Disclaimer: Still don't own the Hunger Games...

I look to my side, and half expect Glitch to be there, lying beside me. A tear runs down my check when I see her absence, and have a painful recollection of yesterday's lamentable events. A void pit forms in my stomach. I recall my dream and I think to what dream-Glitch had told me. I needed to win for both of us. Though I might be crazy for listening to a person in a dream, I need a plan. There were two options that I knew I had. Two options that Glitch had given to me.

I could keep in the trees and stay hidden. Run away whenever I heard someone. Play defensive, as Glitch had called it. That was what we were doing before. That would be the smart thing to do. Or I could go to the Cornucopia. Glitch and I were pretty sure that is where the Careers camp was. They had the largest group of people as far as I knew. They would be the most efficient to attack, and at least if I died, I would be taking someone down with me. That would be the offensive. I couldn't decide. I needed to think.

I slowly slid from Glitch's sleeping bag, feeling that she would return if I stayed lying and that everything was a dream. But I knew that it wasn't. I slid out completely, and bunched Glitch's sleeping bag into her backpack; I realized that they were both mine now. I took Glit- or, my pack and hoisted it onto my shoulders. I took my knife and made sure it was still in my belt. I was glad to see it didn't fall out yesterday, when I slid down the tree. I took it and held it in my hand for a while. I considered using it to throw at tributes, but I only had one, and if I lost it, it would be gone for good. I took my bow, and readied an arrow. I walked to the edge of the branch and took a deep breath.

I don't know how I managed to convince myself, but I jumped. There was a horrifying moment in the air where I was sure I would fall. I cursed myself for being stupid enough to jump. A second later I felt a solid substance beneath my feet. The branch of the next tree didn't snap with my weight. I let out my lungful of air, relieved that I didn't die, and continued to move through the trees without fear, despite what happened yesterday. Almost thirty-five minutes after I started traveling, I came to a birds nest, seventy feet in a cypress tree. I wouldn't have noticed them, but I was being extremely observant. I climbed ten feet up to that height. It had three eggs. I took two of them, and climbed back down.

I continued to walk along as I sucked out the insides of the eggs. They were the same ones that I have had twice before. The ones that I had with Glitch. I'm starting to wonder if that is the only bird species in the whole arena. If there were any others, they sure were discreet. I sucked all that was in the eggshell. As I threw away the remains of the two eggshells, an idea occurred to me.

I was going to go back to the Cornucopia. Not to kill its inhabitants, but to spy. I would have a bird's eye view in the tree. If I could find what they were doing, I could easily avoid them in the arena. Or easily keep an eye on them. Maybe even get an idea to where the other tributes were. Or possibly, even get the chance to take one of them out. I still wasn't comfortable saying kill. It made me feel like a murder. You are a murderer, the annoying voice in my head replies.

It took me about two hours to get back to the Cornucopia. The trip there was dull; I didn't see anyone, and there wasn't even any alligators swimming below. I was ready to see something interesting. I sat in a tree about twenty yards from the opening, it wasn't the best view, but I could make out general shapes. Once settled on a branch sixty feet up, I saw the damage the flood on the second day had done.

It wasn't that much as far as I could see. They still had tons of supplies piled in the mouth of the cornucopia, backpacks containing who knows what, tents, medicine, and weapons. I didn't see any food or water there though. Then again, I was pretty far away. I hopped that there wasn't any food or water though, that would mean that they were living off of sponsors. Unless they could hunt…

I did see three Careers arguing. I couldn't hear what they were saying from my tree though, but they looked pretty mad. They weren't even bothering trying to cover it up. I decided to make the risky move of settling right into a tree near the opening. I jumped through the trees, attempting to make as little noise as possible. Once I was in hearing range though, I realized that being so careful was unnecessary. The Careers were completely absorbed in their argument. They wouldn't have noticed if there was a meteor shower right next to them. I settled fifty feet high in a cypress tree, right by the clearing.

