I awake a few hours later. The sun is rising slowly and I look out of the branches of the tree to watch it. As the rays of the sun touch the trees they seem to disappear. They're disintegrating! I gather my things and leap down from the tree, wielding an axe in case of any oncoming attacks.

When the trees around me have all disintegrated into small piles of colored sand, I look around me and see the other tributes in different areas of the arena, shocked and scared or laughing and ready for blood.

I see the careers standing on a pile of blue sand not ten yards from me. They run towards me passing over piles of green sand, purple sand, lavender sand, bright yellow sand, red sand… and then they're upon me. I wink and wave at them.

"How have you been?" I act as though they are friends I haven't seen in a few years, but I don't hug them.

"Shut up bitch," Flicker steps forward a belt of knives surrounding her thin waist. She pulls a long jagged one out and eyes me like I'm a pig ready for slaughter. I grip my axe a little tighter as she steps closer, we circle each other and I cry out as a sharp, white hot pain erupts from my thigh. I'd been so focused on Flicker I hadn't realized she'd circled me so that my back was to the careers. I swing my axe as I turn to Flame who has a sword coated in sticky red blood in his grip. I miss his head by inches as he jumps away.

Then the chaos breaks out, I'm dodging and blocking like my life depends on it. Ducking under a sword, jumping out of the way of the boy from two's massive body as it pummels towards me, rolling to the ground when three of Flicker's daggers rush towards me. One sticks in my shoulder and is only pushed further in as I try to evade them. Thoroughly tired now, I just try to get away. The girl from district four throws a spear at me and it whizzes by my head. I continue running, my heart caught in my throat.

When I no longer hear heavy breathing and the stomping of feet behind me, I turn to see where they went. I see the hyper girl from three and and hear her crazed laughas she runs away from the careers. The boy from four is lying on the ground, aqua sand turning red beneath him, a minute ticks by and I hear his cannon. His district partner screams in outrage and rushes three. Her spear pierces three's stomach and I see the tip emerging slightly in the other end, three falls to the ground and curls into a ball. Four rips her spear out and stabs it into the skull of three. Her cannon goes off; that could easily have been me. I continue running before they see me and decide to continue pursuing me, and try to avoid the remaining tributes.

I see other groups of tributes in the middle of heated battles and walk as close to the mountains as I dare. I sit behind a rock and try to remain invisible as battles end and tributes walk away injured or have died. I tend to my injuries as I wait.

I tear part of my blanket off and cut that strip in half, tying one half over the wound in my leg and the other around my arm after I rip out the blade stuck in it. Two more cannons go off leaving thirteen of us, though who knows how many will die due to injuries later today.

I pull out the rabbit meat and look for something to start a fire. I grab as much brush from the mountainside as I can and stare up at the sky with pleading eyes.

A black parachute falls and I jump up to get it. I have at least a few sponsors. I grab the flint and stone thing and eagerly start a fire, and place the pieces of rabbit meat in the fire. It won't make the tastiest meal, but it'll do. I save three fourths of the small amount of meat I have and eat the rest, sating my hunger for at least a few more hours.

I watch the tributes go off in clumps or alone and head to the outermost edges of the arena, except the careers of course; they head for the nearest group to them, out for blood.

The sun starts to set again and the cornucopia steadily gains luminosity. The sand quickly starts to melt until there is a patch of land in the center of the arena half the size of the original arena. The mountain range melts in a cascade of water and I find myself floundering. I try to remember what the swim instructor told me and kick my legs and move my arms and slowly, oh so very slowly, make my way to the island, which has sprouted palm trees.

I'm the last one to make it to the island I think. I creep onto the shore, climb a palm tree and try to remain hidden. I find a few coconuts dangling by my head and shove one in my quickly filling backpack. I hold onto the tree to save my life as the careers pass under my tree unsuspecting. I remain silent and don't breathe as they walk away. When I'm sure they're gone, I slide down the tree, my arms limp and weak and find a fallen log hidden in the shade to hide under. I watch both sides carefully and jump a little when I hear a cannon. The careers have found their kill. A boy runs by me and a troupe of feet thunders by after him. I wait for the sound of the cannon, when it goes off I count in my head, thirteen down, eleven tributes left, ten more deaths.

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