Chapter 29:

Day One

Calisto Flowers, Co-Head Gamemaker

"Well, all things considered, that didn't go too poorly."

"Didn't go too-" Calisto snaps his gaze over to Julian to give him a bewildered look. At the casual air on his face as he puts his feet up on the desk, he throws his hands up in disbelief. "Did you not see when the rebels turned off the timer and made Kazu get blown up?!"

"That was technically his fault for stepping off before the sixty second timer was up," Julian shrugs at him and puts his arms behind his back as he gives him a cocky grin. "My buddy Juno didn't do that and look at them go, already taking out one of the ones we told them to in the bloodbath! And just give it a day or two and they'll start getting the others."

"Fucking ballsy move they made there," Calisto says, shaking his head as he crosses his arms and kicks Julian's feet off the desk. "Can you please take this a bit more seriously?! The rebels showed that they can interfere, a little more concern would be appreciated."

"I am concerned, but also, it's not my concern," Julian says with another shrug as Calisto raises his eyebrows at him. He sits up and leans over to him, making Calisto back up a bit – which just makes Julian grin. Calisto flicks him on the forehead and Julian swats his hand away as he sits back. "Yes, rebels are concerning, but do you think us two idiots know how to control the system to keep them out? Absolutely not. So I'm just going to keep sitting here directing everyone and let Kostas handle that."

Calisto sighs loudly and shakes his head at him, leaning back in his chair. "I suppose you have a point…" he begrudgingly admits to him and turns away from his smug look. "Shut it," he grumbles.

"I didn't say anything," Julian chuckles a little and nudges him with his elbow as Calisto's phone buzzes. "You said it."

"Whatever," Calisto grumbles as he checks his phone and sighs loudly at the message there, even if it isn't a surprise at all. "Seraphim just sent me a message saying 'I told you so'. Not gonna lie, he might have been on to something."

"Well he ain't here to stop us from doing whatever we want," Julian says, slapping his thighs a couple times before standing up. "And I am going to do all the shit I want to because they're never going to let me do it again. Hey babe!" he says, leaning over the railing to look down at the Gamemakers, a terrifying grin on his face.

"Yes dear?" Magnus asks, spinning in his chair to look up at him with the dopiest lovesick look Calisto has ever seen. How the hell someone could love a crazy person like Julian is beyond him.

"Let's get those mutts ready to go," Julian says, looking at the map of where the tributes are located right now. "Hmm…pull up the list for Ten and Four," he says, tapping his chin as Magnus does so. He grins at the options available and Calisto can only shake his head at his excitement. "I do love the mutant bulls, those are a definite. Oh babe, I love the seawater crocs, look at how cute they are!"

"Can you stop being horny on main please?!" Calisto asks loudly, holding up his hand to stop whatever Magnus was going to say in response. "God, you're such a freak. I thought you were biased to Ten!"

Julian just shrugs at him. "Yeah, but I love the bulls. They don't have to kill, just…maim?" He looked to Magnus for confirmation.

"Oh I can make the mutts only injure for now," Magnus answers right away, giving him double thumbs up.

"There ya go!" Julian tells Calisto cheerfully, grinning at him. "Just a little fright to remind them of what they're up against."

Calisto gives him a disgusted look for a few seconds before shaking his head at him. "If you're doing that, I'm sending them each a bag full of supplies!"

Julian slowly put up a finger at that. "Can there be mutts in those bags?"

"No!" Calisto exclaims at him before turning around, grabbing his hair and pulling on it. "Why did I agree to work with you?!"

"Because you didn't have a choice," Julian points out and when Calisto glares at him over his shoulder, he just shrugs. "Just saying."

"Whatever," Calisto sighs loudly and shakes his head at him. "I need to go piss because I was too anxious to do it before we started. You are not allowed to do anything while I am gone or I tell Kostas. Got it?"

Julian holds up his hands at that. "Okay, okay, I won't do anything until you're back. Besides, it's more fun seeing you get all angry about it. Have fun and don't fall in."

Calisto rolls his eyes at him as he turns back to resume flirting with Magnus, before quickly getting out of there. Once the doors shut behind him, he lets out a small scream of frustration before stomping to the bathroom. This is not what he wanted when he got let out of the basement.

Calisto slows his pace as he gets to the bathroom, wanting a small reprieve from the psychopath that is Julian Avis. Thankfully the bathroom is empty and he gets to doing his business, shutting his eyes for a moment to just…think about what the fuck his life has come to. How the fuck did he wind up in charge of the Hunger Games?!

"Yo dude what's up?!"

Calisto opens his eyes and lets out a scream just before Mord skates right into him, knocking him to the floor with his pants unzipped and exposed to the whole world. "What the fuck dude?!" he yells at him, quickly covering himself up as Mord laughs on the ground next to him. But as he takes in his outfit and the fishnet legs, he quickly scrambles to his feet to hide his cheeks warming. No. He is not going to think that fucking Mord of all the escorts is cute!

"I told Sloan I was finna sweep you off your feet but I didn't think I would quite literally!" Mord says as he uses a urinal to pull himself back up to his feet, wobbling a little on his roller skates for a moment before giving him double finger guns. "Ayy, how's it goin' cutie?"

Calisto can feel his cheeks getting warm at being called cutie and quickly turns away from him to wash his hands, biting his lip piercing as he glances at him in the mirror. Mord skates closer to him and leans against the sink and when Calisto looks over, he smirks at him. "What are you doing here?" he finally asks, trying to keep his voice calm.

"Doin' my job by winning over the cute new Gamemaker," Mord says, hopping up to sit on the counter and quietly saying parkour under his breath. He grins at Calisto as he pushes back his hair and Calisto raises his eyebrow at him. "Sick piercings dude, I've been eyeing out my next piercing," he says and gestures at his face and exposed stomach. "Runnin' out of room on my face though, what do you think about getting my nips done?" Much to Calisto's panic, Mord lifts up his shirt to show off his chest and bounces his eyebrows at him. "Huh? What do you think? It's free real estate."

