"Why go after me?" I ask, trudging behind Taura, hands bound behind my back. Wyatt follows behind me, and Lua after him, so I am properly trapped--especially with the distance Taura is keeping from me, which is evidently not very far. "I mean, I can't be your biggest threat here."

Taura snorts in a rather unfeminine way, but then again, very little Taura does is ever explicitly feminine. "Well, duh. Whadda you think, fish girl? Figure it out yourself."

I think for a few seconds before it pops into my head, hitting me like a freight train. "Oh. You're using me to get to Apollo."

Taura just shrugs in front of me, but it's enough of an answer for me.

A small part of me slouches, quietly hoping that there had been a bigger reason to my current survival than the hunting and eventual murder of the one person alive who cares about me, at least a little bit. 

Not that I've grown attached to Apollo. We haven't spent much time together, in the arena--and when we have, Vulcan and Mei have stood between us, Terra lurking behind like an ominous shadow. Even when he saved my life and it was just the two of us, we barely talked. 

The truth is, me and Apollo are two very different people, neither of us with any longing to become something we're not. Intradistrict loyalty doesn't seem like something Apollo would be very enthusiastic about, but I guess it can't be doing anything bad for him--his kill count is already two, at the least. I'm sure there were more in the original bloodbath. Apollo is making his parents proud, and I'm fine with the fact that he's using me to do it. 

"He's not gonna come after me, y'know," I grumble, brushing a particularly sticky clump of brambles off my pant leg. 

Taura's response isn't visible, showing no signs of relenting or pity. "He did before."

"Well, that was different."

"In what way, Four?"

"In... uh... he felt bad for me, like you all do. And you guys weren't there to stop him last time."

"Did you just excuse me of pity, Four?" Taura says, grinning and glancing back over her shoulder, the look in her eyes playful--yet no less deadly. "Let me jog your memory. Didn't your little blond boy toy kill those two careers for you? Many things could be said about us--but we're not careers."

It surprises me slightly how humble she's being--I'd originally expected Taura to be more alike Apollo, with his slightly narcissistic personality. Apollo would never call himself less than the careers, although I suppose, he's never been treated as anything but the best. Personality traits don't stem from nowhere, they are grown, and nurtured. 

"He's not my boy toy," I snap back, not really in the mood to analyze Taura's complicated personality. She's already plenty of a mystery to me, and I truly do not care to figure out what made my murderer-to-be the way she is. 

Taura just laughs, not providing any sort of a response. I scowl. 

A patch of berries along the side of our makeshift path (Taura's footsteps, pretty much) catches my attention, and I stop in my tracks, earning an annoyed look from Wyatt, who passes me, apparently not willing to wait for the weak, starving little girl. 

But then again, I don't want to put words into Wyatt's mouth, emotions into his expression. Really, I see a little bit of pity in the depths of his eyes, an annoyance not directed towards me in the corners of his mouth. And still he moves on, leaving me behind. 

Taura notices this, but apparently decides I'm not a threat, starting up a quiet conversation with Wyatt that I am promptly left out of. 

Lua stops beside me, her face unreadable, an impressive feat for a girl of her age. I am struck once again of just how young she is--not that I'm very old, myself, but Lua is twelve. She has not yet uncovered a single of the universe's mysteries, the type you reveal as you grow, things like social interaction and human psychology. Her wide eyes stare into mine; she's still short, not yet done growing (and nowhere close to it). Scars criss-cross her clear-skinned face, some turned pale by time, others still red and scabbing. I wonder what happened to her before she was found by Taura. I see it in the darkness behind her eyes, and the way she looks away, gesturing towards the berries, obviously made uncomfortable by my prolonged eye contact. 

"Are you sure those berries are safe?" she says, once again glancing away, this time towards Wyatt and Taura, the two retreating figures. Fear etches into the soft lines of her face, and I wonder if she believes me dangerous. She shouldn't. Even if I was, I would not hurt a child--not one as young as her, as naive.

"No," I respond truthfully, gathering a large bunch of them into the fabric of my shirt, pulling it up to form a large sling and rising to my full height, popping a few into my mouth. "Thought I recognized them, though. Want some?"

