Day Three

Terrance Till, District Eleven Mentor

"I swear, you have the worst tributes this year." Braxton said as he looked to Terrance. "The boy died in the bloodbath and the girl is making kissy faces to the boy from Twelve. I see that they are as good as dead." Stupid District 2 mentor is so full of himself.

"Your tributes aren't so hot either." Terrance remarked, sipping his Capitol wine. "They are siblings. Only one can come out alive." Braxton rolled his eyes and continued to talk to Luna, his co-mentor.

The mentors are all gathered in the City Circle, where giant T.V screens have been set up to broadcast the Games to all the mentors and Capitol citizens. All mentors were watching the Games to see how their tribute(s) were holding up. Linden's death has just been replayed over the screen and Terrance couldn't get Palma's tear-stricken face from his mind. That woman is a bag of emotions. Sometimes, the only thing you can do is blame the tribute. It was their fault they died anyway.

Terrance looks around the circle and watches parents point out the Games to their children. Sick. Just a sick, sick thing to do. He rolls his eyes and focuses on Saely, who has just appeared on-screen. Saely has just woken up and she realizes that she accidentally left the fire blaze all night and the knife was too close to the flame, making a pool of melted silver on the rocks. Silly girl. Without that weapon, she will get no where in the arena. Food and victims come from weapons; take that away and you are as good as dead. Terrance scratched his head and looked around. The wealthy sponsors were sitting around, drinking cocktails while watching the Games. Maybe they could help him.

He stood up, straightened his jacket, and moved to a group of cocktail drinking sponsors. Their wallets were fit to burst anyway. He walked over in a polite manner and took a seat next to a lady with a pink, frilly dress on. "Hello, there. How are you liking the Games so far?"

"Quite well, actually." She replied, her voice thick with the accent. Blegh! "I love those two lovebirds. They are so innocent to the Hunger Games thing, aren't they?"

"Yes, I can agree." Terrance replied, smirking. "I happen to be the mentor of the girl there, Saely Taylor. For a fifteen year old, she is a fighter. But, she can't show her skills without a weapon. Now, a nice, mannered woman, such as yourself, can't bear the thought of a lover losing her life because she had no means to protect herself. Why not send her a little something, you know, to keep her and her lover alive for a while longer?" The woman listened and nodded. Success in the Capitol!

Saely Taylor, D11

"Playton, I am so sorry!" Saely whimpered as she looked at the shining pool of silver in front of her. "I must have dosed off on my watch and the knife must have melted. I'm so sorry. I ruined everything! We will die..." Playton put a finger to her lips and calmed her down. Tears flowed from Saely's eyes as she held in her voice.

"It's okay, baby. We will find a way to overcome this. We still have a little bit of rabbit meat left. Why don't we eat that while we think of something?" Playton suggested. Saely nodded as she grabbed the meat from the other side of the campfire. She gave Playton a small slice of rabbit meat and cut herself a small piece. The pair began to eat away at the dead animal and started to think about what they could do about the melted weapon.

It was all Saely's fault and she knew it. She dozed off an hour after the nightly death toll appeared in the sky. A few hours later, the boom of the cannon woke her up to a melted weapon. She couldn't care less about who the cannon belonged to; she was faced with the worst possible thing to have happen to you in the Games. You don't have a weapon. Playton trusted her and she could have put them in danger, or worse, killed them in their sleep. She gnawed at her meat and tried to push the mistake from her mind. Eat and you'll get over it.

Ding! Ding! D-D-Ding! An overlapping beeping noise came to Saely's left. She put the meat in her mouth and looked in the air. Two sponsor gifts were floating their way as Saely's arm tracker blinked and blinked. Were both gifts for her? She looked to Playton's arm and noticed his arm tracker was blinking too. A gift landed to her side and another gift landed in Playton's lap. Saely wasted no time in opening her gift. A silver spear fell out in pieces and a note landed in her hands. She held it up and read it.

Don't let this melt too, Saely. ~T

She giggled at her mentor's remark. She grabbed the spear and began to put it together. This must have cost some serious sponsor money. It looked so slender, so ready to strike down a tribute or a rabbit. Playton cracked open his case and a slip of paper fell in his hands. He showed it to Saely and they read it together. You know where they are 'hiding'. Just go back where you began and you'll find them. ~J

The pair looked to each other and realized what Junebug was talking about. 'They' are at the Cornucopia.

Predator Fazaysia, D4

"What do you mean 'no hunting tonight'?" Kleo screeched as Ian made the announcement. Caden placed his hand on her shoulder as Predator and Flim just looked to the District 1 tribute. Ian ran his hand through his black hair and looked to his allies.

