AU THG/MTAM FIC!

[ariella evelyn davies]

Because I can. It's going to be so legit, just letting you guys know.

THE TRIBUTES:
District 1
Remy Tymrak + Alfie Chase

District 2
AJ Munroe + Valentin Ivanov

District 3
Ellie Wood + Felix Wood

District 4
Nika Krum + Talan Warrington

District 5
Gabby Davies + Scorpius Malfoy

District 6
Dominique Weasley + Kendall Finch-Fletchery

District 7
Austin Abarno + Morgan Aldridge

District 8
Carleigh Stryder + Tyler Zabini

District 9
Addy Uruqhart+ Eliwood Padalecki

District 10
Ari Davies + Louis Weasley

District 11
Erinn Thomas + Dean Cattermole

District 12
Izzy Adler + Jace Carlile

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[ariella evelyn davies]

It was that day, once again. The day of the Reaping. Some districts were in an excited uproar, waiting to see which of their well-trained tributes was going to be given the honour of participating in the next games. Other districts were more passive, more subdued. Or, perhaps, a better word might be terrified. They were scared of what was to come, of who would be lost to the quell. No matter which district you were in, however, there was an ever present air of activity coursing throughout as people gathered at the town hall, waiting with abated breathes to hear the fate of the children that they lived with each day of the year. For the children, it was purely terrifying. That day could very easily be the last normal day of their lives before they were shipped off to what would basically equate to a slaughterhouse. The only people that took any real pleasure from the prospect were the tributes, but even many of them were nervous about the situation. Even they feared death.

The reapings were done in order based on district each year, with the first decisions coming in from the first district and so on until the final district was accounted for. In District One, the crowd gathered was a tough looking bunch. They were tributes that had been training for much of their lives with the hope that they would be the chosen ones. Each one of them were standing with their backs erect, attention towards the center stage. Whoever was chosen would know what they were doing out there, would have a decent chance of coming out of the place alive. At least, that was the plan. The announcer, after a few moments of banter with the crowd, reached into the first bowl, pulling out one of the numerous names inside. Unfurling the paper, she announced the first tribute's name. Remmington Tymrak.

Unlike most of the tributes from the district, Remmington was small. She wasn't one of those people that had buffed up all their lives and she certainly didn't look like a career tribute, but the look in her eye as she walked up to the stage would make you think twice about crossing her. She may have been small, but she wasn't someone to be messed with. Remmington had been training her entire life for that moment and there was a grim smile of triumph on her face as she took her place at the front, giving the crowd nothing more than a nod as she folded her arms in front of her. She wasn't there for the show of it, she was there to win and to make a better life for herself in the only way that she knew how.

Once Remmington was on the stage and the crowd had settled down once more, the announcer pulled the second name from the remaining jar. Alfie Chase. The crowd was silent for a moment before slowly letting an applause build up. Of all the boys that could have been chosen, Alfie Chase was probably the last that they would have wanted. He was the mayor's son, a very wealthy type, and generally he wanted nothing to do with the games at all. Unlike the majority of his peers, he didn't want to be chosen. He had a decent enough life as it was and going in to get himself killed wasn't at the top of his list of things to do. With a bit of hesitation, he walked up to the front to take his place. Though he didn't want to be there by any stretch of the means, he walked with a swagger that might have made you believe otherwise and his smirk covered any lingering fear that he had. Right now, he was Alfie Chase, the mayor's son and the boy who just won a prize everyone else was looking for, not Alfie Chase, the boy who was now scared for his life. He was ready to play it up for the camera as much as he had to in order to get the support he felt he deserved.

Once Alfie was up at the front, the two nominated tributes had to shake hands and start preparing for the journey ahead. Based on the look of disgust that Remmington had, it was quite obvious that she was more than disappointed with the partner she had been given. Of all the people she could have been stuck with, Alfie Chase was quite possibly the worst. Alfie, however, had nothing but his typical charming smile as he shook her hand, almost as if they were being chosen to participate in nothing more than a friendly game of golf. They may not have been happy with the decisions, but in the end they were now in this together. They would fight together and more than likely, they would die together.

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[tyler austin zabini]

With the nominees for District One firmly in place, the nation's attention was soon shifted to the next district. Having watched the first ceremony, the potential tributes were that much more ready for their turn to come. Much like the first district, the majority of the children had been raised for this and were eagerly waiting the announcements. They wanted the same glory that the first two tributes had already received and everyone was more on edge than before. Here, however, it wasn't an edge of nervousness, but an edge of anticipation. This crowd, more so than the others, wanted this. They reveled in the games and trained every day of their lives for the glory of being chosen to participate. For whatever reason, the second district held those that were the most ruthless, the most cunning. They were built for the games and whichever people were chosen would be a force to be reckoned with.

The announcer's hand reached into the bowl of names and a silence quickly fell amongst the crowed. This was, perhaps, the most important day of the year for their district and whatever news came would bring quite the reaction. Alexandria Munroe. The hush stayed for a moment as everyone looked to find the girl. She was, as per usual, towards the back of the group, an irritated and bored look on her face. For AJ, the picking of the names was no more than a formality and they may as well just give up and kill everyone now, since nothing would stop her from winning. Though no one else knew about it, she was part of a secret group that seriously did train for this. Not just in the typical sense of honing your skills, but in a much deeper, much more twisted way.

AJ, along with many others in her district, had taken part in a series of mock trials, willfully subjecting herself to possible death on more than one occasion. It was entirely illegal and entirely corrupt, but it proved who was worth it. It proved that she had what it took to kill and not be killed and her seasoned hand at killing without remorse would prove to be an advantage most wouldn't have. Casually walking up to the podium, AJ simply nodded once and left her introduction at that. She didn't care to talk to people, nor interact with the crowds. It was entirely possible for her to put on a show if she wanted to, but she was perfectly confident in her natural ability and skill that it didn't matter. Whoever her male counterpart was hopefully would be the type to work his charm and pull people in to their cause. Though, there was a good chance they would already have plenty of backers, simply because of where they were from.

The reading next name, much like the first, brought a quiet amongst the crowd. Valentin Ivanov. A pleased look crossed AJ's face, probably one of the few times that such a reaction would appear with her. Val was a good match for her. They were both sly, cunning, knew what they were doing, and had the necessary experience to get far in this. Val, likewise, felt the same. The two of them together would be a duo that was unlikely to be rivaled within the games and their chances together were rather high. Of course, both of their minds were already turning, planning out their strategy together and, of course, their strategy on when and where the perfect moment to take each other out would be. They may have been pleased with each others company, but that didn't mean they had any real feelings towards each other. They would kill each other without blinking when it came down to it.

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[felix ian wood]

As the cameras switched off of the second district, there was a distinct change in the atmosphere as they returned, a few moments later, in a new district. The third district, unlike it's predecessors, wasn't a career district. The kids didn't train or spend time working to win the games, they didn't look forward to being picked, and they were anything but prepared for that day. In the crowd, the nervous energy consumed everyone, taking over the thoughts of each person gathered there. Families were huddled together, passing on hopeful words of encouragement, but at the same time regretting the prayers going through their mind. They wanted to keep their own safe, but in keeping their own, it passed the tragedy on to another and no one wanted that. No one wanted any of this.

The soft murmurs of the crowd didn't stop as the announcer reached in to draw out the first name, as a low panic started to rise amongst each person. It could be any of them, no one was safe and none of them would be more okay with it than the others. Everyone feared for their life. As the name was read out, a ripple of relief flooded through the crowd, ending at the back with a small family of four. Elizabeth Wood. Their mother let out a shrill shriek, their father turned towards his wife, pulling her into a safe, protective hug. Ellie, herself, simply sank to the ground, unable to believe what she was hearing. That wasn't her name, it couldn't possibly be. She couldn't be hearing it right, that wasn't okay. Her eyes were focused straight ahead, not taking in anything until she felt a warm, strong hand on her shoulder. Felix. The look in his eyes was one of determination, for what she didn't know, but it was enough to bring her back to his feet.

It was obvious that Felix was no more happy about it than she was, but his presence was oddly comforting. The tears welling in her eyes didn't yet fall, held back only by the feel of her brother's hand. It was stable, it was unfailing and if Felix could be there in that moment, she was okay. Trembling as he helped her up, Ellie was hardly able to keep on her feet as she was slowly walked through the parting crowd and up to the front of the platform. Felix didn't leave her side until she reached the front, at which point he had to stay behind. Though, he stayed right at the front, clearly not wanting to stay back as she continued the last few steps on her own. At that point, the tears broke and sobs wracked her small frame. This couldn't be happening.

