"The unthankful heart discovers no mercies; but the thankful heart will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings." -Henry Beecher

James opens his eyes to find Violet, sitting across from him, gently nibbling on their jerky. She looks up. "Morning."

"Morning," James groans. "What time is it?"

Violet shrugs. "I dunno. Wish I had a watch. It's bright out, though." Violet nods at the opening of the cave; It's day, but the sun has yet to shine; It remains masked by clouds.

James sits up against the cave wall. Save for some aches in his legs, he feels fully rejuvenated. "How long have I been out?"

Violet's brow furrows. "Not sure. You were out when I woke up. Seven, maybe eight hours?"

Damn, James thinks to himself. You can't fall asleep. Not with her. James warns himself not to fall asleep on watch and gets to his feet, pacing over to the cave's entrance. He leans out, and finds the two water bottles he set out to collect water. Both are full with rainwater. James cranes his neck to look at Violet. "Yo, Vi, I got water."

Violet's eyebrows raise with surprise, and the little girl walks over beside him. "Huh. You did. Good job."

"Of course I did a good job," James says in a tone that's sarcastic at best. "I'm the best."

"Yeah, okay," Violet replies, reaching out and sipping on one of the bottles. "I could destroy you in a fight."

James puts his hands up. "Alright, alright, just don't hurt me."

Violet smirks as James pulls aside the bushes, and steps out into the forest. "Yeah, that's what I thought."

James quickly does a 360 to make sure that nobody is lurking outside the cave, and then looks around some more. The heavy rainfall from last night has lessened a bit, and now it only drizzles. Rain has soaked the earth, leaving any and all firewood unable to be salvaged, but James didn't intend to start a fire, so this has no consequences for him. The rainstorm will likely have left the remaining resourceful tributes with some water to live off of. Excluding the Careers, there are nine other tributes left, none of which are likely to be living near the large lake near the Cornucopia.

"So," Violet says, kicking a pebble, "What's the plan, boss?"

"You got your knife on you?" James replies.

"Always do," Violet replies, flashing the blade for good measure.

"Good," James responds, unhooking one of his hatchets. "We're gonna explore a bit today. Get some berries, too. Bring your bag."

"Sounds good, but I don't wanna get lost," Violet replies, turning and entering the cave. Once inside, she calls out, "Want yours?"

"No," James replies. "Give me your granola bar, though. I'm hungry as hell."

Once Violet returns with her drawstring bag and hands him the granola bar, it's only then when James realizes how hungry it is. The adrenaline and will to push on have kept his mind away from his stomach for a few days, but once James takes his first bite into the bar he downs it in fifteen seconds. It feels good, but it's not enough, so Violet hands him some blueberries, which James happily munches down on. It's quelled some of his hunger, but not enough.

"Good enough, chief?" Violet asks with a small smile.

"Nope," James smiles back. The nation is watching, if James relays his need for something it's likely that they'll get it. The two are stars in the Capitol, and James hopes he's proven himself to the potential sponsors by ending two lives. James takes a deep breath, and calls out, "Yo! Blight! I'd really appreciate it if you could get us some food!" Not quiet enough to be inaudible, but not too loud enough to alert anyone nearby.

"Give us our favorite foods," Violet chimes in.

"Yeah, what she said," James says. "While I'd love a chicken dinner, some bread would do just fine."

Violet snorts. "Bread's your favorite food? Mine's chocolate."

"Chocolate's bad for your teeth," James points out.

"And?" Violet replies. "Bread isn't much better."

"My favorite food isn't bread. It's chicken, just...bread would be nice."

"Chocolate would be nicer," Violet frowns.

"A five-course meal would be nicer," James says.

"A king-size bar of chocolate is infinitely better than a dumb meal."

"No, it's not," James protests.

"Uh, yeah, it is," Violet says, bending down and picking some strawberries; By now, they've traveled a fair distance away from their cave. "Blight, get me chocolate." She says this to the cameras, invisible but watching them.

"Blight, get me chicken," James says, crossing his arms.

"He's gonna give me chocolate first," Violet argues.

"Sure he will," James says.

The rest of the morning is spent in relative silence, with the two of them picking berries. By the time two hours pass, they've collected a good score of nuts and berries, from blueberries to strawberries to even a few raspberries. When they return to the cave, Violet is pleased, but James can't help but feel a bit worried. They've got four pieces of beef jerky and a ton of berries. While James knows only to eat enough to sustain himself, if both he and Violet are to keep their strength up the stash won't last a week.

