Third Person's POV

"How long do you think they'll stay down there?"

"Don't know. Their mutated super wolves. They can probably produce their own food if they had to..." Shade snorted at that thought as she lay back against his chest.

"What?" Cato's blue eyes sparkled as he looked down at her.

"It's just the thought of giant wolves cooking supper at a stove..." She smirked and waited for his reaction. His lips only twitched up momentarily before he looked away and shook his head.

"You're crazy, you know that?"

"You aren't telling me anything new..." She said as if it were a matter of fact as if she really had really known. "I'm still hungry." Shade grumbled as she leaned her head back on Cato's chest. She was lying between his legs again in a similar fashion like when they were in the cave. One of his large hands was behind his head, serving as a pillow while the other was tangled in her soft hair.

The wolves continued to snap at their heels below them. They had been going at it for about an hour. The tall creatures continued to circle the base of the tree, waiting for their prey to move.

"Me too..." Cato said, his voice calm as he glanced down at the wolves.

"Do you have any food in your bag?" She asked as she swung her own down from the branch above them. Unzipping the black bag, she sat up and withdrew the butcher's knife, sinking the blade deeply into the wood beside her, inches from Cato's leg. He didn't seem too worried about it.

Reaching a hand into the bottom of her bag, she pulled the warm blanket out. She also brought the crumpled notes out from the bottom of the bag where she had kept them all. Tossing them to Cato, he held the clump in his hands.

Shade continued to dig through the contents of her bag, finding a small role of wire and and her flint, along with the rope that had been a noose earlier that morning. Now it was just rope.

As Cato watched her rummage through her things, he glanced down at the pile in his hands. He only looked for a moment but he still managed to see it. There was something on the back of one of the notes. At first thought, Cato thought that the back of the notes were empty. But on further inspection, he found that all the notes had something on the back.

A single letter was on each piece of paper.

"Shade..." She basically had her entire head inside the back pack. He heard her grunt in response as she continued to look for any signs of food in her bag. "Shade!" Cato's eyes scanned the notes.

"What?" She snapped from inside the bag.

"Look at this!" He held out the straightened notes. She removed her head from the bag and looked at him. Her bun was a frazzled mess on the top of her head. He held his hand out and showed her. Confusion wrote itself across her face.

"E, B, R, E, L?" She looked up at him. He nodded, a slight smirk on his face. "What does it even mean?"

"I think its a message."

"From who?"

"I think it's from Haymitch..." Cato told her quietly.

"Those letters don't even make up a word!" She all but yelled. The wolves continued to snap at their feet but they were ignored for the moment.

"Well, you have to move them around!" Cato told her as he laid the notes down on the wood and began moving them around. The both of them were stumped for a few moments before she finally put the letters together.

"Rebel?" Cato asked, now the one who was confused.

"No, rebel..." Shade said it the other way that the word could be said. "Haymitch wants us to rebel!"

"It could go either way! Plus, how are we supposed to rebel?" Shade thought Cato's question over. How were they supposed to rebel?

Things were gonna get very confusing in the next couple of days. However, reality hit Shade like a bus and she about fell from the tree limb but Cato had a tight grip on her. Looking over at Cato, she stared into his twilight blue eyes. His beautiful blue eyes.

She knew the exact way that they could rebel.

"We already have been this whole time..." She looked up into his eyes once more. Meeting his gaze evenly, she suddenly looked away. Looking up towards the sky, her eyebrows furrowed slightly in thought.

Raising her hand up, she pressed her three fingers to her lips before pointing them out towards the sky where cameras were watching. Cato watched with confusion.

Shade suddenly turned towards Cato before she reached out and grabbed Cato behind the head. Bringing his face to hers, she pressed her lips against his a bit forcefully. His blue eyes opened completely in surprise before he let them slowly shut in contentment.

Two people from the two different districts. Kissing and sticking together through all the chaos. It was exactly like rebelling. Districts just didn't get along in the real world. But hey. This was the Hunger Games.

And Shade and Cato certainly cared about one another.

Shade shivered as the cold wind hit her. She snuggled closer to the warm lump at her side. The wind picked up once more before she finally opened her eyes. Why was it so cold?

She got an answer when her eyes watched as the snow fell down around her. It was collecting on both of their bodies. Cato had draped his jacket and their blanket over them but it still wasn't enough.

