Night 3 (fourth ruling period- 6:00 PM- 6:00 AM)

Aster Mallory, 17 years old, District 7 Male

5:15-5:45

The three of us sit around a small fire. We got matches from a sponsor gift so it's gotta be safe in order to do so. At least that's how I figured. "You know, the sunlight going down is gonna mask some of the flames," Samuel notes. "A lot of us in District 9 didn't see fires until it was too late because off the sunlight."

"I don't have many experiences with fires if I'm being honest," Regan says. "The few fires we did have came from a lot of collisions. And even then, we didn't have many of them. We had a lot of wild storms and during one of them, my best friends and I got so wet. I'm not a storyteller but we were literally a hundred feet from any entrance and about fifteen feet high."

"Wow, my life sounds half as interesting now," I say quietly. "The firefighters had to create a fire to get rid of some old oak, and that got too widespread, so my mom and I had to evacuate to a small shelter. The fire lasted for seven hours and seventy percent of our neighborhood was burned. Our house was one of the lucky ones. But the night after the fire another house spontaneously combusted."

"Looks like we're all survivors up to this point," Regan says. He's been adopting a much more charming voice lately. "The rules are going to change soon so if you ask me we can probably start with cooking some fish in about 30 minutes, by that time the rules should have changed."

"There's a little stream over there, I'll go over and wash up," Samuel says.

I take a glance over in his general direction to see another stream crisscrossing it. "If you don't mind Regan I'll wash up too," I say curtly. Regan nods and resigns himself to tending to the fire as he opens up some containers. Samuel and I walk several feet away and I'm sure we're out of earshot due to the rushing water. "I know it's in our best interest to be with Regan but he's getting manipulative."

"How so?"

"I've seen him pull you to the side. Did he make a deal with you to get to the end?" I ask Sam bluntly. He nods in shock and I curl my lips knowingly. "He made a deal with me too. But…"

"You're hesitating still?" Sam says as he strips off his shirt.

"Yes," I say bluntly. I immediately feel a flush of red as I involuntarily let my eyes take in his toned midsection that seems to slowly flex with his breath. "It's gonna be awkward for District 7 but you and I are gonna have to try to take him out soon."

"I mean, I guess," he says, involuntarily flexing his nicely chiseled chest. "I'd rather head to the end with you rather than Regan."

"As would I." The conversation awkwardly ends as I strip off my own shirt and I look over to see Samuel obviously gawking at me. "Do we have a deal?"

"Yes we do," he says, holding his hand out once again. I take his hand and feel a tighter grip than he's been having lately. "I think we'd better get washed up before Regan gets suspicious." I can agree with him on that regard.

Valonia Kalene, 12 years old, District 10 Female

6:00-6:40

"Delivering tonight's rules will be the one true king of the jungle. He has lead the slacker life with his adopted fathers munching on grub and swinging on the jungle's amazing foliage, straight outta the pride lands and a successful coup, his greatest challenge here is raising his rapscallion of a daughter, and managing all the animals in his lands, today it's king Simba."

The bear stops its speech and we hear the roar of a lion, a long gone animal before a very attractive voice fills our ears. It clears its throat and begins to speak. "Tonight two tributes are not able to lie down within six feet and three inches of another tribute, drink water from a bottle, and must not use anything other than body parts as pillows," the lion, Simba, says before letting otu another roar.

"Today I recommend that you follow the rules. You may have heard but one of our victims today was the victim of their own inability follow their rules, so don't join them!" The bear closes the announcement with a taunting laughter.

"Do you think that Kaney was killed with that?" I ask Lenora quietly.

"We don't know that Kaney was the one that was killed," she says quietly. "If there's anything I learned from him is that we prepare for the worst but hope for the best."

"We were preparing for the worst, weren't we?" I ask her.

"And now we hope for the best," Lenora says.

"Kaney reminds me so much of my big brother. I don't want him to die this soon."

"Sounds like you and your brother are quite close," Lenora says, matter of factly. "Look, if you want to leave feel free to but I'm more than willing to let you tag along for a while."

"Why would I want to leave?" I ask. "There is power in numbers. Isn't that why Kaney let me join you two in the first place?"

