Here you go, the second chapter of the bloodbath! Thanks for sticking with us. We'll be having a special update on Thursday. It'll be from the perspective of someone you see that dies in this chapter. It'll be a little one shot. All author's who characters can't win have the option to do a chapter of their death from their POV and/or how their family reacts or doesn't react to their death if they chose to.

Eventually, we'll have a few alternate endings posted as one shots too. Ex. What if Relk won? Not sure if that one is happening, I think we should definitely all ask nicely though!

Next update is Saturday and it'll be updated by the loverly Isabugg. ^_^ One more time, main update is Saturday. One shot is Thursday. So make sure to check in or alert on this account for authors so you'll find out when it's released.

Thanks for staying with us! We are working on replies and such now that are updates are working again.

But enough, I'll let you enjoy the chapter. And I hope everyone enjoys the movie this Friday!

"All I need is you,

Come please, I'm calling,

And oh I scream for you,

Hurry, I'm falling, I'm falling."

~ Nickelback

PearyPants44- Moss Dorian of District 4

Home. The thing that shouldn't be on my mind, but is. Thinking of my family will only distract me. It will only hold me back and prevent me from fighting my hardest. My heart longs to hug my brother one last time, to hear words of comfort from Brock, or even to listen to my father complain from his seat on our living room couch. How can I be expected to go into this impossible battle when I'm caught up in memories of District 4?

My metal plate is rising at a slow pace, leading me to what could be my demise. My thoughts always come back to the day of the reaping. The moment I volunteered. I have to remind myself that I did this to save my family. They won't make it if I don't win. Their fate rests on my shoulders. But now that I'm here, standing in the arena that will take the lives of twenty-three innocent teenagers, I start to wonder; what if I didn't volunteer? I would have turned nineteen and escaped the Hunger Games forever. Maybe I could've supported Maris and my father without the help of the Hunger Games' prize money.

But it's too late to think of that now. Before my plate fully comes aboveground, I squeeze my eyes shut to escape back to District 4. It works and I'm flooded with images of the ocean, the beach, even the dreadful town square that hosts the reaping every year. I'm not in the Hunger Games, I'm safe and sound at home. Is this what it's like to have your life flash before your eyes?

Before I know it, Maris is there. I smile, but that quickly fades. He's not the little brother I left at home. He's a completely different person. His body is unnaturally thin, like he hasn't eaten in days. Hell, he probably hasn't! I'll bet my father hasn't gotten off his ass since I left. Maris is starving because I've left him. He just needs to hold on until I can win for him. Then he'll never be hungry again.

My brother says nothing, just stares at me with eyes of pain. The same broken, sea-green eyes that my whole family shares. All of us have our own reasons. My father was shattered when my mother left him. Me, when I said my final goodbyes in the justice building. And now Maris as he watches his brother walk into a death trap on live television. I can feel my own closed eyes begin to build up tears as the faint memory of my brother drifts away.

He's immediately replaced by my best friend, Brock. His expression is stern and his arms are crossed over his chest. If I didn't know better, I'd say that he was another tribute about to kill me. I'm strong, but Brock is about two times my size. He could snap me like a twig. I cringe, and the image I have of my friend says in a deadly serious tone, "Be brave Moss."

I have no choice but to listen to him. I have to be brave and fight. I have to be brave and win. I have to be brave and open my eyes. So I do.

There's no time to check out the arena. I have been standing on my launch pad for most of the minute before the Games actually start. Two things stand out to me instantly. One, the massive Cornucopia is a long distance ahead of me. The only thing between us is a huge hedge maze. Two, behind me, past a small chasm, is a vast graveyard. An eerie breeze brushes across my back and send shivers down my spine. Of all places, I had to start here.

I grit my teeth and clench my fists at my sides. My shaggy dark brown hair lightly sweeps across my face due to the faint wind. I imagine my green eyes looking somewhat fierce, yet terrified. I'm scared, but I'm determined. I have to win. If I don't, not only will my life be taken, but two others. My father and brother. It seems like all this stress is to my disadvantage, but I think differently. It gives me something most of the others have given up. Hope.

