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No One Knows Who I Am	By : Marblez Category: G through L > The Hunger Games Trilogy Views: 4841 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: I don't own the Hunger Games and I will make no profit from writing this story.

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The Arena, Day Eight

            “Sunshine, lollipops and rainbows,
            Everything that's wonderful is what I feel when we're together…”
            Adya broke off what must have been his fifteenth rendition of the annoyingly cheerful song with a frustrated growl, cursing the repetitive tune for getting well and truly stuck in his head, playing on a constant loop and driving him insane.
            “…you ok?” Sam asked hesitantly from where he was stood just outside the main part of the camp practicing with the spear he'd been left with to defend the camp whilst the Careers continued their bloodthirsty hunt. “Adya?”
            Adya sighed.
            No.
            No, he wasn't ok, actually.
            He was an orphan, completely alone in the world.
            He was blind, completely dependent on the mercy of others.
            And he was in the Hunger Games.
            Not only that but he had managed to fall in love with another Tribute in the Hunger Games and that love was destined to be broken one way or another, most likely with his heavily anticipated death.
            And now, to top it all off, he had that song stuck in his head!
            Of course, he couldn’t actually say any of this to his younger friend as it would destroy whatever ever hope Sam had left, leaving behind the same void of despair that had been gradually building up in the pit of Adya's stomach.
            “I'm fine,” he answered. “I just…need to get this song out of my head. Now.”
            “You could try singing it the whole way through?” Sam suggested, pausing the jab his spear into the target he'd made and even though he couldn't see the “wound” left behind Adya could tell it wouldn't be enough if it came down to an actual fight. “I've heard that sometimes when you've got something stuck in your head that playing it through completely can help your brain let go of it whereas stopping part way through only makes it worse.”
            “…fine…”
            He was standing, his bottom completely numb after only a few minutes of sitting down earlier due to the fact that he’d been sat on it almost constantly for the last few days, and so as he began singing the sickeningly sweet song he couldn't help but dance, his body swaying and bouncing in time with the song.
            “Sunshine, lollipops and rainbows,
            Everything that's wonderful is what I feel when we're together.
            Brighter than a lucky penny,
            When you're near the rain cloud just disappears, dear,
            And I feel so fine just to know that you are mine.”
            He paused, grimacing as he heard Sam snort under his breath as he finally heard the lyrics that had been slowly driving his friend insane for nearly an hour.
            But it wasn't over yet…
            “My life is sunshine, lollipops and rainbows,
            That's how this refrain goes, so come on and join in everybody!
            Everything that's wonderful is sure to come your way,
            When you're in love to stay.”
            At least Cato wasn't here to hear this, Adya thought to himself as he prepared himself for the repeat taking Sam’s suggestion to heart and not skipping a single bit.
            He needed this song out of his head.
            Now.
            “Sunshine, lollipops and rainbows,
            Everything that's wonderful is what I feel when we're together.
            Brighter than a lucky penny,
            When you're near the rain cloud just disappears, dear,
            And I feel so fine just to know that you are mine.”
            “…there's more?” Sam asked weakly as Adya, now literally bouncing on the spot prepared to launch into what was, thankfully, the final refrain and verse. “Ok, now I completely understand why you need to get that out of your head. That’s just…annoyingly chipper and completely inappropriate for the Hunger Games.”
            “I know, right?” Adya gasped out before tilting his head back and continuing.
            “My life is sunshine, lollipops and rainbows,
            That's how this refrain goes, so come on and join in everybody!
            Everything that's wonderful is sure to come your way,
            ‘Cause you’re in love!
            You're in love!
            And love is here to stay!”
            Cutting off his final big note with a loud gasp he pressed the heels of his palms against his sightless eyes, silently pleading for that final rendition to have been enough and for that repetitive little song to be gone from his mind.
            “Please, oh, please, oh, please get out of my head…”
            His voice trailed away and he paused, all but holding his breath as he waited…
            And waited…
            Nothing.
            Nothing!
            It had worked!
            It had…
            And then he noticed that Sam, who had returned to his practise and was stabbing his target over and over again, was doing so in time with the worryingly familiar song that he was humming under his breath.
