I started 2 new fics this week despite having SO much left on By Your Side and the 3rd book. Maybe I SHOULD binge-post the rest of this, any takers?

This chapter includes one of my VERY favorite scenes. I had this written out and sitting in a doc WEEKS before I even started By Your Side.

The girl tells us to call her H- I don't know what her actual name is- and she has brought us lunch. A trio of large walleye, caught in the Cornucopia lake and strung up neatly. H promises us it's well-stocked and can feed us indefinitely…with her assistance.

Storm is skeptical we need anyone's help, but it's obvious to everyone else. I've fished before, with some luck, but only on open water. I don't have the know-how or equipment for ice-fishing, and apparently H has both. Even though I'm reluctant to add another member to our already-too-large team, it's the logical choice.

A quick vote; she is allowed in. Turquoise doesn't get the memo that we are treating this new girl with caution, but I don't think Turquoise picks up on much of anything unless it correlates with what she wants to think, and she scurries off to convert the geyser into a roasting spit. Storm returns to beating a tree to death, this time borrowing the larger of Nolan's two axes. Thunder and Nolan take turns quizzing H about different kinds of fish, which I guess is a guy thing. Peeta and I hover at the edges, having no idea where we belong.

Eventually, I grab one of the several whetstones from our "tools" pile and sit down by the quietly bubbling geyser to sharpen my spear. Peeta sits next to me, and we listen to the fish conversation without really being a part of it.

"Okay, what's the smallest fish you've ever caught?" Nolan demands to know.

H holds up her pinky finger. "About that size. I've been catching minnows since I learned to walk!"

"Is that all you do in District Four?" asks Thunder. He sounds genuinely curious. "Fish?"

H snorts. "I guess that's what it feels like most of the time. But no, we do other stuff sometimes. My uncle is a baker."

Now Peeta can't help but cut in. "Hey, I'm a baker too!"

"He's really good," I supply. If he's diving into the scary world of socializing with the people who will probably kill us someday, I'm diving in with him.

"Congratulations, that does you zero good in here," Nolan says sarcastically.

Peeta shrugs it off. "Maybe a sponsor will send us flour, and you'll be glad to have me."

"Hey, we're already glad to have you!" Nolan says. He sounds shockingly genuine, but I'm sure Nolan of all people knows better than to make friends. "It's your deranged girlfriend I'm worried about."

"Hey!" I protest at the same time Peeta insists, "She's not my girlfriend!"

"Not yet!" Nolan sing-songs in a tone that would be much more appropriate for a twelve-year-old girl, not a buff teenager who I saw kill people yesterday.

H looks us over with wide eyes. "Oh, I forgot that was you."

My cheeks turn red- redder than they already were. What does she even mean by that? "Uh…I guess so? Do you have a problem with that?"

She shrugs. "No- I think it's cute, actually."

Great. Now we're cute. Something I have not once in my life aspired to be.

Oddly enough, salvation is Turquoise. She bounds in with a long thin stick that's sharpened on both ends. "Ready for lunch?!" she asks enthusiastically.

Thunder covers his face reflexively. "Yes, but put that away before you stab someone."

"I need it!" Turquoise says indignantly. "This is how I'm cooking! Give me the fish!"

H hands her the string of fish.

"I thought I was the chef," Peeta mutters, loud enough for only me to hear.

"You don't know anything about fish," Turquoise retorts.

"And you do?"

She doesn't answer. With surprising grace, she unstrings the fish and skewers them mouth-to-tail onto her double-pointed stick. Carefully- more careful than I've seen her be with anything- she sets the giant kebab on the rim of the geyser. I'm skeptical that it'll work- everything Turquoise touches seems to turn to disaster- but sure enough, after several minutes of tedious turning, the heavenly scent of roasted fish wafts my way, and suddenly we're all flocking to watch. Even Storm abandons that poor tree she's been beating to death.

Realistically, it's a little early for lunch, but we were never actually full from breakfast. My stomach is howling in protest, and for that reason, I sit as close to the slowly-roasting fish as I can get. Unfortunately, that also means I'm sitting next to Turquoise, but at least she seems busy for the moment.

