Here it is, the first day in the arena! I'm so sorry to those who's characters die in the Bloodbath. I wish I didn't have to kill any of them so soon, but sadly I do, and I hope you'll forgive me.

Day One

The next day the tributes were taken in an airship to the arena. Their mentors, Escorts and stylists sat with them, coaching them about what to do and trying to boost their confidence. As they got near the Arena the windows were blacked out so the tributes didn't see what it was like.

The airship landed underground and each tribute was led to a small, stone walled room. Everybody waited in silence as they stepped onto their small round platform and the glass walls slid down around them, enclosing them in a tube. Then the platforms slowly rose up, into the Arena.

The tributes looked around in surprise. Usually the Arena was wilderness themed, with the Cornucopia surrounded by an expanse of grass. But they were standing on a hilltop paved with cracked yellow stone. The tributes were standing together in their districts, and between each district pair was a tall, crumbling pillar. The rest of the Arena was mostly a desolate, abandoned city, with some sparse woodland in the distance on one side, and a lake on the other.

As the tributes were looking around, the signal went for them to leave their platforms. The Careers were straight off the mark, running to the Cornucopia and grouping together before most of the others had even started to move.

The first death was Hareld Wyre. People had expected it, of course, but it was still quite heart wrenching. As he stumbled off his platform Jayson grabbed him around the neck. One squeeze and his neck snapped. With a smile Jayson threw his body away and turned to fight some more.

Scott Fosters had started to run forward, but when faced with Jayson he just grabbed a small backpack and ran. A girl, Sephiria Raven, sprinted after him. Jayson thought about going after them, but decided it wasn't worth the trouble.

Sparkle had picked up a thin silver sword to fight with. Her hair was tied back in a plait to keep it off her face, and she looked deadly. As she looked around she twirled the sword in her hands. Noticing a girl, Jenna Monroe, trying to get near some supplies, she sprang forward and stabbed her between the ribs, then in the neck, nearly decapitating her.

Jayson, with the help of Cleo, killed another. Nat Merezald had tried to dart up to the Cornucopia and grab a dagger. But he had noticed Jayson too late, and suddenly he was lifted into the air by him. Nate struggled against him, trying to slip out from his grasp, and kicking and biting at him. But then there was a dull thud, and he fell limp, twitching slightly.

Cleo had found a set of throwing knives, and had embedded one in Nate's chest. She nodded coolly to Jayson and walked forward to retrieve her knife – she didn't want to waste it. She noticed that Nate was still just alive, and quickly stabbed him again in the chest, before turning to survey the scene in front of her.

Pau Furnely was fighting Niall, who had a pair of dual swords. Pau had managed to grab a spear and a whip, and was putting up a good fight. But Niall managed to knock down and snap the spear, before picking up half the handle. Pau looked confused, but tried to slice at Niall's face with the whip. Niall blocked it with the end of the spear, and the whip tangled around the wood. Niall jerked the whip out of Pau's hands, threw it away and decapitated him.

'Slick,' called Sparkle to Niall. She and Cleo were fighting against Ginevra. Ginevra was doing well with the knife, but it was two on one, and Cleo and Sparkle fought well together. As Ginevra sprang forward to stab Cleo, she and Sparkle sprung out the way, so that they were suddenly behind her. They grabbed her hair, which was in two plaits, and wrenched her head back. Jayson appeared and punched her in the chest. Her ribs broke and crushed her heart.

Meanwhile Amore and Odio were fighting Skye and Niall. Skye gashed Odio in the leg, but as he did Amore slipped underneath Niall's swords and grabbed a backpack, hooking it over her shoulder. Before Niall and Skye could to anymore than cut her forehead and cheek, she and Odio were running away.

The Careers looked around to see that everyone else had fled. Sparkle suddenly gave a shout and pointed down the hill to where Patrick Volta was running away. 'Catch him!' she shrieked, but he was too far ahead and too fast. Cleo, however, ran up and pulled out a throwing knife. Taking careful aim, she threw it as hard as she could. It was a perfect throw – the knife embedded itself between Patrick's shoulder blades. He stumbled and collapsed on the dusty ground.

