Primrose1444's 2nd Annual Hunger Games

''To start off, this is NOT my work; this is a Primrose1444 original. This was a very popular Hunger Games, but most of it got deleted before she finished the ending. I was able to recover it, so I could keep the story alive. However, she left the wiki, so she can't finish this herself. As of now, I have decided, no one, not even me, is to finish this page until we find the rightful person to do the job. If you want to be the one to finish it, go to this site: http://thehungergamesrp.wikia.com/wiki/User_blog:Julian_Espinoza/Primrose1444%27s_2nd_Annual_Hunger_Games_For_Sale!_(undeleted)''

Or if you want to go to the original THG wiki:

http://thehungergames.wikia.com/wiki/User_blog:Julian_Espinoza/Primrose1444%27s_2nd_Annual_Hunger_Games_For_Sale!_(undeleted)

I will choose an heir when the time is right.

Best wishes,

--JERealize

Primrose's Second Annual Hunger Games
Hey, guys! My second making of the Hunger Games, and I'm just as excited! (If you would like to read my first made Hunger Games, that would be great, it's on my Followed list). I will be using the roll of the dice, and I will not, I repeat NOT get attached to the tributes. The Games are foretold by the roll of the dice, so no, I will not take begging. I also will not kill the weaker districts first just because their weaker. I am not that kind of person.

Please enter tributes with the following:

Name

Age

District

Appearance

History

Skills/Strategy

These games will also include chariot rides and final 8 interviews. I appreciate your support!

''"And may the odds be ever in your favor!" ~Effie Trinket''

The Arena
This year's arena is divided up into three sections: The first is a plain wheat field with game like rabbits and mice. However, there are deadly snakes which can end your life with one bite. The second section is a hot, dry desert with no protection, only tumbleweeds. Bug-like muttations live in the desert. There are few caves.

The third section is a dense rainforest with fruit and shelter,and has the only water source. But be careful, there are many poisonous plants littering this section! The Cornucopia is placed in the densest part of the rainforest, with the tributes circled around it with only 20 yards from it. The items at the Cornucopia are tridents, bow+arrows, poison, spears, swords, knives, antidotes, water purifier, medical stuff (bandages, needles, the works), and dried fruit.

The Tributes
District 1: Carabella Button, 15, allied with Cinder Sage

District 1: Eric Loree, 16, 8th Place,  slit throat by President Primrose District 2: Mikie Gold, 18 , 14th Place,  stabbed by Kimmt Cotwright 

District 2: Minnie Gold, 18, 10th Place,  stabbed in the stomach by Storm Thorn

District 3: Digit Tewk, 14,  1  7th Place , speared by Jeron Tart

District 3: Micy Cumput, 17, drugged and hidden in the Rain Forest

District 4: Splash Blue, 16, 7th Place, speared in the back of the neck by Stephen Whirlwind

District 4: Waterlily Wave, 16,     9th Place,  stabbed through the back by Stephen Whirlwind

District 5: Dust Renshow, 17,  12th Place,  killed by a wall of fire

District 5: Cinder Sage, 16, allied with Carabella Button

District 6: Stephen Whirlwind, 18,  '  6th Place, stabbed in the chest by Storm Thorn'

District 6: Danielle Jones, 17,  20th Place,  skewered by Jalyn King

District 7: Jeron Tart, 17, 1 3th Place,  stabbed in the back by Micy Cumput

District 7: Menna Wrendle, 15, 18th Place,  speared by Minnie Gold

District 8: Walder Gearald, 17,22nd Place,  speared by Eric Loree

District 8: Carla Ramsey, 14, 23rd Place,  spear in the stomach by Mikie Gold

District 9: Elfonz Billinger, 15, 21st Place,  arrow in the head by Stephen Whirlwind

District 9: Jalyn King, 16, 16th Place,  knife in the throat by Stephen Whirlwind

District 10: Jackson Pettis, 14, 24th Place,  sword through the back by Minnie Gold

District 10: Odette DeLeany, 14, currently sick with fever

District 11: Kimmt Cotwright, 18, 11th Place,   skewered through the head by Splash Blue 

District 11: Raeoki Cotwrigh t, 13,  15th Place, head lopped off by Mikie Gold

District 12: Storm Thorn, 16, allied with Odette, making his way back to the glass wall

District 12: Luna Thorn, 16, 19th Place,  arrow in the head by Carabella Button

Please leave a comment! Enter tributes, and thank you!!! : )

District 1
The crowd is buzzing with excitement when District 1 arrives. The tributes are pulled by white steeds with sapphire jewels on their heads, the carriage seems to be made of emeralds, and the large chariot wheels are made of pure gold. The tributes, however, is what makes the audience gasp. Eric is wearing a silver tuxedo with blue topaz and aquamarine sewn into it. He has a gold staff in hand and a gold crown on his head. Carabella is shyly showing off her one- shouldered ruby dress and heels. Her is hair down with pearls braided into it, a gold tiara is perched atop her head. She waves into the crowd until Eric reaches down and kisses her cheek. The audience laughs and applauds as Carabella gasps with an astonished look on her face.

District 2
2's chariot follows after District 1 pulled by storm cloud gray horses. The chariot looks like the training center; filled with deadly items like spears and maces. Minnie and Mikie are wearing black jumpsuits and combat boots. Both wear a look of disgust, and their stylists have penciled fake scars on their faces, making them look horrifyingly scary. The audience gasps as they both grab an bow and a quiver of arrows and shoot two arrows into the sky. Words form: 'District 2: The Real Careers. '

District 3
District 3 appears as a technical facility room pulled by gray horses decorated with computer chips. The tributes Digit and Micy are wearing robotic suits and doing The Robot. Micy and Digit giggle as they dance together. They seem to like and trust each other now. The Capitol audience laugh and join along with their dancing. It seems like a good day for District 3.

District 4
District 4's chariot has a brilliant ocean theme to it. The horses are as blue as the sky with one, long silver feather on their heads. The chariot is bright blue and has a dip to it so it can hold water. Waterlily is costumed as a mermaid, perched on a rock, with a long, green tail and two pale pink seashells worn over her chest. Her long blonde hair is wavy, and they have braided waterlilys into her hair. Splash is wearing nothing but tight ocean blue pants and his dazzling grin. He smiles and takes Waterlily's hand, and she blushes bright pink as the audience cheers.

District 5
Cinder and Dust ride out in a flaming chariot pulled by pitch- black horses. Cinder's hair seems to be caught on fire, as well as Dust's cape. Both are wearing red and black clothing patterned with flames. Cinder and Dust both nod at each other and then both throw what seems to be flaming frisbees into the audience, which burst into sparkles. When the audience is out of earshot, Dust whispers to Cinder, "You look beautiful. I've thought that way ever since that wedding a few years ago." Cinder looks horrified. She whispers back, "I- I can't love you, Dust. I can't get close to anyone. I'm so sorry." She truly looks sad. "So sorry." Dust echoes. His heart is broken.

District 6
District 6 rides out in a pure white chariot with silver wheels. The horses are gleaming white also, except for a Red Cross symbol on each side on their bellies. Danielle and Stephen are both dressed as very fashion- devoted doctors. Stephen is wearing a jacket that opens with no shirt, tight white pants, and white dress shoes. Danielle is wearing a short white dress, a white fedora, and red heels. The crowd cheers loudly. They giggle and laugh together as they slow dance away on their chariot.

District 7
District 7 follows after District 6 with a hush of 'ooos' and 'aaahs'. Their chariot has a forest theme, with trees and grass and mud placed on the chariot, making it seem like a clearing in the woods. Jeron steps out first; dressed in a brown and green suit and his face matching. Then he walks over to one of the trees and picks up a bunch of flowers. But it takes the audience a second to realize its not a bunch of flowers- its Menna. Her body is concealed by tons of flowers- tulips, irises, daisies, and daffodils. She giggles and smiles up at Jeron nervously when he sets her down lightly. The crowd laughs and claps as their chariot passes.

District 8
District 8 rides out in a flare of fashion. The horses are honey- colored and are wearing multiple scarves, as well as peace- keeper hats. Carla and Walder are dressed in peace keeper uniforms, surrounded by guns and ammo. The audience is silent. Off in the crowd, District 8's stylist presses a button and the whole chariot seems to explode. When the fog is cleared, Carla and Walder are wearing a dress and a suit that makes the Capitol long for their clothes. They are no longer surrounded by guns, but clothes racks from fashion wear to peace keeper uniforms. The crowd goes crazy and stomps their feet.

District 9
Jalyn and Elfonz are out and riding in a chariot colored of chocolate brown. The wheels of made of pine, and the horses are to match the chariot and have a green hat each with a long red feather, much like 'Robin Hood's. Jalyn is wearing a Native - American dress with moccasins and a calf- skin headband. Her blue hair is now dyed jet black and is braided down her back. She has a quiver and a bow slung over her shoulder. Elfonz is bare- chested but has calf- skin leggings and moccasins. His stylists have penciled his best features darker, making him look very dashing. The Capitol women scream his name. They ride away with smiles on their faces.

District 10
Odette and Jackson ride out in a glowing white chariot with a grass floor and horses that are white, but the stylists have spray- painted black spots on them. A picket fence lays across the center of the chariot, where Odette sits, legs crossed. She is wearing a strapless cow-skin mini dress with a black belt and heels. Her blonde hair is worn up in an elegant knot with a black headband. Standing next to her is Jackson, wearing a brown vest over a white shirt, a cowboy hat, jeans, and boots with spurs. He winks at the audience, turns to Odette, and kisses her hand. She giggles, but this is only for the show. They barely know each other.

District 11
Raeoki and Kimmt come in on the scene in a chariot carved entirely out of wood. The wheels are mahogany, and the horses are chestnut colored with a white diamond on their foreheads. Intertwining trees rich with golden apples are growing in the chariot, as well as crops like squash, cucumbers, and corn. Raeoki is wearing a fashionable tiered dress made entirely out of banana peels. She hair is worn down and wavy with a blue headband to bring out her beautiful blue eyes. Kimmt is standing next to her, wearing a suit made of grain and wheat. His bow-tie is made of apple peels. They both hold hands and blow kisses to the audience, which is cheering louder than an erupting volcano.

District 12
The next set of twins arrive to a screaming crowd. Their chariot is pure black and made of ignited coal, and the horses are also black. Although they are giving no reaction, it seems that their manes are set on fire. Storm and Luna grin at the audience who are going nuts. Luna wears a long trained black dress that sparks and has flames all over the dress, matching with flaming earrings. Storm is wearing a black jumpsuit also lit on fire. Suddenly a flaming 12 appears on both of their clothing. The crowd screams with joy as their chariot passes.

Story:
The rallied yet sleepless tributes stand on their platforms around the Cornucopia, some dreading what comes for them, some excited to let their savage soul break loose and kill. The tributes are wearing simple clothing: a white shirt with their district symbol on it, navy sweatpants, sturdy hiking boots, and a black sweater. When the area around them is unsheathed, many of the tributes try to swallow their fear. God knows what kind of stuff they put in here, Cinder thinks, pressing her nose against the glass. Tangled vines and mysterious leaves have already climbed their way up her tube. All that the eye could see was trees and plants from every direction. What immediately catches her eye is Dust, standing across from her tube. His eyes are closed, and his head is bowed, looking as if he was regarding his second cousin's funeral. He opened his eyes for a split second and mouthed, Good luck. Immediately Cinder felt herself blush and felt ashamed, the same as she had done at the chariot rides. I like him, Cinder thinks. But he knows I can't.  - - - - - - - -

The gong sounds and the tributes rush the 20 yard sprint to the Cornucopia. Odette and Jackson from District 10 seem to have made it to the Cornucopia first. Odette scoops up a backpack and two knives, and Jackson does the same. They take off running until Jackson collapses. Odette whirls around to find Minnie grinning, holding a long, bloody sword, eager to meet its new target. When she brings the sword down, it misses, and Odette screams and punctures her hard in the arm with her knife. Minnie lumbers backwards, and Odette sprints off into the shrubbery. Meanwhile, Carla and Walder have met up with Mikie, Eric, and Carabella.

