Tobias Harte, Head Gamemaker

One of the biggest rewards I got from being Head Gamemaker, other than near incalculable wealth and influence, was the ability to get a Panem-wide permit which was a privilege only very few got to enjoy. I very rarely strayed out of the Capitol – I didn't have any desire to go to any of the less wealthy Districts – but I made one exception:

A large lodge I had bought, in the Eastern part of Central Panem, close to District Nine, was situated so that I was secluded in the mountains and free to think; it was only a one or two hour journey from the Capitol via hovercraft. I enjoyed how secluded it was, far away from any hotspot of population. Sometimes, if you looked out into the night, you could see the glittering lights of a small city of the outskirts of Nine.

The best thing was the snow. Being surrounded by snow made me feel so relaxed. I enjoyed watching the mountains around collect all of it. When I was calm and alone, I was usually inspired in my large, secluded house.

I sat down at an office desk, sketches of potential arenas stretched out before me as I watched the snow slowly fall outside. In the background I could hear the Capitolian news, often interrupted by poor signal:

"The daughter of the murdered teenager, Franceska Gordon, has called for the citizens of Panem to collect together to oppose the senseless violence experienced by the rebels," the newsreporter said seriously. "In response, Mayor Saffell of District Eight has launched 'Operation Piranha', which aims to purge all of the rebels responsible for the kidnapping of his grandson and the many other acts of terrorism committed by known rebels."

A different voice was heard, a woman's. It sounded clogged up and emotional:

"I do not care what you believe," she announced. I turned to see the crying mother, who had the Victor Mirane Saffell stood solemnly behind her as she talked to a press team. "The rebels don't oppose the Capitol. They oppose us all. They oppose Panem. They oppose District Eight."

The news cut away to the reporter again:

"Many responses, some government led, some led by brave citizens, have attempted to avenge those we have lost due to the brutal rebels," the news reporter said as pictures of blown up wreckages and other rebel crimes were shown. I watched a segment of District Two citizens are barricading their way into a shop, dragging out its owners and beating them to death while Peacekeepers merely looked on disinterestedly. "The President has commended the brave efforts of these citizens in an official statement, and encourages us to be prepared to report any rebel activity to the authorities, or to take matters into your own hands: destroy them, boycott them, suppress them, and remember that they are always watching."

"In brighter news," the camera switched to the extremely handsome Caecilius Norton, who was also Panem's official Hunger Games interviewer. He had a charisma that surrounded him, and had a knack at making any news sound positive: "District Thirteen have officially elected their first Mayor, who has promised to integrate District Thirteen into Panem. After multiple conferences, the provisional government of Thirteen have agreed on a twenty point plan to congeal with Panem-" This would be the first official announcement, the biggest Panem would have in a while. And I knew it was coming, because the President had confided in it with me. I held my breath and news came: "One of those points is that District Thirteen will also be participating in the two-hundredth and fifth Games, increasing the tribute number to twenty-six and symbolising the most radical reform to the Games since its inception-"

The rest of the country would be gasping, just brimming with excitement for what was to come. The more the merrier: more deaths, more tears, and more people to fall in love with and consequently lose. I gave a nod of approval, still feeling giddy at what could potentially come from this.

I was known in Panem as being the Gamemaker who thought out of the box not only when it came to arenas, but when it had come to concepts: I made tributes magicians or gods, I thought of ways to make the Games become more than reality TV, but to become a story or even a legend.

So why was I so uninspired? I had never experienced writers' block before. The list was endless: generic volcanoes, forests or icy tundra arenas, with little to distinguish them from the countless similar arenas that had popped up in the past. Sometimes, simple arenas were good: they allowed us to focus on the tributes. But even if I had a simple arena I couldn't make it bland. That wasn't my style.

I grabbed a vague blueprint of an indoor arena I had invented, crumbling it into a ball and walking over to the rubbish bin to dispose of it. I almost tripped over a Games console, my son's, and cursed.