Calisto is about to tell him off for lifting up his shirt and causing him panic when he's technically his boss now, but seeing the scars on his chest stops him. He sighs as he leans against the counter next to him and smiles a little. "Kindred spirits right here," he says, pointing between the two of them before winking as his cheeks flushed. "I'd show you my scars and piercings but I am technically your boss and should be at least a little professional."

"Oh that's lit dude!" Mord says, bumping his shoulder with his and grinning. "Man I knew you were hot before but knowing you have nip piercings under that shirt took you from a ten to well beyond."

"Stop that, I am your boss!" Calisto says quickly, his voice raising in pitch from pure panic at someone flirting with him. "Who even let you get down here dressed like that? And shouldn't you be talking to sponsors?"

"Why talk to sponsors when you can flirt with the Gamemakers?" Mord asks with a shrug. "Yolo, dude. And me and Sloan slipped away when victor mom wasn't looking and Gramps is too slow to catch me. So here I am, ready to be all yours!"

"I – you are not – why?!" Calisto stutters out and turns away, shaking his head in disbelief and hating that his face is so hot. This is why they should have let him out of the basement sooner so he wasn't flirted with for the first time by one of the escorts. "Why me?"

"You're hot, dude, do I need more reason than that?" Mord asks with a shrug. "And as I said, Imma do my job. So, Mr. Hot Gamemaker, you got any secrets you can share with me?"

Calisto grabs his shirt collar and pulls at it a little when he winks at him. "Boy do I wish I did," he says with a nervous laugh. "Bold to assume we actually know what we're doing."

"Oh come on, you're a handsome man who looks like they got their shit together," Mord says, elbowing him a bit as he leans closer to grin at him. Calisto leans back a little in panic, feeling too warm from all of this – but certainly not mad about it. "You know, my boy Lobo is in a bit of a pinch right now and could use some help…"

"Oh right…" Calisto says quietly with a heavy sigh as he moves away from him. Fuck, it was so nice to forget about the Games for just a couple minutes there…and to think that he wanted to talk to him because he was actually interested in him. He runs a hand through his hair and shakes his head as he turns back to Mord. "I want to help all of them, trust me," he says, hoping Mord will know just how much he means it. Having been in the arena before… "I'm trying but for every good decision I make, Julian makes an equally bad decision."

"Oh okay, I get it…" Mord says sadly and sighs as he puts down his head, catching Calisto off guard because this is the same guy who was yelling parkour the whole party. "You know, I just really want to do my best for him – and Fonio and Lelantos. Especially after losing Inutil…well, I don't want to lose Lobo so soon. Man, escorting is a lot harder than it looks."

Calisto snorts at that and shakes his head as he moves closer to Mord again. "You're telling me, I never wanted this job," he sighs at that and pinches the bridge of his nose for a moment, trying not to get caught up in his own memories of losing his ally in the bloodbath… But damn it, he knows exactly how Mord is feeling right now and he hates seeing him frowning like that. "They're all getting bags full of supplies," he blurts out suddenly and immediately regrets that when Mord starts grinning at him.

"They are? That's lit!" Mord lets out a cheer at that as he hops off the counter and Calisto has to grab his arm to stop him from falling over. "You're hella, dude."

"I have no idea what that means," Calisto says, blushing at holding his arm before realizing he shouldn't have told him that. He points at him and shakes his head. "Dude, what are you doing trying to get secrets out of me?!"

"Secrets, flirting with a cute guy," Mord shrugs and gives him a lopsided grin at that. "It's a win-win in my book."

"I'm taking you back to your mentors," Calisto says, shaking his head at him and pulling his arm to drag him along on his skates. "You're a menace to society right now."

"Yolo," Mord answers and Calisto rolls his eyes at him, fighting back a smile when he glances over at him. "I mean, worth it though to help Lobo."

Calisto wants to tell him that he was going to do this before talking to him, but… No, he is not going to fall for his flirting and share any other secrets. Yet he slows as they approach the mentor room, not exactly wanting to stop this just yet. Once they're done, he has to go back to reality of running the Games and being responsible for mostly innocent children dying…

Just like him fourteen years ago. Except these ones won't be lucky like him and be saved.

Calisto pulls Mord to a stop just outside the door and points at him, trying to give him a stern look. "No more trying to flirt with Gamemakers for secrets."

"What about just flirting with Gamemakers because I want to?" Mord asks with a grin and a wink that makes Calisto's cheeks burn. "Got 'em!"

"You did not get me!" Calisto squeaks out and shakes his head with an exasperated sigh as Mord bounces his eyebrows at him. "That's it, I'm giving you to Gramps to keep an eye on you. Come on."

"Boooo!" Mord says with a laugh as Calisto pulls him into the mentor room, getting lots of looks from them immediately.

"Fonio, please control your escort!" Calisto pleads, full of panic over Mord's flirting as he drags him over to the older mentor.

"Bold to assume we can control him," Fonio says, raising an eyebrow at them as he looks over Mord's outfit. "What exactly did he do?"

"He cornered me in the bathroom to try and get secrets out of me!" Calisto says, giving Mord a look at that, but he just keeps grinning.

"Yolo," Mord says with a shrug. "No regrets."

"I regret taking this job," Calisto mutters under his breath, but also…not really. He doesn't exactly mind the flirting… He clears his throat and pushes Mord over to Fonio. "Please stop him from anymore flirting for secrets. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get back to work."

"See you soon, hot stuff," Mord calls after him and Calisto glances back to see him blow a kiss at him.

Calisto shakes his head and puts his very red face down as he tries to quickly get out of the room, seeing the look on some of the mentors faces and knowing they were going to corner him. "I don't know what happened with the timer!" he says quickly and holds out his hands defensively as Astrid steps in front of him, hands on her hips. "And I need to get back because Julian is insane and I'm the only thing stopping him from killing everyone with mutts!"

