I can see the girl from one setting up her trap in the trees. Bryce is walking along, like if he was back in District 6 with his mother. He had let his guard down around this section of the arena. I was watching the 65th Hunger Games in a front row seat. By the time Bryce was five feet away from the trap; the girl had finished it and had hid up in a tree. I ran towards Bryce to try and stop him, but every time I had tried to grab his arm, my hand just went through it. As he took his next step, something clicked. He had set the trap loose. I knew I wouldn't be able to move him, but I kept trying. I felt myself crying as five poisonous darts flew through me and injected themselves into Bryce's side. I watched as my brother fell to the ground and his life being sucked out of him. A few moments later, his cannon went off and I started drifting away from him.
My eyes jolted open to realize I found myself in close to complete darkness. The ground was cold and wet, which only made me guess that we were in another cave. I started sitting up but a large pain shot through me. I groaned loudly, pressing my hand onto my right hip to try and ease the pain. "Look who's finally up," someone said with a laugh. I looked up to see Toby and Jason sitting around a fire. I immediately freaked out.
"Put that out! Do you want us to be easy targets?" I yelled to them. I tried getting up but fell back down on my butt. Was this injury so bad?
"Relax, Kai. We've had this fire every night since you passed out from blood loss. I've changed your bandages a couple of times since then," Jason said, passing me a fried fish and piece of bread. With its green tint, I knew it had to be from our district.
"How long have I been out for?" I asked, taking a bite of the fish. Wait, he changed my bandages twice? "How dare you touch me?" I laughed, throwing a piece of bread at him. Jason shrugged, catching the bread in his hand and eating it.
"Two days," Toby answered. "But you didn't miss much. Just one cannon went off yesterday and it was the girl from 10. But on the bright side of things, Jason and I were discussing girl baby names. Care to join?" he smiled, uncrossing his legs and extending his hands to me. Once I grabbed them, he slowly pulled me up to my feet. I took baby steps towards the fire and Jason let me use his shoulder for support to sit back down.
Finally getting comfortable, I let out a sigh of relief. "Okay, so what do you have so far?" I asked.
"Well, we had Zoe, Emma, Sara, Mary and Ella so far. But Toby wanted a name you both can agree on together," Jason answered. We both should agree on? I don't think I should have a say as to what Toby wanted to name his daughter.
"Why do I have to agree to the name too?" I tried stretching out my legs, but couldn't completely stretch out my right one because of the cut. Why hasn't this damn thing healed a bit?
"Because if I don't make it out alive, I want you to help raise her. You'll be her protector, just like you're mine," he said. I sighed and nodded. There was no point in arguing with Toby about this. Alive or not, he would want me to help him take care of his daughter. Along with everyone else back home.
"Okay, so how about Anna?" I said. Toby shook his head and said it was too common. "Paige? Penelope?" Denied. "Mariah? Evelyn?" Tobes shook his head again and sighed. Then, I remembered a story my dad read to me when I was a little girl. It was about how a group of people who lived in a Spanish speaking place, wandered around a mountain range for days, looking for any other sign of civilization. "How about Sierra?"
Toby thought about it for a moment before nodding his head. "I like it. I think I'll go with that one," he said. "I'm sure the cameras captured this moment just in case," he laughed. I rolled my eyes at him and looked away, all in good spirits though. Toby went on to say how while I was asleep, he received a parachute from Mags which contained the bread. Jason had gotten some type of cream that treated cuts. That explained why the one on my face was now gone. It was him who killed the girl from district five while he went out to refill his canteen with water. I too had gotten a parachute. Finnick sent me bandages for my cut. But it obviously wasn't enough since Jason kept changing my bandages. I felt my shirt slowly being lifted and I moved away Jason's hand.
"What are you doing?" I asked, keeping his hand in mine.
"Your bandage is bleeding through again. I have to change it. Just lay down and I'll go get the stuff," he said, eyeing his hand in mine. I let go and lay down as he told me to. I lifted my shirt just below my breasts and slowly lowered my body back onto the cold floor. I don't know how I hadn't noticed before but my jacket was missing. Toby said he took it off when Jason was wrapping the bandages around me and that he was the most skilled with healing.
"How did you learn about healing and such things?" I asked as Jason went ahead and unwrapped the bloody bandages.
"My dad and sister are healers back in 7. I tried learning from them little by little, just in case I was reaped and had to treat my own injuries. But seems like I have to treat someone else's," he grinned, pressing a gauze to my hip as I winced. "If I make it back, I'm going to get so much shit for helping you stay alive,"
"The price of fame and glory, deal with it," I laughed, slowly lifting myself for the wrapping of the bandages. Toby had asked if I was going to finish my food and I shook my head. I really didn't have an appetite to begin with.
