Chapter Forty Five- Win for Me

(Ranger)

I'm getting seriously frustrated by the few deaths that have occurred within the twelve days that I've been stuck in this Arena for. More often than not, the Games have finished at this point, with a Career as the Victor. However, this year, we're almost two weeks in and there are twice as many non-Careers left: six versus three. It means no different in terms of who's going to win, though; it's just got to the point of ridiculous.

"Ranger, calm down," Stella interrupts my angry thoughts with a more relaxed voice, placing her hand on my shoulder. "What's wrong?"

"We haven't even reached the Final Eight," I complain. "We're on day twelve and there aren't even sixteen dead."

"They want more competition this year," she reasons quietly into my ear. "They chose more people who wouldn't give up without a fight, and some even who have done what they shouldn't have. They wouldn't have provided everyone with a weapon at the start if people couldn't use them."

I sigh. "But nothing is happening. It's boring for us, so what's it like for them?"

"Decide to do something then," she suggests, her hand leaving my shoulder as she goes to sit against the wall, smiling slightly at me when she lands on the grass.

"What am I meant to do?" I ask, standing still.

"How about we actually go out and find someone to kill, if you're so desperate to see someone dead?" suggests Domino as he walks out the Cornucopia, putting a knife in his jacket.

I want to argue with him and come up with my own plan, but then I realise that his idea's going to be our best and probably our only one. So I nod and he smirks. "We should go into the forest, I think. No one's in the meadow or by the lake anymore, so that leaves the forest as the only place people could be hiding in."

Stella quickly gets to her feet and walks back to my side. "Good idea. I don't know why you never thought of it before."

I huff. I could have thought of it because it's so simple, but I just merely never really think of the easy options. Usually, stuff just happens without the need for planning, especially for Careers in the Games; it just seems to be this year that they've decided that they should make it more difficult. "Come on then," I mutter, picking up Stella's hand in one of mine, a sword in the other.

"You're still annoyed," she points out, her other hand gliding along her belt as she walks next to me, behind Domino, on our way to the forest.

"Why do you say that?" I ask, watching in front of me instead of looking at her.

"You didn't come up with that idea; of course you're going to be annoyed," she reasons. "Will you feel better if we do actually find someone?" I shrug. "Oh, come on, Ranger. You're the most difficult person to be around when you're in a bad mood. Just cheer up. For me?"

The emphasis on "me" makes me sigh, stopping in my tracks. Once she's standing in front of me, I lift her chin, so that she's facing me, and lean my forehead against hers. "Why are you desperate for me to kill someone?"

She smiles, taking her hand out of mine and bringing it up to my cheek. "Because it'll make it a lot easier for me at the end of the Games, because I won't have to kill as many people, only you." She taps my cheek and then runs off in front of me.

"Hey!" I complain, quickly setting off after her.

She grins when she sees me coming after her and tries to run faster, but it doesn't work because I've caught up in a matter of seconds, wrapping my arms around her form and lifting her off her feet. "Put me down!" she squeals as I spin her around.

"Why should I?" I retort.

"Because you know that I can beat you in a fight," she answers, managing to push my arms away from around her, so that she lands on her feet like a cat.

"That was years ago," I argue, folding my arms over my chest and watching her.

"I still beat you!" she shouts as she stands back up, still grinning.

"Will you two lovebirds please cease with the constant bickering and the shouting?" Domino moans. "You'll scare away any tributes we plan on pursuing."

Stella rolls her eyes, her back luckily to him, as I walk to her side. She bows a mock bow and mutters, "Of course, sir. Whatever so suits you."

He glares at her as he spins back around on his heel and continues walking towards the forest.

"Well done," I whisper into her ear, my arm around her shoulder as we start walking after him. "He'll really hate us now."

"And he didn't before?" she points out. "Anyway, why do you care?"

"I don't," I admit. "I'm just laughing at the fact that we can annoy him so easily."

"Great." She smiles and moves closer to me as we enter the edge of the forest.

"So, Ranger, are you deciding who goes where or are we sticking together?" asks Domino, turning to face us when we stop.

I pause, considering our options. We could split up and cover more ground, but we'd probably be more of a threat if we stick together, although that hasn't quite worked recently. I let go of Stella and walk forward, looking around the forest. "I suppose we probably should split up."

"In any particular direction?" he continues to question.
The truth is, there aren't three direction that I know will definitely lead to us finding another tribute. There's only one way that I know will lead us to two without fail, but I don't know if they're the two tributes that one of us could face on our own. Yes, we'd be strong enough to beat them on our own if there was just one of them, but with the both, I can't be so sure.

