Onyx woke up to sun streaming into her eyes blinding her, something she had gotten use to in the past few days of surviving in the Games that she was forced to participate, it had been a lonely few days where she was lucky enough not to run into the Careers or any other tribute; going through her morning ritual, Onyx listened to her surroundings for any sign of someone close to her before moving and stretching the cricks in her neck. After the first day and the bloodbath that occured, no one had been killed so the young girl was beginning to get on edge since she knew that sooner or later there was going to be something that sent her, as well as the other tributes, towards the Careers so that there would be more entertainment for the people who felt no pain during this time of year.

Jumping down from the tree with ease, the young girl scanned the area for any sign of disturbance in the night before she nodded to herself and took off to the small pond, filling her bottle again. She had been lucky the second day of the Games, after she had found a small pond that she could use a source for water; unaware for a moment, she shot up as something passed the corner of her eye.

Turning to what had invaded her safe haven, Onyx froze in shock as she notices that the tree that once served as her bed, was now ablaze; she could feel the heat that it emitted from where she stood.

Making a quick decision, Onyx threw her backpack over her shoulder before taking off away from the fire that was growing fiercer as every second passed, she knew that the game makers would do something like this but he didn't expect them to use fire.

Every now and again she would make a turn so that she could circle back to a safe distance away from the Careers and the centre of the arena, but a fireball would zip past her and had nearly caught her in it's path; which meant that they wanted a fight, they wanted her to fight.

"Why do they have to push me towards the fucking careers" she snarled under breath as she ducked under another fireball aimed her way, she had caught onto the little hiss that was emitted every time a fireball was sent her way so was more cautious every time she heard that noise.

Running in the way that the game makers were pushing her was the only thing that she was able to do, there was no way that she could double back; her attention was off her surroundings for just a second too long when she felt a burning heat travelling up her side as she screamed out in shock.

Hitting the floor with a whimper at the pain that coursed through her body, Onyxs attention went down to where the pain had orignated; she could almost cry as she caught sight of the burn that now took up part of her side.

"Fuck" she whimpered out lightly as she pressed the edges of the infalmmed area to see just how far it spanned, if she wasn't careful then she was going to die of an infection before the end of these Games.

Knowing that she couldn't stay where she was for too long, she jumped up wincing at the pull of her new wound and continued running away from the fire balls that were still being sent her way; hoping that she wouldn't be taken by surprise again.

While she was paying more attention to the sounds of the fire balls, Onyx lost focus of her surrounding area and soon found herself losing her footing and sliding down a small incline; only to stop at the edge of the lake that was close to the Cornucopia. Onyx stayed still for a moment, waiting for more fire but was rewarded with silence and after a moment of hesitation, slowly edged herself into the water looking for relief from the burning pain in her side;, her eyes shifting around everywhere looking out for any threats that the gamemakers would have sent her towards.

A cannon suddenly echoed around the arena, signalling that someone had fallen prey to the latest schemes of the gamemakers or fallen prey to the careers that they were sent too; Onyx tried to stay as still as possible as she heard a growing laughter coming up from the ridge behind her.

It was the Careers.

"Idiot didn't even think to run from the fire" Marvel chuckled bitterly, as they moved through the smoke filled forest towards their small little home which held water that would hopefully get rid of the smoke from his eyes.

Freezing for a moment, Onyx ducked down slowly in hopes that she wouldn't be seen before she carefully started to move towards the land that was furthest away from where the new threat were.

"That's because you forced him in" Clove told him dryly as she examined her surroundings for any more fire balls being shot at them, she didn't like fire, it was unpreditable and uncontrollable; but she had to concede to herself that the fire would have been a quicker death than being killed by them.

Cato rolled his eyes at the small group that he was stuck with as they made their way towards their little camp, he hated the latest gamemaker scheme, a fire ball had skimmed his thigh after they had found the boy from Ten and now every time he took a step, he had to contain a wince so that the others wouldn't turn on him.

"Well look who it is" Glimmer laughed as she scanned the area and caught sight of the young girl trying to hide in the water "The Burning Rose all wet, did you like the fire, little flower?"

Onyx knew that it was game over for her the moment the Careers had come into the area that she was in and she had a feeling that that was why the gamemakers had pushed her towards them, she wasn't in any shape to run and wven if she did get away; she would still be a goner.

"I'm sorry daddy" she whispers to herself as she flinches at the laughs from the blonde girl.

Taking the chance to get out of the water and maybe die with some dignity, Onyx pushed herself to get as far away as possible; but the moment that she got out of the water and made to move, pain flared up through her side causing her to fall to her knees to try and catch her breath. Knowing that this was truly the end, the young girl closed her eyes as she heard the laughter coming closer towards her.

"Keep living, that's all I ask of you" she whispers to the camera that she knew was close to her, it was close enough to hear her without the Careers hearing her words; for which she was thankful of that little luck.

