Day Two: Afternoon to Night

Kira Shock, D6

"Come on!" Kira muttered as she tied her rope over a fallen tree branch. She tightened the rope on the sharpened branch and watched it crumble. Her eyes fell as she watched the failed snare hit the ground. She'll never find food if she can't make a simple snare. She sank to the floor and looked at her surroundings. She was in the more barren part of the forest, the greenery was on her left and the clearing was on her right. She wasn't too deep in the forest, but she wasn't too close to the Cornucopia either.

Kira looked at her failed snare and sighed. The bag she snagged yesterday was small, and it only held rope and springs. She could build a simple snare with those items, but she is having problems remembering what the trainers taught her. She knew how to do it, but she couldn't transfer the knowledge to her hands. The rope taunted her, tempting her to try to build a snare. Just try and you'll fail, Kira. She shook her head and got back to her feet. She needs food and she needs it badly.

She grasped the branch and rope and redid her handiwork. Her hands quickly re-tied the rope over the branch and propped it up with a small stone. The sharper branch acted like a stabbing knife if the snare is triggered. She made the snare hidden and she climbed up the nearest tree. She will have food by the time the nightly death toll appears tonight.

Rye Corn, D9

The sound of rushing water filled Rye's ears as he approached an open river. His eyes grew at the sight of the clear water and he fell to his knees, lapping up the chilly water like a dog. The water coated his chin as he was rehydrated. He reached into his pocket and filled a canteen with the water. He wasn't very lucky in the bloodbath, only snagging this canteen before running away from the terrible scene. Her never knew how much a person needs water until he was in this arena. He lapped until he was fit to burst and he stood up. Where does this river lead, anyway?

The river was rapidly moving down, meaning that Rye could just follow it and find a lake or something. He started to follow the river and he saw the greens on the trees grow deeper and deeper. The lake must be the center of the arena. His shoes began to coat with mud and dirt as he continued to follow the river. He stopped in his tracks. A pair of gray eyes and brown hair looked at him from behind a tree. She caught his gaze and hid behind the thick bark.

Rye cocked his head as he saw the girl cower away. She looked familiar to him, but he couldn't find a name to her face. He inched closer to the tree where the girl was. "Hello? Is someone there?" He craned his neck and looked into the girl's gray eyes. She couldn't have been older than him; she looked like a young teenager. "What's your name? I won't hurt you."

She looked to her feet. "Isadora." Her voice was so timid and quiet as she spoke. She touched her hair and began to play with it as Rye continued to talk.

"Do you want to be allies?" Rye continued to look her in the eyes as she nodded her head slowly. He held out his hand and she grasped it, shaking it up and down in agreement.

Playton Reyes, D12

A rabbit was cleaning its face while Playton clutched his knife. Saely was back at the base, starting a fire while Playton was tasked with finding dinner. As the rabbit chewed on a piece of grass, Playton threw the knife and watched it land in its stomach. Not the cleanest shot ever but he could still cook it regardless. He needed to cook it quickly; the sun was disappearing behind the mountains. Playton grabbed the dead animal by its limp ears, pulled the knife from its belly and walked back to his base. Saely's back was turned to him as she tried her hardest to start their fire. A spark flew and lit up the wood and dried grass. Playton inched up behind her and kissed her cheek. Saely moved suddenly and their lips touched.

"I'm sorry." She shied away, taking the dead animal from his hands and began to skin it, trying to busy herself.

"I'm not." He replied, putting his hands on hers. She looked at him as he leaned in closer to her. His lips touched hers so slightly and she returned the kiss. In this arena of certain death, Playton found a joy in his life, besides his little sister back home. He didn't want this moment to end. Saely, in his arms, and embrace, made him feel so alive here.

A beeping noise made the moment come to an abrupt stop. Playton turned to his side and saw the parachute of a sponsor, sitting by his side. He cracked it open and a cloth about the size of a twelve-year-old fell into his lap. It unfolded and revealed a tee-shirt the color of coal. His first sponsor, and they give him a shirt? How much money did they spend? Ten dollars?

"Put that on!" Saely exclaimed. "Your old tee-shirt can be used to clean that knife or hold our leftovers. Congrats on the sponsor."

"You always have the best ideas." Playton flattered as he replaced his shirts. In the process of changing, he did notice Saely trying not to look. And they say the arena is only bad.

Linden Ulmus, D7

As Linden lay on his back, the anthem started up and the nightly death toll appeared in the sky. The girl from 3 was the only face in the sky. So, Sheila was still alive. The anthem finished with a flourish and left him in the dark. He used the thin blanket he got yesterday to cover himself from the cold night. As he took breaths, he noticed a cloud of vapor in front of his mouth. His eyes began to close as exhaustion over came him.

Snap! Snap! "Is he around here?" A female voice was faintly heard as Linden woke with a start. She must have been forty feet away from him. Another voice, a male, replied to the female. "He should. We checked the southern part of the arena last night."

Crap. Linden slowly sat up, trying to be quiet and not alert the group forty feet away. He got to his feet and he heard a deep, overpowering voice call to him. "You make my life miserable, Linden." Linden looked around for the voice, but he was only greeted by darkness. "You are nothing to me."

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" Linden covered his ears and began to scream. The voice continued to yell at Linden and he continued to yell at the voice. Footsteps were faintly heard and four people, three boys and a girl, were face to face with a hysterical Linden.

"Bastard child!" The voice screamed. The girl raised her bow and let her arrow fly. The arrow hit a bird, square in the chest, and made it fall to the ground with a thud! The monstrous boy continued to scream and thrash around from the screaming bird. The girl yelled out commands and the boys all jumped on Linden to get him to stop yelling and screaming. The girl moved closer to the bird and grabbed her arrow. "It was a jabberjay!" She confirmed to her allies.

The boys overpowered Linden and got him pinned to the ground while the boy from 2 sat on his stomach. His voice seemed to mimic the sarcasm that many District 2 tributes had. "Poor Linden. What did that bird call you? A bastard child? That sucks that you weren't meant to be here. At least now you can go where you belong." He looked to the District 1 boy, who was mouthing something. District 2 nodded and looked back to Linden. "Good thing that your brother doesn't know what a bastard child is. Oh, is he a bastard too? What a shame. Looks like someone will be going back where they belong."

District 2 smiled as he brought the sword to the air. Linden's eyes grew wide at the sight of the silver weapon and started to thrash around once more. The boy from 1 and boy from 4 still had a tight grip on his shoulders while District 2 brought the sword to his vulnerable flesh and sliced it open, exposing his blood to the air. Shrieks of pain were let from his throat as District 2 continued to hack away at Linden, calling out petty insults to Linden's brother. The sword was covered in blood by the time the cannon sounded. Boom!

The Fallen:

Linden Ulmus, District 7: Tortured by Caden

A/N: I seriously need to stop writing sometime. Okay, quick updated chapter and another character has fallen. Linden, your time has come. Anywho, twelve more tributes remain. Who shall fall next?

I know it is too fast to be thinking about my next SYOT, but I should get a head start on that before I continue on with this story. I need 140 tributes sent in (I know I am shooting too high, but I will add my own characters, who will all die in the arena) to jump start my next SYOT. So, if you are interested, PM me about it and I will hand over the tribute form for you to fill out. Five tributes per person. More information about that SYOT coming soon. :)