A few days passed by, and Prim and Gale were still surviving. Katniss was exhausted from watching the game on the television screens all day, every day. Her stomach was constantly in knots from the anxiety of watching Prim and Gale, and worrying that any second, one or both of them could die. Katniss had recently developed a huge amount of empathy for the all the other mentors before her...like Haymitch. Now she understood why he preferred to be drunk as much as possible... she could see why he would want to do anything possible to dull the pain. Having to watch this when you had a connection to the tributes was torture.

She felt incredibly lucky to have Peeta to go through this whole wretched process with her. How awful it must be for all the other mentors, to have to sit through all this alone every year, reliving your own nightmares, and experiencing a whole new game of horrors, trying against the odds to keep your tributes alive. She couldn't even imagine how she would have been able to do it, if she didn't have Peeta's unwavering support to help keep her sane.

Another day of watching was beginning. Katniss and Peeta took their places, sitting together, to watch the huge television screens showing the battle for survival in the arena. She reached over and took Peeta's hand in both of hers, and he leaned over and kissed her cheek.

"You holding up okay?" he asked her.

"I guess." she replied, shrugging her shoulders.

"There aren't that many tributes left." Peeta said to her softly. "This will all be over soon and we can go home."

"I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing." she said, her eyes looking worried. "Prim and Gale are getting down to their hardest competition now. The few that are left are careers. And then, just each other..." she let her voice trail off.

Even Peeta, who always seemed to be able to comfort her with his words, didn't know what to say to that.

He leaned towards her, and rested his forehead against hers.

He whispered, "Just pray that one of them gets to come home with us."

She closed her eyes, and he saw a tear fall silently down her face. He wiped it away with his finger, and then cupped her face with his hand and softly kissed her lips.

There was nothing else to say.

They turned their attention to the screens, to what was going on in the arena.

They were watching an intense battle between a girl named Raven and a boy named Garrick. They were both ruthless and lethal. Garrick was a spear thrower with a strong arm. Raven's weapon of choice was a hatchet, which she could throw with deadly accuracy. A few moments ago, she had spotted him walking through the woods alone. She had managed to silently stalk him through the woods until she was very close to him. She hid herself behind a tree, and when she felt she had a clear shot, she lifted her arm and threw her hatchet as hard as she could. But Garrick's trained ears had heard the swish of her nylon jacket as her sleeve grazed the trunk of the tree when she threw her weapon. He spun around in the blink of an eye, causing the hatchet to go whizzing by his head. He saw Raven dart out from behind the tree and start running away. He pulled out his spear and threw it at the girl who was now defenseless. His spear hit her in her lower leg and stuck into her calf.

"Ow!" she yelled, as she stumbled and fell. Garrick was running towards her. She fumbled to pull the spear out of her leg. He was closing in on her. She finally managed to free the spear just as he reached her and lunged for her. She held onto the spear and rolled out of his reach. Garrick quickly recalculated his move and went for her again, reaching to retrieve his spear from her hand. Raven was on her back, kicking at him. As he lunged in towards her, she wrapped her legs around his ankles, causing his feet to go out from under him. As he fell awkwardly onto her, she lifted the spear in her hand and thrust it towards his abdomen. He realized it just a moment too late, and he was unable to stop the momentum of his fall. He fell onto his own spear, impaling himself so that it went through his belly and out his back.

Raven rolled his body off of her, pulled the spear out, and then used it to stab him with it two more times in the abdomen, ensuring his death.

The cannon boomed.

"Thanks for the spear!" she said to Garrick's lifeless body as she pulled it out of him. She looked down at her calf where he'd hit her with the spear a few minutes ago. It was very painful, and she was bleeding, but she could still walk on it. She limped over to where her hatchet was stuck in the ground and retrieved it.

Raven did a mental count of who was left in the arena. There was Curran, who was another career, who she figured would probably be her hardest competition to kill. There was the young blond girl... "Poison Prim", she thought she'd heard some of the other tributes call her. And then there was the tall, hot guy who was allied with her, the hunter.