            Whoops…
            “Adya!” Sam gasped when he finally cottoned on to what he was doing.
            “I'm sorry!” Adya cried out, barely controlling the urge to dissolve into a fit of giggles. “But look on the bright side, it's not in my head anymore.”
            “No, it's in mine!”
            A sharp giggle escape through the hand he had pressed to his mouth.
            “I said I was sorry,” he protested, his shoulders beginning to shake with barely controlled mirth as he continued somewhat cheekily, “…you could try singing it the whole way through? I'm told that works quite well…”
            “Oh, ha ha ha…” Sam growled in response, his spear point driving home deep enough that it would probably cause another person serious harm for the first time.
            With his mind now freed from its musical trap Adya was finally able to pick up on the unusual stillness of the surrounding area; the lack of birds singing in the trees and way the breeze seemed to be dropping off.
            “Something’s about to happen…” he muttered under his breath, turning in a slow circle as he tried to listen out for anything that was truly out of the ordinary.
            A twig snapped.
            His head snapped towards the direction the noise had come from, his unseeing eyes directed into the woods and he was unsurprised to hear a loud gasp, the female voice familiar enough to identify her as their visitor from the other day.
            He was about to call out for Sam when a canon sounded loudly, startling him so much that he fell back on his behind and could do nothing but let there and listen to the sounds of their silent visitor hurrying away into the woods.
            Who was she?
            Shaking his head he let out a sigh and pulled himself onto his feet, feeling himself not to focus on her for a moment and to focus on the real question at hand.
            “Who do you think that was for?”
            Sam sighed deeply.
            “At this point in the Games, with the Tributes who are left, it could have been anybody,” the younger boy admitted sadly, giving up on his spear practise for a moment as he came to stand beside Adya. “I mean, usually it's the weakest Tributes who get picked off first but…well…”
            “I'm still breathing,” Adya chuckled mirthlessly, running his fingers through his hair. “You can say it. I am most definitely the weakest person in these Games and really shouldn't have made it this far. Not that I'm complaining, of course, who wouldn't want to live a few days longer than expected?”
            “What I mean is the way things usually work inside the Arena don’t seem to apply this year,” Sam explained softly. “Yeah, the weakest ones are still the easiest targets but they're not the only ones being targeted and they're certainly not the only ones being killed. I mean, look at Glimmer.”
            “Technically it was her own stupidity that was at fault there,” Adya pointed out, remembering the Career he had killed on the second day of the Games. “I mean, I wasn't exactly hiding my knife so she shouldn’t have gotten that close to me…”
            Huh.
            Was it really only six days ago that he'd become a killer?
            Was it really only eight days ago that they'd entered the Arena?
            It felt like a lifetime...
            “We’ll just have to wait and see who that canon was for just like everyone else,” Sam sighed, dragging the blunt end of his spear across the ground. “Huh…”
            “What?”
            “Songs gone,” Sam responded simply, letting out a short laugh. “Apparently canons are also a good cure for when you've got something stuck in your head, at least when your inside the Arena anyway.”
            “Yeah, I doubt hearing a canon would help get something out of your head if you were just walking around town,” Adya chuckled just as mirthlessly as before. “Actually, no, it probably would work because if I was out in the real world and I suddenly heard a canon go off I'd be absolutely terrified that my whole life had been taking place in one giant Arena…”
            “…well thanks for that delightful mental image, Adya,” Sam muttered with an audible shudder. “Nightmares all round tonight, I think.”
            Adya sighed.
            Sam was right.
            He suspected that there would be a lot of teenagers throughout Panem who would have heard what he just said and would suffer for it, their usual nightmares about the Games having a whole new level of horror.
            Just like he was sure the two of them would.
            “Sorry…”
            Marvels booming laughter was the first thing he picked up on that warned him that the three Careers were returning to the camp, followed by three very different sets of footsteps but each one as clear as the next.
            Careers didn’t worry about stealth unless they were hunting.
            Turning on the spot he faced the direction they were coming from and felt Sam copy him, the younger boy very much aware of his superior hearing.
