A/N Please visit my forum! It's called The 2013 Hunger Games Awards. We're in need of nominations. You can even submit yourself! If you do, you'll get a gazillion internet hugs from me or something.

This chapter is a little shorter than usual, just to get down to the action. The Games are coming to an end.

I have a new one-shot as well, if anyone wanted to check that out. I'll likely add it to Shattered Somedays to make a one-shot series, but give me your opinion first.

Casper Monroe's POV

The first thing I notice when I wake up is the silence.

The birds and insects seem quiet and stilled. The air is pressing on me with its usual heat, but the stifling soundlessness makes it even more oppressive. My hair is already sticking to the nape of my neck. I knew I'd grown it out too long. It hangs a mass of curled auburn. Should've let Ellie cut it when she offered.

The arena is peaceful.

But that's not quite the word for it. This is an eerie kind of peace. Like the silence before a storm.

I've seen past Games. Enough to know what else this sounds like.

The silence before someone is about to be attacked.

I sit up and immediately grab my bow. In the last few hours, it hasn't left my side. The new area I've found for myself is on the very edge of the arena. I'm sure of it. It's a little den formed by three boulders leaning on each other. After a thorough check for snakes, I determined it habitable at least for another day. It's well hidden enough and by water, though everywhere in this swamp is.

Still, Shimmer could find me for sure.

It only seems this still because of my knowledge that there are only five of us left.

I'm not sure how I feel bout that. On the one hand, it's terrifying. The competitors who are left are just that. Gone are the small children, weak in the knees at the prospect of death. But then, there weren't many of them in these Games. Now that I think about it, there were none at all. Were most Games have several children like that, looking like lambs sent to the slaughter, ours didn't have any save for maybe little India. Other than her, not even the youngest seemed frightened. More like adrenaline filled.

These were no ordinary Games.

Our districts sent us in. They thought we just might have a chance.

And those that are still left?

Well, they're just the best of the best. And I have no doubt they would kill a poor guy from a weak district with no weapons skills whatsoever in an instant. It's a miracle enough that I made it this far. My archery skills are mediocre at best. These are all trained killers, even Violet. She has that deadly aim. Even Katerina, who is from a district that isn't nearly as powerful as some. She has that stone cold glare and she's already killed. She'll do it again.

But I am no one.

However, I can't help but feel extreme relief and pride that I, Casper Monroe, am in the final five. No one said I had to win. Ellie would never expect that of me. But I've already exceeded her expectations by making it this far.

And that's far enough for me.

Maybe in the final five, I will become memorable. People may think about me for a day, a week, or a month following the Games. "This was quite the year wasn't it?" "Oh yes, remember the young man with a baby at home?" "Of course."

That's good enough, isn't it?

There was something the matron at the orphanage used to tell us. Words spoken when small children shed tears or older ones slammed doors and screamed, only wanting the loneliness of being orphans to end. I'm not sure if they were meant to be cold, or her strange attempt at sympathy. But they did strike a chord, at least in me.

Yes, life seems quite awful and unfair sometimes. But the only thing really unfair about life is death.

Like Aya's passing.

She's at peace now, though. She's gone away from all of the horrible things down here. So I guess a small part of me is glad for that. Is it selfish, though, that I want her company so much right now. Her smile or her joking or those moments when she'd say something that I knew would stay with me for a long time.

She will be remembered. She has to be.

I can't think like this now. For right now, I can only concentrate on my own survival. Which means getting some food and water in me so I'll have every ounce of strength in me that I'm capable of having. Whether or not it will be enough to take down Shimmer, Katerina or Adonis, I can't be sure. But what I can do is ensure that my body isn't going to fail on me. I've seen it before. Tributes being attacked and fighting back as strongly as they can. But when the adrenaline wears off, they collapse and are easily overtaken.

Trying to make crunching an apple as silent as possible is a nerve-racking process. I eat it slowly, but that seems to only make the sound louder.