"- is no point staying here! We don't have a large storage of food to protect, and we can take all of the supplies we need! There are only four other tributes, and one of them is that little girl! I doubt she can survive without Glitch's protection!" Allia yelled. Her statement hurt. They didn't consider me a threat. I'll prove them wrong. But some of the information in it was quite useful. They don't have food. The pampered lap dogs of the capitol were so used to being taken care of that it presented a huge problem. For them.

"Yeah, what do you expect to do with all of the other supplies?! Leave it here, so that the other tributes can gorge themselves with items that we fought for?! I don't think so!" Demetri did have a good point about the other tributes gorging themselves. I sure would. I wonder why they want to leave in the first place. I haven't heard an actual reason yet.

"We can take what we need and burn the rest!" I hadn't noticed that Alec was in this argument until now. Alec is siding with Allia then. Interesting.

"Burn it?! And what happens when the whole swamp gets burned down with it?!" Demetri asked in a not-so-polite manner. That would be bad for me. Not only would I be severely injured, but I would have no place to hide.

"We can then find other tributes because the cover of the trees would be gone, and they would be badly burned!" Alec said. That was stupid of him. Wouldn't he be burned too?

I'm glad I could make out Demetri's face. His mouth got wide as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing. It was ridiculous. He slapped Alec on the top of the head. Allia looks like she wants to rip Demetri's head off. "You egocentric idiot! You would be burned as well!" I cover my mouth to soften my laughter; just in case they were paying more attention then they let on to. Of all the Careers, I have to say that I like Demetri the best; he wasn't a total idiot. Key word is total.

Allia steps in at this point, and calmly explains, well, when I say calmly, I mean that she was on the verge of exploding, but she barely managed to cover that up. "We are on an island of dirt, surrounded by water. It isn't very likely that any of the trees will catch on fire as well." She at least used logic, though her logic was speculation. I didn't like it much, but I guess that she could be right. I personally wouldn't even try to risk it.

Demetri stood there, like a mad stuttering fool. He had run out of ideas. I was disappointed, I thought he would at least find something. But no, he gave in easily. Well, he didn't put up a fight. "Fine," He spat, "Have it your way! First we need to take all the supplies we need, and can carry. You know before we blow it up!" Alec and Allia nodded in agreement, smug smiles of victory spread onto their faces and started to take out weapons, extra cloths, first aid kits, water bottles, probably from sponsors, because they still had silver wrappings around them. They also retrieved a giant backpack for each of them to fill with what they need.

They worked for ten minutes, all unknowing that I sat in the tree watching them. When they finally finished after what seemed to be an eternity, Allia took all of the packs and put them around her body in a way so that she could carry them all. I didn't notice that she was so strong, those packs must have weighed thirty or more pounds each. I watched her until she stopped. Once she was a safe distance away, at the edge of the island, Demetri took out a bottle of something. I turned my attention back towards the Cornucopia. He poured it over all of the remaining supplies, with an angry look of defeat still etched on his face, and then threw the bottle on top of the stack. He then moved back to stand with Allia in the distance. Alec walked forward with a fire starter and after a few strokes, he lit the whole stack on fire. Once he was sure that he had a flame going, he quickly retreated to where the others stood.

They all seemed to take a step back as they watched it burn, almost like they were afraid that it might consume them for all the terrible deeds that they had done. I stayed still as a statue, eyes mesmerized on the gleaming Cornucopia. The fire would be beautiful, if it weren't such a threat. I prayed in my head that Allia was right, that the fire would stay on the island.

It was an unreal sight. Cornucopias are said to be a symbol of giving. The mouth of the Cornucopia wasn't giving fire; it was containing it, making sure that it didn't pose a threat to the tributes still in the arena. I watched as orange flames danced of the golden surface, making patterns on it like shadows would. Fire was gorgeous, or at least I thought so. Except when you are burnt by it, then it just seems like a monster.

After five minutes of watching the fire, it appeared to die down a bit, to a slight flame, not the raging beast that it used to be. The Careers grabbed their packs, and moved into the mangrove side of the arena. I watched as they disappeared from my view. They had probably just stayed to make sure that the fire didn't spread. I decide I should probably stay out of that area of the arena though. I learned enough from my spying mission today. Thirty minutes after they leave, so do I, the fire had died down to a warm glow, leaving the ash of the supplies lying there and I figured that none of the trees were threatened by it. After two hours of travel, I'm back at the tree that I was in that morning. There was no noise except for the occasional bird chirping, and the ever-present buzzing of the bugs.

