A/N: In Tristabelle's Point of View, there's a rape scene. Just as your trigger warning, please be careful in what you read. Thank you lovelies!

Dawson- Six of Hearts

That night, Tiffany's face flashes in the sky, and my heart stops in my chest.

"Oh Dawson…" Caledonia places one of her small, light hands on my shoulder ever-so-gently. My stomach flips in circles and I feel sick. "I'm sorry…" She swallows hard. She knows the pain.

I stare at the face as it disappears. My stomach flips and I feel sick. Someone I knew from school. Someone that is from my District, my home. She was familiar, we talked a couple times. She offered to let me try her drugs one time. She's my age, 15. And she's dead.

My eyes fill with tears, but I quickly make myself be strong for her sake. As I said, Caledonia reminds me of Gaylen, with her innocent air and large eyes. I'm a protector, and I took her under my wing. I have to be good to her.

I wipe the tears that tried to form in my eyes away quickly. I have to continue being strong, for her sake and the sake of my family and Wye.

"Get some sleep,'" she murmurs. "I'll take the first watch."

I bite my lip. "Are you sure?"

Her blue eyes look gentle and she nods. "Yes. Get some sleep."

I nod a little bit and curl up, trying to get comfortable.

Eventually, my eyes get heavy and sleep takes me.

I dream of the night Wye came out to me.

He's very sensitive about it, and I understand why. His birthname was Wilma. We became best friends in elementary school and were inseparable since. We always liked to go out on adventures together. This was one of those ventures. We sat on the building together.

He liked to be called Will back then. Gaylen couldn't really grasp that, and always greeted him with a cheerful, "Wye-lla! Wye-lla!" I think that's how he found that the name fit him.

I see the dream through my own eyes, back then when I still saw him as Will, just as it happened before. We sit on a wall together, after I'd been dragged to it early that morning. We talk about light topics for a while before we drift into silence.

"Can I talk to you about something?" Will asks.

I look over and nod, "Of course!"

Will sighs quietly. There's a pause. "Dawson… You're my best friend. Right now you're the first person I'm going to tell…" I nod a bit.

Will's cornflower-blue eyes sparkle with fear but also courage. "I…I was born the wrong gender, Dawson. I'm not a girl."

I look over, blinking in quiet shock. "Like…"

"Trans. Transgender. And I want you to use male pronouns in reference to me. He and him. Please…"

I nod a bit. "Oh…"

"And… I don't want to be called Will. It's just too close to Wilma and I don't want that."

I wish I knew how to respond without being dumb about this (like I am about most anything else), but am reduced to not much more than a babbling mess, just like in school. "Yeah, right." What else can you say to prove you're still listening?

"I want you to call me Wye from now on." He takes off his hat to run a hand through his short, messy hair. He takes deep breaths, his eyes threatening to pool with tears. Finally I'm snapped out of my dumb trance and make myself speak words that try to be intelligible.

"Wye, relax, please…" I put a hand lightly on his shoulder. He looks up and grins at me, and I smile back. "It suits you." I think about each response carefully before saying it, knowing that one wrong dumb move might put our friendship in peril.

He hugs me awkwardly from where we sit next to each other. "Thank you!"

I consider before responding, hating the stupid pause between my responses. He must think I'm an idiot, but I'm sure this isn't the dumbest I've ever been around him. I'm dumb all the time, 24/7, but more dumb when I'm dancing on the right words to use.

"You don't have to thank me." I hope that's right. Who knows, he might secretly be displeased with this turnout…

"I knew you were a keeper from the very start!" he laughs gleefully and I smile a bit.

"You really knew it." I grin and poke his side teasingly, causing him to squeak and blush bright red.

See, Wye had this huge crush on me all through elementary school, and that's actually how we became friends in the first place. He said later that the crush just got stronger as we became friends.

Ah, the good old days. I didn't even know until he told me. It's become a bit of a joke between us now, really. I've never held love that wasn't returned, but I know it must suck. At least those days are behind us now.

We sit and talk some more, and I realize how much happier Wye seems. He seems rejuvenated, he looks comfortable and joyful. I can't believe it. It's amazing how much he changed so much in just that couple of seconds. So much for the better. If he were out to everyone, I can't imagine how carefree and happy he'd be.

