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"Caelum!"

Panic seized Daphne's heart. She gripped his shoulders, giving him a violent shake. He didn't respond. Not even a flutter of an eyelash. His head simply lolled to the side.

"No," Daphne's voice hitched in her throat. "No, no, please!"

She lay him down flat on the ground, pressing her palms over his chest. She began rapid chest compressions, frantically thrusting the heel of her hands against his sternum. Her mind was a whirlwind of hysteria, her own breath becoming harder and harder to push out of her lungs.

Tears sprung into her eyes after a full minute of compressions. What if she was too late? How long has it been since he ceased to breathe? What if she'd slept through the cannon shot, and he was already beyond saving?

With a desperate whimper, Daphne pried his jaw open. After a moment's hesitation, she pinched his nose and lowered her mouth onto his, lending him her own breath. She felt his chest rise the slightest bit upon her exhale, his lungs filling with her air.

She alternated between chest compressions and mouth-to-mouth, begging him to wake up. Her voice was hoarse, wracked with distress and held-back tears. Her arms ached, she was winded from giving up so much of her own breath, but she couldn't bear to stop. His skin had turned worryingly ashen.

Finally, finally after another thirty seconds that felt like an eternity, Caelum's eyes flew open. Daphne, in the middle of a round of mouth-to-mouth, scrambled backwards, squeaking in surprise. Caelum propelled himself upright, gasping deep breath after deep breath. His entire body trembled with the effort. His eyes, now a dull shade of murky green, slowly lifted to meet Daphne's dark ones.

"What happened?" He rasped, his chest heaving as if he'd just completed an intense sprint.

Daphne didn't reply immediately. She lunged forward, wrapping her arms around him. She felt him tense beneath her, but she was too swamped with relief to care.

"I thought I lost you," she whispered, squeezing him tighter. "You stopped breathing and you wouldn't respond. Damn it, Caelum, don't ever do that to me!"

"I'm sorry," Caelum huffed a chuckle. "I'll try not to go into respiratory arrest again."

Daphne didn't want to let him go. Her heart seemed to speed up as she nestled her chin into the crook of his neck, finding that it fit perfectly. His own arms were around her as well. She let her hands drape across his back, feeling the wings of his shoulder blades and the lithe muscles bordering his spine. His very bare spine.

Daphne drew back then, untangling herself from the embrace and turning around before he could see her cheeks flush. She reached for his shirt, balling it up and throwing it at him. "Put on some clothes, damn it."

Though the wetness of the blood had dried overnight, the stains were still stark against the gray fabric. Nonetheless, Caelum tugged it on, then his vest over it.  To Daphne's surprise, he had a crooked smirk on his face.

"Why?" He teased, a mischievous glimmer in his eye. "Don't like what you see?"

"What-" Daphne stared at him, nearly incredulous. Her face must've been glowing like Rudolph's nose. "You must be loopy from oxygen deprivation."

Caelum's smirk turned into a lazy grin. It was the type of grin he often used with his friends, joking around between classes at school. The type he used to give her before he went cold a year ago. It was very out of character now. Daphne refused to admit whether she liked it or not.

"Keep telling yourself that," Caelum mused. "I woke up to find your mouth on mine."

"I was saving your goddamn life!" Daphne nearly screeched, flustered beyond comprehension. "What's wrong with you? Where the hell did this playboy attitude come from?"

"'Playboy?'" Caelum echoed, tilting his head to the side. "Hm, I really must be loopy. Give me a few minutes, I'll be fine. Anyways, did you know that flatworms literally fence each other with their-"

"Please do not finish that sentence," Daphne said, then dug the vial of anesthetic pills out of the supply bag. She turned the vial over, finding the fine print on the bottom.

"'Will significantly lower heartbeat.'" She read aloud.

"Wait, I recognize those pills!" Caelum exclaimed, a lot louder than necessary and nearly giving Daphne a heart attack. "I go to the pharmacy in the market a lot."

Daphne arched an eyebrow. "You just... go to the pharmacy, for funsies? And look at pills?"

"No, although that does sound funny," Caelum's gaze turned wistful. "I go to pick up sedatives for the animals at the butcher's. Usually, we use those to knock them out before butchering, maybe stop their heart if it's strong enough. Boss says it's more humane. Point is, those aren't supposed to be used on humans, at least not teenagers."

"The Gamemakers are real asses," Daphne hissed, her grip tightening on the vial. She wouldn't be surprised if it shattered in her fist. "They knew that it would be too strong. They gave us these on purpose, just to mess with us and maybe 'accidentally' kill us the process."

