The Careers take a hit, and Jonathan loses a friend. The Capitol takes a loss in stride. Katie makes herself known. Lone sees something in the dark. All revealed with Chapter #10: Call of the Lion.

I shielded my eyes, head hurting and I sat up, the golden sun blinding me. Quickly patting myself, I breathed a sigh of relief. I am alive, I am alright, and all the only thing wrong with me is that I am in the Hunger Games, y'know, fighting for my life. I had fallen asleep against a tree, one of my legs sprawled out underneath me, the feeling in my foot having been long gone, disappearing in the middle of the night like a phantom coming to only kill and steal. Slapping it and kicking the detached feeling limb started to rise it back to life, unlike the eight dead tributes now littered around this arena. I was just relieved that Katie nor I were one of them. Sitting back up against the tree, the bark coarse against my skin through the arena shirt, I counted who else was alive. I went through the list before I passed out last night, truthfully, but it felt right to go over it once more.

Five of the Career pack, which included Leeane and Altha, the other three names fleeting me. My alliance, that I guarantee you wasn't an alliance any longer. I saw Katie and Colby abandon the Cornucopia bloodbath all on their lonesome, no one else with them. Clearly, here I am, resting, by myself, so that detracts me from the equation. Leema and Madison were both dead, killed by someone, but I didn't know who. That left Felice, Ramon, and Lyon, and something didn't sit right with me. They all lost their district partners; Colby did too, yet he fled. He had been lying to us the entire time about his 'broken' leg, and I am still amazed even now, letting it sink into me, that he had kept the charade up for so long. A would be certain death sentence now has turned him into a contender, and actually, if none of us were in an alliance together, how could multiple people win?

Anyone by themselves? With sixteen left? Lone's alliance was the other gigantic chunk of people, five in all, he and his sister, Thatcher, and the District 10 pair, Huron and Amelia, who seemed extremely close. Brother and sister? I think so. The Careers: five, Lone's alliance: five, and my broken little deranged group of lost souls: six. We were all accounted for. I suppose you could say Katie, Colby, and I were the lone hunters, the ones fighting by themselves, the others all together. A chill ran through my body. How in the hell was I supposed to do this? To kill ten people all in alliances? What could I do to stop that?

My muscles were sore and my biceps ached. My leg was asleep still, starting to come back to life, but not quickly enough. If I were to be ambushed right here and now by any large group of fighters, I might as well kiss District 12 goodbye, kiss Bailey goodbye, kiss everyone and everything goodbye. Should it be up to me, I'd continue sleeping. It isn't up to me, though, is it? I felt a dry feeling in my throat, and the sun burned my skin. Opening the canteen of water I collected, the miniature thing it was, I downed it all, pouring some onto my face. It could be worse, I guess. I couldn't have any water or anything to eat or any food, anything like that at all.

Turning over to face my bow and quiver, I reached for my weapons. Safe and sound, and still with me. I don't know what I'll do if I was to lose them... I don't know how to fight hand-to-hand, and I've never had to learn. I fingered the arrows in the quiver, the feathered tips passing through the gaps in my fingers, lightly tickling my skin. The plumes were see-through, almost plastic-like, but extremely light. I picked one up, dancing it between my fingers, hardly moving a muscle, let alone a sweat. I dropped the arrow back into the quiver and felt the bow. It was a sleek black, painted to a shade of midnight, and unless it didn't have a slight gleam to it, I bet hardly anyone would see the weapon in the pitch darkness of night. This metal bow was extraordinary, and I had to give the weapon designers their kudos; this device was beautiful. Beautifully deadly, of course, remembering the way my arrow killed the girl from Nine, the one who had gone after Katie. I plucked the bowstring, like one on a violin, an instrument my mother kept locked away in a chest in our house. She never had the heart to play it, not since Dad left, and I don't recall her ever picking it up before then, with my memory being all but a blur, all but static and jarring greyness.

The bowstring - a marvel, truly - was a string thin as paper, but as strong as a brick. Plucking it back and forth, my fingers had a bit of a hard time if I didn't really put in the effort, and I have been plucking bowstrings since I was eight or nine. I stood, slinging the quiver over my shoulder, then the backpack following. I thought about firing the bow, just to test it, but I've already tested it. My one shot I fired, the one shot that killed. Firing again and again for practice... I'd just be shooting all of my arrows with chances missing and gone. I dropped the bow and didn't fire, shaking my head. The bow was just like the ones in the training center, painted a different color. Maybe even better than those, but I haven't fired it enough.

