Amber Knight, 18.
District 1 Female.

Amber rolled over in her bed, looking at the digital clock on the nearby nightstand. It read 1:42 AM. She sighed, pulling herself out of bed, residing herself to the fact it may just be a sleepless night for her. She was slightly disappointed in that, she would've liked to have gotten some sleep since it would put her at a disadvantage to be tired, but she figured many of the other tributes were having similar problems to her. Amber padded through her room, out into the main living space. If she was going to be awake, she should at least get a snack to accompany her. She turned into the dining room, startled by the sight of her mentor, Sarmiento, shoved in behind the table, sitting crisscrossed on the floor typing intently on a Capitol-issued laptop. He looked up, waving a hand at her, before returning to what he was doing.

"What the hell are you doing up?" Amber asked as she walked by the table towards the kitchen.

"Huh? Oh, it's almost 2 in the morning. Wait what are you doing up?" Sarmiento replied, looking up at her again, but this time looking far more confused than before.

"Can't sleep, so I'm going to get a snack," Amber said, stopping and leaning against one of the tucked in dining room chairs.

"Oh, okay. Go for it, I'll be down here if you need me." Sarmiento said with a smile, returning his attention to what he was doing previously.

"What are you doing down there though?" Amber asked as she continued walking towards the kitchen.

"Writing," Sarmiento replied curtly.

"Why are you on the floor?" Amber continued as she stepped into the kitchen, grabbing a bag of chips off the counter.

"Just needed a change of scenery I suppose," Sarmiento replied as Amber stepped back into the dining room.

"What are y'all doing?" Echo said, stumbling into the room, rubbing his eyes with a yawn.

"Oh great, now both of you are up," Sarmiento said exasperatedly, closing the laptop in front of him with a sigh.

"Yeah, I can't sleep." Echo said with a shrug. Amber figured it was the nerves, but she also suspected Echo was up to something, perhaps planning something with Charlotte, however, it didn't exactly concern her what Echo was doing.

"Want some chips?" Amber said, holding the bag she'd just opened out to Echo. He nodded, and took a handful, shoving them in his mouth unceremoniously.

"Thanks." Echo said through the mouthful of chips.

"Anyways, I'll see you two tomorrow," Amber said, waving as she retreated to her room with her chips.

"Try and get some sleep, both of you. Who knows how much you'll be getting once you get into the arena." Sarmiento called after her. Indeed, she may have more sleepless nights coming her way, but, she didn't mind. She'd do anything to get home, and she was prepared to do anything needed.

Terce Highwall, 16.
District 12 Male.

A buzzing noise emitted from the alarm clock, Terce rolled over, smacking the clock with his hand, knocking it onto the floor. It landed with a large crack, splitting in two down the middle.

"Oops shit," Terce said, squinting down at the mess on the floor. Though it was a problem, it wasn't exactly his problem. His current problem, he quickly realized, was the fact that in just a few hours, he'd be in the arena. It hit him like a truck, and it was certainly not the kind of truck he'd of liked to be hit with at 8 am, but here he was, the realization he could die in the next 5 hours hitting him.

"Terce! Come eat breakfast!" Seraphina's voice called through the door, knocking him out of his thoughts. He groaned, dragging himself out of bed to the door, flinging it open with a sigh.

"There's food?" Terce asked, rubbing his eyes. Seraphina was standing in the hallway between

"Yes, there is. I figured if there was anything that could lure a teenaged boy out of bed, it's food." Seraphina said, placing a hand on her hip.

"You're right, anybody who has food has my heart," Terce said with a grin, flashing Seraphina a thumbs up as he walked towards the dining room. He padded in, sliding into his chair, waving his hand slightly Eden who was shoving french toast into their mouth across the table. They returned the wave, as he grabbed as much food as humanly possible, piling it onto the plate before him.

"I see you're getting all the food in you can, that's always a good idea. Who knows when your next meal's gonna be coming." Seraphina said, walking in with Fenris in tow, sliding into their respective seats.