Slipping her own jacket on, Shade prodded Cato in the side. He let out a quiet grunt before turning his head to the other side. After poking him again, Cato finally opened his eyes before he lazily looked at her.

With his large body mass, he had stayed warm the whole time.

His eyes focused on the falling snow around them and he frowned. Glancing down, he found that the wolves were also gone. It was a bit of relief knowing that they could at least get out of the tree if they had to.

Hunger rumbled in both their stomachs, food calling out to them. Shade reached into her jacket pocket and pulled the wool cap out of her pocket before pulling it over her ears.

After stuffing everything back into their bags, Shade decided that they should get down. They had to eat sometime.

Dropping down and out of the tree, they both sunk down into the deep snow. It went up to Shay's knees and she grumbled as she pushed her way through the thick snow. Cato only followed after her, letting Shade lead the way. It wasn't like Cato hadn't seen snow before.

They had mountains in District 2 and Cato was a teenage boy. When you put those two things together, what do you get? Mountain climbing. In fact, Cato had climbed them all and for survival training, the Academy would sometimes take the different classes out and teach them to survive in a mountainous arena.

As they moved about the now white woods, they heard a quiet noise. Both stopped walking for a moment to listen. At first Shade thought it was another mutt but after listening more closely, it definitely wasn't a wolf mutt.

It sounded like a quiet sobbing or maybe even choking.

Both moved to approach the noise, still weary of the part of the arena they were in. The wolves still lingered about yet they hadn't seen any tracks in the snow so far. Slowly coming through the trees, the sight before them made both their hearts wrench.

Lying on top of the thick layer of snow, slightly sunken in, was Marvel. His dark hair contrasted against the pale snow and his eyes were wide as they came into view. Red also attracted Shade's eye and she took in the scarlet color that stained the snow beside him.

Marvel was clutching at his side and his face was contorted in pain as he tried to move away from them.

"Marvel!" Cato said quietly before walking through the snow to stand beside the boy. Upon hearing his name, the District 1 Tribute seemed to relax at the familiar face of his friend.

Shade also approached, Marvel watching her with careful eyes.

"I-I'm d-dying, Cato..." He stammered, the cold seeping into his limbs. He had no jacket on and seemed as though he had entered this piece of the arena only a couple minutes ago, an hour at the most.

Shay noticed that his skin was paler and with every second that passed, it seemed to match the paleness of the snow around him.

Feeling sympathetic for the boy, Shade took the pack off her back. Reaching inside, she pulled out the blanket they had used and laid it over him, trying to keep the dying Tribute warm.

Cato knelt down next to his friend, the only real person he had talked to in the Games, besides Clove. Wondering about the smaller girl, Cato glanced around. There were two other sets of foot prints in the snow. One seemed to walk away from Marvel, the other seemed to mingle with the steps Marvel had taken.

"What happened?" Shade asked quietly, also noticing the tracks. She stood and kept watch now that Marvel was covered. She didn't want someone sneaking up on them while they were distracted.

Marvel swallowed thickly, biting back his pain so he could speak. The slice on his side was huge and Shade would bet anything that his hand was the only thing holding his internal organs inside.

"K-Kaz..." He spat venomously and she was surprised at how much hate the dying boy could but into his words. "You have to s-save Clove..." Cato's ears perked at the name.

"He's with Clove?" Cato asked Marvel who weakly nodded. Shade and Cato shared a look for a moment before she nodded and Cato bounded away with his sword in hand. She remained with the dark haired Tribute.

Shade slowly sat down by him. He was still a Career and she wouldn't doubt that he might try to kill her before he actually died.

Reaching from under the blanket, Marvel gripped her warm hand with his icy cold one. Moving over, she sat closer to him, telling him she wouldn't leave him to be alone. He seemed to relax slightly at her gesture before he started breathing more deeply, trying to conserve his energy.

"You're really pretty..." He managed to weakly mumble out. Shade looked down at him, surprise in her eyes. "Oh don't look so surprised!" He weakly teased and it made Shay sad to see him trying to cheer her up even as he died. "If it hadn't been for that stupid b-b-b-bitch, I would have r-rocked your world!" He weakly told her, a slight smirk on his face.

"Why did you like Glimmer anyway?" Shade asked quietly as she stroked his dark hair. She could feel him weakening with every second that ticked by. He only laughed weakly before staring off into space.

"She was great in the sack..!" Shade rolled her eyes but nonetheless smiled.

