I'd like to thank Fight Scenes 101(.) for teaching me a lot:D I hope that I learned enough to make the fight scenes better than last chapter's. I'll keep on studying about fight scenes so that I'll be able to give you guys (my beloved readers) what you deserve. Which is the best! Since you guys support me all the time:D and also for those who want to read this again once I'm done with the whole book, I promise to edit all my grammatical errors, typos and such mistakes. I'm sorry again for updating late again I got distracted by 3 seasons worth of Gossip Girl dvds:D sorry again! And I promise I won't slack off. I need to finish the Hunger Games (my version) before the end of June because school starts in the middle of June and I really have to focus on my studies:D I'm a senior after all :D ****Disclaimer: there are no fight scenes in this chapter I promise I'll make it up to you guys in the next chapter:D


I walked by the Careers side again and said

"She's dead now"

"We know. We heard the cannon a few minutes ago" Glimmer said. I didn't even hear the cannon. There must be something wrong with me. I guess it's hard for me to watch someone die before my eyes and not feel guilty about it. I feel wrecked. I think I looked wrecked. And I guess it doesn't help that I've been on the move none stop since dawn.

I looked at everyone and saw that I'm not the only one who feels and looks wrecked. I looked at Cato and saw him frown. I hope he noticed what I noticed. Maybe I should suggest of a break or call it a day or something. If only there was a clock in the arena. It would be easier to convince him if we had a time reference. But before I could suggest anything, Cato gave us an order.

"Let's go back to the Cornucopia. We need all the rest we could get. We'll be hunting victims all day tomorrow."

We all agreed and started trekking back to the Cornucopia. I'm surprised we didn't get lost. If it was me leading everyone I'd probably get lost. Although my memory is good, I have a terrible sense of direction. And I don't have good instincts. Thank God I'm not the leader of the Careers.

Once we were back at the Cornucopia, we searched around looking for sleeping bags. We got our sleeping bags and made ourselves comfortable on the ground. Cato is taking first watch since he said he wasn't tired. After a few hours I noticed I wasn't asleep. I know dense right? I looked at Cato and saw that he fell asleep. I got up from my sleeping bag and shook Cato awake. Almost immediately a knife was at my throat. That was freaky!

"Cato it's me, Peeta" I told him gently. I'm relieved that he removed the knife from my throat but I wasn't happy when he just lowered it. He's still suspicious of me I guess. I backed away for a few spaces and tried again.

"Cato, you're tired. I'll take the next watch. I'll wake up Glimmer or something when I'm sleepy." I told him. He must be fully awake now since he nodded, thanked me(yes I'm surprised too. I didn't peg Cato as a well-mannered person. Maybe he's still asleep?) and slept on my sleeping bag. I sat on the ground and wrapped Cato's blanket around my shoulders. It's extremely cold right now. Even though there is no wind, the temperature at the arena was like a refrigerator. Portia was right about the coldness.

I poked the ground since I didn't have anything to do. I came across a black rock that's like charcoal. Suddenly the urge to draw something became overpowering. I stood up and picked a smooth leaf from the branch above me. It's about as large as a baking sheet at home. It's perfect. I picked a corner and started drawing. My mind became blank and I'll be lost in the moment. All I can feel is my hand moving on its own. Not really knowing what it's drawing but I'm sure it'll be something that's at the back of my mind. After a few minutes I stopped drawing. I looked at the drawing and couldn't distinguish what I drew. It seems like a person being lifted to the sky. I looked more closely and saw it was Katniss. When she was twirling around during her interview. I know it's not noticeable for the people of Panem but it's still kind of embarrassing. I miss our time together. The last time I saw her was the start of the Games. I can't believe it's been a day. I wonder what's happening to her. She's probably asleep something up a tree like how I imagined. I miss her. I miss how she scowls at everything. I miss her smile. She rarely smiles at me but I see it when she smiles at Cinna. I know I shouldn't be jealous of Cinna but I can't help it. Almost everyone is in good terms with her except me. I know only one person she'll pick me over. And that's Haymitch! It's not exactly reassuring. Without me noticing, I crumpled and tore apart the leaf that I drew Katniss on. I leaned my head at the trunk of the tree behind me and watched for a while.