I don't know how long I had been laying here against the tree, how long it had been since I had fallen asleep to the time I had woken up; it could be midday at this point, with everyone pushing towards common ground. I could see, very loosely, the white tip of the mountain poking over the trees, but every time I looked at it, a lump formed in my throat. This wasn't the area to head towards, at least, not yet. That seemed like a finality to me, the end all be all, where the Games would end when Wyatt Crane wanted them to end. It looked like the cornucopia was a ring surrounded very deeply by a forest, and then on the far, far right of the forest line was the beach, but how large the area was, I don't know. The mountain sprawled behind the Cornucopia plain, to the southeast, but I could not gander at the size.

The arena couldn't be larger than a two hour walk from end to end, I felt like. Only a few miles, and honestly, that was smaller than the Seam back in Twelve.

Making up my mind, I headed in the direction of the beach. From the tiny spot on the hill during the Bloodbath whilst the countdown began, it didn't exactly spark hope in me at that being the best spot to camp at or stay during the Games. It was exposed to the tree line immeasurably, to the point I felt like that someone could barge through at any moment and if you had your back turned, good like surviving a blow like that. I felt like I had run for hours, but I knew this spot, this miniature little creek, and that spot spoke volumes to me, a place I'd want to go to.

Before long, I could smell salt on the air, and although I have never seen an ocean or anything larger than a lake in my entire life, I knew, from reading, what salt meant when you tasted it on the breeze. Water. Salt water, and the way the gusts seemed to get larger and stronger, my hair blowing around in the wind, to the point where I had to squint some. The trees seemed to mesh together, from ponderosa pine to more palm tree like, and the thicket grew tighter, to the point where I had to wade through by pushing the foliage away with my bow.

I heard some talking through the bushes, at a certain point, which only became more amplified the closer and closer I got, to where the ground, which had been oaky moss and the like shifted to sand, my heels digging into the dirt. I thought it was Lone and his group, but I didn't recognize the male voice I heard over the wind, which certainly hadn't been Lone or Thatcher, whose voice was somewhat nasally. If I could hear said tribute, I guarantee you someone else could hear me, and if it was Lone's alliance... I sucked in a breath, doing a turn around to check on my six. I didn't hear anything in any other direction which meant all was clear on the western front, just the east that had trouble. Maybe, just maybe it was Lone's group, and they changed voices overnight, heading to kill some tribute that was trekking through the woods.

I peered through several palm fronds, getting as close as I could without making myself known, drawing an arrow. I placed it against the drawstring, lightly pulling on it, to keep it loaded, but not enough where if I released the pressure, it'd fire. Squinting, as the frond covered more than I want to admit, I could spot what looked like five bodies and huddled together, standing around, some holding onto their weapons. Two guys and three girls. I let out a light gasp. Lone's group, unless there were alterations I didn't know about, had three guys and two girls on the flipside. Taking another brave step forward, drawing back with my bow this time, a shot angled at whomever I wanted to shoot, my suspicions were proved true.

The Careers were sitting there in plain view; I could even shoot them if I wanted to, and with me having this much coverage in the tree line, they wouldn't be able to tell exactly where it came from. The distance was a bit father than I like to admit, though, and I don't think I could make a clean shot, head, heart, neck... none of those areas that'd mean death. Pulling back the bow, I thought about shooting someone. Leeane's blonde hair was the brightest thing I saw in the mesh, blindly mixing in with the sand. She had the other bow, but the weapon itself was laying elsewhere on the ground, the quiver being the only piece on her body. I tightened the arrow grip. Maybe Leeane since her partner tried to kill me... maybe she was the one who should die, due to Arman's mistakes. She warned him, she kept on warning him.

