A/N so I have no excuse for how bad I did at updating this! I'll try harder! Thanks for the reviews and follow/favorites, keep it up. Hope you like this anticipated chapter. It is pretty long so I hope its good. Sorry for any spelling and grammar mistakes, my computer sucks is all I have to say! See you next time!

Disclaimer- the artful hunger games belongs to Susan Collins, NOT me!

Day 3

Being in this arena would either kill you physically or kill you mentally. Either way no one ever one these games. We had been in this torture chamber for 2 days, today would be our 3 dread day. Nothing happened much, except for 3 cannons and a lack of any surprises. We never ventured far from our cave, so we wouldn't really know.

I saw the effects the games had on Lark almost immediately. She was being squashed mentally, each cannon, each scream, ripped down the fragile walls of her mind. She never talked anymore, and when she did it was a nonsense babbling that seemed to spill out of her lips. It had no meaning whatsoever. She jumped at every noise or touch, and she never smiled at all. I hadn't seen her do it once sense we got in the cave.

I woke up that morning in a cold sweat, before my siblings for once. My dreams seemed to be intensified in this place, and I had no desire to try to force my eyes closed once again. I untangled my limbs from Lark and rolled onto the cave floor, the bitter rock electrocuting my jumping nerves.

I watched the sun shoot of the wintery ice, blinding the cave with brilliant light. Sparse trees blocked some of the rock opening, and it was on the side of the hill. We would most likely be safe for a while, hidden away, but the large hole would prove a threat for us soon.

We survived the first days, but how much longer? How much longer would we be stuck in this hole in the wall, tucked away from the rest of the tributes? How much longer could we sit and wait before one of us was killed pulled away from the rest of our family.

As soon as these words crossed my mind, I heard a twig snap outside. The break sounded much too strong to be a small animal or vermin, and my body went on red alert. Somebody was out there, and close to our cavern.

"Oaken, Lark, get up!" I kicked them both, bringing them to life.

"What now?" Oaken asked, sleep still evident in his eyes. He out stretched his strong arms and they distilled some of the stale air pooling in our cavern.

"We need to go, now!" My words were sharp and quite. There was something out there, and I didn't want it hearing us! The quicker they found us, the sooner we would all be died.

"Ugh, Maison, why? I was finally getting some actual sleep!" Lark moaned, rubbing her cold limbs. It was the first coherent sentence she had said in days. Her blank eyes blinked at me, seeming to slightly regaining their usual shine. They were whipped away of light and disappeared as soon as the next words fell out of my mouth.

"There's someone outside, and I'm going to bet it is the careers! So we need to be as quite as possible, pack up, and go. Now!"

My command registered on their faces and they hastily threw things back into the sack. Oaken armed himself with his fought over knife, and I slipped the bow I spilt blood for onto my back. Lark grabbed the bulky pack and stayed close behind us, preferring not to arm herself with a weapon.

We slipped out of the cave mouth, when we could hear the creature crystal clear. Or more like the group of creatures. They sounded way too close for my comfort, and I started shoving Oaken and Lark to go faster.

"I know somebody's got to be around here, multiple people by the looks of the tracks!" A deep voice grunted. He was obviously having a heated conversation with someone else.

"Well it seems to me like you're too stupid to track people in the first place!" A shrill feminine voice snapped. It didn't sound very old, but still very in control. It was the voice of someone who was used to always getting their way.

"It's not that hard to track when there's fresh footprints in the snow!" The previous voice raged. Obviously he had had this conversation before with the young girl, and was tired of repeating it.

Dang! Why didn't I remember the snow would easily show our tracks, making us prime targets!? People could just follow our pressed in feet marks, and find exactly where we were staying!

"Both of you shut up" A man's voice fumed. He was evidently this packs leader, and he wasn't pleased at his troops multiple fights and bickering. "I think I hear something!"

Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap! Neither Oaken nor Lark were very quite walkers, and you could probably here them a mile away. Their feet trudged along the ground, shuffling snow and breaking wet sticks.

"Please try to pick up your feet." I pleaded to both of them. I could tell the both tried to follow my asking, but it was no use. They still sounded like a heard of wild beasts, storming through the forest. When they tried to be quieter it also only really slowed them down, making the process more consuming and terrifying.

I heard the quickening pace of the group behind us, and I began to push my family to a large pine tree. I would not let any of us be killed off in a chase!

"Climb as fast as you can!" I ordered. The pack was right on our heels! I had barely enough time after my siblings to reach the safety of the branches when the group plowed past us. Idiots.

I didn't have a chance to really make out faces, but I recognized the evil boy from 2, with another large male tribute. Like I suspected they had a very young, petite girl with them. She was probably district 2's younger sister. It seemed odd that there were only 3 careers left! Maybe the rest were back at their permanent camp at the cornucopia.

I made my siblings sit in the tree with me for a considerable amount of time, scared the careers would somehow come back. They didn't really argue with me, but I knew they would prefer to be on the ground then in a giant pine. While we sat in the tree, we had a slow, quite conversation, but it was nothing we used to have.

I wasn't big on telling stories, or talking about my personal achievements, but my siblings were! I could ask one question and my siblings could talk for at least 5 minutes straight, whether the question be about what we were having for dinner, or what did they plan to do in their lives. They were always enthusiastic, putting meaning into words and making listening to them interesting. It was nothing like when I tried to tell a mangled story of myself.

This morning I was greeted with soft, one sentenced answers from mostly Oaken, but occasionally Lark would say a senseless word, and that unnerved me more than the possibility that the careers could still be under us, waiting for the kill. They avoided eye-contact with me, and their responses were clipped off, like they wanted to say more, but physically could not talk a second longer.

After camping out in our tree for a few hours, we decided to talk about where we were going to stay now. It seemed almost too risky to go back to our cave when the mysterious career group had thundered by dangerously close, but no one really knew exactly where else we should go. So the cave it was.

We walked the short distance to our hole, and crawled through the wide open entrance, I would have to disguise it better soon. It needed some sort of cover over the gaping hole, or we would be soon found.

Making sure my siblings were content, I slipped out, breathing in the clean air. I found a pine tree with perfect sized branches, and I began to rip all of them off. Dragging them back to our hideout I propped them around the hole, with just enough light to wake us up, but no one could easily see through.

Dusk came quicker then I planned, and I had a feeling it had to do with the game makers. Sighing I returned to my family.

We finished off the last of our meager supplies that night, and it put everyone in a bad mood. Hunting would be needed in the morning, and only I could deliver. So Oaken and Lark would try to busy themselves in a way that made them feel almost useful, but I knew they hated it. I didn't want to hunt either because then I would have to leave them, and there was no way in heck I would agree to that.

Putting out the pathetic fire, we all slipped into our blanket, rejoicing in each other's warmth. Lark slept farther away from me that night, and closer to Oaken. I knew that it probably didn't mean anything, but I was hurt none the less.

Balling into myself, I jammed my eyelids closed, but the things I saw made them fly open again, and I knew it would be another sleepless night.

The sun brought defrosting warmth into our hole, and it brushed my siblings' faces, giving them a soft glow while they slept. They pine needle door made the light fill into odd places, like patchwork on their delicate skin. Breathing identical to each other, they stirred, but quickly fell back into their dreams. I could not manage to find a drop of sleep the night before, so I decided to stay awake and watch out for them, and me.

Five more cannons fired off last night, and I Knew the careers were finally beginning to fulfill their duties. I, for one, was amazed we had survived this long! It was the fifth day and all the tributes of district 12 were still alive and well!

Scratch that, we were far from well. My happy thoughts sister was now plagued by nightmares and screams, and my brother's sullen face made even me want to tear up, but we were alive.

