I wake up to the sound of birds chirping and bugs making their usual bug noises. I wonder where the hell I am. The area around me is all golden and green. Lots of trees, too. There are lots of trees. Oh I remember now. Hunger Games, right. Death and destruction, one survivor, blah. I hear someone snoring next to me. Right, forgot about this doofus. I kick him in the side and he groans.

My name is Terezi Pyrope and my best friend is an idiot.

Terezi: Wake up. It's morning right?

He sits up.

Karkat: You tell me.

Terezi: I'm going with morning.

Karkat: And the award goes to the blind chick! Congratulations!

He lays back down. I stand up and kick him in the side again.

Terezi: Get up.

Karkat: Five more minutes.

Terezi: Up up up.

I kick him three more times.

Karkat: God, fine!

He stands up and rubs his eyes. I grab the stick I was using to walk with. We didn't get any supplies from the cornucopia since we left so early, but after the explosion I'm perfectly fine with it. I wipe off my sunglasses even though I don't really need to. I need to keep up an appearance for the sponsors, obviously, and after Tavros' death I'm the number one sob story. My sunglasses were the one item I brought into the ring, instead of my favorite symbol like everyone else did. Instead, Karkat brought in my symbol. That dope.

Terezi: So what's the plan of action?

I put my glasses back on.

Karkat: Do I look like I'm awake enough to think clearly?

Terezi: ...

Karkat: Right, sorry. We should probably get moving, find some fresh water and some food to eat and what-not.

Terezi: Couldn't we just melt snow?

Karkat: We could try, but I'm not sure if that would work. Obviously the game makers would have thought of that.

We start moving further down the mountain. I use the stick like a cane, but I don't need it. One thing the audience doesn't know is that instead of seeing things, I smell them. All the trees here are like a chocolate buffet for my nose, with the pine needles adding a nice dash of mint into the mix. Karkat knows that, but he also knows we need to keep the story up for the sponsors. I pretend to almost run into a tree and he moves me out of the way.

Terezi: Thanks.

Karkat: No problem.

His stomach growls and I laugh.

Terezi: Jegus, we better feed that monster before it kills us all!

Karkat: Breakfast does sound nice. What do you think we should do?

Terezi: Well there's got to be some animals in this place to catch. Maybe we could set up a couple snares.

Karkat: I think I remember how to make a rabbit one... do you think there are rabbits here?

Terezi: Sure, why not?

I catch whiff of something silver falling from the sky. We must have gotten a package from some sponsors. Unfortunately, Karkat doesn't see it. I can't just flat-out tell him it's there, that would ruin the illusion. I elbow him in the side.

Karkat: Ow! What was that for?

Terezi: Oh, nothing...

I made that sound as "Look up you idiot!" as I could, but he didn't take the hint. Luckily the little package was taking a nosedive toward his head.

Karkat: Okay, we should probably gather some sticks and leaves... and maybe we could head back to what's left cornucopiOW!

The package bounces off his head and lands in my arms. I grin to myself as he rubs his head.

Terezi: Whoa, what is this? Did someone throw it at you?

Karkat: No, it came from the sky!

He grabs it from me.

Karkat: Oh hey, it's a gift from our sponsors!

I can smell food inside it. My stomach growls. He opens the lid to find two large cooked chickens with a couple rolls on the side. My mouth is watering.

Terezi: Is that chicken?

Karkat: Oh fuck yes...

We immediately sit down and start to dig in. It's absolutely delicious. We agree to save half of everything for later, but it's just so good we decide to split one more roll.

Terezi: I guess they must like us.

Karkat: (There was a message that came with it. Our mentors really want you to keep playing it up, okay?)

Terezi: (I think I can manage that.) So what do we do now?

Karkat: I guess... we try to stay alive.

Terezi: But for how long?

Karkat: I'm hoping they'll all kill each other off.

Terezi: They're going to look for us.

Karkat: I know.

We sit there for a little longer, awkwardly. Finally I stand up and keep heading down the mountain, Karkat still on my tail. The ground gets soft and mushy as we keep going, and the glorious apple scent of the grass starts to fade into a more coffee-like smell of mud. At the bottom is a huge mixture of smells, most of them terrible. I can't get a good idea of what this place looks like.

Terezi: What's it look like?

Karkat: It's a giant swamp. Fuck it smells bad.

Terezi: Tell me about it.

Karkat: God, must be worse for you, with your heightened smell and what-not.

Terezi: I might need nose-plugs... any fresh water?

Karkat: Nope. It's all muddy and fishy. There are frogs everywhere, you hear that?

