Disclaimer: The Hunger Games is not mine.

Note: Results of the mentor poll are up on the blog. Mags and Harakuise tied for first place, so one of them will be leading off this chapter, and the other will start the next one. The runners-up will also get their turn soon.

New poll up on my profile. This time I'm asking which district pair(s) are your favorite. As usual, use whatever criteria you want to determine this. This really won't have any effect on the story, since a number of district pairs are already either both dead or missing a member. But I'm curious, anyway.

Lastly, I was reminded last chapter that not everyone is a dinosaur nerd and even those who are might not recognize them from the descriptions given in the story, so I went ahead and posted a "mutt guide" on the blog in case you're wondering what some of these things are.


Day Two
No Reason


Mags Pharos
District Four Mentor

She had hardly left Aron's side all night.

He had woken up once, but he had been confused. Disoriented. And he had seemed so weak. Mags fought back tears. She wasn't used to seeing him like this. It had all happened so suddenly.

Why hadn't he told her?

"Mags?"

To her surprise, the voice was Vester's. She hadn't even heard him come in. She quickly dried her eyes, only to find that there were tears in Vester's, as well. "How is he?" he asked.

Mags shook her head. "The doctor said there's nothing he can do. I guess even the Capitol can't cure old age."

Vester smiled wryly. "I guess not. But you wouldn't find anyone more deserving, if they ever found a cure."

That took Mags by surprise. She would be the first to agree, of course. If it were possible to save Aron's life, she would do it in a heartbeat. But, somehow, she hadn't expected to hear it coming from Vester.

"He's the only one who didn't judge me, one way or the other," Vester said quietly. "When I won … people were split. The staunch Capitol-supporters, they never stopped praising me. I was their champion, the Capitol's revenge for the rebellion. To everyone else – even some in the Capitol, the ones who sympathized with the tributes I murdered – I was a monster." He shook his head. "Except Aron. I killed both of his tributes that year. He never said a word about it. Never condemned me. But never praised what I did, either. He was just … there. No matter what. I guess I assumed – took for granted, maybe – that he always would be."

Mags nodded. Aron had been there for her last year, as well. During her first year as a mentor. They'd comforted each other after they'd each lost a tribute in the bloodbath. He'd stayed, after both of his tributes were dead, after the other Capitol mentors had left. He'd been there for her when Ella died. He'd always been there.

She wished she could stay with him.

But she still had a job to do. Avalia's life still depended on her. She couldn't stay here at his side forever. "It's not fair," she said quietly.

Vester nodded. "Death never is."

Mags wiped the tears from her eyes once more. "He must have known. Must have been fighting it until his tributes … Why didn't he tell anyone?"

Vester shook his head. "Because he knew it would upset you."

"Me?"

Vester smiled a little. "Oh, all of us, I'm sure, but he's got a soft spot for you, Mags. I think he sees you as a kindred spirit – maybe even a protégé of sorts."

Mags stared, not quite sure what to say to that. "Think about it," Vester said. "If any of the other mentors were in trouble, this is where he'd be – right at their side, regardless of the consequences. And here you are. And here, I'm guessing, is where you've been all night. But you can't stay here forever."

Mags looked away. "I can't just leave him alone."

"Who said anything about alone? I'll take over for now."

"What about Hadrian?"

"He'll be fine without me for now. He and his allies just outran a pack of bloodthirsty lizards and jumped off a cliff. The Gamemakers should leave them alone for a while. Your tribute, on the other hand, is currently having a sleepover with a herd of four-ton cow-lizards. You might want to keep an eye on her."

Mags smiled a little. "Thanks."

Vester nodded. "I'll send someone to get you if he wakes up. Come get me if Hadrian runs into trouble?"

Mags nodded. "Of course," she answered without a second thought.

Vester managed a smile. "He's right about you."


Lyre Fairfax, 15
District Ten Male

He woke to a light drizzle and the gentle lowing of the mutts.

Lyre smiled a little. Avalia, who was on watch, was glancing nervously back and forth, as if the mutts might decide to either eat or crush them at any moment. But they hadn't, despite numerous opportunities to do so during the night. He, Avalia, and Arianna were still alive.

They'd survived the first day of the Games.

And Maeren was still alive; her face hadn't appeared in the sky last night, and there had been no cannons – at least, none that he'd heard – during the night. Maybe she had been right not to join their alliance, after all. Both Avalia and Arianna's district partners were dead, while his was still alive, somewhere in the arena.

Lyre shook his head. She'd predicted it, too – back when he'd told her their plan during training. There were two ways their plan could end, she'd said, and neither of them was good.