Astrid narrows her eyes at him for a moment and Calisto bites his lip ring nervously. "I want answers, boy," she finally says and steps out of his way.

Calisto has never run out of a room faster than he does now and once out of it, he leans against the wall and sighs loudly. Fuck, this was not what he expected out of this… But he really does need to get back and stop Julian from being insane. And maybe…throw a few extra supplies in Lobo's back.

So what if he is a little biased from being flirted with. Yolo.

Lobo Mirazul, 15, District Nine

Lobo's really trying to be strong for Karter, but leaning against him and slowing with every step, he doesn't know how much longer he can keep moving with him. Every jostle sends another hot flash of pain through his shoulder, yet he bites his tongue, holding back any cries of pain. He's felt so much pain before in his life, he can get through this. But God, does it fucking hurt.

And he hates that he's quoting his dumb fucking escort right now, but he has no regrets. He saw the looks the bastards from Two were giving Karter and he'd do it again in a heartbeat to save him.

"Karter," Lobo finally says quietly when his foot catches on a root and he stumbles a bit. "I…I gotta stop."

"I know but we have to get far enough away," Karter answers, looking up at him and his brows pinch together. He slows to a stop and glances back the way they came, before tucking Lobo into a collection of bushes. "Here, we'll be decently hidden here."

"Thank you," Lobo says quietly as he lowers him down, making a face at how weird it is to be thanking someone. He tries to smile at Karter as he sits down next to him, but it quickly fades when he sees Karter's face as he looks at his shoulder, axe still in it. "Just tell me how bad it is, no sugar coating it."

Karter tries to gently move the shirt around the wound to see it better and Lobo winces before he can stop himself. "I'm sorry," Karter says quietly, frowning at the pain on his face. "This is my fault…"

"It's not," Lobo answers immediately, a bit of bite to his voice that makes Karter look at him immediately. "I made the choice to go to you and I'd do it again and gladly take this axe in your place. I've been through a lot of pain before but for once, the reason for this is actually a good thing."

Karter sighs quietly at that before slowly nodding his head. "I just…froze up," he says softly as he rips Lobo's shirt a bit to better get to the wound without taking the axe out. Lobo sits there, completely still and digging his nails into his palm to stop himself from making any outward sign of his pain. Pain makes him stronger…that's what he's always been told. And he will hold this pain in to protect Karter. "The explosion…fuck, why me? What did I do to deserve being next to Baylor and Kazu?!"

"We didn't do anything to deserve our pain," Lobo whispers, part of him afraid to say anything now that they're in the arena and his father can hear, despite what they said last night… He clears his throat and awkwardly puts a hand on his leg, trying to smile at him as his heart raced in fear of what could happen to him for showing affection to a boy in front of the cameras. But his father can't hurt him in here, only the other bastards who volunteered just like him. "But I got you out of there and that's what matters right now. Focus on survival right now."

But that thought just pains him, knowing what survival means for him. Or rather, what it means for Karter.

"Right," Karter says, taking a deep breath before nodding his head. "If there's anything I'm good at, it's compartmentalizing trauma to deal with later. And right now, I need to take care of you."

Lobo smiles a little at that and puts down his head, trying to hide the redness on his cheeks. "I'd…like that," he says quietly before wincing a little at movement in his shoulder. "Fuck, okay, how bad is it?"

Karter pokes around the wound a little and Lobo looks at him, catching the pained look on his face before he puts on a mask of a calm smile. "With the axe in right now, it's not bleeding as bad as you'd think. I just…worry it could be putting pressure on an artery right now and if I remove it, you'll bleed a lot. And without supplies…"

Lobo nods in understanding and faces forward, trying to hide the fear in his eyes of dying and not being here to protect Karter. "On the bright side, we did get a free axe," he offers, trying not to be fearful of what might happen to them. "This isn't going to stop me from fighting for us."

"I'll fight for you," Karter says softly and Lobo looks at him, frowning at him not saying he'd fight for the two of them. He sighs and shakes his head a little. "Us…I'm trying to get to that point but just…" he clears his throat and sits up, looking around them. "Let me see if I can find some moss to use on this. I'll use your shirt as bandages to hold it in place. And then…"

Lobo nods his head at him trailing off, knowing how he'd finish that sentence. "I fight like hell to stay alive," he says, holding up his palm to him. Karter takes it right away and Lobo squeezes his hand. "Don't be gone too long."

"I'll be fast, I know what I'm looking for and we're in the section for my home," Karter says, leaning over to kiss his cheek before getting up and quickly heading out, giving him one last look.

Once Karter is out of sight, Lobo hunches over and lets out a small whimper of pain. He blinks back tears, refusing to cry right now. He has to be brave for Karter but…if they don't get supplies, this isn't looking good for him. And he knows if he isn't there, Karter is not going to keep fighting…

And he wants to have a good reason to be fighting, for once in his life.

"Hey Gramps, if you're listening – can you even hear well enough?" Lobo asks quietly, feeling dumb talking to himself right now. And for begging… "I could really use some help here…"

Lobo reaches up to brush at his eyes, hating the stinging feeling there. He never thought he would be afraid of death before now. And it's all his father's fault for doing this to him. "Fuck you father for doing this to me," he whispers harshly and shakes his head as he glares up at the trees above him. He never would have ended up here if his father wasn't like this…

But he never would have met Karter either. Was it worth the years of pain to be with him…? Yes, it was. But he just hopes he will have more time with him. He curls his hands into fists and hits them against his thigh, willing himself to stay strong for him. He has to do this. He's going to fight this stupid wound and then he is going to find the bastard who did this and wanted to kill Karter in the first place and…and kill them? He doesn't fucking know…all he knows is he has to get better to protect Karter.