            “Did you see his face?” Marvel laughed loudly as the three Careers finally emerged from the trees, making their way past the Cornucopia so as to reach their campsite. “Man, that was the best thing I've seen in days!”
            Clove’s cold voice joined his in cruel laughter but Cato stayed oddly silent.
            “Who was it?” he couldn’t help but ask, his own voice taking him by surprise.
            “Hop Along,” Cato answered softly, taking Sam’s place beside the blind teen when the younger boy moved out of the way, going to fetch a canteen of water which he handed over to Marvel without a word. “No idea who’ll get the credit for his kill, though. We chased him up a tree, like we did the Burning Bitch a couple of days ago, only he had that bad leg and…well…he fell.”
            Adya grimaced.
            “Split his skull open on a tree root…” Cato murmured softly, his voice filled with disgusted wonder as well as a little bit of resignation. “It wasn't a good death…”
            Adya shuddered.
            A good death.
            What did that even mean?
            Cato, it seemed, knew exactly what he was thinking.
            “It wasn't quick. It wasn't clean,” he explained softly as Marvel and Clove continued to laugh together like the bloodthirsty monsters they had been trained to be, discussing the way the boy’s skull had seemed to explode. “He suffered.”
            And didn't the regret in his voice show just how much he'd changed?
            Adya was pretty sure that before they had become involved Cato would have been laughing alongside his fellow Careers at the poor boys horrible death.
            And instead here he stood, regretting that it wasn't good.
            Slipping his hand into the older boys he gave it a gentle squeeze, discretely offering him the comfort and support he wouldn't want to be seen needing.
            “…and then he screamed like a girl all the way down! Brilliant!” Marvel finished what must have been a sickeningly joyful retelling of the boy’s death, Sam gulping under his breath as he obviously tried to control his response.
            “Hey!” Clove snapped, smacking Marvel’s arm with the back of her hand.
            “Oh, come on,” Marvel protested loudly, his voice still filled with a worrying amount of mirth. “Even you have to admit that was an incredibly feminine scream.”
            “How awful…” Sam muttered. “That's just…awful…”
            Adya had a sudden horrible realisation.
            With the way things were going the time would soon come for the Careers to “dispose of their allies” before turning on each other and that meant one thing.
            Sometime soon Sam, and himself, we're going to die.
            He suffered under no illusions that it wouldn't be Clove who would finally end him given the amount of time she had already threatened to do so and could only hope that her aim would remain as true as ever and that it would be quick.
            But Sam…
            Turning suddenly he put his arms around Cato and turned his face in against his neck, pressing his lips to the Careers ear as he whispered almost frantically,
            “When…when you have to…Sam…please make sure it's a good death…”
            Cato stiffened, his gaze no doubt falling on the younger boy who had just that moment left the rest of the group to begin preparing the things they would need to make their lunch without any prompting from the others.
            “He doesn't deserve to suffer…”
            Adya didn't want his young friend to die at all.
            He didn't want any of them to die.
            But this was the Hunger Games…
            “He won't.”
            Adya literally sagged against the Career in relief.
            If his friend had to die in this twisted form of entertainment at least he could now be reassured that he would die quickly and as painlessly as possible.
            He wouldn't fall screaming from a tree.
            Adya was thankful when, during their lunch of dried fruits, fresh cheese and bread delivered that morning from District 2, Cato successfully managed to steer the conversation away from the death of the poor boy from District Ten who had been physically handicapped just like Adya.
            They talked about the food.
            They talked about the weather.
            They talked about fashion.
            And just as they were about to run out of random things to talk about Marvel jumped up from his seat with an excited shout.
            “Hey! What’s that?”
            “That would be smoke, Marvel,” Clove answered simply before her voice became sickly sweet as she continued derisively. “You know, that funny cloud that’s produced when you have a fire? I’m sure even you’ve seen it before.”
            “I know what smoke is,” Marvel growled across at her, instantly on the defensive. “I just meant we should probably check it out, find the idiot that started the fire. Might manage to get a proper kill this time.”
            Adya grimaced.
