From this point forward, 'guide' info will be found solely in the author's notes. Happy Hunger Games, and may the odds be ever in your favor!

As they emerged into the sunlight, all twenty-four tributes blinked and shifted uncomfortably on their metal plates.

Sixty seconds.

Some of them first noticed the grass, patchy and dry. Some eyes were first drawn to the looming stone walls that encased the yard on all four sides, and the even taller stone towers that marked the corners. Some looked towards a huge set of ornate wooden double doors standing wide open on one side of the wall—they couldn't see where the doors led, but more stone walls were visible across the threshold. Some immediately registered the fact that there was no huge golden Cornucopia overflowing with supplies and weapons waiting in the center of the ring of tributes.

Instead, there was a stone full of swords in its place. Weapons of all kinds jutted out of a huge craggy boulder, creating a spiky centerpiece. Pieces of equipment were scattered all over the open space between the tributes and the center stone, but it quickly became clear that everyone would have to pick and choose what supplies they wanted. No packs or bundles could be seen among the options.

Fifty seconds.

Aviva Nightshade knew she would win. A sneer curled her lips as she focused on the knives peppering the huge stone. She would grab some of those for quick combat, and return for her preferred axe when the time was right.

Althea, only a few tributes away from her ally, scanned the ground. What would be most important to grab? A coiled rope? A first aid kit? Were the weapons more valuable? She looked up and made eye contact with Val across the circle. Val pointed at the ground near her and nodded. Althea understood- Val would go for supplies, Althea was free to help her or make a dash towards the weapons. A sword could do their alliance some good.

Redmond quickly found Calandra, a few pedestals to his left, but had to search a little harder to see Kepler on the other side of the ring of tributes. Fuck. He hoped that Kepler could catch up with them, because there was no way that Redmond would meet him halfway. He planned to turn and haul ass to the huge open door as soon as he could. He wasn't about to risk his life for a boy he really had just met, even if they were allies.

Andros clenched his jaw as he examined the weapons offered by the Gamemakers. He couldn't see a switchblade, which he had been hoping the Gamemakers would provide especially for him, but there were knives aplenty. That would do.

Sharif trained his eyes on the door. He wanted no part of this, and even the supplies nearest him couldn't tempt him to stop for a moment and grab something. In his mind, there was no survival in sticking around, only in making a run for it. He wasn't stupid. He knew why they called it a bloodbath.

Forty seconds.

Aspen frantically tried to gauge the identity of every single sword in the stone ahead of him. There had to be a wakizashi for him, right? The voices demanded it.

Loren could not see Everlyn from her position, and she motioned desperately to Neon, who was only a few plates down from her. He peered around, trying to get a better vantage point, and spotted the twelve-year-old across the circle. He gave Loren a thumbs up and a smile, and Loren relaxed. She knew where her allies were. The door wasn't too far away. They would run to her and they could all get out! She crossed her fingers and bit her lip, hoping that she was correct.

Caelle took a deep breath and adjusted her stance. She had pinpointed the location of each of her allies, and settled on two thin blades to grab as soon as she could. When the gong rang, she would be ready to sprint in, more prepared than anyone else. She had formed the plan for her group. She would take charge. She would survive.

Thirty seconds.

Shelby 'went over the plan' in her head, but found herself distracted by the scenery. The walls looked so high- there didn't seem to be a way out. She hated feeling closed in. She shook away the coldness that crept along her spine, trying to refocus. She would be collecting supplies and trying to scare off other tributes. The others would be doing the fighting. It wasn't up to her to get the kills. All she had to do was watch her own back.

Calandra noticed something odd. There was no food among the supplies scattered across the field. Water bottles, rope, medicinal equipment, blankets, and of course the motherlode of weapons in the center—but no food was to be seen. She fretted, feeling the hunger in her belly from not being able to stomach breakfast earlier that morning, and squeezed her eyes shut. Don't cry, Calandra, she willed herself.

Mary Sue knew her fate- although her heart was set on victory, her mind was set on death. The only part she was unsure of was who would be her demise. This was her singular, fearful power: she knew her purpose better than any other tribute in the arena, born or built.

