Sorry about the wait for this chapter. My access to a computer is pretty erratic – I can only use my dad's laptop, and during the week he's away at work from about eight thirty to quite late in the evening. So I can only really write at the weekends. But I'll write as much as possible when I can!

List of Dead:
Hareld Wyre
Jenna Monroe
Nathaniel Merezald
Pau Furnely
Ginevra Helena di Cosimo
Patrick Volta

Day Three

The tributes started to get restless on Day Three – especially the more violent ones. But the tributes were not the only people who felt bored. Nastier members of the public were crying out for some blood and guts.

'Caecilius, we must do something!' cried a Gamemaker, a thin rake of a man called Salvius. 'People are clamouring for some excitement!' Several other Gamemakers shouted their agreement. Caecilius raised his hand to pacify them.

'I agree that excitement is needed. But bored tributes create excitement themselves – I don't think some of those Careers will just sit around doing nothing. I guarantee that the next few days will be interesting. And it will be a lot more realistic if we step back and let them create the violence,' he said. A few Gamemakers looked sceptic, but before they could protest he turned and left the room, his robes billowing around him.

O

The Careers were practicing. They had decided to go tribute hunting that day, and knew that they needed to keep their skills and bodies in shape, so were using their array of different weapons for practice. Cleo had set up a blanket, folded in half and tied it to a backpack stuffed with blankets and clothes. She was throwing knives and hitting the centre every time.

Sparkle and Niall were duelling – Sparkle with her silver sword, Niall with his dual ones. They were relatively well matched, Niall being the stronger one but Sparkle the quicker. If you watched you could see their dislike for each other, how both pushed the other hard and had anger and annoyance in their eyes.

Skye was practicing alternately, doing stances with a sword and trident and using his net. He kept annoying Cleo by tripping her up with the net, until she threatened him with a knife and he backed off. Jayson had filled a backpack with the heaviest things he could find – rocks, metal objects, etc, and was throwing it as far as he could – easily about fifty feet each time.

As they practiced they eyed each other's techniques – they knew that someday, probably quite soon, they would have to fight each other, and they wanted to learn something that might give them the upper hand.

O

Trix was sat against the wall of a house, shaded by a broken balcony above. She was very bored. The prank on the District Seven girl the day before had been fun, but the only tributes she'd seen were ones she didn't want to mess with. She didn't feel like fighting that day anyway – the temperature had been rising steadily since they entered the arena, and it was nearing the hottest part of the day, with the sun almost straight up overhead.

So she was huddled in the shade, trying to stay cool. She noticed a few pebbles scattered on the dusty ground. They were smooth, and fitted perfectly in her palm. She eyed a brick in the house opposite – a slightly discoloured one ten bricks up. Narrowing her eyes, she aimed and threw a pebble.

It struck the stone perfectly in the middle, making a few bits chip off. With a small smile, she picked up another and threw it. And another. And another. Almost all the stones hit the brick or one next to it. She often threw stuff when she was bored, so she had become pretty good at it.

As she picked up her ninth stone, she felt the hairs on the back of her neck prickle slightly. With a sense of foreboding she looked around. Lottie Blacilla was standing in the entrance to the street, her white hair over her face and a slight snarl on her lips.

Her heart stopped momentarily. She scrambled to her feet, heart beating harder than ever again, and ran for it.

O

Lottie let out a small cackle of excitement. Finally, some proper prey that she could hunt down and kill. The girl was so stupid, sitting in the middle of a street, throwing stones! Then she thought she could really run away. Shaking her hair back, she crouched down and gave chase.

The girl was fast, she gave her that, and agile, but Lottie was determined. She wanted blood! Nd the girl had let her emotions and panic controlled her – she stumbled and didn't run properly. But she was quick, and for a moment Lottie thought she would get away.

But then the girl made a mistake of turning down a dead end. Lottie skirted around a dried up fountain and followed her in, ready to corner her. She tried to climb up the wall at the end of the alley, but Lottie caught up and sunk her teeth into the girl's ankle. She screamed and let go, falling a few feet onto the ground. Instantly Lottie was on top of her, sharp fingernails at her throat.

As the girl looked up at her with wide, terrified eyes, she felt a small twinge of guilt. Should she do it? But then the voice in her head, her imaginary friend, appeared and whispered in her ear. Do it. Do it NOW!

