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The people of District One say that being reaped for The Hunger Games as a Career tribute is about the most amount of luck you can get in the Games -besides, obviously, if you win. But to the victors of the Games, That doesn’t mean much in freedom.- The chance at winning is usually 1/24, even slimmer than that if you're weak. Maybe a bit more of a chance if you're strong or trained. And unless it's The Quarter Quell, there's only 24 tributes every Games. People say the Careers get to volunteer to be in the Games. That’s a lie. Complete lie. Careers don’t get to volunteer. They’re hand picked and voted on by their teachers, like a cow sent to slaughter. practically making bets on their students' lives.
Matthias is dreading the Games. He hated the Games. Didn’t matter who was in it, whether it was a school bully or a silent friend of his. He hated them with his whole heart. And hated them even more 1 year later. At the age of 17. He’d been so close to being ineligible, but fate had to come in and fuck shit up.
And at the age of 17, Matthias Helvar, from District One, a Career Tribute. Had been reaped for the 65th Hunger Games. He was the victor. He’d won. But his life hadn’t felt like a victory. The people of the districts nicknamed him ‘The Wolf’ like some kind of monster. A beast who’s bloodthirst couldn’t be quelled, but Matthias was no monster. He was a 17 year old. A child. Someone forced into a bloodbath they created and forced him to climb out of the pile of corpses like some kind of hero.
He’d been the one to make the killing blow. He’d been the one who had been surrounded by the frozen corpses of his former tributes, He’d been the one who had wandered around the Arena for another hour and a half. Hoping, fearing, wishing, believing that maybe, just maybe he wasn’t the last one left. But another never came. The Gamemakers had laughed at him in amusement for believing that anyone else had survived. They’d simply let him lead himself in circles, desperately hoping another person was still out there.
Until finally. Vasily Lanstov’s voice crackled to life. Shouting the very-similar words spoken at the end of each Games, each having alterations for each victor. Vasily had said the words. Someone to be worshiped and praised.
“You may love him, you may hate him, but you can not deny him! The one you all have named ‘The Wolf’, The Career, THE TRIBUTE FROM DISTRICT ONE! AND THE VICTOR OF RAVKA’S 65TH HUNGER GAMES! MATTHIAS HELVAR!” Matthias can still hear his loud, announcer-like voice ringing in his ears, almost mocking. The Arena had been filled with snow the entire time, but even that was an understatement. It was a blizzard almost 24/7, and when it wasn’t, the snow was still around 7 feet deep. The ground was never visible unless you dug out a pit. Most tributes died of hypothermia, some died of frostbite. A District 11 tribute was even murdered and cannibalized by a tribute from the 7th District about 10 days into the games. Pine trees, snow, a frozen river, unstable rocky cliffs. All key elements in the 65th Games’ Arena.
The last Quarter Quell happened 7 years before he was born. And this time, he’s in them. The Quarter Quell happens every 25 years. With the victors of the original Games going through the hell that is the Arena for a second time. 48 of them. 24 victors. 24 normal tributes. 576 original tributes that never made it out of the Arena alive. 25 Games in that time. And out of the Quarter Quell. Only one of them is going to come out alive. Matthias is now 18. He should be ineligible for The Games now. He should be. He would be. If not for the fact that there is no age limit on the Quarter Quell. He’d only gotten a single year of peace before being thrown back into the Arena for a second time. Jesper was a bit luckier. He’d gotten 3. But in that time, he’d mentored 6 other District 12 tributes. All of them dead within the first 2 days. Except for the 66th Games.
Those Games were one of, if not the most talked about Games of the last 4 years (Besides the 62nd games, with Jesper.) Kaz Brekker and Inej Ghafa. The two victors of the 66th Hunger Games. It was unheard of -to have 2 victors.- Yet somehow, they pulled it off. And so rare it could almost be considered a legend by some: Both were volunteers. And Kaz had been the first volunteer for District 12 known, quickly followed by Inej. Matthias believed Djel might’ve had some play in what went down. With Nikolai Lanstov being brutally mauled to death by the wolf mutts. Some Capitol citizens said that as Vasily Lanstov watched his half-brother get ripped to shreds, the 17 year old Career’s screams of agony loud enough that the outlier districts could probably hear them, Vasily hadn’t said a word. For once, he was completely silent. And with Zoya Nazyalensky being murdered with a hatchet that most believed belonged to Kaz. It wouldn’t be all that surprising if the Old Ravkan Saints had a bit of a part in this wretched play. The cane-wielding demjin had even said at the interview before the Games with Vasily Lanstov that it was his goal to kill all the Career Tributes. And he succeeded in that in just the first night. Slitting Genya Safin’s throat, then stabbing her through the heart with her own blade. Well- he got one of them on the first night. Which, by Matthias’ standards, was just a bit terrifying, considering well- Matthias had been a Career. The next morning he’d ripped out Oomen’s eye, slit an X across the Career’s face, stabbed him through the back, hung his body from one of the tree branches with the jagged words ‘Fuck the Capitol’ carved into his chest. All in retaliation for stabbing Inej and maybe as just a bit of rebellion against the Capitol, but no one could ever prove it. As no one ever saw him do it.
Matthias could still clearly picture the moment he’d heard his name get reaped. No matter how much he wanted to forget that moment.