And here we are, at the Games. :) Enjoy.

~Gage Goerres~

I stand awkwardly on my metal plate as the glass cylinder descends around me. It seals me in, and my plate begins to rise. My stylist, who cam o the launch room with me, gives me an encouraging smile and a thumbs-up. I scowl back. For some inexplicable reason, the Capitol decided to dress the tributes of Arena in black tshirts and- I wince- dark skinny jeans. What they were thinking, I shall never know. All I do know is that I am pissed. But more on that later.

The plate rises up, and I see light. I crane my neck, trying to increase my already substantial height to catch a glimpse of the arena. I finally do, and I swallow.

It's a city. A huge, sparkling city. It's dark outside, and there are massive buildings towering all around me that are positively glittering. I'm positioned on a street, facing an intersection. On the other side of it, I catch a glimpse of three other tributes being brought in. I look to my right, and I see two others. The one nearest me is the little District 1 fella, and beyond him is a chick that I think is from District 5. I glance out at the miniature Cornucopia, which has been placed in the middle of the intersection, and then back at the tributes near me. The little one, Fyrian, catches my eye. On a burst of inspiration (and, I must admit, temporary insanity), I motion between us, and then raise my eyebrows. He gives me a quick nod and bares his teeth. I look back out at the golden horn grimly. An ally. A Career.

Before I can gather myself, the gong has sounded. The District 5 girl darts away in the other direction from the Cornucopia, and I see a few others heading towards her. Probably an alliance.

Fyrian, on the other hand, has already begun a sprint directly to the Cornucopia. I overtake him easily, and we speed on together. We skid into the horn and look around. I snatch up a glittering ax, and I see Fyrian sling a belt of knives over his shoulder. I'm looking vainly around for backpacks of food when I hear a sharp cry that is quickly cut off. I whirl around, ax in hand, to see the District 12 girl sinking to the ground, a knife in her chest. I walk coolly over to her and look down. Her deep brown eyes are glazed with pain, but she looks up at me fiercely. "Good one, kiddy," she pants, looking over my shoulder at Fyrian. He has his back turned, staring off down another street. I look back down at Peira, and she beckons for me to come closer. Warily, I kneel down at her side. She grabs my t-shirt and pulls herself up to my ear. I stiffen, but don't move away. She rasps, "Gage… take the hat."

I pull back, and look at her in confusion. She scowls, and murmurs, "You idiot. Don't be as dense as you look. Take the hat." She swallows with difficulty one last time before falling back to the ground. I know that she wanted me to take her token with me, the leather hat, but something doesn't let me. I turn to Fyrian, my eyes questioning. He looks back at me impassively, and says quietly, "We'd better move, Gage. There's no food here, it must be in the buildings."

I just look at him for a moment. I have to say, I'm rather impressed. This kid can do stuff, I must say. With one guilty glance at the still body of Peira, I follow Fyrian towards one of the tall, dark buildings.

~Tork~

I dash past the Cornucopia, running for all I'm worth. I watch the little District 1 guy and the massive 18-year old District 7 tribute run past; they strike quite an odd pair, I must say.

I run to the street that they just vacated, and slow down. I'm going to meet up with Naspa and Jasmine. Naspa is already here, and I can see Jasmine running towards us unhindered. However, my attention has been caught by something else entirely.

There are people here. They're walking down the sidewalks and in and out of buildings, paying us absolutely no attention. As I watch, I hear footsteps behind me. I turn to see one of the strange people walking right towards me. Scared stiff, I don't move. He doesn't even seem to see me, though; instead, he just swerves around me, and then continues on his original path once he's past. I stare at his retreating back, and a quiet voice behind me says, "Strange, aren't they?"

I whirl around to see Gante Damask looking at me. "I don't really know what they're for… but I'm sure the Gamemakers haven't put them in here just for them to ignore us." His hand flutters nervously at his side, and his eyes dart from side to side.

I nod, still unnerved. "Um…" I say. "Er, Gante? Were you looking for an alliance?"

I'm not entirely sure why I asked, but the poor guy looks kind of lost, and we could always use another ally. A grin splits Gante's face. "Sure, of course," he says, obviously relieved. I have a feeling that that was what he was hoping I'd say all along.

I motion for him to follow me, and we turn down the street. Naspa and Jasmine are already waiting for us, both looking up at the towering buildings nervously. I walk up to them and say bluntly, "Where are we going?"

Naspa looks questioningly from me to Gante, but I just shake my head at her, signaling that it was a spur of the moment decision. Jasmine, meanwhile, has a thoughtful look in her eyes.

"I think…" she said slowly, "That we should grab what weapons we can from the Cornucopia, then go into a building. I think that that's the only place that we'll find food or water."

I nod, and we hurry off. The horn is now deserted, Ermine Vair and Marigold having just left, loaded down with weapons. We enter it and look around, unsure. None of us are very confident with a weapon. I pick up some sort of club, and Jasmine and Naspa each grab daggers. Gante looks a little lost until I shove a hatchet into his hands. He looks at me piteously, and I say brusquely, "It's just to defend yourself, Gante. It's far better than nothing, you know."

He nods, trying to look confident. I know that he has no idea what he's doing, but he still clenches his hand around the hatchet in firm determination. The four of us troop out into the street, and I take a deep breath. I have no idea what sort of chances we have, but we'll sure as hell try. The Games have begun.

All righty, so I've already killed off someone... I really loved Peira, too, but luckily she was one of my OCs... so. Now. Since I only get to kill 6 people, there will not be really frequent deaths, or the Games would be over within a couple chapters. So. There ought to still be stuff going on, though. ;)