You Found Me

"Where were you when everything was falling apart?"

"It's not to late to turn back you know," Zea muttered, her face creased with worry. Kan let out a tired sigh beside her.

"We don't have much of a choice you know," he reminded her. "I told you, the crop fields aren't safe anymore. I've got a neighbor back at home who has an herb garden in her yard. When you see the yellow spots on the leaves, you can't risk eating any of the plant."

"We can go to the forest then, take our chances with plant identification," Zea argued as she peered out the window of the house they were currently hiding in, just across from the castle.

"Zea," Avanna said softly, sounding nervous. The girl from Nine shook her head as a decided frown stretched across her face. She didn't like this, not one bit. There was going to be serious blood shed at this feast, she knew it.

"Maybe we should just wait it out. You can live for at least a week without food and still survive," Zea said. "It wouldn't be the first time that a bunch of outer District kids skipped a few meals."

Kan and Avanna exchanged glances, sharing the same message. Zea wasn't the only one who had reservations about their situation. As far as they knew, they were the largest alliance left in the Games. That meant numbers were on their side, but it also meant that they were the biggest target. If they all survived the next hour, it'd be a miracle. Despite the knowledge of their imminent doom though, their hands were tied. If any of them wanted to go home, they would need their strength. "They're going to be raising the food up soon," Kan said quietly.

Zea's grip on her sword twisted as the pit in her stomach only grew. Walking over the window, she peeked out at the castle. The bridge to the front doorway and the surrounding area was vacant, but that didn't mean that the other tributes weren't near by. Her best guess was that they were all doing the same thing her alliance was- waiting just out of sight for the party to begin.

"We better be ready then. We get in, and then we get out, no loitering. Just grab what you can carry and then go," Zea sighed, accepting her fate. "If we get split up, then we meet back at the house."

"Try and calm down. We've got this," Kan nodded.

"And try not to do anything rash, please," Zea added. Avanna looked at her feet. The guilt she felt about the Porcelain incident was still lingering.

"We won't if you won't," Kan said.

Overhead trumpets sounded. Any minute now, and the feast would begin.

Dice could feel his heart thumping in his chest as he pressed his ear against the door. Beside him Dust was slathering more poison on his weapons, his face solemn but determined. This was it- the confrontation that they had been waiting for since day one. It had been Dice's idea to hide just inside the castle before things started. They would jump out the second they heard commotion outside: an ambush.

"You feeling okay?" Dust asked quietly.

"I'm ready, I guess," Dice nodded.

"Just don't think about it okay? Do what you have to do in the moment, and worry about everything else later," Dust advised.

"Have you done this sort of thing before, back at home?" Dice asked carefully. He didn't want to say the words explicitly as Dust had sworn him to secrecy about the whole smuggler thing, but he wanted to know. He had never killed anyone before himself. The thought of it now made him feel uneasy.

Dust's face darkened slightly as his eyes grew distant. "'Course not. I don't know what you guys do in Eight, but generally murder is frowned upon in Six," he said. But Dust was lying, Dice could see it in his eyes. He swallowed thickly. Maybe he actually didn't want to know what Dust did in his free time. "Just remember that we're doing what we've got to do to survive. My mentor once told me that the first time is always the hardest." Dice wondered if Dust was speaking of Avion Tore, or some other mentor, one whose hands were smeared with morphling and other illegal goods. He'd probably never know.

"You hear something?" Dust asked.

Dice quieted his thoughts and closed his eyes. Outside, he could hear the sound of metal cogs and gears turning. They must be raising the food up from the ground. Only a few more seconds, and they'd jump.

Zea, Kan, and Avanna slipped around to the exit of the house they were hiding in as the ground in front of the castle opened and a wooden table began to appear from below. Avanna swallowed thickly as Zea held up her fingers and gripped the door knob.

Three.

Two.

One.

Zea pulled the door open and the three sprinted out, bounding across the bridge. towards the table. Each of them held their swords in their hands and bags strapped on their backs as they ran. None of the other tributes were in sight, perhaps if they were fast, they would be able to escape before anyone else showed up.

