Despite my recent…setbacks, thing's appear to be looking up. My stings are feeling a bit better and so is my sword wound. Some sponsor medicine sure would help, but I doubt I'll be receiving it anytime soon. No doubt Gloss is absolutely furious about me turning my back on the careers to throw in with a twelve-year-old girl and career-enemy number one. I can't say I regret it, though. I knew Katniss was a fighter and Rue's shown she is to. Hell, she's already outlasted a couple careers, a pretty impressive accomplishment for someone so small.

We're sitting beneath a large tree, not far from where Katniss is still lying unconscious. Her fever's broken and we're just waiting for her to wake up, which Rue is fairly confident will happen tomorrow. Once Katniss is up, we'll figure out what to do about my ex-allies. The sun's just gone down and a soft darkness has fallen over the arena, leaving everything quieter than it was before.

I notice Rue gnawing on something. "What's that?" I ask.

"Wild onion," she says, taking a bite without looking over. "Want one?"

I do. I haven't eaten anything since my last breakfast at the cornucopia and I'm feeling it. But Rue's done a lot for me already. The last thing I should be doing is eating her food.

"No thanks. I'm not hungry," I lie. As if in protest of that statement, my stomach rumbles loudly.

"That isn't what it sounds like. Here, just take one," she chuckles, putting the morsel in my hand, "And no, I will not take it back."

"Thanks," I say with a smile, knowing Rue isn't going to relent on the subject. I take a bite and find the tangy flavor better than I expected, but even better is the feeling of having something in the cavernous void of my stomach again. It's also nice to have an ally again. Reminds me of the conversations I had with Brooke. My smile falls at that. I remember that my friend is dead and that I didn't even think to save her. She had a bad leg and I ran like a coward. I forgot her and now she's dead, gone forever and already on her way back to District Four to be buried. I wonder how her family is taking it? Come to think of it, I never asked her much about her family. I wish I had. I wish I'd been a better friend to her. She deserved more.

It makes me wonder who else is dead. Glimmer for sure, but there could be others. I've missed two days of the action and any number of people could've kicked the bucket during that time.

"Rue?" I ask.

"Yeah?" she says between bites.

"Did anyone die while I was out?" I ask.

"The girls from One and Four," she says.

"I know. I saw them go down during the…tracker jacker attack," I say quietly, remembering Brooke disfigured from the stings, "Anyone else? Cato maybe?"

"Who's Cato?" she asks, looking up from her food.

Oh right. Most tributes aren't on a first-name basis with the careers. I keep forgetting to the others we're just cruel Capitol robots here to slaughter them.

"Cato's the boy from Two," I answer.

"Oh. Yeah he's still around. His leg's a little messed up though," Rue says, "Did you do that?"

"I wish," I chuckle, "A mutt got hold of him while he was chasing me. I was hoping it'd finish him off."

"We're not that lucky. Everyone else is still in the game," she says.

"Even Peeta?" I ask, remembering the nasty stab wound Cato gave him.

"His face hasn't appeared in the sky so he must be," Rue answers.

I whistle at that. "Wow. He was bleeding like a stuck pig last I saw," I say, more to myself than to Rue. I still don't know what to think about Peeta. I spent the last couple days hating him, but now it looks like everything I may have thought about him was wrong.

"Why'd you save him anyway?" Rue asks.

I pause, a little unsure of the answer myself. "I guess it was for Katniss more than for him. I didn't really think about it. I just did it. I guess since he was helping my ally, I just decided to help him in return," I say.

Rue nods in understanding and we're silent for a moment, just listening to the quiet sounds of the evening.

"Marvel," Rue says.

"Yeah?" I answer.

"What's District One like?" Rue asks.

The question gives me pause, mostly because I'm not really sure what Eleven is like. I'm also not quite sure what I'll have to explain and what Rue will already be familiar with.

"Well…we make luxury items for the Capital," I start, aware of how lame my words sound.

"Yeah I got that from the reapings," Rue says, smirking at my awkwardness.

I grin and continue. "It's nice and well-kept. Weather's kinda cold but not unbearable. We've got plenty of food and some pretty impressive buildings. We've also got the Academy," I say.

"That where they taught you to be a career?" Rue asks emotionlessly. I know it's absurd, but Rue's dark gaze suddenly makes me feel very small.

"Sorta. They teach you skills there. Y'know, swords, spears, knives. But they don't teach the mindset. That's just…there. It's been there for as long as I can remember and it infects everything. Every conversation people have somehow gets back to the games or whoever's showing the most promise at the Academy or how long it's been since we had a victor. You just can't get away from it," I say. I take in Rue's expression. She just looks thoughtful.

"You hate it," she says simply.