Jason passed me a painkiller for my side and my canteen he filled up. "These should cut down the pain a bit. We'll need something stronger if it's going to completely go away,"
"Or I can just die from an infection, no big deal," I said, swallowing the pill with some water.
"You really are a piece of work, aren't you?" Jason smirked and I nodded. Might as well enjoy my last moments alive with bad humor. After numerous attempts at making me eat, Toby gave up and placed the fish over the open fire. And just like that, a roaring sound came from outside as Claudius Templesmith's voice began an announcement.
"Tributes, I invite you all to the famous Cornucopia feast! But before any of you can deny my invitation, there's something there you all need in order to move forward. Or maybe even make it till tomorrow morning. So think over my invitation and may the odds be ever in your favor!" he said and everything went quiet again. We all looked at each other, starting to format a plan.
"I think Toby and I should go while you stay here," Jason said, getting to his feet.
"Over my dead body I will!" I protested, getting on my knees and using the walls for support. If I had used Jason, he would've pushed me back down to the ground and demanded I stayed. But I honestly couldn't stop my legs from shaking while trying to get up. The entire blood loss had made me extremely weak.
"Exactly! You go out there; you might as well throw yourself in front of Valeria. We'll just go get what we need and run back. If all the remaining tributes go, no one will come looking for you. Plus, you can't even walk properly yet to even make it outside. Just stay here and we'll be back soon," Toby set me back down. I sighed in frustration, not wanting to stay in a cave all by myself for who knows how long.
"Fine, go," I said and shooed them away. I knew they were right, but I was too stubborn to admit it.
"We'll leave the bow and arrow with you just in case. Just don't go out there and set yourself up for a trap," Jason said, kneeling next to me and ruffling my hair. I nodded, taking my necklace and playing around with it in my hands. Watching as Jason and Toby left, I began coming up with a small plan in my head. I would wait until they were about five minutes ahead to walk out and head towards the Cornucopia. Even if I can't fight, I can at least try to injure their opponent from a distance. Grabbing onto the rocks on the wall, I slowly picked myself up. My legs were still weak, but a bit stronger since I woke up. Placing the bag of arrows over my shoulder and taking the bow in my hand, I slowly and carefully made my way out of the cave. The only problem now, where was the Cornucopia towards?
I made my way towards the forest, hoping to find at least something that'll let me know which way the Cornucopia was. Walking towards a path that looked like a pathway to me, I saw something tied onto a small branch. It was a piece of cloth with an arrow drawn on it. Toby. He would be the only one to leave me a clue towards the feast. Derrick must've told him how stubborn I can be and not follow rules too well. I took down the cloth, not wanting to leave any evidence and looked which way the arrow was pointing. I kept walking straight forward, trying my best to not make too much sound. It but was hard since my right leg could only go up so high.
As I inched closer in the direction Toby left for me, everything was becoming quieter. Was that even possible here? Finally, just ahead, I could see the Cornucopia. I got on my knees and crawled towards some bushes to hide from view. There were four backpacks in a color to represent each district, plus our district number on them. The one for one was a magenta color. For us, it was the usual light blue. For five, it was silver. And for seven, it was green. I gazed around to find someone else around, but no one was in sight. It wasn't until the girl from five, jumped out of the forest and ran towards the Cornucopia. That's when Valeria jumped out, running behind the girl and catching up to her. Valeria grabbed the girl from her blonde hair and slit her throat with a machete.
I watched, horrified as the girl from five fell to the ground. Her cannon instantly went off as Valeria went towards the table and grabbed her backpack. She stayed there, obviously still waiting for the other tributes to arrive. I inched a bit closer, staying out of sight but just enough for an arrow to reach her. But just as I was going to shoot, Jason and Toby ran out of the forest and towards the Cornucopia. Valeria jumped, readying herself with the machete to strike. Toby threw a knife at her, only to miss but give her a cut on her arm. With the small distraction, Jason ran to the Cornucopia, taking both our backpacks and shoving them to Toby. Toby ran back towards the forest, with Jason following behind him. But Valeria had regained herself and threw the knife at Jason; jabbing him in the leg.
Falling, he groaned in pain and I took this as I my chance to strike. But just as I was going to fire, Toby took Jason's axe and ran towards Valeria. Jason slowly got up and crawled towards where Toby dropped the backpacks. Valeria charged towards him, machete ready to slice any part of him she could. She went to strike, but only to have the ax's blade block the attack. I aimed the arrow at her head, ready to fire. But with Toby and Valeria fighting all over the place, it was hard to keep up. Jason had gotten on his feet by now, tossing the backpacks to my left.
"I thought we told you to stay at the cave!" he hissed, not too loud to give away my location.
"If I did, you two would be dead right now! Don't give me any of this shit because I'm not the one who got jabbed in the leg!" I retorted, still trying to keep aim.