'Come on, we should probably check he's dead,' said Skye, leading the way down the hill. Patrick was dead, blood pooling around his body. Sparkle poked his head with her toe.

'He wouldn't have lasted long here anyway, with that ginger mop. You can see him from miles away,' she said. 'Do you think we should hunt some others? They won't be far from here.'

'Nah,' replied Niall. 'If we leave than tributes will try to steal our stuff. We should go and sort the Cornucopia out.' As they turned to climb the hill again, they heard six cannon blasts signifying the six dead: Hareld, Jenna, Nate, Pau, Ginevra and Patrick. A hovercraft appeared and plucked them from the ground. When the Careers reached the Cornucopia they found it devoid of any bodies, just a few pools of blood.

They sorted the stuff around the Cornucopia into different piles: food, weapons, and others, then stored the stuff in the Cornucopia. Skye came up with the idea of covering the entrance with a spiked net, which would tangle around anyone who tried to cut it or pull it away.

'Yeah that's great, but how do we get in?' asked Jayson.

'Easy,' Skye showed them the bottom right hand corner of the net. 'Pull on this, and you can open the net without it tangling around you.'

'How does that work?' asked Sparkle, frowning. Skye just tapped the side of his nose, grinning.

'I know my knots and rope,' was all he said.

O

Meanwhile, scattered all over the Arena, other tributes were trying to sort themselves out. The derelict city was quite detailed, with different buildings and winding streets. There was even a richer part and area that seemed to be the slums, an old market place and dried out fountains. They had discovered that most of the houses were unlocked and empty.

Jessalyn Redway had managed to slip past the Careers while they were fighting other tributes. She had grabbed a large backpack, bow with a set of arrows and a long, sharp knife, before sprinting away from the Bloodbath.

Once away from the Bloodbath, she had found a plain, nondescript house, and gone inside. It was two story, with one large room on the ground floor and two upstairs. She spent a while checking it for any traps or mutts, but all she found was a rather vicious looking scorpion, which she trapped in an empty tin, before settling down to check her supplies.

The knife was good quality, as was the bow and the set of twelve fletched arrows. Inside the backpack she found it stuffed with things. A sleeping bag that trapped the heat, water canister, length of rope, small First Aid kit, fire starters, some dried meat and a couple of rolls of bread.

She realised that, in the middle of the day, the Arena would get very hot. The stone and bare surfaces would reflect the heat perfectly. She shifted slightly at the thought of it, and decided to find a source of water at the next opportunity.

O

In the slums area of the Arena, Diesel was wandering about, surprisingly casual. He had managed to pick up a rapier, which was now tied at his belt, and some dried beef and bread, which was stuffed in his coat pockets. Like all the other tributes, he wore a thin coat with deep pockets, loose t-shirt with a linen shirt over the top, combat trousers and trainers made for running on hard surfaces.

The slum houses were all small and made out of an odd assortment of materials, including corrugated iron, breezeblocks and old tires. They were all empty apart from broken clay and old bedsteads. He knew that he would need a blanket, so when he found a hut that was mostly a tent, he cut a large rectangle of fabric from it. Then he rolled it up, cut two strips of fabric, pierced four holes in the back of his jacket, before fastening the fabric to his back, and walking on.

O

Dawn Shentell, after seeing what happened to Hareld, did not even try to get anything from the Cornucopia, and just ran. She noticed the thin bank of woodland on the edge of the arena and headed towards it, knowing it would contain plants that she could eat.

By the time she reached the edge of the forest, her feet and legs ached. The streets of the town were confusing, often doubling back on themselves or coming to dead ends. It had taken her ages to make her way to the woods. The woods themselves had tall, relatively branchless trees, thorny brambles and little undergrowth.

But she saw plants that she could eat, and slowly made her way through the forest, filling her pockets with the leaves, flowers and roots. She saw that one patch of brambles were adorned with ripe blackberries, but as she bent to pick them, her shirt snagged on some thorns.