I never got the chance to do so. There, quite close, actually, to my left, so in the opposite direction of me, was a loud and sudden rush of rustling, as if someone was running quickly through the thicket of palm and pine trees. Out of the corner of my eye, which caused me to slink up against a tree to cover myself, four different people went running by, me unable to tell who they were due to their speed. The four tributes, who had to have at least been only five to six hundred feet or so away from me paused very briefly on the sand line, and with a shout from the one in front, they all leaped onto the beach. I saw Lone reveal himself first, scaring the Careers to death, they having been wrapped up in some conversation of their own. The following three tributes after that went next, following their fearless leader, me forgetting how to breathe. I couldn't let them see me…

Rachel leaped out, followed by Thatcher and his darker than dark hair, and then I staggered as Lyon leaped out as well, holding a sword, the blade dripping with blood. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Lyon? My District 7 Lyon? With Lone? Had I fallen into some wormhole I didn't know about? Lone's cry of terror managed to alert the Careers of their presence, which might have been the his point all along. The girl from Four - I think her name was Zelina - cried out someone's name, as I saw by the moving of her lips, but I couldn't tell much else. She drew her spear, rushing forward to Thatcher, a spear on spear battle I assume. Leeane knocked it away and dragged her by the back of her shirt, the leader of the Career pack telling the others to run. Aha. She was terrified of them, as she should be. I was terrified of them as well. The boy tributes were a little late, the boys from Two and Four respectively, as Lone and Rachel were upon them faster than a lightning strike connecting to the ground. Both siblings from District 6 raised their axes, and I flinched, as the silver arcs came down in a slice of midnight, the blades embedding in their chests, both Career males flopping to the sand. Their cannons fired simultaneously and Zelina let out a wicked shriek in her haste of being dragged back.

Lyon, who had been sitting in the back while this took place, sprang forward and slashed at Altha, she being the only one left in the area. His blade just barely missed her arm, nicking through the material instead. Thatcher, who was taking a weapon off of the dead boy from Two's body, pushed Lyon out of the way, thrusting outwards with his spear, which Altha blocked, using the sword from the male from Four. The Career screeched as the spear glanced off of her calf, this time tearing open flesh, but for some reason, the spear got locked in the leather of her pants, and Altha took off. Thatcher turned around to face Lyon, when Rachel or Lone, I don't remember which sibling actually did it, cried out Thatcher's name, worry rising in their tone.

Leeane turned around, just down the beach, covering Altha and Zelina's retreat. She pulled an arrow out of her quiver, one that was more solid in composition, and fired her bow at one of the assailants. Rachel's cry of warning caused Thatcher to grab Lyon by the lapels of his tribute outfit, twisting him around. My ally from District 7 switched spots in the nick of time for Thatcher as the arrow went soaring down the beach line, and into his back. Lyon screamed in pain and fell to his knees, while Leeane took another shot, and another arrow hit him in the back, this time the arrow breaking all the way through and appearing out his stomach, and Lyon fell back onto the sand, screaming in agony.

Lone and Rachel gave Lyon a look of resentment, then back at themselves, nodding in silent agreement and ran after the other Careers, retrieving their axes from the dead bodies of the Careers I had seen them kill. Thatcher stood over Lyon, and I couldn't read the tribute's face - he was so close to me shooting him, but I couldn't compel myself to kill him, I didn't want to rush the chance - until Rachel had paused right before the beach met the forest.

"Leave him!" Rachel yelled to her ally. "He's as good as dead!"

That seemed to do the trick, and Thatcher shook his head, while Lyon lay in the sand, bleeding out, dying. I emerged out of the tree line, arrow in my bow, and I drew the arrow back, firing at the male from Nine, but my arrow did nothing except miss him. The projectile went soaring and into the water with a splash, not causing Thatcher to stop, not did he probably even notice. Lone, Rachel, and Thatcher disappeared into the trees, hot in pursuit on the remaining three Careers heels. I drew another arrow, making my way to Lyon as quick as I can, searching the beach for any more enemies.

Coast was clear.

I rushed forward and kneeled at Lyon's body, just as he took out the arrow that was in his back, letting out a guttural scream. No amount of screams for mercy or begging to be saved would do anything for him now. The other arrow, the one that went out his stomach still lay in there, blood slowly trickling out. I don't know which vital organ was affected, but it couldn't have been good. He had removed the arrow and was watching the blood pour out of him, turning his head to my direction as my feet became noticeable on the sand. He looked at me, and I was paralyzed, overcome with sadness, as my ally bled out onto the sand.

