Valerie "Val" Wright (15) - District Seven Female

"Why?!" Val sobbed softly, clutching the arm that her brother had wrapped around her after she'd fallen to her knees. "They're both just.. gone now. And it's all my fault."

"No, it's not your fault Valerie. Billy chose to sacrifice himself, and it was clear that he'd had that plan in his mind for a while, and there was no way that you could have saved Oscar either. Something drew him to that cliff, and I'm pretty sure that it was some arena trick from the Gamemakers," Vince soothed her.

But the soothing didn't help. At all. The guilt was still weighing down her shoulders as much as it had in those moments after Oscar's cannon had fired. She could have done so much more to protect the younger members of their alliance, but she hadn't. And now, they were both no longer here for Val to look after.

It was so oddly upsetting that she had nobody to take care of now. She hadn't taken care of anyone in her life until they formed their alliance during training, but it just felt so natural for her to be taking care of her allies. Nobody had ever done it for her to have observed what to do, but Val supposed that the natural feeling had come from deep down in her heart.

She didn't want anyone to have to go through anything like she and Vince had after their parents died. It was a terrible feeling to have lost your parents at an age where it seemed like your family would never be separated, and it was the worst thing that Val had been through in her life. However, she knew that she hadn't been the one to have it the worst.

Vince had lost his parents too. And after having to deal with all that sadness and trauma, he still had to raise her, his sister. Not to mention the whole situation that made him all closed off and grumpy. Val just felt bad for everyone if their circumstances were bad enough to merit compassion from her.

Both Billy and Oscar, from what Val had heard from the boys, had grown up in an orphanage-type home, not having known their parents near as much as the Wrights had. It was still terrible for them, but at least they hadn't been close to what they'd lost.

Oh that was an awful thing to think about (despite the fact that it was true). Honestly, Val needed to get it together and just toughen up, but she just didn't want to. Couldn't she just have more time to wallow in her emotions and not have to deal with the murder games.

"Valerie," Vince shook her shoulders gently as he tried to get her attention,"come on. Just sitting here isn't going to make anything better. Do you want to get justice for Billy and Oscar, or are you just going to sit here, exposed, and be a baby about it."

Val sighed and stood up, supposing that her brother did have a good point. Now, it was time to get justice for Billy and Oscar, and she wasn't going to let anything get in her way.

Sublime Winterson (18) - District One Male

The Careers were so screwed now. Any hope that Sublime had of coming home as a distinguished Career victor had just vanished along with the rest of his allies. It was all that Four girl's fault. If she hadn't killed Kasai, the pack would still be together and going strong. Well, as strong as it could have been without having had a kill in ages.

This year would not be a victory to be proud of, that was for sure. Despite that, the victory would still be nice for him. It would mean survival, but Sublime wasn't too sure how well he would fare when he got home and had to face his family. He wasn't quite sure what his father would think of his victory when he won, but Sublime knew for a fact that it wouldn't be anything that he would be praised on in the slightest.

That just wasn't anything to think about now though. Right now, his focus needed to be on getting rid of the other tributes that laid between him and victory.

He took a moment to pause and close his eyes in order to reset that crucial mindset. Time to hunt down some of his adversaries.

But first, he needed to try and gather a few more supplies before he set out. The only things he had were the few packs of rations and small bottle of water, and that would maybe last him a day or two before it ran out. Of course the others had been the ones to have most of the supplies in their packs. (cough, Ruga)

It was foggy again, which was a little bit weird. Now, it was nearing the middle of the day, and any normal fog would have disappeared by now. He'd have to keep an eye on that. The Gamemakers were definitely up to something; he just wasn't sure what it was yet.

Okay, the first stop would be that building over there. It looked appealing to him, so he was sure it had some significance in some way. Plus, there was an orchard of bushes that looked to have some berries on them. Once he got closer, he would be able to tell if they were safe for him to eat or not.

It only took a few minutes for him to reach the gleaming structure, and he passed through the doorway to a surprise. It was oddly, technological, here compared to the arena. An interesting change, but a good one, he realized as he looked at the screen with his name lit up on it.