"Alliance?" Carla asks, a smirk suggesting on her face, ''"Who wouldn't want me?" ''

Mikie chuckles. "With District EIGHT? Trust me, I don't think we need an obese chick in our pack." And with that, he shoves a spear into her stomach. Her cannon fires. Walder stands in shock. He turns on his heel and attempts to run away but Eric throws another spear that lodges into his head. He collapses and his cannon fires also. He turns back to Carabella and Eric, who stand silently.

"You guys are in the Career pack, right?" Mikie asks, a sneer on his face. Eric looks to Carabella, who mouths to him, Go with it. "Yeah. Of course."

"Good. I'm gonna find Minnie. She was chasing after District 10." He grabs a reloaded bow and races through the weeds and plants of the arena. Carabella turns to Eric. "What are we going to do?" she asks, a worried look upon her face. "We'll figure out a way to.... to get out of this mess." he says, turning away from her. She catches his hand, and squeezes it softly.

Jalyn and Elfonz have reached the Cornucopia at the same time as Stephen and Danielle have. Stephen grabs a bow and quiver and fires an arrow, which pierces Elfonz's throat. Jalyn shrieks in anger and chucks her spear at Danielle, where it skewers her through the back. She grabs a pack and another spear, and looks at Elfonz sadly. She blows him a kiss as he is raised by a hovercraft, and takes off. Stephen hugs the lifeless figure of Danielle, and the shadow of the hovercraft appears over the pair. He kisses her cheek and grabs a large knife and a medium- sized pack from the Cornucopia and sprints after Jalyn. I will kill her, he thinks.

Back with the Careers, Mikie has arrived with an ugly grimace on his face, dragging his sister to the Cornucopia. Carabella gasps and covers her mouth when she sees Minnie. Her face is pale with a greenish glow, and she has a knife punctured deep in her arm, so deep you could only see about an inch of blade.

"Well," Mikie says, pulling his sister to rest on the bags. "She's definitely NOT in shape for ruining people's lives. Hear, Cara, I'm gonna get to work on her." He hands his bow to a bewildered Carabella, and takes some bandages out of one of the bags and starts wrapping it around Minnie's arm. Cara shakes with anxiety as she raises her bow. I've shot deer before, she thinks to her self. ''It can't be much different, right? ''

She looks through the scope on her high- tech bow and sees a face not to far away. The face is determined, biting her lip, and clutching the hand of a boy who looks like the spitting image of her. She has two braids, and her eyes, as big as the moon. She is running, sprinting with the boy. She is closer now.

Carabella positions herself and hesitates. She knows that Eric and Mikie are watching her. She knows she must prove herself as a Career. She holds her breath, brings back the string, and fires. The arrow whistles as it finds its way to its target. It spears Luna in her left temple. At first she is shocked, but then she is comforted. She can see the sun, winking at her up above. It seems so far away. I will meet the sun, she decides, and flies up beyond the battles, beyond the trees, beyond the clouds..... she is nearly there.....

Luna sways and falls back into Storm's arms. A cannon fires in the distance. Storm bursts into tears as he crouches other Luna fatal figure. He kisses her cheek and let the hovercraft take her away. He looks for the killer, and sees the young girl, a Career, standing not to far away holding a silver bow. A horrified look is placed upon her face, the boy from her district has his hands on her shoulders, and the boy from 2 is still tending to his sister but is grinning hysterically. He runs over to the small Career girl and punches her hard in the forehead. The last thing she remembers is the shyness of being in Eric's strong, warm hands before she blacks out.

Storm decides he probably should leave before he feels 1's wrath, so he grabs a trident and a small pack before running away. Cinder and Dust meet at the same time. Cinder blushes and grabs a pack and a bow. Dust has a spear and another pack, and is staring into her eyes quizzically.

"Umm....... alliance?" Cinder asks, nervously shifting her pack onto her shoulder.

"Yes." replies Dust, and he grabs her hand and leads her away. Waterlily has a trident and a bag and is about to leave the clearing when Mikie chucks a knife at her leg. She screams and falls over, fainting from pain. Splash runs over and picks her up over his shoulder and runs away before any other attacks are made.

Kimmt and Raeoki has gotten a pack and a bag of dried fruit each and have left the clearing when District 7 arrives. Menna and Jeron have made an alliance and are speeding towards the Cornucopia. Menna is scooping up a large pack when Minnie pops up, wielding a spear in her good hand.

"Really, these Games are going to be a piece of cake with you weaklings around." Minnie grins evilly and chucks the spear into her stomach. Menna recoils and falls into Jeron's arms. When her cannon fires, Jeron doesn't know what to do, just stare at her small body with a gaping mouth. Out of the corner of his eye he sees Minnie grabbing another spear, so he drops Menna and grabs the pack Menna had and then takes the spear out of Minnie's hand. As her runs away, Minnie screams,

"Here our wrath, District 7! WE WILL KILL YOU!"

............................

The day ends without another death.

Story:
Carabella wakes to the sound of a crackling fire and the smell of eggs. She can hear Mikie and Minnie's snores from a sleeping bag next to hers. She yawns and then blushes when she sees she is still in the arms of Eric. He is awake, and holding Carabella and frying eggs over a frying pan that must have been sent by sponsors. When he sees Carabella is awake, he face brightens into a smile.

"Cara, breakfast! Oh, no, no, don't get up!" he says cradling her back into his arms after her attempt to get up. "You'll hurt your head." Cara's hand flies to her head, and she feels bandages carefully wrapped around her temples. When she looks up, Eric looks concerned, so she shows she is okay by pushing a stray wave of dark hair out of his eyes. Then she sits up.

"That boy from 12 got you bad." Eric says. "Right after you got his sister, he ran over and punched you. You fainted." Cara thinks for a moment, and then says, "I deserved it." When Eric tries to argue, she shakes her head, and hugs him. "Stop trying to defend me when I'm guilty." she says, and then yawns. "I'm going back to bed." She rests against him and falls asleep. Eric spends the next few hours stroking her hair.

................................................

Micy and Digit have escaped to the wheat field where they are eating wild turkey Micy found while hunting.

"You know," Digit says, biting down on his drumstick, "I think we might be the only ones here."

"Don't underestimate the Gamemakers, Digit," Micy says nervously, "If no ones here, they'll drive one of the tributes to us, just so they can see a fight."

They eat in silence for a while until they here a strange rustling noise coming from a patch of wheat not to far away. Digit and Micy stand up at the exact same time.

"You wait here." Micy says, approaching the area with a bow.

"No," Digit says, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You wait." He silently steps towards the wheat and Micy scowls, but doesn't follow, simply waits with her arms crossed. After a minute, of prowling the patch Digit turns, smiling, with a hand in a thumbs-up. "No one here." He starts walking towards Micy when she sees an tall boy rise from the wheat. Before she can warn him, he sends a spear into Digit's back, the spearhead protruding out of his stomach.

Micy puts her hands over her mouth and screams. Digit falls, kneeling on the ground.

"Micy..." he whispers, and then his head lolls to the side, and his cannon fires. Micy falls to the ground, tears spilling from her eyes. Jeron pulls the spear out of Digit's back and throws a sympathetic look to Micy.

"Sorry," he mumbles, before taking off, leaving Micy in a sobbing state.

...............................

Splash sits back in a cave, staring at the girl who he saved, who is glaring back at him. Splash reaches out a hand, but Waterlily stands up, trying to get away, but winces in pain and falls down. She curses her leg.

"Why did you make me look like a fool in the interviews?" she asks, glaring.

"Because, I... well...," he trails off, still staring. Her figure, her face, her eyes, he loves everything about her. He wants to say, ''Waterlily, I love you. I've loved you ever since we were kids''. But he doesn't. Instead he says, "It was for our survival." and he turns away so she can't see his eyes, which feel like crying.

"You announced that you loved me to the whole world, but for what reason?" Her glare and voice have softened. Splash turns back to her, and takes her hands. This time she doesn't pull away.

"I love you, Waterlily. I think you are the most beautiful person I have ever seen in my life." His eyes dart downward, afraid to see what look Waterlily wears. "Oh." she says. After a moments silence, to Splash's surprise, she hugs him. "I'm sorry, Splash." she said quietly. "I should have realized."

Splash hugs back, delighted to hold her in his arms again. Her hair smells like the ocean. He almost cries again.

........................

After their alliance back at the Cornucopia, Cinder and Dust have managed to get away to the desert. They had slept overnight in a sleeping bag under a withered tree, much to Cinder's discomfort. They are hunting together in a field containing dead grass, hoping to catch some game.

Cinder sneaks a few glances at Dust every now and then, just to read his feelings. He never looks back, just talks to her in a cold whisper. He loves me, Cinder thinks, and her stomach does a flip. She looks looks back at Dust, with his tousled hair with some strands hanging over his brown eyes. Cinder decides something in her mind. She nibbles some strands of her red hair, then walks right in front of Dust's path and looks at him.

"Why aren't you talking to me?" she asks, not breaking eye contact. Dust stares at her, his mouth hanging open a little.

"Because I'm sorry," she continued, tearfully, "about what happened on the chariot. I am. And, maybe.... maybe you can forgive me for that." She doesn't know what she is doing, but she knows it is right; she embraces Dust and kisses him softly, and Dust kisses her back. A bug - muttation flies by and stings Dust, and he breaks away, stifling an urge to scream. Cinder rushes to his side and cradles his head and takes out the first aid kit she had in her pack. She blinks back tears as she works on his leg, and Dust's face goes pale as he says, "Forgived...." he closes his eyes and exhales. Cinder sobs and is afraid he might die, but after five minutes she lays down next to him, her lips pressed against his forehead.

..................................

Stephen inhales and exhales slowly so Jalyn doesn't hear him. He holds his knife at his side, and looks at himself in the blade. Just two days ago I was eating gourmet foods at the Capitol, Stephen thinks. Now I'm a wild animal. He bites lip and looks through the leafy plants at Jalyn, afraid that he might lose her. He had been hunting her down for two days now, and is afraid that if he loses sight of her he might go insane. The strip of red in his hair is actually not a problem because there are so many red plants in the forest he is almost invisible. Jalyn has found her hair blends in also because she has not bothered to cut it off.

I will kill her, he thinks. However he doesn't quite know why Danielle's death had shocked him so badly. Its probably because she was your district partner, he tells himself, but he knows it was something much more than that. He thinks about the pretty girl on the chariot, who laughed at his jokes, who smiled, who had kissed his cheek before the chariot rides and had then gripped his hand, because she was nervous......

He shakes his head and looks through the trees at the blue haired girl. Gathering up his courage, he boldly shouts a warrior cry and races into the clearing, knife above his head. Jalyn whirls around, her blue eyes large and her mouth open. Stephen does not feel a drop of sympathy as he brings the knife down to her throat. He is still breathing heavily when the copter takes her away, and out of the corner of his eye he sees a bubbling spring next to where Jalyn's corpse had laid two minutes ago. Suddenly, he realizes how thirsty he is.

...............................