"It's less odds that I'd have to stab you in the back, so I wouldn't look a new sweater too finely," she says. "I'm gonna start a small hot pot. Some soup can be good for now."

"I'm confused, if I lie down and you don't lie down would I still get punished?"

A parachute falls down and I grab it intensely. No, if two tributes lie down very close to each other then they'd both get punished. I lost my voice so don't make me commentate another execution, it's too late in the night- Mono-Pooh-Ma.

I blink in confusion and ball up the paper and slide it into a bag. Kaney told me to just try to lie down on my side when not moving. The spark that monster gave me doesn't show any signs of being extra hurtful or anything but I don't want to agitate anything worse. If I'm gonna get back to Tilden this back is gonna have to heal. I really need help and I guess the only person I can turn to is me.

Desmond Pick, 18 years old, District 2 Male

7:05-7:55

I finish taking a metered drink from a tall glass cup as Layla and Nikos both walk off to a room hidden in the back behind some couches. Norm the robot comes over and takes the cup from me and places it into a washer. Antoniette turns to talk to me before the two of us hear the sounds of glass breaking. Ignoring that, she takes a seat next to me and asks, "What's your story?"

"I'm a District 2 male who persevered in order to be the best District citizen there is, it doesn't get as generic as that," I say quietly. "Had I not made into the academy my father would have had me enter a butler position."

"A butler to whom?"

"Women," I say bluntly. "It's why I try to be polite. I remember being six years old and picking on my sister because...well at the time I believed as though Female Victors were much more unworthy than male victors and I thought that she was a moron for thinking that girls were stronger than guys. Don't get me wrong, I know that while girls are typically weaker there are exceptions and girls can become just as strong as guys are on average and in many cases surpass them."

"You know, I wish I had a sibling to argue stupid things about," Antoinette says wistfully. "MY friends in the academy are my sisters but...I take it you saw your sister come home from the hospital?"

"We had a midwife like most everyone. Almost everyone," I add as an afterthought.

"To this day I can't smell alcohol without feeling a bit of bile in my stomach. I lost my dad from a drunken brawl, and you know how people die of heartache? That happened to my mom. It was kind of rough I'd have to say. I met my friends in the orphanage but it would have been nice to have some parents like you do."

"Thank you," I say quietly. "If I'm not being rude here, did your mandatory kills align with your backstory?"

"No?" she says quietly. "I guess I've never thought of that. They weren't that hard...but I did have to kill a gil I knew from the orphanage."

"How old were you when that happened?"

"Like 15, that's when they got hard, right?"

"It was 16 for me," I reply. "Suppose we change the subject now. Do you think that the career alliance is going to last long?"

"We're already separated from District 4...and we heard two cannons so I think one of them may be someone from District 4. I hope it's the big guy...as good looking as he was," she says with an awkward smile.

"If our little foursome were to implode...I trust that I'd try to protect you."

"As of now, I can guarantee that on my end...did I sound as sophisticated as you?"

"I'm just talking the way I was raised," I explain kindly. We're joined by Nikos and Layla in time for the nightly roll call. And with deaths earlier today then this roll call is something we need to see.

Lenora Cotton, 16 years old, District 8 Female

8:00-9:05

An anthem many of us in Panem are all too familiar with begins playing at what is presumably 8 o'clock. I wake Valonia up from her little nap and she looks to the sky next to me. The familiar music kicks up with the picture of a girl, I think one of the lower careers. Maybe the District 4 girl, considering that she has a darker shade of blond hair, but her name escapes me right now.

Then it hits us. Kaney's smiling face now appears over us. I choke on my words as I pull Valonia close to me. He didn't make it out of the scuffle with the careers. The bile builds up in my stomach as I double over. I hope he went out quickly. "Do you think he was executed?" Valonia asks quietly.

"W-What?" I manage to say.

"Mono-pooh-ma told me that someone got executed."

"That's not like him," I say defensively. "I hope it was that girl who got executed, as...well as mean as that sounds but...Kaney doesn't deserve that kind of cruelty you know."

All she does is nod quietly. The anthem closes on the seal of Panem before it disappears, leaving the two of in the dark for a while. We move over to our camp as she awkwardly stretches out her back, picking at the mark where the mutt shocked her. "I can still stay, right?"

