dragonwields

in spite of it all , however , kisara refused to surrender so easily .  her family - having died in her childhood in a factory explosion - had taught her the importance of honor , and she knew they would be ashamed of her if she went to her death like a lamb to the slaughter . she vowed to hold out as long as she possibly could , however long that may be , and found peace in the idea that her loved ones could be proud of her when she saw them again .

though her mentors proved of little help , kisara’s stylist and prep team managed to spin her into someone the capitol could root for : not shy or awkward , but a mysterious , ethereal waif with her long hair and floaty , floor - length dresses . innocent , demure , delicate - a fairytale princess straight from a storybook .  days later , the arena proved to be of a similar theme : the great , sprawling forest could have been plucked right from a fairytale , with the tributes dressed as knights and the cornucopia filled only with melee weapons , maces and swords and axes .

overlooked in favor of her bigger , stronger competitors , kisara managed to snag a backpack when the gong rang out and ran into the woods for shelter . there she remained for much of the games , surviving off edible plants and insects while her opponents battled it out around her .  several days in , a great flood washed away the career tributes’ food and supplies , leaving them with nothing and kisara with hope at last - with their stores eliminated and their knowledge of how to survive without negligible , it seemed at last that she had a chance .

sure enough , when it came time for the grand finale , only two career tributes remained of the original six .  the capitol spared no expense for a showy end : keeping with the fantasy theme , they bred an enormous muttation that resembled an enormous white dragon , and used smaller traps to lure the remaining competitors into its path , where anyone caught by the beast would be gored by its razor claws or huge teeth .  fighting each other become a lesser priority as the tributes fled from the monster , kisara among them , until she got an idea - rather than run from the mutt , she ran toward it and climbed its back to cling to its neck for dear life .  several tributes attempted to copy her strategy ; she earned her three kills by kicking them from the mutt’s back and letting them fall to their deaths . after several torturous hours , kisara became the last tribute standing , and was declared the victor .

revered for the way she ‘ teamed up ’ with the mutt , kisara became known as the lady of the white dragon – her dark hair dyed silver , her public persona even more ethereal and her back tattooed with a pair of wings .  for her , though , the tattoo symbolized something different than her victory ; it was a somber reminder of the mutt that had been put down after the games were over , born only to die , much like the twenty - three other tributes who had been killed in the arena .