Getting closer, he tapped on the glowing icon with his face on it. Right afterwards, he heard a little clicking sound and turned around calmly to see a medium size locker on the other wall popped open. Sponsor gifts, he understood with a very minuscule smile on his face.

He stepped over and grabbed the gift that he'd been sent, looking at it closely. A short sword with a nice sheath too. That would definitely be coming in handy.

Agri Cola (15) - District Eleven Male

Agri felt on edge. His instincts were telling him that something seemed off, but he had no idea what it could even be. Maybe just something in the arena changing? Hopefully it wasn't a bad change.

Honestly, he wasn't too sure that he would survive for much longer if he didn't have some good luck finding any food. At this point he really was desperate, and it seemed that his only luck was that he wasn't dead yet. There had to be some sort of food around here somewhere. And thankfully, he knew how to identify most plants that were safe to eat because of his home district.

Oh wait, there was a fruit tree right over there! Agri couldn't believe that he had missed it, but he was glad that he'd managed to spot it, no matter how long it took him.

He looked to both of his sides before hustling over to the little cluster of trees. They were about as tall as him, with fist sized red fruit on every branch. He quickly knew that it was one of the safe fruits in the little booklet that they'd been handed if they visited the plants station during training, having been one of the first ones listed on the first page.

Setting the makeshift little jacket shirt thing that he was wearing on the ground, Agri grabbed several of the fruits and placed all of them except for one down on the article of clothing.

He then took a seat right next to his jacket and the precious bits of sustenance that sat on it, holding the one fruit that he hadn't set down before sitting down himself.

This particular fruit had a thin outer skin that peeled away easily, revealing the juicy, ripened-red color of the flesh inside. Agri could still remember those good days of his childhood where he and Glean sat waiting for their parents to come home, eager to see what kind of damaged fruit that they had chosen to take a piece of home. On the most occasional of times, his parents got the chance to bring home a lingonpear, which was what he was holding.

They were delicious, with a mainly sweet taste that had a tad bit of sour bite to it once one first bit into it. Agri loved it, and he could still vividly remember the taste of it even though it had been years since he had one. Ugh, he was salivating over it so badly, why not just go ahead and eat just one and then see how hungry he felt afterwards.

Agri groaned as he sunk his teeth into the red flesh of the fruit, juice dripping down his chin as he savored his discovery with his eyes closed. It was just so good and he was so glad to have found food like this.

(But there was a fleeting question that kept coming and going to and from his mind. Why was it so easy to find food all of a sudden, and after tasting his find, why did it seem a lot more sickly sweet than he remembered?)

Indigo Whitesand (17) - District Eleven Female

Indigo was so tired of being stuck alone in this stupid arena. All she wanted was to see Verde again, her parents a little less so but still, she did want to see them as well. She wasn't totally heartless even if it seemed like her mother was sometimes. She had her reasons for why she did what she did and Indigo understood, even if she didn't like them most of the time.

However, the true worst part of being alone through this crazy time was that it was making her mental state fade quickly, which would be really bad for her later down the road. She just needed to keep it together, through thirteen more deaths around her and hopefully not having to be at her hand, and then she would be out of this place and around the people that she actually wanted to be around.

She'd been repeating their names for hours now, chanting "Verde, Daisy, Poppy, Mother, Father" as if it was the mantra that would keep her strong through this hard time. And it was going to. She would steel herself like her mother told her everyday before she went out, hoping that Indigo would find herself a handsome, rich husband to dig their family out of the dirt.

Mother would always say, "Indigo dearest, you must be as straight a board of pine if you want to serve your best purpose for yourself. Anything less will only deter you from success."

Perhaps Indigo could use both that advice and her own take on life to find a strategy to just keep herself sane for the remaining days in the arena. She would steel her mind and keep it as straight as her mother always said, but she would allow her body to be fluid like her own personality in order to increase her chances of survival in a fight. One thing that she had learned from observing the Careers during training was that a loose body was a fast body and a tense body was a slow body.

So she breathed in deeply, fortifying her emotions and mind and making her body relax and turn limber. Now, Indigo felt ready to handle things if they came her way.

