Chapter 16: Woof Casino

A/N: So here's another one of the CF victors! As usual, pls review and tell me what you think! Enjoy! Cheers:)

Katniss stared at him with a hint of sadness. "He always seemed a little confused. Maybe it's because he was old. How do you think he won his Games?"

Peeta shrugged. "Two kills. That's very few compared to some of the other Victors. I guess he probably hid a lot."

"He never spoke much to anyone," Haymitch remarked. "Guess we'll never know."

Woof Casino

District 8

Aged 17

2 Kills

Woof was a hopeless romantic. Ever since he was a young child, he would tweak the old family TV around to watch some romance films from the Capitol. He didn't care that in District Eight, it was technically illegal. Surely the peacekeepers wouldn't mind? "Oh, why did you have to break up?" he sobbed after a particularly heartbreaking scene.

His sister Braid rolled her eyes, scowling at him from the entrance to the living room. "Ugh, get a life!" she groaned. "Go weave some textiles or something. Anything that will help us earn money!"

Woof glared at her. "Shut up. This is one of my favourite scenes." Braid grumbled something under her breath and stomped off as Woof continued watching. He and Braid were never close. The pair were always arguing and fighting. Their neighbours always remarked on how they were the farthest thing from siblings. Woof couldn't have agreed more.

He didn't just like romance stories and films. He loved real-life romance even more! Ragnar and Reyna, he loved that duo! Sure, he hated the Capitol for driving Reyna crazy and all, but their romance was so sweet! In school, he would often play matchmaker to his friends, shipping two people together all the time. Most of the time, he was spot on. The pair always turned out to actually have feelings for each other. But then he made one very terrible mistake. Shipping Braid with a repulsive boy named Jeremy. He thought they'd be perfect for each other, not least because of their repulsive personalities. He spread the rumour around like wildfire, and soon, the whole school knew about it. Braid screamed in protest, but all her friends were convinced she and Jeremy were a thing. Even Jeremy admitted she was kind of cute. Braid was burning with red hot rage, and she judo flipped Woof when he came home from school. Their parents rushed to break up the fight but not before Braid yelled, "I hope you get reaped for the Hunger Games, you asshole!"

Two days later, Braid would eat her own words. The escort pulled out Wood's name and all the children from their town turned to glare at her. Tears brimmed in her eyes. She hated her brother but deep down, he was still family to her. She loved him! Her words came flooding back to her. "I hope you get reaped." Oh how she wished she could bite back her words!

"You cursed your own brother!" the girl next to her, Polyester hissed. "You're a murderer!" Braid let the tears fall down her face. She wished she could volunteer, but it was too late. The female tribute had already been confirmed. If Woof didn't make it back alive, she didn't want to be alive either.

Braid burst into the Justice Building, scrambling up towards Woof, who was staring sullenly at the wooden floor. "Woof!" she exclaimed, sobbing furiously. Woof glanced up, a bemused look on his face. She hugged him tightly, crying and begging for forgiveness.

"You wanted me to die," Woof said flatly. "I'm going to win and pretend you never existed. Goodbye, Braid." With that, the peacekeepers dragged Braid out, kicking and screaming as another group of peacekeepers led Woof and the girl, a girl named Yarn, away. Braid's parents stared at her coldly. Braid gritted her teeth. Did they believe in her 'curse'? Her teeth were chattering as she approached them. "Go to your room," her father said, a dark coldness in his voice. "And don't come out."

Woof was still a hopeless romantic, cannon fodder or not. The way the escort and Captain Aelina looked at each other, he couldn't resist squealing a little. "You two should totally date each other!" he exclaimed excitedly, shoving a mouthful of food into his mouth. The escort adjusted his suit, flustered, while Aelina glared at him.

"Watch it," she warned. "Any more of that and you aren't getting any sponsors."

Woof shrunk into his seat. Beside him, Yarn, who was somewhat of an anti-romantic moved away from him. "Ew, like don't even talk about that sappy stuff in front of me."

Woof grinned wolfishly. Of course, he talked about that sappy stuff in front of her. "Oh, Yarn. I saw that boy Threader looking at you, you know? And he's just broken up with Judy, so..." Yarn kicked him. Woof pouted. "Ow, that hurt."

The escort sighed. "I'm quitting my job," she muttered. "These district savages are hopeless!"

