I nearly fall out of the tree I'm tied in when a cannon breaks the relative silence of the forest at night, startling me instantly awake. It take a second, but then my brain processes quickly what just happened. It's the second morning of the 74th Hunger Games. This is the eleventh cannon in less than twenty four hours.

It had to have been the Careers, successful in their first night hunt of tributes. From the way the grays are blending into what is the sky I'd say it's just a little before dawn which means that they took most of the night to find a tribute, meaning they'll probably be on their way back now to their camp at the Cornucopia where the Careers stay in practically every arena. Since that usually means they'll be sleeping for the better part of the morning at least, it should be relatively safe for me to explore for water. I need it so bad now, I can feel the air which is already warming up again sucking the moisture out of me. My tongue is also dry and I have no food but the things in my backpack.

Sighing, I start climbing down the tree and listening for footsteps though I don't actually think I'll hear any. The cannon didn't seem to be too close, maybe a few miles to the south of me. If I have my internal compass right, that means they'll be heading west instead of northeast where I am, so I should be relatively safe for now. Of course there could be other tributes around, but I'm a fast runner and I still have a knife. Two knives, actually, but I hardly think the dull one counts.

Since there's nothing else to do really but look for food and water, I suppose that's what I must do. The water I need desperately and I already have a major headache from the lack of it. But I need to push past it to find water. I have to. Soon. So I go along doing my best to pay attention to signs of any water at all even though the Capitol must be punishing me until a few minutes later something stops me in my tracks-another cannon.

Another cannon? Were there two tributes that the Careers found? Did people partner up? Normally if there is partnering at all outside of the Career pack it's District partners, but from last night I know the only ones still alive outside of the pack are Eleven and Twelve. I know of course it's not Peeta and I so…Rue and Thresh? I could hardly think so, but what other explanation is there? Thresh I vaguely recall went the way of the fields of grain and the cannon was definitely from the woods-both of them. So…what the heck happened? Did the tribute kill a Career and then they killed them in return? Or the other way around? Both seem unlikely, but I suppose I'll find out later. I need water.

The hours pass and my thoughts of cannons and Careers slip away as I realize more and more how utterly pointless it seems for me to try and find water though I need it to survive. The Capitol is clearly against me in this-yet another sign I followed for at least two hours before it disappeared. And where the heck is Haymitch in all this? He's my mentor, he could send me water! But no, even when I shouted it just to let him know in case he didn't realize how drastic my need was, nothing. No parachutes for me apparently. Does the entire world have to be against me? Katniss Everdeen, the Girl on Fire, cause of death dehydration. What a pathetic excuse for that name am I?

But there's nothing to do but keep going. I go on and on, starting to stumble a little as my head becomes a pounding brick in the hot sun. I take my jacket off and put it in my backpack but the sun is only getting hotter. I feel on the verge of collapsing but I push on, thinking of Prim. I can't let her see me giving up even if I want to somehow. I have to find water and show those Gamemakers that they can't kill me this way. If only it was that easy.

Suddenly I feel as if I'm being watched. Silly since of course I am, I'm in the arena. But it's like…no it's stupid, I'm just dizzy and clearly not thinking straight. But…no, it's over there. To my left. I go that way carefully, following my instincts. Once I get to the tree though, there's nothing. I even look up into the tree. Is there a tribute there? There could be, it's not as if I'm the only person who can climb a tree. Just as I'm about to climb it for myself a twig snaps and I whip my head around to see who the intruder is.

Nothing.

I can't be crazy. This…just has to be the Gamemakers messing with me again, right? Sure they could snap a twig-they can do anything in this stupid arena. I go over to where I swear I heard it with my good knife in hand and find nothing once again. Annoyed, I decide to climb the nearest tree about three feet to my right to see if I can by chance find any water. It's difficult because I'm dizzy, but I take my time, making sure that my feet and hands are sure of themselves before climbing higher. I go at least fifty feet up before I stop and lean against the trunk, dazedly looking around.

Nothing again. Wait…what's that? Is that? No, it can't be. But it has to be. I scramble down the tree after checking the direction of it, hoping against hope that I'm not just hallucinating. I half jog towards it and slow when I see what I think I saw from up high, almost believing it's not true.

