Hello my dear readers! Sorry for the really, really long and painful wait. But now I'm back in Singapore and I can continue with the writing. Oh, yeah? I've never mentioned I'm from Singapore. Who cares anyway? Okay, here's the next chapter. I hope my story is original so far, all the ideas are really my overactive brain's fault.

To aussie girl 13: Theres not much shipping in this story because I dont write romance stuff. Im not skilled at all at writing romance. And no, there is no planned death for Peeta yet, and I do not wish for Peeta to die. Here's the update you asked! And Gale will not be in it, though he might be mentioned once or twice in this whole story. Thanks for the review!

To seaweedbrainlover1117: Yes! I love those cute little family times too! And thanks! The trip was great!

To Spiritwolf13: Thanks for the bunch of reviews! Thanks for pointing out the typo! I didnt realise it until you pointed it out. Gosh! That was funny. I cant imagine it. HAHHAHA. And I'll never abandon this story!

To GhostKing123: Thanks for the idea! But I wont use the idea yet. I have something tragic coming up!

Enjoy!

Percy

The only thing Percy liked in this arena was that the usual terrifying, demigod dreams didn't bother him here. It was as though the force field around the arena blocked all signal. Of course, Percy didn't complain about having no dreams. It was the first time in many years where he could sleep in peace.

Well, until he was woken up with the air smelling of ozone.

"ZAAAAAAAP!" Electricity coursed through his body, jolting Percy awake.

"C'mon, Kelp Head. Wake up! Or do I have to do that again?"

"Ow." Percy mumbled, rubbing his shoulder. Thalia was leaning over him. Her finger was still crackling with electricity, and she looked like she was going to poke him with it again.

Beware the finger of a daughter of Zeus. Especially if the finger belongs to Thalia.

"Okay, okay, I'm up." Percy said hastily, eyeing her finger. "And you don't have to zap me again."

"We have to find some food soon. We're already running out of supplies." Katniss said.

"Food? How are we supposed to find any food in here?" Percy muttered, looking at the dense forest spreading as far as his eyes could see.

Thalia rolled her eyes and turned to Katniss. "Don't be surprised. Percy here, does not see anything even if it stares right at him."

Katniss nodded. "Right. So why don't we split up. That will make hunting much faster. Peeta and Percy can come with me, and you two can go together. Just meet back here in half an hour."

"And if either of us can't make it back to base for some reason, just show some kind of signal." Thalia added.

All five of them agreed. "Let's hope it doesn't come to that." Peeta muttered under his breath.

Then, they parted ways. Katniss, Peeta, and Percy went to the left, and the other two demigods went to the right.

Katniss had walked downwards, following a little stream. After about five minutes, she stopped and sighed.

"Stay here. I'll just go ahead a little bit. It's better if I go alone. That way, both of you won't chase off the animals." Katniss said. "Maybe you can try to catch some fish."

Of course, Katniss must have known that Percy wasn't very good at walking stealthily, and she was just saying it in a polite manner. But Percy didn't feel comfortable with the idea of Katniss wandering around alone. His job was to protect Katniss. What if something happened to her?

Peeta was going to protest too. But a firm look from Katniss told him that she could look after herself.

"Don't worry. I've done this before." Katniss assured, before disappearing into the trees.

That left Percy and Peeta by the stream. They sat with their backs against a small boulder, facing the water.

"So…catch some fish, huh?" Peeta started, breaking the silence.

"Actually," Percy said slowly, "I don't like the idea of us eating seafood. The fishes are kind of related to my dad, in a strange way."

Peeta seemed to understand where he was coming from. "Oh, I get it. So they're kind of like your fishy relative?"

"Yeah. It's weird, but yeah, it's true." Percy grinned.

Peeta laughed. "That doesn't even sound right."

And they sat there, looking at the water flowing down the stream, watching the occasional fish swim up against the current. Peeta wanted to hear all the adventures Percy had done before he got landed in this arena. So while waiting for Katniss to come back from her hunting, Percy related all the quests he had completed, and the tough life of being a demigod.

Peeta was a great listener. He asked questions at intervals, and looked awed at what Percy had done. Although Peeta didn't know that much about Greek Mythology, Percy felt comfortable with telling his journey through Tartarus with Annabeth, something he didn't really like to talk about to many people. Peeta was different. He simply understood, and it made Percy feel better after narrating his story through the deepest part of the underworld, to the Doors of Death.

Finally, Peeta asked. "Shouldn't Katniss be back by now? The sun is already right above. It must be noon already. That's got to be more than an hour."

There was a hint of worry in Peeta's voice. And Percy was starting to feel uneasy. Katniss couldn't have lost her way. After seeing how good she was at navigating in the forest, that was highly unlikely.

That only left one possible reason for her delay: the career tributes.

Percy cursed himself. Why was he so stupid to let her go all by herself? There was bound to be career tributes lurking around, trying to wait for the opportunity to take them down when they were alone. And Percy had given them their chance. Now Katniss was missing.