"You don't have to go unless you want to," I say quietly. Kaney...I sincerely think of him as a friend from these past couple of days and to think of him dead is really draining on the mood between the two of us. He didn't deserve this fate anymore than any of the other bloodbath victims.

Valonia picks at some fruit, some precooked bacon, and a piece of fish that's beginning to smell. She's sitting at one side of our pile of supplies hunched over her small meal. I dig into my bag and pull out some dried jerky. It's not much of a meal but I'm used to it. It is pretty hard adapting to meager food now that we've had a week anda bit in the capitol.

I'm about to talk to Valonia when we hear music. Then a blaring light just behind Valonia makes its presence known. Thinking quickly, I wrap two bags around my back and grab Valonia by one hand as she seems to be paralyzed. She makes a feeble grab at food before running alongside me.

The parade tramples over a bag that I left behind in the haste to escape and the remnants of Valonia's meal. Valonia collapses next to me and I try to wake her up but she seems to be out cold. It must be the stress of the day. I admit that I'm not as good as caring for others since I'm usually the one being taken care of.

I heard fragments of statements that my brother found a girlfriend. That's really good for him, since a lot of girls did say he had a sense of handsomeness. I hope that when-if-if I get home then he introduces me to her if she actually does exist. Maybe I can find a nice boy to get with. It is when I'm stuck in those thoughts that the lights from the passing parade seems to lull me to sleep. I shake myself awake and move several trees over, at least 10 feet away, to make sure I collapse.

I hpe the dreams are kind to me today.

Jakob Torser, 16 years old, District 13 Male

9:00-10:03

Albany takes my hand suddenly as the two of us are forced to run through a thick, heavily forested, unevenly terrained jungle. Many tapes of previous hunger games have let me learn the words but to think that I'm running through one now is virtually unfathomable. Our run through the jungle is interrupted when my father comes, falling from a tree branch high above. He's covered in scratches and blue paint or something. I walk over to him, kneeling as I approach his prone frame, when I hear another weight land just behind me. The district one girl...the pretty blond one, bares sharp teeth at me, and runs forward. I scream as I'm shaken out of my dream.

"Jakob!" I see my ally, Adam, with his nose almost touching mine and his legs on either side of my torso. "Are you okay?"

"Must have fallen asleep," I say tiredly, trying to mask my distress as what I saw. I prop myself up on my elbows as I fix myself. Adam heads off of me and apologizes. With a sigh I pull myself up and see that our third member, Atticus, is curled up some eleven feet away and it looks like he's rocking himself to sleep. "Is he alright?"

"I think we should just leave him be," Adam says. "Did you have a bad dream out there?"

"Yeah," I say bluntly. "Been having them since after the reaping. My poor father was in this one."

"You guys close?"

"Yeah, he's just really...ill, so to say. He had a work accident with some poison or something and a water bottle."

"Sounds ghastly," Adam replies.

"That's what the doctors said. You asked if my father and I were close...are you and your dad...not as close?"

He takes a deep breath and pulls out his jacket from his backpack. I can see him uncertainly fold it again before he puts it back. "Ever since mom left for some...dastard or someone...and my dad lost his job in a factory, he's just been drinking, a lot."

"He's not a mean drunkard, is he?"

"No, I've had plenty of experience with them and my dad's nothing like them. He just passes out after he finishes cooking for me and my bro." He pulls out his hat and fastens it over his head. It fits him...and daresay makes him look attractive.

"I guess I'm gonna keep watch," I say quietly.

"Sorry to go out on you like this," he says, stifling a yawn. "But you know how it is, just have a tendency to fall asleep with friends, huh?

"Suppose so...I guess I'll wake up Atticus and see what he's gonna plan for tomorrow...we're gonna have to dump him eventually."

"Eventually is not today, that can wait," Adam says. "He's alright, I don't want to kill him."

"Neither do I."

Naette Quill, 12 years old, District 12 Female

10:15-11:01

I unsteadily rock back and forth and try to get to sleep. One of the younger boys died today, I saw him, and it wasn't a face that I really wanted to see in the middle of the night. I cringe at the thought of what could have befallen him, or for that matter, one of the very strong careers. I guess no one really is safe in this arena.

