Day Four. Mid morning.

Arrowe Winter's POV

Even thought it was strange, and unnatural, it wasn't that bad being around the guys while showering naked. I've never done anything like this back home, and I probably wouldn't want to do it again. Once was enough for me. Adventurous me would only go so far on some things.

I was now putting the thoughts into the back of my head, some place far where I wouldn't be able to remember it easily as I packed some spare, dry clothes into my backpack along with a first aid kit, some food, and a couple half litter plastic bottles filled with water.

"How are you feeling Lynsa?" I asked my now only patrol partner now that Shoney was gone.

"Not too bad," Lynsa told me with hints of embarrassment in her voice "just hope nobody saw me naked though, I forgot about the cameras being everywhere."

"I'm sure your fine." I told her knowing full well that the Capital censored nudity every single time it happened. I remember the times when I was back in District Nine and was only a part of the audience watching the games being broadcasted. It was the norm for us to be watching the games, it was expected that you watched it, there was no way around it. You missed an important part of the games, you had to have a legit excuse on why you didn't see it. When people asked why you hadn't seen this part or that part, it was because you were sleeping, going to the bathroom, you were dying, or you were blind. If you didn't have any one of those excuses, you were expected to know about what was happening.

But there were times where the Capital censored the broadcast and turned some parts of it pitch black. I didn't mind it, I mean, I wouldn't of wanted the world to see me taking a shit or whatever, but when there were girls taking their clothes off and the Capital censored it, there were times where some teenagers, and even some adults from time to time that got pretty disappointed.

It was the same with the guys as well, whenever a guy was about to get naked, the screen would blackout before girls and women would start groaning and moaning and complaining. It was always funny to hear their disappointment whenever the screen blacked out.

I always wondered why they did that. I mean, they'd show you the bloody death of a tribute, but they wouldn't show them naked. Why was that? Not that it really matters anyway.

"Unless the Capital's broadcasting the games uncensored to the Capital residents." I heard our youngest ally say while having hints of laughter in her voice. " I mean, the Capital wants what it wants, and what's going to please them as much as seeing that hot blond girl and a preteen naked?" A short pause came. "Oh yes, and you guy can entertain the girls." She said it as if it was an after thought.

"Doesn't matter if the Capital's doing that or not," I told Howl without looking at her as I zipped up my backpack and slung it on my back before extending my arms through the shoulder straps. "If they are indeed doing what you say they might be doing, it doesn't matter anyway, we've already shown ourselves to them, too late to unshow ourselves." That was the only thing I could think of saying right now for that situation, we had shown ourselves to the cameras, and if the Capital was watching us like that, then so be it. I wasn't going to be doing it again anyway.

Well, enough with the shower paranoia, I was just going to treat this as something that we did back home when it rained. During the rain season, we'd do one of three things. One, we'd either shower outside with our clothes on, after all, the opposite genders were around, so none of us wanted to be embarrassed out in public. Two, we'd gather up the water and heat it up so that we could have a warm bath or quick warm shower inside the house. Or three, we'd save the water. Most of the time, my family did a combination of one and three, we'd save up on water while showering in the rain.

Harvesting crops is hard work, and we'd need that water for work as we worked through out the day, especially the summer season when everything was its hottest and the days were long. I remember that during the summer harvest season, I'd usually go through the water in all three of my canteens within several hours, despite how much I'd try and ration it. It was always a relief when the canteen runners came to my section and offered to refill my canteens. The runners were very useful to us harvesters due to the fact that we couldn't abandon what we were doing. We can't stop cutting down wheat for two minutes to refill our canteens to save our lives, you leave your job you get punished by the peacekeepers, simple as that.

There were times where I did abandon my section of the field to refill my canteens, I just couldn't wait for the canteen runners to get to my section, I was too thirsty to wait, so I took the risk and went to the water refill station that was only open to people that were working on the fields that were supplying the Capital with grain. I for one didn't feel like dying for the Capital, so I went to the refill station and filled my canteens up when the peacekeepers weren't looking before running back to where I had been working before.