It was almost dark, my adventure had lasted the whole day, and the temperature was getting cooler. I'm starting to think someone was messing with it. It was an unnatural temperature drop. I was glad that I had that sleeping bag to keep me warm during the night. Thank you, Glitch, I think in my head. I reach into my pack and take out the sleeping bag. I lay it on the branch, and slip inside it. Once I was settled into it, I remembered the argument between the Careers. I should probably analyze what it means.

First, they were arguing, so that meant tensions were high and they were more likely to mess up, whether it is in tracking, fighting, or defense. It also meant that they were close to ripping out each other's guts and splitting, which meant that I was one step closer to winning the games and going home. I guess I do have a chance after all.

Second, they didn't have food at the Cornucopia. That meant that at least one of them knew how to hunt, or else they would be starving to death. Probably Allia or Alec, they were from the fishing district, so they should be pretty good at that. I try to remember if there were any fish in the water, but I can't. I've spent most of my time in the arena up in the trees. That would explain the alligator's food source though. Maybe they were even hunting alligator. Or perhaps, they are relying completely on their sponsors. I knew that was what they were doing for water.

Third, they thought that I wasn't a threat. Therefore, I was probably safe from having them hunt me down and killing me. They considered me dead. That was good for me. I could sleep in peace. Maybe I could even ambush them. They would be confused, and they wouldn't be expecting someone of my stature to bother with trying to take them down. But maybe I should leave that to the others. I didn't learn anything about the other tributes though. I wonder how they are doing. I wonder what they are doing.

I hear a splash. I turn around in my sleeping bag, look down, and see it's just a juvenile alligator thrashing in the water, turning to go in the other direction. I should probably be used to that by now. Then again, it's better to be safe than sorry. I return to my original position on my back and relax. I was so tired, even though I hadn't done much. Maybe it was everything that I have seen that is making me so exhausted. Twelve-year-olds shouldn't be put through this kind of thing. Exhaustion overwhelmed me and I let my eyes slip closed for just a second.

The next thing I hear is the anthem, blasting into my semi-formed dreams. I look up into the sky and see the symbol of the Capitol, ugly as ever. I know that there won't be any faces in the sky tonight, nobody died, I didn't hear a Cannon. Hopefully the fire and today's argument was enough to satisfy the boredom of the savages that live in the Capitol. I wish I could find some way to get my revenge on them for doing all of this, make them play their own game, make them suffer as we have. But first I would have to win the Games.

I figured that I might make use of the light provided by the Capitol. I look down at my arms. I want to unwrap the bandages that are enclosed around them, to see if they are healing. I'm scared that if I do that they won't be healed, and I won't be able to wrap them as well as Mason. And maybe I was a little freaked out to see my arms shredded up. I had done what he said. I haven't gotten them wet yet. I wonder where Mason was. Did he see the fire? If he did, he was probably on the Careers tail at this moment, hunting them down.

I wonder if he had a camp set up somewhere. I don't think that there are any other tributes that are paired up. I count in my head: Allia, Alec, Demetri, Tannor, Blake, Mason, and me. Seven tributes in total, six tributes left to die. Unless the Capitol has a sudden burst of compassion and lets us all live. But I severely doubt that.

I shift my position to my side and drift into a deep slumber. That night was one of those rare nights when I didn't dream. I was just asleep one moment, and awake the next. It scares me when this happens, I feel like I missed an important passage into the next day. It was like my night was a deep void of nothingness.

When I wake from that void, I hear shouting, even scarier is that it is directly below me. I know of only one group that would be shouting at each other in the arena. I know of only one group that is formed. I know the people that own each of those voices. The Careers have entered my part of the arena.

Um...I don't have much to say, except that school starts this week, so I won't be able to update as often. Thanks for reading, thus far. Tell me what you think. :D