Fic: Odds Ever In Their Favour, Part 2/?
Title: Odds Ever In Their Favour
Author: Ultraviolet-Ink
Rating: PG-13
Pairings: Kurt/Blaine, implied Mike/Tina
Spoilers: None
Warnings: Character Deaths, Violence
Word Count: 2260
Summary: Blaine Anderson, of District 10, and his best friend, Brittany Pierce, are both reaped for the Sixty-Seventh Hunger Games. Alliances are formed and broken as Blaine fights to keep his best friend alive - but what happens when he comes across the mysterious male tribute from District 1?
Part One
Part Three
Part Four
Part Five
_______
His first run in with the Careers didn't happen until their second training day - on the first, Blaine had avoided them at all costs, sticking to the edible plant station. Finn had proven himself apt at throwing a spear, and Harmony had shown Blaine how, if you knew how, you could dig anywhere there was vegetation, and find water. Sure, it'd be dirty, but they were all old enough to remember the year the Gamemakers hadn’t included a source of water, and they'd watched the tributes die of dehydration.
Brittany... Was Brittany. She was agile, and fast, but she seemed more preoccupied with talking to the other tributes - so much so that, by the end of the first day of training, Blaine found that the young tributes from District 6, Sugar and Rory, and Tina and Mike from District 9, were all promising him that they wouldn't kill him or Brittany, to begin with.
Because that's what most of these promises revolved around. 'We won't kill you... To begin with.' Because everyone in the Games had a goal - to get themselves home, or to get their partner tribute home. No one was interested in letting a tribute from another District win.
On the second day of training, however, the Careers had seemingly had enough of this apparent camaraderie between the other Districts. The Tributes from 2 and 4 stood before him, glaring down at him with perfectly beautiful faces.
"So," the girl from 2, Santana, said, examining her nails. "We have a proposition for you, hobbit." Blaine raised his eyebrows.
"Your innocent, happy-go-lucky facade? It's fooled the other tributes, and we think you're secretly the one to watch," the boy from 4, Jesse, said. "So, we want to extend an invitation to you, to join the Careers."
"Excuse me?" Blaine spluttered. Sebastian, the boy from District 2, smirked.
"Bless him; this adorable blushing boy thing he's got going on is both convincing and super hot. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, kid."
"What about the tributes from 1? Surely they'd be more useful?" Blaine said. They all scowled, and Blaine took a step back.
"Apparently they think they're better than us, and brushed us off," the girl from 4, a stunningly pretty girl called Quinn, said angrily. "No matter, though, they'll be dead on the first day."
"So, what do you say, Shorty? You want in?" Santana said invitingly.
"I... Sorry, guys, but I have my own motives for this competition." The Careers stared at him; he was faintly aware of a snigger coming from behind him.
"You have got to be kidding me," Jesse said incredulously. "You're from District 10; you should be jumping at the chance to join us."
"Look, the way I see it? Even if I did join you, you'd just kill me anyway - I think I'll take my chances." As he turned to walk away, he caught the eye of the girl tribute from District 1, who was giving him an approving smile, before she flounced away with a swish of dark hair.
Blaine sighed as he walked back over to Brittany. He was well aware that he'd just made four highly dangerous enemies in the Careers - he'd have to hope that their vendetta against the tributes of District 1 would be greater than their hatred of him.
"So, Blaine," Shelby said as they waited in the Launch Room. The interview hadn't gone well for Blaine - he'd been too preoccupied with thinking about the previous interviews to really engage with Caesar Flickerman. Brittany had been talking during the interviews with the tributes from District 1, so he hadn’t caught their names, but the tributes from 2 and 4 already had the crowds of the Capitol in the palms of their perfectly manicured hands. Thankfully, Brittany, with her natural charm and lovability, had also drawn a large cheer from the crowds.
Hopefully, she'd get sponsors.