He fights back the urge to shut his eyes, knowing how easily that could lead to unconsciousness. Instead, he focuses on the leaves softly blowing in the wind above his head, wishing he could be in actual District Seven with Karter, away from his father and just…safe to be whoever he wanted. Safe to be the boy he used to be…

He sits up at the parachute dropping through the trees towards him, rubbing his eyes at the 9 on the side of it. No fucking way…who the hell would want to sponsor someone like him? He really thought his plea for help was a lost cause.

"Thank you," he whispers as it lands in front of him, rubbing at his eyes and the prickling of tears. Someone wants to support him…

But before he can open it, he tenses up at the sound of footsteps quickly approaching him. He starts trying to reach for the axe in his shoulder to defend himself, but cries out in pain from the movement and can't really get it on his own. Instead, he tries to push himself to his feet, holding up his good arm in a fist. He will stay alive for Karter, he has to.

But it's just Karter that comes through the bushes and Lobo relaxes, dropping back to the ground in relief. In his hands he holds a pile of moss and a container just like Lobo's and when he sees his on the ground, he raises his eyebrows in surprise. "Our mentors have been busy."

"I guess so," Lobo says quietly, whimpering a little in pain as Karter sits down next to him and starts opening up his gift. "Can you open mine please?"

"Of course," Karter answers, pulling out a bag. From in it, he pulls out some cans of food and water, along with a sheathed knife. His eyes widen in surprise as he sits back, grabbing a note from the bottom. "This would cost…" he shakes his head and reads the note. "Oh… In light of the bloodbath going not to plan, we are sending supplies to each tribute."

"Well that was nice of them," Lobo says with a snort as Karter grabs his to start going through the supplies. "I'd say that's an understatement though."

"Damn," Karter says, pulling out a medical kit from Lobo's bag. Lobo raises his eyebrows in surprise as Karter opens it, finding bandages and stuff to stitch up his wound. His eyes start watering as he looks up at Lobo. "We can save you now…"

"I don't understand why they sent this to me," Lobo says, reaching over for the container to see if there's a note or something. "I'm not special…"

"You are to me," Karter says under his breath, almost too quiet for Lobo to hear.

Lobo nods at that and gives him a small smile. "Same," he whispers as he grabs a note, expecting it to say the same as Karter's. "Thank your escort for this… Wait, you're saying Mord of all people actually did something competent? I'm shocked."

"I don't care who I'm thanking, I will kiss the ground they walk on for this," Karter says, lining up the supplies next to him as he moves to sit behind Lobo. He hands him a pill and Lobo takes it right away, not even asking what it does. "That should help with the pain. I'm sorry about this…"

"Don't be," Lobo says, taking a deep breath and trying to relax the tension in his whole body as Karter puts one hand on his shoulder and the other on the axe. "I trust you."

"I'm going to get you out of this arena, Lobo," Karter says softly and Lobo frowns at that. "Now deep breath. I'm going to get you stitched up and ready to keep fighting."

Lobo glances back over his shoulder to smile at him for a moment. "I know you will. Now patch me up, doc."

Kasada Masou, 17, District Six

Kasada keeps a close eye on her supposed alliance as she strains to reach her shoulder to bandage it up. She doesn't trust these people as far as she can throw them, and that ain't far at all. Which means she has to fix herself up on her own. She sure as hell isn't asking Bez or Juno, as they rummage through the supplies and Bez chats their ear off about how fucking excited she is about the bloodbath. Kasada is about two seconds away from telling Bez to shove a paintbrush up her ass if she doesn't stop talking about her feelings. And Juno, she just flat out doesn't trust that sneaky bastard for one second and knows they were just waiting to see which alliance had the upper hand at the bloodbath.

And Ardent, damn son, he needs to cheer the fuck up and move on with his life! Whoop dee doo, he killed someone in the bloodbath. They all did, yet he's the only one sitting there and staring off in a funk. Some career he is, not even able to kill someone without overthinking it after the fact. Clearly Kasada is way more of a career than him. But whatever, more proof that she is going to be the one coming out on top of this alliance. Guilt is easy to manipulate.

And then there's her dumbass brother… Simping over Bez and sitting near the pair, oblivious to the fact that Bez is just using him and only has eyes for Juno. He is going to get destroyed by those two eventually, Kasada almost feels bad for – no. She should not feel bad for him! That idiot of a brother has been trying to claim what's hers every step of the way. He even took her damn career kill in the bloodbath. The last thing she should be feeling towards him is feeling bad he cannot see how he's getting used by Bez.

Kasada lets out a small cry of frustration and slams her fist down on the ground next to her. Damn it, why is she worrying about Farren when she should be focused on getting her wound dressed? Yet she can barely even do that on her own!

"What's the matter, Chica?" Bez asks, looking up from twirling an arrow around her fingers as she watches Juno bent over to sort through supplies. She gives Kasada a lopsided grin and taps the feathers of the arrow on her palm. "I don't know how you can be feeling that way right now. I'm full of that…hmm, purple triumph. Oh yes, definitely purple." She waves her hand in the air in front of her. "I can just picture all the things I'm going to paint from that and it's got me pumped for the rest of this arena!"

Kasada gives Bez a look at that and shakes her head, just barely holding back from making a comment to her. And it takes everything in her to not tell her off for being a crazy maniac already after just the bloodbath. But that's exactly why she bites her tongue – Bez is a loose cannon she cannot trust right now and she needs to be focused on getting back home to Yasmin and to claim the fighting pits for herself. "Nothing," she finally grumbles to Bez. She tries to ignore the look that Farren gives her and especially when he starts walking towards her. "Don't even say it, I can tell by your face you just want to say I told you so."

"That's actually not what I was going to say," Farren says as he sits down next to her, ignoring the glare she gives him. "I came over to help you."

"Why don't you go help your little fling instead?" Kasada spits out angrily as she glares over at Bez. How that psycho bitch managed to wrap her finger around three of them while Kasada didn't manage to manipulate any of them…she has no fucking clue.

