I just want to clarify something. Tempered refers to two things. First off, her temper, which is self-evident; and the other thing it refers to is the literal definition of "Tempered" which is strengthened, hardened, made stronger through flames.

I am both highly impressed and deeply disturbed at how dark, intense, and insane I made my character in this chapter.

Because many of us had been training pretty much our entire lives for this moment, the whole three days of traditional training for the first Games was skipped in our town.

And so it was that I was standing in my prep room the next day, dressing in the plain black outfit I'd been given. I'd gotten my necklace cleared as my token as soon as I'd explained that it didn't have any helpful spells, only an unbreaking ward.

Once I was given clearance, I stepped onto the metal platform that would lift me up into the arena.

Amazingly, I wasn't panicking like I knew most people would, I wasn't getting giddy and overly excited.

No, I was eerily calm.

As I took my place, my mind wandered. I hoped Danny would be near me to start off, and that the arena would be a good one. They usually didn't make cruel arenas for freshmen, those ones were usually only used for experienced adults who wanted a challenge.

I was lifted up, and my platform clicked into place.

I glanced around, my dark eyes meeting with Danny's blue ones for a moment from where he stood, four tributes between us. I nodded to him, and heard the timer click.

The arena was a thick forest, mostly oak, though I could see what might have been a taiga and a jungle biome with their tall trees reaching above the oaks and birches near the edges of the map.

Spawn had a setup of only about eight chests, and I was determined to get something good. I got the feeling most people wouldn't be rushing Spawn, knowing how little chance was that they would get something good, preferring to find chests elsewhere.

The ticks of the countdown grew heavier in my ears, the anticipation killing me. I could hear my own heartbeat lining up with the redstone machine in progress.

Then, it was time.

The gong sounded, and without hesitation I ran forward to Spawn. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Danny and only a few other people doing the same.

I leaned forward, sprinting. I made it to Spawn first.

I flung open the first chest I came to and ignored the armor and food inside. I moved to the next chest and pulled out a stone axe. Then let the murder spree begin.

I hit the person next to me first, while he bent over the first chest I'd looked in. Blood spewed out from the gash in his back and coated my arms as his body fell to the ground.

A girl with a sword ran at me next. I parried her initial swipe at me, then ducked under her next one, sliding down in the space between her arm and the ground in order to get behind her.

She whirled around, but it was too late. I had regained my footing, and my weapon crashed into her skull, shattering it instantly with the force I'd used, even though it turned out to be the blunt side of the axe head.

There was another boy around, trying to dash away with what little he'd gained while Danny and I had been distracted with our other opponents.

Swiping a bow and quiver off the ground, I aimed for his foot, and didn't miss. He fell to the ground with a soft yelp, surprisingly not screaming. Too bad, I'd like my prey to squeal for mercy.

I jogged over to where he lay, struggling to sit up. Raising the axe over my head, I don't think I felt even the slightest amount of pity when glancing down at his eyes that were drained of hope. Then the axe came down, and I had another kill.

I returned to Spawn, grabbing the best armor I could find from the ground and the chests, which turned out to be mostly chain-mail, which I preferred to iron anyways for the mobility quality.

"How many kills?" I asked Danny, who was looting Spawn like I was.

He shrugged, but the cannon answered for him. It echoed out its loud, ringing shot five times, then fell silent once more.

"Five... I got three, you?" I asked a different question.

"I got the other two. Here, I got an extra stone sword for you" He answered.

"Thanks" I took the other weapon, checking its balance.

Danny looked at me funny, and spoke softly, too softly for the cameras around us to pick up, "You know, I saw what Shari meant yesterday. The entire time you were off killing people, your necklace was glowing. It was weird too, not the pale light Shari described, it was an amber color, a dark glow. I still have no idea what that necklace means"

"Neither do I. Should I hide it?"

"Maybe"

I tucked it underneath my shirt collar, effectively hiding it for the moment.

We finished getting everything of value from Spawn, packing up all the food into a pair of backpacks. The armor and weapons we didn't need we ended up throwing into the river, burying it in the sandy bank.

Then we went hunting.

Since we'd gotten all the Spawn loot to ourselves, and had killed the few rivals at it, we were probably early game-overpowered. We had a lot more gear than pretty much everyone else.

