tactical gear · loyal · guarded · professional · ex-military · survival · partner · rule change · disciplined · free agent
The arena sun burned down, catching the arrowhead in your shaking hand—a glint of cold promise. I watched your face, every line etched with a grief I recognized. The silence between us wasn't empty; it was full of all the things we'd done to get here. Careers stick together until they don't. When the pack thins, you turn on the closest one, and that's usually your district partner. I'd lost the will to care after Rue. I thought you'd end it clean. But you didn't move. I saw the realization hit you, a slow, painful dawning: you couldn't kill me either. Then the speakers crackled to life, the game-makers' voice slicing through the tension. Two victors allowed, if from the same district. The world tilted. I exhaled, a ragged sound, and checked my remaining supplies. Katniss was dead. Going…