"Well guys, it looks like the little flower is hurt" Marvel chuckled grimly as soon as they had caught up to the young girl and spotted why she had fallen and refused to move. "What's wrong? Does the Burning Rose not like fire?"

Opening her eyes as they got closer to her, she looked around to see all four of them cicling her and looking at her with different expressions on their faces, Cato wasn't circling her instead he stood in front of her, his expression made Onyx wonder if he actually wanted to be there, while Clove was now stood behind her, Glimmer to her right and Marvel to her left to block any escape routes she could use.

"Just kill me so I don't have to look at your ugly mug no longer" Onyx huffed at Marvel as she scowled at the boy, she could tell there was something behind the 'excited' expression on his face but she couldn't figure out what, and probably wouldn't figure it out either.

Cato let out a small chuckle at the young girls spirit which surprised the rest of the group, it surprised Clove the most as she eyed her District partner curiously. Marvel went forward in anger, raising the tip of his spear to her throat and lifting her head so that she was now looking up at the boy who couldn't keep his eyes off of her during training and tried his hardest to unravel the mystery of the District rat from Twelve.

"This kill is mine Marvel" Cato reminded the boy with indifference as he caught the girls gaze, he didn't need to look at Marvel to remind him of that; the first night of the games was when the others confronted him about the girl infront of him and his interest so he played it off as a need to kill her and made it known that he would be the only one to end her life.

Scowling at the young girl on her knees in front of them and then at the blonde who was the 'leader' of their liitle gang, Marvel lowered the spear back down to the ground with a tight grip on the hilt as Onyx kept her gaze on the older boy in front of her.

"Before you kill me, tell me one thing?" Onyx requested carefully as she kept her gaze on the blonde in front of her, she could see a conflict in his eyes but she had no idea why he would be conflicted so at least she could find out why he had such an interest in her.

"What?" Cato snapped as he started to lift his sword, he didn't want to keep hearing her talk, the more she talked, the more intrigued he became and he just wanted to win these games and return home.

"Why me?" She inquired curiously as she cocked her head to the side, keeping her gaze linked with his "the looks in training, the interest in Haymitch and I, the need to kill me yourself, why me?"

Cato looked down at the fourteen year old surprised at her perceptiveness, he hadn't realised that the girl had caught him looking at her so much and didn't realise that she would actually care about why he was showing her so much interest.

"Because you were different, you are different. The district twelve orphan rat who volunteered for the games in the place of a young girl who you had no family ties too" he told her, giving into her last request, he knew that Clove was also curious about why she was so interesting to him so he was answering her questions as well and knew that he could end the games without any hesitation after she died. "You were able to get a ten in training, higher than Glimmer; you were a mystery I needed to solve"

Onyx smiled softly at him which took him by surprise as he nearly dropped the sword in his hands, he still hadn't solved the mystery but he didn't need too once she was gone because there would be no mystery to solve.

"Thank you" she muttered to him sadly, she knew that he would make her death quick and painless with one swing of his sword to her neck and for that he was giving her a kindness that the others might not have; she closed her eyes waiting for the final blow to end her life "Love you daddy"

Cato looked down at the girl in a moment of weakness as he hears the last words that she whispered to her father and looks up knowing that the others caught them too; and instead of looking at the girl in disgust at her weakness, they all looked like he felt. Hesitant to actually end her life.

Bracing himself, Cato takes a breath before lifting his arm to deliver the killing blow.

Just as he was about to bring the blade down to meet his target, the echoes of many little bells drew the attention of everyone, why would someone be sending a sponsor package at the last moment of someones life?. Onyx opened her eyes the moment that she heard the bells and looked up at Cato who was watching the five closest parachutes as he lowered his blade and glanced down at her confused.

The largest parachute soon landed in front of Onyx surprising her as she gazed at the silver box confused before gazing up at Cato who nodded and gestured for her to open it as the other four smaller parachutes landed next to their Career targets.

Opening the box shakily, her eyes began to tear up as she saw what was obviously a small care package from her father, but she was confused as to why she was sent it towards the end. There was a small pot in the corner of the box, along with packets of food that District Twelve often used because they could be kept in storage for months without spoiling and tasted better than most foods. She found another jacket as well as a new backpack since her last ones had been lost to the water and fire.

Why were these things sent to her now?, she looked around her carefully and noticed that each of the careers held letters in their hands, causing her to look deeper into the box where she found a letter hidden amongst everything.

It was obviously from her father, but written in a hurry, as if he was in danger.

Onyx

Rebellions starting; District Thirteen alive and have attacked Panem.

Capitol not to be trusted, they saw you as a sign of rebellion (and me).

Keep the careers on side, they can help you survive, the forcefield is coming down so get out. Run far and fast and stay alive darling, we'll see each other soon.

Don't trust every district.

Love you rosebud

Dad