Author's Note: Another longer chapter and this time it's back to the arena. I found this quite a tricky chapter to write so I hope I got across elements of her personality. She's a career but nothing like Slate and you will see a lot more of her in later chapters.

….

The Twenty-Third Annual Hunger Games: Chloe Trawler, District Four

Mags and Shai took their seats in the Mentor's Centre with confidence. They had faith in their girl, an eighteen-year-old named Chloe Trawler. She was a leader, a role model, and she could be trusted. She had what it takes to survive an arena, live as a victor, and participate in their plans.

Their belief only increased when the arena was revealed. Several islands, all surrounded by saltwater but connected by what would turn out to be quicksand, with the main island holding the Cornucopia. They watched their girl emerge into the arena on a pedestal, a new development for the Games, and were reassured by her slight smile. She was surrounded by water and the Cornucopia held all the spears she would need. They had never seen a tribute with such ability in long range weapons before Chloe, not even from Two, and they were going to keep that knowledge quiet for as long as they could.

As soon as the countdown ended, Chloe dived into the water. She knew it would not be ideal to spend lots of time in it but figured swimming would be quicker than wading through quicksand. The other volunteers were also swimming in too, having watched the Fours take off first. But unlike the previous two years, the six tributes did not form an alliance. The tributes from One attacked the pair from Two and Chloe hauled her district partner out of the way just in time. But after he realised the Twos were dead, he ran back to join up with the Ones and got a knife to the chest for his trouble. Chloe had held back because she did not trust them enough to work with them anymore. She kept hold of the knife and the spear she took from the Cornucopia and swam to the nearest larger island.

Mags breathed a sigh of relief. Whilst she was disappointed their boy did not make it past the first fight, her girl was alive and stuck to her instincts. Chloe had told Mags that something did not seem right about the pair from One and her caution had paid off.

Chloe headed further into the island in search of water. She wondered how many tributes would be desperate enough to drink from the saltwater and she knew that would not end well. But she was in luck. There was a stream which looked clear enough and fruit in the trees. She hoped that Mags could send her a bottle and something to purify the water but was aware that she had departed the Cornucopia without doing anything interesting for the sponsors. Since she could not see any higher ground, she climbed one of the trees close to the tree line for the best vantage point to start the defence of her island.

Chloe never thought that she would be alone in the arena at this early stage and needed to keep her mind occupied so worry would not set in. She started examining the fruit whilst maintaining a watch for other tributes. She realised she could eat the fruit's flesh and then use the shell as a cup, of sorts. That would solve the issue of her not having anything to hold water and she would rather Mags use any sponsor funds on something she really needed.

Chloe stayed in the tree, steadily snacking on the fruit, and collecting the shells. The fruit had a significant weight and she figured that it could be thrown well if she could aim correctly. She waited for what seemed like hours until two other tributes stumbled out of the water, exhausted. Chloe inhaled deeply. She knew she must do something to get the attention of the sponsors. But these two could not be any older than fourteen. She knew what she had signed up for when she volunteered but in the back of her mind had hoped that the Ones or Twos would pick off the younger ones beyond the bloodbath, but that was not meant to be this year.

Chloe knew what she had to do. She took a moment to get into position. The younger tributes stopped perfectly in her line of sight, at the tree line, perfectly in range for her spear. Trying not to think too much, she threw it and it hit the boy in the chest. She tried her luck with the fruit and threw it at the frightened girl next to him, hitting her head and knocking her unconscious.

Chloe rushed to get her spear and finished the job. She removed the spear, gently closed their eyes, and pushed the matted hair away from their faces.

Back in the Mentor's Centre, Mags knew that Chloe would need reassurance. She had done what was expected and needed of her. But she knew her girl had a heart. Mags promptly arranged for some iodine, a bottle, a small meal, and some rope to be sent down into the arena, taking advantage of being able to send multiple gifts at the early stages. She had plenty of funds and these items were low in price given it was only the first night, so she wanted to supply her girl well before the prices increased.

Shai took over watching Chloe during the night whilst Mags slept. He watched their girl sleep fitfully, waking every hour or so, checking her surroundings and then allowing herself to sleep some more. In the morning Mags went to various sponsor meetings and then both mentors attended an important luncheon with some of the richest, most influential sponsors, leaving Leah to watch over their girl.