There was no other sounds now, only the cries of Ellie's mother as the announcer reached into the other bowl, pulling the next name out. Everyone else was silent, unsure of how they could react, if they even should. Samuel Grace. Once again, there was a loud, pained reaction from a now devastated mother. Sam himself looked like his face had drained of any colour at all. After watching Ellie walk up, he didn't know if he could do it. Before he could even take a step forward, however, Felix was on stage. "I'm going...let him be," Felix said, a hard tone to his voice. His face was devoid of emotion as he said that simple few words, though he knew that it essentially meant his death. However, he wasn't going to let Ellie go in there on her own. He had sworn to protect her from the day she was born and nothing could change that. If Ellie had to go into the games, he would too. He would protect her as best he could with every ounce of life he had in him.

The previously quiet murmurs of the crowd quickly changed to a rather loud twitter of excitement. People never volunteered, it just wasn't heard of, but that was exactly what was taking place. Felix had volunteered himself for the games and that was that. From the back of the crowd, Sam walked forward to the front, stepping up on stage for just a moment to pat Felix on the shoulder. It was a signal of thanks, of utter appreciation and Felix returned it with a simple nod. He didn't want to talk about it or make any fanfare of it. It wasn't some noble decision, in his mind. For Felix, it was the only decision.

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[adelaide sydney uruqhart]

SKIPPING AHEAD TO THE ACTUAL GAMES. I'LL WRITE THE PRE-GAME STUFF AT A LATER DATE.

As the tributes rose up into the arena, everything was silent. No one spoke, no one even breathed. The following moments would be the start of a long and grueling adventure, which most of them wouldn’t survive through. In fact, all but one of them would die. Perhaps in the next five minutes, perhaps in a few days, but one by one each of them would fall. For some, that was okay. They didn’t know these people and they didn’t care, as long as they themselves were able to come out on top. For others, it was a fate worse than death. There were siblings, lovers, cousins, friends, and no one wanted to see their loved one’s fall to such a gruesome fate. However, there was no choice. One way or another, there would only be one person surviving this.

As the alarm sounded and the tributes were signaled that the games had begun, there was a sudden mad dash towards the various supplies set out in front of them. The tributes, much to everyone’s expectations, were some of the first to escape the pack, quickly picking up their various weapons and supplies. Districts Two and Four were already aligned and were prepared to take off together to stake out the map and see what they could find. Before they left, however, Valentin took it upon himself to start the bloodshed. If he could easily kill someone now, why wait? There were no rules, no restrictions, just death. Turning on the first boy that came up behind him, looking to grab a small bag, Val whipped his axe around, quickly beheading the male from District eight, Tyler. The boy’s body fell to the ground and a canon sounded out as the first tribute was downed. The careers, not wanting to waste any more time, gathered whatever else they would need and set off in their own direction, a clear indication that they were claiming that area for their own.

For the rest of the people, it was a mad dash to grab what little they could before they scattered out into the surrounding jungle to take up a hiding spot. No one wanted to kill each other, they just wanted to survive. Overall, the districts stayed together in pairs as they spread out, simply running to be sure that they retained their safety. Not long after the first canon, however, a second sounded out as another of the tributes fell. Back at the beginning, there was a loud fight happening as two of the girls, Dominique and Izzy, fought over a large backpack filled with food.

“Jace! JACE! What do I do, I want it, I can’t get it, JACE! How do I kill people?!” Izzy yelled out loudly, wildly struggling against the taller girl in an effort to yank the bag from her.

By that point, they, along with Louis Weasley and Kendall Finch-Fletchery were the only tributes still back at the starting location. Kendall was anxiously hanging back behind Dominique, silently pleading with her to let it go. They needed to get out of there before the careers returned with the idea of beheading them all. Though he hadn’t known Tyler, seeing someone actually die nearly made his stomach retch. Louis was next to Dominique, a hand on her arm as he begged her to just give up the bag so they could leave. Jace was a few feet away, watching idly as he swung a large hammer around. He looked rather menacing there and none of the other tributes wanted to confront him as they were, no weapons and no real way of stopping him if he chose to attack.

“Izzy, you dumbfuck, let it go and get your ass over here,” Jace growled, surging forward towards her to help out.

Noticing Jace’s movements forward, Louis rushed at the boy, hoping to get in a surprise attack so that nothing happened to Dominique. Jace, however, was too quick and a solid swing of his hammer brought the boy down with one fell swoop. Watching from afar, Dominique simply gasped, letting her grip on the back go slack as she watched in horror. Her brother had just died and all because she had been too stubborn to let go. Kendall, sensing the girl’s immediate distress, put a hand on her shoulder and started to lead her away, quickly working them up to a run so that they could escape from the area and find somewhere safe. If there even was anywhere safe anymore.

Izzy, with the backpack in her hands, turned to Jace with a haughty smile. “Hold onto this asshole. Let’s go,” she announced, shoving the bag into Jace’s arms as if he were some sort of pack mule. The two turned in the opposite direction, striking out on whatever pathway they very well pleased, which for the two of them meant the one that was easiest to travel by.

As the initial hustle died down, most of the tributes were walking along in pairs and trying to put as much distance as they could between themselves and the others. However, there were now two people that were on their own. For Ari Davies, that wasn’t such an issue. As much as she had liked her fellow District member, he wasn’t the one that she was there for. Above all else, she was there to protect her younger sister. Unfortunately for Ari, she had gotten separated from Gabby and Scorpius in the starting rush to grab things. Being quite athletically inclined, Ari had managed to pick up quite a few things before dashing out to try and chase after Gabby. It would mean nothing, however, if she didn’t quickly find her sister. The arena was a dangerous place and someone could die at any moment. Carrying on, Ari was filled with purpose as she jogged through the jungle, her attentions alert as she remained on the hunt.

Not too far from where Ari was silently running along, another group was anxiously making their way through the arena.

“Felix, you twat, you could have died out there and for what? A stupid knife?” Ellie grumbled, her nerves on edge as they slowed to a walking pace.

Felix simply looked over at her with a shrug. He had seen one person die today, right in front of him, and he had no intention of leaving both himself and his younger sister defenseless out there. It may have been a dangerous decision to run for a weapon when the careers were milling about and looking for prey, but he stood by his decision. For Felix, it had been the right choice.

“You’ll thank me later when someone jumps up,” he added, his tone grim as he thought about what that meant. Felix was no killer, it just wasn’t in him. However, he would do that and more if it meant saving Ellie’s life. That’s why he was here and nothing would stop him from doing just that. She was his top priority in that arena, even if he knew it meant his eventual demise.

Glancing over at her with a shaky smile, Felix tried to widen it in an attempt to cheer her up. “Hey, look, at least we’re both safe and we know there are some people we can trust out there somewhere. They’ll be on our side when we find them. Gabby’s out there somewhere and you’ll find Erinn sometime.” He hoped it would be enough to stop her from worrying, at least for a little. Erinn had been a family friend for years and though they no longer lived in the same district, she was still that same little goofball that had been Ellie’s best friend growing up. It sucked that she was in the arena, but at the same time it was an ally that Felix was confident in.

Ellie responded with a forlorn smile, but at least she was looking a little less terrified. “Yeah, you’re right, bub. It’ll be okay…it has to be.”

Much like Ellie and Felix, Erinn found herself walking through the forest with a rather familiar face. As far as she was concerned, the games were completely set-up and it was absolutely unfair that she had to be there with her older cousin, Dean. She loved him like a brother and just knowing he was there and possibly going to die at any given moment put her on edge. In one hand, Erinn’s fist was clasped around a dagger, her eyes darting about and just waiting for someone else to find them.

Scattering to the left, Erinn turned about quickly and held her dagger in front of her. “Dean. Dean, what the hell was that?” she asked, a note of panic in her voice.
The older boy glanced backward, but didn’t pay any attention to it. There was nothing there, much like the last fifteen times they had gone through this. “It’s okay, Rinn. Just keep walking, there’s no one following us and we have people to find, okay?” he asked, ushering her to keep moving forward. It had been a tough battle getting her that far and he had a feeling it wasn’t going to get any easier. Erinn had always been difficult, but in a situation like this she was nearly impossible. At the same time, though, he wasn’t about to leave her to her own devices, since that surely would mean her death.

