Into the Arena and Out of This World

'39…38….37…'

Grantaire surveyed the surrounding area. He was alongside the other tributes looking straight into the mouth of the Cornucopia, looking just as tempting as it was dangerous, exactly the same as it did every other year.

'36…35….34…'

The floor was hard, beaten sand. Fully aware of the implications of stepping off his pedestal early, Grantaire turned his attention elsewhere.

'33…32…..31..'

To the north of the Cornucopia, in front of Grantaire, was a looming cliff face, too steep to climb and no cover. Not an option.

'30….29…28…'

To his right was an open area as far as they eye could see, scattered with large rocks. More like boulders, there was no way to tell what lay in that maze. Grantaire felt as if the Gamemakers were lurking where the eye can't see.

'27…26…25…'

Grantaire turned to his left, where a clear blue stream flowed effortlessly across the Cornucopia. Knowing the Capitol that was probably the only source of water, Grantaire didn't want to be too far away from that, but neither would the Careers. He squinted and saw a dam far off in the distance, but that soon paled into insignificance.

'24….23…..22..'

The Careers, spread evenly in between all the other tributes. He would have to wait for the mad dash for supplies, and then run where the Careers couldn't cover.

'21…20…..19'

The countdown, and Grantaire's time, was running out. He turned to look behind him, perfect.

'18…17…16..'

A thick, dense forest completed the arena. Very easy to get lost it, the perfect hiding place until he had formulated a plan.

'15….14…13'

Clara. Grantaire scanned the line of other tributes, but at first glance he couldn't find her.

'12….11…10'

'Come on….' Grantaire said to himself, trying to calm down and look at each tribute with a sound enough mind to be able to recognise Clara.

'9…8…7..'

Jen…..

'6…5…4…'

There! At the very edge of the tribute pack, poised to make a run for it. What was the best way over to her?

'3…2…'

Both Drennan and Avalon were in between them.

'1…0…'

The claxon sounded, and the time for thinking was over. And Grantaire had no idea what to do.

The claxon was the most piercing noise Clara had ever heard. But it was soon trumped.

After a moment of shock, and small prayer to the God she wasn't sure she believed in, she turned on her heels and ran towards the forest. She refused to turn her head to the horrific scene she was sure was going on behind her.

The first cannon sounded, and then another. Could she really ignore them?

The cannon sounded again. Three dead in less than a minute, it was enough to make you lose faith in the human race entirely. Clara was about to enter the forest when she heard a scream filled with more pain than anything she had ever experienced. She turned and was shocked at the sight.

Two bodies were lying on the ground; one had a sword in his back, which Benedict promptly took for himself.

Avalon and Sparkle were taking on the boy from 6, surprisingly agile for his size. Clara couldn't see Grantaire, but she figured despite his heroic speech the night before, he had gone to protect Jen, and Clara was relieved about that.

Then she focused in on where she had heard the scream from. Drennan was hovering over a miniscule frame, squirming about under his shadow.

It was Gavroche, the child from Jen's District. Knowing full well she couldn't leave a child to die, without thinking about a strategy, Clara ran to the young boy's aid. She had no weapon, no idea what she was going to do, except it would end with Gavroche running for his young life.

Clara went into her pocket and drew out the black box given to her by her stylist.

'Get away from him!' she screamed, and wacked Drennan over the head with it. It was more the strength of Clara's emotions that delivered such a mighty blow, rather than the force of the mystery box. Drennan fell to the ground, stunned and very surprised, as well as a tad ashamed.

Clara offered her hand to Gavroche, who took it. But instead of running away, he held onto her hand and hid behind her.

'You have to go. The forest is your best bet,' Clara said gesturing towards the woodland.

'I'm not leaving without you!' Gavroche asserted firmly. Clara couldn't tell whether he was too afraid to be alone, or too brave for his own good. He wasn't the ally Clara had even thought of taking on, but she was very glad she had found him. Taking care of someone, that was something Clara could do.

She was about to run when, 'Clara!'

Something hard hit her on the head, and she crumpled from the impact. It was Grantaire who had called out, presumably to warn her about Drennan regaining consciousness. Clara closed her eyes in pain, waiting for the killer blow, but for some reason it never came.

'Clara please,' a vulnerable voice brought her back from the brink. She opened her eyes slowly, and saw Gavroche kneeling beside her, still holding her hand, still waiting for her.

'Here, let me give you a hand,' said a new voice. Someone gently guided Clara to a standing position and in no time at all she was wide awake again.

'So,' Clara's saviour smiled at her. 'I've got supplies. I say we make a break for it.'

'Not so fast,' someone grumbled. Drennan, still looking a little dizzy from Clara's defence mission earlier.

'You think you can knock out a Career and get away with it?'

'It was more of an impulse thing,' Clara shrugged. 'You see I have these things called morals, and it just didn't seem write to watch an 18 year old murder a 12 year old child. No offence, of course.'

The Gamemakers must be loving this, she thought. A battle of words and a battle of fists, all going on at the same time.

'None taken, but about your morals. I think you need to learn a little something about….'

'DRENNAN!' Sparkle screamed. Carson, the boy from 6 had pinned her down and was looking for a weapon to make the final assault. Avalon was nowhere to be seen.

Drennan grumbled, clearly irritated by Sparkle taking him away from his kill, but obligated by the Career's alliance to protect her.

'This isn't over,' he warned the three new allies, and with that he left. Carson didn't stand a chance.

'Come on,' Gavroche took the hands of both his new friends, and they entered the forest.

Grantaire trudged along the river-bank, his head still in a whirl over what had happened at the Cornucopia. He felt inside his pocket, his token and the stupid black box was still there. What was the point?

'I think we can rest now; we've been walking for a long time. And I can't remember the last time a cannon went off,' Grantaire announced.