"Shelby, a pep talk is the last thing I want or need," Blaine said wearily. The outfit they had been provided with was a simple combination of a long sleeved top, trousers, boots, and a jumper - Shelby had somehow managed to get her hands on a loop of fabric, and was hastily stitching it onto the back of Blaine’s jumper, so he’d be able to carry a weapon - if he got one.
"I know," she said wryly. "You're not like other tributes I've styled. You're... Stronger. Most either come here too terrified to form coherent sentences, or so determined to win that they forget to see the bigger picture. I have a good idea of what you're planning, so... I hope it goes the way you want it to." She finished vaguely. If the Gamemakers got wind of the fact that he wasn't 'in it to win it'... Well, there was no telling what they'd do.
"Thanks, Shelby," Blaine muttered. She patted him on the back, and then gently propelled him back to allow the cylinder to close around him and raise him into the arena.
"Ladies and gentleman," the voice of Claudius Templesmith boomed. "Let the Sixty-seventh Hunger Games begin!"
During the sixty seconds they all had to remain on their platforms, Blaine avoided looking at the other tributes, in favour of examining his surroundings. There was a river close by - the Gamemakers had obviously learned their lesson on not letting their tributes dehydrate to death - and the Cornucopia was actually half-submerged in the lake the river fed into.
For once, luck seemed to be on Blaine's side - both he and Brittany could swim, and he knew only a few of the other tributes had that skill. He chanced a glance at Finn, who was stood on a platform close by, to see that he was staring at the placement of the Cornucopia in unadulterated horror.
The gong sounded, and many of the tributes remained on their platforms, unsure as to how to proceed. Blaine saw Jesse and Quinn, the tributes from 4, run for the lake, and when he saw Brittany sprinting towards the lake too, he ran in after her.
Their survival depended on being better swimmers than two Careers from a District that spent most of their lives in the water - Blaine really wasn't counting on their luck. However, both Brittany and himself inexplicably reached the Cornucopia in good time - as Brittany hesitated over the weapons, Blaine looked into the water. About halfway between the bank and the Cornucopia, Quinn was beating her small fists against the blonde boy Blaine had seen from District 8, who’d talked emotionally of his little brother and sister waiting for him back home - he was holding Jesse underneath the water.
"Blaine!" Brittany shouted. "I don't know what we need!" Blaine tore his gaze away, but not before he saw the boy lunge at Quinn, Jesse's body floating uselessly to the surface.
"Food! And a spear for Finn..." Blaine said, scouring the Cornucopia for anything else that would be useful. He could see many of the other tributes dithering on the bank, trying to decide whether the natural human tendency for floating would be enough to get them to the Cornucopia - however, far in the distance, he could just make out the tributes from District 1 sprinting into the dark shaded woods.
"Anything else?" Brittany said, shoving random items of food into a rucksack before shouldering it and looking at Blaine seriously. Blaine grabbed a suitable looking spear and, for good measure, a long knife. He put the knife into his belt, and threaded the spear through the loop of fabric on his back.
"I think that's everything." Blaine looked around at the banks - he could see Finn and Harmony hovering awkwardly. "Swim that way," he said to Brittany, pointing. "Finn and Harmony will cover us." Brittany nodded and dived in, Blaine close after.
Everything was going well - Blaine would use the word 'swimmingly' if he had been in a better situation with people that would appreciate the humour - when he felt strong hands push down on his shoulders, forcing him under. Panicking, Blaine thrashed around for a few seconds, before remembering that, actually, he had the upper hand in this situation, for once. Barely thinking about it, he unsheathed the knife and drove it into the leg of his attacker, before breaking the surface of the water, coughing and spluttering.
His would-be killer, a mohawked boy that Blaine was pretty sure was from District 11, was staring at him in shock - Blaine could only think of his relief that his first foray into the Hunger Games had been against someone he didn't know. Quickly regaining his wits, Blaine scrambled for the bank, Finn pulling him out of the water.