Then again, nothing in the Games was good – not really. There were no good plans, in the end; there were only plans that weren't quite as bad as other plans. So that had been a safe thing to say – that things would end badly. And they had – for Mathias and Hendrix, at least. But the rest of them were doing pretty well.

In fact, the rest of what Maeren had said hadn't happened at all. She'd thought that, if their alliance managed to kill any of the larger one, they'd be immediately targeted by the rest. But, according to the faces in the sky last night, the tributes from Eleven were dead. And no one had come after them yet.

Which meant one of two things. Either someone else – some other alliance – had killed the pair from Eleven. Or – assuming Mathias and Hendrix had managed to kill at least one – Maeren wasn't quite as smart as she thought she was.

Next to him, Arianna began to stir a little. "Still alive?" she asked sleepily.

"Still alive," Lyre confirmed, munching on a blade of grass. It felt good – being able to say that. He had thought, during training, that maybe it would be better to get the fighting over with, one way or another. Maybe it would be better to die sooner rather than late.

But actually being in the Games had changed everything. Every day – every moment – was one step closer to the chance that he might make it out of this alive. And he wouldn't give that up for anything, even if all it meant was dying a few days later. Every moment now was important, and he meant to live every one of them.

Because none of them knew how many they had left.


Maeren Kinsella, 14
District Ten Female

She awoke to find something scaly brushing against her skin.

Maeren's eyes flew open, and she nearly jumped. Next to her in the nest was a small, reptile-like creature. It was maybe two feet long, with a large head and skinny little arms. It appeared to be asleep – for the moment – but there was no telling how long it would stay that way. Maeren glanced around frantically. Beside her, Koray was still sleeping soundly. But Carolina sat on the edge of the nest, holding a finger to her lips. "Shh. I don't think we should wake it."

Maeren quickly scrambled over beside Carolina. "When were you planning on telling me I was sleeping next to a lizard mutt?"

Carolina shrugged. "When you woke up. So … right about now. You were sleeping soundly, so I figured I'd let you get some rest. It wasn't hurting anything."

Maeren blinked. "Not hurting anything? It's a mutt; hurting tributes is what they do. What do you think it'll do when it wakes up?"

Carolina shrugged. "Nothing. It's just a young one. Look at the nest. I'm guessing this is just where it lives."

"A young one," Maeren repeated. "So what do we do when mama shows up?"

Carolina grinned. "I have a plan."

Of course she did. "I guess I'd better wake Koray."

Koray reacted slightly better to the news that they were sharing a nest with a mutt. "Do you think we can eat it?" was his first suggestion.

Carolina smiled. "We probably could. Or we could wait for the parents to come back, use the little one as bait, and then eat them. Probably a lot more meat on them. Look at this little thing; he might feed one of us. Imagine what the parents would look like. Maybe this size." She indicated about five feet tall. "They could probably keep us fed for the rest of the Games."

Maeren shook her head. "What if they're bigger? Too big for us to kill?"

"I thought about that," Carolina nodded. "But I doubt it. They left this one alone, which means he can't be that young. If he's almost fully grown, the adults can't be too much bigger."

Maeren nodded. It made sense. But the creature in the nest didn't act like it was almost an adult. And adult would have tried to attack them or scare them out of the nest. But Carolina had a point; most adults wouldn't leave a baby alone for very long.

"All right," Koray nodded agreeably. "So what's your plan for killing the adults?"

Carolina glanced around. "We need a few long branches. Some rocks. And a few of those vines. The rocks we use to sharpen the branches into spears, and the vines we use as rope. We tie the little one down, wait for the parents to show up to try to rescue it, and spear them while they're distracted. Simple."

Maeren eyed Carolina skeptically, wondering if she had come up with this plan as an excuse not to kill the little mutt sleeping soundly in front of them. On the other hand, it did sound simple. Almost too simple. But she couldn't think of a good reason not to try it. And, if it started to go wrong, they could always run.

She had a feeling it would come to that.


Theia Slate, 15
District Five Female

Eight tributes gone.

Theia looked down from the tree where she had spent the night. No cannons during the night, but she hadn't really expected any. Most of the tributes were probably regrouping, recovering after the bloodbath. Nearly every alliance had lost someone – some, more than one.

She quickly ran through the remaining tributes in her head. The larger alliances – or, at least, they used to be larger – had each lost two tributes: the pair from Eleven from the older alliance, and the boys from Four and Twelve from the younger one. The girls from Two and Six were gone. Cyne's ally was dead, which probably explained why he had been with Roshan in the first place. And now Roshan was dead, too.