I watch her while she's busy, wondering if there's any hope of figuring her out. She acts so bizarre most of the time, but obviously there are moments of clarity…is there any chance her wild-child persona is all an act?

No, I decide. This has to be who she is- since she hasn't bothered to hide her training and talent with weapons, there's no benefit to convincing the rest of the tributes that she's nuts, unless it's true.

Still, I'm curious. There has to be something that makes this weird, blue-haired girl tick, and I'm determined to figure it out. For that reason only, I attempt to make conversation with her. "Did you volunteer?"

Turquoise snorts at my question, but her eyes never leave the homemade spit she's turning over the geyser. "Of course not. Why would I?"

"Isn't it everyone's dream, in District One? To be in the Games?"

"Just because we live in the same place doesn't mean we all have the same values," she counters. "I, for example, value my life. Besides, they don't allow volunteers in the Quell."

This is the most normal conversation I've had with Turquoise so far. She ruins it immediately by pulling a dead lizard out of her jacket. "Did I ever show you my token?"

"Why did you bring that in here?" demands H.

"I am really at my fucking limit with you now, Blondie," Storm declares. As if she hadn't reached her limit with Turquoise well before we entered the arena.

"He's my pet! His name is James."

"I don't think 'James' is very well-suited to this climate," I say dryly. "In fact, I think I might have heard a miniature cannon go off just now…"

"He's fine!" Turquoise says defensively. "He's just hibernating. When it gets warmer, he'll wake up."

I have my doubts about that. The lizard looks very, very dead. I keep a respectful silence as Turquoise stuffs the lizard in her bra.

"Don't get your hopes up for it to get warmer, Turquoise," Peeta warns her. "They've never changed the seasons of the arena before. Why start now?"

"Well, actually-"

The geyser erupts. The fish Turquoise were roasting goes flying. Dinner is ruined.

"I changed my mind," Storm announces. "Now I'm at my limit."

"What are we supposed to do now?!" Nolan demands. Just like his district partner, he is not used to being hungry, and to be fair, we were all excited about having a real lunch.

H shrugs. Despite being brand-new to this world class mess of an alliance, she doesn't seem fazed by anything that's come up so far. "We go fishing. It won't take long."

"It'll take way too long," Storm mutters.

H ignores her. The girl has a will of iron. "Who's going with me?"

"I'll go fishing," Nolan says right away. "Turq?"

You would think ice fishing would be right up Turquoise's typically-ridiculous alley, but she shakes her head, contrary as ever. "No, I have a better idea. I want to go hunting."

Storm and I both perk up, but Turquoise clarifies before I can get too excited. "People hunting."

Thunder groans. "Turquoise, just this morning you wanted nothing to do with people hunting!"

"No, I stayed out of it. You guys were being weird," Turquoise corrects. Like she has the right to call anyone weird. "I decided I want a better weapon. I don't like what we have, so someone else must have what I want. Nolan, who else snagged weapons during the Bloodbath?"

Nolan points at H. "Well, she did."

"Yeah, when she concussed me," I add, even though I actually feel fine by now.

H just shrugs. "If you'd let me join earlier, we could have avoided that." I wasn't aware that had even been on the table. "And Turquoise, I'm not giving you my weapon."

Turquoise's eyes narrow. There's that flash of clarity again, a glimpse of the Career beneath the crazy. "Okay, but what do you have?"

"You can't have them," H warns again.

"Them!" Turquoise repeats, like a light bulb went off above her head. "It's fine. I don't want them. Who else, Nolan?"

"Seven got some stuff- mostly the girl," Nolan continues. "So did Eleven. Oh, and both from Nine made it out with some stuff. That's all I remember."

Turquoise taps her chin thoughtfully. "Interesting, interesting. I guess we'll just have to hunt them all down. Storm, Katniss, are you with me?"

"Obviously," Storm says right away. As much as she might hate Turquoise, she'd never turn down the chance at a hunt.

I'm not as enthusiastic. "I think I'd rather go fishing."

"Well, I wasn't really asking," Turquoise clarifies. Her bubbly tone has a hint of warning to it that I know I'll have to adhere to. "It'll be fun! Girls trip!"