Shit. If Shimmer were half deaf and hundreds of feet away, she probably could have still heard that last crunch.

I polish it off as quickly as possible, thankful that someone had the smarts to send us fruit when they did. Fruit quenches thirst, too. And even though there is water everywhere, I'm pretty wary of it. I don't think the game makers would just give us all this water. Doesn't happen.

They're here to watch us die.

It's been nine days now. Ten? Nearly. How long do these Games usually take? Often a week, many times more. It's been over a week now. So they should be nearly finished. That's how it usually seems to go. By the end, things seem to go by very quickly.

So in other words, if I am going to die, it will happen very soon.

I can only hope for Ellie's sake that it will be quick and not drawn out. She would be just waking up now. Probably doing that alone. She would never have to wake up alone. I'm always by her side. If this were any other Games, we would make oatmeal together and sit on the couch to talk and, of course, watch the Games. It isn't really an option not to. But I would keep her small hand in mine and squeeze it every time a tear would fall. Which was often.

But now she has no one.

Now I can't help curling my fists in anger at my district. Eight is my home and I can't help feeling strong ties to it. Why did they do it? They've left a young woman, hardly more than a girl, with no one but the bby growing inside of her.

Though I have to pause and think. Take a deep, slow breath like Ellie always tells me to do. Yeah, I get hot-headed sometimes. But she knows how to calm that.

Who would have gone instead?

Maybe it would be that little crippled boy who begs on the street corner. The people might find him useless and toss him away. He has no home, so no one would miss him, right? Or perhaps the boy I voted in, simply choosing a name I had heard but never really known. Figuring no one else would vote him in. That was what happened to Keira, though, wasn't it? Pure chance and bad luck. Though she made it to the final six, to her credit. She was strong, that Keira.

I couldn't bear watching any other in the Games, knowing he would have been voted in. I probably couldn't bear it any more than I can bear this.

It is what it is. I'm here now and there is no changing that.

Sighing, I take a final gulp of my water bottle. A dull ache spreads in my chest that I know isn't physical. It's a black weight pressing in on my lungs. Regret.

One of the worst feelings, by far.

I only wish I could have met the baby.

I have to get up now and go to the little trickle of a stream to refill my bottle. The water there runs clear and quick and free of all the algae and green gunk that coats the other ponds and streams of the swamp. The bottle has a clip of iodine attached to it. Our sponsor has a had on his shoulders, it seems. The water looks clean enough anyway, though.

Slowly, I inch my way out of the boulder den. The familiar feeling of the hairs on my neck rising starts again. I look wildly around. Of course, my bow has never left my side. There's no one there, though. I'm just being paranoid. Shimmer's supplies are at the Cornucopia. So if she wants food and water, she has to stay around there at least for a little while.

The stream is a short walk away from the den, all the way at the edge of the arena. And I can tell this because after the rocky bed on the other side of the stream, there is a sharp cliff and a slight humming noise of the forcefield.

All in all, I think I'm pretty safe here.

It looks like this will be my spot to try to ride out the Games for as long as possible until the inevitable comes.

I've already made it to the final five.

I only have a little longer.

The only sound is the steady trickling of the stream and a breeze whistling through the huge trees.

"Hello."

No sooner does a small voice behind me say that word when I'm on my feet. My water bottle falls to the ground, spilling its contents all over my boots. But I take no notice. Instantly, I pull an arrow from the pouch at my hip and nock it.

I point my bow at the sound of the voice.

Violet from Four stands right in front of me. Her large green eyes blink uncertainly. She's not taking her eyes off the arrow. Her black hair is wild and her face and arms are splattered with mud. Even though her eyes are focused on tracing the movements of my bow, I can still tell that there's something in them that shouldn't be there. Not blood lust for sure, though. Oh no. Violet's eyes bear the distinct sign of someone beaten down.

She doesn't look like a ruthless killing machine at all.

Actually, she just looks like a really tired little girl.