"Follow the river!" Harmony said, dancing from foot to foot, as if eager to be running. "Then we'll have a good source of water, and we can work from there!" They all nodded, content to listen to Harmony's reasonable advice, running alongside the river. After a few minutes of steady jogging the river entered the woods, which Blaine was grateful for - not only would they have water, but they had a good chance of finding food in the woods, and the trees would provide sufficient shelter from the heat of the sun.
"Can... Can we stop?" Harmony gasped after almost half an hour of steady running. "I'm really sorry, but... I'm not good at running, and I couldn't eat much breakfast this morning, and I'm starving."
"No problem," Blaine said hastily - he'd been feeling the strain too, but hadn't wanted to say anything. "Brittany, what food did you pick up?" Taking off the rucksack that she'd managed to keep hold of during the swim, she handed it to Harmony.
"This is some really good stuff, Britt," Harmony said thankfully as she perused the contents. "It'll keep for a long time, and it's all nutritious enough that we don't have to eat lots of it to stay healthy." Brittany beamed; Blaine looked in the rucksack, which was stuffed with energy bars, dried food, and even a bottle of putridly coloured energy drink.
"Brittany, this stuff is brilliant!" Blaine said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.
"So, we're doing pretty well for ourselves," Finn said happily, taking a seat on a tree root. "We've got enough food to last us for days, we've got weapons, we've got water..."
"What about fire?" Harmony said thoughtfully. "It's probably going to get pretty cold tonight, and we haven't got any sleeping bags - not that I'm blaming you guys!" She said quickly, shooting panicked looks at Blaine and Brittany. "Without you, we wouldn't have any food or weapons, and we didn't exactly risk our lives at the Cornucopia to help you, so-"
"Harmony, it's okay," Blaine said, laughing. Now that they'd started, and started well, Blaine felt much better than he had in a while. "We're in the woods, right? We'll get some firewood, and there's bound to be something to start a fire with around here..."
"Okay, so, how about Blaine and I go looking for firewood? We'll take the spear, leave the knife with you two, and we'll stay within shouting distance, yeah?" Finn said, standing up and brushing the dirt off his trousers.
As Finn and Blaine began gathering wood - a learning experience in itself, considering neither of them really dealt with wood on a day-to-day basis - the cannons counting the deaths began to sound. They both stopped collecting to count.
"...I got nine," Blaine said.
"I got ten," Finn said. "I guess we'll know tonight, huh?"
That was when Blaine heard it - the crack of a twig. Finn appeared oblivious, continuing to talk; Blaine looked around nervously, before catching sight of the person who had made the noise.
Shrouded in shadow, the only thing Blaine could make out was the eyes - startlingly blue, and wide in terror. Blaine stared back.
"I mean, it's horrible, but I really hope all the Careers got killed during - dude, you okay?" Finn said, waving a hand in front of Blaine's face.
"Huh? I... Yeah," Blaine said, turning away from the eyes. "Guess I spaced out there for a bit. We should get back to the girls, though, it's starting to get dark." Finn nodded, and Blaine, as they walked back, shot a glance towards the eyes.
Now that he'd changed his angle of perception, Blaine could see that the eyes belonged to the male tribute from District 1, and he was still looking at Blaine, although now it was in shock rather than fear. Upon Blaine making eye contact again, the boy ran off, trampling through the undergrowth. Finn stopped, holding out a hand. Blaine tried not to smile at how much Finn resembled a picture of a meerkat he had seen once.
"Blaine... You hear that? Sounded like footsteps."
"It was probably just a wild animal," Blaine lied. He was saved from further speculation from Finn by yet another cannon blast sounding in the distance, and they both picked up the pace to make it back to their mini-camp.
He wasn't sure why he wasn't suggesting they chase after the boy - they were armed, after all, and he was relatively sure the boy wasn't, as he'd run straight from the Cornucopia earlier that day. Maybe it was because Blaine didn't want to turn the Games into a sport, like so many of the other tributes would.
