Damien Greyson, D9

Damien ran towards where he thought the noise had come from. He'd heard Sloan, faintly, calling him, and then an abrupt stop. Something had cut her off, stopped her from calling. And he knew, from hearing his name over and over again, that she was trying to find him, just as he had been trying to find her..

"Sloan?" he called. "Sloan!" He heard a loud grunt, and a muffled thud, just over the next hill, and broke out into a sprint. He found Sloan, fighting off a tribute. She was losing. He had her back up against a tree, his sword ready to enter her chest. Damien quickly pulled his throwing knife and sent it into the tribute's side. He released her, and pulled the knife out. His eyes met Damien's, and he hit his knees. He was about to die. Sloan raised her knife to finish the job, but as she sliced at his throat, the boy made his final attack and dragged his sword through her arm.

The cannon sounded. Damien rushed down the hill to Sloan. She was bleeding badly from the gash on her arm, losing a lot of blood. Damien had to think fast. He pulled off his jacket, followed by his shirts, and quickly tied the latter around Sloan's wound.

"Don't bother," she said, trying to take the shirt off of her arm. "It'll get cold at night. You'll need it."

"You'll die if I don't." He kept tying knots.

"I'll die either way. So just save yourself.."

"You're not dying. Now hold still. You're going to have to let me lift you. We need to find shelter." Sloan stopped fighting him, and let him finish tying the shirt around her arm. He slid his jacket back on, and then lifted Sloan into his arms.

"Always the hero, aren't you, Greyson?" She said sarcastically.

Peter Cooper, D2

Peter was on the hunt. He needed to be. Colin was dead. His Colin was dead, and every single tribute in this arena was going to pay for it. He finally decided to create snares where he went; he didn't care anymore about personally getting the kill.

He had his sword left. That was all he had. No food, no water, no other weapons. He was completely out on his own now.

Luck came his way when he was wandering through the woods, back towards the river. He'd decided it best to stay close to the water source, now that he couldn't carry it with him. He'd heard voices, angry, arguing voices, coming from a spot through the trees on the other side of the water. Peter found a good place to cross, and then went to look at the unfortunate target of his sword.

It was a girl, dressed in green and arguing with a boy dressed in brown. They were the same clothes Colin had been wearing. Peter kept low, and noticed how similar the two people looked. Definitely siblings. The girl from Seven would lose her brother today, too. Peter was about to attack, when he saw the non-tibute boy pull a knife from his belt and brandish at her. The girl looked terrified, but at the same time, she drew her own blade.

"You're not my brother, are you?" he heard the girl ask. The boy nodded, and smiled, and Peter saw the fanged teeth in his mouth, clearly belonging to a mutt. He didn't say anything else, but when he attacked, the girl drover her knife into his head.

The mutt fell dead. The girl started to cry, and Peter leapt from his hiding place in the leaves. The girl screamed, but Peter only smiled.

"Goodbye, District Seven."

A cannon sounded.

Ronan Sonnaville, D4

Ronan was worried. The spot where the arrow had hit him was hurting. He'd expected pain - it was a wound after all - but this was something different. It felt as if something was gnawing at his insides. His head spun when he moved too fast, and he'd developed a cough. He knew Thalassa was denying it, but that arrow had to have been laced with something.

He was dying. Slowly but surely, he was dying.

Ronan struggled, but managed to it himself up and prop himself against the base of the tree. Thalassa had done a god job of finding them a place to take shelter. It was a large group of trees, with broken branches back from the volcano eruption. There was water nearby in the alcove lake, and an overhang formed by one of the fallen branches lying across a rock. Right now, she was out, looking for food by the lake. They hadn't spoken much since the pain had started in Ronan's back. He guessed she just didn't want to face facts.

He'd let her have that as long as possible.

Elle Lester, D2

Elle notices something up in the tree she'd been climbing. A bag. A tribute's pack. She scrambled up the tree to its branch and quickly looked through the items. There wasn't much, just a small bottle of water, a bag of dried fruit, and a knife, but it was better than nothing. Elle stowed the knife away in her belt, and threw the pack to the forest floor. Maybe a tribute would be enticed by it and come within her range. Elle only had four arrows left, so they would need to be close for her to attack.

She settled in to her new tree and opened her back to put away the food she'd found. She opened the smaller pocket of the main pouch, and placed the fruit and water inside. But her hands found something else, also. A piece of paper. The note from the mentors! She knew what it said, but she opened it anyway. Right there, at the bottom of the note, 'Stay together'.

She had to find Paxton.

The Fallen

Mykal Duncan, District Seven. Killed by Peter.

Haden Plutoran, District Twelve. Killed by Damien.

So we had two tribute deaths this chapter. Sorry to Mykal and Haden's supporters. It was their time.

What did you think of this chapter? Are you happy with Elle's choice to go find Paxton? Is Ronan being a good person in allowing Thalassa to deny that he is dying? Are you glad that these alliances are getting back together, or will they just fall apart again? Questions, questions, questions.

Please review. I love them reviews. Vote in the poll, too :)

I'm trying my hardest to get at least one update a week for you guys. Scheduling time to write is a bit difficult at the moment.

- Sarah.