Disclaimer: I don't own Hunger Games.
Chapter 2:
Rue's POV
"Rue, come play with us!" Sage says lovingly. He still loves to play. He doesn't know the hardships of life, he's too young to. But whenever I see his pleading face, I give in and play with him. My whole family's with him now. We all love to play with him. Mama's there and Papa stands beside her. Willow and Violet are laughing at each other and enjoying the beautiful sight. Jay is next to Sage beckoning for me to join him. Even little Ivy is with them sitting on the ground with her eyes open wide.
I walk toward them and they smile warmly at me. I can hear my mockingjay song echoing. "Mama, Papa, I'm here, I'll never leave you again!"
"We know you won't Rue," says Mama. Her touch is so warm and gentle. I want to stay here forever. And I do almost. I play with them for hours, braiding Willow and Violet's hair together, dancing Jay's worries away, and telling Sage stories. The stories he always loves to hear about brave people who fight for justice, the complete opposite of the capitol.
"Rue, you have to leave." Mama says suddenly. "Now." She grabs my arm and drags me away.
"No. I want to stay!" I whine.
"You can't Rue. Rue. Rue. Rue. Rue."
"Rue. Rue. Rue. Rue. RUE! Wake up!"
"What?!" I sit up wildly. I am on the forest floor, with Katniss hovering over me. What is she doing in District 11? Until I remember. I'm not at home in District 11. I am in the arena fighting to survive.
"I'm sorry. I just- you were shaking and screaming. Is everything alright?" Katniss's eyes are wide with fear.
"No, I'm fine. How long was I asleep?" I ask worriedly.
"A long time. It looks about noon right now. I left you in the tree to go hunting, but when I was back, you were twitching on the forest floor, screaming." She says.
My shock turns into anger. "Why didn't you wake me? I could've helped you. What if the Careers found me? What if the Careers found you?"
Katniss looks genuinely hurt. "I just didn't want to wake you. You looked so peaceful. Until I came back. I brought you these though." She holds up three grooslings.
"Apology accepted," I say as we begin to cook a groosling on a low fire. With all the sunlight, it will barely be visible. We have a satisfying lunch and save the last grooslings for dinner. We climb back into our tree and once again secure ourselves in the sleeping bag.
"What do we do now?" I ask.
"We wait," Katniss says simply.
"Where? And for what?" For the past ten days, I had been on the run, spying on other tributes, finding good food, covering up my tracks. Now it feels weird to just sit around and doing nothing.
"In this tree, and for night," Katniss hauls herself up on a low branch and I follow nervously. Once up there, I am restless. My head darts back and forth as if trying to spot a bug. I want to pace, but there is no room, and it's not safe on the branch.
After a few minutes, my head is spinning. I literally see twelve Katnisses. Once my vision returns to normal, my hiccups kick in.
"Hiccup! Hiccup! Hiccup!" I try to stiffle them, but hiccups are very hard to stop. I know from experience. Whenever I get nervous, or restless, or sad, or mad, or excited, or scared, I get the hiccups. And that happens a lot!
"Rue, keep it down, someone could hear us!" Katniss whisper-shouts.
"I can't- hiccup- stop- hiccup- them! They just keep- hiccup- coming!" I say, just to prove my point.
"Well," Katniss looks around desperately, "Try holding your breath."
I hold my breath for fifteen seconds, before another hiccup comes.
Katniss sighs and pulls out something from my bag. "Drink this," she holds out my water skin.
I chug it down and automatically feel better. "Thanks Katniss," I say.
"No problem," Katniss responds. "Why don't you take a nap. You need your beauty rest!" she teases, but as ridiculous as it sounds, I am tired, and I don't even try to protest.
She pulls out the sleeping bag from my pack, spreads it out, and I crawl into it. She secures a rope around me and before I know it, I am drifting off into a deep dreamless sleep.
The playing of the anthem wakes me up, but this time we hear trumpets. That's odd. They're probably announcing something like a feast. But when we hear Claudius Templesmith's voice, he's not announcing a feast. "Congratulations to the seven of you who remain. There has been a rule change. Both tributes from the same district can win if they are the last two." He paused and repeated the news.
Me and Thresh can both win! Maybe I do have a chance. But wait, what about Katniss, surely she would want to find Peeta so they could win together. I would still rather be allies with Katniss than Thresh though...
At first Katniss is too shocked to say anything, then at last I speak. "Katniss. Are you okay?"
"We'll talk about it in the morning, okay Rue?" she says, her voice quavering.
"But-" I start.
"Goodnight," she cuts me off firmly.
