I've been thinking of Diamond as a companion to Rapture, but I was wrong. She's her own character, and she'll be getting more development and appearances from now on.

Diamond Kai POV

I didn't even know who killed him. In all the chaos, I didn't see who stole my brother from me. I wanted to hunt whoever it was down and make them pay, but I couldn't. It was worse than dying, and it was worse than the bat.

I'd been so selfish. I'd wanted to die first so I wouldn't have to lose my brother, even though it meant passing the same fate to him. I'd wanted to spare myself pain at the expense of the person I loved more than anything else in the world. It was my fault he was ever here in the first place.

Rapture looked up to me. I was his big sister, the coolest person in the world. When I first started at the Academy, he circled the building waving a wooden sword. He could barely reach the doorknob, but he was convinced he was killing Tributes just like his big sister. He was grown when he died- a full-grown man, taller than me- but he never stopped being my little brother. That's what I saw when I held his body in my arms- a little boy who loved his big sister.

It would be insulting to console myself by saying Rapture would want me to live. Rapture was dead. He didn't want anything anymore. I wasn't going on because I was brave or because I wanted to win it for him. I went on because I was selfish. I didn't want to die, even though living was probably more painful. I didn't want to die, even if it meant killing other people. I wasn't the hero Rapture thought I was. And I was selfish enough to be glad he died before he could see it.

Chantal Ivingin POV

The Cornucopia was quiet in the first hours after the Bloodbath. The hovercrafts came to pick up the bodies, and we didn't want to fight while caught in the downdrafts. There was a lull in the fighting as the alliances staked out their territory and fortified their camps. I didn't have allies, so I'd have to camp in the woods. However, traveling alone made it easier for me to sneak between camps. I'd sleep in the woods each night, but most of my days would be spent creeping through the buildings and hunting.

At the moment, I was in the woods. I was traveling parallel to the buildings, seeing how far the woods went and noting the places where I could sneak closest without being seen. I was looking through the trees at the main pack's building when something screamed above my head. It wasn't a Tribute, and I barely had time to turn my face up before something light but forceful slammed onto the top of my head. Sharp claws raked my face and I reared back, batting at the thing. I threw it off me onto the ground and got a good look at it.

It was a white bird with sharp claws and a hooked beak. It was as large as an eagle but its shape was different. It landed with its wings askew but picked itself back up and launched back at me. I batted it aside with my spear and retreated when I saw half a dozen more flying toward us from the open skies over the buildings. I stabbed the first bird in the wing as it tried to rip into me with its beak and fled into the deeper woods. I was already streaming blood from my head, and at any time the others would come out to see what the noise was. The birds couldn't follow me through the thicker trees, and they stayed at the edge of the woods, screaming at me. If they acted the same with the other Tributes, I wouldn't have to do so much hunting after all.

Marley Xander POV

We all made it. It was practically more than we could hope for, but none of us had been prepared to think of anything else. We were one of the largest alliances, but with the pack still lurking out there, it was good to think defensively. We set up camp in the dormitory on our building's second floor. It was across the Cornucopia from Arielle and the others, so we'd always be able to see each other. No doubt we'd be lobbing arrows at each other soon.

The dormitory was the perfect place for a long war. It was connected to a bathroom that didn't have a rear exit. That meant we never had to leave for either water or food, since there was a package of meals by one of the beds. When we wanted to sleep, we could push two of the beds in front of the only door as a barricade. As long as we stayed between the windows, nothing could get us.

"Hey, look at this," Ava said. She pointed to a sign beside the door. We gathered around and read it.

ATTENTION RECRUITS!

Reveille at 0600

Beds must be neatly made and sheets washed daily

NO sleeping on fire watch!

"What's all that supposed to mean?" Olivine asked.

"Beats me," Lottie said. "It was nice of them to give us sheets, though."

It was going to be fun hunting and all, but the best part would be hanging out at camp with the girls. Except for the death, murder and constant terror, it was just like a sleepover.

Next to appear is the Air Force. Their mascot is a falcon, which made things easy for me. For once, the Tributes in the woods have an advantage.