I'm standing on my own two feet,

Somewhere hangin' in between,

My life and the death of me.

Fate doesn't leave us time to waste,

Weaving through the human race,

Till we run out of air to breathe.

Omniscient Arena Cameras

24 ... There it was, in the very front of the cornucopia. A pack of spears, Destiny knew she had to have it. She rocked back and forth ready to sprint, fully aware her allies were on the exact opposite side.

23 ...To the left he had Levi then Caius, to his right Cinder and then Ripley. The odds weren't in Evander's favor when it came to his placement. He saw a small tan satchel in front of him. I'm not leaving without it, he decided.

22 ...An ally, Levi, to the left and a few careers in a pod to the right Ripley observed. But most importantly Aquamarine was only 4 spots away, with a long sword so conveniently in the path he planned to intercept her at.

21 ...Right in between the pair from two Maximus wasn't sure if he was more worried about getting sniped by Aurora and her bow or getting his lights punched out by Caius. He mastered his fear and planned what he knew could be his final sprint.

20 ...With no intentions of running into the bloodbath Thaniel scanned the ground for plants he could identify, he only found a few flowers off in the distance. He felt secure with Dustin to his left.

19 ...With his district partner only 2 spots to his left Caius was feeling confident. He couldn't help but wonder; should I even bother grabbing a weapon when my fists are what I'm best with?

18 ...Aquamarine made direct eye contact with Ripley and she sneered. Such scum will be fun to off in the first few minutes. She glanced and saw a halberd laying next to a long sword. She knew that's where her first kill would happen.

17 ...Rio didn't care that Raphael was the his left. He didn't care that Abrianna was on his right. The only thing that mattered to him was getting Karam and then high tailing it out. With only a second left his vision closed in on a backpack knife set. It was his.

16 ...With Cecelia to her right Abrianna felt confident that they could make it in and out of the cornucopia quickly. After all, she knew she was fast and she knew nobody else would be going for her scythe.

15 ...The big scary dark skinned District 5 tribute scared Cinder more than he knew possible. But just on the other side of the giant stood Eleni. She will lead me out of this mess Cinder believed wholly.

14 ...Adrian knew that this was it! Everything he ever trained for started right now. A trident lay no more than 30 feet in front of him and he examined the girls to his left debating which would be his first kill? Mel, Shelby or Eleni?

13 ...I was always fast. But am I fast enough? Shelby wondered as the seconds ticked down. She could see a sickle tied to a backpack right outside the immediate vicinity of the cornucopia. Was it worth the risk?

12 ...Between what she knew were two of the lowest scoring tributes a sense of power and confidence over came Aurora. 'Fuck everyone who ever doubted me' she thought. This start was designed for her, with a bow already strung sitting inside the mouth of the cornucopia.

11 ...Solonor knew she wasn't in immediate danger with her district partner to her right and Cecelia to her left. Hell, the nearest career was over 3 spots away. That backpack in front of her started looking better and better the more she thought about it.

10 ...When Cecelia made eye contact with her only ally she knew they were making a straight path of the cornucopia. They couldn't pass up this opportunity of starting right next to each other.

9 ...Despite being next to the rich bitch from 2 Kinley felt confident. She planned a careful path that had her picking up 2 small backpacks and a vest of knives. She thanked whatever God there was that none of the careers this year used knives.

8 ...With the gymnast from 9 to his right and the quiet boy from 11 to his left Raphael wasn't too concerned. Aquamarine and Adrian were just on the other side of 11. The pack is formed from the beginning, the leader thought confidently cracking his knuckles.

7 ...Two of the careers separated her from Ferro and Maximus was almost on the exact opposite side. Mel felt slightly uncomfortable knowing that in a few more seconds she might end someone's life. She chided herself that it has to be done to go home.

6 ...Levi knew he couldn't take the career to his left, Caius, unarmed. He decided that following the same path Ripley opens up would be his best bet. After all there's a cluster of weapons he eyed that had the hatchets he wanted.

5 ...A small lavender backpack was directly in from of Karam. She hoped that even with Destiny on her left and Aurora past Kinley or her right she'd be safe. For some reason even the lower scoring tribute seemed more prepared that she did.

4 ...Jamie was certain that Destiny, to her right, had a deathwish not joining the other careers. She discounted the small District 8 boy to her left and decided that it was safe to collect the nearest backpacks.

3 ...It was everything Dustin could do not to cry. He was terrified, the only thing keeping him together was that Thaniel was on his right and his district partner was to his left. They weren't in an alliance but Solonor always seemed so mild mannered. She would never kill me right? Dustin worried.

