Hey! Thank you again for your wonderful review!s Love you all!

REMARK: I will mainly follow Legolas and Aragorn. Katniss' experiences in the Games are already described by Suzanne Collins, and I will not be so high-minded to think I can do better. Peeta may occasionally pass by ;)

anani: I fear not. I'm not so into slash. It would totally screw the concept of the Games :P

Arwenia: Perhaps it was a bit evil... *grins* Haha, glad you have come to join us! I'll try to update every week, but since the exams are coming, it is possible that that doesn't work always. Just to warn you ;)

basserandstuff: Well... the Games has begun! :)

clavina: Thank you! Glad you liked it!

Duchess of Night: I hope you didn't forget to breath then... Doesn't seem very healthy to me ;)

Dunedian: Ik was vergeten te antwoorden. ja, ik heb de boeken gelezen, maar slechts eenmaal. de film heb ik tweemaal gezien, en daarvan ken ik dus ook de engelse versie. Vandaar dat dit vooral film-gericht is ;)

Falca: As you wish... the Games has started! :)

TheButterflyCurse996: You're quite threatening, did you know that? Yes... eventually perhaps they might have to... or not :P

Zee: My sentiment exactly ;)

Thirty.

The counting has started. Only thirty seconds until the Games begin. Only thirty seconds before the killing begins. Only thirty seconds before the grass will turn red. I think of Prim. She will be watching right now. I silently promise her not to die here, not in the first hour of the Games.

Twenty-five.

This is it. I am actually in the Hunger Games. I glance at Legolas. My friend catches my gaze and smiles reassuringly. I feel strengthened by this small gesture. We have been through so much. War, dark magic, dangerous forests and collapsing caves. We will get through this too. I return the smile.

Twenty.

Katniss, don't forget what Haymitch said! I silently shout at her. Do not go for the bow! Do not go for the bow! You will die! Do not go for… She looks at me. I quickly shake my head. I hope she follow my advice.

Fifteen.

I can't take the bow. If I run for the bow, I will have to kill children. So I can't take the bow. But if I do, I would be able to protect Aragorn. By killing children. So I better do not take the bow.

Ten.

Prim, do not be afraid. I will not die here. I promise.

Nine.

I look at Legolas and nod with my head towards the western forests. We will take our refuge there.

Eight.

There! That bush. I will hide there, and await the Careers.

Seven.

I scan the woods to take my thoughts of the desirable bow. It's a good forest, open, yet with enough trees to hide one quickly from view.

Six.

The bow is placed there for me. I know.

Five.

My muscles are tight, ready to run.

Four.

If the Careers don't accept me, I am dead.

Three.

The trees are calling me.

Two.

I will go for the bow.

One.

Should I?

All of a sudden, everyone was moving. The Cornucopia, only a second ago so quiet and full of tension, now became a field filled with chaotic shouts and running children. A girl was lying dead on the grass already, with Marvel towering above her. He didn't even cast a second look at her. Sprinting again, he chose another prey and pursued him.

Suddenly, an all too familiar figure came into his view. Katniss! What was she doing? She did not run for the bow, but she also didn't try to run away. He had to warn her.

"Katniss! Get out of there!" The girl quickly turned to him, so he knew that she had heard him, but she didn't react upon his shout. Instead, she started sprinting to a lonely bag that was lying not too close to the Cornucopia.

"Legolas! Tolo!" (Come!) Aragorns voice took the elf out of his immobility. He tore his eyes of the slender girl, silently wishing her the best, and started running alongside Aragorn. In a matter of seconds, they had reached the forest. The rustling shadows welcomed them. They spoke of safety and peace.

They lied.

Just as Legolas started to blend in the green shades, something silvery scraped his arm. Some meters before him, a knife planted in a large oak. With agile feet, Legolas pushed himself away from the tree and kept on running, never slowing even a second. One hand clutched his arm to stop the bleeding. The other held the knife.

Slowly, the noises of the massacre behind them started to fade away. The only sound left was their sprinting footsteps, and their panting.

"Anyone near?" Strider asked. They did not relent while Legolas quickly scanned the area.

"Running, left of us. I think it is Katniss."

"Good. Then she survived."

"Indeed." Leglas' face contorted. "Ai! That must have been painfully. She has just fallen from a quite steep slope," he clarified upon Aragorns questioning gaze.

"Let us go to the right, Legolas. I do not wish to meet her accidentally."

"Why not?" Two pitiful eyes turned to him for a moment, then focused upon the wood again.

"We're in the middle of the Games, Legolas."

"I am not going to kill her!"

"No. You will not." The suggestion was clear, and it shocked the elf. Could it be possible that a game turned a young, brave girl into a cold-blooded assassin? They were silent again, ran on for some minutes. Then, as after a mutual agreement, they started to slow down, until they halted, all senses alert.

"Anyone near?" Aragorn whispered. In a tree, something rustled. Swiftly, they both turned, their bodies tense. A bird flew away.

"Not anymore."

The moments passed. When nothing happened, they started to relax. Aragorn sighed.

"I think we're safe for the moment." Legolas nodded.