"—The professors have made egregious claims that the new censorship laws being passed by the Capitol will heavily restrict debate, ignoring that the Capitol is a hotbed for intellectual development and discussion," the female news reporter said. Oh. The student protests and arrests that had gone on. They had blocked my wife and I from going on a nice meal. Annoyances. "Students have subsequently protested, and have embarked on multiple other stupid campaigns as a consequence, including wanting to defend the rights of treasonous Avoxes."

The camera showed a bunch of students silently marching down a busy Capitolian road, blocking the traffic. There were actually a lot of them. They said nothing, but held up wooden signs merely saying: Let us speak for those who cannot.

"We will recap with a previous interview we had with one of the protests' leaders, Wilhem O'Neill," the news reporter smiled. The screen cut to a young boy, no older than nineteen, with a microphone shoved into his face so aggressively that his glasses were almost knocked off:

"So what is your logic behind defending those who have committed treason?"

"Avoxes should serve their time," he said reasonably, looking mildly irritated. "But we will protest for the rights of Avoxes as Capitolian citizens; they aren't legally protected and given rights in the way we Capitolians are, including the right to vote and the right to a fair trial-" The reporter tried to speak but he interrupted harshly: "A leaked inquiry commissioned and suppressed by our elected ministers have even detailed that Avoxes have been frequently assaulted, abused and killed by the government and their owners with little repercussion-"

"So we take it that you oppose the government?" The report said confrontationally. "Do you understand that protesting the government will be much more difficult after these laws are pass-"

"I support the President and the Capitol," the boy stressed, looking at the camera. "We are merely defending the rights given to us by Marx Nystalgia the First and important Capitolian values-"

I tuned out, feeling a little sorry for the guy. He was lucky the Capitol had become liberal in recent years, as even minor opposition of the Capitol could get you killed in the Districts or even the Capitol some years ago. That and his interview went disastrously.

The news and the President routinely condemned the student protests, but it was interesting to see these protests grow stronger… That was until they were stopped by legal reform anyway.

"And to recap, negotiations by Romantia and Panem have been successful. Romantia's newly elected President, President Blidka, has won a landslide election in the state. Unlike his predecessor, the disgusting President Operhägen, Blidka has expressed support for Panem. Him and President Nystalgia have agreed to scrap the isolationist policies of the Pacific-Atlantic treaty and start a new negotiation."

A greying man, who looked timid despite how masculine his features were, stood at a podium and spoke directly to a cheering crowd in a foreign language. Thank god for subtitles:

"The public in Romantia have put their faith in The Liberation Party," I wondered what a party even was in politics. In Panem, parties were made for every occasion except politics. "No longer will we follow the Democratic Workers' unscrupulous policy of attacking the great nation of Panem! No longer will we fund terrorists and fringe states! No longer will we advocate for war!" He was a very passionate speaker, and got the crowd roaring in approval. "Here, I pledge for diplomacy, for advocating human rights civilly, and for trade to expand both economies!" I stood up, staring at the screen and wondering what this man was even talking about. "To truly symbolise the joining of our true nations, embassies will be opened in the Panem's Capitol and our Capital City – Sector Forty, Belgium-"

"Here to discuss the massive implications of these announcements, we have our political pundits," she turned to them: "So, Romantia was our enemy less than a year ago. Why is the Great President agreeing to co-operate, especially after we once prioritised to ignore each other?"

"Well, it's important to note that Romantians are weak and have a different leader every five years," a moustached man said pompously. "Our kind President is willing to-"

I switched the television off. I grew bored of politics, and slightly annoyed that this massive political change had kind of taken the shock out of the massive alteration of the Games. But I wasn't a politician, I was a Gamemaker, and the Panemian public much preferred stories to boring trade deals.

A sound clattered from a room across the corridor, making me jump. It was a room that served as a nursery from my one-year-old daughter, Terra, and it was thankfully quite empty. But it was definitely a noise.

