New chapter! Woo! This one is a bit rushed towards the end, because I'm rushing so I can go play Portal 2. Portal 2 is epic. Go play it now. Anyway, read this and please review, as this is my 20th chapter! A mini-milestone! I also beat 60,000 words last time, which means I only have one 'Words x' thing to go! The big one, 100,000 words! Wish me luck on my personal goal! Now read and review please!

Disclaimer - You know I don't need to do this to stay inside the law? Well, the law is weird, my view is that 'illegal is always faster' Quote from Eoin Colfer!

Failing

The wind was sending spray at me when I stay near the river, so I don't want to stay near it too long. Add onto that the fact that it gives me creepy flashbacks of Memo, and that reminds me of the girl from District 7, dead because of me. The odd thing is, whenever I think of her now, the pain is lessened somewhat. It's still there, and it still hurts, but oddly enough, thinking of Memo reminded me of why I'm here, and why I have to do this. Even if I hate it, everyone here would kill me or want me dead if they were given the chance. And here in the Hunger Games is the perfect chance.

The forest no longer seems to be calm and quiet, the wind is louder now, and I could probably talk to myself and not be heard. The trees are swaying ominously too, and I find it hard to believe anyone could hide in them. The whole 'increase wind speed' thing must have sent all the other tributes out of their hiding places. I can't stay in the cave – the path is almost impossible to traverse now – and I don't think I could hide in one of these trees. They've put us all on the ground, so we're more likely to run into one another.

Luckily, I haven't seen anyone since the girl from District 12 who was climbing the cliff face, even though I've been walking for well over an hour. I still can't believe she was doing that, the wind makes it hard to walk properly and it is just started to rain too. Those cliffs must be slippy and dangerous but she can still climb on them.

Wish I could.

I stop in my trek to wipe the drizzle out of my eyes. I've only ever seen drizzle in the Games, believe it or not. Back home the rain is thick and heavy, and when it rains the water is warm enough for you to have a shower in it, if you don't mind standing outside naked. Here the rain is cold, and it makes me feel like my very bones are shivering inside me. It is less like rain and more like super-concentrated fog, and it's certainly brought visibility down to almost nothing. That's not going to help matters, and I wonder whether the Capitol will keep at it, because it won't bring the kill count up, even if it does make it more atmospheric.

I briefly wonder about taking my blanket out my bag and wearing it like a coat, but decide against it. If I do wear it, it'll get all soggy, and I won't get much sleep. That being if I can find anywhere to sleep in this fog. I really don't want to have to sleep in the open.

Suddenly, I hear something different from the whistling wind or pitter-patter of rain. A half roaring sound. A river. Is it the one I left? I've heard that people start circling when they don't have landmarks. I take another step forwards, wary of rivers now, after my near-death experience a couple of hours ago. As I walk forwards it looms into my field of vision. It isn't full of white water like the one I almost drowned it, but it's certainly swollen. It was probably more of a stream then a river, before it started to rain. I'd hazard a guess at about 3 feet wide, though it is only a few inches deep by the look of it.

Then again, I heard that you can drown in as little as 6 inches of water, and drowning really isn't the way I want to die.

However, this is a good place for me to stop to fill my water bottle without the danger of it being snatched from my grasp by the current. Throwing the pack over one shoulder I unzip it, pulling out the black bottle hidden in the blanket. The river's water probably isn't the cleanest, but I haven't had water poisoning yet, and I haven't got any iodine or water purification tablets so it'll have to do.

I lean forwards and let the river fill it up, before downing the water in one gulp. I didn't realise I was thirsty until I saw the river, though I suppose it's harder to get thirsty when you're practically breathing in water. I refill the bottle and shove it back into the pack. I also bring out the stick of celery Lyna and Hydrao sent me, along with the small note. I smile at the celery fondly, before automatically checking over my shoulder for undead creatures. I realise now how they got the note past the Gamemakers. I'm sure the Capitolites wouldn't see anything wrong with someone from the Districts making spelling and grammar errors. I'm pretty sure the Capitol thinks we're all utter simpletons who don't care for manners in the slightest.

