Last night I found a tall tree and climbed higher, hoping that the careers would walk past and not see me. I waited for them for what felt like hours, but they never came. Finally, I let myself cry softly as I came to terms with the murder I had committed. I hid my face and hoped that the cameras couldn't see me. The last thing I need right now is to appear weak and lose my sponsors.

I slept through the night up there, until I was awoken in the early hours of the morning by a loud explosion. In the distance I could see dark grey smoke climbing above the trees. It wasn't followed by a cannon blast so whoever caused the explosion survived.

Shortly after, I heard the careers cursing as they ran towards the source.

"That son of a bitch better have died blowing up our supplies," Cato had barked. They were too far away for me to see them, but I could hear them clearly. Even without enhanced hearing. I bet the whole arena would have heard them running off their foul mouths.

"You shouldn't have killed the kid who was suppose to guard," Marvel criticized.

Their footsteps stopped and I heard a thud. "He was an irritating little shit," Cato spat. "Just like you." I heard more thudding and pounding as they presumably fought. Then, one of them started to run off and the other, presumably Cato, unsheathed his sword and chased after him. Clove's unmistakeable sniggering echoed through the trees as she followed after them.

I remained in the tree after this morning's events just to be safe. But now it's getting too hot to stay in one place. I haven't seen Rue since last night. She would have covered twice the amount of distance I did. She could be anywhere by now.

There's ten of us left. That's Rue and I against eight other threats. The career pack has been reduced to three. And it doesn't look like they are a very tight knit group. I don't hear another cannon. So either Marvel escaped, or the two have reconciled.

This is very promising. Usually, the careers remain strong until all the weak are slaughtered. That's when they turn on each other and a victor is finally crowned. After the bloodbath, only three people have died. And all of them were careers. Cato apparently killed the boy from three, who was an ally. Clove killed Glimmer. And I killed the girl from four. The odds have really been tilted in our favour.

Since the careers appear to be heading towards the Cornucopia, I decide that going back to our campsite is the safest approach. That's the most likely place I'll be able to reunite with Rue.

I follow the trail of broken branches on the forest floor. Last night I wasn't very quiet or swift moving through the trees. If the careers weren't so stupid, they would have easily been able to follow me. As I go, I make sure to hide the trail, knowing Rue is smart enough to find her way back. I hope she is okay.

I reach our camp and she is nowhere to be seen. Scavenging through the careers camp, I find one of Clove's knives and a small bag of dried fruit. For people who have trained their whole lives for a survival game, they really aren't very good at it.

As soon as I get up to leave, I hear another chime. The parachute floats down through the trees and lands directly in the pile of red stained leaves from Glimmer's blood. The Gamemaker's did that on purpose, I think as I recover from gagging. I open the package to find the same pair of trousers, shirt and jacket that we were given coming into the games.

"Thank you for your generosity," I whisper and smile to the sponsors. The words make me sick to my stomach but I'll do anything if it means more gifts.

It's sweltering hot and I'm relieved to no longer have to wear my nylon sleeping bag. I bathe in the pool before I put on my new clothes. I check my snares and find a squirrel. It's not much meat but it's better than nothing. I cook the meat on the hot stones and store it in my food bag. I eat some leftover meat from the rabbit and I fill up my bottle of water. I do all this before noon. And Rue still does not show. I begin to worry but reassure myself. She is a clever little girl and is probably sleeping safely in a tree.

Before I can decide what to do next, I hear a high pitched scream a couple of miles away. It sounds like Rue.

"Rue!" I scream and grab my bow.

The path to her feels so much longer than it really is. I begin to fear that I'm running around in circles, seeing the same tree, the same rock over and over again. Has she been attacked? Has she been hurt? Has she been trapped? I can't cope with the idea of finding her bleeding to death in the dirt. She's just a little girl. She doesn't deserve this.

As I near, I can hear her laboured breaths, the whimpering that escapes her mouth every so often. She's still alive but she's hurt. There's also strange hissing noise and I shudder at the thought of her being attacked by a snake.

"Come on, come on, come on," a boy mutters under his breath. Her attacker is definitely not a snake. I pick up speed, knowing she's in further danger.

I can hear them without enhanced hearing now, I must be close. I take out my bow and weave in and out of the thick forest. There I see him, standing sideways to me, looking up at Rue who is almost twenty feet up, hanging onto a branch for her life. She has a deep knife wound in her thigh, which is bleeding profusely and she is about to fall. The tall boy with shortly cut brown hair, who I haven't seen in the arena until now, clutches a small dagger and is bouncing on his toes, awaiting her fall.

