The next day started as soon as the land became dark again. The screen in the sky disappeared, only leaving the light of the moon and the stars to guide the tributes. There were twenty two of them left, but they were separated. Most of the tributes were oblivious to the small boundary that cut the arena in two, and a few were lucky enough to know. Alliances were cut apart, enemies thrown together. It was utterly unfair.

Luke woke up to Finn's quiet whisper and the hard shake to the shoulder he got. He hadn't been asleep for long but wished he could be in a bed. His bed to be exact. At home, only a small walk from Electra's house… Luke shot up fast, remembering where he was, almost hitting his head on the low ceiling of the cave they had both settled in.

"What do you ne…?" Luke croaked only for Finn to slap his hand over the older boy's mouth. That's when Luke heard it, the faint sound of whispers. From what he could tell, there was a boy and a girl talking to each other.

"You know, I'm glad you came instead of Velour," the girl whispered in the darkness. Luke strained to hear more.

"Why's that?" the male gruffly asked. Finn was fearful as the two voices grew louder. The girl had mentioned Velour, one of the Careers, which probably meant they were Careers too. If Finn or Luke were spotted, they were dead.

Luke was less scared than Luke. The cave they had taken shelter in was less than a cave and more like a warren. There was a small gap between the ground and the large slate of stone that Luke and his counterpart had slithered into. Once through the opening, it opened up and wasn't as tight. Luke was quite sure they wouldn't find their hiding spot.

"He's a creep," the girl said with a scuff. The boy laughed menacingly as he finally stepped into the view of the cave. Although Luke and Finn could only see his feet, they could tell he was a Career. The two knives stuck into his boots told them so.

"Yeah but he's one hell of a killer," the boy chuckled and took one of the knives out of his shoe. It sounded like he was sharpening seconds later.

"Is that why you're in an alliance with him?" the girl asked curiously. Finn was trying to remember which girl was talking, just from the sound of her voice. He couldn't pull up a face to match the voice.

"Should I not be?" the boy asked and pulled up the leg which no longer held the knife. It was then that the boys finally noticed the knife stuck out of his shoe. It made Luke's heart beat for want. Although the two of them had scored a little at the Cornucopia, they hadn't acquired any weapons. Finn could care less, for he wasn't going to harm anyone, but Luke knew he'd feel safer with just something… and it was in just arms reach.

"I didn't say that," the girl defended herself just as her feet appeared through the opening.

"No, but I can read you like an open book girly. You don't want to kill that little boy, eh?" the boy laughed. As his laughter filled the silence, Luke silently moved closer to the opening and closer to the knife. Finn noticed what his teammate was doing and pulled on his shirt to stop him. Luke wasn't having any of it and still inched closer.

"Don't tell Velour," the girl spoke fast. Again the man laughed something he seemed to do a lot of. Luke reached for the knife.

"Your secret is safe with me." Luke grabbed the knife then and there, pulling it into the cave as fast as possible. But no fast enough.

"What was that," he whispered in a harsh tone as he reached down to brush at his ankles. He had definitely felt something.

"What was what?" the girl asked and jumped away from the opening. The boy grabbed for his other knife as he stepped away from the opening but came out with nothing.

"My knife's gone," he hissed and bent down to the ground to feel for it. Luke and Finn were in for it.

"Did it fall out?" the girl asked and bent down also, feeling around near the opening until her hand fell down.

"There's an opening," she said in surprise and jumped back again. Luke held the knife while Finn whispered his love to his mother.

"Well look-y. Two little boys cowering in fear," Blade chuckled as he peered into the cave, flashing his flashlight at their faces. Lilli crouched down and exhaled a breath of relief when neither of the boys were Jai.

"Let us out so we can fight you fairly," Luke hissed to the Careers. He felt like throwing up from the amount of fear in his body. He didn't want to die on the second day of the Games. It was too soon… too soon.

"These Games aren't fair Luke-y boy. So why don't you say your last goodbyes to your girlfriend and Finnick Junior before I get Lilli here to push a knife through your chest. And then I'll take Finn to Velour so he can slice his head off. How does that sound?"

D was tired, but sleeping wasn't an option. It she slept, she wouldn't wake up if something terrible happened. D also couldn't stay still, twitching at every single sound that was made. How she wished Nicholas was with her, to protect her and keep her company. She wondered idly why he hadn't found her yet. They had both agreed to move north until they met up. And that's what she did, but he wasn't there.