"To be fair," Caelum held up his index finger to make a point. "I turn eighteen in a month and a half."

Daphne gave a snarl and hurled the vial out the window, watching the plastic burst into shards on the cobblestones below and scatter the remaining pills.

She then dug through the supply bags again, pulling out the tube of poultice she'd slathered onto Caelum's wound. The label read, 'pain-numbing properties, extra strength.'

"Oh, is that why I can barely feel my left rib cage?" Caelum asked, thumping his fist against the area where his injury was. "It doesn't hurt at all, even when I punch it. Look!"

He promptly demonstrated, and Daphne snatched his wrist.

"Don't do that," she scolded. "If you break your stitches, I'm not redoing them."

Caelum pursed his lips, brows lowering in a petulant expression. Daphne briefly wondered how one could be so annoying yet adorable at the same time, then felt the urge to smash her head against the wall.

The better half of the day was spent trekking further away from the Cornucopia, as they hadn't been able to get to a safe enough distance the night before due to Caelum's wound. Now that Caelum was no longer in pain, they were able to reach the suburban town area of the arena by late afternoon.

Daphne had nearly forgotten about the earthquake that had jostled the arena just a couple days ago. The adobe towers had hardly been affected, their stone structures a lot stronger than the wooden houses down here. Where the houses had entire roofs caved in, there had only been bigger cracks along the walls and the occasional block chipped off from the towers.

Still, Daphne was a bit relieved she hadn't been near the towers when the earthquake stuck. Some blocks had been big enough to be fatal if one were hit.

"This may sound random, but I'm a little bored, so I have to ask," Caelum quipped after a long stretch of silence. "Can I tell you about this book I was reading, but was so rudely interrupted by getting reaped here? I can't hold it in any longer. I need to tell someone about my theories of how the rest of the story goes now that I... you know, probably won't be able to finish reading it."

Daphne's lip quirked. Internally, she knew she loved it whenever Caelum spoke of whatever fictional world he was in the process of exploring. "Oh? Tell me, perhaps I can add some ideas of my own."

Traveling with Caelum was different, Daphne realized. With Caelum came a quiet sort of tranquility that hadn't been present with Azalea and Rye. Azalea had radiated a similar steadiness, though hers had seemed armed with spikes that threatened to stab if Daphne made a wrong move. Rye had just been a bright sun to Daphne's pulsing star.

With Caelum, Daphne found that the tautness in her shoulders had eased. She hadn't realized how tense she'd been, probably ever since she stepped foot in this arena. Caelum was perhaps more like his namesake than they'd thought; like a constellation, he brought Daphne an anchor of peace in the darkest times.

By the time they found a stable-enough house to crash in, Daphne's back was aching from the heavy crossbow she carried. Surprisingly, Caelum seemed alright despite having suffered brief respiratory arrest and blood loss. He'd offered to carry the supply bag to take some weight off Daphne's hands.

Once they entered the house–a creaky old thing with chipped white paint and the usual collapsed roof but usable downstairs–a gray capsule floated through the window and smacked Caelum in the back of the head.

"Hey!" Daphne snatched the capsule and glared around for whatever camera must've been trained on them at the time. "Careful where you send these. He's fragile."

"I am not," Caelum rebutted calmly.

"Yes, you are."

"No."

Daphne snorted, then thanked the sponsor before opening the capsule. In it lay a small container of meat and a spool of thin wire.

There were ten pieces of chicken in the container. Daphne took five and left the rest for Caelum, who had gone outside for a quick bathroom break. The chicken was bland and chewy, similar to the plain scraps back home, and Daphne felt a twinge of guilt at her disappointment. She'd grown spoiled in her time at the Capitol. Esther would've scolded her. Who was she to wish for a bit of seasoning instead of being grateful for the protein?

A patter of footsteps echoed outside, then Daphne heard the door being flung open. Hand on her knife, she poked her head out from inside the kitchen–or, what she thought used to be a kitchen. There was a rusted metal counter that looked faintly like a stove in the corner.

Caelum was looking over his shoulder as he trotted into view. Daphne stared at him as he gave her a somewhat awkward smile before popping a piece of chicken into his mouth. She could see his heartbeat pulsing at his throat.

"What happened?" She asked. "You look like you've just seen a huge spider and are trying to play it cool."

"No spider," He responded quickly. "Just got spooked by a noise outside. I'm not scared of spiders, by the way."

"That's what they all say- hey!" Daphne broke off with a giggle as Caelum pretended to sock her. "Stop-! What kind of noise did you hear?"

