Just to let you all know, Lykos is actually L from Death Note. Just realised how similar they are- t'was an accident. Honest.

Marissa prods me awake the next morning. I open my eyes quickly, ready for any danger, and find myself relaxing as she smiles at me. It's boiling hot here in our den, and it's supposed to be reasonably sheltered… It will be absolutely sweltering outside, I'm sure. With a yawn, I lean up to kiss her quickly, before propping myself up on the cave wall. I'm actually quite surprised Cato hasn't come to find us yet, since we're the only ones left in the arena… I suppose he's biding his time and licking his wounds. He'll come soon, that I'm absolutely sure of. After a few moments of relaxed bliss, I crawl out of the small cave and check out what's going on outside. I mutter a swear word under my breath.

The river outside our den, once filled with cool, clear water… is now bone dry. Since we've got no water left, that means that we have no means of getting it… apart from going to the lake. So Cato is looking for us, is he, and just can't find us? They want us to go to the lake, so he can find us and we can have a showdown to end these Games. The final showdown. Even if I can't survive, maybe I can get Cato and Marissa to win this thing together? The rule change didn't specify that it had to be me and Marissa who win… But I don't want to lose. There is a Careers blood in me still, and I am thirsty to win.

"Imagine being a Victor," I say dreamily to the red haired girl, who has crawled out to join me. The two of us stare at the skies, still pink in the early morning, and her hand finds it's way to mine. I suppose she has figured out what the dry river means too, because right now, everything feels like there is an air of finality to it. Like we'll never be able to sit here again and stare at the skies, and just be at peace. "All the stuff we'll have. Money… fame… all the sugar and cake I could possibly want…" then I smile as I remember something else, and raise her hand to my lips. "And you."

She smirks, and winks a little wolfishly at me. "I'm going to have to get used to coming behind cake."

I laugh and we get to our feet, and grab her pack. Splitting our remaining food, we have a silent breakfast, before I take a knife in each hand and give her one, before we walk in the vague direction of the lake. It'll take us all day to get there, but a fight at night will probably be more popular with the Capitol crowd. I grip my knives in my hands instinctively and keep up my defence, in the fear that Cato might come for us. I'd actually rather fight him in the woods since Marissa and I are both smaller and nimbler than him. Out on the plain where there is nowhere to hide, he'll have an advantage. But if the Capitol wants us to go to the lake, then to the lake we shall go.

We walk for the whole day until it gets dark. From there we basically stumble about in the trees, dreading Cato. He has night vision goggles and we are basically blind- if he comes along now, we're dead. And all of this will have been for nothing.

It's only then we hear the barking.

For a few seconds we stand stock still, before somebody bursts into the clearing where we currently are, sprinting as fast as he can straight at us… I throw a knife straight at him, as quickly as I can, but it bounces straight off him. He's got some sort of body armour!

"For fuck's sake, he's got body armour!" I scream, before I realise that the barking couldn't possibly be coming from Cato.

He smashes straight past us, barrelling towards the lake. Something is chasing him- I can hear a creautre… or CREATURES, cutting through the undergrowth. For a second I stay still, terrified, before Marissa grabs my shoulder with a shriek and we start running. Mutts, wolf mutts- about twenty of them! With a scream, I follow Marissa and Cato towards the lake, running as fast as I possibly can. Fear runs through me as I feel sweat dripping down my forehead, as the sound of the beasts getting closer and closer comes…

One foot in front of the other! Keep running! Come on, Lykos, keep running!

I'm starting to run out of breath and I feel myself stopping, but I can't. I can't! The mutts will rip me to shreds if I stop! Come on, Lykos, keep running! Keep running! Keep running, damn you, keep running!

"Lykos!"

I hear a shriek and watch as Marissa falls to the ground in front of me… She's fallen! My heart thuds as I realise something. In order to save her, the girl I love, I must stop… For a second I want to keep running, to sacrifice her… But I have to stop. I have to save her. I love her.