A pond. A small one, but a pond. With water. I check the water by dipping my finger into it and sucking it just to make sure it's not salt water or poisoned or anything. But there's nothing I can detect. Sweet, clean water. Thank god.

I put some in my container and the right amount of iodine drops, refraining from drinking it until it's purified just in case. No matter how thirsty I am I must wait the half hour. I haven't by chance gotten here for the Gamemakers to be able to kill me off out of my desperation for water, now have I? So I sink into the small pond instead and feel the slightly warm water surround me and clean me, closing my eyes for just a moment. I could almost pretend that I was home in the woods, in the lake that my father and I used to go to sometimes. It's far in the woods with an abandoned cabin of sorts. He took me there every once in a while and taught me to swim there. Showed me the katniss roots I was named for that lived in the lake.

I almost laugh when my fingers graze the mud of the bottom of this small pond and bring up two katniss roots, as if to add to my illusion. A brief respite from the games, I eat them raw, knowing I can't dare make a fire even if there's a likely chance that the Careers are just sleeping and I doubt there's another tribute for miles. My tongue is still dry though and it makes it difficult to swallow them, but I somehow feel fuller already. Has my stomach shrunken that much in the last day? Maybe. At least I'm used to not having a lot of food, I've been spoiled in the last week.

Deeming it long enough for the water to be purified since I don't have a clock to look at and I'm not sure how much longer I can wait, I force myself to sip the water slowly, filling it again and purifying this one as I wait for it. And then drink that one after eating a few more roots, staying in the pond the whole time. Drinking water, eating roots, lying in the water, drinking more. It's almost…relaxing. Or would be if I wasn't here.

Still, I know it's probably a brief respite. The Gamemakers surely didn't want me to find this place. Or did they? Could they be playing with me and they cracked that twig so I would climb it and find this pond? Do they want my death to be more entertaining than this? Probably. But there's nothing I can do about that now, so I refill anything I can with water and stay, knowing that at least I'll have water for when the time comes.

It's been a year since I've seen her. She's a little thinner, maybe slightly taller, but other than that she hasn't changed a bit. Same braid, same determined look if not a bit out of it. Same instincts.

It was really by chance I found her. After going in to my cave for a few hours and deeming that the Careers I would deal with later, I decided to go find her. A stupid mission since she could be anywhere in the arena, but I had to. She was the entire reason I came in the first place. I had assumed she would wake at the first cannon wherever she was though, so I followed the creek a way for about an hour, hoping to find her. She had to be near a water source, right? It's the first thing she would look for. And if she hadn't found it last night, she would definitely be looking this morning.

When it became apparent to me that she probably wasn't going to be at my creek, I went looking out in the forest. I mean, why would she be at the creek? My luck is not that good. But then…it was. It was around midday I'd guess. I wouldn't have recognized that there was someone near if it wasn't her I'd imagine, but there it was. So I silently crept that way and stopped in my tracks, finally seeing her for the first time in a while. She almost looked the same, but it was clear to me she hadn't found water yet. There was some sort of desperate haze to her.

I couldn't talk to her now. It would blow my cover and I didn't want the Capitol to know I was here yet. As much as I wanted to-and I desperately did-I couldn't. But that doesn't mean I can't help her. What kind of guardian angel would I be if I can't help her find something as vital as water? She needs to be hydrated.

So I followed her at a distance, keeping her in my view as I looked for signs of water the same as her. I climbed a few trees along the way too and looked around carefully before climbing down again, finding her, and then searching once more. That went on for a few hours before I finally found a small pond. Now the only thing was to get her to find it without me just telling her.

I started following her again when all of a sudden she stops short, whipping her head around and staring at me. Well not at me I guess since she can't see me, but close enough. I held my breath, knowing she would probably come investigate. Frankly, I'm surprised she didn't sense me earlier. She must be really out of it. Or maybe it's because she hasn't needed to in such a long time that she's forgotten how. Maybe she hates me so much for leaving her that she pushed sensing me out of her mind. I was her hunting partner and I left her. I won't deny that the shame of that as well as avoiding hearing her yell at me is part of the reason I'm not revealing myself to her yet.

