A/N: Hello everyone! Thank you so much for your reviews and such. As usual, you guys are awesome! To all my guest reviewers, as always I single you out. Thank you for taking the time to read my fic. I just want to say we are getting to an incredibly fun part of the story, and I'm greatly enjoying writing it :D. Since we haven't heard from Peeta since before his accident, this chapter will be all from his POV. This is gonna be a short A/N because I know you're all dying to learn about what happens next, so without further ado... Let's go!

Change of Fate

Chapter Thirteen: The Hunt

Peeta

This is not good. This is the opposite of good. This is terrible. As I stand in front of Katniss planning on protecting her from the same people we've fought to the death before, my eyes meet Brutus'. I know that he's a only a clone of the man I killed in the arena only a few short months ago, but I see something in his eyes; like a burning, seething, hatred directed towards me. This clone must have the same memories of the man I killed, which means that they all have their old self's memories.

Suddenly, a group of Peacekeepers approaches form behind us guns pointed, but not at us victors. At Boggs and Titus. One of them speaks, "You two. No guns allowed. Drop your weapons and select from those given here at the Cornucopia." Boggs eyes him wearily before relenting and hands the man his gun, as does Titus. They do not force the rest of us to give up our weapons, which means they really are televising this event and want it to be like the real games... I can't believe it. Boggs grabs a spear, while Titus picks up a long dagger and some throwing knifes.

Cato steps forward and speaks in the same voice that I last heard screaming out for mercy after I shoved him off the Cornucopia in our first games. "As you've no doubt noticed, this is not like any other arena. It is an open dome, meaning there's no forcefield trapping you here. But surrounding us and the mountain is a battalion of Peacekeepers which you will not be able to pass through. There will be no sponsors for you, nor a feast. As such you each get one backpack. After that, you can take your head start... And then the hunt will begin." He adds this last part with an evil, maniacal grin.

In front of us is a row of about twenty backpacks. Seeing as how there is only eight of us, it's clear that we have to pick carefully. We all line up and make our decisions. Annie, Johanna, Cressida, Katniss, and Finnick all go before me picking a backpack of varying sizes and shapes. When it's my turn, I scan all of the remainders and I eventually have to whittled my options down to one regular sized backpack with a water canteen on the side or a smaller one that has a plastic spout running out of it. I think about this for as long as I can before I hear Clove's voice, "You have exactly ten seconds to pick a bag before I put a knife in between your eyes." I glare at her before picking the smaller one. Everyone else is grabbing big bags so I figure that the smaller ones must have some sort of value. Boggs and Titus each grab their bags and we all line back up facing the careers. We have them outnumbered, eight to seven, but with everything the Games are likely to have in store for us, that is small comfort. Plus the hundreds of Peacekeepers surrounding us. I'm not sure how we're gonna make it out of this one...

Now it's Gloss' turn to speak, "Alright Rebels, your time... Starts now!"

None of us need a second warning, we all sprint off towards the mountain. I'm glad Finnick had me practicing sprints during our training sessions, or I'd probably be lagging behind everyone. Johanna is in front and she finds a trailhead that leads up the mountain and we all follow. I figure no more than a few minutes could have passes since we left the careers, so we've still got time to put some distance between us and them. We follow the trail upwards until we come to a fork in the road. To the right is the mellow, easier path but it is also the one that loops around to the outside of the mountain meaning the careers would have clear sight of us. To the left is a much steeper climb, but I believe it to be the safer route.

"Which way should we go?" Johanna asks.

At the same time we all shout out different things. "Right!" "Left!"

We are equally divided, and the bickering ensues. I can't even tell who is arguing for what, but I just hold my hand up and say, "Quiet!" Luckily silence falls over everyone and I continue. "Going right may be the easier climb, but we'd also wrap around to the outside of the mountain, into plain view of the careers. Going left may be more difficult and use more energy, but we'll have the element of surprise when they come out for us. We're climbing up rocks going left, while we're walking on dirt if we go right. Our tracks will indicate where we've gone if we go right. We can vote on this if you want, but we need to decide quickly. My vote is to go left."

Before the arguing can ensue again, which would only slow us down and waste precious time, Finnick intervenes, "Peeta's right. Let's go left. And lets move fast! C'mon guys we've got to find shelter for the night."