Right. Girls trip. Super fun. I wonder if I can safely protest, but judging by the way Storm and Turquoise are both staring me down, I cannot.

"…alright," I say reluctantly. "I'll go."

Turquoise lets out a cheer. "Yes! I'll start packing!"

Storm chases after her. "No, no, you'll do it all wrong! I'm packing!"

"You can help."

I decide I'll let them work that out by themselves. Thunder offers to guard camp, and Peeta agrees, catching my eye as he does so. Nolan and H go fishing. Thunder takes his place on the watch log. Turquoise and Storm scuffle over what supplies to bring.

That leaves just me and my district partner. I chew on my lip. "I don't like this, Peeta."

"I don't either," he confesses. "It was bad enough they split us up yesterday, but now…with the timing…"

"It seems like a plot to take us out," I conclude in a hushed voice. I can understand, why they'd want to. So far, Peeta and I have contributed the least, and now that they have H as a source of food, it's debatable that District Twelve is a worthy ally. It's been debatable the whole time. "…but we don't have a choice."

"Maybe this can be our chance to prove our worth," he offers. "But more than anything, take care of yourself."

"I will." I'll do whatever I have to…unless it means abandoning Peeta. That, I don't know if I can bring myself to do. "You…um. You too."

There's so much more I want to say to him. How afraid I really am. How little faith I have in our allies. How small my hope of survival has become. It's just not the right time, and so far from the right place. I'll just have to hope he knows what I mean. He's always been able to read me like a book.

"Sounds like they're ready for you," Peeta says with a nod. The squabbling has stopped and Storm is slinging a pack over her shoulder. "Good luck out there."

"You too."

I know I should turn and leave, but the conversation doesn't feel finished. Not until Peeta closes the gap between us and squeezes my gloved hand. We don't have to say anything after that. We're on the same page.

"Are you coming, loser?" Storm demands.

I sigh. "On my way."

We head towards the lake. We don't really talk about it, but it seems obvious that the best strategy for hunting tributes down is to go back to the place where it all began: the Cornucopia. From there, we'll be able to follow the tracks of everyone who survived the bloodbath, and hopefully catch up to some of them.

I insist on taking the first turn carrying the pack. I'm trying to take Peeta's advice and "prove my worth", and right now, the only way I can do that is by carrying a moderate weight. I hate being weighed down- I'm useless with the spear; my only defense is speed- but I guess at least if we're separated, I'm the one with the food.

Turquoise keeps up a merry chatter as we go along. It's either an attempt to cheer me up or simply her flow of consciousness. It annoys me more than anything, but I don't dare tell her that. I've learned by now it only fuels her fire.

We burst into the clearing, weapons raised and prepared to fight, but the only people on the lake are Nolan and H. They look at us only briefly before returning their attention to the hole in the lake. I assume that means fishing is going well.

Storm has been dead silent this whole time, but now she lets out an irritated grunt. "Ugh. I still don't like her."

I roll my eyes. "Do you like anyone, Storm?"

She pauses, like maybe she's thinking about my question. "…we should fan out."

We spread out across the clearing, inspecting all the tracks. The center is a mess of tracks and bloody snow, but the outside edge tells a somewhat clear story.

"A whole bunch of people went this way!" I call, crouching down to inspect the tracks leading into the woods. "It's hard to tell because everybody leaves the same boot print…at least four of them, probably more."

"Meh. Not interested," Turquoise declares.

"What?!" Storm yells. I fight the urge to tell her to be quiet. "You don't think we could take four people?"

"I didn't say thaaaaaaaaaat!" Turquoise complains. "Oh, hey! Let's follow these tracks!"

She bounds into the woods before Storm or I can get another word in. I don't like it, but I guess we have to follow her. Nolan waves goodbye as we disappear into the forest, following what looks like two sets of tracks.

Turquoise doesn't sprint for long. She lets us catch up almost as soon as we get into tree cover. It makes more sense to move quietly here- we really don't know what we're getting into, and the element of surprise never hurts.

Storm sets the pace at a brisk walk, something that covers ground efficiently but also can be kept up for a long time. She makes it clear she is leading the march, taking up the width of the path with her aura of bitchiness. Turquoise and I fall into step a bit behind her.

