Whistle- Chapter 1

Hey! So this is my sequel to my other story, 'Song Bird'. It's still in Thresh and Rue's POV and I hope you like it! I don't own the Hunger Games! :) 3

Rue's POV

Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark. District Twelve. Star-crossed lovers. Victors of the 74th Hunger Games.

I watch them kiss sweetly on stage, speaking at a banquet. It's all that anyone has spoken about here in thirteen.

'They're amazing! Katniss has actually started uprisings!'

Well, not yet but there is plenty of talk about them.

There were two winners of the Hunger Games this year, as Katniss and Peeta threatened to commit suicide, rather than live without each other. They were so close to dying too.

There may have only been two winners, but five people got out of the Hunger Games alive. Ed, from District ten, who was part of a huge conspiracy to bring down the Capitol with Thirteen. And then, Thresh and me, both from District Eleven were rescued. I still don't know why I was rescued yet but I'm glad I got them to save Thresh.

It's been five months since the Games ended and talk of uprisings are still getting worse. Thirteen wants a rebellion as the Capitol are cruel and unfair. It was thirteen who killed my family, my three sisters, Stella, Fluer and Lily, my two brothers, Felix and Jude and my parents.

All dead. I held my own little funeral, I was allowed seven candles to light and I collected lots of flowers from outside to put with them. It's the only time I've been outside since I got here. It was nice, I'm so used to being outside, with fresh air and wind sweeping at me face. I love to climb trees.

When thirteen was destroyed, the President signed something to say that they would mostly remain underground. If this law is breach or broken, they have the right to wipe out the district, which is fully in their power. So going outside is limited to if needed.

I've met the President Coin. She is horrible and cruel. I don't like her at all. I should be grateful she saved me but I'm not. She let other children die before and she only saved me to get what she wanted.

It's Ed I'm grateful to, for saving Thresh for me. He got the soldiers to rescue him and I can never thank him enough. Ed and I have become really good friends, we helped each other in the arena and he still helps me find my way around thirteen. It's a bug place and he's been living here most of his life.

I turn into a supply closet, a big one with plenty of space and climb up the shelves. The bad thing is, Ed and I aren't meant to be friends, Coin forbade us to see or speak to each other. We were told no reason but I'm guessing Ed knows more than I do about it. He won't tell me though.

I hide in my usually corner, right above the door. If anyone is to come in, the chances of them seeing me are very unlikely. Hardly anyone comes n here anyway but I have to be careful.

The door opens slowly and I hold my breath, until the door shuts and I see the the top of a head, covered in blonde, messy hair. I reach down and ruffle it up. Ed has grown a lot since we first were here.

"You really need a haircut!" I smile, joking around. He looks up at me with his green eyes and smiles back.

"Always nice to see you Rue." he jokes right back sarcastic, smoothing over his hair. I think of my own curly, uncontrollable dark hair that matches my dark brown eyes. I help him climb up onto the top self. Part of his reason, for going into the Games for Thirteen was that they fixed his bad keg, they have but he still struggles to put lots of weight on it.

I think back to when we were running from the Careers, how slow he could walk and wonder why Thirteen hadn't fixed it before he risked his life for them. It would have been so much easier.

Ed was born in Thirteen, is 14 years old but moved secretly to ten, where they made sure his name was reaped as the male tribute. We met up in the Games and I helped him. When I was injured by a spear, thrown by a Career called Marvel, I died for a little while. Enough time passed that a canon was fired and I was removed from the arena. Thirteen, pretended to be the Capitol, took me and saved my life. Ed pretended to be a doctor to see me.

"You alright?" he asks, pulling me in for a hug. We then sit in the corner, leaning against the wall.

"I'm fine. How are you?"

"Tired. I've been up all night."

Ed works as part of a training program for Thirteen, he helps out adults as a sort of runner.

"You should be in bed." I say, but he just laughs under his breath.

"I'm alright, really. Presides, of I was in bed, I would have missed seeing you." I smile at him.

We try to meet up as often as we can in different places. This is our favourite by far because it has paper and pens that we play games on. We can sit for hours, Ed lives alone so no one notices he's missing and Thresh covers for me.

After Thresh came to thirteen, I moved into a dorm with him, as I am not old enough to live on my own but Thresh is, he offered to 'look after' me. It's a great situation, Thresh and I are great friends but I don't really need looking after. Ed gets to live on his own because he is a loyal citizen to Thirteen and he came to an agreement. Plus, they don't think he is mentally uncontrolled and if left alone will resort to stabbing himself with a fork.

That's just me.

"What have you been doing than?" I ask, pulling out a piece of paper and drawing. I've never had the time to sketch but now I have plenty, I'm not always modest but I have to admit my drawings aren't bad at all.

As he talks, I draw Ed.

