses the lake, sliding slightly on the surface but her boots manage to grip it somewhat.
"C'mon, little one, I just want to play,"
His foot touches the surface, he walks out onto it, and Talia sees the cracks form.
"All brute, no brains," Talia calls, "You're too heavy to be on this ice...But a delicate little girl like me...I'm fine,"
He grins at her, a menacing grin, he swings the mace into the ice and cracks rush along the surface, right up to Talia and slowly it starts to split. She gulps, gently backing up, the cracks get smaller, more reined in. She breathes slowly, her trident added extra weight to her, but she couldn't get rid of it.
"You're going to lose, Talia," He says, "I'll send my regards to your family, to that little brother of yours,"
She shakes her head. Time to risk it all. She turns and runs for the edge, stabbing her trident into the ice, the ice cracks, running back along towards Ethan and she just about reaches the edge when the ice beneath Ethan cracks. He slips under the water, hands grasping for the ice, the water freezing cold, the lake sweeps him under. He kicks at the surface from underneath, Talia watches in silence, heart was pounding as the ice across the lake breaks. Suddenly, Ethan bursts up, grabbing a chunk of the ice and pulling himself up onto it. He looks at Talia and her grip tightens on her trident. He reaches into the water and before Talia can react, a knife is in her shoulder. She gasps, her spare hand reaching up to the knife protruding out of her. She gulps, grabbing it and pulling it from her body, she aims her trident, her shoulder was pouring blood and she throws the weapon through the air. It pierces straight through his throat, pinning him to the ice behind him. She watches the life leave his eyes, before she drops to her knees. The final cannon booms as she lies on her back, her eyes looking to the sky.
"Talia Riverthorn, congratulations! You are winner of the 71st Annual Hunger Games!"
____________________
Its been too long, but we're finally back!
i'm so grateful to everyone who's read this story, it means an awful lot to me
i hope everyone had a great Christmas & i wish you all a happy New Year!
