FOR A MOMENT I cannot breathe right and the only thing I can comprehend is my shock. The silhouette isn't there anymore, it has disappeared. An odd feeling in my stomach occurs. My hands are shaking. I try to compose myself and keep my breathing pattern in check-breath in, breath out, breath in, breath out, breath in-

I hear the rustling of trees nearby. My instincts immediately tell me to run, but I can't bring myself to leaving Hazel all alone. She can't just be left here, where she is weak and powerless with the flag on her-the flag!

I can see the blue fabric, still tied to her wrist. The person must have seen Katie and the missing flag and assumed we had it. We did, but I was not going to let them have it. And their next step is to probably knock me out unconscious as well.

Swallowing hard, I crouch down near Hazel and struggle to untie the firm knot. I pull on it-it comes off and I attach it to my belt. I get up, not really sure on what to do next, but I see a sword slash out from a tree nearby and I take it as the cue to run.

I am far too shocked, scared, worried and sorrowful to pretend I am not. My lip won't stop trembling as I remember how I left Hazel all helpless, lying there on the ground.

The wind blows against my face as I rush through the trees, trying to find my way out of here. I am going too fast to observe my surroundings and where I am actually heading. All I know is that I do not want to encounter anybody and that I need to keep moving. I turn my head to see if anybody is following me. I see nobody, so I continue running.

The only problem is I have reached a dead end.

I can see rocks making a wall that blocks the way I was planning to go. I'm far too scared to go back, because the person might be following me. I grit my teeth in frustration at everything. What now?

Maybe I can try to climb it? I examine it to see any places for me to hold onto. I pull myself up and lodge my feet onto the some gaps. It's hard, but the thought of losing only makes me more determined for anybody to catch up. I reach the top, the higher ground. With one last glance behind I trudge along the ground.

I start to wonder if Katie and Hazel will get a good score. Probably, because even though they won't be up the whole time they did display some good skills-and violence.

The Gamemakers love violence.

My thoughts turn to what my score will be like. The score is marked out of twelve, so my ideal might be eight or ten. My real score will be six-the reason being that the Gamemakers refuse to give anybody a score of five or below-maybe to show that there will be good tributes fighting, so good entertainment.

I feel apologetic towards them since I am a very boring person. No 'action' or 'entertainment' is coming right now, and I feel happy with that despite what they might think. But I do need to show off something, right?

No, I do not want to get injured.

I suppose I haven't been paying attention to my surroundings because I trip and fall down, tumbling down and landing back onto the lower ground. Back to the start. I can't help feeling stupid and absolutely mortified at the whole situation. Hopefully I won't ruin anything else. I continue to drag myself through the forest-lost, confused. I unsheathe Katropis and look at it, but not to stare at my own reflection-no, I am hoping it will give me a sign. Not that it would, but I might as well try again.

But nothing happens, and I suppose now I look like some idiot who is just standing there in the middle of the forest-admiring themselves. I am about to put the dagger back in when I see the light shining on it. Just the sun, but I instantly rise to the 'offer.' The sun rises from the east, then to the west. It was-is-might still be morning...

I look up, as if to see that the sun is still there. So if the sun is up there and if it should make itself go further away...and the Red camp is on the west side.

I have to smile because I finally know what I'm doing, even if it did take long. West side, it is! I take one more moment to register my surroundings before jogging away again.

My ears prick up as I hear a sudden noise erupt and echo through the quiet forest. A bird call sings such a sweet tune that I have to stop and listen. I don't think I have heard anything more beautiful for a long time, and for a moment I am lost into the sound. The beautiful high-pitched whistle stops at a certain note, repeatedly singing it as if it were experimenting the sound.

After being satisfied it continues; soon, it's as if the whole forest chorus along as well. More birds sing as I stand there mystified at how wonderful nature really is. But the singing stops abruptly and the birds start flapping away wildly. Something is wrong.

I start to take a few steps away when I hear the rustling of leaves behind me. I quickly turn, only to crash into a tree. Hurriedly, I try to compose myself only to find that it is not a tree I have run into, but a tribute.

And not one from the same team.

I can see what they look like, well-built, tough. Their hair is slightly dishevelled, hands holding a large sword...

It's a male, and his eyes are cold and harsh-but when his gaze falls upon me I can only comprehend shock. Only then, his icy blue eyes soften upon recognising me. And I know exactly who he is-Jason Grace. Tribute of district 1. Career tribute. 'Brilliant' swordsmen...defender of the other team. The blue team. A sickly feeling enters my stomach. 'Brilliant swordsmen'

'Defender.'

I'm the attacker, the intruder. I may not be the brightest but I certainly know where this is all heading for. Without waiting for his attack, I turn to run away. As far as possible from him. If only he would let me be, maybe if he hadn't seen the flag tied to my belt then he would have left me alone. Only he has seen it and he pulls me back with a strong grip on my armour. The force is so strong that I fall right onto my bottom.

"Piper McLean." I cringe at the sound of my own name. His voice is deadly calm, and I think I can hear the hint of a smile playing on his lips as he tests the name out. "Tribute and volunteer of district 10, the holder of my flag...I believe." Guess I'm not the only one who did my homework. I realise that I do not have as many titles as he does.

I feel like sneering at him with a witty remark. Only I don't, I just remain silent. Instead of speaking, I look up at him. I just have to pretend I don't care-I don't care about how good of a fighter he is. I really don't. I do not-I don't. Do I care? No.

I don't.