Deep down, however, he was sure his reasoning wasn't quite that noble.
Author: Ultraviolet-Ink
Rating: PG-13
Pairings: Kurt/Blaine, implied Mike/Tina
Spoilers: None
Warnings: Character Deaths, Violence
Word Count: 2260
Summary: Blaine Anderson, of District 10, and his best friend, Brittany Pierce, are both reaped for the Sixty-Seventh Hunger Games. Alliances are formed and broken as Blaine fights to keep his best friend alive - but what happens when he comes across the mysterious male tribute from District 1?
Part One
Part Three
Part Four
Part Five
_______
His first run in with the Careers didn't happen until their second training day - on the first, Blaine had avoided them at all costs, sticking to the edible plant station. Finn had proven himself apt at throwing a spear, and Harmony had shown Blaine how, if you knew how, you could dig anywhere there was vegetation, and find water. Sure, it'd be dirty, but they were all old enough to remember the year the Gamemakers hadn’t included a source of water, and they'd watched the tributes die of dehydration.
Brittany... Was Brittany. She was agile, and fast, but she seemed more preoccupied with talking to the other tributes - so much so that, by the end of the first day of training, Blaine found that the young tributes from District 6, Sugar and Rory, and Tina and Mike from District 9, were all promising him that they wouldn't kill him or Brittany, to begin with.
Because that's what most of these promises revolved around. 'We won't kill you... To begin with.' Because everyone in the Games had a goal - to get themselves home, or to get their partner tribute home. No one was interested in letting a tribute from another District win.
On the second day of training, however, the Careers had seemingly had enough of this apparent camaraderie between the other Districts. The Tributes from 2 and 4 stood before him, glaring down at him with perfectly beautiful faces.
"So," the girl from 2, Santana, said, examining her nails. "We have a proposition for you, hobbit." Blaine raised his eyebrows.
"Your innocent, happy-go-lucky facade? It's fooled the other tributes, and we think you're secretly the one to watch," the boy from 4, Jesse, said. "So, we want to extend an invitation to you, to join the Careers."
"Excuse me?" Blaine spluttered. Sebastian, the boy from District 2, smirked.
"Bless him; this adorable blushing boy thing he's got going on is both convincing and super hot. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, kid."
"What about the tributes from 1? Surely they'd be more useful?" Blaine said. They all scowled, and Blaine took a step back.
"Apparently they think they're better than us, and brushed us off," the girl from 4, a stunningly pretty girl called Quinn, said angrily. "No matter, though, they'll be dead on the first day."
"So, what do you say, Shorty? You want in?" Santana said invitingly.
"I... Sorry, guys, but I have my own motives for this competition." The Careers stared at him; he was faintly aware of a snigger coming from behind him.
"You have got to be kidding me," Jesse said incredulously. "You're from District 10; you should be jumping at the chance to join us."
"Look, the way I see it? Even if I did join you, you'd just kill me anyway - I think I'll take my chances." As he turned to walk away, he caught the eye of the girl tribute from District 1, who was giving him an approving smile, before she flounced away with a swish of dark hair.
Blaine sighed as he walked back over to Brittany. He was well aware that he'd just made four highly dangerous enemies in the Careers - he'd have to hope that their vendetta against the tributes of District 1 would be greater than their hatred of him.
"So, Blaine," Shelby said as they waited in the Launch Room. The interview hadn't gone well for Blaine - he'd been too preoccupied with thinking about the previous interviews to really engage with Caesar Flickerman. Brittany had been talking during the interviews with the tributes from District 1, so he hadn’t caught their names, but the tributes from 2 and 4 already had the crowds of the Capitol in the palms of their perfectly manicured hands. Thankfully, Brittany, with her natural charm and lovability, had also drawn a large cheer from the crowds.
Hopefully, she'd get sponsors.
