The Pyrrhia Games (A WoF:HG AU by Silverdonna)

== This is literally The WoF Hunger Games. Of course there's some violence. ==
=== *Also contains blood, dr!gs, 0v3rd0s1ng, ETC. ===
=== A few things might be a bit off, too, as I haven't read the trilogy in quite a while. ===
The Pyrrhia Games
== The History of The Pyrrhia Games ==
Many years ago did the breath of evil reach Pyrrhia - it wiped out many dragons and took over almost the whole continent. Luckily, a group of dragons selected by their queens teamed up and managed to cut the plant, destroying it once and for all, but were unable to free Pantala from it. So the Pantalan tribes moved to Pyrrhia.
That same group who destroyed the breath of evil called themselves the Capitol, and they devised a way to keep Pyrrhia safe once more. They divided up the whole continent into ten Districts (and exterminated most of the scavengers on the continent, keeping the remaining ones in a hidden compartment to eat or keep as pets) - District 1 was selected to jewellery and luxury - that was the SkyWing District, and they lived in the old Sky Palace. District 2 focused on water supplies and fishing; they were the SeaWings, who lived in and on the Bay and in the old Summer Palace, which had been rebuilt. District 3, the IceWing District, took over power and light, living in the north and the old Ice Palace. The MudWing District, District 4, was selected to masonry and building supplies, and lived in the former Mud Palace. District 5 took over transportation and flying; they were the SandWing District, who lived in the old Night Kingdom, which had also been rebuilt, and on the Talon Peninsula, due to how the Capitol lived in the old Kingdom of Sand - District 6 did food and farming (though are the most frowned upon, given they’re RainWings), living in the rainforest, and District 7 focused on technology and weapons, and were the NightWings, living in mountains Jade and Agate due to the SandWings and LeafWings living in their old lands. District 8 focused on silk and clothing, and inhabited what used to be Possibility - District 9 took charge of herbs and healing, and lived in one of the more wide-open plains of Pyrrhia in the old Sky Kingdom, while District 10 were the florists and planters, and lived in the rainforest with the RainWings.
Each of these Districts were heavily dedicated to their jobs and supplied the Capital, which was growing by the day, with what they were supposed to.
Due to overheating, the lands of District 3 were warmer and could easily be travelled to.
The Capitol also grew bigger and inhabited what used to be the SandWing stronghold; the SandWings lived in District 5, on the Talon Peninsula, which had been expanded.
But, then, something snapped in District 10, the LeafWing District. They thought the Capitol were treating the Districts horribly, so tried to overthrow them.
The war lasted for about ten years.
But the LeafWings were defeated, and due to how damaged the rainforest had become, the RainWing District, District 6, had to move out of it and live not too far from District 4, in an abandoned scavenger den which was expanded on. A new law was made that hybrids were banned and illegal, and no dragon from one of the Districts could cross over into another. The only two Districts allowed to do that, with a limit on how far they cross over, are District 6 and District 4, given how close the two are, but accidental crossings are more common, which is why it was made legal.
Now, in the year 5012 AS, as a sacrifice to show District 7 what they had done, the Capitol hold an annual event each year called The Pyrrhia Games, where two dragonets no older than the age of eight are selected from each District to fight in the Arena, which used to be the rainforest. Animus magic is used to create a few modern technological objects that we may see today, in our world.
It is now 5088 AS, the year of the 75th annual Pyrrhia Games, and Queen Amber of the whole of Pyrrhia is ready to see how it goes.
Eighteen tributes. Nine districts. What could possibly go wrong?
----
== PART ONE: The Pyrrhia Games ==
----
=== Chapter One ===
Being a SkyWing is an honour, really.
After all, the SkyWings are the most respected District on Pyrrhia.
Well, my mother always says that I should be more honoured for being a SkyWing. Since our District provides the Capitol with jewels and luxury, they favour us more than the other Districts, like District 6 or District 4. Though I don't find it fair, really, because RainWings are seen as lazy even though the provide the Capitol with meat and crops. And, sure, MudWings are pretty narrow-minded, but they take over masonry, and either build things or send building supplies to the Capitol.
Honestly, sometimes I want to scream how I really feel to the world, though I know that I'd certainly be arrested or killed. To be fair, I'd rather be killed than arrested, because I've heard of what the Pyrrhian jail is like, and being in prison makes you more likely to be selected to take part in The Pyrrhia Games.
Right. The Pyrrhia Games. A series of games that can sometimes take weeks or even months to be complete - two dragonets from each District are selected to take part in the yearly Games, which is some sort of show of defiance from the Capitol after what District 10 did to us. It's a death sentence, really; Younger Me would be forced to watch each person be killed in some brutal way or another. Whoever is the last dragonet standing wings.
Really, the only rules are that no dragonet over the age of eight can be chosen (the minimum age able to be chosen is four), and there can be only one winner.