I hear hisses but ignore them. I aim my bow at the side of his head, but Rue screams and her hands slip off the branch. I immediately use my telekinesis to hold her up and her hands clutch the branch once more. She whimpers as I hold her up as tightly as possible.

I'm going to do it. I'm going to shoot him in the head while I hold Rue up. Then I'll get her down. I have to do this.

Before I can release the arrow, I feel something heavy crawl across my boot. I look down and jump back, completely shocked. It's a viper. In the process, I lose my grip on Rue and her arms begin to slip.

Quickly thinking, I yank the boy back with my telekinesis, and he stumbles backwards and screams as he falls. I run out just in time as Rue completely loses her grip on the tree. I hear the boy screaming in agony behind me as the hisses intensify, but I don't look back. Rue falls into my arms and I feign the impact being too much and I fall to my knees, bringing her down softly to lay on the ground. I put pressure on her wound to stop the bleeding and listen to the sounds of the boy slowly succumbing to the venom.

Rue is breathing heavily and is severely weakened from the wound. If I can seal it, I'll be able to keep her alive.

"Ka-" she tries to talk but I hush her. The cannon goes off and I feel a little relief knowing the boy who hurt her is now dead.

I cut a strip off my sleeping bag and tie it tightly around her thigh. It won't stop the bleeding, but it will slow it down. I need to get to a water source quickly so I can clean out her wound. Then I'll need a needle and thread to close it. Or some medicine for rapid healing. I'll only get these things from sponsors.

I extend my hearing to the distant surroundings. I can hear somewhat of a gushing sound. I pray it's water. I put my supplies on my back and lift Rue up in my arms. She puts hers around my neck and rests her head on my chest. She looks so vulnerable and small, and even younger than twelve. It makes my heart ache and I almost let slip words of hatred for the Capitol.

I allow myself one look at her attacker, who now lies lifelessly in a pit of vipers, his eyes are still open and staring up at the sky as they slither over his body.

"He's from District 10," Rue says softly, with evidence of pain in her voice.

"It's okay," I tell her. "Close your eyes, I'll make it all better soon."

I find a fast moving river and place Rue down on the rocky river bed. The stones have been roasting in the heat all day, and I know they will be scorching hot. I place what is left of the sleeping bag under Rue so they don't burn her.

I clean out her wound and use another strap to keep it closed. She cries out in pain every so often, but the gushing of the river drowns out the noise. I get her to sip some water but she refuses to eat. The temperature continues to climb and I know that it's another unnatural trick of the Gamemaker's.

"I was asleep and he spotted me and threw his sword at me," she explains in agony as I try to soothe her. "It hurts so bad," she cries.

"It's okay, it's okay," I hush her, "Haymitch will send us some medicine. It's going to be okay."

The medicine doesn't come. I know I have sponsors. I know my previous gifts were expensive, but I have no doubt in my mind that I can afford medicine or at least a needle and thread. Haymitch is withholding it, not wanting me to save her.

I need to heal her wound. She's not just my ally. She's my friend. I can't watch her die. I get an awful idea. The stones are scorching. I've read about sealing wounds by cauterizing them. I can only imagine how extremely painful it would be. But it's her only hope.

"Rue, I can help you," I wipe the tears from her face and try to compose myself. "I can help you, but I'll have to hurt you in the process."

She nods frantically at me as tears stream down her cheeks. But I don't think she understands just how badly this is going to hurt.

I grab two pieces of fabric from the torn up sleeping bag. One I place in Rue's mouth and get her to bite down on it, the other I use to protect my hand as I pick up one of the larger stones. It wouldn't hurt me, but I need to keep up the facade for the cameras. I show Rue what I'm about to do and she nods in approval.

Once I untie the strap around her leg, I place the scorching stone over her gaping wound, covering all the exposed blood vessels. Rue bites down hard and screams louder than she had done before. My own tears begin to well up as I'm forced to hurt this poor little girl. I press down firmly and I think I can smell her skin burning. It's going to save her life, I force myself to think. I feel her struggle beneath me and I try to keep her still. It's going to save her life.

I grab another stone and quickly replace the other one, making sure it's hot enough to cauterize. This sends Rue into another wave of pain and this time, she screams over the noise of the river and I know the whole arena will hear her wails.

And they do. I hear heavy footsteps approach at a very fast pace. They're coming straight for us, but I don't flinch. I don't care. I keep the rock pressed firmly to her leg. She stops wriggling as the pain subsides. No one will take her from me. I'll kill them all.

Hi guys, sorry about the wait. As you can probably tell, I'm swaying from the original story quite a bit. But most of the events are in here... I'm just playing them out a little differently for something new. How do you like them so far?