Breathing out in a huff, Ellie half-heartedly threw a stick into the marsh. The rock she was sitting on kept her on dry land, a good metre away from the sticky, muddy surface of the water, and the stick bobbed on the ripples it had created with its landing. "Tristan!"

There was no reply.

"Tristan Hooker!"

A string of small rodent carcasses around his neck, Tristan emerged from the edge of the woods with a glower on his face. "What, Ellie?"

Smiling at his return, Ellie jumped down off her rock.

Surprised by the splash, Ellie looked down as a surge of cold water rushed into her shoes. She looked around. What had been dry land but a minutes before, was now squelchy and almost ankle deep in mud…

Exchanging a look with Tristan, Ellie saw her own fear mirrored in his dark gaze.

The water was rising.

Cedric watched on as coughs wracked Genny's small body. But a few hours earlier, he would have been sick with worry over the little girl, but right then, he wasn't so sure…

Half a day ago, Flower had been murdered by careers. Or so he had thought. The body was appropriately mangled, and it seemed that a few of the Pack were adept with knives, but there was something that had been nagging him…something about it wasn't right.

Flower had been alone with Genny. Sure, she would have died before letting Genny get hurt, but how did Genny get away without a scratch? And why were there so signs of a scuffle?

He had convinced himself he wasn't thinking straight, because of his grief for Flower's death, but only an hour later, a canon had gone off in the spot where Flower had died. The careers hadn't been there when he got there…had they been there at all, they would have been long gone.

And Genny…something was up with her as well. Something about her made his hackles rise, gave him goosebumps, and having as many younger sisters as him, he had long since learnt to recognise crocodile tears…and her tears were definitely of that description.

Shaking his head with a low grunt, Cedric spun around on his behind so he was facing away from Genny and her shiny cheeks. He was making too much of this. Pretending to rummage through his bag, he didn't see the piercing glare that followed his muscular form. He didn't see, and so he didn't suspect that Genny would produce a knife until it neatly slit his throat from behind.

Alissa panted desperately as she ran down the hill. She could hear the careers behind her, thundering down the rocky hill. The terrain she was in was full of rocks. All sizes, all shapes.

Everywhere you looked, there were rocks that looked just like a human, until you ran closer and saw them for what they really were. Finding a real human in amongst this mess was near impossible, which was both a curse and blessing for Alissa.

On the one hand, it protected her from the view of the careers, but on the other hand, it hid Dawtin from her better than if he had been in full camouflage.

Hearing the heavy footsteps of the Pack closing in behind her, she held in a gasp and kept running, ducking behind rocks and weaving as silently as she could to the densest area of the towers of stone, where the ground flattened out.

She flew sideways and thumped into something solid. A hand clamped itself firmly over her mouth, and the other stroked her hair gently.

Alissa's thumping heart quieted, and her fear dissipated. It was Dawtin. Just Dawtin. The hand on her mouth moved to her hand, and together, they moved slowly and stealthily.

Dawtin slunk through the overgrown stalagmites, slowly tugging her along with him. They were headed towards a secluded cave, at the bottom of the cliff face.

The fear that had faded before now stabbed Alissa in the chest with full strength. She froze and gasped, Dawtin's hand sliding from hers as his slow momentum carried him forward.

Alissa's eyes were wide enough for the whites to be seen all around, and she was visibly trembling.

The cave was small, and dark. They would have to squeeze in through the front to get in.

Dawtin swore quietly, threw the bags inside and returned for Alissa, who was simply paralysed with fear.

He put his hands on either side of her face, but her gaze carried on past him to the miniscule cave entrance.

Leaning in close, he hugged her close to his chest, whispering, "Alissa, what's wrong?"

It took a moment, but after swallowing several times, a broken reply returned directly into Dawtin's ear. "I'm claustrophobic. I can't go in there."

Dawtin was astounded. Alissa, who seemed to have no flaws or feared, who never needed to be helped, couldn't walk into a cave, even with the threat of the Career Pack urging her on.

Pulling away, Dawtin cast a smile on his beautiful companion. Tears were slowly trickling down her face, and she seemed to have overcome her paralysation in favour of shame. Tilting her chin up gently, Dawtin kissed away the tears that had already made it to her cheeks, earning a surprised look from their creator.

She sobbed angrily. "What? You surprised that I'm not a perfect prissy angel, with absolutely no flaws?" Her words defied him, but her tone spoke of pain and regret.

Shocked, Dawtin looked her in the eye. As always, she glared right back, no sign of backing down. That only made his smile grow. "You will never be anything but perfect to me." he promised.

That shut her up. Alissa's mouth flapped, but no sound came out. She could almost feel his words, his tone, his smile wrapping up her fear and casting it away, protecting her from its vicious bite. All of a sudden, the cave didn't seem threatening at all.

Shaking off his hands, Alissa marched into the cave, breathing in as she squeezed through the crack of an entrance. Inside, it wasn't nearly as small as she had thought it would be, and the whole thing was actually rather dry and comforting, as the Arena went.

A tremendous rumbling made the entire cave shake, the whole mountain seeming to want to crash down over her head. She let loose a scream that she immediately muffled with her sleeve.

Was this her phobia playing tricks with her mind? Or was it real?

Doubts flew in circles through her mind as the rockslide finally came to an end. Was it just in her mind, or had it been real?

"Alissa…" a voice groaned.

Immediately, she flew back to the entrance of the cave, where Dawtin was lying, buried beneath a pile of rocks. Blood seeped sluggishly out from underneath them. His blood.

Not caring to bite off her gasp this time, Alissa immediately dragged him out from his prison of stone.

His legs were mangled, his chest crushed and the bones were sticking out everywhere in his left arm, but his smile had endured. "It's a good thing you got over the claustrophobia that quickly. I may need some help to get into the cave." he laughed and spat out a globule of blood.

Alissa allowed herself to cry. He wasn't going to make it, and he knew it just as well as she.