"Yeah...I kinda do," I say, running my hand through my hair, which is far-removed from the perfection it knew in the Capital. I'm sure my district hates me for these words, if they didn't already from my choices. Here I am, a citizen of District One, choosing the outer districts over my own people. I don't regret my choices, but I know they're not popular. The complete absence of sponsor gifts is a good indication of that.

There's silence for a moment. Rue decides not to press me further and I'm grateful for it. I've said too much already.

"What's District Eleven like?" I ask, curious but also eager to get off District One, "Aside from growing crops, I don't know a thing about it."

"The crops are most of it. When we're not in school, we're working in the fields and orchards. Even when we're in school, everything somehow relates to the crops," she says.

"They make kids work in the fields?" I ask, surprised because Panem is supposed to have child-labor laws. At least they do in District One.

"Oh yeah. Especially during harvest time. They cancel school and everyone has to work then," she says, "Even if it wasn't required, everyone would. We need the food."

Sounds like District Twelve. Once again it sounds like people in the outer districts are starving while the career districts and the Capitol all live in luxury. No wonder they hate us.

"What do they make you do?" I ask.

"I mostly work in the orchards," Rue says.

I can't help but smile at that. "So that's how you learned to scamper through the trees like a squirrel," I say, remembering Rue hopping from branch to branch in the darkness.

Rue shrugs. "It's one of the only things I learned back home that's come in handy here," she says.

Her statement reminds me how unfair the games really are. I learned an obscene amount of things back home that have been useful in the games whereas Rue's just been trying to scrape by with what she's got. Still, it's pretty impressive she's lasted this long. Most twelve-year-olds don't make it beyond the bloodbath.

My mind drifts back to the interviews and I suddenly remember a snippet of Rue's and I can't help but smile.

"Caesar was right, though," I say.

"What?" Rue asks.

"Caesar. He was right about you in the interviews, about not counting you out," I say.

Rue smiles. "I'm just doing the best I can. It's not easy with all the big threats out there," she says, motioning towards me.

"Things change," I say with a slight laugh, "The bad guys don't always win. Once we've got Katniss back in the fight, I've got a good feeling we can make their life a lot harder."

"I like the sound of that," Rue says mischievously.

The rest of the night passes uneventfully. Rue's much more pleasant company than Cato or Clove and I find myself more relaxed than I have been in days. Even when I was hanging out with Brooke and Lewis, there was always tension simmering just beneath the surface, whether it was about Peeta, Katniss or the fact that our alliance was effectively split into two factions. Rue tells me a little about her family and her younger siblings, making me even more sympathetic to her than I already was. Me, Katniss and her are all in the same situation. We're all watching out for our younger siblings and doing everything we can not to let them down; to come home. It makes me miss Striker more than ever. I hope he's happy and not too horrified that his big brother, the one who gave him piggy-back rides through the park back home, has killed three people. I suppose I won't know how they feel until I get out of here. One thing at a time.

The anthem played, but no faces appeared in the sky. Hopefully the audience will be entertained by the shifting alliances. If not, the gamemakers may try to move things along again themselves…an option I'm really hoping to avoid after the last incident.

Rue scurries up a tree to sleep. She encourages me to go, but I insist on sleeping on the ground, even if it is a little more dangerous. The undergrowth offers decent cover and I'm a quiet sleeper, which'll hopefully be enough. After Cato's fall, I have no particular desire to climb a tree anytime soon, which I don't think are career-friendly around here.

Actually, I suppose I'm no longer a career. I'm a traitor to the careers…and I don't care one bit.

I'm awoken by something smacking me in the forehead. I blink my green eyes, trying to adjust to the light. It looks like it's mid-morning, the sunlight sifting down through the tree branches above me and bathing me in its warmth. It's a comfortable warmth, something pleasant instead of the stifling heat on the second day of the games. It reminds of the spring days back home and how I'd take Striker to the park. That was about as close to nature as we could get in District One. It was out there, but the fence kept us separated from the natural world, safely cocooned in our layers of civilization. For a district crazy about the Hunger Games, we really don't prepare tributes for the wilderness very well.

My thoughts are scattered by an acorn hitting me in the head. I sit up rapidly and look around for my assailant, but see no one. Only the ferns and forest that surrounded me when I went to bed last night. The answer only comes as a giggle above my head. I look to see Rue perched on a branch above me like some small bird.

I'm about to say something when she pitches another acorn that hits me right between the eyes.

"And I thought those academies made you fast," Rue teases from the safety of her perch.

I rub the spot on my forehead and try not to think about how ridiculous she just made me look in front of the entire country.

"They do…but acorn-dodging wasn't really something we covered extensively," I chuckle.

I get up and stretch as Rue comes down from the tree. It's almost comical to have her standing next to me. She's barely up to my ribs.

"So what's the plan for today?" I ask.

"Katniss is still out, so no big moves…but we do need some food," she says.

"We out of wild onions?" I ask, fondly remembering the tangy vegetable from yesterday.

