Okay, next chapter and thank you Oobay for that…lovely… review xD. Also thank everyone else for reviewing!Okay, on with the story.
Dray's POV
I hear rustling in the bushes and inch my hand slowly over to the sword. The bush branches are pushes to the side too quick for me to react. I see a small girl, around twelve, with brown…or black hair. I can't really tell because the Sun is shinning on it. Wait, I know her. It's on the tip of my tongue. Amary! I know her but yet my heart is still pumping rapidly inside my chest. I look up and see the knife, raised towards the tree tops. I'm about to make a quick move towards my own weapon, but she starts talking.
"Ray? Dray? What happened to you guys?" She's drowning us in questions and my tired brain can't answer any of them. But Ray's talking instead.
"Amary, how did you find us?" Ray asks with those wide, gray eyes she usually gives people.
"I saw a blood trail and decided to follow it. You know, just in case." Oh no, that means any Career can just locate us anytime they wanted to.
"Oh no." I whisper. I'm about to get up when I remember that knife Amary still has in her hand. I slowly inch my hands a little closer to my sword, just in case she tries something. "Um, are you gonna put that knife down?" I feel stupid asking, but it's for Ray's protection. She quickly lowers it and looks embarrassed.
"I'm so sorry, I forgot it was in my hands." She apologizes, but I'm not too sure.
"It's okay." Ray says otherwise. Amary looks at me, or more like my ankle, and has a concerned look on her face.
"What happened?" She asks. I move my leg slightly because her mentioning it makes me uncomfortable for some odd reason.
"One of the Gamemakers' toys that's what happened." I mumble. A look of realization crosses her face.
"So I was right." She says. Ray and me exchange looks and back to Amaryllis. "I hear screaming earlier and thought it was you two. I guess I was right." How could she know it was us? I mean, there is a lot of screaming in the arena.
Ray rubs her neck in embarrassment. "That loud huh?" Amary looks like she offended her, well… she kind of did. I look her up and down, wondering if she's gonna kill us.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that." That's it. I have to ask her, for my sister's sake.
"Are you gonna kill us or not?" I have a nasty edge to my voice. Ray gives me a dirty look and ignores me.
"No, I'm not. In fact, now that I found you, I wanted to know if you wanted to form an alliance?" I'm taken aback. This girl shows up with a knife, ready to kill anything that moves, then goes and asks us for an alliance. Nuh uh, not happening. Who knows, maybe she's not as sweet as her sister Rue and decides to kill us in our sleep…like I should be the one to talk.
"N—" I'm just about to speak my opinion when Ray cuts me off.
"Sure, we'd love to." She says in a soothing voice. "Right Dray?" I turn my head and let out a small huff. "That's a yes in Dray talk." Ray and Amary laugh, quietly, and I keep my mouth shut. Let's see, I'm the only boy and have to baby-sit twelve and eleven year old girls. Our mentors must be laughing it up right about now.
I look back at my tightly wrapped ankle. There is a little blood seeping through, but not a lot. I look at Ray and Amary talk back and fourth, changing subjects every second.
"Don't you think we should be worrying about our survival?" I ask both of them. Ray's cheeks blush and Amary just turns her head.
"Oh, um, yeah." Ray says quietly as she looks at my ankle. She gazes at Amary as if she just had an idea. "Hey Amary?" Amaryllis puts her knife in her pocket and looks up.
"Yeah?"
"Do you happen to know how to scavenge for food? Or at least hunt?" Amary lets out a small and quiet laugh.
"Are you kidding? We do that stuff in District 11, always picking fruit and vegetables day in and day out." She says it like it's no biggy. I remember Rue saying that during the 74th games. She digs in her backpack and pulls out some blackberries. I know them from going to the Hob one day and someone brought them in. I faintly remember it. A girl, maybe fifteen, brought them in with this other kid from the Seam. Now that I think about it, the girl seems familiar.
"Do you know how to hunt?" I find myself questioning. Her expression falls and her smile turns to a frown.
"That, I can't do." My hopes drop and I look to the ground.
"Well I guess we're going to have to learn." Ray says as Amary starts to walk out of the brush. "Wait! Where are you going?"
"I'm low on berries, I'm going to pick some more." Amary says and Ray thinks about it for a moment.
"Be careful." We say in unison. Ray looks at me for a quick second as Amary shakes her head.
"I will." With that she's running through the mountain forest.
Ray's POV
I feel better now that we have an ally with Amary because I kind of didn't want her to die. After she left to get some more berries, Dray and me have been quiet, which can be a good thing. This goes on for ten minutes until Dray decides to break the ice.
"I'm going to cover up the blood track." I turn my gaze to his bloody ankle and shake my head in disagreement.
"No you can't, not with that ankle." I argue. He lets out a sigh and stands up.
"Look, if I don't cover up that trail it won't just be my ankle that'll be messed up." He pushes passed me, limping on his way.
"Well then let me do it."
"No Ray, so far you are the one protecting me. I'm the older one so I should be the one protecting you not the other way around. Now let me go cover up that trail."
"Please Dray." I beg. It must get annoying with an eleven-year-old always at your feet, but I don't care. I need my brother.