We headed in the direction I assumed was North, based off the morning sun. It would lead us to the jungle, where I had the suspicion that a temple lay, hiding its bounty in the attempt at disguise. And where there might be supplies, there was likely to be people trying to get at it as well.

It took us a few hours to cross the forest to the point where we came to the jungle. We found only one person on our way, and had swiftly dispatched him from the Games.

Danny and I barely even spoke, not risking the chance that someone could hear and find us. Instead, we slunk silently through the jungle's thick fronds, communicating only through facial expressions.

Around noon, I found someone inside of the exact mossy cobblestone structure we'd been looking for. She was talking to herself, since there wasn't anyone around except for me and my friend.

"Hee hee!" She giggled, "All this loot and it's all mine! I don't wanna have to kill anyone, but this might help me win!"

I exchanged a look with Danny, and climbed silently downwards, going from the tree I'd been sitting in to the upper entrance to the temple.

I slipped in, my shoe scuffing against the stone for a moment, but my opponent didn't notice. She seemed to not notice much that I was pretty sure I would have.

Grabbing the bow from where it was slung over my back, I relaxed, and moved into sight range at the top of the stairs. She still didn't see me, so I let the arrow fly.

She jerked her head up at the exact wrong moment, and the barbed arrow flew past her and imbedded itself in a thick patch of moss on the wall.

She looked up in a panic and spotted me. Her eyes widened as she recognized me, "No! Don't kill me! Please, Lynn!" She pleaded.

"What makes you think I'll give any pity?" I whispered, "After all, my friends and I neither want nor receive any"

I let my second arrow go, and it embedded itself deeply in her chest.

"I'm sorry... Lynn..." She managed to choke out before another canon sounded.

But I just looked at her limp form with jaded eyes. It was true. No one cared about the thoughts of myself, Danny, and Shari except for our families and rarely our teachers.

But we didn't want pity, we wanted something more. We wanted freedom, and something I could not name. But it was always something beyond us.

I turned and whistled, calling Danny to me. He slid in and we looted up. I got a bunch more arrows, and enough iron to create a dagger, should I want to use a knife.

Danny was going for tank, since I was faster, and I gave him what iron armor I found.

We spent the remainder of the day exploring the rest of the jungle. We didn't find anyone else, but two other tributes died other than the ones we'd gotten.

Nine dead in one day. Five of them at my hands, two at Danny's

The temple was well-camouflaged if you didn't know it existed, so Danny and I chose to spend the night there, with one of us at a time keeping watch.

You never knew, I'd watched many a Survival Games, and in nearly all of them was that one person who snuck around at night and tried to kill people in their sleep.

"I'll take first watch. You look pretty tired, Danny"

"Mm-kay" He mumbled in response, wrapping his jacket over his body even though we were in the humid heat of the jungle biome. It was an unconscious decision on his part.

"Goodnight to you too"

I moved to the top of the stairs, where I could see both the upper and lower entrances. Danny was down in the lowest part which was seen directly below the lower entrance. I didn't want to risk anyone sneaking in.

Truth be told, my watch was quiet. I didn't see anything more than an ocelot moving in the jungle, because evil mobs didn't spawn in the Games arenas.

I woke Danny about an hour or two after midnight, and we swapped places.

I found myself stretched out down below, staring up at the roof for a moment before I fell asleep.

(Time skip)

It must not have been that much longer that I was awakened by a loud scream that was Very close to me.

I ran up the crumbly stairs, and found my best friend laying there in a pool of his own blood, a stab wound straight through his abdomen.

"Danny!" I yelled, losing caution for the moment.

"Lynn..." He croaked, his voice hoarse, "Damien and Ashley... came... came up behind me... Dropped in through roof... Not good armor, but good weapons... Ran away... when I yelled for you..."

"Oh, Danny..." I couldn't find anything more to say.

"Lynn, we both know... I'm not gonna survive this... Kill me, so I won't drag you down... Please?" He begged.

I nodded. He was right, he wouldn't recover in time to win. I'd just be letting him suffer rather than let his wounds heal by respawning.

"See you on the other side" I softly joked as I raised my sword above him.