That settles it, and even if there are some who still want to go right, the choice has been made. Going up the steep rocks does not prove to be easy. But I think we're all so filled with adrenaline that it doesn't matter. I don't know how much time has passed, hopefully no more than ten minutes. Regardless, the careers will have to climb those rocks too if they want to catch us, so I feel a little better. When we reach a plateau we find that this mountain has different sections of ridges. As night is falling, we've decided that it's best if we only scale one ridge tonight so as to avoid costly injury. I'm hoping we find a cave or something like it where we can hide for the night. I don't want any Capitol hovercraft to zoom over us and reveal our location to the careers. This is no ordinary round of the Hunger Games, the goal of these Games is clear: Our deaths to be broadcasted on national television. No doubt Snow believes that if this can be done, the Rebel war effort will end. To be honest, I don't think he's far off.

Suddenly, the first surprise of these Games reveals itself. Five giant cats that look an awful lot like Tigers and Jaguars, animals I've only heard of or seen pictures of, are making their way towards us. "Guys! We have a problem!" I say as I stand at the rear of the group. I turn around and hold my ground and whip out my custom made sword and ignite it's special flames that Beetee installed. I'm thankful for this, even though I'm sure it does not give me any tactical advantage over these new mutts, but it certainly makes me feel more like a badass.

I feel an arrow whizz by my head, evidently from Katniss, that hits one of the mutts and its fur ignites in flames. Yet this does not stop it, it does not faze it. In fact it just makes the giant, several hundred pound mutt more menacing. It lets out a guttural roar before beginning a charge directly at me. I feel fear, horror, and panic seep into my bloodstream and I almost freeze if I didn't hear a cry that shakes me back to reality.

"PEETA NO!" Katniss yells.

Just in time. I'm able to side step the blazing mutt and as it runs past me I swing my blade down in the hopes of gashing it open. No luck. Now I understand why the fire arrow Katniss launched at this thing didn't even make it hesitate. It's skin must be reinforced with something. My blade, while it leaves a mark, does next to nothing in slowing it down. It certainly didn't gash it open and kill it like I'd hoped. Luckily due to how huge it is, it over runs me and begins sliding down the slope of the mountain. Pure luck, and we still have four more giant cats to deal with. As they growl and begin surrounding us, I realize we're going to have to make a run for it along the ridge. There's no way we're gonna survive this. "Hey, we need to move," I say.

Too late. Another mutt makes a move at Finnick, lunging at him with such force it's almost unbelievable. Oh yeah. These games are gonna be different. Annie is evidently standing right behind me because my left ear has been deafened by her shrieks, and I can't blame her. She's just been reunited with Finnick, they haven't even had a chance to reconnect, and it appears as though he's dead. Thankfully I'm wrong.

His custom built trident just saved his life. It has an extra thrust ability which launches it's three blades forwards and then rotates the blades. The mutt just had it's chest shredded by Finnick's trident. Yet there is no time to waste, Finnick shoves the corpse of the mutt off of his body and quickly moves towards us. "Let's go! Up the ridge!"

We don't hesitate and everyone makes the ascent up the narrow ridge. If we can make it up this quickly enough, those mutts won't be able to follow. They are too big to move along something so narrow. Johanna and Annie lead the group, scurrying upwards, followed by Cressida, Titus, Boggs, and Katniss, with Finnick and I taking up the rear. I notice Katniss pause and look back at us, "What are you doing?" I ask. "Keep moving!"

Yet she doesn't, and she fires another arrow past me. This one is evidently an explosive tip. It hits somewhere behind me an causes a huge eruption of rocks flying everywhere. The blast knocks me to the ground and after I recover from having my head slammed into a rock, I glance back and I realize the genius of Katniss Everdeen. The mutts were getting dangerously close to me, so she fired an arrow to blow up the narrow path behind me. The tiger mutts cannot cross the gap that now exists between us and them. She rushes over to me and helps me stand up and gives me a warm huge, "Peeta, are you alright? That didn't hurt you, did it?"

I smile, "No. Not at all. You just saved my life." Even in the heat of battle, she is the most beautiful woman I've ever laid eyes on.

She returns the smile and gives me a quick kiss, "Just a regular day at the office for us, huh?"

I grin and lean in to give her another kiss but I'm interrupted by the annoying sound of Johanna's voice. "Hey, if you two want to make out can it at least wait until, I don't know, when we're out of danger?" I want to kill Johanna right now but she definitely is right. I glance back across the gap between us and the mutts and they are still only twenty feet away from us, growling and howling and hissing at us. We hurry up the ridge to meet up with everyone else. I glance over the edge and see that there is easily a thousand foot drop off if we were to fall. I gulp hard and refocus my attention on looking forward.