"She's just going through supplies right now and making the plan for tomorrow," Farren says, giving Bez that stupid dopey smile of his. "She's all good, right Bez?"

"I sure am good!" Bez calls back over, giving him double finger guns before focusing back on Juno, no doubt talking their ear off and completely ignoring Ardent sulking.

"You know she's just using you, right?" Kasada asks Farren quietly, even though she knows she should just let him keep getting used. Only one of them is getting out of this, she cannot be concerned about him. But something about her brother's dumb face makes her not want to see him get manipulated by Bez. "You've fallen right into her web."

"Maybe, but it helped me be at the cornucopia with full supplies," Farren says with a shrug as he picks up the first aid kit. "I didn't come over here to talk about Bez, I came to help you. I can't watch you struggle any longer trying to do this on your own."

"I don't need your help, I'm fine on my own!" Kasada snaps at him and tries to reach up to get to her wound again and whimpers in pain. She scowls at that and slams her fist on the ground, refusing to look at him. She doesn't want to see the smugness on his face at being right, she just wants to be able to do this on her own! Yet deep down, she knows she can't do this alone… She lets out a sigh and sits there quietly, staring at the ground.

After a few seconds, Farren takes her silence as acceptance and opens up the kit. "Look, you're not going to get far if you let this get infected, you know," he says as she pulls down her neckline to expose her shoulder. He starts gently dabbing it with disinfectant and she takes in a sharp breath, the only outward sign she shows of it stinging. "But I'll get you patched up good, you know I can do that well."

Kasada just sits there in silence as he takes care of her injury, unsure what to even say to him right now. She should just leave him and this alliance behind, really, if she wants to survive. Yet…there's a stupid part of her deep down that has to know why he's doing this. "Why did you help me?" she asks quietly, hating the fact that her eyes betray her and start prickling with tears she quickly blinks back. "Shit, give some warning before starting to stitch me up!"

"Sorry," Farren says and winces a little as he keeps going. She looks over at him with him focused on the wound, trying to read something about what is going on with him. "I just…" he sighs quietly and shakes his head a little before looking up at her with a sad smile. "Kassie-" Kasada makes a face at his old nickname for her and he starts laughing with a small smile. "We're still siblings, no matter what happened as we grew up…"

"Siblings fighting in the Games where only one of us is getting out alive," Kasada points out, turning away from him and staring out into the arena. He doesn't need to see that it's started to really sink in at this point that she could lose her brother…and that she is shockingly upset by that.

"You really think this is going to get to the end with one victor?" Farren asks quietly as he finishes stitching up the wound. "Because I don't."

"Then you're foolishly getting your hopes up," Kasada tells him, shaking her head as she turns back to him. "And setting yourself up for disappointment. You keep doing that with Bez and I'll keep being realistic on my own."

"You claim to be so smart, yet can't see that I'm on your side, Kassie," Farren says, getting an amused smile when she grimaces at the nickname.

"Stop calling me that, we're not little kids anymore," Kasada says, crossing her arms and wincing a little at it tugging on her stitches. "And forgive me for not realizing that but it hasn't exactly seemed like you've been on my side for the last couple of years."

"Well, I haven't really since we got in the arena," Farren tells her with a sigh as he rubs the top of his head. "Seeing Valletta attacking you…I don't know, Kas. It snapped something in me. Made me realize I was being dumb."

"Well you are dumb," Kasada says with a snort and he cracks a small smile at her.

"I mean, I've never claimed to be the smartest," Farrren admits with a shrug. He leans back on his arms, watching her for a moment. "I just…couldn't sit back and let my little sister get killed, you know? As much as actually killing someone…well that shit was…I don't even know."

"How you've made it this far hating blood and injuries, I still have no fucking clue," Kasada says, shaking her head at him. And yet…she finds herself starting to smile a little bit. "I hate admitting this to you, but…thanks for taking care of my wound."

Farren just shrugs at that and rubs the back of his neck awkwardly. "Like I said, I just…" He sighs loudly and shakes his head at her. "I think we're better off as a team than fighting each other. You know, watch each other's back, keep them safe. No need for grandfather to lose both grandchildren because we were fighting each other the whole time."

Kasada looks away from him at that, really unsure what to think about it. She scowls a little bit as she picks up some stones in front of her and tosses them aside. She has to keep reminding herself that only one of them is getting out of here alive and it has to be her. But…damn it, part of her deep down misses how things used to be between them. It's just too late for them to go back.

"What about them?" Kasada finally asks, pointing over at their allies. "Don't you want to keep them safe too?"

Farren shrugs a bit as he looks over at them, frowning a little at Bez being so close to Juno. "They're fun people, but in the end…I just gotta keep reminding myself that it's us or them."

Us…fuck, why does he have to do this shit now in the arena?! Kasada shakes her head at him and looks down at the ground. Why couldn't he have realized this before they volunteered? But would it have changed anything? She still would have insisted on volunteering to prove to their grandfather she's the better choice to take over…

But he's right – which she hates admitting. The bloodbath proved that they're better working together. "We did manage to take down a fully trained career together," Kasada says quietly before looking over at him with a small smile. "That has to count for something."

"The dream team right here," Farren says, grinning back at seeing the smile from her. "Come on, the Masou siblings are going to be unstoppable together!"

"Perhaps," Kasada say, not wanting to admit out loud that he might be right. But…well, she is still being realistic about their future. She isn't going to forget that only one of them is getting out of there and it has to be her…

But for now…well, she isn't going to turn down help from the one person she can trust in this arena.