"Yeah, but at least I can walk with a cut on my leg! You can't even stand up on your own!" he stared down at me. At his words, I got on my feet and proved him wrong. "You still won't be able to properly fight if you had the chance,"
"Good, then I'll be an easy kill for you," I said, turning away from him and bringing my attention back to Valeria and Toby. Toby managed to cut Valeria on her thigh. She was going for another strike toward him, when I finally released an arrow, stabbing her in the left arm. "Run, Toby!" I yelled out to him. His head turned quickly, hearing my voice and running towards Jason and I. Valeria's agonizing screams startled me and I fired another arrow. This time, it hit her in the injured leg and making her fall to the ground. In no time, Toby reached us, threw our backpack on my back, lifting me to his and began to running again. Jason's cut was apparently not too bad that he still had strength in him to run. With his own backpack on his back, he trailed behind us, limping here and there to recover a bit.
"Wow, you really don't listen to what you're told," Toby laughed, running through the trees as we got closer to the cave. I nodded, sinking my head into the crook of his neck from the pain being caused by my side. I can feel the blood flowing down onto the hipline of my pants. This cut was slowly killing me and I could feel it. "I wanted to ask, what happened to the spear you had when we were attacked by the girl from two?" I chuckled. In that moment, I had completely forgotten about the spear. I could've easily thrown it at her, without getting an injury. I explained how my only thought was for him not to get hurt and that the spear could only do so much from a distance. When I looked back up, we were finally at the cave. Gently setting me down, Toby took the backpack from me and opened it. "These bandages seem more durable than the others. I'll ask Jason to clean you up,"
"I don't think he'd want to do it since I left the cave," I sighed, but started groaning from the pain. I should've listened to them. But if I didn't, either of them would be dead right now and so would I.
"Rather you go home than me," Jason approached us and pushed me to the ground. I didn't feel like arguing, so I untied the bloody bandage and tossed it aside. I winced every time Jason cleaned the wound and put pressure on it. The medicines included with the bandages seem to work fast. Instantly, I could feel the wound slowly closing and I began breathing normally. This time, Jason stood me up to put the bandages on faster and more secure. "That should do it. I think it'll heal a lot faster now,"
"Thanks," I smiled at him. "What about your leg? Aren't you going to heal it?" I asked, looking down at it as his blood continued to roll towards his ankle. Jason shrugged; not caring if it healed or not. "I can try to end it for you,"
"Only if I tell you what to do," he answered with a smirk. I nodded, sitting him down on the floor as Toby passed me the bandages and ointment Jason had put on my side. "Okay, first you have to cut the leg of my pants off to get to the cut faster," he said.
"Okay," I sighed, looking around for a knife. "Tobes, where's the knife you had earlier?" I asked him.
"Oh, you mean this one?" came a different voice. It was her. Valeria had survived the two arrows I shot at her. I stood up, looking at Valeria in the eyes as she aimed the knife at me. I pushed Toby out the way; I wasn't going to let her hurt him again. "Maybe this time, you'll actually die!" she yelled before throwing the knife. I stood my ground, preparing myself for the impact; just like the one from the girl from two. As the knife inched closer to me, I was pushed out if the way.
Toby took the knife to his chest.
"Why can't you two just let me fucking kill her already!" Valeria screamed, getting her machete and walking towards us. I quickly got to my feet, carefully taking the knife out of Toby's chest and making sure he was still breathing.
"You're such an idiot," I said to him, feeling the tears coming out of my eyes.
"I know, but don't worry about me, I'll be alright. Just fucking kill her already," he breathed. I nodded, running towards Jason and bringing him to Toby.
"I don't care what you do; just keep him alive and away from her!" I sternly said to him.
"What about you?" he asked.
"I'm going to end this," I answered, grabbing his ax and walking towards Valeria. "I'm the one you want, so come get me," I called out to her. Her smirk showed she was determined to end my life. But I wasn't going to be an easy fight for her. Valeria charged and I raced towards her. Out blades hit each other; making a sound that would be irritable to anyone's ears. I tore away from her, not wanting to make anything too easy for Valeria. She charged again, this time aiming for my legs. It brought back to my private session with the swords, knives and dummies. I didn't know it was going to come in handy until now. I jumped away from the blade and kicked her face. Valeria fell back in agony. I took a quick look towards Jason and Toby. Jason's hands were covered in so much blood; it could pass for his skin color. Toby can't die; he just had to go back home. I could hear Valeria coming towards me again, but it turned back towards her too late and her blade cut my arm.
"You're making this too easy for me!" she laughed. At that point, I was losing it and just wanted her to die.
"Am I?" I asked, swinging my ax at her. "Or maybe I'm just having fun with you until you're too weak to fight for yourself," I added, taking another swing and grazing her injured thigh.
"Is that all you've got?" she said, swinging her machete at me. I dodge it; surprising her.
