Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games.
They sit on the grass together, talking, planning. He invites her to stay with him, and to his surprise she hesitates.
"We'll make an alliance. We both know the Careers will have grouped together by now. And we can use each other to survive this." He knows why he's trying so hard to convince her to stay. He has to protect her. He can't just watch her wander off on her own and get killed.
She's sizing him up. She knows him, she considers him a friend of sorts back home. She has played games as a child with his younger brother, and his mother has watched her siblings while she and her mother worked. They travelled here together, worked together.
But they are here now, and she knows one of them will have to die for the other to live. It would be so easy for him to kill her.
"Our alliance can't last." She points out.
He realizes what he's thinking then, why she's hesitant. Of course it can't last. But he's proud of her cleverness.
"I know. But for now we can work together. Until the there are less of the others."
She still doesn't answer, looking at him with guarded eyes. She's tense.
He knows she's about to say no, he knows she doesn't trust him enough. And why would she? He doesn't say much. Since he was picked at the Reaping he had been working the silent, intimidating angle on the audience and other tributes. And apparently it has worked. He doesn't think hes said this much to a person since the Reaping. Even his mentor thinks he's always stony and silent. The more his mentor believes, the more the sponsors will believe, after all.
But he knows he has to break his persona, if he's going to make her stay.
"Rue." Using her name makes it more personal, and she knows he's about to say something important. "Stay here, with me. Don't go back out there. Don't get killed." He pauses, the words sound wrong coming out of his mouth. Such a sentimental conversation in his deep, strong voice. He's never been one for touchy, feely subjects. He's unlike the rest of his family that way. But this is different. This is necessary.
"I can't protect you when you're out there."
He wishes he didn't have to admit it. He wishes she could have just known, but it had to be said.
"Okay. I'll take first watch then." She agrees.
He's glad she didn't pry on such an obviously uncomfortable subject for him. He wouldn't have been able to explain it if she asked. It's not just that she's so young, so unfairly thrown into this mess. She's home, she is District 11. It's not just him, but nearly every person in the district who, in some sense, sees her as a little sister. He has the need to protect her. Not just for himself, but for his district. They would be proud of him, if they could see him.
Then he remembers they can. There's a moment of panic when he realizes his sponsors and potential sponsors saw that moment of softness. They saw him show compassion towards who is supposed to be his enemy.
But he also realizes he most likely had many sponsors off the bat, considering his stature and the persona he was acting. And he's already got himself two kills. This one moment of friendliness surely can't hurt him too much.
He's laying down, just on the edge of sleep, when Rue speaks up.
"Thresh?"
A grunt is all he can make out through his grogginess.
"If you make it home, will you watch out for my mama and the babies for me?" Her voice is so quiet, and he doesn't remember ever hearing her so scared.
He sits up and pulls her into another hug, not caring what the cameras think. She's so frail and tiny, and again he curses the Games for allowing someone like her to be put in a place like this.
"Of course I will."
He sat awake, staring up at the sky, listening to her soft breathing. They switched about an hour ago. Now she's tucked under the tarp while he freezes to stay awake. He doesn't mind it so much; he prefers being the one awake. If something happened to her while he was asleep…
The softest rustling of grass alerts him. He sits up to focus on it. Silence. He waits, but no noise follows. But he doesn't lie back again, he's alert, he knows he heard something.
Half an hour passes, and a rustling is heard again. This time, though, whoever it is has tripped on his rope. He grabs hold of his machete and jumps to his feet, crouching as he was when Rue found him. He keeps the same, expressionless look on his face as he steps towards his trap, not wanting whoever it is to get close to Rue.
He can see her red hair through the grass; she's on her feet again. He swings the machete through the grass and feels it make contacts. She gasps loudly, he doesn't know where he got her, but obviously he didn't get her well enough. She's turned and running away from him before he can finish her off.
Her tiny form moves so quickly through the grass. Had she run through the forest he would have been easily able to catch her. But he knows the thickness of the grass will slow him considerably and give her an advantage. So he turns back to find Rue.
She's where he left her, but holding one of his small knives and sitting up.
"What was that?" She whispers.
"The girl from five. She was tripped in my trap. She got away before I could get her though." In truth, he didn't want to kill her. He couldn't see the justice in killing those weaker than himself. That's why he felt worse about killing the crazed girl earlier than the Career. The Career could have taken him, the Career stood a chance.
But his sponsors could not know he was thinking that. They think of it as weakness. They won't sponsor someone like that. They have to believe he's a born killer; they have to believe he'll kill everyone. But they also have to like him; he can't act like a psychopath. No, he has to be smart, strong, brave, and have no conscience.
"Good. Should we move then? She might come back." Rue pointed out.
"In the morning. I'll keep look out until then it's only a few more hours." She didn't get enough sleep, and she needed her rest.
It was silent for a long time. But he knew she was still awake, her breathing hadn't evened like it did when she was asleep.
"You should sleep, you need your energy." He mumbled.
She didn't say anything for a long while, then. "You remember the day I lost your sister?"
A ghost of a smile crossed his face. "I was supposed to watch her. I thought I was going to get in so much trouble."
When Thresh was eleven, his parents asked him to keep an eye on his younger sister and Rue, who were seven and five at the time. Rue decided to play hide and seek. It was Rue's turn to count, and Thresh's sister hid in neighbour's wagon, under a pile of hay. Rue couldn't find her, and eventually she fell asleep. So when she called for her she didn't come out.
