Gale Hawthorne

She's dead. 

She's really dead. 

The truth of the statement doesn't hit me until I see her face in the sky. The girl I loved since the day I met her, gone forever.

I vow to avenge her death. She will be remembered. The Capitol will pay.

Suddenly I hear a girl's scream not far behind me. "Help!" she's crying, "Please, someone!"

I follow the voice through the dense woods, and what I find is surprising. Lucy, the girl from 9, is entangled in a net. I pull out my knife and free her.

"Thank Aslan," she gasps. "I was afraid you were one of the careers, coming to kill me."

I smile wryly. "Not a chance. Those guys are always jerks."

She sighs. "I'm sorry about Katniss."

My face falls. "The worst part is that I don't even know what happened to her. Do you know what happened to Caspian?"

"The careers."

"I can't believe anyone could possibly enjoy this."

Lucy shrugs. "I don't think they really do. They're just desperate."

"And we're not?"

"But we're different, because we don't want to kill people in cold blood to achieve our goal."

"I guess."

We stand in silence for a few minutes.

"Lucy," I say, "I think we should make an alliance."

She seems surprised. "You want me?"

"Sure I do." Technically, Katniss wanted her. That's why I'm doing this.

Lucy frowns. "Do you really thing we could win? One of us?"

"Maybe." I know I sound uncertain. "What's the career's situation?"

"They're staked out at the cornucopia. They have lots of weapons, and a huge pile of food."

"How many people do they have?"

"Five or six, I think."

"How many do they leave at the cornucopia?"

"Two or three."

A plan begins to form in my mind. I tell it to her. "Do you have any weapons?" I ask.

She shakes her head. "I only have this." She holds up a jug half full of water."

I toss her the knife. "I don't need this, I have my bow."

"You think this will work?" asks Lucy.

"It's the best chance we have," I reply. "See you tonight."

"You know the place," she says. "Good luck."

The cornucopia looks abandoned, but I know better. Suddenly I see movement in the trees on the other side of the clearing. It's the boy from five. I think his name is Puck, or something like that. He darts out into the open and heads straight for the pile of food. He faces no opposition. He carefully dislodges a sack of food from the pile and runs back into the woods.

I know the object of this mission was to destroy their food, but wouldn't it be wise to steal some of it first? I tentatively step out into the clearing. Nothing happens. I continue towards the pile of food.

Suddenly there is movement behind me. I spin around, and the muscular guy from 12 is blocking my way. More people emerge from the bushes, one by one.

The black-haired boy from 3. The boy from 10. Both from 4. The girl from 12. Then the boy from 5 steps out of the bushes, still carrying the sack of food. He laughs. "You really thought we would leave our camp unguarded?"

I roll my eyes. "If you're going to kill me, just do it."

The boy from 3 sighs. "I'm afraid you mistake our intentions. If we were going to kill you, don't you think we would've done it already?"

"If you don't want to kill me, what do you want?"

The blonde boy from 5 laughs. "We want you to be one of us, nitwit."

The boy from four looks irritated. "I thought we agreed to let Peter and I do the talking, Puck?"

Puck scowls. "Sorry, Sebastian."

Sebastian rolls his eyes dramatically. "As Puck has informed you, we're offering you an alliance. I wouldn't turn it down if I were you."

"Why shouldn't I?"

He looks at the boy from 10. "Get her."

I gulp. The boy goes into the trees and comes back dragging a tied up Lucy.

"Thanks, Tommy," Sebastian says. 

"I told you not to call me that."

"Whatever, Tommy." He turns back to me. "Join us, or she dies."

"Sebastian-" The redhead from 4 steps up to him.

"Not now, sister." He wraps his arm around her waist. She scowls and removes his hand.

"This wasn't agreed upon, Sebastian. If this is how you work, I don't know if I want to be a part of your little group."

She crosses her arms. Sebastian scoffs. "You know how these games work, Clarissa. You also know that you're not going anywhere." He beckons her closer to him. She makes a face but does as he says.

Sebastian wraps his arm around Clarissa's waist tighter this time, and I see her face contort in pain. She has a bandage wrapped around her torso. "So, what do you say?" 

I hesitate. "If I decide to join you, will you let her go?"

He smiles wickedly. "Of course we will. Once she understands that we are not to be attacked by her or any allies she gains in the future."

I swallow nervously. What would Katniss do? Katniss would do whatever it took to keep Lucy alive. So I go against my instincts. "Okay."

Sebastian grins. "Great. So, you already know my name. This is Clary," he motions to his sister, "that's Peter, Tommy-"

"Thomas!"

"Fine, Thomas then. That's Puck, Jake, and Nessie."

The girl from twelve scowls. "It's Renesmee to you."

Suddenly Clary gasps. I hadn't noticed, but she's a lot paler now then she was a few minutes ago. 

"Clarissa, what's wrong?" asks Sebastian, a panicked look on his face. 

"Tell Jace-" her voice catches suddenly. "Tell Jace I didn't want to leave him."

Her body starts to shake, then she is completely still. "Clarissa!" Sebastian looks angry. "Dammit, Clary, wake up. You have to. Come on Clary, please-" He shakes her lifeless body, but she's gone. 

"She's dead, Sebastian," Peter says harshly. "There's nothing you can do for her."

"She can't be dead."

I shake my head. "She is. Welcome to the Fandom Games, Sebastian."