It's impossible to not hear them. I could hear them from a mile away. We start to make our way through the muck. Luckily the outfits all the tributes are wearing include boots, or our feet would be soaked. At one point, my stick gets stuck in the mud and we can't get it out, so Karkat puts his arm around me and guides me through.

Terezi: Is there any dry land around?

Karkat: It's all like this. I don't think it changes at all.

Terezi: Maybe we should go back up the mountain a little.

Karkat: Maybe... I-

A branch breaks a decent distance behind us and I whip around.

Karkat: Whoa, you okay?

Terezi: Shh shh shh!

I cover his mouth. A couple moments later another branch breaks.

Terezi: Someone's nearby. They may be following us.

Karkat: Your hearing is really impressive.

Terezi: Yes, yes, I have awesome senses because I'm blind, we need to hide now!

We search frantically for a good hiding place, but none of the trees provide adequate cover. Now I can hear the footsteps, sloshing through the mud and water, getting closer.

Karkat: Come on! Maybe we can run-

Terezi: No time!

I grab him and drag us down under the water, and start covering us in mud. The smell of coffee is overwhelming, but I plug my nose and shove a ball of mud in Karkat's face. We stop moving once I'm sure we're completely covered, just in time for our visitor to arrive. Karkat isn't stupid enough to open his eyes, but I can just barely catch a whiff over the coffee. Obviously they're wearing the same outfit as us, but I think I can detect a pin... olive? It might be olive. They're standing still for whatever reason. Suddenly I come to a realization. My glasses fell off when I was covering us with mud. That means...

Yep. They found them. I catch a whiff of my amazing cherry sunglasses in their hands. They must know we're around here somewhere. They take off what seems to be a backpack and throw it on the ground right next to Karkat.

?: Hello? Terezi? I found your glasses. You can come out, I don't have any weapons on me. They're all in my bag. I'm backing away from it though, see?

She is. She's backing away from the bag with her arms up. She really doesn't seem to mean any harm...

Terezi: Um, hello...

I start to get up and wipe the mud off my face. Karkat grabs my ankle but I kick his arm away causing him to yell and wave his hand around. I grab the bag she threw and put it over my shoulder, just to be safe.

Terezi: I hope this isn't offensive, but I'm not sure who you are.

?: Well of course, silly, you're blind! I'm the girl from District 10.

Terezi: Oh, Nepeta!

Nepeta: Yep!

Terezi: I'm sorry about your District partner...

Nepeta: It is sad, but... even with his new legs, he wouldn't have gotten very far. He just wasn't a fighter.

Karkat: Well, this is just fantastic. Hello, crazy cat lady.

He's standing now, trying to pull all the mod out of his hair.

Nepeta: The way you guys hid was really impressive.

Terezi: Thanks, it was sort of last minute.

Karkat: Are we just going to stand around here chatting it up all day, or are we going to kill her already?

Nepeta: I'd rather not die, thank you...

Terezi: We are not going to kill her.

Karkat: Terezi, we need to! Now's the perfect opportunity anyway! We have all her weapons!

Terezi: Can we please avoid killing until it's absolutely necessary?

Karkat: Why would she come after us if she didn't plan on killing us? She probably has a weapon contained in her jacket right now.

Nepeta: Well... I do have a weapon... but it's over here. I brought Terezi something.

She walks over to a tree and pulls something out from behind it. It's a nice sugary white rod, from what I can make out.

Nepeta: I got it before the supplies exploded. It's the same cane you had at the opening ceremony. I figured you might want it.

She walks over and hands it to me, along with my glasses. I smile.

Terezi: Thank you so much! Did you follow us this whole time just to give me this?

Nepeta: Not necessarily... it took a while for me to get on your trail.

Karkat: Ahem. Fucking excuse me!

Nepeta: Yeah?

Karkat: Why are you doing this?

Nepeta: Well, I made a promise to help Tavros out as much as I possibly could. Unfortunately he is dead. So I kind of... shifted my promise to help you guys!

Karkat: Oh, because Terezi's blind, right?

Nepeta: Yes. It's not really fair. People with disabilities shouldn't have to be in these games.

Terezi: Nepeta, just because I'm blind doesn't mean I deserve special treatment. In fact...

I walk up to her and whisper in her ear. I tell her how I can smell things to see where they are, and she starts to giggle.

Nepeta: That's really cool.

Terezi: Thanks.

Karkat: What did you just tell her?

Terezi: Nothing.

Nepeta: Hee hee, nothing I guess.

Terezi: If you're okay with it, Karkat, it would be nice to have her on our team...

Karkat: This is not a team. This is a duo. You know what that means? Two fucking people.

Terezi: That would be a yes. You want in?

Nepeta: Oh, I would love to, thank you!

She hugs me and I laugh. Karkat just facepalms and grumbles to himself.

