It had taken Merida all of three minutes to return to the clearing. Maybe it was the stupidest decision she had ever made. Maybe, right now her family were sat at home watching her, screaming at the television for her to run and find safety- just as she'd promised her brothers she would. But all she knew was that if that useless boy and his ridiculous friends were murdered, she'd regret it for the rest of her life. And so, after running as fast as she could away from them, she retreated to the shadows of the trees and managed to save Rapunzel, Jack and Hiccup. But by doing so, Dean had gotten hurt. Merida didn't know how to feel about that.

She was the only one left in the clearing. The night of blood and murder was far from over, and although she knew she had to leave quickly, somehow Merida found herself walking out from under the trees and kneeling down next to the body of her childhood sweetheart.

His wavy black hair was matted with blood, his front only partly visible in the darkness that had shrouded the jungle. As delicately as she could, she removed the knife speared in his chest. He murmured a little, and Merida's heart leapt- though she pleaded it not to. "Dean?" She whispered. "Dean can yeh hear me?" She shifted him onto his side, watching as he opened his pale blue eyes.

"Merida… Ah'm sorry tha' Ah…" He wheezed, and she felt as if her heart was going to collapse.

Swallowing, she closed her eyes. "Dean, don't it wasn't yeh fault-"

"Ah couldn't see yeh Merida… Ah couldn't bear to see myself…" With shaking fingers, he reached up, entwining them in her hair.

"Ah never gave up on yeh, Macintosh." She spoke his last name with a smile on her lips, just like she used to when he pissed her off back home. His eyes began to close, and she desperately grabbed his hand. "Don't yeh dare leave me. This is all my fault… Ah'm sorry, Ah'm so sorry…"

He shook his head before whispering, "No, Merida. Yeh've set me free." Dean smiled peacefully, his hand falling from her hair, and with his final piece of strength, he looked up at the beautiful moonlight shining through the trees. It physically hurt to look at him like this, but she took his cold fingers and pressed them to her lips, saying her last goodbye to the only piece of home she had left.

Merida wiped away her tears, and rising from the floor, she attempted to clear her head, to think of a plan. But at that moment, the sky erupted with noise. Thunder rumbled across the arena, and she stood transfixed as rain fell from above. For a couple of seconds, she watched as hundreds of birds flew from the trees, all going in the same direction- north. It didn't make sense, why couldn't they just seek refuge under the trees? The foliage was certainly thick enough to shelter them.

And then it hit her.

In a jungle filled with lakes and rivers, the last thing they needed was more water, because otherwise the lakes wouldn't be able to hold the rain-fall. Otherwise they would over-flow.

They were going to flood the arena.

"Jack?" Rapunzel asked, looking up at the sky as water drenched them both from head to toe.

"It's raining…" He murmured.

"We can't exactly climb in this weather, should we make camp for the night?"

He nodded and the two tributes made their base under the thick leaves of a giant Taro plant. The star-light shone through the leaves, and Rapunzel was once again amazed at the beautiful noises the insects and birds made throughout the forest. As for Jack… He'd been unusually silent on their escape from the clearing, and it worried her that he still hadn't forgiven her.

She wanted more than anything to tell him, but every time she tried… She just couldn't find the words. Maybe it was better this way. The brief encounter Elsa just proved how dangerous being in a relationship with someone was in the Games- especially if he was going to through his life away like that.

Jack began rummaging for something to eat in his rucksack, and his hand accidently brushed against Rapunzel's. He left it there for a second, only the sound of the rain pattering on the leaves could be heard over the silence that had fallen between them. She looked up at him, her heart pounding, but Jack turned his back on her, taking a swig of the water before muttering a "Sorry."

"Jack. Look at me." She said, realising this might be the last chance to tell him.

Reluctantly, his ice-blue eyes met hers. "What?"

"We need to talk about… Him." She said as bravely and confidently as she could.

"You need to get some rest, Rapunzel." He said to her disappointment, turning onto his side and facing away from her. "It doesn't matter anymore."

A lump took its root in her throat. "Jack it's not what you think, I really need to tell you-"

"I don't care."

"Why are you being like this?" She demanded. This was so unlike the Jack who she'd met on the second day of the Games. Had he given up? "I just survived getting my head ripped off by Elsa. Can't you at least pretend to be happy that I'm alive right now?"

There was a long silence, before Jack spoke softly "How could you even say that?"

"Because I don't get why you're punishing me."

"I couldn't protect you, okay?" He finally turned back over and looked her straight in the eye. "It was my fault. If I hadn't been arguing with Hiccup this would never have happened."

She grabbed his hand, holding it in hers. "Listen to me. None of this is your fault." He tried to turn away again, but she pulled him into an embrace. "No matter what you did, she would have found us. There was nothing you could have done."

He nodded, and then pulled away slightly so that their eyes met. "It was horrible, Punz. He had you, and I… I couldn't do anything." Jack gently traced her puffy cheek. "Watching you get hurt like that… Especially after we'd been fighting- it was the worst moment of my life."

"…Oh." Jack leaned in, as if to kiss her, but she turned her head. "I'm sorry, it's just my lip's still swollen..."

He winced guiltily, but she just laughed, the sweet sound echoing across the jungle. Suddenly, a familiar chiming sounded above them, and they both gasped.

"Do you think that's…?" Rapunzel asked, leaning out from under the shelter of the leaves to get a closer look. He nodded, standing up to retrieve the parachute that was balanced on one of the Taro branches. He sat down again, his hair instantly turned to dreadlocks from the rain.

"This is my first one." Jack said, passing it to Rapunzel as she smiled in agreement. Opening the metal casket, Rapunzel found three roles of flaky bread, with a small piece of card tucked behind them.

It was from her mentor, the battle-scarred, tough-but-lovable Maximus. Their situation was unusual, because he had been training her for the Hunger Games since she was four years old. That technically made Rapunzel a career, but she had given up the dreams of bringing honour to her District when she found the love of her life at fifteen. Maximus had always been there for her, even after she'd stopped training, so it was strange to hear his voice again as she read the note.

Be smart, Rapunzel. That boy will get you both killed.

And cut your hair.

Maximus.

She put a hand to the bald patch to the right of her forehead, and grimaced in pain. He was right of course, they were never going to survive this together- it was only a matter of time before...

But it didn't make it any easier.

"Rapunzel, are you alright?" Jack frowned, putting an arm round her shoulders. "What does it say?"

"Nothing." She swallowed. "Nothing at all."

so this was kind of an interlude before the action starts again, sorry if it was a bit boring! im doing this in between mountains of homework for my GCSEs, but im gonna try to keep to a chapter a week schedule.

im hoping to do about 20-25 chapters for this series- it would be cool if u could check out my other stuff too? x

all ur reviews (critical and complimentary) are AMAZING and i love reading them! thanku and *merry christmas*