The thought of James stealing from the Careers pops up briefly in his head, but he knows that would only end poorly for him. There have been attempts, over the years, to steal the Careers' supplies; Some have succeeded, but most have failed. In the first Hunger Games James can ever remember watching, the boy from District 7, a boy named Ace, built molotov cocktails and burnt half the Careers to death along with all of their supplies before retreating, all in revenge of his district partner, who was part of the initial massacre. As a result, all of the Careers, who barely had any survival skills, starved to death or were killed when they were too weak from hunger by Ace himself. He ended up winning the Hunger Games that year, and District 7 was one of the most memorable districts that year in ten years. James wonders for a moment if James could do what Ace did, and forces the thought out of his mind. Too dangerous.

As the day goes on and the two remain safely inside the cave, James realizes with dread that it's the third day of the Games. He's outlived Justinian.

While this has been true for almost forty-eight hours now, James still finds it a bit...stunning. He was so distracted by trying to survive that he forgot about his brother, who froze to death last year. James remembers the time exactly: He died of hypothermia on 10:58 PM, on the first day of the 67th Annual Hunger Games. It's been exactly a year and two days since Justinian succumbed to the clutches of the Capitol. James remembers their last conversation, in the Justice Building.

He wonders about his family. Ever since the Games have started, he's wondered what his family thought of him, or how they were feeling, but now he's wondering if they've received any compensation since his Reaping. Ven has most definitely brought the Henderson family a little extra meat, and odds are Grant showed up to his house with an unhealthy amount of moonshine. James wonders about the district. Has James' father received any extra money? He's been friends with the mayor since childhood, but even then he wonders. When Justinian died, their family obviously received some money as a result, but what if two family members are Reaped two years in a row? That happened a few years ago, two tributes named Gloss and Cashmere, but both were Careers. They volunteered. James hopes that his father gets some extra money from the District. He deserves it.

James decides not to think about it for now. He's been thinking too much. He has to focus on what he's doing now.

James steps out quickly to stretch his legs and pee and then drag over more cover for the cave, and is about to retreat back inside their little home when he hears them.

One cannon, followed a few seconds later by another.

James quickly heads back into the cave, and sits by its entrance, his hatchets at the ready, Violet hiding in the corner with her knife drawn.

James burst through the door of the Justice Building. Well, burst was pushing it; James punched open the door, and hobbled through on his crutches. The Peacekeeper in charge of guarding the door, a man named Adem, just quietly steps aside with sad eyes. James knows Adem from his visits to the Epoch, but he's otherwise a stranger.

James gets to the couch on his crutches, and then collapses, giving Justinian a hug. His brother, who's already weeping softly, returns it. "I'm afraid, James."

"Me too," James admits.

They sit like that for a few minutes, just him and Justinian together. Another Peacekeeper comes to collect James but Adem stops him. "Give him a few minutes, alright? It's his brother."

The other Peacekeeper frowns, but relents and wanders away.

James releases from the hug, and wipes his eyes. Justinian wipes his, too. James just says, "You can do this."

"I can't," Justinian says back. "I can't kill people for no reason."

"You don't have to," James says back. "You just have to hide and survive until you're the last one left."

"But I'll have to kill for that to happen," Justinian sniffles. "James, I...I don't want to."

"You're good at surviving," James says. "You've passed every single nature survival course in school with A's. Do you remember the boy scouts?"

"I was a boy scout three years ago," Justinian says softly. "James, I'm done for."

"No, you're not," James says. "You're...you're only done for if you accept that you're going to die. I've seen you. You can skin a squirrel in thirty seconds."

"But I can't fight at all," Justinian says. "I've been a runner all my life. I can't fight. I'll be killed."

"You at least have to try," James says back

"Try what?"

James stands up. "Try to survive."

Justinian nods, his eyes stained with tears. "Alright. I'll try. I will."

"You promise?" James asks.

"I promise," Justinian nods.

James only nods back, says, "Good," and walks out the door, letting Adem know that he can escort in the next visitor.

James leans his head out of the cave as the national anthem of Panem ends. It's dark out, chilly, and no other cannons have sounded today. Just the two, around noon. James nervously looks into the sky, hesitating at first. Violet sits in the back of the cave, unwilling to look at the dead tributes themselves.

The first image flashes in the sky.

Ontario. District 4.

Relief floods James. Another Career dead. He wonders who killed her as the girl's face flashes in the sky. She's a tall girl, but she has a fire in those blue eyes of hers. Had, at least. James remembers her limping along with the Careers, having claimed the life of a girl from District 5 who surely begged for her life before dying. It's good that she died before James had to fight her. His relief, though, quickly turns to a mix of horror and sadness when the next tribute flashes in the night sky.

