A/N: This is what I like to do. I spend my time thinking about what other characters are going through during books. This story is told from Rue's POV. Sorry if she seems a little OOC. Please enjoy.
Rue and other Hunger Games characters belong exclusively to Suzanne Collins. Bless that women...
Breathe. In out in out. Quietly now, can't startle the weapon wielding murderers down below. Trees are what I live for. Or even live in, especially in these circumstances. My name is Rue; I am the girl tribute for district 11 in the 74th annual Hunger Games. District 11 is in charge of agriculture, which means I'm up in trees a lot. And I love it. At least the tree part. Trees are where the Mockingjays live, and they're worth befriending. The sounds that come out of their cute little beaks are so beautiful. But I can't focus on that now. Can't think of home. It hurts too much.
Right now I am holed up in a tree because the careers ended up inadvertently following me from the first fire I set to lure them away from their camp. I hope Katniss hurries up in getting rid of those supplies. I can't very well jump from tree to tree without them noticing me, and if I can't do that I can't set the third fire. I just barely managed to set the second fire before these monsters were upon me. I was only in the trees for about 10 minutes, hopping along to the next site before I heard Cato running through the underbrush. Boy is he funny when he gets mad, pulling out his hair and cursing. I think he was expecting Katniss to be waiting for him or something. Lucky for him she wasn't - he'd be dead by now. I'm in the middle of imaging how Cato will react when he finds his precious supplies gone when a sudden blast nearly knocks me out of my tree.
It's all I can do to hold on as blast after blast shakes the Arena. I hope Katniss is ok. I wonder if she somehow did this. The blasts stop after a few minutes and the careers (who had previously fallen to the ground at the blasts) jump up and start to hobble back towards their camp site. I'm definitely thinking Katniss had something to do with this.
For a little while I'm too shocked to move - those blasts were really loud and the ground below me seems to be spinning a little. I decide to stay in the trees for a while and see how things play out. I don't expect to fall asleep though. But I do. The anthem wakes me and I see that Katniss is still alive. I'm so relieved that she has survived I forget we were supposed to meet hours ago! I've just decided to head back to our meeting place to see if she's waiting there when I hear the sounds of hunters combing the forest. Cato's giving instructions to the group as they walk. Something about getting revenge on whoever blew up their supplies. Now I'm almost positive it's Katniss. I try to edge a few trees closer but in doing so one member of the group - district 1 I think - is startled by the rustling and is instantly suspicious.
I hold my breath and pray they don't see me with those excellent night vision goggles of theirs. Thankfully none of the others seem to have noticed anything and District 1 is anxious to stay with the group so he doesn't stick around long. I decide Katniss is probably hiding somewhere if she knows the Careers are out looking for her and decide to spend the night in my tree. I'm awfully tired...my last thought before I drift off is something along the lines of "I hope Katniss is alright".
I wake up sometime around midday, much later than I had planned. Katniss has probably given up on me coming to the clearing by now! I've got to get back. I'm in between the sites for the 2nd and 3rd fires, so getting back shouldn't take that long. I travel for a few hours and soon it is late afternoon. I'm getting close to the campsite so I begin to sing my melody, hoping the Mockingjays pick it up and take it to Katniss letting her know I'm alright. I decide to get down from the trees as I hear the Mockingjays repeat the melody back to me; Katniss must be near. Yes, now I hear her softly singing the song back to the Mockingjays. I'm just thinking about how beautiful her voice is when I'm suddenly trapped in a net. Out of reflex I scream. I can't help it, I'm terrified. I can't move I can't think. Then she's screaming my name, and suddenly I see her.
"Katniss" I say, reaching through the net. Then fire rips through my stomach and I'm fighting to stay conscious. Everything's a haze through the pain, I see the boy who threw the spear. District 1. I knew he'd stayed suspicious. Katniss' arrow enters his throat and he goes down. She's jumping all around, constantly moving her head to the left.
"Rue, are there more? Are there more?" She shouts this about ten times before she hears me say no. She cuts open the net and grabs my hand, steadying me through the pain, a tether to a world that's drifting away quickly. I have to know if this was all in vain.
"Did you blow up the food?" It's a whisper; it's all I can manage.
"Every last bit," she answers softly. Suddenly it's very important that she win. She has to. I couldn't stand it if she had to go through this too. It would make everything pointless.
"You have to win," I tell her.
"Going to. Got to for both of us now." It's for more than us I think, but can't put it into words. All I want to do is sleep. Something is telling me there won't be any pain if I just sleep. But I can't. Not yet.
"Sing." I say it so softly I don't know if she heard me. But then she nods. And sing she does. I'm barely coherent by this point, but the melody is so beautiful, more beautiful than Mockingjay song, more beautiful than anything I've heard. As she sings she begins to cry. I want to comfort her. My eyes flutter closed. Her voice is becoming fainter by the second but it is just as beautiful. As she finishes she breathes in sharply, like she's in pain, and I breathe out, drifting slowly...slowly to sleep.
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