"Shelby, a pep talk is the last thing I want or need," Blaine said wearily. The outfit they had been provided with was a simple combination of a long sleeved top, trousers, boots, and a jumper - Shelby had somehow managed to get her hands on a loop of fabric, and was hastily stitching it onto the back of Blaine’s jumper, so he’d be able to carry a weapon - if he got one.
"I know," she said wryly. "You're not like other tributes I've styled. You're... Stronger. Most either come here too terrified to form coherent sentences, or so determined to win that they forget to see the bigger picture. I have a good idea of what you're planning, so... I hope it goes the way you want it to." She finished vaguely. If the Gamemakers got wind of the fact that he wasn't 'in it to win it'... Well, there was no telling what they'd do.
"Thanks, Shelby," Blaine muttered. She patted him on the back, and then gently propelled him back to allow the cylinder to close around him and raise him into the arena.
"Ladies and gentleman," the voice of Claudius Templesmith boomed. "Let the Sixty-seventh Hunger Games begin!"
During the sixty seconds they all had to remain on their platforms, Blaine avoided looking at the other tributes, in favour of examining his surroundings. There was a river close by - the Gamemakers had obviously learned their lesson on not letting their tributes dehydrate to death - and the Cornucopia was actually half-submerged in the lake the river fed into.
For once, luck seemed to be on Blaine's side - both he and Brittany could swim, and he knew only a few of the other tributes had that skill. He chanced a glance at Finn, who was stood on a platform close by, to see that he was staring at the placement of the Cornucopia in unadulterated horror.
The gong sounded, and many of the tributes remained on their platforms, unsure as to how to proceed. Blaine saw Jesse and Quinn, the tributes from 4, run for the lake, and when he saw Brittany sprinting towards the lake too, he ran in after her.
Their survival depended on being better swimmers than two Careers from a District that spent most of their lives in the water - Blaine really wasn't counting on their luck. However, both Brittany and himself inexplicably reached the Cornucopia in good time - as Brittany hesitated over the weapons, Blaine looked into the water. About halfway between the bank and the Cornucopia, Quinn was beating her small fists against the blonde boy Blaine had seen from District 8, who’d talked emotionally of his little brother and sister waiting for him back home - he was holding Jesse underneath the water.
"Blaine!" Brittany shouted. "I don't know what we need!" Blaine tore his gaze away, but not before he saw the boy lunge at Quinn, Jesse's body floating uselessly to the surface.
"Food! And a spear for Finn..." Blaine said, scouring the Cornucopia for anything else that would be useful. He could see many of the other tributes dithering on the bank, trying to decide whether the natural human tendency for floating would be enough to get them to the Cornucopia - however, far in the distance, he could just make out the tributes from District 1 sprinting into the dark shaded woods.
"Anything else?" Brittany said, shoving random items of food into a rucksack before shouldering it and looking at Blaine seriously. Blaine grabbed a suitable looking spear and, for good measure, a long knife. He put the knife into his belt, and threaded the spear through the loop of fabric on his back.
"I think that's everything." Blaine looked around at the banks - he could see Finn and Harmony hovering awkwardly. "Swim that way," he said to Brittany, pointing. "Finn and Harmony will cover us." Brittany nodded and dived in, Blaine close after.
Everything was going well - Blaine would use the word 'swimmingly' if he had been in a better situation with people that would appreciate the humour - when he felt strong hands push down on his shoulders, forcing him under. Panicking, Blaine thrashed around for a few seconds, before remembering that, actually, he had the upper hand in this situation, for once. Barely thinking about it, he unsheathed the knife and drove it into the leg of his attacker, before breaking the surface of the water, coughing and spluttering.
His would-be killer, a mohawked boy that Blaine was pretty sure was from District 11, was staring at him in shock - Blaine could only think of his relief that his first foray into the Hunger Games had been against someone he didn't know. Quickly regaining his wits, Blaine scrambled for the bank, Finn pulling him out of the water.
