Hello everyone! I'm so sorry I haven't updated recently (as school's been very busy lately with exams coming up!) so here's the last chapter of Second Perspectives, from the perspectives of Rue and Thresh!

RUE:

Rue perches up in one of the tallest trees in District Eleven, feeling the cool morning breeze blow against her face and listening to the rustling of the leaves. Looking down at the scene below, at first glance, nothing seems out of the ordinary. People hurrying here and there, orchard workers below organising supplies to be sent into the Capitol, mockingjays flying from tree to tree. Then, at another glance, nothing is as it should be. Members of the District talk in low, hushed voices, so that Rue can't hear what is being said. The workers move produce and wooden boxes around, without actually organising anything, looking anxious. And the song the mockingjays are singing today is different from all the other days.

Rue knows that it's because today is the day of the Reaping. Reaping days always tend to make the whole of the District nervous, and no wonder. A mockingjay, perched on a branch near her, shrills out a familiar, four-note tune. She knows what that means. The Reaping will start soon. As she sings back to it, her stomach clenches. Part of her doesn't want to get down from this tree she's clinging to.

But, whether she wants to or not, she knows that she has no choice.

Rue's mother straightens the front of Rue's powder blue dress, then slides a silver clip into her hair. She takes a deep breath, then fixes a smile onto her face.

"You look lovely, darling." She reaches down and gives Rue a hug. As Rue squeezes her back, tightly, she whispers, "What if my name is picked?"

Her mother, her brown eyes soft and caring, brushes a stray bit of hair away from Rue's face. "Then, remember that I will always love you, no matter what. Be strong and be brave." She releases Rue and picks up a small necklace woven out of grass, a wooden star hanging in the middle. "Take this. It's your lucky charm, made especially for you by your friends who work in the orchard."

"Momma, I don't want to go." Rue's eyes fill with tears.

Her mother produces a scratchy paper tissue to wipe away Rue's tears. "Sssh. Everything will be okay."

Rue lets her mother fasten the necklace round her neck. Suddenly, the two of them hear the warning bell, the ominous signal for the members of District Eleven to start walking to the centre of town.

Time to go.

"Rue Laurette."

Upon hearing her name, she can't quite believe it's her. There must have been a mistake, surely. It can't be her.

But as everyone turns to stare at her, the realization slowly sinks in.

It is her.

She walks forward up to the stage, feeling smaller than ever under the watchful eye of the members of the Capitol. Every step feels like a dream, as if the stage is going to fade away in an instant, and she'll wake up, relieved that it was just a nightmare, with the comforting arms and soft words from her mother to comfort her.

But she knows now, as she is displayed in front of the District, that this is never going to happen.

"Any volunteers?" the escort asks, looking at the crowd and back at Rue.

But, like she knew it would, the District answers with silence.

She notices that the escort is pulling out another piece of paper, this time from the second bowl, and reads out the name of Thresh, who, like her, walks up slowly onto the stage. They don't know each other that well, but she's always liked Thresh. He's big and strong, and is always kind to everyone he meets. Including her.

But, as the two of them shake hands, she has no idea whether or not this will be true in a few days' time.

THRESH:

He sits opposite Rue as the train rushes towards the Capitol, head spinning as he tries to make sense of the events that have happened in the past hour. Saying goodbye to his grandmother and sister was hard. Very hard. His grandmother tried to be brave, not just for him but for his sixteen-year old sister, who looked as though she was using all her willpower not to cry, or probably go and stamp on one of the Peacekeeper's feet. But right now, his main concern is for Rue, as she sits slumped against the window, tears coursing silently down her cheeks.

"Rue?"

She stirs slightly, looking at him. "What?"

He doesn't really know what to say, so he offers the best words of comfort he can think of. "We're going to be all right. You and I."

She sniffs, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. "You don't know that."

He gives her a small smile. "Yes we are. It'll be fine, just you wait and see."

Thresh knows that Rue doesn't really believe him, but she gives a tiny nod, and attempts to smile back at him.