"It's good food, do you really blame us?" Eden piped up with a smile.

"No, no I don't at all kid," Seraphina said with a sad smile, reaching over to ruffle Eden's hair.

"I ain't that much of a kid. I'm 15!" Eden exclaimed.

"Yeah yeah. Do either of you have any other questions or anything?" Seraphina said, looking to Eden, and then Terce.

"I'm all good, my alliance has our plans sorted," Eden said through a mouthful of french toast. All eyes turned to Terce at that moment.

"Yeah, I think I'm good. I got my shit sorted." Terce said, leaning back in his chair with a confidant smile. He, in reality, did not have his shit sorted, he'd managed to join the Careers, but then he got sucked into an inner alliance within the Careers. They weren't quite as put together as they seemed on TV, and Terce had most likely made a mistake joining them, but he was in deep at this point. There was no backing out.

"Okay, if you're unsure you still have time to ask me stuff, kay?" Seraphina said, flashing both a smile.

"Kay! Sounds good. What do we do once we're done eating?" Eden said, clearing the last of the food off their plate.

"Go and get dressed, and do whatever you want in the apartment for a bit. Meet me back out here for 9, okay?" Seraphina said as she poured herself a cup of coffee. Eden and Terce nodded, pushing back their chairs in sync, and making their way back to their rooms. Terce planned on napping for the next 45 minutes, whether he needed the sleep or not.

Impala Westney, 16.
District 6 Female.

Impala leaned against the wall, tapping her foot against the floor beneath her. Her District partner was currently refusing to leave her room, despite the fact that Dare had told them to be out in the living room ready to go ten minutes ago. The loud voices quieted, and she heard a door slam, and footsteps approaching her.

"Hi. Come with me, we're going without Amethyst, the Peacekeepers are gonna deal with her." Dare said, with a sheepish smile, rubbing the back of his head with his hand. She nodded, and kicked off the wall, following him as he walked towards the elevator. She'd been given a simple outfit to wear for the transfer, a pair of pants and a t-shirt with a jacket layered over top. They walked up to the elevator, Dare pushing the button with his finger and leaning against the wall as they waited for it to arrive.

"So what's going on with her?" Impala asked, gesturing back over her shoulder into the apartment.

"Oh, she's just refusing to leave her room so I'm gonna let the authorities deal with her." Dare said, shrugging. Impala nodded, turning to the elevator as the doors slid open nearby. It didn't exactly surprise her, Amethyst tended to be a brat. They stepped onto the elevator, Dare pushed the button for the top floor, and the elevator doors slid closed, the elevator taking off smoothly just moments later.

"So, how are you feeling?" Dare asked, rubbing his hands together as he leaned against the railing that ran around the edge of the elevator.

"Nervous, definitely," Impala said, taking up a similar stance opposite, crossing her arms in front of her.

"Yeah, I was nervous too. But, you've got your allies and your plan for the bloodbath. Just stick to that, and you'll be okay." Dare said, tapping his foot nervously against the floor, apparently, she wasn't the only nervous one in the elevator.

"Hopefully everything will go to plan, yeah," Impala said, nodding, glueing her eyes to the floor. The two lapsed into silence, the elevator soon arriving at its destination. She stepped out onto the windy rooftop of the building, looking out over the city for the last time.

"Just go and grab that ladder there, they'll bring you up. Good luck, I know you can do it." Dare shouted over the wind, pointing to a nearby hanging ladder that was attached to a helicraft floating above the rooftop. She nodded, flashing Dare a thumbs up, before walking up to the ladder, grabbing a rung with one hand, and placing her foot on the lowest rung. A beam of something unexplainable hit her from above, freezing her, as the ladder was pulled up with her still attached. She was pulled up into the helicraft, unfrozen and unceremoniously dumped onto the floor. She dragged herself to her feet, looking around the small space, spotting her allies, Selene and Lynus strapped into seats next to each other. There were a few more people scattered around, including a few of the Careers.

