Author's Note

I do not own the Hunger Games.


He drew his knife, flipped it over, and held it, handle out, to Azrayk.

He stared at it numbly. "What- what- what-?"

"You do it."

"What?"

"I killed in the Bloodbath."

(and before that, long before that)

"Let's see you do it."

He took the knife with a shaking hand, looked down at the girl from Four. "I-"

And suddenly he looked an awful lot less sure of himself than he had when he had been passing the sentence but not holding the blade.

"She needs to die," he said, raising the blade high above his head.

That was no way to kill anything.

A moment later he lowered it again, stared at the girl from Four. "I can't."

Hyperion reached for the knife, returned it to his belt. "That's what I thought."

The girl from Four laughed slightly, rocking on the spot. "You're fucking weak. Two pansies and a puppy dog pretending to be a wolf!"

"Don't make me regret not killing you Four."
Slowly, Shelley unzipped her jacket, peeling her arms from the damp sleeves.

Four smiled widely. "And why haven't you killed me?"

He smiled back. "Because first you're going to lead us back to the boy from Twelve."


"We need to move," Nathaniel said, glancing about himself. Bunny was still knelt by Heaven's body, clutching her hand, while Luciente had knelt to grasp the trident still lodged in Heaven's chest.

"They're going to be sending the hovercraft to pick up the bodies."

"Just a bit longer. She might still-"

"Bunny, she's gone," Nathaniel replied.

"No, but she might-"

"Her cannon fired."

"It could have been someone else- It probably was-"

"Bunny."

Bunny rocked back away from the body, gasping and choking on tears. "What am I going to do?"

Luciente wrenched the knife free from Heaven's body with a bloody, squelching sound. "Everything has its time, and everything dies."

Bunny gaped at her.

"Stay with us."

She held the knife out towards the other girl. Slowly, shakily, Bunny pushed herself to her feet.

"You're part of our pack now."

However temporary it was, it had become that way.

They weren't just a paired pack anymore.

Bunny reached out a trembling hand and took the knife, gripping it tight.

"Luciente," she whispered.

"You spoke… directly to me."

Nathaniel smiled. "Yeah, she does that sometimes."

Luciente turned back towards the stream. The body of the girl from Two was still floating there, bobbing in the water, staining it red around her.

"W-We should probably get the rest of our supplies from the cabin. In case anyone else comes across it."

Luciente inclined her head in agreement.

Slowly, stiffly, shakily, they returned the cabin and gathered up their supplies, pulling the backpacks over their shoulders. Bunny cast constant, anxious looks at the trees around their tiny meadow, as though expecting another Career to appeared from nowhere at any moment.

"They won't," Luciente said.

Bunny looked at her. "Won't what?"

"Appear again."

Bunny frowned at her and then looked back to the trees, still clutching the knife that had killed Heaven.

"You can't know that."

"I can feel it."

Bunny sighed and shook her head. As they moved back towards the stream, she drew the knife that had been her sponsor gift, smaller and narrower than the girl from Two's, and held it out to Nathaniel. "Here."

He stared at it. "What?"

"You take it. It doesn't make any sense, me having two weapons and you having none."

He nodded, shakily reaching out to grasp the knife and clipping the sheath to his belt. "Thank you."

Bunny shrugged.

They worked their way between the trees back to the stream. By the time they got there, Heaven's body and the girl from Two were gone. Bunny stopped to gaze at the place where her ally had died, still splattered with blood but otherwise undisturbed. For a moment Luciente thought she was going to cry again, but she simply kissed her hand, pressed it to the tree nearest where Heaven had lain, and followed as Luciente began to pick a path along the stream.

"So what exactly are we going to do?"

"We're going treasure hunting!" Nathaniel replied, with an odd enthusiasm for him.

"Treasure hunting?" Bunny asked doubtfully behind her.

He shrugged, trailing after Luciente as she began to pick her way along the still slightly pink stream.

"Looking for what, exactly?"

"I don't know. But I get the feeling she does, even if she didn't find it yesterday."

"I'll know it when I find it. Bethany seemed to think it had been there a long time."

Bunny froze. "What does Bethany have to do with anything? She died in the bloodbath."

"What's dead is never truly gone. The dead leave an impression."

"You're talking about ghosts?"

Nathaniel nodded slowly. "My mum used to say I could talk to ghosts. Back when I was really little."

Luciente gave him a sharp look.

Oh, now that was interesting.

So he had had the gift, but then he'd lost it.

Maybe that was what she could sense.

But why would he lose it?

She never lost hers.

Maybe it was because she used it, and he never did. Or maybe it was because something had gone wrong with him, he wasn't… complete like her.

Maybe he just hadn't had enough, so it faded as he grew.

"And you've been talking to Bethany?" Bunny asked as they approached the cliff. She didn't believe her, Luciente felt. Well, no matter. Not many people did.

"Don't be silly. Ghosts can't talk."

"Silly me," muttered Bunny. "What was I thinking?" She stopped at the sight of the sea, staring out across it. "Wow."

Nathaniel grinned. "It's awesome, right?"

Bunny shrugged. "It's probably partly a hologram. You know, forcefield and all that. Where are we going?"

Luciente pointed at the white tipped waves. She could feel it, pulsing beneath her skin, echoing in her ears.

Seek me, it said, find me, use me, admire me.

But most of all, it said power.

"Of course we are."


Some kind sponsor had sent the District Four girl, who was apparently called Illenia, a pair of shorts and a bra, which at least made her somewhat presentable. She led them through the trees, occasionally still sniffling or lifting a hand to her very obviously broken nose.

Not so pretty now.

"You don't seem like the heroic type Ten. Why are you doing this?"

Luciente.

He poked her with his spear. "Keep your mouth shut unless you're directing us Four."