A/N - Blimey this is weird. I am back for the third time in less than a week.

Anyway, here it is, first chapter in the arena.

Enjoy :)

Disclaimer - Suzanne Collins owns the Hunger Games, not me.

People are moving. Plunging into the water. But I am not.

I can see Finnick standing on the island already, that district four swimming skill proving to be to his advantage. I can't help but feel that this quell is already set to kill people quickly and it seems that the gamemakers are not too bothered about people seeing that they are biased.

After a few seconds I see Katniss climb out on to the island alongside Finnick and they are locked in a stare, both with weapons raised and both poised to attack. I hold my breath, sure that if Finnick even gives the slightest sign that he might be about to drive the trident forward he would be dead before he could blink.

The male from 5 is crawling up the spoke of island nearest to him and moving right up behind Katniss, almost as if he thinks that Finnick is unable to see him, or for some reason won't attack. And for a second I believe it too, until Katniss suddenly lunges out of the way and Finnick's trident is stuck fast in his chest.

This settles me and I now focus on overcoming the fact that I will most certainly drown if I enter the water.

I breathe deeply and kneel down on my plate, dipping my hand in the water and continuing on down until my entire arm is submerged. I can smell the saltiness and put my lips down to the surface to taste. As soon as my mouth touches the water I immediately straighten up and crouch, my heart aching as I watch the violence unfurl between Katniss and Finnick, and Enobaria, Brutus, Cashmere and Gloss, knowing that as long as I stay here I am useless to them. As Brutus dives under the water for a second time Gloss and Enobaria are at the mouth of the cornucopia, picking over whatever lies inside. This is driving me mad. I can't stay here but I can't leave because if I do I will drown.

I can see Gale now; he has jumped off of his plate and is seemingly struggling towards Katniss and Finnick on the island. I look around the rest of the plates and discover that I am not the only person left standing at the beginning. Many of the tributes that are in my sight are either struggling in the water or still standing on their plates. Maybe if I just put my legs in then I'll be able to just get in. No, as soon as my feet are submerged I want to stand again.

I can't stay here; I'm going to lose my alliance.

Gale is now just reaching the island and Katniss is helping him out of the water. She turns to Finnick and he nods then the three of them disappear over the other side of the cornucopia. I can't see them.

I am alone.

But then I see Finnick swimming away from the island on his own, out towards one of the plates on the far side of the cornucopia and realise that there is someone in the water that I haven't noticed beforehand. It is Peeta. And now he is being towed in to shore by Finnick.

Maybe they'll come for me?

I stand in hope, the sun beating on my back, knowing full well that with the reflections from the water my face is going to be so badly burned. Then I realise that they can't risk coming around to me. None of them would survive coming around the front of the cornucopia, not now the four careers have convened in the mouth and now will be loaded with all of the weapons that they need to be strong. It would be nice if someone had picked me up a sword.

It dawns on me that the only way I am going to do this is by swimming around. I need to get over myself and my fears because right now I'm looking weak.

Weak.

That is the only thought I need to push me over the edge and I let myself slide off of the side of the plate. The water feels close, crushing and horrible. The only thing I know that I need to do is at least get to the next plate along, where I think Enobaria may have stood before the gong sounded. I kick my feet wildly and try to pull myself forward with my arms, almost scooping the water behind me as I try to reach that empty podium. Strangely I don't feel the sinking sensation that I believed I would, but nevertheless I am breathing faster than ever before in my life as I try to keep my head above the surface.

The moment I reach Enobaria's plate I throw my arms over the top of it and hold on tightly. I'm still too far around the front of the cornucopia for it to be safe for anyone to help me if they wanted to.

The next thing for me to reach is the spoke closest to the plate I am currently on, but I am certain that if I dare to get too close to the spoke then the careers will be straight over to me, and I am unarmed.

So I now have to swim around the end of the spoke and to the plate on its other side. This could prove slightly more tasking.

I edge around Enobaria's plate and then push myself off and out to move around the spike. I manage to get about halfway there when my leg hits something in the water and panic hits me. It's the same thing as my fear of the dark. Except it's not a fear of the dark, similarly it's not a fear of water. It's a fear of the unknown. Things I can't see send me into crippling panic every time I am confronted with them.