There were only 10 tributes left, and me and the people next to me made up that number! I had no clue why nobody had found us yet, or why the game makers hadn't forced us into the war path, but I was hoping that day was later and not sooner!

I dug into the jagged stone wall next to me with a sharp rock, over and over again, and the sound made me grit my teeth. I leaned against the wall and felt the stone spikes poke into my back, but I ignored it. It was good to finally feel something real on my numb skin. The protruding wall gave me the sense that I was still here and alive. Oaken stirred under my feet, and I paused my tedious activity to stare at him.

He had his arms and hands wrapped protectively around larks shaking shoulders, and he had pulled her closer to him, hiding her tensed face in his chest. He was being an amazing brother, even to me! He talked to me and didn't look at me with venom in his eyes. Somehow we both knew our time together was short.

The sunlight started to narrow in slights on his eyelids, and he cracked them open, awakened by the sun like every day at home. He smiled a gentle smile at me, and it warmed my ice cold heart. Unwrapping his limbs from larks trembling body he sat up, stretching away the tightness that came from a cold sleep.

I probably looked kind of creepy, staring over him and lark when I should be asleep. He was most likely wondering if I had been doing this all night, but he said nothing about it, and I was grateful.

Rubbing his muscles he looked around his surroundings like he had never been here before, and I knew he was still partially asleep. As he forcefully brushed the sleep from his eyes, Lark bolted up right.

Her pale hands clawed at her head, and it looked like she was desperately trying to keep her head together. Silent sobs racked her thin frame, and her nails made claw marks on her temples and checks. This had happened yesterday and she still had the scars to prove it.

Bending down I reached over to pull her claw like hands from her face before she seriously hurt herself, but she recoiled from my ever gentle touch. Shocked, I stare at her, but I didn't see my sister.

I saw a petrified child. I had seen this face many times from a small girl that stayed well behind Lark and her children when they walked to school. She talked to no one, and her wide eyes only seemed to hold fear. I vaguely knew her mother beat her, and her father spent most of his income on the little amount of alcohol we had in 12. She never ate lunch at school like most children, and she looked like a bag of boys compared to her already deathly thin classmates. Once, in an odd burst of friendliness, I stopped on the road to say hello to her, but she jerked away, protecting her face like I was about to give her a blow. I never talked to her again.

These were the eyes I saw on larks face as she berserkly scrambled to the other side of the wall. Her breathing was a course heaving and she protected her light eyes from my dark ones.

"MONSTER!"She screamed, her voice full of hate and pure loathing. "You killed my mother, you ruined my life! I have never loved you, and I NEVER will love you!"

I made no attempt at stopping the tears that streamed down my face instantly. My Lark would never say that to me in my entire life. She would never hurt me in a way like that. Once, in the safety of our cabin in 12, I quietly told her I felt guilty for a mother, and she did her common Lark thing. She wrapped me up in her arms shushed me, saying it was in no way my fault, and that she loved me no matter what. Where was my sister?

Oaken rushed to her, clamping his hand around her mouth as she bite and screamed. He whispered things in her ears I couldn't hear, and rocked her back and forth in his arms. She tried to push away from him but quickly realized who would win this war, and went slack in his arms.

I sat dumb struck in my previous position, tears rocketing from my eyes. My whole body was rigid, completely shocked at the scene that had just unfolded around me. I bet the capitol was giddily soaking in the drama.

After a few minutes of complete silence, something in Lark seemed to snap back in place and she pushed Oaken softly off her. She went to me and pulled me to her chest. I felt her crazed heart flutter under her rib cage, and her fleshless body was paper thin.

"Ssssorry..." she stuttered. I accepted the apology immediately and grabbed her back. Choking back my now dying sobs I burrowed my wet face in her neck. I could feel Oaken's worried stares, we both knew I never accepted an apology that quickly, even when it was Lark, but I didn't care. I would not lose my sister. I would not lose her like this.