With my last few seconds of peace, I glance down at my neck. The black, chain-link necklace is still there. My father never did tell me what was so important about it. If I ever get back home, will I find out? I can guarantee the story behind my token is going to haunt me for as long as I'm alive, leaving my wondering what it's all about.

Suddenly, I'm off. I don't know how or when or why, but I'm sprinting with all my might down the narrow path that leads into the maze. I didn't even hear an announcement or a cannon or anything signifying the start of the Games, but that's probably because I was so caught up in my nostalgia. All I know is that my brain processed what was going on and my legs responded accordingly. This marks the beginning of my struggle to get home.

Already, I hear the sound of other tributes battling. How did they manage to find each other so quickly? It scares me, giving me a taste of how tough my competition really is. They were faster than me. What if I'm not as skilled as I thought?

Reaching the end of the long path, I'm faced with a choice. Left or right? Or maybe straight through the hedge. I decide against the last option. The time it might take me to get through would leave me wide open for ambush. Without stopping, I swerve to the right and continue down a shorter trail. I kick up dirt behind my as I run. My heart is beginning to pound furiously as if it wants to break out of my chest. The feeling makes me want to scream, but I ignore it. I ignore everything except the task at hand. I even forget about Maris. Right now, I have to find my allies, get some supplies, and get the hell out of this mess.

An opening to my left. Without thinking, I take it, picking up my pace. More tributes have already found each other and are fighting. How many have died so far? One? Two? Ten? No one can be sure. I don't know if I should feel lucky or frightened that I haven't encountered anyone yet.

Taking another left turn, followed by a right one, I almost trip over a pack of something. Stopping in my tracks, I whirl around to see it's an empty container to be used for storing food. The Cornucopia is still a good distance away. Something in my head clicks as I realize what's going on. They've scattered the supplies around the Cornucopia. They must increase in value the farther in you go. In a second, I scoop up the plastic container and continue my run.

I find no more supplies as I make a few more turns, trying to remember which way to go to get to the golden horn. The terrain below my feet is smooth and makes for easy moving. This I'm grateful for. If it had any more bumps or rocks, I'd be flat on my face waiting for someone to come kill me.

Ahead of me, there's an opening to my right, but the path goes farther past it. I decide to skip the turn and go straight, but I stop when I hear voices. Even my racing heart halts for a moment when I realize what's going on. I press my back up against the surprisingly firm hedge and peek my head around the corner through the opening. Instead of a narrow path like the ones I've been traveling on, this opening leads to room-like area. There's four walls of hedges with openings in each side. Inside, two boys are going at it. I can tell this isn't going to end well for one of them. The other has a spear.

Making no noise, I observe their fight. I feel awful for the younger boy. He can't be older than fourteen! His dark skin grows even darker as he's shoved to the ground getting dirt all over him. His frightened blue eyes dart around the area, searching for something, anything. Finally, they fix on me. I gulp and whirl my head back around my corner. I recognize the boy as Vaughn Shumway, the kid from District 11. Part of me wants to run in and save him, but I keep myself from doing it. If I let him live, that's one more tribute I'll have to kill myself. One more obstacle keeping me from home.

I peer around the hedge again to catch more of the fight. The other boy is looming over Vaughn with his spear gripped in his right hand and his foot pressed against Vaughn's chest. It doesn't take me long to figure out who the attacker is. Boston Williams of District 10. The kid is only a year younger than me and to be honest, he's massive. His tanned muscles could even compete with those of Brock back home. It's all over for Vaughn. Unless I do something, he's going to die. And of course, no matter how much I wish to, I can't do anything. Hating myself for letting a fellow human-being die, I sink my hands into the hedge behind me, waiting for the right moment to dash across the gap in the hedges while avoiding Boston's line of sight.

This is it, Boston thrusts his spear down towards Vaughn's head. I expect the boy to scream in pain, but he doesn't. He's begun flailing around desperately, enough so that the point of the spear missed and impaled the ground.

My conscience feels a little better. Maybe Vaughn can get out of this without my help after all. He scrambles out from underneath Boston, backing away from him as the boy from 10 rips his weapon out of the ground.

"P-please," Vaughn stutters. His eyes are filled with tears and his lip is trembling immensely. He's too scared to get to his feet and run, so he inches backwards away from Boston. "Not n-now. Not so s-s-soon. Please."