She lost her ally, didn't she? That cannon yesterday was for Keira. I saw my little district partner's face in the sky last night. Didn't feel much at all. It had to happen. But it was still hard to imagine a girl like Keira dead. Just gone. Her hair held back in that dirty blond ponytail with the spray of freckles across her nose, her lips turned up in a small smile. Like she knew something we didn't. That was Keira.

They were close. I know that.

Violet carefully takes the cruel-looking throwing knife from her pocket. I ready my arrow.

But all she does is set it on the ground and looks back up at me.

I freeze. Finally the thought occurs to me that I should probably set my weapon down, too. So I do. The bow clatters to the ground, the arrow rolling away. Violet stares at it in the mud and traces her foot on the ground.

She clears her throat. "Sorry for bumping into you. I didn't really expect you to be here. I heard someone down here by the stream. I just thought you were…someone else. But since you aren't, do you think I could maybe have some of that iodine? If you really want, I have several knives. A full throwing set, actually, in my pouch." She gestures to a black colored pack resting on her hip, secured by a belt. "I could give you a knife in return."

My eyebrows raise. "A perfectly good throwing knife for a few drops of iodine? You know that weapons are pretty hard to come by now, don't you? There's no way you can get them except by going back to the Cornucopia and that's Shimmer's territory."

Violet shrugs. "Yeah. That's why I was hoping you would accept my deal." She looks at my surprised face and smiles a little. "What?! I'm pretty thirsty."

I hold back a smile myself and hand her the little clip of iodine. She takes it gratefully and fills up her water bottle in the stream, dropping a few precious drops into it. Violet takes a deep swig and then another, gulping almost the whole bottle down. When she's done, she wipes her mouth on her sleeve and burps in a very distinctly un-feminine sort of way. Then, she grins.

"Well." She says. "Now that that's all taken care of, I want to ask you if you'd be my ally."

Of course. I stare at those wide, unblinking green eyes. She stares back at me with twice as much intensity. That seems to be Violet's general way to persuade people. Just stare at them until they start to start to squirm.

Sighing, I shake my head. "I'm really sorry, Violet. I'll let you get all the water you want but you have to walk away. Let's just do that, okay? I really can't deal with another ally, especially this close to the end. And I don't think I can deal with that emotional toll that comes with taking in a little girl as an ally again. That's it."

Violet stands up abruptly. She places her hands on her hips indignantly. "You're making a mistake."

I put my hands up. "Look, it's nothing personal. It's just that the emotional toll of watching an ally die is not something I want to go through again." I can't help but sigh once more. "Why is it all the little girls run to me, huh? This is way harder than I thought it would be."

She crosses her arms. "I am not a little girl, Casper Monroe. You say that again and I'ma have to make quick work of you and your shaking knees. You're no fierce competitor. I can tell that right away." She bites her lip. "You want to avenge your last ally. I can tell. But you can't stand up to Shimmer alone."

"That's right. I just don't think you're the right choice." Honestly, right now I'm just creeped out at the fact she knows my entire name somehow.

Violet snorts. "You think you have any other options? C'mon. Adonis has two completely different personalities and he's still a Career at heart. Katerina will run you through with her knives in a red hot minute. And I know you don't want another little ally to take care of." She pauses. "Look Casper. I liked Aya a lot. She was a real brave girl and strong, but that was only mentally. Me? I'm physically strong, even if I might not look it. I can throw a knife just as well as Katerina can and I can run a hella lot faster than you. I'm no cute little kid, okay? So don't count me out."

I have to pause before I can say anything.

Evidently, I've just been proved wrong.

"Oh, why not?!" I exclaim. "I guess you are right. It won't be anything but beneficial to either of us."

Violet grins. "I knew it. You're a real softie, ain't you? But that's good. With you, it's a good thing. Glad you could see some logic." She rubs her hands. "All righty then. We stick together and take down Shimmer, plus Kat and Adonis, if we've got to. But I say we split back up after Shimmer."