I suppose that I fall asleep sometime letter but I really can't tell, it's too dark and I can't risk falling asleep. "If I fell asleep would I get punished like this?" I wonder aloud, quietly whispering. My answer comes in the form of a very tiny parachute with a very tiny note. I extend an arm and find that it contains one word. "No." and it is signed by Monokuma.

With myself more reassured I pull myself in a tighter ball and begin to try to rest my head, but all that comes from that is horrid thought of my family dying at the hands of that bear. I begin to cry because it seems too real, I try to reach out, to yell out for them, but I can't be too loud or else the monster mutts will come for me.

I stand up and walk to Naomi, bending down and poking her on her back. "Hey, I think your perspective is up. I can't sleep anyway," I murmur. Naomi wakes up with a grumpy look on her face and sits up quite soon. "I can't sleep and I want to stay closer to this pile of warmth we have."

She stifles a yawn and smiles before almost closing her eyes again before she slaps herself awake. "What my friends and I would typically do is cuddle under a blanket. But we don't have blankets and we can't be near each other," she says sadly. "I think we'll get some soon."

"How about you take over and watch for blankets?"

"Naette this really reminds me of home...I want both of us to get back but I know that's going to be impossible."

"I miss my family," I let the statement hang in the air before Naomi makes a grab to our pile. She takes care not to knock over any of the bags and pulls out a somewhat large blanket. She puts her hand in again and pulls out a small handful of about five dried fruit pieces. "Can I have some?"

She nods quietly and tosses me two pieces of them. They taste like peaches and oranges. I haven't had much opportunity for fruit besides the capitol and now it feels like a shadow of the capitol's luxurious kitchen. I begin to think about how much better my family would feel if they could even try some of this. "I think we can just sit here for a while," Naomi says. The two of us keep staring, taking presence in each other's silent company.

Naomi Palmer, 12 years old, District 9 Female

11:03-11:45

There's not much more that the two of us say for the rest of the night. The two of us are actually kind of tuckered out from all the running and walking. It's only day 2. The training center did not plan for this...well if they did I must have missed the lessons. Who could have helped me? Jgen? Lillia? Definitely Samuel.

I hope he's doing well. Is dad even rooting for him at home? I hope that he's been better lately. I don't want to come back to his constant yelling at mom and at...well

If I make it home then Samuel doesn't, and he's been working so hard at this. He was one of the strongest guys if he was even allowed to volunteer. Has he killed someone? Where is he? All these questions flow through my head as I notice Naette moving away to lie down again. I sigh and realize that I'm going to have to be alert for at least another hour.

This is going to be damaging since I'm only alone with my thoughts.

There's not much more for me to say.

With a sigh I turn my head away from the pile of supplies to look over yonder at something. The buildings all blend into one and don't seem to add anything. I think that we're in a jungle? I guess that helps with staying warm but I don't know how long we can stay here. I think tomorrow that Naette and I should just be moving around this kind of jungle arena.

I hear the sounds of a roar that wakes Naette up. She scampers over to me and I scamper over to her and we begin to tremble in fear. Who knows how far away that thing could be? What was the thing that made the noise? There's sounds of wet footsteps from all the way above us and other shouts.

As suddenly as they come, they go. I hope there's nothing left to worry about tonight. "ARe you okay?" Naette asks me out of concern.

"Yeah, you?" I ask a bit quickly.

"Yeah," she says quietly.

"I think I've been trying to sleep for too long. Maybe I'll stay up now," she says in a solemn tone. I let her take my spot in front of the pile of clothes. I take a small blanket and wrap it around my legs. It's cold tonight and I hope that there's not too many things to worry about tonight.

Layla Ranevall, 18 years old, District 1 Female

11:50-12:30

I wake up in the middle of the night from my couch. I lock eyes with Desmond and he makes a nod of understanding before he walks over to Nikos. I make my way to Antoinette and the four of us are awake for another 10 minutes. "I'll take the next shift," I volunteer. "But I do need help staying awake, as unlikely it is for outer district tributes to ambush us in our sleep."

"I wouldn't get too confident if I were you," Antoinette says, rubbing her eyes.

"Well it's just unlikely by this point," I grumble.