"I was almost crying when I came to tell you. I had looked everywhere." Rue commented, her voice humorous.
"We searched for hours. I refused to tell my parents. I thought they would blame me."
"Then Mrs. Adams, across the street, got home."
"Just as she passed the wagon, she popped up, screaming for you." Thresh suppressed a laugh.
"She screamed and jumped out of her socks!" Rue could still picture the look on poor Mrs. Adams face. She laughed quietly.
They both fell silent. Suddenly, the fact that both them would not be able to go back became painfully clear.
I hope it's you who gets to go home.
He can't say it out loud; it would kill too many sponsors. So instead he starts to pack up their things.
"We should get moving." He can feel that the sun will be up soon, and they need to find a source of water.
"We should find resources first," she speaks his thoughts.
"Yeah. Food, water. Do you have a canteen in that little bag?" He motions to it as she puts it on.
"A water-skin. Socks. A slingshot."
"Is that it?"
"I grabbed what was closest and ran, it was all I could do." She shrugged.
"Good. It was how you survived. Here." He handed her one of his knives. "In case you need it."
She thanked him and took it gratefully. She's glad, of all the people, that she made an alliance with him.
Two nights had passed. They set up a reliable routine. They would gather foods during the day, fill up on water, and hike through the forest always keeping close to the grass. Then, at night they would set up camp in the security of the grass and take turns on watch.
He had come to particularly enjoy his time with Rue, even having moments when he forgot - just for an instant - the predicament they were in. But when she would be gone searching for food too long, or disappeared from to ground to swing from the trees, he would panic. He couldn't help the gnawing fear that one of the others had gotten a hold of her. Too often he saw her dead in his mind, too often he dreamed it.
He wished he could shout his frustrations, tell the people of Panem how wrong this really is. He wished those in the Capitol weren't so blind, that they would realize how sick it all is. To watch a little girl die for their entertainment. To cheer for someone else to rip that precious life from her.
Then, one night, he had a dream. It changed his fears for her. It changed the course of the rest of his life.
In the dream, he killed her.
He woke spooked, breathing heavy. And she was there. He wished she weren't, but there she was. Her innocent little face, her tiny smile, those trusting eyes.
Yet all he could see was her face in the dream as his hands clasped around her neck. He could see himself squeeze the life out of her.
Looking at her now, he never wanted her to get hurt. But he wasn't so sure it was preventable. Suddenly, he was plagued with thoughts of what he would do should it come down to the two of them. It was not nearly time to have to think of that yet, but he did. Would he kill her, to save his own life? No. But he wasn't sure that would be his answer should it really come down to it.
He refused to speak to her for the rest of that night. The sound of her soft little voice was too much to bear. He hated himself for having that dream, he hated himself for questioning it if it were to come true.
Sunlight brought with it a heaviness. He would have to make a decision today, he knew. He couldn't be plagued with these questions that tore him up. He would have to answer them.
Would he ever be able to kill her? Or would he die so she could live?
Half a day passed and he still couldn't answer it, so he found an alternate solution. She may not be entirely safe with him, so she shouldn't be with him anymore.
"Thresh! We should find a place to make camp soon, hm?" Rue asked him, starting her way up a tree. She did routine checks often to see where they were and if she could see any other tributes.
"No." The seriousness of his own voice startled even him. But he knew if he were to do this he would have to do it in few words, it was just his way.
"No?" She crawled back down, sensing a change in him.
"I can't be your ally anymore." It's blunt and ruthless, but he's relived the words are out.
Her tiny mouth forms into a frown, and immediately she's on the defense. She shifts her balance to the balls of her feet so she can jump around and snatches the knife out of her belt, holding it towards him.
He expected this, hoped for it even, because it means shes smart and quick. But he hadn't quite been prepared for the look in her eyes. Betrayal. He knew he hurt her, and that look alone almost made him turn back on his decision, let her stay longer. But the longer she stayed the harder it would be for him to survive.
She comes to the realization that he has no intentions of killing her, at least, not in that moment. She doesn't lower the knife though. She relaxes her stance just a little, looking him dead in the eye.
For a moment, her look softens, and he swears in that moment she understands. She knows why he's doing this.
Then the defensive, hurt look is back, and he knows she's just a kid. She can't possibly understand that much. She thinks he simply doesn't want her anymore, realized she has little value in winning this.
"Fine. Good luck, Thresh." Her words are curt, but behind them there is some meaning, and he knows she really will be hoping for him. She will look for his picture in the sky, but hope it will not appear.
And he knows he will do the same.
"You too, Rue." It's all he can do to keep his voice strong.
Then she's gone. Swinging on the branches of trees through the forest until she's out of his sight.
He misses her company that night. He frets that at any moment a cannon will go off and she will be dead.
He's also convinced things are better this way, aren't they?
Author's Note:
So what do you think of chapter two? I knew I had to split them up and I figured if it were Thresh's idea it would give him more grieving after her ineviatble death. Did I make him think about it enough though? Like did it make sense to you readers that he would send her away. I wanted to keep their bond strong and mak sure it was obvious they care about one another but still make him tell her they can't be allies anymore. Please review and tell me if I did alright? Chapter thress will be up soon!
Thank you to marianasgirl for betaing my story into something presentable! :)
