Ripley looked out across the water, as the sun rose above it. Slowly, a rough shape became visible. Was that . . . an island? It was! An island, where the other Tributes most likely couldn't reach them . . .

"Thoren! You see that island over there?" Ripley called, motioning towards his new discovery. The boy came over, eyes squinted as he looked towards the sunrise.

"Yeah, what about it?" Thoren asked. He leaned on his hammer, brown hair ruffled from the coastal breeze. The desert was beginning to affect them physically. Even Thoren, who had previously been pale, was tanned.

"Do you think you could build us a boat large enough to reach it?" Ripley replied, looking up at the larger boy. Thoren's expression became thoughtful, as he muttered something about wood and distance.

Finally, Thoren turned back to Ripley and nodded. "I can do it. It will be a rough boat, since all we have is driftwood. It will take me most of the day, and it will be more like a raft. But I can do it". Ripley jumped up into the air in a victorious position, then started walking backwards towards the others.

"Alright, can you get started? The rest of us will start packing up. What do you need?" he asked. Thoren motioned towards Flink, who was sitting on the ground messing with the sand.

"I'll take his knife, the two ropes, and the folding saw. You and Flink can do the packing, I need Maximus and Avila to collect driftwood logs for me," he told Ripley. The boy from four nodded, and went to tell the others the plan.

8 hours later, the group was gathered around the grey raft that Thoren had built. Flink and Ripley secured the gear in lidless boxes that had been built into the corners of the raft, as Maximus and Thoren hefted the mast up and secured it. Avila came over with a sail, that she had sewn together from one of the tents. Ripley instructed Maximus and Avila on how to attach it, as Thoren finished attaching the tiller.

"Okay, here's what we need to do. We'll most likely be sailing through the night, so we'll need to navigate. I can do that by looking at he stars, so I'll man the tiller. Maximus and Avila can handle the sails, since I already showed them how. Flink, if anyone needs anything, you grab it. You're also going to be our spotter. Thoren, if anything breaks or falls out, it's your job to take care of it," Ripley instructed. The rest of the group nodded, well aware that he was the only one with sailing experience.

"Everyone on. I'll push us out," Thoren ordered. They waded into the water and got on. With a loud grunt, Thoren pushed the raft into deeper water, then leapt on. Maximus and Avila opened the sails, and the boat took off.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"We need to get out of this cold and snow, I mean it," Cloran huffed, shivering as he came back with some more edible plants. Kathis nodded dramatically, huddled next to the fire.

"Okay, then let's start packing up. I'll look at the map," Viss announced. The group started taking down the tents and putting out the fire, getting ready to go.

The group marched out of the snow and pine trees, Viss in the lead with the map. They headed around the towering obsidian walls of the Cornucopia, and towards the side of the mountains bordered by the forest.

"Where are you taking us?" Kathis asked. She gripped her pole tightly, scanning the trees for any sign of life. Viss pointed to a dark, shadowy cave in the base of the mountain, which appeared to lead downward.

"That cave right there. We can shelter in it for the night," Viss replied. Kathis looked unsure, and clenched her pole tighter. She fell back beside Cloran, who had one hand on the hilt of his knife.

"I think Viss might try to kill us in there," Kathis whispered to him. Cloran pulled his knife out of the sheath, looking back and forth between the two girls suspiciously. He drew back from both of them, but continued to follow. When Viss entered the cave, Kathis and Cloran halted outside. After a minute, she came back out, seeing Cloran and Kathis in defensive positions. She quickly slid her brass knuckles on, and raised her fists.

"I know you guys don't like me that much, but are you really trying to kill me this early?" Viss asked, glaring at the two. Kathis shook her head in denial, holding her pole out to block any attacks.

"No, but this is the Hunger Games," she replied, watching the brass knuckles fearfully. "Cloran had his weapon out first, so I did the same".

"Then why did Cloran have his weapon out?" Viss asked, and turned to glare at him. But he was gone, having run away while they were arguing. "Dammit! He's gone!" she shouted.

"We should hunt him down. Can you track him?" Kathis asked, motioning to where he had been standing. Viss knelt down, then checked the ground.

"I can, yes. Follow me," she replied. The two girls walked through the forest, Viss tracking the signs of Cloran's movement. Eventually, they came to a clearing, and saw Cloran walking through the forest. He turned back and saw them, then broke out into a sprint.

"I'll get him!" Viss shouted, then started sprinting after him. Kathis was slower than the two, but ran after them, figuring that she would join when they eventually stopped. Viss followed Cloran as he ran, ducked, and jumped, weaving through the trees. Eventually, he realized that he couldn't outrun her, and spun around. He stopped, holding his knife up.

"Where you going, pipsqueak?" Viss asked, flexing her fingers as she slid on her brass knuckles. She walked slowly towards him, backing him against a tree.

"Viss, what are you doing?" Kathis exclaimed, breaking into the area. Viss glanced at the other girl, but didn't take her focus off of Cloran.

"Hunting him down, like you said. We can take him together. He can't betray us and get away with it," she answered. Cloran's back hit the tree trunk, and realized that he was in a bad position.

"I don't want any bloodshed!" Kathis cried. But the minute she said that, a force field went up around the three tributes, and the ground started to rise. When it stopped, they were high enough to be seen by all of the other tributes.

"What's happening?" Cloran asked, looking down anxiously. Words flashed across the surface of the force field, offering whichever tribute killed their other two teammates first four sponsorships. Viss whirled around and swung at Kathis, who barely managed to block the blow.

"What are you doing Viss?!" she exclaimed, hitting the girl away with her pole. Viss swung again, this time hitting her on the shoulder. Kathis let out a cry of pain, and hit Viss back again.

