Gamemaker Hilly Creekwater

Hilly reentered the game room quietly and took her seat. She'd been out on the streets of the Capitol all morning, finding out people's opinion of how the games should go from here on out. She was the nixes Gamemaker, so this was her task alone, as she was not well known yet with the people. They simply thought she wanted an opinion. Head Gamemaker Hightower wasn't here at the moment, as he had the pleasure of sleeping in today. Instead, Assistant Head Wilowa was acting on his behalf.

"Miss Wilowa," she called across the room to the woman. She rushed over to where Hilly was sitting, excited to hear how the people were reacting.

"Are they excited by the games?" Se asked. Hilly nodded.

"They are, but they want more action. They liked the battle that occurred between the tributes, but it seems that they are bored already." She saw that Wilowa didn't look too pleased with the answer. The woman furrowed her brow for a moment, thinking.

"We shall begin to intervene, then. Of course, we'll need to wait on Wayland's approval of when to play the Game, but for now…" She turned to the Mutt specialists on the far side of the room. "Start preparing the mutts. We may need them soon."

Star Cyrus, D1

"You really think this is best? We agree to this, and we'll try to kill you." She spoke to Ruben, from Four, who had suggested breaking off the Career alliance. After Ember's near fatal blow to Peter, Star had personally felt uneasy around the tributes from Two and Four. Only one district could make it out alive, after all. She knew that the alliance would be temporary, but this was only five days into the games. Other tributes looked unsure about this, too. Peter, who had woken up only a few hours ago, was in disagreement.

"We're strongest when we're together. Even though we'll have to fight each other eventually, we will all live longer if we stay allied longer. Why do you want this, now?" he asked Ruben.

"If it weren't for our numbers, I feel this alliance might be tighter, but because we could easily survive without the aid of the other districts, I feel like we don't feel safe around each other. You can't say you don't feel fine when you're keeping watch, and the only others awake are your enemies. Or how you fear death in your sleep, because an armed member of another district is keeping lookout. Why is it we've only been hunting with our district partners? Because we don't want to be left alone with someone who is capable of killing us. Face it, the fact that there are more of us now than there have ever been in the games before is our weakness, and separating will make us all better fighters in here." Star was surprised by his logic. What he was saying made perfect sense to her, now.

She looked to the others from her district. Luxe and Cubic seemed eager to get away from Two and Four, but Cassio and Shine looked worried about the decision.

"It's a competition, in the end." She said, addressing the crowd. "If we can't survive on our own, then do we really deserve to win?" She knew that this caught Shine's attention. The girl almost instantly changed her expression, her stance, to match with Cubic and Luxe, trying to seem like she had been decided all along. Star knew the decision to split was an inevitability.

Valeria Groulx, D10

Valeria woke up to a loud, annoying noise coming from beneath their tree branch. She rolled over, gripping the tree, and looked down through the leaves to see what was going on down on the ground. She saw two birds, large and deep blue-grey, pecking at the grass at the base of the trunk. They had massive wings and razor sharp beaks.

Mutts, she thought. She moved as slowly as possible to get back onto her branch. She nudged Nola on the arm, trying to wake him up. His eyes fluttered, and he looked over at her. Valeria pointed downward to the birds, using her other hand to tell him to keep quiet. She watched as he looked down at the birds, his eyes widening. He whipped back around to his branch.

How do we get out? He mouthed to her. Valeria shrugged her shoulders as best she could. They had to wake up Aurelie somehow, who was a few feet further down the tree, closer to the birds. If the birds could fly, they'd be dead. Valeria watched Nolan slide off his branch and climbed down to the sleeping girl. He was careful to move so that he would make as little noise as possible. He reached her branch safely, and Valeria swelled with confidence. We can make it out of this, she thought.

She thought it too soon. She could only watch as Nolan tried to wake up Aurelie. At the slightest touch, the girl bolted upright and flailed her arms out at what Valeria thought she assumed to be an attacker. Nolan fell backwards, landing hard on a branch ten feet further down the tree. He slipped, but was hanging on by his fingers.

The birds heard him. They squawked viciously, jumping and trying to reach Nolan's feet.

"Help me get him," Valeria shouted to Aurelie. They climbed down the tree to his branch, and tried to pull him up. They weren't strong enough. He was slipping. Valeria ripped off her backpack and pulled out the rope they had. She tied a slipknot at on end. She risked climbing down one more level of branches, right above the birds' reach, to slip it around his legs and lift it to his torso. She tossed the other end of the rope to Aurelie.

