Thanks to our new reviewer, DiedLaughing. XD Sorry for not updating! We're trying!

Disclaimer:

Me: Evenade, you say it!

Evenade: OMG, so like, if we, like, totally owned the Hunger Games, it would be, like, so cool! Then, like, we'd make enough money to totally fund my, like, totally awesome jewelry and makeup!

Me: Idiot... well, let the Games continue!

Sizing Up All The Idiots I'm Against

Birch Fall's POV

First things first. My name is Birch. Birch Fall. I am twelve years old. I got picked for the reaping. In general, my life sucks.

I walked into the training arena, clutching the end of my shirt in nervousness. If I was to survive, I would have to learn most of this stuff. I first spent some time learning about plants. I knew most of them - in District 7, my mother constantly reminded me of the different flowers, leaves, trees... Just thinking about it wanted to make me start tearing up. But in front of the cameras, I had to be strong.

I pointed out and sorted the plants into two piles, the guy who taught the plant section looking over my shoulder and nodding in approval. Dock for scratches, juniper for aches and cramps, and marigold for fever. Then, of course, there was nightlock leaves, nightshade, and deathberries to worry about. All deadly. The one plant that really caught my eye was moonthistle. I'd never seen one until just now. It was small, with curled stems, and silvery white flower petals, which were shaped like a hibiscus. They looked nice... but were they useful? I took a small knife and made a tiny cut on my thumb very carefully. Ouch.

I chewed the leaves and spit it on the cut. It immediately stopped hurting. Gotta remember that one. Then, I began to walk to the other stations. Honestly, I wasn't super excited about trying to lift a heavy mace or try to cleave someone through with a battle axe. I was only twelve. I couldn't do that kind of stuff. No, I'd leave that to that show-offy blonde guy who was

twirling an axe like a small stick. If only I was bigger, I would at least have a chance.
But I did have some smarts in me. After I had finished learning about the plants and how to tie knots, I decided to waste time in the long-range weapons section. At the same time, I would analyze all the other tributes. If I was to survive, I would have to learn and know my enemies. I was no good with a bow - I couldn't pull a bowstring very far, but I was pretty good when it came to throwing darts and I also could hit the target every time with a small knife. Not bad, but it wasn't like they had darts in the Cornacopia. Or a ton of small knives.

By then, I noticed the District 11 girl. She was in the same station as me. The District 11 girl picked up a bow and then smiled. She grabbed a few arrows and began shooting the dummy. Most of the arrows found their mark on the dummy's head, but some missed. Hmm... I would have to kill her first. She would be dangerous competition. But I noticed she was sometimes glanced around nervously while she was shooting and pause often. That meant she was reluctant to kill, weak in a way. By the way she acted, I could tell she wouldn't shoot someone like me, someone small and weak. All the better.

I spied on the weaker tributes less carefully, just noting the weapons they favored right now. I noticed the District 3 boy was in the mechanic section, but he had a club with him. A club, eh? Like that was going to kill me. It would be simple to counter and dodge. Then again, never underestimate your opponents. Maybe he was skilled with it in some way.

I saw the District 5 pair practicing against each other experimentally. The giggly girl was using a rapier, and the boy held a large broadsword. The girl was an average fighter, nothing I couldn't deal with, and the boy was too. However, the District 5 girl was a little bit smarter in choosing her weapon; I could tell the boy was holding a badly balanced and heavy sword just by the way it drooped in his hands.

Monica, a girl from another District which I wasn't so sure of, was experimentally throwing javelins and throwing axes. She sucked with the javelins, but she wasn't too bad with the throwing axes. But most of the time, the handle of the axe would hit the dummy instead of the blade.
I went to the sword section, and saw a brunette slashing at a dummy with a... I wasn't sure what it was. It was a sort of sword, I guess. But I recognized the girl. I knew her. Dusk. She was different from the other Careers. Less... mean. Not as sadistic. But she had something strange about her. Not something I understood. Dusk was very skilled with her swords. I couldn't extract more information from her attitude. Ah well. Chances were I wouldn't kill her. Then, I turned toward the Careers, my worst opponents.

The District 4 girl was stabbing with a spear. She was good. Though she was right handed (I could tell by the way her right hand was gripping the top of the spear), she tended to attack at the left side. Weird. Probably to keep her opponents off balance. I would remember that if I fought her. Not that I would really stand a chance though.

The Career boys relied totally on strength. They didn't have any brains, except maybe for the District 1 guy. Really, all the attacks were totally unoriginal. Just a simple slash here, or a bash there. Not something hard to dodge, I guess. I would stand a chance against any of them, probably, if I had a decent weapon. I had to learn to fight.

However, the District 2 girl was a completely different matter. Her attacks were very graceful and swift. Within thirty seconds, she had stabbed, beheaded, and slashed a dummy to a point of unrecognition. It looked like a huge, unravelled toilet roll. If I was against her... no chance. She was fast, skilled, original, and strong. No chance. Hopefully, the other Careers would destroy her before she killed everyone else. Like me.

