One.
   Two.
   Three.
   Four.
   Five.
   Six.
   Six tributes left, other than herself and Cress. The Career Pack and two other tributes from Districts Four and Eight. Henna and Alder of District One sharpened their swords, unaware of the huntress that stalked her prey. Terra from Two stood guard while her district partner, Mars, napped not far from her feet.
   Cress' fingers held the hem of Althea's shirt, the thirteen year old breathing a little heavily for the older girl's taste, but she knew that Cress couldn't control it. Althea unsheathed her sword, planning the attack in her head. Terra was making rounds around the clearing, Henna sitting rather close to where they were sitting. She would take Henna out fairly unnoticed until Terra came around again. Alder has his back to his district partner, so if the girl's death was quiet, he wouldn't be suspicious at all.
   Althea lurched forward silently, slicing Henna's head clean off. She caught the head before it could hit the ground too loudly. Blood splattered over her dirtied skin, but she felt no remorse. The blonde hair of the girl from District One was smoother than expected, like someone had sent her shampoo. The canon boom made her freeze slightly, but Alder only looked bored, and Terra was on the other side of the clearing. Gently setting the head on the ground, Althea moved forward to let her blade end Alder as well.
   She stopped herself, however, when she noticed that Mars was no longer asleep on the ground, but staring right at her with eyes darker than the midnight sky on a starless night. She froze.
   And that was her undoing.
   A blade slipped around her throat. "Move and you're dead," the voice of Cress, sweet, friendship loving Cress, sent chills down her spine. Alder turned in his sitting position, launching into a standing one. His eyes watered lightly at the sight of Henna's body before they hardened into stone.
   "Well done, Cress," Terra's voice rang out from their left. Somehow, Althea was unable to move her gaze from Mars, who seemed like her less deadly option. He stared at her with an emotion akin to a mixture of admiration and rage. She remembered the way he had steered the rest of the pack away from her, even though he'd seen her hiding in the trees. Would he take her side again?
   It was a vain hope. Allies were clearly doing nothing to benefit her now.
   She ripped her eyes from him, facing Terra who was on fast approach. Alder breathed heavily, heaving with anger and vengeance. Althea remembered vividly how she felt when her mother died and channeled it into now. Blood pumped through her veins, soaked her skin.
   Using her free hand, Althea grabbed Cress's knife hand. The girl was weak and easily pried from the Hawkforge's neck. The older girl yanked the knife away from her and out of Cress' hand. Before Mars could notch an arrow, before Terra could throw her spear, before Alder could even think about moving, Althea had Cress flipped around her body.
   Holding the younger girl by the throat, Althea's voice became a growl. "You betrayed me."
   Cress flailed in her arms. Althea held the girl so that no matter which angle the Careers tried to hit her from, Cress would be in their way. "They said they'd spare me!"
   Althea scoffed, of course the poor girl had fallen for it. "Then they promised you a delayed death." she threw the girl to the ground. Terra prepped her spear, but thought better of it for a moment.
   "Alder, you can have her. She did kill your cousin," her voice was nasally, Althea wasn't sure how she hadn't noticed before.
   Alder tightened his grip on his sword. "It would be my genuine pleasure to help you die the same way she did." Cress scrambled out of his way, only to be shoved down by Terra. Althea quickly swiped her gaze back to the approaching madman, but the sound of the canon let her know that Cress was dead.
   "Too bad it won't happen," Althea spit.
Alder chuckled darkly, swinging his sword down at her. "You're so funny, you should take Caesar's job," he snarled. She ducked away from his blade, countering with her own. He jumped away, swinging at her side this time. She blocked it with a huff. He was a bit stronger than her, sadly.
"Do you always talk during fights? Or do I get the special treatment?" She smirked at him, countering another swing with a swing of her own, catching him in the eyebrow. He snarled again, whipping the blade down at her legs. He knicked her right thigh rather harshly. Sucking in a breath through her teeth, the girl noticed Terra creeping up on them. But Mars surprised her by tackling his district partner, dismantling her attack.