'Sounds good to me, I'm exhausted.'

They slumped down by the river, and Grantaire re-filled the water bottle he'd collected from the Cornucopia. He'd done what every scared, idiotic tribute from an outlying district had ever done. He went straight into the blood-bath, he was lucky to escape with his life, and a backpack and a knife. The knife as of yet hadn't been bloodied, but after the actions that seemed beyond his control at the Cornucopia, he had no idea what he would do next.

'Thanks for what you did back there, it was really brave,' Grantaire said.

'You don't have to thank me, we're allies right?' Jen smiled. 'And besides, I'm sure you would have done the same for me, right?'

'Right,' Grantaire replied. 'But still, taking on that girl from11, that took some guts.'

'She wasn't too strong, and I don't think she wanted to hurt anyone anyway. She just grabbed the supplies and went. She didn't even attack, I just thought she might. I had the element of surprise.'

'I'm glad you didn't kill her though, do you think she got away?'

'I don't know, if she did I'm not sure she'll last long. I don't think she had any allies.'

Grantaire shifted uncomfortably, Jen noticed.

'We didn't have time to offer an alliance,' she pointed out. 'She just wanted to get out of there.'

'Can you blame her?'

They sat in silence for a little while longer, until Grantaire spoke up again.

'I can't believe Clara...'

'Don't think about her,' Jen interrupted. 'It won't do you any good.'

The sky was slowly getting darker, it was time for everyone to find a safe haven for the night.

'Over there!' Jen spotted with her keen eye. She jumped up and waded through the water. It came up to her neck but she could still stand. She hopped out and ran towards whatever she had seen. Then suddenly she disappeared. Grantaire started to panic.

'Jen? JEN?' he called. He grabbed their supplies and too waded through the water. It took away the very last of his energy, so he hoped Jen wasn't in any danger. He wasn't sure he could take on another tribute.

'Keep your voice down,' Jen hissed. 'Look.'

There was a collection of rocks, similar to the ones Grantaire had seen earlier, but these were all concentrated in one location.

Jen gestured Grantaire to follow her, as she slipped with ease inbetween them. Grantaire followed, but with slightly more difficulty. In the centre of these rocks was a small patch of earth, but plenty big enough to suit their needs.

'You sleep first and I'll keep watch?' Jen smiled, with that old twinkle returning in her eye.

'Cosette, Posie, I think its time for you to go to bed,' Courfeyrac said to the small figures glued to the television.

'But what if something happens and we miss it because we're asleep?'

'Then I promise to call you down at once. Sound like a plan?'

'Okay,' Cosette sighed. 'Come on, Posie.' Posie reluctantly followed and the two girls went upstairs.

'How's she doing?' Harry asked. He had got a job working at the Thénardiers inn, he got a few disapproving looks from the locals, but he brought in his share.

'Fine,' Courfeyrac answered bluntly.

'Look mate, I know your angry or upset of frustrated or whatever you are that Clara volunteered. But you know as well as I do she wouldn't have done it without a damn good reason, she needs all of our prayers right now.'

'You're right of course,' Courfeyrac sighed. 'I guess its just hard for me to adjust. Not having her here doesn't seem…..'

'I know, but we can't give up on her yet,' Harry said firmly. Courfeyrac gazed at his younger brother, wondering when had he turned into the young man he saw before him.

'It was a cheap trick that girl from 9 used,' Harry changed the subject. 'The Thénardiers had the Games on all day, I couldn't believe it, she seemed so honest.'

'I know what you mean. To tell you the truth I'm more disappointed in him, I thought he would have more respect for Clara than to believe everything that girl said.'

Freddie was next to crash into the house. He was coming back from his shift in the Hob. The peacekeepers gave him a bit of loose change if he cleaned up every evening, and the family needed all the money they could get.

'Do I even want to know?' he asked joining his brothers on the ratty, old sofa.

'She's okay,' Courfeyrac admitted. 'She's in pretty good shape, and she's got two allies.

'Who are they?'

'The girl from 11 and the kid,' Harry told him, Clara and her team having just appeared on screen.

'Trust Clara to take him on,' Freddie smiled.

'It's all she knows,' Courfeyrac said grimly. 'How to take care of people.'

An awkward silence settled over the three of them, and they just watched the camera flash back and forth between the tributes.

The Careers, a ferocious, formidable force, made up of seven tributes had pitched camp right in the heart of the Cornucopia, making it inaccessible to any tribute who valued their life at all.

No one had seen how Ellen and Samson, the tributes from 3, had got out of the bloodbath. Even the cameras had missed them, but they had teamed up loyally and had chosen to take the path among the huge boulders. Their combined intellect must be huge, considering their home district, and so everyone in the Capitol thought they had a plan. Everyone in the districts just thought they had no idea what they were doing.

Grantaire was sleeping in the canopy of rocks his ally, the girl from 9, Jen, had found. She was sitting beside him, one eye on her companion and the other on the lookout for any attackers.

Clara, the girl from 11, Lily, and the boy from 9, Gavroche, had travelled deep into the forest. The camera had to use night vision to make out their outlines. Gavroche was sleeping with his head in Clara's lap and she and Lily looked to be in deep conversation.

There were only three other tributes left, scattered around the arena. Stephanie from 6, Ellis from 7, and Henry from 8.

That meant seven were dead in the bloodbath, in comparison with other years, not a big number.

Neither Grantaire or Clara, nor Courfeyrac or Enjolras, would ever forget the names of the tributes who fell in the arena that year. It was something that bound them together, and the names of the tributes were immortalised.

Hope the Games so far are living up to any expectations! Would really appreciate any feedback, what's working, what's not working, if anyone has any, but hopefully the story is speaking for itself :)