Akari and Arielle have been sponsored some medicine. I'm just noting that here so I don't forget. It will be more detailed in their next appearance. Also, Steel got a pressure bandage for her leg.

Diamond Kai POV

The Games were going by fast, but that was to be expected. I'd barely eaten since they began. Without Rapture, it was too dangerous for me to stay near the center of the Arena. The Games were going fast, but not fast enough to go without food. I needed to venture deeper.

I skirted the outside of the camp, looking for an empty building. It was difficult to tell if a building was really empty or just quiet. I kept hesitating until I found myself at the far end of the camp. Away from all the others, there was a single house that didn't belong. It looked like a normal village house, not a fortified barracks.

I couldn't imagine any of the alliances picking such a conspicuous and weak camp. I approached the house, watching for any projectile weapons, and checked the front door. When nothing came out, I went inside.

The contents of the house were disturbed. There were marks on the carpet and one window was open a crack. No Career would have been so obvious. Either they'd left already, or the Gamemakers doctored the house to make us paranoid. I got a creepy feeling that I was being watched, but if there was anyone, they would have attacked. I found the house's kitchen and opened the cupboards. They were filled with all sorts of food, and I helped myself to a box of crackers and a jar of peanut butter.

When I looked into the sink, I'd had enough. There was a dirty dish in it. I whirled around and scanned the room, but it was still as the grave. It was all giving me the creeps. I took my food and left, checking over my shoulder the whole way.

Steel Keshmin POV

I barely had the strength to strap the pressure bandage around my leg. Blood streaked down the roof like a rusty waterfall, and it still seeped into the bandage. When I was finished dressing the wound, I was so tired I couldn't lift my head. The dog was still pacing around the building. It wasn't going to leave, and my only hope was to find a way across the roofs to a building with intact doors.

The metal roof was cold against my skin. I felt like my skin was clinging to me and shrinking in on me. I was panting for breath, but I was still lightheaded. I could feel my heart racing in fluttering beats, and I was afraid I'd get so dizzy I'd fall off the roof. My hands, clinging to the roof by my head, were bone-white, and the nails were tinged with blue.

I had nothing left in reserve. Even my thoughts were shutting down. I was safe on the roof, but I couldn't do any more.

"Why are you doing this?" I asked the people watching. "I gave everything for you." I was dying, and I didn't know what the purpose was. I started to cry, not from defeat or pain, but from despair. Everything I knew was a lie. I'd pushed myself past my limits to give back to a country that didn't deserve it.

But there were still things worth fighting for. Cierra was worth it. She was brave and true, and everything Panem wasn't. My fellow cadets joined for the same reasons I did. They couldn't all be like the people who put me here. But I didn't want to be part of this country anymore. I wanted to be with people like Cierra, people who valued justice and loyalty. I wanted to be with them, and I was going to get there soon.

Jynx Susurrus POV

The next time we went out for food, we stayed together. We were having trouble finding anything edible. The Gamemakers probably didn't want any stragglers holding up the action. We wandered at the edge of the woods, afraid to go too far in. The cannons clustered so close together in the trees were accompanied by screams that told us something terrible was in there.

"That's it. We're going to have to be cannibals," Tori said.

"Who goes first?" I asked.

"You weigh more," she said.

"I'm not even touching that," I said with upheld hands.

"Then we're agreed," Tori said. A sudden shadow fell across her. She looked up as a falcon mutt crashed down into her, knocking her flat. Two more landed next to it in the time it took her to get her sword up. The first raked its claws down her face and chest as the others pecked at her limbs. She screamed as she tried to bat them off with her sword.

"Hey! You can't kill Tori!" I yelled, and I ran in to help. One of the mutts charged at me and hooked its beak at my throat. I shot an arrow at it, but I wasn't quick enough to avoid a nasty gash. I stabbed at the mutt's leg and it fell, leaning forward to take me down with it.

I preferred my bow, but at such close range I switched to a knife from my belt. I stabbed up at the bird and it pecked down at me with strikes like an axe. I stuck my knife in its throat and slashed sideways, nearly cutting off its head. The bird slumped over me and I shoved it off. I shot the second bird in the eye as it came at me, leaving only the one attacking Tori. They were both covered in blood, and it was hard to tell who was more wounded. I shot the surviving mutt through the head and pushed it off of Tori.

Victory Amarinthine POV

Any one of the bird's strikes could have killed me. I was bleeding from a dozen pecks and scratches as I tried to fight the bird off. It fell off of me suddenly, and I saw Jynx holding his bow. He was all torn up, and he fell into a crawl as he approached me.

"Thanks, but I think you might have been too late," I said. I couldn't stand. I could hardly move. It hurt to even talk, but that didn't stop me. Jynx reached me and lay beside me in a half-crouch while he tried to look over my wounds.

"If you die, it's because I wasn't fast enough. So you can't die, because that would mean I killed you," he said, and he smiled through the blood.

"What?! Screw you, Jynx! Wait, you can't die, either. If I hadn't gotten attacked you wouldn't have tried to help and you wouldn't be dead, so I would have killed you," I said. Jynx started to slump closer to the ground. His head landed slightly across my stomach.

"Looks like we both get what we want," he said. It wasn't as bad dying a second time. At least it wasn't because of some dirty, sneaky smarty pants from Twelve.

"We should have wished for a million bucks," I said. Then it was too hard to speak again. It would have driven me nuts if I died and Jynx won. Dying next to him wasn't my ideal, either, but it was sort of a comically perfect death. The universe has no mercy, but it has a sense of humor.

11th place: Steel Keshmin- Hypovolemic shock

Steel wasn't one of the physically strongest Tributes, but she was one of the mentally strongest. I anticipated when I got her that she would last longer than expected but not win, and here she is. She got farther than anyone else in her situation would have gotten because of sheer determination. What killed her in the end wasn't exhaustion or blood loss, but the fact that there just wasn't enough blood in her body for her heart to circulate. I liked Steel because boy howdy do I have experience trying to do things past my ability, since I am a weakling. Thank you Transcendentelvenranger for Steel. I really liked her grit and her refusal to ever quit, which is why I added the dog thing. It was nice to have some development provided with her doubting the Capitol, and she found what was really worth fighting for in the end. She didn't let anyone corrupt her or erode her moral. She stood strong and never, never, never gave up.

10th place: Victory Amarinthine- Damage by falcon mutts

Since Jynx died first last time, I put Tori first this time. It was both cool and hilarious how those two developed into friends. All along they just had different approaches toward the same goal, and they figured that out. They were a great funny guy and straight man pair. They had a great plan going, and they could have lasted indefinitely if there had been food in the gate tower. Thanks Ultimatemaxmericashipper for Victory, and also for Jynx. They had two separate developments and unique stories in their two appearances. They didn't stay static, which was cool.

9th place: Jynx Susurrus- Damage by falcon mutts

It seemed right to have those two go together. Jynx was quieter and less outgoing than Tori, but he didn't fade into the background. He was a great contrast for her and a complete character by himself. If these two come back again, I'm sure they'll keep changing and growing just as much.