Gaia certainly thought so.

Gaia obviously hasn't met Nymph.

I smile at the memory, watching the river as I reminisce about District 4. It's almost like my mind has grown old without my body noticing, leaving me to think about the 'good old days'. True, not all of the 'old days' were good. I can't forget Memo now, and that's not even bringing up the subject of when I almost died of dehydration at least 4 times.

I push myself up; I can't think of the past all the time, my present and future depend on me staying alert. I can reminisce when I'm old and grey with grandkids. Not now. I look up and down the river. Up is towards the plains, if my mental map is right (I'd only give it a 50% chance of being correct though, I can get myself lost in a paper bag). Downwards is towards the sea, and fish. Probably Careers and other tributes too. Of the people left in the games only two are from Districts near plains, Pomona the hulk and Dou. I don't really mind running into Dou, and Pomona's with the Careers. (I doubt they've broken up this early on in the games. Normally they wait until final 6 or 7). I don't think anyone else will go up to the plains.

'Anyway' I think 'I haven't been there yet, it'll be like an adventure!'

Joy, sweet joy.

I turn left and begin to follow it upstream, stopping every minute or so to check that I'm not going to be attacked by someone following me. It seems like I am alone until about 10 minutes into my journey.
I don't see anyone, but there are definite signs that someone is camping here, near a fork in the river I've been following.

How can I tell?

Simple, there's a sleeping bag laid out, camouflaged (badly) with mud. Along with that are the remnants of a fire, but I doubt that it would start now, seeing how soggy the wood is. Someone is camping here.

I wonder absently about waiting here for the person to return, but the sensible and logical part of my brain (that seems to have taken a holiday during the last few days) puts its foot down. It could be anyone's! Well, that's not really true, the Careers have more stuff and that only leaves Dou, District 5 girl and the two from 12. It could be anyone who isn't me or a Career.

Dou didn't have a sleeping bag though.

District 5 girl, Din, was hiding in a bush when I saw her last.

The girl from 12 was climbing impossibly sheer cliff faces, and I don't remember seeing a pack on her either.

That leaves the boy from 12. I don't really remember much about him though. He was tall and good looking, and he did get a pretty good score but I haven't actually seen him since the bloodbath. I have no idea what he's like! Dou and Din probably wouldn't kill me, but I'm not sure about either of the ones from 12. It's probably best if I just leave it alone.

I could take the sleeping bag, but it's more stuff to carry, and it doesn't look in particularly good condition either. I can see a tear down one side, and I doubt it's waterproof anyway, so it'd be soggy too. I'm better off with my blanket.

If it does turn out to be Dou's (he could have been sponsored) then I don't want to take his stuff. If I can't win (and Kai can't win) I'd want Dou to do it, and I really don't want to kill him, even if it was both of us in the final two.

It would be stupid to try to kill Din after I wasted so much saving her life and letting her go free.

I don't particularly want to kill either of the ones from District 12, everybody knows they're the poorest District, so maybe they'll die of starvation without me.

…

Hope the rain stops soon.

So I straighten up and walk on, trying to quash the feeling I wimped out of doing an incredibly easy job by making up awful excuse about why not to do it.

It's hard to quash the feeling when I know that it's true.

It's probably an hour or so until dusk when I see something that makes my heart leap with joy (that isn't Kai, Dou or a hovercraft coming to rescue me from these games and take me to an island where my family, Nymph, Marlin, Kai, Dou and so many others are all standing around having a massive party. Sadly).

A rabbit.

A fat rabbit.

A really fat rabbit.

A rabbit so fat it makes me hungry just looking at it.

A rabbit so fat it takes all my restraint to stop making sarcastic comments about how fat the aforementioned rabbit is.

A rabbit that I really, really want to eat right now.