An owl hooted nearby and D's head snapped up. It was just an owl, she told herself, just a goddamn owl. The owl hooted again and rustled its feathers before flying away to look for some innocent mouse to chew up. D wished she could just get up and leave that easily, just flap her arm and soar back home. But she wasn't a bird and things just didn't work that way.

D stayed that way until the sun rose slowly over the horizon. It was nice to see the sun, something that stayed constant in everyone's life no matter where they were. But also with the rising sun, D's stomach churned. The new day meant new surprises from the Gamemakers.

D shook all the thoughts about what Clare had up her sleeve out of her head as she gathered herself up. D didn't have much, just an empty sag, a couple ropes, a roll of bread and some dried meat and berries. It wasn't much, but it was enough for a while at least.

D also faired pretty well physically from the bloodbath. She brought back no cuts, lashes or bruises as souvenirs. The worst that had happened was the rash that was covering her left arm from an allergic reaction to grass. She was a lucky girl in that sense.

D didn't find herself lucky as she started to backtrack south again. It was obvious that Nicholas wasn't coming and she didn't want to wait around for the Gamemakers to think she was too boring. D would've rather stayed where she was, hidden and far away from any known humans. She felt safer there, but it wasn't too entertaining for the viewers watching. D frowned when she thought about the cameras that were following her. It was bad enough having the cameras watching her when she knew where they were, but in the arena it was worse.

D walked a couple of miles, until she noticed the first sign of other humans. It wasn't exactly the most frightening or appealing sign someone could find, but it did mean she wasn't alone. D couldn't be sure what the yellowish human waste was, but she sure hoped it wasn't going to make her sick too. D stepped around the puddle quickly and quietly, looking around herself again to make sure she was alone.

D wondered what the viewer's thought as they watched her stumble around the arena, looking like a lot animal. She wondered if they felt bad or if they were bored. Then she wondered if the cameras were even on her at all; maybe she was too boring to be watched.

D chuckled silently to herself, going crazy from loneliness. D didn't do well with being alone. She was used to constant companions, like her mother or her friends, so it was weird. There was no one to talk to and D couldn't stand it. She needed to let her thoughts be known.

If only Nicholas had been with her. Everything would be better if Nicholas was with her.

A rustling in the bushes made D pause and made the girls blood start pumping.

The girl that popped out of the bushes shocked D, and the smile on her face surprised her even more.

"I've been looking everywhere for you! There's been a problem," the small girl said in a rushed whispered and ran up to D, grabbing her hand. D remembered the girl to be Noni, Nicholas's District partner. Nicholas said she was a good kid and that she would probably be dead within the first day of the Games. Even though Nicholas had said Noni was a good kid, D wasn't sure if she should trust her.

Nicholas found out about the wall almost ten minutes after the Games started. After grabbing the closest weapon, a club with spikes, he ran towards the trees D had sprinted off into. He was about half way across the field when his body felt as though he had hit a wall. It didn't take him long to figure out what it was.

Nicholas paced back and forth as he waited for Noni to return. Noni was also on the other side of the force field and she had agreed to find D for him. Nicholas and D had to talk strategy, but mostly he had wanted to make sure she was okay. Nicholas couldn't help his feelings for D, and being away from her in the death pit was killing him.

"Noni?" Nicholas said loudly as the small girl pushed through the bushes dragging D along with her. D's eyes widened when she saw Nicholas, her face breaking out into a giant smile.

"Nicholas!" D practically yelled as she ran forward. D put off her happiness as her just being excited to see her ally, when really she was genuinely blissful to see the boy. He was alive, unharmed and just fine.

"Don't hit the wall," Noni hissed as she grabbed the back of D's jacket to keep the girl from hitting the wall. D looked back at the girl like she was crazy and stuck out her hand. She was surprised to feel the hard surface.

"What the hell is this?" D hissed and pushed harder on the wall. She didn't understand it.

"A catch. The arena was too perfect so they decided to separate the tributes into both halves," Noni explained. D heard what the small girl had said but none of it processed in her brain. All she could do was stare at Nicholas with wide eyes, no believing any of it. How could they do that? It wasn't fair to separate the tributes, it was plain wrong!

Nicholas stared back at D, his heart aching for the girl. She looked so torn about the discovery and he wished he could just break through the wall and comfort her. She shouldn't have had to feel like that.

"I'll find my way over there D, there has to be a way," Nicholas whispered and put his hand against the wall. D couldn't help but put her hand up to his, feeling the warmth of his hand through the glass. Noni cleared her throat.