Turquoise waggles her eyebrows at me, with a grin that reeks of mischief. "You and your boyfriend were pretty cute saying goodbye."

I grit my teeth. Here she goes again. "He's not my boyfriend, Turquoise. Actually, I'd prefer not to talk about it, if that's alright."

"Oh, totally fine," she says breezily. I hear her take a deep breath. "WHEN THE MOON HITS YOUR EYE LIKE A-"

"Turquoise!" I squawk, before coming to my senses and lowering my voice. "What are you doing?"

"Singing," she replies innocently.

"Stop it!" I order "They'll know we're coming from a mile away!"

She huffs at me indignantly. "You won't talk to me. You won't let me sing. What am I supposed to do, scream?"

It occurs to me that, beneath her erratic exterior, Turquoise might just be a master of manipulation. I know there's no point in calling her bluff- it probably isn't even a bluff. I give in and just hope someone else in the arena is being more interesting than us at this moment. "Fine, I'll talk to you. Happy now?"

Storm chuckles. "You fold easy, Twelve. I'll remember that."

In contrast, Turquoise is positively gleeful. "Aww, you're the best! See, this is why you're my favorite!" She raises her voice to a yell. "STORM, DID YOU KNOW THIS ONE'S MY FAVORITE?"

"You're supposed to be quiet," I remind her with gritted teeth.

"Oh, right." Turquoise instantly turns serious. "So what's going on with you and Loverboy? Like, really."

"Nothing is going on with us!" I protest.

"Ha, like I'm going to believe that!" she teases. "I've seen the way you look at each other. Something is going on!"

Do Peeta and I really look at each other in a "way"?

"I mean…you'd be better off asking him," I end up muttering. That much is true. This was his plan, not mine. Realistically, I've done nothing but mess it up.

"Yeah, but he's not here, is he?" she asks rhetorically. "I want your side of the story."

My side of the story cannot be shared with the class. My side of the story is incomprehensible and a dumpster fire. "Honestly, Turquoise, you know about as much as I do." Deflection is my best friend. "I didn't have any idea he felt…that way…until the interview."

"Well, what about you?" she presses. "What do you think about him?"

Suddenly, I'm back under the spotlights, answering Caesar's pointed questions. As a host, Turquoise is substantially worse. Cinna's advice won't help me in the arena: I don't have any friends here.

"He's a great guy," I say defensively. "He's kind. He's funny. He makes cookies."

"Don't sound so angry!" Storm scolds. As if she has any right to lecture me about being angry. "It was just a question!"

I scowl at her. "I didn't think you'd be interested in this type of conversation, Storm."

"I'm interested in making you uncomfortable."

And uncomfortable I am. Turquoise makes it worse. "So are you in love with him?"

I forget the pretense of acting and shake my head violently. "No! I mean…I don't know. I'd never thought of him that way. I don't want to move too fast and mess up our friendship."

That sounds like something the other Katniss would say, doesn't it?

"Oh, you poor thing." Turquoise puts a gloved hand on my shoulder sympathetically. "You need to-" Dramatic pause. "Find yourself and open your heart to love."

I roll my eyes. "I'll remember that one, Turquoise."

"Shh!" Storm hisses. Even Turquoise obeys, although the corners of her mouth twitch like there's something she really wants to say.

We stop in a huddle. "There's a pair of 'em, close," Storm whispers.

"How do you know?" Turquoise asks in a significantly louder whisper.

"I am not explaining myself to you," Storm declares. "When we come up on them- Katniss, get their attention; throw your spear. Then Turq and I will shoot, one bolt for each kid. Got it?"

"You want me to be a distraction," I say flatly.

"Yes, I just said that; weren't you listening?" Storm asks. She freezes mid-sarcastic retort. "Get ready."

My hunter's instincts take over. I try to tell myself it's not that different, hunting people instead of animals, but I know in my heart that it's an entirely separate world. Trace's face will haunt me until death, and he had launched himself at me, not the other way around. Anything that happens here will surely haunt me even worse.