            “Who do think it is?” Clove asked as the three Careers armed themselves ready for their second hunt of the day, concealing blades all over their bodies. “I can't imagine the Burning Bitch being that stupid which means it's probably one of the little ones. Maybe Titch or Big Eyes…”
            “Or it could be deal old Lover Boy,” Marvel sneered loudly, picking up his spear and spinning it confidently in his hands. “For all your claiming to have wounded him his canon still hasn't sounded has it, Cato?”
            Cato didn’t rise to the bait although, judging by the way Marvel cleared his throat and hurried away from the camp, Adya could only assume he had responded to the challenging statement with a sharp look, probably a deadly glare.
            “I'll be back as soon as I can,” he murmured as soon as the two of them were alone, pulling Adya up from his seat and a couple of paces away from the camp before leaning down to press their lips together for all the world to see, his hands gently cupping Adya's face and holding him close.
            Not that Adya minded.
            He'd be quite happy to spend more time kissing Cato but for the Career to have a chance of winning he had to do his job, unfortunately, and make a name for himself…although entering into a same-sex relationship inside the Arena had probably already succeeded in securing both of them a place in the Games history.
            “I'll see you when I get back,” Cato murmured as he ended the kiss, keeping their faces close together as Adya brought his hands up quickly so that he could “see” the other boy for a moment, trailing his fingertips across his boyfriend’s finely sculpted face and paying special attention to his lips. “Stay safe.”
            “You too.”
            It was Adya who initiated their second kiss, his previous explorations aiding him in finding his boyfriend’s lips and capturing them in a passionate kiss.
            In fact it was only when Clove let out an impatient huff that they pulled apart.
            Pulling away from each other Adya reluctantly let his hands fall to his sides, his lower lip slipping absentmindedly between his teeth as he listened to Cato following his fellow Careers out of the clearing without saying another word.
            “You ok?”
            Adya smiled softly.
            “D’you know, you ask me that question a lot?” he chuckled, following the other boys voice back to the centre of the camp, his hands out in front of him in anticipation of finding something in his way as he always did (a storage box this time) but reassured that he wasn't anywhere near the mines.
            He could remember how many paces it would take to reach them.
            Feeling his way around the storage box he decided that it was as good a place as any to sit for a little while, not completely sure where the box was in relation to the rest of the camp other than the fact that it was still in the brilliant sunshine, a fact that made it rather appealing to him at that moment in time.
            Sam snorted softly, the only answer Adya received in regards to his counter question, and took his own seat on the other side of the Careers camp, laying his spear across his laps and rolling it up and down his thighs absentmindedly, the metal pole catching on the numerous buttons, poppers and zips which appeared to be a feature of all of their trousers.
            Apparently pockets were in fashion this year as all of them seemed to have them in abundance whilst in past years Tributes hadn’t been so lucky, the clothing they’d been given having been designed specifically based upon whatever type of Arena they had been sent into that year.
            He could remember watching the 65th Hunger Games when he was a boy, the year that Finnick Odair had won, when all of the Tributes had been dressed in various types of swimming attire ranging from “board shorts” to “bikinis” all because their Arena had been located over a series of interconnected tropical islands surrounded by crystal clear water infested with dangerous sea creatures.
            And then in the 69th Hunger Games, a year or so before he lost his sight, the Arena had been located on a foggy mountain range and the Tributes clothing had all been luminous or reflective so that the cameras could pick them out easily.
            Of course that had also meant that the other Tributes who were trying to kill them so that they would be the ones to survive the Games could see them as well.
            And he hadn’t been able to see it but he’d heard enough about it to remember the “added bonus feature” that had been included in the 71^st Hunger Games, the year Johanna Mason had managed to win by convincing everyone she wasn’t worth paying attention to before killing everyone, when the Capitol had put some sort of dye all over the Tributes clothing which had glowed at night.
            Yeah.
            They’d been visible at night.
            Lack of sleep had been a big problem that year from what he could remember, all of them having to stay on their guard as much and as long as possible because they could be found out at night a lot easier than they could during the day.
