Know what everyone needs today? Some light happy fluff.

Shep Howard- District Ten male (17)

It was perhaps the nicest day since we'd gotten to the island. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and the air was the kind of warm where you could feel the sun in you but it was just warming, not burning. It felt like the kind of day for winning a challenge.

"Good morning, tribes," Isabella said as we walked up to the already gathered Ellekoner. "Ellekoner, take a look at the new Huldra tribe. Trydan was voted out at tribal council."

There was little reaction. Trydan hadn't really talked to the other tribe much, so they didn't really care. It was more for the audience than anyone else.

"I suppose you're wondering what the challenge is today," Isabella said. I had indeed been wondering, since the field behind her was empty. "Today, things are going to be a bit different. Everyone, drop your buffs."

"Yeah!" Val punched the air and ran across to Ellekoner's patch of dirt, where he and Octavia high-fived. The rest of us had quieter but still enthusiastic responses. I wasn't sure what to make of it, myself. For a while it meant better odds in the tribal councils, since our new tribe was bigger. On the other hand, no more hiding behind a winning tribe. It was tribal council every week from here on out.

Isabella pointed to the small barrel at her feet. "That's right. We are merging. Everyone take a new black buff. Your new tribe must now decide on a name and which camp you'll be staying at. From now on, there is no more tribal immunity. It is every survivor for themselves."

So what do we do though? The majority of us stood around awkwardly, sizing each other up and feeling like kids forced to play with the new kid at school. The more extroverted of us started to take the lead and mingle.

"I have an idea!" Enzo raised a finger. "Let's stay at the Ellekoner camp since we have a house." There was a murmur of assent from my tribemates. My former tribemates, I reminded myself.

"We'll just go get our stuff," Kallik said.

"We'll come help," Dorian offered. "It will give us time to bond."

"I think we're going to get a lot of bonding." Persi seemed less enthusiastic. I couldn't blame her. There was a lot to consider in all this. Everything that the schemers and planners among us has put together was about to change. Not all of it for the better, I was sure.

Cactus' interview, unedited: It's very crowded in camp with all these new people. I like the food part, though.

Octavia's interview: Of course I'm glad to have Val here. It does complicate things, though. We're really going to have to make some solid alliances to avoid being targeted. We're waiting to see what the merge does to the big alliance.

Octavia's interview, edited: The merge really complicates things. I think the big alliance might get targeted by people looking to change things.

Yarrow's interview, unedited: All the Ellekoners made handprints in their house before it dried. We all took some water to soften the wall and added Huldra's handprints, too, so that was fun.

Alara Banks- District Four female (17)

Huldra didn't have much stuff. It would be nice to have the extra pans and whatnot, though. It only took us a few minutes to gather everything up and head back to our new joint home. Most of us agreed that the merge hadn't come as much of a surprise. When the crew came to build our dugout house, they'd made it big enough to fit a lot more people than Ellekoner had. We all pretty much knew what the reason must be.

"So, here's our camp." Enzo had taken charge as the tour guide. "There's our house- it's really nice. We made this pen for our animals. That one's Trayne, that one's Annie, that one's Fanny, and that one's Robbie." Leo reaches out to pet Trayne, then yanked his hand back when she cackled at him and beat her wings.

"Chickens aren't much for petting," Shep explained. "Unless you get one as a chick and make it a pet. You gotta start them young."

"And that way is the river, and this way to the ocean. But you can see that," Enzo finished, pointing to the faintly visible bits of ocean between the trees. "And there's the tree I broke a branch off of. Fell right on my butt."

"Hurry up! I wanna open it!" Lana made her thoughts known about the trunk she was crouching by. We'd all been passing gossip about the merge feast. We clustered around as Lana undid the clasp and lifted the lid.

"Ohhhhh."

"That's the good stuff."

"I think we died and this is Heaven."

There was something for everyone. Dorian was no doubt looking at the same thing I was. Every Four loved the look of a striped, glistening salmon fillet. I didn't even care if we cooked it. I could go for some sashimi.

"Ahh, I've been missing my cows," Shep said as he took out the lump of ground beef.

"There's so much," Persi whispered reverently.

"What's this?" Lana pulled out a handle of wires.

"That there's a grill," Shep said. He snapped the sides and top into place. "Allow me. What do you all think about hamburgers?"

I'd never been on a camping trip. I'd read about them in books, but I'd never actually been on one. This must be what it was like- the fire, a big bunch of friends, everyone chatting or exploring the camp. The sun sank below the trees and the sparks from the fire started to stand out against the purple sky.

"This is nice," I said, my arms holding my knees and my head tilted back.

"Almost every District is here," Kallik said. "That's nice."

"Yeah. Sucks to be Five, but pretty close," Yarrow said.

"We're going to have so many stories to bring home," Leo said. "I never thought I'd meet people from all over Panem."

"Maybe after this they'll have us do reunions," Lana said.

"They definitely will. Then they can say there are celebrities from the Districts and aren't they so inclusive?" Val said, then shrugged. "Works for me."

"And at this point we all have a lot of money to bring home," I said. I hadn't thought much about what I'd do with mine. Maybe I'd start a business. I always did want to be the big boss.

"I know, right?" Enzo said. "I still want to win and all, but I already have a lot. I wouldn't even be mad if I ended up not lasting much longer. But I suppose I shouldn't jinx myself."

"Is everyone ready for dessert?" Dorian said from beside our food trunk. "There's brownies in here and they look really good."

Lana's interview, unedited: Our new tribe name is Havfrue! It means 'mermaid'! Isn't that cool? Yarrow and I are working on painting our new banner.

Val's interview, unedited: It's so warm in our new house. It's dark out and I took my shirt off and it's still warm. I wasn't even taking my shirt off to show off. If that was the case, I'd have done it when it was light out.

Leo's interview, unedited: Alara was eating some salmon raw and she said I should try some. I was like nu-uh, no way do you really do that, that's just something Fours do to prank outsiders. But I tried some just to prove it, and oh my gosh, they really are telling the truth about raw fish.