Ruben Jackson, D4

You need to choose, Ruben. Only one of them can come back with you, should you win. They'll kill you if you make it too far without taking one of them out. I'm not telling you to murder your own district partners. I am only warning you against their intentions. Keep fighting. Bring pride to your district.

Ruben made sure to keep his note from Mai-Bliss hidden from Ronan and Thalassa. No doubt Thalassa's sister was helping her, allying with her and Ronan. Ruben finally had to face the fact that he was the outsider in the trio. His choice was difficult. Who would he choose as his ally?

Ronan. He was stronger, faster. Clearly the better ally. He would last longer than Thalassa, and would have a better chance at fending off other tributes.

But Thalassa had the sponsor connection. Her sister would definitely murder Ruben herself if he killed Thalassa. She was from a victor family. They weren't the easiest people to get rid of.

He looked over his shoulder, at the two of them sleeping together in the grass, and decided his next move. They were his friends. He couldn't choose between them, but he wasn't about to let them decide one day that Ruben was no longer necessary.

He packed a bag, stocked himself with weapons, and stalked off into the forest.

Fiona Fierry, D5

Fiona darted through the woods, chasing the girl from Eleven. She'd caught her off guard, alone at whatever camp she'd made with the remaining boy from her district. Fiona figured he was out hunting. Either way, the girl was now on the run, unarmed, and starting to tire.

She jumped over a fallen tree that lay across the ground, and Fiona followed her movements. She didn't care about the danger of this hunt anymore. She just wanted the games over with, even if she had to kill tributes, herself.

The ground sloped downward. Fiona could see the girl reach bottom of the hill, but she looked tired. Fiona's feet were starting to give from the speed of her descent, and halfway down the hill, she fell. She slid the rest of the way down the hill, and when she looked up, the girl from Eleven was gone.

Fiona stood up to look around for her prey, but instead she felt a blow to the side of her c. She fell back against a tree. She saw the girl from Elven tense to land another punch, or kick. Fiona knew what to do. She pulled back into the trunk, and let the girl swing forward in another attack, and Fiona shoved her blade forward into the girl's chest. She gasped, and looked up at Fiona, horror and pain marring her face. Fiona couldn't allow herself to care anymore. She yanked her sword free, and the girl fell to the ground. A cannon went off.

Macen McGrathe, D11

"Tess? Tessa!" Screamed Macen, as he bounded through the forest. He'd heard the canon just after he'd managed to bring down a small groosling, and she was gone when he got back to their camp. He saw the Hovercraft appear, moving in the same direction he was going. He used what little energy his legs had left and pushed his way to the spot where the dead tribute was about to be picked up.

He saw the girl, wearing the red of Five, standing just on the other side of the clearing, watching Tessa, who was dead on the ground. Macen pulled a knife from his belt and ducked down. In his last burst of running, he hadn't been able to manage a yell, so maybe the girl didn't expect him to come running for her. As Tessa was lifted from the ground, Macen made his shot. The knife stuck right into her collarbone, close to her shoulder. He'd been aiming for her heart, but this was good enough for him. He picked up his spear and chased the girl from Five. Despite her injury, she was fast. Macen figured that if he hadn't thrown the knife, he would have lost her in the trees.

He managed to get a good grip on his spear, and let it fly. He missed. The spear went just to the left and stuck into the dirt. He had another knife, but as he was about to pass the spear, he reached out for it, and, to his surprise, successfully yanked it from the ground without losing much speed. He'd get another shot. He used as much as he could to gain ground on Five, but just as he was about to fire the shot, just as he saw her pull the knife from her arm, a glint of silver shot through the air and an arrow dug itself deep into the girl's back. Macen turned and ran the other direction, ignoring his protesting muscles. Danger was close.

Paxton Luke, D2

Before Paxton could ready another arrow, the boy was gone, running off in another direction. He looked down at the girl he'd just ended, and saw that she was wearing red. In his head, he counted off the tributes from Five. He managed seven. Was this girl the last of them? Was another district gone and out of the race? He'd find out later that day, when they showed the faces in the sky. He remembered how the remaining three from Six had been pictured, with a lighter image than the others. He took that as meaning they were the last of Six. Would this girl come up as a lighter image?

"I got it. I got her sword. Take it, I need both hands to get back up." Said Elle, holding out the girl's short sword. He took it from her, grabbing it by the hilt, and then offering her a hand back onto their platform.

"You didn't have to grab it," he said. "We're pretty good on weapons. I'm just glad you grabbed the arrow." He took the arrow from Elle, wiping the blood off of it with the bottom of his pants. He hadn't been using poisoned arrows, just so that they could retrieve them safely if they managed to take down another tribute.

"You're a good shot, even with that crappy bow." Laughed Elle, feeling the tension of Paxton's homemade bow. They'd search for the right pieces of wood, and it'd taken a few hours to find one flexible enough. Stringing it was harder on Elle than finding the wood. Paxton knew the best thing they could find here in the arena would be innards. They'd hunted down a fox, and even though Paxton had told Elle she didn't have to watch, she sat beside him as he pulled out the right part of the animal's interior to make the string of his bow. She was so much stronger than he ever would have guessed when he met her on the train. And that was only three weeks ago. They'd been away from Two for almost a month, but it seemed so much longer. It was only the eighth day in the arena.

"Not as good as you," he answered her. "And there were two cannons that went off today. Two more down." As if on cue, another cannon sounded in the distance. "Three. Three down."

"And only twenty-seven to go." Paxton smiled as Elle leaned in to kiss him.

The Fallen

Fiona Fierry, D5, killed by Paxton

Tessa Braze, D11, killed by Fiona

Rachel Beta, D7, died of poison induced by Elle.

Sorry, District Five fans. The time had come. What do you think of the chapter? I was realy conflicted about Fiona's death, but then again, I'm conflicted about most of the deaths from this point on. You'll get a glimpse of Cicenna and Sarah in the next chapter, and see how Rachel died. Are you suprised that Elle has seemed to become Paxton's teacher? He doesn't protect her like he used to, and trusts her as a powerful ally. Will they make it? Who knows. I'm still in a writing kind of mood, and mid-terms ended early today, so maybe, just maybe, I'll have another chapter for you guys tomorrow.

Please, please review. I'm going to repost the last tribute poll, so that everybody can have a fresh set of voting.