Cyrus looked around at all the other tributes. So many had their eyes set on the weapons. Others reached out to communicate with allies, district partners, coming up with plans and adjustments and trying to find a comforting face. He tried to imagine them as training dummies, as mannequins, as animals, but he couldn't erase the images of their fear. Their desires. Their humanity. He couldn't imagine them as his victims.

Kepler gulped down fear as he realized he would have to cross the entire courtyard to reach his allies. He glanced around for another way, anything to avoid the melee of the weapons. Perhaps he could… no. Maybe…? His eyes flitted frantically around the arena, looking for any alternative paths. Being abandoned didn't feel like an option.

Twenty seconds.

Timo and Gareth made eye contact. This could work for them- the supplies were so decentralized it would give them the opportunity to get some helpful things without going all the way to the center of the fight. Timo secretly planned to dive into the fray and claim at least one weapon for himself. He refused to lose the opportunity when it was right there. He had an odd glimmer of hope in him. Gareth saw the gleam of ambition in his ally's eyes, and fear shot through his body. What was Timo thinking?

Rhea Greer, already sobbing, stepped off her metal pedestal. The explosion turned the heads of all the tributes, and several screams rang out through the courtyard. The first casualty of the Games.

Inaya, whose plate was placed directly beside Rhea, came face-to-face with the reality of the Games in a far more brutal manner than she had ever expected. She had not been prepared to face death quite so soon, much less that of her ally and friend.

And now, the burnt tissue and blood that used to be Rhea Greer stained Inaya's clothes, face, and hair. She gasped for breath and cried out in fear, frozen where she stood.

Across the field, Malek held his breath, hoping that Inaya would hold it together and not stumble off her own pedestal in a blind panic. He knew he would have to cross through the fighting to reach his remaining ally. Was it worth it? Maybe he could grab some supplies on the way to her. Would she still be alive by the time he reached her? Should he ditch her and save himself?

Eliana, also stained from her close proximity to Rhea, gritted her teeth and wiped the gore from her cheek. She fixed her eyes on the spears jutting from the boulder, imagining the heft of them in her hands. I'll fucking show them all.

Ten seconds.

Syko couldn't contain his glee any longer, and began laughing. As his laughter bellowed through the courtyard, the countdown grew louder and faster. The fear emanating from nearly all the tributes was palpable to Syko, and he rejoiced in the suffering. He rejoiced in his freedom to cause pain.

Shark want kill.

Five.

Four.

Three.

Two.

One.

Tributes burst into motion as the gong sounded. Sharif tore away and through the double doors, gone in a heartbeat. Calandra and Redmond followed soon thereafter, glancing over their shoulders to see if Kepler would follow.

The Careers descended on the stone full of weapons, along with select others. The weapons were more solidly placed than any of the tributes expected, and it took significant force to wrench a blade from the boulder. Caelle was the first to succeed.

Aspen McKinley pawed at the swords, frantic in his singlemindedness. "WHERE'S MY WAKIZASHI?" he howled, too late. With a smooth swing, Caelle ended his search and his headless body toppled to the ground.

Syko did not bother with the weapons— fueled by the fear of others, he gave chase to one of the tributes that attempted to flee the fight. He tackled Neon Tesla to the ground easily, and laughed as he wrapped his hands around the smaller boy's throat. Neon begged for his life, to no avail. Tenderly, almost sweetly, Syko bent over and licked the salty tears off of the boy's face.

Then, he realized that asphyxiation would take far too long for the quick pace of the bloodbath. He wanted to spill fresh blood more than he wanted to watch the life slowly drain out of Neon's body. He snapped Neon's neck and leaped back into the fray.

Gareth knelt down to scoop some supplies into his pouch. He didn't know or care what was inside the small case he grabbed, but he hoped it would do him some good. He didn't notice Shark sneaking up behind him until the Career struck a hard blow to his back, kicking him flat on the ground. Gareth rolled to dodge Shark's spear and managed to clamber to his feet.