The table of food was extravagant to say the least. Hand carved bowls and elegantly crafted metal plates coated the entire top surface, each holding a different kind of nourishment. There was plenty of variety of course. In the center, the Gamemakers seemed to have organized all kinds of fruits- apples, oranges, strawberries, kiwi, pineapple, and more. On each end of the table, two roasted pigs lay on their stomachs, their skin coated in some kind of sweet syrup. Candles danced in between the dishes, their warm glow dancing against the reflective plates. Eight different kinds of Capitol soups were scattered in archaic cauldrons around the spread, and huge bowls filled with meaty chicken legs were plentiful. There seemed to be a lot of vegetable side dishes as well. there were salads, corn on the cob, string beans, and more, but of all of them, potatoes were by far the most common. The gamemakers seemed to have every type of cooking method covered with their potatoes. They mashed, roasted, baked, stewed, even grilled. And of course, there was dessert. A huge regal chair was set up in the middle of the spread, and right in front of it, a massive pumpkin pie was placed.

Just looking at it made the tribute's mouths water.

"Grab the more preservable stuff," Zea shouted as the reached the table. Avanna nodded as they began grabbing bowls of food. Avanna went for the salads, dumping a particularly green spinach mix into her bag, carelessly spilling half the bowl onto the ground as she did so. Moving on, she grabbed a plate of roasted potatoes and dumped that in too. A few apples had been placed decoratively between some of the dishes, she began gathering them frantically.

That was when chaos descended. The two huge castle doors spread open, and Dust and Dice appeared behind them. Immediately, Dust brought his blow gun to his lips and shot. Zea felt a pinching pain as she pulled a dart from her neck. Quickly, she grabbed a metal plate that once was covered in pickled cabbage, and brought it in front of her. Dust shot another dart, but she used the plate as a shield, blocking it.

"Kan, Avanna, get out of here now," Zea called out as she crouched low, her eyes locked with Dust's.

"I got this," Dust said quietly to Dice. "Go get the other two."

"No, you get them," Dice said. "I'm not fighting my District partner just yet."

He nodded and quickly sprinted towards Kan. Naturally, neither Kan nor Avanna had heeded Zea's calls. Their alliance had decided minutes ago that they were going to commit to this. No one was going to get left behind. Kan saw Dust approaching fast, and felt his stomach flip. With a panicked yelp, he dove for the one protective barrier he saw- the table. Slipping beneath the white cloth, he began to scramble for the far side of it, where Avanna was located. He would have back up there.

Meanwhile, Dice and Zea circled each other, both of their expressions hardened. Dice struck first, whipping his sword around and slashing at Zea's neck. She ducked, and cut her blade across his thigh. It cut a deep gash in it's wake, and blood quickly began soaking his pant leg. Before Zea could land another more fatal blow though, he kicked out, driving his good foot into her stomach and shoving her backward. She fell to the ground, skidding slightly as the earth managed her sudden weight.

Taking only a moment to gather herself, she rolled over and pushed herself back to her feet. In the meantime, Dice tore the tunic belt from his waist and tied it around his leg, a slapdash attempt to stop the bleeding. He needed to make sure that he didn't bleed out before the fight ended.

Before Zea attacked again, Dice stabbed with his sword. She parried it, but as she two swords clattered together, she felt her head begin to throb. Gritting her teeth together, she swung her sword around and tried to land something in Dice's mid-section. He blocked her blow, and used his feet to take out her knees. Falling to the ground again, Zea felt her head begin to swim. She felt sick. What was going on?

Dust had caught up to Kan now, as he chased the boy from Seven to the other end of the table. The smuggler was taking on Avanna as well as she showed up for the fight. He could tell that she seemed uneasy as she held her sword awkwardly between both hands. She was fighting though- a vast improvement from her pervious encounters with tributes. As he was now too close to depend on his blow gun, Dust had taken out two knives and was fighting with them instead.

"The blade is covered in green stuff," Kan said as he slashed frantically at Dust. "Don't let that get into your system."

Dust smirked. "I'll keep my eye out for it thank you," he joked as he batted away Kan's attack. Avanna sent in a swat of her own as he did so, and again, he blocked. Suddenly, he burst forwards, swinging his knives out as he did. Avanna and Kan split instantly- Kan tripping over a table leg as he did so- and both missed the attack. Avanna boldly cut her sword behind her, managing to clip the back of Dust's tunic. She didn't break any skin though. Now Dust was standing in between the pair and the bridge. If they wanted to exit the castle's little island, they'd either have to swim through the moat or kill him.

