Author's Note: Thank you guys so much for reading! Sorry this took so long! I've been pretty busy… I know these probably won't measure up to the last one, but I'll give it a shot. :) Anyway, a long one first, and then a really short one, so at least it balances out! :{D

-Wjiaei

Eleven

Katniss and Peeta were walking through the forest, Peeta rambling about his stupid boy scouts. Katniss had long since tuned him out. And if he was killed by a career or fell down a hole and Katniss didn't hear it? She might actually be happy in the arena for once. Why wouldn't he stop following her?

Just then, a slim girl jumped from the branches above, landing right in front of Katniss and Peeta silently. "Hello Katniss," she stood straighter, a dark red fox walking up to stand by her side.

"Rue," Katniss glared.

"Hi guys! I'm Peeta!" Peeta exclaimed, running forward to shake Rue's hand and chasing off the fox.

The two women turned away from glaringat one another to glare at Peeta instead. "We have a common enemy, then," Rue nodded and reached out to shake Katniss' hand. Katniss complied, smiling evilly. "Follow me," Rue turned, stalking back towards a willow tree. Katniss hesitated; could this be a trap? Peeta didn't even stop to think, bounding forward like a child, he even ran in front of Rue in his eagerness to get to the tree.

Katniss rolled her eyes. At least if Rue wanted to kill them (which she probably did) she would go for Peeta first, out of annoyance, giving Katniss time to escape.

Against her better judgment, Katniss slowly walked through the branches to find… a rope ladder? Peeta was already climbing up, Rue standing at the base, groaning and glaring at Peeta.

Katniss looked past Peeta to see where the rope ladder went. What she saw made her gasp. It was… uh… what was it? The ladder led to a small deck, with a sort of wood house on top of it. Bridges, ladders, and planks led off to places Katniss couldn't see, into other trees. It was a whole city made of tree houses!

"Welcome to my humble abode," Rue said dryly. Katniss couldn't really tell if she was trying to be funny or not.

"Did you build all of this?" Katniss gasped, turning in circles to stare at the marvel of architecture.

"Yup! Nobody has been bothering with me, so I had some free time on my hands!"

Katniss climbed the rope in awe, looking around with big, childlike eyes. Rue was quick behind her, pulling the ladder up behind them as they reached the wooden platform. Rue led them into the little house in the tree. Inside was a sparsely decorated room, with one large wood bed, a couch, and three chairs. "Please, sit," Rue gestured to the chairs with a bored look on her face.

Katniss sat down tensely, feeling awkward and out of place. Peeta just sat with a stupid grin on his face. "This is awesome!" He exclaimed.

"So… um… how are you, Rue?" Katniss asked, feeling as if she had to break the uncomfortable silence.

"We need to win these games, okay, Katniss?" Rue replied abruptly, "I say we kill the careers."

Katniss was taken aback, "Um… alright. Uh, how exactly?

"Do you mind getting something for me, Katniss? I would like it very much if you would please just walk over the little bridge right outside this door. Over there are some refreshments – would you please bring them here?" Rue requested, changing the subject wildly.

"Um… sure, yeah," Katniss stood uneasily and walked out the door to cross the bridge.

"Peeta?" Rue asked very sweetly.

"Yeah Rue?" Peeta replied excitedly.

"Could you hold this for me while I go get something for us to eat?"

"Yeah!" He took the small round thing from her, not even asking what it was, and sat back, satisfied that he was "helping".

"But whatever you do Peeta, do not press this button!" Rue pointed at a large red button on the small round thing. Peeta nodded vigorously, promising he wouldn't press it.

Rue flashed a gorgeous smile at him and stood, sweeping out of the house.

A few minutes later, Rue found Katniss lost in her tree house metropolis. "What are you doing here? I thought you wanted me to grab something for us to drink… but I got lost!" Katniss exclaimed when she saw Rue.

Before Rue could reply, a loud boom shook the arena. "What was that?" Katniss asked, staggering backwards from the blast.

Rue giggled somewhat evilly, and in a sing-song voice, crooned, "Peeta pressed the red button…"

Twelve

The three tributes crouched in the bushes, observing the Cornucopia full of swords, knives, bows, guns, explosives, boxes, food, backpacks, flashlights, torches, potatoes, lampshades, sleeping bags, bobble heads, human limbs, tennis balls, fake turkeys, dog toys, rocket launchers, banjoes, movies, cabbages, fire hydrants, Spanish speakers, soccer balls, giraffes, clocks, bazookas, wigs, disco balls, fireworks, cats, computers, cellos, chinchillas, dancing shoes, nuclear missiles, French books, nail polish, grass, flutes, dogs, ukuleles, and bendy straws. It was curiously unprotected. Rue and Katniss puzzled over what to do. Well, at least Katniss did. It was hard to tell what Rue was thinking.

Suddenly, Peeta pushed past the two young women, running straight for the unguarded pile. "BANANA CAAAAAAAAKE!" Peeta screamed, waving his hands in the air and running for the one banana cream cake in the whole pile, sitting out in the open on one of the cellos. He made it all the way to the pie unscathed. Reaching up, he grabbed the pie, and began to run in excited circles around the pile. "BANANA CREAM PIE! MOOHAHA! IT'S MIIIIIIIIIIIIINE!" Just then, Katniss and Rue heard some rumbling from beneath Peeta's feet. Peeta gave no indication that he'd heard, and continued to run in circles. Suddenly and violently, the ground exploded, making Peeta explode as well. Katniss and Rue jerked back automatically as they were splattered with banana cream pie and bits of cellos. One sliver went right in Katniss's ear, and it started to bleed as she pulled she sliver out, wincing.

"All well," Katniss shrugged, unworried, "at least their supplies are gone. Although I would've liked to have one of those Spanish speakers…"