"Timo? Timo, where are you!" he yelled out.

Gareth was on his own, he realized as Shark swung the spear at him again. The melee was growing- more tributes than usual were approaching the weapons, drawn in by the widely scattered supplies. Gareth couldn't see an escape from Shark's reach in his fear, and threw himself forward instead. Better to at least go down fighting!

He grappled with Shark for a moment, hoping that his size and force would be enough to push the man from Four to the ground or at least redirect his bloodlust elsewhere. Shark pushed back, and Gareth met his eyes for a moment. In Shark's gaze he saw only the thrill of the chase. He was going to have to fight his way out of this one. A wave of adrenaline hit him, and he steeled himself for the fight.

Althea managed to keep Val in her peripheral vision as the girl from Ten gathered an armful of supplies from the ground. A small figure dodged in front of her as she made a run for the weapons, and without a second thought she shoved the child out of her path. "Get out of my way!" she snarled, forging forward towards the weapons.

She did not notice as Everlyn, who was only trying to run across the courtyard to her allies, fell directly in the way of Caelle's swords.

"Everlyn! Everlyn, come on!" Loren cried from near the open doors. She waited for her tiny ally to emerge from the writhing mass of bodies, but then she saw it. Everlyn's body, collapsed on the ground. Neon's corpse was only a few feet away

Loren had no choice but to run. Alone, with no supplies and no support, she bolted through the doors and into the keep.

I don't know where I am. Inaya could only hear the rush of blood in her ears as she stumbled along the edge of the wall. Hot tears blinded her vision, obscuring the way to go. Rhea… dead. Of her own volition. Inaya felt the sticky blood clinging to her skin and it was almost as if Rhea was still there, trapping her a deathly embrace.

"Watch where you're going!" yelled a frightened voice, and all of a sudden Inaya crashed into someone and they both went toppling to the ground. Timo, who had dodged his way out of the main fight with a dagger in hand, shoved Inaya off of him. She reached out, trying to regain her footing, but a fearful Timo slashed out with his knife and caught Inaya across the stomach.

She screamed, clutching her belly with both arms.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Timo cried, scrambling backwards away from the consequences of his actions.

"Inaya!" Malek gasped, shoving Val aside to get to his ally. He scooped Inaya up in his arms and hauled her away from the bloodbath, retreating through the double doors. He didn't set her down until he had shoved his way through another small door into a tiny, windowless room. "Are you okay? Are you okay!"

She whimpered, still holding her stomach. "It hurts, Malek." Blood was welling up from the cut, staining the entire torso of Inaya's tunic a muddy crimson.

"I know, I know. Let me see. I got some supplies while I was on my way to you, maybe we have some bandages." Malek spoke gently to his ally, trying to get her to relax enough for him to check her wounds.

Inaya sobbed into Malek's shoulder as he started to assess the damage. He tried not to show his frustration—it was less than ten minutes into the Games and already one of his allies was dead and the other injured and traumatized.

I can't leave Gareth behind. Timo gritted his teeth and scanned the melee for his ally. He refused to give up on the boy he'd aligned himself with.

With a battle cry, Caelle charged at Timo, eyes wild with rage and determination. He ducked under her first swing, jabbing back at her with the knife that already bore Inaya's blood. "Don't you dare think you could hurt me," she snarled.

Timo parried once but was unable to dodge her second sword, which came down hard on his shoulder. "Aaahh!" he screamed, the pain of the stab wound sending him to his knees. Caelle moved to bring her sword across his neck, but he lunged forward, hitting her in the ankles and unbalancing her just long enough for Timo to scurry out of her way.

"Timo!" came a tortured cry.

"Gareth!" Timo saw his ally being forced to the ground by Shark Mason. If I don't get over there, he doesn't stand a chance. He staggered to his feet, trying to force down the burning in his shoulder, and barged towards Gareth. Just as Shark raised his spear to deliver the killing blow, Timo used his good shoulder as a battering ram to knock Shark sideways. The spear pierced the dirt instead of Gareth's heart, and Timo offered a hand to the boy from Twelve. "C'mon, let's get out of here."

