Author's Note: I realized a long time ago that this needed to be edited… a lot. I posted this a really long time ago. So I did. That's it. I hope you enjoy.

-Knifethrower

The tribute plate rises and the bright sun blinds me. The career tributes have their feet turned towards the cornucopia. The other twelve year old girl, Rue is getting ready to go towards the woods. Ten seconds. If only Katniss were here now. But that's not really what I want, I'm glad she's safe in district twelve. The reaping was so scary.

Flash back of the reaping

"Primrose Everdeen!" I knew it was my name but I couldn't move. I slowly made my way towards the stage when Katniss called out. "Prim!" She started to run to me but peacekeepers blocked her. "Prim! No Prim you can't go." She screamed. That was when Gale picked her up and carried her to our mother while she screamed. Effie Trinket, the odd escort from the Capital, pulled the baker's son Peeta Mellark's name from the bowl and we hurried inside the justice building.

End of flash back

One. "Ladies and gentlemen let the 74th annual Hunger Games begin!" Claudius booms. The gong sounds and the tributes are off. Come on Prim, I tell myself. MOVE! I jump off the tribute plate grabbing a loaf of bread and some plastic.

I am running for the woods when the boy from nine falls next to me with a knife in his back. I resist the urge to help him and instead take the backpack he drops and run. The career from district two, Clove throws a knife at me but I duck behind a tree before it hits me. She turns around, unable to resist all the supplies waiting at the Cornucopia.

I run deeper into the woods because I know this is what Katniss would want me to do. It's as if she's sending me a mental message. I know I need to find water, that's the second most important thing. The first is staying alive; if you have a twisted sense of humor.

Flash back to train

I sat down at the table next to Peeta, when Haymitch stumbled in and spilled his drink. "Darn it!" He muttered, sitting in a chair across from me. "So," Peeta said. "What's the first thing we should do in the arena?" Haymitch took a while to consider this before he said, "STAY ALIVE. Then find some water." He chuckled to himself before he threw up all over the floor.

End of flash back

I walk on the forest floor, flinching as the shadows dance around me. Katniss wouldn't be scared, I tell myself. She'd be telling me to be brave and remember good things, because it makes me stronger. I focus on remembering the seven I got for a training score.

For my training session I tried shooting some arrows, but I'm nowhere near as good as Katniss. At least I hit the target every time. I also made a snare, but it was sloppy unlike, the perfect ones Gale makes. Then I climbed a little bit and that was successful because I'm surprisingly nimble. Last, I mixed together some berries to make a medicine that cures headaches.

Everyone was very pleased with my seven, especially Haymitch and Cinna. As I walk along, I stop at a fallen tree to inspect the contents of my pack. It has a sleeping back that keeps heat in, some crackers and dried beef, iodine, an empty water bottle, a useless pair of sunglasses, because when I try them on they make it harder to see, matches, and some wire. I put the loaf of bread, the plastic, and the knife I picked up from Clove into my pack. On the bright side I have the knife and Clove doesn't. Not that I'll be any good with it, but at least I'm not unarmed.

I decide the safest place to be is in the trees, so I look around until I find a big clump of willows. Just as I'm about to climb it a cannon sounds. The bloodbath must be over and the killers dispersed. No longer preoccupied, the careers who survived will be on the move. I quickly start to climb the tree while counting the cannon shots. Twelve. Half of us dead and gone on the first day. I find a fork in the tree, and as I fix my sleeping bag I wonder about Peeta. I really hope he's okay. He probably is. Peeta is big and strong, he must be okay.

Night comes quicker than I expect it to, and it becomes freezing outside. I climb into the sleeping bag and nibble on a cracker. Suddenly the capital seal lights up the air and the anthem blasts across the arena. The face of the girl from 3, boy from 4, boy from 5, both from 6, both from 7, the boy from 8, both from 9, and the girl from 10, and Peeta appear in the sky.

My stomach hurts and I want to cry for all those dead tributes, especially Peeta. I liked him so much and he was always nice to me. I loved to look in the bakery window and see all those wonderful pastries. His poor family must be so sad.

