Two canons had gone off yesterday. Two canons and James didn't know if one of them had signaled Lily's death until the sky went dark and he could finally see that it wasn't her picture in the sky.

He had felt relieved that she was still safe, that he hadn't let her die before he'd tried to help her. And then he felt sick at his relief, because that girl from District 7 and the boy from 9 had been important to people too, and he felt disgusted with himself for being glad for the deaths.

He knew that was how the game was designed though. In order to get out of here, everyone else needed to die. He knew that. But it still felt wrong to be glad that two children were dead. Even if it brought him closer to helping Lily, to getting her home safe.

And it wasn't good to let himself dwell on the guilt anyway, or he would begin thinking about his own family and how they would feel when they saw him fall in the arena.

He hoped that it would be a quick death. Something that wouldn't be too scarring for any of them back home. He hoped that he didn't have to do anything too terrible that would tarnish their memory of him.

He hoped they wouldn't be too upset with him for not wanting to come back after all of this.

It wasn't just that he thought Lily could make it home. It wasn't just that he thought that he couldn't make it home. No, he knew that he was going to have to kill someone before the games were over and he didn't want to have to live with that on his conscious.

He could just say that he wasn't going to do it, but he knew that he would when it came down to it. If he saw someone with a knife to Lily's throat, or if they came at him, he knew that he would try to take their life.

That made him sick too.

It was better not to think too much about any of it.

He should just focus on what it was he was going to do today.

He'd already wasted most of the day by staying up in the tree. He felt safe up there, and he was extra tired today, after spending most of the day worrying about whether or not Lily was okay yesterday and then all the terrible thoughts that had kept him up last night. And on top of that he was fairly sure that he was dehydrated. He knew that whatever he did today, it was going to have to be strategic and slow.

He needed to find water. And soon.

He took out his canteen and unscrewed the cap. There was nothing left, but he needed to check to make sure. He looked up at the sky and wondered if it were too soon to start hoping for a parachute from a sponsor.

He didn't need one yet though. He knew that. His situation wasn't that dire yet. And he could find water. He would find water today.

He slowly started packing everything up and then carefully made his way down the tree.

He was about halfway down when he heard some whooping and hollering from his right and he froze, trying to decide if the noise was going away from him, or coming toward him. Should he be climbing back up?

It was the careers of course, and they were coming right at him.

For a brief moment, James thought that they had spotted him, but they made no move to pull out weapons and then the pair from District 1 started going on about the girl that Lestrange had killed yesterday. James almost didn't hear them as his eyes honed in on the bow that was slung around the girl from District 2's arm. But then the words started to hit him, and he had to grind his teeth together.

"Did you see the blood vessels pop in her eyes?" The girl asked, sounding enthralled. James' stomach turned and he started climbing back up the tree, even more slowly than he'd been climbing down.

"I saw." Lestrange said, his tone wasn't as cheerful. "But it's 12 that I want. There's something special about that girl and I'm going to be the one to take her down." James' fingers dug into the bark as he forced himself to stay quiet. Sirius' voice played in his head, telling him not to do anything stupid.

"I don't think she's so special, but sure thing," The girl said, linking arms with him and smiling up at him. It was like she'd forgotten that only one of them were going to make it out of the arena. "So long as I can watch, I don't have a problem with that."

"Your kind of taking all the fun though, Lestrange. If you call dibs on the girl from 12, then we should get the next person that comes along." This was the boy from District 2, and the girl who had her arm linked with Lestrange glared at him over her shoulder. James realized that she was probably just playing at fawning all over him so he didn't think to kill her before she could kill him. It was a pretty good plan and it looked to be working for her.

"I don't know what makes you think you get to call the shots," She snapped. "If Lestrange wants to kill them all, that's fine. He puts on a better show than you do anyway. You killed that boy yesterday and it took you all of three seconds to do it."

The boy looked down at his feet and kicked at a rock. James couldn't hear what he muttered, but it made Lestrange laugh. "We're here to put on a good show, buddy. Emma's just looking out for the people in the capital." The girl, Emma, smiled really big at him.