Odette, having stayed in the rainforest, is jumping from tree to tree, hunting. It doesn't matter what I'm hunting for, she tells herself. Humans are animals. She looks through the binoculars she found in her pack and looks through them. She can see a boy in the distance, with scraggly brown hair and big brown eyes with dark rings. She instantly recognizes him as the boy from 12, they whose twin died on the first day. She slithers down the tree and runs as fast as she can towards the boy. She feels like she is running track like back home, and her heart feels like it wants to burst with sorrow. She sees the boy turning towards her and instinctively flattens herself against a red cedar tree. She wishes she had brown hair, for her blondest of blonde hair would be spotted if he came any closer. Odette knew that since his sister died, he'd be a savage, or a wreck.

She hears the footsteps come closer and she breathes slower and more calmly. She hears tiptoeing in the leaf pile behind her tree and jumps out, holding the knife to his throat. She puts on the most menacing look she can manage and waits for his reaction. He looks bewildered at first, and then laughs. Now it is Odette's turn to look confused, and she almost drops her blade but then keeps it steady. Storm looks into her eyes and says, "Alliance?"

..............................

Raeoki an Kimmt stand on the brink of the clearing overlooking the Cornucopia. Raeoki is chewing a piece a of dried mango nervously and Kimmt is holding a spear of sharpened wood to his side, awaiting attack. Finally, he whispers to Raeoki,

"Okay, here's the plan. I distract the Careers and you sneak around and get that sword over there." He points to a large sword glinting off the suns rays. "Then you slice 'em up, and I'll kill the rest. Listen, if we do this, there will be no more threats. We could beat it out until the end." Raeoki looks up at Kimmt, wondering where all of his brotherly love has gone. "Okay." she sighs, and sneaks up the side of the Cornucopia. Five minutes later, she hears her cue.

"OVER HERE, YOU BIG FAT LOSERS!" She sees the outraged faces out District 1 and 2 turn to face her brother running in the other direction yelling ill-mannered insults at them. Raeoki hobbled her way to the Cornucopia and picked up the giant weapon, the sword. She could feel the power just holding it in her hands. For a couple of seconds she stared at it in awe, until she heard,

" OI! RAEOKI! WATCH OUT!" She gasped in horror as the boy from 2, Mikie, was sprinting toward her, another sword in his hand. When he meets her he immediately strikes towards her heart, but she side-steps it and pierces her leg, cutting a large gash. Mike howls in pain and shoulder rolls and tries aiming for her head, but she easily deflects it. For several minutes they battle and Raeoki believes she may win when Mikie deflects her strike a little too hard and it clatters to the floor. Raeoki breathes fast and uneven as she kneels down and puts her hands up. "I surrender." she says in a whisper. "Just make it quick."

And with that, he brings up his sword and slices off her head. Breathing heavily, he turns around, expecting congratulations from his fellow Careers, but finds himself face to face with Kimmt.

"You...killed....my..... SISTER!" he screams and stabs his wooden spear into his stomach. Mikie falls to the ground with tears in his eyes, and then goes limp. He picks up his sister's fallen sword and leaves to the Career's gaping mouths and Minnie's sobbing.

Story:
I feel like an animal in a zoo, Jeron thinks as he hikes his way up a steep incline. Exposed, where people can watch me eat, sleep, wake, pee, and fight. He sighs as he reaches a wetland marsh and begins to walk his way around the mud, cursing the world under his breath. How did I get into this? Why can't I live a life? These are the questions Jeron asks himself from the moment he wakes up to twilight when he sleeps restlessly. He finally sits down on a large, mud-spattered rock and covers his eyes with his hands, massaging his temples. Suddenly, he feels a shot of pain coming from his back spreading like a disease all over his body, making him recoil.

He groans, his vision is fuzzy, he can feel life slipping from his grasp like a bar of soap. He looks around, mentally challenging the killer to show himself, when he sees a flash of jet-black cross his view.

"Micy," he winces, lying down on the cold ground. He sees the black stop, then emerge towards him. Even though his sight is bad, he could see her ocean blue eyes brimming with tears. She does not want to look at him, she does not want to see the person of whom she has ended his life. But he requested her, and she will do what he wants, because he will be dead in five minutes. She wipes the tears sidling down her cheek with the back of her hand and kneels down. All Jeron notices is that her usual playful, confident glint that danced in her eyes is gone.

"You.... wanted.... revenge......" he struggles, and each word seems like poison being stabbed into him.

"Life is full of revenge," Micy continues, making her voice steady. "I did this for revenge for Digit. He was my friend. I- I just thought-"

"I know," Jeron says, his breaths short and edgy. "But we are in the Games, and soon I'll be with Menna. I know she's been waiting for me." he whispers, waving his hand vaguely. Micy bursts into tears, rocking on her knees. "I'm so sorry, so sorry...." she chokes out. Jeron turns his head and gives her a sad smile.

"Life's too short for apologies. Learn that from me, and keep it close to your heart." he says, and then closes his eyes. A cannon fires, making the toucans on nearby birch branches fly away. Micy kisses his forehead, and crosses his dead, cold hands into a praying position.

.................................

"Odette?" Storm asks as they trek through the jumble of vines.

"Mmmm?" she answers, half listening. The other half is listening for footsteps, or the Careers, or animals. Storm had gotten much from the Cornucopia from Day One and they had enough food eat, but Odette was sure this newfound bounty would not last so long. Much to her surprise, Storm had welcomed her with open arms. His sister's death must have really rattled him, she had thought. Storm had turned out to have excellent hunting skills, though, and had a really cheerful personality.

"This might sound stupid, but.... do you believe in guardian angels?" he asks, watching her wavy hair bounce. Odette turns around and looks him straight in the eye.

"Yes. Yes I do. And I believe that ours are looking down at us right now, deciding what to do with us." The corners of her mouth upturn when she sees Storm laughing. Storm looks back at her, amazed at how her eyes are forever changing; teal, to turquoise, to azure, to cerulean. She smiles at him, then whirls around and begins trekking once again. They reach a grassy area with a small waterfall. Odette gasps with shock, then dances around it. She grabs Storm's hand and they dance for a while. They set up a tent and place two sleeping bags inside it.

Odette and Storm step back and admire their work. Storm's hands and knees are dirtied, as well as Odette's, who has also bravely smudged thick mud under her eyes, making her look much more aggressive, and scarier.

"I wouldn't come near you with a machine gun." Storm jokes, putting his hands in the air to show a comedic surrender. Odette puts her hands on her hips but laughs.

"I was a quarterback for my school's football season," she says, a dreamy look on her face. "I had to wear this under my eyes, except it was something probably more sanitary," she says, ignoring the snorts from Storm. "I was gonna play our first game, but...." she feels there is no reason to continue. To make a long story short, she was reaped. She was put in an arena and forced to kill or be killed. Her life is ruined.

Odette seems at a loss for words, she just turns from Storm and thinks about District 10. Will she ever go home?

Storm stands up, dusts off his pants, and hugs Odette from behind. She hesitates, then turns around and hugs him back. "I think everyone needs a hug once in a while, don't you think?" Odette thinks for a moment and replies, "I think you are exactly right."

.................................

Cinder wakes and finds herself wrapped in Dust's arms. She smiles sleepily, then wiggles out of his arms. She had successfully healed Dust's leg last night, but he is in no shape whatsoever to walk on it. She stands up and stretches, and feels Dust's forehead for a temperature. His head doesn't feel warm, and she smiles at the sleeping figure of him, his slow breathing like a rolling wave, or the sound of fire crackling; something about him makes her heart get excited. She kisses him softly, carefully just to to wake him, and he does, slowly opening his eyes to greet her.

"Hey, beautiful," he says, a small smile playing on his lips.

"Hey." She calms the maniacal butterflies in her stomach and looks away, blushing. She wipes the sweat off her forehead. She looks around. I know this is a desert, she thinks. ''But this is really hot. ''

Her head is then nudged by a basket of bread and two water bottles. Her face splits into a smile. "Dust, breakfast!" she shouts happily. She gives a loaf and a water bottle to him and then goes to retrieve her own bread. She breaks a piece in half and takes a whiff of fresh bread, baked just for her from the Capitol's bakery. She practically inhales a mouthful and then chokes. She gulps down the bread and pulls a piece of parchment from her mouth. The ink is slightly running from her saliva, but the one word hastily scrawled by her mentor, Lilac Shivers, is still legible: Run. Her face pales, and she takes in Dust's status: gladly chewing his bread, sipping his water, as Cinder had forced him to do, and balancing the basket on his bad leg. She runs to him in a panic, and stands straight in front of him. "Lilac sent me a note. She said we had to-" she stopped, her mouth gaping from mid-sentence. A wall of fire as wide as the eye can see was about 100 yards away from them. And it was moving. Quickly. "Dust, we have to LEAVE." Cinder cries, packing hastily. "We need to go." But Dust is simply staring at the monster of destruction with a gaze of determination. He turns to Cinder with a sad smile. "I can't leave, Cinder. I can't walk, let alone run." Cinder gasps when she realizes Dust is right. She orders her tears to stay where they are and begins arguing with Dust. "I... I can carry you," although she knows no way her dragging Dust is going to beat the flames. "That is not an option," Dust says sternly. "You are not dying." "I... I can...." She thinks for a long time before realizing the wall of fire is 50 yards away. He really will die, she thinks. She leans down and kisses him, because she knows it will be their last. "Thank you, Cinder," Dust says, breaking away. "I love you, and I'll watch over you." Cinder tries desperately to keep her cool, but a few tears have managed to leak out. She wipes them away furiously. "I love you too, Dust," she looks back at the fire, "I have to run." "Bye, Cinder," he whispers, caressing her cheek. She nods and runs away to the wheat field. Dust sighs and closes his eyes. He can feel the intense heat burning down on him, but he doesn't even wince when a flame licks his side. I'll live up to my name soon, is last thing he thinks before his life ends. .................................. Eric awakens to a hollow, sharp, scraping noise, and covers his ears. Then his eyes pop open and he looks around wildly for Cara, and is relieved to find her lying at his side, her long, matted yet a pretty blonde laid askew. Large purple bags hang under her eyes. Despite her unruly looks and forever cloaked in anxiety, he can still see the beautiful inside of her, the small, scared girl of which he loves. He reaches down to touch her cheek when the same grinding noise jerks him back to reality. "DIE!!" screams Minnie as she slashes her knife into the side of the Cornucopia. The usual smooth, golden texture of it is now black and marked up, and looks like an army of squirrels attacked it overnight. She angrily chisels away at the gold, furious at the world. Eric stands up and walks toward her, imagining some angry sobbing over her dead brother and some violent thoughts over his killer in his mist. But as he strolls toward her, she turns, looks at him wildly, and runs at him, knife (now very, very sharp) at hand. Eric deflects the knife out of her hands and picks her up. Tears are streaming down her face, she is kicking wildly, screaming, "PUT ME DOWN! I HATE YOU! PUT ME DOWN AND GET THE H*LL OUT OF HERE!" While meanwhile, Eric is patting her back, and shushing her, and telling her I am Eric, not Kimmt Cotwright. And eventually, she slows, her head droops, and Eric can hear her soft snoring. He lays her down in his own sleeping bag, and makes a move to get Carabella up, but she is already up, standing arms crossed, her large brown eyes glaring at him. She wears a look of sadness, than betrayal, than jealousy. "How are you little lovebirds doing?" she asks coldly. She has lost the young, innocent look of a girl of 15. "Huh?..." he looks at her quizzically, then gets it. He looks at Minnie and blushes. "Oh Cara, you can't honestly think....?" He reaches out a hand to pull her into a hug, but she shakes it off. She turns away, her voice quivering. "That's exactly what it looked like." She wipes the tears from her eyes with the back of her hand. "Cara, please...." he tries to take her hand but then falters. "Okay, Carabella. We have to pack up. We're leaving her behind," he points at her. "I really don't have the heart to kill her." She lets out a shaky sob but does what she is told. By sunset, they are at the wheat field, the incident in the morning slowly separating themselves apart from each other. .......................... Stephen is living the dream back at his burbling spring. The Gamemakers have not decided to usher him out or kill anyone just yet, and he can take daily bathes and drinks as he pleases. He watches night after night at the faces in the sky and ticks the people off his fingers. At the moment he bathes in the warm sunset air, and listening to the songs of parakeets and parrots and they fly through the trees, squawking almost a code to each other. He dozes off for..... five? Ten minutes? When he hears a rustling in the palmed canopy. He looks up, dazedly, and sees a pale face with startling blue eyes staring intently down at him. He yelps and falls off his favored rock, and holds the knife that killed Jalyn aloft. "WHO.... ARE...." he gasps, glaring at the face. But his voice trails off when he sees the face is streaked with sticky tears, and her eyes, although bright and beautiful, hold a hollow look. He almost drops his knife when he realizes it belongs to the once sly, clever, mysterious girl from 3. She now looks like she has suffered from millenniums of torture and pain. Micy leaps down expertly and lands with a soft thump. She holds a bloody knife at him, her eyes yet still inhuman. Stephen is surprised that he regains his voice. "What happened to you?" Stephen asks, putting his knife back in his pocket. "I... I killed someone who could have had a life ahead-" she stops, reminding herself that there is a Capitol audience watching them all. "Aaahh.... survivor's guilt," Stephen says, laughing a little to Micy's horror-struck face. "Don't worry- It'll pass." Micy struggles a bit, and grips the knife's hilt a bit firmer, and then says confidently, "Allies?" Stephen doesn't know why his heart leaps for joy when she says this. ''Perhaps because I'm lonely? '' "Allies." ................................. Splash has just caught a large, fat rodent through the neck with his trident. He runs a hand over it, and chants a blessing Waterlily had taught him through the uncomfortable silence last afternoon. He can't look at her without embarrassing them both, so right now they are friends. Uncomfortable-silence sort of friends. ''So why can't you let it go? '' This is a battle he has been having with his mind all day when he drifts off while Waterlily is out hunting. ''Can I hug her?  No. Can I kiss her? '' Forget it. ''Can I tell her I love her? '' Not if you want to embarrass you both. He sighs and picks up the rodent and goes over to Waterlily. She is exactly how an angel would look, in Splash's mind. Her long, wavy golden hair, her petite frame, her ocean blue eyes. Splash can almost see the waves churning in her eyes. He now looks her straight in the eye and says, "Dinner." Waterlily grins happily and jumps up and kisses his cheek. Splash's heart races. When Waterlily pulls away her cheeks and nose are a light shade of cerise. Splash's ears are bright red in a guilty kind of happy. Waterlily looks away, her face still pink. Then she speaks slowly. "Um, I'm gonna go put this in the cave." she says, and sprints away, her hair billowing behind her. Splash sits down on a rock, cradling his head in his hands. How can I tell her I love her? he thinks miserably. ''How can I make her love me? '' Out of the corner of his eye, he can see a boy, not much older than him with a wooden spear sneak into his cave. Splash jumps up and grabs the trident beside him. In a second he is halfway towards to cave. He can hear a painful scream coming from the cave. Splash has only one thought. Waterlily. He reaches the cave in record time and takes in the scenario. Kimmt is standing over their supplies, loading all he can into his arms. Waterlily is barely conscious and slumped against the wall, a puncture wound in her ribs, and her hair bedraggled and drenched in sweat. He can see Waterlily mouthing one word: ''Help. '' Splash silently sneaks over to where Kimmt is standing. When he turns around, he is shocked so badly that he drops all of the supplies in his arms, making most of the supplies lay in a disarray around them. Kimmt just stands there, gaping, and unable to breathe. "No one lays a finger on my girl, you here?" Splash whispers coldly. Kimmt gulps and screams as Splash brings the trident down on his head. He tosses the body outside. Then he grabs some bandages and heads over to Waterlily, who is sitting straight up, and looking at him in awe and disbelief. When he reaches her, she lightly touches his face. "Splash, you just saved my life."