However, before I get the chance to answer, there's a slight crunch of leaves under foot and we all turn to look. Domino throws a knife in the direction that it sounded like it came from, but we get no response from behind the trees. It could even just be some kind of animal, but that sounded exactly like human footsteps through a forested area, not an animal's.

"You go that way," I instruct quietly to him, nodding in the direction in which he threw the knife. "Stella, you go that way," I point another way, "and I'll go this way," I point in a third direction.

Domino nods, keeping his eyes fixed onto the trees, behind which his knife disappeared to. "Then I'll continue to look for others, and we'll meet back at the Cornucopia before sun down."

"Yep." I watch as he leaves, staying as still as possible, waiting for my other ally to go as well. After a few minutes of silence, I whisper, "Star, when are you going?" I wait for her to leave for another few minutes, then wonder if I already missed her departure, until I turn around and see her crouched down with her back to me, her hands covering her side. "Stella, what's wrong?" I ask as I walk over to her.

"Nothing, Ranger, I'm fine," she mutters, not looking at me.

"Seriously, Stella, I know you're lying to me," I complain, crouching down in front of her.

She groans. "I'm absolutely fine-"

"Stop it!" I interrupt. She slowly raises her head, so that her eyes are looking at me, and it only supports the fact that she's lying. I then put my hand on her chin and lift her whole face, her skin suddenly looking awfully pale. "What happened?"

"It doesn't matter," she mumbles.

"I'm going to find out eventually, so you may as well just save the effort and tell me," I argue, reaching my hand out for hers.

She flinches when the back of my hand brushes against her side and pulls her hand out mine, pushing herself up against a tree to stand. "Go in your direction then, and I'll go in mine," she says, leaning against the tree behind her.

I look at her but can't really make out any specific details through the dark; we may have been trained in the dark, but that doesn't mean that we're able to see other's wounds. All I can see is that she's shaking slightly and she can hardly stand, but I can also see that she's not going to give up. "Fine," I sigh. "But be careful."

"When am I not?" she replies, trying desperately not to shake when I momentarily take her hand in mine, squeezing it before I walk away.

We both know that I'm not going to stay away from her for long, because I'm obviously too worried about her. However, I do jog through the small area of forest in which this other tribute could have covered in a few minutes, just to check that they're not here. Just as I'm slowing down, though, I hear a cannon and swear. If that belonged to one of my allies- although, granted, I'm not too fond of Domino- I guarantee I will kill whoever caused it.

It takes me just a few seconds to return to where I left Stella a couple of minutes ago. Instead of finding her there, I simply spot a dagger thrown to the bottom of the tree, which causes me to swear again. She can't be dead. She won't be dead. I promise myself that she won't be gone this early in the competition. In fact, I know that she plans to win, so she won't let herself die now.

Despite this, I've left the cover of the trees in a flash. She was injured, so she would have gone to the Cornucopia, even though she said she was going to look for the source of that noise. It takes me no time to find her just beyond the cover of the trees, curled into a ball, with her wounds now obvious: a deep stab in her side, in addition to a long gash under her hair. She covered them up well.

Just as I'm about to talk, a voice speaks across the Arena, "For the final eight tributes remaining, there will be a feast this evening at sunset, which will present each of you with a gift that you received at home but couldn't take with you into the Arena. However, this feast will not be held at the Cornucopia, instead at a clearing in the middle of the forest. You may find it relatively easily, as it is slightly different to the rest of the forest. That will be all."

I frown slightly. What are they doing by changing the position of the feast? And what do they mean by 'a gift that you received at home but couldn't take with you into the Arena'? However, I have no time to think about it as I whisper, "Stella?" kneeling down and touching her shoulder.

She flinches when my thumb gently brushes against the bottom of her neck, a shiver running down her back. "Hey Ranger," she replies, her voice shaking as she speaks.

"Do you want some help getting back to the Cornucopia?" I ask, watching her.

"No." She tries to push herself up onto her feet but, as soon as she's tried, her legs have collapsed beneath her.

I catch her and hold her in my arms, trying not to put pressure on any wounds. I know I need to get her back to the Cornucopia somehow, but I don't know if she can stand me carrying her over there. And, in addition to that, she says she doesn't want any help. That's just like a Career, though; covering up a death that could be coming until it happens. "Do you know who did this?" I know it's pointless because whoever did it obviously did it from behind her, but she may have snuck a look.

She shakes her head and snatches a sharp breath as her movement pulls on the wound on the back of her neck.

"It's okay," I whisper, carefully stroking her cheek as I look at her ever paling face. "I'll get you fixed up and then you'll be back to normal in no time."