They ran, leaning on each other for support.

Shark regained his footing and hollered in rage as Gareth escaped with Timo.

Cyrus watched as the boy from Four swung his spear wildly, clearing a circle of space around him as the tributes still remaining near the center of the fray skittered around his sphere of reach.

If Shark is left to continue like this, none of us are safe, he thought. If Shark is allowed to live, he'll destroy everyone in his path whether we've called him ally or no.

If he killed Shark, he would basically be saving the lives of others, right? Certainly he would be acting in his own best interest, and that mattered most of all.

There was only one answer, and Cyrus gulped as he raised the mace he had scored from the boulder. Wait—no. He glanced at Shelby, who was yelling at the girl from Three as she snagged some piece of equipment. How would she react if I killed her district partner? Shelby and Shark were not close by any means, but Cyrus wasn't sure if district loyalty meant anything to Shelby. He would certainly grieve at Caelle's death, and her killer would be his enemy.

He decided that it was better if Shark's death was a little more anonymous. If only Timoleon Cabrera had been handy enough to stab him when he saved his ally. Cyrus lowered his mace and instead pulled a fresh knife from the stone.

He hesitated, glancing around to make sure none of his allies were looking, and then leaped as Shark lunged towards Aviva with the spear. Cyrus's hands shook as the knife plunged into Shark's back and the killer boy from Four dropped dead. The sensation of the knife piercing flesh seemed to echo though his bones, and he knew he would never be rid of it.

Cyrus gulped down the bile rising in his throat. Aviva looked at him in shock, and he brandished his mace at her half-heartedly. She turned tail and disappeared to the other side of the stone. Cyrus took a deep, shuddering breath.

Hopefully, she would die in some other way, and no one would be a witness to Cyrus killing someone who was supposed to be his ally. He knew Shark wasn't really a friend, and he knew there would be more death if he ever expected to return home, but damn. He hadn't expected it to be like this.

He glanced around the arena, taking in the carnage. This wasn't a game. It was hell on earth.

Spears were never good for close range combat. "Fuck," Eliana swore under her breath as she saw Mary Sue yank a sword out of the central boulder. She wasn't about to let this Twelve girl, this threat, escape unscathed. Even if it meant fighting in close quarters with a six-foot spear.

As Mary Sue tried to scamper away from the fight and rejoin her allies, Eliana lunged forward and swept her weapon in a wide circle, tripping Mary Sue and sending her sprawling to the ground. She jabbed with the spearhead, but Mary Sue twisted out of range and hopped back to her feet, much to Eliana's chagrin.

"Looking for a fight?" she said, raising her sword and settling into a fighting stance.

"Like you'll put up much of a challenge," sneered Eliana in response. She hurled the spear forward, not caring if it hit Mary Sue or anyone behind her. Eliana just wanted to watch someone die.

Mary Sue dodged the throw easily and the spear stuck in the ground twenty feet away, quavering with the force of impact. "Lovely technique!" she chirped.

"Go fuck yourself." Eliana flung herself forward, not caring that she was now unarmed. Her opponent yelped in surprise, but Eliana's hands were already around her throat. Mary Sue swung the sword, and it cut into Eliana's shoulder, but without any substantial force behind the hit it did no more than slice the surface of her skin.

Eliana hissed in pain and sunk her teeth into Mary Sue's shoulder, pulling a scream from the purple-eyed blonde. She dropped the sword, and Eliana pushed her up against the boulder.

In that moment, Mary Sue knew that Eliana would fulfill her destiny of death. She struggled in the Career girl's grip, expecting Eliana to loosen her grasp in order to grab another weapon, but to no avail. Eliana didn't relinquish her hold at all, but squeezed tighter and tighter.

Mary Sue began to sob, begging fruitlessly for her life. "Please! Please, for my sister! Please, let me go! If you're going to kill me, make it fast!" The pleas fell on deaf ears.