Convincing yourself is always hard, though. I do care, I don't want him to smash me to pulp or take away the flag. Jason's face looks somewhat amused at my expression. I don't really understand why he has that look, but his words replay in my head. Piper McLean, tribute and volunteer of district 10-

Obviously district 10 isn't looked highly upon in 1 either. Of course, it also explains why he didn't seem that panicked when he realised who had bumped into him. The idea itself makes me angry. Now it's my turn to get so worked up into making this fellow tribute wipe the smirk off his face.

It probably isn't the wisest move, but I take out my dagger and lunge at him. Jason dodges instantly and moves to the other side, away from me as if I am a ferrel animal. I take another step forward to launch another attack when I realise that maybe that was his strategy all along; he wanted me to make the first move. Maybe it wasn't in his plan for me to go crazy, but whatever works.

I take a step back-to my previous position. It must be odd for him to see me debating on how many steps I should take.

He then suddenly lashes out and I jump back. It would have been fine if I didn't squeak like a frightened little mouse. I grit my teeth as I hear Annabeth's voice ringing in my head. Rule number one, don't forget to defend. Rule number two, always be ready. I've already broken a couple of promises, what else can I break now?

A bone.

Determined to be prepared, I grip onto my dagger and block his swing. I duck down to swipe at his feet, but this is just child's play for him. He easily dodges and continues making more attacks. Unfortunately, I'm not as experienced and I'm starting to have trouble with keeping up. His moves seem to be getting more fast, or am I just getting slower? My inexperience eventually gives in once again when my back hits the tree and I'm far too slow to run away from my position before realising that I am indeed trapped. Jason places his weapon so deadly close to my body that I swallow hard.

He looks at me, very serious with no hint of amusement in his electrifying blue eyes. "Give me the flag." He says firmly, voicing each word out carefully. His expression says it's the right thing to do; you don't want to get hurt.

I try to maintain my ability to keep a steady face-trying not show any trace of fear or uncertainty but the urge of spitting in his face and screaming never is very close to mind. Why would I give up so easily?

But then I picture Aphrodite looking over at me right now and shaking her head firmly. I can hear her voice shrieking, 'No, no, no! That's all wrong!' Clearly, declining is not the way to do it. I have to take up an offer and use it to my advantage. Pretend.

Pretend that...I agree to his deal. I have to be in his eyes, what does he expect? He must expect a normal girl lacking brilliancy and agility. He may be right in some way, but I'll need to make the image more expressive in actions and facial expressions. How? I look downwards and even manage a small sniffle. My lips quivers and my shoulders hunch forward, clearly stating that I have given up.

Jason seems slightly satisfied, and a little pitiful, at the reaction and nods at me. He lowers his weapon and waits for me to give the flag. As I slowly reach for the flag, my eyes avert to a small clearing-but only for a split second. His eyes are watching me closely, and I hope he doesn't suspect anything. With the flag fumbling in my fingers, I slowly...slowly...

I turn to the clearing and make a run for it. And I don't plan on wasting any minute because if Jason catches me once more, he certainly won't give me a friendly offer again. I can hear him shouting after me, "Hey! Come back!" Once again I'm running through the forest, but at least I knew where I was going. It could've been worse.

I can hear a victorious battle cry getting louder to my left, I can't see anybody there. But I know that the cry is something good for my team. I have to get there...and fast.

My hearts pounding, my breath is becoming ragged and I'm panting hard. There are sweat beads on my forehead and I try to wipe them away. Run, run as fast as you can. I hear some distant footsteps and for a second I think Dakota's back. I glance back, only to find something I had not been hoping for. Instead, I see Will Solace and Clarisse. Jason must've met them half-way and told them about me. They both look furious, their weapons ready...

I push myself to run faster and I know that I'm close because the path seems familiar. But my foot trips over a rock and I scrape both my knees very badly. I have to hold back a sob when I see the red blood trickling down my legs. It stings, but I force myself to keep going because I am so close.

The trees start to open up into the territory. I reach out for the pole that stands and try to tie the flag, my hands shaking. I'm gasping for breath and I manage to attach the flag to the small mast. The cannon goes off. We won.

I don't feel ridiculously happy though, I feel so tired and my vision is blurry. I can hear some shouts and cries. I also can see a figure walking towards me. Percy's grin is evident in his voice.

"That was amazing! You did it! You're amazing, how did-" he stops short and I try to blink away the dots in my sight. "Woah, you're knees...Let me help you get to the infirmary-"

I feel numb, but I shake my head. "No, I'm fine."

"Piper," that's Annabeth. She says my name firmly with a stern tone. "You're bleeding, we need to wash it off. Drink some water." I reach out for the bottle but my knees giveaway and I collapse onto the ground. I feel fatigued, my mouth feels very dry. I can feel people rushing to me side and patting my cheek, like they're trying to wake me up.

But I feel too weak to open my eyes. There are voices all around me, some are very familiar-I think I can hear Leo calling out my name.

Then I suddenly black out.

A/N: I apologise sincerely for such a late update. I couldn't update a week later from the last chapter because I had to do some environmental petition. As for the second week, well I don't have an excuse for not updating then. I'm just really sorry!

Unfortunately, I am going somewhere for two weeks this Friday and will be returning on the 10th of January so don't expect anything for a while. What you can expect is that this week I will be publishing my Christmas story! I hope you all read it :)

Anyways, I want to wish you all a Merry Christmas (or Hanukah) and a Happy New Year. Thank you those who reviewed last chapter and all of you patient followers :) Happy Holidays!