Okay. First Hunger Games story for me. EVER! Just a one shot, it was on my mind. IF it's bad, just let me know. It's it good, I would like a little comment on that, too. ;) Thanks! Read on.
-Jasmine
As the smoke swirled up into the air, I prayed that the plan would work. Katniss had a good Idea; the Careers would be far less powerful if they were hungry... but this was more than dangerous. This was borderline insanity. I quickly took off; I didn't want to be around when Cato, Clove, or any other Careers showed up. I run into the woods and climb up a tree. I had seen Cato try to climb when Katniss was hiding in a tree; I think I'm safe here. I jump free tree to tree. It feels like home.
Would I ever see home again? Chances don't seem too good. I'm surprised that I've lasted so long already. When it comes time to break the alliance with Katniss... I won't make it out there. Without Katniss I'm dead, that much is for sure. It's a wonder I've lasted so long; it's probably because there have been so many targets out there. That's one thing I'm thankful for: no one notices the small twelve-year-old girl. They all figure someone else will kill me.
Too bad for them, no one did.
It's almost funny how easy it was to get away from the blood bath. Everyone focused on taking down the big people, like Thresh. I'm glad he made it out; I know his family. He's older than me, so I haven't ever really played with him and we don't talk when we're out in the orchards or the fields, but I've seen him (he's a bit hard to miss, if you know what I mean).
I light the second fire, leading the Careers farther and farther away from their food supply. I hope Katniss doesn't get hurt. Call me selfish, but I need her to live, and I'm not quiet ready to die at the moment.
I hurry into the trees again and get as far away as possible. After a long while I decided to stay in the tree I'm in just for a moment, to rest before I go and light the last fire. As much as I hate the Hunger Games, I can't help but love the arena. I know I have to die in here; it's nice that I can die in a place where I'm comfortable. It's a shame, though, that there isn't any music... My thoughts were cut short by a huge explosion.
"Katniss!" I whisper, and I hear someone yell in aggravation. Probably Cato; I had noticed he has a bit of temper (actually a very large temper; I saw him after Peeta warned Katniss... it was like watching a little baby). I pray that Katniss will make it out in time. I hurry over to the meeting point.
Or should I say I TRIED.
I should have gone straight to the meeting tree. The mockingjay just... she was watching me. I couldn't help but stop for a moment. It reminded me so much of home. There I was, sitting of the top of a tree when a bird comes down and lands on the branch next to my hand. It looks up a me, almost like it's waiting for me to sing my little four note song. I smile at it and stop moving. I remembered what Katniss had said about her Dad: all the birds when quiet when he sang. The bird jumps on my hand and I want to laugh. It's amazing, the effect mockingjays have on me. I see them every where. Maybe that's because they remind me of home. Maybe it's a Gamemaker trick. Maybe they knew, knew how much I love the mockingjays. A cold feeling of worry settles over me as I realized this: Mockingjays will always make me stop. The Gamermakers knew this! They... they want to use it against me so people can see up behind me.
I quickly extend my curled finger and the mockingjay flies away. I looked up in confusion. When did it get so late? How long was I lost in the mockingjay trance? I realize with another pang of regret that I forgot the light the third fire. Katniss is going to think I died or something! I quickly hurry to get to the meeting tree but a few tree jumps later I have to stop. It's getting dark and jumping won't be safe. I wait and eat a few berries I had quickly picked. The sky lights up and I see the face of the boy from District 3. He's the only face and I'm glad for it. One, I know that Katniss is okay. Two, Katniss knows that I'M okay.
I try to go to sleep but nothing comes to me. I'm too nervous. I know that Katniss is fine but, what if she figures the alliance is off? What if she thinks I just thought it was a good time to leave? What if the next time we meet she thinks I'm her enemy? What if... what if...
What if she kills me?
That is the thought that keeps me up all night.
…
When it's light enough to see I start for the meeting tree. This is where the trouble starts. I was almost there when I heard someone. I sunk back into the leaves and looked around from something, ANYTHING, to protect myself.
I had NOTHING.
I just watch. I had been watching everyone during the games. Like I said, no one really notices me (and I don't blame them, I'm pretty good at blending). It's the District 1 boy; I can't remember his name at the moment. I had seen him fight once or twice; he could be deadly. I have seen him kill someone on the other side of the field during the blood bath with only a spear. I wasn't looking forward to him discovering me. I thought I was good, in the clear. I really wanted to get the Katniss, I knew she would be SO close... I jumped to the next tree a little to early.
He saw me.
