Prince Middleton, 17

District 1 Male

Prince startled awake at the sound of a cannon. He scrabbled for his sword, sleepily surveying the area around the Cornucopia. Ada was climbing out of her sleeping bag, looking just as disoriented, but everything else seemed calm.

"What's happening?" Ada demanded, her powerful voice commanding attention.

"Queenie died," Cadmus said, coming out of the shade of the Cornucopia.

"What?" Prince gasped. After the stampede, she'd been badly wounded, but she was conscious and speaking last night.

"Something must have been bleeding inside," Iago said solemnly, coming to stand beside Cadmus. For a few moments, they all sat in silence.

"Well, should we move her body?" Tulio finally asked. Ada nodded and got to her feet. She and Tulio went inside and carried Queenie's battered form a good distance from their camp.

Prince watched Iago. The boy from 12 seemed to have a strong connection with Queenie. Would he stay loyal? Would he come after Prince? He knew neither of them liked him. But would Iago really try to kill him? That could jeopardize his position within the pack. Iago turned to meet Prince's gaze and sneered. Prince looked away first.

Tulio and Ada returned and they all watched a hovercraft silently appear to take Queenie's body. Tulio was the first to speak.

"Well… should we eat and then set out?"

"Sounds good to me," Ada replied.

He ate his protein bar and dried fruit in silence. How could everyone be so calm about this? He didn't like Queenie, but he didn't want her to die! He didn't want anyone to die. Had he made a mistake? No. He had to do this. He had to get back to Ali. It was the only way he could be with his boyfriend.

Ada divided the group into pairs and nominated Cadmus to stay behind to guard the Cornucopia. She assigned Prince and Tulio to each other, which he was grateful for. He trusted Tulio the most out of all the Careers.

They set off with backpacks, water bottles and sunscreen, but it was still sweltering. Awkwardly, Prince made an attempt at small talk.

"I definitely would have preferred a cooler arena," he said with a chuckle. Tulio nodded.

"I'm used to the heat, but it cools off quickly by the coast."

"Are there lots of people in District 4," Prince asked.

"I come from a small fishing village, but I know the district is pretty populated," Tulio replied. "What about District 1?"

"We're on the smaller side, but we're not tiny. We go for quality, not quantity."

They walked in silence for another ten or so minutes before Tulio spoke up again.

"How are you feeling about Queenie?"

"I don't know," I replied. "She didn't like me, and I didn't really know her at all. But she was from home."

"I get it," Tulio said. "I felt the same about Lazuli. But hey, at least we have each other."

Indigo Li, 13

District 8 Female

Indigo rolled over with a quiet groan. A rock had been digging into her side all night and the strap of her backpack kept falling in her face. Not a quality night at all. She brought her knees up close to her chest and waited for sleep to take her again, but it refused.

Sighing, she sat up in the small tent and rubbed her eyes. Sunlight was filtering through the open tent flap, illuminating Blythe, who was sitting cross-legged with her head in her hands.

"Hey," Indigo said, scooting closer. "Everything okay?"

Blythe just shrugged one shoulder. She could tell something was wrong with her ally, but emotions and comfort weren't Indigo's forte. How was she supposed to help?

"It'll be okay," she said awkwardly, putting a hand on Blythe's back.

"Will it?" her blonde ally snapped. "I killed someone yesterday! We're in the Hunger Games! Only one of us can live!"

Indigo jerked her hand back, suddenly angry.

"I'm just trying to help," she growled. "You don't have to be rude."

"I know," Blythe sighed. Indigo frowned. She'd been preparing for an argument.

"I'm just stressed."

"I understand," Indigo said. In all truthfulness, she was stressed too. Stressed and scared. You'd be insane not to be.

She shifted to the back of the tiny tent and took a few deep breaths. She was primed and ready for a fight, and now Blythe was being apologetic. It only made her more concerned about Blythe's trustworthiness. Sure, she'd saved Indigo's life. But she'd killed a boy with very little hesitation. Was she trying to suck up to Indigo to lull her into a false sense of security. If she was, Indigo had to stay vigilant. She got herself into this mess, and she'd be damned if she didn't get herself out of it. She was going to win these Games.

Dakota Grangerford, 12

District 9 Female

Dakota was hot. Too hot. This arena was absolutely miserable, and it was putting her in a bad mood. District 9 was hot too, but Dakota spent most of her time indoors. Being out in the savanna sun was extremely unpleasant. It didn't seem to be bothering Mars as much as it was her, but Dakota had a feeling she was getting on his nerves.

Last night, as she was falling asleep, she'd made a promise to herself to be nice to Mars. She knew he was putting his life in even more danger, just for her. And apparently it was out of the goodness of his heart. She was still skeptical, but it would be dumb to refuse his help.

A cannon fired loudly, startling her out of her thoughts. Mars, who had been napping in the shade of the boulders they were camped behind, startled awake. He reached for his blade, which put her on alert. They both sat in silence, listening, but the air was quiet.

"Must have been somewhere else," he mumbled, relaxing again. He laid back down, and Dakota decided to bite the bullet.

"Mars?" she asked quietly.

"What?" he replied, his eyes still closed.

"Why are you helping me? I know you said your brother was in a wheelchair too, but only one person can win. There's really no point in keeping me around."

Mars opened his eyes and stared at her for a few moments.

"I don't want to win," he finally said. "I don't want the life of a victor. It's not worth it."

"That's…"

"Dumb?"

"I was going to say brave, but dumb also applies." Mars huffed and rolled his eyes, but he had a smile on his face.

"My family will be okay, and that's enough for me."

"Were you poor?" Dakota blurted out.

"No, not really. My mom was the manager of a fairly big dairy farm. So we always had enough to get by."

"Why couldn't your brother get treatment then?"

"His legs were completely destroyed in an accident with a bull," Mars explained. "There was nothing the doctors could do to fix them."

"Oh…" Dakota let her voice trail off. There was nothing more to say. Life in Panem was awful. There was no way around it.

Hey everyone! 7 months later, and I'm back with an update. Wow, I've been awful. I'm so sorry. I'm aiming to write shorter POVs and I finally got around to actually planning out this story, so hopefully updates will be more frequent. And we're already at the halfway point, so the Games will be fairly short. Only about five more chapters.

Eulogies

13th: Queenie Barbour (1F) - died of her wounds
Queenie... you were a tattletale and a bully, but you kept Prince on his toes. Thanks for contributing to the plot, and I'm sorry that your death was so painful. RIP.

12th: Raven Cardwell (6F) - suicide
Raven was a fun tribute concept, and I wish I could have featured her more. Basically, Ada and the others found her, and she chose to kill herself instead of suffering at the hands of the Careers. RIP.

Alliances

Careers:
- Prince
- Cadmus
- Ada
- Tulio
- Iago

Polar Opposites:
- Indigo
- Blythe

Kindness:
- Dakota
- Mars

Loners:
- Nikolas
- Jasmine

Have a nice day, be kind to each other, and never stop reading!

- Fiona