Hey all! Here is chapter 10, it's a bit of a slow chapter but I promise I shall speed up soon! I hope you enjoy this next installment. Thank you, thank you for all of the alerts and favorites! As always REVIEW! They are awesome. You guys are the greatest!

Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games or the characters, plot line and lines of Suzanne Collins. I do, however, own my own characters and plot line.

Read on! ~xoxx, Carolyn

I run, faster and faster towards the sounds of my brother's screams. Somehow, they keep growing further away and I feel as if I'll never reach him.

In a matter of seconds I am pushed to the ground as the mutts swirl around me, beaks poking at my flesh, ripping me apart, just as they did Arlen.

All of the sudden, Cato breaks out of the trees, his sword dripping with blood and eyes full of rage.

"HYDRA!"

I feel myself slipping away, but, he's in the middle of them, chopping and hacking away until I am free, my skin hanging from the bones and bits of muscle and fat hanging out of the larger wounds.

They are on him.

They tear at his flesh and I'm too weak to do anything.

Arlen comes running to me and I am horrified at how mangled he is but he grabs me around the waist and pulls me back, "Come on!"

I struggle against him and reach for Cato, "NO! I can't leave him!"

My brother yanks me back, "We have to go NOW! It's too late for him!"

I scream and try to pull away but Arlen is much stronger than me and drags me away.

I hear Cato groaning and coughing on blood as they continue to rip him to pieces, I just want it to stop.

Arlen and I fall to the forest floor and I cover my ears with my hands and cry out, trying to make my way back to Cato.

Abruptly, the dream ends and I find myself curled up next to Cato his fingers are clawing at my side and the pain is excruciating when he catches it.

I sit up and cover the wound with more salve and bandage it with a new strip of clean cloth before sitting up and moving to Cato's head.

I gently wipe the sweat from his gleaming face as he lies there asleep, his eye is swollen shut and there is a stream of green ooze that continues to flow from the sting.

The cave is quiet except for the repeated drip of water in a far corner and Cato's quiet moans as he dreams of something apparently involving a rock slide and his mother.

Its been a day since he stumbled into the cave, screaming and clawing at his eye, the tracker jacker venom spreading like a wild fire through his blood.

I can still see him struggling, screaming at Wiley and I, scaring us half to death and making me knock him out cold.

Wiley scoots over next to me as he chews on a bit of dried beef, "D'ya think he'll be ok?"

"Yea, he'll be fine, the hallucinations are always really bad the first day."

Cato groans, his hand flies up and catches mine, "You're alive?"

"Mhm, you were only seeing things. We're both ok."

He squeezes his eyes shut and he cries out, "DAMN! OW!"

"Don't touch it, its infected but your sponsors sent you some medicine so it should be ok soon."

He sighs, "I thought you were dead...I-" his voice falters.

"It's fine, nothing to worry about but I'm sure Clove and Marvel are out looking for you so you should get a move on."

"How long was I out?"

"Its been a day, Glimmer has been the only casualty since you've been asleep."

"I see, sad, she was really cool, pretty talented for being from wimpy District One."

I grit my teeth, "Yes, well, you should go now. You being here is putting Wiley and I in danger."

He lies there quietly, his head is cradled in my lap and I continuously wipe the green ooze from the wound.

His eyes find mine and I know he's wondering why I'm dismissing him so quickly so he reaches out to touch my face.

I hold his palm to my cheek and savor the warmth as I feel his calloused skin against my own, "Go ahead."

His thumb runs across a gash in my cheek and I wince, "Sorry," he pulls his hand away.

"Don't be...now go."

He leans in and kisses me; I want him to stop doing that, but, at the same time, I don't.

Wiley makes a bleh sound and rolls his eyes, "C'mon Hydra, stop kissing him, he'll probably run a sword through you the next time you do."

Cato glares and makes a point to get in Wiley's face, "Watch your mouth kid or I might just tell Clover exactly where you are."

"Get out," I hiss.