The escort leads them through crowds of bizarrely-dressed people, the colours merging into one another as they walk down the street. The people of the Capitol smile at them, call out their names, and Thresh doesn't even know who they are. There's even a fluffy pink dog on a leash, being led by a woman with the most outrageous matching pink outfit, complete with bright pink high heels. Poor dog, Thresh thinks, as their escort leads them into a large stone building, all elaborately decorated with a medium-sized fountain situated at one end of the room.

The preparation for the Tribute Parade takes longer than Thresh expected. It's only when him and Rue are in their outfits that the impact of what's happening actually sinks in.

He tugs at the strap of his blue denim overalls, and tries to ignore the rustling of the silver 'crown' he hears every time he moves his head. Glancing down, he sees Rue doing the same thing, looking round the room at everyone else.

Thresh doesn't see the point of this. Getting dressed up for parades and interviews as they are all shown off to the world, before getting placed in the arena so that everyone can watch them die. It's barbaric.

Hopefully though, he thinks, as he and Rue are ushered into their chariots, I'm able to learn something that will help me to survive in the arena. For a few days, anyway.

And as the horses begin to trot forwards, towards the shouts and applause from the members of the Capitol, he knows he's got a lot to learn. Especially if he wants to stay alive.

RUE:

The next day is the training session. Rue takes a look around at all the other tributes, and easily sees that she's the smallest out of all of them. She doesn't know if that's a good or bad thing. Still, there are some things that she's able to use to her advantage. Being small helps. She can climb some of the tallest trees in District Eleven. She's swift and silent at the same time. And she won the sprinting competition held at school last year, even though she was one of the smallest.

So the moment she sees Cato's knife, she can't resist the temptation. Yes, she knows it's wrong, but it's also useful practice. Rue quickly scampers up to the overhead rafters, and is only just settled there, when Cato realises that his knife is missing.

Amid the shouting below and the commotion of the Peacekeepers pulling Cato and the other boy apart, Thresh looks up, sees her and grins. She turns the knife over in her hands, smiling.

Oh, she'll give it back. Later. Maybe.

She also keeps an eye on the other tributes. She observes them, noticing their strengths and weaknesses, particularly the members of District One and Two. Careers. She'll be able to avoid them easily. Rue doubts that they'll be able to climb trees like she can.

However, there is one pair in particular that she finds herself watching, more than all the others. The two from District Twelve, Katniss and Peeta. She doesn't know exactly why, but she finds them interesting. Especially Katniss, wearing her gold District token that resembles a mockingjay. Rue hides behind a square stone pillar, watching them.

"I think you have a shadow." Peeta says, glancing up and noticing Rue. She retreats further behind the pillar, yet can't help noticing that they're smiling at her.

Hmm. Maybe Katniss is someone to be trusted.

"Having fun spying on everyone?"

Rue glances up to find Thresh standing next to her, smiling. He's holding a large weight in his left hand, covered with silver spikes.

"I'm not spying, I'm watching." she says, looking at the metal weight. "And what are you doing with that?"

"I just threw it around a few times to get the Careers off my case." Thresh replies, swinging it slightly in his hand. "I think the Gamemakers were pretty impressed."

Rue pins a smile on her face, trying to pretend that she's not the slightest bit bothered about her odds to win the Games. Sixty to one. The lowest number out of all the tributes.

Not exactly the best weight to have on her shoulders, particularly before the Games actually start.

After a few days of eating, sleeping, training, and a private session with the Gamemakers, it's time for the interviews with Caesar Flickerman. Rue's curly hair is brushed and brushed again, and she's been 'polished up' as much as she can in preparation for the interview. However, she hates her outfit. It's a light blue dress with puffy short sleeves, with a ridiculous matching bow that ties at the back. At least she's able to walk in the white shoes. At least she's also her answers prepared for the interview.

"So you can climb trees, you're pretty quick, and are you a hunter, gatherer, or both?" Caesar asks her, lounging back in his chair, with all eyes upon them.

"I'm a bit of both." she replies, truthfully. "But don't count me out. I'm fast." She nods, for emphasis. "And if the other tributes can't catch me, they can't kill me."

"I wouldn't count you out in a million years." Caesar replies, and Rue feels her spirits lift a tiny bit.

Hopefully he still keeps that promise as the Games begin.