Chloe had a quiet day, spending most of it exploring her island and then sitting by the stream, using the resources around her to weave baskets and make fishhooks, the skills Mags had taught her when she was younger. She found that paying homage to her much-loved mentor was also a hit with the sponsors and she received more food for her efforts. Thinking of her mentor made Chloe want to go home and forget everything. She hated doing this alone, having to kill every tribute that came her way, not having allies to share the load. It was truly lonely, and she wanted to hear Mags tell her that she was doing the right thing, but the food would have to suffice for now.

Her third day was much more eventful. She was collecting water when a giant reptilian mutt emerged from the stream and picked up speed as it approached her. She quickly secured her possessions using the rope around her waist, grabbed her spear and ran.

She headed for the water, not wanting to risk the quicksand, and started swimming frantically away from the island. But the mutt only picked up the pace again as it re-entered the water behind her. She made it back to the central island where the Cornucopia stood and tried to pull herself out, but the mutt got hold of her left leg and bit down hard. Chloe screamed and tried to pull her leg away. It did not work. She grabbed her knife and furiously stabbed the mutt in its head, so its grip on her leg would loosen. After several attempts, Chloe was able to free her leg from its jaws and she scrambled away. Realising that the mutt was still moving, albeit a lot slower after its meeting with her knife, she pulled herself up onto the lower step of the Cornucopia and carefully found a pathway up its jagged structure to the top where the mutt could not reach.

She lay on the top of the Cornucopia exhausted. Her leg did not look good. Chloe whimpered in pain and bit down on her fist as she moved to get a closer look at the wound and then used some of her water to pour over the affected area to clean it.

She startled when she realised just how noisy she had been in scaling the Cornucopia and dealing with pain of the wound and pushed herself right to the tip of the Cornucopia to assess her surroundings. Clearly the District One pair had kept their camp here and would be coming back at some point, but from her vantage point, she was alone.

Relieved that she was not in imminent danger, Chloe, sank back down to where she was previously sitting and took a sip of water, realising that in her current position, she would soon be burnt by the sun. But she could not risk moving to another island in her current state. She tried to ignore the pain and fall asleep but to no avail.

A parachute dropped down in front of her and she reached to grab it. Thankfully, there were bandages, painkillers, a tiny vial of medication and a note from Mags which simply said:

'Remember where you are!'

Chloe breathed another sigh of relief and whispered her thanks to Mags and the sponsors. She bandaged her leg as well as she could, took the painkillers and the medication, being careful not to spill a single drop. She hated to think how much that would have cost Mags and Shai, so she dared not waste it. She turned her thoughts back to the note and laughed quietly. Of course! Mags would only intervene like this when she really had to and would only do so when Chloe had done all she could to help herself. Except for the obvious. She was sat on top of the Cornucopia and she was alone on the island.

The painkillers were fast acting, and she was able to pull herself up to look around properly. She was still alone and there was no sign of the mutt, so she carefully climbed down from her perch and cautiously moved around to the mouth of the Cornucopia, hoping that no other tribute was hiding. But Mags would not have sent her the note if it put her in grave danger, so she felt more confident to look around.

The pair from District One had left an awful lot untouched so Chloe took advantage, but not to the extent they would realise the Cornucopia had been raided. She picked up an extra couple of knives, a spear and to her delight, an atlatl to attach to her spears. Obviously, the Ones did not know how to use it.

The sound of three cannons made her jump and she quickly moved back up to where she was resting. She knew it was risky to stay put but with the state of her leg, she did not want to risk making it any worse. There was no imminent danger, and she could not see the District One tributes approaching so she decided to try to sleep.

The pair from One woke Chloe with their noisy arrival during the night. She figured she had managed enough sleep so forced herself to stay awake whilst they were close by. They appeared confident, in good spirits, were clearly working well together, and she could not help but feel a little jealous that they had some company whilst she was alone. Chloe knew she needed to weaken them.