He's gone too far and outstayed his welcome, regardless of whether or not he saved my life.

He leaves in a huff but not before kissing me hard and angrily.

"I will see you later."

I narrow my eyes at him, "We'll see."

When he is a safe distance away, I turn to Wiley, "Let's get out of here."

My side still hurts but the salve is working its magic. The mangled skin is now a bright, angry red but the muscle is no longer visible and the new skin is sensitive to the touch.

For the remainder of the afternoon we hike uphill until we find a cool stream that quenches our thirst and serves as bath water to wash off the ashes, soot, blood and dirt from our skin.

I wrinkle my nose as I strip to my undergarments and Wiley pinches the bridge of his nose, "Jeez we smell bad."

I laugh, "Well, it's not like we've had time to bathe properly."

I find myself missing my bath basin at home and the luxurious lavender and vanilla soaps we had in the cabinet.

Suddenly, a silver parachute appears out of thin air and we find ourselves with a basket that is full of bathing supplies.

I close my eyes as I smell the scents of vanilla, sandalwood, white peony and musk.

Wiley finds soap that is scented like spearmint and ocean water and we wash our hair and sponge off our skin.

I do my best to untangle my blonde hair and am pleased to find a set of brushes that work the tangles out with ease until my hair feels silky smooth.

We lie in the sun and dry off for a moment when we hear footsteps coming.

I pick up the sais and throw them over my back and dive behind a tree with Wiley who gathers our clothes and his trident in a hurry.

I spot a boot in the clearing and curse under my breath but then a familiar voice rings out, "Whose boot is this?"

Katniss.

"It's mine," I call out, a sigh of relief escapes my lips.

She smiles as I walk out with Wiley, "Good to see you both."

"Good to see you," I nod.

She looks to the trees and looks back at me, we both see the edge of a small boot, "You know, they're not the only ones who can form alliances."

Rue quietly steps out and looks at her, "You want me for an ally?"

Wiley spots Rue and it's all he can do to hold in a shriek of happiness. He runs at her and gathers her up into a tight hug, "Rue!"

She grasps him and grins, "Wiley! I didn't think I'd see you again!"

I smile at the two of them and cross my arms, "So, us against them?"

Katniss glances at me from the side, "Sounds like a plan. I could deal with that."

Katniss' POV

In a matter of minutes, the group of four found some cover and sat around eating dried beef, rabbit and wild rice.

Katniss had to admit, it was nice to have some friends in the arena.

After a few minutes of silently eating, Rue spoke up, "I can fix your stings."

"You were stung too?" Hydra questioned with concern.

Katniss nodded and revealed the swollen spots of flesh, "I dropped a jacker nest on the Careers and got a bit banged up in the process."

Hydra smiled at her, "Smart plan. Cato was pretty messed up from it."

Katniss stared at the girl from District Four, she couldn't quite figure her out.

She felt like she couldn't trust the girl because she obviously had feelings for the District Two brute, but, she also wanted to avenge her brother which meant that she would have to kill him.

In the end, she decided that trusting the girl would keep her alive and help her find Peeta, Hydra didn't have the sinister personality of the Careers.

Hydra caught Katniss staring, "What?"

Katniss shook her head, "How can you fix me?"

Rue stopped her conversation with Wiley and dug in her pocket pulling out a handful of berries that looked just like the ones that her mother used to use on victims of tracker jacker attacks.

"Where'd you find those?"

"Just around. We all carry them when we work in the orchards. They left a lot of nests there...there are a lot here, too."

"That's right. You're from District 11. Agriculture...Orchards huh? That must be how you can fly around the trees like you've got wings."

Wiley gives another bright smile, "You're pretty enough to be a fairy!"

Rue blushes, "Well thanks. I am pretty fast up in the trees."

"Well, come on, then. Fix me up."

Katniss watched as Rue stuck the leaves in her mouth and chewed them up, taking the gooey wad from her mouth and setting it on the first sting.

She turned to Hydra as Rue continued, "And District Four? What do you do there?"

