(It was around this time that the Faith/Symonn 'Love Story' song came to be...

And I said; Romeo, please go and stab some nails into my face,

I love you so, please come and smash my brains,

You'll take me down to your torture chamber,

It's a Love Story, baby I just brained ya'...

Lyrics by SapphireOceans and ShakespearsLilBrova.

Happy days...:D)

Part XIII

Frantically searching for an adequate hiding place, Aurora's eyes rested on a large oak tree directly in front of her, protected by a cluster of bushes.

Aurora tossed her rucksack into a hollow hole inside the tree, and, using the hole as a footrest, vaulted up into the branches. She climbed quickly and silently until she was completely concealed by the leafy branches, and then chanced looking down below her.

Sure enough, the voices were coming closer, and it was not long before three other tributes entered the clearing. She clutched one of the sturdy branches, determined to remain undetected. For some reason, though, they seemed to be coming closer. Cat broke away from the group and made her way through the bushes, then peered curiously at the tree. Aurora held her breath, not daring to give away even the all-but-silent sound of her breathing.

It didn't take long for them to discover the hole- it took even shorter for them to discover her backpack. If the situation had not been so life-threatening, she would have screamed in frustration of herself- how could she have been so stupid? Now she had no way to purify water, no way to light fires, and no means of defending herself. Without that small bag, she had, literally, no chance of survival.

-x-

Summer sighed, she wasn't good at anything. She was just another piece of weird meat.

Acacia smiled at Summer and passed her some of the berries.

Summer smiled back, accepting the berries. "We should look for some more food...and maybe a spear, I'm actually good with them."

"I can't use any weapon..." Acacia bit her lip. "I learned a couple of snares and I know a load of berries that are edible..."

"What about the training centre? Didn't you learn more things there?"

"Um. I'm okay at hand to hand, as I have quick reactions" She shrugged. "I learnt a few basic things." She looked through her bag again and pulled some wire out.

"Cool." Summer admitted, "What's with the wire though?"

Acacia got to work setting a simple snare.

Summer sighed once more, kicking a rock out of boredom. She looked around again, memorising the way the trees were lined up and the way the ground looked undisturbed under her feet.

"Are we camping around here?" Acacia asked

"Well, Cat can't go any further, so yeah. Do you know how to make a camp that won't be seen or something like that?" Summer asked

"In the trees sounds safest." Acacia mused. "I'm going to set these up a little way from here, see if we can get anything,"

"I'm not sure that's extremely good idea; what if someone attacks you?" Summer asked, concerned.

"If we hide in the leaves, no one will see us. And we could all be packed and ready, on our guard, to run."

"Yeah, that works. But, what about you and the snares, isn't it dangerous to go out there alone?"

Acacia chewed her lip. "I'll be okay..." She said confidently, "I'll be right back." She stood up and ran off, leaving her backpack.

Summer stared at the backpack for a moment. Then she decided to build camp.

Cat looked around the clearing. "There's some bushes there...we could hide in there."

Summer nodded, helping Cat up. Cat smiled gratefully at her and walked over to the bushes. She crouched down and began to carefully make her way through them, to the oak tree at the centre of the cluster. "Hey...There's a hole here..."she tried to slither through the hole in the tree. It was thin crack, just big enough for her to fit. She stood up inside the hollow centre.

"A hole? What the hell?" Summer looked at the bush weirdly.

"It's hollow in here..." Cat said, her voice echoing strangely." Nothing in here though. Just space I think..." she said, exploring the tree. "No..wait..."

"What is it?" Summer asked

"Like...a bag..." Cat said, pulling it out by the strap.

Summer stared blankly at the tree, "Is there enough space for me to go in?"

Cat wriggled out. "You could try...It's quite a small hole though."

"What about the bag?"

Cat reached in again and pulled it out. "Here." She tossed it too Summer.

Summer unzipped it.

Acacia walked for 10 minutes before setting up the snares and sprinting back. She gathered all the berries and her bag. She froze as she heard the first canon.

-x-

Faith wiped her bloody sword on some grass and sheathed it, stepping away from the bodies. She sorted through the goods. Oops. She'd realized that she was now probably the only career left. So much for that plan...With a laugh she began sorting through things she'd want from the stash of things left. Faith grabbed two shoulder bags and one backpacks, evening her weight. She filled the backpack with the most important things, making sure she had plenty, then filled her shoulder bags with other things she'd need. She then stuffed bags with food, water and other important things, burying them near a large tree and covering all evidence. She tied her katana sheath to her belt with some string, then picked another sword, tied that to her belt and aligned her jacket with different knives. She filled and purified all her bottle from a short stream then piled up anything she didn't want. She covered it in netting, covered it in oil and light a match, planning to get rid of the rest of the supplies she didn't need or have space for.

-x-

Cressie finally had to stop running. She collapsed, coughing madly. Come on, breathe! she ordered herself. Honestly, what could be more humiliating than to be the only tributes in history to cough themselves to death?

After almost ten minutes, Cressie slowly sat up. She looked weakly into her bag. A few slices of some sort of anonymous meat. Fresh, not dried, so if wouldn't keep. Some vegetables, which were prepared in a style Cressie believed was called "freeze dried". Cressie found a small knife, which was redundant since she'd grabbed one right after the backpack. She found a roll of bandages and a needle and thread. Somehow, she got the feeling she wouldn't be using them to stitch clothing.

No water, no bottle, and no iodine. Cressie rocked back onto her heels, biting her bottom lip. She'd need to set up camp at a water source, apparently. Now to find one...

-x-

Faith had a certain feeling so far, she was the most prepared. Now where to sleep tonight... Unwillingly, her eyes skidded to the cornucopia... too risky, she told herself. Way too risky. She sighed, and wandered over to the mountains, deciding today to not go far as the others would think there would be a career pack, and they would have run. She smiled and found a small cave in one of the nearest and smallest mountains. She was just about to settle herself when the anthem blared and the first picture appeared in the sky. Roy first, then Orchid.

-x-

Jasper finally made it to the trees. He had cut straight across the field where the cornucopia stood, only stopping to watch the sky light up with the people who had died today. He only recognized one face. It was that scary girl from the interviews, Orchid. Jasper sighed in relief. Thank heavens he'd never have to go up against her. Jasper scrambled up a tree on the outskirts of the forest, closest to the mountain range. As soon as he found a supply of water, Jasper was going to head back to his cave. Constantly moving would stop people from finding him.

He yawned and shivered. It was kind of cold tonight. He looked up and continued to climb his tree, finally finding a bend where he could rest for the night. Settling down, Jasper secured his small back pack in a hollow in the tree, before curling up in his sleeping bag. Jasper silently prayed that he wouldn't fall out in his sleep; there was nothing that bound him to the tree, and it was a long way down.