"Did you manage to grab some weapons?"

"Nope. Did you?" The elf showed his knife.

"Where did you get – you're hurt!"

"It's just a scratch."

"Off course it is. Let me see it."

"Really, Aragorn, it is nothing." The man took a threatening pose and stretched his arm demandingly.

"Legolas. The Games started not a quarter ago and you're hurt already. Give. Me. Your. Hand."

"Sidh, Estel! Fine!" (Peace). He gave his hand so that his friend could examine the wounds. Meanwhile, he let his senses stretch out to the woods and threw a welcome greet between the trees.

He received no response.

Frowning, the elf focused on an elm nearby, and gasped in surprise. Aragorn looked up, worried.

"Legolas? What is it?" His hand was already feeling for his sword, which he had not.

"The trees…"

"What is it with them?" Legolas stared at his friends with shocked eyes.

"They are not alive." Aragorn blinked surprised and examined the tree. It looked perfectly healthy. The leaves were glossy green, and the trunk was straight and hard.

"I don't see anything amiss. Are you sure?"

"Aragorn, I grew up between the trees. They are not dead… but they are not alive either. They have no Song, Estel." Now the man understood the anxiety of his friend. The Song was primordial for Arda. It flew through everything, every elf, every man, every flower, every river, every tree. He had never heard about a living thing without the Song.

"How can this be?"

"This world. Everything is fake here. The people. The Games. Even nature."

"Tinen, Legolas. Lathroni sì." (Be silent, Legolas. They can hear you.) He had heard of Peeta about the eyes in the Arena. Cameras, the boy had called them. It allowed the Gamemakers to control the Games. Legolas sighed frustrated, but kept his mouth. Swiftly, Aragorn ripped a part from his cloak and bound the wound with it.

"That must suffice for now. Let us be on our way again. I do not wish to tarry long here." Legolas nodded silently. Slower than before, they started running again, keeping themselves alert for any possible danger.

At a sudden, loud bang they both jumped. Legolas knife appeared in a second in his hand. Another bang followed, and then another one. Nine times. The sound resembled the one that had roared through the valley as the wall of Helm's Deep was destroyed by Saruman's dark device.

"What was that?"

"I do not know." Again they stood there, tense, waiting for something to happen. Again, nothing passed.

"Shall we move on?"

"Gladly."

The rest of the day, they marched further into the West, until they made up a camp near a large oak, that would offer them a comfortable hiding place. The few lost hours before sunset, Legolas made a spear for Aragorn out of a sturdy branch, and constructed a bow without a string. He would have to keep his eyes open for a substitution tomorrow. For now, he had to rely on his knife.

Meanwhile, Aragorn managed to find some fruits and mushrooms, and some edible roots and bast. It wasn't the most appetite of dinners they had ever had, but it would fill their stomachs and provide them energy.

When Anor had disappeared almost completely, they climbed the tree. Aragorn choose one of the lower branches to rest upon, a broad, flat one, that gave almost as much safety as a bed. Legolas off course, climbed higher, his face solemn and worried. Usually, the tree would support him, and help him by bowing branches in his direction, but this oak didn't react upon his presence at all. Finally, he found a spot to his satisfaction, and nestled there.

"Sleep well, stubborn Ranger."

"Sleep well, silly Elda."

Legolas closed his eyes, allowing the rustling of the leaves to lull him in sleep. Anor waved one last time, and then he was gone. Precisely at that moment, music filled the Arena. Both Legolas and Aragorn shot up, with the knife and the spear ready, but the threat didn't come from the ground. In the air, an image had appeared, as if the canvas that had been constructed in District Twelve, was floating here. It showed the symbol of the Capitol.

"What devilry is this?" Legolas exclaimed.

"I do not know. Be silent, Legolas." The symbol vanished, and was replaced by faces of the tributes. Legolas recognized all of them. He had helped that girl after she had fallen in the training, though she had refused his hand and had walked away. And that young boy had been so nervous during the interview, that he had torn a rip in his shirt. Fortunately, neither Caesar nor the public seemed to have noticed it. One by one, their photos filled the lifeless sky. Nine times. Then, the light extinguished. For a minute, nothing happened.

"What was that?" Aragorn asked. He looked at Legolas, but the elf didn't see it. He was still staring at the air, as if he feared the symbol would appear again.

"Nine times." Muttering, he repeated those words a few times, as if he couldn't believe them to be true.

"Legolas? Are you alright?"

"Nine times…"

"Legolas!" Hastily, Aragorn began to climb. It was quite uncertain and inelegant, but did manage to reach the branches Legolas was in. The elf still hadn't looked at him. The Ranger laid his hand upon his shoulder.

"Legolas? Please say something. What have they done to you?" Slowly, the elf turned and looked at him with mournful eyes.

"Nine times, Estel. Exactly the number of bangs we heard this afternoon. Exactly the number of the deaths today." Realisation hit Aragorn, and he understood. The bangs apparently marked the passing of one of the tributes.

Nine...

Nine children…

Legolas hid his face in the bark and wept.

So... The Games had begun. Hope you liked it! Please review ;)

xXx Archiril