As paranoid as Erinn may have seemed, she was slightly warranted with her fears, as no more than a mile out from where they were, the career tributes were planning their warpath. Talan, Nika, AJ, and Val had made an early pact to stick together. They were the strongest pairs of the bunch and it would be easy for them to simply pick the rest of the groups off, one by one. Already, they were forming a base camp, from which they would go out each day, one pair in one direction, the other in the other. They would go through rounds, searching and hunting down the remaining tributes until it was just the four of them. From there, it was all up in the air, but right now, they were the hunters. They were the ones to fear and they knew it.

Unlike the other two sets of career tributes, the two from District one were a rather different case. Remmington, though fully capable of handling herself and being a part of this, was stuck with a less than ideal partner. He had little skills in the way of killing people and his survival skills were more or less non-existent. Essentially, Remy felt like she was babysitting him as they trudged through the jungle to find somewhere to camp for the night.

“So, tonight it’s just going to be me and you, eh? How about we skip the fire and find another way to stay warm?” Alfie teased, winking at Remy as she turned towards him with a look of disgust on her face.

She clearly wasn’t having any of that and ignored his comment by quickly changing the subject. “We should probably get our things settled here, there’s enough room up against this rock wall to set up camp and that way we only have to guard from the front.” Always the one to take care of business, Remy didn’t hesitate to start making plans, the wheels in her head turning quickly as she planned everything out. Alfie, much less excited by this, simply rolled his eyes, helping only because he knew damn well that the only way he would make it through the games was if he had friends. Right now, Remy was the only “friend” that he had, so he had to make do.

As night started to fall and the day came to a close, the rest of the tributes were busy settling down for the night wherever they could find a comfortable place. Some were cuddled up in pairs, while others, like Carleigh and Ari, were still on their own. Two tributes were lost, many more still remained and no one knew what the next day would bring.

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[adelaide sydney uruqhart]

Aside from perhaps the four careers that were together in a pack, it was unlikely that anyone got more than a few hours of sleep throughout the night. Pairs that were still together slept in shifts, leaving one person awake at all times, just in case. It was only the first day, but people very well could already be out for blood and no one wanted to risk being caught asleep. They were uncomfortable as it was, but being asleep did nothing more than increase their nervous energy and terrify them further. As the morning lights rose and people started to shift around, waking up, everyone was sitting around, unsure of what to do. Where should they go? Was anyone else dead from the night? Would they survive the rest of the day? No one could answer those questions and everyone was scared.

Everyone except the careers, that is. They were all seated comfortably around a fire trading stories and sharpening their weapons of choice as they mapped out their plans for the day. For them, it was the first day of the hunt. Their home base was protected with a number of traps and all four of them were suited up and ready to go. Anyone that thought they were any sort of safe at the moment was absolutely and utterly wrong, since they were just about ready to start their hunt and no one would be spared. Wordlessly, the two pairs split up, heading in opposite directions as they made their way through the forests, searching, hunting, ready to kill.

With the careers up early and on the hunt, it was still awhile before everyone else finally settled up into a wakeful state. Ari was the next to awaken, a nervous feeling surrounding her as she prepared to head out once more. She needed to find Gabby today and that was that. There was no telling what had happened over the night or who was where, so Ari took off at a run once more. She wasn’t afraid of what she might come across and so she just ran. She ran as fast and as hard as she could, praying to whatever god might be listening that she came across her sister before anyone else did. For some reason, she had a feeling that someone else might not be quite as forgiving if they encountered her out in the mess of a jungle.

Gabby herself was just starting to wake up, Scorpius already next to her preparing for their trek that day. They didn’t talk much to each other, since they didn’t have much in common, but they understood each other. Gabby knew that it was time to get up and keep moving. The longer they were on their feet, the further they could get away from the danger of the careers and hopefully from everyone else. Her thoughts were muddled with worry for her sister and worry for Felix, but she wasn’t going to let that consume her. Right now, she had to worry about keeping herself safe. If she could manage that, than her reunion with the other two would come soon enough and that was what mattered the most. Scorpius shrugged the pack they had between them up onto his shoulders and a nod signaled that it was time for them to move on. Silently, Gabby followed him as they started to move deeper into the jungle, angling their movements so that they might run into someone else.

Just a few minutes’ walk from where Gabby and Scorpius had been, Remmington and Alfie were packing up and getting ready to move out. Well, Remmington was anyway. Alfie was lounging about under one of the trees, watching as the girl struggled to get all of their possessions into their bag. For Alfie, it was amusing to just sit back and watch, as opposed to jumping in and helping. From what he could tell, they were safe enough at the moment and he could worry about being productive later when it actually mattered. Even if Remy was fit, he was confident that he could outrun her if need be and he would simply leave her to the careers.

“We’ll get out of here a lot faster if you help,” Remy commented, looking over at Alfie with a scowl.

“Sure, doll, but then I couldn’t watch your ass moving about,” he replied, smirking wildly as he spoke.

Breathing out deeply, Remy let the comment go, as she had unfortunately been subject to that for the last few hours of her life. She wanted to believe that it was simply his way of showing that he was terrified on the inside, but she was starting to think that she was quite wrong about that and that this was just how Alfie was. Irritated beyond belief with the boy, but unwilling to part with him and set off on her own yet, Remy finished packing up and motioned for him to follow. The less she had to talk, the better she would feel. Unfortunately, the same didn’t hold true for Alfie and he started up a continuous diatribe of useless information as they walked through the jungle.

“Would you just stop talking, Alfie? We have to be alert,” she said, hushing him up for a bit. They had to be aware of where everyone else was and hopefully be aware enough to get the jump on everyone in their way. Remmington wasn’t going to give up on this if she could help it.

Having a much less argumentative morning were the tributes from district six. Both Dominique and Kendall were fairly easy going and had managed to get along enough to split up the work of the day. They also were quite talkative, so they had a constant stream of conversation going as they bustled about to get ready for their day. They had known each other somewhat before coming to the games, but not enough to the point where they could have been considered friends. Now, however, they were more than that, they were partners. They were everything that the other had in this arena anymore.

Dominique was still feeling the pain of her loss, but it hadn’t quite sunk in just how serious the situation was. Her brother was dead, but she refused to believe it yet. The finality of the situation just didn’t seem fair and he was the last person that had deserved it. The way it had happened, as well, was too cruel, too violent, for such a sweet kid. But, she had to keep moving on, she had to keep surviving. If not for herself, than for her brother, and Kendall was the perfect person to help her see that.

“Okay, I’ve got a joke for yah. What do you call a fly with no wings?” Kendall asked, a goofy smile on his face as he addressed Dominique.

They had been walking for quite some time by that point and Kendall was doing his best to act like a goof and cheer the girl up. He couldn’t do much in the way of survival tactics, but he damn well knew he could bring a smile to people’s faces. It may not have been much, but it was worth something, given the circumstances. Finishing the joke with a proud chuckle, Kendall was pleased to see that he got a bit of a smile out of Dominique. It was a start and considering where they were, it was quite the feat.

Hearing a rustling in the bushes behind them, Kendall put an arm out in a protective stance, pausing until they could determine what the noise was. A few seconds later, two figures emerged from the bushes. Remmington and Alfie, two of the career tributes. His eyes widening in surprise, Kendall quickly turned, urging Dominique to start running. With the careers at their heels, the two district sixers took off as fast as they could, hoping to put as much distance between them and the careers as they possibly could. The run was a treacherous one, with roots coming out from everywhere and branches whipping at their faces as they powered on. The other two were right behind them at every moment and stopping would mean a quick death. They had to escape.
Hearing a scream from beside him, Kendall’s eyes flickered next to him as he saw Dominique falling, her leg caught on a root. Not the type to leave someone behind, Kendall stopped and backtracked to see if he could help. However, as soon as he saw Dominique’s head hit the ground, a sharp branch shunting into the back of her head, he knew it was no use. The canon sounded out, signaling the third death of the competition and unfortunately for Kendall, he doubted it would be long before the next. Turning around had given Remmington and Alfie a chance to catch up and before he could try moving, he felt the cold steel of Remmington’s sword at his throat.

There was nowhere to go, nothing he could do. He was trapped and he was about to die.