I raise my spear in my good arm (though my other one has been healing brilliantly, thank god) and prepare to hit it. I can do it easily if the rabbit just stays still, and doesn't move for about a second. I slowly draw my arm back, trying not to make a sound while I do it. Just as I've drawn it back as far as it will go, the rabbit turns, stopping from its devouring of the grass and leaves on the floor to look straight at me.

I freeze,

It keeps looking at me, while I hold my breath, silently begging for it not to scarper. It keeps staring at me, and I can feel my arm holding the spear wobble.

'Please' I plead mentally 'I haven't eaten in ages, don't move. No, wait, do move, but just turn towards your grass again. Look, the grass is tasty! You know you want it! Go on, go eat your grass! Please!'

It keeps staring at me, and I realise I must have been holding my breath for a minute or so, as I was starting to sway on the spot due to lack of oxygen.

Maybe it's fallen to sleep or something? Do rabbits fall asleep with their eyes open? I could chuck the spear now and just hope its fallen to sleep, dreaming about… carrots or whatever rabbits dream about. If rabbits dream that it.

What do I know, I'm from the fishing District! I know nothing about rabbits, or what rabbits do, or whether they fall asleep with their eyes open and dream of carrots! I do know that I am hungry, and like the river earlier, I needed to see potential food to make myself realise how goddamn hungry I am!

With a sound like an explosion, my body exhales.

The rabbit seems to smirk at me, before it turns and bounces into the woods. Or maybe it's more of a gallop then a bounce. But galloping's for horse though?

"Nooooooooo…" I wail, though quietly, like I've had my volume turned down. Or, more likely, through lack of use. I don't think I've talked since I threatened to disembowel the head Gamemaker.

Good times.

I can't just let the rabbit go though! I'm a human! I'm supposed to be superiorly intelligent to rabbitkind! So, with a sense of doom so thick in the air you could cut it with a knife, I race after the rabbit, determined to eat something tonight.

'Honestly, it's a rabbit' I reason 'I've faced undead monsters and fellow human beings who want to find me and kill me slowly. What's a rabbit compared to them?'

I see the white blob of fur ahead of me, and prepare to chuck the spear at it.

'Honestly, how hard can it be?'

And that is why I should not be allowed to hunt.

For the last hour I've been chasing this stupid, smelly, ugly, stupid rabbit. Darkness is slowly falling around me, and I think as soon as I do manage to catch the stupid rabbit, it'll be dark again. I bet the Capitol's watching me fail at this too, which is why neither Lyna nor Hydrao have sent me anything to eat. Bet they're playing 'Yakety Sax' while watching me chase the rabbit.

Screw them.

Screw the rabbit.

But I can't just let the rabbit escape.

That's what the rabbit wants.

I threw my spear at it, and every single time it manages to evade it, before it gives me the rabbit equivalent of a smirk and bounces off to another part of the forest. I still think it looks more like a gallop than a bounce, but if I say 'Galloping Rabbits' it sounds more like a catchphrase than a factual observation.

Anyway.

I've been getting further and further away from the plains, I'm pretty certain about that now. The forest's becoming denser again, and I keep almost tripping over tree roots in my mad chase after the rabbit. It's distracting me too, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't notice if another tribute sneaking up behind me with an axe, or even a moaning undead thingy. I don't think the Capitol would send the undead thingies though, not when I'm being so amusing, failing at hunting so badly.

I take another step forward, seeing a clearing ahead, with a ball of fluffiness that has to be that, stupid, rabbit!

It seems to sense that I am near (probably something to do with having eyes?) and looks up, making me thing of the last time it did that, when I was sent on the mad goose chase. Well, mad rabbit chase anyway. It sniffles its nose and I realise – with an incredibly self-righteous smirk – I am downwind of it, so it can't smell me. Fish are so much easier to catch than rabbits. You don't have to know all about which way the wind's blowing to catch a fish, and fish are not as infuriating as rabbits are.

Especially this one.

It's completely white and seems to glow slightly in the dark of the clearing. That'll be helpful, if I keep chasing it when it gets completely dark.