"Doesn't matter, Violet. I'm sure by the time she's dead, the Games will be over by then. Let's just see what happens."

She nods. "Okay, Casper. Okay."

"Oh and uh, I sleep in this den place. It might get a little crowded but otherwise you'd be out in the open so…I guess we don't have much choice there either, do we?"

We walk over to my little boulder den and I point out my little sleeping area.

"It's fine," Violet says quickly. "I'll sleep on the other side of it behind you. Not actually in the den. I'll sort of be protected. I'm definitely not here to intrude or annoy you." She smiles. "I don't want to be a burden. Actually, I'm here to help you because you need it just as much as I do, even though you won't admit it."

"But Violet!" I can't help but raise my voice. "You won't be safe at all back there. There isn't any cover. Anyone passing by could see and besides, I'm pretty sure Shimmer has some kind of strnag empower that enables her to see everyone, everywhere."

She waves her hand. "No big deal. You worry too much. I have knives on me and I'm not stupid. You don't have to protect me. That's not part of the deal. We don't even have to stay here tonight. Actually, we can just kill Shimmer and get that over with. Maybe get rid of Katerina too, if that's possible."

I chew my lip.

Then, I clear my throat slightly. "I think we're staying here tonight, Violet. If you're letting me take charge of this thing, I'll stay right where I am. There's the stream here and a den. Shimmer will find us soon enough. I'm just hoping she finds Kat and Adonis first and off them."

Violet shrugs. "Fine."

We sit down in the little shade the boulders provide.

"You know, there isn't much food here for you," I say slowly. Maybe like my one last chance of backing out of this. "Actually, there isn't any at all."

Violet only laughs. "Are you kidding? I didn't expect there to be any. What, you think I'm stupid or something? Uh-uh. In fact, I'm gonna get you some food, Casper. The game makers put frogs everywhere. It's just like at the bayou. I'll throw some knives and we'll have some lunch. Don't worry about setting a fire. Shimmer's coming, anyway. We might as well have a good meal before our little showdown."

She takes out her knives and begins playing around with them. The blades glint in the sunlight. She twirls them absently, as if they weren't weapons at all, but little playthings.

And now that I think about it, she probably didn't have any toys as a kid. I didn't either, really. But in Violet's house, survival meant learning how to throw and use the things from a very young age. It's obvious in how skilled she is with throwing them. She tosses them with such force and intention. Like she can direct the movement of them just by staring. And maybe she can. You could convince me.

Yeah, it's strange that a girl hardly fourteen can throw knives.

But here, I'll take what I can get. If she throws them as well as any eighteen year old Career, what do I care how old she is?

"I really do feel bad about Aya." She says suddenly. "She and Keira. They were alike, weren't they? Man, they were just so brave. Wish I could be even a little like they were. Their lights just went out too soon." She turns her face away, but I know she's crying.

Violet doesn't let anyone see her cry. I can tell.

Her words sting. I've found it's best not to think about Aya and her warm brown eyes. Her look still full of a childish sort of joy. The world still held wonder for her. She could still smile and make jokes and laugh about whatever terrible situation she was in. And that's not childish at all.

That takes a certain kind of bravery I may never have.

So what do I say back about her? "Yeah."

Violet covers her mouth. "I'm sorry. You must think I'm a total insensitive idiot. I just have no filter at all, do I? Shit. I'm really sorry."

I sigh. "It's fine, Violet. And yes, you don't have a filter. But I think Aya would have liked that a lot."

She looks up at me. Her hair is wild and long, where Aya's was short. Violet's hair is a deep near black color, while Aya's was golden. Violet's eyes are light green and have a glint of daring in them. Aya's where brown and only full of warmth. And Violet's face has an etched sort of harshness to it, whereas Aya's was all soft.

Yet somehow, I see Aya in her.

I see it in the plain, straightforward way that Violet speaks. I see that determination in her eyes. That utter and overwhelming need to live. Violet is so, so alive. Just like Aya was.

