Disclaimer: Hi! So this is basically a one-shot about the friendship Foxface and Thresh forms the night after Katniss blows the Careers supply. Enjoy!
Food. Where would she find it? Thanks to the girl from 12, she couldn't steal from the Careers anymore. Let alone hunting, she didn't even know how to use a weapon. Stealth, was her weapon. But she couldn't use it anymore.
She spotted the cave she had used as a shelter from the beginning of the Games. But just as she was about to go in it, she saw a glimpse of fire.
She hesitated. Who was it? The Careers? Fear flooded her body. She had to leave as soon as possible. But just as she was running away, a voice came.
"Hey-Who is it?"
She froze. She was sure it wasn't one of the Careers' voice. But whose was it?
She could've just ran away, but something in that voice made her stop and think. Although it sounded deep, there was a slight fear in it, and she knew the person was as frightened as she was.
She turned around and saw the large body of the boy from 11, standing up and alarmed, clutching a shiny weapon in his right hand, standing in the cave.
"What do you want?" His voice was rude and assertive, and this made her angry.
One of her rules was to never talk to anyone in the arena. But she was about to lose her shelter, and she didn't think she could find a larger and more hidden cave anywhere else. So she broke the rule.
"This. Is my cave." She tried to sound calm, but her words sounded angry and somewhat weak.
His face relaxed a little, but he still clutched his weapon. Thresh, was his name. She had seen him in the recaps of the reapings and had caught his name. Thresh.
"Well, it's mine now." He sat next to the fire and continued roasting some birds.
She was outraged. It was that easy. It's mine now. If she had said the same thing he would probably just kill her off and settle in the cave. But she couldn't do that. She was much smaller than him. So she decided to leave.
After a couple of steps, he spoke again. "Unless you want to share it just for tonight." He was trying to sound casual and uncaring, but his expression said otherwise.
No allies. That was the other rule. She thought about it for a while. He looked harmless, though. And big. Which would benefit her in case someone, like one of the Careers, came.
"Just for tonight." She said, hesitantly walking to the cave. She sat next to the fire, opposite to Thresh.
There was an awkward silence for a couple of minutes. Both of them weren't used to having allies or chatting, that was for sure.
It was Thresh again who broke the silence. "What's your name?"
Not sharing personal information with other tributes was of course another rule, but she had broken so many it didn't matter anymore. "Finch."
"Do you always steal from others, Finch?" He asked. "I mean, in the arena?" She had to think about that a little bit. But the answer was yes. It had always been yes. She had been raised in the Community Home back in District 5, so stealing was always essential for her. If she hadn't stolen, she would've died of starvation. She slightly nodded.
"It's really clever, your strategy. I admire it. Really." He said. A smile crept up on her face. That was one of the few things she was proud of. Her intellect was a natural gift. He smiled too. "Thanks."
The night went on like that. They chatted and chatted. Both of them realized that they were, in fact, desperate to talk to someone. They laughed and argued and ate. Just for that night, they actually stopped worrying about the Games and just had fun. Like real friends.
When it was time to sleep, they extinguished the fire, split the food into two equal portions, prepared beds, and slept. Not together, of course, they had distance between, but still in the same place. And for the first time since stepping into the arena, they actually rested.
In the early morning hours, Thresh woke up. She was still sleeping, obviously very tired. He packed his stuff. He couldn't have stayed. Having an ally wasn't his thing, and the cave belonged to her. But just as he was leaving, he stopped. Reaching to his bag, he took out the small sunflower made from clay, his token, and put it next to her.
Because she had been a real friend. Because favors didn't go unpaid in his District.
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