"I know you, I know you," he cried weakly, trying to sit up, but it just brought him more pain. How could he be this pale already?

I knelt down onto the sand, it digging into my heels, and I held his hand. "Silence Lyon, rest now; be at peace," and although I really did not know him very well, I couldn't simply let him die. That wouldn't be right. "You fought well."

Lyon laid his head back onto the sand. "Lone said he would have killed me if I refused to help him," he swallowed, face ashen. "I was forced to find you in the arena," and he pressed a hand up against his stomach to try and staunch the bleeding. "I couldn't even do that. Now I'm utterly useless..."

My hands were starting to get heavy, my heart beating in my chest. I felt his grip begin lighten. "You aren't worthless Lyon; I know you fulfilled whatever commitments you made before you left," I tightened my hand against him, however, no matter if his began to falter or not. "Don't go and have this on your mind."

A drop fell out of his mouth, scarlet in color, dark in intentions. "I lost her," he choked on his words, and there were tears mingled in with the blood. "I lost Leema, Jonathan. Lone killed her right in front of me, and I- I lost her, I-"

"I lost her too, Lyon," I said gently, leaning in to him. "I understand."

"I killed someone..." he whispered. "Right after she died, as I was making my way to her, thinking I could save Leema..." a light snort, that exerting so much pressure out of him. "The boy from Eight, who couldn't take no for an answer." The pacifist even fought; the Games can change people, and change people they have done indeed. I couldn't imagine myself actually ending someone's life, but yesterday, as I indeed did with the girl from District 9, it only took a second, a split-second decision, and she was dead, to protect Katie. All to protect Katie.

Lyon watched a drip of blood trickle down his shirt, giving me a light smile, his teeth stained with copper. "Leema thought she could win, y'know? She honestly thought she could..." his eyes look a bit off into the distance. "And now she's dead and gone. Like me..." he swallowed, Adam's apple bobbing in his throat. "I thought I could win, too."

"You have won, Lyon," I lied. "You've won the Hunger Games."

"Don't lie to me, Jonathan," he whispered once more. "I don't want my final memory to be you lying to me."

I wiped a tear off my cheek, which had fallen quickly onto the sand. I promised I wouldn't cry, but I- I don't know what to do, and I can't save him. "Goodbye Lyon, I will miss you."

Lyon smiled faintly, head turned up to the sky. "I will be missed, I will be missed... I... I will be missed..."

His smile froze, and he didn't move again. Lyon spoke no more. His cannon fired, I bowing my head in respect. The sand was copper and black with the blood of the dead tributes, the two dead Careers just off to the right from me, but I didn't look at them. Closing Lyon's eyes, I covered the wound as best I could with the jacket, before standing back up, my heart still pounding in my chest.

He died. I watched Lyon die right in front of me, and all because Leeane fired an arrow and because Rachel cried out, and Thatcher moved out of the way. Step A turned to Step B, and they skipped fifteen steps to end on Step XYZ.

The call of the lion vanished somewhere into the arena, leaving my team down another, and Lone's breathed on.

I began heading back towards my brook, the spot with the four oak trees and the little spring running through, but I gave one last look at the beach where the carnage took place, as the hovercraft emerged out of a hole in the sky, picking up the two Careers and Lyon one after the other in its iron claw.

I wonder how long it will take before I am eventually lifted up in its grasp, trapped from its leviathan bite.

I wondered what Katie was thinking, now that Leema, Lyon and Madison were dead. The boys from District 2 and 4 shone in the sky, Lyon's following shortly after them and I looked away from the screen. I was back at my brook, having taken my shoes off, to dip my feet in the chilling water. This was fine, I suppose, the calmness, the way the arena became quiet after a mad rush of death. The rest of my day had been uneventful, needing to hide a few times as the female Careers were running around from camp to camp location, and for awhile, I followed them from spot to spot. They didn't stay in any area for long, just enough to make makeshift camps and then dash away. I stopped after the fourth one, because at that time it was getting dark, and I was not going to stick around with them in case it meant Lone and his alliance were far behind. We staggered down to thirteen now, eleven gone in two days, and Lone's alliance now was the strongest force in the arena.

