The quiet, but not uncomfortably quiet night was broken by the golden voice of Claudius Templesmith booming through the forest.
"Attention tributes! There has been a rule change! As of now, two tributes from the same District may both win!"
Katniss sat up in her thin plastic sleeping bag. "Peeta!" she said aloud.
"He's injured," Backpacky stared up at the stars, "Leave him to die or he'll drag you down with him."
"I owe him! He saved me back there by holding off Cato," Katniss looked down at Backpacky, who sat squarely next to her, tucked into the sleeping bag.
"Oh, I get it," said Backpacky, "Now that two can win, you're morally obligated to save him. Where were your precious morals when you dropped that hornet nest, and that girl died a terrible death, the last thing she ever saw of this earth horrific visions? Where were your morals when you shot that boy tribute, who was not lucky enough to simply die from your arrow but choked-no, drowned to death in his own blood?"
Katniss ripped his zipper open and stuffed the sleeping bag inside. "You're a real downer, you know that?"
"Do not think that there can be any solace for you!" Backpacky ranted on as Katniss slung him over her shoulder, "Your hands are stained with the blood of the innocent! You exist on life stolen from others! Others who have the exact same excuses for their actions as you do!"
Katniss tuned him out with the ear that had not already been permanently tuned out by the explosion and trooped on through the forest. Peeta, she reasoned, must be near a source of water, or else he wouldn't have lasted this long. She made her way to a river that was filled with big, flat stones that the water had to skim over. On the other side there were some caves that looked like they would be great Peeta-hiding places. She waded across the shallow but quick water.
"Psst," came a voice from below her.
She drew her bow.
"It's me!"
Katniss looked down at the ground, and Peeta materialized before her eyes.
"How the heck did you do that?" asked Katniss.
"I have a rare genetic ability that enables me to change the color of my skin at will," he answered, shifting his skin back to the grey of the rocks for a second.
"That's crazy! If you'd shown that to the Gamemakers you would've gotten like, thirteen out of twelve!"
"I thought," Peeta winced, "If I kept it a secret it'd be better."
"Do you have any other amazing abilities?"
Peeta shook his head.
"This is really the way to play man," Katniss looked around her, taking in the river and the bed of stones, "So you've just been lying here?"
"Pretty much."
"I should've just camped out somewhere. I'm deaf in one ear now, I watched some little girl die, I've basically established myself as Cato's arch nemesis-"
Backpacky cut over her. "Okay, two of those things could've been prevented. I told you not to team up with Rue-"
"I needed her for my feelings!" groaned Katniss.
"Who are you talking to?" Peeta said, looking up at her, baffled.
Katniss turned around so that he could face Backpacky. "My talking backpack. He kind of sucks but I need him to carry things."
Backpacky smiled. "I've heard so much about you, Peeta."
"You... you have?" Peeta stared at the animated equipment.
Backpacky chuckled. "No I'm just messing with you, she's never even mentioned you until now."
Peeta let his head sink back down into the mud.
Katniss turned back around, and suddenly noticed the long gash on his leg. "Can you walk?"
"No."
Katniss reached her arm out to him, and, with Katniss as his crutch, Peeta winced his way into the little cave. The little notch in the bank was big enough to fit the two of them easily, and enough light slanted in from the mouth that it wasn't dank.
"Hey, you're going to be okay," Katniss said, dabbing at his leg with her shirt sleeve.
"Katniss, I know how bad it is."
"We could get medicine from Haymitch."
Peeta cringed and Katniss pulled her hand back. "I don't get very many parachutes."
"I can understand that. I wouldn't waste money on a lost cause," said Backpacky.
Katniss attempted to glare angrily over her shoulder. "Could you shut up?" she turned back to Peeta, "I have some herbs-"
"I'm going to need more than herbs."
The pair sat in the cave, and Katniss checked over her inventory of food. She kept her bow next to her. Knowing that she should be playing up the star-crossed lovers storyline, she tried to think of something emotional to say. Luckily, Peeta stepped in for her.
"I remember the first time I ever saw you. It was the first day of school, and you had your hair in two braids instead of one. You were wearing a red dress."
That's super freaking creepy that you remember that thought Katniss. However, she answered with, "That's sweet, Peeta," and, in a moment of extreme want for a parachute, leaned in and kissed him on the cheek.
A noise from outside. Katniss snatched up her bow and scrambled out onto the bank, where a shiny silver parachute was waiting for her. Inside was a metal pot full of steaming broth, and the greatest smell she had ever smelled wafted up into her face.
"Congratulations," said Backpacky, "You are now a soup whore."