“Uh, h-hey guys, how’s it going?” he asked, scrambling for something to say that might save him.

Keeping her sword at his throat, Remmington motioned to Alfie, who proceeded to move behind Kendall, wrapping his wrists with a tightly bound rope, almost as if he were putting handcuffs on the boy. For whatever reason, they wanted him alive for now and for that, Kendall was grateful.

“You’re the boy that knows how to find food out here in the jungle and that’s what we’re keeping you for. As long as you’re helping us, we won’t kill you, but one joke out of your mouth and that’s it,” Remmington explained, her voice very cool, calculating as she spoke. She had a plan and nothing was going to come between her and the realization of that plan. Kendall nodded his agreement and the group took off towards an unknown location, Kendall walking in front and obeying their every order.

The sound of the canon brought a feeling of dread to the other tributes. Until later, no one would know who had been lost and they would have hours ahead of them to do nothing but fret and wonder who it may have been. Was it a friend? A foe? Someone that they didn’t know? All of those thoughts were swimming through the minds of everyone in the arena, though perhaps more so in that of Wood’s. They both had people they cared about out there and their thoughts had already been consumed with that most of the day. Hearing the canon just made them all the more intense.

“Bet that was that district twelve girl. Probably forgot to breathe or something,” Felix commented, a joking smile on his face, though it was obvious that it was no more than a shadow of a smile.

Ellie responded with a soft chuckle, but it was obvious that she wasn’t really in the mood to joke around. Felix was keeping himself as composed as possible for the both of them, but it wasn’t easy to stay positive when you knew that some of the people you cared about most in the world were on their death beds. “Yeah, you’re probably right,” she agreed, shrugging slightly and not making much more conversation than that.

The two had settled in for the day, having found a pretty open clearing to hole up in. They could see people coming from quite a sizable distance away, so Felix thought it was the safest they could be for the time being. Wandering over towards the forest, Felix picked up a pinecone and started tossing it around a bit. “Up for a game of footie?” he asked, holding up the pinecone. Sports had always been something that they had shared a common interest in and he hoped it would take their mind off of things for at least a little while. It was something so easy, so normal and it seemed trivial, but it would help. The more normal things seemed, even if just for a little, the better Felix would feel. So, they played soccer. They played soccer and acted like nothing in the world was wrong.

But, that wasn’t the case. Things were wrong and everyone else knew it. The sound of the canon had brought another wave of depression to Erinn and she honestly just wanted to stop, sit down, and quit moving. That could very well have been her best friend dying out there and she wouldn’t know it. Dean was doing his best to comfort her with pats on the shoulder and quick hugs as they walked, but there was only so much that he could do. It wasn’t a situation where anyone could really know what to say or do, but he tried. Erinn, however, wasn’t having it. She was over the games, wanted out, but also knew that there was no way it would happen. Along with everyone else, she was stuck there and nothing could change that. Nothing except the death of every other tribute could get her out of there.

“I don’t think I could do it, Dean…kill someone. That’s…I couldn’t,” she mumbled as they walked along, biting her lip anxiously. Erinn wasn’t a killer and never would be, it just wasn’t who she was.

“I know, kiddo, I know…” Dean said, knowing there was nothing else that could be said. That was all there was to it. Some people were killers, others weren’t and Erinn most definitely was not.

As the day wore on, most people were starting to head back to their hideaways to call it a night. However, off in a rather remote part of the arena, Jace and Izzy were just getting started with their typical activities. Having slept pretty much the entirety of the day, they were just starting to get around to actually doing things. For them, it was almost like they weren’t even in the games, but just on an unfortunate journey through some forest in the middle of nowhere. Typical Jace and Izzy.

“Izzy, go cook some food or something. Don’t bitches have a sixth sense for kitchens?” Jace asked, his stomach grumbling irritably with hunger. He just wanted to eat and he was hardly concerned about what was going on in the rest of the world. Everyone else could go kill themselves off for all he cared.

“Jace, you’re such an ass. It’s not like I can just puke sandwiches,” Izzy retorted with a frown, to which Jace responded with a sigh. Clearly, they were getting nowhere fast with that and probably wouldn’t at any point.
Rolling over onto his side, Jace tried making himself slightly more comfortable in his position on the ground, but that wasn’t happening at all. It was still uncomfortable and it still sucked sleeping on the ground. “At least come be my pillow, whore,” he requested, hoping he was given at least that. Though she scoffed, Izzy quit messing around with the plant next to her to go sit over by Jace. At least he would keep her warm as they went back to sleep.

The end of the day was rapidly approaching and as night fell, most everyone was back to resting in shifts, hoping to get as much sleep as they could before the next day began. There had been one canon sounded out that day and everyone was hopeful that the day would end like such, but deep into the night, the canon let out another loud sound and another death was recorded.

Sleeping in shifts was supposed to keep people safe, keep them alive, but that wasn’t the case everywhere. Having spent most of the day captive, Kendall had been biding his time, waiting for an opportunity to bust out of the ropes around his hands and escape. As soon as night fell, he found his chance. Remmington sat awake, keeping the first watch on the forest around them, while Alfie lay sleeping not too far off. Kendall himself was pretending to take a nap, tied up against a tree not too far from the other two. He had been working at the restraints all day and had finally gotten them to the point where he could carefully slide his hands out.

A few moments later, he was free. In any other circumstance, Kendall wouldn’t have killed anyone. He would have slipped away and left the two there, but he needed someone. With Dominique gone, Kendall knew that he couldn’t make it on his own and he had a lot to live for back home. Creeping up on the pair, Kendall was as quiet as possible, causing nothing more than a rustling of leaves as he knelt down next to Alfie. Pulling the dagger from the boy’s pack, Kendall steeled himself, mentally working himself up for the moment. He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t just kill someone in their sleep, but he had to. He had to do what it took to keep himself alive and before he knew what was happening, he felt the knife sliding into Alfie’s back, killing him silently in his sleep. Well, until the canon went off, that is.

Kendall had rather forgotten that the death would cause the noise that resulted and before he could move out of the way, Remmington’s head had swiveled around and taken in the situation. A look of fierce intensity crossed her face as she hopped from the seat, her sword drawn. Kendall was backing up quickly, up to the point where he fell over the pack behind him. He was now helpless, had nothing that could save him from Remmington killing him quickly.

She paused to give Alfie a pitying look, though it wasn’t one that contained much sadness. “You didn’t have to kill him, you idiot. He could have been helpful,” she commented, scowling down at Kendall.

From that, Kendall quickly gathered that she wasn’t going to kill him and he rose to his feet, letting the dagger fall so he could innocently hold up his hands. “It seemed like the safest idea at the time. He seemed more likely to kill me than you are. You’re not like the other careers, you’re different, you don’t really want to kill anyone,” he said, an impassioned tone coming out in his voice. Even if he had only spent a few hours total with the girl, there was something about her. She might have come off as intense and able to kill people, but he didn’t think that was true. He didn’t think that Remy would kill someone unless she sincerely had to.

“Come on, let’s get out of here, we still have to stick together,” he urged, a request to which she simply nodded. They may not have been the best of friends, but they were in this together.

[/blockquote][/blockquote]

[erinn lacey thomas]

As the sun rose the next morning, the grim news of another death in the night rose up into the air. A career tribute, someone had killed one of the careers. For some, it was an oddly relieving to many of them that one of the careers was out of the competition. It proved that they weren’t indestructible, that it was possible to actually win against them. They were all presented as such infallible killers that the odds of them actually winning had always seemed rather slim, but now it was different. Now they had a fighting chance and a lot of them were more than ready to take that on.

With the news on their minds, Scorpius and Gabby were up fairly early and ready to move on. Though it was only the third day, they had come to have their routine as they packed up their things. It didn’t take long and they were soon back out on the path to search for someone else. It had been days since they had last seen anyone and it was starting to become a rather dreary lull. Both of them were starting to become rather desperate for another friendly face, or even just someone that could cause a moment of panicked excitement.

However, for the moment, they were still alone as they trudged through the forest. There was an odd quiet that settled over the area and at once Gabby was on high alert. The sounds of the birds had died down and there wasn’t even a slight rustle of a squirrel or some other animal in the bushes. There was nothing but utter silence and it was unnerving. Something was going on. She wasn’t sure if it was a group of people in the area, or just a trick of her mind, but she slowed her walk down slightly in anticipation. Scorpius responded by giving her a questioning look, but she simply shrugged her shoulders and gave him an anxious smile. Whatever it was, it didn’t appear to be after them. Yet.