With an yowl Lottie grasped a handful of the girl's hair and wrenched it round, snapped her neck. She was about to feast on the remains, but a cannon blast made her jump and scramble away. When she looked back, her prey was being lifted into the air, taken away. Angrily she ran back, trying to get at it. But it was too high, and she was forced to let it go.

O

Jessalyn crouched behind the fountain, staring in horror and fear. As soon as she had heard the mad shrieks of the mad Lottie she had run to help whoever Lottie was chasing. But she had arrived too late, turning the corner into the alley only to see Trix Lexon's neck get snapped. Not wanting to be next, she had ducked behind the fountain, knife at the ready.

She stayed there, totally still, trying not to be seen. A fight with Lottie Blacilla was not top on her list of "Things-To-Do-In-The-Hunger-Games". Luckily the mad girl seemed to be preoccupied by the loss of her prey – it looked like she had wanted to eat Trix's body. Jessalyn promised herself that if she tried to eat the corpse, she would try and kill her with the bow. There was no way she could sit and watch that.

She stayed behind the fountain until long after Lottie had disappeared off. She still felt slightly sick as she got to her feet, stretching cramp out of her legs, and walked in the opposite direction to Lottie. She knew full well that the scene she had just witnessed was not something she would forget easily, if ever.

O

Scott took the early morning watch that night. He sat there, leaning against the backpack, staring at the opposite wall and watching Sephiria sleep. He thought it might look a bit weird, but he was dying of boredom, and he didn't want to get sucked into a flashback or memory in the middle of the arena. He found that concentrating held them off, so he went through different number games in his head, counted the bricks on the wall and down from a million. And watched Sephiria.

She slept oddly, curled in the foetal position. She had fallen asleep with a stick in her hands, but Scott had decided not to comment on it. He saw why when she slept – often she clenched her hands around it so hard her knuckles were white and he thought she might snap it.

She murmured in her sleep as well, often crying out a name or a single word. Her eyes moved frantically under the lids, and he saw that she was having a nightmares. When she started shaking he moved over and tried to calm her, wrapping his arms around her and smoothing her hair back. It seemed to sooth her, and she quietened down after that.

In the early hours of the morning he woke her. 'Come on, we need to find some food,' he said, shaking her awake. She looked up at him, wide-eyed. 'We can find some plants – I know a couple of edible ones, and I think you know a few as well. If we can we can get some meat.'

'Meat? Will we have to kill something?' she asked, getting to her feet.

Scott pushed away his own fears of becoming a killer – even if it was just of animals. 'Yes. We're in the Hunger Games, we'll have to learn to kill sometime. Let's get going, or everything will have been killed off already.'

O

When Amore woke she found an odd weight on her stomach. Sitting up, she saw, to her excitement, a grey parachute nestled there. She wasn't sure how it had got inside the house – she guessed it had floated through the open window.

'Odio – Odio wake up!' she cried, slapping his cheeks. He blearily opened his eyes and looked around.

'Wazgoinon?' she dangled the parachute in front of him and he sat up suddenly, nearly head butting it. 'We've got sponsors?'

'Looks like it,' Amore cracked it open. Inside lay two white rolls and a few slices of dried meat.

'Food!' cried Odio happily. He picked up a roll and was about to stuff it in his mouth, but Amore snatched it back. 'Hey!'

'Not so fast – we need to make it last, okay?' Odio scowled mutinously, but nodded. 'Let's split half a roll and some of this dried meat for breakfast.'

'I'm going to be so full up after this meal,' said Odio under his breath.

O

Dawn lurked at the edge of the woods. Her plants had run out and the leg of dog Jessalyn had given her was long since disappeared, but she was terrified to enter the woods again – she didn't want to come in contact with whatever had growled at her. But her stomach was empty and she was starting to feel sick with hunger.

In the end she decided to walk along the perimeter of the woods, getting as much plants as she could while close enough to the urban area so that she could run at a moment's notice. Carefully, every sense on alert, she stepped into the trees, grabbing as many plants as she could as quickly as possible.

She jumped at every little noise – the tweet of a bird, or the snapping of a twig underfoot. As soon as she thought she had enough for a few days she fled from the woods, happy to leave the dark, dangerous place behind for a while.

But plants weren't exactly filling, and she craved meat. She wondered whether Jessalyn would give her meat again, but she didn't want to start pestering her, and she didn't think the older girl's generosity would stretch far enough for a second meal.