Afraid I'm going to fall out of the tree, I use the wire to hold myself in. Tears threaten to form in my eyes when I remember what happened to Peeta. It's not that I knew him very well, but he was from home. And of course there was the time he threw Katniss the bread that saved our lives. Other than that, I had no real connection to him. Right now all that matters is that I'm not struggling and that I'm alive. If I weren't in the Hunger Games, I would be content. I survived the first day and that's all I can ask for right now.

The warm sleeping back is just about to let me drift into sleep when the sound of a snapping branch alerts me. Another snap. Then another. For a while it's quiet, but then an orange blaze starts not fifty feet away from my tree. A pair of hands warm themselves over the fire. I feel bad for whoever has to endure the cold, but at the same time I can't help but resent the fire starter. They're not only broadcasting their location to the whole arena, but mine too!

Dawn comes, and I think we may have made it through the night when a high pitched scream comes from the fire starter. "Please don't kill me!" She begs, but soon enough her cannon sounds. Thirteen dead, eleven left to play I think. The career pack stands about twenty feet from my tree, while I silently hope they don't find me.

"Finally Clove, you did something useful unlike yesterday when that stupid twelve year old got away." Clove scowls. "I'll get her, don't you worry. When we find her, she's my kill. Just to prove to you that I'm not weak, I'll kill both those stupid little twelve year olds." I take a deep breath, because these games just got a lot more dangerous for Rue and I. The career pack leaves after the girl from one, Glimmer, starts complaining about her hair. Suddenly, our interviews come to mind.

Interview flash back

"I'm very hard to catch so don't count me out." Rue said. "I wouldn't count you out in a million years." Caesar said. Before I knew it Caesar was calling my name, and I stumbled to the seat.

"So, Primrose is there anything we should know about you." He asked. I smiled, just like Cinna had told me to. "Well, I have an older sister Katniss that means the world to me." Caesar nodded and patted my hand. "I understand." He told me. "I also have a healing hand, so don't forget me!" I said. "Never." Caesar replied.

End of flash back

Good luck with that Clove. I neatly roll up my sleeping bag and put my things back into the backpack. I rip off a small piece of bread for breakfast and begin to search for water. A few feet away from my tree a wounded rabbit is caught in a thorn bush. I instantly want to help the poor thing, but instead I kill it with a stone.

It pains me, but I then attempt to skin and cook it on the dying coals of that girl's fire. I wrap it in the plastic and now that I have enough food, I set out in search of water. I search all day for water but it's no use. I think about going back to the lake near the Cornucopia, but that would take about a day and by then I'll surely die of dehydration. Defeated, I eat another cracker before climbing into a tree to sleep.

The Capital anthem wakes me up, and a picture of the girl from district eight lights up the sky. I have no energy and I couldn't produce tears if I wanted to. So I settle down for another restless sleep. When I wake up first thing I think is, 'water'. I climb down from the tree and use all the energy I can to search for any sign of it. None. There isn't a drop in sight.

I slump next to a rock and look up at the sky. "Water." I croak. Still, no water comes. Maybe Haymitch thinks I'm worthless and can't be saved. Then I remember how, on my eighth birthday, Katniss told me I had to find my surprise gift. I looked everywhere and after what felt like a lifetime, finally gave up. Katniss didn't say anything, and I thought it was because she was disappointed, but it was really because my surprise was right next to me, and I hadn't noticed. She didn't help me because I was already so close. The surprise had been a cookie from the bakery.

I get up and keep looking but after an hour or so, I realize that I must be wrong. Haymitch just doesn't care. I drop into the disgusting mud and think about how much I hate it. After a storm my shoes get all dirty because of the stupid mud. Mud…mud…MUD! I open my eyes to find a small pond, surrounded by the thick gooey substance.

Scrambling up, I pour the water into my bottle. Then I put the right number of iodine drops in, and wait for a half hour. I take small sips of water and when I'm done, I fill it up again. I do this four times before filling it up once more, climbing a tree, and eating some delicious rabbit. Finally content, I fall into the first pleasant sleep I've had in weeks.

When I awake I'm gasping for air as a wall of fire descends upon me. I scramble to pack my things before jumping from the tree. I follow the animals until the smoke becomes too much for my lungs. Then I crouch under a rock and throw up all the water I drank.