I love her.

Reaching to the ground, I grab her hand and pull her up. Keeping hold of her hand I keep running, dragging her with me- she's limping now. She must have twisted her ankle or something when she fell… Oh God. Cato is already out of sight into the clearing by the lake and we're going to die… But then we break through the woods and sprint onto the plain, the mutts hot on our heels. Cato is near the Cornucopia and is scrambling towards it, breathing hard and trying to get on top… Thanking him internally for giving us a hint of what to do, if not on purpose, I drag Marissa over towards the Cornucopia and shove her up it, desperately shoving her onto the top.

"Come on!" I yell, as she hoists herself up and I try and get up behind her… The mutts are snapping at my heels! Then, I feel sharp teeth sinking into my calf and scream out in agony as blood begins to splurt down my leg from the deep wound… Dragging myself up onto the Cornucopia I curl up into a little ball, nursing the blood that is now rolling down my leg from the deep wound… But I have to time to waste because the second I get up there, Cato launches himself at me. I roll to the side as Marissa screams out a warning, before Cato turns around and runs at her instead. She moves aside just a moment too late and fist catches her in the face- I howl out in fury and grab him, flipping him onto the Cornucopia.

Then, I hear a shout and look up from my punching of him to see that Marissa is being dragged off the Cornucopia by one of the mutts… Launching myself forward I catch her hand to pull her up, not worrying about Cato. Then, I hear him lumbering towards me and close my eyes, bracing myself for a sword in my throat, but hear an oof of pain. Turning my head I see him standing there, a knife protruding from his shoulder. Marissa's knife. She is breathing hard, a look of pride on her face- she threw a knife. Perhaps she wasn't too good, but she stopped him from killing me!

Grinning madly at her, I turn to watch as Cato pulls the knife from his shoulder and launches himself at her with a crazed battle cry. I bring a knife to slash him across the throat, but find myself being stopped as a claw slashes it's way across my wrist. Howling in pain I launch away to see one of the mutts is hanging off the side of the Cornucopia. I stare at it in terror, before grabbing a knife to stab it, when… When I notice it's eyes.

Mahogany brown. Mad. Gentle. Beautiful. Crazy. Evil.

Clove.

With a shout of shock I fall backwards, and the mutt-Clove claws it's way up onto the top of the Cornucopia and advances on me, it's teeth and claws awash with my blood… I scramble backwards, terrified, as Cato and Marissa both make sounds of alarm from their side. Glancing over to them I see them frozen; Cato has her by the throat with his sword at her neck, and she has the knife I gave her yesterday pressed to his heart, her hands throttling him. Then, I feel paws on my stomach as I am thrown backwards and stare in horror at the creature on top of me.

Bringing a knife up, I stab it in the face and it rears backwards with a howl… that sounds so, so much like Clove's own voice. What have they done to her?! Feeling tears mixing with the blood dripping down her face, I realise this is what the Capitol wants- for me to fight the girl I once thought I loved. I do love her still, but only as a friend… What have they done to her?! My God, her eyes! Did they pluck them from her skull? WHAT HAVE THEY DONE TO HER?!

"Clove!" I scream at her, trying to reawaken anything in her that might recognise me, still have human feelings left… But with a snarl, she claws at my face again and I make a swipe with the knife at her muzzle. But it was aimed to miss. So this is what they want, is it? They want me to kill her?

For a few seconds I am still, but it's then I register the sounds of Cato and Marissa fighting. She's losing by the sound of it. I can't waste any more time. Clove… this Clove… I must kill her.

"Clove… I'm so sorry. So sorry. If you're in there, if this is really you… I'm sorry."