"Impala Westney, take a seat." A lurking Peacekeeper said from nearby. She turned, nodding at the masked person, before walking over to Selene and Lynus, sitting down next to Selene.

"Good mornin'," Selene said as Impala took her seat.

"Morning," Impala replied, clipping the seatbelt around herself. Lynus waved at her over Selene, and she waved back with a smile. The trio sat in silence as the rest of the tributes arrived, including her testy little District partner. The helicarrier took off, and two Peacekeepers began coming around, asking for tributes arms to inject them with the trackers needed to well, track the tributes in the Arena. The Peacekeeper arrived at her, holding a hand out for her arm. She rolled her sleeve up, presenting her arm to them. They took her arm in their hand, pushing the needle beneath her skin and pushing on the plunger. It hurt, but Impala had felt worse, she rubbed her arm gently as the Peacekeeper moved onto Selene. They continued onwards towards the arena, the room eerily quiet.

Echo pulled the provided outfit on, zipping the jacket up. It was a practical sort of outfit, cargo pants and boots, a jacket meant for cooler weather over a long-sleeved shirt. He figured the Arena may be cold, because of the jacket and all the layers, but that didn't bother him. He paced through the small room nervously, hands folded together behind his back. He and Charlotte had their plan, and they just had to stick to it. The goal was to take out Ozzie and take out Ozzie they would. What came after, he didn't know, and he didn't care so much about since it was a later problem, not a now problem. He continued to pace, back and forth.

Amber swung her arms around, the mobility in the outfit they were given was astounding despite the thickness of the jacket. She was quite comfortable, knowing she could fight in the provided outfit brought her a strange sense of peace. Her only goals were to get to the Cornucopia and defend it. She didn't want to think of the possibilities if somebody else managed to take over all the supplies. Ozzie wouldn't be pleased if that was the case, but she didn't really give a shit about Ozzie. All she cared about was getting home to Ivory. That was all that mattered.

Ozzie leaned back casually in the armchair, taking a large sip of water. They were on top of the world at this point and the fact that they could die minutes from that point didn't bother them. They'd accepted the reality of death a long time ago, it had never bothered them, and it never would. The fact that their mentor didn't like them did irk them slightly, Omega was biased towards Creed, which was annoying for them since if they got in a pinch they knew Omega was likely to not send the sponsor gifts that they'd rightfully earned, but it was whatever. They didn't need anybody but themselves to get home.

Creed spun the ring on her finger nervously, tapping her foot against the floor in a rhythm that only she understood. She wasn't worried for herself per see, she was confident enough in her abilities to make it through the bloodbath, however, she was worried for Dyan. She'd grown attached for the young boy over the past week, she didn't exactly understand what it was about him, but she felt the inherent need to protect him as Cyrus did for her for many years. She was alone in the room, she could feel the panic rising to seize the back of her throat, nearly rendering her unable to breathe. She took a large gasp of air, exhaling slowly. She just needed to get through the next few minutes. The next time she saw a person, they may be on the opposite end of her weapon.

Lynus sat stiffly on the couch, fiddling with the small piece of metal plating he'd brought with him from 3. He missed his cats, his grandparents, everything about home. The only thing he had left was this little bit of metal plating, which in reality meant nothing to him. He threw it across the room, cutting the final tie holding him to home. He didn't need the nostalgia of home in the back of his mind while he was in the Arena, he needed to focus on what was then and there, and what was then and there was the possibility of death, but Lynus knew he could get home. He just needed to try his best.

Selene zipped her jacket up, stretching her arms above her head. She looked over her shoulder, making sure she had space, before performing a quick backflip, landing with a solid thud on her feet. She grinned to herself, pleased with the range of mobility the outfit provided, she'd been worried that it would be something that she couldn't move in, and her abilities were what her entire alliance was riding on. Sure the others were smart, but they couldn't fight like her. They were relying on her to get them out of the Bloodbath alive, and that's exactly what she would do.

