During the week leading up to the games, the pair were coached by Mags on how to charm the sponsors and catch their attention. They scored high 9's in their private sessions with the Gamemakers and were officially allies with the rest of the Career pack.
Their pack consisted of District One; Pearl and King, District Two; Cassandra and Achilles, and District Four; Isla and Damien. They were all strong, and together, the other tributes stood no chance. They were all actually quite nice, unlike the stereotypical packs.
Then, came the interviews. The day before they were to be sent off to the arena were the interviews with Caesar Flickerman, who had his hair dyed a pale pink this year, with his eyelids and lips matching as well.
"And now, we welcome Isla Delmare from District Four!" Caesar crowed to the crowd as Isla walked out onto the stage, dressed in a white dress that dropped to her knees. The top part was lacy, and the skirt flounced around her. Her shoes were matching white heels.
She sat down on the chair beside Caesar, a massive smile on her face, ready to fool the masses. "Miss. Delmare, what a pleasure to have you!"
"Thank you so much, Caesar. The pleasure is all mine. I'm so happy to be here." She let out a fake laugh, already seeing smiles in the audience
"You look simply radiant tonight."
"Flattery will get you nowhere, Caesar." She winked, causing people to laugh.
"Cheeky, I LOVE IT!" The man called out, grinning. "So, a 9! That is impressive!"
"Thank you, thank you."
"May I ask what you did?"
"I can't tell you. That would be giving my strengths away, won't it? Besides, you'll find out tomorrow. Promise."
"Anyone waiting for you back home? Family?"
Isla was ready for this, this was when she would win over the majority of her sponsors. "I've been dreading that question, frankly." She laughed shakily. "My brother was in the games a few years ago, he didn't make it. My mother passed away months after. I have no one but my friend, Finnick."
There were sounds of sympathy from the audience, and 'aw's as they all looked at her sadly. "My condolences to you."
"Thank you, Caesar. I'm going to win my games for Finnick. Just like I promised him."
"Well, maybe you'll be back here soon! Isla Delmare everybody!" He stood and held her hand up high, causing a massive roar of cheers and applause to ripple out through the hall. She smiled and left.
The next morning, Isla was woken up and ordered to get dressed. After she did, and had breakfast, she was escorted to the hovercraft along with the rest of the tributes. They put the trackers inside her arm, and they were flown to the arena.
Once they arrived, they were taken to their individual rooms accompanied by their stylists. Isla's stylist Aqua was with her, holding out the clothing for this year's games. They were simple cargo trousers, a tank top and a jacket over top. The shoes were sturdy boots.
Isla was ushered into the tube and began descending. Once she was up, she looked around to examine the arena. To her right were massive snow-capped mountains with a forest at their base, and to the left a large wasteland with boulders and cacti.
The countdown started and Isla began looking for her allies. She spotted Damien to her far left, and close to him was Pearl. Beside her to the left was Cassandra and to her far right were Achilles and King.
Thirty Nine
Thirty Eight
Thirty Seven
Isla let her eyes turn to the Cornucopia, looking for weapons she could utilise. She couldn't see a trident and knew that they probably wouldn't have it out in the open. That would make it way too easy for her. But, what she did see were some knives, and considering she was fairly good with knives, she knew those were her target until she could find a trident.
Twenty Six
Twenty Five
Twenty Four
Isla turned her focus back to herself and took a dew deep breaths, knowing that the time would come, and soon this would be a bloodbath. As she calmed herself, she also readied herself. She took a running stance, making sure to not step off her plate, that would only result in a bloody mess. Literally.
Three
Two
One
Then, the cannon went off.
It was a scramble as soon as the boom sounded. Isla sprinted towards the knives, being one of the first people to arrive at the Cornucopia. She was soon joined by Cassandra who gave her a nod as she grabbed a spear and stuck someone with it.
Isla grabbed the knives and held a bunch in one hand and just one in the other. She saw someone running at her, not someone she knew, and she tossed the knife, landing it in their chest. They collapsed and she turned around, keeping an eye out.
Someone attacked her, and she ducked, slashing with another knife at their abdomen. The boy kneeled over, clutching his stomach and Isla took the chance to stick her knife in the side of his neck, then pulled it out and walked off, not wanting to watch him bleed out.