With an increased caution to their steps, the pair carried on in silence. Then, all hell broke loose. It was as if, all of a sudden, they were being bombarded with sound from every direction and they instantly broke out into a run. They didn’t know what the noise was or where it was coming from, but they knew they had to go and fast. Whatever they were running from, they didn’t want to get close enough to really find out what it was.

Not too far off, the noise that was threatening Gabby and Scorpius caused another tribute’s ears to perk up in curiosity. Ari had once again been trekking along and searching for Gabby, with no luck at all to that point, and the noise caught her attention immediately. She didn’t know what it was, but there was a good chance that it meant people and that was exactly what she needed to find at the moment. Urging her slow jog up to a sprint, Ari dashed off in the direction of the sound, hoping that she was in time to catch whoever it might be that she was running towards. Even if it wasn’t Gabby, she was absolutely over being alone.

The further that Scorpius and Gabby ran, the more tired they became and before long they were slowing down quite a lot. The noise that was chasing them, however, did not. It was still coming for them and they didn’t know what they could do to avoid it. A few moments later, a group of flying, metal discs came hurtling towards them as they spun through the air. Scorpius flung himself to the ground to avoid getting hit, pulling Gabby down with him. Whatever they were, they were already spinning back around towards them at full speed. The three discs soared back towards them, cutting down towards the ground where the two were scrambling to get out of the way.

Stumbling forward, the two managed to escape the second attack by the strange discs and were on their feet and running once again as the discs turned back around. They were being relentlessly pursued and the longer they had to fight to avoid them, the harder it became. As they discs came back once more, the two stumbled over a branch, falling towards the ground as the discs scathed over them. Both of them were losing hope that they could continue to avoid them and it seemed like they had nothing else to hope for. And then a loud crack sounded out next to them, causing the buzzing of the discs to lessen.

Glancing over, they were greeted with the sight of a broken disc, smashed in half by none other than Gabby’s sister, Ari. She was standing over it with a mace in her hands, ready to hit the other two out of the air as soon as they came flying back. Gabby and Scorpius rushed to their feet, not saying anything yet until the threat had passed.

“What the fuck are you doing? Run!” Ari yelled at them, keeping her stance ready with the mace.

Gabby instantly complied, running the way Ari had come from, with Scorpius not too far behind. They heard another loud crunch as another of the discs fell to the ground before Ari quickly dived away from the third. Rolling up onto her feet, Ari sprinted off after the two, quickly catching up to join them as they ran to evade the last one.

It was looking like they would all make it, but just before they ducked under the last one it swooped downwards, cutting into Scorpius’ arm with a loud screech. The boy fell to the ground in pain, but Ari ushered Gabby to keep moving forward. She felt bad for him, but there was no way she was going to stay behind and risk the same thing happening to her younger sister. The buzzing of the disc died down as they continued to flee, but a few moments later they heard the loud burst of a canon signaling the death of their former companion. One more down.

As they slowed to a stop, now safely out of danger, Ari pulled Gabby into a tight hug, just standing there for a moment. After days of searching, she had finally found her and just in time, too. Though it didn’t make the situation any less stressful, she felt a sense of relief that she at least could now look after Gabby properly. The girl had done well on her own, it seemed, but Ari felt better knowing they were together now.

“You alright, kid?” she asked, pulling back from her to look her over with an anxious expression.

“I…yeah, better now,” Gabby replied, still rather shell-shocked at what had just happened. It was relieving that she was now with someone that she trusted completely, but that didn’t make the situation any less grim. Scorpius had just died. He wouldn’t be last and they still had to keep going. “Let’s just get out of here.”

Once again, as the canon sounded out in the distance, a chill settled over Felix’s entire being. That could be Gabby, that could be Erinn, he didn’t know. He wouldn’t know until that night and it would consume his every thought. Ellie could tell it was eating at him every step they took and though she too was feeling the same pain, she wanted to put a smile on his face. They had been there for each other through the last three days and they needed each other. They needed that small piece of home that kept them from completely breaking down.

Walking in the silence was starting to drain them both, but there wasn’t much else to be said. The situation wasn’t getting any different and there was little they could do to stop things from getting worse. The more people that fell, the closer things got to becoming more real. Eventually, they would be hunted down, they would have to fight and someone would have to die. The reality of that wasn’t going away and so, they walked on. They trudged slowly and said nothing, hoping for some sort of redemption. However, they both knew that it wasn’t coming.

Perhaps an hour into their walk, a rustling from not too far away sparked a quick increase in their attentions. Felix jumped into a defensive position, holding an arm out across Ellie to push her back if need be. The sound of voices drifted towards him and he quickly motioned for Ellie to hide. He himself followed suit, crouching down behind a tree to get a good look at the people he heard walking towards him. This time, Felix wouldn’t be the hunted, he would be the hunter and he would take out whoever crossed their path.

As the voices came closer and two people walked into view, Felix’s intense look, for the first time in days, actually lightened up. Of anyone in the arena that he would have wanted to stumble upon, this was the one person that he would actually be happy to see. Hopping up from where he was, he held up his hands in a gesture of goodwill, a grin playing on his lips. Gabby.

Ellie, noting who it was, joined Felix with a pleased look on her face. More people meant more protection and less stress and these were people they knew they could trust. Felix had met Gabby ages ago and they had hit it off really well. Though they didn’t live near each other, they visited frequently and talked even more often than that. The few days before the games had brought them even closer together and Ellie could tell that they were both thrilled and relieved to see each other.

The group greeted each other with smiles and hugs all around. It was a small triumph to have found each other and be reunited, even with the circumstances they were facing. At the very least, they would now have a stronger group and were even more capable of taking on the careers as they went through the forest. It wasn’t much, but it was a start and every single one of the four was dedicated to protecting each other, no matter what the cost.

Unfortunately, not everyone was as lucky. Elsewhere in the arena, others were much less fortunate with who they were running into. As was the same with the previous day, the career tributes had split up once again, each pair taking one side of the arena to stalk through and encounter people, taking them out as quickly as possible. However, they had been incapable of finding anyone else, until that afternoon. They had all heard the first canon of the day not much longer before, leaving Nika and Talan ready for blood. The first kill had been on the other side and they were more than ready for it to be their turn. As luck would have it, they were soon to come across a pair that they were more than confident they could take.

Erinn and Dean had been walking around aimlessly most of the day, their nerves on edge from the canon blast they had heard earlier. It wasn’t an easy day for either of them and they were mostly silent as they traipsed around in hopes of finding food, people, anything really. The one thing that they hadn’t been hoping for was for someone to find them, but that was exactly what happened. Talan and Nika had been staking the two out for a good twenty minutes, trying to figure out what threat they might prove to be and what the best option of attack was. Upon deciding that neither of the two could outmatch them, the two made the decision to just run in and go for it. They would easily win and that would be that.

Walking out into the edge of the clearing, Talan waited until the two victims spotted him before giving them a cold smile. Erinn and Dean froze in their tracks as soon as they saw what was happening. Two career tributes were right there, fully armed and ready to do battle. Dean instantly took the dagger out of his back pocket, pushing Erinn back and urging her to run while she had the chance. Erinn, however, couldn’t run. Though it was one of those moments where she should have been terrified out of her mind, she wasn’t. A curious expression was on her face as she looked over, past Talan and straight to the girl behind him.

It was probably wrong of her to be thinking about it, but there was just something about the girl that captivated her. She wasn’t like most people she had met and certainly none of her friends would even have slightly approved of her fascination, but it was inexplicably there. For whatever reason, ever since the first time Erinn had met the girl, she was completely and utterly entranced. However, her attention was quickly snapped back into reality when Talan rushed forward and Dean forcibly shoved her back, yelling at her to run. Turning on her heels, Erinn left. She ran as fast and hard as she could, knowing full well that it could be the last time she ever saw her cousin.

As Talan fell onto Dean with a quick slash from his sword, Dean brought his dagger up to parry the blow, though he was knocked back by the force. The two boys were caught in a deadly match, from which Talan took only a momentary pause to yell to Nika. “Get the girl.” It was a simple order, but Nika understood exactly what that meant. She was much more prepared for running through jungles, so she was confident that she could quickly catch up to Erinn, but she wasn’t sure that she wanted to. However, she left Talan to grapple with Dean and started running off to find Erinn.