On my way back to the creek, with my arrow drawn - I wasn't going to have my guard down like Leeane did, how the Career had her back turned to all threats, and seeing where it got them - there was a figure running in the woods, but far too fast for me to shoot them. I cried out once or twice at the tribute - it was only one of them, a black shadow hidden behind all the trees - and they seemed to stop once or twice, and look in my general direction, but nothing more than that. A long, rather oblong object, seemed to be strapped to their side, made of bamboo, and they ran faster than any animal I've ever hunted, which were really only elk, deer, and birds, and it wasn't as if those speeds were unfathomable.

Exhaustion had settled all the way into my bones when I returned to my iconic tree, no signs of anyone having been there besides me since I left, which was a good sign. Perhaps I could go unnoticed the entire Games, and wouldn't that be a blessing? I rested my head against the formidable tree, having long ditched the covering that glowed a neon green in the dark - did the Gamemakers really think I'd fall for that sort of trick? How stupid did I look to them? - but still alert, bow half drawn lying in my lap. God, it was hot, and I don't know if it would get any cooler, since last night was relatively warm too. I didn't want to jump into the stream, as trying to hop back out would prove difficult, and if I was caught without being armed, there wasn't much I could do to protect myself.

How was Katie doing? My mind wandered over to her, skipping what everyone else might be thinking about. I didn't want to think of home, or of my brother, or of Bailey and the Seam and the Hob and the woods. I wanted to think about Katie, my district partner, my ally, and the girl who said she was in love with me. I didn't, honestly, feel that way for her. I don't think I ever would, either, with Bailey being there, and Bailey actually being my best friend and all. Katie and I knew each other similarly, speaking on cordial terms, but nothing to the point where I could say I felt any romantic urges. It just wasn't there.

That didn't mean I didn't care about her. Of course I did! She was trapped in this hellhole with me too, and if I could find her again, maybe we could team up too. This alliance rule sounded great when it came out of Louis's mouth, but I truthfully didn't benefit from it in the slightest, not at this stage. I knew Katie was alive, obviously, her face hadn't been shown in the sky, and there was only three cannons today, and I saw all of their deaths.

The last time I saw her, she was running off into the forest, opposite the direction I went, and her shoulder had been wounded. She had a weapon, so at least she wasn't defenseless, but I couldn't shake the bad thoughts out of my head. I just hoped she was okay.

Suddenly, a twig snapped behind me, louder than any other natural noise I had heard all night. My eyes widened, and I sat straight up, then crouching onto one knee, I turned a bit away from the oak tree. More rustling, and the sound of a blade cutting away at leaves and branches sticking out in their path, until I heard whatever it was behind me trip, emitting a very human sounding nose. A grunt, that came from a feminine voice. That meant Rachel, Leeane, Katie, Felice, that girl from Ten, or the other Careers. Could I handle any of them in a fight?

I pulled back on the bowstring and pointed an arrow at Katie's heart, she appearing through the tree line.

"Katie?" I said astounded, lowering the arrow, my voice riveting in shock, getting to my feet. What- what was she doing here?

"Jonathan? Is- is that you?" came Katie's feeble voice from the trees, and she appeared to me in full. Her hair was still tied in a braid that rested on her left shoulder, the one that wasn't wounded, and her emerald eyes glowed like serene blades of grass ever still, no noticeable shade differences. She walked into the moonlight, it dousing her in a pillar of silver, and I inhaled deeply. Her right shoulder was pretty much submerged in a crimson color. Blood. A lot of blood.

"What happened to you?" I questioned, sucking in a breath. "You're' you're bleeding profusely," my voice shook at the word, and I have never heard myself speak in that tone of voice.

Katie held up a hand, steadying herself against a tree. "I got lost..." she said, breathlessly, and I extended a hand for her to take. "I was trying to head towards the mountain, but I ran into the guy from Nine, who was running around, looking for tributes," and she swayed in her spot, sitting down on the damp ground. "I ran straight into him, which reopened my wound. He didn't expect anyone to hit him, I don't think, and so I ran away before he could give chase."

I nodded quickly, unsure of where to place my hands. This Katie is not the same one I saw at the Cornucopia, not the same person whose life I saved. "Was it Thatcher?" she shrugged her shoulders, starting to lie back, but I propped her up. She needed to elevate the wound. "Have you seen Ramon and Felice?"