Romeo. District 12.

James feels his jaw drop, and sadness overtake him. James slinks back into the cave, slumping against a wall, sitting there, stunned. Romeo's dead. Dead. His friend, the only other true friendship besides Violet and Declan he's made with the other tributes, is dead. James told himself this was going to happen, but nothing can prepare him for the actual news. He can't look at Romeo's picture in the sky. With a square jaw, perfect hair and a small smirk, Romeo's image hides the fact that he's never had a decent meal in his whole life.

It's not fair. Not fair. Not fucking fair. Not fair that Romeo died. He should get to live. He should get to win and come home to a feast that will finally fill his stomach.

"Who...who was it?" Violet asks.

James slowly looks over at the girl. The sentence has very little confidence in it. Judging by James' face, she knows that one of their alliance has died. He opens his mouth, and his reply comes out weary and filled with sadness. "Ontario, the girl from 4, and Romeo."

Violet's eyes light up for a second when James tells Violet that Ontario's dead, and then widen with horror when he relays the news of Romeo's death. After a moment of silence, Violet asks, "Romeo's...dead?"

James sighs, letting his gaze fall to the cave floor. "Yeah, Vi. Romeo's...he's gone. Romeo's dead."

James expects Violet to say something, but she only shimmies over to him and buries her head in her lap, breaking out into tears. James stops for a moment, sets aside his weapons, readjusts his position in the cave, and puts a hand on Violet's shoulder. The little girl has lost the composure she was trying to keep, and now the tears fall freely. Two allies dead. Amelia and Romeo. Both from District 12. The coal-mining district of Panem now has no living tributes in the 68th Hunger Games. Sadness fills him, and James is now doing his best not to weep for Romeo. Brave, smart, cunning Romeo, who most definitely went down fighting.

Violet sniffs after she cries for almost ten full minutes. "Do you...do you think Romeo killed that other girl?" The question comes out muffled; Her face is still buried in James' lap, his pants stained with her tears.

"Ontario?" James asks. "I think so. Romeo's a fighter. He wouldn't go down easily."

"They're all fighters," Violet sobs.

"Yeah, but Romeo's brave. He probably sacrificed himself to save another tribute. Maybe Mick, or Kaylana, or even Declan."

There's a long pause before Violet says, "James, I wanna go home."

"I know, Vi," James croaks. "I do, too. I miss my own bed. My dad's signature soup. I miss all of it." James pauses. "But only one of us can go home. You know that. So I'm gonna do everything I can to get you home. You got me?"

James feels Violet nod, and puts his hand on her back. "Good," he says.

They don't talk for the rest of the night, and hours later, Violet finally dozes off. James doesn't though. He sits, facing the exit to the cave, his hatchet beside him, for hours. His eyelids don't feel heavy, he doesn't feel tired, either. James feels frozen in time. Something in the back of his brain tells James that he's in shock.

By now, James would be trying to figure out how many people are alive and how they might be doing in the game. Not tonight, though. James just sits in the dark, his mind blank, looking at the cave's entrance.

"I'm sorry, District 12," James whispers into the cave. "I'm so sorry."

.

.

.

James is still awake when Violet opens her eyes, and looks up at him. "Good morning, Vi," James says.

Violet sniffles. "Good morning." Her voice cracks, but she isn't choked by tears anymore. "Did you sleep?"

James shakes his head. "Couldn't. How'd you sleep?"

"Bad," Violet frowns. She heaves herself off of James, and for a moment, James misses her presence, the bundle of warmth curled up against his side, and then tells himself that if they just sit there all day, they'll die.

They quietly munch on their berries and finish off the rest of their beef jerky as the sun rises. Neither speaks until they're done, when Violet asks, just like always, "What now?"

"Food," James sullenly replies. "We need food. No more jerky. Barely any berries. Let's go get some food."

Violet nods, and James puts on his pack and pulls out one of his hatchets. "Let's, erm...let's try to remember Romeo. For what he did. For who he was."

Violet nods again. "He was our friend. He should be remembered."

"He will be," James says firmly. "He will be."

They make their way over to the cave's entrance when James finds the silver parachute sitting politely on the branches and almost drops the hatchet. James picks it up: Attached to the silver parachute is a very small, rectangular case. He looks over at Violet, whose eyes are wide. "Open it," she says.

James complies, popping open the case, and pulls out a delicately-wrapped candy bar. Written in bold across the wrapper is 'CHOCOLATE' in big letters. Violet smiles as James hands her the candy bar. It's a somber smile, but still a smile. Enough to melt away some of the sorrow from Romeo's death. James pushes aside the bushes, and murmurs, "Thanks, Blight," to nothing in particular. He knows Blight will receive the message.