"I'm a fisherman. I spend my days out on the boats with Finnick and Annie fishing and catching crab and lobster."

"And I go out into the deeper parts of the sea with my dad and catch swordfish and shark," Wiley pipes up. You could see the pride in his eyes as he told the story of catching his first swordfish.

Hydra described District Four to the other two tributes and painted a picture of bright sunny beaches and a crystal clear, turquoise ocean.

"So, what's District Twelve like?" she asked.

Katniss leaned back and closed her eyes as relief poured through her body and pushed the venom out.

"It's back closer to the Appalachian mountains. The coal mines are really dark and creepy...they push back far into the mountains and you can hear your voice echoing when you talk. The town is really run down, we're as poor as we sound but everyone knows everyone. There's a forest outside the city fence that is full of wild game that my friend Gale and I hunt..."

She grew quiet after she mentioned Gale.

"Who's Gale?" Hydra pushed.

"My best friend, we met when we were kids, he helped get me through the weeks after my father's death...I miss him, a lot."

"I'm sorry...about that and your father."

Katniss looked up at her with glistening eyes, "Things happen."

She moaned as the leaves continued to work on the sting wounds causing Rue to give a tiny giggle, "Lucky you had the sense to pull the stingers out or you'd be a lot worse."

"Do my neck! Do my cheek!"

Wiley spoke up, "Rue! Your arm!"

She looks down at it gives a tiny shrug, "I got swiped by a burning leaf."

"I've got something for that."

Katniss handed Wiley the jar of medicine she had received from her sponsors and he set to working on Rue's arm.

"You have good sponsors," Rue murmurs as Wiley bandages the area.

Katniss nodded, "Have you gotten anything yet?"

"No, but I will though. Watch. The closer we get to the end, the more people will realize how clever you are."

"How about you guys? Have you gotten anything?"

Hydra gives a curt nod, "A few things, here and there."

"Of course, you are a Career district."

"Not this year. Neither of us have trained beforehand. Never wanted to."

Katniss was quiet, Hydra probably wanted nothing to do with these games because of what they did to her brother.

"You weren't joking, about wanting me for an ally, were you?" Rue asks the two of them, her eyes wide.

"No, I meant it."

"We'll be a great group."

She smiles, "Okay, it's a deal."

The four tributes shook hands and returned to eating, biting into the Groosling that Katniss had killed, parsnip tasting roots gathered by Rue earlier and shoveling wild rice into their mouths that Hydra and Wiley put together.

Rue apparently didn't get much to eat back home and was surprised when Katniss gave her the other leg of Groosling.

"I'd have thought, in District Eleven, you'd have a bit more to eat than us. You know, since you grow the food."

"Oh, no, we're not allowed to eat the crops."

"They arrest you or something?" Katniss questions.

"They whip you and make everyone else watch. The mayor's very strict about it."

Hydra and Wiley were quiet, everyone in District Four was well fed all the time. They were one of the favorite districts of the Capitol and everyone knew that by how beautiful and well groomed the people always looked.

"Do you get all the coal you want?" Rue asks Katniss with a hint of curiosity in her voice.

"No, just what we buy and whatever we track in our boots."

"They feed us a bit extra during harvest, so that people can keep going longer."

"What about you guys?" Katniss studied the District Four tributes and was sure she already knew the answer.

"We get everything that we need when we need it. We keep a quarter of everything that we catch, and usually we catch a lot so we always get decent meals..." she trailed off, clearly she was uncomfortable speaking about it around the other two.

Wiley piped up, "Sometimes though, if there's a really bad storm, they don't help us clean up the villages. It can get pretty bad too. We also have had some pretty bad fishing runs and some families don't eat if they don't catch enough. But usually the other families will share what they can to help."

Rue smiled at him, "That's awfully nice of the neighbors. I wish we had enough to do that back home."

"Me too," Katniss murmured.

She thought back to that rainy day when Peeta purposely burned two loaves of bread so that he could give them to Katniss.