Story:
In Carabella's POV I watch the sunrise; the hues of yellow and orange flowing together in harmony. Are we like that? Why am I so protective? I am disgusted with Eric and myself. How could he do that to me? We both know that we like each other, and yet.... and yet we haven't pledged ourselves to each other. We can't date. No. That part of my life has been taken over entirely. How can you date in the arena anyhow? But we had a bond, you know? A bond that could have spread. Last night I mourned him not holding me in his arms. I waited until he was asleep, and then I climbed a tree and stayed there for a while. I had wanted more from him. A kiss. Not planned, just when I needed it most. Like how when I was 11, how I had dreamed of my first kiss. Little did I know it might happen, or might never happen in this arena. With a boy that, yes, I dreamed of dating, but now can't stand. What's up with that? We are fighting for a stupid reason, but I have a right to be angry. He has never held me like that. He soothed her, that slut of a girl from 2, like she was his fiance or something. He could have gotten me up. None of this would have happened. But I'll admit something- I miss him. When he wakes up and looks into my eyes, he sighs. "Well, Carabella. Pleasant to see you here." Thats what he calls me now. No more 'Cara'. No more of him blushing when he catches my eye. He treats me like I'm his freaking grandmother. Thats when I know I'm not going to be the first to apologize. .................................................. In Stephen's POV Her eyes are beautiful. And her hair. As black as a raven feather. And she's talking to me and I nod and say, "Yes. Mmm hmm." and stare intently into her eyes. Sometimes she looks at me strangely when I say that, when our topic was, "How many siblings do you have?" But then she laughs. The sound of tinkling bells fill my ears, and I find myself laughing also. I try to make her laugh all the time. I tell her all the jokes I know. I say her name over and over in different accents, and I'm rewarded with her whimsical giggles. But her eyes. When their on me, I feel like I'm on a stage. Where I feel confident and proud and say what I'm thinking without double-taking. I do stupid things for those eyes. I climbed a palm tree to the top, the whole time she bites her nails and yelps when I slip. We have a feast of coconut milk afterwards. She taps on my shoulder and whispers into my ear, "You are brave." Her eyes are locked in mine. I would do anything for Micy Cumput's eyes. ..................................................... In Odette's POV Me and Storm hike through the bushes. He slashes things aside with his knife. He woke up in a sweat, screaming, and I frantically tried to give him water. When he calms down, I asked him, "What's wrong?" and he responds, with a faraway look, "Dream." Instantly I know it is about Luna. Who else could it be? He told me once about that District 1 girl and how she killed her. Storm had some pret-ty violent thoughts about her. I tell him it'll be alright, and he believes me. But not this time. He tells me we have to find the Careers, and I know today someone's gonna die in Storm's hands. I feel reluctant to leave our waterfall. It was a brilliant campsite on my part. But we'd have to leave anyway. That kid from District 5, Dust, all they could show of him in his picture in the sky was ashes. He could have lit himself on fire just to commit suicide, but we all know that's not the way the Games work. He is in a rage even I can't pull him out of. If I get in front of him I am sure to be slaughtered by the way he swings his knife. I stay silent. I only reach out and tap his shoulder when I can see the Cornucopia in the distance, the streak of gold against the cloudy gray sky. A bad omen. We finally break into the clearing. Storm is breathing heavily. He turns to me and says, "We need to find those Careers. They have to die. My... my sister...." He doesn't continue, just turns away. "If you find one, kill them." Is all he says to me before he sprints to the Cornucopia. I walk slowly, cautiously, remembering how much people died at this place, how much blood is soaked into this ground. I tiptoe over the ground, and bite back a scream when I see a dark red patch of grass. But I still continue. We hunt for the Careers for a while around the Cornucopia. I try to convince him we should hunt away because they had probably moved campground. But he disagrees, shakes his head and tells me I am wrong. I sigh and hunt some more, but even though I am tough, I know in a few hours were both gonna be exhausted. Finally I hear a snoring noise. Storm must have seen my eyes perk up in alarm because he comes over to me and asks what i have found. "Someone is here... snoring," I tell him. His eyes widen. "Its... its coming from over there." I point to the east side of the Cornucopia, near the horn. He dashes towards it, me quick on his heels. He throws away each pack piling up near the center, with each throw the noise gets louder. He throws a bow that catches me totally off guard and I fall to the ground when the butt hits me square in the right temple. I moaning, I'm on the ground, I can't think, and my vision is fuzzy. I try with all of my willpower to look at him, and to see what he is doing. He has found the girl from 2. Storm lets out an angry scream that he has not found the girl from One and pounds his fists into the ground. The girl sits up and yawns, totally oblivious to her surroundings. I want to scream, but I can't. I just let the tears roll down my cheeks and try to be the good girl, like I have always had to be. Sweep the stables, Odette. Be respectful, Odette. Be-quiet-while-this-stupid-idiot-dies-in-front-of-your-eyes, Odette. The girl stands up, and wobbles over to Storm, who is head-over-heels a pathetic mess. She taps on his shoulder, and he looks into her face with a maniac look. "Um... I forgot." And she stands there stupidly. Her blonde locks now have gray streaks. Is she... drunk? Storm gets up, yells a cuss word, and then shoves the knife in her stomach. I close my eyes before she falls to the ground and saw the shocked look on her face. I sob and sob and sob. I can't really make the sounds come out, so I just choke on my tears. I see Storm pull the knife out of her body and walk over to me. I regain my voice and scream, "GET AWAY FROM ME! LEAVE ME ALONE!" I am so scared. I am more scared than the time I was reaped, or that night before the Games. I leans down and touches my cheek and a cannon fires. I am so afraid of his touch, so afraid that the cannon belonged to me, that I black out into a dreamless sleep. .......................................................... Cinder's POV I am slowly going insane. After the long run from the wall of fire, sent by the Gamemakers, I collapsed into a waterfall and fainted. I left Dust behind. I am such a heartless person. I cry even harder when they have nothing to show of him in the sky, just his ashes. I watch for signs of tributes, actually going to greet them gladly and ask them if they could put me out of my misery. I have given up on life. I can almost hear Dust calling my name in the sky. ........................................................... Splash's POV She kissed me. Last night. Behind the rickety tree next to the cave. She said it was repayment for when I saved her life from that kid from 11. It was light as a butterfly floating on our lips. The she hugged me, and I could smell her ocean scented hair. How does she do that? How is she so beautiful? She's fragile, though, that girl. She is athletic, but yet skinny and has fragile bones. She broke three of her ribs last night from that gash and sprained her spinal cord because he threw her against the wall. I thank my lucky stars she is still alive. I admit I jump at every noise there is, and that I always check beside me to see if she is still there. I do it for two reasons: To make sure she is still alive. Also to see if she is really there, looking up at me, and beaming, her long blonde locks falling perfectly on her shoulders. She has too much of a big heart for her own good. I tell her she is beautiful every ten seconds of the day, just so she can know that she is, and to make sure she knows I love her. She just nods and places her index finger on my lips, blushing a deep pink and smiling. When that doesn't work, she tries to silence me with a kiss. But that does not end my constant compliments over her hair and her smile and her eyes. She still hasn't figured out how to cease my voice. Not yet. I take her out to a picnic on a fleece blanket and luxury Capitol food, and something delightful sent by sponsors. I don't think she knew it was her birthday, so it was a huge surprise. The cake was a tiered cake with real and sugar waterlilys decorating the base and the layers of the cake. It was bright blue, the color of her eyes. It came in a big white box with a pink ribbon placed on top. On the top it reads: ''Waterlily Wave's 17th. '' She sits down and looks at me, beaming, her hair falling perfectly around her shoulders. Her bandages are wrapped around her ribcage underneath her shirt, making it look lumpy, but hey, it just makes her look tougher. She looks at me and asks, "Splash, why are we here?" I raise my eyebrows and reply, "Look in the box." She looks at me strangely and slowly unties the pink ribbon and then opens up the box and gasps. "Splash, it isn't....?" she looks bewildered. "Yes, Waterlily. Today you are seventeen." She looks at me, than the cake, than me, and back again. She bursts into tears and hugs me. "Thank you." She wipes the tears from her eyes as I take the cake out of the box and set it in front of us. I take the candles out of my pocket and light them with our last matches. We can ask sponsors for some later. Right now is a special moment. I light the candles slowly, seventeen and one for good luck, and look up. Waterlily is grinning widely as the flames dance in her eyes. I think of the girl I saw on the chariot, the one who wore the costume of a mermaid, pearls braided through her hair and the waterlilys. I remember how out of place she had looked in those Capitol clothes and yet how beautiful she was either way. But now I see how extraordinary she is than ever before, as she sits there with fire dancing in her ocean eyes. How I would never want her to change. She blows them out one by one, but hesitates on the good-wisher one. Then she nods, eyes closed, and blows out the last one. We watch as the smoke rises into the air, and then farther than we can see. She comes and sits next to me and hugs me hard. I look at her, this amazing beautiful girl, and I say to her, my hand under her chin, "Happy birthday." I lean in and she kisses me like she has never kissed me before, so passionate, so that right then, at that moment, I knew she returned my love. My burning, ashamed love I have kept for her for all these years. And then we're on the ground, and she's on top of me, and we just stop for a second, faces an inch apart. "Splash," she whispers, running her hand through my hair, "Do you no what I wished for?" "No," I whisper back, my hand caressing her face. "What did you wish for, little mermaid?" She laughs and sits upright, and I do as well. She hesitates, and then pulls me close. I put my hand on her back, on her golden, ocean smelling hair. "I wished for..." and then she stops. I see her face pale, as white as white can be. Her eyes have lost their churn. I look at her quizzically, and she gasps. "I... wished...," she chokes out, and then I see it. The spearhead protruding from her stomach, through the bandages. And she falls with a thud, and I can't think, can't hear, I just can't process through my brain that she is dying in my arms. I look around for the killer. Its a tall boy with dark skin and hair, with a red stripe that could be seen for miles. He is holding the hand of the pretty and mysterious girl from 3, the one with black hair and blue eyes. But not as blue as Waterlilys. Not for a million years. He looks at me, the spear slick with Waterlily's blood in his hand. The girl from 3 looks scared. I get angry. "LOOK, I KNOW YOU DID IT FOR THE GAMES. NOW GET OUT OF HERE BEFORE I CHOP YOUR F*CKING HEADS OFF!" That certainly scared them. I watch as they scurry away, whimpering. I notice I am standing up, fists clenched, and Waterlily is on the ground, bleeding fast, and gasping for air. I kneel down next to her, tears spilling over my eyelids. She recoils at my touch, but then lifts her head up and kisses me. I break away quickly. "No, no, you need your air, your going to live..." I'm speaking absolute nonsense. What am I thinking? "Splash... I'm going to heaven." she whispers touching my cheek and looking into my eyes. "I'm going to be an angel." "Waterlily, you are already my angel. Please stay with me." I beg her her. Her breathing is uneven, shallow. "... watching over you, and guiding you to win. But if you don't win," she stops looks at me in the eye. Her eyes are churning again. "I will still love you. And I will wait," she whispers, crossing her fingers over her heart. "I will wait forever." I cry, I sob into her shoulder. I feel like I'm two years old. The love of my life is slipping away from within seconds. I lift up my head and she is smiling a sad smile. "Splash, I wished for..." She winces, gasps one last time, and closes her eyes. And as her cannon fires, I know that they will never open again. I bring her body out to rest in the grass and leave her hands who they were, crossed over her heart. I kiss her lightly on the lips and back away and shout my thanks to her as she rises by the hovercraft which then takes her away to the Capitol. I sit on a rock and cry. I think about how unfair and cruel the world is. The Hunger Games. The Capitol. A teenage couple left to die. A seventeen year old girl dead on her birthday. I think about how she talked about saving me the last few days. How much she wanted me to live. How much I shook my head and said, 'No. You are going to win.' And then suddenly, with a burst of tears, I know what my girl's dying wish was.