I know, perfect for the Hunger Games.

I begin to flail, and it's not entertaining as I have always imagined it to be, it is terrifying. Somehow I am still not sinking, which I cannot understand but it doesn't stop me from somehow submerging my head in the water. There is water in my mouth and I am breathing it in and I can't see and I am regretting my decision to leave my plate.

Some tribute I turned out to be.

And then something is pulling me along and my head is above the water but I don't open my eyes until I can feel hard ground beneath me. At that point I open them and see Finnick standing above me, a smug grin on his face.

I hold out my hand and he grabs me and pulls me up and ruffles my hair, seemingly trying to get sand out of it.

Mags walks up to us as Katniss is handing some weapons to Peeta and Gale and she is babbling and pointing at me and then pointing to her belt and then back at me.

"Look she's right. Someone figured it out." Finnick says, pointing across the water to Beetee who is flailing as I was, but he was a bit more successful at keeping his head above water.

"What's that?" I ask, still coughing.

"The belts. They're flotation devices." Finnick replies, holding out a sword with a sheath that secures over one of my shoulders and around my waist, and three throwing knives that I can slip into the waist strap.

"We should go." Gale suggests, holding in his hand an axe and wearing his band on his arm as Katniss is wearing her pin and I am wearing my bracelet. Finnick is also wearing a gold band and immediately I know that Haymitch had planned for Finnick to be allied with us since the beginning.

Everyone agrees and Finnick hoists Mags onto his shoulder and we all begin to run away from the cornucopia.

Obviously the beach setting wasn't enough for the Gamemakers as once we move away from the sand there are trees everywhere. A jungle under a pink sky sounds practically poetic but right now it is anything but.

I volunteer to go ahead of the pack as I have the sword, and this essentially means that my role is to cut down all of the vegetation and vines in our way. The air is close and moist and it makes it feel almost as though every breath is a mad search for the oxygen in the air I am breathing. Because of the thin material of the suit I am almost completely dried of seawater, but because I am constantly chopping away at vines and branches I am already dripping in sweat, and my face is red raw.

Peeta follows behind me and helps to further clear the way for Finnick who is behind him with Mags while Katniss and Gale cover the rear in case anyone has been stupid enough to follow the six of us into the foliage.

The slope in the jungle is steep, steeper than I would like and sooner than is probably acceptable I am out of breath and I can hear the others all panting. However still we keep moving until we have covered at least one mile until Finnick finally gives in and asks that we stop for a rest, and nobody can blame him as he has carried Mags the whole way and still stands with more breath than the rest of us.

Katniss scales a tree far quicker than I could ever have imagined anybody to have managed, claiming to be getting bearings on the arena. Peeta and Gale both sit and slump against trees closing their eyes.

Finnick lays Mags gently on the ground and flexes his arms around to stretch them out, then comes over to me. "She's going to kill me." He whispers, jabbing his trident up towards where Katniss is up the tree, "Or she's going to try."

I shake my head with a smile on my face and slump down against a tree, turning my head upside down and attempting to shake the rest of the sand out of my hair, then re-tying my hair as Klaive had before I entered the arena and watching as Katniss lands from the tree and Finnick stands deliberately holding his trident in her view.

"What's going on down there, Katniss? Have they all joined hands? Taken a vow of nonviolence? Tossed the weapons in the sea in defiance of the Capitol?" He asks in a mocking tone.

Katniss' answer doesn't even need to be audible for me to know what she is saying, "No."

"No." Finnick repeats after her, almost like an adult scolding a small child, patronising her, "Because whatever happened in the past is in the past. And no one in this arena was a victor by chance." His eyes linger on Peeta "Except maybe Peeta." Then he looks over at Gale, "You can't trust Mr. Tall Dark and Handsome any further than Bet can swim and Bet's more dangerous than the lot of us combined when you take into account the fact that none of us actually know her."