She saw the rest of her group had made it. Damien with a spear alongside King, who had found a machete. They were holding off one side of the Cornucopia. Pearl and Cassandra held off another side, Pearl with her bow and arrow.
Achilles showed up beside her, a wicked grin on his face and an axe in his arms. She nodded at him, and they defended the last side. Most tributes were either in the forest or lying dead on the ground surrounding them.
There were one or two stragglers, and one of them approached Isla. She picked out a knife and tossed it, hitting him in the thigh, then she stepped back and let Achilles finish him off, and he happily did, tossing his axe into the boy's chest.
That was it. No other tributes left around them. They all met up inside the Cornucopia to stock up and find weapons and supplies before they headed off. Isla immediately went looking for a trident and a massive smirk came over her face when she saw it lying under a tarp.
She lifted it up and admired the sharpened tips. "Ladies and gentlemen, we have hit the jackpot." She called out. Everyone looked over and smiled when they saw her with the trident. They hadn't seen her with it during training, but if what Damien said was true, then she was truly a force to be reckoned with.
As soon as they all had secured their weapons, they looked for food and backpacks. Everyone filled their bags with supplies like rope, gloves, anything they might need, and food and each person had an empty bottle for water.
Then, they set off. Into the forest they went, hunting their prey. They were not cruel when they found other tributes. No. they were merciful. Giving them quick deaths. But it all went to shit when a tribute from District Three decided to cause an avalanche. That avalanche took the lives of a lot of the tributes still left in the games.
Pearl, King and Achilles all died from that, and the remaining three, Cassandra, Isla and Damien, were all furious and they went looking for the boy from Three. But, someone else got there before them, a girl from 10. She finished him off for killing her own district partner, who was her brother.
Damien killed her.
Cassandra didn't last much longer after. They had to separate one day to look for food, as they began running out. Cassandra went back towards the Cornucopia, whilst Damien took one side of the forest and Isla took the other.
But soon enough, Cassandra was screaming out for them and Isla abandoned her search to run towards her location. Half-way there, a cannon boomed, and she stopped, looking horror-stricken. She continued running and arrived at the Cornucopia to find Cassandra on the ground with an arrow through her heart and another in her throat.
Damien came crashing through the trees at the same time she did, both of them breathing heavily. They found Cassandra at the same time. The hovercraft appeared and took her away, leaving the two District Four tributes alone.
That night when the anthem played, her picture was shown. It was just three people left in the arena now. Them, and a girl from 6. They decided to camp out at the Cornucopia, but just as Isla was setting up, she heard Damien call out to her, but was cut off by a strangled yelp.
She held her trident and turned around, alert, seeing the girl from 6 remove her dagger from Damien's armpit. Isla's face dropped at that. They learned at the Academy that under the armpit was a dangerous place to be hit. One slice and you would bleed out in minutes.
Isla whipped out a dagger and threw it at the girl. It was aimed at her heart, but she dodged, and it sliced the side of her arm and she hissed. Then, she began running towards Isla, who simply picked up her trident and threw it with all her might.
It hit the girl and went through her body. She fell to the ground, and a cannon boomed. As soon as it did, Isla ran over to where Damien laid on the ground, breathing heavily and surrounded by a pool of his own blood.
"Damien!"
He looked up and smiled, holding his bloody hand out for her. She took it in hers with no hesitation, not caring about getting blood on herself. "H-hey."
"Hi." She sniffed, a sad smile on her face as tears slipped down her cheeks.
Damien wiped them away with his other hand, smearing some blood on her cheek. "O-oh, I- I got blood on- on you."
Isla laughed shakily. "It's okay. I don't mind."
She knew there was no hope for him, and he knew it. He knew he wouldn't make it. "You won."
"I didn't really win. Not if it means losing you." She shook her head, more tears dropping.
"No. You- you did. It- It's okay." His eyes flickered shut, and his grip on her hand loosened before his hand became limp and the cannon sounded.
Isla dropped her head onto his chest, sobbing. She could barely comprehend the sound of Claudius Templesmith booming through the arena. "Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to present the victor of the Sixty-fourth Hunger Games, Isla Delmare, the tribute of District Four!"
The hovercraft appears and lifts Isla up. The Games are over. She won.