"Four sponsorships? Do you know how many that is? I could win the game!" she exclaimed, swinging again. Kathis dodged, and whacked Viss on the head. The two girls fought back and forth, with Kathis gaining the obvious advantage. After Viss severely injured her, she struck, raining blows on the other girl's head. On the last one, Viss didn't get back up.

"Don't you dare attack me," Kathis warned, pointing her pole at Cloran. Cloran held his knife steady, and met her gaze. She was injured, and he was better at fighting. He knew he would win.

"Those are fighting words, Kathis," he replied, then leapt on her. She managed to get one blow on his side, but then he stabbed her repeatedly in the chest. She never had a chance. As the ground lowered, Cloran looted both of their bodies, and when the force field raised, he headed southeast.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Glint and Benir were relaxing in the Cornucopia, when one of Benir's signals went off. They immediately got up and peered through the cracks of the building, to see Cloran passing through.

"Hey, those are Viss' brass knuckles, right? Wasn't she his teammate?" Benir asked, pointing to the bloody weapons hooked on Cloran's belt.

"Yeah, they are. So I guess he won their little duel, then. Want to shoot him?" Glint replied. Benir nodded, and loaded an arrow in his bow. Then the two boys stepped out, and Benir let the arrow fly, piercing Cloran's shoulder.

Cloran let out a gasp of pain, then pulled the arrow out. He turned to the two boys, and slipped on the brass knuckles. "So, are you guys going to kill me? Or maybe let me join you?"

"Why would we do that? You're clearly covered in blood that's not yours," Glint scoffed. "And you have the weapons of your teammate. I would say that tells us all we need to know".

A look of realization dawned on Cloran's face, and he motioned to where he had come from. "Oh, this is all just a misunderstanding. See, Viss was murdered by Kathis, and I couldn't let Kathis get away with that. So I killed her, and looted both their bodies so their deaths wouldn't go to waste". Benir looked unconvinced, but let Glint do the talking.

"Why should we believe you?" Glint asked, not convinced either. They had both seen the death match, and it had not gone down exactly as Cloran had said.

"I haven't attacked you yet, right? Plus, you hold my life in your hands," he replied. Benir and Glint looked at each other knowingly, then Glint turned back to Cloran.

"Good point. Why shouldn't we just kill you here and now?" Glint asked, in an oddly friendly and happy tone. Cloran began to look nervous, and he gulped.

"Well, you already have one partner, why not another one?" he answered lamely. Glint scoffed, and looked back at Cloran with a sneer.

"We've been partners since before training, and we're doing perfectly fine without you. We don't trust you," he spat. Then he signaled to Benir, who had drawn an arrow and shot, all in one smooth motion. It hit Cloran's leg so he couldn't run away, as Glint unsheathed his sword.

Glint rushed Cloran, blocking his first blow with his shield. Then he slashed at Cloran, cutting into his torso. Glint easily killed the other boy, and wasn't even scratched.

"I'll take his stuff inside the Cornucopia," Benir told his partner. He removed Cloran's backpack and weapons, then dragged them back into the large building.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Lightning and thunder crackled over the southwestern plains, obviously made by the Gamemakers. Leif looked up at the sky, and immediately set his food down.

"Guys, storm! Quick, get in the holes and cover yourselves with tarps!" he shouted. The group grabbed their stuff and protected it as best as they could, trying to stuff it all in the two extra holes.

"We only have two tarps, we need three in one hole and two in the other!" Electri ordered. Maddox grabbed one of the tarps, and stood by the first hole.

"Electri, Alexa, you two get in first! I'll join you!" he told them. The two girls slid down the small slope into the hole, then helped Maddox down as well. They covered themselves with the tarp, and huddled as low as possible.

"I guess it's you and me then!" Zena shouted to Leif, over the sound of the howling wind. They got in the second hole and covered themselves, holding the tarp as tight as possible to avoid getting wet. The group stayed that way throughout the entire storm, and stayed perfectly safe.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Ruby awoke to the sound of thunder and lightning, still huddled under her bush. She was at an absolute loss of what to do. She had never been in a thunderstorm, or learned what to do in one.

She let out a sigh, then dragged her stuff to the base of a tree. She figured that it was the same protocol as a regular rainstorm, and huddled in her sleeping bag to stay dry.

With her head buried in her sleeping bag and her view obscured by the branches, Ruby didn't even see the lightning bolt that shot from the sky and struck her.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Samson let out a frustrated noise, as he noticed the storm gathering above their heads. He turned to Dirch and Olive, who were currently eating. "Hey, do either of you guys have a plan for this?" he asked.

Dirch thought for a minute, then grabbed the knife that Samson had found in his pack. "We could tie this to a tree to form a lightning rod," he suggested. Samson turned to Olive, who was their best climber.

"Okay, Olive, I want you to climb to the top of that tree right there and tie the knife to the tallest branch you can," he said. She nodded and took the knife, then scrambled up the trunk.

Samson and Dirch waited patiently, as she made her way to the top. Once she had tied the knife to the tallest point, they grinned and gave her a thumbs up. But then a lightning bolt came down and struck the knife, as she was holding onto it. She felt out of the tree, dead.

"No, Olive! It was supposed to work! She wasn't supposed to die!" Dirch shouted, angry tears welling in his eyes. Samson put a hand on the smaller boy's shoulder, and turned him away.

"It does work. This is her last gift to us. Be grateful for it," he told Dirch. The two boys sat down on the ground away from the tree, now safe.

Sorry it took so long to get this chapter out, everyone. Some of the storylines took a long time to finish. But now that it's out, please pm me your plans for the next day.