Cimmerian Hart, 14, District Ten

Cimmer can barely hold back his whimpers and brushes the tears off his cheeks as Shams slows down while approaching the dilapidated building. He knows he needs to stop crying and try to keep quiet to not draw attention to them…but how the heck is he supposed to do that right now after everything he just witnessed? He thought he was prepared to go into the arena and knew what he was getting into – after all, everyone watches the Games each year. But seeing death happen right in front of him and to someone who was so scared and didn't deserve to be here…

He was not at all ready for the Hunger Games and that was a hard pill to swallow. And now…nothing is going to get him out of this arena except by being the only one left alive…

Shams glances back at him as she stops just before the door hanging off the hinge, her eyes full of pity for him. Why she decided to get him out of there, he has no idea. But she surely stopped him from doing something real dumb and dangerous. "Do you think this will be a good spot to set up for a little while?"

Cimmer shrugs and gives a small whimper as he tries to force a smile at her through his tears. "I'll be honest, I haven't really paid attention to where we've been going at all," he says before taking a deep breath and trying to will himself to keep up a brave face. This…was just his new reality. As much as it wasn't fair at all for Inutil to die like that…he has to keep pushing forward. His parents are watching him now, surely, and he has to be brave for them. He…can mourn Inutil when he is safe out of this arena.

Shams frowns at him and puts a hand on his shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze as she looks past him in the direction they came. Cimmer follows her gaze, seeing the landscape that reminds him so much of home, yet just…sends a shiver down his spine. So many abandoned and broken down barn houses, fences collapsing on each other, and no animals… "This place is just…wrong," she says, echoing his thoughts. "It's just not home. But…" she sighs and Cimmer turns back to her. "I don't know what home is either."

"Home is the people you choose to be with – or animals," Cimmer adds with a smile and watches Shams crack the smallest smile, which is all the encouragement he needs to keep going to make her truly smile. "Come on, let's get settled in and we can keep talking."

"Right," Shams says quietly and nods her head as she goes over to the door, cringing as the hinge squeaks loudly.

Cimmer stands on his tiptoes and puts his hands on her shoulders to see over them, peering into the barn. He can feel her tense up as they hear a scuffling sound coming from inside and when the chicken steps into a beam of light coming from a hole in the roof, Cimmer lets out a small sigh of relief. "Oh it's just a-"

Shams cuts him off with a shriek and backs into him, nearly knocking him to the ground. The bird walks towards them and she drags him away from the door, making incoherent noises of fear. It's only when it steps out into the sunlight that Cimmer realizes it is not just a chicken. At least, most chickens that Cimmer has seen aren't able to walk away just fine without any heads. "Get it away!" she yells at it and moves behind his back. "That's not right!"

"It's still a chicken," Cimmer says, crouching down out of morbid curiosity. And he does just love animals, even if it is a mutt chicken. He clicks his tongue a couple times and holds out his hand to the chicken. "Here, chicky chicky chicky," he says and the bird stops for a moment, turning towards him, before starting to slowly walk over.

"Cimmer, stop," Shams tells him, trying to grab his shoulder to bring him back up. "It's a mutt and that – that man likes them!"

"What, the bird man? Oh he seemed nice, we chatted a bunch about my farm," Cimmer says, turning to look up at her with a smile for a moment before looking back at the chicken as it gets close enough for him to gentle scratch it's chest. "You're not too scary, are you?" he asks it quietly and it moves closer, enough that he is able to pick it up with only mild protest. He stands up with a small cheer and turns to Shams. "I made myself a friend! I'm gonna name her…Rosie."

"Mutts aren't friends," Shams says, shaking her head at him and keeping a good distance between them. She points at him and gives him a look before continuing, "They're made by the Gamemakers to cause harm or try to kill us!"

"She's still an animal," Cimmer says, frowning at her getting so upset over the chicken. Sure, it's really creepy that it is alive without a head, but…he needs that comfort of holding a barn animal right now. He can almost forget for a moment that he is in the arena. "Come on, let's see if there's more inside. Maybe they're laying eggs and if not…" He dragged a finger across his neck dramatically. Even if he didn't want to do it, if it meant staying alive, he would.

Shams shakes her head at him before he starts walking towards the barn, but she does follow after him slowly. "I don't like this," she says slowly. "I don't trust anything from the Gamemakers."

"We'd be foolish to turn down a potential food source," Cimmer says, smiling at Rosie settling calmly in his arms as he starts looking around the broken bits of wood. One wall of the barn has collapses in completely, the wood leaning against the chicken coop which has a few more chickens inside – all without heads. "Woo-ee! We're gonna be eatin' well here!" He turns back to Shams and grins at her. "See I can say that in front of them without feeling bad because they don't have ears to hear me saying they might be dinner."

Shams slowly examines the chicken coop and shakes her head as she sits down on a broken beam. "I don't trust them…" she says slowly and Cimmer sits down next to her with a confused look.

"And why is that?" Cimmer asks her curiously as he pets Rosie. "I mean, minus the fact that they are quite literally chickens running around without heads."

Shams shudders a little bit and kicks at the dirt. "I'm just…unsettled by that Gamemaker," she says quietly and looks around nervously. "And I just don't trust any mutts in the arena."

"Well there have been mutts that have been friendly before, some that even helped," Cimmer points out to her. "I have faith that these chickens are here to help us."

Shams looks over at him and gives him a sad smile. "How can you still be so optimistic?" she asks softly before letting out a small sigh and turning her head towards the ground again. "I…don't understand how you can be, considering everything…"

"Oh, I don't know," Cimmer says with a small shrug and frowns a bit. He focuses on smoothing over Rosie's feathers for a few seconds, finding that calm from being around animals. "Well, I just always like to think that there's always greener grass somewhere…but that doesn't mean it will just be handed to you and you'll have to work for it. Which just makes it more worth it in the end. It's either keep up that positive outlook right now or fall down the pit and not be able to get motivated again. It's certainly not easy, that's for sure…"

"I'm sorry about what happened to her," Shams says quietly and puts a hand on his arm.

