Update on Another Brick, my other SYOT. I will get to writing it, for the first time in a few months, I have full days to myself, I am trying my best to get at least one chapter out before classes start again.

Laura Hope, 16

District 12 Female, Pair Eight

Paired with Linden Hunter

It took us three hours of non-stop walking to reach where we would be sleeping for the night. Most of the weaker, more malnourished kids, like myself, were close to collapsing upon arrival. We should have rested hours ago but no one wanted to prove themselves weak in front of the Careers.

I assumed we would be getting back to nature with the camp, but not as rural as we got. Upon arrival, it was nothing but a small meadow, walled in by thick, dark trees. The darkness made it impossible to see further that the first three sets of tree's, illuminated by the glowing light within the sky. Other than the flowers and grass, the meadow was empty, only twelve, different coloured flags that were stood upright in the ground. They were numbered, for each pair. For a moment, we stopped, crowding around the flags and taking in the dark world around is when suddenly, Ezra broke the silence with a grunt. With lightning fast reflexes, he grabbed the yellow flag numbered "one" and stormed off to a small patch of land by the tree line. He was quickly followed by Paisley and the rest of his alliance although, none of them seemed pleased about it.

Although the clear message was to stay close, the land at our disposal only being about 14 meters in width and length. However, it didn't stop people from collecting their flags and finding their own patch of land, away from anyone else. By the end of it, I had a clear view who was in an alliance and who wasn't.

There were the career's who had taken a rather lengthy patch of land under a large conifer. Niko's group had taken the land that backed off into the dark woods and my group had taken the land towards the opening that allowed us to see the field, an easy escape route. The rest of the pairs found themselves scattered between these three points, taking any bit of land they possibly could and trying to make themselves feel comfortable.

As the purple light in the sky began to fade, I started to feel uneasy about the darkness. One by one, the groups of Tributes vanished before my eyes, the only knowledge that they were still there was the low hum of voices as they tried to keep their spirits up. My only solace was that none of them could kill me until the morning. But that didn't mean other things couldn't.

"Nothing will come to hurt us," Andrew sighed, as if reading my mind. I could make out very few features of the blonde boy other than his basic outline, even the colour of his band was invisible. "They went to all the trouble of making sure we survived the bloodbath...they want a show from us if they wanted people to vanish, they would have done it by now." The short mass that was sat next to him, who I assumed was Chrisjen, hummed in agreement.

A hand hooked around my neck and despite my small scream, pulled me in close. It was only when they pulled me into their chest, that I recognized the smell of Linden. "For now, at least, all of us are alive and healthy-"

"And hungry," Chrisjen grumbled. I felt Linden smile into my hair.

"But alive...most you can be thankful for in the Games."

Nicholas Davenport, 16

District Four Male, Pair Four

Paired With Akhal Breker

The rest of the Tributes were starting to fall silent when the well-known sounds of parachutes echoed through the woods. The most lively anyone had been since the bloodbath as the pairs jumped to their feet as floating lights slowly headed towards camp. As they drifted, ever so slowly over to the flags, drawn to them and more times than not fell into the hands of a happy pair of Tributes. There was at least one crate for everyone yet some, like Paisley and Ezra's, were larger than the others. Sadly, even with the added light of the boxes, it was impossible to see the supplies of any other pair but my own alliances had received.

I watched on with a smile as Akahl tore through the box, like a child on their birthday, eager to look at every item she had been sent. It wasn't much but for a Tribute in the Games, it was a good haul. We had received three first aid kits, a new pair of shoelaces, a box of matches, painkillers, a shirt, packet of rice, bottled water, a water cleaning kit, and dried food. As Akhal finished looking through the crate, I opened up and looked through the stuff in the first aid kit. It was the normal stuff, plasters, bandages, needle and thread and two antiseptic wipes. Nothing special but all a luxury in the Games.

"What did everyone else get?"

"Socks, matches, purification kit and dried food!" Mikeo piped up, maybe a little too loudly but neither he nor June had anything that would put a target on their back. Slowly we turned to look at Althea who after a bit of a fumble, leaned over to look at her crate by Frederick.

"Erm, we got a shirt, set of shoe laces...matches, dried food and-"

"And a jacket," a coatless Frederick intervened, gesturing towards Qanom and Hyacinth who were taking a lot of notice in our supplies.