"No, I'm just getting started," I said, still walking towards her. I swung the ax at her, knocking the machete out of her hand. "That's for the cut to my face at the bloodbath," I took another swing towards her other thigh. "That's for injuring Jason's leg at the feast," My third swing went towards her left arm. "That's for hurting Toby just now," I could see it; the flicker of fear in her eyes. They were practically begging me not to kill her. "This one's for if Toby dies. I'm sure you'll have a nice afterlife," I said emotionlessly as I took my last swing. This time, I aimed at her head. I looked as I decapitated the girl. In all my eighteen years, never would I have thought I'd kill someone in such a gruesome way. Her head fell and rolled towards the water as her body hit the ground with a quiet thud. Her cannon then went off. That's when it started to sink in. I looked at the ax in my hand and tossed it away. I began breathing heavily as I began to realize what I had done.
"Kai! KAI!" Jason screamed my name. I turned around too quickly, feeling as if my head was about to snap off my body. He shook his head at me and looked down. Panicking, I ran towards Toby and cupped his face in my hands.
"Kai, seriously stop worrying about me," he cough, blooding spilling out of his mouth.
"You promised to never help me when I was fighting. I was supposed to bring you back home. You need to go back home," I cried, watching as my tears hit his face. My fingers swam through his dirty blonde hair, just like the night I sang him to sleep.
"Some promises have to break to protect the people we care about. But you're the one going home now. And you," he turned towards Jason. "You make sure she goes home. She has many stories to tell Sierra," he laughed softly. Jason nodded. "Before I forget, take this and tell Lex that I'm sorry. Tell my parents, Derrick and my daughter that I'm sorry. I'm sorry for all the things I'm going to miss out on," he breathed, passing me a small black box. I guessed it was his token. I wasn't going to open it nor did I ever want to. "Promise you'll look after the baby until she starts asking about me. But don't tell her what really happened until she's older,"
"I promise," I choked on my words and watched as his bright green eyes began losing their color. I brought his head up to my chest, holding him dear for one last time. I have never been so afraid to let go of someone before. Jason stood up, kneeling next to me as Toby grabbed his hand.
"Kai, I love you and thank you," Toby breathed in one last time. "For everything," Just like that, Toby's chest stopped moving. Then his cannon went off and I lost it. I cried harder and louder this time. I even began to scream and I could feel Jason arms around me, trying to calm me down. But I was still hugging Toby's body.
"Kai, you have to let go," he said, attempting to pull me off of Toby. I shook my head and tried to push him away instead. "Kai, let go!" Jason yanked me off. He held me back as I tried crawling back to Toby's body. But Jason was too strong for me. He dragged me back towards the cave as the hovercraft arrived and took Valeria's and Toby's body away. I stuck my head between my legs and began rocking back and forth. "Come on, let's get you home," Jason said, walking back towards the water and retrieving the bow and arrow I've used. He pulled me to my feet, placing the bow and an arrow in either hand. "Alright, make it quick,"
I looked at my hands and then at him. "What?" I asked. Did he really want me to kill him?
"You heard me. Shoot an arrow at me already!" he yelled, standing about five feet from me. I shook my head, dropping my weapon to the ground. "Kai, I promised Toby that I would get you home! Now hurry up and kill me!" he yelled; the anger obvious in his voice.
"I don't want to go home anymore," I said. Jason came marching towards me. I suspected he was going to kill me instead so I looked down.
"You just promised him you'd go back and help raise his child. You can't give up just like that! Now take the bow and arrow and kill me," he said, picking the weapon off the ground and placing them in my hand again.
"You don't get it, do you? If I go home, how am I supposed to tell his daughter that he died protecting me? I was supposed to die protecting him. But all I got from that was fucking stabbed in my side. How am I going to tell her all that?" I yelled at him. Jason's eyes were now soft. Maybe now he'd understand why I couldn't just kill someone for my own glory. Though I think Valeria didn't count in this situation.
"I'm sorry, but he wants you to go back. I'm just doing what I promised and you should too," he said.
"Okay, I'll do it," I sighed, readying the arrow.
"Can I just do one last thing?" he asked; I nodded. I didn't know what could be so important that he'd want to do before he died. But just as I wanted to ask, Jason cupped my face in his hands and kissed me. His lips were soft, but he soon moved away and I missed the feeling.
"You just made this so much harder," I said, looking away from him.
"I know, and I'm sorry. But I didn't want to die without knowing what it was like to kiss someone. But I'm glad you were my first kiss," I looked back at him as he gave me a sad smile. I nodded, beginning to aim at him. "Okay, let's get this over with," he added, repositioning himself five feet away from me again. I positioned the arrow on the nocking point and pulled the string back. Jason closed his eyes as I was ready to go.
But then a loud voice scared me and I accidentally let go with the arrow heading towards Jason's chest.