Final 8 Interviews
Eric Loree  His parents and his little dark haired sister Emily arrive to his interview. The parents look overcome with sorrow and remorse, but Emily is literally bouncing on her toes with excitement. "Eric is very smart," says Emily, beaming into the camera. "I think he has a good chance, but I want him to protect Cara," she continues, her smile still bright. "He would always come home babbling about her, like 'Today Cara chose me to be her science partner', or, 'Going to school. Does my hair look okay? I don't want to look like a slob for her.' The audience laughs and Emily beams again. When they leave Emily is still talking but the parents leave mute. Carabella Button  A beautiful, tall, blonde woman walks on the stage wearing a waitress dress. She waves and winks into the crowd, and sits down all comfy. "Cara, darling," she begins, grinning into the camera, "You are my love and joy and my miracle of life. If you come home to me that will be the best present I ever got." A man in the audience roars, "I'll be your present, sweetheart!" The crowd laughs and whistles. "I am sorry to say I'm married, he's working late," she laughs at the whining in the audience. "Cara sweetie, take good care of yourself and Eric too. He's all you got." She leaves with applause. Micy Cumput  A family with black hair and bright blue eyes file onto the stage. They sit down and the younger brother jumps up immediately. "HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO MY SISTER, AND THEN ASK US TO CHEER HER ON WHEN SHE CAN'T EVEN HEAR US?!?!" he shouts angrily. The Peacekeepers jumps all around him and force him to his knees. They have large clubs and begin to beat him repeatedly. There is silence in the Capitol as the Peacekeepers beat the crap out of this sobbing little boy. When they finally get up and leave, the boy is laying on the ground, unconscious, barely breathing, and several ribs broken. Splash Blue  Splash's parents and sisters Bree and Gabby arrive. Everyone is silent, and the family tries to avoid looking at the sickening blood on the floor. Then Bree, the little perfect girl with a short bob of blonde hair starts to sing: I know we're apart But if you follow my heart I'll greet you where the stars shine Follow you, follow me As we ride 'cross the sea I'll greet you where you'll be mine. The Capitol audience applauds and Bree bows, flustered and pleased that they enjoyed her singing. Gabby joins in with her for the last verse of song. The parents hug the girls and shout, "Thank you, thank you all. I appreciate the sponsors that are helping us and Splash get through this mess." They leave to chuckles, crooning over the girl's singing, and furthermore applause. Cinder Sage  Her twin brother Flame arrives with his bow+arrows. He smiles when most of the audience looks threatened. Good, he thinks. ''Let them be scared. My sister wants to murder herself because of them. '' He steps over the dried blood, gagging. Then he stands in the center of the stage. "I want you all to imagine something," he says in a soft, yet loud voice. "Do any of you have siblings?" Most of the Capitol audience raises their hands. "What's your sibling's name?" he calls out to a middle-aged man raising his hand. "Eugenia." he belts. Flame calls on another man, older, in his mid-fifties. "Gazpacho." Flame holds in a laugh. These names are hilarious! But he needs to get his point across. He calls on yet another person, a woman. She is pencil skinny with long, red hair and amber eyes, stern and soft at the same time. She looks exactly like what Cinder would look like when she- or IF she ever grew up. She is raising her hand politely. Flame calls on her. "Marietta. I don't think I could continue life without her. She's my younger sister." AHA! He knew he could find someone. "Miss...?" he trails off, looking at her. "Miss Alba." "Miss Alba. If your sister was killed, how would you feel?" Miss Alba, thinks for a second, and then says, "Devastated. Upset. Grieved. Lonely." "How would you feel if she was sent into an arena where-" but he cannot continue. People are yelling at him in the Capitol audience, like, "GET HIM OFF THE STAGE!!!" or "HE'S LIKE THAT KID FROM 12's GIRLFRIEND LAST YEAR!!!" and "REBELLION! THEIR REBELS!" People throw multiple items at him, and he gets off the stage, cursing he has said nothing worthwhile. Stephen Whirlwind  No one can come. His parents are dead. He has no siblings. Odette DeLeany  Her little brother Aidan arrives with gallon of milk in his hand. "Um... hello," he says shyly. He blushes. The Capitol audience sighs over this beautiful boy. He sits in the stool and peers out into the lights. "My sister is pretty, don't you think?" he says in a southern accent. The audience shouts replies. "YES, SIR!" "HOTTIE, SHE IS!" or a high pitched whistle. Everyone has to agree. With Odette's long, silky blonde hair and her forever changing eyes, how could she not? Aidan continues. "Well, lately, she hasn't been pretty. And has not been doing pretty things," he waits for his words to sink in. "My sister was almost killed yesterday by a 12." The audience is silent. "She is currently knocked out, and being dragged around by him. Her face is scratched, and she is hurt. My sister. Mine." he wipes the tears that are building up. The audience can feel his plead, his pain. "District 10 is setting up a fundraiser. For Odette. My sister. Please help us. I don't want to lose her." he gets up from the stool and bows as the audience applauds politely. They whisper to each other, You gonna do it? The people of the Capitol cock their heads. For once, they are stumped by the districts of Panem. Storm Thorn  A young girl with long dark hair adorned with pink lilies arrives on the stage wearing a long, pale pink dress that reaches her toes and has long, billowy sleeves. Her face looks out of place, her eyes bloodshot, her cheeks blotchy. She is seething with rage. "I bet you all think my brother is a RAVING LUNATIC, DON'T YOU?" she yells into the audience. One of the audience member responds. "You seem one yourself, sweetheart. Now put on a face to match that pretty dress of yours." The crowd roars with laughter. "You think you're all so funny, don't you?" she says in a quieter voice. "Why don't you try losing your older sister and father in one week and then having almost a sliver of a chance of you're brother coming home." The words start coming fast. Storms younger sister is wearing this dress because its.... her father's funeral. "My father was killed in an explosion yesterday," she sobs. "I was pulled out here from his funeral to support Storm. If he doesn't win, then I don't know what I'll do." The audience is quiet. The sister starts getting angrier. "YOU SIT AROUND, WATCH MY BROTHER AND SISTER DIE LIKE ITS SOME KIND OF GAME," she screams, her eyes holding enough fire to burn down a forest in ten seconds flat. "YOU WILL BE PUNISHED," she continues, and raises a hand out towards the sky. Lightning cracks above her. "The curse of the Storm has been set on the Capitol. President Primrose," she says, looking above to the balcony where she sits. The President is red with anger. The scarlet her face holds matches her burgundy evening dress she wears, along with a matching purse. "Oh, oh my President, only you know how to lift the curse," she smiles wickedly. "LET. THE. TRIBUTES. OUT." The sister seems to have blown the presidents last fuse. "AFTER HER!" she shrieks, almost toppling from her seat. White dashes everywhere, grabs the sister from every angle and brings her to the torture chamber. The square is silent. The only thing heard is the presidents breathing, angry and huffy. The cameramen do not know what to focus their cameras on, the lighting crew has no idea where to put the spotlights. "Crew," President Primrose speaks in a low voice, "Delete that last clip. Make her seem happy about this whole concept. NO. CURSE. You are all disbanded." She turns to the Capitolites. "Now people, is that what you want? Don't you think we should put them under a little more control?" "Yes!" echoes the citizens. Primrose smiles broadly. "You are to go back to your homes. Forget about this. Make yourself a cup o' sugar." The citizens laugh and leave. But President Primrose is worried. As the lightning crackles above her head, she knows, somehow, killing that one little sister isn't going to do the Capitol any good at all.