There were times that I had almost been caught, but I'd always make it back in time before the peacekeepers noticed that I had been gone. My family told my that it was dangerous for me to continue to take on those risks. They were worried that one day, I'd get caught because of those risks. Fortunately, I never got caught. Wither it was from good timing or just plain luck I'd never know, all I knew what that I didn't get caught, and that was good enough for me.

I didn't take those risks on a whim though, I didn't just take a brainless risk though, I thought about it first and planned accordingly. I knew what I was doing, I wasn't stupid. There were risks, then there was just plain crazy. I did the former rather then the later.

"Now enough about entertaining the Capital with our naked bodies," I told the career pack that was missing Shoney who was dead, Eva who abandoned us for whatever reason she did, and Tharizdun who was out hunting. "I'm going into the city part of the arena."

"What for?" Lucifer asked curiously "Griffin, Howl, and I do the city, you and Lynsa do the jungle, you know the jungle while we know the city."

"I'm curious about the city," I told Lucifer as I checked the weapons attached to my belt, a seven inch combat knife placed inside a black, hard plastic scabbard as well as an eighteen inch machete that hung right beside my knife in it's hard plastic scabbard. "I've seen the jungle, I'm just wondering what the city's like."

"This change from the jungle to the city wouldn't have anything to do with Shoney's death would it?" Lucifer asked as I finished getting ready.

"No," I told him before turning around to face him "this doesn't have anything to do with Shoney." I wasn't lying, but I wasn't exactly telling the truth either. I did want to see the city to see what it was like compared to the jungle. There could be some interesting things in the city that weren't in the jungle, there might even be things that I could climb there. I could climb the ruined buildings that were housed there. And while I did like the jungle, the city interested me in ways that new things interest an adventurer.

But I was also going out into the city because of Shoney's death. Shoney was a close ally, and I liked him, and he died because he wanted to explore the city and get tired so that he could fall asleep. Shoney was a career, so the person he fought has to at least be kind of injured. If I found them, so much the better, I could finish them off. I still feel bad over his death, I mean, we were going to have to disband and kill each other later on in the game, but as long as we were allies, part of a group within the careers, I should have helped him watch his back. Until we turned on each other, I should have been with him. I don't think that it was a stroke of bad luck that Shoney meet up with other tributes, there are some tributes that like to hunt at night. It had happened before in previous games, and this game is no exception to night stalkers.

I looked over to Lynsa and asked her "coming Lynsa?"

"I'm ready." She said as she slung her quiver over her right shoulder with her left hand as her right hand was holding her bow.

"Ok," I said to Lynsa before I turned towards Lucifer and told him what was going to happen. "We're leaving for the city, you guys stay here and guard the cornucopia."

"Who died and made you leader?" I heard Howl mockingly say to me. I looked over to her to see her sling a crossbow that was over half her height and wider then her tiny frame over her back. The crossbow looked big and heavy for someone of her size, but as she moved towards me, I saw that she seemed to be moving around with it perfectly fine. "I'm going with you to the city."

I didn't want Howl to come with me, she was one of the serious careers, not like Lynsa who was could actually be nice and fun with be with all the time. I didn't really like the attitudes of Griffin, Lucifer and Howl and how deadly serious they were in this arena.

All three of them killed during the bloodbath, that meant that they had no problem killing other kids, and honestly, that scared me. I'm just glad that I'm on their side until the right time comes.

"I think you should stay here," I told Howl, not really wanting her to tag along with Lynsa and I. "The group needs an archer to help protect the camp."

"An excellent point," Howl said like she had remembered something important, it made me think that she might actually stay with her own kind, but somehow, that smirk that she continued to wear on her face said something completely different. It might not mean anything though, she wears that smirk all the time. "Lynsa, you stay here, I'm going to the city."

This was another thing that I didn't like about the other careers, they thought that they were above everyone else. They thought that they were better then everyone else. Griffin with hitting Lynsa and knocking her unconscious as well as taking out a couple of her teeth in the process. Lucifer with her leadership complex. And Howl with her cocky attitude.

