Allure Beldam (18) D1F

Nailah was such an interesting character. She was really strong, strong enough that I couldn't help but admire her back muscles whenever she moved and her biceps whenever she lifted anything up, but she doubted herself. She killed more tributes than any of us had and yet she avoided confrontation. She looked like she wanted to be anywhere but the Arena, not liking it if I reminded her about the cameras, and yet she was absolutely gorgeous. It was a shame I'd have to kill someone so interesting, but I couldn't really let a girl as pretty as she was live for too long. She'd start to take away from me.

Still, I had to talk to her. She was totally wasting her potential. Her hair was drab and not properly conditioned, she clearly didn't have a skincare routine, and she didn't seem to wear any makeup, ever. Yeah, we were in the desert, and yeah, we were all pretty gross and miserable, but we had plenty of supplies. There was no real point in hunting just yet, not when the other tributes would probably die pretty quickly, so we could take a day off. Not more than that, or the Gamemakers would send something after us, but one day gave me plenty of time to talk to her.

"Hey girlfriend!" I said to Nailah, knowing good and well she didn't see me that way. I would have loved to flirt with her more, maybe get a good makeout session before the Games ended, but that didn't seem to be her thing. Girls, at least. Maybe anyone at all, and I didn't judge. If she wasn't interested in anyone at all then she wouldn't steal anyone from me.

"Hey," Nailah replied, that little trepidation always in her voice. She wasn't sure about me and I knew it. I also couldn't blame her, not when it was the top nine and we would be enemies soon enough. And really, that was part of the reason I was befriending her. She was a cool enigma, she was crazy pretty, and I wanted someone on my side when the Careers split. Why not make it the hottest Career?

"So. I know it isn't your thing, but maybe we can do a makeover? It's fine if not but there's makeup in here and they probably want us to use it, plus we really have nothing better to do. Please let me moisturize your skin. You could be so hot if you wanted to. You're already crazy hot but so much hotter."

Nailah looked at me suspiciously, but she smiled. I knew she had a little bit of admiration for me, for my "easy" confidence that I actually had to force sometimes and the way I seemed super put-together. She had a strength I admired and I had confidence she admired. It wasn't exactly a friendship, but I hoped it would grow into one someday. "Yeah, sure!"

Kjole Schmeichel (16) D8F

Mere hours ago I had killed an innocent girl. She had died to my weapon, her blood spattered on my outfit. It felt almost symbolic that what had been a white outfit, meant to minimize the heat I attracted, was now stained with red. A more poetic tribute could have had something to say about that. I was more distracted by the fact that it was dirty, that it could attract infection, because I refused to focus on the death it meant. I would shatter if I spent too long focusing on it, so I had to pretend that it didn't matter to me at all.

"She was gonna die," Culter said to me quietly, reading me like an open book. I supposed I wasn't particularly good at hiding my emotions, and it wasn't like there were many things for me to focus on. I nodded without really believing it, because he was only sort of right. Yeah, she would probably have died whether or not I killed her, but I didn't know that for sure. Maybe she would have gotten away and won if I hadn't killed her. Maybe I would have died so she could live instead of the other way around.

Either way, I couldn't sit and focus on it. I had to keep moving, keep walking with Culter. If we got on top of a dune we could still see the Cornucopia, even after the better part of a day's walk. As the sun set it was getting cold, which was a welcome change from the heat, but it surprised me. I always knew deserts were hot. I didn't know they could get so cold I would be shivering, trying to stay warm after spending all day sweating through my outfit.

"Sandy, isn't it?" I said to Culter, desperate for a change in topics. In Eight, I had been one of the only ones willing to bathe in freezing cold water just to get a daily bath. Lots of us showered every other day or even every third day because that was as often as we could get at least lukewarm water, and I didn't blame them, but I wasn't about the dirty life. In the Arena, there was no such option. It was freezing cold and I was coated in sand that had stuck to my sweat and I couldn't wipe it off because I didn't have the liquid to spare. It was basically Hell and I couldn't escape it.

"Yeah," Culter replied, and we settled back into silence. Neither of us were much for words and both of us knew silence didn't mean coldness. He stepped toward me and I let him sling his arm around me to warm me up. I leaned into him and shivered and both of us pretended that it was just because we were cold.

Desiree Redwood (17) D7F

Bess had so many cool stories to tell. She told me about her workouts and how she mostly got her muscles from her job and I told her about my workouts and how I strived to be the best lumberjack in Seven. I complained about how hot the desert was and she laughed at me and pretended that Ten was equally hot. Then she complained about how cold the desert got at night and I insisted that Seven was way colder than that even though both of us knew we were both lying. Basically she was the perfect counterbalance to me and I was delighted to have a friend like her, even if she was oblivious when it came to flirting.

"So yeah, I kissed a lot of girls back in Seven, but I've never kissed anyone outside of my District. Some Capitolites tried but I..." I lowered my voice to a whisper as if that would stop the cameras from hearing me. "But I insisted that they could get kisses once I was back safely. So anyway if I win I'll BE ABLE TO GIVE THE CAPITOLITES WHAT THEY WANT, but I really want to try kissing another Districter." Really I was so blunt Bess was probably just politely rejecting me, but she didn't seem to mind and I didn't mind fruitless flirting so I kept at it.

After a bit a parachute came down before us. I heard the tinkling and panicked that someone would know where I was before remembering that I could just turn around and see the Careers at any time. The noise wouldn't give us away. Then I saw the seven on the bag and ripped it open, delighted to see it was full of exactly what I wanted: a bottle of water and two wet wipes. If it was just water I couldn't wash off at all, but I couldn't well drink a wet wipe. I handed one to Bess who looked like I handed her a slice of heaven before wiping off part of her face.

In the distance, which was really about two dunes away, I saw someone crunched over something. Naturally, I did what was possibly the stupidest thing I could: I yelled at them. They couldn't be a Career because Bess still had eyes on all four of them, so they were an outlier. And most outliers couldn't find Bess or me, let alone Bess and me. Sure enough, the kid's head bounced up and he waved at us before going back to whatever he was staring at so intently. I took that as an invitation to approach and find out what the dilemma was myself.

It was quite the dilemma. The probably very thirsty and very tired tribute was crouched in front of a bottle of water that was covered in scorpions. I was happy to share mine with him for the prize of another ally, knowing good and well we'd need numbers to stand a chance against the Careers, but we also really needed the water. I looked at Bess and puffed out my chest with a grin before darting my hand out and snatching the bottle. Yeah, I got stung by scorpions, and yeah, it hurt more than I would ever admit, but I was the cool brave girl who could totally get a kiss for being awesome.

Another quiet chapter to get out a little more development and set up the rest of the story. Someday the killing will continue, but today is not that day (tonight is not that night?)