2 ... I have to protect them. We're the biggest alliance other than the careers Eleni thought to herself. She wondered if they were considered a threat even if the boys were all under 15.

1 ...If I ever truly wanted to be dead I could just jump. Ferro debated in his mind. Smack in between the careers from District 1. He knew they might make the decision for him if he doesn't jump. But then he remembered everything his ally Maximus said and for the first time in his life something told him to live.

The gong rang loudly.

Everyone busted out sprinting to the direction they planned. Feet slammed onto the hard pounded dirt flinging up grass behind them. Tributes ran full knowing they're lives were at stake. Ferro felt in his heart for the first time what it truly meant to be in control of your life. As he huffed wildly, legs pumping, he was proud of himself, for what he didn't know, but still proud. Raphael crossed right in front of him without injuring him, Ferro took that as a win as he lowered his arm and snatched up a backpack. He decided to keep running to the cornucopia, the new rush of confidence made him feel indestructible and he wanted to take it for a spin.

As he ran in front of the boy from 11 Raphael was hot on Aquamarine and Adrian's heels. First Adrian then Aquamarine and lastly Raphael all arrived at the same fixture holding weapons. Raphael grabbed a thin rapier and spun it around both sides of his body. He watched as his allies armed themselves. Aquamarine grabbed a halberd and was immediately met with a strike from Ripley's long sword. Raphael knew that she could take him, especially with Adrian right there armed with two tridents.

With the three pronged metal pole arms in his hands Adrian looked around for a kill. The girl he started next to, from three, was just now catching up to the superior careers and he let a trident sail into her chest. Mel was knocked over from the force of the mighty throw. The last thing she thought about as the darkness overcame her was that maybe, just maybe this was a better fate than she had. She was finally free.

At the same time that she fell Levi ran past her corpse and picked up a pair of axes near Ripley's fight with Aquamarine. Levi edged his way around to the career girl's back fully intend on killing her here and now, after all they picked her out as the target. That was the plan. Levi was approaching the halberd swinging death trap to the left and was met with the playboy from Four. Levi swung a hatchet at Adrian's head. The career boy ducked and made a stab at Levi's abdomen but missed.

The career leader watched on as Ripley and Aquamarine fought right next to Adrian and Levi fighting. Each of them making attacks to kill, this wasn't play time anymore. This is when the shit talking in the training center has consequences. He told himself they would win their fights or they didn't belong in his career alliance. He looked to the mouth of the cornucopia and saw Aurora slinging a quiver around her shoulder and Caius wearing a pair of cestus, both leaving the golden horn empty. Raphael thought to himself: it's my job to protect our supplies.

He ran into the mouth intent on cutting down all those around him. A pair of girls from 8 and 11, one armed with a knife and one with a scythe were trying to exit the back of the horn each wearing a large pack of his gear.

"Did you find what you needed ladies." He smiled cruelly as he charged them. He was surprised by scythe girl as her reflexes put the scythe up as a barrier in front of them. Barely dodging the razor Raphael tumbled under the blade and slashed out with his sabre. He was met with resistance as Cecelia clutched the fatal stomach wound. Abrianna wanted to stay and fight to kill Raphael but if they couldn't kill him together then she knew she couldn't do it alone. She flipped on her heels and fled her ally's body. She didn't know where she was going but it was a clear path and anywhere was better than the bloodbath.

Shelby watched as Abrianna escaped the career's clutches. She only hoped she could do the same. Right when the gong blared she dashed for the pack she spotted and reached it without any trouble, her head spun trying desperately to find her allies. Evander seemed to materialize out of no where and essentially tackled her. He had a small backpack and a fair set of blowdarts. "We need to leave now!" He managed to get out. "Where's Solonor?"

She responded "I don't know, I didn't see-" Suddenly stars flooded her vision. Caius Rhodes stood over her wearing a sickening pair of steel bladed gloves. Evander started fussing with his darts but Caius spun and kicked Evander in the head, he fell to the ground with blood trickling from his nose.

Caius could see every bead of sweat falling down this girl's face. She desperately tried to crawl backwards but he grabbed her leg and yanked her back to his mercy. "Sorry kid. I win." With all the might he could Caius slammed his ironclad right hook into her face. Shelby's head jerked back leaking blood everywhere. The career grabbed her collar with the left hand and kept punching as hard as he could with the right until he could feel a dent forming in her skull. Then and only then did he release her body.