She tried to untangle it, wincing as the thorns caught her palms, but then she heard a low, menacing growl. Suddenly unable to breathe, she spun around, eyes wide. But there was nothing. She stood there, absolutely still, listening out for the growl.

Just as she started to relax, and think that maybe she had just imagined the growl, she heard it again. And this time, with it she heard the sound of something big moving through the brambles towards her.

Abandoning the berries, she turned and ran, sprinting as fast as she could, ignoring the thorns that snagged and scratched her legs. As she burst out of the trees, she stumbled, twisting her ankle. But she scrambled into a house and collapsed against the wall, breathing fast, her heart beating a hundred times faster than usual.

O

Perched on a wall, Kai Septor felt incredibly pleased. This Arena was like a dream come true, perfect for his abilities. Just exploring the maze of houses would be a joy. Grinning, he jumped onto the roof of a house. He was on the edge of the arena, and what he most wanted was to see what it was like.

He noticed a crumbling watchtower, and headed straight towards it, climbing in through a window. It was about four stories high, with a roofless parapet at the top. He climbed warily, worried that the stone would fall away beneath him.

But he reached the top without mishap, and sat on the edge to look out. He had a good view of the Arena from his vantage point, apart from a small area blocked by the Cornucopia Hill. If the tail end of the Cornucopia was pointing north, than he could roughly map out the Arena.

Branching out from the Cornucopia were four straight roads, pointing North, South, East and West. His watchtower was in the south-west corner. The buildings between the West and South Roads were large but only one storey, with big square yards that had several shapes marked into them. Barracks, perhaps? In the south and south-east was the slum area, with what looked like an expanse of plain, dusty looking houses in straight rows. Between the North and East roads was a mass of more complicated housing – most of it was blocked from his view by the Cornucopia Hill, but he saw that the streets were narrow and winding. Bordering the Arena in that area was sparse woodland that curved around the edge, one end touching the North Road and the other touching the East. Between the North and West roads was the richer area, with larger, more ornate and fancy housing. At the edge of the Arena on that area was a large lake. He couldn't see any tributes – either the walls were too high around the streets, or they were too far away, but that didn't really matter. From his watchtower he could see people coming.

It was more interesting than normal Arenas, and definitely more suited to his abilities. With a smile, he lay back on the parapet. For the first time since he was reaped, he thought that maybe, just maybe, he had a chance of surviving.

O

Lottie Blacilla had run straight from the Cornucopia. She had thought about fighting, but she preferred hunting people down to just fighting them straight up – much more exciting. She licked her lips in anticipation, baring her sharp fangs.

But she was still full of bloodlust. Narrowing her eyes, she ran down a street, looking out for a tribute or animal. She was in the rich area of large housing and thought that some dog or cat would be part of the image.

She was right. As she spun around a corner, she saw a fat cat basking on a wall. It saw her coming and yowled, tumbling off the wall on the other side. Lottie scrambled up the wall and over into a garden. The garden gave off the image of derelict grandeur – plants that had been carefully tended were now wilting, statues had lost their extremities, weeds were sneaking their way up.

The cat had regained a sense of safety, and was prancing behind a statue of a half-naked young woman holding a sheaf of corn. With a feral grin, Lottie silently snuck forward until she was just behind the cat. It realised too late, and Lottie grabbed it before it could run one step.

Sinking her teeth into its neck, she felt the warm blood gush over her lips and down her chin. Ripping the throat open, she feasted on the bloody remains.

O

Ember Gildern was walking through the military area, hands in pockets, keeping alert for other tributes, especially Careers. He wanted to explore the Arena, see what it was like. Perhaps there would be supplies hidden in the buildings? So far he had seen nothing to suggest that there would, but the Capitol wasn't exactly going to make it obvious.

'Hey!' he spun around, grabbing a stone from the ground and holding it up as a weapon.

'Show yourself!' he cried. There was a pause, then Trix Lexon stepped out from between two houses. She was holding up her hands to show she meant no harm, but he didn't lower or drop the stone. 'What do you want?'