Eliana bared her teeth in Mary Sue's face, the wailing and screaming only enraging her further. "Why won't you just shut up and die?" she hissed, pressing her forearm across Mary Sue's neck.

"Please! Please-"

Eliana screamed in frustration and reared backwards, pulling Mary Sue up and then slamming her full force into the jagged stone. Mary Sue's cries of fear became cries of pain. Eliana grabbed her victim by the jaw and slammed her skull into the rock again and again and again. "Shut up! Shut the fuck up!"

Mary Sue's voice cut off mid-scream, but Eliana did not stop. She kept smashing her head into the boulder until she felt bone and face give way under her hands. She let the mangled body fall and dropped to her knees, punching and striking the dead Mary Sue even as blood dripped from her own arm.

Andros heard the last of Mary Sue's screams and glanced at his district partner, hoping to get some assistance as Syko approached him with a maniacal grin on his face. However, when he saw Eliana beating the girl's corpse, he knew she would be no help to him any longer. He narrowed his eyes and charged the boy from Six.

Caelle's face darkened as she watched Eliana rip chunks of hair from Mary Sue's head and kick the body until it was almost unrecognizable. It was unnaturally vicious behavior, especially unbecoming for a true member of their alliance, she thought.

Althea danced around Shelby's attacks, avoiding and dodging each blow the reluctant Career dealt. She struggled to hold onto the supplies she had managed to collect, but gripped the short sword tightly in her right hand to parry Shelby's attacks. Where was Val? Aviva? Mary Sue? She couldn't see any of them.

Shelby saw Althea's eyes dart away from her for a split second and used the opportunity to attack. She couldn't bring herself to follow through on her forward stab and so stopped just short of running Althea through, instead just grazing her ribs. The girl from Three screamed at the attack and swung her sword at the shaft of the spear, cracking the wooden handle and rendering the weapon worthless.

"Fuck!" Shelby yelled, hoping an alliance member would pick up on her distress and help out. She had only confronted Althea because she was supposed to be collecting supplies and Althea had raided her hoard, and now she was weaponless.

Althea yelled and charged at Shelby, but her clumsy attack allowed the Career girl to sidestep the blade and deliver a swift punch to Althea's face. She dropped all the things she was holding and clutched her face, swearing up a storm at the pain in her eye. She lashed back at Shelby, lunging straight at her and headbutting her right in the nose. Shelby's head exploded in stars and she staggered backwards, blood pouring from her nose.

"Althea!" It was Val, her pouch bulging with collected supplies. She grabbed her ally by the hand and pulled her away from Shelby. "Are you okay? Let's get out of here!"

"Where's Aviva? Mary Sue?"

"If they're alive they'll find us. We gotta go."

A scream echoed from another part of the courtyard, and Althea instinctively turned towards the sound. "That's Aviva!"

Valerie dragged her towards the door. "We have to go. There's no use now."

Aviva watched Mary Sue fall to Eliana and turned her attention to the tributes who were fleeing. One of the Careers was down, and she didn't think she stood a chance of killing more of them without a larger weapon than a knife. Her best path now was to pick off some of the tributes who were trying to escape from the courtyard in smaller groups.

Her gaze landed on Kepler, who was creeping along the base of the wall, trying to edge his way to the door without being spotted by any of the combatants. She charged the boy, tackling him to the ground. "There's no hope for you now!" she crowed, brandishing one of her throwing knives. She wished she had an axe, to really finish him off quickly, but she hadn't been able to retrieve one of the battleaxes from the stone.

Kepler squirmed underneath the weight of her body, frantically trying to avoid the point of her blade. She pulled back to deliver a killing blow, and Kepler used the slight lift of her body to surge forward and topple her. He used one hand to shove her face, covering her eyes and pushing her further off of him. She fell sideways, dropping her knife in the process.

With a scream, she pulled another knife out of her pouch and grabbed Kepler's hand, twisting two of his fingers back until they popped. He wailed, wriggling out of her grasp and cradling his ruined hand. She threw the knife, and it whistled right past his face. He scrambled backwards, scooting along on his elbows. Aviva launched herself at him, bowling him over onto his stomach. He twisted, trying to throw her off of him, but she grabbed a handful of his hair and pulled up hard, exposing his neck and immobilizing him.