Pedro stretched, cracking his back loudly. Everything was going to plan for him, he knew the secrets of everybody in the Career pack and he would use those to his advantage to take out his fellow Careers. Starting with the biggest threats, Ozzie and Creed, and taking over the pack for himself. He wasn't worried about the Bloodbath, there were no alliances that posed a serious threat to the Career's supplies, so the only goal left was to remove as many threats as possible. Pedro was ready he'd been training for years. He wouldn't even break a sweat.

Charlotte checked her carefully painted nails over for one last time, admiring the beauty of their perfect identicality. She didn't know how much longer she would have to see the beauty in things or to see beautiful things, the Arena could be an ugly hell hole for all she knew. Whatever the Arena was though, she was prepared for it, she was prepared for anything. She and Echo had their plan, and once they enacted it, she could take out the rest easily on her own. It was business as usual for Charlotte Babbin.

Revan flipped the coin he was holding in the air, catching it. It landed tails, which was acceptable he supposed. He slipped the dented coin into the pocket of his jacket, making sure to zip it up tightly, he didn't want to lose it. The first thing he needed to do was find Dustin, and then they'd see about getting supplies. Revan figured because of his higher score, and higher predicted placement, it had landed him some sponsors he was sure of it so getting supplies wasn't as important as getting out with their lives. If Revan had to take a life to escape with his, then so be it. It wasn't anything he hadn't done before.

Zen sat crisscrossed, her back against the wall, eyes closed. She figured why not use the last few minutes to clear her head. She hoped she and Amethyst would make it out, but if Amethyst didn't, she wasn't too bothered. She needed to focus on her own well being before any allies, she'd rather be alone and alive than dead. She thought of her mother, and her aunt, how they were doing alone at home. She hoped the yoga studio was doing okay without her, but she figured it was probably okay, they could handle it just fine without her. She continued her meditation, still as a statue frozen in time.

Amethyst held her knees tightly to her chest, wrapping her arms around them and clasping her hands at the front. She'd tried everything she could to not be here, but here she was. There was no denying she was most likely about to die, but at least she'd be joining her parents. She missed them, she hadn't seen them in 4, almost 5 years at this point, she could tell her memories of them were slipping away more and more by the day. But that didn't matter if she was dead, did it?

Impala bounced on the balls of her feet, ready to go at a moment's notice. She didn't know how much more time she had before she needed to get into the tube, but she'd make the most of it. She could feel the adrenaline kicking in, just like it did before she watched her brother race, but this time it was her needing it rather than him needing it. She hoped Cozzy and Dominic were doing okay without her, of course they would be but she was still worried, teenaged boys tended to be stupid and she was their impulse control half the time. She knew she could get home to them, it was just a matter of playing the Game right.

Arvid tied his hair back from his face with a quick flick of his wrist. He'd gotten himself into quite the situation, one where he needed to fight, and it wasn't the best but fighting is something he didn't mind doing. Especially not fighting for his life, he'd much rather not die it didn't exactly sound fun. He had come to terms with the fact he may have to kill a person or multiple people, and it wasn't exactly ideal, but it's what he had to do. It was a kill or be killed world, and Arvid wasn't planning on dying anytime soon.

Breccan tapped her foot nervously on the floor, sweaty palms clasped together in her lap. She was nervous, but an eerie sense of calm had crept into the back of her mind, the nagging suspicion that she was about to die, that she would never see Hermione again. She wanted to shout, scream, do something, but she stayed seated, frozen to the outside world. She didn't exactly fit into her alliance, third-wheeling with Cerdiwen and Amara, she knew they'd leave her behind at the first opportunity given. She was backed into a corner with nowhere to go.

Cassian didn't know what to do. He was alone, no allies, and he assumed no sponsors either. He was completely and utterly screwed. He had no clue how to function without some sense of direction. Back at home, he never had to think about what he was going to do, where he was going to be because everything was laid out for him, day after day, week after week. Now that he'd been left to his own devices, he was lost, stumbling blindly through unfamiliar lands, trying his best to survive on his own. But would he survive? He didn't know.