"We are going to avenge her, Casper." Violet says, her voice full of conviction. "I'm going to do it for Keira. I'm going to run my knife across her throat. Right after you send an arrow into her chest. Keira and Aya won't be forgotten. I made a promise I have to keep. I bet you made one to Aya, too. Even if you didn't say."

"Yeah," I answer slowly. "Yes, I did. A promise that I'd keep her alive long after she died. I did think that. Are you…are you planning to help me with this?"

Violet grins. "You idiot. That's why I'm here."

Adonis Lockheart's POV

The knife hits its target with a thud.

Katerina stares at the place protruding from the mossy log. Insects scuttle around it. It's a pretty damn good hit. But then, her throws always are. She frowns at the blade slightly, as if mentally calculating something. Then, she frowns again and sighs.

Was she expecting something?

I can't say I blame her.

Last year around this time I decided I was really doing this. Of course, every little kid in One dreams of going to the Games. The trainers and our own families instill that mentality in us until there's hardly any room left for anything else. But some kids realize eventually they just aren't cut out for the Games. Others, like me, keep moving on until the time finally comes to get ready to volunteer. It was no longer just some far of dream. It was a goal.

I had to make my family's life better. Especially for Velvet.

My trainer set me up for a meeting with the district's last victor, an arrogant smirking guy named Cash Versailles who won two years prior. Evidently the Games hadn't affected his psyche too much, like they've done with many.

What he ended up telling me was, like, one sentence.

"If the other Careers don't get to you, Adonis, the boredom will." He grinned that cocky grin of his that just made me think this guy was one enormous dick, to put it mildly. I could see through him like glass and this was long before Kaja came along to open things up for me.

But Cash was right, as hard as that is to admit.

It seems in the Games, if you aren't pumped with adrenaline and fighting and/or running for your life, you're completely and utterly bored.

It sounds insane. How could anyone be bored, right?

Yet there's only so much time a guy can spend contemplating his own mortality. And I don't think I can stand any more of that. So it looks like I'll just have to content myself with watching Katerina throw her knives for a while longer.

Sighing, I sink back into the tree trunk I'm leaning against. Okay, not a bright idea. Leaning against a tree trunk hurts. I wince and rub the area on my back.

Katerina stifles a laugh.

"Shut up," I grumble. But I'm smiling a little. Because really, this wasn't half as bad as I thought it would be. Kat is proving herself to be a pretty worthy ally. Of course, there is the obvious fact that she can throw knives even better than Velvet and certainly better than Shimmer ever could. But when she's not glaring with that cold look on her face, she's just a kid. A sarcastic and sometimes hilarious kid.

That's been making the Games a lot more bearable.

"I could never throw knives," I tell her. "It's way too difficult. Hardly anyone in One can. It's sort of strange to see the weapons differences between the two districts. Kids from One typically use spears. I'm not sure why that is. Spears and swords, really ancient style stuff. The kids from two can't get enough of knives. Machetes, throwing knives, daggers like Julian used. All of that."

Kat snorts. "Then how come Shimmer throws worse than a four year old? I saw her once in training. The knife didn't even hit the target."

"She's always seemed more of the District One type to me."

"Well, except for maybe Kaja, I'm assuming you mean that type to be bitches with intelligence less than that of a potted plant. No really. I've watered things with more smarts than Shimmer Parker."

"So she shouldn't be that hard to take down then, right?"

Katerina is silent for a moment. Her eyes don't have a single flash of that familiar icy coldness to them. She rubs them. Under her eyes are dark purple pockets. Her hair falls in front of her angular face. She's tired. She doesn't look like that confident, almost seductive girl who walked in here at all. She's just gaunt and exhausted.

"Hey," I say softly. "Hey, come on. We can do this. We have this in the palms of our hands. You never doubted yourself for a minute before, so don't start now."