Suddenly, a fire ball is coming straight for me. I dive out of the way before it hits me. The air is a gray haze and my eyes sting as I scrape past branches and trees. I know that this fire is gamemaker-made, to draw tributes together.

The day has been to quiet, and the audience will be getting bored. There haven't been any deaths and I doubt that a fight has occurred. I jump over a burning log, but the bottom of my leg catches. I frantically try to put it out. Then, I duck under a stone and tremble while I cough up what feels like my intestines. I shakily drink a spoonful of water and keep moving.

When I hear a hiss, I flatten myself on the ground as a fire ball blasts over my head. I scramble to my feet as the third fire ball hits where I was lying. My jacket tail catches flame, and I rip it off because a burnt jacket is better than none. I leap and dodge to avoid the fire balls that could kill me with one direct hit. As much as I want to stop, something keeps me moving forward. Twelve years of Hunger Games lets me know that certain areas are rigged for attacks, so soon enough the fire will stop. Apparently, watching a bunch of children fight to the death is not enough. They want to make it more interesting. It feels like hours, but finally the attacks seem to abate.

My hands and calf burn, but I know there must be a remedy for that somewhere in here. My clothes are drenched in sweat, and the stinging brings tears to my eyes. I really hope Katniss isn't watching me convulse. The bottoms of my braids are burnt, and strands of blackened hair fall into my hands.

I hear a hissing sound and I react, but not fast enough. The fire ball sets flames to the area right next to me, after it skids across my thigh. I attempt to rip it off with my bare hands, without thinking. My hands are covered in red welts and my lower and upper leg are screaming. I can feel that the attack is over, because the gamemakers don't want me dead. Not yet, at least. The real enjoyment of the Hunger Games is watching the tributes kill each other.

The smoke could still kill me, so I get up and limp away. Daylight starts to emerge through the smoke and trees. I hate burns, because I have to stare into the people's eyes as mother tries to save them. Katniss always leaves the house to hunt. I know it's because she thinks of our father, deep in the mines when he died. I come to a stop at a small pool of water. The first treatment for a burn is cold water, but that will in no way help the burn on my thigh. I try to remember any herbal remedies mother taught me, but that all seems like a distant dream.

I carefully dip my hands in the pool and wait a while. I wash away the blood and ashes while I think of a way to help my burns. Many miners get horrible burns in the mines. They take them to my mother, but depending on the burn, some can't be saved. Once, an unconscious young man was carried to our house by his family. They were begging us to heal him, because the district doctor had given up on him. The burn was awful; it went right down to his bone.

Katniss ran from the house to hunt, but I stayed and helped. I may be scared of everything, but healers are born, not made. I carefully roll my pant leg up to inspect the burn. The burn is red and covered in welts. The burned area is about the size of my hand, and could be a lot worse. I'm very lucky; if I had a gift from a sponsor I could heal this in no time.

I stretch my leg into the pool, with my heel on a rock. I have to find those herbs (I forgot the name) that speed up the healing process, but I'm in no condition to do so right now. My hands can handle small breaks from the pool, but my leg is still in intense pain. First, I refill my water bottle, treat it, and attempt to rehydrate my body.

After a while I eat a small bit of bread to settle my stomach. I'm extremely tired, even though the pain is overwhelming. I'd climb a tree, but then I would be too easy to spot. I still need to keep my burns in water anyway. I put my pack on my shoulders, but I still don't want to leave.

I see some water plants and roots, but are they edible? I can vaguely remember them. Yes, they are edible. A couple weeks before the reaping, Katniss brought some home for us to eat. I make a small meal with a little bit of rabbit and the roots and plants. Every now and then I take a small sip of water. The sun makes a slow arc across the sky and I lean into my backpack. If Clove wants to kill me let her come, I think falling asleep, let her come.

And find me she does. I scramble up, ready to move with only a minute's head start. Evening is beginning to fall, and as soon as I'm awake I'm splashing threw the pond and flying into the underbrush. My calf slows me down but I'm faster than the careers. I can tell it's them because they're the only alliance that big. They're closing in like a pack of dogs that Katniss tells me roam the woods.