What a shame to have to bury my hatchet in a body like his! Raven thought to herself.

She set out walking, on a mission to find someone else to kill. She could almost taste victory.

Not far away, Gale and Prim had walked out of the woods into a meadow of knee high grass waving gently in the wind, one of the few clearings they'd seen in the whole arena. Gale had decided that this would be a good place to teach Prim a little about bow hunting, while he still had the chance. He hoped that maybe it would give her something to remember him by, and he had a feeling that she just might have some of the innate talent that her sister had. He dropped off their supplies at the edge of the woods and brought her out into the clearing.

"Come here, Prim. I'm going to start teaching you how to hunt. I'll start teaching you the basics, and then when you get home, Katniss can work with you and teach you everything you need to know. She's the best, and she's a good teacher."

"But I want you to teach me, Gale. I've never had a brother, and I kind of think of you like that now. I feel like you brought out this side of me, so it's our thing, you know? I want to learn from you." Prim said.

Gale sighed. "You know I can't be there to finish teaching you, Prim, or I would."

"Why do you always talk like that, Gale?" she demanded.

"Like what?" he asked.

"Like you're giving up! Like you have no hope that maybe we could both live!"

"Because, Prim, that is never going to happen. There is no chance that we will both get out of this." Gale said sadly.

"How do you know that? They let Katniss and Peeta both win! Why not us?"

"Because the head game maker who let that happen last year? He's dead now. That was his punishment for letting two tributes win. So I can promise you that the new head game maker won't make that same mistake again." he explained.

"Well, then let me die then!" Prim said defiantly. She was standing right in front of him, her eyes just as bright and fiery as Katniss' were whenever she argued with Gale. "I think we both know that I'm the weakest link here! That I would have been dead a long time ago if I hadn't had you here to protect me! If one of us deserves to live and go home, it's you!"

Gale pulled Prim in and hugged her fiercely.

"You are so much like your sister!" he whispered hoarsely.

He held her tight with one arm wrapped around her shoulders, and used his other hand to quickly wipe his eyes that had welled up with tears. He didn't want Prim to see him get so emotional. Once he had dried his eyes, he pulled her away and held her at arms' length, with his hands on her shoulders.

"Prim, I made a promise to Peeta that I would get you home safe and sound to Katniss, and I intend to keep my word. I wish I could go home with you, but I can't, so please don't try to change my mind. Just let me do this for you, let me help you win, and promise that you will remember me, okay?" Gale felt his eyes getting watery again.

Prim threw herself into Gale's arms again and started crying.

"I don't want to just remember you, Gale! It's not fair!"

Gale held her close, rubbing her back to try to soothe her. "I know it's not fair, but it's the way it has to be."

Back in the capitol, watching this whole scene unfold on live television, Katniss had heard what Gale said about the promise he had made. She whipped her head around to look at Peeta questioningly.

Peeta just solemnly nodded his head at her.

"Gale promised you that he would sacrifice himself for Prim?" she asked, angry that she didn't know about this.

"Yes." Peeta admitted quietly.

"When did you two decide this?" she demanded.

"Back on reaping day." Peeta explained. "I went to talk to him about mentoring, and he told me he had already decided that he would do everything he could to help Prim win... That you needed Prim more than you needed him, now that you have me to be your best friend."

Katniss' head was spinning. It was that long ago, at the reaping? And Peeta had kept it from her all this time?

"Well, isn't that convenient for you? I don't suppose you even tried to talk him out of it!" she snapped.

"Katniss, what was I supposed to say? 'No, Gale, you should definitely save yourself and let Prim die'? There are only two options here! And either way, you're going to suffer, and I hate that! But if my only choice is either to save your friend or save your sister, then yes, I am going to choose to save your sister! And I made that choice because I love you and I know you need her!"

Katniss buried her face in her hands and sobbed.

Peeta put his arm around her. "I know you're mad at me for not telling you, and you have every right to be, but think about it! Even if there had been no promise, do you honestly think that Gale would have done otherwise? I may not see the greatness in Gale that you do, but I did see on that day, and every day since then, how much Gale cares about you. And if the last thing he can do on this earth is to save your sister's life for you, he is going to do it, whether I agree with it or not."

