Okay, I'm sorry! Its been ages since I updated but Writers block is a hard thing to recover from. Seriously, I probably wont quit this story so I knocked out this chapter to see if you guys like the way I'm headed with the story. I'm always open to ideas and comments/ criticism so thanks to all who reviewed- you guys gave me the vital ideas I needed to get out of my slump. However, because of the stupor i'm in about this story, reviews might take longer than usual but dont give up on me!

Thanks to RuneSabre, hahahahahaHAHAnotfunny, Trinity The Crazy, 2laz2login, sk8erchick124, gpeach6, fanfiction to the max (I love Ariel but that was a serious Nudge moment- Love it :D)!

I'll use pretty much all of your ideas but most of them come to play later! Thankyou soo much!

In front of me was the cornucopia, the sunlight reflecting off of its golden exterior. I registered Hans Gunther-Hagen talking but tuned him out as I scoped the arena. As far as I could tell, us tributes semi circled around the cornucopia, on a platform that was slightly raised about a foot higher than the earth surrounding it. Opposite us, a lake semi circled the cornucopia. It stayed about six feet away from the raised edges. There was a sort of outer circle after the lake; on the side with the lake, there were rolling hills and meadows and behind me and the other tributes was a huge expanse of forest, one hundred meters away. I gladly recognized some of the trees from twelve meaning that the trees were my first stop. Inside the mouth of the cornucopia, I could see large packs, tents and an array of weaponry; swords, knives, spears. I even spotted a bow and arrow. Dotted around the cornucopia, I could see back packs, a sleeping bag but saw no food. Just in front of me, I noticed a belt of knives and formulated a plan in my head.

When the klaxon went off, I sprung forward and snatched up the knives. Stealthily, I dove through the air and snatched a pack and a wrapped up sleeping bag on the turn. I slung all these over my shoulder. Glancing around, I noticed that the careers had convened at the cornucopia and several of the other tributes were fighting it out for certain items. Before the careers had time to select weapons, I unsheathed three of my seven daggers and launched them one after the other at the three tributes closest to me. One hit a girl in the back of the head and she dropped instantly. The second hit a boy closest to me in the chest and he, too went down. However, the third missed my chosen tribute and hit Maya in the back of the leg. The whole of the careers froze and turned to face me.

Without a second thought, I wrenched my dagger from the boy closest to me who I now recognized to be Frank or something from Five. I leaped off of the platform, somersaulting to land on my feet. I darted towards the woods. On the way, I spotted a pack of throwing stars discarded on the floor by a dead body. I picked them up without stopping before bursting into the safe embrace of the forest.

When I got there, I didn't stop. Twenty minutes later, I didn't stop. Finally, after a good hour on foot, I paused for a second and couldn't hear the sounds of anyone nearby. Just to be sure, I did a quick 360 before climbing in to a tree. I continued leaping form tree to tree for a further hour until I realized that with all the extra weight I was carrying, I couldn't go on much longer. I dropped down to the ground and dumped all of my stuff on the floor. I had five daggers left and a dozen throwing stars. I placed the belt of daggers around my waist. When I opened the backpack, I was disappointed to find that the only item inside of it was a strange looking Gas mask. Intrigued, I strapped the mask on over my head but to my dismay, it worked just like a normal mask. I also assessed the throwing stars. Unlike the ones I had seen in training, these stars were bulky and rather than slim, sharp points worthy of piercing a tributes heart, they had claw-like ends that were thicker and curved more than other stars.

The sound of crowing woke me from my musing just as a large bang erupted from my right. Overhead, a flock of birds cried in fear and warning and fled to the north. I hastily shoved the sleeping bag and stars into the backpack, strapping the gas mask I had over my head and shoulder so it ran across my chest. Flinging the pack over my shoulder, I wasted no time in travelling in the same direction as the birds.

I stopped only briefly to hear the sounds of cannon fire. I counted off the two tributes I had killed and then counted a further five. Seven down.

After a further hour, the sun started to set.

I couldn't quite place my finger on what was wrong. I was sitting on a large oak tree, surveying my surroundings. I could see nothing out of the ordinary, it was quiet and peaceful and yet my whole gut was churning and the hairs on the back of my neck were prickling. Normally, i trusted my instincts yet here everything was quiet. In fact, you could hear a pin drop. Which was unusual.

My eyes zeroed in on the squirrel droppings on the ground. I moved my attention further away to see deer tracks only a few yards out. Two trees to my right, sat an abandoned birds nest, claw marks etched into the trunk of the massive fir. This place should be bustling with evening activity and yet there was none.

Like the calm before a storm.

Carefully, I grabbed a large dead stick from the tree where I sat. I let it drop to the ground and it fell with an unholy THWACK. For a few seconds, nothing happened. I eased myself off of the tree, clinging to the branch with my hands, ready to leap the short distance to the earth when a deep rumble came from below. The trees around me shook and groaned in protest. Suddenly, a deep fissure appeared in the ground of a large tree opposite me. The roots of the tree crept out of the gap. The long fingers clawed round the dead branch I had thrown and With ease, the bony hand retreated, branch in its grasp. It drifted into the gap from which it had appeared before it was swallowed up into the Earth, showing no signs of ever having been there in the first place.

I hung from my branch, stunned.

The sound of the trumpet fan fair shocked me so much that I let go of one of my hands which was still clinging to the branch of the Oak tree. I was still hanging in my previous position, mouth opening and closing in a fish-esque style as I stared at the tree which could be nothing other than a Muttation. One that I had never seen before. Careful not to drop to the ground, I swung back and forth until I gained momentum before returning to my tree. As the anthem ended, I craned my head to the screen display in the sky.

The first face I saw was of a girl from three, followed by Frank from five, my kill. All the careers had survived. Bridget from six had made it however her male companion sadly had not. The girl from seven's face appeared on the screen and I recognized her as my other kill. Following her was the boy from eight and both tributes from ten. That made seven. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding when I realized Fang was alive, although I couldn't quite place why.

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