.

So, it's with that memory on my mind and my heart that I wake up in the middle of the night to an almost-asleep Caledonia and coax her back to bed. I stay awake and take watch until the sun rises and I wake her up again. It's hard to wake her up when she's so soundly asleep, but I gently coax her awake.

"Wake up," I whisper, "We've got a long day today."

She nods, wiping sleep out of her eyes. "Mmhm."

I take her hands and help her up. She blinks at the tropical trees in the distance, smiling.

"Want to go find those trees?" I ask her.

She nods, "Sure."

I nod and start walking, her following close behind me. We walk until we get too tired and have to stop. I know I need to find some kind of food or water soon, or else we're both going to die. I try to not think about that, though, as we eat some of the get-by food that was in the backpack.

"We have to keep going. Ready?"

She doesn't look ready, but she nods. I will forever remember her courage and endurance. She's really strong, even though she's just 14.

We keep walking together, until we reach the shade of the trees. It's dramatically cooler, and it's amazing! We keep walking until I notice a little pool of water. Cold to the touch, crystal clear… But I don't' really trust that it's clear. This is still an Arena, anyways. I know that eventually we're going to have to risk it (our backpack doesn't have any disinfectant in it), but for now I just enjoy how it feels to wash my hands and face. Caledonia looks to enjoy it, as well.

We decide to stop and finish off the last of our food for a late lunch kind of dinner.

Then, we sit together. I try to sleep, but sit up some time later with no luck.

"Do you want to try and sleep?"

"No, thanks." She leans back against the bark of one of those tropical trees with the large leaves. She looks content, peaceful, and calm. I smile a little bit at that sight. At least she can be comfortable for a little while.

"So…" I try to consider some kind of conversation to make with her.

"What's your token?" she asks. She doesn't look like she's asking to make conversation, she looks… Well, interested.

I tug on the cobalt bandana tied around my neck. "This."

"Yeah? Why?" Her eyes are bright with curiosity.

"Cobalt blue is my favorite color. It makes me happy. I want to be happy for as long as I can be happy. Even if it makes me look like a dork. For me, it's… home."

"Oh, that's nice. You think of your family? Your siblings?"

I nod, swallowing hard. "Yeah. I miss them like hell right now."

She smiles understandingly. "And your friend?

"Wye. Yeah. I miss him like hell, too." I feel homesick just thinking about them. "How about you? What's your token?"

She takes a second to bring it out of her pocket. It's this sparkling, shiny little glass dove.

"This little dove. Kinda makes me miss my family."

"What's your family like?"

"My big sister Adele is… Not as pleasant. But my little sister London is so sweet…" The thought of a mini-Caledonia out there waiting for her to come home makes me more anxious than happy. If I want to get home, and bounce Gaylen on my knee, and help Wye transition, and play with Sadie and Joanne… I can't stand the thought. I have to get my mind out of the negative, and get back into the present.

Caledonia's blue eyes are calm and gentle and peaceful.

"What else makes you think of home?" she asks me.

I consider. "Well…" I remember something. "Oh, I know!" I start singing. "The itsy bitsy spider went up the water spout…" She laughs a little, but I keep singing. "Down came the rain, and washed the spider out… Up came the sun and dried up all the rain, and the itsy bitsy spider went up the spout again!" Caledonia laughs.

"Cute."

"My Mom used to sing it to us all the time. It's Gaylen's favorite."

She smiles, "It's nice."

I get up again. "C'mon, let's go see what we can find." She nods. I start walking and she follows, staying close to me. I kneel by the water to regroup, when suddenly I hear Caledonia screaming in the distance. My head snaps up. I burst into action before my mind has time to process what my body is doing. I start running, running as fast as I can, not looking back.

I lost my ally, and my District partner, and dammit, I'm not losing her, either!

I run straight into a group of people head-on, who shriek as they hit the ground. When I blink, I realize that the group wasn't hurting Caledonia. In fact, the oldest of the group is currently trying to console her.

The girl from District 8 gets up from where I had plowed right into her and dusts herself off.

"S-Sorry…" I mumble. I'm not actually that sorry. I just about had a fucking heart attack!