Solonor watched on with disbelief as the career who presented himself as funny and laid back literally beat the life from her ally, with Evander lying next to him. Fearing her own death if she were to try and avenge them Solonor fled the bloodbath with only the backpack she grabbed in search of her allies and a quarterstaff a few steps away. As she ran an arrow whizzed past her head, turning around she saw Aurora atop a crate aiming another shot at her. Reflex took over and she dove behind a nearby tree. Solonor continued to run and concluded that she was either out of range or there was a new target.

The bow string's distinct twang was all Aurora could hear. She knew tributes were screaming, dying but her focus was set on proving herself to the other careers. She missed her first two shots at the elitist from 10, but she chalked that up to it being a new bow. Her aim was adjusted she told herself. The pack of younger boys that teamed up with the girl from 5 had gathered at the edge of the bloodbath and she pulled the bow string back at let it soar.

Eleni was so relieved that she managed to get all the littles together. She surveyed each quickly. It appeared that each of them had at least a small backpack, in fact Thaniel was carrying a short sword. "Ok guys let's go." She began. But just as she started to leave she heard a gurgling noise.

Desperately Dustin was trying to remove an arrow that was pierced the soft tissue of his throat. With both hands on the arrow he began to pull but stopped once a secondary arrow entered his back and went directly through his heart. Dustin fell to his knees confused and scared.

"Don't look at it!" Eleni screamed grabbing the pair of 13 year olds by the hand. She started running as fast as she could, dragging them along with her. They didn't stop running until they were safe behind a building she saw labeled Derby Hall. They caught their breaths and silently Eleni wondered who else was dying at the bloodbath?

Kinley timed her sprints perfectly. She stayed safely behind the initial wave of people around her who ran straight for the cornucopia but didn't hesitate so much that she was easy pickings. She finally reached the throwing knife vest and slipped it over her head snug. She saw Aurora unguarded with her backed turn firing arrows at Rio on the other side of the battlefield. He barely kept one jump ahead of her, somersaulting and front flipping over shots that would have killed him.

She wanted to kill her now. Get rid of some of the competition while it's early. She closed in on the unperceptive archer poised to throw the life ending blade. Something stayed her hand. They'll know I can throw knives if they see me. I can't reveal my true talent yet, the secretly trained girl thought to herself. Instead of killing Aurora she ran full sprint and tackled her off the crates. When the pair fell Aurora's hands searched for the bow that Kinley hastily kicked from her reach. The last thing Kinley saw as she fled to the south was Rio leaving the cornucopia with a large pack and wicked looking knife. Well he owes me one. She kept running.

Maximus and Ferro accidentally met up in the cornucopia just shortly after Aurora and Caius left. The pair quickly inventoried and grabbed exactly what they wanted with no interruption. Raphael almost saw them but they quickly hid behind a set of crates as the career cut down a girl and engaged the girl from 4. Suddenly Rio Tynder rolled into view. Rio grabbed the closest knife he could and pointed it at the allied pair. Maximus quickly thought on his feet. He didn't want to kill anyone, and he didn't want Ferro to have to either.

"That backpack in the corner is the best one left." Rio looked onward with a skeptic glared but decided what they said must be true. To be honest Rio was glad that they offered him a way to end the conflict without any blood. Rio grabbed the heavy pack and heaved it on his shoulders. He may not be doing anymore flips but this is what he needs to survive.

He exited the cornucopia looking for Karam. An all out brawl between Raphael, Aquamarine, Adrian, Ripley, Levi, and now Destiny was still underway. Destiny's spear almost made contact with Raphael but he deflected it. For a split second Rio was mesmerized, but then recalled that none of them were his ally, none of them were his responsibility. It was then he found Karam.

Jamie had Karam pinned under her. Karam's shoulders trapped by the older girls toned legs. Neither was armed but Rio knew that didn't matter as Jamie's fists took alternating shots at Karam's face. Each blunt punch made Karam see more black spots zip across her vision, each heart beat was accompanied by a rocketing pulse through her skull until the encroaching black overtook her. With blood dripping from every facial orifice she died thinking of telling jokes around a campfire with her family and friends.

A few punches after the girl's head went completely limp Jamie decided enough was enough. She stripped the dead girl's lavender backpack and swung it over her shoulder. She turned when she heard a battle cry getting closer and closer. It was the dead girl's district partner and he had a knife. Jamie knew without a weapon she would be easy pickings for the knife toting Rio so she bolted towards the nearest building. Slowly she put distance between herself and Rio, half because she was faster and half because Rio couldn't bring it in himself to kill another human being.

I just can't do it. He thought to himself as he veered from the path Jamie took. I can't even avenge my district partner he mentally scorned himself. Once he was past a large impressive building called Thompson Library he saw a large open grassy field and decided he would head there and figure it out as he goes.