When she starts coming my way I silently slip to the side of the tree, walking in the direction she's coming to get away from her. She can't find me. I'm invisible. But now she can sense me. It gives me an idea.

I look around and find a tree where I'm fairly certain she'll be able to see the pond from if she climbs high enough and looks in the right direction. Holding my breath, I watch her looking for what she sensed about fifteen yards away as I purposefully step on a branch. She reacts again, this time almost running in this direction with a knife in hand. Crap! I hide behind the tree, watching her from just feet away. I can hear her breathing hard, looking around for the culprit. I hold as still as I can and there's a knot in my stomach.

And then she climbs the tree and I can breathe a little easier. She will find it, I know she will. And if she doesn't…well, I'll make sure she does. I'm going to do my job now, be her guardian and get her through these Games alive. Seeing her in the flesh and blood has reminded me that she's the reason I'm here, not just to kill Careers.

If only I could get myself to talk to her now.

"You know he's my best chance in years, right?" I close my fist, wishing I had my other one for not the first time so I could punch him with my good arm. But it was my choice not to have a hand again. I couldn't let those Capitol bastards fix what they broke as if it never happened.

"I know, but think of it. We've been waiting for this for years and the opportunity has risen. It's already in motion." The Gamemaker tells me, who I have just found out is part of the rebellion. I had suspected, but I kept it to myself. After all, why would a Gamemaker be involved in wanting a rebellion to happen? Sure there have been stranger things, but he's not who I would have suspected. My contact in the Capitol is a maid of the damn dictator-not part of the Hunger Games at all. I must say though, it's a brilliant cover. Who would suspect?

But he doesn't understand. I'm at war with myself. Thresh, a boy who is strong, tough, and doesn't take crap. I've only had a tribute like him once ever in my twenty eight years as a mentor, and he was stupid. He got himself killed in the bloodbath. How can I give up on him for a girl that isn't my tribute? But she already has help, and the dice have been cast. "How good is he, this…vindicator you say they call him?"

"Smart. Knows the forest, like her. But he can be a bit rash sometimes. You saw what happened to the girl." He tells me, and I quirk an eyebrow.

"I had wondered where that came from." I comment, taking a sip of wine straight from the bottle. I'm going to need plenty for this idea, I can feel it.

"Yes, I tampered with the cameras but there will come a time when he does something I can't cover. That's where you can come in." he informs me.

"I don't know." I admit. Thresh wouldn't do it and I'd still hold out hope for him even if I help the girl. But poor little Rue… "My girl took an interest in her."

"Do you think that would be a help or a hindrance?" he questions me, and I shrug.

"What's Abernathy say?" I ask, not sure why a Gamemaker came to me with this idea instead of him. It's his tribute and this boy is from his district as well. Surely he knows them both so wouldn't his opinion be better than mine?

"I haven't exactly informed him yet." He frowns, looking down.

"On what?"

"Any of it." He admits, and I laugh even though it's silly at a time like this.

"You can't be serious! What can I do to help if it's his tribute and he has no fucking clue?" I chuckle almost darkly, swishing around the bottle before putting it down. This is just getting better and better.

"The fall will come to him obviously when he is revealed. I'm sure it won't be long now." The Gamemaker insists. While it's probably true, he's clearly forgetting something.

"No one would believe Haymitch anyway even if he did know. No one listens to him at all." I point out. It's part of the reason he can be so involved with District 13 directly. Honestly, I'm surprised they haven't told him yet.

"Precisely. And yet if you know, we can do exactly what needs to be done." He tells me and I cock an eyebrow.

"Oh yeah? What's that?"

"The girl on fire may have the audience, but she also needs the districts to back her. Who knows how the boy's appearance will be spun here in the Capitol? Surely we must have something to show the world that she is not a puppet." He suggests, and I think hard on it. Surely there must be another way. But there isn't. And I don't have much of a choice, do I?

"This boy better be good." I warn him.

"He is. What I'm more concerned about is how well they are together. And how it will play out in the end." The Gamemaker concedes, and I nod in agreement. Isn't that what it's all about, anyway? If we're going to play games and I'm backing another side, it better be worth it. I'll make damn sure of it.