Russell Thorsby

This article contains spoilers for **Blood Moon**, the third spinoff and fifth overall installment in the Bleeding Hearts series. Blood Moon can be read here: AO3 · FFN · Wattpad

## Russell Thorsby

### Allegiances

Lily Thorsby
Mickey Vasquez
Tina Vasquez
Luna Brimstone

### Appears in

Blood Moon

**Russell Thorsby** is a District 4 tribute in the 117th Hunger Games, as portrayed in Blood Moon: The 117th Hunger Games. Despite his young age, Russell is remembered for his crafty strategy that got him to the end of the Games, which included saving eventual Victor Luna Brimstone from a near-death experience.

### Pre-Games

Russell is barely seen prior to the 117th Games - in Blood Moon, he isn't even mentioned by name until the tribute interviews. He is noticed by many of the other tributes as he is the youngest and smallest tribute, especially compared to his eighteen-year-old sister, Lily.

### The Games

#### The Bloodbath

Russell is not seen at the Bloodbath, but it is revealed later that he was present. After his sister, Lily, is killed by Calista Russo, Russell scrambles to find new allies, as he knows his healing knowledge could help him weasel into another alliance. In the Bloodbath, Russell comes across Mickey Vasquez, who is badly injured. Along with Mickey's sister, Tina Vasquez, Russell helps save Mickey's life, and he is allowed to enter the Arena with the District 10 tributes as reward.

#### In The Arena

After saving Mickey, Russell continued in the Arena with him and his sister, Tina. Along the way, Russell collected samples of plants and herbs that he saw in the Arena in case he'd need them later.

On the seventh day of the Games, the tributes were attacked by crab muttations that pinched the tributes, injecting them with small doses of poison. The crabs ultimately killed Mickey, leaving Russell with Tina. Grieving her brother's death, Tina began to take out her frustrations on Russell, and the two tributes decided to split their supplies and separate.

#### The Feast

After separating from Tina, Russell survived alone in the Arena for three days, but he searched for new allies. At the Feast, Russell was given an opportunity to use the strategy he used at the Bloodbath. However, his options are limited when he arrives at the Feast, as only one tribute, Luna Brimstone, is left injured at the Feast. Despite her begging him to kill her, Russell refuses and physically carries her away from the Feast to heal her.

#### Post-Feast

After the Feast, Russell is confronted by Luna, who had previously asked him to leave her to die. However, Russell explains to his new ally that he had no other choice - if he hadn't saved her, he wouldn't have a chance in the Arena by himself. Because Russell saved her, Luna's mentality starts to shift, and she begins to see the value of her own life. As a result, Luna tells Russell that she owes him her life and that she will give everything she has to ensure that he wins the Games.

Knowing that they are outnumbered by the stronger Career tributes, Russell and Luna concoct a plan to increase their chances of survival at the end of the Games. They agree that if they can avoid contact with the Careers, the Careers will eventually forget about them and turn on each other, as Russell and Luna aren't threats in the Games.

The next day, the Gamemakers set a fire into the Arena, decimating part of the grove and spewing fireballs. Russell and Luna, along with the only other non-Career tribute, Colby Radborn, are caught in this fire, and Russell and Luna barely escape. After Colby is killed in the fire, Luna and Russell realize that the Gamemakers are targeting them and not the Careers, fueling their anger.

While escaping from the fire, Russell is hit in the leg by a fireball, and he instructs Luna to heal him using herbs he'd previously collected. However, the herb causes extreme pain upon contact, causing Russell to scream, so he is only able to use it at night when the Arena is blanketed in a complete artificial silence. After using it during the day, Luna and Russell are almost discovered by the Career tributes, and they realize that they were purposefully chased by the fire into a particular area of the Arena to be found and killed by the Careers.

After spotting the Careers, Luna hatches a plan to follow them through the Arena, as she knows that they will never find her or Russell if they are always behind them. Russell agrees, but he struggles to walk for the first few days. Eventually, his leg heals, and he is able to stalk the Careers with Luna.

On the fourteenth day of the Games, the Careers finally turn on each other, leaving only Amanda Russo alive, and Russell and Luna make it to the final three tributes.

#### End of the Games

On the fifteenth night of the Games, the Arena is filled with bird muttations with razor-sharp beaks. These birds attacked the tributes and sliced at any exposed skin. Luna hid Russell beneath her to shield him from the birds; however, Russell tripped on a root, causing him to injure his ankle. As a result of his fall, Russell also split open his healed burn wound, causing it to bleed heavily. Giving up on his chances of survival, Russell urges Luna to continue without him, but she refuses. In a move to force Luna to flee, Russell removes his shirt, exposing his skin to the birds and causing them to attack him and rip him to shreds.

### Post-Death

Russell ultimately placed third in the Games, and was the highest-placing twelve-year-old tribute in many years. His sacrifice distracted the bird muttations attacking him and Luna, which ultimately benefitted Luna as she was mostly unscathed by the birds. As a result, Luna was able to overpower Amanda, a stronger Career tribute with worse injuries, and win the Games.

Russell is mourned heavily by Luna after his death. She realizes after the Games that Russell was the truest friend she found in the Games, and she lives with regrets surrounding his death, feeling that she should have done more to save him. Russell's death is one of the major reasons why Luna turns to substance abuse later in her life.