She didn't want to admit it, but she missed him and wondered what he was up to right at this moment.

She hadn't seen him since he had tried to save her and that had been a bit ago, all she could remember was Cato crashing through the trees, swords in hand and rage focused on Peeta.

Katniss sat there and listened to the other three. It was interesting to hear about them talk about their lives back home since she rarely heard anything of the goings on outside of District 12.

At Rue's suggestion, they all began to pile their food together to plan ahead and figure out how much they could eat each day.

Katniss threw in the last couple of crackers and beef strips she had.

Rue had gathered quite a collection of roots, nuts, greens, and even some berries.

Hydra and Wiley had wild rice, rabbit and plum stew.

Katniss picked up one of the berries and studied it, "You sure this is safe?"

Rue nodded, "Oh, yes, we have them back home. I've been eating them for days.

Katniss looked at the collection of food from the District Four and looked up, "You guys have some nice sponsors."

"Yea, they've only recently begun helping us. It took me getting burned to death for them to actually do something." Hydra grumbled.

They all laid out their gear when Wiley gasped, "You have night vision goggles?"

Katniss slapped her forehead with her palm, "And all along I thought those were supposed to be sunglasses. I was wondering why they weren't working."

Hydra laughed as she sat there and polished her sais, "Well, now you know."

After a while, Rue put out the small fire and the four began to head upstream until the sky grew dark.

"Where do you all sleep?" Katniss asked the others.

"I sleep in the trees in my jacket, I use these socks for my hands."

"We sleep under the bushes, we have this thermal blanket that heats up as it gets colder. Its been nice having it." Hydra held up the black blanket that was missing a couple of strips at the bottom. It was definitely big enough to cover the both of them.

Katniss looked to Rue, "You can share my sleeping bag if you want. We'll both easily fit."

Rue smiled brightly, "Oh thank you!"

"Goodnight guys, see you in the morning."

Hydra and Wiley disappeared underneath the bushes, "And we will see you, stay safe."

Katniss and Rue picked a fork high in a tree and settled in for the night.

Cato's POV

Cato lay there next to the campfire, imagining the face of Hydra as the flames flickered and danced in his eyes.

The anthem began to play and he looked up at the sky; there had been no deaths today.

"Ugh, not one death. That means there's still a lot of other tributes left to kill. Perfect."

Clove gave a hideous little smile and rolled over on her back, staring up at the stars.

"I'd like to get the girl from District Four next, she's the top of my list. So is the boy."

Cato rolled over and glared, "The girl is MINE."

"You've had the opportunity to kill her before and you didn't take it. In fact, you let her go. Something is up with you Cato and I don't like it."

He narrowed his eyes at her, "And what exactly is that?"

"If I didn't know better, I'd say you were acting like lover boy. You get all defensive when I talk about killing her and you won't let me kill her if I have the opportunity."

"I'll kill her, don't worry."

"You've been showing weakness Cato. Weakness is the worst, your father would be immensely disappointed in you."

"I'll kill her, ok?" he hissed.

"You'd better. And if you don't, I'll do it, and it won't be pretty I can promise you that. I'll gut her like a rabbit."

Cato's stomach turned at the thought of Clove getting a hold of Hydra and torturing her in the most painful ways.

He couldn't let it happen, but Hydra was smart, she'd never let Clove get a hold of her.

He could feel her fingers as they softly wove through his hair, her touch was gently when she cleaned the wound on his eye and he could hear her quiet heartbeat as they lay there in that silent cave.

This was all wrong.

He had to win.

He would have to kill her.

Clove stood and brushed her jacket off, "I'm going to sleep. I'll see you in the morning, and I better see some change in your attitude."

"Goodnight Clove," he bit at her, straying away from the typical nickname he used for her when they were having fun.

She rolled her eyes, "Remember, if you don't kill her, I will."

He turned away and stared intently into the fire, thinking of how quickly and painlessly he could kill Hydra Inna.