Newscast Report at the Capitol
"Hello, I'm Fiesta Virgo here with the weather report." the reporter tries to smile large as the wind blows around her like a tornado. She wonders if her skirt is to short and might fly up while she's talking, and cautiously places a hand at her side. She holds a large microphone in her free hand. "Houses have been ripped from the ground in the worst parts of town. Trees been teared up by their roots. The Capitol," she lowers her voice sinisterly, "has been cursed." Suddenly her cameraman, Louie, screams. "HEADS UP!" They both duck as a large SUV soars over their heads and lands with a deafening crunch. They both get up and stare at the cracked concrete. "THE STREETS ARE DANGEROUS. I REPEAT." Fiesta stares up at the sky and shrieks. "LOOK!" The face of a girl, pale, with large dark brown eyes hovers in the clouds. Instantly, everyone knows it is the face of Luna Storm. Her pink lips are forming words, but only some are heard. "LOUIE, ARE YOU CATCHING THIS? THIS COULD BE OUR BIG SCOOP!" she squeals, and Louie points the camera at the sky. "Killed in the arena... rebellion approaching... curse... heed... warning..." Fiesta screams into the camera, "DID'YA SEE THAT? THAT WAS ONE OF THE DARNEST--" but she is cut off. She is cut off because another car flies on over and hits her head with a loud crack. Blood spurts everywhere, including Louie's clothes and camera lens. An ambulance swerves around the corner to try to recover the seventeenth patient with a lost cause. Other deaths happen that day in the Capitol. President Primrose sits behind her desk biting her nails. The only thing that brings a bitter smile to her face is when Fiesta's "glamorous" bejeweled neon green hairdo gets ruined by a piece of metal. ..........................................

Day 5- Day of Hell
In Stephen's POV I rummage through our packs in search of food, only to discover we're running low on everything. Micy is by the palm tree, sleeping. I have found that whenever Micy kills someone, or takes place in a killing, she can get emotional. After killing the female from the couple of 4 last night, Micy was hysterical. She cried for hours, and my soothing words or holding her in my arms didn't help either. She's quiet now. Her eyes no longer bloodshot, her face no longer sticky with tears. I realized last night how much I hate to see her cry, how much I hate to see her in despair. I here a noise behind me. My heart thumping with adrenaline, I edge my hand to my pocket, and grab my knife. I whirl around and come face to face with electric blue. I yelp and trip onto our backpacks. Micy stares at me for a second, while I'm blushing, because who screams in front of your girl? She reaches out a hand, and I take it and she pulls me up. She's strong, not doubt. She looks at me, in the eye, and says, "Stephen. Do you love me?" Yes, I want to say. I love your personality, your heart, your eyes, your everything. Yes. But I hear a rumbling noise. From underground. I get down and press my ear to the dirt. I am no fool. Something is coming out from the ground, coming to get us. I pick her up and I run. As fast as I can. Through the forests, past the streams, leaving our hopes of winning behind. All I care about is giving Micy safety. Suddenly, vines reach down and snatch us and were shooting from the ground. I can feel myself being ripped from Micy's arms. The vines throw me into a glass tube near the ground. My head is throbbing, and I think might have a concussion. I can see Micy in a similar tube across from me, crying and banging on the walls. She mouths towards me: ''I love you. '' I love you. I look to my right, and see a pale girl with long, dirty blonde hair. Her eyes are teal. Then a sea green. She has an ugly gash on her left temple. She looks scared, so scared. I look around and see all eight tributes are here, all bruised and scarred, all afraid. There are an even amount of boys and girls. Some are crying, some are attempting to fight their way out of the tube. As we shoot down into the ground, into the blackness, I know one of us has offended the Capitol in some way. That we are all doomed. ....................................... "Miss Primrose, darling, the tributes are here." "Thank you, Geneive, you may let them in." I watch as the eight handcuffed and shackled tributes file in, one by one, all glaring at me with hatred. I grin back, motion them to sit down on the couch. They all look uncomfortable, sitting down with the people they were trying to kill for the past four days. Splash, the gorgeous boy with the blue eyes is resisting the urge to strangle the boy from Six, Stephen. Cinder, the girl from 5, who lost her boyfriend in the wall of fire I sent, is staring off into the distance, is not looking at anyone. Storm, the one who has the insane sister who set the curse on my beautiful, perfect Capitol is trying to comfort the girl with the changing eyes. She is trembling. I saw what that boy did to her. Not pleasant. The boy from 1 looks at me in the eye and says, point-blank, "What do you want from us?" They all stare at me with lifeless eyes, hollow hearts, and for a second, I think about letting them go back home. I forget why they are here. But then I remember the pain my Capitol faces. How badly they must hurt for their doings. "YOU." I stick my finger out at Storm, put my finger under his chin. I survey him. Looks exactly like his sisters. "Your little ass of a sister comes to your interview. Puts a curse on the Capitol. You are in BIG trouble." His forehead crinkles up. "What... curse? Where is my father?" "Dead," I see him gasp, trying to fight his tears. "Died in a mine explosion." I let him go, let my words sink in, and turn to the other seven. "The curse is a rampaging storm that blows over cars, lifts houses from where they stand. Luna's face-" I have to stop because Storm gasps again. "-appeared in the sky yesterday during a newscast report. Its wiped out nearly a fourth of the city over the past week. And who do you think people look up to?" I don't wait for them to answer. "ME," I answer for them. "Because I am the president. I make the rules. It is my job to punish people who step out of line." I slowly drag my finger across my throat to prove my point. "Got it?" The tributes nod solemnly. They know the consequences. I nod to Storm. "Come with me." I order Geneive to guard them, make sure they don't go and kill themselves. That girl from 5 looked pretty intent about jumping out the 6-story window. We walk outside. Storm trails behind me. I gesture for him to stand beside me. The walk to his sister's cell is about 10 minutes, and I intend to see what his game plan is for the Hunger Games. "So, you got anyone special back home?" He reddens. "No," "How about you and Odette?" "She's... she's a..." he scrunches up his face in thought. He had hurt her bad yesterday. Was she even a friend anymore? "Do you love her?" He droops his shoulders. "I... I guess. I mean, she's all I got. I love her as a sister, I... I think." He gets sad. "But I lost control that other day. I wanted to kill that girl from 1 so badly, for killing my sister Luna. I was mad I didn't find her, so I killed Minnie and hurt Odette in the process. So now she hates me, and I love her, and everything... everything is a mess." I sigh. Knew it. "Love is confusing." He looks me in the eye. "Miss Primrose, I don't mean to be offending, but for once you are right." We walk in silence, me in shock. Exsqueeze me? We reach the cell that holds his sister captive. We step inside. The girl still wears her beautiful dress, but the flowers embedded in her hair are wilted, and a pale glow emits around her. When she sees Storm, her face lights up. "Brother!" she squeals, and runs toward him, but I stop her with my hand. "Step away, girlie." She slowly steps back, growling. Quickly I take out my knife and hold it to Storm's throat. He winces and shudders. She stops, her mouth rounded in a perfect O. "END THE CURSE, OR YOUR BROTHER WILL DIE." She falls to her knees. "Please Miss Primrose, it can only be reversed if you let the tributes out. Please don't kill him, please." She's crying now, begging me. I tilt my head. "What about if I let two tributes win the Hunger Games?" She thinks about this. "Then one fourth of the curse would be lifted. It would be fine, but rainstorms or snowstorms would be disastrous." I sigh. "Well, then thats all I got. But your staying here. For a while." I take the knife from Storms neck and thrust it in my pocket. We walk back in silence. When we reach the door there is shouting. I quickly open the door. What a scene. Carabella and Splash are having a huge argument over something, and Micy and Stephen are kissing. Because of all the noise, Cinder is rocking on the ground with her hands over her ears, tears spilling over her eyes. Eric is holding a bloody knife-- oh no. He stands over a limp figure in a fatal position on the ground with a slit throat, which Odette is trying to revive. Oh crap. I stomp to the dead Geneive on the floor, and all chaos stops. I bend down. She's dead. I look at Eric. "You killed her?" he stares at me with dead, scared, unmoving eyes. I take out my own knife and slash through his throat. He falls, shaking. Carabella screams. I look at all of them. "Next time you kill my receptionist, your dead. Two tributes can win these games. Yes, you are going back in." Cinder starts rocking again. "You will go in tomorrow, and be released where you were when we caught you." I look at them for good measure. I call up my two bodyguards, Burly and Brick. Their two super strong muscular guys who can probably handle seven kids. I leave Geneive on the floor. The dead body can wait. I walk to my house, contented, realizing now since another tribute is killed, the storms will be now be less disastrous by 37.5 %.