Except, when half an hour later something did come her way, it was something that she had least expected.

It was Agri, staggering towards her with an emotional look on his face while he was clutching a bundle of something wrapped in his jacket to his chest.

"Indigo!" he shouted excitedly, eyes wide as he sped up his gait, stumbling even more now. "I found some fruit! And you!"

Okay, this seemed odd to Indigo, especially after Agri quickly clapped his free hand to his mouth after his loud exclamation with his eyes wide. This was a lot more emotion than she'd seen him express in the Capitol, so Indigo was pretty sure that something had happened to him.

Once he reached her, he quickly sat cross-legged on the ground across from her and opened up his jacket bundle, revealing even more of the fruits, which looked like lingonpears. But who knows, they could be anything, meaning that Indigo had no idea if they were safe to eat or not.

"I've already had one. They're amazing! Do you want one Indigo?" Agri rushed out, almost to the point where he was slurring his words on a concerning level.

Yeah, Indigo was going to take a pass on that for now. It really seemed as if the innocent looking fruits weren't as friendly as Agri had thought they were.

Georgette-Coiro Metaxas (18) - District Eight Female

She felt almost completely devoid of emotion at this point, simply focused on her mission to eliminate those in her way of victory and her return to her desired profession. Nothing was going stand in Georgette's way if she had anything to do with it.

Georgette knew that she could earn the glory and she would earn it, returning home to Eight to a whole slew of people proud of her and her victory. Then, she could go on to be a very respected officer in the Peacekeeping force of Panem.

But it was enough thought of that for now. Thoughts of the future weren't going to help it become a reality, actions would. It had been a while since she'd last had an opportunity to do something really important in the arena, but now it was looking like she'd get another shot soon enough.

A pair of tributes were camped out a little ways ahead of her, facing away so they couldn't see Georgette. She was fairly sure that it was the pair from Eleven, recognizing their statures as they sat, along with the boy's injured arm. It was kind of obvious that he wouldn't be too hard of a person to take out, especially if she targeted him from that side. The girl wouldn't be too much trouble either. They didn't seem armed, so that also made it a lot easier for her.

She wasn't going to make it horrible though. Georgette was humane, and even she knew that taking it too far with easy kills would just take away all that favor and make her bad guy number one for the Capitol to root for to die. All it would take was a little swing from her axe in the right spot and they'd both be gone quickly. It would be good for them and good for her. They wouldn't have to return to that dreadful muckbog called Eleven, back to their somewhat less miserable lives, while she would be seen as a strong figure that still had mercy and good within them.

Now, it was time for her to really jump into action and do the things that she'd been thinking about. She'd been slowly stalking closer and closer, ducking behind boulders and outcrops so there wasn't a chance of being spotted before she could initiate things on her terms.

Georgette sprinted out from behind the rock that she'd been crouching behind, getting only a few feet away from the two tributes before they even noticed her presence. When they did, they both scattered away from her, trying to stumble up to their feet to run (and failing on the boy's part, his district partner having to almost drag him with her).

Their attempt to get away didn't work very well, Georgette easily able to step forward and attack quickly with their shock slowing them down significantly. The boy finally got his footing right before her strike at the girl landed, and he sort of deflected it with the sacrifice of his good arm, which was now sliced to the bone at the top of his forearm.

Well, now he had no strong arms to defend himself with. She'd deal with the girl first then.

It seemed that she had frozen in shock, staring at what Georgette had done to her district partner instead of thinking about what she might do to her next. It was her mistake.

Georgette stepped forward, swinging her axe. She sliced through the thin skin of her neck, blood beginning to pour down from her severed carotid, the girl collapsing soon after.

"Indigo!" the boy cried, still on the ground cradling his arm.

He had already lost a lot of blood, so that would make it quicker when she did make that fatal swipe at his neck. But as she looked into his eyes, about to make the killing blow, she saw something odd.

There wasn't exactly fear there; it was more like regret and weakness. How curious. Most people in his situation would have already frightened themselves to near death just by looking at her in the position that she was in.

Boom!

And there it was. The first of two cannons to go off by Georgette's hands today.