Woof spent much of his time on the train watching romantic films, this time though, the films were in much higher quality and he didn't have to worry about being arrested if someone caught him. Yarn muttered something about focusing on the Reapings instead, but Woof pretended not to hear. He was going to hide, simple as that. Hide until the final two had been eliminated and he could emerge as Victor. He smiled to himself. He was going to be the first pacifist Victor!

That year, a teeny weeny problem had emerged. Okay, a big problem emerged. Oh, alright, two major problems. First of all, the Districts Eleven and Twelve trains were derailed, causing their arrival to be delayed by at least a week. They were eventually found, rescued from the mountain they'd been dragged into and escorted to the Capitol by hovercraft with minor injuries. The second, more pressing issue was that the District Four tributes had both jumped off the roof of their train and were long dead. District Four were forced to have a second Reaping. The escort was executed for allowing this to happen, and the Capitol spent two full days finding a replacement. The new kids, in comparison to the relatively big initial tributes, were fairly disappointingly small, so to speak. Woof didn't complain of course. Every night, he would sneak into the Training Centre, which wasn't locked, for some reason, and practised knife-throwing and survival skills. In the daytime, he watched more romance films! He was probably never going to watch another one of them anyway, so he had to indulge while he could! He fared better than Yarn, who was starting to go a little nuts. She would sulk in her room and screech on and on about the Capitol during meal times. If anything she reminded Woof of Braid. Braid. The name stung inside him. Braid was his sister, someone he thought would at least value his life! But no, she'd wished for his death, and gotten what she wanted. Well, Woof decided. She isn't going to be a part of his family after he won. And he will win. Because he wasn't stupid. And the Careers were. The odds weren't in his favour, but they weren't in Nikola's, Orchid's or Axel's either. He still had a fighting chance.

The tribute parade finally began eight days after it was scheduled to occur, due to another problem: Yarn's stylist falling fatally ill and having to be replaced. Yeah, it was a weird Hunger Games. Again, Woof couldn't resist shipping two members of his prep team, and this time, they didn't lash out at him or anything. They just giggled and stared shyly at each other, as if genuinely considering his words. Woof smiled. He liked his prep team. His stylist, not so much. He had the nerve to dress him up as a baby blue mitten. Ridiculous! Braid must surely be rolling on the floor in laughter! Little did he know, Braid was still crying horribly as she watched the parade, knowing that any chance of anyone sponsoring a boy dressed in a silly costume was pretty much gone right from the start. She sighed, as people walking by glared at her. What had she gotten herself into? "Com won, Woof. Smile and wave!" she murmured desperately as Woof stood on his a little confused. As soon as she said those words, a steady smile crept onto his face and he began waving at the crowd. She gasped. Her words came true! Braid shook her head, dazed." Does that mean..." An idea popped into her head. "Woof, win the Hunger Games," she said, hoping that the divine power that made her words come true would hear her command.

The first day of training was a nightmare, but not for Woof. No, it was a nightmare for everyone else! When the Careers first approached Woof at the knot tying station, ready to torment him and plot his inevitable demise, Woof simply smiled at them and waved hello. The Careers were stumped, but Woof kept on talking. He gave the girl from One, Sweet, a wolfish grin. "Say, Sweet, your district partner Perfect is truly perfect, isn't he? I've noticed the way you look at him, the way you play with your hair and grin madly when he's around..."

Sweet slapped him. "Shut up! " she roared. Samurai and Spear from Two couldn't help but smirk as Perfect looked away, suddenly becoming rather bashful as all the other tributes turned to look at them. Woof hadn't exactly been very subtle or soft. No, he had shouted out his words, loud enough for even the Gamemakers to hear! Before Sweet could slap Woof again though, the peacekeepers pushed her back, ordering her to leave. She gave Woof one last glare. "You're going to die, Eight!" Woof simply made kissing sounds and pointed at her and Perfect. The other tributes gazed in awe as this seemingly worthless boy had just single-handedly humiliated the Careers. Their awe turned to repulsion soon enough hough, as Woof's shipping continued. The pair from Nine, Ryeton and Ceres, were at the spear-throwing station with him.

"Hey Woof! " Ryeton called out. "What's up with your name, huh? Sounds like a dog. Woof! Woof!" He began making dog noises, making Ceres giggle a lot. Woof rolled his eyes. It was an insult that he'd heard way too many times. But Ceres' fit of giggles gave him an idea.

