Hey guys! Still here?

Great!

I just couldn't wait to update!

So just wanted you to know, there WILL be a few different parts now, *** will separate them. For example, one for the careers and one for Zane and Kelvin and one for Joel and Chancey, and so on... but PLEASE read them all so they make sense. BTW all the parts take place at the same time, and some people might not be featured, but they will in a future chapter. It just means that their night was typical (as typical as THG that is) but hopefully you understand :)

---

"Zane, stop. I can't run anymore." Kelvin put his hands onto his knees, panting. They were already very far into the woods that it was impossible for anyone to be this far. They were first in there anyways.

"This is The Hunger Games, Kelvin. Ya stop running, and you're dead!" Zane complained. Kelvin fell down on the ground, groaning.

"Then I guess I'm dead," said Kelvin. 

"Maybe we should just find a source of water, then. To wash off. I'm pretty sure there's one around here, anyways, we are on an island."

"No, I can't. Can't we just stay here for a little longer? Like a few more hours?" asked Kelvin, still sweating and panting from running. On contrast, Zane shows no sign of exhaustion. 

He sighed. "Fine, just a little longer. But then we leave, got it?" Kelvin nodded. "Good." 

As Kelvin drifted off to sleep, Zane stared up at the sky. Starting to dim, he noticed. They must have put them out later than normal, or they ran much more than Zane knew. He felt his hands, and how empty they felt now that he knew that he missed his chance to get something that would help him survive. He was upset, yet knew that running away helped him survive. His mentor taught him and Amethyst many things, and by what he thought, she seemed to have followed them as well as he did.

Kelvin's head fell down the tree he was leaning up against, almost touching Zane's shoulder. He felt like a brother to Zane, even if he barely knew him, like he had known him his whole life. Zane partly wanted to move up the tree, but he stayed with Kelvin to make sure that he didn't get shot in his sleep. So he sat there till the sun set, watching the fallen tributes pop up onto the sky. He knew it was more than a few hours of sleeping, but he didn't want to wake his friend. 

So he waited.

***

"Should we go out there?" Jacob asked Cole and Jess. "To get the weapons?"

"Na, let them have the satisfaction for one more night," Cole answered. "they deserve it."

Skya twitched uncomfortably. She didn't like staying with Cole and Jess, who obviously had pride issues, but didn't want to leave Diandra. She sat next to her, and tried to talk to he, but Diandra never said anything.

"Are you sure?" Jess asked. "We could just use them; they'd want us to. Kay-Jen would."

"Would you just shut up about Kay-Jen already?" asked Cole.

"Well excuse me for caring about someone else! Five deserved what she got." Jess responded angrily. She had high hopes for him, as she did then for Cole, and was quite fond of both of them.

"Kay-Jen killed her first," Skya cut in.

"Skya," Diandra whispered, slightly slapping her arm.

"It's true, though," said Jacob. "just proves how much his training did for him."

"I know it's true," Jess answered uncomfortably. "I just wish it wasn't." 

"Hey," Cole interrupted. "want to go down and hunt down tributes? Keep your eye on Zeon and Fiona, though. Zeon's great with a bow and Fiona's bloody fast."

"Don't forget Lee," Jacob said, laughing. "She'll be an easy target."

"Yeah, we've got our share of her," Jess said, laughing with him.

Skya looked at Diandra for any expression change, but all she could see was the curls on her hair staying still, without movement.

"Okay," Jess started. "Jacob, you stay and look after camp. I'll look for Zeon and Alexsandr. Skya, you look for Zane and Kelvin. Cole, you look for Fiona and Lee. And Diandra, you can go with Skya and look for Chancey and Joel. They're allies from twelve." She put her hand on Jacob's shoulder. 

"Don't. Blow. This," She whispered. Jacob nodded excitedly. Cole, Skya, and Diandra nodded. "We'll go in the morning. For now, let's sleep." The sun started to set, and everyone got their stuff.

