The Xatian Games (TXG)

Disclaimer: I don't own The Hunger Games; All credit goes to Suzanne Collins.

Constructive criticism is always appreciated; Any flames will be used to roast marshmallows.

"Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever in your favour." - Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games

Chapter 2

"I want to help them, mommy" whispered a child.

"There's nothing you can do, Dear Heart. Now go to sleep." came the reply.

The blonde girl quickly scrambles to her feet and wrenches her shoulder from one of the guys who is still holding her. She stands her ground as she is approached by the tall guy with spiked hair, staring defiantly into his dark brown eyes. He leans over her, but she remains unflinching.

In less than a heartbeat, the guy has lifted his dagger and is pressing it into the delicate skin at the base of the girl's neck. Her confidence finally breaks as she lets out a tiny cry and grips the guy's wrists, trying to pull his hands and the knife away from her neck.

"Will." murmurs a deep voice from behind the group. The pressure of the knife reduces a little as the guy cranes his neck over his shoulder to look at who had spoken. "It's not her time." He continues.

"I wouldn't tell me what to do if I were you, Roelof." Will replies, turning himself and the girl around to face the man before him.

Before them stands a well built, dark haired man with strong facial features and smooth stubble covering the lower half of his face. He appears too composed and defined to be a tribute, and the girl wonders if he is some kind of Gamekeeper interfering with the games. He pulls out a small bag from his backpack and throws it at Will's feet.

"Travis" Will says, nudging the bag with his foot. The taller of the two guys who'd held the girl down steps forward. He is a tall, well built guy with dark, thick hair, green eyes and glasses. He scoops up the bag and paws through its contents.

"Three apples, a ball of string, some bandages and a bottle of water." Travis says to Will, looking up from the bag. "Useful stuff." He comments.

"Now spare her." murmurs Roelof, starting hard at Will.

"Sure." Replies Will, taking the knife away from the girl's throat. A small trickle of blood runs down her neck from where the knife had been pressed into her skin. He grabs her wrist as she starts to walk away. "Thanks for the supplies. We'll be keeping the girl as well." He smirks as he turns away, pulling the girl with him, who's frantically trying to yank her hand free. Distrust flickers across Roelof's dark eyes, but he remains silent as he watches Will's group walk away into the forest. He waits until they all disappear into the undergrowth before heading off in the opposite direction.

The group treks through the forest for a while before reaching a small clearing. Travis and William dump their bags and weapons near the centre of the clearing and start working on building a small fire pit and erecting a couple of tents. Will walks to the edge of the clearing and scans the surrounding forest, before letting go of the girl and allowing her take a few steps away from him.

"Don't run." He says, showing her the palms of his hands. "I'm not going to hurt you." The girl stares hard at him and looks him up and down. He is tall and slim, but has defined muscle underneath his clothes. His knife hangs loosely from his belt, but he makes no move towards it. After a few moments, Will breaks the silence. "So do you have a name?" He asks.

"Marie." The girl replies shortly. Travis looks up from where he's pegging down a tent.

"Hello Marie!" He says, cheerfully. She flips him off.

Will chuckles. "Well, you definitely have spirit, Marie. I like that." His face grows serious. "We could use someone like you in our group. What d'you think? I'm Will, by the way."

Marie thinks about the offer for a moment. "If I get a tent, sure." She replies.

Will smirks. "Of course. You can share with Travis. Glad to have you aboard!" he says cheerily as he turns away, leaving no room for discussion.

Marie curses under her breath and glares at Travis, who's looking warmly back at her. The warmth quickly melts into unease when he sees the look on Marie's face.

"I, um, we can do back to back night watch shifts so we don't have to share the tent, and stuff, if you want." stammers Travis. Marie stares coldly at him for a moment, before nodding and turning away, walking in the direction Will went. "We'll arrange shifts later and stuff, if you want." Travis calls after her.

A low chuckle sounds from behind Travis. "Good luck with that." says William, sitting up from lighting a fire. Travis takes a seat on the ground next to William in front of the fire.

"She'll kill me in my sleep!" Travis exclaims, sitting up for a moment to scan the surrounding forest for any danger.

"Don't sleep then." William replies shortly. They continue to sit by the fire in silence as the sun sets. After a while Will and Marie return with a couple of rabbits and some more firewood. As Marie throws some wood onto the fire, William guts and cleans the rabbits and hands slices of meat to Travis, who puts them on the fire to cook.

The group sit in a circle around the fire and eat in silence as the Arena begins to grow dark. Suddenly, the Capitol anthem plays, slicing through the silence like an arrow. The group look through a gap in the trees, and high in the sky are three tribute portraits. Marie recognises one of the tributes as the one she killed.

"I killed that one." Marie tells the group, gesturing to the tribute.

"We know. We heard you scream at him, and that's how we found you" replied Will. "What'd you do, scare him to death?" Marie elbows him in the ribs before looking back up at the sky.

The portraits remain projected into the sky for a few more minutes, then the anthem sounds again and the forest falls silent. As the group starts to settle down for the night, Will and William put out the fire and wander around the camp to make sure there is no-one around. Travis and Marie squabble over who has first watch.

Suddenly, a wet tearing noise causes everyone's head to turn in the direction Will and William went. William stumbles forward into the clearing and Will rushes to catch him as he falls to his knees.

A long steel arrow is lodged deep into his back and the tip protrudes out of his chest. A drop of dark blood drips off the end, and tiny jets of blood are spurting rhythmically out from a gap next to the arrowhead. William touches the arrowhead and looks up to the rest of the group, the life in his eyes quickly fading.

"We have company" he says weakly, as his body goes limp and hangs loosely in Will's arms. A cannon goes off in the distance.

The group share a look of alarm as another arrow appears out of nowhere, and the same wet tearing noise from before sounds again.

A body drops to the ground.

[A/N: Remember to Read+Review, Folks! ^_^ I'll give you hugs if you do.]