As James kicks aside the last shrub, he knows he should probably thank the Capitol. After all, it was their citizens, not Blight, who sent them the chocolate bar. Then again, it was the Capitol, not Blight, who sent him here, so James is going to thank Blight and only Blight.

After a quick sweep of their area, James decides to head east. The Cornucopia, and the Careers, lie to the north, and James suspects that the Careers will be extra violent after the death of one of their own. James walks slowly with Violet, constantly scanning the horizon, for the first hour, until they come to a part of the forest filled to the brim with berries and nuts. Bushes of every which berry imaginable dot the trees, and James can't help but feel a bit happy at their unexpected luck.

After filling various pockets and pouches with their berries, Violet turns to James and asks, "Let's split up."

James frowns. "No. It's not safe." The trees tower above them, and some of the bushes are large. It would be easy to get lost.

Violet groans, the sad little girl fading away more and more. "C'mon, James. We'll be fine."

"No, we won't," James says. "Not if we split up. It's not safe. The Careers could be out hunting."

Violet grumbles, and together they keep searching. James only picks the four berries he knows for sure are safe: Blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, and raspberries. All of the other ones he leaves alone; He has no idea which ones are safe to eat and which ones could leave him dead on the ground. A tribute one year, a girl, carried a bunch of poison berries in her pouch. When she was killed, the Career who killed her shrugged as she cackled with her dying breath. He started to eat her stash of berries, and within five minutes, the dead girl got her revenge when the boy collapsed into a heap.

James' smaller pouches are almost full, so James pops a few berries into his mouth as he goes. Violet, however, is scooping up berries like crazy, and before long, their searches are intermingling with each other. James recognizes that there must be hundreds of berries in the vicinity, and sees some reason in what Violet asks. If they split up, they can get more berries, more nuts, more food. So reluctantly, James says, "Alright, we can split up. But we need a code. And you can't be more than a hundred feet away from me."

"Alright, what's the code?" Violet asks, trying to look bored but unable to conceal her excitement. For the better part of the Games, she's been by James' side, so James figures she must be aching to get some time alone.

James pauses, and remembers a code Justinian used to make up to clap when dinner was ready back in District 7. Two sharp claps. That was their code. James orders her to do it again and again, and then makes her promise to clap every few minutes or so. Violet does so with a roll of the eyes, and then James says, "Stay safe, Vi," and remains, picking off the last remains of a strawberry plant. James squats, a mixture of nuts and berries his lunch for the day. It's warm out, hotter than the day before, and James suspects that they're increasing the temperature slightly during the day and then making it colder at night.

So we can light fires, James surmises. A clever ploy by the Gamemakers, but not one he'll fall for. He'd rather rough it out than risk being spotted by the Careers.

He hears two claps from Violet, and then claps twice back. Wandering through hedges and pushes, James picks up berries as he goes, munching on them here and there. On one occasion, he bites a foreign berry, and freezes with terror that quickly dissipates when the berry goes down with no consequences. The Gamemakers have been nice, too nice, to them with these berries. Odds are a good portion of them have bad effects. James reminds himself to stick with the berries he knows.

He must, or else he might die. He claps twice, and further out, hears two claps.

James starts to make his way back to Violet, slowly. The girl must have a good stash. James creates a small container out of one of the water bottles he cut in half to gather rainwater; If he puts aluminum foil over the top, it acts as a combination of both a can and a pouch. James collects more berries to stash in here, and starts adding nuts to the collection. By now, he surmises he's collected at least fifty or so berries and nuts. This will be enough to last them, especially if they manage to find more food. Maybe even a squirrel or a rabbit. A deer if they're super lucky. James isn't too keen on throwing a hatchet into a deer's side only for it to run away, though, so he hopes that his admirers send him a bow, or maybe just a longer sword.

James claps, and hears the claps twice. And then a shrill, horrified scream pierces the air. "James! Help!"

"Violet!" James shouts into the wilderness, pushing past shrubs and sticks towards the voice, barreling toward Violet's plea at full speed. He hears laughter now, closer. It's the Careers. The Careers have found her. He can feel his hands start to shake, and his throat gets tight. James' heart pounds in his chest faster than it's ever as he pushes past a shrub as tall as him and breaks into a clear opening.

The first thing James sees is the Careers. Three of them: Lepus, Tybalt, and Olivia.

And then he sees Violet, on the forest floor, covered in her own blood.

And the third thing James sees is Lepus, with that sickly smile of hers, plunge a curved dagger into Violet's stomach.