I must have dozed off since when I opened my eyes, Marlene is telling me breakfast is ready. I rubbed my eyes before getting up. Once I stood up Clove turned to my direction and started giggling. Marlene looked at her weirdly before handing me my breakfast. Soft boiled eggs and bread with apple juice. Yum! One of the few benefits of being with the Careers is that our food is always edible. Anyway…Marlene looked at my face and burst out laughing. Glimmer and Marvel looked at us and started laughing. What's so funny? Does my face show so much appreciation for my breakfast? Cato must be in bad mood because when he heard the others laughing he threw down his knife and turned around. He saw my face and smirked.

"Nice face lover boy. Think that'll work as camouflage?" he asked while smirking.

I raised my eyebrow at them. What's camouflage? What about my face? I walked to the river and looked at my reflection. There's a big hand print on my cheek and black lines all over my eyes. I looked at my hand and saw that it's turned black. Like burnt bread. I tried to remember how I got it this dirty. Then I spotted a leaf and I remembered the drawing. I started chuckling before laughing like a maniac. Of course! After I crumpled and tore apart the leaf all the black stuff I used to draw went to my hand. I sleep with a hand under my cheek that's why I have a hand print on my cheek and the black lines came from when I rubbed my eyes! I turned around and saw the others are laughing at me. I washed my face and hands before going back to their area.

They look happier now. At least I made them happy. At my expense sure but at least they're less creepy now. We ate breakfast and the guys and I left so that the girls can take a bath. We went the other way, looking for game like rabbits or something. As much as we like eggs, we'll get tired of it soon so we started hunting for game. I set a trap I learned from the training center while the guys used their weapons. Once we have enough game, we started trekking back to our place. A few meters away from our place, Cato turned around and pressed his finger on his lips. He leaned to Marvel's side and whispered to his ear. I'm getting really curious to what Cato is thinking right now. Marvel smirked and leaned to my side.

"Cato said let's spy on the girls. We're not sure if they're done bathing so we might as well see some action before we start killing people. We are guys after all. We might as well use this advantage while we can" Marvel whispered. I was kind of shocked. I didn't think Cato and Marvel were pervs. I mean come on! I thought they were just power hungry murderers. I kept my face expressionless and nodded.

We crouched down and started crawling towards the lake. When we were a few feet away from the lake, Cato suddenly looked at the right. I looked at the right too. Was the girls on that side? I looked a little bit closer and saw it was a guy. Glasses and scrawny. He looks like those stereotypical geek or nerd. Minus the props. Cato stood up and Marvel and i stood up a few seconds after. The guy must have heard us since he looked up and gulped. I guess we look pretty threatening. I mean 3 big guys looking down on you with murderous expressions. I don't know why the guys are wearing murderous expressions but I'm angry because the guys aren't thinking about how the girls would feel if they saw the guys spying on them. I planned on not looking when Marvel and Cato are going to spy but I lost it when I saw that other guys are planning on doing the same to the girls. Won't they care if the girls feel violated afterwards? If they did the same thing to Katniss I might kill them all in 5 minutes. I felt my face harden after that thought.

The girls must have seen us since they started to scream. After a few seconds and a deaf ear later, the screams started to fade. They must have noticed we're not looking at them and staring threateningly at something on the ground. I hear the girls quickly dressing up before hurrying to our side. The girls looked down at the guy with disgusted expressions. The guy must have noticed since he gulped again.

"What's that scum doing here?" Glimmer asked disgustedly

"We saw him watching you guys taking a bath. I don't want to hear an explanation. Do you guys do?" Cato said

"How do we kill him?" Marvel asked. That's when I came into my senses. This guy could be innocent! I can't believe I forgot to think first before jumping into conclusions.

"I don't know but we'll make sure it's long and painful" Clove said. The other's started advancing towards him. Cato bent down and picked up the guy by his shirt.

"Wait stop!" I said. They looked at me with irritated expression before listening to me. I need to help the guy but I have to insult him in the process. I hope he won't notice that part if they don't kill him.

"He could be innocent. I mean look at him. He looks like a total geek. I highly doubt he can think of guy things to do before remembering he has to play chess with his non-existent friends" I said. The faces of the others softened but Cato's face is still the same

"What are you suggesting lover boy?" Cato asked calmly.

"We should listen to his explanation and see if he's any use. The second he starts to imply he's useless then we'll kill him" I said

Cato considered this before letting the guy down. The guy couldn't believe his luck but he still looks like he's going to wet his pants in 2 seconds.

"Well? Start talking!" Cato ordered. The guy gulped again before he started talking.