Caledonia quiets and the girl from 11 pats her shoulder. "There you go." The way she's so gentle makes me think of my Mom.

"You okay?" she asks. I blink.

"You're… You're asking us that?"

She smiles a little bit, in a sad kind of way. "I'm more a nurturing type, I think. And I feel like you are, too, Dawson." Hearing her use my name throws me way off guard, but I think she's genuine.

Just then, I notice the Three girl lying on the ground, looking in ill-health, in front of a fire. Well, that's better than we've got.

"I'm sorry we disturbed you," I say quietly. "We really don't mean any harm, we're not violent…" Even if we wanted to be, we couldn't be.

"Stay," Krissa invites. She looks gentle and genuine and inviting. She glances at Dawn, who nods, and back at Juli, who shrugs a little bit. "We have some extra meat, if you'd like."

I remember her saying she wanted to be a teacher during her interview, and I definitely wouldn't doubt it.

"Thank you so much…" I stammer quietly. They give us small pieces of meat, and nothing could've tasted so good in that moment.

The sky gets dark.

"We should leave now… We've been a burden to you long enough…" I mutter. Krissa shakes her head. "You're welcome here as long as you need it."

"The Careers aren't going to be rivaled by an alliance of three little girls," Dawn says.

"You think they'll be rivaled by an alliance of four girls and a little puppy boy?" I ask in return. The comment gets a laugh out of the others.

"Maybe. Power in numbers," Krissa says. I nod a bit. She holds a canteen of water out to me. "Here."

"Are you sure this is safe?"

She holds up a small little bottle with a dropper on top. I know what that must be.

I feel my eyes get really wide. "Wow."

"Sponsors can be really nice." She smiles. Dawn holds up a bottle of white, gel-like stuff. "Sunscreen," Dawn says, "You can have some if you want."

"Huh?" I can't say I've ever heard of that before.

"It'll protect you from the heat." Krissa squeezes some in our palms and tells us to rub it on our arms and faces and necks. I do as she says, even though it feels really slimy.

When we're done, Caledonia and I drink and thank them profusely. We help them put out the fire the best that we can.

We all settle around one of the large trees as the sky gets dark and the breeze waves the leaves gently. "You guys can get some sleep. I'll take the first watch." I say.

"Alright. Thanks." Krissa flashes me a sweet, soft smile. She rolls over, curling up, the others doing the same. Juli cries out when she lays down.

Soon, the girls all doze off into a restful sleep, and leave me awake. I glance at them in the moonlight, listening to the rustles of the breeze in the trees and the slight trickle of the water in the little pool.

I sit awake, messing with my bandana and drawing pictures in the sand with my fingers. It calms me down.

Suddenly, Juli sits up, groaning. I go over to her. "Are you alright?" I ask, trying not to wake or panic the others.

She lets out a pained groan, sweating. I see some of her bandages become eerily dark again. She gasps again for air.

I put her head in my lap and stroke her hair. "Breathe," I whisper, "It's going to be okay, alright? You're going to be okay." She gasps, taking deep, ragged breaths. I reach for new bandages, but there are none left.

I try to help her, taking off my shirt and wrapping it around one of the wounds, but blood seeps through it.

Krissa stirs and is soon over with us, stripping off her shirt (nobody cares, they're all girls and I'm kinda really, uh, gay or something) and tries to sop up some blood.

Juli's breathing turns into desperate gasps.

"Juli…" Krissa peers down at her, her eyes sunken with sadness. "It'll be alright… You're okay…" Krissa lightly touches her arm. I stroke her hair gently. "It'll be okay…" Juli's eyes glaze over and we hear a cannon boom. My heart sinks.

Dawn and Caledonia sit up, blinking in shock. I realize that I don't have a shirt anymore, and neither does Krissa. That doesn't matter, though. My heart is in my stomach by now. I feel devastated. She was just a kid… I can't help but feel upset.

"Come on," Krissa says quietly, "Let's go, guys." Her voice cracks. She's taking this hard. Who can blame her?

I place her head on the ground gently and we all get up, quickly moving away from the area.

"I'll take the next watch," Krissa whispers, her eyes glistening. I know that it's better to j ust let her go. The rest of us curl up and pretend that we might be able to sleep. Dawn sits up and offers to take watch, too. I roll over, yawning, and pretend to sleep, actually trying but not succeeding.