"I'd rather prefer Lynsa to be with me." I told Howl, hoping that she'd give up on this.

"Look," Howl said while looking right at me with seriousness in those eyes of hers "I've got a plan that involves the city, it involves taking down other tributes, what are you and Lynsa going to do in there? Huh? Go sight seeing? I plan on doing more then just walking around aimlessly while looking at some buildings."

"Howl's got a point," I hear Lucifer say before I could answer Howl "you got any plans for taking down the other tributes or what?" I didn't have anything, my only plan was to go around the city and see where it takes us. So should I lie and try and get them off my back?

"I have a plan." I lied.

"Really?" Lucifer asked skeptically with his arms crossed across his chest with an amused smile on his face. "What's your plan?" Great, I knew that either him or Howl was going to ask this question, and truthfully, I wasn't prepared for it. I didn't know what to say.

"Go around looking for tributes while also having a bit of fun." I lamely told Lucifer.
Lucifer exhaled quickly, like he was annoyed, and looked away from me.

"Your plan's fucking lame. Whatever plan Howl has is a hell of a lot better then yours. Howl's going with you Arrowe and Lynsa's staying with us for a bit, we need an archer in our group."

"Isn't it a bad idea for Lynsa to be with Griffin?" I told Lucifer, who seemed to have forgotten that Griffin had punched his district partner so hard that he caused two of her upper left teeth to fly out from her mouth. Right now, they might not be on the best of terms with each other. That, and I still was fighting to not have Howl with me during my city tour.

"As long as she doesn't piss him off she'll be fine," Howl told me like she couldn't care less about Lynsa's situation "now are we going or not?"

I could tell that this was a losing situation, Howl wanted to go into the city to set up her plan, whatever it was, and Lucifer was going to support her every step of the way. I didn't like it, not one bit, but what could I do when he's tougher then me. And even if he wasn't tougher then me, there was Griffin and Howl to worry about in addition to him.

I decided to give up and just go along with this thing. If luck was on my side, I'd be able to get away from Howl and go walk around the city myself.

I looked to Lynsa to ask her if she'd be fine with Griffin and Lucifer.

"I'll be fine." She told me. I nodded my head to her before turning around to head towards the city with my new, and hopefully temporary, companion.

Day Four. Late morning.

District Twelve's Evanlyn "Eve" Scott's POV

What the hell happened here? That's what I asked myself as I walked through a wrecked part of the jungle. All around me there was some kind of destruction done to the surroundings. There were trees that looked like it had taken something like a cannon ball to the base of the tree, pieces of bark had shattered and fallen to the ground leaving a huge hole nearly six feet up in the tree. And not only that, but it had been done to all the trees in the area. Along with the trees, some of the underbrush looked like it had been violently dug up. Bits of undergrowth were scrapped clean off the ground while leaving a trail of dirt in it's path. Low hanging vines and other items that were suspended in the air looked like they had been either cut down or smashed.

Now those items were littered on the ground like discarded trash.

It looked like a war had taken place in this area. Two or more tributes fighting each other, that's most likely what happened here. What else could it have been. Mutts? That was another thing that it could have been. Maybe someone ran away from mutts, and the mutts had destroyed everything in their path.

I looked at the tree trunks again, and saw that they looked relatively fresh. Even under this rain, the damaged looked fresh, the colour of the tree hadn't changed much colour.

But if there was a fight that happened here, what happened to the tributes that had fought each other? With this much destruction, I'd think that the creators of this mess had at least hurt each other a little.

Were they still alive? They had to be, no cannons had been fired today. Or maybe it was created from last night, when that career from Four had died. Maybe this was where he had died last night. There were traces of blood here, so it was possible that this was where the career had fought and died.

There wasn't a whole lot of blood, so maybe he died by a bludgeoning object, I'd think that was the most likely case considering what happened to the trees.

I scanned the scene one last time before deciding to continue moving through the jungle and looking for more food. The brown fruits were fine, but they were getting harder and harder to find. Thank god that it was raining, it'd tie my hunger off for a while, but I could only substitute solid food for so long. After about a couple days without food I'd start to lose my strength. If I go a week without food I'd start to get hunger pains.