Boston hesitates. He looks to be pondering his options for a minute before finally saying decisively, "Sorry kid." He lunges forward, his spear outstretched. Vaughn lets out a final shriek as his chest is impaled with the weapon. Blood slowly oozes out of the wound, but more is coming from his mouth as he coughs. The last thing he does before Boston rips the spear out of him is look at me with his blue eyes. He stares like he can't believe what I've done. I refused to help him. Indirectly, I got him killed.

As the boy from 10 retracts his weapon, Vaughn falls to the ground limply. Despite the lack of a cannon because it's the bloodbath, I know he's dead. The first death of the Games? I have no clue. All I know is that Boston has bent over to see if he was carrying anything. With his back turned, I take my chance. I desperately run out into the open, hoping to get away without being seen.

There's a shout behind me.

I failed.

I don't slow down as Boston comes barreling out of the clearing where Vaughn died. He charges at me, but I'm faster. Gradually, I put distance between us. I hear him grunt and know what to do. I leap into the air as his spear flies into the ground at my heels, just missing me. I hit the dirt rolling, but come back up on my feet. I hurl the only thing in my hands, my plastic container, behind me, hitting Boston in the face. I don't expect it to cause damage, but it startled him. It let me get away.

Making several random turns, I don't stop until I'm sure I've lost the boy from 10. I let myself rest for a few seconds, just to collect myself. I've completely lost the Cornucopia now, but I must begetting close. I glance at the path ahead of me. It leads to another one of those open areas, similar to the one I just watched Vaughn die in. Something catches my eye. A piece of metal is shimmering in the sunlight. A weapon.

As anyone else would do, I run for it. As I get closer, I realize it's a sword. The perfect thing for me! I've trained with this all my life, and now there's one waiting to be used by me. I break into the clearing with a grin on my face, something I shouldn't be wearing in the arena.

I don't even check out my surroundings. Happily, I lean over to inspect my prize. The hilt is jet black with intricate swirls decorating it. A dark blue gem rests in the center. The blade is made from the finest metals, firm and deadly. This can only mean one thing. I'm getting closer to the Cornucopia.

I bend down to pick it up. I guess that's where I made my mistake.

Without warning, I'm ambushed from behind. I feel the coldness of a blade slash across my back, opening up a massive gash from my right shoulder all the way to my left hip. My shirt is torn open and blood is seeping through. The cloth begins sticking to the gooey red substance, making my pain even worse. It spreads throughout my whole body until I can't stand it anymore. I fall to my knees and my fists hit the bloodstained dirt.

A shadow is standing over me, but I don't know who it is. I can't even check. My vision is getting blurry, probably from loss of blood. My muscles feel so weak that I can barely move them. In a second, my arms give out and I fall on my face. Dirt gets in my eyes and adds to the stinging I feel everywhere else in my body.

This can't be happening. I've barely gotten anywhere and I'm already a dead man. I've let my family down. Maris is going to starve and it's all my fault. I couldn't do it. I'm a failure.

I hate what I'm feeling right now. Not the pain from my open wound, but my vulnerability. I can't do anything to even defend myself. I need someone to come and save me because I'm too weak to do it myself. This is what Vaughn was feeling. This is when he counted on me to pull through and save him, but I let him down. Now it's my turn.

My heart wants to keep fighting, to carry on and win for Maris. But my brain gives up. There's nothing I can do this time. No amount of training could ever prepare me for this. My head starts to hurt as I see the shadow move. It's lifting something, a hatchet maybe. The blow that will have me dead is about to be delivered.

My eyes close by themselves. I'm joined again by Maris and Brock. My brother stares at me in horror, knowing well that I've let him down. Brock is ashamed, shaking his head and looking at his feet. I don't think much of them. All I do is wait for the pain to end. Wait for my life to slip away.

But it doesn't.

Opening one eye, the shadow is no longer there. Instead, two girls are rolling around on the dirt floor next to me. One screams as the other pulls at her blonde hair. However, blondie pulls out a knife and slashes across the other girl's face. A cut opens up on her forehead and blood pours into her eyes. Blondie isn't done. She slashes two more times, cutting open the girl's left cheek and shoulder.