The duel between Talan and Dean was a lot more closely matched than Talan had anticipated, but he was still confident in his ability to simply mow the other boy over with his strength. They were both athletically inclined, but Talan had the advantage of his years of training and experience. Dean simply had the advantage of knowing that he was fighting for his life and any small error would bring about his death and probably that of his cousin’s. She was now out there alone, being pursued by one of the careers and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

Stumbling backwards from another brutal thrust of Talan’s sword, Dean caught himself before he could fall, pushing forward to parry another attack. He was starting to get winded by the effort, but he knew that one slight mistake would sound the end of the battle. The harder Dean fought, however, the more frighteningly quick Talan seemed to be. Every blow he made brought three quickly placed attacks from Talan and before long Dean was simply on the defensive. It was a losing battle, but the longer he kept Talan occupied, the less time the boy had to catch up to Erinn. Even if he would die that day, Dean wanted to die protecting Erinn as best he could and this was all he could do.

Erinn had sprinted off as quickly as she could, putting distance between herself and the fight behind her with every step that she took. She was internally freaking out, but she knew that she had to keep going. However, there was only so much running that she could do before she had to let her body stop to rest. Leaning up against a tree, Erinn let her body slide to the ground as she let out a long sigh. There had been no canon yet, but she had no idea what was happening. They could have let Dean go to chase after her, they could still be fighting Dean, anything. But, Erinn didn’t know.

A few minutes after she stopped, there was a rustling in the bushes that signaled the approach of another tribute. Scrambling up to her feet, Erinn turned with a nervous look to see who it was. Her look turned, once again, to a much less worried one when she saw the figure coming towards her. It was silly to think that Nika didn’t want her dead, but some part of Erinn thought that maybe it was possible. Maybe the connection they had made back before the games started wasn’t just all in her head and maybe they could run off together and survive through the games…well, no. That was too hopeful.

“You’re not going to kill me you know,” Erinn pointed out, leaning back against the tree with a shrug. Nika simply looked at her as though she was crazy, but Erinn also thought that she saw a slight glint in the girl’s eyes to show that she was responding to what she said.

“Oh, yeah? What gives you that idea?” Nika asked, a scowl on her face as she slowly walked towards the other girl.

“Well, if you really wanted me dead, I’d already by dead,” Erinn point out. “Plus, you think I’m cute.”

At that, Nika let out a harsh laugh, though it quickly came to a stop. The girl had a point. If Nika had wanted her to die, it would have happened already. Nika wasn’t the type to mess around when it came to this sort of thing and she had been trained to take out any potential threats immediately. But, there Erinn was. Still standing there and still breathing.

“You also don’t regret kissing me the other night and you kind of want to do it again,” Erinn continued, biting lightly on her lower lip as she spoke. She had no idea if she was right about any of this, but she hoped and prayed that she was. Though, if it were more because she wanted to save her own life or because she wanted to go there with Nika again, Erinn wasn’t sure.

“Shut the fuck up,” Nika threatened, walking in towards Erinn with an angry expression. She didn’t want to hear it. There was no possible way that was true. She was here to win the games, not get caught up in whatever stupid feelings she might have been harboring for some girl that she had barely just met. But, something was holding her back. Something was keeping her from killing the girl in front of her and she didn’t know what the hell it was.

Before Nika could get any closer and before Erinn could say anything else about it, Erinn moved forward in a flurry of motion. Grabbing a hold of Nika’s waist, she lightly pushed the other girl up against the tree behind her, pressing their lips together in a fierce kiss. At first, Erinn wasn’t sure it had been a good decision, as Nika pushed her back. However, a few moments later when she felt Nika’s hands at her back, pulling her in closer as they kissed, she knew she had been right. Somehow, something had developed between them. It was wrong, it was dangerous, but it was real.

Their kiss quickly became more heated as Nika took charge, pushing Erinn’s back into the tree and pinning her to it as their kiss intensified. Neither of them knew how it had come to this, but it had and neither of them seemed to regret it. They both would have been happy to keep at it, letting their raw passion fuel their actions, but the abrupt sound of another canon caused them both to stop, their kiss quickly tapering off as their heads turned towards the sound. Someone else had just died and there was a high likelihood it was Dean or Talan.

The boys had been grappling with each other, fighting wildly for an advantage out of the deadlock. For awhile, it didn’t seem like one would come. However, the more fatigued they both became, the harder it was to swing at each other with their weapons. After another harsh attack from Talan, Dean was shoved back against a tree, sinking to his knees as the pain rippled through his body. He could only carry on for so long and it seemed like his limit had been reached. As he went to stand back up, his dagger out in front of him, Talan let out one more quick slash, flinging the dagger away from the boy. And that was that. With the advantage on his side, Talan wasted no time in letting one more swing slice into the other boy before the sound of the canon signaled his victory. For Talan, it was just that, another small victory and he walked away with no more of a thought.

Pulling herself away from Erinn, Nika was visibly flustered by what had just happened. Talan was probably on his way and if he found out that Nika was not only letting the girl live, but also, well, fraternizing with the enemy, she had a feeling he wouldn’t be so forgiving. However, she couldn’t do it. She couldn’t kill Erinn, no matter how much she wanted to. Something about the girl just made her feel complete and killing her would feel like she was killing a part of herself.

“Get the hell out of here and…don’t run into me again. It won’t be pretty,” Nika warned before running off again, leaving Erinn to fend for herself. It wasn’t the friendliest of partings, but they both knew that every touch, every kiss, simply brought them deeper into a web of emotions that would come to explode if they let them continue.

[/blockquote][/blockquote]

[erinn lacey thomas]

Watching Nika run away like that had to be the hardest moment in the entire last few days for Erinn. Through the terror of the first few moments as they sprinted away from the cornucopia and the long days of nothingness, she had been okay. She’d had Dean and he had been able to calm her down more than anything else could have. Even when she had heard the canon sounding out, alerting them all to the death of her cousin, Erinn had been oddly okay. She’d had Nika, but now she was completely and utterly alone in the games. No one was there to give her that comforting presence and no one was there to help her. Erinn had to do this on her own now and she was pretty sure there was no way that she could.

As she walked through the forest, Erinn’s thoughts were consumed with the moment she’d had with Nika. It was less painful to think of her than of what could have happened to Dean. Perhaps, however, there was still that hope in the back of her mind that maybe the canon wasn’t really for Dean and that he was somewhere out there right now, looking for her and worried sick about what might have happened. More than anything, that was what kept her moving on. She had to find Dean, or Nika, or Ellie. Ellie would be with Felix and he would protect them. He always had, really. When they were kids, he was the older brother that she’d never wanted, but always loved.

The night was fast approaching, leaving Erinn on her own and in the dark. Not sure what to do, she cuddled up next to a tree and cried. Cried because she was alone, because she missed Dean, and most of all because of what Nika had told her. Even though the girl claimed not to want to see her anymore in the arena, Erinn knew she was lying and would fight to make things work. It was stupid and optimistic to think anything could come of it, but feelings like that didn’t just happen all the time and there were some things that were honestly worth fighting for. Right now, Nika was one of them. When the sky lit up, the faces of that day’s dead flashed across the sky, Erinn broke down even further as Dean’s face hovered in front of her. Now, she was well and truly alone. No one was coming to find her and she would have to survive somehow.

Erinn, though clearly the closest to Dean, wasn’t the only person that had a reaction to his death. Elsewhere in the jungle, Ellie Wood was quietly wracked with sobs when she saw his face up in the sky. That was Erinn’s cousin, her partner, and now she had no idea what was happening to Erinn. At least when Dean was there, she knew that Erinn had someone to protect her, much like she had Felix and now Gabby and Ari. Erinn, however, would be out there completely alone and the thought of it killed her. That was her best friend and if Dean couldn’t be there for her, than Ellie needed to be.

Rubbing at Felix’s shoulder as he slept, Ellie willed him to wake up. They needed to go, now. Erinn was out there alone and they had to find her. “Felix, Felix please,” she begged, the tears welling up in her eyes. By that point, Felix was starting to come around and the other two in their party were coming over to see what the problem was.

“It’s Erinn…she…we have to find her, now,” Ellie said once everyone was awake and gathered around.