"We can't hunt every night. How much sleep have you gotten, Kleo? Predator? Caden? What if Flim can't use the weapon to kill anyone and our stuff gets raided? We will take tonight off, and I'll be the first watch after the nightly death toll, okay?" Ian explained calmly. Predator grabbed a slice of jerky and placed it in his mouth. No tribute hunt? At least he wasn't throwing a hissy fit like Kleo.

Caden stood up and threw his bloody sword to Flim. She backed away from the repulsive weapon and got the water. Predator watched as her hands quickly moved to clean the blood from the silver weapon without getting anything on her. Her eyes were focused on the blood that she was wiping from the sword. Other than the 'tributes in training' back home, he has never seen anyone so focused. Maybe Flim was onto something.

Ding. Ding. Ding. A beeping noise came from the sky and a silver sponsor gift landed by the lip of the Corcucopia. Caden rushed over and picked up the gift, expecting it to be for him. He cracked it open and pulled a silver, slender crossbow from the container. His eyes were glued to the weapon that was up to Capitol code and was in awe of this wonder of a weapon. A note fell from the container and Kleo picked it up. Her eyes glanced over the paper and glanced to Predator. "It says that it is for you." Predator's eyes widened as he stood up and took his rightful weapon.

The silver finish on the crossbow beckoned him to shoot from it. The wonderous weapon was perfectly made, better than the crossbows he had back at home. The weapon came equipped with three arrows, but he could care less about the ammo. The sponsors he has must really want him to win. It wasn't perfectly designed like the girl from 10's knives from last year, but this weapon was beautiful. Everyone in the alliance knew it, even Caden.

"Please. I have seen better weapons back home." Caden says, trying to sound like he didn't care. Predator knew that Caden is deeply jealous of him. Jealousy can lead to rage, and rage can lead to death. Predator better watch his back now.

Sheila Carwell, D7

The sun began to set as Sheila looked at the tree in front of her. No cannons sounded today, other than the one early this morning that woke her from her sleep, so no deaths other than the unnamed one. She'll find out who that cannon belonged to in a few minutes. Now, she faced one of her weaknesses: climbing trees. Despite living in the tree district, something about the height of the tree scared her and kept her grounded. But, in the arena, you always find out how to do something you aren't good at if you want to go home alive. Sheila placed her hands on the solid bark, trying to find a way to hoist herself up from the ground. He hands snagged on a jutted out branch, and she grasped it. She was climbing up the tree.

Branch after branch, she found herself sitting on a thick branch, thick enough to hold her weight and keep her from falling to her death. She used a thin sheet to cover her legs and keep her bottom half warm and cozy. The sun just dipped below the horizon and she waited on the branch for the nightly death toll. Who died early this morning? She placed the leaf pendent on her necklace in between her fingers. How was Jacob doing? How about her mother and father? Home seemed like an impossibility at this moment.

The sky lit up and the anthem began. The cannon must have a face to it. The words 'The Fallen' met her eyes as she patiently waited for the face to appear. The face in the sky was Linden, with the words 'District Seven' underneath his face. Sheila's hand flew to her mouth, covering any sounds from escaping her throat. No, not Linden. What about his brother? What about the boy he volunteered for? Linden couldn't have died. The Capitol must be playing a trick on her. Tears welled up in her eyes. Sheila forced herself not to cry. Don't show any emotion while your 'partner' is in the sky. Emotion is weakness, and sponsors don't like weaknesses.

Ding! Ding! Ding! A noise rang in Sheila's ears. Her head snapped to her right and saw a silver container fly to her. It looked like it held next to nothing because of its size. The container landed in her lap and the beeping ceased. What could be in this container? She unhooked the parachute and cracked open the container. A slip of paper was in her hands, but she could barely make out the words. Her eyes started to adjust to the darkness and the words began to illuminate before her eyes. It was from her mentor. Linden's killer is where you began. Don't play dumb and let the killer live. Go to your starting place. ~S

The killer is where she began. Sheila read the note from Sinus over and over again. Where you began. Where did she begin? Oh! Sheila smiled as she realized the clue. The Cornucopia holds Linden's killer. One more face will be added to the sky tomorrow night.

A/N: Just like the title states, more and more sponsors are coming in. How did you feel about those gifts? How about the hints leading them to the Cornucopia? Suspense builds! I didn't seperate day three into parts because there wasn't any deaths, other than Linden who died in the last chapter. There is a new poll on my profile! Please take it so I know what to do. :P

Now, about my newest SYOT. Each district must send ten tributes, five of each gender. All fourteen districts are competing, so 10 times 14 is 140. 140 tributes! There will be plenty of room for tributes. :) Also, the tribute list is on my profile, so you will always know which districts are in need of tributes. I have the tribute form, so PM me if you are interested. :) I want the form as detailed as possible, without being too in depth. With 140 tributes, I doubt I can get everyone's back story in. But, I'll try. :)