As we continue our climb along the ridge, it narrows with each and every step we take. This only heightens the danger because it is dark out now, and being in the desert, in the middle of nowhere, darkness means pitch black. Eventually we make it to the other end though. Luckily, and I truly believe this to be luck, there happens to be a large cave that allows us to take refuge for the night. We all collapse onto the ground, not caring where we land. We're all still in disbelief of what has transpired over the last few hours... I lean my head back against the wall of the cave and Katniss leans back and rests against me, and instinctively I wrap my arms softly around her waist. Her face resting right next to mine so that our cheeks are grazing each others. I look to my left where I see Annie and Finnick off on their own holding each other tightly. This is the first time they've gotten to decompress and realize that they are back together, so they definitely deserve time to themselves. To my right, at the mouth of the cave I see Boggs and Titus discussing something, and across from me Johanna is sprawled out on the ground and Cressida is huffing and panting leaning back against the wall.

It's hard to believe that just a few short hours ago we were in the safe confines of District 13. A few hours ago we boarded a hovercraft thinking we were about to be filmed as heroes for some great propo the Rebels would release. A few hours ago Finnick and I were joking about how he was gonna move out and live with Annie. All of that seems so distant now, so trivial in contrast to the situation we really find ourselves in. I want to believe we can get out of this, I want to believe that we can all survive this but honestly that means I count on one thing. One person rather. One person who has saved our lives more times than I could care to count. One Haymitch Abernathy. I know that our bonding session a few weeks ago did not go as planned, what with me ending up in a hospital bed, but Haymitch and I definitely got way closer. He even admitted to me that Katniss and I are the most important things in his life. With my parents now gone, and Katniss having had to practically raise herself and Prim her whole life, it seems as though we finally have our father figure in Haymitch. I don't know if my faith is horribly misplaced, but I believe that if anyone could get us out of this mess that we're in, it's most certainly him. He's probably begging Coin and Plutarch to send a rescue team after us right as we are all sitting hear in this cave.

My thoughts are disturbed as Katniss shifts slightly in my lap. I gently brush my hands down Katniss' hair. Her eyes are closed, but she gives me that smile - the most amazing, beautiful smile in the world - that I can only feel as her cheeks puff and rise. Even through the chaos of today, if I can get that smile once, I'm a happy man. "Thanks for earlier," I whisper to her.

She opens her eyes to reveal the beautiful, mystical silver orbs that illuminate my life and turns around a bit so that we're facing each other. She gives me a quizzical look, "What do you mean?"

I let out a slight chuckle, "For saving my life?"

She is staring at me right in the eyes. Blue meets gray. "It's not like I would ever do anything differently... I couldn't just let you die Peeta."

I smile, "Well I should certainly hope not. You wouldn't make a very good girlfriend if you just let me get eaten alive by giant Tiger mutts." I say all of this, but I get the feeling she stopped listening after I said the word 'girlfriend.'

She gives me a deeply loving look and tilts her head slightly as the gaze between us deepens. "Girlfriend?"

I laugh, I was totally right. Women. What is it about them and labels? "Uh... yes? What else would you be?" She turns away from me, but is smiling uncontrollably nonetheless. "We sleep together, we live together, we make out together, we are together... Is there something you'd rather I called you?"

"No..." She says shyly. "You just haven't called me that before. It's different. I like it."

"Well, I'm glad. Now that we have that taken care of, what do you say you let me kiss you?" I add playfully.

She laughs. For a moment I'm expecting some sort of sarcastic remark about how she really shouldn't because her mother doesn't know about her having a boyfriend yet or something like that, but I'm pleasantly reminded how real our relationship is becoming when she is the one who pulls me in for the kiss. Per the norm, however, this beautiful moment is ruined by one Johanna Mason.

"Look, if you two are gonna make out could you at least go over in that corner where Annie and Finnick are? You guys can have that half of the cave and the rest of us can have this half." I'm pretty sure she's only half kidding. Katniss has informed me of her bonding time with Johanna and that she has legitimate reasons as to why it's hard for her to handle other people's intimacy. She didn't specify what, but I understand. Considering that we're all being hunted for our lives with no real semblance of hope of getting out of this mess alive, I'll humor Johanna without a comeback. Apparently, so will Katniss. We don't get a chance to move away from her though as Boggs and Titus reenter the cave with some disturbing details.