Back at the mouth of the cornucopia the boys from 3 and 11 took a few luxurious seconds to keep stuffing the backpacks they had. Maximus kept a close eye on all the careers but they were all too busy caught up in their brawl to notice the pair. "We should get going before Aurora and Caius get over here." Maximus yelled as Ferro tied another sack of apples onto his already substantial pack. Aurora was only now getting up from Kinley's tackle and Caius was now straddling another tribute which Maximus identified as the boy from 6, Evander.

"Right, let's move." When Ferro went to run he could feel all the extras that he added on the once light backpack. He was proud he and his ally escaped the grassy oval with so much gear, food, and weapons. The giant metal cleaver in his right hand would probably get some use in a few days, but for now he and Max escaped having a perfect run.

"Caius would you hurry it up?" Aurora was standing over her district partner watching her fellow career pummel the pale goth boy's face into something akin to ground beef. A low moan still escaped Evander's lips as he fought the cold rippling over his body.

"Yeah sorry." Caius then wrapped his strong arms around the younger boy's neck and with a quick jerk followed by a quick popping noise the pair from 2 knew he was dead. Two sides of a broken vertebrae could be seen pressing against the interior of the tribute's skin. "Where are the others?" He'd be so caught up in killing his first two prey he forgot about the rest of the pack, the rest of the bloodbath.

"They're over there fighting with the traitor, 5, and 7. They're all moving too much and too closely I can't get a clear shot." Her words rang true.

"Then we watch and see what happens." Aurora knew she couldn't really help but she still wished there was some way of helping Raphael.

"You're going to die you fucking bitch." Raphael put all his weight into the next slash aimed and Destiny's head. The girl from 4 blocked using her spear and stabbed at the career leaders leg. The spear tip when clean through his right calf. Fire like never before burned in Raphael's leg as he fell the ground. She ripped out her weapon and continued an assault on the prone boy.

With a surge of fear and vitality Raphael tucked his sabre closely against his chest and quickly started rolling on the ground. Mere inches from his head Destiny's spear stabbed into the ground. Raphael kept rolling until a friendly voice told him he was safe. He had rolled about 30 yards away from the brawl, which was quickly turning sour. Aurora and Caius helped their leader up and lead him to the cornucopia. While Aurora began throwing crates open for healing salve Caius ran head first into the skirmish.

Levi's axes kept getting closer and closer to actually landing a solid blow on Adrian. Admittedly Adrian was tired of this. He spun his trident like a propeller and knocked one axe from the other boy's hand. Pressing the offensive his trident piercings became faster and more sporadic. Adrian was sure that he had him until Destiny's spear got in the way.

The swimmer was very confident he could take either one of the them alone, but together they started closing in on him. "Aquamarine, I need a little help here." The highest scoring tribute worried for her closest ally. She formulated a risky plan. With a shrill battle cry she sent a strong swing at Ripley's head which the boy dodged by backpedaling a few steps. That was all the time she needed. "Trust me ok?" She grunted quickly.

Adrian replied "Anything you say boss." Using the curved edge of the halberd's axe she tripped Adrian and he fell horizontal and helpless. Then with all the strength the career girl could muster she swung the blade a full 360 degrees around her body gaining as much momentum as possible before the halberd's steel struck, cutting clean through something. The satisfying sound of Destiny's head rolling on the ground brought a smile to both Aquamarine and Adrian's face. At that same time Caius came careening out of control into a full body tackle with Levi.

Quickly Caius and Adrian both rose from the ground and the three of them put up a unified force against the only non-careers left at the bloodbath. Ripley wanted to stay and fight but he knew without Destiny they would quickly be killed. He turned on his heels and sprinted away grabbing 2 small backpacks along the way. Levi followed him obediently fearing for his life grabbing one of his own.

Silence fell upon the careers for the first time since the 5 of them had met. Aquamarine unceremoniously spit on Destiny's head and kicked it as hard as she could. It wasn't the kill she wanted, but it was a start. Wordlessly they convened around the mouth of the cornucopia. Aside from the noise of heavy breathing and the chugging of water bottles dotting the ground all around the cornucopia no one had anything to say. They had all survived. It was Caius who broke the deafening silence. "I got two. The pale kid from 6 and the younger girl from 12. I'm pretty sure their only other ally was the snobby bitch from 10." To Caius it seemed like the right thing to do, to get a good head count.

"It's true I saw her escape alone. I shot at her, but she was out of range." The archer spoke quietly. Still mostly focused on mending Raphael's leg with the oversized med-kit she found. This isn't my forte she thought as she smeared a foggy paste on both gaping ends of the wound and began wrapping it.