"Why?" the boy croaked. "We didn't do anything to you."

"Oh I know. It's not that you did anything wrong, it's just that I'm stronger and that it's better off for you two this way. You're lucky it's me and not one of the Careers," she told him.

All questions aside, Georgette stepped forward to complete the thing that she'd started. But right before she started the upward swing of her axe, she saw something change in his eyes, from being upset to perhaps accepting the fact that this was the way his end was going to be. And then, she swung down, slicing through skin once more and finally ending things.

Boom!

It was the best thing for all of them, and Georgette didn't regret it a bit. Especially when she remembered that there were two less people between her and victory.

Natalia Maude (18) - District Nine Female

Natalia had watched the girl for several hours, as she stayed at her camp and then moved just a little bit, discovering the Eleven pair and killing them mercilessly. She cringed a little watching such a heartless act of violence, but at least it had been quick and rather quiet. It would have been a lot harder to keep to herself had the deaths been more brutal.

But the thing was, the only motivation that this girl had to kill the pair was that they were other tributes remaining between her and becoming victor. They hadn't been doing anything to try and kill her, so Natalia really didn't see any justification behind it. She had learned early on that even if she was in the Games, it really wasn't as much of an excuse to kill as she had thought previously. Tributes could die of natural causes just as easily and quickly as being murdered in the arena, so it was honestly less of an excuse.

However, Natalia did think that it felt fair that she needed to continue following this girl just so that she could keep an eye on her. It could also do her good if she found an opportunity to get rid of a dangerous tribute like the girl from Eight, plus, she could just say that she was actually getting justice for other tributes that had died at her hands.

It may seem like another way of finding an excuse to make killing someone in the arena not seem wrong, but to her, it seemed like the right option. She could handle her sacrifice of morality after she got out of this arena.

welp, that was another rough chapter to write. it did take me a while, but it's done now! it honestly seems kind of crazy that we're only on day four right now. hopefully another chapter will be out sooner than it took for this one, but who knows with school and all that. other than that, i really don't have much else to say right now, so i hope you enjoyed it and thank you so much for reading! (and yes, the arena is playing games with the fruit that is "safe" to eat, especially in the "hell" level of it)

Alliances:

The Survivalists and their Stalker: Reverie, Anne, Zain

The Gloomy Sunshine Girl and her Protector: Val, Vince

Loners + the Separated Careers: Sublime, Goneril, Ruga, Zeno, Naymena, Georgette, Natalia

Kills:

Georgette Coiro-Metaxas - III

Sublime Winterson - II

Goldena Powers (DECEASED) - I

Ruga Palaemor - I

Naymena Lachlock - I

Kasai Westbrook (DECEASED) - I

The Arena - I

Eulogies:

14th: Indigo Whitesand, District Eleven Female - carotid sliced by Georgette Coiro-Metaxas

Oh Indigo, I really do wish you and Agri had gotten more time together, but fate just really doesn't like either of you. I really am sad that I didn't have really a set out arc for her during the Games, but I do feel that this would be a likely end for her because I just don't see her being able to defend herself from someone like Georgette who's trained in stuff like this before. I can also see her acting all tough but not actually being able to handle crazy stuff like watching her ally getting attacked because it's just not something she's been exposed to before. I really did enjoy getting to write out her relationship with Verde though, and I'm super sad to take her away from Verde, but she was just not my victor. Thank you so much to MilevenShipper27 for submitting Indigo!

13th: Agri Cola, District Eleven Male - carotid and arm sliced by Georgette Coiro-Metaxas

Like Indigo, I also didn't have the easiest time figuring out a clear arc for Agri, although I think I was able to add in a little bit of one closer to the end. I honestly feel so bad that he had to go like that, weak in a time where he needed to be strong, but it made the most sense for his character and personality. At least he was able to try and protect Indigo to at least elongate her life a moment or two. I also really loved getting to write about his little reunion with his brother, although I do wish that they could have had more time together. He also had a really neat job that I enjoyed getting to go into a little bit of detail about! Thank you so much to Dante Alighieri1308 for submitting Agri!