" Haha, how original," he said dryly. "Say, Ceres is kind of cute, eh Ryeton!?" He wagged his eyebrows at the grain farmer, who stepped backwards. Ceres squealed and covered her face as, once again, the other tributes turned and stared. Ryeton blushed even more so, but unlike the Ones, he didn't try to counter it. He merely bolted off, Ceres tagging along behind him. Woof grinned. "Ah, these tributes are so romantic!"

The next day wasn't much better for the other tributes. He declared that the girl from Seven had a huge crush on the boy from Six, and that the boy from Ten and the girl from Three were having a fling. By the end of the third day, half of the other tributes had him as a kill target, not that Woof cared, really. They couldn't kill him if they couldn't find him!

Braid watched nervously as the scores were being read out. Nikola had won with a score of four, but he could arm landmines and assemble teasers. What could Woof do, weave them all to death? Romance them until they bled out? She shook her head. "Come on, Woof. At least get a five!" It seemed, fate heard her again. The Careers all got eights, not very high compared to the nines and tens some of them sometimes got. The other tributes did fairly poorly. But all she cared about was Woof. "Woof Casino," Bartomeus read out. She held her breath. "With a score of-" She closed her eyes. She couldn't take the suspense! "Five." She heaved a sigh of relief. Thank goodness! A five wasn't good, but it was pretty decent all things considered. Woof had a fighting chance.

When Woof first saw the arena, he didn't cry or flinch. No, he looked around, analysing his surroundings. It was a forest. A thick, dense one. Hard as he tried though, he couldn't see any sources of water. Oh well. He focused his sights on the Cornucopia. He was fast. Surely he could dash in and salvage some supplies? The gong rang. He made a mad sprint for the heart of the Cornucopia and grabbed the largest backpack around plus a set of knives. Then, as he turned around, he saw something that would stick with him forever. The carnage. The Bloodbath. He dove out of the way, hiding behind a crate, watching in sheer horror as the Careers wreaked havoc. Samurai slashed the girl from Twelve and she fell like a ragdoll. The boy from Three found himself face to face with Sweet, who sliced off his arms before stabbing his chest over and over again. Perfect grabbed the boy from Five by the collar and slammed him against the Cornucopia until his head cracked open. Yarn, the now insane girl from Eight, screamed as she whacked the boy from Twelve to death. She charged straight at Samurai, and slammed his shoulder with a mace before she herself was impaled with a spear by Spear. How ironic, Woof thought. Speared by Spear. He winced as she crumpled to the ground, all the craziness sucked out of her. But he forced himself to stay hidden. The Bloodbath would soon be over, and he would make his move. Ryeton grappled with the boy from Six for a backpack, and it was horrifyingly easy for him to stomp the railway construction worker's neck until he was dead. The girl from Six fared no better, her leg having been slit by the girl from Three and losing a scramble for a bottle of water with the boy from Seven, before being struck down with a scythe by Samurai. The girl from Four got a hard punch to the face by the girl from Seven, but she managed to fight back and eventually strangle her. It proved time-wasting though as Spear was able to tackle her to the ground and torture her, carving her out with a knife. He district partner, meanwhile, tried to run to help but was stabbed with a sword by Perfect. Once they decided that no one else was around to be killed, the Careers turned their backs, discussing supplies and strategies. That was when Woof ran. He bolted off. Spear tried to spear him, but he was too fast. He ran and he ran. He passed by the boy from Eleven, but paid him no attention. He just ran, until he arrived at a cliff. Judging by the forestry and the river flowing below, it wasn't the limit of the arena. Besides, he could see the girl from Eleven drinking from a stream there. He just had to find a way to get down there. He scoured the cliffside, looking for a path or a staircase of sorts. He found one, wedged on to the cliffside, and scrambled down carefully. He didn't want to fall and break his neck, after all. Once he reached the lower level of the arena, he trudged towards the river. He was getting thirsty. "Ugh, those Careers are sick," he muttered, trying to forget the memories of the Bloodbath. He couldn't. The screams, the begs for mercy, the blood, the empty stares of the mangled corpses, the grins on the Careers' faces, it was horrific. "Why can't everyone just sit down and enjoy a rom-com?" he mused. He sighed and took out the contents of his backpack. To his delight, he found a romantic novel! He chuckled softly. "Guess they do like me, huh?"