"You do have a point. This arena's huge from what we've seen," Nikos says, involuntarily glancing over his shoulder, looking down from a balcony. "And what are the odds that someone is going to look at this building in particular."

"As confident as we may be, in these later hours it would be beneficial for two of us to stay awake at a time. If there's anything that should be learned from the Hunger Games, is that anything could happen," Desmond says in his ever formal tone.

His shirt is still halfway rolled up and it exposes an actually toned midriff, hot but not as hot as An, if i may think to myself. I only make note of this as he apologizes profusely for his 'indecent exposure'. At this point we feel a large chill coming over us and my attention goes to An's...really nice chest if I'm being blunt. "I already volunteered so I'll take a perch close to the door."

"I can join you," Antoinette volunteers. Nikos nods, seemingly in agreement, and already curls up on a couch, but not before abruptly turning his head. Desmond also makes a gesture of agreement before lying down on his back, a dozen feet away from all of us. I rest my head on the wall as I sit down. "Looks like the two of us are here for a while."

"So it's my turn to regale you with a story?" I joke.

"Anything to keep the two of us awake. I heard from a little birdy that District 1 is quite the sexual district."

"As true as that stereotype is,it's still a stereotype," I say idly. "I suppose I could tell you about how me and my best friend stole a vibrator from Glisten when she left it in the bathroom...sorry Glisten…"

"What is a vibrator?"

I go into the raunchy details and immediately laugh as her eyes grow wide. "Good times i have to say...I feel like my parents would chew me out if they found out…" Teenage life is full of mischief, I would have done the same. I hear mom reply to me.

Antoinette breaks an awkward silence with a quick statement. "I have no idea how my parents would react...I wish I knew them as well as you did."

"Well...they're dead...I'm just theorizing."

"Oh," Antoinette says awkwardly. "I mean I may have forgotten about that…"

"Don't knock yourself down with that. There's a lot that all of us have on our minds...I just wish that my parents could see me kill the rebel scum that killed the both of them…"

"A good plan."

"I hope so."

Samuel Palmer, 18 years old, District 9 Male

12:00-12:45

It's hard staying awake and staring at the fire. There's something about it's hypnotic and dancing image that lulls a person to sleep. There's been so many grain fires in District 9 that I'm actually quite used to it. Naomi told me there was a grainery fire a couple of weeks before the Hunger Games. If either of us are going to get out of the Hunger Games then one of us has to die.

Looks like the old Captain Obvious me is coming out. I curl up my knees to my chest and continue staring at the fire. I fear what dad has to say about me right now… stuck at that immature captain obvious mode, as he always put it. And now I'm a killer, he didn't want me to get into the careers for this reason and...if I don't make it out a worthy victor I'm not going to be good enough to come back to him since the death of his darling girl is going to be on my hand!

There's the sound of a branch cracking behind me and I jump up, kicking up some dirt and almost smothering the fire. "Calm down Sam, it's just me," ASter says, in a deep and tired voice without raising it. "I think we can switch if you want to."

"BUt I just woke you up about an hour ago, shouldn't you be waking Regan up?"

"I appreciate your generosity but I can take it right now," Aster says, but I feel like it's false reassurance. "You need to sleep though."

"I just got sent on a bad train of thought, that's why I was...kind of spazzing out."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Aster asks.

"Now?" He nods his head gently and I scoot over to make room for him. "You know dad and I aren't on the best of terms, right? I'm just worried about being...being my sister's keeper and all of that you know? Of all four of us back home he yells at her the least. He yelled at Sidney when he moved across the district simply because there were jobs over there and at Chase for not joining him at the fields...I take the brunt of all the fights.

"I'm just worried about taking care of Naomi now. This arena is too big for me to find her in time and I can't be sure if she's even going to be alive by the time we reunite, or even if the time will come. And if I come back then Dad's just going to keep yelling and yelling."

"I think…" aster says. "I'm not good at this but… I don't suppose there's a reason that your dad is so concerned? Did something happen in your family history?"

"Not that i know of…"

"Well then your dad is just a prick," Aster says, bobbing his head up and down. "When you're a victor then you don't have to deal with him."

"I suppose. I can't leave mom like that, can I?"