Whilst they were sleeping, Chloe checked her leg and marvelled at how much better it was, not perfect but she could certainly run or swim on it and then silently moved to slip the knives between the rope around her waist and her wetsuit. She did not have too long to wait until the Ones woke up and decided to move before it was fully light. To Chloe's advantage, they moved in her direction before leaving the main island. This was her chance. She grabbed a spear and threw, this time without thinking. It hit the District One boy in the back, and he fell. A cannon sounded. His startled district partner was looking around frantically but managed to miss Chloe and her knife which landed in her shoulder. The District One girl did not even try to look back as she attempted to run away from the danger without getting stuck in the sand.

Chloe knew her aim was excellent, but she was surprised at how well that went. Clearly luck was on her side. One of her biggest rivals was dead and the other weakened. She did not know about the others but figured she could take a breather for now, so with the District One girl running out of sight, she fell asleep again, it was better than lying awake lonely and contemplating what had happened.

She woke to the sound of an incoming sponsor gift, another vial of the medication. The prices were now at their highest levels, but Mags and Shai had an abundance of funds now that the Capitol were replaying one of the most exciting, unexpected Hunger Games kills to date.

After her action-packed early morning, Chloe figured she would be left alone so took the time to revisit the supplies beneath her and was a bit bolder with what she took. She filled a backpack with food, more bottles, iodine packs and some more knives. She was surprised to find a crate of water under some of the other supplies which the District One pair had clearly tried to hide. She filled all her bottles, took two more spears, and went back to her perch. She purified the water, had some food, and fell asleep again.

The sound of another canon woke her again. Only five tributes were left. The Games were sure to end soon. She thought the finale would happen at the Cornucopia, so decided to wait in place.

Mags was already proud of her girl; the Games were now hers to lose, and she had no idea of the excitement she had caused in the Capitol from her attack on the District One tributes. Traditionally spear throws in the Games had been from a comfortable range, but commentators were already noting that this was the greatest distance from which a spear had been successfully thrown. The final outliers were dehydrated and suffering from sunstroke and the girl from One was beatable. Mags knew Chloe could throw even further if she needed to.

Suddenly some of the smaller islands started to sink, and two canons fired. Chloe knew the finale must already be approaching so she finished some of her food and one of her water bottles. She was finishing her preparations when she saw the familiar sight of the mutt chasing down a smaller boy. She hurriedly finished what she was doing and left her ledge with her weapons, there would be no need for anything else now.

The boy reached the sand and had trouble making progress towards the Cornucopia. The mutt was catching up and another was now alongside it. He screamed as one seemed to catch his legs but did not notice Chloe, now metres away, who threw two knives in quick succession. She felt that would be preferable than being mauled by those mutts.

In giving the poor boy a quick end, Chloe did not realise that the girl from One was now entering range. A knife grazed one of her arms as it sailed past. She replied with one of her own knives and reinjured the arm she struck before. Unfortunately, it was not the girl's dominant side and Chloe found a knife land in her left shoulder. Her jolt to the side as the knife hit, meant that her opponent's second knife missed its target and Chloe was able to strike a more dangerous blow in the girl from One's side who stumbled back, but not before throwing another knife which landed in Chloe's right leg. But the girl's stumble put her back in range for Chloe's spears. Her first throw was slightly off but still enough to put the girl on her back and for Chloe to end it with a second blow.

District Four's newest victor crouched down to the girl at her feet, gently closed her eyes, and sobbed in relief.

Chloe woke to the overly bright lights of the Hunger Games tribute hospital. She found Mags at her side, holding her hand and telling her how proud she and Shai were. Chloe cried in relief and in sadness for the lives she had ended. Mags promised that they would work to ease her guilt together and assured her that it was good that she felt something.

Mags told Chloe how Shai was handling the press and assured Chloe that they were both delighted. Shai later returned and they talked some more until Chloe fell asleep again.

The next time she woke up, a woman she had never seen before was sat with her and a doctor was telling her she was being released back to the Training Centre. There was no sign of Mags and Shai and Chloe began to panic. The woman next to her realised, introduced herself as Leah Feld, Mags' friend and told her she would stay with her until Mags returned.

Everything else passed by in a whirlwind and before she knew it, Chloe was on her way back to District Four. As the train pulled out of the Capitol, Chloe cried again, telling Mags and Shai of the loneliness she felt in the arena which she tried so hard to suppress. Mags leaned forward over the table and grasped both of Chloe's hands as she sobbed.

"I am never doing that again," Chloe said through her tears.

"Never again my girl, I promise you," Mags confirmed.