And then, I stab my knife into her heart. She lets out one last howl of pain before flopping, dead, beside me. For a second I stare at her and consider what could've been, before turning my attention to Cato and Marissa. He has her by the throat and is banging her head against the metal of the Cornucopia and there is blood running down his face, with stab marks all over him. Launching myself over there, I yank him off her- he punches me hard in the face and sends me sprawling backwards. My leg and wrist are dribbling blood everywhere, and I find myself slipping over in it. Is it mine, I wonder, or is it Cato or Marissa's?

Then, a sword stabs into the metal inches away from my head, and I duck to the side as Cato leans his full weight on the sword that should've been in my skull. I watch in horror as it sinks into the metal; that would have pierced straight through my brain and probably pinned me to the great golden horn to boot. My God.

Rolling to my feet, I notice Marissa is lying still. She's not dead, I can see the rise and fall of her chest, but there are purple bruises covering her forehead. Cato has knocked her out. Sprinting over to her I shake her, but she cannot be woken- he's hurt her. He's really hurt her.

Then, I feel a hand on my neck and I'm turned around to see Cato's maddened eyes. I try and punch him, but he yanks me full off my feet and throws me to the ground, hard. Kneeling by my side, he grabs my head and puts it over the side of the Cornucopia, towards the mutts. There is a sick, crazed look on his face as he dangles me for the mutts to tear to pieces.

"NO!" I struggle, but he's far too strong for me. He's smashing the back of my head into the Cornucopia as hard as he can, and I can hear the mutts claws inches away from my head. They are scratching at the metal, and soon their claws will be in my face, tearing… ripping… I won't even be recognisable by the time they're done. Just a piece of dead meat.

Then, he slumps. There is the sound of a cannon, and I feel blood running down onto me… Looking up, I stare in shock as Marissa leans on him, her head visibly spinning, shaking… as she sinks the knife ever further into his back. She stabs him again and again and she's shivering and crying, and there is a look of horror in her face… She's killed someone. This is the first time she's killed someone. All of a sudden, I hear the mutts stop. The sound of their clawing stops, and they quieten. Then, turning over, I watch as a hole in the grass appears and they disappear down into it. Gone.

Cato is dead. The mutts are gone. It's just me and Marissa now.

We've… we've won.

A small smile comes onto my face and I lean back as I hear the sound of the trumpets blaring loudly. The voice of Claudius Templesmith comes onto the announcer as he shouts, loud enough to deafen, as a hovercraft appears above us, "Ladies and Gentlemen, the winners of the 74th Annual Hunger Games- Marissa Finch and Lykos Danio!"

And then a ladder comes down from the hovercraft.

Pushing Cato's dead body off me, I grab her hand and stare deep into her eyes. Tears are dripping from them, and she's covered in her own blood. She grips my hand heard, and looks deep into my eyes. The Fox and the Pussycat. She's… she's mine. She's so beautiful. I can just look into her eyes, and this all disappears. I don't worry about anything anymore. Cato is dead. All these people, these children, are dead because of us… For us to live, they had to die. As we stare at each other, we realise that this adventure, our lives, is far from over.

Pulling her in, we hold each other tightly over the boy from 2's corpse. She begins sobbing into my shoulder and I bring her slightly away to kiss her forehead, staring deeply at her. She's covered in bruises from where Cato smashed her head into the Cornucopia, and she looks a little dizzy.

"I love you Lykos." she whispers, before, at the same time, we grab hold of the ladder. We are sealed into place immediately by an invisible current, and feel ourselves being pulled up into the hovercraft. The second we get up there the doors are shut after us, and we cling together. A Capitol official gives us a glass of orange juice each and we just stare at it.

It looks wrong in our bloody, dirty hands.

Dirty with the blood of other children.

There will be one more chapter after this, talking about Lykos and Marissa going to the Capitol and recieving their winnings, etcetera. Since I'm not doing a rebellion in this, as Katniss died, these two have not caused any trouble. An epilogue about their later lives will be in that chapter too… Tearing up a little bit. Thank you so much for reading, and the next chapter + epilogue will hopefully be up tomorrow, if not the day after.