Disclaimer: I only own Septa

Enjoy

I take a deep breath and choose my target. The idiots are arguing again. They are looking for me again, I know they are. They've killed whoever else they found on the way, but they are hunting me. I beat them all by earning a twelve in training and now I have eluded them for almost two weeks. They've been so focused on me, that there are still twelve of us left. I laugh silently and let the stone fly. I hit the male tribute from District Four in the temple, not who I was intending. But it doesn't kill him anyway. It just makes him stumble. I run. I need a new weapon. Whenever I use the slingshot, they know that it is me and they come running after me. I always barely manage to get away and then I have to go looking for them again. I did manage to trick one tribute by pretending to get water from the stream and they burned from the inside out.

I pull myself into a tree and climb out of sight before they can see me. They pass under the tree. I know that they have the Cornucopia guarded by some trap. I had been spying on them and trying to kill them from a distance. It hasn't worked so far. I haven't seen Joel or his allies from District Eight and neither have I seen them in the sky. Wherever they are, they have hidden themselves well. As I sit and wait for the Careers to pass back underneath me, I count who else is left. Neither have I seen the girl that got the three in training. Districts Five and Six are out. The last tributes from those Districts died last week. All six Careers, Joel, Me, and the tributes from District Eight, one from Seven, and one from Three. Yup, that makes twelve. I look up as a plastic pot comes down. What could this be? I know that I have not received any serious wounds. I snatch the parachute and container from the air just as I hear the Careers coming back for me, seeing if I had hidden along the path.

"She is so infuriating." I hear one of the girls say.

"I want to know how she got that twelve in training. It was not with her hand-to-hand. What can she possibly do that would astound the Gamemakers like that."

"And then claiming that her family discovered the gold that is used. That has got to be a lie."

"She needs to die." A second girl says. "Once we have gotten rid of her, killing the others will be easy."

"We are focusing too much on her." The male tribute from District Four says. "There are twelve of us left. Let's kill the other five and then hunt her down."

Ha! That is hilarious. I know how to kill them now. It'll be easy. I smirk as they walk off and then open the package I received. It's jerky. Never thought I would see that again. I must have a gracious sponsor. I tuck it away and hide the parachute before jumping out of the tree. I walk back to the stream. There were some poisonous plants along it. After they have been dried, I can slingshot packets into them.

I watch the girl from District Two as she patrols the supplies. I quietly take a packet of poison from my sack on my belt. I tore off another piece of my rain jacket to make it. It has proven helpful. I load the slingshot and aim for their food. The packet opens just before hitting the pile. Most of the food is coated with it, but the girl doesn't see it. I take another packet and move to another angle and fire again with the same results. This should kill at least one of them. For good measure, I aim into the air above the food and fire. More poison lands on it, coating the rest. I smile and disappear over the ledge before she comes back. When she is out of sight again, I run back into the forest. I make it as soon as the canon rings out. Is it my kill? I don't know, and I will have to wait until tonight to find out if it was that girl from Two. If it is any of the Careers, I am most likely the cause. I am going to kill them slowly if I can. I'll give them a Game. That's what they want.

I am just getting back into my thicket when two cannons go off in quick succession. Two more deaths. I wonder who they are. It doesn't matter. All I can do is wait for nightfall when they will show them in the sky. Now, there are nine left. Three dead in one day, nine players left and we have been in the arena three weeks.

Joel's POV:

He and his allies ran toward they're hiding place, the Careers right behind them. Only two of them have come hunting them. They hear a single cannon in the distance. Joel stumbled and was caught by the male tribute of District Eight. "We have to stand and fight." He whispered in Joel's ear. Joel nodded as they reach the top of the cliff.

"What do you suggest we do?"

"There is only one thing to do. We have spears."

"True. But I am not a good shot." Joel admitted.

"Lucky for us, I am."

"We only have one."

"That is all we need." The boy took aim and threw the spear with such force that it impaled the male tribute from District One and pinned him to the tree. The male tribute from District Eight fell down before Joel could see what was happening. Two cannons fire in the distance. Joel runs on. The alliance is over. The girl from Eight is on her own having ran off in a different direction once they got onto the cliff. Joel knew that it was no longer safe to go back to their refuge. He would have to find a new one.