The Careers soon eliminated the boy from Ten, Samurai making sure he tortured the boy for all to see before setting him on fire, leaving him to burn alive. They then tracked down the girl from Three, who chomped down a nightlock to prevent the Careers from getting another kill. Perfect managed to stick a knife into her before her cannon boomed, so it counted as his kill. Woof, on the other hand, sat back in his own quiet spot in the trees and read his novel eagerly, relishing the pages like they were gospel. At night, he moved on to a different tree, making sure to leave no traces behind for the Careers to find. Braid watched on from District Eight, shaking constantly. Woof was walking in the direction of Galloper from Ten and Eggplant from Eleve. Things did not look good for her brother. "Come on, Woof. Don't let them see you!"

Wood stopped himself just in time and hid behind a tree. Galloper and Eggplant were in the midst of a fight both girls trying to wrestle the other to the ground, kicking and grunting all the way. He winced as Galloper landed a hard punch to Eggplant's head, knocking her out cold. A couple more hits to her neck was enough for the cannon to boom. Woof tried to back away but Galloper stared at his direction, eyes narrowing. He froze, realising that he had just stepped on a twig, one he was fairly certain had not been there before. Galloper raised an eyebrow but then shrugged. "Probably just the wind," she guessed, then galloped away.

Woof heaved a sigh of relief. "That was close!" he gasped, and scrambled up the tree to read his novel again as a way of calming himself down. Soon, he was so engrossed in it that he forgot all about the fight. The same could not be said for Galloper, though, who practically cried herself to sleep. The nightmares certainly wouldn't stop. Ever.

After a lack of action on day four, the Gamemakers decided to release their trusty winged snakes from the previous Games. Surely they weren't just a one-hit-wonder, right? The mutts chased down the pair from Nine and proved to be a good crowd-pleaser, at least in the Capitol. Ryeton slashed his knife, screaming at the mutts to piss off and taking down a dozen, a new Hunger Games record. Unfortunately, Ceres wasn't so lucky. A mutt bit her neck and she collapsed, foaming at the mouth. "Ceres!" Ryeton screamed. "No, get lost you mutts!" He went into full rage mode, slashing and stabbing like crazy until all the mutts were torn and ripped apart. He leaned over and begged for Ceres to stay with him, tears in his eyes as he admitted that Woof had been right, that he did love her. Ceres managed one, final weak smile before her cannon boomed. Ryeton's scream of agony was enough to earn him a few extra sponsor funds from sympathetic romantics across the Capitol. After all, Woof hadn't been the only one who had shipped them. But alas, love in the arena was always going to be doomed. Ryeton wailed in agony, refusing food or water and hauling himself around like a zombie, he looked like a lost cause. And even through all this, viewers could still find Woof reading and commenting on the novel he was reading. He gave pretty good reviews, the Capitol realised. Far more constructive than some famous critics, even. The Capitolians decided that they liked Woof, even if he didn't want to kill anyone.

The Careers soon found and butchered the hapless boy from Seven, before splitting up, a decision that Samurai would soon regret. All on his own, it was far too easy for Galloper to send a spear flying towards his neck, ending the brute's tyranny. Ryeton still refused to eat or drink, and soon perished as a result. A pitiful end to what had once been such a promising tribute. Woof was forced to move on from his tree after a particularly nasty winged snake attack. He gritted his teeth and howled in pain as he clutched his foot, now bloody and mangled. "Bandage, please?" he wheezed out. It didn't take long for Braid to smash her piggy bank and send in all her savings to get Woof those darned bandages. She even left a note. I love you, Woof. I'm sorry I never showed it. Woof simply stared at the note, dumbfounded. Braid hung her head. Of course, her brother would never forgive her. Then, to her surprise, he said, "Love you too, Braid. I-I'll see you soon." Both siblings couldn't hold back their tears for the rest of the night. Heck, Woof didn't even care that Spear had impaled Perfect right under his tree. Nothing else mattered to him other than coming home and finally having a true sister for the first time in his life. Alas, Panem was devoid of such hopes. Because Brad's rather superstitious neighbours, still believing she had condemned Woof to a horiible fate, accused her of murder plus a bunch of other things to sweeten the deal. The peacekeepers had her shot dead by the morning. Woof didn't know any of this, all he cared about was surviving and finally finishing that novel. Oh, and trying to drown out the boy from Eleven's screams as Spear chucked a knife at him. That was going to take some time.

