I couldn't look at myself in the mirror today.

A deafening scream made me bolt to my feet, knives at the ready. I slept deeply, yes, but Iver's scream made me up and ready.

"Where are they? Let me show them what District Four is made of!" I snarled at my friend, who was sitting next to me. He cocked his head, staring at me questioningly.

"Luna," he ventured carefully, "that wasn't me. It was a girl from District 2. Amber Foxen, I think. I hit her with one of your knives, but it didn't kill her. Go back to sleep. Everything's fine."

I glared at the sky, the sun hanging above the treetops. "You were supposed to wake me earlier."

Iver smiled and chuckled before weakly taking my hand. "You looked so cute when you were sleeping. Besides, you needed the rest. I was fine."

I pursed my lips and pulled away from him, checking the moss on his foot. It was thoroughly wet with blood, since I didn't change it last night. Shaking my head in disbelief, I crouched and slipped it off easily, digging around for more fresh moss in the pile and listened while Iver talked.

"I wonder if our families at home know what's happening to us. If there's a screen or something, projecting our deaths for the whole of Panem to see," he wondered aloud as I put fresh moss on his foot and made sure the stem-tie was secure. "Listen, Luna, if I die, you have to make it."

I was surprised by his statement. Dropping my hands, I stared at him. "Don't talk like that. Besides, I'm not as cunning or strong or witty or tricky..."

"Don't compare yourself! You're Luna Waters, the beautiful and cunning, strong, witty, tricky, and so much more, girl of District Four. You won't win by comparing. You'll win by surviving for what you do have." Iver was on a roll now. "I'm so lucky I have you as an ally. From the same district, too! Do you see me comparing myself to Mr. Goldstone of District 3, who's buffer and stronger and tougher than me? No. I'm surviving because of what I have."

"And me," I added helpfully.

He flashed me a dazzling smile. "And you."

Let me take this time to say I did not fancy Iver in a romantic way. It may sound like it, with his dazzling smiles and likable personality. But I wasn't interested in finding a partner, while Iver might. I might not even get out of this arena alive anyway, so I wasn't exactly looking for romantic interests. Maybe he was handsome and everything a girl adores, but I was determined to breeze by and take him up as my survival partner.

When strands of my black hair fell in front of me, I let them stay. I didn't have time to tuck them behind my ear like I usually do, because Iver's stomach started growling.

Chuckling, I packed some knives into my pockets. "Can you shut that thing up?" I asked him playfully. "Well, I'll try to get us something. I haven't been the best caretaker, have I?"

"Don't go far! Please!" he called when I stepped into the outside world.

I squinted and cursed under my breath at the harsh sunlight. I was so used to the shadows of the cave, my eyes weren't used to the flaming ball's brightness. Sighing, I plodded through the forest, careful not to make any sound.

I flimsily killed a squirrel and a lucky rabbit, not the best haul but an accomplishment for me, a water-hunter. I trudged back up to the cave, craving for my regular waves back at home, but that was impossible. I knew I was going to die, so I wouldn't ever see District Four again.

The thought loomed in my brain like a storm cloud when I skinned the animals to the best of my ability and cooked them over a fire in a tree a long way away. When I stood up, though, balancing on a branch, I heard voices underneath me.

"Ugh! Why are you two so loud?" someone complained.

"Shut your mouth, Eleven, before I kill you right now," another snapped, breaking a tree branch with a very audible snap!

"Silver, please!" another girl whispered. "Take her advice. We need you!"

A quiet sigh was heard before the girl, Silver, agreed. I peeked warily over my branch to see three girls walking and snapping at each other, obviously not the greatest team. One looked sixteen, with black hair and sharp blue eyes, while another was blonde, about thirteen, with stormy gray eyes. Then the oldest, looking eighteen, had fiery red hair that seemed to be lit on fire in the sunlight, with olive skin and green eyes.

"Where do we go, Lady Reyna?" Silver asked, sarcasm dripping in her voice. The auburn-haired girl covered her mouth with her hands, looking scared at her ally's remark. Even though the black-haired one, Reyna I assume, was two years younger than her, she seemed to be the leader of things.

"Straight until we find some water," Reyna huffed. "Twelve, are you gonna quit being a baby or are you going to play in these Games like a champ?"

I could tell the answer on the District Twelve girl's face: I want to go home. But the girl only laughed nervously and said, "I don't know what you're talking about, Lady Reyna. I'm ready to do anything in the Hunger Games!"

"Good, now actually show it!" Reyna growled, but looked pleased at being called Lady Reyna. "Now you two scout ahead. I saw smoke around here."

I gulped nervously. Was I about to die, to leave Iver waiting for a companion that he'll never see again? A daughter never telling her parents a final time that she loved them? I suddenly didn't want to die, an animal instinct taking over my brain.

I carefully aimed a knife at 'Lady' Reyna's neck, breathing heavily with the stress. But when I was about to throw the girl whirled around with a maniac grin, probably hearing my heavy breathing.

"Ohh, fish-girl's practically begging to be eaten!" she giggled, nocking an arrow into her bow. "But I'll trade you for some of your scales, fishie. Offer me something I want before I kill you, and trust me, I will."

I tried not to be sick in the moment of action. "I have food," I coughed, lifting up my prey.

Reyna grinned with that maniac look. "You think I don't have all the food in the world? Offer me skills, fishie. An alliance, perhaps?"

I licked my lips nervously. If anybody was going to kill me even under an act of truce, it would be this girl. "District One, right?" I asked, suddenly remembering. "So that's why that redhead isn't the leader."

Reyna snorted in disgust. "Rosie Mae? Of course that District Twelve garbage isn't the leader! Do you have any sense, fishie? What can you do?"

Desperate not to die, I blurted out, "I can make hooks to kill fish and people. I know whether water is safe to drink. I can throw knives and use a trident well, I can get prey out of water and know if sea plants are edible. I can do many things. I can teach you how to swim, too, if you don't know how."

"You think I can't swim, fishie?" she laughed, but by the look in her eyes I could tell she was lying just to maintain her pride. "Anyway, you might be useful. Any allies of your own, we'll take in."

"Just one, but he's wounded right now," I explained rather curtly. "You might have to move in with me. We have water nearby." I didn't tell her it was saltwater. Undrinkable. Maybe I can kill her with it.

She grinned and rubbed her hands together. "If you got a shelter, we'll move in right away. Fishie, you better be useful, or I won't hesitate to kill you."

As if she could do that. I kept my thoughts silent, though, as I shook her hand and rounded up my three new allies before heading back to Iver, the only one I think I would ever truly trust.