Then, a whistle thrilled a long scream, signifying the end of the training session. Great! After a few more panic attacks, I would get to learn how to kill everyone in the room later.

I Get a New Stalker

Dusk Saphira's POV

As I slashed the dummy again with my katanas, I noticed a small girl watching me with round, hazel eyes. I didn't stare at her back, but I certainly felt her round pools of eyes boring into my back. Those innocent round, staring eyes. What was she looking at?

When I turned around to glare at her, I noticed she was watching someone else. Good. I knew what she was doing. I think. That little girl was observing us, looking for weak points. I wouldn't show any then. I whirled around and beheaded the dummy I had been practicing against. If I had to kill that little girl, hopefully it would be that fast.

The whistle blew out. Lunch time. I dropped my katanas, and ran at full speed toward the dining hall, away from that little girl with those huge eyes. She creeped me out, in a way. There were three tables in the dining hall, all filled with food. The Careers walked over, arguing, laughing, and talking at the table with the most food. Not surprised, I guessed. Especially for that fatty from District 2.

"Hey," one of the girls called. "Why don't you join us?" I looked around and noticed she was staring at me. Eep.

"...me?"

"Yeah. Duh."

I walked over cautiously. When it came to Careers, there was no telling what would happen. She smiled and gestured for me to sit by her. The girl's smile was so false. I thought of Charity Arketa. They did look alike. With a little bit of altering, tweaking the pitch of the voice, dying hair and curling it, and as a final touch, adding a small wart on her nose, Sara was ready to become an Arketa clone.

"Hey, I'm Sara. That's Laurel, Derrick, and Claude." She pointed to each of the Careers before turning back to me. I wondered why she bothered. I mean, I already knew them. Paris had already blabbed off about how awesome the Career pack was, and how he owned them all, and how he was the merciless leader. Yeah, right. "And of course you know Paris. He's been talking about you so much." Sara smirked and turned to swat Paris.

"Shut up," Paris and I muttered at the same time. He frowned at me and raised his eyebrows. I flushed a bit and glared back. He cowered a little at my death glare. Good.

"All right. Enough with those stupid introductions. They make me sick. Honestly!" Laurel rolled her eyes and interrupted my thoughts, "What's with the 'Hi! My name is blah-blah! I'm a stupid purple three-footed monster with pink polka dots and buck teeth!'? It's totally lame." She flipped back her long curled hair and turned her eyes on me. They slitted. Honestly, the idea of the "stupid purple three-footed monster with pink polka dots and buck teeth" was really starting to remind me of a certain someone. Probably Paris. Or Laurel. Both were possible choices.

"Let's get down to business. Are you going to join the Career pack? There certainly are some advantages. More supplies, an alliance. Not to mention the fact that you get to kill anyone in your path." Here she smiled evilly. How could she enjoy killing people? The only reason I was in the Games was because a stupid accident.
I did consider the benefits and downfalls of joining the Career pack. I really did. It could help me survive longer. But I knew my answer. I didn't want to be as bloodthirsty as any of them. Anyways, I loathed Careers. Especially when that idiot Hector Troy killed my sister.

"No."

Laurel stopped smiling at me and snarled, "What did you say?" Her eyes were shooting daggers while her hand twitched toward a nearby butter knife. To stab me, no doubt. Wonderful! I thought. I get to be skewered before the Games actually start. How lucky is that?

"No." I got up and just walked away. It was sort of childish, but I couldn't think of anything else to say. Instead, I sat next to the small girl who was watching me earlier. She was sitting across the District 11 girl.

The little twelve-year-old turned toward me. Her face broke into a shy grin. "Oh. Hi," she said in a light voice. "You must be Dusk." Wait. She knew my name? Creepy. Wow, she really was a stalker.

"I've been watching you. You're a great fighter."

"Um... thanks." I wish she'd cut the flattery. I wasn't going to drop anything to this girl. She was trying to kill me. She wasn't as innocent as Dawn. Or was she? Was I just imagining it?

"What kind of sword were you using?" she asked innocently. But I saw through her plan

"That's none of your business." I spoke a bit sharper than I meant to, but really, it wasn't any of her business.

"Okay," she replied happily. "I understand if you don't want to tell me anything. It must be a huge secret! Wait a second... I think I saw those eyes before! Was your mother or your brother or your sister in the Games? Must be. Probably died, since I have no idea a victor was like that. You look familiar."

"Shut up," I snapped. That really hit a nerve.

"Okay! Shutting up!" she smiled cheerfully. Nothing was going to make this girl unhappy. Honestly, you'd think she had more sense, especially in the Games. Crazy stalker lady. She didn't say anything after that. She just kept eating and got up. "Well, I'll see you around, Dusk. By the way, I'm Birch." She left.

I waved, and then dropped my hands. I sure screwed that up. I could have asked for an alliance with her. I mean, she did look like she could take care of herself. And above that, she was intelligent. How typical of me to mess it up. Ah well. Training time again. I'd pretend the dummies were Paris. That whole idea of stabbing and destroying Paris would totally made my day.

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