Title: Check

Characters: All.

Notes: I sincerely hope it's not completely confusing, but it is supposed to be brave, and is supposed to make you think, especially the end. It's depicting all the crucial moments and sacrifices of all three books - some characters are not mentioned, and neither are most individual tributes. Other than that, I sincerely hope you enjoy my first Hunger Games piece in a while!

White goes first.

"Pawn to C2."

It's a classic move, a first move. Let the pawns go out first. Let the necessary sacrifices be made.

"Knight to F5."

They bring out the next one, the dangerous one, one that could bend them or break them. White moves another pawn onto on the board, and the pawns sit, side by side. A black pawn is moved forward.

And so it begins.

The first few fall - then the proper sacrifices start. That white rook who danced and sang from her turret falls, oh, how she falls, at the hand of the black bishop. But the black knight, moved so quickly in the game, is sacrificed without mercy by the king.

The white king and queen are still standing.

A break, a stop, when still a few pawns are left, before it starts again.

The white bishop is lost, gone, subtly removed from the board under the black king's orders.

Then the game is renewed, and look! That first shrivelled, white pawn is gone, dead; the first knight now looks on in sadness. Oh, look how she fell.

And oh, tick tock, another white pawn falls - snaps in half, scattered across the board like pieces of broken glass. She is swept away and forgotten, for the most part.

The white king is cornered, and for a moment, they all think the game is over.

"Check."

But the brilliant white knight, oh, he saves the king; so valiant, so bold! The pawns on the sidelines cheer; grey now, the lines merged until they are one. Long live the king! They shout, they scream. The black king glares, straightens his crown, and the game is resumed.

Hey - the white pawn - look how he saves them! In a flash of colour so odd on the black and white chess board. But, again, he plays no main part; he is no longer needed.

The queen is safe, only with her rook, her knight, the pawn that started it all from her square, C2, and the final bishop. But the king is left with only two lowly pawns and the other, unfeeling knight to console him.

"Check." Again.

But then, they rescue the king, and the one of the pawns. Another pawn died along the way, but nobody thought to mourn her. But the king is not the same.

So the queen orders her loyal subjects to help her. Her remaining bishop agrees and totters his way, drunkenly, diagonally across the board. They all follow, their swords and armour nothing more than a whisper over the din.

There is a break, a pause, when the black side cheers for the victory they have not yet won.

Then they lose so many.

Her first knight is gone, dead, leaving behind a grieving pawn that they all forget. The second rook is responsible for the death of the final pawn, that lowly pawn who moved to C2.

They all face the black king and queen, and the white queen looks at the enemy. She is ordered to checkmate him; she could probably do it. But the king is a minor pawn, really; he didn't start this game, and he definitely wouldn't end it.

She half begs for her rook to take her, to sacrifice her too, as she has sacrificed so many. He refuses, as she knew he would.

So the white queen shoots the black instead.

The black queen falls.

"Check."

This time, the white king and queen are united, and his is a part of this game now, crowding the black king. His subjects retreat, sacrifice the one piece who did nothing for them.

The queen reflects on what she has lost, in those long moments that, in real life, last months, but in the game, are mere seconds.

She lost her rook, who was the whitest piece on the board. The bishop, who shone from his place beside her. The knight, who had so much to lose. Her other rook, who isn't taken, but might as well be. And the pawns...! Oh so many pawns, only a few left now, all better off dead.

And the pawn that started it all from her place at C2.

"Checkmate."