"We're not going to last," Kan panted quietly to Avanna.

She looked at him worriedly as fear gripped her gut. "We have to. Zea will beat Dice, and then she'll come to help. We've just got to wait him out," she said.

Kan glanced over at Dice and Zea who were viciously circling each other. Dice was clearly the superior fighter as he powerfully wielded his sword. Zea swayed on her feet as she fought. Something was wrong with her, very wrong.

Zea could feel her vision blurring. In front of her, Dice seemed to have three heads, two of which seemed to be talking. Dizzily, she stabbed through the silent one, cutting it in half. She heard it cry out in pain, but when she looked down at her sword, she found that it was clean. If she had really hit him, it would be bloody. Vaguely, she felt something warm trickling down her arm. Oh, she had been cut. Dice had driven his blade forwards, and by chance she had swayed out-of-the-way, avoiding most of the hit.

She pushed her sword forwards, slashing it across his body. He stepped backwards though, causing her to miss. Her momentum suddenly felt unbearable, and she staggered to her left, finally catching herself as she dropped onto one knee. Kan, Avanna, and Dust all stopped as she crumpled onto all fours in front of Dice.

"No," Avanna felt the scream ripping through her throat as she rushed forwards, trying to show up in time. Why did she never show up on time? Dice raised his sword above his head, a look of silent pity and subtle guilt on his face as he plunged it down, straight through Zea's chest. Her body gave out immediately as she sunk to the ground. A lone cannon sounded throughout the arena. The sound echoed, swirling like a demon through Kan's bones, through Avanna's heart.

They both knew better than anyone that she had been their savior. If not for her, they would never have made it passed day one, when Porcelain slit Rowan's throat. And now she was gone, leaving nothing behind except a bloodied corpse and the ghost of a remembered whisper. Neither of them had ever felt so alone.

Dust knew better than to leave them time to grieve. Pulling out his blow gun, he loaded a dart and huffed. He missed his target though. Avanna had broken into a sprint, hopping the feast table in one jump. Tears of hate and regret streamed down her face as she charged Dice head on. Near Dust, Kan cursed under his breath, and broke after her, leaving Dust behind. The boy from Six scowled as the two began to circle his ally. He had to put the blow gun away. If he missed, he might hit Dice.

Avanna swung her sword wildly at Dice, a newfound ferocity in her movements. He wasn't her district partner anymore. He was Zea's killer, and she would never forgive him. He kept up with her though, parrying and batting away her attacks. Soon Kan joined her, sending in a random half-hearted jab when Avanna allowed him an opening. Dice backed up slowly, inching closer to the castle, being careful not to trip over the corpse as he did so.

Dust moved around, taking his knives out again. He needed to give Dice some relief. At the moment, he was holding his own, but as long as he kept being battered like that, he'd never be able to land a hit. Just as Dice's back pressed against the castle wall, Dust attacked. "Do it now," Dust called out as he arched his knife for Avanna. Kan saw it coming, and in a panic, he pushed his remaining ally to the side, using his sword to fend of Dust's attack. While he was distracted, Dice took his sword and hacked forwards. Kan let out an excruciating cry as the blade slipped through his flesh, cracked through his bone, and exited through the other side. He felt his body crash to the ground as he looked down at his injury in horror.

Dice had just cut his right arm clean off, just above his elbow.

Avanna let out a choked yelp as her eyes widened, staring at Kan. She could feel her breathing start to accelerate. She couldn't do this. Zea was dead. Kan was dying. It was too much. She was never meant for this. Dice and Dust both moved their gaze to her at the same time. Kan was out of the fight now. They only had one target left.

For the entire duration of the fight, Rubin watched from a distance, half submerged in the murky moat. He knew that he was going to have to move eventually. He needed food, but at the same time, he didn't want to risk losing a fight with Dice and Dust. He had risked far to much over the past few days. But as he sat in the water, watching the two boys move upon Avanna like two hardened vultures, circling a piece of meat that was already dead, he knew he had to do something.