Thankfully I had come here alone, but other than my family I didn't know of anyone who would come with me? I tentatively made my way into the dark nursery, the moonlight reflecting off creepy dolls and clowns.

"Tobias-"

I jumped, almost screaming as I turned around; behind me, her coat and woolly hat dusted with snow, was Ruth. She was the Deputy Head Gamemaker, always there to moderate and improve on my ideas and ensure the boring aspects of the Games like paperwork went smoothly.

"Ruth! What were you doin-"

"I knew you'd be here and I wanted a progress report on the arena," she said, walking towards my living room. She threw her coat off and launched it across a couch, holding her hat in her hands so that her stern features were shown in the firelight. "The Games edge closer and we at least need a main concept by next week…"

"I was brainstorming here."

"Lets not think. Lets do."

"Yes, yes, quite," I moved to a couch and relaxed on it as Ruth looked at me intensely. "Well, there are ideas on my desk," I gestured to it and Ruth went towards it. Nervous for her criticisms, as Ruth was always an honest critic, I fidgeted a little. Maybe small talk would help: "So, what do you think of the whole Thirteen thing?"

"It's dangerous to stir from the Games' tradition," she said sternly, her face resolute. I always admired how Ruth had kept so stoic despite the tragedies that had befell her in life; she'd lost her husband and daughter, she had a disastrous engagement afterwards, but she was still so organised and sorted. "These arenas aren't half bad."

"… They're not?"

"But we need something original too. People will be expecting it from you at this point, Tobias," she said to me. "What if we find a way to thematically link them altogether? Like, via a mutt, or a twist or story?"

… I think I knew how. I briefly glanced at a child's book I had read to my daughter recently, thrown messily on the floor inches away from my son's video game console.

"I think I have a great idea."

"Great, pitch it to Yeena and we may start construction soon and will be able to plan the pre-Games stuff," Ruth concluded, moving to my desk and re-organising the chaos into something that resembled a work desk.

"Amazing," I stood up. "Want some coffee?"

"I honestly ought to be leaving soon, I've been so busy," I was confused. Ruth hadn't been given the mountain of paperwork she usually sorted out before the Games started yet. "Maybe we can organi-"

"Why were you in my nursery, Ruth?"

Her features lit up. I'd never seen Ruth look so happy ever, even when she was happily married. "I needed somewhere to put the baby…"

Baby? I bit my bottom lip slightly. Ruth looked too old to have a baby. Was I being judgmental? Could a woman in her fifties have kids? Ruth never told me she was seeing anyone…

"Do you want to see him? He's a lovely creature," she made her way to the nursery and I hesitantly followed, as if I were following a serial killer.

"You had a baby?"

"Yes, and he's mine forever," I switched on the lights to the nursery and followed Ruth to see what was lying in my daughter's crib. I tried to not have a heart attack when I saw just what was there: a dark skinned baby with vague eyes and a loud laugh. He seemed very pleased when Ruth picked him up, hugging him into her body.

"That's Mirane's baby," I said. "Rebels got him, right?"

"No rebels. He's perfectly safe with me. And he's my baby."

"B-But," I tried to grasp this whole thing. "That's Billy – Beta – Buster, whatever he's called."

"I've renamed him," Ruth said, making her way out into the wooden corridor of the lodge. She walked over a bearskin rug and opened the front door, inviting a snowstorm in. "I make him happy, and he makes me happy. We're all we need in each other's lives. I'm his mother now."

"So… What exactly is his name?"

"Olga," she said, as if it wasn't insane. She then slammed the door behind her, leaving me gawping after her.

That really was insane. Not only was Olga a traditionally feminine name, it was the name of Ruth's recently deceased daughter. Which made sense, considering she was probably still grieving, but I didn't think Ruth's grief would lead to this. And now I had to deal with one of the biggest Games Panem has ever seen without her at my side – she was the sane one, the voice of reason. Now that voice had been silenced.