"No," she said, and I couldn't believe how she tethered the line between weak and strong so well, as if she could tip or teeter totter this way or that, standing high above on a tightrope. "Have you?"

"No," I answered, digging into my backpack. The neon was a no go, but if I could rip out the leather of the backpack... "Let me help you with that-"

"I can handle it," Katie shook her head, trying to push me away. "I don't need your help really..." she was out of breath.

"Let me help," I urged, gripping her wrist lightly, my thumb digging in at one of the pressure points. "Please?"

My district partner narrowed her gaze at me in the moonlight, and I helped move her to rest up against my tree. I drank the last few drops from my canteen before filling it up again, giving it to her, while I watched her drink it, and within a moment, a single second, it had been all gone, and Katie handed me back the canteen. I thought about filling it up again, but that might prove to be too dangerous, and I didn't want to overhydrate her.

"I'm glad I found you," she said, smiling faintly. A normal, white smile. Not like Lyon's with the bloodied teeth and everything."

"Me too," I whispered quietly, digging into my backpack, still ripping out part of the inside to tie around her shoulder, to give her compression. Lucas nor my mother were any sort of healers, so I was lost on relative methods to help her heal, besides applying pressure and elevating the wound. Leaning in close, I asked her to remove her hand from the wound. "Lyon died today," I said. "I saw him on the beach, fighting Leeane, and she shot him in the stomach," I didn't want to reveal the whole truth to her, I don't think I could do that to myself, it just wouldn't feel right, and certainly not to her. The complication of Thatcher throwing him in front of the arrow, of Lyon being with Lone at all. "I was with him when he died..."

Katie bowed her head. "I saw his face in the sky," and she looked over at me, eyes distant, but a warmth I was used to from her. "I'm glad you were with him in the end. You've always been good at that."

"Good at what?" I asked, looking up at her.

"You know," she said, turning her head back in the opposite direction, noticing the way the water ran.

"No, I don't," I said, applying a bit more force to my statement, pausing my efforts. "What am I good at?"

"Caring," Katie swallowed, reaching for the canteen again. The wound wasn't too deep, and the stab had really only been surface level, but in the arena, fighting for your life against the Capitol in the Games... they didn't need much to kill you; a surface level wound was enough. The skin around the wound was a bright pink, which I could see in the dying light of the sky, but I began to wrap it around the wound. She hissed, and gripped my hand that was snared around the top part of her right arm. "You've- you've always known how to do it. With Bailey and her family. Your brother," Katie looked down at my bow, and then met my eyes. "With me."

"What do you mean?" I froze, and it seemed as if all the sound in the arena froze right then and there, to hang onto every precipice, onto every word we were saying.

"My interview with Louis," she said. "I- my feelings for you," Katie adjusted herself against the ground, grunting slightly.

"Oh," was all I could even muster to say back, tightening the remainder of the makeshift gauze around the wound, and then stood. "I know I didn't handle it the best, but, I-"

"I know, Jonathan," Katie said, and she struggled to her feet, and this time, I didn't help her up. She was getting comfortable again. Close. It's what my mom said once, something that has stuck with me for the longest time. About not getting close, about not letting anyone get close to you the way my father did to my mother. He didn't die; one day, he simply got up and left in the middle of the night. My mother mentioned getting a letter from him once, a few days after that, from some old dried house in a meadow out in the District 12 woods, part of the forbidden fruit landscape of milk and honey and gold. I am not allowed to get close. "I know I can't expect you to ever feel that way about me, and I-"

This was too much for me. "I can't," I said, interrupting her, and the emerald shine in her eyes dimmed to a more subdued shade, like pickled olive, and she inhaled sharply. "I can't, Katie, I don't think, ever love you. I- it's never been on my mind," I had to let her down gently. I couldn't do another Katniss and Peeta situation, and everyone in Twelve knew how that happened. That couldn't be my experience. I couldn't let Henry and Georgia and Rose and Rev - I knew they were trying their best and wanted us to win, but I just couldn't - dictate my heart. "Besides, I have Bailey. It's always been Bailey."