"...no you can't," Aster says after a moment of thought. "I'll open up tomorrow since it's getting kidn of late...but thank you for telling me."

"No problem." Aster and I exchange a smile before I head over to where Aster was a while ago, taking care not to make any excessive noise. Maybe when I wake up in an hour I'll wake up Regan. It's keep your friends close but your enemies closer, right?

Nidawi Sebille, 16 years old, District 5 Female

12:30-1:25

"You're okay, right?" Zippina asks me. I stretch my hands out and rise to my feet as I nod tiredly. With much effort I waddle over to a perch some twelve feet or so away, just enough not to trigger some rule break or something. "I worry for you."

"I worry for you too" I say, half seriously and half sarcastically. "I'm going to sleep now. This building that we found...just in the middle of nowhere...it's surprisingly homely."

"Thank the people who live in...ToonTown, according to the map. Or Old town, The light is making it hard to see. Take a nap under...wow this town is big...it says that we're at...Oswald's gas station. Sounds...sounds old."

"Gee, I think that too," I say, the sarcasm seeping out. "Anyways...goodnight...sleep tight…"

"Sleep tight."

I lie with my back on the concrete and my head in some grass. For some kind of town this place is actually very very very grassy, though I think that makes for more convenience than anything. I can't even remember half the lands that we've been to or where we're going to next.

Oh right, Danville in the Tri-State Area.

I bet Jon would have loved to come with us. It stings knowing that he was one of the first people dead. I knew I liked him but I new with the age gap that nothing serious could have happened. I just feel terrible about what's going to happen next, probably returning home to see my...my friends all hovered over our caskets.

It's not a pretty sight I envision.

I slip into the world of dreams. It's been called a rabbit hole by the more optimistic of us, and with the dream I'm free falling and Jon is directly across from me. There's no way to stop and no way to reach for him. Though he falls down one path and I fall down the other I hear his pained screams. I pass through images of Artair, Lindall, Vern, Delancy, Alaina...all of them disapproving at me. Should I have sought him out for much longer in the bloodbath? Should I have? Should I have? Should I have? Artair tackles me as I fly, I find myself pinned by him as I cry, he nuzzles against me and tells me it'll be alright. But then Michael's there and he's saying that he's lying.

I wake up with a lot of sweat on my brow. Zippina is asleep.

I choose to fall asleep as well.

Neve Seren Orion, 16 years old, District 13 Female

1:20-2:20

As much as I hate to say it, I love the underground, and this...Rabbit's hut… reminds me of a home where we weren't controlled by the capitol. The rabbit who gave us this house...Rabbit...for some reason… gave it to us with very much open arms in exchange for the two of us picking out enough materials for capturing the backson.

That's the thing, the backson, the backson, the backson…. It's always the backson with these animals. How old are they? And that stupid owl for that manner, who thinks that back soon could ever be misconstrued as Backson? I guess it reflects the idiocracy of the capitol...haha.

No sooner do I laugh out loud when I hear a thud at the door. Apprehensively I grab a pot as a weapon, I've heard they made kills with it, or were they the frying pans? But I grab a cooking tool to help guard Janine and I before I open the door. I'm hit with a giant orange force that titters loudly. "Say-hey! Where's uh-huh my dear pal Rabbit?"

"...he gave us this house," I say, taken aback by the...animal's weight. "What are you?"

"Gee howdy, I thought for sure everyone knew everything about T-I-double- guh- errs! No matter!"

The most wonderful thing about tiggers, is that tiggers are the most wonderful hings, their tops are made of rubber, their bottoms are made out of springs! The animal begins to sing.

"They're trouncy bouncy clouncy fun fun fun fun fun!" I sing, surprised at myself.

And the most wonderful thing about tiggers is that I'm the only one! Then it sings off into the night. I close the door tightly and lean against it while sitting on the floor. That was the second time I was forced to sing today and it's scaring me. I have a terrible voice and singing wasn't an activity recommended by most of District 13 when training.

I take a glance over at Janine to see that she's snug as a bug in a rug. I debate about waking her up for now, but with as cozy as she looks, I decide not to. She needs her sleep. I mean I need it too, but she's used to a lot more turmoil, she could use more sleep.