She eyes my berries doubtfully, before shaking her head and starting forwards. "No. We should go."

I nod, letting her take the lead, trailing behind, spitting berries into the bushes as I go. However hungry I am, it's probably best not to take the risk. And yet, the sweet taste is enticing, and so I decide that if I don't swallow any, I'll probably be okay. 

Lua catches up with Wyatt and Taura, and I stay just behind, in sight but barely. My eyes scan the surrounding flora. I could probably run, from here--but I won't pretend, I'm fast, and Taura would hear. 

A rustling in the bushes draws my ear, and I turn, gasping softly as I spy a lock of blond hair. My hand drops from where it had been holding my shirt up, the remaining berries falling onto the ground, leaving small, dark stains on my shirt. My other hand flies to cover my mouth before I can scream, because even death by another tribute (if this isn't Apollo) would be worse than what Taura would do to me if I screamed. 

It's embarrassing to admit that I am afraid of Taura, but nonetheless, it's true. She's what, three years younger than me? And yet, god, she is frightening. And with intent, too--I know that Taura would not hesitate to gut me, given the chance. Dread is much, much more terrifying than pure fear. 

A hand reaches out from the bushes and tugs me in, branches scraping against my skin before it meets the warm body of another. When I open my eyes again, wiping bits of leaf and pollen from my face, I find it's Apollo before me, brushing hair out of my face.

"Daphne," he whispers, and I force a small smile, before glancing back to the bushes.

"It won't be long 'til they notice I'm gone," I whisper urgently, but Apollo doesn't move to let go, only shakes his head.

"We need to go. Taura is only planning on killing you--you know that, right? If you go back to them, you won't survive another night."

"They were only keeping me alive to lure you in," I retort. "Of course I know they're gonna kill me. But I wasn't going to win anyways. It'll be okay."

He intakes a sharp breath, shaking his head again, eyes narrowing. "We're leaving, Daphne. We're getting you away from those faux careers--and don't you dare try to argue; it's happening. I can fight."

"I can't," I respond, struggling slightly. "Let go of me, Apollo. They'll find us both--it's best if you run now. Maybe they'll think you're still interested in saving me and keep me alive longer."

"Like that'll happen," he says, tone nothing if not harsh. His hand wraps around my wrist, and although I know it's for my own safety, I can't deny the sharp fear that winds its way into my heart. 

"It'll have to," I snap back, glaring right back. "I'm not letting you die. You've got a solid chance of winning--you can't waste that on me."

He snorts. "I'm not wasting anything, trust me. And can you stop it with the self-pity routine? I'm trying to save your life, Daphne. Just let me."

"No," I respond, again attempting to pull away. "Save your own life. You deserve it."

He snorts again. "Oh, do I? So I, the murderer, deserve life more than you, the innocent? Where is your logic, Daphne?"

"I'm not innocent," I say, breathing heavily. "How many people have died because of me?"

"At least it has never been by your hand!" he snaps, voicing rising dangerously loud. I glance around, heart beating fast as a rabbit's, wondering for the inevitable moment where Taura recognizes my absence and begins to search for me. But Apollo isn't yet finished. "Have you ever watched the expression on a person's face as they stare at you, dying? You haven't seen the betrayal in their eyes. You haven't watched a life slip away because of you."

"Mei died because of me," I remind him, although my argument is beginning to seem futile, even to me. "And Orion, and Vulcan. You killed them because of me. If it weren't for me, they'd still be alive, wouldn't they?"

"That was a long time coming. Everyone knew Orion and Vulcan both didn't have much time left in these games--it was only a question of who would strike first, between the three of us. It is not your fault that that happened to be me. It's mine."

"I--" I start, but am quickly interrupted by a harsh voice behind me, a hand wrapping around the nape of my neck, grabbing at my hair. 

"As fun as this little pity party is," Taura says, "I think your time in the games is done, isn't it, Apollo?"

***

okay, thought i'd include this because 'intradistrict' (paragraph 7) is not an actual word. i just made it up. it uses the prefix 'intra,' meaning within, and district, obviously just meaning district. if you noticed that and were like whatttt--that's why! <3