Althea dodged a slice aimed for her head, spinning with a solid kick to Alder's chest. He stumbled back, closer to the small lake. She used his lack of balance to launch into the air in a nicely time aerial, kicking him squarely in the face. His nose immediately gushed blood, which he spit out of his mouth. A canon sounded, but Althea didn't turn to see who had won, if it was Mars or Terra, anyways. Although, the sound had distracted her enough that Alder landed a swipe to her side.
Althea let out a grunt of pain, whirling with her sword in hand. The action held strength. That allowed her to slice cleanly through his sword arm, detaching his hand from the rest of his body. He screamed. He gripped his forearm in writhing agony. She let out a laugh.
"I always knew you were a little bitch," and then she cut off his head. The brunette didn't spend time to watch his red tresses hit the ground. The canon boomed. She turned around, finding Mars pinned underneath Terra.
   Seriously? What could she do?
   He saved her life not once, but twice. How could she not do the same?
   But they would be in the last three, and she would have to kill him eventually. She had to go home. His dark eyes found hers as he struggled. She knew those eyes from somewhere, but in the past two week, she'd been unable to place it.
   "Dammit," she seethed. Terra's back was to her, which made her execution all that much easier. Mars sputtered as the raven haired girl's head fell onto him, her body slumping. He scrambled out from under her, covered in blood. He looked at Althea.
   "Thank you," his voice was softer than she expected and so achingly familiar, but she could not remember from where.
   She waved her hand in dismissal. "Thank you, as well. But there's three of us left," she wiped her blood soaked hands on her pants, suddenly regaining the pain of the large laceration in her side. The sixteen year old winced, but continued. "I say we part ways now and pray we won't be the ones to kill each other, yeah?"
   He nodded. They both paused. Then they were crashing into each other. Bloodied lips, clashing teeth, calloused fingers, gnarled fates.
   A harmonious cacophony, at best.
   He pulled away from her lips for a moment. "I hope you win, Allie, because they'll kill me for this." Her eyes snapped open. It suddenly made sense. This muscled, bloodied near-man turned into a small six-year old in front of her very eyes. Playing in her backyard, smuggling candies out of the store, giggling during nap time at school, and then his departure when his father, the head peacekeeper, was relocated.
   "Mari?"
   The sudden sound of birds, hundreds of them, startled them away from one another. Over Mars' head, she could see flames. A roaring fire had begun in the forest around them.
   Mars' body pushing hers and the abrupt, crushing weight of a fallen, burning tree caused Althea to let out a scream. She felt the shattered bones in her shoulder as she fell into the lake behind her. The pain was like the fire burning all around them, capitol mutts flying through the air similar to miniature dragons.
   Her head went under the water, unable to function with the unbearable pain in her body. Althea did her best to scramble above the water, but another falling tree blocked her way. Water pushed its way into her lungs as she screamed in fright. Dodging tree limbs and trying to ignore the pain in her shoulder, she maneuvered from under the tree, hearing a canon.
   Was Mars dead?
   Oh god.
   Her head broke the water barrier. She coughed the water up and dragged herself onto the shore of the lake as the world burned around her. Blood soaked the sand under her. Energy seeped from her just like the warm liquid that was draining from her veins.
   What a shitty way to die.
   "Allie," Mars' voice was broken, tired. Althea did her best to roll over, releasing a sharp cry of pain. Her eyes found him trapped under a burning tree. Pulling herself to her knees, she crawled to him.
   She looked at the tree in panic. "I'm not gonna be able to move it," she cried, all the terror and betrayal and suffering catching up to her at once. She had finally reunited with her best friend and now she was watching him burn.
   He just winced, turning his hand over. The birds had disappeared, having wreaked their havoc. "Just hold my hand, please."
   She scrambled forward, gripping his fingers with her good hand. Her sword was long forgotten. It had fallen from her grip when Mars tackled her. His beautiful face was twisted in pain, and Althea could feel the heat radiated from the flames on top of the tree. Her knees crumbled, leaving her in a lying position next to him.
   "You know," he wheezed, "at six years old, I was so hellbent on marrying you." Tears blurred her vision so harshly that she could barely distinguish color. She'd been sure they'd get married as well, her five year old heart so full of love. Althea's throat ached after coughing up that water and all this crying was not helping one bit. The sixteen year old squeezed his hand.
   The canon boomed.
   "Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, Althea Hawkforge, victor of the 66th Hunger Games!"