Regan Attwater, 18 years old, District 4 Male

2:00-2:45

I'm awaken with a somewhat rough shake. I wipe at my eyes with one hand and grab my spear in the other, relenting when it's just Samuel, who helps me get up from my prone position. "Any reason you woke me up?" I ask, in a voice deep and worried.

"I thought you needed to watch over our stuff for a while. Aster's been stressed lately so I didn't want to wake him up more than I needed to," Samuel says with a bit of a blush.

"Well, thanks," I say, striding over to our fire place, staring into it. "Do you trust me?" I ask bluntly.

"Yes," he says, but I catch the hesitation in his voice while he gulps loudly.

"It's okay if you dont' trust me," I say calmly. "I guess being a career and Semi-career would mean that two of us are of different ilk."

"It's not that I dn't trust you...it's…"

"IT's what Samuel?"

"I do trust you, but I think you trust me too much," he says with an awkward chuckle, before slamming his hands over his mouth.

I jump up, stretch out, and face him much closer than I ever has. He cowers a bit before resolving himself and standing straighter. "Keep your head up," I say in a calm voice, hoping to catch him off guard. From the look of surprise on his face, he is. "You may be right about that, but you remind me of my….my boyfriend, Kyle, back home. I really don't want to kill you nor Aster...so I will not do that as long as I can."

"Is...is that your word?" he nervously asks.

"That is," I say confidently. "You don't have to trust me, I know you trust Aster more than I, and if I have to kill you, I will, but I really do not want to do that." I grip his arm tightly and he steels himself to grip my forearm tightly. "Three heads are better than one or two. But two heads are better than one. I don't mind dying to a worthy ally, but I don't want that backstabbing."

"I don't think we'll be doing that...any time soon."

"Good," I say in a tougher tone than I intended. "Now head to sleep, for now you can trust me."

As Samuel walks off to his spot I take a glance at Aster, who seems to have rolled over in the duration of time that I've seated in front of the fire. Suspicious. But reasonable.

I sit down, take off Kyle's ring, and roll it in my hands. I hope he forgives me after this. I love him, I trust in him, and I have to know that he trusts in me.

And I know that.

Hey Guys, Hopps Here

You know...in writing the last couple of perspectives...my *ahem* "friend" revealed that he was responsible for stupid spams on the SYOT alliance and harassing other people, including me. It...it's really draining but I hope that the latter part of the chapter doesn't suffer as a result but I hope you guys all enjoy it. I mean you just rant about things to a friend, don't expect them to do anything, and then they lash out in a way you never thougth possible...safe to say he and I are no longer friends...

Sorry about that mini-rant over there, I hope that those in the SYOT alliance can forgive me for ranting on and on about hidden procedures to people who I thought wouldn't do anything about it... I truly am sorry for what I've unleashed onto the alliance...

Well, i'm going to power through it forgiveness or no, and I now know to put things behind me that need to be put behind me.

Now about this chapter, I realize that Neve got two perspectives in a row, but that was because she didn't get a perspective on any of the three chapters describing the first day. I want to make things as equal as possible in perspective count, word count is simply too hard at this point, but I hope that all tributes get a scene of some substance (humor, development, or angst or etcetera). We have some more planning from these people simply because teenagers are crafty motherfuckers.

Sponsor Questions:

1) Where do Sam and Aster decide to wash up? (1 point)

2) Who gives the rules spiel for the 4th ruling period (1 point)

3) When did the kills get hard for Desmond? (1 point)

4) How many bags get destroyed with the parade? (1 point)

5) Where are Jakob and his friend (1 bonus point to name the friend) when they are running in his dream? (1 point)

6) How many dried fruit pieces does Naomi end up with? (1 point)

7) What wakes Naette up? (1 point)

8) What did Layla steal? (1 point)

9) How does Samuel justify waking up Regan? (1 point)

10) Where does Nidawi choose to rest? (1 point)

11) What's the most wonderful thing about tiggers? (1 point)

12) What makes Regan suspicious? (1 point)

Well, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. I hope to have the accompanying interlude out very soon, sometime this week. Hopefully you guys stick around, I've been having a blast writing Tremble and I don't want to lose support because you guys are all an amazing set of friends that I've made.

Hopping out

Hopps.