I open my mouth to reply but I am almost too confused at what Finnick has just said to form words. So I just watch as the two of them stand face to face, both working each other out as what Finnick muttered to me earlier becomes clearer: she was going to kill him.
Peeta however, has different ideas. He stands quickly and steps between the two, very deliberately.

"Pack it in you lot." Gale interrupts, standing up and taking a hold of his axe again. "We need water, we can't drink that salty stuff." He takes a few steps forward in the direction we had previously been travelling, and this seems to be enough to convince the others to cast aside their differences for the time being. Maybe the thing about water was what made Katniss move, after all, I remember watching her stumble around hopelessly dehydrated when we were at the highlights ceremony.

"We need to be undercover when the others come hunting for us tonight." Finnick says as he crouches for Mags to grab hold of his shoulders.

"Hey Finnick, take a rest, I'll carry Mags." Gale quickly calls back, striding back over to the group.

Finnick is reluctant, insisting that he is ok and that he is perfectly capable of carrying Mags himself, but as he protests, Mags nods her head at Gale and babbles something containing the word "Rest," at Finnick. Obviously Mags' approval of Gale is word enough to convince Finnick to agree.

This time Katniss accompanies Peeta at the front of the group using Gale's axe to assist him in cutting down the branches, as Finnick had refused to let Gale keep the weapon whilst in charge of Mags. Finnick and I bring up the rear.

As we climb I find that I am particularly jumpy every time I hear a crack of twigs behind us or the call of a bird in a tree. Finnick chuckles to himself quietly everytime I turn around with my sword clutched readily in both hands to find that nothing is following us.

As we are as alone as I can see us getting in the arena I decide that now would be the best time to ask him about his comments from earlier. "Why don't you know me?" I ask. Clouding my question would be pointless, so I just go straight for the point.

Finnick re-settles the net over his shoulder and breathes deeply, "You're a mystery to everyone Bet. It's not really through anything to do with your personality per say, more the fact that you've been a machine in arenas yet you're the friendliest person to man outside."

I frown, fondling with the leather bound handle of the sword. "It's not exactly a good thing to be emotional when you're killing children."

Finnick doesn't laugh, "What I'm trying to get at is that you're dangerous. You mightn't think so yourself, but you're dangerous. You've had no normal human connections for the last seven years of your life and the times where you're set out on your own are when you're supposed to be killing people."

My grip tightens on the sword handle as Finnick speaks. "It's not like I've wanted that." I tell him as calmly as I possibly can.

"I-"

"The only reason I'm friendly is because they send me out to all of these, what was it, 'social events at some of the Capitol's most exclusive venues'" I interrupt him with my best impression of Caesar Flickerman, "and it's not like it's possible to just sit in some corner and be ignored at those things. You should know that." My tone darkens towards the end of the sentence, as I hint at the truth that Finnick should never have to be told about himself.

He turns his head towards me so quickly I jump, stab the sword into the ground and kick my foot into the blade as I step forward. Swearing loudly and kicking the spongy earth beneath my feet I tug the blade from the earth and refuse to look down in case my foot is cut.

For a few minutes we all walk in silence, I am lagging only by about five metres due to the pain every time I put down my foot, but I know I can't stop because it was my fault.

Finnick stops and turns around, "Are you-" he begins to ask but I cut him off.

"You do know me Finnick." I walk until I come level with him again. "Better than I know myself." I admit, and no more is said.

The second we both begin to walk again there is a loud zapping sound and a cry from Katniss. Immediately we both run to the top of the hill and arrive at the same time as Gale who is struggling a little more than Finnick had been under the extra weight of Mags.
Katniss is crouched over Peeta who is lying on the ground in a patch of vines, and there is a distinct smell of burning as we approach.

Katniss is slapping him around the face, listening to his heartbeat, screaming his name, shaking him. It is quite distressing to watch. Finnick thrusts his trident into my hand and throws the netting off of his shoulders, moving over to Peeta and shoving Katniss away from him. He crouches down next to Peeta and pinches his nose closed. At this Katniss sprints at him, but is thrown back by one strong hit from Finnick. As she sits up from hitting the tree trunk, she immediately loads her bow and pulls back, ready to send the arrow straight through Finnick's head, when quickly, he leans down and puts his mouth to Peeta's.