"A twig snapping, kind of far away. Might've just been a squirrel or something–since there's only six other tributes left and it's a big arena–but on the horrible luck that it was a tribute, we should probably stay quiet for a while. And not go outside."

Daphne glanced at the spool of wire in the sponsored capsule, then the crossbow she'd discarded in the corner. She wasn't sure why she'd taken it from Theron after the Feast, only that an extra weapon could be handy. Now, she was thankful beyond belief that she'd had the foresight to do so.

"Let me go outside really quickly," she said, reaching for the wire. "I have all the materials now. I'll rig the front porch, like Rye used to." Her chest tightened at the mention of him, and she cleared her throat. "Whoever sponsored this wire, you are a genius and I love you."

Caelum's left eye squinted, which Daphne noticed happened whenever he was in deep thought. "I really don't think you should go outside, Daph."

"I'll be fine," Daphne grabbed the crossbow, then paused. "Did you just call me 'Daph?'"

Caelum frowned. There seemed to be a faint blush on his cheek. "Am I not allowed-?"

"No, no, it's cool." Daphne smirked to herself, already heading out the kitchen and towards the door. "I'll set this trap then come immediately inside, okay? Besides, I'd like to see a tribute even try to get near and leave without a knife through their eyeball."

Caelum groaned softly, then slung his bow and quiver across his back. "Fine, but I'm coming with."

"I'm literally just going to be on the front porch, but sure, if it makes you feel better."

Daphne set to work, thinking back to how Rye had tied the wires together so it would pull the crossbow's trigger if tugged. She missed Rye, missed him a lot. All she could think of was their last conversation, how he'd been furious with her for being too reckless and accidentally killing his best friend.

Tears pricked her eyes, and she hastily brushed them away. Rye's last feelings towards her had been pure, simmering rage, enhanced by grief and loss. At that moment, she would've given anything to turn back the time, to take a few extra seconds to aim that damned knife. Maybe she would've killed Glory, like she'd intended. Then perhaps her last words to Rye would've been happier.

She'd joked about killing anyone who wandered by, but deep down, she was horrified at herself. She'd murdered in this arena, but not just anyone. She'd murdered Makani, Azalea, Theron. People she knew and laughed with. People who would never return to their anxious families ever again. The Aukais, the Espinozas, the Dahirs. They'd all lost a precious child. And it was all her fault.

Daphne cast a side glance at Caelum, leaning diligently against the porch railing, his green eyes watching her work with curiosity. He looked like he wanted to help, but was afraid he'd just get in the way.

Something had changed between the two of them. There had once been walls, now crumbling as the arena forced them to be vulnerable; Daphne's breakdown the day Caelum had found her, how Caelum had nearly died after the Feast. The deadness behind Caelum's expression was no longer there. Daphne wasn't sure when he'd begun to come back to life, but it was nice. She'd missed being able to talk to him freely. She'd missed him.

Yet there was still something missing, held like a tense breath between them. Taut, restrained, threatening to burst. She sensed it in the back of her mind. It was beginning to bother her.

Daphne finished up the trap. After she was satisfied it worked correctly–by tripping the wire while crawling on the ground so the bolt shot over her head instead of into her heart–she excused herself for a bathroom break. Caelum opened his mouth, probably to insist he come with to protect her but realizing that it would be quite awkward. Instead, he nodded tersely and rested a hand on his bow.

Daphne smiled to herself as she padded to the other side of the house. It's funny how he was so on edge, despite the fact that Daphne had been working for quite a while and neither of them had picked up any signs of danger. She found it rather endearing.

As Daphne finished up and began to head back to the front porch, a twig cracked mere meters away. A flicker of movement in a nearby thicket of bushes caught her eye. She halted, a knife instantly drawn, staring at the dark green leaves.

She was about to call out for Caelum when she heard a hefty thud, followed by his yell tearing through the air. Daphne whipped around, panic surging through her veins. She cried out his name, breaking into a sprint. Horrific scenarios flashed through her mind: Caelum getting mauled by a mutt, Caelum being run through with a sword, Caelum strangled by a rogue tribute-

A force slammed into Daphne from the side. She was thrown against the wooden wall of the house, hard enough that her eyeballs seemed to rattle. Fire shot through the side of her head as it struck a sharp wooden panel jutting out.

She collapsed on the ground, the pain swallowing her vision into darkness. The last thing she remembered was frantic, half-thoughts of panic and Caelum. Then she began to slip, staring at the blurred, disfigured blob of bushy brown hair leaning over her.

Skeletal fingers reached for her face.

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