It was stupid of me, I should have been paying more attention. I really just wanted to get to Katniss, I wanted to make sure she didn't leave without me. It was clear in my mind that the moment we split up, I was a goner. I can't survive in a fight, running is what I do. Running and blending.
His head whips around and his gaze locks on me. I feel so little next to him, even though I'm in a tree and more than a few feet above him. He pulls out a knife and I duck, thinking it was meant to kill me. I realize too late that it was to cut the branch. I fall to the ground with an ungraceful thump. My eyes are huge as I look up at him. I forget how to move. This will be an easy kill for him; he won't even feel bad about it. To him, I'm just another human in the way of his winning the Hunger Games. I'm just a human waiting to be killed. So I sit there, waiting.
Waiting for him to slaughter me.
He pulls out another knife and he's bringing it down, right to my heart. Then something clicks.
I DON'T HAVE TO DIE!
I can see it now, Rue Larken: The 74th Annual Hunger Games Victor! I don't have to die so soon. I can win this, or I can try.
I spring up and away from the knife, quickly knocking it from his hands. He growls, mad that I won't be a kill as easy as he first thought. He rushes forward and I start to climb up the nearest tree, but his hand grabs my ankle and pulls me back down. I sink my styled nails in the the tree bark; I can only imagine the look that Gino would give me if she saw what I was doing to them. My prep team had spent hours on my nails alone.
I try my hardest to yank my small body up in the the safety of the trees. I said I didn't want to die; that doesn't mean I have to be a fool and try to fight this boy. I kick and squirm, but he has my ankle in a death grip. I fall to the ground, suppressing a groan as my ankle twists the wrong way. If it wasn't hurt from his grip, it's sure hurt now. I roll over just in time, as I see a flash of silver. I get up and try to make it to the tree again, but his knife makes it way to my shirt. Thankfully, I've lost some weight since I went into the competition so it only nicked my skin, mostly cutting my shirt. Though that didn't stop me from letting out a high pitched scream as the knife went into and out of my skin. It was clear that running wasn't an option. Either I was going to have to hold my own against a killer who wouldn't even bat an eye at murdering me, or I was going to get some help.
"Katniss!" I scream. "Katniss!"
Off in the distance I hear a voice yelled back, "Rue!"
The boy looks up; clearly this is turning out to be more of a challenge than he thought.
"Rue! I'm coming!" I take advantage of him being distracted and silently thank Katniss for giving me a chance to get away. Though I back up into the wrong thing.
Right into a net.
I scream again as the net falls on me. The boys looks back at me. For a moment there is confusion written clearly on his features; he didn't notice me get so far away. His confusion is gone in a second and replaced by joy and blood lust. His time to kill me has finally come.
The next happens in slow motion: I see the spear leave his hands. It comes right at me. I'm forced to wait for it to hit it's mark while I desperately try to make my way out of the net. Katniss bursts into the clearing just as the spear hits me, but she's too late.
The pain. Oh, I've never felt a pain as bad as his. My insides are burning and I see a few spots in my vision. This is it, I'm going to die.
I watch, dying, as Katniss pulls back her bow and shoots the District 1 boy in the neck without hesitation. She runs to the boy, who's struggling for air, and yanks the arrow out of his neck, causing him to drown in his own blood. She reloads and shouts to me, "Are there more? Are there more?"
"No," I croak out, but she doesn't hear me. "No," I try again. "No." I have to say it a couple of times before she actually hears me.
I roll to the side, trying to cradle my stomach; anything to get the pain from the spear to dull. She shoves the boy, who had run to me when he heard the net go off, away from me and pulls out a knife. For a moment I'm scared, thinking that maybe the alliance is off and she wants to finish me. Though she only cuts me free from the net.
The pain is unbearable. I contemplate just asking her to kill me to stop my suffering. She frowns when she sees the wound, probably realizing that there's no hope for me. I see a hand reaching out to clutch Katniss; it's ghostly white and it takes me a minute to realize that it's MY hand.
"You blew up the food?" I ask. It comes out in a whisper; it uses all my energy to talk to her. I just have to find out. I need to know if splitting up was worth my death.
"Every last bit," she tells me. I manage a small smile. That was all I wanted. Now that I have no hope... I know what needs to happen. When I first went into the Games, I didn't really care who won. I knew I wasn't going home; I just wanted to stay alive as long I could, let my family see me well as long as possible. It didn't matter to me who won. Now, it does, after what that Career did to me...
"You have to win," I tell her. A fierce edge appears in her eyes.