It was more than a deed of moral virtue. This would might be his last chance to catch the two boys off guard. He could not waste it. Rushing forwards, he jumped from the water and flew towards the two boys. Dice took his first swing at Avanna and she blocked it. Dust quickly slashed with his knife, she dodged it, just barely. Rubin leaned down, and pried Zea's sword from her dead fingers. Kan watched the career approach, non even comprehending what was going on as his head felt light from blood loss.

Just as Dust moved to gut the poor girl from Eight, he called out. "Hey Six!" He swung his sword forward, aiming to impale. Dust spun around, and dove to the side, narrowly missing the attack. Dice turned, almost daring to completely leave Avanna behind. She wasn't done though. With a raw cry, she drove the but of her blade into the gash Zea had cut in his leg, making him crumple to the ground in pain.

Rubin and Dust circled each other. "This is long over due," Dust grinned as he snaked his knife towards Rubin's gut.

"I never had anything against you," Rubin retorted, as he batted away the attack. Dust didn't respond, instead he attacked again, this time aiming for Rubin's leg. All he needed was one little nick, and within minutes, Rubin would be stumbling around blind, just like Zea was.

On the ground, Kan could feel the sweat pouring down his body. His remaining hand was shaking violently as the blood pooled around him. The cruel part was that he was still so horribly lucid. The pain, the light-headedness, the grief, it was all there, he could feel it. But he also knew what he had to do. His own father had lost his hand working in the woods at home. He wouldn't be much of a medic if he didn't know how to react. As his consciousness threatened to fade, he pulled the belt from his waste, and clumsily began attempting to tie it around what was left of his arm. He needed to stop the bleeding. Now.

Avanna and Dice were sparring deliberately now. Any ghost of reservation had vanished from Dice. They were District partners, but they were never close. Whatever bond they may have had, Dice had irreparably severed when he killed Zea. Avanna swatted her sword, aiming for everything, as she battled him. He landed a scratch here, and a cut there, but she came back with twice the heart as her tears mixed with her blood. The wound in Dice's leg was bleeding profusely, as Avanna targeted it again and again. It was slowing him down.

Finally, she pushed him back, sending him tumbling to the ground. She stood over him, a complete and utter shell of the girl she once was as she shook violently, her sword clutched in her hands. It was just like the other day, when she had cornered Porcelain, but failed to kill her. She would not be that weak person now. No. Dice had killed Zea. She wanted... She wanted... She didn't know what she wanted, but she knew that there was only one outcome left.

"Avanna," Dice started to say as he saw the resolve in her eyes. He looked scared. The brooding boy that Avanna had once known seemed to have been crushed too. "Avanna, please think for a minute. I'm your-"

She stabbed him, straight through the heart.

Boom.

Dust looked up from his fight with Rubin, anguish written across his face as he saw Dice fall. He didn't pause though. As Rubin swung his sword around, Dust blocked it. Dice wasn't the first brother he had lost. Maybe they would call him heartless back at home, but really, he was numb. Only experience could teach someone how to bear death without missing a beat. If anything, he knew how to survive.

Looking at Rubin's unscathed form, he knew he no longer had the advantage. Avanna would recover in a moment, and then she would attack him too. "It's been fun," he said to Rubin, his voice rather sullen. Then he turned and sprinted, running for the hills. Rubin debated following for a minute, but he had more important things to do. Turning around, he looked to the table of food, and ran to it. Grabbing one of the bowls, he started piling various food articles in it.

Avanna seemed oblivious to his presence. No, instead, she had moved, abandoning Dice's body in an instant to go to Kan. The boy from Seven was still struggling to build a tourniquet with his belt, but he looked weak. The pool of blood that had formed around him scared Avanna. She knelt down beside him and quickly helped tie his belt tight just below his shoulder.

"Th- that's not going," Kan mumbled, sounding delirious. "Need to stop bleeding."

"Tell me what to do," Avanna pleaded. Her eyes were crazed, and her body was coated with blood and sweat. Her sanity was resting on this moment. If Kan died here, she would never recover. "Please. Help me. Help me please."

"Fire," Kan breathed. "You... fire. Burn it shut."