THRESH:

The start of the Games is nothing like Thresh expects. Stationed around the giant pile of supplies by the Cornucopia, his gaze flashes around, to the other tributes, to the supplies, to the Cornucopia, then back again. The flashing numbers that signal the beginning of the Games seem to be disappearing faster and faster with each second. And, for some, the end of life ticks nearer and nearer.

14, 13, 12...

Thresh catches Rue's eye, standing on her plate next to Katniss. She looks up and meets his gaze, then jerks her head slightly to the pile of supplies. He shakes his head, and she gives a tiny nod.

8, 7, 6...

Faces of his friends and family flash through his head. His best friend Thorox, his classmates–

5, 4, 3–

The workers in the orchard, Rue–

2–

His sister–

1–

His grandmother–

GO!

And then he's running as fast as he can towards the nearest thing he can find, a large lumpy green bag. He slings it over his shoulder, not even pausing to look around for any possible signs of danger before running closer to the Cornucopia, to the entrance. All around and behind him, the Careers are slashing at the other tributes, not even seeming to notice him as he grabs a large knife from just inside the entrance. But there's another one of the tributes, running out of the Cornucopia, stopping when he sees Thresh. Pointing a long spear at him.

Thresh does the only thing he can think of doing in order to stay alive. He knocks the boy's weapon to one side, slashing at his head with the other, not staying to check whether he's alive or not. Then he runs away as fast as he can, his big knife in hand. Towards the forest, into the trees. Towards safety.

Eventually, after he stops running, he finds himself at the edge of a line of trees, facing a golden field of grain. The field seems to stretch on forever, or maybe it only seems that way from where he's standing. He stands and listens. No shouts of terror are heard, no weapon clanging against another. There's only the slight rustle of the stalks of grain against each other, and the–

Bang!

Thresh jerks his head up, startled. There's the cannon, which their mentor had explained as, "the end of another tribute." As if the tributes themselves weren't even people. There's another cannon blast. He begins to count, until after the twelfth bang, no more are heard.

He hopes that Rue is still alive.

After all, if he does get killed in the next day or so, she's the best hope that District Eleven have got.

RUE:

Rue stretches out high up in a tree, watching the darkness gradually invade the fading light, and hearing the rustle of branches and insects alike. It's times like this that she's grateful that she's able to easily climb trees. She doubts that most of the other tributes are able to climb trees, being bigger than she is. Her fingers are becoming slowly colder as the temperature drops, and she's starting to shiver. Digging around in her pack, hung securely on a branch next to her, she manages to find an extra pair of socks. Pulling them onto her hands, she settles as comfortably as she can on the broad branch, while the anthem blares, and all the dead tributes' faces are displayed on the blue screen.

Rue's mind flashes back to her family back in District Eleven. She pictures her siblings, sitting as close as they can to the flickering television, trying to look for her, see if she's all right. She sees her youngest sister, her brown eyes solemn and scared, clutching her mother's skirt. And she sees her mother, staring straight at the temperamental screen, with her lips pressed tightly together to hold in any emotion threatening to overwhelm her. Does she cry? No. She can't. She has to be strong for the rest of the family, in case Rue doesn't come back alive...

Rue blinks hard, fighting the tears that threaten to spill down her cheeks, but then a sound down below jerks her to her attention. A loud scream. Then the cannon fires.

They come through the forest, talking loudly and laughing. There they are, the four Careers...no, wait. There's someone else with them. A closer look, and Rue sees that it's Peeta Mellark from District Twelve. What's he doing with them? she wonders, listening harder to catch a snippet of the conversation.

"You sure she went this way?" Cato asks Peeta, as if threateningly. She glimpses the silver flash of Cato's knife as he points the tip of it towards him.

"Yeah, I'm sure." Peeta nods in agreement, though he looks the tiniest bit scared.

"You'd better be." Cato nods for the rest of the Careers to follow him, linking his arm with Glimmer, the girl from District One.

Rue knows automatically that they're talking about Katniss.

And, even though she doesn't know her very well, Rue wants Katniss to stay alive at all costs.

Maybe it's because of her Mockingjay pin.

At least, that way, she knows that she's able to be trusted.