She sits up abruptly. "Who says I'm doubting myself, you idiot?!" She snaps. Then she frowns and frowns sulkily, leaning back against the log.

There. That's the Kat I know.

Kat sits there, thinking to herself. Her brown eyes steel over when she does this, but not in the way that's familiar to most tributes. Not the hard glint she gets just before she's about to make a kill. She chews her lip, which is already cracked from the heat and lack of water.

"What does it feel like for you?" She asks suddenly.

"Huh?"

"I mean, what do you feel when you make a kill? You killed that little boy, Gav." She shakes her head. "Man, and he was just a kid, too. Didn't make you out as the type at the time." She grins. "I kind of thought you were a pussy, for a Career. Guess I was wrong, huh?"

I can't help but sigh. "Kat, I don't go around just killing little kids, you know. And just cause I think like that, it doesn't mean I'm a pussy or whatever you called me."

She jumps back. "Uh, I didn't mean anything by that. I swear. I get it."

Weird. It almost seems like she's trying to get on my good side. Maybe because we're about to take down the arena's most formidable competitor. She could walk behind at any minute. Yeah, that's it. That's the only reason possible. "Okay, okay. Anyway, I just don't think that's honorable. I didn't plan on killing Gav. I thought he was just a little kid, too. But he wasn't. He somehow killed Velvet and I guess just seeing her body on the ground like that got my adrenaline pumping. I wasn't even thinking."

"Oh." She sounds almost disappointed. "So killing doesn't feel like anything to you. Just an adrenaline rush."

I shrug. "Yeah. That's it. Except the feeling afterwards is like there's a rock in my stomach. Gav's face is never going to leave my head. Never. Why? What did it feel like when you, you know, offed Anna?"

Kat shifts in her spot, rubbing what little mud and other swampy mess she can off of her. "Huh," she says softly, rubbing on her neck. "Well, as far as Anna's death goes, all I was doing was calculating where the knife was going. I saw her face and she became an instant target. There was no argument that Anna had to die before she killed any of us first. Simple logic. The knife hit her in the throat. What I felt next was a rush of relief and pride." Her lips curl up at this. "Anna was a formidable competitor who deserved to die. Trust me. There was plenty of honor in killing her."

"I bet." I shake my head slowly. "I still have no idea how you managed that throat shot."

Her face breaks into a grin. "To be honest, neither do I."

It feels like our dark, gloomy little area under the trees has just been flooded with light. "You should really smile more often," I tell her. "There's really nothing wrong with looking and acting your age sometimes, you know."

She shrugs nonchalantly but I think I can see another smile. She can't be cold and vindictive all the time. Sometimes, I can see little cracks of that barely fifteen year old girl coming through. And I like that. It sure makes me feel more comfortable.

I breathe deeply. Time to face whatever these Games have to offer.

As I'm looking over to where Kat is sitting, a long object suddenly falls out of the tree above her. It thuds to the ground next to her, practically in her lap.

Kat lets out a bloodcurdling scream.

That was no object. It's moving. I move as quickly away as I can on all fours, rushing towards my sword. Because it's not just moving. It's slithering.

"Snake!" Kat shouts to me. As if I can't already tell. She's completely in shock as she quickly brushes the thing off her lap. As if it doesn't have lethal fangs. But she swipes it away so quickly it doesn't even have time to react. Neither do I. Her brown eyes food with terror as she shoots up off the ground and lets out another screech.

She stares down at the thing, panting breathlessly. Her hands rest on her knees. Quickly, she wipes her brow and back away from the snake. Then, her eyes returning to their cold stare, she whips out a knife from her pocket.

And just as easy as can be, she chucks a knife down at the ground. The snake makes a final hiss before it stops slithering.

"Don't get near it," I warn. I'm panting quite a lot myself. "I've heard that snakes can still bite even after their hearts stop. It's some kind of muscular reflex they have."

She nods weakly.