Since I steal things, food, jewelry, anything that I can get before selling them to the black market, my family and I have never had anything more then hunger pains caused by starvation. First it was up to Matt, now it was up to me since Matt could no longer apply for tesserae and only works odd jobs in the district. It's hard work for all of us, but we keep at it to avoid the other hunger sicknesses that are present in the district.

Back home, there are people so thin that they looked more like walking skeletons then humans. There are people so starved that they have skin rashes, dry skin that cracks off big pieces of their flesh, blood shot eyes that seem to poke out of their sockets, and among the worst of them are those that no longer feel hunger or thirst. That's how bad they were. I couldn't imagine being so hungry that you actually didn't feel hungry. But there were people in the district like that.

It made me think of the arena and the situation I was in, would I end up like one of those people if I didn't find food? Would my family end up like that because I couldn't make it out of the arena for that reason?

No, don't think about that, you're going to live Eve, your going to win the hunger games. Yes, I was going to win this game, then my family will never be hungry again. All our struggling to stay alive, all those times that I stole things, all those times that I put myself in danger, all the times that my older brother went out to do odd jobs in the district despite being in a wheelchair, I wasn't going to let all that go to waste.

I'm going to win this game. My family's going to survive. I will survive this game and make it possible for us to live in the worst district in Panem.

A/N: this should be a good spot to leave off. (I am not satisfied with this chapter.)

To camphalfblood: noted.

The thing is, even though I really, really, REALLY, want to complete this story (unlike so many other things that I've done) I'm just not satisfied with it. I mean, I like this story, and I love all of you for reading this story that's been in progress for the past nine months. But as I've said, I'm not satisfied with what I've done, I feel as if I could do better on this, in a lot of areas.

Don't get me wrong though, I'm putting this story on discontinued yes, but I'm not quitting on it. Hell no, I want to finish something and be proud of the finished product. I, darkwolf127 A.K.A The Awesome Novice Writer (who really isn't that awesome because he's doing this), has quit/given up on more things then he's proud of.

I want to continue writing about the characters you guys have sent me. I want to continue to write about twelve year old overconfident Howl, mentally damaged Tharizdun, anti career Eva, tourcherous Alexander, nice guy Aerian, thieving Eve, and the rest of the crew.

So guys, I'm not quitting this story on you guys, I'm just planning on doing a re-write of this. There are going to be some chapters that you'll recognize (actually, you'll recognize all of them because you've read them already), but there will be changes made to them.

I hope to make the story better in ways that this story failed with. I keep on seeing things that could be made better every time I re-read my own work. Wither I'll be able to make it better I don't know. I'm going to try though.

This story is not abandoned, though it will take time, a lot of time maybe. And I won't be able to update quickly because I'll be continuing my schooling starting in very early May.

As I said a couple lines up, this story is not abandoned, so because of that, I will not tell you what I had planned for the upcoming chapters due to spoiler alerts.

I am sorry to all of you if you even in the slightest thought that I was going to finish this story, because I thought I was going to as well (until I re-read my own stuff several times.) You gave me your tributes, I got them a third of the way (give or take) towards victory (whoever's left,) and then this happens.

You guys gave me a chance when you sent in your tribute forms, I am not going to let you guys down.

I give special thanks to Fiddlegirl, skyflower51, MaxAlbina, and MyDarkTribute for being there since the first chapter.

I give another special thanks to The Moonlight Sonata. Even though you weren't here too often, you always gave the best reviews.

I'd also like to thank popcorn-codes, CluelessWithTheClovers,

Courtney DiLaurentis, clovesshinyknife, CalliLily, Hublub, KnockingBells, and the guests who reviewed.

And last but not least, everyone who took the time out of their lives to read this.

From: The (Not So) Awesome Novice Writer (That Hopes to Be Awesome One Day).

P'S: I know what some of you are thinking, "just look at his profile and you'll see what a bastard liar he is." I'm trying to break the habit.