… How the hell were these Games going to work out now?

Hello everyone! Welcome to 'Hunt or be Hunted', my 4th SYOT! I guess now is the time to get the disclaimers out of the way for new readers who can't be bothered reading the predecessors, right?

1. The story is T: it will feature violence (...), bad language (depending on the character *very* bad language), sexual references and depictions of drug use. There will also probably be triggering themes in the story e.g rape, abuse, mental illness. Basically, trigger warning: potentially anything. You've been warned.

2. I use British English. Nobody has ever complained about this ever but I'm lazy, so 'mom' will be replaced with 'mum' etc.

3. There will most probably be flawed science in this story, either because a. Flawed science in fiction can be cool or b. My science knowledge, whilst not bad, is obviously limited. For example, unless you have superhuman strength and accuracy using throwing knives as an offensive weapon actually doesn't usually work very well. In this fic, that little fact may be ignored from time to time.

4. Also, teleportation and an assortment of technological marvels have (kind of) been achieved in this fic. See about cool unrealistic science?

5. Which leads me into; this is AU. Want the gist of my verse read it on my profile (or read the older stories?), but it's years into the future, Panem has evolved scientifically, economically and politically. There are changes.

6. I guess the most important is that the Districts are a lot more politically connected. In the original series, Katniss says she knows almost nothing of the other Districts. In this verse, people can (if they have the influence) get permits to different Districts or even the Capitol. The sense of isolationism is lost a little. There are also other countries that are slowly being connected.

7. This story will be long... Hopefully not as long as the last story.

8. There's no sponsoring system. Who dies is determined by multiple factors, such as who reviews, who makes for a good story & who is popular – or who is unpopular, haha.

9. Updates will be weekly, although I may take a hiatus when exams come, sorry!

10. Don't be afraid to make (reasoned) criticisms, I don't get uber sensitive fanfictions writers. I think improvement is pretty important.

List (so far!):

District 1

Male: Rosario Vogel, 18 (WaywardWordsmith)

Female: Jordyn Rossi, 18 (JGrayzz)

District 2

Male: Titan Bard, 18 (Remus98)

Female: Agrippa 'Pip' Wilder, 18 (Europa22)

District 3

Male: Syncis Allomoi, 16 (GryffindorOnFire)

Female: Francine 'Frankie' Thales-Wren, 13 (BamItsTyler)

District 4

Male: Yveaux Hathers, 18 (Littletimmy223)

Female: Lillee Duraton, 18 (Computerfan)

District 5

Male: Xavier Day, 18 (Blangreck)

Female: Alina Parrish, 15 (Alice Kingsleighs)

District 6

Male: Kai Chiroshi, 15 (Author of Ice and Fire)

Female: Roxanne Maxwell, 18 (FallenChildOfTheUnderground)

District 7

Male: Tamal Arbor, 15 (Music Rules The World)

Female: Perseverance 'Percy' Bright, 16 (asadderandawiserman).

District 8

Male: Batiste Grayson, 14 (Anla'shok)

Female: Arabella 'Bella' Thern, 16 (Just-Your-Ordinary-Author)

District 9

Male: Silas Calder, 16 (DryBonesKing)

Female: Tesni 'Tess' Rosette, 18 (Alecxias)

District 10

Male: Raleigh Everett, 17 (MidnightRaven323)

Female: Lillian Collier, 17 (YourDownfall)

District 11

Male: Florian 'Flori' Flax, 14 (Hoprocker)

Female: Raiyah 'Rye' Crahn, 16 (leylazzz)

District 12

Male: Arran Taron, 17 (Baenerys)

Female: Cassandra Diorite, 15 (charlieal12)

District 13

Male: Nate Orison, 16 (ToxicatedRose)

Female: Epsilon Flint, 17 (AaronIris34)