Then his eyes fluttered closed, and his breathing quickened. He was dying, she knew it. Jumping to her feet, she looked around in a panic. She needed something, but she didn't no what. Her own thoughts no longer seemed to make sense to her. Then she saw Rubin, who seemed just about ready to cross the bridge and leave. She didn't know much about him, but she knew that he had already saved her life once that day.

"Wait, please, he needs help. Please," she called out to him, her voice cracking as she spoke.

He stopped and looked at her, and the bleeding boy at her feet. The Academy would tell him that he should gut them both then and there, that he should take this opportunity to guarantee himself final six. For some reason though, he couldn't do that. The girl in front of him was asking- no pleading- for his aid. What kind of person would he be if he refused?

With a sigh, he jogged over. "He, he said I have to burn it shut," Avanna stuttered out, looking distressed. "I... I..."

"It's okay, I know what to do," Rubin said gravely. Running over, Rubin went to the large chair that was sitting at the pillaged feast table. With his sword, he sawed off one of it's wooden legs. Then he turned to one of the candles that was lit at the table, and held the wood above it. Several seconds later, the wood had caught fire, and he had a makeshift torch in his hands. Running back over, he knelt beside Kan. "This is probably going to hurt."

Then he pressed the flaming wooden chair leg against Kan's open wound. A sick sizzling sound crackled through the air and the smell of burning flesh floated to their noses. Suddenly, Kan seemed completely and utterly alive. His torso twisted away from Rubin, trying to escape the pain. Rubin held strong though. He pinned Kan's arm to the ground as he cauterised the wound shut.

That was when Kan started to scream.

The sound was horrible, full of agony, and sorrow, and the horrors of more than a week in the arena. Avanna had never heard such an awful sound before. Yet still Rubin held, burning Kan's skin. Causing him pain. Avanna couldn't take it. Covering her ears, she curled up into a ball and put her head between her knees.

The nightmare would end soon, she told herself. It was going to end soon. It was going to end.

Kan's screams persisted though, traveling with her into Hell, never-ending and eternal.

You Found Me by The Fray

A/N Bum ba dum bum bum! And that folks is how you butcher an alliance. I'm so happy with this chapter, like you guys have no idea (although please excuse any grammatical issues, it's been like a two days since the last update). RIP Dice and Zea.

Zea- So Zea was kind of like the rock of Kan and Avanna's alliance. She was clever and gutsy, and knew what it took to stay alive. She kind of reminded me of Autumn from my first story actually, except that she came off a bit harsher since her allies were so kind. What really distinguished her though was her heart. As rough and harsh as she might have seemed, she really did care for her allies. Every harsh word she uttered was to help make them stronger because she didn't want to lose them. (It was a bit different with Rowan because she hadn't been with them for that long at that point). I think that's why I knew she had to go in this chapter. In a confrontation like this, she was bound to bear the brunt of the attack, and let's be honest, she didn't have it in her to win a fight against both Dice and Dust. She left her impression though, believe me. Thanks to Lupus Overkill for the submission. Hopefully you're happy with the way she died :)

Dice- Dice (and sort of Dust too) are two of my biggest regrets of this story. I don't think for a moment that I did either of them justice. I knew that I wanted them both to go to the final ten (and Dust to the final eight, at least, I'm not spoiling anything here), and in the process, I didn't give them nearly enough action, or depth. As many have said, they've been bland. That's my fault, I'm sorry. I did it last story too (Raven, Lena, and Roland- yup bland issue). It's going to be something that I'm going to try and fix in Forever Bound. For what it's worth though, Dice was a great character, and I enjoyed writing him. Hopefully the moment I gave him before the big fight was enough to redeem the crime of blandness, if only slightly. Thanks to Munamana for the submission.

Any who, so we are in the final eight. Know what that means? Poll time! I want to know who you want to be victor. Key word here is want. I don't care if you think it's completely unrealistic because they're injured and that I'll never choose them. Who do you WANT to win? Be biased, but be sure to vote in the poll. It's on my profile and takes two seconds. I know that your all out there somewhere, and so if you're not going to review vote in the poll. I'll post the results in the next chapter.

And of course poll results won't have any affect on who actually wins. I've had my victor picked for ages.

Until next time,

Tales