Katniss's POV:

She watched as her male tribute ran away from the cliff edge. She wondered how long he would be able to survive without allies. He only had one sponsor and that sponsor had refused to give him anything until he showed he could survive in the arena. On the other hand, Septa had a large pool of sponsors. One had even sent her jerky just the week before. "Don't they know that the Capitol wants her dead?" Katniss wondered as she watched the screen as Septa finally made a second kill. "Of course they don't. If they did, they wouldn't be sponsoring her and would be sponsoring one of the old Careers. What I do want to know is who bet on her to win?"

The television switched to Septa as she gathered more of the poisonous plants. She had done well, surviving on just the bread and her slingshot. It did nothing to kill the others, but it had kept her alive. She wondered if it had been placed at her feet to begin with. He eyes flicked toward the door as one of the other mentors walked back into the control room, a note in her hand. It's the mentor from Eight. They talk in hushed tones and then press a button on the control board. Everyone watched as a small package floated down to the girl from Eight. She smiled slightly and then put it away and kept running. Katniss looked at her own control board and watched her two tributes. She was amazed that they were both still alive. She entertained the thought that maybe the Capitol was going to give her a chance this time. "Maybe they have shown that they will not die easily."

She had been surprised when Joel had told her that he had formed a pack with Eight and that they had considered asking Septa to join them, especially after the Games began and they saw her training score. Katniss had told him it would be better if he didn't. It would add too much pressure to not kill one another if it came to that. She looked up quickly as the sound of gold clashing together disturbed her thoughts. She had been watching it on her personal screen, but she had been too deep in thought. The forty-two year old watched in wonder as Septa held her own against the male tribute from District Four.

"About time." He said.

"Ha! Why have you been watching me?" She countered.

"So you noticed."

"In my position, you do."

Septa's POV:

I defend myself with the gold sword again as the tribute from Four tries to slice me in half. "Why?" I say, meaning why he even gave me the chance to fight.

"I want to know how you got a twelve in training."

"Oh that. I did that by doing what I do best." I say and attempt to hit his sword near the hilt where I know it is weakest. He avoids the attack and I hit his sword at one of the thicker points. I made these two swords the same somehow. I know it. The tip is thin, but the middle is thicker and I cannot understand what I did to make it that way. All the rest have the weight evenly distributed except for at the hilt where I had to make it pliable enough to fit the hilt on and then stamp it. I put the thought out of my mind and attack again. If I try to hit the weakest point again, he'll know what I am trying to do. I need to trick him into making me hit it.

"And what do you do best?" He asks and I hear the flirty tone in his voice. Oh great. That's just great. Best not let him get the chance to say it. I swing again, remembering what Dad taught me. I am not going to let him win. I am not even sure how he found me. "So, how did you kill Violet?"

"The same way I am going to kill the rest of you." I say and attack again, aiming at his midsection. He places his sword so the thickest part is guarding is side where my sword is pointed. I shift slightly and I pierce the weakest point and drive my sword into his abdomen. The blade of his sword falls to the ground, the hilt still in his hand. I pull my sword out and he falls to the ground, spasms wracking his body. "That is what I do best." I say and walk away, sword in hand. Now I have a better weapon courtesy District Four. Two kills for me today, eight tributes left in the Quell. My mind goes back to how he found me. I had been gathering more of the poisonous plants when he showed up. He must have seen that the girl from Two didn't have any weapon marks. But why did he give me a chance to fight. It doesn't make sense. But then again, not much does in the Hunger Games. I find my thicket and get in, but I don't sleep. There are eight of us left and this is the Quarter Quell. There is going to be something to drive us together or the arena us going to change. I know it.

I watch the sky. Joel is still alive, but one of his allies is dead as well as the boy from One. So that leaves the girl from One, the boy from Two, the boy from Three, the girl from Four, the girl from seven, the girl from Eight, me, and Joel. I count them off on my fingers. Eight of us for sure are left. If the other Careers are as stupid as the girl from Two, they should all be dying soon themselves. But, knowing my luck, they won't be as stupid as her. Obviously, they saw the body before it got taken by the hovercraft, or did they? Is it possible that they do not know how Violet died?

I hope you enjoyed this chapter. PLease review.