Rapunzel's foot slipped and she heard a twig snap from below. Ohhhh no.

"Hey, keep it down or we'll both be killed." She looked up to see the District 11 boy balancing nimbly on a high branch. Like her, he'd obviously decided that climbing was the safest option. Rapunzel nodded begrudgingly and crouched down, listening intently to their pursuers on the jungle floor.

"Give it a rest, Calhoun. There's no one here." A huge 17 year old said, putting one of his ginormous hands on his companions shoulder.

"Don't push it, Ralph- I heard someone." She replied, brushing him off. "And I'm never mistaken."

"Then where are they?!" Ralph looked around impatiently.

Calhoun glared at him. "We'll find them. And when we do, there will be nowhere to hide. For now, let's set up camp."

"Sheesh, you're the boss." Ralph threw up his hands and began collecting firewood.

Rapunzel looked up again and saw the boy motioning left. Again she nodded, silently following his lead as he jumped across the trees towards the clearing.

Jack invited this girl into his camp even though she could attack him at any moment. He wondered why he had decided to trust her. She was pretty, and a long time ago the waist length blond hair and green eyes would've been his thing. Now, the hair was something to grab if she came too close, a liability for her and a weapon for him.

"Thankyou." The girl said simply- breaking the silence that had fallen between them.

"Don't mention it." Jack began empty his supplies from his rucksack.

She cleared her throat, "I'm Rapunzel, by the way. District 1."

"Good for you." He replied bluntly. "Now pass me your bag."

"Why?"

"Because I'm letting you stay in my camp, that's why."

"Tell me your name." Rapunzel handed over her bag and moved closer to him.

"Jack." Her face was just centimetres away from his. He swallowed. "District 11."

She smiled and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "If we wake up early and climb quickly, we'll be able to outrun them."

It took a couple of seconds before Jack realized she was expecting a reply. "Yes," He said finally "But Calhoun's smart. She'll figure out that we're in the trees and cut us off."

"Then we go back the way I came."

"Are you crazy? That's where Elsa's team are hiding!"

Rapunzel sighed. "Well do you have a better idea?"

"We could stay here and make it look like we've gone towards the lake." He suggested, but she shook her head.

"Sue would figure it out, like you said she's smart."

They sat in silence for a while, wondering what they should do. It was a good couple of minutes before Jack finally asked "Does this mean we're going to work together?"

"I guess so. Your climbing skills are definitely useful."

He smiled for what seemed like the first time in forever. "You're not too bad yourself."

Hiccup was out of luck. Just a couple of hours ago he thought he had a chance, a small one, but a chance never-the-less. He needed to win the games, get home and tell Astrid how he felt and then... Well, he hadn't thought about what would happen after that. This whole scenario was riding on the idea he would win, but now he wasn't so sure.

First of all, the Game-maker, Gothel, had decided this year the games would take place in a jungle- a habitat Hiccup was far from used to living in the cold climate of District 10. Then, as soon as the Hunger Games began, his own ally had thrown an axe at his head, proclaiming that he would be the one to kill him. Soon afterwards Hiccup saw he'd joined forces with Elsa and Hans, the two volunteers from District 2. From the training it was clear they were as brutal as Snotlout- perhaps even more.

All in all it was not going well. Hiccup was a skinny boy, not memorable to get sponsors, not threatening enough to scare away any attackers but too brave to be forgotten about by the other tributes. The only thing he had going for him was that he was smart, yet his brains were useless in this unfamiliar course. Any hopes of surviving were slowly disappearing as he hid in a small cave, alone and injured. He had managed to avoid an axe in his head and instead it had caught his shoulder, ripping apart any chance he had of fighting.

Hiccup wondered dully if he would bleed to death before Snotlout managed to kill him, that would surely be a kinder fate than the one his cousin had in store for him.

The sun began to set, sending its orange rays across the entire jungle. Rapunzel sat cross legged in one of the tallest trees in the arena, watching the sky in awe.

"It's the most beautiful sunset I've seen." Smiling, she pushed her knees up to her chin.

"Too bad it's not real." Jack spoke from behind her. Rapunzel raised her eyebrows as he sat down next to her, his brown hair slightly ruffled from the climb.

"It doesn't matter though. It's still lovely."

Jack eyed her thoughtfully. "Of course it matters if it's real or not."

She cocked her head slightly and replied "Not the way I see it. As long as you enjoy the view and have good company to share it with, nothing else counts."

He chuckled and moved slightly closer to Rapunzel. "But you can't judge a sunset unless you see it in my district- the views truly are beautiful."

"I'll have to take your word on it." She ran her fingers through her golden hair, attempting to disentangle the leaves and twigs that had gotten stuck in it.

Jack sighed. "If we're going to work together, you need to cut your hair."

"No way." She said bluntly and continued to comb it with her fingers.

"Yes way. Look, I'm not going to work with you unless you do something with it."

"Then it's your loss." She rolled her eyes at him. "This is my hair and I'll do what I want with it."

Jack narrowed his eyes- she was behaving like a spoiled child. He wanted her on his 'team' but he was going to have to show her what a danger having her waist-length hair was.

"It's almost dark. Are we going to sleep up here or in your camp?" Rapunzel asked, carefully rising from her seat.

"Let's sleep in the camp, it means we won't have to climb down the tree tomorrow morning." She offered her hand and he took it, allowing her to help him stand.

"We're going to travel on foot?"

"Just until we reach the lake." She gave him a questioning look and Jack sighed. "In the trees we're less-vulnerable, but we're also louder, slower and have a harder route than Calhoun. We need to make sure we get to the lake before her, so our only option is on foot."

"Right... And after that, we're going in the trees?" Jack began to climb down the trunk and Rapunzel, after seeing what he was doing, followed him.

"Let's finish this conversation when we reach the bottom."

"Why, can't handle the climb?" She joked.

Jack laughed, manoeuvring himself under a branch. "As if you could keep up!"

From a quick glance outside, Hiccup knew that it was going to be dark soon. He also knew he couldn't hide here forever, he'd seen it on countless reruns of the Hunger Games. Sooner or later, a beast or disaster would drive him out of his cave- either killing him then and there or leaving that to the other tributes. He had to start moving before it got dark, regardless of the searing pain in his right shoulder.

Hiccup began to shuffle his way out the small dark cave he had wedged himself into, and was almost completely out before he heard two people approach his hiding-place. Watching from a small crack between two rocks, he saw a young boy and girl emerged from the trees. He guessed they were around 17.

"How does it feel to be beaten, Jack?" The girl teased, hitting 'Jack' on the shoulder.

This was bad. They didn't exactly seem menacing but as Hiccup well knew, looks could be deceiving. He tried to shove himself back in the cave, but his arm was too painful and there wasn't enough time. Instead, Hiccup ducked behind the rocks.

"Oh shove off! You cheated-"

A twig snapped under Hiccup's foot, he cursed silently and held his breath.

"Someone's watching us." The girl said, drawing out the knife wedged in her belt.

Jack nodded and moved slowly towards Hiccup's hiding spot. This was it. He was going to be killed no matter what, he might as well use the only thing he had left- his brain.

"Uh, could you help me?" Jack and the girl looked curiously at each other and then back at the rock blocking him from view. "I'm a bit stuck."