"Well, I think you would have had to duke it out with Cato over who got me..." She tried to joke around with him. After a moment, Marvel laughed a full and healthy laugh before sinking back painfully on the snow with a hiss.

"When it came to you, I'm pretty sure I could have beaten him..." He continued to chuckle as he lay back, his breathing growing shallower and his eyelids growing heavier. "Cato's a pussy..." The boy laughed again until he suddenly stilled. Shade felt his hand go slack in her grip and his chest stopped moving.

Boom.

A cannon sounded off in the distance and with a sad ache in her heart, Shade slowly closed his eyes and placed his hand back on his chest. Placing his spear back into his cold palm, she had watched every year that when a Career died, they always kept a hold of their weapons.

However much she told herself, she believed that Marvel was never a killer in the first place. It was just forced onto him. There was no way that this happy and joking teenage boy was meant to be a ruthless killer.

The Games had to stop. The world needed more Marvels in it.

Standing up, Shade moved off after Cato's tracks. After a few minutes of walking, she noticed that the snow grew shallower as she continued along and eventually, the ground under her feet turned to solid earth once more. Cato's tracks were suddenly swallowed up by the ground.

Shade was usually able to track animals but he just seemed to disappear into thin air. She frowned as she tried to follow his nonexistent trail and eventually lost him entirely.

Suddenly, everything seemed to fall silent. The birds ceased their singing and Shade tensed when she heard the silence. It was too unnatural.

A loud scream suddenly broke out to her left. Flinching, she quickly withdrew her sword and prepared for a fight. Her hazel eyes darted around the area. The person who was being killed would not stop screaming. Their pain filled cries continued to ring out clearly in the forest.

But what terrified her the most was that the voice was familiar.

"Finnick!" She cried as she bolted off in the direction of the screaming. He was being tortured. Sliding to a halt on the slippery foliage, her eyes quickly scanned around the clearing. There was no one in sight and she began to panic.

Another cry of agony came from behind her and she turned around.

"Peeta..." She breathed before she was about to take off once again. However, Finnick screamed again and she had to stop. The screaming continued until a few more screams joined them. Pain clenched around her heart and she could not decide which way to run. She knew exactly who was screaming.

Finnick. Peeta. Katniss. Gale. Her father. Her mother. Cam. Samuel.

"STOP!" She screamed through gritted teeth. Falling to her knees, she collapsed onto the damp ground with her hands clamped over her ears. Even through the flesh of her hands, she could hear their terrible screams echoing around her. Gritting her teeth, she just lay on the ground, trying to block them out.

Shade.

Her eyes burst open at the voice that was so familiar to her. The screaming stopped almost immediately and she dropped her hands from her ears.

"Shade..." The voice came from no direction in particular. Her brows pulled together in warning as she frowned and pulled a throwing knife from her belt.

"No." Shade murmured as her eyes scanned her surroundings for the person that continued to haunt her. Where was Cato when she needed him? He had promised that he would protect Shade from Her.

She slowly came from behind a tree from across the clearing. She was pristine and perfect as She had been every time Shade had seen Her. In Her hand, She carried a sword that was an exact replica of the one Shade had.

"I thought I'd told you to stay away from me!" She growled but the girl across the way only snickered at her.

"Cato isn't here to protect you now!" She said the obvious and it was strange how brave Shade suddenly felt. Gripping her own sword tightly in her hand, her other fingers held the throwing knife.

"I don't need Cato to protect me... I can take care of myself!"

"Yes but what happens when you can't protect yourself from yourself...?" She tried to reason and Shade's brows drew together in confusion. Just as Shay was about to run at her, she heard a scream, one that made her blood run icy cold.

"SHADE!" Her head snapped to the side as she heard Cato screaming. Completely forgetting the terror before her, Shade took off running in the direction of his voice. Terror swept through her as her feet pounded against the ground. Feeling as though she was running the fastest she had ever ran, Shade probably set a new record of some sort.

"CATO!" She called to him as she neared the screaming voice. He continued to cry out in pain as if someone were pulling him apart of skinning him alive. Terrible images of a battered and bloodied Cato sprang into her head, causing her legs to move faster.

She could hear the sound of waves crashing on the shore once more. Cato's screaming was just ahead of her now and she burst through the treeline, the sand burning her eyes as it reflected the sun's rays.

"Cato?" She could only make out one blurry form as the haze from the heat began to cloud her vision. Walking towards it, she used her hand to get the sun out of her eyes.

