Author's Note

I do not own the Hunger Games.

It must have been midday when they finally found water, a wide, shallow, clear stream that cut its way through the trees.

"Oh thank fuck," breathed Shelley and all of them scrambled down to splash water on their faces and laugh. Hyperion cupped it in his hands and gulped it down, parched.

Azrayk frowned. "You should make sure it's clean first. We don't know what they've put in it."

Shelley shrugged. "Ah, come off it Azrayk. No one wants to watch tributes shit themselves to death anymore."

That had been all the range fifty years ago, but not now.

Hyperion filled up his canteen and added a drop of iodine for good measure, though he'd been drinking water from streams, ponds, and filthy puddles for longer than he could remember and it hadn't killed him yet.

The others filled up their own empty canteens, adding the appropriate amount of iodine (Hyperion rolled his eyes, Shelley was right, they hadn't given tributes dirty water in years) and gulped it down before stopping to refill their canteens.

Did Luciente have water, he wondered?

She knew as much as he did to find it.

Maybe she'd even found the same stream further down.

He thought he heard her earlier, but it sounded so blurry and distant, like he was hearing it over the roar of the sea, that he couldn't be sure. He had tried to howl back, but received no answer.

He drained his canteen and refilled it. It felt good to have pure water, not the stale prison drink or fancy tasteless sparkling Capitol stuff.

"It's too shallow here for fish – at least ones big enough for eating," Shelley said, swiping a hand at some of the tiny silver shapes glittering beneath the surface. With her entire hand under, the water barely came to her wrist. The fish darted away from her clumsy swipe.

"We need to find someplace where it's deeper if we want to fish."

Hyperion raised an eyebrow. "What do you know about fishing?"

She scowled and flushed a scarlet red. "District Five has a lot of waterways – to power the powerplants or cool the reactors see. My dad taught me to fish, it's a cheap way to boost your food. He's real good at it, better than me."

"Huh."

He and Luciente had never been good at fishing – better at proper hunting – so if Shelley had some experience that could only be a good thing.

"I'm not swimming though," Shelley said. "No way, no how. You know how easy it is to drown?"

"Let's get moving," Azrayk said, taking the lead in beginning to march downstream. Shelley quickly moved to follow him. Hyperion let the pair from Six go next and then brought up the end of their little group.

The stream quickly began to grow wider and deeper, until it had to be a good twenty feet across and maybe ten feet deep.

The water was still clear enough for them to see the bottom.

Larger fish swam here, darting silver shapes that fled back and forth through the water. Shelley had been fashioning some sort of hook with the coil of wire she got in her backpack and a thorned branch as they walked. Now she knelt to dig her fingers into the earth and turn it over.

"What you looking for?"

"Worms. Or insects, grubs. Something for a lure."

Azrayk soon came up with a handful of grubs. Shelley threaded two of them onto her makeshift hook and tossed it into the water. The fish fled from the splash but soon returned to swimming around it and darting close. At last one darted forwards and took the lure. Shelley jerked the branch and yanked it towards them, hauling the fish from the water. It was maybe the size of her forearm, large and flat and silver, flopping on the earth until at last it lay still.

"Who wants fish?" Shelley asked cheerfully.

The rabbit flesh was good and juicy, if a little stringy. The four of them devoured it, picking the bones clean, though Luciente made sure Nathaniel got the biggest share.

Perhaps meat would help.

She still hadn't seen any sign of the ghost girl from Three — Bethany — so maybe she had only come by the once. She wouldn't be the first.

The itch and burn was still there, lingering under her skin. Luciente was trying her best not to scratch at it and alert someone – or, worse, leave a wound that could become infected.

They stomped out the fire and made sure there was no smoke left to give them away. The Careers were bound to be out hunting for tributes by now. Not that this terrain was going to make things easy for them. They would be fighting it as much as the tributes.

Luciente found her way out to the stream Bunny had found. It was wide and shallow, maybe only five foot deep, with silver fish darting here and there.

She uncapped her canteen to refill it, plunging it into the cool water-

Hyperion.

He was here – further up the stream – he was here – here here here – with Azrayk and Shelley and the Girl-Who-Would-Be-Victor. They were – fishing? – getting their hands and knees wet as they leant into the water. She spread her fingers wide, closing her eyes and leaning forwards to the water. Come to me.

Luciente?

Come to me.

Where are you?

Do-

A hand touched her arm. "Luciente?"

She lurched forwards, damn near toppling into the water if not for Nathaniel grabbing her arm and pulling her back. She rocked unsteadily on her heels, reaching out to snatch her floating canteen from the water.

"Are you alright?"

"Hyperion."

"What? Where?" He looked about himself frantically, as though expecting Hyperion to magically materialise.

"Upstream."

"But-" He shook his head. "You went all weird and vacant. I thought maybe you were having some sort of seizure."

"I saw him. Upstream. Shelley's there too."

"Well, that's good to know. But how do you know it?"

"I know it," she replied.

Come to me.

Find me.

Stay with me.

Nathaniel jumped and skittered back away from her, eyeing her nervously, and then got to his feet. "We should go back to the cabin."

Luciente gazed upstream one last time, remembering his image in her head. Find me brother.

Nathaniel flinched and led her back up towards the cabin.

There was a flicker of yellow in the trees.

She paused, turned, looked.

The girl from Three was there again, her dark hair still fastened in the ponytail from the bloodbath and blood staining the upper half of her clothing. Luciente hesitated, and then offered her her water canteen.

Nathaniel frowned. "What are you doing now?"

"It's Bethany, right?"

The girl continued to stare at her, but now her mouth moved slightly, acknowledgement. She raised an arm, pointing in the direction that would be downstream.

Luciente frowned. "That way?"

Bethany simply stood there and pointed.

"But Hyperion…"

Hyperion was upstream.

And they might have been apart for longer than this, but she still needed – needed, needed, needed – him, he was her brother and she couldn't leave him behind like she'd been forced to leave Ariel.

They were born to be wild and free.

The girl continued to point until at last she had faded away completely.