No one was too thrilled about having been woken up, but they all gave her a grim nod of agreement. Erinn, though she hadn’t been there with them, was still considered a part of their pack. She was like a sister to Felix and Ellie, which right then and there meant a lot. If Felix was willing to volunteer as tribute for Ellie, than the least he could do for Erinn was start looking for her. However, the arena was big and Erinn was tiny. Finding her would be no easy feat.

Fortunately for the four, Gabby was smart. Even if she wasn’t particularly good with a weapon, she had her mind and that would make all the difference. Providing Erinn had been with Dean near the time of his death, which was entirely likely, she would have to be in the direction of the canon fire. It would be a dangerous rescue mission, but they were all resolved to go forward with it. They would search the areas around the canon fire and hopefully would stumble upon her before someone else stumbled upon them.

What the four didn’t know was that another group was also on the hunt for Erinn – the careers. Having taken Dean out and knowing that Erinn couldn’t have gone far, the careers had resolved to go and hunt the lone girl down together that day. She would be an easy kill and it would remove a thorn in their side before she recovered from the previous day. As they packed up, getting ready to leave and start on the hunt, Nika was silent. She didn’t want to go after Erinn, but there was nothing that she could do about it. She would have to go with them and she would probably have to watch the girl die. Quite honestly, she didn’t know if she could handle it.

As the morning light rose and both packs of four trooped through the forest, Erinn herself didn’t know what to do. She had been sitting in the same spot for hours, tears streaming down her face and her body fighting to keep control over the shivers of fear that were coursing through her. If it were up to her, she would just sit there and wait. Maybe until someone found her, maybe until she died of dehydration, but she couldn’t. Dean had given up his life for her to escape and she couldn’t waste that. She had to get up and she had to move.

With her pack on her shoulders, Erinn started to slowly trudge through the forest. There was no destination set as she carried on, just the knowledge that every step brought her closer to something and something was better than nothing. If she was caught and died, then that was that. The games were a cruel place and the odds of survival were slim no matter who you were. If someone like Dean could be taken away from her that quickly, than what chances did a small, helpless little thing like herself have?

Unbeknownst to Erinn, she was walking straight into the middle of two groups that were desperately searching for her. Someone was going to find her and it was only a matter of time before it happened. Thirty minutes into her trek, Erinn heard the rustling of bushes off in front of her and a wave of panic spread throughout her body. Someone was coming and she had no way of knowing whether it was a friend or a foe. This was the moment where she would either have to stand and fight or finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Hiding slightly behind a tree, Erinn’s eyes widened when she saw a group of four people marching determinedly, weapons drawn, into the area she was hiding. For once, things were going her way. Running out from behind the tree, Erinn made her presence known to the four people in front of her- Ellie had finally found her. After days of being separated, they were back together and could relax at least a little, knowing that each other was safe.

Erinn immediately went to Ellie, pulling the girl into a tight hug. She would never admit it later, but there were tears streaming down her face as the group of four met. There were condolences for her loss shared, but Erinn brushed them off. Right now, Dean had to be pushed to the side. She had to stay strong and make it through the rest of her time there in the arena and now that she was with someone that she knew she trusted with every fiber of her being once more, Erinn had hope. Maybe she could do this. Maybe they all could.

Their reunion was short-lived, however. Felix and that group hadn’t been the only ones searching for Erinn and before they knew what was happening, the careers were upon them. Technically, the battle should have been on their side. They had five people, while the careers only had four. But, the careers were trained for this. They knew how to kill people and the others were helpless when compared to the two.

As the two groups met, there was a flurry of activity. The careers had their weapons out and were charging forward, moving in to face the already prepared Felix and Ari. The two eldest were yelling at the other three to get out of there and run to safety. It was a death sentence for the two, but they had known that going into the arena. They had both known and accepted that they would die for their siblings and they were okay with it. Ellie and Erinn immediately followed instruction and took off together in the other direction. It wasn’t easy to do, but they knew they were outmatched. They knew that without weapons and without any skill, they would do nothing more than hurt the others chances of coming out alive.

Gabby, however, refused to leave. Ari and Felix meant everything in the world to her and she wasn’t about to leave their side. Ari brusquely told her to get out, yelling at her as she shook her head. Seconds later, the careers were on them. It took everything that Felix and Ari had to even just keep them at bay and the fight going on was fierce. It was two to one, but somehow they were managing to stay alive, even if it was just barely. Knowing that she was hindering the fight and that Felix and Ari didn’t need to have her right there making them worry further, Gabby moved away, tears flooding down her face as she scrambled away up into a tree.

She had to do something now, or there was no chance that any of them would survive. The careers were quickly starting to overwhelm the two remaining and there wasn’t a damn thing that could be done about it…until Gabby saw the trackerjacks. Hanging not too far out on one of the limbs was a large hive filled with the buzzing sounds of the trackerjacks. They were deadly and sending the hive crashing down to the ground would surely get the careers to leave. It would be dangerous for Felix and Ari, but it was the only chance that they would have.

Scrambling forward on the branch, Gabby slid the knife out from her pack that she had and started to cut. The careers, alerted by the sound, instantly looked up to see what was happening. A wave of panic flooded amongst them and they quickly made the decision to end the fight and leave before the trackerjacks came crashing down. With a renewed vigor, the careers powered together and shoved Felix and Ari back. With one fell swoop from Val and AJ’s blades, Felix and Ari fell to the ground, stunned by the harsh wounds to their side. Before they could be completely finished off, however, the hive of trackerjacks smashed to the ground, right next to the careers.

The four fled quickly from the scene, the trackerjacks chasing after them as their feet pounded against the ground, taking them away from the scene. Gabby wasted no time in getting down to the ground, where Felix and Ari lay, panting heavily and bleeding out with every passing second. Their wounds were enough and they would both soon be dead. Gabby was in a panic, tears streaming down her face as she cried over them, trying to hold her hands against the wounds as if it would stop the pain.

Ari was the first to start moving again, her wound in a less compromising spot than Felix’s. Pulling herself up, Ari reached behind her and into her pack, pulling out a small vial. Holding it out to Gabby, her eyes said it all. It was a serum that would heal any grievous wounds inflicted on a person. Unfortunately, there was only a small amount; a small amount that would heal only one.

“He needs it more than I do,” Ari said, though it was clear to the both of them that whoever didn’t use it would likely be dead within the next day.

“Don’t be stupid, Ari. It’s your serum, you use it. He…I can try…I don’t know,” Gabby said, her words coming out slowly and in between the sobs that threatened to break her down. She loved Ari, even if they had been apart for a long time, but she also loved Felix. Having to choose between the two of them was something she had hoped would never have to happen, but there she was. She had the power to save one of them, leaving the other to die and Ari had thrown that choice on her.

“Gabby, you need him more than you need me. Use it, I’ll be okay,” Ari said, the pleading tone in her voice coming out. She knew how Gabby felt about the boy and she didn’t want to have to see her go through the pain of losing him. Her wound, while enough to cause her a slow death, wouldn’t kill her right away. There was still time, perhaps they would find something else that would save her. Her hopes were slim.

Even though Gabby didn’t believe that Ari would be okay, she knew that her sister would never let her treat the wound. She would die to protect Gabby and this was, in a way, just that. She was protecting Gabby’s feelings, even if neither option was easy. As Felix’s breathes started to slow, his whole body shutting down, Gabby opened the bottle and doused it over his wound, unsure if it would really save the boy.

As if like magic, the wound started to slowly close up and the colour started to return to Felix’s body. He no longer looked like he was about to die and everything about him was starting to come back to life. He would survive, they would live another day. His eyes fluttering open, Felix looked around with worry until he saw Gabby’s grim smile. He was alive. Battered and bruised, but alive. For everyone, it was the best they could do. Ari had patched up her own wound as best she could, wrapping a cloth around it to stunt the bleeding. They were all pretty broken up, but they were alive for now. However, they knew the careers would be back before they knew it.

As the four careers fled from the trackerjacks, they waited patiently to hear the sound of the canons signaling the inevitable death of the two tributes they had stabbed. Their wounds had been far too great to live for long, so it was only a matter of time before they were well and truly dead. However, it didn’t come and by the time they had escaped from the bees there was still no canon fire. They weren’t dead. Somehow, they were alive and they knew quite well that it wouldn’t take much to slay them now. It was just a matter of backtracking to find them.