However, as she drew closer to the figure, she froze.

"Where is Cato?" She snapped as she locked eyes with the man standing only a few feet away from her. Brutus only smiled before laughing darkly.

"Obviously, he's not here!"

"No shit!" She snapped, feeling suddenly brave as she stood before the huge Career Victor. Adrenaline coursed rapidly through her veins as she contained herself. She just wanted to rip his throat out and feed it to the wolf mutts. He was one of the people that she wouldn't feel sorry for killing. He was a monster.

"You don't get it, do you?" He began to pace back and forth, successfully keeping her sharp eyes trained on him. She clutched the sword tightly in her right hand, causing the vambrace to squeal under the added stress.

"Don't get what?" She asked and he froze in his sudden pacing. He beamed evilly at her once again before clasped his hands behind his back.

"You're the bait!" He replied calmly. Taking a moment to process what he said, her eyes widened. Quick as a whip, a hand grabbed her hand in a painful way. She cried out as the nerve pinched and she dropped the sword in her palm.

She had lost her throwing knife long ago when she had first encountered her doppelganger. She now only had a few small knives left but her hand could not reach them. The person's other arm wrapped tightly around her neck, drawing Shade back against the second person's chest. She breathed painfully as the man began to constrict her wind pipe.

"Hello, girly!" Gloss's sickly sweet voice filled her ear. Scowling slightly, she felt panic begin to rise in her chest once again. She had to get away or Gloss would kill her. Not a swift death but one with a lot of pain and suffering. Maybe something worse.

"W-Why are you d-doing this?" She managed to cough out as Gloss squeezed her neck.

"Cato is strong... One of the strongest in the entire arena. If we wanted to win, we..." He motioned between him and Gloss. "Would have to find a weakness that Cato had, seeing as I was his mentor, I made sure that he had none. Except, he has one now..." Shade raised an eyebrow at his remark. "You!" He motioned to her with both of his hands.

"Call him..." Gloss demanded, tightening the grip on her throat. She remained silent in her fight against the two Career Victors. His grip tightened around her neck again, making it painful.

"I can't... Call him when I can't breath...!" She gasped and Gloss growled from behind her. Slowly lessening the grip around her neck, she felt air rush into her lungs again. She knew that her next actions would be regretful later. She also hoped Cato was a fast runner.

Slamming her skull into the blonde's nose, he cried out. Blood sprayed from his nose and it dripped down his face as he held the broken appendage. His arm left from around her neck and she began running, only to be tackled by the same man after he regained his bearings.

"You little bitch!" He growled as he snatched her around the neck again. Grabbing a handful of her hair, he hauled her up to her feet and she whimpered. Her smaller hands dug into his skin and wrist as she tried to get free.

"Gloss, I know how we can get her to talk..." A slow smile spread across Brutus's lips again which caused Shade to begin to panic. She had to get away from them. The Victor came closer to her and stripped the bag off her back. He began to riffle through her bag until he seemed to find what he wanted.

The butcher's knife gleamed in the harsh sunlight and it reflected into her eyes. Struggling in Gloss's grip, she continued to try and get away from the man who had a tight grip on her hair.

Forcing her on the ground, Gloss used his weight to hold the younger girl down. Really wishing that she was stronger, Shade couldn't move beneath the large man. Both men forced her left hand out before her and Brutus raised the gleaming knife into the air.

Swiftly bringing it down, the blade sliced into her index finger with a sickening crunch. She felt the scream beginning to build in her throat and her eyes watered. She was amazed at how she could keep quiet but she was able to change the scream into words.

"CATO! RUN!" Her voice echoed around the arena. Brutus growled in anger before bringing the blade down again into her middle finger. The man didn't cut the fingers off at the knuckle but left small stubs where her fingers had once been.

A real, high pitched scream erupted from her throat this time, reverberating around the whole arena. Both men exchanged crazed smiles. They knew that the blonde haired tribute would have heard her scream of pain. It wouldn't be long now.

A few minutes before Shade heard the jabberjays...

Hearing a cough from a clearing a few feet away, Cato turned his head to the side. Cautiously stepping around the tree blocking his view, he found one of the most terrible sights that he had ever beheld.

"Clove!" He cried as he instantly dropped to the girl's side. Blood had dripped from her mouth and her shirt was covered in blood. She had her hands covering the wound on her stomach. Noticing what was causing her pain, Cato moved her hands out of the way.