However, I'm awake long enough to hear them break down.

~.~.

Tristabelle: Three of Clubs

I wake up after a long and restless night and already want to go home. Or die. Y'know, whichever one is convenient.

I make myself get up and go to the ocean. I hate having the temptation of water I can't even drink, but I feel gross and need to wash off. I don't strip any layers (that is never happening in front of the entire nation or ever) and instead just get soaked in everything. I know I'm going to have to find water fast to survive, and make that my mission.

I see figures in the distance and immediately retreat from the water, wringing out my hair and clothes.

I find a small animal to kill and spend about a century trying to make a fire, to no avail. Eventually, I find some berries in a bush and decide I'm so hungry I'm going to risk eating them. They're actually very sweet and tasty.

Well, even if I'm going to go batshit insane, at least they tasted good.

I laugh a little to myself. Suddenly, I see a large string of water washing over the shore. More and more powerful waves begin to engulf the beach. I watch, in awe, until I feel the sand under my feet being pulled away by a wave and start to run. I see the boy from 10 pulling the boy from 8 along, who holds on to the boy from 3. Another wave crashes behind us, and I hear a startled scream from the girl from 4 (or at least, that's who I think it was). More and more powerful waves crash onto the shore.

Absolutely lovely, Ms. Chiarella.

I keep running until I turn around and see the beach as nothing but a slight vantage point. I ended up in a plaza, with a large building towering up to the sky. I notice palm trees off on either side, and off in the distance make out something that appears to be some kind of shelter.

My relief at avoiding the flood is suddenly cut short when I notice the Careers approaching. I realize I need to get out of there fast. I want revenge on Pontifex, but not with his super-powerful allies there.

I decide my best course of action is to run the other way before they have the chance to chase me. I grip my knife tightly, knowing that it isn't worth a kill to lose it. Suddenly, a spear going flying past me, hitting my ear but luckily not lethal. Before I really know what I'm doing, I start running the other way, toward one of the shelters and away from the giant building. On my way, I bring my knife down the girl from Two's arm, who doesn't have time to do much but yell out in surprise before I'm gone. A knife hits the ground behind me, but I don't have time to look back right about now. I keep running until the footsteps behind me stop for a long while. Then, I slow down and take refuge under one of the trees. I'm hungry still, and thirsty as hell, though just glad to be alive at this point. I know I can't last much longer without a good source of water (the berries were really juicy, which helps but definitely won't suffice for more than another day or two), so I suppose that needs to be my next project.

I wander around the pavilion I ended up under, glad to be on cement for once instead of sand. I need to recover before I wander too far, because I definitely don't want the Careers after me.

The sun is high and shining, and I don't have anything to eat for lunch. Things seem to be a lot calmer now, which is fine by me.

I sit by myself a while, perfectly fine with the calm atmosphere.

My mind wanders slightly, but I let it. It doesn't go to the dark stuff, or at least, not yet. I don't want to think about that stuff ever again.

Suddenly, I hear an odd noise I haven't heard before. I look up and see a hive (was that there before…?) swarming with the fattest, ugliest bees I've ever seen in my life.

I don't know much about the Capitol's experimentation with mutts, but I do know enough to be very cautious. I slowly inch away from the hive. If I walk away without bothering them, they won't bother me.

Suddenly, though, a knife hits into the tree, successfully jostling the branches and the hive. When I turn around, Empress gives me a condescending wave before the Careers start the other way. The bees exit the hives, and I take off running with the Careers.

I feel sharp stings in my thighs and arms, one on my neck that makes me gasp, and suddenly my vision starts to go into blurry waves. These aren't just any kind of bees…

My footsteps get heavier and I run until I can't take another step. I dive behind a tree and almost immediately fall into murky, dark, foggy blackness.

.

I don't know if I'm dying, falling, or both. I don't know which it'd rather be.

Is this death? I always wondered what dying might be like. This seems like it might be it.

Suddenly, my vision waves, and bursts with color, and suddenly I'm not dying or dead anymore. I'm very alive.