But not just dead. She had killed him. It was her…

What? Her fault? Her responsibility? Her accomplishment? She wasn't quite sure how to think about it. How to feel about it. All she knew was that he was dead. And she wasn't. Which meant she was one step closer to leaving the arena alive. Only fifteen more tributes had to die.

Only fifteen.

It was so much easier when she thought about them as numbers, rather than seeing their faces in her mind. The girl from One. The boy from Nine. It was easier that way. It didn't quite feel right, but there was no "right" in the arena. If she made it out – when she made it out – then she could sort out right from wrong. Then she could figure out what she really felt, what she really thought about what she had done.

Right now, she had to focus on surviving.

And Cyne had helped her – albeit unintentionally. Once she'd gotten a good look at the supplies she'd stolen from Roshan, it had been clear that the peacekeeper hadn't split them evenly. Had he taken anything for himself? Theia wouldn't be surprised if he had simply given Roshan all of the supplies, assuming his own sponsors would provide for him.

And they probably would. Harakuise had warned her about that – that Cyne would get more sponsors, at least in the beginning. But would that change now? She'd killed a tribute, and, as far as she knew, he hadn't. Surely that was worth something in the sponsors' eyes.

Not that she needed anything at the moment. And Harakuise was smart enough to save his sponsor gifts for when she really needed them. She had all the food and water she could ask for. She had gathered a few sharp stones that could be used as weapons. And it seemed unlikely – not impossible, but unlikely – that either of the other tributes in the forest would attack her soon.

Cyne was sleeping lightly in a clearing nearby. She had considered – briefly – trying to kill him in his sleep, but had quickly dismissed the thought. Roshan hadn't been able to see her coming; all it would take was one misstep, and Cyne would know she was there. Besides, she had no reason to kill him – not yet. With Roshan, she had needed his supplies. She had plenty now. Her next kill could wait.

The girl from Three was somewhere nearby, as well. Theia had occasionally caught a glimpse of her during the night, darting this way and that behind the trees, trying to stay out of sight. She was fast, but that was pretty much all she had going for her. She had no allies, no supplies, no sponsors. No kills. But she was alive. And that was something.

It was something they had in common.


Astra Halley, 14
District Three Female

She just wanted water.

Astra leaned back against the trunk of an old, dead tree and tucked her knees to her chest. She should probably stay still. Conserve her strength. But if she stayed in one place, how was she going to find any water? Any food? It wasn't as if anyone was going to send her supplies. It wasn't as if she would get any sponsors.

Mayberry was probably doing her best, of course. But there was only so much she could do. She couldn't make sponsors appear out of thin air, and she was probably having trouble convincing them to support a scrawny, weak little tribute who had run away from the bloodbath … after helping out the blind kid.

Instead of killing him.

She hadn't even thought about that. Hadn't even considered it as a possibility. But someone else clearly had; Roshan's face had appeared in the sky the night before. He was dead. And she was still alive.

But for how long, without water?

Suddenly, as if in answer, she heard the soft pinging of a parachute. Immediately, she knew it wasn't meant for her; it was coming from a distance. But she ran towards the sound, anyway. Maybe she could get there first. Maybe…

She came to a clearing, where the boy from Five was sleeping. Or, at least, he looked like he was sleeping. The parachute landed on the ground near his feet. Astra inched forwards a little. If he really was asleep – if he had slept through that – maybe she could run in and grab the package and get away before he noticed. It was risky, but it might be her last chance—

And then he moved. The boy sat up, stretched a little, and reached for the parachute. Astra's heart sank. Her chance – her moment – was gone.

But then the boy turned towards her. "Would you like to share?"

Astra stared. Was he really suggesting such a thing? Why? Why would he want to share with her? Was it a trick – a way to get her close, so that he could kill her? But he didn't seem to have any weapons. Then again, with his size, and with her as weak as she was, he probably wouldn't need any. But there was something in his voice – something that, in some small way, reminded her of Koray. Maybe he did just want to help.

Astra took a few hesitant steps forward. "I don't have anything to give you in return."

The boy shook his head. "I don't want anything – just your company. My allies – they're both gone. Shaw, and then Roshan. It just … doesn't feel right, going it alone."

Astra nodded. That made sense. Every moment, it seemed, she had spent regretting not teaming up with Koray. Now that someone else was offering the same thing – offering protection, offering companionship – how could she say no?

Besides, it might be her last chance to avoid dying of thirst. Surely that was worth the risk.

