Death was my only friend; of this I had no shame in admitting. He was the future for all of us and I was the shepherd who led people to his gates. It was a beautiful comradery really, two misunderstood souls, one mortal and the other immortal, fighting the beast known as life to deliver humanity from its cruel grasp.

His presence in the arena was strong, I could feel him in the wind that rustled the pine trees and tugged at my hair. The other tribute's sensed him too. I saw their fear in the reflection of their eyes and the twitches in their limbs. Fear always came before the calm. I closed my eyes and smiled feeling completely at peace. I would run to the cornucopia grab my swords then I would start my campaign of death.

I was ready as soon as the gong crashed.

My feet flew across the grassy hillside propelling me toward my destination. Only my fellow careers could rival my speed. Epona reached the cornucopia first with Marbella hot on her heels. I reached it third; not that I cared in the slightest. Epona and Marbella's wishes were insignificant- hardly enough to make them a threat.

With accurate swiftness I pulled my two precious longswords from the mouth of the cornucopia wasting only a second to grab their holder and strap the leather sheath to my back. It is a little disappointing to admit that I was attacked before I got to attack, you can't have everything go your way though, I suppose. The boy's eyes were wild with the determination fueled by some petty human vendetta as his trident sped forward my neck. "For Joycelyn!"

I whipped around catching his trident between one of its prongs with my left sword. The clash sent a jolt through my body, I hardly processed it though as I used my blade as a lever, twisting it from the boy's hand. His eyes widened and he ducked downward trying to grab it, I kicked it from his grasp with ease. "I hardly think killing me would make Joycelyn any less dead." I commented, my boot barreling into the face of the boy that I remembered to be Beck. He flopped backwards with a cry that was filled with both terror and rage. "I will help you to get back to her though." I said, my voice suddenly soft. I plunged my sword into his chest, he convulsed as the blood stained the white number four on his uniform red. Then, after a long second, he was free.

I leaned forward and shut his empty green eyes with my fingers before I rose steadily to my feet without any particular urgency, despite the unrelinquished chaos that surrounded me on all sides. Tributes battled, they screamed and they fell to their deaths as their scarlet blood stained the grass. It was utterly the most beautiful thing I've ever seen... it was a mass exodus of souls. Where the simpletons saw the end, I knew it was just the beginning.

My eyes flickered over to Marbella. She sat balanced upon the chest of the boy called Karios whose hair was the color of a soft pink rose. She was stabbing his stomach repetitively, a cruel smirk on her face as the boy cried out with each new blossom of blood. Each cry of human weakness only seemed to propel the girl's twisted desire to make him suffer. I felt sick staring at the poor animal's demise.

I lept over a dead corpse and ducked under a battle between Belladonna and Cas. I sent my foot barreling into Marbella's head. Her mop of hazel curls snapped backward as she tumbled from the boy. I didn't hesitate as I stabbed him one final time through the heart. I let out a soft breath as I watched him go limp, his eyes closing softly as he accepted death's hand.

My eyes looked toward Marbella who stared at me with malevolence, I hardly doubted that my face was any kinder. Torture of any shade was unacceptable. I debated slaughtering her on the spot but I found myself too infuriated to touch her. I would kill her, of this I had no doubt but I'd let her slave on a few more days. I snorted, I'd let her think she had a chance at winning, because that was what she desired most. Only then I would kill her.

It was fairly obvious Marbella did not share my feelings; she looked as if she wanted to kill me now as she struggled to her feet, grasping her spear tightly in her clammy hands. I really wouldn't of had a problem with her killing my, save for the fact that I had a mission to complete and it would take a lot more than an ornery female to stop me. My eye caught the sharp movement of a wire-like girl and I turned away from Marbella and I disappeared amongst the battling tributes from her sight.

The girl I saw turned out to be arrogant creature from three. As I charged her my brain registered that she'd been clever enough to sneak around the back of the cornucopia and avoid the thick of the fighting. Clever.

I sent both my swords barreling toward her simultaneously coming from either directions. She looked up at the last second, ducking under the blades and hopping to her feet. She began sprinting away, her legs launched her forward with every fiber of her poor mortal being. I rolled my eyes before I sprinted after the creature, easily overtaking her. I threw my body weight into her small frame and we hit the ground. "Do us both a favor and don't struggle; it's futile for you and quite frankly I find it painfully irritating." I growled as I attempted to pin her squirming body to the ground so I could get a clear shot to her heart; I didn't want to make her process of transferring from life to death any harder than it had to be.

She stopped struggling and smiled, quite obviously planning to attempt to talk me into letting her live longer. Did she think I would be fooled so easily? Did she think that I would even giver her the opportunity to fool me? She was quite delusional. "Well how-" I stabbed her mid sentence. I had never been one for petty conversation. My fingers reached forward, tapping her eyes shut before I dragged myself to my feet and turned my gaze back to the cornucopia.

Everyone was gone save the corpses, I noted, walking toward the large construction that loomed before me casting it's large shadow over the land. The official career pack must have decided to be nomadic this year- which I found moronic considering that if you had all of the food eventually the other tributes would be forced to come to you.

I sigh sitting down in the tall grass amongst the bodies of the dead. I had never felt more alive as I crossed my legs amongst the dead. I watched a lone tribute scamper up to the steps of the massive castle that overlooked the arena. A smile stretched across my face as I watched the shadowy figure. Eventually the food would run out and they would be forced to come back here, and when they did I would be waiting.