I'm a young teen, I'm wearing a miniskirt and a tank top. A weight is on top of me. A weight that is alien, unfamiliar. I struggle and fight against him, but he holds my forearms tight against the bed.

"Lazarus, cut it out now! Wright's in his room with the other guys!"

"Yeah, I know he is." He presses me into my bed, his face uncomfortably close to mine.

Boom. First kiss. Sloppy and wet, friction between lips, me squealing in displeasure. Just like that, it's over. I roll over in an attempt to shove him off, but he holds on tight.

"Tristabelle, we all knew this was bound to happen someday…" he purrs, close to my ear. "You're a sexy girl, and it's time for you to use that to give out some pleasure where pleasure is due…" He bites and sucks on my neck.

"You're crazy if you think I'm going to have sex with you."

A laugh bubbles out of his throat. His eyes, brown that used to comfort me in the past and make me laugh, are completely and utterly dead to me. They sparkle with excitement and malice.

"You're crazy if you think you have a choice."

.

Time flashes before my eyes, my life in fast-forward, after everything that happened. Situations flash before my eyes that I'd lived through, all through reaping day and the events following, the long meals with Pierce and Brody and Cordelia and Lyndon.

The chariot ride flashes before my eyes, training, my interview, that night before the Games accidentally running into Lyndon on the balcony (Jesus his eyes are so fucking green).

I'm back to the very first day, waiting for him for Christ knows what reason, even though I didn't want to ally with him. I went with him, neither of us acknowledged the other, but we knew that we were at it together, as much as I didn't want that.

I see his body crumple, and in that moment, I let my bottled up rage unleash itself, not sure where I want to go, and my fist stings as it makes contact with Pontifex's face. I don't care. I take my items from the Cornucopia and run, vowing to get revenge on the person that killed him.

.

Suddenly, things go black again.

I feel like I'm falling again, falling slowly, never stopping.

I lose the perception of time, hear the low rumble of a muffled cannon-like noise, but I can't make myself wake up.

I wonder if I'm ever going to wake up…

Dammit, I have to wake up.

~.~.

A/N: There you go. It's a little lame, but it's something to get me writing again. And just like that, the first two days are over! I hope the submitters like these chapters! I'm very regretful for those that have passed, but that's how the luck of the cards turned out. Even if your tribute is dead, they won't be completely gone.

Chapter Question: Which alliance do you think will collapse first? Which do you think has the strongest bond?

SPONSOR SCORES:

Kate: 258

Dreamer: 204

Jess: 156

falyn. oliver: 43

seaotter99: 22

ThisWorldWeHate: 17

Blonde4ever: 62

Beauty. Is. Strange: 61

magicharity: 123

Ibbonray: 35

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Medium-Indigo (Guest): 60

hopefuldreamer1991: 81

Lady Lysa Arryn: 51

Coolgal02: 61

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Sinfonian Legend: 75

xQueen-of-Applesx: 40

And, as promised, the list of alliances and what they have/need:

CAREERS- Empress, Dream, Pontifex, January, Katherine

Have: Fishing rod, backpacks, sleeping bags, lanterns, weapons, matches, iodine, water, first-aid, and food.

Need: Protective items from the sun

TEAM WEREWOLF- Gio, Atticus, Ori

Have: Sword, knife, water and food, small pack (bandages, empty thermoses, matches)

Need: Better first-aid, fishing rod, sleeping bags, preferred weapons (throwing knives)

DETERMINED DUO- Tuesday and Tia

Have: Fishing rod, backpack (knife, iodine, empty thermos, provisional food)

Need: Matches, water disinfectant/way to turn salt water into drinking water, first-aid, sleeping bags, weapons.

GIRLS' (AND NOW DAWSON'S) ALLIANCE- Krissa, Dawn, Dawson, Caledonia

Have: Knife, bandages, first-aid, iodine, sunscreen, matches, bandages, lame/dried-out food, lantern

Need: Sleeping supplies, weapons, better first-aid

TRISTABELLE

Has: Knife, lantern

Needs: Water disinfectant/way to do the salt water thing, first-aid, sleeping stuff, matches, bandages, thermos

ANGEL

Has: Lantern

Needs: Water disinfectant, weapon, sleeping supplies, first-aid, matches, bandages, thermos

I hope that helps!