O

Violet was curled up, hugging her arms around her stomach as if to hold off the cramping hunger pains. She could hardly move, she felt sick and light headed at the same time. The strip of beef jerky had hardly made an impact at all, and now she had nothing.

She wondered whether she would die from hunger. They were called the Hunger Games after all. As she felt as though she would pass out from the hunger, through her half-closed eyes she saw a small grey parachute float down. She could hardly believe it, not until it landed on her toes.

Snatching it up, she eagerly pulled the metal container open. There wasn't much inside – just another white roll and a couple more strips of jerky, but it would get her through the next day, when she could work out a plan for getting food.

Stuffing half the roll in her mouth, she relished the feeling of substance in her mouth, of the food going down her throat and soothing her empty stomach. Slowly, careful not to overdo herself, she got to her feet and carefully placed the remaining bit of roll and beef into a waterproof, zip-up pocket in her jacket. She didn't want to lose the food in the same way as she had before.

O

Kai walked across a rooftop, easily keeping his balance on the smooth surface. The heat was intense and he could feel the soles of his shoes sticking to the boiling hot tiles. If he stayed up here much longer his skin would burn – his arms were already looking red.

But despite that he was full of confidence. He kept crying out in his head: He had sponsors! There were people out there who wanted him to win, wanted him to survive. He had food, and a weapon. All he needed to do was get a drink, and perhaps find a water canister.

He found a chipped clay bowl, and filled it with water when he got to the lake, before dropping a purifying tablet in and sitting back to wait. He jumped out of his skin at a cannon blast nearby – just a few streets away. Jumping to his feet, he realised that a killer might run past at any moment.

There were no trees, but he saw a clump of rushes at the edge of the lake. He jumped into the water and waded over, ducking in behind them. A moment later the District Four girl, Jessalyn, ran out with a knife in one hand. He winced as she eyed the clay bowl that he had left on the bank. She looked straight at him in the reeds, one hand moving towards her bow. But then she turned, and ran back into an alley.

He breathed a sigh of relief, and stumbled out of the reeds.

O

Diesel had left the slum area of the arena – he had found nothing more of worth, and it smelt less in the other places. He walked through the streets as if with a purpose and place to go, when really he had none. But he knew that seeming confident looked good and sponsors liked it.

As he turned a corner he came face to face with the gang of Careers. Before he could turn and run they saw him and whooped, cornering him against a house. 'Alright there, District Seven? Ready to die? Cos we wanna kill some tributes today!' cried one of them jeeringly. The pretty blonde District One girl pulled out a sword, but the boy stopped her.

'If we just kill him straight off it'll be boring,' he said, grabbing her wrist. She scowled at him and raised an eyebrow.

'So what do you suggest we do?' she asked in an overly polite, patronising voice.

'Well, let's fight him. I hear he's pretty good with a rapier – let's make him dance for us,' said the girl from Two. 'Who wants to go first?'

Diesel looked at each of them, heart thumping. He knew he couldn't beat all five of them, and if he killed the first person the others would probably just grab him and kill him. He was blocked on all four sides by the tributes and the house. But maybe the house could be his escape route. As the Careers argued over who would fight him first, he quietly turned and eyed the house. The District One boy was blocking the door, but there was a window behind him.

'I'll go first,' growled the boy from Two, shouldering his way forward. 'I wanna feel some real blood on my hands.' He pulled a sword from his belt. 'Come on, let's see what you've got, Seven!' The other Careers stepped back to give them space, weapons out in case Diesel made a mad bid for freedom.

Diesel looked his opponent over. He was huge, yes, but strength didn't get you far with swordplay – you needed speed and skill as well. As long as he didn't get close enough to be grabbed, he thought he had a pretty good chance.

The huge boy lunged at him and he danced out the way, slicing the rapier through the air and cutting a hole in his trousers. The boy scowled and moved forward again, this time trying to grab at his hair as well. Diesel ducked below the massive, meaty hand and nicked his side.

The fight continued in the same way, the Two boy attacking clumsily and Diesel easily moving out the way, all the while goading and annoying him. Diesel could tell that the others were getting bored and would soon intervene. He backed up against the window and waited for the boy to lunge again. When he did he jumped up onto the windowsill, kicking the boy in the face as he did.

As the boy yelled and stumbled backwards, clutching his nose, Diesel slipped through the window into the empty house. As he ran down a tiled passageway – it was a fancy house – he heard the door slam open behind him and the other Careers give chase.