Seeing how bad the wound was, Cato winced as he placed his own hands over her wound. "I'm so sorry, Clove..." His voice trembled slightly. Clove was his partner and when you train at the Academy every day with them, you get attached. No matter how much of an asshole they are.

All Cato knew in his life was how to protect. Whether it be protecting himself or protecting the ones he loved, Cato just did as he was taught. And he hadn't protected Clove.

"It's alright, Cato. We both knew that it would end this way..." She smiled slightly, her teeth stained red with her own blood. Encircling her hand with his larger, bloody one, he smiled weakly.

"I never thought it would." He admitted. Clove laughed painfully at his words, a slight bitterness added to it.

"You're turning into a pussy...!" She told him with another smirk. The smirk that he had grown used to after training with her for so many years.

"I-I know..." He admitted quietly as he continued to hold her hand. "I'm sorry about everything, Clove..."

"Don't be!" She told him. "Listen, I want you to win... I want you to win with that girl..."

"Shade?" She nodded and he could feel her beginning to fade. It wouldn't be much longer now.

"And kill that little bastard!" She told him as she winced, her breathing becoming shallower. Shutting her eyes in pain, she groaned slightly as she adjusted the position in which she was lying.

"I'll get him, Clove! I promise I'll get him!" He stroked her dark hair as her eyes fluttered uncontrollably.

"Don't leave, Cato... Don't..." Her eyes had opened only the slightest, revealing the dark green irises underneath her eyelids. Her lips continued to move without noise before they stopped moving all together.

"Clove?" Cato croaked. She didn't respond and he knew that she was gone. "Clove, no!" He murmured as he felt tears begin to sting at the back of his eyes. She had been with him for most of his life. She was a sister to him and now she was gone. How many more people would have to die before these Games would stop? He thought to himself.

"I didn't mean to..." Cato heard a small voice from behind him. Turning slowly, he already knew who the voice belonged to.

"Kaz!" He hissed, venom lining his voice.

"I didn't mean to kill her!" He squealed as Cato turned on the younger Tribute.

"You didn't mean to kill her!? You can't just accidentally kill someone!" Cato growled as red began to fill his eyes. He could feel himself being lost in his rage. He was just so angry. He was going to kill this boy. It was inevitable.

"I... I just wanted to win!" Kaz squeaked, his eyes lowering to the ground.

"No matter who they proclaim as Victor, no one wins in the Hunger Games..." Cato's tone was cold before he stepped forward and mercilessly killed the District 12 Tribute. As he kicked the boy off his blade, Cato felt the red begin to fade.

Clove was avenged. She could rest in peace now knowing that her killer was also out of the Games.

Just as he was about to turn to leave and leave the two bodies, he heard a scream. A terrible, pain filled scream that could not be copied or replicated by any type of machinery. It sounded around the entire arena and Cato's eyes drew to the location. It wasn't all that far away.

"SHADE!"

Well, that took forever to write. I've been focusing on my Lord of the Rings story as of late and I would just like to clarify some things.

Anon reviewer: Shade is Sue-ish. I'll admit that. But, she isn't perfect at everything. She can't use a bow (very well), she can't sing and she can't really dance. Most of the people from Disctirct 12 were slim because of the lack of food. However, just because someone is from 12 means that they can't be pretty? Katniss is pretty.

She can be friends with Katniss and Peeta. I find it absolutely logical that she can be. Shade was kind of a loner herself and Peeta's family owned a backery just down the street from the butcher shop. They traded goods with one another.

Cato doesn't fall in love with her at first sight. Sure, she's kind of pretty but he's not hopelessly in love with her. I mean, he saw her at the tribute parade and she looked stunning for the sponsors.

Finnick is only messing around by trying to get in her head. He still loves Annie, as explained in one of the later chapters. Peeta is not in love with her, he is still in love with Katniss. They are just like brother and sister (even though Shade wishes they had been more).

Haymitch only likes her because she listened to his phsycological problems when he would drunkley order meat in the middle of the night.

Also, Haymitch did not buy a mutt. Glitch was placed into the system by Plutarch because he wants her to help Katniss in the Games. Because, of course, she is the Mockingjay and is a sign of the rebellion. Glitch only trusts Shade so easily because that was how he was programed.

Thank you for the review but I'm just trying to defend my tribute.

And I would like to thank all the others who also reviewed. You guys are awesome.

Love,

Blue