Jacob took a backpack from inside and picked out a sleeping bag, stuffing himself into it and closing his eyes. Diandra found a few sacks and made herself a bag out of that, and stared at the top of the cornucopia. Skya slept furthest away from everyone else and tried to sleep, but she couldn't, no matter how hard she tried. And Cole and Jess argued about who would take watch, eventually deciding on Cole.

In the middle of their sleeping, Cole woke everyone up to the glittering sky of the faces of fallen tributes. First, they saw, was Kay-Jen. Jess pulled at the end of her suit when she saw his face. Then, was Fredia, and Jess cheered at the sight of that. Then, Skylar from six, then Chip and Sarah, and finally Jonathon.

The faces disappeared along with the music and everyone went back to bed.

***

"Should we stop here?" Joel was already panting, and Chancey stopped to help him.

"No, I can tell that there's a ocean up there somewhere. We'll make camp near there so it protects us better."

Joel nodded, and started running again where he thought the ocean might be. Soon, the smell of the sea filled their noses, and they knew they were more than close. And eventually, they got a glimpse at the sea in which they would camp by.

They found a gathering of trees, and Joel offered to help set up the tent, and Chancey insisted she help, too. It didn't take them too long, for that's what they worked on most in training. Joel gathered the sticks, and Chancey gathered the twine, holding the bag on her back. Soon, they had made a nice fort.

"Open it up," Chancey said. Joel separated the sides of the drawstring, and checked inside. They saw a few matchsticks, water bottle, and a knife. They marveled at it.

"Its not much," Joel started. "but enough to keep us alive."

They looked up as they heard the anthem play, and they realized that it was already nighttime. Had they really spent that much time gathering wood?

Joel looked away from the sky. He couldn't stand to see the faces of the fallen. It felt like it was partially his fault. But Chancey kept an eye on each and every face, then reported it to him.

"The girl from 6 is gone," She said.

"Really?" Joel asked.

"Yeah, I think the careers got her."

"How about the boy from 2? And the little girl from 1?"

"Both alive," Chancey said.

"Huh." They slept the rest of the night without speaking.

***

He climbed.

He didn't know what else to so then watch from the top.

Venus did know that he wasn't the only one in the area, though. He was sitting directly across from Zane and Kelvin, whom he had to hide his fondness for. He wanted allies, but dreaded what price came with a good partnership.

So, he just sat.

He had always thought, if he were to enter the games, he would be more like a morphling, hiding in plain sight. His parents had taught him to paint beautiful pictures of his littler siblings, and would use that to his advantage if he actually had paint he could use.

So, he used what nature already had. Protection from the spying eyes below.

***

She hadn't seen anything more beautiful in her life.

Amethyst stepped further into the patch of trees and tropical flowers, looked around for any sign of life.

Just me, she thought.

Her long, brown hair got caught in the wind that blew every time she took a step. She reached down and picked up one of the white flowers that she had never seen before in her life. They reminded her of the roses the President always had stuffed into his pockets.

Back in District 4, Amethyst never went outside as much as she wanted to. She had made journals collected details about her flower studies, but her parents would always find an excuse to bring her back inside.

Not this time, she thought. They're not here to stop me, anyways.

From the flower she was holding, her eyes darted to the ground again. A small red flower laid right next to her, full of life. It had green stripes going down its petals. She immediately recognized this flower as the Stringharp, a beautiful yet deadly flower.

Amethyst checked the ground for a leaf, and when she finally found one, used it to pluck the Stringharp and store without harming herself. Even when plucked its petals had the effect of a disease. She knew this would come in handy eventually during the games.

One more thing in particular caught her eye. A large tree, blooming with the white flowers all over it. She walked over it to cautiously, and found it as the best place to sleep. She climbed up the truck, and swung her legs over one of the bulky branches. Before resting and closing her eyes, she thought of an idea.

Flowers and trees were perfect to make snares.

But she shook off the thought. Tomorrow, she thought. After sleep.