There were many rooms in the house and he frantically searched for an escape route. He saw a room that had nothing inside except a wooden bedstead and an empty, double-door wardrobe, one door swinging open. Quickly he jumped into the wardrobe and pulled the door so there was just a tiny crack for him to look through.

He was just in time. The Careers went past, one boy peering in before yelling to the others that it was clear. As the gang left the house he heard the boy from Two shout: 'I'm gonna MASH you, District Seven!'

O

The sun was starting to set over the Arena, bringing blessed cool air. Ember was sat high up in a pine tree on the edge of the forest that bordered one corner of the Arena. He was still recovering from the fight with Lottie – he couldn't get the image of her bloody fangs and crazed eyes from his mind.

He hadn't lit a fire since then, and was eating the dog cold. It was slightly underdone and didn't taste nice, but it was food so he ate it anyway. He was a bit worried about it being in the heat of the day before he ate it, but he was sure it would be fine.

As he finished off the last bit of meat and dropped spit and bones onto the forest floor below, he realised just how dark it had become. He could hardly see a metre in front of him – the ground was just a dark mass. There was no way he could see anything coming, and climbing down would be next to impossible if he couldn't see his feet.

As he sat there, feeling slightly panicky, he caught site of a grey parachute floating towards him, carried by a cool breeze. He grabbed it, his heart beating excitedly. Inside lay a pair of sunglasses. The lenses looked odd, but when he put them on he found that he could see perfectly.

Grinning, he swung down onto the branch below.

O

The plan was fully formulated in Tabytha's head. She just needed to find a good place – somewhere that would be visible from the Cornucopia Hill, but wouldn't give away the plan. Most of the things she needed she could collect on the day – they needed to be fresh.

But also she had to pick a good time. Niall and Skye seemed up for "tribute hunting" most of the time, apart from when they were tired. She often noticed that they were the ones to go out and collect daily water – often taking a dip in the lake. Jayson and the girls seemed to want to conserve their energy for fighting.

Perhaps if she set off the plan early in the morning, when Niall and Skye had just come back from collecting water, they might be tired and not up for tribute hunting. But she would have to time it perfectly, or everything would go wrong.

Shaking back her long red hair, she nibbled on her last bit of food, and decided that there was nothing more she could do but wait.

List of Dead:

Hareld Wyre

Jenna Monroe

Nathaniel Merezald

Pau Furnely

Ginevra Helena di Cosimo

Patrick Volta
Trix Lexon

That's the end of Day Two! Wow I updated fast, didn't I? I guess I'm about ot go on holiday so I didn't want to mess around with transferring documents…

Anyway, here's the Dead List:

Hareld Wyre

Jenna Monroe

Nathaniel Merezald

Pau Furnely

Ginevra Helena di Cosimo

Patrick Volta

Nobody died this chapter so it's shorter than others. The chapters with lots of deaths will have more, as will really important chapters.

As always, here is the sponsor list and order form.

Remember, if you want points just review (properly, please!) and I will award them to you. I try as hard as I can not to, but if I do forget to add points for you, just message me and I will check up on it.

Elena:20

White Horse: 20

Elven Thief: 80

EY Ink: 30

Time. To. Vaporise. A. Maths. Teacher: 80

SoySauce17: 70

Pisces. TJ: 50

Miss-J'x: 20

Pass the peas and pies please: 20

Callmetribute104: 20

Loveisintheair22: 20

SeekerDraconis: 100

Fuzzman88: 80

LuvsDumbledee97: 40

Loveisintheair22: 20

SakuraDrops141: 100

DaAnimeChick: 20

MissDizzyD: 20

ReadingAngel: 90

Skyclimber66: 30

Dancingchocolatesmudge: 30

I hope I didn't miss anyone off! With these points you can buy things. The prices will go up through the chapters, so don't spend all your points now – you may need them later:

Water Purification Tablets: 20P

Matches: 20P

Food (small amount): 25P

Food (Medium): 30P

Food (Big): 40P

Weapon (average): 35P

Weapon (good): 50P

Medicine (normal): 35P

Medicine (Capitol): 50P

Refill of Ammunition (Arrows, darts, etc): 25P

Clothing: 40P

See-in-the-Dark Glasses: 40

Anything else, please message me and I will tell you how much. This will be trickier if you do not have an account. If you do not have enough points and no account, I will simply not give the tribute the object, but I will post it up here.

This list will be updated, and things will get more expensive. The points list will be updated every chapter as well.