Nepeta: I have some food in my bag, you're welcome to have some.

Terezi: Oh, we got some from sponsors too, here.

I take a roll out of the sponsor box and hand it to her, and she eats it happily.

Karkat: Great. She's got a shitload of weapons, she gets us covered in mud, she eats our food...

Terezi: Now you're just looking for a reason to complain.

Karkat: Hey, that is NOT-

A cannon shot interrupts him mid-sentence, scaring him enough to cause him to fall over. Nepeta and I both jump, and she looks in the direction it came from.

Nepeta: Who do you think that was?

Terezi: If we're lucky, it was a career.

Karkat: Do we ever get lucky?

Terezi: ... no.

Karkat: My point exactly.

Nepeta: I guess we'll find out tonight...

Terezi: Speaking of tonight, we better find a better place to stay instead of a swamp. Weren't we going back up the mountain?

Karkat: Oh yeah, right. Let's go.

Once again I use my cane to get through the swamp, even though I don't need it. Although our boots get stuck every once in a while, we manage to get out of the swamp without any major problems. As we head back up the mountain, we finally find a nice freshwater river to take a break by. Karkat and I both immerse ourselves in it completely to clean up while Nepeta fills up a canteen she had in her bag.

Karkat: If someone downstream sees all this mud, they'll know we were here.

Terezi: Good point. We should probably get moving soon.

Karkat: One second.

He takes off his shirt and rubs the remaining mud stains out. I do the same with my jacket, but this water is absolutely freezing. I climb out and lay down in the sun while Karkat finishes up.

Nepeta: Oh! I just remembered! I had this great camping spot!

Terezi: Oh, where?

Nepeta: I think it's nearby. Upstream, maybe?

Terezi: Should we go look?

Nepeta: How about I go by myself, in case there are other people there? I can be a lot sneakier on my own.

Terezi: Good idea.

Karkat: Yes, this plan screams of brilliance.

Nepeta: Give me one hour. Two hours, tops. Take care of the stuff!

She slips a knife into her jacket and starts running upstream along the river. Karkat climbs out of the water and joins me in the sun. It's not terribly warm, but our clothes should be considerably dryer when she gets back. We try to make small talk, but it dies quickly. Eventually I just take a nap.

I snap awake with the sound of another cannon shot. Looking around, it's already much later in the day. Karkat looks as surprised as I am and is scouring the area. All our stuff is packed up, he looks ready to go.

Terezi: Is Nepeta back yet?

Karkat: No. It's been longer than two hours, I was about to wake you up.

Terezi: Do... do you think that was her?

Karkat: I wouldn't rule it out. We should move, now.

Terezi: Right, I-

Equius: There! Up there!

Karkat: Fuck!

We turn downstream. The careers are climbing the mountain, murder in their eyes. They must've seen the mud in the water. Karkat and I scramble to our feet and start running, making it to a clearing when a trident sails out of the air and gets him in the side.

Terezi: Karkat!

Karkat: I'm fine, keep going!

We try to keep running but he stumbles. I prop him up on my shoulder and try to keep going, but it's no use. He can't keep going. Blood is spilling onto the grass, and although it's a delight to smell it just fills me with horror. He can't die, it wasn't supposed to be like this. I wanted him to win.

The careers follow us into the clearing. The District 4 girl, Feferi, picks up her trident and gets congratulated by her District partner for such a good throw. Four of them. There are only four of them. Maybe they have been dying. I stand up and guard Karkat, ready to skewer them all with my cane. I know I can't take them, but maybe... I don't know.

Caliborn: Hey there, little blind girl. Want to play a game?

His voice sends shivers through my spine. The other careers laugh. Caliborn nods to Eridan, and he pulls out a harpoon. He gets ready to throw, and I brace for impact.

Then I hear a chainsaw.

Someone comes bursting out from the trees behind me and starts rushing at the careers. As she runs past me a get a good sniff... short black hair, green lipstick, jade green symbol... it's the girl from 2, Kanaya. She is not happy. She reaches the careers before they have time to react. A second later there's a scream and blood everywhere. She cut Eridan in half. The cannon shot rings in my ears. I take the opportunity to get more distance between them and Karkat as Kanaya distracts them. I lean over him and feel the wound in his side.

Karkat: Terezi, ow! Stop...

Terezi: Oh god, Karkat. Don't worry! We'll get you help, I promise!

Karkat: Don't worry about me, I'm as good as dead. You need to go. Find Nepeta, if she isn't dead.

Terezi: This injury really isn't that bad, you can make it! Don't give up on me!

Karkat: Terezi, get out of here!

Terezi: No, god dammit! I am not going to-

Then, out of nowhere, there's a sharp pain in my stomach.