"Wrap it around that branch and hold tight," she yelled. The girl did as she was told, and Valeria climbed back to her spot. "This will hurt, Nolan, but just hold on." She climbed up the tree to the top of the rope, wrapped around the sturdiest branch on the upper level. "When I say so, you hold tight and jump. Okay?" Aurelie nodded. Valeria counted off and they leapt from the branch, their combined weight ripping Nolan upward by his stomach.

Now, the only problem was getting to another branch. They were swaying in between to large ones, so Valeria began to pump her legs. As they were getting close to the nearest one, Aurelie's fingers began to slip.

"No. Hold on. Just hold on." But the girl kept sliding down the rope, and Valeria felt the jolt as she fell. She heard the screams as the two birds ripped into her. She had to fight back a scream.

"You can't think about it. Get to a branch so we can find a way out of here!" called Nolan, up near the highest branches. His weight was the only thing keeping her alive right now. She swung to a branch, and clambered back up the tree to the only remaining tribute from her district.

Mitchell 'Maxwell Descosne, D6

Mitchell sliced the final vine on his raft, finally finishing the boat that would bring him to safety on the islands he'd seen in the alcove lake. He threw his backpack and his spear onto the raft, and made his running start. Mitchell could swim, but his way he could stay dry while he looked for fish. Plus, it could be used as a shield if an attack came from above.

He reached the island, one of the farthest from the shore, after about half an hour of paddling with his hands. Every now and again, he had stuck his face into the water to look for food, and he found that the lake was teeming with fish. He could hunt them with his spear later on. The island was small, but had good tree cover. He sprawled out on the ground, which was nice, soft dirt. This would be the perfect place to finally get some sleep.

Mitchell removed his jacket, shirt, pants and shoes; He'd need them dry if he was to keep warm at night. He dove into the water, and the fish immediately scattered. No matter, they'd be back soon. He swam closer to the rocks, where it'd be easier to get a good throw from. As he swam, he noticed a dark spot in the rocks under the water. He ducked beneath the surface to find the opening of a cave. It was pointless to check it out, until He saw light coming in through the water. There was an opening on the other side!

Mitchell took a deep breath and swam as fast as he could, no longer caring about the fish. As he neared the mouth of the cave, he noticed the odd look of the rocks. They had fluidity, as if they were liquid. He quickly reached the other side, with plenty of breath left. The cave was small, with a break in the rock where the sun poured through. A second cavern led off this one, and Mitchell was horrified of what he saw.

Helena Jenkins, D2

"Grab whatever you can. We need to be prepared." Said Peter, who was loading himself up with weapons. Helena's job was to grab food and other supplies. They'd all agreed that no one would use the Cornucopia as a base. Helena was surprised at how civilized everyone was acting about the situation. She and Peter were planning to head to the mountains. Higher ground was better. She found a tent pack in the back of the horn and slung it over her shoulder with the already full backpacks of food. She carried out two extra packs, one with a first aid kit and the other with what was left of the smoke bombs. They'd never found out who had thrown them and killed Ember, but for Helena, they saved her the trouble of having to fight him.

She and Peter left camp and headed for the base of the mountains. A few hundred feet into the forest, Helena realized she was unarmed, and traded her first aid kit for a sword from Peter. They walked in as straight a path as possible, as not to get lost in the woods. She couldn't help but feel like Two had been the weakest of the career districts all along. Their numbers had been cut in half on day one, and now she and Peter were all that was left.

"What are you thinking about?" she asked Peter, trying to get away from her own thoughts. He shrugged, and there was silence for a few minutes before he finally answered.

"I'm thinking about how I don't want Colin to be a tribute, ever. I had thought this would be fun, that there was a meaning to this, but it's horrible. I never would have thought that being a part of the games would be the worst thing to happen to me." Helena didn't respond to him. She didn't know how, mostly because she'd been thinking the exact same thing.

The Fallen

Aurelie Dranson, District Ten. Killed by Mutts.

So what did you guys think of this chapter. I had realized that I'd nearly forgotten about District Ten for so long, and I apologize that one of them had to die in order to be featured. What do you think Mitchell saw in that cave? Hint: It wasn't a Mutt. Will Guerard and Carsander notice their new neighbor? Will they attack, hide, or ally with him should he be found? I love hearing what you guys think, and what you think will or should happen next. There's a reason I don't write chapters far in advance. It's because I want to take in reader input before I continue. So, that means review, please.

There is a poll on my profile. Don't forget to sponsor and send gifts to your favorite tributes. A 'good' gamemaker/mentor surprise is coming in a few chapters. What do you think it will be?