"No Ray." He pushes the bush leaves aside and limps away. I'm alone, no one with me. I don't see how this is protecting me. Leaving me all alone by myself in the middle of a forest. Besides, he is protecting me. He fought off that muttation and helped me get away.
I don't see why he's trying so hard? In the Hunger Games, surprises are just around the corner. There is no escaping death. If fate picks you then fate picks you, no stopping it. I let out a sad sigh as I listen to the wind whistle in my ear. I pull out the water bottle and take a tiny sip. It quenches my thirst just a little bit, but not a lot.
I hear rustling and I'm automatically on the alert. I put down the water bottle and grab a knife. Someone comes through the bushes and I'm ready for a fight. I lift up my knife but stop in mid action.
"Woah, woah!" I put down my knife and feel embarrassed… again.
"Sorry Amary." I apologize and she gives me a slight smile.
"I guess we're even now." I return her smile and we sit down. "Wait! Where's Dray?"
"He went to cover up the blood trail." I spit. I cross my arms at the memory.
"All by himself? What about his ankle?"
"I tried to help, but he refused." Amary keeps the questions coming.
"Why?"
"You heard the interviews, right?" She shakes her head rapidly but short. "Well that promise was real. He said he would protect me not vise versa." I let out a sigh and as if on cue, Dray comes back, limping badly.
"I covered part of the trail. Enough that nobody will be able to follow it at least." His face is pale and he looks tired. I pick up the water bottle and hand it to him.
"Drink some." I order. I'm surprised I'm saying this. At home it was Dray who would boss me and Rocky around. He takes the bottle and drinks a few sips. He hands me the bottle back and I put it back in the bag.
"Did you find any berries?" He asks Amary and her happy expression seems to fade.
"I-I'm sorry, but someone seams to have picked the rest." I look at Dray who's turned away. He does that whenever he's angry.
"It's okay." I start but Dray turns back around.
"Okay? No, everything's not okay. Someone has just picked the rest of the berries and none of us knows how to hunt!"
"It's not Amary's fault." I try to keep my voice down but it's not working.
"I'm not saying it's her fault! It's the stupid kid's fault, whoever it was! We can never win!" He stomps his bad foot down but it was an awful move. He topples to the ground and I crawl over to him in a rush.
"Ray!" I help his in a sitting position and Amary soon comes over.
"Stupid ankle." He says under his breath. I look up at the sky. The sun is setting behind the horizon and I know that it will soon be dark.
"How about we at least try to hunt for food tomorrow." Amary suggests and I shake my head. Dray lets out something of a "mhm" and leans against a tree trunk.
Until tomorrow, we nibble on dried beef and bread. Small portions but I'm used to it being from the Seam and all. By now Dray's fast asleep, leaning against his tree trunk. I remember something, something that's not in his hands. I look over to where Amary pulls out a blanket that was in her bag. I spy Dray's sword. That's what is missing. I reach over to grab it.
I see my reflection looking back at me. Bruised and dirty from the Hunger Games, my black hair is messed up and tangled while my gray eyes are filled with sorrow. I quickly put the sword down and look at Amary. She pulls the blanket over and sets it down next to a sleeping Dray and me.
"Okay, so this might be big enough for all three of us." She tells me and sits down, laying the blanket over us. By now the stars are out and the sun's gone away. I feel home sick and I'm lost in thought as Amary watches the sky.
Flashback~
"Mommy! The stars are out!" I yell as I drag my dad by the arm.
"I'm coming sweetie, I just need to get Rocky." Rocky's only about a month old, he's always sleeping and whining.
I run out the door with my dad and plop down on the little patch of grass outside the back of the house. I gawk at the stars thinking about what it would be like on the moon. Mommy says that America use to do that stuff but as Panem came, people stopped going into space. It's sad, I always found space interesting.
The stars twinkle and shimmer against the black of night. But then a big hand comes and ruffles up my hair. I take my eyes off the sky and look behind me. Dray peers over me with a grin on his face.
"Always looking at the stars." He tells me. I smile and Dray plops down beside me. He wraps his arms around his legs and we both look at the sky. I'm lost in the illuminating sky as the stars dance their usual dance. But I eventually come back to the real world when Rocky begins to cry.
"Well, time to go in and go to bed." My mom says with Rocky in her arms. Dray gets up and dad comes over too.
"But I don't want to go in." I complain.
"If we don't…the men in white will get'cha." Dray threatens. I'm scared of those people. Always guarding the gate surrounding the forest. I quickly scamper inside and my mom and dad kiss us goodnight before we go running off into bed. Dray and me have to share because my mom says that we aren't as rich as the merchants.
I pull the covers over my body as Dray gets into bed. I scooch over so he has room and he turns the light off. I rest my head on my pillow and look at Dray's dark body.
"Goodnight Dray." I say because I always have a need to say that.
"Goodnight Ray, see you in the morning." Then, I'm consumed by sleep, waiting to see my brother in the morning like he said.
~End of Flashback~
"Ray? Are you okay?" I snap out of the flashback and look at Amary.
"Yeah, just thinking about something." Amary fidgets under the thin blanket and then the anthem booms out over the arena. Thankfully, there were no deaths. So I fall asleep, waiting for the morning.
I know, lousy chapter but I was in a rush D: Next chapter will be more sad. Also, sorry for not putting in our favorite mentors' POVs lol.