'Come on' the newly re-instated sensible bit of my brain pleads 'Just leave the rabbit. If you're lucky you can find the stream and go fishing. Just leave the rabbit'

Sadly, the logical and sensible part of my brain is tiny compared to the rest of it. So I keep going after the rabbit. I edge towards the rabbit, hoping this time will be the successful one. Unlike the other 2,816 times. [Citation Needed] I'm almost there, I raise the spear above my head, almost ready. I move my arm backwards, watching as the rabbit – my dinner – snuffles into the ground, unaware that it will soon be my first meal for far too long.

I am a second away from throwing it and then…

I throw it.

And at the last second the rabbit moves an inch out of the way, and the spear flies past it, embedding itself in the ground.

I shout an obscene swear word as loudly as I can, so loudly, in fact the sound echoes around the forest for a few seconds. Then I clasp my hand over my mouth in horror. Anyone could have heard me! I should really get out of here. Really.

I glance towards the route I saw the rabbit take, and the two parts of my brain have a vicious, totally imaginary fight. After the sensible bit of my brain has been beaten into submission, I follow after the rabbit again, more cautiously though, aware that I might be being tracked now, and I really don't want that.

I see a flash of white ahead, and walk quicker, determined that the rabbit will be mine!

I increase my speed after it and the wind howls around me as I break into a run. But by this time the rabbit is long gone, and I see no flash of white to alert me to its position. I whirl around in a circle, spear out and stomach growling loudly.

"No…" I say hoarsely, as I realise that the rabbit is gone, and I won't be eating tonight. All this running around after the rabbit has done nothing but reveal my position to other tributes and weaken me further. And I don't have any food to eat tonight anyway, so this was all a waste of time. And I've probably made the sponsors think I'm an idiot too. I might be an idiot, but it doesn't mean I want the Capitolites to know that I'm an idiot. And that means they might not send me anything to eat, ever.

First thing tomorrow, I'll go find something to eat, before I waste away.

I frown at my arm and pinch it, eyes widening as I realise I can feel nothing but bone between my fingers. That's… not good. Not good at all. Most likely I'm dying of hunger then, as well as being hunted too. I didn't even realise I was starving to death.

And I am, aren't I?

I moan slightly with worry, before stopping abruptly. That can't be good for my image. I put a hand to my stomach, checking for the other signs of starvation, or at least the extreme signs. Luckily, it's not swollen, because that would be bad. As in bad, bad.

But I can't spend the rest of the day lying here and complaining about my meagre food supply.

I push myself up, wincing slightly as I put my left arm down. It's healed well for a wound in the games, no infection, but that's probably because of the salt water that I swam in on the first day. Otherwise known as the sea.

I have no idea where I am.

I stand in the trees, wind blowing my straggly, muddy and greasy hair in the wind, more like rope than hair to be completely honest. The wind's making it damp too. I shiver slightly as I realise how cold it's got while I've been failing at catching the rabbit. Darkness has taken over fully, and I vaguely wonder why it has got dark so quickly – it never did that back home – but remember where I am.

Is it normal for it to become dark in a matter of hours?

No.

But is it normal for the sea to become stormy in a matter of hours? Or for the temperature to drop so rapidly?

Probably, and certainly normal when you're in the Arena.

And I still have no idea where I am.

I gaze around, hopelessness starting to rise up, as I realise I am hungry, alone and in the dark. I take a few steps forward just to have something to do. If I keep walking I'll reach somewhere eventually, right? The trees seem to be becoming sparser, and that makes sense, as they were getting thicker when I was following the rabbit, and now I'm going in the opposite direction the reverse should be true.

After another considerable period of time, where the blackness of night has become thicker and thicker, I break through the line of trees that mark the entrance to the forest. The anthem went off while I was in the forest, even though nobody died today. Luckily for me, I managed to walk in the direction of the plains, not the raging sea or the Cornucopia where the Careers are. That would have been a death sentence.

The place I come out of is nowhere near where I entered, and I can't see the cliffs anywhere nearby. They should be opposite the forest, with the grassy plains in the middle. I must be far away from the Cornucopia if the wedge of plain is wide enough for that.

