My breath was short; I blinked the tears out of my eyes. Everything was wrong. Nothing seemed to make sense. The past two or three weeks had gone by in a blur. The reaping had happened so suddenly, I hadn't even guessed it. When that woman called out "Amy Alkezno" my heart had stopped. That was my name. I can't even remember the other tributes names now. It was such a shock for me! I was 12 years old I didn't even get tesserae. How could that have happened? Fear has a funny way of ruining everything for you. I couldn't remember what my mentor, Mags, who had won a few years before, had told me to do.

The glass tube that had lifted me into the arena started to recede. No! Not yet, I'm not ready! The one thing I did remember was not to move or else I'd be blown to bits. I made my best attempt at a deep breath and looked around.

It was mostly water, which was good for me being from District 4. There was a forest on my right; I didn't want to go over there. Behind me, there was vast grassland. Maybe if I allied with a District 11 tribute, I might be able to survive there. On my left there was just beach, it looked like it would never end. The platforms where all the tributes stood were right by the water. Maybe I could jump in and swim out as far as I could; I'd be safe there. Unless one of the tributes got his or her hands on a bow and arrows, then I'd be toast.

I heard the gong. It was time. Time to be killed. Everyone started to move around and head for the cornucopia, which was in the center of the ring of 24 platforms. I couldn't move. I was a statue. Frozen by fear. I looked around and my heart froze. In the training center we ate alone. I only saw my mentor in private training sessions and my male tribute counter part I only ever saw at the reaping and on the train. Even then, I was shut up in my room with grief of being reaped.

I had seen him thousands of times. He was my sister's boyfriend. I couldn't believe it. How could I not have noticed? Even worse, how could I kill him? How could he kill me? I would much rather me than him. My sister could have him back...but she would lose me. Either way it would torture her. It was over. The freedom of childhood was gone. Completely gone.

"You look really familiar...," said a voice, I felt hot breath on my neck.

I whipped around to see him standing there, "I should hope so! I'm Jacklyn's sister!"

"Oh, then you must know my name is James Spark, huh?" he asked.

"Duh!" I grumbled.

"Moody, much?" he asked defensively.

"Yes," I growled. "Let's see, either way, if one of us wins as well, it'll hurt Jacklyn. I can't even remember anything Mags said, and," I choked. "I'm scared."

"We all are," James whispered gently, wrapping his arm around me. "All though, we do have to move! We will get killed."

I managed a small chuckle, "Allies?"

"Allies."

With that, he set off, fast walking towards the open beach. I trudged after him, trying to watch for any of the other tributes.

Once I had caught up to James, I whispered, "You sure this is safe? I mean, we will be out in the open."

"Exactly," he said in hushed tones. "They will think we're dumb and weak. Hopefully they'll leave us alone."

"Hopefully," I groaned.

"Maybe they will, maybe they won't," he said. "It doesn't much matter. I'm stronger than I look, and I'm sure you have the brains to help along the way. Like your sister..." At the last sentence, he trailed off, his face looking distraught.

"She loves you, you know. She's routing for the both of us. I know it," I said, squeaking a little.

"I'm sure she is," he said sadly.

We walked in silence after that. Time passed by slowly; the sounds of the blood bath were still ringing in the air. My hands were still shaking slightly, I had told the truth to James. I was truly very scared.

"This is a good spot," James mumbled shakily.

I shrugged in response and settled down.

"We'll get weapons in the morning. In the mean time, we should probably figure out shelter and food."

I nodded slightly, glancing toward the woods, "Would it be safe to go in there?"

"Probably not. What are we best at, anyway?" he replied.

"Fishing!" I grinned.

He smiled in response; "I'm good at making nets...are you fast?"

"Extremely."

"Good. Do you see those vines over there? Next to the edge of the woods?"

"Yep."

"Run, as fast as you can, grab them and bring them back to me. Think you can do that?"

I nodded, running off. I did as I was told, but the vines wouldn't budge.

"These are mine!" said a scary looking girl, appearing beside me, holding onto the vines as well.

"You sure about that?" I asked, trying to keep the fear out of my voice. All though, I had a feeling she could smell it.

"Completely," she growled.

"Well, it depends on who you are," I sneered.

"Stella Nitingale," she said, in a normal tone, which confused me. "District 8. Lumber."

"Oh," I said. I guess we were both letting out guard down. "I'm Amy Alkezno. District 4. Fish."

"Oh my! I've always wanted to visit there! Father would never let me come, though," she said sadly.

"You dad wouldn't let you come? What do you mean? People aren't allowed to leave the districts," I said, utterly confused.

"He's the mayor of District 8. The president has been having a lot of trouble and Father's been traveling a lot," Stella said sadly.

"He's come to my District?" I asked timidly.

"Yeah, didn't you hear about it?" she replied.

"No, I didn't," I said quietly.

"Odd," she mumbled.

"You know what?" I asked suddenly.

"What?" she said.

"Why don't we become allies for the time being?"

"That's actually a really good idea!"

"I guess so. I'm already allied with James, from my District. Let's get this vine down to him so he can make a net out of it."

"Why do we need a net?"

"Because. We need food don't we?"

"I guess...But isn't fish gross?"

"Sure, if it's not cooked properly or you've had it your whole life. Trust me, you'll like it."

"Okay."

We ran back to James. His face when he saw Stella made us both burst out into hysterical, carefully quiet, laughter.

"Who this?" he demanded of me.

"Stella. She's a friend," I giggled.

"Oh. Well, then, hi Stella!" he said, regaining a smile.

"Hello," she said shyly.

"How old are you?" he asked gently.

"T-thirteen," Stella replied.

"Just a little bit older than Amy here. I'm fifteen," James replied.

"Cool," she smiled a little.

"Well!" I said, breaking in. "I'm starving! Let's start fishing!"

"Sounds good to me," James grinned.

I smiled. I had survived the blood bath, I had two allies, and both were strong and like me. I think I'm in good hands