"C'mon. We better look for her. Thalia and Nico would have known by now that something is wrong. They'll be looking for us too." Percy said, standing up.

He grasped Riptide in his sword hand, and troughed through the cluster of trees, searching for any sign of Katniss.

There was no blast from the cannon, which meant that Katniss was still alive, if not captured. Percy wondered why the careers would even bother capturing other tributes, but put the thought away quickly, concentrating on finding Katniss first.

She couldn't have gone that far, could she?

Percy looked at the forest floor. Maybe disturbances in the brown leaves might give him a clue as to where Katniss could have gone.

But there was no sign of any sort of trouble. Except….

A muffled voice wafted a distance from the front. It definitely sounded like a girl. But whether it was Katniss, Percy couldn't be sure.

Riptide sprang into sword form, and Percy crept forward with Peeta at his side.

As he approached the tree, Percy felt apprehensive. There was an air of quietness, but in a strange way. The usual sound of crickets and birds chirping had stopped, as though something bad was going to happen.

Warning bells went off in Percy's head. His instincts were telling him to run away, as far as possible from that tree. But Percy couldn't. It was his duty to protect Katniss. He couldn't just leave her. She could be captured by the career tributes, or injured. He needed to find her. That was his number one priority now.

So ignoring all the signals his brain was telling him, Percy edged closer. A few more steps, and he could look at what was behind the tree.

There was another muffled sound from behind the tree. This time, it sounded like Katniss, more urgent, like a desperate cry for help.

Without thinking, Percy ran the last couple of meters, and looked behind the tree.

Marvel, the career tribute from district 1, was holding Katniss firmly. He had one hand clasped over her mouth, stifling her shouts. His other hand was restraining her hands, pulling them behind her back.

Just as Percy managed to register what he'd seen, Cato, Clove, and two other tributes from District four stepped out from the surrounding trees. Every one of them were armed with swords, knives, and spears. Basically, all the career tributes were here, except Glimmer, who had died from the Hellhound a few days ago.

He'd foolishly walked into a trap.

Percy knew he had to save Katniss and Peeta first. Or at least, give them time to run and put as much distance from the careers as possible. Percy tried to make some sort of plan. But obviously, making plans were not his forte. They usually ended up with him in a terrible situation.

However, Cato said something that made his blood freeze.

"Now we know your little secret, demigod." Cato said triumphantly.

Demigod? How in Hades's name did a mortal like Cato find out that Percy was a demigod?

Percy's mind was blank. His brain wasn't working properly, and it gave him a headache.

"Yes, now we know. And we also learnt of a method to take you down easily, even with your score of fourteen during your private session with the gamemakers." Clove continued. There was pride in her voice.

Percy didn't know what to say. So he played dumb, which wasn't that hard. But it wasn't the best thing to say either.

"What do you mean when you called me a demigod?"

The boy from four snickered. "Really? You know very well what we are talking about."

Cornered, Percy just asked calmly. "Okay. Fine. I'm a demigod. But I'd like to know where you get that information."

Cato threw out his chest and replied in an arrogant tone. "We had help. You know how the gamemakers always favor the careers? Well, they told us. They offered us a way to get rid of you. We simply accepted their offer."

What did Cato mean? How did the gamemakers know he was a demigod? How long had the gamemakers know Percy's secret? Was that why they sent those Hellhounds after him? In hope that Percy would be killed, and Katniss would be alone in the arena with no help, and in doing so, erase all possibility of a rebellion?

And the big question popped into Percy's mind. Did the gamemakers do all this to prevent a rebellion?

"If you think I am the only threat here, then you're wrong. There's more of us." Percy said confidently.

"We'll take care of that. Actually, I take back my words…you will take care of them."

Percy didn't get to ponder what Cato had said. Peeta let out a warning shout. He spun around, and saw the pair from district four charging at him, spears pointing at him.

Quickly, Percy turned and slashed at Marvel, who let go of Katniss and clutched his bleeding shoulder. Then, blocked the spears from impaling his body.

"Go! Run! I'll catch up with you later! Go!" Percy yelled, swinging his sword, and giving one of his attackers a good sized cut down his stomach.

Katniss and Peeta looked reluctant to leave him, but decided that they could not help in this situation. So they sprinted off in the opposite direction.

Clove pulled out her knives and was about to follow Katniss and Peeta.

But Cato shouted. "You know our instructions. Jackson is our priority! Leave them. We will find them later."

With one swift swipe, Percy brought Riptide down on the shaft of the spear, snapping it into half.

Percy turned around, trying to make sure that Katniss and Peeta had enough time to run. He needed to buy time for them, and make sure that they were safe. But in that few seconds of distraction, there was a sharp jab at the back of his neck. He felt cool liquid enter his bloodstream, before blacking out.

DUN DUN DUN! Well, it was a long chapter so I had to stop somewhere, right? And this sounds like a good place to break the chapter, dont you think so too?

Review? Please, guys? *begs on knees*