Trix shrugged. 'Not much, just wondered if you wanted to team up. Two's better than one, isn't it?' Ember stared at her suspiciously. 'Look, I'm not about to stab you in the back! I just think we would be better as a team!'

'Thanks, but no thanks,' Ember turned and carried on walking. He had only gone a few steps when Trix stopped him again.

'Why don't you want to pair up? Do you not trust me?'

'I just don't think we're suited! I'm going to go about these Games using stealth, you – you start throwing things when it's too quiet or boring! I just don't think we'd be good together, okay? Now go away!' he marched off before she could stop him again.

O

Tabytha was searching the different buildings, trying to find something of worth. So far all she had discovered was a bit of rope and some stale bread. But she was sure that the Capitol would have hidden things. It would be perfect, getting tributes fighting over hidden goodies.

She entered a medium sized family house, and looked around. It seemed to be completely empty, just a couple of broken shelves and a rusty tap. But she had the strangest feeling that that wasn't all. She walked slowly forward and started to run her hands over the brick walls, feeling for any loose bricks or hidden compartments. Then she started to scuff the thick layer of dusty sand covering the floorboards.

Finally, in a corner, her toe hit something. She knelt down to inspect it and found the loose corner of a board. It was half-nailed down, but after a lot of prising, several splinters and two broken fingernails, it opened. Two rolls of bread, some beef jerky and an apple lay in a tin box inside. Smiling, she started to fill her pockets with the food, but before she could, a fist hit her in the back of the head. Stars popping in front of her eyes, she turned to see Violet Queens standing there.

'You want the food? You're gonna have to fight me for it,' she hissed. Tabytha narrowed her eyes, and struck out with her fist, hitting Violet's stomach. She doubled over, wincing, but then kicked Tabytha in the shins. They ended up rolling on the floor, hitting and kicking each other.

In the end Tabytha jumped to her feet, stuffed a roll, a few strips of jerky and the apple into her pockets, and ran. She had a cut lip and bruised ribs, but she didn't care. She had won, and taken first dibs on the food. With a smile, she flicked her hair off her face.

Now all she needed to do was plan how to seduce those Career boys.

O

As the sun set on the first day in the Arena, the tributes settled down for the night. Some were staying awake for most of the night, scared of other tributes. Others, who had fellow tributes to watch their backs, lay down to sleep. But sleep came easy for no one that night.

So, you can now send in gifts for the tributes (if you have enough points, of course!). The prices will go up through the chapters, so don't spend all your points now – you may need them later.

As always, here is the sponsor list and order form.

Remember, if you want points just review (properly, please!) and I will award them to you. I try as hard as I can not to, but if I do forget to add points for you, just message me and I will check up on it.

Elena:20

White Horse: 20

Elven Thief: 80

EY Ink: 30

Time. To. Vaporise. A. Maths. Teacher: 70

SoySauce17: 60

Pisces. TJ: 50

Miss-J'x: 20

Pass the peas and pies please: 20

Callmetribute104: 20

Loveisintheair22: 20

SeekerDraconis: 80

Fuzzman88: 60

LuvsDumbledee97: 30

Loveisintheair22: 20

SakuraDrops141: 80

DaAnimeChick: 20

MissDizzyD: 60

ReadingAngel: 80

Skyclimber66: 20

I hope I didn't miss anyone off! With these points you can buy things:

Water Purification Tablets: 10P

Matches: 10P

Food (small amount): 15P

Food (Medium): 20P

Food (Big): 30P

Weapon (average): 20P

Weapon (good): 35P

Medicine (normal): 25P

Medicine (Capitol): 35P

Refill of Ammunition (Arrows, darts, etc): 15P

Clothing: 20P

Anything else, please message me and I will tell you how much. This will be trickier if you do not have an account. If you do not have enough points and no account, I will simply not give the tribute the object, but I will post it up here.

This list will be updated, and things will get more expensive. The points list will be updated every chapter as well.