I CHANGED MY MIND GUYS- WHEN YOUR TRIBUTE DIES, YOU WILL NOT GET ANY EXTRA POINTS. SORRY, THANKS. :)

Algar Black(D4 Male)

"Um, Mark!" I hissed into my ally's ear. "What do you think you're doing?!

He was fighting another tribute rather fiercely, and didn't even turn when I called his name. I rolled my eyes. He'd get himself killed if he kept this up sooner or later.

Mark grunted and turned towards me with flashing eyes. "Don't tell me what to do!" he spat, just as the other tribute(Cameron?) threw a knife into his back as he was busy scolding me.

Whoops.

Mark glared, his jaw clenching with hatred. He must've know it was too late for him. His eyes blazed angrily and he shouted, "This isn't the end, Algar! If you didn't know, there's still something called heaven. When you join me, I'll show you- I'll show all of you!" He collapsed to the ground in a heap and didn't get back up again. Blood rose up and he choked, spitting mouthfuls of it onto the stained ground. I watched, transfixed, a little bit scared but mostly...in wonder. I hadn't expected Mark to die so early.

Cameron grunted roughly and with a sharp, jerking motion, he pulled the knife out of Mark's back. The Six tribute caught my gaze and held it for a frighteningly intense second, then walked off.

Without even knowing what I was doing, in a fit of anger, I grabbed his throat and threw him to the ground. He got back up, surprisingly unfazed, and simply nodded his head. Blinking in confusion, I let him go.

"Algar!" Persefone cried, temper flaring. "Why'd you let him go?"

I hissed between my teeth, "I don't know.."

"Over my dead body will you say 'I don't know'!" she glared. "We could've killed him right then and there, the formidable knife-throwing enemy he is- I mean, he got an eleven! We were gonna target him, remember? And why'd you freaking distract Mark from killing him too!"

"Well, I want to prove that we kill for reasons, okay!?" I retorted unexpectedly. "Stop proving we're heartless and all that!"

"I thought you didn't even care." Her eyes smoldered. "At least, that's how you act on the outside. At least I'm doing what we need to do to survive. Unlike you." She snapped. "Where'd Skyrah, Felix, and Azurine go?"

"Over there," I pointed to a group of them defending the Cornucopia.

"Then what are you waiting for?" she said as if it were obvious, and ran toward them, weapons in hand. I followed.

"Anybody challenge you guys yet?" I asked as we approached them.

Skyrah shook her head truthfully. "Nope, not yet."

"Good."

We stood there in silence for a second. Everything seemed kind of frozen, with tributes running around, fighting, killing- all the while, I was trapped in a strange atmosphere of just..thinking. It covered me like cobwebs, entered my ears and wrapped around my brain.

"Hey, dude, snap out of it," Persefone was tipping her head quizzically; the serious look, however, never left her mouth.

I stared, then seemed to lapse back into reality. I laughed awkwardly, waving my hand. "No big deal."

"If you insist." She shrugged, eyes widening.

A loooooooooong time passed. I kinda zoned out, to be honest with you. The rest struck defensive poses and hoped for the very best. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Felix and Persefone determinedly keeping watch, Skyrah twisting her weapon between her fingers, Azurine sighing rather impatiently, her dark eyebrows knitting a line across the top of her forehead. And Mark...Mark, yes, Mark was gone. Gone from this earth, to hopefully a better place.

"Algar?" Skyrah paused.

I glanced up, first at the sky involuntarily, then at her. The sky was now kinda my clock. Now, it was pitch-black and we could hardly see; the fighting had faded off and in burst a numbness like never before, growing deep into my bones and clutching on so that I could barely move.

Stiffly, I nodded up at her. "Hm?"

"Uh, I was just wondering...should we be making camp right now? Since it's cold and all...I feel like we should retire early."

I contemplated this, not wanting to budge from my now-comfortable spot in the snow in front of the Cornucopia. "Let's get all the supplies first this thing's got to offer," I said at last, rapping my knuckles against the impossibly smooth surface. It felt cold as ice. "Otherwise, what's the point of protecting it?"

She nodded in agreement and said to the rest of us, "What do you guys think?"

Persefone nodded thoughtfully. "I think that would be the wisest course of action. We'll probably get icicles as feet if we keep this up any longer. And besides, even if we're Careers, we've still got to sleep."

"True," Azurine offered. Felix gave a short nod. So far, the guy had been literally the only one I couldn't figure out.

So we began to make camp. Felix and Azurine picked the area clean of supplies, until they were literally struggling to move with all the things stuffed in backpacks: food, weapons, etc. Skyrah, Persefone, and I scouted out the best places to drop off everything in the meantime.

There was snow basically everywhere, so it was rather difficult. The wind had calmed somewhat, but it was still tossing my hair this way and that, making it hard to take steps, especially when we were pushing against it.

Finally Skyrah raised her hand and announced, "I found a cave!"

We all practically leaped towards it, and as my eyes were streaming of cold, I could make out the shapes of Felix and Azurine run as fast as they could to us, kicking up the snow. The cave was not big, and it took all our patience to simply fit in there, never mind sleep. I was wedged uncomfortably between Persefone and Azurine; there was absolutely no way I could go unconscious.

"You know, I think it's more likely to faint in here than sleep," Felix commented with a sigh.