The now badly injured girl screams in agony and kicks blondie off with her feet. She stumbles backwards, her vision most likely impaired by her wounds, but she gets away. I watch as Tara Tremain of 12, my attacker, flees.

"Moss!"

Blondie is running towards me now. I brace myself, thinking it's all over. Surely she's going to finish me off with that knife of hers. She stands over me for a moment before bending down. She gasps, probably thinking I'm dead. I manage to let out a moan and she sighs. I recognize her now. She's here to help, not harm. Aella props me up on my knees and kneels in front of me. Partially out of weakness and partially out of thanks, I fall forward into her arms, doing my best attempt at a hug.

"Saved me…" is all that escapes my lips. There's so many things I'd like to tell her right now, but I can't find the strength. More blood is pouring out of my back. It's only a matter of time before my game is over.

"We're leaving," she says, ignoring my thanks. She stands and struggles to pull me up. She wraps one arm around my shoulders and holds her knife in the other. "We're getting out of this bloodbath."

"No," I say, spitting out some blood and dirt. "Cornucopia… Lilly… Bandages…"

Aella's face says she hates me for disagreeing. She wants to get us to safety, but I won't have it. Not without something to patch up my wound and certainly not without my allies. She realizes my time is ticking and says grumpily, "Fine."

As she drags me away, I manage to grab the sword. This weapon got me into this mess and I'm not leaving without it.

The next few minutes are a blur. We barely walk, but the effort is huge. Aella is pretty strong, but not strong enough to lug around a guy like me. She starts panting after the first few steps.

We struggle down a straight path before we come across an opening and she falls, dropping me in the dirt. I hear the sound of battling tributes, now loud and clear. I realize that we've finally reached the Cornucopia.

"Wait here," Aella mutters. I don't argue as she sprints into the madness. I drag myself up against a hedge, staying out of sight of the tributes. I grip my sword for dear life, ready to strike if anyone comes my way. I doubt it would do any good anyway. I can barely hold it up let alone fight with it. Blood is still seeping out of my body as my vision fogs even more. My memory starts acting up and every time I blink, it seems dragged out. I see stars in the darkness. The temperature starts rising, but for some reason I don't think that's something I'm imagining.

Two tributes move closer to me, thankfully too engaged in combat to pay me any attention. One's a girl and the other is a boy. I feel like I should know them, especially the girl. Her red hair seems so familiar…

"Elia," I whisper.

My district partner lashes out against Ari Locus from District 9 with some kind of weapon. He quickly steps back, causing her to stumble forwards. He also has a weapon in hand. Swinging it downward, he shouts, "Die you stupid ginger!"

Elia avoids his blow and gives him a oh-no-you-didn't look. Now even more enraged, she grazes Ari with her blade. It leaves a large cut on his arm, but nothing too deep or fatal. He winces and darts away, back towards the mountain of supplies.

The married girl is about to follow him when she sees me cowering in the bushes. She tilts her head and is poised to strike, but she doesn't. Instead, she takes off. I wonder if she really did see me or if I'm delusional. Surely she would've killed me if that was real, right?

Everything seems so distant now. I wait for a long time before Aella comes back carrying some things. I'm too dizzy to figure out what they are, but they must be good.

"Bandages?" I ask. She nods.

"Come on."

She helps me up again, but I'm finding it even more difficult to stand. We slowly make our way away from the Cornucopia, down a path that Aella says leads to the forest. I have no clue how she knows that. Could she tell what the arena looked like from the Cornucopia?

"Work with me, Moss," she complains, doing her best to walk with me weighing her down.

For a few seconds, I doze off. Not sleeping, but unconscious. I awake again, still being dragged by my ally. Her face is sweating and I soon find that mine is too. The bushes here seem to radiate heat and dance around in orange and red swirls. They're called something… fire I think. Fire isn't good.

Aella realizes this as well and walks faster. Still a little out of it due to blood loss, I end up looking at her with a goofy grin on my face. Her blonde hair looks amazing in the firelight. She glances at me and asks, "Are you alright?"

"You're pretty."

I don't know what she does after that. The world goes black and I feel myself slipping back into unconsciousness.