Good.

I shouldn't go there if I want to stay alive.

Which I plan to do.

I look around the edge of the forest for somewhere to sleep. A bush would be preferable to a tree, as there's a very real danger of being blown out of it, and it isn't like I can tie myself it. Well, I could, but it wouldn't be the best night's sleep, would it? Being frozen solid in a tree with the danger of being pushed out of the tree and falling to the ground with a loud bang isn't my idea of a comfy bed.

Nearby is a small bush, which could probably fit me in if I curled up in a ball.

I walk over to it, and bend down next to it; it's a bit too spikey to be perfect, but beggars can't be choosy, and neither can people in the Hunger Games. It could fit me, and if I used my spear I could make it a bit cosier.

But this night is going to be a long one, isn't it? I sigh and grab a stick nearby, a bit too nervous about losing my only weapon to use my spear to do this. I shove the stick deep inside the bush and wiggle it about a bit, wondering if that's what you're supposed to do. I never did spend enough time in the shelter building station at the training centre, and now I'm paying for it.

After 15 minutes or so (it's hard to tell when the sun's gone down though) I have succeeded in making a slight hole in the middle, making it look slightly like a cave, or maybe a nest one of those birds makes in the rafters. Maybe a rat's nest, but I prefer not to compare my handiwork to that of a rat's, no matter how justified the comparison is. I take off my backpack, realising now how much of a strain it was causing my back. I shove the pack into the hole and stand back to see if I can see it. I can't, but it is coloured black, and I'm wearing a shade of bright blue.

Maybe…

I yank the pack back out of the bush-cave and unzip it, pulling out the blanket I've been sleeping in these last few days. It's slightly damp due to the spray that was entering the cave, but apart from that it's perfectly fine. I wrap it around the pack, as I'll do to myself before I go to sleep, and step back again. It's a slightly different shade of black to the pack, and sticks out quite a bit.

That means I'm going to have to disguise it before I go to sleep.

Muttering darkly, I wander off in search of sticks and mud, careful not to wander too far away, as all my stuff is in that bush (minus the spear). As I wander in a circle, collecting sticks I think about what I've done so far. The death of the girl from District 7 seems almost a lifetime ago to me, and my life back home in District 4 seems so far ago it might not have been real for all I know, a dream even.

Dou and Kai must be alive, because unless I blacked out mysteriously, no cannon has gone off today, and I'm not sure whether this is a good thing or not. I don't want Dou to die, but I can't let him survive, and the same for Kai too.

The Hunger Games suck.

And I'm still not sure whether I want to win, and I'm wondering whet-*BAM!*

I fall backwards, scattering twigs everywhere. I slam my spear into my attacker as my heart rate slowly returns to normal.

A tree.

I walked into a tree.

I walked into a flipping tree.

These games suck!

I grab my sticks and walk off in a sulk, luckily finding my bush-cave first time. I'd be dead if I couldn't find it, and I quite like being alive, thank you very much. Death, a fate worse than life.

I pull my pack out and remove the blanket from around it, wrapping it around myself like a towel. I put the pack back in again, and (ignoring the pangs of hunger in my stomach) carefully begin placing sticks around the edges of my bush-cave. I then carefully shuffle in, making sure not to disturb it.

Finally, I'm inside, and I close my eyes, trying to force myself to go to sleep.

Then…

*BOOM*

My first thought is one of irritation, as I am once again awoken from my sleep, and then wonder about whether they do time these cannon blasts just to piss me off.

My second, more rational thought is; 1 down, 9 to go.

My third thought, which should have probably been my first thought is 'Oh no…' someone is dead. Someone who might be Dou or Kai. Hell, it might even be me, and I'm a ghost. That'd be a twist, though if it was a film, I'd want my money back. The whole 'oh no, I've been dead all along' plot really is awful…

But I can't find out who died until the anthem in the morning.

So I force myself back into a fretful sleep, dreading the dawn.