It won't be long until the next Pyrrhian Games. The selection day is today, while the preparation week is in two days - I hope it won't be me or one of my sisters who are chosen.
I have two sisters, one older, one younger, and a brother who's the oldest in our household. He's too old to participate in the game, since he's over thirteen years old, but my older sister is only seven and my younger is five. See, I'm six, so I'm still qualified to get chosen for the Games, and it's often drgaonets my age who are selected to be one of the representatives in their districts.
My uncle Asbestos was actually the previous Pyrrhia Games winner - crazy, I know. So it's twice as more a chance that one of my sisters will be chosen. And Asbestos will be whoever District 1 SkyWing is chosen's mentor, of course.
I'm pacing around my room when I hear a yell from outside. "Zircon!" the voice says. I recognise it as Jadeite's, my older brother, voice. I'd know his voice anywhere, of course.
I go to place a talon around the door - but pause.
It's probably time for the selection, honestly.
I hadn't expected it to be so early. But we're all going to watch.
Also, I forgot to mention that Jadeite is the one who looks after us. Our mother died not long ago, when she was killed for treason against the Capitol, and our father would much rather die of that woozy and, in Jadeite's words, deadly drink he sometimes used to bring home before he'd moved away than look after us. So, really, since he's the oldest, Jadeite is the only dragon who can take care of us.
Anyways, I finally twist the doorknob and blink to see Jadeite looking at me warmly.
Jadeite has light crimson scales that are some sort of pink colour, and his eyes are dark green. His underscales are a dark gold, and so are his wings. He's actually very handsome, so I'm surprised he doesn't have a girlfriend yet.
I follow Jadeite to the main room; Cardinal, my younger sister, and Topaz, my older, are there. We're ready to go.
The journey is pretty far, since the Capitol is on the other side of the continent for us. SkyWings can fly quite fast, yes, but even journeys across a giant landmass are difficult sometimes. We're accompanied by a few other SkyWings, and at one point I thought I saw a group of SeaWings in the distance and at another point, some HiveWings.
We arrive there by noon and sat on one of the tall walls around the courtyard. A few other dragons of different colours flutter from one ledge on the building in the centre to another; the District dragons keep close to their own.
Then, a magnificent silvery-white dragon steps forward, accompanied by a dragon the colour of shining amber.
Queen Amber, I recall. Queen Amber is the queen of all of Pyrrhia, and I'm in fact proud to say that she is also a SkyWing. She runs the whole continent for us and is the leader of the Capitol, therefore the leader of the whole land.
"Greetings, SkyWings, IceWings, MudWings, and dragons of all other tribes," the silver dragon calls. He has sharp spikes on his neck, tail and back, and his claws are extremely serrated. I wouldn't like to be clawed by him, certainly.
"We are gathered this year," the IceWing continues, "to bear witness to the selection of the competitors of the annual Pyrrhian Games this year! My name is Sleet and I'll be your lovely announcer for this year's Pyrrhian Games!" Sleet beckons to a small, stout SeaWing on the side of the ledge, bearing a type of translucent pot in her blue talons. Through the misty white tint to the pot, I can see a load of scroll pieces folded up together against each other, each on six little wood shelves inside it. I suspect that each shelf represents each District.
Sleet takes the pot in his own talons and calls, "We shall start from down to up. Let's hear the HiveWing competitors!"
He digs into the pot, all the while Amber watches him with narrowed eyes. as he sifts through the pot, he finally reaches the bottom and pulled out a random bundle of scroll. He unravels it and says, "The female of District Nine competing this year will be: Rhino of the HiveWings!"
I curl over the edge to see a dark green-like HiveWing who looks terribly nervous. She catches my eye and blinks as a large HiveWing who looks almost like her pats her on the back - I think he's her father.
"And the male HiveWing competing for this year is..." Sleet sticks his talon in again and smooths out the next folded piece of scroll he finds. "Hornet!"
A golden HiveWing not far from Rhino blinks in surprise, then narrows his eyes, and all shock disappears from his face.
It went quite like that: Emperor and Viceroy for District 8, Veilspeaker and Blade for District 7, Toucan and Crocus for District 6, Saguaro and Cactus for the District 5, Boulder and Swamp for District 4, Urchin and Limpet for District 3, and Blizzard and North for District 2. Then it comes to the SkyWing District, District 1, my District.
Sleet calls out, "The SkyWing female who will be representing District One is... Emerald!" The SkyWing with green eyes even brighter than Jadeite's flicks her tail; she is sat close to me.
"And the male for District One is..." Sleet sticks his talons in and pulls out a random piece of paper from the very top. He unravels it.
I had not been expecting, or wanting, him to say, "Phoenix of the SkyWings!"