Katniss looked up at Peeta and tried to stop crying.

"I know." she whispered. "I think deep down I already knew he would. It's just that hearing he promised to do it breaks my heart."

She leaned against Peeta and let him hold her. She knew that none of this was Peeta's fault and she shouldn't stay mad at him. He was just another pawn in the government's game, just like she was, just like Prim and Gale were. President Snow always made sure that there was plenty of pain and suffering to go around.

Katniss sighed sadly, and she and Peeta looked up to the television screens again, grudgingly returning their attention to what was going on in the arena.

The game makers were still showing Gale and Prim in the meadow. Apparently they had become the big fan favorites this year, just as Peeta and Katniss had been last year, so they were getting a lot of airtime.

Prim had calmed down and agreed to let Gale teach her how to use the bow and arrow. She wanted to have this one moment, a happy memory of her time with Gale in the arena, even if it was just a very brief reprieve from fighting for their lives.

Gale was standing next to her, showing her how to hold the bow, and how to line up the arrow and aim towards a target.

"Watch me, and then you can try." Gale said. He pointed towards a birch tree, the only white tree in a whole group of evergreens on the edge of the meadow, near where their sleeping bags and supplies were sitting. He aimed, pulled back, and landed an arrow right smack in the middle of the birch tree's trunk.

"Now you try." Gale said, as he handed her the bow. He helped her with her stance and showed her how to aim and pull back.

She took her shot, and it wasn't great, but it wasn't bad either.

"Not bad for a first time!" Gale encouraged her. He handed her another arrow. "Do it again."

She aimed, pulled back, and let go. This shot was better, it landed just a few feet away from the birch tree.

"Fantastic!" he clapped. "Do it again!"

She took a third shot, and this one landed at the foot of the birch tree, and stuck into one of its roots.

"See, Prim? You're a natural! I hope Katniss is watching you right now, she's going to be so proud of you!"

Prim beamed at him. She never thought that she would enjoy this, but she was.

"I'll be right back." Gale said, as he ran over to the edge of the meadow and collected all the arrows. He ran back to her and handed her one. "You want to keep practicing?" he asked.

"Sure!" she said. He stood close to her as she took aim at the birch tree again, and started to pull back.

Just then, Gale heard a branch snap behind them, and he immediately sensed danger.

"Prim! Get down!" he said sharply, as he pushed her down into the tall grass, and he spun around to look backwards. He saw a movement in the woods. Prim had his bow, and he couldn't afford the few seconds it would take to retrieve it without losing sight of whoever was after them, so he just took off sprinting towards the woods, with only his knife as a weapon.

He saw a hatchet go flying by his head and landed in the grass behind him.

Gale felt his heart skip a beat at how close that hatchet had come to his head. He glanced back and saw that Prim was still hiding in the tall grass.

Good girl. Stay there. Gale thought to himself, as he kept running towards the attacker.

He saw Raven in the woods, taking aim at him again, this time preparing to throw a spear. They ran at each other full speed, though Gale could tell that she had some kind of leg injury because she was limping a little and there was a bloodstain on her pants. Raven was holding the spear up high, but she didn't get the chance to throw it before Gale leaned forward, throwing all his body weight into her with his shoulder, and knocked her to the ground.

She was still clutching the spear as she fought against him. They were rolling around on the ground, fighting over control of the spear. Raven managed to quickly roll herself on top of Gale and held the spear up high, struggling to bring it down on him. He was holding his hands on the spear too, trying to prevent her from stabbing him with it. She kept trying to pull the spear out of his grip, and his hands were slipping, getting cut on the blade as she pulled it backwards sharply, over and over. His hands were dripping blood down his arms and down onto his face and neck.

Then he got an idea. The next time she yanked the spear backwards, he suddenly let go of it, causing her to lose her balance with her backwards momentum. He took the opportunity to quickly roll himself over, throw Raven down onto her back, sat on top of her and ripped the spear out of her hand. The pain in Gale's hands from the cuts was excruciating, but fortunately the adrenaline coursing through his body helped to dull it a bit. He took the spear and thrust it upwards into her ribcage once, then pulled it out and thrust it into her ribs again, puncturing her lung.

