Lude Ermany, District 2

It's already evening by the time we finally get back to the savannah crater. I breathlessly announce it's us since the rest of the pack hasn't shown any sign of spotting us yet and I'd rather not get attacked from a misunderstanding. With effort, I throw the gator up and over the ridge first and then climb up myself.

And that's when I first notice absolutely no one else is here.

"Lude?"

More distracted than just responding to my name, I look toward Ciano a little. He's standing at the other side of the ridge still, holding his arms out toward me in a way that looks more like he wants a hug than help over. I tug him over, not paying much attention when he stumbles and flops into the grass.

"Careful," I mumble, stepping a little further into the crater. It doesn't change the fact that we're the only two here. At first I think the tall grass must be obscuring something, but by now the foliage has been pretty well broken down; not enough tall stuff remains to hide a whole person. Nor the two distinct puddles of blood.

Still dumbstruck, I walk over to the first I can see. Just a plain puddle of blood, nothing splashed away from a struggle or anything. The second seems to have had a lot more action around it but still has nothing to clue me in to what happened.

Was there a tribute attack? I could see someone killing Alf easily, or maybe Vivi in her condition, but either of them would have fought back. Maybe two people attacked: one that killed Alf or Vivi in the struggle puddle, and another that Japan or the remaining Career caught before he or she could do anything.

But... that doesn't explain why no one is left. Japan could have gone hunting easily enough, but neither of the others could. Did Alf and Vivi both get killed? Did they kill each other? The struggle puddle has enough blood for two people. So the other puddle is just a random tribute?

I rub my forehead. I'll just wait for Japan to come back and tell me what happened. That is, if he's planning to come back. He never struck me as a deserter, but I'd understand if he thought Ciano was too useless to have in the alliance. Of course... if he thought that, why would he have given Ciano any food at all this afternoon?

Okay, let's face it, I have no clue what happened or what's going on now. At any rate, the death toll should clear a few things up. But that's probably still an hour or so away. I'll just wait. I have enough to do, anyway.

Exhaling, I return to the gator to figure out how to break it open. Ciano is sitting in the grass nearby, looking up from twiddling the long, yellow grass in his fingers when I approach.

"What happened to everybody?" he asks innocently.

"Don't know," I grunt, examining the gator for a minute before deciding to try a nearby knife first. It doesn't come close to piercing the thing's hide.

It's almost sundown by the time I've decided the whole "slicing at its hide" thing isn't working at all. With a sigh, I decide to dig out what little remains of our rations and just take another swing at the gator in the morning. We don't have much more but jerky, but it'll hold us for the night. I end up splitting my canteen with Ciano, and we down it all, but that's all right since we have quite a few more canteens.

Just as I'm screwing the lid on the empty canteen, Ciano starts, "Lude?" Setting the canteen down, I turn back toward him.

"Thank you for helping me," he chimes sincerely. I nod an acceptance of this, and he shuffles forward.

"I made you something," he continues, holding his arms forward. In his hands is something the same colour as the grass, so I can't quite make it out until I can hold it in my own palm.

It's a little heart, woven intricately from the grass. I poke it wonderingly, not sure how anyone could make something like that, not only smooth around the edges but three-dimensional.

"That's... amazing," I say, turning it around in my palm. "Thanks."

Ciano smiles at me, and, not quite sure what to do with it, I carefully put the little work of art in my jumper pocket.

With a sharp blast of sound, the anthem starts, making Ciano jump. Almost laughing at his reaction but remembering how much I need to see what's in the sky tonight, I look upward silently. The death toll shows three faces. All three of my teammates. So... all of them are dead? All of them? Even Japan? I... I can't imagine what could have happened to kill them all. Either the three got into a big dispute, or they got mobbed by other tributes... Or neither... I'm no closer to figuring this out than I was when I first came in.

Letting out a long exhale, I force my mind to focus on what's to come tonight. I haven't gotten any kills recently, and the Career-supporting audience, however small they've gotten this Games, can't be happy with how this alliance has shifted. I should go on the hunt tonight, but...

I glance over at Ciano. I can't leave him here by himself; he'll probably trip on something and decapitate himself. But I don't want to take him hunting with me...

I stop myself. That's no excuse. I... I've already put him above my duties as a Career too many times. I can't let him hold me back like that. I'll bring him hunting whether he likes it or not, and if he makes too much noise I'm not above gagging him for a while. And if he doesn't like what I do, well, he... he can leave. I-I won't care.

Shifting my legs, I wince a little bit. Honestly, I'm not in the best condition after hauling a huge brute halfway up a mountain. And... And the audience should be entertained enough, with whatever chaos happened to the rest of the pack.

...I'm making excuses. I hate people who make excuses. It's showing a lack of discipline.

Maybe I'm just too tired to think straight. I can't say how much I'd like a good night's sleep, but that doesn't mean it's acceptable for me to do that. And that's dangerous, especially if my teammates were attacked by other tributes. This isn't a good hiding place, and I highly doubt Ciano is the kind to take watch all night.

But we are on top of the mountain... And if the others were taken out, the attacker shouldn't have any reason to think we're here now.

Ugh. I don't even know whether I'm making excuses or just thinking it out anymore. I guess I do need the sleep, anyway.

Still wary but not sure what else to do, I nod off.

Russia Bragins, District 9

I made it back to my crater for the night. It's still really, really cold—but that's good. I ended up getting pretty badly sliced up in my fight with Gil, especially in my stomach. And then there's that arrow wound that sent me tumbling down the side of the mountain for a little while. That wasn't fun.

But it's all right now. Since this mini-environment is so cold, it's a lot harder to feel my wounds. Or much of anything, for that matter. I can't say if it's gotten colder since I was here last, but it's definitely really, really, really, cold.

Oh, well. At least it's numbing.

I curl up in the grass and watch the faces flit across the sky. A lot of Careers. No Gil. No Switz.

Well, good. I'd rather kill them myself. It'll be a lot of fun to kill Gil, if I actually get to.

And then there's Switz. It might not be as fun to eliminate him. Because I need to kill him. Not just do it for fun.

Because his arrow tore a hole through my scarf.

My sister made me this scarf. And, aside from my life in the Games, it's all I have left of her. And Switz went and ripped a hole in it, a big, gaping hole almost wide enough to slice the cloth all the way through.

And I definitely can't let him live with that.

But! That's a job for another day. Now it's time to go to sleep.