Katie frowned, sniffling, but she didn't seem upset to me. "I understand, Jonathan, I do. Thank- thank you for telling me."

I grabbed my bow and the quiver, slinging it back over my shoulder. "I'm going to go hunt for dinner, Katie. You stay here, okay?"

"No," she said, and she shifted forward some, grabbing at my arm, pulling it down. "Stay..." our bodies shifted in the dirt some, I almost loosing my footing and falling into the water. "Stay here tonight. I spent two days trying to find you; how do I know you aren't just going to disappear on me again? I can't do that, Jonathan."

She wanted me to stay.

She wanted me to stay.

What would Bailey even think of this?

All the water in my mouth dried up, and I lost how to speak for a moment. "Sure..." I exhaled, after catching the ability to talk once again. "Alright; if that's what you want."

"It's what I want," Katie nodded.

She sat back down, scooting over slightly, resting her head back onto the tree. I followed likewise, keeping my eyes open however, bow resting in my lap, quiver still on my back, and the arrow drawn.

I tried not to notice the way Katie curled up onto my arm, resting her head on my shoulder, and the way I couldn't even say good night.

Lone threw his ax into the air, catching it, tossing it up once more, and then sidestepping out of the way. The metal blade fell into the sand with a sickening thump, and he wrenched it free, tossing a look towards his allies assembled over against the tree line, resting on beach and forest alike. Thatcher idly sat up at the water's edge while he practiced spearing fish, spear in hand, two Capitol mutations stuck to the white, gleaming tip of the weapon. Rachel and Amelia were close to each other against another tree, whispering and pointing at stuff, and sometimes they'd giggle, Lone's blood boiling. Huron sat the farthest away, holding onto a stick, and Lone witnessed him writing messages in the sand to his girlfriend. Did any- did any of them care about the Games? At all?

"Father would be disgusted," he thought to himself, stepping away from Thatcher and over towards the far right. Lone looked at the mark in the sand where Lyon used to lay, the corpse long gone, having been stolen away earlier by a hovercraft. All that remained were the darkest spots in the sand that would indicate blood, but they had dried, and the beach was ever quiet, zero waves, zero ways to wash away the old sins. He took a deep breath, frowning slightly, shaking his head. Lone resented the decision only because now finding Jonathan would be harder than having someone he wanted as an ally being on your side. It's a shame the kid died, sure, but Lone would've snapped his neck the moment his usefulness was outlived, and apparently, that meant 14th place in the arena.

The male from District 6 wandered back to the younger boy from Nine, crouching down low, but not sitting down in the sand. He wouldn't sit down and let any of this Capitol filth touch him; he was too important for that.

"So, why did you ditch Lyon again?" Thatcher asked for the fourth time, picking another fish out of the water. He looked at their fearless leader for an answer, and Lone's glare didn't deter him. He must've gotten said insubordination Rachel, who just because she was his flesh and blood, thought she could undermine his decisions at any random said turn. Lone wanted to punch the cheeky bastard in the face and break all his teeth; it'd be a better look for him.

"Why did you let him take the arrow?"

"I'm not letting some Career kill me," the boy scoffed, sneering. "If I am going to die, I am having some worthy opponent do it. Leeane is not worthy," he plucked the spear out of the ocean, letting them fall to the sand, and then he leaned back on said weapon. "I'll ask you a fifth time. Why did you ditch Lyon again? He wasn't needed for your plans?"

"Because he was wounded and we didn't have time to heal him," Lone answered nonchalantly, shrugging. "I thought he could lead us to Jonathan, but there isn't anything or anyone in this arena that could lead us to him in any way besides happenstance," his body burned at the thought. A useful ally, dead with an arrow to the stomach. "We didn't have the time to leave him here and hope he was alive. I would've put him out of his mercy anyways," he growled.

No one that stood in Lone's way of a victory deserved mercy, surely not an ally of the Crimson brat and his scoring twelve abilities.

Huron looked up, shoving the stick away. "It is so hard to believe that three Careers are dead in two days..." and then he smiled. "And that we did it." Make that the second person Lone wanted to punch in the face and break all of their teeth.