            Perhaps being dressed in his least favourite colour and covered in useless pockets wasn't such a bad thing after all, all things considered…
            His breath caught in his throat as he heard the lightest of footsteps rapidly approaching the supply mountain from somewhere to his right, pausing briefly when they reached the minefield before continuing in a familiar pattern of hops and jumps which told Adya that their guest knew exactly how to navigate their homemade minefield without getting blown up, using the route planned out by Sam.
            They were also able to do it so quickly and quietly that Sam, who was still rolling his spear up and down his thighs, hadn't even noticed.
            Adya continued to listen as the girl, judging by the pitch and tone of the gasping breaths, snatched whatever she had come for from the supply mountain before jumping down with a soft thud and a slight whimper.
            This finally caught Sam’s attention.
            “What was that?” the younger boy asked just as the girl sprinted into the woods directly behind Adya, her bounty clunking loudly in her hands as she moved despite her obvious attempts to silence it.
            A smile spread across his face.
            To pull off a move like that, coming in and snatching supplies away without being seen or caught, must have taken a serious amount of a lot of skill, a significant amount of patience and a heck of a lot of nerve and for that she deserved…
            “What was what?” he asked, feigning obliviousness. “I didn't hear anything.”
            “I could have sworn I heard something…” Sam sighed deeply before getting up from his seat, turning to face Adya as he continued somewhat awkwardly, “I…um…I need to answer a call of nature. I won't go far.”
            “Ok.”
            He listened to his friend’s careful footsteps as he made his way into the small copse of trees beside the lake, obviously wanting to have a little privacy despite the fact that the one person close enough to see him in person was completely blind.
            Tilting his head up towards the sun he tried to focus on any sound but those made by his young friend answering his call of nature to make things a little less awkward and, much to his surprise, found himself picking out the sound of soft footsteps approaching from somewhere in front of him.
            ...who was that?
            It definitely wasn't Sam who was still “busy”, nor were the footsteps heavy enough to be any of the Careers returning and he seriously doubted their previous visitor could have made it around the clearing that quickly.
            Who was that?
            Adya frowned, tilting his head towards the sounds in the hope of hearing something that would give him a clue as to whether or not he should be worried.
            He heard the footsteps stop just outside the clearing.
            He heard someone shifting around and then the unmistakable sounds of a bow string being drawn tight, an arrow dragging against the side of the bow before suddenly being released, sending the deadly projectile flying through the air.
            No!
            His body stiffened automatically as he waited for the arrow to meet its mark…only for it to miss his body entirely and land somewhere behind him.
            In fact it appeared that their second visitor, and given the choice of weapon he had a pretty good idea just who that visitor was, wasn't even aiming at him despite the fact that he was an obvious target.
            She was aiming at something on the supply mountain.
            Trembling from head to foot he rose to his feet, preparing to call out for Sam when he heard fire off a second arrow and this time he could make out which direction it was travelling, his heightened sense of hearing following it all the way to the supply mountain where it apparently met its target.
            Something tore loudly and moments later he heard the sounds of something bouncing down the cases and boxes that had been piled up on top of each other…
            Down towards the mines surrounding the supply mountain…
            Oh…
            The mines…
            He barely had time to turn away from the supply mountain, his voice breaking as he finally called out frantically for his friend, before his voice was drowned out by the most terrifyingly sound he had ever heard.
            Something hot and sharp slammed into his back, what felt like dozens of deadly points driving in deep into his body with enough force to send him flying forwards into the dirt with a cry of pain, his forehead colliding with a rock and sending even more blinding pain flooding through his senses.
            This…this was not how he had expected this to happen…
            He felt sick…
            The pain…the pain was too much…
            A strange feeling spread quickly throughout his body, dragging him towards a blissful oblivion where he just knew that the pain would be unable to follow him and it was all he could do to moan one single word before he was dragged under.
            “Cato…”

A/N …I'm sorry? I did try to warn you what was coming without giving it away…although I would definitely recommend tissues whilst reading the final chapter. I know everyone loves Adya and wants him to win but…well…yeah…I’m not gonna say any more right now. You’re just going to have to read the final chapter. X
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No One Knows Who I Am