I get up and loosen my grip on my sword. "Just take deep breaths, okay? We saw snakes sometimes in One, you know. Don't think I've ever seen a really poisonous one, which I bet this one was. But man. I guess there aren't many snakes in Five, are there?" I smile wanly, trying to get her to calm down when my own hands are still shaking.

But Kat isn't listening.

She's pointing a shaking hand above me. Her fingers are trained onto the trunk of the giant tree behind me. Her lips move in minuscule movements until she can finally form words. "Adonis," She says. "Don't freak out. But there's a big one right behind you." Her voice is hardly more than a whisper. "Okay. I'm going to throw my knife now. I won't hit you hard, but I might graze your ear. Even if it hurts, you can't move." She swallows. "It's right above you."

My heart feels like it just stopped.

There's a sharp movement of her hand as she flicks another blade forward.

I can hear it whizz past my ear and I feel its cold metal against my earlobe. Not pain, though. Just cold. The knife hits the tree with a thud and I stiffen as the snakes' body falls to the ground, its tail barely touching my shoulder. I hits the mud and makes a "C" shape with its coiled body.

"Thank you," I whisper.

She has no time to respond, though. Another snake, as large and fiery red as the other two, has just called out of another tree near me. It hisses angrily, bearing long, milky white fangs. And I know that whatever I do, no part of me can make intact with those fangs. I'll be dead for sure.

Just look at like a fighting partner. I'm sparring. The snake is only another sword fighter. I've done these moves before.

Quickly as my feet can move, I fake to the right. The snake follows my movements, heading for my foot. But before it can look back, I'm already to its left. And before it can turn even one inch closer to where Kat is standing, I drive my sword into it.

My sword goes right through it and hits the ground with a satisfying thwack.

I'm sure I just moved twice as quickly as I ever have in training.

"Now it's my turn to thank you!" Kat shouts back at me.

And in a split second, another snake thuds right into her path. It writhes itself madly, thrashing its tail and flickering its tongue. Kat curses loudly again and again. I've never even heard some of those words. She whips another blade, this one slightly smaller than the others out.

It's dead in a split second.

Man. It's times like these when I can never afford to take my ally for granted. She may be utterly unreadable at times and not at all what Kaja had in mind for my kind of ally. But she can sure throw a knife.

"Okay, Kat!" I suddenly shout out. "You've got this. We're okay!"

Her shoulders relax slightly as she bends deftly over and swipes the blade out of the snake's body faster than I can blink. She drives it throughout the dirt a few times to make sure it's clean of venom and safe to touch. Or she's just paranoid from terror. She stands up in an instant to look out for any other snakes.

One comes to her rear, but she whirls around just in time to hit that one, too.

I can't help but become a little transfixed. Every movement she makes is so precise and perfectly orchestrated. Where could she have learned all of this stuff? Kids train for years back in One and don't have as much talent as Kat's right hand.

Then, out of nowhere, a rapid burn like a white lightning bolt hits my ankle.

No. I don't look down. It can't be what I think it is. I just stare straight ahead, focusing on the tree in front of me. And on Kat's moving arms. There is nothing else in the whole world.

Still, I see the snake slither away into a bush.

Suddenly, there is no more pain at all. The lightning lasted only for a few seconds. I exhale. The agony is gone. Maybe nothing happened at all. I snagged my ankle on a branch. That's all. Yes. But something's wrong. There is no more pain and yet nothing has taken its place. Actually, I don't feel anything at all in my foot. Just an empty space.

My body crumples to the ground, the foot with the bite folding under me, dangling at a strange angle.

I'm panting heavily. My brow is covered in sweat. I'm cold. No, hot. My foot is purple. No, it's blue. No, it's completely trees are moving back and forth and I grit my teeth and curl my fingers into the ground to stop from swaying myself.

"Adonis!" Kat shouts.

She looks wildly around to check for any more snakes. There are none. Seeing this, she sprints over to me. She bends down to where I'm lying on try ground. There's no more feeling in my entire left leg. My right leg feels numb, too.

