A/N: That's Cedar⬆️ She's portrayed by Rayven Ferrell.

Day 9

Name: Cedar Dalian
District: 11
Initial Scoring: 9
Weapon Of Choice: N/A
Weakness: Inexperience
Judges' Comments: Cedar has a strong, athletic build and much knowledge in the field of agriculture. Her strength and ability to recognize edible plants will prove effective in the arena, however she has no experience with any weapons/fighting technique.

* * *

I rinse the tubers I found at the base of the tree in the stream. The water is so cold I can only keep my hands in for a few moments at a time, but it feels so good running over the blisters and cuts all over my fingers. After washing off the dirt, I sit under my little willow tree and watch the sunset above the open field. I've been at the very edge of the arena since day 4. They normally don't let tributes go this far away from the Cornucopia, so I know that someone else is out here. Either they haven't found me yet, or have been hiding. I sit and eat my dinner in the remaining light, and prepare myself for an eventful evening.

* * *

It's well into the night by now, and I just keep walking around the perimeter of the arena, daring any tribute to come into my path. Living in District 11, I'm accustomed to running on less than 3 hours of sleep. The peacekeepers used to have the kids work from sunrise to sunset, and they had the adults going for even longer. One time, a new peacekeeper tried to make me stay with the adults. His buddy had to explain that I was only 16.

"She's part of that freak family," he had told him. "Her sister's like 6 foot, and the brother's got arms the size of hams."

I'm built differently than everyone else, but that's what makes me strong.

As I walk my usual path along the edges of the arena, a thought comes to me. "It's only me, 12, and the careers left. Unless I want to face fire or beasts, I need to get away from the edge."

I know they won't let me stay away from the action forever, and it would be smarter for me to beat them to the punch and get moving closer to the center.

* * *

Day 10

As I walk around the arena, the scenery changes from open fields to thick forests. The sweet chirps of mockingjays become bitter screeches of cicadas. I stop to take a drink from a nearby pond. It's so beautiful and mesmerizing, with its gorgeous waterfall just across the way. As I dip my hands into the water, an arrow whizzes by my ear and hits the rock next to me. Without missing a beat, I book it through the forest, zigging and zagging wherever I can. The arrows keep coming though, and by now I realize it's another tribute.

"This bitch hasn't even met me, and already she's trying to kill me."

That's the way of the games though, and if there's one thing I know, I can outrun anyone. I've almost lost my attacker, and turn to check, seeing no one. When I look back, a black haired girl jumps out from behind a tree. I can't stop myself and we're too close for me to dodge her, so I do the next best thing. I continue to charge and slam into her. We go rolling down the rocky side of a hill, both on top of one another as we go down.

We finally stop and I can barely get to my feet. The whole world is foggy and spinning. I look at the girl and see it's the same for her. By now, the girl with the bow is sprinting down the hill towards us.

"Olive! What is wrong with you?!" yells the blonde girl, coming down the hill.

Without thinking, I grab the dark haired girl by the throat and block as much of my body as I can with her.

"Shoot another arrow and she goes down with me!" I yell at the girl with the bow.
"Okay, okay," she says, gently placing the bow down in front of her.
"Back away from it," I say, tightening my grip around the girl's neck. I know if I let go, she'll have the weapon back in her hands before I have time to get away.

The girl starts backing up, and when she gets far enough, I let my hostage go. She starts choking and the one who had the bow runs to her friend. I take this moment to grab the bow, and aim it at the pair.

"Listen. I don't want to hurt anyone," I say. "It's just the three of us left out here, and the career pack will be coming for us soon."
"I-" one of them starts.
"Don't! Let me finish. If we are expected to survive even a day longer, we need to work together."
The dark haired girl stops coughing and looks at the other. "She's right."
"I know she's right, but how can we trust her?"

I hand the bow back to the blonde girl and stand there with my hands up, showing that I don't have any intention of hurting them. The dark haired girl gets up and walks over to me.

"I'm Olive," she smiles, sticking her hand out for me to shake.

The other one looks at us and huffs off. I look back to Olive and shake her hand. When I grab it, she puts her arm around me, and gives me a hug. "Please forgive Lilac. She's having a hard time with this, having sisters back home and all."

She pulls back and looks at me. I nod, as to say I get it, and we all go off to their hideout back at the waterfall.

* * *

That night, Olive tells me this crazy story about how she found this cave and had to bust it open. I laugh as she makes these big gestures and expressions while telling her story. It's crazy. You would never think someone like her could pull it off, but here we are. Lilac sits at the mouth of the cave, off by herself. I decide to walk over and sit by her.

"Hey," I say, trying to be gentle with her.
No response.
"Olive sure is something, huh?" I try again.
"Sure," she responds and turns her back to me.
"Hey, I get that you have a lot of pressure to get home right now. I have siblings, too, that I need to take care of. But if we let that keep us from seeing clearly, what chance do we have at winning then?"
She finally turns back around to look at me.
"You don't get it. I have two sisters back home, and a mother who's incapable of taking care of them. Ever since my dad died, I've been the one working to feed everyone. They won't survive if I'm gone."

She looks at me and I can see the tears welling up in her eyes. I get what she's going through. My mom's getting older. She's in a wheelchair now. I take my brother and sister to work with me every single day, just so the combined income can keep their names out of the reaping. But, speaking from experience, that's not the kind of thing Lilac needs to hear right now.

"You're right. I couldn't imagine what you must be going through. But you need to use that. Use the need to help your family push you that much harder to win this. They believe you can do it, now prove them right."
Lilac wipes her nose on her sleeve.
"Thanks," she replies, smiling a bit.
"Sure," I smile back, and we head back to Olive.