I find a high tree and begin to climb; not knowing if this is the right choice. The pain is agonizing but I manage to work through it. I'm fast though, and I'm twenty five feet up by the time they spot me and gather around the base of the trunk. For a moment we stop to survey each other, and I decide that if the gamemakers want a show, I'll give them one. They're much too big to climb this tree, whether they know it or not.

If not for the difference in size and weight, I'd have no chance against them. At least they're beat up too. I must weigh 70 pounds less than the smallest career. Why not have a little fun during the brief remainder of my life? I smile. "How are you faring today?" I call down cheerfully. This startles them, but the crowd will eat it up.

"Well enough," says Cato, the boy from district two. "Yourself?" "I don't know it's been a bit warm for my taste". I say. "The air is much nicer up here, why not come up?" Instantly, I regret my last words. What am I doing! "Why not?" Cato says. "Here Cato take this," says a blonde from district one, offering him silver bow and sheath of arrows.

"That's alright Glimmer, I'll do better with my sword." Cato hoists himself into the tree and I begin to climb again. I'm another thirty feet in the air when I look down and see Cato falling, a branch in hand, to the ground below. He hits the ground hard and it's sick, but I'm hoping he broke his spine. Then he gets up, calling me every fowl name he can think of.

Glimmer scales the tree too, but has the good sense to stop when the branches begin to crack. I'm at least seventy feet high now. She tries to shoot me with an arrow, but has sloppy technique. I grab it from a nearby tree and wave it teasingly above their heads.

The careers huddle together on the ground, muttering amongst themselves. I can't hear much, but I can tell that they're furious I have made them look stupid and weak. Finally I hear Marvel, the boy from district one, say, "It's not like she's going anywhere. We'll deal with her in the morning." Right now Marvel's right, I'm not going anywhere.

Night is beginning to fall, and I sit on the sleeping bag, carefully putting water on my calf. I look over into the tree next to me and see eyes peering over at me. I jump, scared by the eyes. What if they're a mutation's eyes? No that can't be it, they look to human. Suddenly, I realize that the eyes belong to Rue. She silently points to something above my head.

A nest, I think. It's big and a low hum comes from it. Rue points to the sleeping careers, then to the nest. She makes a sawing motion with her hand. I nod, and she disappears into her tree. I look down at the sleeping careers. I have to wait for the anthem, or else they will hear me sawing the branch. I know they can't be regular wasps or bees, because this is the Hunger Games. They must be Tracker Jackers. Fear courses through me, and suddenly I am very frightened.

One sting makes a lump the size of an orange. If you get to many stings, you could die. If you live, you have extremely powerful hallucinations brought on by the venom. Some people go completely insane. I'm wounded and treed, so either way being near the nest is dangerous. By daytime the careers will be ready with a plan to kill me. That nest is my only option.

I take a sip of water and munch on the last of the rabbit. I'll risk my life trying, but tracker jacker stings have to be better than a slow painful death at the hand of a career. Clove will be sure to make it painful. I drag myself out of the sleeping bag and secure my knife to my belt. The branches are dangerously thin, even for me, but I keep going. When I reach the branch that holds the nest, the humming becomes more distinctive. It must be the smoke. I learned something about how smoke sedates them or something.

The anthem comes on above me and I instantly begin to saw. My hands are bursting as I pull the knife back and forth across the branch. It requires less effort once I cut deeper into the limb, but the pain is still agonizing. I glance at the sky and note that there were no deaths today. There will be, so they don't have to worry.

Everyone in the Capital will be leaning in, their eyes glued to the screen, to see what happens to the poor little girl from twelve. This realization makes me saw harder and faster, but the anthem ends so I make my way down to my sleeping bag. When I get there, a small parachute sits on my sleeping bag. I smell what can only be medicine.

I dip my finger in and the pain goes away. I wonder who on earth would give their money to sponsor the twelve year old from twelve. Probably a love-sick mother, or a family who lost their child, maybe. This must have cost a small fortune. "Thank you." I whisper to the starry sky.

A/N: I read this a while after I posted it and realized how lifeless it is. Please keep going, it should get better. I know I followed the original story, but thinks should be mixed up in the next chapter or two. Thanks!

-Knifethrower