Astra hesitantly nodded her consent, inching closer to the boy. He opened the package and removed a bottle of water. He held it out, and Astra darted forward and grabbed it, then took a few steps back, ready to run.

The boy smiled a little. "Take it, if you want. But if you'd rather stay … I'm happy to have you."

Astra hesitated. She hadn't wanted any allies. She hadn't wanted to have to worry about anyone else. But what else was she supposed to do, when the perfect ally had simply appeared and offered his friendship? She took a seat next to Cyne.

Then they heard a rustle in the brush.


Cyne Whitten, 18
District Five Male

He was a bit relieved that the sound wasn't Theia.

Cyne had thought all night about what he might do if he ran into her, and none of the thoughts were good. He had suspected then that she had killed Roshan, and now he was certain of it. The girl sitting next to him now wasn't capable of such a vicious act – killing a blind kid in cold blood just to steal his supplies.

Besides, if Astra had stolen Roshan's supplies, she wouldn't have been so desperate to try to grab Cyne's.

Theia, on the other hand … Once a thief, forever a thief. It had taken him a while to place her – he had only seen her for a few minutes, six months ago – but now he was surprised he hadn't seen it sooner. Harakuise had defended her then – maybe saved her life – but if Cyne caught up with her now, she wouldn't be so lucky.

Someone who showed no mercy to a blind boy deserved none in return.

But that would have to wait, because the rustling wasn't Theia. As he and Astra both sprang up in surprise, a mutt leapt out of the dead brush. It was about his height, but with a long tail that made it seem at least twice as big. Two rounded crests stuck out of the creature's head, and it made a terrible hissing sound.

Cyne's first thought was to simply run. He might get away in time. But would Astra? She was standing completely still – maybe frozen with fear. He couldn't leave her – not again. He'd already lost Shaw. He'd lost Roshan. He couldn't lose her, too.

Without thinking, he quickly stepped between Astra and the mutt, grabbing a dead tree branch to defend himself with. The mutt charged forward, undeterred, mouth open. But, before it got within Cyne's reach, something came shooting out of its mouth. Some sort of goo covered the branch. Cyne swung, but the mutt spat again, this time striking him in the face.

The first thing he was aware of was a sour taste in his mouth. For a moment, he couldn't breathe. He spat out the goo, but the rest of his face was still covered. He brought a hand up to wipe his face.

But he could barely see his hand.

Cyne blinked. Tried to wipe the goo away from his eyes. But it didn't help.

Then he heard Astra scream.

Cyne cursed quietly. While he had been distracted, the mutt had gone after Astra. Through a blurry haze, Cyne could see that the mutt was now on top of her. He swung blindly with his branch, but there was nothing he could do. Not any more. Astra's screams stopped suddenly as the mutt's teeth closed around her throat. Then he heard a cannon.

"Astra!" Cyne called, fumbling around blindly. He could barely see a thing now. He took a step forward, but his legs gave way beneath him. As he slumped to the ground, he was surprised to find that he couldn't feel them any more. His arms, too, were beginning to go numb. Whatever the mutt had splattered him with must have been poisonous.

So why hadn't it finished him off?

Then he heard footsteps. Cyne gritted his teeth. If Astra was dead, there was only one other person it could be. "Yes, I suppose it makes sense," he said quietly, surprised by how raspy his voice sounded. "District Five. The peacekeeper and the thief. How else would it end?"

At least that was enough to get a response out of her. "I wasn't the one who was about to drag you to the town square and whip you to a bloody pulp when we first met."

"I wasn't going to—"

"Of course not. You just arrested me. What happened afterwards – well, that's not your problem, right?"

"I was doing—"

"Your job. Yeah. I've seen your job. One of my only friends died because a peacekeeper was doing his job – because he was trying to steal some food so that I could eat. You know nothing."

"How dare you even say that after what you did to Roshan? You think I'm guilty of what some other peacekeeper did to your friend? What about you? You killed someone, Theia. Someone defenseless, someone innocent – the sort of person we peacekeepers protect. How can you live with that?"

He could practically feel Theia's glare. "I'll worry about living with myself later. Right now, I'm just worried about living."

Cyne tried to move. To grab a weapon. To strike out. But he couldn't. His whole body had gone numb. Maybe that meant he wouldn't feel it when…

"Then finish it, Theia," he spat. "One more kill to add to your list. One more helpless victim who couldn't resist you at all. One more—" He felt something strike his temple.

He was right; it didn't hurt at all.


Alicante Morgan, 17
District One Male

Two cannons.

Alicante shook his head. Two more tributes dead. Two more missed opportunities. Two more bodies that would never become masterpieces.