There's no backing down now, though. I don't even consider it. I decided long ago I would put my own survival above anyone else's, and I will do what I have to do.

Even Turquoise seems to be taking this seriously now. We creep ahead as one, until- as if she senses something I cannot- Storm nudges me ahead of her. Fear swells in my throat, but I push past the next pine branch on my own.

We haven't managed to surprise them. The pair of them- I think they're from District Nine- are both at the ready, although neither of them looks terribly confident. The girl has a weird-looking long spear and the boy has a machete.

I raise my spear and launch it at the boy. My one hour of spear practice serves me well and I actually get pretty close to hitting him. Instead of coming at me now that I've thrown my weapon, he turns and flees.

"ASH!" the girl yells, but she stands her ground. When she sees Storm and Turquoise with their respective bows raised, she looks like she regrets it. By then, it's too late. Storm has already pulled the trigger, and she never misses. Turquoise is a crack shot as well, but it's harder to nail a fleeing target. Her arrow catches Ash in the leg- painful, but not a kill shot. One cannon goes off.

"YES!" Turquoise hollers. "That is exactly what I want!"

She shoves her bow and quiver into my hands. "You can have these now. I know you wanted them."

I'm too shaken up to even utter a "thank you", although I definitely am grateful. A bow will serve me much better than that spear. Maybe we do have a chance after all.

Storm gets impatient as Turquoise removes the weird-looking spear from the dead girl's arms. "Hurry up, Turq. We've given him too much a head start already!"

"I don't want to chase the boy; let's go back to camp!" Turquoise argues. She sticks the spear in the snow, wiping off the blood. "Oh, this is going to be fun…"

"What's so special about that?" I can't help but ask. "We had a dozen spears in our haul. Why not just use one of them?"

She grins somewhat maniacally. "This one has some extra bite to it."

The barbed metal head of the spear looks the same as all of the other ones I've seen. "How so?"

She turns the spear over in her hands so I can see the control panel. Holds it close to my ear so I can hear the soft hum it emits. "It's…electric?"

"Exactly!" Turquoise jabs it at me playfully and makes a "zzt!" noise. I flinch. "Now you see why I wanted it so bad?"

Even Storm looks a little jealous. "Yeah, whatever. Are we seriously not going to chase after the boy?"

Turquoise shrugs. "Do you really think we need to? I wounded him. And you killed his district partner- he won't last long on his own."

Storm scowls. "It's weird when you make sense. C'mon, then. Let's go before the hovercraft comes."

The pair from Nine didn't have much in the way of supplies. A couple packs of matches and a little sewing kit. I put everything in the pack and Turquoise looks at me like I'm crazy. Right, like I'm crazy. "Why are you taking those? I'm pretty sure we have a flamethrower back at camp."

I'm pretty sure she's right. "Yeah, but matches and flamethrowers are usually used for different things."

Her blue eyes gleam. "Not in my book."

"You're being weird again, Blondie," Storm tells her. "Let's just get out of here, if that's what we're going to do."

"Yes, it is," Turquoise replies decisively. "Katniss, what's your favorite kind of spider?"

§

"YES!" Gale throws his hands in the air, no longer concerned about appearing "calm" and "mature". "Did you see that?!"

"I'm not fuckin' blind; obviously I saw that!" Haymitch snaps. But he's happy too. There it is again, that spark of hope he first allowed himself to feel a year ago. Maybe they'll win this one yet.

On the outside, he keeps up the grumpy attitude that his served him so well for so long. He can't have Gale getting his hopes up- the boy is hard enough to work with already. "Meh. She didn't hardly do anything to earn it, but I guess I'm up for celebratory shots."

"She was following orders!" Gale retorts, refusing to react to "celebratory shots". "And it was your idea to have her team up with those freaks!"

"My idea that you agreed to," Haymitch corrects.

"They're holding her back."

Haymitch ignores him, turning his attention back to the screen that shows their tributes. He doesn't need to justify himself to Gale. "All according to plan."

I'm still stuck on 666 views so if anyone knows how to reset the view counter or whatever thing please let me know…? I KNOW people (or at least, person) have been reading this fic in the last 3 weeks but it's still frustrating for the thing to NOT WORK