"I'm going to. I'm going to win for both of us now," she promises. There's a cannon and for a silly moment I think it's mine. Then I realize that I'm not dead and it must be for the boy from District 1.
"Don't go," I beg her and tighten my already weak grip on her hand, but it doesn't do much good. My hands are about as powerful a butterfly's might be.
"'Course not. Staying right here," she tells me. She moves in closer and puts my head on her lap. She strokes my hair and brushes it behind my ear. I want to start crying; my mother did that to me when I was little.
"Sing," I say. It's so quiet I'm worried she doesn't hear it, but she does. She thinks for a moment, then coughs and begins.
Deep in the meadow, under the willow
A bed of grass, a soft green pillow
Lay down your head, and close your sleepy eyes
And when again they open, the sun will rise.
The tune is calming, soft and sweet. I feel myself relaxing, falling into the rhythm of the lullaby.
Here it's safe, here it's warm
Here the daisies guard you from every harm
Here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true
Here is the place where I love you.
I feel my eyes flutter closed. The pain isn't so bad now. I can feel my breathing getting slower and I feel something wet on my cheek. Is it raining? When Katniss starts to sing again her voice is thick and I realize she's crying. I want to tell her that it's okay and I knew it was coming but I can't; I don't have the energy.
Deep in the meadow, hidden far away
A cloak of leaves, a moonbeam ray
Forget your woes and let your troubles lay
And when it's morning, they'll wash away.
Here's it's safe, here it's warm
Here the daisies guard you from every harm.
I smile a little bit, but I doubt that Katniss can tell; maybe I'm only smiling in my mind, anyway. Either way, I like the song. It's a good thing to... die... to. Though I feel the world fading away. I can't feel Katniss' hand in my hair, or the sun on my skin, or the grass beneath me. I can barely hear the last lines of the song.
Here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true
Here is the place where I love you.
I can't feel anything now; it's nice. I want to thank Katniss, but there is nothing I can do. I take my last breath and know that somewhere in the distance a cannon is fired.
…
I look down on a small girl. She has dark, tan skin and black hair. Her eyes are closed and there's blood leaking from her stomach. There is another girl next to her. She is crying. She leans down and kisses the temple of the dead girl. I know these people.
It is me and Katniss.
I look at my stomach, seeing if the spear is still in it. Nothing is there, not even the wound I got from the knife. I jump and laugh. It's like nothing happened!
Katniss gently lies my head down on the ground and moves to the District 1 boy; she takes is pack. She looks at my pack for a moment, as if she isn't sure if she wants to take it or not.
"Take it," I tell her, "I have no use for it now. Don't be a fool." She does take the pack, but leaves the spear in my body. She just looks at me for a moment.
"Go on, a hovercraft will take my body away. You need to get out alive. You need to win this." She doesn't hear me, though. She goes into the woods while I stay and look at my body for a while longer, just taking in the sight of myself. I feel bad for my family; there is no doubt in my mind that the Capitol will show this. It's sad that they have to watch. I wish I could have died somewhere more beautiful, not in a net. I give a sad smile, remembering what my mother told me when I was little: she said the best place to be at rest was a meadow. She loved the meadow. My little sister and I would play in the meadow when we were able to. It's sad that I'll never be able to run through that meadow again. Katniss comes back, and I sigh.
"Katniss, you have to get out of here! The hovercraft will be coming soon. Go." She ignores me, though, and I notice that she is carrying wildflowers. What is she doing? She lays a flower down on my wound; flower by flower, she covers it. She frames my face and puts flowers all in my hair. I feel a tear roll down my face as I realize it's made to look like I'm sleeping in a meadow. I cannot think of a way to thank Katniss; this will keep my family at peace, knowing that I got to sleep in a meadow.
That I get to die in a meadow.
"Bye, Rue," she whispers.
"Goodbye, Katniss," I whisper back, smiling through my tears as I watch her. She takes the three middle fingers of her left hand and brings them up to her lips, then holds them out in my direction.
"Go," I tell her, and she finally stands up, walking away and not looking back. A mockingjay gives the warning whistle as the hovercraft comes down to take my body. Katniss stops, but does not turn around. I take the three middle fingers of my left hand and press them to my lips. I hold them out in her direction and whistle my four note melody. Then a mockingjay lands on a branch before Katniss, only it doesn't look at her; it looks at me. I am captivated once more by it's gaze and whistle the melody again. The bird looks at me, tilting it's head to the side and fluttering its wings.
Then, it repeats my melody. The melody that means I'm safe. And that's exactly what I am.
Good and safe.