"As much fun as it is watching you love birds, the Gamemakers probably want a better show then some soap opera. We better start trying to survive or they'll kill us off," Noni said, making D scowl. Nicholas laughed and nodded, agreeing with the girl.

"I'll try to find my way over there. And while I do that, you guys stay alive okay?" Nicholas said. D and Noni both snorted at the same time.

"You don't die on us either, kay?"

Jai and Ezekiel weren't in the best condition. Ezekiel was mentally dying without his sister by his side and Jai's arm wound kept reopening. It all would've been better if Ezekiel wasn't crying twenty four seven, but he was. Jai had stopped trying to comfort the boy and instead sat far away from him, rubbing a leaf he remembered from training on the wound.

"Am I ever going to see her again?" Ezekiel wailed to himself in a whisper. Jai groaned and put his hands over his ears. He almost wished he was on the other side of the wall, stuck with Cad. Sure Cad was a girl and Jai was socially awkward when it came to girls, but she had to be better than her brother.

"Ezekiel, can you shut it?" Jai whispered harshly to his partner after he let out another cry. The boy's cries were surely going make the kids get caught by someone. And Jai didn't really want to die because his partner could shut his mouth.

"Do you know what it's like to lose a sibling?" Ezekiel cried as he glared at Jai. Jai groaned.

"No but my siblings are going to lose one very soon if you don't shut up. Someone is going to hear you and kill us." That didn't shut the boy up, but what happened next did.

Not far from where the boys sat, an explosion blew. The noise was so loud and ear shattering that Jai let out a wail of pain as he covered his ears. He had no idea what made the explosion, but the canon that rang seconds later meant that someone must've been the target.

After the initial explosion came silence. Jai and Ezekiel were both terrified to even move for the longest time and the silence was deafening. They didn't know what to do, or what was going to happen next. They were scared that if they moved, they too would explode.

About five minutes later Jai let out a deep breath and then paused, waiting to see if his outtake of breath would trigger an explosion. When it didn't, he decided to move a leg, and arm and then his whole body. Next he talked.

"What in the world was that?"

"I have no idea, I just hope it isn't coming for us next," Ezekiel said and shivered at the thought. If the explosion had been that powerful to them as they sat miles away from the source, image how bad it would've been to be near it? Jai thought it was painful to get slit by an ax, image exploding.

"I think we're okay," Jai said and stood up. For some reason he felt as though the explosion wasn't going to harm them. He couldn't be more right.

"You think?" Ezekiel asked and followed the boys lead. The two boys started to walk in the direction they had been headed before they had stopped for a break.

"I can't see the Gamemakers killing off two people with explosions in one day. That'd be a little stupid don't you think?" Jai was right. The Gamemakers hated killing two tributes off in the same way.

The rest of the night consisted of the tributes either cowering in fear from the explosion, hunting for food, water or a way over the wall, hiding or finding out that they were separated from half of the other tributes.

It wasn't until the anthem started playing that everyone paused what they were doing and looked up at the sky. Only one face showed up in the sky of day two, and his face was not expected.

Blade, the District 2 Career was dead.

Did you expect that? :O

Okay so before I get onto the rest of my note, I wanted to say I am super busy. Life has gotten in the way again. I've been stressing over school (even art class), my father was recently hospitalized (he's okay now), it's the busy season for work and all the spare time I have I've been sleeping. ISUCK. But on another note, winter break is only a couple days away so I'll have time to write then! IM SO SORRY GUYS BLAAAHHH!

Now onto the actually interesting part! None of your tributes have died yet, eh? Nice right? Ha-ha just wait they'll all be dropping like flies soon; D and what about that explosion, and the dead Blade? Wasn't he just about to kill Luke and Finn? Hmmm… well let's just say it's another catch in my arena ;)

Points:

Doom has 38, D has 20, Justice has 24, Lilli has 22, Luke has 29, Jai has 26, Cressida has 36, Finn has 28, Nicholas has 11, and Helen has 36

Answers:

Answers to last chapters questions:

The Hunger Games rights were sold to 38 territories!

And I called this story "Always Burns" because no matter how hard someone tries to douse the "fire" of the Hunger Games, the fire still burns. Although the revolution had gotten rid of the Games for 12 years, Katniss still started it up again. This means that the "fire" was not completely gone and will never really be gone. It will "Always Burn." (Even though no one did get the answer, I loved all your explanations!)

Question/s

What colour were Glimmer's eyes?

BONUS! Why do you think Blade exploded? *Hint, it still has to do with the number 2!