Hey, everybody. Sorry about the delay. Expect chapters to take this long from now on, okay? I promise that I will finish this story.

Also, the Winter 2012 THG Awards have started nominations, so... if you catch my drift...? I don't want anything of mine nominated unless you honestly think I deserve it, but if you do, don't forget to nominate!

Fun Fact of the Chapter: How the Escorts Got Their Names, Part I. Nera Verona, escort for District One who always speaks REALLY LOUDLY, is named after 1) Roman Emperor Nero (feminized to Nera), and 2) Verona, the Italian city in which Romeo and Juliet takes place; I was studying Romeo and Juliet in school at that time.

…..

Link Anderson, District Three

"Thalia!"

Her head pops up and she glances around as she snaps out of her daze. It would be almost comedic, except for the fact that, well, it isn't. This is the person who I'm supposed to be depending upon for life and death during the Games, and she can't even bother paying attention during training?

I'm probably being too hard. She's obviously smart, and some of those equations she was writing down were so complex even I couldn't follow them. But what good are equations when you're being chased down by Careers? Then again...

"Link?" She looks over at me, and I let out a sigh. "Where do you want to start?" I ask.

We're making good progress, but still have a lot of ground to cover. Yesterday we plowed through edible plants, shelter-making, fire-making, camouflage, and water-purifying—all easy tasks, but necessary nonetheless. Thalia and I did reasonably well in all those areas, which is reassuring. Now that I've seen the other competitors, I think my odds are roughly 50%. Not especially good, not especially bad, but not average, either. Okay, maybe 43% or 42%, depending on the terrain of the arena. And then there's the sponsorship factor...

"Knots," she replies, and immediately starts walking in that direction. By the time I snap out of my thoughts and react, she's already there. Huh. We'd both better start paying more attention. C'mon, Link. Collect your thoughts.

As the instructor drones about some technicalities that I already know, I allow myself a quick glance over at the weaponry stations. I've been purposely steering Thalia away from them, not that she seems to mind any way. I saw what happened to the blind boy from Ten yesterday. If we go over there, everyone is sure to take notice. And that's not going to be good, because the whole point of having a secret skill is for it to be, well, secret. I'll just teach Thalia basic knife defense when we're in the arena.

As it turns out, Thalia is nothing less than a genius at making snares. It's... unnerving, really. By the time I've gotten the first knot in, she's already made a trap that can leave an enemy dangling from one leg, strung up a tree.

The unpredictability of our current situation is honestly making me feel sick. If my thoughts are so jumpy and flighty and I'm always thinking, how the heck am I going to survive in the arena?

39%.

…..

Parker Bates, District Eight

I like Che. Really, I do. He's a good conversationalist, funny, and smart, in a down-to-earth kind of way. He's also optimistic, which is something I've been lacking recently. He almost makes me forget that I'm about to be shipped to my death in a week.

He's also a really nice guy. He treats me like I'm his little sister, or at least a good friend, which is more than I can say for any other person I've encountered since the Reaping. People should be nice to each other, even in situations like this. If enough people can find the decency to be as kind as Che, then maybe there wouldn't be anything as horrific as the Hunger Games!

I want to do something to make that happen. Not rebel or anything drastic like that, that would breed too much violence. Just... being nice. Being a friend, not just an ally. We can make the world a better place, maybe.

Hopefully. I guess.

I glance over at the water purification station, where the little girl from Six is standing, all alone. Even though I know she's not helpless, I can't help but think of Mouse. My own little sister. Who I promised to come home to.

I wish the world were a better place already.

…..

Emerald Honeycomb, District Two

My alliance is turning out to be much more formidable than I thought they were going to be.

We've split into different groups today, a surprisingly wise choice on the part of our dear leader, Carreen. I'm working with Emily right now. Poor, pitiful girl. She hasn't got a clue what's going on. Incredibly easy to dupe. But the others? Not so much.

I can tell that at least Marius and Gabriel are suspicious of me. I suppose I was being rather naïve when I thought everyone would fall for my act, but it still bugs me that these aren't the overconfident, arrogant Careers of previous years, who intimidate everyone in sight and stupidly boast tot he world that they'll do anything to win the Games—while being stabbed in the back by their allies. It was kind of a major part of my scheme. Well, I suppose I'll have to improvise.

Luka Saroque also throws a huge wrench in my plans, but perhaps it's a good wrench. He's seen right through my act and offered a "Betrayal Alliance" yesterday. We can ambush the others together and then go our separate ways. He's incredibly crafty; that was a plan worthy of Emerald Honeycomb herself.

But as I catch his grin across the training room, I know that even he was underestimated me. I can see right away that Luka isn't sane, and plan to exploit that as much as I can. Why not? These are the Hunger Games, after all.

"Emerald? How do you..."

I let out a "good-natured" sigh and adjust the girl's grip on her spear. There, there, honey, I'm tempted to mock. Everything's going to be all right, trust me. But of course I don't. I just grin wider, and bat my eyelashes in some pretense of innocence and wait for these Games to really start.

…..

Mary Telva, District Six

"Try again, sweetie. You'll get it eventually."

The instructor doesn't seem to care very much about my needs, instead preferring to focus on the two Careers throwing knives at the station to the left. I sigh and glance back down at my handiwork. I thought it was perfectly decent camouflage, before I held it up to the actual forest backdrop and realized that the coloring was all wrong. I know that a lot of people dismiss camouflage for the weaponry, but I think it saved a boy's life back in one of the early Games, and my strategy is to run and hide, not to fight. What better way to hide than disguising yourself in plain sight? Right?

Though I don't think anyone's managed to hide out an entire Hunger Games.

I become vaguely aware of some voices behind me, and before I know it two other tributes—a boy and a girl, I think from Seven and Eight—have pulled up beside me. "Nice work," comments the boy.

I only nod weakly and turn back to the paint, which still doesn't work in the lighting...

The boy and the girl exchange a quick glance, and then the girl says, "Do you want to ally with us?"

My heart begins to pound, though I don't know why. "Um, thank you. Yes. Yes."

The boy grins and extends his hand. "Che Botill, District Seven. This is Parker Bates, from Eight."

"Neetamarie Telva, Six. Call me Mary."

Parker smiles a bit and brushes a lock of hair out of her eyes. "I think we're going to be a great team."