She stops, obviously confused, and then realises that Finnick is trying to save Peeta's life.

For what seems like an hour but in reality is only about a minute, Finnick blows into Peeta's mouth and hammers on his chest and it is getting to the point where none of us believe that he is still in with a chance. None of us except Finnick it seems, who continues his routine until there is a cough, small, weak but definitely a cough. And a cough from Peeta.

Finnick sits back, panting and moves aside as Katniss goes barrelling towards Peeta. Gale watches with narrowed eyes as he sits beside Mags who is happily chewing on the awl she has been given as though she is trying to pretend that it could somehow suffice for food.

After a few minutes of Katniss crying and sobbing and more crying, Peeta makes the call that we need to keep moving, slowly maybe but we need water.

Katniss offers to go in front of the group and Peeta immediately protests, being cut short when Finnick points out that Katniss was the one who knew the force field was there in the first place so she could prevent us from any more near death experiences.

Katniss agrees and claims that she can hear the buzzing of the force field through her reconstructed ear and I can't help being slightly jealous of her. How come the surgeons had done such a perfect, beyond perfect job on her ear, but had managed to ruin my eyes? I take off my glasses for a minute to wipe them clean from some of the salt that has crystallised on the lenses as they dried out from the earlier swim. I don't have much in the way of material so I make do with stretching the sleeve of my jumpsuit over my hand.

It is settled that Finnick will walk in the middle of the pack with Mags and Peeta, who both walk now with the aid of canes that he quickly makes for them out of tree branches, Gale is accompanying Katniss at the front and I am once again bringing up the rear.

I do not mind this however, as I am able to use my sword as an aid to help me hobble along with my injured foot without any of the others seeing. Whenever any of them do turn around, I act as if nothing is wrong at all.

Katniss is throwing nuts at the force field as she doesn't want to rely solely on her ear to keep us from electrocuting ourselves again and as they bounce back I can see Mags bending and scooping them up, peeling them and throwing them in to her mouth.

I am growing very fond of Mags already, I remember how she volunteered for Annie at the reaping and how she is here now, knowing that in any physical fight she has next to no chance. She has an air of defiance in the way that she just does as she pleases, babbling away to herself all of the time and readily eating these nuts that she has no idea whether they are poisonous or not.

Katniss seems to realise this small fact as soon as I think it as she turns around and shouts "Mags, spit that out! It could be poisonous."

Mags doesn't do anything but lick her lips and grin and I can't help but laugh to myself as Katniss shrugs and turns back around.

We walk in silence for at least another hour and by now the pain in my foot is so much that I can't properly feel it anymore. I know it is there, but it has become almost like background noise.

Katniss finally gives up and suggests that we stop for another break. We all collapse pretty much immediately and she looks upwards to find another tree to climb. Whilst she is scaling the tallest tree in the immediate area I finally look down to my right foot and wish that I had looked before.

There is a slice between my second and third toes which has cut through the thin nylon of the shoe and a good two centimetres of the skin between the toes. Because of the muddy, damp earth underfoot the cut is filled with dirt which has stemmed the blood flow, but will almost definitely cause an infection. Excellent.
I try to clear as much of the dirt as I and cut off a section of my sleeve with one of the throwing knives to wrap around my toes so I can prevent too much more dirt from getting to the cut the next time we begin walking.

Katniss lands from the tree and lets us all know what she has discovered, "The force field has us trapped in a circle. A dome, really. I don't know how high it goes. There's the Cornucopia, the sea, and then the jungle all around. Very exact. Very symmetrical. And not very large."

"Any water?" Gale asks, his voice dry.

"Only the saltwater where we started."

"There must be some other source," Peeta says, frustrated, "Or we'll all be dead in a matter of days."

"Well these games aren't the most popular," I say, "not sure whether you've noticed. Maybe having them over quickly is the plan."

Many of the group members shoot me looks as I openly insult the gamemakers, as if it could really do much to harm us now. They've already decided our fate.

A/N - As always, reviews are much appreciated so if you read the chapter and liked it, or hated it, or had a cuppa whilst reading it. Tell me!