She's not sure how many days pass before anything else happens. Two, maybe? Possibly. But one minute, she's situated up in her tree, planning where to hunt for food so she won't get hunted in return, the next minute, she sees someone running as fast as they can towards the tree next to her, and hauling themselves up it. Rue recognizes their face immediately. It's Katniss. And she's being chased by the Careers.

Retreating quickly and silently back to the tree trunk, Rue watches as the Careers run into view, laughing and shouting up at Katniss. As the two arrows fly up, missing her by inches, Rue lets out a breath she doesn't know she's been holding. Her small hand tightens on the branch she's gripping, and it's then when she makes up her mind to help Katniss, whatever the cost.

THRESH:

His feet are aching from the long walk through the field of swishing grain, searching for a source of water. His throat dry, mouth parched, and he has to stop his tongue from sticking to the roof of his mouth.

If there's no water here, then how can the grain grow? Thresh wonders, before dismissing the thought as another one creeps into his mind. The Gamemakers would have made sure of that, he thinks grimly. How much further before I die of thirst?

Just as he's about to collapse from exhaustion, he notices that the ground underneath has grown remarkably squishy. Every time he takes a step, there is a squelching noise from underneath the ground, sounding exactly like–

Water.

Thresh's pace increases, and he can feel a ray of hope growing inside him as he follows the source of the sound. He brushes aside the grain, turns a corner, and there, right in front of him, is a large pool of water. It's so clear that he can see the reflection of the grain waving behind him. Thresh falls to his knees into the water, putting his face right into it and gulping down large mouthfuls of the cold freshness. Feeling for his empty water container, he fills it right up to the brim, screwing the lid back on tightly. Just in case he has to make a run for it.

It turns out that he might have been better to run sooner than later.

Because, some time in the late afternoon, they come for him. The Careers.

He had been slicing grain with his big curved knife, in preparation for another meal that would at least be enough to satisfy him for a few more hours or so. He doesn't even know they're there, behind him, until a shadow falls over him, and he automatically knows that he's got company.

Thresh doesn't know how they know he's here. To kill him? He's taller, and possibly stronger than their leader, Cato. He turns around and points his knife threateningly at them, almost silently daring for them to take him on. If he were to be killed, at least Rue would still have a chance.

"Put the knife down, Eleven, and I won't need to bring out mine." Cato waves his hands in the air in an unconcerned manner. The rest of the Careers watch him, appearing slightly unsettled.

Thresh doesn't lower the knife.

"What do you want?" he hisses, glaring at each of them with distaste.

"Well that's a nice way to start a conversation." he hears the girl, Glimmer, say.

"Hey, no need for the hostility, we have a proposition for you." Cato says, still keeping up the appearance of being casual. "Come and join our alliance."

"What?" Thresh's grip tightens slightly on the knife handle.

"We've got food, water, weapons, everything you need to survive, and everything that we need to help pick off the rest of the tributes." Cato adds, with an encouraging nod.

"And plenty of knives." he hears the girl from District Two say, smirking.

"Well–" The boy from District One says, looking at Thresh up and down, "will you join us?"

For a second, he's tempted.

Food, water, weapons, would be there whenever he needed them. And so would his enemies.

Who would also be there to kill him off when the time arose.

All of a sudden, Rue's face flashes through his mind.

He couldn't let that happen.

"No." The one word comes that comes out of his mouth in reply is flat and hard. As the word registers, he sees Cato's expression change to slight disbelief, before regaining his normal composure. The other Careers are looking at the two of them in silence, not sure how to react.

"Well, that's a shame." Cato is the first one to break the tense silence. "Thought you'd recognize a good offer when you saw one." He shrugs, raising an eyebrow at Thresh. "Until next time, then."

Thresh listens as the Career's footsteps die away, until he can hear nothing but the rustle of the grain. And as he does so, he can't help noticing that the grain itself looks a bit weathered. Not as strong and golden as it used to be...

RUE:

It's early morning, and the dawn is just beginning to break. Rue has been caught between watching the Careers and Katniss, her gaze flickering to each of them, and sleeping. She'd be dozing off, maybe sleeping for a few hours, and then the sound of a bird call or a twig snapping would jerk her back awake again.

