Author's Note: Sorry it's taken me a little while to get this chapter up! Fanfiction has been acting quite strange the past few days, at least for me. So anyway, here you go. Please be sure to review! I would REALLY appreciate the feedback!

. . .

"Amaranth," Katniss begins hesitantly as we splash the cool water on ourselves to wash away the blood, "our alliance has accomplished its purpose." She pauses, taking in a big breath and letting it out in a sigh. "I don't want it to come down to the two of us," she says at last.

"I know," I answer, "but I wish that we didn't have to do it this way."

My response is lame, and for a moment I consider telling Katniss what my true strategy is, but I doubt she'd agree to be a part of it. Yet if I try to use traditional Hunger Games logic, I doubt I'm going to convince her of anything.

"How do you wish we would do it?" Katniss asks, a bit of sarcasm in her voice, but not enough for the comment to be biting.

I fall back to my only defense left: stalling. "Let's combine resources again for another big meal. Tomorrow morning, if we don't think of a reason to stay together, we'll go our separate ways."

Katniss considers the proposal and at last nods her assent. I smile in return, but my mind is still racing to find an excuse to keep the alliance. But just in case I don't find a way to stay with Katniss, I prepare to separate.

While Katniss hunts, I gather as many herbal leaves as I can find in addition to the edible ones. I hope to give Katniss a generous supply so that she can continue to treat her stings without having to forage for the medicine. I know she won't require nearly as many as I'm picking, but I do it anyway. Who knows what else she will encounter?

When I return to our camp, Katniss has two more grooslings and is now preparing them to be cooked. I place all the berries and roots I have gathered in a pile and sit down, waiting for Katniss to be ready to go start a fire. Neither of us speaks for a while, contemplating the sad truth that one of us will be dead soon, I suppose. Maybe we will both die.

Finally, we move off to cook the birds. I help start and tend the fire, and once Katniss takes over, I climb up a tree and keep watch until our dinner is ready. When the food is finished cooking, we return to our boulder and eat the little feast we have prepared.

"Did you know Peeta before the Games?" I ask her to break the silence while we munch on the delicious bird meat.

"We were in school together," Katniss says, "but I don't think we ever spoke. He was always with the more popular kids, and I was more of a loner. Did you know Thresh?"

"No," I answer. "We have a lot of people in 11; I don't think I've ever known anyone who was selected in the Reaping. Is 12 pretty small?"

"Yeah, I guess so. Most families don't have a lot of kids. Coal miners aren't in high demand, anyway."

"Hm. Most parents in 11 have lots of children, though my family is an exception. I only have two siblings while most kids in my class at school have five or six. There's never a shortage of work to be done when your job is agriculture, it seems."

It's interesting to me that Katniss and I come from such diverse cultures, and yet we're not fundamentally different. In fact, even though the Capitol pits the tributes against each other and spends a lot of time exaggerating our differences, we are still just all teenage kids with similar thoughts and goals. That just makes the Games even worse, but it also creates a tiny spark in the back of my mind: united, the districts could stop the Capitol. If only those at home could all realize this, then perhaps there wouldn't have to be these terrible Games anymore.

We continue to chat about various aspects of our districts while we eat, and when evening sets in, we make ourselves comfortable in a tall tree. The sun disappears, the anthem plays, and Marvel's face appears. My thoughts are drawn again to his family, and I feel anger course through my veins. This is another reminder of the injustice we have been allowing for seventy-four years.

The sun's morning light greets me after a night of solid sleep, but it is not welcome because I can't think of a single reason to keep the alliance together. Both Katniss and I begin to soberly pack up our things and split up the food supply more or less equally. I hand her the medicinal leaves I've collected, but at first she refuses.

"Take them; I've got no reason to keep them. I'm not the one with stings."

Katniss frowns at the leaves, still unwilling to accept more aid from me. "If you don't bring these with you, I'll follow you until you need them," I say stubbornly. She lets out a sigh, rolls her eyes, and takes the leaves.

While I am still trying to decide how I can follow Katniss and so maintain at least a part of my strategy, the voice of the Hunger Games announcer, Claudius Templesmith, echoes through the Arena. He announces that the rules have been changed, and now there can be two victors if they are from the same district.

"Peeta," Katniss gasps beside me. She looks at me, eagerness combined with worry in her eyes. "Did you see him at all after we ran from the Careers? Do you know where he would be?"

I shake my head sadly. "If I had to guess, I'd say upstream beside the river since he's got to have water and can't be by the lake, but I really don't know."

My mind is racing with this new information. Thresh and I are on fairly good terms, and now he would never refuse and alliance with me. Maybe I could still accomplish my strategy with him. But this isn't how it was supposed to work! If the possibility of two tributes is now a factor, then my strategy would probably be best accomplished if I stayed with 12. But Katniss doesn't want me with 12, and for good reasons.

Despite all the conflicting factors, I decide to go find Thresh. At least I can fulfill a part of the strategy that way, and even if I could do better here, I would rather go after the possibility which is more likely to bring me success.

"Katniss, I hope you and Peeta stay alive," I say, no lie in my words. I pull her into a tight hug, unable to stop myself after all we've been through in the past few days. "If you win, tell your sister I said hi."

Katniss smiles back at me and nods. "Good luck, Amaranth. And thank you."

Then we are both hurrying off in different directions. Katniss disappears into the trees headed towards the river and I am off toward the Cornucopia. I have no guarantee about where Thresh is, but I would suspect that he has made himself comfortable in the field of tall grass near the lake and the Cornucopia. It seems like the logical choice since he probably worked in the fields at home and will know all about grain.

The journey takes me a long time since I have to avoid the clearing with the Cornucopia. When I come within a hundred yards of it, I take to the trees in order to avoid both traps and Careers. There are only two of the original pack left, but they're a district pair, and at least one of them will probably be hunting right now.

By the time the sun sets, I am on the opposite side of the Cornucopia, right next to the field. It is a very ideal location to be, especially for those with knowledge of how to use it. The grass is taller than I am, and I cannot see more than a few yards ahead. There could be anything, whether something Thresh constructed or a surprise from the Gamemakers. I enter cautious, hoping that Thresh will know that I'm coming.

I push past the tall, yellow grasses feeling more like I'm swimming than walking. After a few moments, I decide to risk it and call out for Thresh, though I still keep my voice down. I am nearly sure that someone is watching me, but I cannot see anybody, which only makes the sensation worse. Finally, the suffocating silence of the field is ended.

"Took you long enough."

I let out a laugh as my anxiety abates and turn around to see Thresh standing behind me as if he had been there a while, his arms crossed and his expression one of humor. He probably has been waiting for me all day; I doubt he's even spoken to anyone else since Chaff told him goodbye ten days ago. An ally is surely a comfort, especially since we can now both survive.

"It wasn't exactly a short walk," I say, smiling back.

. . .

Remember to review! What do you think of Amaranth's new choice of ally?