"We wish," she mutters, opening her eyes to look at me. "Ranger, a Career may pretend that they're fine when they know that they can survive their wounds," she pauses, coughing, "but there's no point in me trying anymore."

"Trust me, Stella," I argue. "I've seen every wound possible, so I'll be able to bandage you up in just a few minutes."

"It would have been more useful if you'd told me that a few minutes ago," she points out.

"You should have told me," I reason. "And, anyway, I may look like some huge killing machine, which has no capability for feeling anything but the need to kill, but I do actually have a heart."

She smiles weakly and laughs slightly, which only turns into a cough, so she curls up in my arms. "I know you have a heart, Ranger. You've made the end of this worthwhile."

"Stop it," I complain. "Don't say things like that. It's not the end yet. We've got a load more kids- including the two from Eleven- to kill before you can even consider giving up."

"I would never have been able to beat you anyway," she decides.

"You wouldn't have needed to anyway," I say softly.

Before she moves back over, so that she's facing me, I wrap my jacket around her side, putting pressure on the injury to stem its blow of blood. She shuts her eyes for a second as a tear slips down her cheek, before I wipe it away and she opens her eyes again. "Why?"

"I wouldn't have let anyone but you go home," I answer. And it's true. It's the most stupid and possibly the most hated thing for a Career to say and do- to give up their life for someone else- but I can honestly say that I wouldn't have been able to let her die, just so I could go home. I mean, what would there be for me after that? Nothing. No one. I would only need her.

Now, she's actually smiling, her eyes brimming with tears she refuses to let flow. "It's just a shame you can't do that anymore," she sighs.

I frown. "Please, Stella, let me-"

"Don't let her win," she interrupts.

"Who?" I ask.

"Whoever stabbed me had a silent step. I didn't hear them when they came or when they went. That means that it was either one of those little girls from Three or Seven- both of which I highly doubt- or one from Eleven," she begins.

"You think it was Hope?" I question.

"Don't let her win, Ranger, just because you like her." Her words are gradually becoming slower and more difficult to understand. "Kill her at the feast tonight."

"Exactly, Stella," I agree. "I need you at the feast, so that you can kill her like you've wanted to since forever."

"Kill her. Don't let her win," she repeats. "You need to win for me."

"Don't do this!" I instruct, leaning my forehead against hers. "You can't do this. I need you to stay with me. Stella, I love you." I have tears falling out of my eyes by the time I've finished talking. But she doesn't reply, shutting her eyes, instead, as her body goes limp, only to be followed the loud boom of a cannon.

I sit in the same place for what could be hours, holding my District partner's body in my arms, doing what is basically forbidden for a Career to do. I don't really care, though, because there's nothing for me, now that she's gone. I may have acted like a right idiot at times, but she was really the only thing that kept my tied to my sanity. Now, I have nothing left, so I have nothing to lose.

There may not be anyone worth going home to anymore, but I'm not going to let her final wishful words go to waste: I'm going to kill Hope. I won't let Hope win. I'm going to win for Stella, my one and only true love.


Author's Note: Oh my god, Georgie, I am really really ever so sorry for doing this. We've had such a nice weekend, and then I go and do this to you! I'm such a stinker and I'm really horrible and you'll probably hate me after this, but I love you loads and you're my best friend ever and I'm only doing this because you asked me to kill Stella first so Ranger would do the whole avenging thing. I hope you like what he does after this, because he believes that Hope killed Stella. How about I write you a whole story called Now Give Us A Kiss and then a load of one-shots to make up for it as well?

I feel really horrible now, especially as that was the death that no one predicted; most people thought it was going to be Domino.

RadMalfoyCookie: Yay :') omigod I feel so evil- I don't like it :'(

snoozinghamster: I must admit that the point is that you're not meant to know; Hope doesn't even know herself, only I do.

Buttons301: I'm glad!

Philippa: I think you'll find you're missing the little Casswicks.

Phoenix Abbot: Oh, I'm sorry I've made you cry but I'm glad you like it.

Recap: Domino, Ranger, Orchid, Elijah, Fearne, Hope and Orion left; 11 chapters and the epilogue.

Next chapter: The Final Eight feast.

My kind of "challenge": Once this story is finished with, as well as this sequel, I'm going to do a series of one-shots for this, one for each character. So I want you to choose any number betwen one and twenty four (you can do more than one) that no one else has chosen and, on a review, write your number and a word. I will write a one-shot for that tribute based on that word. Warning: the tribute's number is completely random (except for two only I will know).

So, now, this will be my priority. It will be finished by summer and I have exams now, so other updates will be slow.

Anyway, review with your number and word, and what you think.

I LOVE YOU, GEORGIE!