----
=== Chapter Two ===
So, you see, Phoenix is my best friend. We went to school together, shared food, went on trips to the marketplace. But, to be brutally honest, Phoenix is kind of dumb. So I know that he won't last a minute in that Arena.
As I think about this, I remember one time when we were both three.
We were playing on another house's yard when two large SkyWings came over to us.
One of them snarled, "Get off our land!"
Of course, we were playing here, and we weren't about to get beaten up by some scary farmers!
So I said, "Why should we?"
The other one snapped, "This is our property." He spread his talons around and I put one of my own back to see that I'd been crushing a lily. Oops.
The first one roared, "Get off now, or we'll slit you dead!"
I, despite being absolutely terrified and certainly in the wrong, began to snarl back, "But we-" when Phoenix suddenly interrupted me.
"-are sorry for being on your land," he finished, eyeing me sternly like he was my dad. Hmph. Well, at least he acted much better than my dad.
"We will be going now," Phoenix added and grabbed my wing. Then he dragged me over the fence and towards my own house.
We told Jadeite, since Phoenix had no parents, who gave me a nasty lecture. But despite that, I felt grateful for Phoenix. I'm pretty sure he saved my life.
And since he is my best friend, I know that I cant - no, wont let him die in the Arena.
So, just as Sleet is wrapping up the gathering, I call out, "Wait!"
Everyone turns to me. Every single dragon on the walls turn and stare at me. I just hate it, you know?
But I have no choice, despite feeling like ants are crawling under my scales.
Queen Amber looks quite angry, but Sleet asks, "What is it, young SkyWing?"
I take a deep breath and say, "I would like to switch places with my- with Phoenix."
"Hmm," Sleet says. "We might be able to arrange that. What is your name?"
"Zircon," I reply.
"Zircon, what are you doing?" Phoenix hisses. I didn't realise he crept up next to me.
"Trust me with this," I whisper back and touch my wing to his, then look back down at Sleet, who looks thoughtful.
"My queen?" he says, turning to Queen Amber.
She narrows her eyes and looks up at me. Then, surprisingly, she says, "Very well. Zircon of the SkyWings is the new male for District One."
I feel a tingle of pride that I managed to save my best friend, but also a twinge of fear. Preparation week starts in a day, and I have in those two days to get ready to travel across the whole continent (again) back here, where I am standing right now. On the walls of the courtyard outside the largely expanded stronghold.
I'll probably die in the progress.
----It's tomorrow now. The day after today will be when I leave the remains of my family. Cardinal, my younger sister. And Topaz, my older one. Then there's Jadeite. Our parent. The one who looks after us.
The Capitol have created these pad-things that can somehow capture events; they call it a "shot". Not only can they capture "pictures", but they can also take "videos", or long moving pictures, and also transport it to everyone else's pads so that they can watch it while it is happening from the comfort of their own homes. These pads will be carried by little drone objects that can work day and night without stopping, and are also somehow impenetrable. I have no idea, believe me.
Anyways, I'm watching the replay of the gathering on my pad when I hear a light creak. The problem with out floorboards is that they creak a lot, even when you're trying to be silent. And judging by the fact that these specific creaks are so heavy, and how a certain member in this household hardly tries to be quiet when walking...
"Zircon?" Cardinal says quietly. I pause the gathering footage and turn around to see her standing in the doorway of my room. I put my pad down and stand up to face her.
Cardinal has dark red scales the colour of a blood orange, and her eyes are a bright, friendly golden colour. She is very nice.
"What do you need?" I ask her. She shifts uncomfortable on both talons for a moment, then says, "I love you," and wraps her wings around me.
For a moment, I'm startled. But her warmth is too friendly-feeling to resist, so I hug her back.
"I love you too, Cardinal," I reply quietly. Even thought I definitely won't come out of this alive, I know she'll remember me.
I hope.
She walks out of the room, and I can't help but feel a crushing despair as I watch her leave. But I don't say anything, or try to follow her.
She'll be fine.
Probably.
----
=== Chapter Three ===
It's time to return to the Capitol. "Tomorrow" is now today and I realise that I can't wait to get there. But then I feel a sense of dread, and want to stay home.
But I've made the sacrifice now.
So I fly to the Capitol after saying my final good-byes and soar in through a door, then realise I probably shouldn't have done that, but oh well.
I sit on a ledge instead and wait for someone to greet me. The sun is uncomfortably warm on my back, and the fire inside me isn't helping much with keeping me cool, either.
Anyways, I decided to sit still until someone arrives.
Then, that someome does come - of course, it's Asbestos, my uncle, the winner of the previous Games, and therefore mine and Emerald's mentor.
WIP
Category:Alternate Universes
Category:Fanfictions
Category:Fanfictions (Incomplete)
Category:Fanfictions (Fanon)
Category:Inspired by Fiction
Category:Genre (Adventure)