Lana Parker- District Six female (17)

I didn't want to take the last chocolate croissant, but I really wanted to take the last croissant. If it's still there in half an hour, I told myself, it's fair game.

"Ohhhhh, I think I gained five pounds," Alara said, leaning back from the log we used as a table and patting her belly.

"We needed it," Dorian said. He regarded his forced arms. "This island dirt is killing my gains."

"Well, I'm not moving anytime soon," Enzo said. It seemed most of us felt the same way, aside from Persi, who was pushing our wagon around and clearly trying to figure out smart ways to use it.

"Anyone read any good books lately?" Virgo asked.

"I was reading a historical romance before I left. When I still thought it was a normal Games I was so pissed I probably wouldn't find out if Apollonia married Catullus or Phoebus," Octavia said.

"I like poetry," Enzo said. When we all looked at him, he went on. "What, since I like fireworks I can't like Blake? His imagery is as evocative as any explosion, thank you." He turned to me. "How about you?"

"You're gonna laugh," I said, but I wasn't really embarrassed. It was just my taste tended to run a little young. It wasn't my fault kids books authors were better than boring adult stuff. "I like Pretty Pretty Sparkle Sparkle."

"I love Pretty Pretty Sparkle Sparkle!" Dorian sat up in excitement. "Which Pretty is your favorite? God, please don't say Daisy."

"Ew, no! I like Hattie," I said. Dorian likes them too? I could talk all night about Pretty Pretty Sparkle Sparkle. If Dorian could too, this show just got even better.

"And what is a Pretty Pretty Sparkle Sparkle now?" Cactus asked in the way people do when they're pretending they're above something.

"It's a manga about these five girls and one boy who each buy a horse jewel necklace at different flea markets, but it turns out the horse is real and they all become magical girls who ride them," Dorian excitedly explained before I could break in.

"Those books are for middle schoolers. Aren't they too easy for you?" Alara asked.

Dorian waved his hand. "Tell you the truth, I get bored of books with a lot of words. I like a few pictures to spice it up. Manga is all pictures!"

"Do they have all the crazy magical girl weapons?" Octavia asked.

"Hattie has a rainbow whip," I said. "She doesn't really whip people with it, exactly. She whips the air and streamers come out up to tie people up."

"Are you all talking about Pretty Pretty Sparkle Sparkle?" Persi called from the wagon as she started over. "Two of my siblings are so into that. All day long it's "Pretty Diamond Flash!" and "Pretty Tanzanite Fizzle!"

"That all sounds very weird," Cactus said.

"You're just jealous you don't have a Sparkle Horse," Dorian said.

"I am definitely not jealous I don't have a Sparkle Horse," Cactus said.

"Tell me if you had a Sparkle Horse you wouldn't think it was cool," Dorian challenged, poking his finger at Cactus.

"I don't know because I've never seen one," Cactus had to admit. At least he was honest.

Alara got a shy smile. "Did any of you all used to play horse in school? Like trotting around and all your friends and you were a horse herd?"

Enzo covered his face. "Oh, no," he said.

"What?" I asked. He couldn't just leave us hanging after that.

"It's so bad," he said.

"Come on, you gotta tell us," Virgo urged.

Enzo signed. "I was the kid who told everyone his uncle was a ninja who taught him a secret technique to instantly kill a guy."

"Ohhhhh!" Dorian hooted.

"I lip synched for the school talent show," Virgo offered.

Octavia pursed her lips. "I am woman enough to admit I once passed a 'check the box if you like me' note."

"We're pretty cool," Alara said, nodding approvingly. "You know what? We're a pretty cool group."

Alara's interview, unedited: I hope they let us write letters after this is done. I'd hate to never talk to everyone every again.

Cactus' interview, unedited: I think some of my teammates are losing sight of the goal. All the better for me if they get distracted.

Persi's interview: If we just win the next challenge, I think the merge is coming next. We all get along really well here so unless Huldra is fighting all the time, I bet the Gamemakers want more drama. It's going to upend everything- all the alliances and strategies.

Persi's interview, edited: If we just win the next challenge, I think the merge is coming next. It's going to upend everything- all the alliances and strategies.

Taylor Treadle- District Eight female (16)

I didn't think I was necessarily the target. I hadn't done anything wrong during the challenge, seeing as I hadn't done anything at all. There was really no one who straight up sucked. Shep fell off the beam, sure, but anyone else could have volunteered to carry me by themselves. No, it was anyone's game, and to make matters worse, I was pretty sure we had no alliances.

Yes, I was pretty sure there were no alliances on Huldra. It was like we'd all just voted completely randomly right from the start. There didn't tend to be huge majorities, though it did happen sometimes. They might have just been flukes. But there was no sneaking away to discuss strategy, no knowing glances at tribal councils, no targets knowing they were targets and begging for someone to flip. It seemed our strategy field was severely neglected. Maybe it was the for someone to make a move.

Leo wasn't really an option. I counted him as a friend, but he'd be a terrible ally. He was way too nice- he'd never backstab or plot against someone. Same for Yarrow. She could get a jibe in here and there, but she was usually so blandly friendly. Shep, maybe? Did weird Amish people allow backstabbing and all that? I doubted it. So who was left? Val. Ew, no. He would backstab someone just for the chaos, even if it didn't help us at all.

"Hey, Trydan," I said, sidling up to him as he washed out our rice pot. "What are you up to?"

"Washing a pot, duh," he said mildly. "I suppose you want to talk strategy."

"What? No… yeah, okay, I do," I admitted. "I just couldn't help but notice there's not much strategizing going on in Huldra. Maybe I'm missing it but I don't think everyone's smart enough to hide it from me."

"Maybe we're smarter than you think," Trydan said, but he was only teasing. "I suppose you have a target in mind?"

"I… actually don't," I said. "I was thinking more of people not voting for me than I was about who they should vote for."

"Clearly we have to get Val out eventually, but it might be better to wait until right before the merge, since her good for challenges," Trydan said. "I've heard a lot about targeting Kallik, but honestly I think she'll get voted out pretty quick after the merge since she's a threat."

Wow, he actually thought this through. Maybe I should stop thinking I was hot stuff and listen to someone else for a change.

"Some of the others might pick Shep just because he fell. Not really fair but it keeps us safe," I offered.

"I was thinking…" he whispered the name in my ear. It wasn't who I'd expected, but I could go with it. Really anyone who wasn't me, though I'd try to hold off on Leo as long as I could.

"You think there's more alliances and they're just really secret?" I asked.

Trydan shrugged. "Doesn't seem like it from the votes." He looked off into the trees. "Honestly, I think this tribe has no idea what it's doing."

Shep's interview, unedited: We should vote for Kallik since she's too good at survival stuff.

Kallik's interview, unedited: We should target Taylor since she doesn't do much.

Val's interview, unedited: I don't care who we pick as long as it's not me.

Yarrow's interview, unedited:

I hope it's Leo because I think he's faking being that nice.

Leo's interview, unedited: I have no idea who's getting voted for. Everyone seems to like each other.

So far I have two votes from Huldra, so get yours in, since they count for more than they normally would. Those two don't include Taylor, since I don't have enough for her to vote without being OP. Since there are so few votes I'm able to write about her searching for allies since it's not metagaming if I don't know who they're voting for either. I actually do know Trydan's, so this is just a flavor interaction and Taylor may or not be voting with him, regardless of this convo.

Also I forgot to write down Leo's submitter so pls drop a review or pl just so I know you're still here lol