Anthony Morgan (18) D4M

It made perfect sense that we had to take inventory, but it was really hard to do. It was crazy hot out, even if we were in the Cornucopia's shade, and also there were people around who would be so much more fun to talk to. Dionysus insisted that we should focus so we could goof off more later, and I hated to admit that he could focus better than I could. But with Allure just across the Cornucopia from me, being effortlessly gorgeous, how was I supposed to focus? She was beautiful even in the most covering outfit I had ever seen and I just wanted to take my last shot with a beautiful woman.

"Heyyyy Allure," I said, sitting by her and sifting through her pile of stuff. Nailah was right by her and looked at me a little disapprovingly, almost like I was an idiot but she was too polite to say it. She didn't have to be. I knew good and well it was pointless to flirt and it was just a way to waste time, but I wanted to waste time while I counted how many bottles of water we had. The answer was: More than we needed, because we had them all. We could just hunker down and wait for everyone else to die.

"Hi," Allure replied curtly, turning back to the first aid kit in her hand. None of us were hurt, but it was still nice to have first aid.

"You sure look nice in this outfit," I continued steadfastly. I didn't want to bother the woman, but there were only four men left. Surely I wasn't the worst option she had.

"Imagine my disappointment when I got here and everyone else was wearing the same thing."

"I think it really compliments your eyes."

"What doesn't?" Allure chuckled a little and I thought she was laughing with me, but then I saw her glance at Nailah and knew she was laughing at me. Nailah stared at her with what I hoped was admiration and not love and I looked down, more than a little crushed. It wasn't a crime to want a little bit of fun in the Arena, but Allure had clearly given me the cold shoulder. I wasn't going to keep harassing her when she didn't swing my way. Even though I was pretty sure she had flirted with other boys, including some Capitolites, which meant it wasn't just her rejecting my entire gender.

Oh well. It's her loss, I lied to myself. I'll just find another gorgeous woman to flirt with. Who's actively trying to kill me. Not like it'll be hard to convince her I'm not about to stab her or anything.

Bess Carver (17) D10F

What the heck? I totally died. The mine blew up and I was dead.

I woke up splayed on my stomach in the same hot Arena I had died in just... probably hours ago, I guessed. I should have been 100% dead after splatting against a land mine, but I was very much alive. It can't have been a dream. The Bloodbath is over. If you dreamed during the Bloodbath you'd have died right then. Nothing made any sense, but I figured it didn't really have to make sense. I was somehow, probably cursedly, alive, and I had to live with that fact. For probably about a few hours, because it was piping hot and I'd died in the Bloodbath instead of getting any supplies.

A blaring noise made me cover my ears, and I realized after recovering that it was a "whump whump" sound effect. I sat up to see a hologram of Draco Stilleto himself making what had to be an announcement to the tributes. It can't be a feast. It's day one. How long was I out, actually? Is it day eleven and I'm just stupid?

"Hello, tributes of the 27th Hunger Games. It has come to my attention that a certain tribute did not properly get her head start in the Arena. Bess Carver, the District Ten female, was marked dead after the Bloodbath. She has been given the medical attention she needed to get the advantage she earned and will be rejoining you. For anyone who has forgotten, there are now nine tributes left. May the odds be ever in your favor." Oh I got medical attention? Medical attention that solved being in several pieces?

It flabbergasted me that the Capitol had the power to revive the dead and just didn't use it. Why had Presidents died? Why did Capitolites die? Of course District people died, but Capitolites? It was insane. I didn't really have time to focus on it, though, so I just got up and started walking up a hill, trying to get my bearings. It was probably stupid to walk directly out of the shade, but I wanted to try and spot the Cornucopia and know where it was.

That was my intent until I saw someone staring me down in the distance, squaring up to fight me. I waved at the other tribute and smiled, hoping to prove that I wasn't a threat. "Not a Career!" I yelled, hoping I would get my point across. There was no point in fighting someone who wasn't a Career if there were still Careers left. We could take them down together and then move on.

"Not a Career," the other loner yelled back, slowly walking towards me with her hands up. She looked like me and I knew she was that Seven girl, the one who looked like she could kill a bull with one hit. Basically, she was the best possible ally I could get, and I was just glad she hadn't tried to kill me yet.

Oberon Murdoch (17) D9M

It was impossible to think. It was impossible to breathe. My life was the grief of Mazie dying. My existence was that I had failed Regan and I would never see her again. I had known in training that I shouldn't get too attached to her and let myself do it anyway. I learned of my failure in the Bloodbath and now I had to live with it. I felt stupid for being so attached to Mazie in a matter of days and angry with myself for feeling dumb over mourning a child. Mazie was as important as Regan and yet I told myself over and over again that she wasn't Regan so I shouldn't mourn her so much.

But I couldn't focus on that. A kid was dead and I couldn't focus on her at all because if I focused on her death it would cause my own. I had to keep walking and look for anything that would be useful in the Arena while knowing I couldn't really expect anything to pop up. It was a desert. I could see dunes to the horizon and it wasn't like there was anything useful sticking out. At least when the Arena was a rainforest tributes could pretend there was something hidden among the vines. I only had sand to look at.

And then I saw something. I almost didn't believe my eyes, thinking that I was just noticing a weird shadow because there was no way there was something in the Arena. It was a stupid barren desert full of nothing and yet there was a change in the sand. It was glinting and it was a straight line and that meant it was manmade. With all of my limited wisdom, I headed directly for it. Best case scenario, it was something useful. Worst case scenario, it killed me instantly, which wouldn't be a huge change from my situation anyway. I was wandering empty-handed through a desert. I couldn't get much worse off.

Once I had mostly closed the distance between myself and the strange object, I could see what it was: a little bottle of water was buried in the sand. Instantly I thought of how desperately I wanted to wash off my sand-caked face, but I knew I couldn't waste any water on that. I had to drink more than that bottle every day or else I would be dead before I knew it, but it looked like the Gamemakers knew that. In the distance I could see other various glimmers. They don't want boring Arena deaths.

I reached the bottle and saw that my worries weren't over. There was movement of some sort around it and on top of it, little things crawling around. I could see that the bottle was closed, so I wouldn't be chugging whatever I was approaching, but they were still covering it. I stood a small distance from the water and contemplated my options. I could die of thirst or I could stick my hand into a pit of scorpions.

Ha ha it's called organized chaos so of course I had some chaos. Everyone who died post-Bess now did one spot worse :( And Bess is still kicking! With her Des alliance, Oberon is now the only loner... but he's also the only one who's confirmed to know how to find water! Sucks to find scorpions tho.

No deaths this time to balance the massive pre-Games/Bloodbath and give a little more development to these characters :D