Day 6: Back to the Arena
In Micy's POV Everything is a mess. Odette and Storm are not gonna ally together now probably, Cinder's probably gonna commit suicide as soon as we get in, and Carabella's lost her district partner due to Miss Prissy, the president, who, quite frankly, is the prissiest person I have ever met. She asks me, "Darling, are you feeling alright? You look a little green." I have to bite my tongue, hard, to resist the urge to respond in a girly, giggly voice: "Oh no, Miss Prissy. I just am about to jump into an arena where everyone is going to kill me, is all!" I told Stephen about this, yesterday, while Eric was slaughtering the receptionist. No one really cared about her. She was a pain anyway. I told him how I felt. How scared I am. How much I long for my family. Storm is so lucky he gets to see his sister. How I long to hold my brother in my arms. He looks into my eyes, nodding, the whole time. His eyes never drift away, he never fidgets. How can he do that, when I asked him if he loved me two days ago? He can see right through me, that boy. Can tell me what I'm feeling, even when I don't know myself. I love him. Not much yet, but I do. Like a flower bud slowly opening, waiting for more water, more nutrients to grow, to be healthy. Stephen is my nutrients. My faith lies in his hands. My heart pounds when I'm talking to him. Whenever I trail off, he nods and takes my hand, strokes my palm with his soft, callused fingers. And he presses his forehead against mine, telling me I am beautiful. I am strong. To me, he will never die. We were talking again last night. I stopped. I remembered there was a question still unanswered. "Do you love me?" He looks at me for a second, looking for traces of false on my face. He caresses my face and pulls me close, so close I am almost on top of him. I don't resist. I have been waiting for this. "I love you like a robin loves his eggs, like a fisher and his rod. Micy, I would do anything for you. I would die for you. You, to me, are the most beautiful goddess the world has ever known. I love you." He looks at me to see if I understand. I do. And I start crying, because loving someone is the biggest responsibility you can commit to. Love is a beautiful thing. And I want to experience it. And to my surprise, he starts crying to. I hug him, and he hugs me and we sob. Then he moves his head so that my lips are pressed to his, and I just kiss him. And kiss him, and kiss him. Because I love him. I really, truly do. Now I am stuck on a helicopter, flying over our arena again, Stephen clutching my hand. We all have parachutes on and goggles. A flight attendant shows us how to use the parachutes by pulling two cords, one blue and one red. Suddenly, the helicopter lurches. "Cinder's place!" Miss Prissy squeals like she's gone and won herself a new sports car. She puts a hand on Cinder's trembling back and leads her to an attachable door. Cinder's red hair whirls around as gusts of wind is let in. When Cinder doesn't jump, Primrose says, "Well, off you go, sweetheart!" and pushes her out. Cinder screams so loudly that the helicopter shudders. Her piercing shriek keeps going and going. I wonder if she's going to kill herself, either because she wants to or because she's so freaked out she can't get ahold of the cords. I grip Stephen's hand, hard, wincing at how much pain she's going through, how much pain we'd be going through in a few hours. I find myself unable to control a sudden aching headache. I throw up all over Miss Prissy's new purple velvet dress with roses as black as ivory. She looks down at her dress and screams, shocked. I tumble back into the other tributes, fainting, so tired, so woozy.... .................................... Odette's POV After Micy threw up over President Primrose, she stormed into the back to change into new clothes, mumbling about prices and wages. She knows she can't kill another tribute, my guess is because the Capitol audience would think it be unfair for her to kill us without any cameras watching. Cinder had used her parachute, as I was watching her as she free-fell towards the mud and trees that was our arena. Soon afterwards Micy and Stephen were dropped off and Stephen had to attach her to his parachute because she was knocked out. Then we flew over to the desert, where Splash jumped off, and finally we came to the wheat field where that girl from 1 gracefully dived into the open air. And now it is just me, Storm, and the flight attendant here in the back of the helicopter. I do not meet his eyes. I don't know what I'll do without him as an ally, but I'll get on, I hope. I remember how scared I was, and it has scarred me. Like a gash on my arm. It can be treated and taken care of, but when exposed improperly, the blood will just start coming again. Storm just stares me down. I determinably look at the sunrise. I looked at myself in the mirror yesterday. My dirt matted hair, unclean fingernails, and my pale, hollow face looked so wrong on me. I tried scrubbing my hair with soap, washing my hands, and washing my face, but everything stayed. Nothing changed. And soon I was crying on the floor, sobbing because I will never look the same. Never will I be happy again. I will never see mom's or Aidan's face ever again. I ignored the solemn, slow knocking that I knew was Storm's. But I can't trust him. Maybe he's coming back to rape me. Soon, the flight attendant says in her sugar-sweet voice, "Storm and Odette's stop!" I am deeply jealous of her. She has long, bouncy, flirty waves that rest on her shoulders, hazel eyes with long eyelashes, and is tall with the perfect figure. Yet, I know this is not her body. I do not know how I know this, but I do. "Miss, how much money did you pay for your body?" She looks at me strangely. "Excuse...?" "Your chest is totally fake. You had a nose job, your hair dyed... and you obviously had some serious surgery on your butt." Her mouth is open in an angry shock, and Storm is rolling on the floor laughing. Somehow, I like that my voice is getting his attention. But then again, I don't. I stroll over to the compartment door, and slide it open. I've always been a little afraid of heights, but I jump. I feel surge of excitement rush through my body, feel my stomach jump into my throat as I plunge down, down, down. I see the colors whiz by as I journey down and I reach out to touch them, but then their gone in a flash. And suddenly I remember the cords. I fumble for them, and with and suddenly I'm stricken with shock. I left the parachute on the plane. I scream and scream, but I know its a lost cause. I just keep falling. I will never stop. Then I feel arms closing around me. I yell and kick, but the arms are firm, and won't let go. Please, Storm, I beg him telepathically. ''Please don't kill me. '' I squeeze my eyes shut as we hit the ground. As I stand up, his arms are still around me. And I remember that moment back at the waterfall when he hugged me. I realize I've never given him the chance to explain or apologize. And with a surge of happiness, I realize he doesn't have to. I turn around jump into his arms and kiss him, long and romantic. I let go and he's just grinning his head off like he's won a million dollars. "That's for saving my life," I say, perched on tiptoe. "Come on, we have to find shelter." I turn around so he can't see I'm smiling. And I know he's smiling right back, glad to have me in his arms again.

WARNING: The following content may not be appropriate for children below 11 years old.
Carabella's POV When I got dropped in the wheat field, I almost cried. I never got to apologize to Eric. We never made up. I never got the kiss I've been waiting for so long. I sit down in the wheat, close my eyes, and rock myself to sleep. I realize I feel how much pain Cinder feels, only maybe more, considering my wound is fresher. I feel less than human. When I wake up, the sun is rising at its peak. With by dirty and splintered fingers I feel the dark rims around my eyes, my thin chapped lips. I rise from the wheat and almost fall over. I am so exhausted from being afraid. I am about to just lay in the wheat forever, until someone finds me and kills me or if I could just stay there forever until I died of thirst. But a silver parachute floats down, slowly, and I embrace it with outstretched hands. I take out the beautiful silver bow, so shiny that I am mesmerized by it. Carvings of flowers and trees adorn the bow. The string is tightened and painted gold. Engraved on the body of the bow is the word: ''Faith. '' I set down the bow and take out the quiver. It is the skin of a cow, embroidered with the word Hope. I smile and brush oncoming tears with the back of my hand away and stand up with the two items. I know I am on a mission, for some reason. Only I have no idea what it could be. I walk towards the bright dawn, the multi-colored sunset warming me with fresh sunshine. I don't where I am going, but I will let Hope and Faith lead the way for me. ........................... Stephen's POV Love. Love, love, love, love. My favorite word. I say it every day, to the rainforest, the trees, the water, the food, and Micy. I yell it to her, tell it to her, sing it to her. I whisper in her hair, "Micy, I love you. I love you like a bird loves it's seeds, like a flower loves it's color-" Until she whirls around, those eyes filled with tears, and she chokes and tackles me, kisses me passionately, and I sit up and embrace her face, one hand caressing her cheek and one hand lingering on her back. I always find myself stroking her long, silky hair, out of love, not out of habit. Oh, Micy. Oh, love. Since that day when I first had kissed her, she always has wanted to explore the world of love. She pops out from nowhere and kisses me, and I drop whatever I'm holding and kiss her back. She strange, though, my clever love. Whenever I kiss her, I always open me eyes and see blue everywhere. She kisses with her eyes wide open, fascinated that the kiss is meant for her. And I get sad then, because she is my everything. If I win, I will mourn her all my life and never get over it. I will have no family to go home to. Micy will go home to her family, forget about me, and probably meet someone new. Which only makes me tell her I love her more often and kiss her more than I have done. So as she sleeps soundly on my stomach, her hair long and black, I smile at the exchange we had earlier. "Micy, do you know what I see when I look into your eyes?" She grins to herself, turns a little pink, and looks my way. I can't help but look at her more closely. She has become more... human, more feminine over the past few days. She is herself, she laughs, the noise of a music box, she sings songs of birds and disappointments and peace and hope and love. She tells me her favorite animal is a monkey. She blurted it out one day during lunch, when we were dining on roast chicken. "Stephen, I like monkeys." She had said in a calm, rather ordinary voice. I looked at her and rolled over and started laughing. She looks at me, a strange look on her face, and then starts giggling and soon she's wrapped in my arms and we're just grinning at each other and she sighs and rests her head in the crook of my neck, tells me I am a monkey myself. I tell her she is the blue of my cornflower. She shakes her head, laughing to herself. "What, Stephen?" And she drags me back to reality. Her head is cocked, her pale legs crossed. I sidle next to her, feel her arm next to mine. I take her palm, open it up, trace a heart in her palm. "I see enough love to hold up the world." This comment is not supposed to be directed at me, but at her family, the districts, the world. She smiles to herself, starts a sentence, and then stops. She moves so she is facing me. "Why do you love me so much?" I smile sadly. She doesn't get my unexplainable love for her. Why I am crazy for her kiss every day. Why I am so obsessed. Why she doesn't love me as much as I love her. "It's because I was waiting for love for so long, Micy. I have no parents, no siblings, never had a girlfriend. I was a very angry person once, Micy," I scoot a little closer to her. "You made me see the love, see the beautiful in the world, show me there's always a sunnier day. You crept up on me, Micy," I continue, and she blushes as I scoot closer. "And forgive me, because sometimes I thank the Lord that you killed that kid from 7 because I would never have found you. I would never have loved." She strokes my hair, blinking slowly, smiling happily. I then ask her, "Micy, can we go... you know, further than kissing? It's just that... I love you so much, and it only seems right..." She places a finger on my lips, shakes her head. "Wait for a while," she whispers. "Then we'll see." Oh, Micy. If only you saw that waiting longer would make our relationship cut short. Oh, love. ........................ Splash's POV I hike. Look for food. Run my leathery hands through my graying hair that used to be blonde. Eat. Sleep. Wake. Losing Waterlily was like losing my soul. I sobbed for hours, cradled my head in my hands because there were so many things I didn't tell her, like the way my heart jumped whenever I saw those eyes. Those eyes are a burning image isolated in my mind, a fierce reminder of how I could have saved her, how my love could still be laughing with me, hunting with me, kissing me. I promised myself something rather strange that night. I promised myself not to kill her murderer. Because I know his own love, Micy from 3, would be like me. Barely living. A hair away from dying. I will not let that happen to me. I try to hold my head high, remind myself the end is not near, not yet. I want to die a peaceful death, not like a spear thrust through my chest, but like eating a berry that would end my life with the snap of my fingers. I also promised myself something else. That I would never love someone again like I did with Waterlily. She was special, my angel, my mermaid. I can imagine her laughing and pulling me towards the sky, her white gown glowing and her wings pale pink feathers. ''Come on Splash, hold on, the ride may be bumpy, but success is always near... '' I now approach a dense wheat field, and I am so happy, so thankful for the wheat. I run towards it, snap a piece off and chew it. A wonderful flavor. I feel like I am rejoicing with peace, with nature. I throw my fist up to the sky and do a little dance. I feel the energy surge through me, the happiness, the hope. And I know my mourning is over. ....................................... Storm's POV At last. At last I can express the feelings towards Odette, the warm, cinnamon-sweet feelings I have barricaded myself from since we've allied. When she kissed me, I felt alive, I felt protected from harm with her arms wrapped around mine. I realized she cared. She loves me. She runs about, offers hunting time, offers to guard for the longer shift every single night. I smile warily, I tell her I would never want my goddess to die because I couldn't stay awake for her. We argue until sunset, and then she gives up, and tells me I'm impossible. I hug her from behind, rock her, feel her burning cheeks next to mine. I then tell her, "If keeping you alive means being impossible, than I'll love you for eternity while being just that." She sighs and kisses me lightly on the cheek, and we stand like that for 5, 10, maybe 15 minutes. I find myself whispering the conversation President Primrose and I had while going to see my sister. About how I told her about Odette and how I had discovered I loved her. And although I am slightly embarrassed, I continue. I tell her about my ragged younger sister Lea, the wilted flowers still intwined in her hair, her best evening gown in shreds. I tell her of the things passing through my mind when I had hurt her. She shudders. Finally I can hear her soft breathing, a sign she is asleep. I smile, carry her over to our tent. I lay her down, and run a hand over her forehead. I wince, and pull my hand away. Intense heat lingers over my hand. I feel her forehead again, this time not pulling away. I realize Odette is sick. I run to our supplies, angered to find there are no pills left, only gauzy bandages. I curse the world, and turn around to see if she is disturbed by my rummaging. She breathes still soft; a low, unheard lullaby. I almost burst into tears. Everything is so frustrating. I just want her to live, to be alive. Is that too much to ask? I finally shred some fabric off my shirt and dunk it in our water supply. I wring out the water and walk over to her. I kneel down, and run my fingers through her hair, and brush away a lock of blonde hair lingering over her eyes. She opens her eyes, smiles small at me. Her eyes never leave mine. "Hey, girl," I whisper, setting the cloth gently on her forehead. "Storm, what...?" She says, confused. But she lets out a relieved gasp when the cold rag is brought to her. "You... have a... fever..." And before I know it, I'm sobbing. I wail and rock on my feet. Odette gets up, alarmed, but but her arms around my neck. "If you really think I'm gonna go that easily, than you have no hope, Storm," I hug her. I just can't let her die. She is too beautiful, too kind. I love her too much. I realize that she is comforting me for her own death. "Storm, I will never leave this world without warning you. My time hasn't come yet." She kisses my lips and I am still shaking with sobs. "You know what I love?" she asks me. "What?" I wipe the tears from my eyes. I am not a coward. "That your crying for my sake... your crying because you love me." "Of course, Odette. Why wouldn't I love you?" She grins. Suddenly, the ground starts to shake. I kiss her cheek and stand up. Last time the ground shook huge tubes attacked us. I examine the sky, check the surrounding jungle. That's when I hear Odette's scream. "STORM!" she screams, and I whip my head around. An enormous glass wall erupts from the ground, separating me and Odette. I run towards it, but I know its too late. It has reached 100 feet in seconds. I slam against the wall, kick, scream, pound against the solid, transparent glass. Odette sits on the ground, hands wrapped around her knees, tears streaming down her face. She shakes her head, and mouths, ''It's too late, Storm. Too late. '' But I run back to supplies and grab a spear, and charge the wall. As soon as I make contact with it, it shoots me back, spits me out, and I slam against a palm tree. I am not hurt. I am too distraught to be hurt. I check the wall. Not even a dent. I pace around, thinking deeply. How can I reach her? Will I ever kiss her again? I look back at her. Her pale, clammy hand is pressed against the glass. I run to her and sit down. I press my hand right where hers is. And then I start crying again.