Danny let out a light laugh, "The other side..." He promised.

Without any more hesitation, I drove my stone blade into his heart.

A cannon sounded.

I felt numb inside. This was the first kill I felt anything even near remorse for, and it was my best friend.

But I had to move on. I'd win this for us.

"I'll murder them..." I muttered darkly to the open air as I took a few supplies off of Danny's body, "I'll find them and make it so they're never happy again"

My dark eyes were gleaming with a dark light, the light of the thirst for vengeance. I would slay my friend's killers.

I covered Danny's body with his jacket, hiding the wounds. I gently closed his glassy eyes, and turned away.

Danny's sword had been bloodied, so I assumed he'd wounded one of them. And sure enough, I found a trail of red drops leading away into the jungle.

Knowing Damien and Ashley, they wouldn't stay around if they knew I was here, but they also couldn't get too far if they were injured.

I followed the trail. Silent, but quick.

It probably wasn't too smart of me to take on a double team, but I was thinking logically. Those two had it out for me, but very much feared me. They were a danger and I had to take them out.

I was pretty sure that at this point, most of the kids were freaking out about the fact that they'd killed someone, even if it was just in the Games and they would respawn.

I wasn't.

I was emotionless, prepared to do whatever it took to win this.

Because watching the Games and training could not prepare you for the emotional shock of actually killing someone.

But that didn't affect me, for some reason. The emotional effect of killing people didn't affect me. Except for when it was my friends, and that sparked anger apparently.

My long stride was inaudible among the sounds of foliage in the wind. I kept low to the ground, no matter how much I wanted to climb a tree to gain a vantage point.

My targets were nearby. That was certain. The blood had started coming in bigger drops, and they would have stopped soon.

But where was the nearest shelter? Where would they hide?

I stopped for a moment, I could hear voices through the undergrowth.

"Damien, stop it! That's not going to help, just let me wash it and wrap it up!"

"Damn it! I know what I'm doing, Ashley! This will keep it from being infected"

Peeking out of a bush, I spotted them sitting in the dawn light in the mouth of a cavern, where I could see their supplies.

Damien had a nasty gash in his right shoulder, and was using his other hand to press moss down on the wound.

Ashley was trying her best to help him, a large beige cloth bandage held in her hands.

I smirked. They were defenseless. Damien was out of commission, and Ashley wasn't much of a fighter. But they'd probably be expecting me to come after them, after all, they had just mortally wounded my best friend.

"Are you ready to die?" I whispered, knowing my voice was carried on the wind.

Ashley stood up, "Who's there?" She demanded.

"What's wrong, Ash?" Damien asked, looking up at his girlfriend.

"There's something..."

"Are you ready to feel pain?" I whispered again, moving to a location right above the lip of the cave, to where my enemies were directly below me.

"There is it again!" Ashley cried out, freaking out now.

"Ash, I'm sure it's no..." He started...

Before he could finish his "nothing" I dropped down.

My sword sank right through his skull, I could hear a loud crack as it split in two, and the hiss of air from his broken windpipe.

I glanced up at Ashley as I crouched there, my blade still halfway into her boyfriend's head. Neither of us moved as we heard the cannon.

A dark, crazed smile covered my face and I stood, "I asked, are you ready to die?"

"You're... You're insane!" She whimpered.

"I know I am. And what does that make you?"

"Dead" She started to weep.

"Correct answer" As I approached her, I spoke, "You know, all of this... cruelty... could have been prevented. If only you people would learn... You do know you could have run away, right? Oh wait, you never trained like we have. you never tried. Oh well, I'll kill you quickly, and then you can be back with your boyfriend. You don't belong here anyways"

She shrunk back against a tree as I got closer and closer to her. I lifted my sword and traced it along her neck, feeling the pulse of her jugular.

"I'm not sorry in the slightest" I whispered in her ear, then with one sharp motion, I freed her head from her body.

Blood spurted out, adding to the collection that already covered me from Danny and Damien's deaths, but I payed it no mind.

I watched her head roll, blank green eyes staring up at a cloudless sky.

The second cannon sounded.

There were twelve tributes dead. Eleven more to go.

I turned my back on their savaged bodies, heading for a more popular part of the map to find more people to slay.