"Oh no," She pants. "Oh, this can't be happening. Come on, Adonis. Get up. You have to get up." She rests her hands on her knees and looks at me with increasingly desperate eyes.

"Can't," I groan. The numbness is spreading past my hips. Everywhere I feel so rigid. "It looks like I'm staying right here, Kat." I try to manage a smile. It doesn't work.

Her eyes flash. She's showing definite confusion. Katerina is conflicted. I can see her harshness start to return to her features for a moment. She looks around and avoids my gaze. She'll make a run for it. And why wouldn't she? It's obvious the poison causes rapid paralysis. And once it gets to my heart…she knows just as well as I do. She's been training her whole life to block out all forms of emotion. She can just shut down and walk away.

But she doesn't.

Slowly, she bends down next to me and touches my shoulder. I can feel her small hands. They're shaking. She bites her lip and tries to make her voice sound as controlled as possible. "Adonis." She says harshly. "You have to stay with me. You're the only ally I have left. We're going to take down Shimmer together."

The numbness is spreading.

"After we kill Shimmer, then you can do whatever you want." She pants heavily. "You can go die then for all I care." But her voice wavers as she says this. "You only have to help me a little while longer. That's all."

I look up at her. She's someone else entirely. A scared young girl who is about to be left alone. "Katerina," I say just as harshly as she says my name. "You can throw knives like nothing I've seen and you're determined as hell. You can take her down without me, okay? You have her right in your hand. Don't doubt yourself."

"No!" She pounds the ground suddenly. Like doing this will awake my now almost completely numb body. Except for my burning lungs. "No, Adonis you can not leave me. Please." She's begging now. Her eyes fill up with terror. She really is just a kid. "Please don't go. Not yet. You can't go yet. It's too soon."

"It's always too soon." My voice sounds like hardly more than a whisper.

I guess Kaja isn't so far away after all.

Kat sits there silently. "I never really did mind when you called me Kat, you know. All those times." She stares down at the ground like her eyes could burn a whole in it. "I actually kind of liked it."

"I know."

"Don't go." Kat begs one last time. But she's knows it's over. "I'm not ready yet."

"Yes you are. I'm sorry."

The trees seem to get closer. The sunlight between them moves up to my face until blinding white is all I can see. I shut my eyes but it's still there. The ground beneath me seems further and further away with each second that passes.

And somewhere out there, Kaja is waving.

A/N A slightly shorter chapter for you all.

Again, it would make me so happy if you visited my forum and made a nomination. So, so happy.

Adonis's song is called Counting Stars by OneRepublic. It's another one of the less straightforward meanings. The lyrics show first his sudden relationship with Kaja. Then, it illustrates his false ideas of the fame and fortune he would receive upon winning. Eventually, I think it would become him letting go and realizing that now, in heaven with Kaja, that's the best place to count stars.

See this life

Like a swinging vine

Swing my heart across the line

In my face is flashing signs

Seek it out and ye shall find

Old, but I'm not that old

Young, but I'm not that bold

And I don't think the world is sold

I'm just doing what we're told

I feel something so right

Doing the wrong thing

I feel something so wrong

Doing the right thing

I could lie

Everything that kills me makes me feel alive

Lately I been, I been losing sleep

Dreaming about the things that we could be

Baby I been, I been prayin' hard

Said no more counting dollars

We'll be counting stars

I feel the love

And I feel it burn

Down this river every turn

Hope is a four letter word

Make that money

Watch it burn

And I feel something so wrong

Doing the right thing

I could lie, could lie, could lie

Everything that downs me makes me wanna fly

Lately I been, I been losing sleep

Dreaming about the things that we could be

Baby I been, I been prayin' hard

Said no more counting dollars

We'll be counting stars

Everything that kills me makes me feel alive

Lately I been, I been losing sleep

Dreaming about the things that we could be

Baby I been, I been prayin' hard

Said no more counting dollars

We'll be counting stars