Cerdiwen cracked her knuckles, stretching her arms out in front of her before shoving her hands in her pockets. They were ice-cold, she missed Amara's eternally warm hands, they would've been good in this situation. Cerdiwen was definitely freaked out, facing death and the death of someone she'd grown to be attached to over the past few days. It was certainly not something she was expecting, finding some semblance of love within an arms reach of death, but she was okay with it. It was comforting despite the fact it caused her. She drifted off into her daydream, holding onto it for the fleeting few moments she could.

Dustin crossed his arms in front of him, casting his eyes down towards the floor, as he leaned against the wall of the launch room. He was surprisingly calm, considering the fact that he was about to be in a life or death situation. He was steely calm as the robotic voice rang out, telling him to get into the large glass tube nearby within the next 15 seconds. He stepped over, ducking into it casually as if the tube was not about to lift him to his possible demise.

Amara stepped into the narrow glass tube, placing a hand shakily on the wall as she moved into it. She didn't like confined spaces, and that's exactly what this was, a small, confined, space. She wished Cerdiwen was here, she tended to make everything better. Amara leaned her head against the wall as the door slid closed in front of her. She drifted off into a daydream about better places, better times, taking herself away from the situation for a fleeting moment.

Ardley leaned his head against the cool glass of the tube, hugging his arms around himself tightly, shivering. It was as if ice had been injected into his veins, his entire body was freezing cold. He wasn't excited per see, that was the adrenaline talking. He wasn't sure what he should be feeling, or what he was feeling, but he knew what he had to do, and that was stay alive. Escaping the Bloodbath with his ally and some supplies would be the best possible option, but their lives came first. Ardley continued standing, shivering as he waited.

Farro bounced in her tube, unable to hold still under normal circumstances, and the extra adrenaline and energy running through her wasn't helping. She paced, as much as she could in a space that was no more than a few steps wide. She had resided herself to the fact that she may very well be joining her father in just a few minutes, but was that really a bad thing? She missed him more than anything, he was her entire world while she was alive, an escape from her siblings and the rest of their family. She was at peace with it.

Dyan wiped the few falling tears away from his face, as the robotic voice counted down backwards from 20. He knew what Creed had told him to do, she'd told him to run, get away from the bloodshed, that she'd bring him supplies, but what if she didn't? Dyan trusted her, yes, but what if something happened to her? He couldn't fend for himself. His first worry was to just do what Creed told him though, to get out and not look back. She'd said everything would be okay if he stuck to the plan, so surely everything would be okay. He just needed to stick to the plan.

Arugula stumbled as the pedestal beneath her feet began moving upwards, she knew it was coming but she was still somehow surprising after she'd been standing still for as long as she had been. Whatever she had been dreaming about had been knocked out of her head, the harsh reality of the fact she was currently being lifted to what could very well be her death. She held her hands against the walls of the tubes, bracing herself for what was about to come.

Terce was deposited on his pedestal, getting his first glimpse of the arena. The first thing he noticed was the lighting, the sky was a deep shade of purple. He glanced around the circle, he was between the girl from 5 and the boy from 9. To his left and stretching across the front of his view was a mountain range, looming with its jagged, teeth-like peaks over the Cornucopia. He didn't know what horrors the Arena potentially contained on the other side of those mountains, but he knew he wasn't excited to find out.

Eden gawked at the scene around them, trying to figure out what the best course of action would be, where they could possibly escape away from the bloodshed to. They spotted Farro, three pedestals to their right, and Aru was two to their left. At least they could see both their allies from their pedestal. They could see the shining silvery-purple cornucopia in front of them, its colour matching the sky, supplies spilling from its mouth. There was a slight crackle, and then a voice rang out over the Arena.

"Hello, tributes, and welcome to the 207th Hunger Games!"

The last chapter before the bloodbath, we got to hear from everybody for one last time, which is big Gucci. Anyways, the Bloodbath will be out whenever I finish it, so look out for that I guess? I'll see y'all soon with that. Signing off, Times.