Nobody knows she's still here, in this tree. Nobody has suddenly looked up, or across from her, and realised she's there.

Until now.

Katniss holds Rue's gaze for a few seconds, and it's only then that Rue has to decide what to do. Of course, she wants to see the Careers go down, one by one, but she's got no idea how. If she wants to form an alliance with Katniss that may keep her alive, she has to think of something.

Then, she does.

Her hand raises, pointing to the buzzing, potentially lethal nest that could inflict death on those down below. None of the Tracker Jackers have emerged out of their nest yet. But it's only a matter of time before they do.

Rue points downwards, to the sleeping bodies of the Careers, and then mimes a sawing motion, to and fro. Katniss holds up her own knife and mimics the motion. Rue nods at her, then swings herself backwards into the trees.

Watching the nest of Tracker Jackers being dropped from the tree is like watching a bomb go off. The angry swarm around the Careers, not completely masking the sounds of panic and terror from below, especially from the girl from District One, who seems to have got the worst of it. After a while, the buzzing from the wasps recedes, and Rue is able to scramble down the tree, running through the trees, into the forest. Lying beside a tree is the body of Glimmer, her once–beautiful face puffy and purple with Tracker Jacker stings. And there, further along, is Katniss, lying on the ground. Rue knows just by looking at her that she's not dead, but did get stung badly.

Rue drags Katniss over to an area of bushes, offering good shelter from both the weather and the Careers. Time to put your knowledge of plants to the test, Rue Laurette, she thinks as she binds leaves from an Elderleaf tree around Katniss' stings.

Now, all she can do is wait for Katniss to wake up, if an alliance is going to be possible.

A couple of days later, Katniss does wake up. Rue hasn't been far from the area, collecting berries, when she hears a sound of stirring. With a pocketful of berries, she ventures cautiously towards the area, hiding behind a tree when she sees that Katniss is awake. She must know that Rue's there, cautiously peeping around the trunk at her.

"It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you." she says softly, and Rue believes her.

The two of them sit on a log half an hour later, eating a wild groosling which Katniss had caught, and Rue had cooked. As she chews the delicious flesh of the bird, Rue realizes that this is possibly the first proper food that she's had since entering the arena. Even back at home, this would be a luxury that many people, including her family, wouldn't be able to avoid.

So when Katniss offers her her groosling leg, she almost can't believe it.

"I've never had a whole leg all to myself before." she says, half to herself, her teeth eagerly sinking into the leg of groosling.

"So where are Cato and the others?" Katniss asks, watching Rue devouring the groosling.

"Down by the lake." Rue replies, her mind flashing back to what she had seen when she herself had gone there a few days ago. "All their supplies are piled up in this great big pyramid."

"Sounds tempting." Katniss gives her a smile, which she returns.

Seems like luck is on my side, Rue thinks, fingering the wooden star hanging around her neck. I'm going to need it more than ever.

The next day, Katniss and Rue put their carefully executed plan into action. Rue helps Katniss drag long green tree branches into a pile to make a smoke signal. Or, a trap for the Careers.

Then, another thought jumps to Rue's mind. "We need a signal. In case one of us gets held up." Her gaze flickers around the forest, when suddenly, it lands on a bird perched on a tree. A mockingjay. Not just one, but many, sitting in different trees around where she and Katniss are standing. "Like this." She sings her familiar four-note tune to the birds, and listen as they pick it up, chirping it repeatedly.

"We're going to be okay." Katniss pulls her in for a hug. Rue clings to her, wishing that it were true.

Rue hears the rustling of the trees and the ground underfoot as she runs towards the next fire, away from the Careers. It would only be a matter of time before they were on her trail. So far, so good. With some luck, Katniss would be able to get at their supplies, or maybe even destroy them. Rue thinks about this as she lights the second fire. A spark jumps out before catching onto a leaf and starting to smoke. After repeating the process a few times, Rue is just about to turn around and head for the third fire, when a loud BANG! makes her jump. The ground shakes under her feet and some of the leaves fall down from the trees in a dizzying spin.

Despite the situation, Rue can't help but smile. Katniss, she thinks, jogging quickly towards the next fire. She's destroyed all their supplies, she's destroyed all the–

Like a shot, she's hit by something from above, knocking her to her feet, and pinned down on the forest floor. Rue flails wildly, panicking, realizing that she's trapped in a net.