"There's talk about an uprising in eight. Some of our plants have been told that someone has been storing weapons for such a time so we were trying to find a way to find out who it was. I was sorting files of paper work on who it could be."

"Any luck?" I ask, adding more shape to his eyes, I don't even have to look properly any more, I've drawn Ed so many times I can see him perfectly.

"Not much, it could be anyone and eight is huge." he sighs sleepily.

"Bigger than Eleven?"

My District, is huge compared to every other one that I know, Katniss told me that twelve are tiny. We need lots and lots of people to harvest all the food in time. At our reapings, the tributes are chosen before so we can fit all the children in. A list of children, from 12 to 18 goes up to say whether or not you have to go.

"Not quite as big as Eleven."

He shits his eyes and rest his head against the top of my shoulder. Within seconds, he is sleeping. I continue to sketch him for a while, adding shades of colour. It takes me at least 15 minutes to get his eyes the right shade of green.

It's so quiet, except the sound of my pencils scratching the paper and Ed's loud breathing. There's no clock or windows to tell how long we have been in here but it's been a long time and Thresh will be worried about me. Gently, I shake Ed awake.

"Ed." I whisper as he starts to stir, "We have to go now."

He opens his eyes and looks around, than back at me and smiles sleepily.

"I'm sorry." he yawns. Where he was sleeping feels cold now and I smooth the top down.

"Don't be." I say, checking through our tiny hole that the coast is clear. It is so I slip down. Ed follows less gracefully.

"See you soon." I add, slowly opening the door, we never make a set time because if one of us can't make it, we can't tell them. Mostly, we just know each other's timetable and fit around it.

I slip out the door and Ed stays behind, waiting for a while before coming out like usually. I walk down the corridor, into a huge room where the television is and watch a clip from the Games, just a second before turning away. I don't want to relive the Games or remember it.

A few of my new friends stop to say hello, including Holly and Sarah, from ten who were one of the first people I met. Holly is tiny and Sarah is too but there are both cheerful and optimistic. Sarah's husband and Holly's Dad died to give them enough time to flee. They made it to Thirteen, only just, when Holly was still a baby. Sarah doesn't want her husbands death to be a waste so she keeps happy and busy, trying to make a better life for Holly.

"'ello 'Ue." lisps Holly, grinning at me, revealing a gap in the front of her teeth.

"Hi Holly, lost a tooth?" She nods wildly, tapping her teeth.

"I 'ave a gap."

I chat with Sarah and Holly for a few minutes before carrying on. It's not a very long walk to our dorm but I walk briskly so I am not late. I open our door and see Thresh sat reading in the corner.

"Hey Thresh." I say, he doesn't appear to have noticed my long absence.

"Hey Sugar." he says happily, turning to face me. His dark hair is longer than ever and falls just above his warm brown eyes. He's no taller or shorter than he was during the Games but he seems smaller to me, because I've grown.

Before the Games began, and we were in the Capitol, Thresh caught me dipping my finger in sugar and eating it. Since then, he has called me sugar. I like the name but it's another reminder of the Games. This memory is one of the few good ones, Thresh and I became friends that night.

"How's Ed?" he asks as I sit next to him. He keeps his voice down, we never know if someone is listening in on us.

"He's good. Tired. How are you?"

Thresh doesn't work properly yet, he's completing his school courses as he wants to work. Here, most people finish school at the age of six-teen but Thresh is doing extra. It's a time thing, he has lots of time and nothing to do.

I spend all my free time with Ed, but Thresh is less pleased about making new friends. It's harder for him.

"Stuck." he answers, crossing out another line of his handwriting. "We have an exam next week."

Thresh wants to be an officer and fight in the war, to do this he needs to pass physical and mental tests. He had to visit a Doctor every week for a mental health check, as well as handing in several papers to test his memory.

"What about?" I ask, stroking a pillow.

"My family." he huffs angrily, "Can you believe it? Two hundred words on my family!"

I keep quiet. That seems too perfect to just be random, his doctor must have chosen this topic especially to see how he copes. Thresh knows this but he still has to actually write down about his family.

To start with, we spoke about eleven a lot and our families. Thresh's Mum was killed with mine too. He got to hold his own funeral and he came to mine. Over the last few months, we stopped talking about them so much and now we never do. It's too painful.

"You'll think of something." I say quietly, trying to block the unpleasant memories that threaten to bubble.

"Yeah." he sighs, putting down his paper. "I'm going to get something to eat, coming?"

I shake my head, "I'm not hungry." I reply. He gives me a slight funny look. I've lost lots of weight since coming here, which I shouldn't because we generally have more food, it's just I forget about meals or I don't get hungry at all. It's hard to force the sludge down my throat. I shake my head again and Thresh walks out, leaving me think about my family.