"Why didn't you kill her before she was out of range?" Aquamarine spoke harshly. She was frustrated with the younger girl because while she was busy fighting off the threats and saving Adrian's life all Aurora could do was watch people run away?

"Because the first shot with a bow never really goes where you want it to. You'd know that if you ever tried shooting one. Besides I didn't do nothing I shot Dustin Cooper twice and then got tackled from behind from some girl. I couldn't really tell who." Aurora kept her composure deciding that while fighting with Aquamarine less than a half hour into the games would be oh so delightful, it wasn't worth it.

"Well you all saw me battling Ripley that whole time. Aside from Destiny that's all I really had the chance to do." She dropped her halberd with as much sass as she could and crossed her arms, popping out her hip.

"Don't forget you saved me as well." Adrian scratched the back of his neck pushing thoughts of his close encounter with death away. "I got the girl from 3." He said lamely. He wanted to do more but it didn't work out that way. "She wasn't a huge threat but it counts for something. What about you Raphael? Aside from getting beat by Destiny what'd you do?"

Those words stung the career leader more than he'd like to admit. He felt inadequate, like he failed them as a leader by getting hurt so severely in the first day. He put on a calm face knowing they would be looking to him for direction. "I cut down the volunteer from 8 before I got stabbed." He grunted as Aurora tied a final knot on the snow white bandage.

"Ok, so then we each at least got one, that's a start. Did anyone aside from us get a kill?" Caius asked the ground. He found himself leading the conversation a little more than he would like to, but with his leader injured he didn't put too much thought into it.

"Go count the bodies and find out." Raphael ordered. Aquamarine, Adrian, and Caius all obey with varying levels of anger coursing through their veins. He's going to boss me around? I scored the highest! Aquamarine bitterly thought.

To himself Adrian muttered "I got the first kill and you're telling me what to do? Right." The sarcasm leached from every syllable.

Lastly Caius silently thought about how he had the most kills. More than his leader. It's a little backwards that someone with less kills should be handing out the orders. These thoughts vanished from his mind when he saw Karam's face beaten to a pulp. "Guys I found something." He shouted. Everyone but Raphael, who was sitting in the shade of the cornucopia drinking water, came to see the almost unidentifiable girl's face.

"It had to be the girl from 7, Jamie." Aurora said with finality, turning away from the brutality in front of her.. "She's the only one who none of us had tabs on who could do something like this." She was met with a chorus of agreement and smiled to herself.

"So great leader," Aquamarine sardonically began as she reached the cornucopia. "what exactly is our plan now?"

"Well we should probab-" He was cut off.

~BOOM~BOOM~BOOM~BOOM~BOOM~BOOM~BOOM~

Raphael continued, "We should probably leave so they can collect the bodies. Adrian and Caius take every weapon that you guys don't think we'll need and place them on the bodies. I don't want to arm anyone who tries to come back and play with us. Aurora and Aquamarine can you guys help me get to the those slanted cement stairs to the east? That should be far enough away for the hovercrafts." And so everyone fell in line and did what they were told. Raphael told himself that everything was going smoothly and for once maybe the careers could all put aside their egos and work together.

The hover crafts came and took the 7 bodies, and one dismembered head, away. The careers looked on happy that almost a third of the competition was out of the way.

The sun was about two thirds of the way down and Raphael estimated they have about 3 or 4 hours of sunlight left. "Let's start going through our gear. We're going to need travel packs, because tonight we're going hunting."

But no one's getting out alive!

All the gold on Earth, it won't buy time!

So we might as well give up the fight!

Live it up tonight!

the lyrics are from Ke$ha's Out Alive.

24th - Mel Jake killed by Adrian Mariner

23rd - Cecelia Mabel killed by Raphael Varach

22nd - Shelby Carmella killed by Caius Rhodes

21st - Dustin Cooper killed by Aurora Rupp

20th - Karam Ajax killed by Jamie Oakley

19th - Evander Lazonick killed by Caius Rhodes

18th - Destiny Champlin killed by Aquamarine Rizzoni

hey so I hope you enjoyed the bloodbath, I'm really sorry if your tribute died, but you literally signed up for... anyway for the most part these characters were bloodbaths because either I created them to fill slots, because I couldn't find a good place for them in the plot, or in one case because I found the tribute had been submitted to like 5 other SYOTs.

I'm moving back to ohio in about a week so I might be a little late on updating, but at least we're finally to the games! Things are only going to get more exciting from here so stick around and let me know what you think in a review or message