Like usual, they split into teams of two. AJ and Val would go back and finish the two off, hopefully hunting down the other girl that had stayed behind as well. Talan and Nika would go after Erinn and Ellie. They were two small, helpless girls and it wouldn’t be that difficult to take them out. They had been running in the general direction of the two already, so presumably they wouldn’t be all that far off anyway. It would be an easy few kills and they would have five more people behind them before the end of the day if everything went well.

Running away from the fight hadn’t been easy for Erinn or Ellie and the entire time they were crying, trying to just put distance between them so they didn’t get caught. However, they had the one small hope that there were no canons. Somehow, Felix and Ari were still alive and out there fighting. However, they couldn’t go back. If they went back, they would come across the careers and they knew they couldn’t take them on. They simply weren’t capable of it. So, they ran until they couldn’t.

“They’re still okay, Ell. We’re okay, we…we won’t…” Erinn said, starting off attempting to comfort Ellie before the emotions of everything took over, causing more tears to flood from her face. Ellie, faring no better than Erinn, simply stood next to the girl, holding her in a light hug. At the moment, they were all each other had. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough, for before they could even get back into a run, Nika and Talan were there.

“Well, well, look at you two,” Talan commented, sneering as he walked forward, twirling his sword in front of him in a teasing manner. He knew that he had the two girls caught and there was nothing they could do to stop him. “It’s charming to watch how best friends react before they’re about to die together. Fitting, really, that you’ll go together.”

The closer Talan got to them, the further back Erinn and Ellie stumbled. Ellie had her dagger drawn, placing herself as best she could between Erinn and Talan. Erinn had no weapon, Ellie was the only one that could even try to defend them from their impending death. As Talan surged forward, ready to take them out, a shrill scream from not too far away stopped him in his tracks. It wasn’t the voice of a victim screaming, it was Val. Something was going terribly wrong.

“Nika, finish them. I’m going to see what the hell is going on,” Talan ordered, quickly turning towards the shouts and running off towards them. He had no qualms leaving Nika to the two, since she was far more capable than two scared little girls ever could be. Nika was also well armed, while only one of the girls had any form of weapon to show. It would be an easy two kills.

Circling the girls, it was obvious to Erinn that Nika was hesitating. She could easily have rushed forward to kill them, but she wasn’t. She was waiting, watching, not willing to jump into the fray…and Erinn hoped that it was for her. Erinn hoped that Nika felt the exact same things that she was feeling right now and that maybe she would just stop. Maybe she could convince the girl to join with them, to fight the other careers and give up that pact.

However, before anything could be said, Ellie rushed forward. When Talan had been there, Ellie hadn’t wanted to fight. He was bigger, stronger, clearly more adept, but Nika was the same size, if not a bit smaller. Ellie didn’t have the same training, perhaps, but she had the determination to win. She was fighting for a lot and losing just wasn’t an option. The two met with a clang of metal as their weapons bounced against each other, quickly escalating the battle to a duel to the death.

Both girls were fighting for their lives and neither wanted to lose. In the background, Erinn was screaming, pleading with them both to stop, saying anything that she could to distract them. However, neither of them heard her. They were too caught up in the intensity of the battle to listen to a word she was saying and Erinn was left sobbing, but unwilling to step into the middle of the clash. And then she heard a cry. Ellie landed a deep cut on Nika’s arm, causing the girl to gasp with pain. Somehow, Ellie was winning.

Pushing Nika back further, Ellie continued to swing her weapon, trying whatever she could to best the girl, but the one wound was all that she had landed before she felt a slice tear into her shoulder blade. It was now Ellie’s turn to cry out in pain as a wave of blood gushed from the wound and caused a heat to grow in her shoulder. They were evenly matched and it seemed like the fight would go on. Taking a step back from each other, Nika took a moment to look at the wound on her arm and Erinn took what chance she had. Tugging Ellie away, Erinn was crying as she begged her to just leave it. They needed to run. Though, for Erinn it was different. She wasn't running to save her life, she was running to save Nika's.

Knowing that they were too evenly matched at the moment to make anything happen, Ellie complied. Following Erinn, the two girls took off at a run, leaving Nika right behind. The chase was long and hard, but soon they were at what they thought would be a safe distance away and they slowed to a walk. Ellie’s shoulder was still bleeding and neither of them knew what to do about it. Not injured herself, Erinn stripped her over-shirt off, using it to tie around the wound on Ellie’s shoulder. It wasn’t bad, yet, but putting something on it to stop the bleeding would keep it from getting any worse.

“You didn’t have to do that,” Ellie commented, though she was more than grateful to her friend for being there, for caring.

“It’s okay. I like being naked anyway,” Erinn joked, hoping the small bit of humor would bring a smile to Ellie’s face,
even with the situation at hand. It did, but just barely.

“Creep,” Ellie responded, though the usual heart behind her playful insults wasn’t there. They were both exhausted and wanted to sit down and act like nothing was happening. However, they couldn’t. Nika was still just behind them and if they stopped, they would have to face her. And for Erinn, that was the last thing that she wanted. Her best friend and the girl she had fallen in love with fighting to the death? She couldn't let that happen.

“Hey, Ell, I…I’m glad I’m with you,” Erinn started to say, pausing to bite at her lower lip. She had never been good with emotions, but she had to say something. She had to let Ellie know that she cared and that she appreciated her more than anything. With Dean gone, Ellie was all that she had left…aside from Nika.

“Yeah, me too Rinn. Even if you’re useless,” she replied, a soft smile on her face.

The moment between them was cut short, however, when the girl that had been chasing after them burst through the bushes. Nika was back and Ellie knew that it was on her to stop her. They had been pretty evenly matched beforehand, but now Nika was more exhausted and Ellie had at least somewhat been taken care of with her injury. Nika’s arm was still bleeding copiously and it didn’t look like she had nearly as much strength as she had before. This would be an easy win, as far as Ellie was concerned and she started off towards Nika with a quick hop, all the while hearing Erinn scream at her to stop.

"Erinn, I can't..." Nika started to cry out, holding her injured arm up. She couldn't fight, even if she had wanted to.

Before Ellie knew what was happening, she felt Erinn’s hand on her arm, tugging her back away from Nika. And then came the knife. Everything happened so quickly that honestly, Ellie didn’t even realize it was happening. She slumped down to the ground, her mouth forming a small “o” as she slid to her knees. The knife in her back was quickly draining what life she had left and for just a moment, she was convinced that Talan or one of the other careers was behind her. However, that wasn’t the case. There were only three people in the small clearing. And Talan wasn’t one of them.

Watching Ellie fall to the ground, a knife in her back, Erinn didn’t know what she had just done. Seeing Ellie run towards Nika, the look in her eyes telling her there was no way that she would stop fighting this time, Erinn had panicked. She couldn’t watch Nika die and so she stopped it. She stopped Ellie from getting to her and now Ellie was on the ground, confused, but not crying. It was one of those moments where you felt like you just weren’t really there. There was no way that she had actually just done that, had actually just killed her best friend.

“Ellie…I…I’m so sorry,” Erinn whispered, her voice cracking and threatening to burst into sobs as she spoke. And then the canon sounded. Ellie was gone, the last thing saw being the face of her best friend…and the girl who had killed her.

As soon as the canon went off, Erinn stumbled backwards, the overwhelming emotions taking her over and making her incapable of doing anything but cry. As she fell backwards, she felt a pair of warm arms wrap around her, slowly helping her down to the ground so she could sit. For a moment, all she could do was stare at the body of her best friend. After everything they had been through and all that Ellie had done for her, Erinn didn’t know if she could live with herself right now for what she had just done.

Yet, in the back of her mind, there was no regret. Ellie would have killed Nika, that much she knew was true and as much as she cared about Ellie and as much as she was hurting over what just happened, knowing that she had Nika’s arms around her right then made it seem a little less hard. Though, just a little. Turning around, Erinn buried her head into Nika’s shoulder, sobbing uncontrollably at the situation. She had never considered herself a killer and she had never thought that she would ever have actually used the small knife that Dean had given her to hold, but in the moment there had been no other option. She would have done anything to protect Nika, even kill her best friend.

The two girl’s sat there in silence, the only sound being the sniffling sobs from Erinn and the soft murmur of Nika’s voice as she attempted to comfort Erinn. There was little that she could do, but for Erinn it was enough. They were together, they were alive, and there was no way they could go back to their respective groups. For the rest of this game, it was the two of them and no one else.

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