"We're out of everything," she says and I can't help but feel guilty. Rue would have more food if she hadn't shared with me yesterday. I owe her too much as is. She already saved my life, protected me, treated me and gave me food when I was at my most desperate. It's time I do something for her.

"Tell you what," I say, standing up and grabbing my spear, "I'll find breakfast for us."

Rue smiles. "We'll split up. I'll look for some more plants while you go hunting," she says.

I'm about to protest the idea of Rue being by herself when I remember that she's been on her own the last few days and has done great. She's actually done a lot better at the solo-game than me. Five minutes after splitting from my group I was on the forest floor hallucinating about ants.

"Alright…just keep your eyes open," I say.

"You too," she says before heading off through the underbrush, obviously a lot more familiar with this area of the woods than me. Then again, this whole place looks the same so if you're familiar with one part, you probably think you're familiar with all the others as well.

I grab my spear, check my fire-starter knife and head out, making sure to keep our meager campsite directly behind me. Without a compass, I can't afford to get turned around in here. I remember my training and step quietly, slowing my breathing and moving silently through the forest. For a while, it was hard to move this quietly. When I was learning at the Academy, I was too clumsy, unable to move my lanky legs with any grace. I tripped, stumbled and sputtered my way through our obstacle course. Years of training and the rest of my body catching up to my legs cured me through. Now, I move like a shadow, slipping quietly through the forest in search of my targets.

The forest comes alive around me. The silent maze of trees is now filled with a symphony of sounds, birds calling, the breeze flowing through the branches, animals scurrying through the underbrush. I crouch as low as I can and creep through the ferns and bushes along the ground, trying to stay as hidden as a tall person can. In mid-creep, I freeze. There's a rabbit, maybe fifteen feet away in a small, grassy clearing.

I can't use my spear on something that size. If I even managed to hit something so small, the spear head would destroy a good amount of the meat. I'll have to use my knife the best I can. If she wouldn't be eager to cut my balls off, I'd wish Clove was here. If there's anyone who could hit the rabbit with a knife, it's her.

I inch forward in the bush and draw my knife from my boot. The rabbit freezes, rising on its haunches to sniff the air. Its comically large ears shift in the breeze as its dark eyes search the area, possibly sensing danger but unable to find anything confirming it. I take a deep breath and remember Clove's throwing form. I stand up and hurl the knife. My aim's good, but not perfect. The blade plants itself in the rabbit's hind leg. It squeaks in pain and tries to scamper away on its good legs. I'm on it in a second and with a simple twist of its neck, the movement stops. Looks like I've found breakfast. If the gamemakers had a real sense of humor, they'd fire a cannon shot.

I clean my knife and hook the rabbit to my belt. This, along with whatever Rue finds, should make a pretty decent meal. We'll have to wait 'til dusk to cook the rabbit unless I want to run into my old pals again. My silent gait is forgotten as I stroll back towards camp. I arrive to find Rue still out. I'm hope she finds more wild onions. I'm ready for drink, but find that Rue's taken the water bottle with her. Oh well. I suppose she needs it more anyway.

I lean against a tree trunk and try to relax, as much as you can in an arena where the threat of death is constant. Hopefully the audience isn't getting bored. The only thing to die since the tracker jacker attack has been the rabbit attached to my belt. I'm sure our new alliance was mildly interesting, but if things don't pick up soon, the gamemakers may get creative again. Once Katniss wakes up, we'll have to figure out how to handle the careers.

Katniss. My thoughts fly back to where she's concealed. Rue said she'd wake up today. I feel that flicker of hope blooming in my chest and get up. I grab my spear and head over to where Katniss is, excited at the idea of my other ally being back in the game. I push the brush aside only to be greeted by the sight of the forest floor. Where is she? Am I in the wrong spot? No, I'm sure this is where Rue left her…or am I? Shit. What if Katniss woke up and already took off? What if a mutt came by or worse the careers? There was no cannon, but maybe they dragged her off to torture her.

I try to push the panic down that's rising in the spot hope was in a moment ago. My fingers are completely rigid around my spear and I can feel beads of sweat forming on my forehead. We should've left someone on guard. I certainly could have done it, but instead I went rabbit hunting and we may have lost our most valuable ally because of it.

My panicked train of thought is derailed by the sound of a twig snapping behind me. I spin around to see Katniss Everdeen standing there, her silver bow aiming one razor-sharp arrow directly at me. Her grey eyes, which once softened towards me, now look hard as stone.

"Don't move," she says, her voice colder than the harshest winter.

It's then that I know I'm in trouble.

A/N: Oh shit. Will these two ever get along or will they kill each other first? It's great to finally get Rue into the story. I wanted to give her more time from the beginning but I had to make it work within the story. As always, all reviews, follows and favorites are greatly appreciated.