"Glad you understand, Rab."

The boy from District 2 crossed his arms over his chest and looked back over his shoulder. "Why are we even keeping him alive?" He asked, his voice quieter. "He's nearly useless."

"Do you want to carry our supplies?" Emma asked, but then she looked over her shoulder and scowled. The boy from 4 was so far back that James hadn't even noticed him until they pointed him out. "Hurry up, would you? We'd like to get some actual hunting done before the sun goes down."

"I'm coming!" He shouted. He was wearing a large green backpack that was stuffed to the seams with supplies. James saw rope and food packs and canteens and weapons. He felt his stomach rumble and pushed himself further against the tree so he wouldn't have to see all the supplies that hadn't come in his pack.

When the boy caught up, Emma reached over and shoved him. "Don't make us wait for you again." She snapped and then her and Lestrange started off again. The pair from District 2 laughed and the boy shoved his shoulder against the younger kid as they followed after Lestrange.

The boy stumbled and fell, some of the supplies tumbling from his pack. The hastily reached for them, pushed himself up and then ran after the careers. James didn't know why someone would willingly spend time with the careers when they knew that they were going to kill him. Perhaps he was hoping to outwit them. Perhaps he was just terrified.

Once he couldn't hear them any longer, James counted to one hundred and then climbed down the tree. The shot of adrenaline at seeing the careers and then hearing them talk about wanting to kill Lily had drained out of his body now and he felt even more tired than before.

He spun around where he stood and tried to figure out where he was in the arena, but he couldn't remember. He assumed that the careers had come from the lake, so maybe he should head that way while they were distracted up here. He could get some water.

But they were after Lily, they were hunting her, and James couldn't run off to the lake when he knew that.

He ran a hand through his hair and then hit his palm against his forehead. "Just make a decision." He muttered. He opened his eyes, not having realized that he'd closed them, and something shinny on the forest floor caught his attention.

A canteen.

James didn't want to let himself hope, but he couldn't really stop it from bubbling up in his chest. It had been in the career's supplies, the boy must not have seen it when he was racing to pick up what had fallen, there had to be something in it…

He picked it up and sighed in relief to find it full.

He pulled the cap off and started taking in mouthfuls of the cleanest water that he'd ever tasted. It wasn't flavored like it had been in the capital, it didn't have an earthy taste to it like it had in 12, it was just clear and cool and perfect.

He forced himself to stop drinking when it was half gone, knowing that he might need it later, and because his stomach started to cramp up.

He shouldn't have drunk it that fast, but it couldn't be helped. He put the canteen in his backpack and then started off in the direction that the careers had gone.

The plan that was forming in his head was a stupid one, and it might get him killed, but it was the first clear plan that he'd had all day and he wasn't going to give himself time to start doubting it. If he gave himself time to think about it, he'd realize how stupid it was and he might not do it.

Instead, he just kept putting one foot in front of the other and walked deeper into the woods, hoping that the careers wouldn't turn around and come back the way they had come.

Forget being an unlucky bastard, James was a stupid fuck.

That's what he was telling himself as he slowly inched his way toward the career's camp that night.

The careers from the first two districts were all sleeping, and they had left a young kid from District 4 to keep watch. But the kid was tired, and James had waited until his head dropped down before he started inching his way forward.

The closer he got, the louder his heartbeat drummed in his ears, and the more sure he was that it was going to wake everyone up.

But the bow was so close now. They had it perched up against a tree, of course the tree that it was perched on also had the kid from District 4 leaning up against it.

James was a stupid fuck.

He slowly took a deep breath through his mouth and then held his breath as he inched his way closer, trying to pay attention to where he stepped and look around at all five of the other tributes at the same time.