"We should go," he said matter-of-factly after he, Kaji, and Thea had finished breakfast. "We should find some of the other tributes instead of sitting around here waiting. They're never going to just come to us."

Kaji immediately nodded his agreement. "One of us should stay behind, though. We shouldn't leave the cornucopia unguarded. It'd be an easy target – and tempting."

"Are you volunteering?" Thea asked.

Kaji shook his head. "Actually, I was thinking it should be you."

Alicante smiled a little. That would be good. Thea had been a little squeamish the day before; he would rather have Kaji at his side to help him. But Thea didn't seem too happy about being left behind alone. "Why me?"

Kaji shrugged. "You just seemed like a better choice to defend the cornucopia. I saw you with a bow during practice – and most of the other tributes probably did, too. You've got a better range with that than Alicante or I would with knives or spears or something else. So if you see a tribute coming – even if there's more than one of them – you could take care of them before they even got close. But I'm guessing that if they see you standing here guarding the cornucopia with a bow, they won't even try stealing from it."

Alicante smiled. Kaji had managed to make staying at the cornucopia sound fun. Or at least useful. And it was useful, in a way. It kept Thea out of the way. Thea didn't understand his art. And what good was an audience if they didn't appreciate him?

Kaji, on the other hand, appreciated his skill.

"All right," Thea agreed reluctantly. "Be careful." But Alicante couldn't help but notice that she was looking at Kaji, not him.

It didn't matter, of course. There was no need to be careful. They would bring all the weapons – all the tools – they could need. No tribute would stand a chance against them.

It was Kaji who asked the obvious question. "Which way should we go?"

Alicante considered for a moment. He had spent most of the bloodbath inside the building with Hendrix; he wasn't sure where any of the other tributes had run. "Where do you think we'd find most of them?" he asked.

Kaji shrugged. "There's no telling, really. Even if they went in one direction originally, they could be somewhere completely different by now. One direction is probably as good as any other"

Alicante nodded. He was probably right. "All right. Let's go south."

Kaji nodded easily. "South it is."


Tania Fray
District Five Mentor

"Just say it."

Harakuise shook his head. "Say what?"

"'I told you so.' You've had that look on your face ever since you chose Theia on the train. You knew she would make it farther – maybe even win. How?"

Harakuise shrugged. "I know the moment Cyne offered to discuss strategies alongside Theia. Maybe even before."

"But how?"

"Because he's a peacekeeper – the good kind. There are plenty of different reasons why people become peacekeepers. A lot of them simply like the sense of power and authority it gives them. And that sort have their uses, mind you, but they're not the ones I'd rather work with. A lot of the time, they're only interested in punishing people – not really interested in whether or not what they're doing is right. But not Cyne. No, he was there for a nobler reason; he wanted to protect people. And that's exactly why he was drawn to allies who were weaker than him, even though stronger ones offered him the chance."

"You had allies, though," Tania objected.

Harakuise nodded. "Absolutely. And I probably wouldn't have won without them. But, in the end, I knew it was them or me. I would never have risked my life for them. I certainly wouldn't have sacrificed myself for them. That's what got Brie killed."

Tania looked away. He was right, of course; if Brie hadn't been willing to sacrifice herself for her brother, she could have made it home. If Cyne had simply run instead of throwing himself between his ally and the mutt, he probably could have gotten away.

Then again, if they hadn't been willing to sacrifice themselves, they wouldn't have been in the Games in the first place.

"He chose to be here," Harakuise pointed out, as if he had read her mind. "He knew what he was signing up for. This is how he would have wanted to go – trying to protect an ally. Why do you think he kept offering alliances after his allies kept dying? First Shaw. Then Roshan. Then Astra. He wanted someone to protect. Some part of him recognized that his attitude was going to get him killed, and wanted to do something to make it worthwhile."

"But it wasn't," Tania pointed out. "It wasn't worthwhile. His allies died, anyway."

Harakuise nodded. "Of course they did. But that wouldn't have mattered to him. He died doing what he felt was right; be content with that."

Tania shook her head. Maybe she should be content. Maybe she should be okay with the fact that Cyne had known what he was getting into. That he had known he would probably die. But it wasn't enough. It wasn't fair that Theia – who had been willing to kill a blind kid for his supplies – was alive, while Cyne was dead. It wasn't fair that Brie was dead, and Harakuise was the one sitting next to her now.

It wasn't fair.


"Why don't they adjust? Physically, they seem to have the capacity to survive. There appears to be no reason why they should die. And yet they do."