"It wasn't fair," Cimmer says as his eyes start watering. He gives her a sad smile and a small shrug in return, not sure what else to even say at this point. "She at least deserved a chance to fight…" He clears his throat and tries not to linger too long on that, knowing that won't help him in the long run. He will have time to mourn later… "Anyways, I'm sorry you couldn't get to your allies and now you're stuck with little ol' me."

Shams manages to smile a bit at that, which makes Cimmer grin in return. "I knew as soon as we got above ground and I saw how far they were that I wouldn't reach them," she sighs quietly and her shoulders hunch over. "I…honestly didn't really know what I was going to do before the timer ended. And then it just stopped and I just…I froze, until I heard you screaming. And something just clicked and I knew I had to get you out of there."

"Well thank you for that," Cimmer says quietly and gives her a sad smile as his eyes start to water again. "In that moment, I…" he shakes his head, ashamed of himself. "I was so angry and I just wanted to get back at him for what he did… Which I realize now would have been a death sentence. You saved my life there, Shams… I won't forget that."

Shams looks down at her hands in her lap and fiddles with them, a small smile on her face. "I just did what was necessary for our team," she says quietly. "For…Fox…"

"He's a good man," Cimmer agrees right away and nudges her shoulder with his when he sees the hint of pink on her cheeks. "Roo and Johan too… I'm sure we just made their jobs much easier by being together."

"Probably," Shams says and sighs a little as she wrings her hands together for a few seconds in silence. She finally turns to look at him with watery eyes. "I told him I would try for him."

"Well there ya go," Cimmer says, smiling at her. "You have someone to go home to when this is all over," he tells her, before frowning just a little bit at the thought of what her winning means for him and his family. "If you do win…can you please take good care of my parents for me? I'm all they got…"

"I'm…not a good daughter," Shams says with a wince. "Or at least…that's what I've been told all my life… Volunteering for this is the first time I've actually been useful to them…"

"Okay pardon me, but that is some real bullshit right there and I have had to clean my fair share of cow crap before," Cimmer tells her immediately and she gives him a surprised look. "I like to think I have good judgement in people and you have proven to be one of the nicest people I know in the days we've been together in the Capitol. It's their loss that they haven't recognized that before."

"I'm not a good person though," Shams sighs as she gets up to walk over to the open wall. She wraps her arms around herself as she stares out into the overgrown fields and Cimmer gets up to join her quietly. "You and Fox are birds of a feather. He tried saying the same thing to me and-"

Shams cuts off at the loud bellow of…of maybe a bull very close by and she grabs Cimmer's arm as Rosie starts squirming. He quickly sets the chicken down and she scurries into the coop with the rest to hide as he can hear something heavy approaching. He grabs Shams's arm back and stays still as a huge bull, easily taller than him, comes around the corner. But this isn't any bull from back in Ten, this bull is…seriously messed up. Giant horns curling around and around, angry red eyes, mouth foaming as drool drips from its mouth. It paws at the dirt as it looks at them and Shams starts to take a step back, only for Cimmer to grip her arm tighter. "Don't," he whispers, watching its gaze lock onto her.

Shams whimpers a little in fear as the bull breaths loudly, nostrils flaring as it smells in their direction. Cimmer is frozen in place, not wanting to run and spark a chase, but also unsure if they'll be able to avoid it either way. The bull continues to stare them down for a few more seconds before letting out another loud cry that has Shams covering her ears. It looks at Cimmer and gives the slightest nod of its head, before it continues to walk past their barn.

Cimmer waits a few seconds before slowly stepping out the open side, watching it continue to move through the arena and away from them. He lets out a sigh of relief as he steps back in the broken barn and Shams slowly lowers herself to the ground. "That…was a close call," he says as he sits down next to her. Now that the bull is gone, Rosie comes back out and sits next to him. He scratches her back for a few seconds, trying to get his heart to slow down. He has no idea what just happened there, but…

"I think showing we care about the mutts might have just saved our lives there."

Chantelle Wicks, 18, District Two

Chantelle is a fucking failure of a career.

If she hadn't already been doubting it every step of the way in the Capitol…well, the bloodbath just confirmed it. A dark cloud hangs over her as she lets the two bickering idiots lead the way, too deep in her thoughts to listen to them. She can just hear the things her father is surely yelling at her on screen right now. Bullshit about how she is never going to succeed, how Vulcan would make a better victor…maybe throwing a beer bottle or two. Her hands clench into fists at her sides as she glares at the ground, refusing to look up and let him see the hurt on her face from just the echoes of his words.

But she knows he is right. They failed to get the cornucopia. She didn't manage to make a single kill either – none of her alliance did. What kind of career pack are they?! They lost the cornucopia to a bunch of reject and wannabe careers. And she hates that she actually believed for a single second that Juno was on their side. Clearly District loyalty between careers is just a bunch of bullshit and if this wasn't a wakeup call for her, she doesn't know what it is.

But still…she can't help but wonder how did she let this happen? By listening to the ones who've been busy having a dick measuring competition at each other instead of focusing on properly running this alliance.

Chantelle finally picks up her head to glare at the two idiots that are keeping her mood from getting any better with their insistent yelling. Adonis and Vulcan are oblivious to her – and their entire surroundings – as they trudge through the puddles of the sector representing Four – puddles which Vulcan insists on kicking in their little pissy fit they're having. God, maybe Bez was right about there being too much damn testosterone with them.

She finally starts to pay attention to them, wondering what bullshit they've been going on about.

"You're useless!" Vulcan screams at Adonis and Chantelle purses her lips, so close to snapping back at them that they all were useless in the bloodbath. Except…not Vulcan. They at least hit Lobo. But what did she do? Nothing. But, at least she did more than Adonis.

"Yeah?" Adonis asks with a scoff and exaggerated eye roll. He clearly has no self-preservation instincts as he does not get the hint to shut up. "You're the one who didn't manage a kill in the bloodbath!"

