Tessa Braze, D11

Tessa heard the parachutes as they fell. Six of them. They landed in the center of their camp, and no one knew who they belonged to. She grabbed for the one closest to her, which was the largest. Out fell a sword, four knives, and a weird rope with heavy metal spheres on the end. The note inside said 'For Zane and District Five'. She handed the package over to the boy from Five. She saw a girl from Twelve handing a similar package to Jasper, and Tessa stood up to see what they'd gotten.

There was a slingshot, which she assumed was for Aprila while she was in the trees. There were also two swords and a knife. She grabbed one of the swords before someone else could claim it. She saw that Nine and Twelve had also gotten a weapons package, and the remaining two contained food. Tessa couldn't help but feel extremely grateful to the sponsors, who seemed to be urging them to take down the careers. Or maybe they just wanted a good fight with a lot of deaths. Either way, the alliance was now armed.

"We could take them tonight," suggested Macen, who was sitting to her left, running his fingers over the hilt of the long knife. It was more of a short sword, now that Tessa saw it more closely. Aprila and the other two little girls were splitting up the pointed rocks, putting them into the pockets of their jackets.

"No. We'll wait until tomorrow. Tonight we can enjoy the food," said Jasper, who was sorting through the food packages. They'd came in two large baskets, containing eighteen rolls, eighteen small bowls of stew, a large bird, uncooked, and a package of assorted fruit. They split the food evenly, and Tessa put her share of the bird right into the stew. The food was fresh and warm, a stark difference from anything in the arena.

By the time they had finished eating, the sun was just beginning to dip below the tops of the trees. It would be dark in a few hours, and they'd need to be in the trees by then. Jasper suggested trying out the weapons, as not everyone had gotten enough time with them during the training period. Tessa knew how to use her sword, so she helped the others. She and one of the boys from Twelve, Lawson, carved a target into a tree for the littler girls to practice with their slingshots. He'd said that Haden and Haelle, two others from Twelve, had gone to the river to pull more rocks from the gravelly terrain. Even though they weren't from her district, Tessa hoped that they would make it back okay.

Tinkra Bram, D3

"Run!" she screamed, pushing Alyssandra forward as she sprinted away from the birds that were pursuing them. They'd stumbled upon them earlier this morning, and Guier had tried killing one for food. He'd succeeded, but the other two were on him within seconds, ripping him to shreds. And now they were chasing the rest of them. The group barreled through the woods, trying to find a place to hide.

They passed the lake, in the alcove of the mountains, but Tinkra had no plans to go back there, after what had happened last time. Her arm had started bleeding again, from the exertion of running, and she knew that if they didn't find hiding soon, she'd die, either from blood loss, or from the birds catching up to her.

Suddenly, the wails of the birds stopped, and Tinkra risked turning around. She saw one of them on the ground, with a spear through its neck, and the other was roped off, it's head dangling from a tree branch. It'd be dead soon, too. The others froze in their steps, and they walked over to see who had done this. They'd set the snare, and had been close enough to throw he spear. Tinkra suddenly realized what that meant. There was a tribute nearby, armed and a threat.

"Where are you?" shouted Aaron, clearly realizing this, himself. Suddenly, the boy dropped down from the branch above them. Tinkra couldn't tell which district he was from, because he was covered head to toe in a layer of mud. He towered over her, although he was around the same height as Aaron and Veris.

"Who are you?" Asked Alyssandra, pointing Guier's spear at him. He raised his hands, grinning, which threw Tinkra. He was in a position to be killed, and he was smiling?

"Name's Damien. I'm from Nine. And you?" He laughed. He was kidding around. Tinkra wondered if he'd gone crazy.

"Why did you help us," she asked him.

"I saw that boy die back there, from your district. Horrible way to go. It wouldn't be right to just let them catch you, too. Here." Tinkra watched as he pulled a bandage from his pack, ad handed it to her. "You need it more than I do." She was nervous to take it. What if he had laced it with something?

"Any way is a horrible way to go in here." Said Veris. The kid named Damien laughed again, and Tinkra finally recognized him. He was the boy who had scored an 11.

"I guess that's right. Well, then, I'll be on my way," he said, backing away from the spear pointed him.

"No. Thank you, for helping us, but you're too dangerous to be let go," said Alyssandra. She lunged with the spear, and missed. The boy from Nine dodged it, and landed a punch to Alyssandra's back. She toppled over, and Damien took off into the woods.

Star Cyrus, D1

Star dodged the attack from Sloan. The girl from Nine tumbled and fell to her knees.

"You can do better than that," she called to the girl on the ground. The other careers were crowded around, watching as the two fought. It wasn't real, only practice. Peter had said he wanted Sloan trained, for what reason Star couldn't guess, but it gave her something to do. She'd volunteered, and now she was teaching the girl how to properly wield a sword. Her lower right leg was bandaged, from where Star accidentally nicked her. She hadn't meant to, only to defer Sloan's blow away.

Sloan jumped from the ground, swinging her arm around and early hitting her. But Star had better reflexes, and the weight of the sword spun Sloan back to the ground.

"Get up, you need to direct your weight through the blade, or that will happen every time you miss." She called in Bronze, who had agreed to be nice to the girl if it meant he'd get to play with the weapons. Star had Sloan sit on the ground, and she began sparring with Bronze. They were pretty evenly matched, but Bronze's size tipped the scales in his favor. Star had to concede defeat eventually. If they had been fighting to kill, she would have fought better. Having to restrain herself was something she wasn't too great at. As Bronze helped her off the ground, she slapped his back with the flat side of the sword. She took a seat next to Cassio and Shine as Sloan stood up, looking nervous at having to spar with Bronze.

By the end of their little duel, the only casualty was a lock of Sloan black hair, which had been cut clean off by a close blow from Bronze. The Careers had cheered when he'd nearly killed her, all except for Peter. That boy genuinely wanted her here. Wasn't he gay, though? It couldn't be an attraction. And the girl was weak compared to the rest of the pack. Why did he want her here so badly?

The fight was broken off as the Anthem boomed in the sky. They all looked up to see who had died in the past twenty-four hours. A boy from Three. Nenna from Four. Two tributes from Six, and the one from Nine. Star saw Sloan cry at the sight of the girl in the sky, but quickly wipe away the tears as is she suddenly remembered where she was. Star was just happy that everyone else from One was still alive at the base. Ember and Peter would announce the hunting parties soon, so Star quickly scooped up her sword, trying to seem ready to go out hunting.

The Fallen

Guier Coriente, District Three. Killed by Bird Muttations.

So, only one tribute gone in this chapter. And he died via Mutts. We have our first appearance by the Mutts! Should Damien have helped Three, or let the birds catch them and get rid of four more tributes? Anyone placing any bets on the outcome of the Career v. 'Super Alliance' battle coming up soon? I'm closing the poll tomorrow morning, and the winning couple, or possibly couples, will share the next chapter, which will fulfill everyone's want for some romance in the arena, hahaha. Right now, the standings are as such

1st place: Paxton and Elle

2nd: Carsander and Guerard

3rd: Reyes and Mykal

4th: Tie between the two Career romances.

Help your favorite couple get a featured spot. I have an idea for each one for the chapter. A new poll will go up in the morning. What it will be yet I am not sure. If you have any questions, requests, sponsor stuff, or comments, Please review :D I love reviews!

Also, I'm on Fiction Press now, too. I just posted the first chapter of my own original story-to-be, titled 'Otherworldly'. Check it out, please. I have the same username there, too.