Her eyes opened wide with shock. She reached for the spear's handle, but she suddenly felt weak and groggy. Gale pulled the spear out of her chest again. He was about to stab her with it once more, but then he saw her suck her breath in, followed by a violent coughing fit. She coughed up huge mouthfuls of blood, some of which splattered onto Gale's face and upper body. He wiped his sleeve across his face, disgusted by the blood spatter that he'd just been covered with. She coughed and choked on her own blood until she finally succumbed to both blood loss and lack of oxygen.

The cannon boomed.

Gale rolled himself off of the dead girl, exhausted by their struggle. He lay there for a minute, catching his breath.

Then he remembered Prim, alone in the meadow. Prim!

He jumped up and ran back to the meadow, trying to remember where she had been lying in the tall grass.

He found her, still there, hiding and clutching her leg, crying softly. She was so relieved to see him.

Gale noticed that she had one of her boots off.

He crouched down next to her, and asked what was wrong. She removed her hand, which was covered in blood, and revealed a deep gash on her ankle, and a puddle of blood in the grass beneath it.

"Oh my God, Prim, what happened?" he asked.

"The hatchet that got thrown at you." Prim explained. She pointed to the hatchet that was still stuck in the grass by her leg. "It hit my ankle when it landed in the ground. The blade cut right through my boot. It hurt so bad, but I knew I couldn't cry out because if you knew I was hurt, you would have been distracted and probably would have gotten yourself killed. So I just had to lay here and be quiet and try to control the bleeding."

"How bad is it?" Gale asked.

"Pretty bad." she admitted, sniffling as she wiped her tears with her sleeve.

Gale took a closer look at the cut, and he found that she was right. He touched it and could see her ankle bone. For now, he put her boot back on her foot and tied it tightly to help control the bleeding.

"You're hurt, too." Prim observed. "Let me see your hands."

Gale held out her hands to her, and she studied his injuries. He had several cuts across the palms of his hands.

"What's all the other blood on you? Are you hurt anywhere else?" she asked.

"No, just my hands. The blood on my face and chest is just from the struggle." he told her.

"Gale, I need to get to my first aid kit with our supplies so I can dress our wounds, and we need to find some water to cleanse the cuts. There is a small bottle of sterile water in the first aid kit, but that won't be nearly enough, not even for one of us. The problem is that I'm not sure how well I can walk."

"No problem." Gale said, as he scooped her up in front of him and carried her across his arms.

"I only meant that I might need to lean on you! You don't have to carry me! You're injured too!" Prim exclaimed.

"Just let me carry you, Prim, at least until we can clean your wound and get the bleeding stopped. The more you try to walk on it, the more blood you're going to lose. We've come all this way, I'm not going to let you bleed to death from one stupid cut on your ankle!"

"Oh, fine." Prim sighed. "Just until I can get it bandaged!"

Gale carried her to the treeline at the edge of the meadow, where they picked up their supplies, and then they continued on. They needed to find water, and find a safe place to make camp for the night.

He carried her for a long time, but finally he was exhausted and his hands were throbbing with pain from holding her. He had to set her down.

Prim knew he felt bad, so she tried to comfort him. He had already gone above and beyond in trying to take care of her, and she was very grateful.

"I'll be fine, Gale, really. You've already carried me such a long way! I'm sure I can limp on it." she said.

They slowly continued on, with Prim holding onto Gale's arm for balance as she limped along next to him.

In the capitol, Katniss was watching the coverage of the arena, watching Gale and Prim limp along together, both of them tired, hungry, thirsty and injured. Besides them, there was only one tribute left, Curran, who was a career, and he was uninjured. Katniss was trying to remain optimistic, but the reality was that she was beginning to lose hope that either her friend or her sister would be coming home alive.

If they had to go up against Curran before they had time to rest and recuperate, the odds would definitely not be in their favor.