"Alright everybody, gather round, we have some planning to do. First things first, we have no form of communication. The only way they know about what we're dealing with is the hope that the Capitol really is airing all of this, and the President and Plutarch are watching the Games. In reality, they must be watching the Games. But what that means, is that we have to survive until they devise a way to get us out. We have no time table because we can't contact them, but this Game is a game of survival - "

He is cut off by the reappearing Finnick who is still clutching on to Annie. "Boggs, you're talking to five Victors from the Hunger Games. I think we understand that the whole damn point of this is to survive." Both Annie and Johanna laugh, even I crack a smile. He definitely has a point. I know that Coin put Boggs in charge and we have to follow his orders, but seriously... We've all done this twice now, except Annie I guess. But if anyone here knows how to survive, it's us.

"You're correct Finnick, that doesn't change things at all though. So, I suggest we all check out what resources we have from our backpacks. Dump them out, c'mon, let's go."

And so we do. All of us, sitting around in a circle, dump out the contents of our bags. Cressida opens up her bag to show two pairs of hiking picks, a towel, and an empty water canteen. Annie reveals her backpack has a sleeping bag, a raincoat, which I'm not sure will do much good in a desert, and a flashlight. Finnick has four bags bags of dried fruit, some powdered milk, a box of matches, and a book on eatable desert plants. His appears to be the most useful so far. Continuing around the circle, Boggs has a bundle of ropes, and another empty water canteen. Titus has a some wire, two blankets, and a small mirror. Katniss has a medical kit with basic painkillers, bandaids, water purification tablets, and a compass. This along with a good assortment of dried meats. She definitely scored big time. When it comes time for me to open up my bag, we are all pleasantly surprised with what I have. A five liter camelback full of water, along with a key from our previous experience in the Games. A spile.

"Excellent. With all of this, if we're smart we should be able to stick it out until we get rescued," I say with emphasis. Yet no one responds. They must all be doubting whether or not we will be rescued. "Hey look, guys, I know we're in dire straits here, but we've got to keep our heads up. We've just survived a horrible new mutt that the Capitol has created, and the careers are gonna have to find their way around for a while. Don't forget, the ridge line is now unaccessible thanks to Katniss here. Things aren't great, but as Finnick pointed out before: We are all Victors. Better than that, and more importantly, we're all survivors. The greatest feat of being a Victor isn't winning the Games, it's being able to cope with killing all those innocent people after the fact. It's being able to deal with losing yourself and the person you were and accepting what you did in the Games. If we all survived that, twice I might add, we can all survive this."

There are murmurs of agreement and nodding of heads before Finnick replies. "Good pep talk Peeta, seriously. But I think it's time for all of us to get some rest. Who's taking the first watch?"

"I will," says Boggs. "Titus, you can rest if you want."

"No, that's ok. There's only two blankets and the sleeping bag, so let's just take turns sharing. Annie and Finnick, you two take the sleeping bag, and then Cressida and Johanna, Katniss and Peeta can each share the blankets, while you and I take first watch sir." The young rebel soldier replies.

"Sounds good to me. Good night everyone, rest up. We're gonna need it."

We do as instructed, with everyone occupying different sections of the cave. I snuggle up with Katniss with my arm tightly wrapped around her waist, and her head positioned perfectly in the crook of my neck. We stay silent like this for a while before she kisses my neck and says, "Thanks for those reassuring words," indicating my little speech a few minutes ago.

"Of course. Someone's got to inspire everyone to make it out of this. I don't want to lose a single person while we're here, and I don't plan on it."

Katniss leans up and brushes the hair out of my face and says, "Aw... My hero." Before planting a big, passionate kiss on my lips. We are in a cave with an uncomfortable rock formation as the ground, so I'm not exactly in a comfy position. Nonetheless even with everything that's happened today, and what promises to happen tomorrow, with Katniss wrapped tightly around me, snuggled up real close, kissing me in a way that I'd always dreamed she would, I'm sure I'll drift right off to sleep...

A little action, and a little fluff for all the Everlark lovers out there! Did you guys recognize those new Mutts? What'd you think of this chapter? It was a suspense builder for sure, but the next chapter, which I've already started working on, will be a lot of fun for all. I'm quite sure you're all gonna enjoy it :). I'll have it up as soon as I can. Please read and review though! You know how happy it makes me to read all of your comments and feedback!