Day 8: The "Feast"
"Ladies and gentlemen, tributes of all ages, how are you making out there?"  Wendell Templesmith's large, cheerful voice booms across the arena as all of the tributes look up in confusion, anger and shock. They yawn and stretch, waiting for the news in exhaustion. What more torture could the Gamemakers and Miss Primrose plot for them? Who's death will come next? "We're certainly doing well up here!" More chortles from Templesmith. The tributes are fairly annoyed, and Storm is to busy ramming the wall with various items to listen. "In fact, last night's poached quail eggs with the soy sauce was simply-" He pauses, and the tributes can hear a fierce argument over the microphone. Finally they can the fading sound of clicking heels and Templesmith sighing deeply. "Whatever you say, Miss Primrose," he sulks. '"In honor of the Second Games, we will hold a rather important feast." ' With hearing the news, the tributes turn their heads, and look nervously at their allies. The feast would mean danger and gruesome deaths guaranteed. It also meant risk for them, their partners, and their families. Others are jumping to their feet, eager to get going. But Templsmith clears his throat, cutting them off. "HOWEVER," he speaks in a low, ominous tone, '"There is a twist to this feast. Take the risk and you may get your most needed items, or you could face a very violent death. Stay back, and you may miss out on the things that could make you win."  "The feast will be held at twilight at the Cornucopia today. Make the right decision." ' ................................................... Stephen's POV I don't know what to think. We have finished off our meager supply of food since yesterday, and have scoured the jungle in search of game, only to find litters of rat bones. But I don't want Micy to get hurt. She's the best thing that has ever happened to me in a very long time, since my life, since the Games. I think about what life would be like without her. Just thinking about me winning the Games with some other tribute, with Micy gone, speared and begging for death. I can imagine myself turning depressed with nothing to live for. Nothing. Only a shred of hope that in my dreams she would appear in my dreams, smiling with her eyes, blue as azure, and her being as blissful as a butterfly. And then she shakes me, and I resurface. "Stephen, what are we going to do?" she asks, eye widened. How could I put her through this pain? How could I watch her die at the Cornucopia and be powerless over my stupid, reckless decision? "Baby, were not going. We can't. I can't risk this for you. Some will die at the Cornucopia. Then we could kill off the survivors." Her brow furrows and her eyes get upset. Ever since she killed Jeron from 7, she has avoided ambushes and plans to murder as much as possible. "But what about food?" Micy exclaims. I think to myself, and then come up with a plan. Betraying, yes. Horrible, yes. But it will help us survive. Out of the corner of my eye I see a large silver parachute cascading down the forest trees, a moonbeam in the dark night. I rush over to it and take in our sponsored food. A medium-sized bag of fresh red apples, promising to last three days, but only one water bottle. I sigh. I'm so thirsty, and yet.... I walk back to our campsite, and Micy rushes over to me, eyes wide. "Are you okay? What did you see?" She is checking me for wounds. I laugh and finally recognize my own love reflecting off of her. "No, I'm good, baby. I found some sponsors, though." I flash her a smile and raise the apples and the water. She claps in delight at our food, but scowls at the water bottle. "Are they really serious? How could they send so much food-" she begins angrily. But she stops herself, and takes a deep breath, and smiles. But then she turns a slight shade of green, and her grin descends to a wavered, forced, tight-lipped expression. "Micy-?" I start, but she turns around and vomits. I stand in shock for a second, then I rush to her aid, and cradle her in my arms. She is breathing hard, but she doesn't have a fever. She keeps saying her stomach is killing her. I am suddenly about to kill us both, when a tiny piece of paper flutters down from the sky like an angel feather. I reach out for it and pluck it from the sky, and read the tiny instructions scrawled across by my mentor Earnest Heal: '1. Give Micy the water.  2. Leave her in a pile of leaves. Cautiously conceal her.  3. Go to the feast. ' I stare at the directions quizzically. Does he mean that I would be killing her? Does he want me to poison my love? But then my mind catches my breath as I realize, ''Then why would he want me to hide her? It has to mean she'll still be alive and well... I should trust my mentor... '' I get the water bottle, and tell her to drink. She shudders and brings out her arms and drinks thirstily. Then the water bottle falls to the ground with a thump and she is snoring softly in my arms. I smile at her petite, fragile figure- and cringe at how easy it would be now to slit her throat. I carry her to an area concealed by pine needles, maple leafs, and oak branches. I rest her body down on a soft patch of grass and gather palm leaves- so giant it would cover up half of her body. After layering the leaves on top of her, I stroke her silky black hair, and kiss her lips, so badly praying it would not be my last. Then, I grab my spear, and off I go. .......................................................... Cinder's POV At the announcement, I smiled at Wendell's cheeriness. And then I realized something myself. I've realized that District 5 is watching me at home, sighing at my failure, sighing at my weakness. I imagine Flame watching our old TV screen intently, searching for signs of me coming home. I smile, realizing him being grouchy over me being so hungover a boy. I stand up abruptly. I realize that I have no supplies, but all of a sudden, I don't care. I find myself racing through the woods, not tripping, not falling, but flying. I can feel red feathers sprouting from my arms, matching my hair, which probably looks like someone lit my head on fire. I grin, reach towards the sky- I can almost touch a cloud- ........................................................ Carabella's POV I was so absorbed by the loveliness of the forest, the flowers, every hue- the birds, every tune- that I began to hum an old song about love we would sing at a wedding. You are so lovely- like a Jewel! With a hue of red and gold; Your eyes are Diamonds, Your hair has whispered things to me- That Jade has never told. Pearls would replace your snow white skin If you were made of Gems; But If I had to choose Rubies over you, I would not choose them. I then start to sing the lyrics, then bolt them. I raise my arms and sing to the trees, sing to the grass, sing to Panem. I feel like the whole world is singing, ringing in my ears: ''You are so lovely- like a Jewel! '' All of a sudden, something slams into me, and I can hear my ribcage wince as I rocket backwards and fall into a small spring. I cough and choke, and check myself. Have I broken anything? No. Do I have a concussion? No. Do I have some serious bruises? Yes. I feel the shadow over my head, and I slowly lift my chin, gripping Hope and Faith so hard that my knuckles are white. I lift my eyes and let out a breath when my eyes find the warm brown ones belonging to a girl with hair the color of ginger. I glare. Cinder. She holds my gaze for a moment, looking as innocent as a baby doe, her eyes widened. I am shocked, because she is not the girl I knew in the receptionist room two days ago. She seems free of fear and woe, of the voices in her head that ate away at her soul. She only looks confused, and speaks one word. "Career?" I feel my eyes well up with tears. Yes, I want to say. At least eight days ago. How stupid I must look, my clothes drenched in the muddy water, gripping a bow that must make me look like a hobo on the side of the road, sticking out his thumb on the highways. I think about my mother, and how much I miss her. I want to say yes. I open my mouth, confident, and- No sound comes out, just a wail. Suddenly I'm gripping my knees, sobbing my heart out, not just for me, but for Panem, for Eric, for my mom, and for Cinder. Out of the corner of my eye, I see a blurry image of Cinder sighing, then dipping her toes into the water. She walks over to me, as graceful as a swan, and sits down, right next to me. I just keep crying, and rocking in the water. She slowly puts her arm around my shoulder, I hug her, and she is tense and confused at first, but then hugs me back. And soon, we're just two young girls sobbing in the middle of a muddy spring, somewhere in hell. .......................................... Twilight arrives suddenly. Last minute tributes race through the trees, goosebumps raised defiantly on their pale skin. Treetops sway. Inside the Gamemaker Control Room, chaos rumbles as President Primrose shrieks. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN THERES NO FOOD?!?!" she screams, poking Gamemaker Moviepopcorn in the chest. "There's... no... food...?" he replies shuddering in a small voice. Miss Primrose stomps around the room, screaming, as Gamemakers Rosella, Raeoki, and Leshawna watch. Gamemaker Moviepopcorn raises his hand. Primrose sighs and rolls her eyes. "What?" He gulps and smoothes out his shirt. "Well, um, a rat invasion ate our food for the feast." He pauses as Primrose mumbles about setting poison gases in all nooks and crannies. "But I have an idea to make the Games go faster. How about we ditch the food, and set up a hologram looking like the food? They will all meet at the Cornucopia, and realizing there is none, kill each other." He stands straight, looking pleased, as Leshawna and Raeoki clap enthusiastically. Rosella pauses to take notes. Primrose narrows her eyes. "Fine," she mumbles. She turns to walk away, but turns back. "How much do I pay you again?" His eyes light up, and he grins. A pay raise? "10 cents, Miss." "Ah. That's a fine amount." She walks out cheerful. These Games need to end. The storm had killed ten more people over the course of two days. However, Moviepopcorn stands awkwardly while Raeoki, Rosella, and Leshawna snicker. How foolish was he, thinking Primrose, as selfish as she is, give him a pay raise? He folds his arms and sends a death glare at the others. ....................................................... 11:58 p.m. Splash squats behind a shrub, clutching his trident. His eyes, once a playful shade of blue but is now as cold as winter ice, scans the perimeter around the Cornucopia, and sees no one. His remembers Waterlily and is unaware of the teardrops sliding down his cheeks. Stephen is worrying about Micy. She had never been sick before. What would happen to his love? Storm wishes he could kiss Odette once more. He lightly touches his lips as he recalls their last kiss, and remembers the great qualities of Odette: Her swagger in her step, her laugh, her athletic skills, her determination. He hated seeing her in the state that she was, dark rings under her eyes, her skinniness, always wanting to sleep. Him watching her from the other side of that dreaded glass wall. A minute passes, and a tall, pearly white table rises from the ground; pebbles whipped from the scarlet lace embroidering the tablecloth. Delicacies like roast chicken glazed with butter and clementines and papayas still wet with morning dew rest upon it, omitting almost a soft glow in the dark air. Medicines with simple labels like "Burn" and "Poison" are placed beside more advanced bottles like "Bone Replacement: Can repare any bone in your body over the course of 24 hours", and "Minor Sickness Help: From puking to cuts." Storm dashes out from his hiding place, holding his long knife, and dashes to the medicines. Splash darts out after him, and Stephen follows, hot on his heels. Storm grabs the medicine and a Tupperware filled with fillet fish and sweet potatoes, and turns to run away when he sees Splash looming over him. Storm gulps at how tall and strong he is, and realizes how defenseless he is. He looks at the giant silver trident, and manages to say, "I have a girl also." Splash is surprised that he has spoken, and lowers his trident, but does not put it away. His tensed muscles relax. "Her name is Odette, and she's sick with fever.

To be continued...