"Can we help you?" I asked, cocking my head to the side. Both boys smiled back.

"We were just checking out the competition...but by the looks of it, we don't have anything to worry about," Qanom hissed, looking to Frederick for a response. The boy was clearly hiding something valuable but thankfully, he did not rise to the two boys who quickly turned away to tend to their own supplies.

Hours past and soon everyone but a select number of people on watch were asleep. We had used one of the shirts and a match to start ourselves a fire that had grown to a rather bashful size. It wasn't the biggest but it was enough to keep us warm. In odd places, people had also created their own fires, their own guards visible through the flickering flames. Across from me, facing behind me was Frederick who looked sleepy and annoyed by the situation but I was thankful he had allowed the girls and Mikeo to sleep.

He kept looking behind me and after a while sighed, looking over to Qanom who stood guard by Hycanith's sleeping form. "Do you think he can hear us?" he asked.

I shook my head. "Not if you whisper...is it about what you got?"

Frederick sighed, giving a nod. "Yeah, I think it's from that blue star I got-"

"What is it?" I asked, moving to the point before anyone got wind of what we were talking about.

"A crossbow-"

"Bloody hell," I mumbled, taking in what Frederick had said. "Is it hidden?"

"As safe as it can get here," Frederick grumbled. "I was excited at first but...it's put a target on my back, hasn't it?"

I didn't answer, losing myself in thought. Cracking my knuckles absentmindedly. "Do you think anyone else got a weapon?"

Frederick shook his head. "Not the Career's at least...they would have waved them about by now. His gaze flickered over to Beckham and Ezra who stood guard by the Careers. Beckham stoked the fire while Ezra looked like he wanted to push the boy in.

"Then it's not something I'd flaunt until the time is right...you put everyone at risk if the Careers know. Even if we can't be killed, they can hurt us...that means you also put Akhal at risk." I looked back at Frederick with little emotion as his eyes widened.

I knew about his past with Akhal, I knew his plan to win with her and go home. That also meant he had to keep her safe and alive until the end. Although it sent a large surge of childlike jealousy when I thought about it, a feeling I did not fully understand, I was willing to manipulate Frederick to protect Akhal as well, so me and her could both go home. I could deal with Frederick when the time came.

Frederick dipped his head and sighed. "I understand."

Stefan Roberts, 18

District Two Male, Pair Two

Paired With Violet Hardgrove

I shivered against the bitter morning air, tearing tiny parts off my sugar energy bar for breakfast. Violet walked behind me, still stinging from me taking the bar and not giving her any. However, Beckham gave her some of his.

In the early hours of the morning, I and Invidia had been on guard, we couldn't help but notice how Ezra and Paisley had moved away from the group, so far we couldn't even see them with the light of the fire. Even now as we walked, they both trailed behind, muttering to each other. This had sparked a conversation between me and Invidia about betrayal. That the Careers were better just the four of us, rather than the pair from one. Right there, around the fire, we morse coded a plan together, to take out Ezra first, then the weaker Paisley the moment the killing ban was lifted, catch them off guard. We felt the same thing was going to happen to us if we didn't act. Sadly, we never got to touch on the subject of Violet and Beckham's thoughts on the matter as every Tribute was awoken to the sound of a siren once more. It carried on for just over a minute then Zircon bid us all good morning. He told us to get ready and follow the red flags that would become visible in the morning light. We had an hour, any stragglers would be punished.

So every Tribute scrambled to get ready and sure enough, when the sky started to lighten, red flags pinned to the thick tree's started to become visible. Lead by Niko's group, who were closest, we followed the markers deeper and deeper into the forest until we came to a large, violently flowing river. On the banks was a mound with twelve boxes, full of tangled rope that lead underground.

As we crowded around the area, Zircon spoke once more but this time with a flash of venom in his voice.

