Day 1 Night

Janelle Ashton, 13, District 12

"Maybe we should stop and make camp here. The sun is setting this looks like an area that will keep us relatively hidden," Corinne pipped up. She wasn't wrong- the sky had slowly turned from a brilliant blue to a hazy dusk and I knew it wouldn't be long before we were left with no light.

"That sounds like a good plan to me," Raft grinned, as he placed the backpack he had grabbed down next to him, "We need to take turns sleeping- remember last year when those two tributes practically died of exhaustion? I don't want that to be us."

I nodded in agreement but I couldn't help but face the reality of our situation- at the very best only one of us could make it out of this arena alive. But at least for the moment being, I was grateful- Corinne, Raft, and I had all managed to make it out of the Bloodbath fairly unscathed- Corinne was sporting a nasty gash on her thigh (courtesy of the girl from district 1) which we had managed to bandage up with a few strips of the lining from our 'official tribute jackets' while Raft had earned himself a large sunburn on the back of his neck.

I, on the other hand, was just a little banged up from my scuffle with the girl from 6 who successfully fought me for the backpack of unknown supplies. Neither of us wanted to kill one another, and I could appreciate the civility, even if couldn't last much longer. As a group we were a little worse for wear, but at least we were alive and together with some supplies- Raft had managed to pick up a backpack with some food, water, and a small first aid kit, while Corinne managed to nab two daggers.

As we began to settle in between a trifold of trash heaps, the sounds of Capitol music filled the air and the images of all the fallen tributes soon graced the sky- the boys from districts 9 and 8 were first, followed by the pair from 5, before ending with the girl from 10. I was surprised that girl from ten had met death- I didn't see her at the Cornucopia and couldn't help but wonder if she had been killed by another tribute...or perhaps something far more sinister.

"So, dinner time?" I asked finally breaking the silence, none of us had eaten anything since the early hours of the morning and now seemed liked better a time than any to regain some nutrients.

Unpacking three rolls of bread, Raft handed each of us a roll. Corinne and I shared a look as I couldn't help but laugh, "We're going to be all out of food in days if we eat like this," I explained to Raft, warmly, "Here," I said as I broke my piece into three approximately equal pieces, before rummaging through the backpack for the piece of jerky, tearing it into similar pieces, "This should be sufficient for tonight," I stated, returning the other two rolls to the backpack.

Raft frowned, "Won't you guys be hungry?" he asked, worriedly.

"I've eaten less," I admitted before inhaling the piece of bread as I seemed to do with all food, here in the Capitol.

Corinne chuckled, before biting into the tough jerky, "Me too. But don't worry, if we find more supplies later, we can increase our rations. The other tributes aren't the only things we have to worry about."

Raft smiled, "What would I do without you guys?"

"You know, I think the three of us would have been friends if you two came from district 11," Corinne responded, "not to mention, Janelle would probably be the prettiest girl in my entire school..." she quickly trailed off, her face turning slightly red as mine did the same.

"That's really sweet, Corinne," I grinned, before it was replaced with a slightly sadder smile, "I really do wish we could have met under better circumstance though..."

"You two would love district 6- my parents own the railway station and I know where they keep the extra Capitol food which doesn't get eaten in the dining cars before they resell it to my district. We could have a feast,' Raft replied, his eyes getting wide before he paused, and stuck his hand into his pocket, pulling out a fragile piece of paper, "This is the ticket from my first train ride ever," he explained before tucking the ticket, safely back in his pocket. The brightly colored ticket had faded slightly, but it was clear that the memory meant a lot to him.

"I'm afraid my token isn't nearly as interesting, but it is my good luck charm" I added before I slid up my sleeves revealing the bracelet which my sister had given to me for my last birthday. In comparison to Raft's ticket, my bracelet was shiny and new- the closest thing I had ever owed to real Capitol fashion.

Corinne's eyes filled with wonder as she examined the piece of jewelry, "Wow! It's really beautiful," she replied in awe, "I don't have token, myself, but yours are seriously amazing."

That made my heart hurt, looking from my bracelet to Corinne, then back at my bracelet and slipped the piece of jewelry off my wrist, "Here, Corinne, consider it yours."

"I can't take this from you," she quickly responded, shaking her head.

"I mean, I could give it to Raft but I don't think he's appreciate it as much," I joked lightly, as I nudged the gift towards her.

Raft chuckled, matching my grin, "Sorry Corinne, I have to agree with Janelle on this one."

Slipping the bracelet on to her own wrist, Corinne wrapped her arms tightly around me, "Thank you. This means more to me than you'll ever know."

"Everyone needs a little good luck in their corner."

Gemma Merlot, 17, District 1

I gritted my teeth, unable to sleep as I listened to Dillon and Valour strategize. They had decided to take the first watch while Nemo and I slept, but my hatred toward Dillon combined with my rising paranoia prevented me from truly falling into a state of rest.

"I saw them go past those cars, if I'm right they should be two far off. If we can ambush them now, they'll be surprised and won't be able to fight back...no that they'll realize be a challenge anyways," Valour explained, drawing a path in the sand with his machete. From my angle, it was barely visible, especially as our only light source was the dim lamps which sat in the Cornucopia along with the sliver of moonlight illuminating the sky.

Dillon seemed to agree with whatever Valour was saying, "We should go now, we don't want to lose their location."

Those snakes! They were going to leave us here to go off and make some skills. I refused to let that happen, so I quickly popped up.