By dawn, the girl from Five and Spear were both dead, courtesy of a forest fire that had engulfed the upper section of the arena. Wood was the only one who escaped unscathed, mostly because he wasn't even in the area when the fire broke out. No, he was fast asleep and dreaming of all the romantic films he would watch on his way home. He only woke up when Galloper and Sweet came crashing down the cliff in front of him. You see, while he was in dreamland, Galloper and Sweet had been pushed to the edge of the cliff and had started brawling. The girls slashed swords, but they were both broken after five minutes of intense fighting. "Well, let's settle this the old fashioned way, then," Sweet seethe. "Come at me, Ten!" The girls kicked and screamed, rolling on the ground to avoid each other's punches. Sweet landed a good punch on Galloper's ribs and pushed her off the cliff, but not before Galloper managed to grab hold of Sweet's collar and drag her down with her, screaming all the way. The pair slammed into the earth, bones broken and quickly bleeding out, but not quite dead yet. It was a mere coincidence that Woof happened to be sleeping behind a Bush just five metres away from them. He woke up to a jolt and gasped when he saw the two girls. Galloper was only half-conscious and resorted to grunting and moaning in pain. Sweet, however, was still a Career, dying or not. She coughed out blood, but managed to glade directly at Woof. "You can't be a Victor! You've done nothing! Nothing! I bet you haven't even killed a single tribute!"

Woof rolled his eyes. "Yeah, but at least I'm not dying."

Sweet snarled at him. "Finish me! Earn your victory, mushy little weaver!"

Woof sighed. Sweet was definitely dying, because that was hands down, the most awfully crafted insulted he had ever heard in his life. "I don't need to," he said calmly. "Galloper already did."

Sweet cackled cruelly, spitting out blood as she laughed. "You really think the Game makers are gonna let you get away without a kill? Ha, no chance of that happening!"

As if on cue, Woof heard a hissing noise and turned to see a brood of winged snakes slowly approaching, hissing and baring their venomous fangs. He sighed, and picked up his novel." Alright then, you want a show? I'll give you a show!" He raised his novel and began beating Sweet with it, slamming it over and over on her neck. "Take that!" he yelled. "Maybe that'll teach you to show some love for once in your life!" The cannon boomed soon after and romantic novel sales burst through the roof in the Capitol as a result. Woof turned his attention to Galloper, who, despite being half-dead, managed to laugh.

" Whoa, beating her up with a book, nice one, " she croaked." You're much tougher than I thought, eh? Congrats, you deserve it." She closed her eyes. "Please make it quick." Woof did, taking out his knife and slitting her throat. But the romance lover was no more. No, the thought of having killed not one but two children sickened him and he thrust the novel away, screaming for Braid, a girl who he would never see again.

Woof never forgave Eight for sentencing Braid to her death. He accused his former neighbours of lying and treason, culminating in their execution. In his eyes, they were nothing but human scum. Every Friday, he would visit Brad's grave with a fresh bouquet of flowers. "Hey, Braid," he muttered, sitting beside his sister's grave. "So, uh, how are things in the afterlife?" A gust of wind flew by and Woof smiled. The wind smelt wonderful for once. "Going great, huh? That's nice to hear. Anyways, uh, the Victory Tour went well. District Two hated me and all but honestly I don't care. I'm glad to be alive. I'm sorry I can't say the same with you." He wiped a tear from his eye. "Well, I have to go now. Same time next week?" Another fist of wind brushed against his cheek and he patted Brad's grave. "Alright, then. Goodbye Braid. Oh and uh-" He leaned over and whispered, "The Capitol will burn one day, don't you worry."

They had their minute of silence for Woof and moved on. Haymitch went to go to the bathroom. Peeta flipped the page, revealing a strong young man with a calm expression on his face. He had straight, brown hair and stormy grey eyes. "Scipio MacAllister, " Peeta read out. "Another Career from Two."

VICTORS

District 1-Sapphire Huntington(4), Onyx Hibonite(9), Franc Montgomery(14)

District 2-Ragnar Sveinsson(5), Reyna Boudicca(6), Draco Hadley(10)

District 3-Nikola Johnson(13)

District 4-Marina Bluebell(1), Mags Flanagan(11)

District 5-Shocker Crimson(8)

District 7-Hassan Greenwood(2), Jill Wilson(15)

District 8-Woof Casino(16)

District 10-Ringo Alvarez(7)

District 11-Orchid Bloom(12)

District 12-Axel Millar(3)

A/N: So, hope you enjoyed Woof! That was a little bit of a unique take on him, but hope it was worth it! Pls review and feel free to tell me what you think, oh and I would appreciate some new ideas. Stay tuned for Scipio! Cheers:)