"Welcome to the first event of seven you will face. In these events, your relationship with your partners will be tested to the extreme, only the most loyal and in love pairs will survive these three rounds. Between the two of you, you will need brains, strength, knowledge on the other and the will to survive. Only the pair that embodies these traits will get through to the final. In each event, the pair who fails to complete the task or makes the least amount of progress will be out. This means they will be the pray during the hunts. The hunts are were the rest of the Tributes will hunt and kill the losers. But we will get to the rules of that after the event. In this event, one half of the pair will be in an underground, stone chamber, handcuffed to the ceiling. The other half is above who must untangle the keys and thread them down to their partner underground to free them. Only one key can free their partner from the flooding chamber. No one will die but it is sure to be a shocking experience for the Tributes above land as well as below. The game ends when all Tributes have escaped or the Tributes left inside the chamber have become submerged. Now, after each hunt, there is the chance to gain your pair a head start in the following event. As no hunt has taken place, these head starts will be awarded to the pair with the highest number of coins and the pair that gained the hidden coin. These pairs are as follows, Ahkhal and Frederick with ten stars and Frederick and Althea for finding the hidden blue star. You now have five minutes to decide who is going under, good luck!"

With a static click, Zircon vanished and all attention turned to the two pairs who had gained a head start.

"How many did you get?" I asked Ezra and Paisley who looked angered.

"Nine...thought that was enough," Paisley grumbled.

Invidia shrugged turning the alliance with a sly smile on her face. "These Games are tested on everything a career flaunts. They might have got a head start in these events but how else do you think people will earn a head start from the hunt?" She questioned the group. Beckham seemed to know what she was talking about as he had gone a ghostly white.

"It will be whoever kills the losers," Beckham said with a shaky sigh, the reality of everything hitting home.

"To gain a chance at the events, you need to be the one to make the killing blow...and who is better than killing than a Career?" Invidia laughed, her blood racing with the thought of the chase. "This year, a Career is going home!" And it's going to be me.

First Event: Submerged

Above Ground:

Ezra Arlington (D1M, P1), Violet Hardgrove (D9F, P2), Rory James (D3M, P3), Akhal Breker (D10F, P4), Ellie Nimrod (D3F, P5), Qanom Harkklee (D5M, P6), Cerulean Westwood (D8F, P7), Laura Hope (D12F, P8), Mikeo Nunez (D8M, P9), Invidia Aurel (D2F, P10), Althea Falen (D5F, P11), Chrisjen Dalteir (D7F, P12)

Underground:

Paisley Delacor (D1F, P1), Stefen Roberts (D2M, P2), Psyche Wells (D6F, P3), Nicholas Davenport (D4M, P4), Noelani Palmer (D4F, P5), Hyacinth Rodgers (D12M, P6), Gary Winslow (D6M, P7), Linden Hunter (D7M, P8), June Brony (D11F, P9), Beckham Knox (D9M, P10), Frederick Loophole (D10M, P11), Andrew Strauss (D11M, P12)

Thank you to everyone who asked how my Christmas was, it was ace, thank you!

Depending on what coloured coin they got depends on what level of supplies they got. As seen below. Supplies were chosen at random along with the number of each colour each pair got. I didn't work it so two pairs from the same alliance got the most coin/the hidden one. I knew Frederick and Althea got a head start but I only just counted up the tally and found Akhal and Niko also got a head start. Just trust that it was random. I tried to make everything they could possibly get useful in their own way, it may come in handy, even if it doesn't seem it now. The full supply lists for characters is on the blog venuslove75thhg dot weebly dot com as well as the Arena, alliances and some other things.

Red:

Matches

Nail clippers

Shoe laces

Empty water bottle

Socks

First aid

Yellow:

Rope

Dried food

Beans

Rice

Shirt

Antiseptic wipe

Pain killers

Filled water bottle

Water cleaning kit

Blue:

Tent

Pillows

Chicken

Tinder

Hammock

Coco

Sugar energy bar

Sleeping bag

Extra clothes

Thermal coat.

I honestly hope you like the idea of the events. After they finish, we should have five pairs left (ten Tributes) so we will get to see some full on Tribute on Tribute action and don't worry, I have a lot of things planned for this story. I'm really excited for you all to see some of the events!

Please let me know what you thought of this chapter, I am really interested to hear! What do you think to Niko's manipulation of Frederick? Stefan and Invidia's plan to take out Paisley and Ezra and how do you think they'll do it? What do you think to the seven events? Who do you think will do best in this one? I'd love to know!