"And where do you think you two are going?"

The pair of them froze in their steps, as I glared at them with great contempt, "I'll tell you what, you let me come with you and I won't tell Kraken that you two were planning to betray us on night 1."

"Well, we can't just leave him behind, alone," Valour responded, crossing his arms.

I shrugged and rolled my eyes, "Alright, since you're suddenly so eager to protect him, you stay."

"Will you two get over yourselves and make a decision? Or I'll leave by myself," Dillon interjected, the moonlight sharpening his already sharp features.

I crossed my arms stubbornly, "Well, I'm not staying, whoever wants to join me can join me." With that I slipped my backpack over one shoulder, picked up my axe, took one look at the image Valour had drawn in the sand and began walking away from the Cornucopia. I heard a bit of quiet arguing before Dillon slowly joined me. This was perfect. Not only could I have the opportunity to make my first kill, I could add the boy from Two to my list.

While killing the pair from Two was my priority, I knew I would have to be patient but if after we rid ourselves of this so-called 'underdog' alliance, I could make a move and return to the other saying Dillon was killed as collateral damage. My plan was almost too perfect.

"Do you even know where you're going?" Dillon asked, as I began to pick up my pace, moving from a brisk walk to a light jog. I needed to do something to release some nervous energy and Dillon seemed to keep up well enough.

Looking over at him, I smiled, "What do you think?"

He didn't seem to respond, so I took his silence as a gift and made no effort to continue the conversation. As we made it about a mile and half into the arena, I heard shuffling, motioning to Dillon, we both crept toward the sounds, noticing a small opening in between three stacks of junk. Looking, I saw the boy from 6 awake, apparently on guard, while the girls from 11 and 12 were dead asleep.

As I hid myself behind a stack of old metal, I cringed as I accidentally knocked a coil down, causing it to crash next to my feet.

"Corinne, Janelle, wake up!" the boy from six exclaimed as the two girls arose. "Who's out there?" he yelled, holding out a dagger, as his arm shook, his eyes wide with fear.

Dillon and I may have been outnumbered, three to two but our training and experience made us far superior fighters, so I knew I would be no match. Looking at Dillon, we made eye contact before we both charged towards the other tributes, wordlessly.

Dillon made the first move, throwing his spear at the girl from 12. He managed to hit her square in the chest as she stumbled backwards before falling down to the ground. A cannon sounded as I set my targets on the girl from 11. Gripping my axe tightly, I did my best to make out her shadow in the dim lighting before lining up my shot and throwing it with all my might.

I narrowly missed, rushing over to grab my axe. I hadn't realized how difficult this would be in the dark.

Closing in on the girl and lining up my next shot, determined not to fail again, I bid my time drawing the girl in closer before striking again- this time hitting my mark. The axe hit her neck and her eyes widened in pain before she, too crumbled to the ground writhing in pain before her body finally stilled and the second cannon boomed through the arena.

Picking up my axe from the girl's body, I found my opportunity- Dillon was distracted with the boy from 6 and if I managed to get my shot right, I could get him right now. Whatever happened, I would have to throw a killshot. Besides my experience was with axes, I still was uncomfortable throwing in the dark, but I refused to let such a perfect opportunity go to waste.

Chest heaving, I found Dillon's figure in the near distance and aimed in his direction, chucking the axe, desperately. Dillon's loud howl filled the air and the boy from six took my distraction as an opportunity to scramble away. As I approached Dillon, I quickly realized I had only hit his arm- he was far from dead and very, very angry. This was not good at all.

Before I could give him a chance to counterattack, I grabbed the girl from 12's dagger and her bag of supplies and headed off in the opposite direction, not daring to look back. I had my opportunity and I missed.

It was the end of day 1 and I was on my own now.

a/n: So there's the end of Day 1. I'm not sure if I like the two pov structure or three pov structure better, so I'll be playing around with that in the upcoming chapters. I think it'll honestly depend on the events occurring. Anyways, I doubt these two death were particularly surprising, but here are the Eulogies.

Eulogies:

Janelle: Janelle was a character I had to make to fill the d12 girl spot, so that's essentially why her story had to end here. She was sweet and war and in away, reminded me a lot of my own 13 year old self XD. I especially loved writing her PoV this chapter and that was my sendoff gift to her.

Corinne: Honestly, like Janelle, Corinne was another character I had to make to fill up an empty spot, but none the less I loved writing her but because she was a filler, this was where her story had to end. I loved making her and expanding her out, so RIP, Corinne.

1. What did you think of the deaths?

2. Favorite PoV of the chapter?

3. Who are you rooting for now?

I love you guys! Your reviews are seriously all that a girl could ask for. - Cass

Placement List:

Winston Grainelle, District 9, Placed 24th- Stabbed by a billhook by Valour Porter

Tennor Blankette, District 8, Placed 23rd- Sword to the chest by Nemo Warnock

Davina Gage, District 5, Placed 22st- Stabbed with a sword by Atom Beaker

Atom Beaker, District 5, Placed 21nd- Hit by knife thrown by Davina Gage

Aisling Shepherd, District 10, Placed 20th- Killed by Toxic Waste in Oasis

Janelle Ashton, District 12, Placed 19th- Impailed by a spear by Dillon Ricci

Corinne Orchid, District 11, Placed 18th- Hit with an throwing axe by Gemma Merlot