* * *

We spend a few hours laughing and eating, but as it gets later into the night, things start to get more serious.

"We need to have a plan," Lilac states.
"A plan for what?" Olive asks.
"The careers. If we're gonna beat them, we need to have a plan."
I think for a second, then finally, it hits me.
"How about this," I start, drawing out a rough map of the arena in the dirt. "We split them up. Divide and conquer. Olive, you light a fire over here." I point to a spot a few miles away from the Cornucopia. "I'll light another on the opposite side. Either they'll choose to go after one, or they'll split up to go after both of us. Lilac, you'll wait here, on the very edge of the treeline in front of the Cornucopia. You'll follow whichever way they go, and attack them with your bow."
"What if they split up?" Lilac asks.
"Then follow the group going to Olive. You two have been a team since the beginning, I'm sure you can take them on, especially if there are less of them."
"What about you?" Olive asks.
"Don't worry. I can outrun them easily, and I'm bigger than most of everyone here. If I go down, I'll be sure to take a few with me."
"This looks great," Olive concludes. "But how do we make sure they see the fires at the same time?"
I think for a moment, but then remember something important.
"The mockingjays," I say. "They start chirping midday at the same time. When they do, we'll both light our fires. We just have to listen for them."
"Sounds easy enough," Olive says, starting to yawn. "If we're gonna pull this off, we'll need to get some sleep."
Lilac agrees and the two pass out a few moments later. But I stay up to review our plan.

An hour later, Lilac gets up to find me still crouched over my dirt map.
"It's a great plan," she says, putting her hand on my back. "You have to have faith in yourself. Come on, let's get some sleep."
I nod, and go to lie down. She's right though, it is a good plan. I just hope we're good enough to execute it.

* * *

Day 11

That morning, right before the sun started to come up, I waited at the mouth of the cave for Olive and Lilac to wake up. When they finally did, we all walked together to the very edge of the Cornucopia, and found all 5 of the careers asleep in their tents.

"Looks like they got rid of the little ones," Lilac observes.
"Yeah. Replaced them with the girl from 10," I say. "That makes 5 of them. If they decide to split up, one group will only have two."
"Makes our job a lot easier," Olive tries to make a sinister smile, but fails miserably.

Soon, we each check our supplies, making sure Olive and I have matches, and then it's time to say goodbye and go our separate ways. We all hug and wish each other luck. I can tell it hurts Lilac to let Olive go on her own, but she has to if she wants this to work. I start walking to my station, and turn to see Lilac scaling a tree to get a better view. Looking at the sun, I can tell we only have about 2 hours to get ready.

* * *

It's about a 45 minute walk to my post. I put my backpack down to mark my location, and go look for some firewood. Strangely, as I look, I'm not worried about getting attacked. I know where everyone is, and it's an eerie feeling. Being so close to victory, yet the monster task ahead of me could mean the difference between life or death. By the time I get my fire built up, a mockingjay starts chirping like crazy. All its friends, hidden out in the forest, chime into the song and I know that's my que. I light a match and throw it on top of my wood pile. As the smoke starts going, I climb a tree to see if Olive has done her part, and I'm relieved to see the smoke on the other side of the arena.

Soon, that feeling of relief is replaced with a feeling of dread. I'm terrified. The careers could be coming straight for me right this second. It could be all of them, some of them, or none at all. There are too many unknowns and my head starts spinning.

"Focus Cedar." I say to myself. "You are strong. Stay calm. Just find a hiding place."

I look around me for a place to hide, and decide that a higher vantage point would be best. I climb the same tree I saw Olive's smoke from. Just in time, too, as I look down at the forest, I spot a girl from 1 and a girl from 10, sprinting towards my fire.

"Perfect." I think, and shimmy my way back down the tree. I book it for a tree on the other side of the fire and hide behind it.

"Where are they?" I hear the girl from 10 shout.
"I don't know. Start looking," answers the girl from 1.
I come out from behind the tree and wave to them.
"Yoo-hoo. Catch me if you can," I taunt them, and run as fast as my legs will take me.
"Get her!" shouts the girl from 1.

They chase me all throughout the arena, but neither can catch up to me. There was a split second where a spear hit the ground next to my foot, but that's when I made the decision of who to get rid of first. I dash as far as I can ahead of them, and then make a sharp turn behind a tree. I watch as the girl from 10 whizzes by me, and then, just as the girl from 1 strides by, I grab her and cover her mouth with my hand. I watch as 10 runs out of view, then rip the spear out of 1's hand, and hold her against the tree.

"Get off of me!" she yells, and smacks me across the face.

I ignore her wish and smack her back, twice as hard. The pain in the girl's cheek stuns her, and her eyes widen. The bright red hand print starts to form on the side of her face.

"You can't win. You know that, right?" she yells. "It's going to be a career. Someone who really deserves it, not some District 11 trash like you."

This comment sets me off, and I pick up a heavy rock, about the size of my fist.

"Well, in that case, I have some news for you," I say to her. "Whoever it is," I take the rock and bang it as hard as I can against her skull. "It won't . . ." Bang! "Be . . ." Bang! "You." Bang!

I throw her to the ground, and she starts scrambling. Her eyes are way out of focus and she has a solid dent in the side of her head. I pick up the spear she was holding before, and stab it straight through her stomach. She looks at the spear, and then back up at me. Her head falls back, and the cannon fires.

"Mark my words," I say to the corpse. "I will not have another filthy career winning these games."