I nodded vigorously, "Yeah, there's no way we could ever survive in here. I think I'm gonna suffocate." In the meantime, my mind had drifted to my sister, Olga. My heart clenched and I forced myself to stay strong.

"Moving on, then," Skyrah decided, though there was definitely some disappointment in her voice. We crowded out, all wanting to be the first to experience that fresh air again, however freezing it was. Stepping out of the cave, I noticed another one almost opposite to it on the other side of the curved mountain, and went over cautiously.

This one was larger, thank goodness, but also more exposed. It wasn't very hidden to the outside in how the cave mouth jutted into the air sharply, instead of being tucked in. Maybe we could pack it in with some snow or something.

I called to the others about the cave and they gathered beside me, examining it dubiously.

"It's...nice," Persefone blurted out bluntly, a glint in her green eyes. "We could fix it up a little to make it more hidden."

Skyrah nodded, peering into the cave. "And it's wider too. We'd have room to put all the supplies."

Felix agreed, "It's getting really dark too- we need to find somewhere fast. Who knows what animals are out there."

We all glanced at Azurine, who crossed her arms and scanned over the cave. "It's fine," she mustered at last. "But don't say I didn't warn you when some tribute finds us."

"Fine" was all we needed to throw our supplies down and stalk into the cave. Persefone looked a bit annoyed as she lit a match and walked inside- most likely at Azurine. A few minutes later, she came back, reporting, "Nothing threatening in there."

With the words that it was safe to go in, everyone's steps grew less tentative. I found a corner in the cave, a thick blanket, and closed my eyes, a sigh in my throat. I sincerely hoped the next day would be alright, and that, however much we were incompatible, we wouldn't lose another Career.

Murray Keyes (D10 Male)

Boom.

Boom.

Boom.

Boom.

The explosion of the cannons got my attention real fast. I tensed as smoke lifted into the air, a long way away, but still there. I wondered who had died and shuddered. Since it was too complicated to make out deaths earlier, they had done the cannons at the end of the day, after all the chaos.

Later, the images of the fallen tributes were projected into the sky. Dahlia noticed them first, pointing them out, and the rest of us quickly gazed up. The sky was clear with wreaths of stormy gray clouds, so different from back at home. Somehow, though, the images still showed.

The first picture was one of Mark, his eyes hard, looking undeniably smug. I jolted backwards. Mark?! How had he died? I had thought he would win or something..

Second, Harriet Wilson, from Six. A friendly grin was on her face, and I felt an unexpected twinge of sadness. She hadn't deserved to die, especially at so young. She had only been a child, barely a teenager- I mean, thirteen! Thirteen. That was...it was just evil, if anyone could think to harm someone so innocent.

So all the tributes in between Mark and Harriet had survived, I thought numbly. Kind of relieved, too.

Lace, the District Eight female, had on a not caring at all face. She had been the first to die, I remembered that. Blown up. I wondered if she had done it on purpose or if it were by accident. I guess I would never find out.

Zahava was next. I was kind of surprised there weren't a lot of tributes to die, and the same sadness came over me as the one from earlier with Harriet. The fallen tribute was depicted as enthusiastic, a bit childish but strong nonetheless. I was glad she could at least have a good memory in her wake.

District Ten... I unconsciously glanced at Dahlia, who trembled slightly. Nobody died in our District. Yet.

Eleven consisted of Elisabeth Bronzebrook and Amil Everret, both whom I knew fairly well because they had appeared a lot in training and always went after Ten whenever it was anything formal.

Elisabeth didn't die. And Amil...nope, he didn't die either.

Twelve, twelve, twelve, twelve...I tapped my fingers against the ground in a nervous rhythm.

Only four deaths! That was incredible! Even though I was glad for the small amount of casualities, I was also afraid for everyone else. If the Games didn't progress fast enough, the Capitol might send something after us, which would result in...dead bodies.

"Come on," I said roughly, whipping my head around to nod at my allies. My free spirit guided me deeper into the woods(which had taken us, like, forever to run to) and they followed, knowing I might get annoyed if they didn't. Even though I wasn't the leader, I was the one who led them toward our new home, a small clearing.

I restlessly waited as they headed into the woods, not knowing what exactly I was waiting for but the fact that I could not and would not sleep. Sitting down with my palms pressed flat into the earth, I leaned my head back and simply looked upward. The trees obscured any view we might've seen of the stars, which was sort of unsettling, but I was glad for the sense of protection as well.

"That was some tame Bloodbath," Dahlia stated quietly. I nodded though I wasn't really listening.

"I'm...going on a walk," I said to anyone who would listen. Spruce's head shot up and he tilted it slightly. I assumed that meant he had heard me and so I wandered into the woods, marking my path with booted prints.

Soon I came across an open section where some wind was able to get through the trees. Yep, that was the reason I had suggested we should go into the forest. Because the wind.

I heard talking near a patch of trees in a secluded area and instinctively headed toward the voices. I tried to make the crunching of the leaves less noticeable but it was still pretty obvious. However, my curiosity took the better of me and I barely cared.

Forward, forward, stop. I felt that they had noticed me. They had stopped talking and the air was suddenly still. I paused as well, not even daring to move, the hairs on my arms sticking straight up. Suddenly I realized something through the pounding of my heart- I had never discovered my mentor's name.

10/29/2017

review "yes" if you want your tribute to be done as a POV next chap