She grinned maliciously as she whipped out her third knife to slit his throat, but Kepler, gasping and sobbing, felt around in the dirt and his hand landed on the dropped knife. He grabbed it and swung his arm down and around, stabbing Aviva in the thigh. She screamed again and collapsed, allowing Kepler to twist onto his back. She tried to stab down with her knife, but Kepler lodged his blade in her throat before she had the chance to strike.

He pulled his hand back in shock, unable to believe what he had just done. With one final gurgling breath, Aviva crumpled, dead.

Kepler clutched the knife, stood, and ran to the doors. Not too far past the threshold, Calandra and Redmond were waiting for him. As soon as they saw his silhouette, they grabbed him, and the trio ran.

As the others raged around him, Andros was entirely focused on Syko Le Heisenberg. The sadistic boy had claimed one of the battleaxes from the stash of weapons, and Andros was fighting with a knife. He preferred close combat, for ease of movement, but this… was unexpected.

Still, Andros was not afraid. He kind of wished he was, just to prove he could experience the feeling of fear. He took a deep breath, feeling the racing heartbeat in his chest from the hard fight. He needed to get that axe out of Syko's hands.

He feinted to one side and then slashed to the other, trying to get Syko to strike in the wrong direction. The boy from Six just tut-tutted and shook his head pityingly at Andros. "You'll have to try harder if you think that'll fool me. You may have your fancy training, but I've got experience that you Careers couldn't fathom."

Andros wasn't afraid, but he was certainly angry.

He pressed forward, forcing Syko to retreat one, two, three steps. Syko smiled. "That's what I like to see. You're finally getting invested. What a wonderful fight this is! I'm even beginning to get out of breath!"

Andros snarled. He rushed Syko, getting in close and grabbing the axe handle. Syko twisted his grip and slammed the axe into the center stone, crushing Andros's knuckles against the rock. He groaned in pain and released the axe, and Syko used the moment to slice downward, opening a gash in Andros's leg.

"The mighty volunteer, brought a little lower to earth with the rest of us," Syko gloated. Andros flexed his fingers, trying to restore feeling in his hand.

"Andros! Here!" Caelle tossed one of her swords over the rock, and Andros caught it smoothly even with his bruised knuckles.

He saw the flicker of fear cross Syko's face, and it was good enough for him. With the reach of the sword, he redoubled his efforts, using both blades to parry and attack. Syko's blood-lust could not match the trained skill of Andros Valier, and in a flurry of strikes he found his axe trapped between Andros's two weapons. Andros twisted and the axe went flying out of Syko's hands into the dirt.

Syko crouched and rocketed forward, slamming himself into Andros's knees in a last-ditch effort to level the playing field. Andros staggered backward with a smile on his face—Syko left his back open and unprotected. He stabbed down into the boy's neck, and Syko's body dropped instantly.

"Idiot," Andros muttered to himself. He looked around to find his allies the only remaining tributes in the courtyard. "It's over?"

Cyrus nodded solemnly, letting his mace fall to the ground. Eliana stood in a daze, covered with blood and gore, and looked proudly at the group.

Shelby didn't look at the others, but instead nudged a pile of supplies with her toe. She was unwilling to examine the bloodshed around her, but at least her nose had stopped bleeding.

Caelle patrolled the courtyard, examining each of the fallen bodies and picking up any unclaimed supplies. When she reached the wide open double doors, she set her whole body weight against them and closed them.

"This is our territory, for now. Best to keep everyone else out."

"Or in," mused Eliana, looking up at the stone walls, "I think that's some sort of castle. We're on the outside of the building, but fenced in by these walls."

Andros agreed with her assessment, but he was too wary of her recent behavior to vocally agree or disagree with anything she said.

Boom. The first cannon fired, and all five of the tributes froze in place to listen. Seven more echoing blasts rang out through the arena.