"Katniss, help!"

She screams again for Katniss, listening as hard as she can for the mockingjays, an answering call, anything. But, then, there's Katniss, running towards her, cutting the ropes with her knife, pulling Rue to her feet and hugging her. Suddenly, Rue's eyes widen in horror at the sight of the District One boy behind them.

Rue doesn't register what's actually happened, until she slowly pulls the spear out of her stomach, the place where it hit her feeling icy and cold. Numb.

And she knows, now, that she'll never make it home. That she'll die on the battlefield, with Katniss holding her, and in the middle of the forest. Katniss is now starting to sob, whispering to her that she's going to be okay. Rue's eyes fill with tears, feeling them trickle down the side of her face.

"You have to win." she whispers to Katniss, before drawing a deep breath and asking shakily, "Can you sing?"

So Katniss sings to her as best she can, trying to suppress her tears. Rue recognises the lullaby from somewhere...back when her mother used to sing to her before she tucked Rue into bed. Now, it's just like Katniss is her mother, instead. Rue's breathing starts to slow as she gazes up at the tall trees, their branches slightly waving to and fro. In fact, the wound from the spear doesn't seem all that bad now, it's just a scratch. Rue feels herself rising up, towards the sky's white light, set free to fly away, along with the rest of her friends...the mockingjays.

THRESH:

A couple of days have passed since Rue's death, and Thresh is slowly beginning to piece together a plan of what to do next. He wasn't able to believe it when he saw Rue's picture flash in the sky. He had felt something inside him fall, leaving him forever. Thresh had felt that it was his duty to look after Rue back home...and here, not able to follow her but always praying that her name didn't appear in the sky at nightfall.

And now it had.

A feast is the last thing on Thresh's mind right now. Especially at the Cornucopia, where the rest of the Careers would be baying for his blood now that he had refused to join their alliance. But still, he has to get that pack. The food from the grain has been turning out less and less lately, and the large pond of water has begun to dry up. As well as that, the grain itself looks dry and brown, bending in the wind as though ready to snap off at any minute.

He needs that pack. And he'll do whatever it takes to get it.

Hiding between a gap in the trees around the Cornucopia, Thresh eyes the table with the bags on it. He can distinctly make out his one, with the number '11' on it. He poises himself to run, when, suddenly, Katniss Everdeen from District Twelve is sprinting towards the bags, then ambushed by Clove from District Two. Frozen, he watches as Clove pins Katniss down to the ground, and hears her taunt her, waving the knife mockingly.

"It's too bad, you couldn't help your little friend...what was her name? Rue?" Clove continues, smiling. "Well, we killed her."

Suddenly, Thresh is furiously angry. Adrenaline and anger take over, rushing through his body and mind as he sprints towards the Cornucopia, and seizes Clove as easily as though she were a rag doll.

"You kill her?" he shouts, holding her at least a foot above ground, shaking her. Clove, terrified, screams for Cato. Thresh slams her back against the wall of the Cornucopia, twice, and watches as she drops to the ground, dead.

Thresh turns to Katniss, who is watching him, with a mixture of shock, terror, and surprise. He knows he can't kill Katniss–she and Rue were friends. A friend of Rue's is a friend of mine, he thinks, pointing a finger warningly at her.

"Just this time, Twelve. For Rue."

He turns around, seizing his bag, and runs back into the safety of the woods.

It's not long after that that Thresh is killed by the muttations.

He's turned his back on the grain field, which is no longer his place of safety and refuge. Thresh has just got out of the field, starting to head towards the forest, when he's attacked by the beasts. They leap on him, ripping, tearing and snarling. Thresh is yelling, thrashing around on the ground, overpowered by the huge muttations, when his cries choke off as one of the muttations rips his throat apart.

His cannon fires, and the field of grain finally grows silent, and lifeless.

So, there you have it! Please leave a review, they mean a lot to me (A LOT)! I'm thinking of writing another HG story set in Catching Fire, but not sure what it's going to be about...any suggestions would be welcome!

And last but not least, I really hope that you liked reading my story! :)