Rachel cracked a smile, getting to her feet. "If we continue doing this we will be the only ones left," she matched Huron's enthusiasm, crossing her arms, one axe blade strapped to her side. "And we would live." Lone shook his head in disappointment. Oh, you sweet child, you sweet innocent child. Why do you think I will let you join me in paradise everlasting?

They all guffawed, because surely, surely the alliance wouldn't all be alive when it came down to the end. "Keep dreaming sister," Amelia giggled. Giggling. Lone hated giggling. He hated girls giggling. Maybe he even hated girls.

Lone looked up at the moon, it shone like a ball of mozzarella, making him strangely hungry. It made him sad, actually, looking up at the interstellar body, and the way it had been all by its lonesome. An object alone in the world. "We have to move. It's going to be darker than dark soon," he said. "I know there aren't any tributes that will attack us now with our numbers, it'd be foolish," Lone has to remind himself now that they're the top dog alliance, literally in a matter of days. "We ambushed the Careers this morning on the beach, and someone could do it to us tomorrow," a ball built in his throat. "We can't be so sure."

His sister walked over to him, resting a hand on his shoulder. "Give it a rest, Lone. We killed two Careers, and indirectly got someone else out of the way. You worry too much," he shrugged her touch off of him, wanting to break her hand while he did it. "That's the one thing I am better at than you," Rachel twirled a strand of her hair around a finger. "I'm calmer and more collected; you can't get your head to relax at all, you're too fixated on the Games."

"I will disembowel you in front of the entire country," Lone thought to himself, locking his jaw, but he didn't say anything.

Thatcher raised an eyebrow, turning around. "You honestly believe that District 12 would be able to kill us? I mean hear yourself, dude. Jonathan and Katie aren't threats," he began to count on his fingers. "The Career fighters are pathetic, and the other souls do not compare. We're fine."

Isn't this the same kid that lost his district partner to the guy he's saying isn't a threat? When do any tributes from District Twelve make it past the first two days, let alone both? Lone knew right then and there his alliance was hopeless, every single one of them, including his stupid, stupid, oh so stupid sister.

Lone chuckled to himself, shrugging his shoulders. "Whatever, guys. Have it your way," he didn't want to argue. The strength in his bones was sapped away after the chase, which was rather unfruitful. "If we die tomorrow morning, don't get mad at me..." Lone looked down the beach, unsure if he was looking at smoke, a Gamemakers trap, or some hallucination... a white form dancing along the sand and the wake of the waves.

Rachel gave him a comforting pat, but not daring to extend that into a hug. They didn't hug like that. "Alright, let's get some sleep guys. Thatcher, you're the fastest. You have first watch."

The male from Six wandered a bit off of the beaten path away from everyone else, crouching down against a tree, resting his head on a soft pillow of moss. He was about to fall asleep when the apparition he was staring at down the beach seemed to morph. What was that? Lone then propped himself on one elbow. He rubbed his eyes hard, thinking he saw a ghost. He chuckled, and gave a deep breath, shaking his head.

Nothing.

There was absolutely nothing there.

He thought he had seen Lyon, killing him in a misty apparition, with an axe blade marking his death.

How silly. Lyon is dead, and he's alive.

The dead can't hurt the living.

Lone smiled to himself at that happy thought, closing his eyes, praying for sleep, and wishing for the death of everyone on the arena, everyone on the beach, and all of his enemies. He even included himself in the wish.

Tribute List (Boy - Girl)

District 1: Leeane (District 1 Female)

District 2: Altha (District 2 Female)

District 3: Colby (District 3 Male)

District 4: Zelina (District 4 Female)

District 5: Felice (District 5 Female)

District 6: Lone (District 6 Male) - Rachel (District 6 Female)

District 9: Thatcher (District 9 Male)

District 10: Huron (District 10 Male) - Amelia (District 10 Female)

District 11: Ramon (District 11 Male)

District 12: Jonathan Crimson (District 12 Male) - Katie Wenshaw (District 12 Female)

It is the end of Day Two, and we say goodbye to all the unnamed characters; every character left is named, and we have said goodbye to Lyon, and the 99th Hunger Games continues. Jonathan and Katie have reunited, but the cleared air has stilled, and it seems even battle-hardened Lone can take a break from the arena too. Hope to see you all again with Chapter #11: Spearhead.

~ Paradigm