"Eight." Andros said. A good number, one of the higher death counts for the bloodbath. Many tributes had participated; more than the alliance had expected.

"Who all died?" Shelby asked, finally becoming curious about the corpses littering the ground.

"I killed Aspen and Everlyn," Caelle quickly spoke up, claiming two kills.

"Syko."

"Mary Sue."

"I didn't kill any," Cyrus offered, and then immediately winced. Did it sound fake? Was he too cheerful for an unsuccessful participant?

"Rhea offed herself, we all saw that," Eliana continued. Cyrus breathed a sigh of relief.

Andros frowned at the corpse nearest him. "Shark's here."

Shelby's face crumpled, but only a little. "For some reason I just assumed he ran away. He's—"

"Dead. Yeah." Andros confirmed.

"I think it might have been the Timoleon kid," Cyrus suggested quickly, "since last I saw Shark was fighting him and his ally."

Andros shrugged. "Good riddance, in my opinion. No offense, Shelby."

"None taken, it's not like we were friends. Who else is there?"

"We all saw Rhea. And the two bodies further away are Aviva Nightshade and Neon Tesla." Caelle finished the death count. "Eight down, and several major threats at that. Well done. Now, let's sort these supplies. Some of you need medical attention as soon as possible."

Shelby gingerly touched her broken nose, an all-too-real reminder of the deadly situation in which she was trapped.

The Hunger Games had begun. And there was no going back.

24th: Rhea Greer. May her death be a reminder that characters cannot rely solely on a pitiable history.

23rd: Aspen McKinley. Let his death be a lesson that mental illness, disability, sexuality, gender identity, etc, should not be treated lightly or as a gimmick, but well researched and sensitively incorporated into characters. Also, sometimes a sword is just a sword.

22nd: Neon Tesla. May his death be a reminder that not all District Three boys are tech nerds.

21st: Everlyn Maude. May her death be a reminder that twelve-year-olds are people with complex thoughts and feelings.

20th: Shark Mason. I have a confession to make—Shark's name came from one of my old submissions from 2012. Guilty as charged. May his death be a reminder to think carefully about names and put in more thought to a Career personality aside from 'killing'.

19th: Mary Sue Jamison. May her death be a reminder that 'overpowered' tributes rarely mesh well in a place like this, and clones of canon characters serve no purpose in a community-based story.

18th: Aviva Nightshade. May her death be a reminder that tributes who are made to win rarely do so, and often sacrifice interesting character opportunities for ill-begotten skill.

17th: Syko Le Heisenberg. May his death be a reminder that tributes who love to kill often have little opportunity for development, and therefore limit themselves to being plot devices rather than well-rounded characters.

This is the only time I'll put deaths in the A/N when the chapter is first posted. In the future, I want the deaths to be surprising!

Welcome to the arena: did anyone have medieval castle on their bingo card for this story?

A little chatty chat about formatting and perspective because I've been thinking a lot about it recently! I'll be sticking with first-person POVs for the duration of the Games. This bloodbath was an exception. Why the single chapter of third person? In major action scenes, where everything is happening in a frenzy, it can be difficult to reveal all the necessary information from limited perspective. I wanted this chapter to be clear as possible since it's such a major event, and third person felt the most useful for that purpose.

Obviously, different styles work best for different authors. The beauty of a community like this one is that we can all learn a lot from reading a variety of styles: the current resurgence of third person writing has made me (as someone who prefers writing in first person) think more critically about what story I'm trying to tell and what method is most effective to tell it. Formatting is a deeply personal choice and I truly love the variety of stylistic choices I see other authors make. Being able to learn from my writing peers is a gift I never take for granted.

Also, from here on out, length of POV will fluctuate a lot more! They've held pretty steady between 1k-1.2k words so far, but the story will take what it needs.

Open SYOT shoutout for District11-Olive! Her new story To The Wolves has a submission deadline of June 10!

Questions:

Did you have a favorite moment from this bloodbath?

Which tributes do you think are most at risk of dying next?

Drop a review and let me know your thoughts!