"I'm from District 3. I came to offer my services to you in exchange for my life. My parents taught me how to activate landmines so I thought I could activate the landmines near your area we could put all the stuff from the Cornucopia in the middle and there won't be a need to leave a guard. One wrong move near the supplies they'll be blown up into bits." He said in a rush

"What makes you so sure there are landmines here?" Cato asked

"I saw them. I can't really explain how I'll activate them but it'll be easy" he said confidently

"How will we able to get our supplies if you activate the landmines?" Cato asked

"I'll only activate them when we leave. I'll de-activate then when we're present" he said

"We'll let you in but if you do one wrong move we'll kill you instantly" Cato said. He turned around and left. The others followed him but I stayed behind to talk to the guy.

"Hi I'm Peeta. The guy you just talked to is Cato. The girl with the short brown hair is Clove. The girl with the long blond hair is Glimmer. The girl with the big eyes and pouted lips is Marlene and lastly the guy is Marvel. So what's your name?" I told him

"I'm Segway." Segway answered.

"Come on Segway you have a lot to do." I told him and motioned him to follow me. We went to the others and then Cato started to talk.

"The girls will be gathering snacks for our knapsacks while we, guys , take baths. I don't really care if the girls saw me not wearing clothes. Do you guys have problems with that?" he asked us. I don't really have a problem with nudity but it'll be awkward with every single person in Panem watching. I tried not to weird about it so I shook my head along with the others. The girls walked to the Cornucopia and us guys started stripping off our clothes. We of course left our underwear on, except Cato. I heard giggles from behind so I guess Cato wasn't joking when he said he didn't care who saw him without clothes. We started bathing at the lake.

Man the relief of the cool water on our hot bodies was amazing. Like taking a bath with icy water. We didn't talk so we bathed in silence. Every now and then we hear the girls giggle but other than that it's totally silent. Once we were finished we taking a bath, we dressed up and walked to the impatient girls that we're waiting for us. They've made lunch with the fresh game we've hunted this morning. For some weird reason I'm really hungry. We ate the roasted rosemary rabbit the girls cooked and drank some water. We took naps because we have to hunt at night. Within seconds I was dreaming.

It was recess time and I was playing tag with some of the boys from class .I looked around and saw that we're only 6 year olds. We were playing a ball kicking game. Someone kicked the ball too far and It was my turn to get the ball. The ball rolled towards the bushes. I crouched down and picked up the ball. I heard someone singing not far from the bush I was at.

Try to see through my eyes

All you can see are black and white

Everything seems bland and boring

Why is that?

I parted the bush a little so I can see the singer. It was a small girl petting a rabbit sitting under a tree. Her back in front of me.

The plants look dead

The sky looks near

The smiles around me seems forced

Why is that?

It suddenly became quiet and I looked up. The birds that were resting on the tree had fallen silent

Morning, Noon, Night

Nothing seem to excite me

i can't feel anything

Why is that?

Then you come into the picture

Suddenly color seeps through my vision

Bringing life into my eyes

Making me feel everything

I was amazed by the sweet voice that singing. I didn't know what song means but It sounds nice. Almost like a lullaby.

The flowers start to bloom

the happiness becomes true

The bland day turns exciting

i wish it was ending

The time came when you have to leave

All the color fades away

Blandness came to play

Happiness is far away

She paused for a bit and breathed deeply before she starts singing again.

The plants look dead

The sky looks near

The smiles around me seems forced

Why is that?

Why did you leave me?

why am i alone in this bland life?

why did you trade me for another person?

all these questions were never answered

She became quiet for a second before continuing

you never looked back once you've left

all the Whys i want to ask are left unanswered

all the colors are gone

as if life has been sucked out of my vision

Why is that?

I waited for a few more minutes waiting for the girl to turn around. Who is this wonderful singer that demanded the birds' attention? She released the rabbit and the rabbit went to the bush I was crouching on. She followed it with her eyes and then I saw who she was. It was that girl Daddy pointed me. The girl that sang the Valley song for the class. The girl I've liked since the first day of school.

"Hey Peeta! Where's our ball? Did you find it?" someone called out to me

I got up while holding the ball. Smiled at the girl who was sitting alone with her back in front of me. And started to run to my friends. I listened and heard the mockingjays singing the song she just sang. She made birds listen to her and idolize her without doing anything except sing. She's like a mockingjay only she's better.

I woke up and sat up quietly. I was the only one awake. Even Clove, who was on guard, fell asleep. I looked at my hand and few inches from it was a mockingjay. Pure coincidence or what?