He hated knowing that the cameras were most likely on him at the moment too. There was a small chance that someone else in the arena was doing something more dangerous or stupid at this exact moment. But James knew that if he didn't take this chance now, then he wasn't going to get another one this good. This was the best scenario that he could hope for. The bow and arrows were together, and not attached to any of the careers, the person that was meant to keep watch was asleep and he had to move quickly and quietly.

He reached the tree, and paused behind it to take another deep breath. He peeked around, at the careers first, and then at the kid. They were all still and quiet.

A terrible thought crossed his mind.

He could take them out just then. He had a knife in his backpack, and he could sneak up to them and slit their throats while they slept. It would be quiet, the chance of him getting to all of them wasn't great, but he'd get some of them before anyone woke up.

He looked back at the kid. What would he do if he was the one to wake up first and see James with a knife to Lestrange's throat?

He shook his head and reached for the bow. The faster he could grab it and get out of here, the better. His hand closed around it and he heard someone take in a sharp breath. James froze, not daring to move his hand from the bow, he didn't move at all.

He couldn't see the kid, but he could tell that everyone else was asleep. He slowly got his free hand on the knife that he'd been keeping in his pocket, telling himself that it was a last resort.

He heard the kid clear his throat and wanted to slit his throat just for making noise. If he woke up any of the other tributes, James didn't know what he would do. He didn't think he was fast enough to outrun all of them.

But then the kid stood up and jumped around a bit, as though he was trying to wake himself up. If he turned around, James would be caught. He still had one hand on the bow, afraid to move too quickly.

Instead of looking around, the kid walked forward a good twenty feet or so and James heard the zipper of his pants.

He let out a quiet sigh and used whatever time he would be granted to silently sling the bow over his shoulder and pick up the pack of arrows. He would have slung those over his shoulder too, but he didn't want them to rattle around in the case, so he held onto the arrows and took one last look at everyone in the camp before he turned around and started back into the woods, watching his feet more than anything else, since the last thing he needed to do was snap a twig under his foot, or trip over a protruding tree root.

He looked back over his shoulder every few steps until he couldn't see anyone in the camp anymore. He continued moving silently for another five minutes or so, and then put the arrows on his shoulder so that he could move more quickly.

He got to a clearing in the wood, but paused before entering it. A clearing in the dark didn't seem safe, there was nothing to hide behind and anyone nearby would be able to see him and get a clear shot at him with any weapon they chose.

But there was something he needed to do before he could find a place to rest for the night. And since he felt dead on his feet, he'd like to get it done as soon as possible so that he could get into a tree and let himself pass out.

He looked up at the sky, ran a hand through his hair. "I don't think there's anyway you all would know this, but Lily's ace with a bow, so if anyone wants to let me know where she is," He grinned, hoping that the camera was on him now. It should be, since the careers were sleeping. "Or if you'd like to see what she can do…" He wiggled the bow a bit and then nodded.

He knew that the sponsors weren't permitted to give him Lily's location, but he was putting on a show here. He would find Lily tomorrow, and because of what he said tonight, there might be sponsors who were willing to get them a nice meal or something that she would appreciate.

He tucked the bow back against his shoulder and walked around the clearing. He needed to find some water tomorrow as well as Lily. He'd gone through all that was in his pack, and he was going to let himself finish off what was left of the careers water before he fell asleep. He knew that he needed more than what he had, and so saving the last of it wasn't going to be helpful.

He found a good tree, broad branched and thick leaves, and started climbing. He wedged himself in the nook of a couple different branches, pulling out his sleeping bag and rope and went to bed for the night feeling pretty good. He'd managed to not die, and he'd managed to get the bow and he wasn't as dehydrated as he'd been the night before. All in all, this was about as good a day as he was going to get in the arena.

Though, he couldn't hep but hope that maybe tomorrow would be even better. Maybe he would find Lily and he would get to see the look on her face when he handed her the bow. He would get to make her feel safer, he'd get to talk her up and make her actually believe that she could make it home.

Yeah, tomorrow was going to be even better.


AN: Alright, so there we have it. James is a fool and Lily is completely unsure of herself. Let me know what you think in the comments!