"Follow the river!" Harmony said, dancing from foot to foot, as if eager to be running. "Then we'll have a good source of water, and we can work from there!" They all nodded, content to listen to Harmony's reasonable advice, running alongside the river. After a few minutes of steady jogging the river entered the woods, which Blaine was grateful for - not only would they have water, but they had a good chance of finding food in the woods, and the trees would provide sufficient shelter from the heat of the sun.
"Can... Can we stop?" Harmony gasped after almost half an hour of steady running. "I'm really sorry, but... I'm not good at running, and I couldn't eat much breakfast this morning, and I'm starving."
"No problem," Blaine said hastily - he'd been feeling the strain too, but hadn't wanted to say anything. "Brittany, what food did you pick up?" Taking off the rucksack that she'd managed to keep hold of during the swim, she handed it to Harmony.
"This is some really good stuff, Britt," Harmony said thankfully as she perused the contents. "It'll keep for a long time, and it's all nutritious enough that we don't have to eat lots of it to stay healthy." Brittany beamed; Blaine looked in the rucksack, which was stuffed with energy bars, dried food, and even a bottle of putridly coloured energy drink.
"Brittany, this stuff is brilliant!" Blaine said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.
"So, we're doing pretty well for ourselves," Finn said happily, taking a seat on a tree root. "We've got enough food to last us for days, we've got weapons, we've got water..."
"What about fire?" Harmony said thoughtfully. "It's probably going to get pretty cold tonight, and we haven't got any sleeping bags - not that I'm blaming you guys!" She said quickly, shooting panicked looks at Blaine and Brittany. "Without you, we wouldn't have any food or weapons, and we didn't exactly risk our lives at the Cornucopia to help you, so-"
"Harmony, it's okay," Blaine said, laughing. Now that they'd started, and started well, Blaine felt much better than he had in a while. "We're in the woods, right? We'll get some firewood, and there's bound to be something to start a fire with around here..."
"Okay, so, how about Blaine and I go looking for firewood? We'll take the spear, leave the knife with you two, and we'll stay within shouting distance, yeah?" Finn said, standing up and brushing the dirt off his trousers.
As Finn and Blaine began gathering wood - a learning experience in itself, considering neither of them really dealt with wood on a day-to-day basis - the cannons counting the deaths began to sound. They both stopped collecting to count.
"...I got nine," Blaine said.
"I got ten," Finn said. "I guess we'll know tonight, huh?"
That was when Blaine heard it - the crack of a twig. Finn appeared oblivious, continuing to talk; Blaine looked around nervously, before catching sight of the person who had made the noise.
Shrouded in shadow, the only thing Blaine could make out was the eyes - startlingly blue, and wide in terror. Blaine stared back.
"I mean, it's horrible, but I really hope all the Careers got killed during - dude, you okay?" Finn said, waving a hand in front of Blaine's face.
"Huh? I... Yeah," Blaine said, turning away from the eyes. "Guess I spaced out there for a bit. We should get back to the girls, though, it's starting to get dark." Finn nodded, and Blaine, as they walked back, shot a glance towards the eyes.
Now that he'd changed his angle of perception, Blaine could see that the eyes belonged to the male tribute from District 1, and he was still looking at Blaine, although now it was in shock rather than fear. Upon Blaine making eye contact again, the boy ran off, trampling through the undergrowth. Finn stopped, holding out a hand. Blaine tried not to smile at how much Finn resembled a picture of a meerkat he had seen once.
"Blaine... You hear that? Sounded like footsteps."
"It was probably just a wild animal," Blaine lied. He was saved from further speculation from Finn by yet another cannon blast sounding in the distance, and they both picked up the pace to make it back to their mini-camp.
He wasn't sure why he wasn't suggesting they chase after the boy - they were armed, after all, and he was relatively sure the boy wasn't, as he'd run straight from the Cornucopia earlier that day. Maybe it was because Blaine didn't want to turn the Games into a sport, like so many of the other tributes would.
Deep down, however, he was sure his reasoning wasn't quite that noble.