"Why you little shit-"

"Both of you shut up!" Chantelle snaps at the, tired of their bickering when she already has enough bickering going on in her own head. They both look like they want to protest her and keep talking, so she slams the end of her spear on the ground before pointing it at both of them. "I have sat back and let you talk and claim all sorts of things for this alliance, yet haven't seen any of it in action," she points her spear at Adonis, watching him look like he's about to shit himself for a second before sneering and tightening the grip on his own spear. She sneers right back at him before turning her spear to point at Vulcan. "And you! I have sat back and let you take control of the career pack. And what has happened under your control?! We split in half, we lost two of our allies, and a third betrayed us to join the alliance that now has control of the cornucopia!"

"We're careers, we'll get it back," Adonis says, not sounding too confident about that.

Vulcan lets out a harsh laugh at that and throws their head back. "That's really something else to hear from you! We are careers," they say, pointing at themself and Chantelle, before pointing at Adonis with an eyebrow raised. "You are a fake ass poser of a career who should have been tossed out from the start! All you've done is irritate Bez and their alliance, start a bullshit rumor, and sleep with my mentor!"

"Both of you have done jack shit for the careers," Chantelle yells as Adonis opens up his mouth to say something back to Vulcan. "Please, spare me another second of your bullshit! You got us into this mess and I am going to get us out of this!"

Vulcan narrows their eyes at her and she does the same right back to them. She doesn't miss the subtle tightening of their fingers on their axe and calmly raises an eyebrow at them, all while tensing up for the possibility of a fight. "What are you implying?" they ask slowly, their voice low and would make many tributes terrified.

But not Chantelle. The only thing that really scares her right now is failure and she is going to do everything she can to stop that from happening.

"I'm taking over the lead of this alliance," Chantelle says quietly, watching their face for their reaction.

"HA!" Vulcan laughs and shakes their head, anger on their face yet she can see in their eyes that they want to give up leadership. "Yeah okay, sure, like you could have done better given the circumstances."

"I think I should be the leader," Adonis offers and both of the District Two tributes turn to glare at him and his cocky face. "Just saying, I got that Capitolite appeal and hate to break it to you, but you need all the help you can get right now."

"Imma 'bout to leave your ass out to dry, Capitolite or not!" Vulcan snaps at him and Adonis takes a cautionary step back from them, making Chantelle smirk a tiny bit.

"We are not getting rid of him," Chantelle tells Vulcan and they give her massive side eye. "Yes, he has proven to be useless at this point."

"Ouch," Adonis says with a chuckle and he cuts it out when Chantelle gives him a look. "Please, enlighten us on your plan."

"I'm sure it's not as good as my plan to dump your ass!" Vulcan tells him and Adonis sneers back at them.

"I've let you try to do your macho man bullshit!" Chantelle snaps at them and slams the end of her spear into the ground, sending water splashing. "And look at how far it got us! News flash, it's made us the biggest fucking laughing stock of the careers in the last few decades! Both of you should be able to know I'm speaking the truth right there."

Vulcan makes a face at that as Adonis slowly nods his head. "Yeah, you two sure are," he says and Chantelle has to step in front of him to stop Vulcan from lunging a him. But, she still whacks him across the stomach with her spear and he hunches over, clutching it with a groan of pain. "The fuck was that for?!"

"You're part of this fucking mess that I have to fix now," Chantelle tells him and raises an eyebrow as she holds up her spear towards Vulcan. "Do I also need to give you a whack to get in line?"

"Oh we got in trouble with mom and need a smack," Adonis says with a laugh until Chantelle jabs his foot with the end of her spear. "Fuck you!"

"Shut up already!" Chantelle snaps at him before turning back to Vulcan. "I let you have your pissing competition to be in charge, and you failed. I'm not going to let you keep driving us to failure. So you either listen to what I say or leave now. I won't kill you because I'll be damned if Two isn't going to fucking show those bastards exactly why we have the most victors."

Vulcan mulls this over for a minute as Adonis grumbles in pain, but Chantelle just lets him go off. He's just a fly compared to them and the least of her concerns right now. "Fine," Vulcan finally spits out and crosses their arms at her, clearly trying to look unhappy about this but Chantelle can see the flash of relief in their eyes. "But if you fuck this up, I'm taking over again."

"I'm not going to fuck up," Chantelle tells them, but there's still that doubt nagging the back of her mind. But no…she can do this. At the very least, she can't be worse than Vulcan has been.

"What about me taking over if she fucks up?" Adonis asks and they both glare at him. He gives a casual shrug as he rubs his stomach where Chantelle hit him. "I'm just saying, seems fair to let me give it a go if you both mess up."

"Oh just shut up already," Vulcan says and lets out an exasperated sigh. "Can we get rid of him already?"

"No, we can't because I have a plan," Chantelle says and slowly looks over at Adonis, who at least has the social intelligence to realize it's not a good thing for him. "And it involves using this one as bait…"

Yeaaaahhh didn't mean to have a 10k chapter, but here we are lol whoops, my bad. Guess that's just what happens when you have five POVs and just write however much you need for each section.

Anyways! As per usual, a sort of calm Day One chapter after the bloodbath to let everyone get settled in. But I can promise you, things will not stay calm for long. This chapter just like, ticked all the arena tropes I love lol. Some cute relationship stuff, new alliance bonding, good sibling content, dysfunctional careers... And a thirst trap lol.

Also I'm gonna just start updating whenever I finish up a chapter instead of waiting for Fridays to post. The consistent update day was nice when I had a stockpile, but since I don't have one right now, there's no reason for me to wait to post.

ALSO! Last chance to fill out the escort subplot form on my profile if you have not done so yet! I'll be accepting responses until August 15th, so only a couple days left to answer. If you do not, I will decide myself their involvement!

RQ: Is Calisto really going to simp over Mord?

See you next time for Night One, when all the nighttime mutts come out...