Here is part two! Sorry for the wait, I wanted to get this chapter right and settled for this.
Disclaimer: No, I still don't own The Hunger Games. Sorry to disappoint ;) But I did check and I do own Evida! Which I forgot to mention in the first chapter I brought her up :D
Evida manages to make her way off the starting podium and into the rubble of the ruined city.
Sam heads straight for the Cornucopia as I had suspected he would. He must have a death wish or something!
I see Evida weave her way in and out of the derelict structures, eventually choosing a spot that she can easily hide in and calm down.
Sam has managed to place his hands on a sword and is now slinging a backpack over his shoulders. He turns, weapon at the ready and faces the onslaught that has been laid out before him. The careers will be after him; he got a ten in training. I can see him analyzing the situation.
Evida is struggling to breathe.
Sam lunges forward with his knife pointed straight out in front of him and slashes the throat of a young boy from District Seven. As a slight spray of deep red covers Sam, he recoils, then as it sinks it what he has done and as he watches the bloodbath unfold in front of him, he realizes that he must carry on; he put the cold, hard mask on.
Evida is still struggling to breathe; I don't think she'll make it through the next hour judging by her state of health.
Sam is fighting his way through the bloodbath and has already taken down two more tributes with his knife; the girl from District Eleven and the girl from District Three. The Sam I know would never hurt a fly, let alone a little girl, but I know more than anything he wants to come home and the only way for him to do that is to become a ruthless killer.
BOOM. Someone found Evida.
Sam has now made his way from the bloodbath to a source of water in the arena; a small lake that I assume can't be the only source of water, it's much too small to keep enough tributes alive to make the games last long enough to satisfy the Capitol.
The hovercraft comes.
Sam is watered and looking for food. I can see the weight of those three kills on his shoulders already. I can see his eyes sagging with sadness, grief and guilt. In the end if the games don't kill him, I think the death on his hands will.
Two Days Later
He is still struggling on; it's down to him, a District Eight tribute and five of the Careers. It's the furthest that a tribute from District Twelve has come in a very long time. As much faith and hope I have in Sam though, I doubt he'll make it home. The Gamemakers have already begun to push the tributes together, not wanting the Capitol's audience to lose interest.
I'm back watching it in the square. I'm barely able to tear my eyes away when I see Katniss again. She's been watching this year for some absurd reason that I cannot fathom: she wasn't close with Sam and barely knew Evida so I don't see the motivation.
Sam is close to another tribute, it's a Career. The only Career from District Two left: the six foot five man wall of a volunteered tribute. Both swords are drawn in preparation for battle.
Katniss is standing near to me again but she never looks towards me, she only watches the screen as do I.
They come to blows, the sound of metal hitting metal echoes through the square and I know this is it. My best friend is about to die and I'm watching it unfold before me.
Katniss comes closer to me and I know she can sense that Sam is about to die.
The District Two male manages to tackle Sam to the floor; Sam struggling against him manages to kick the tribute's knife away from him after losing his own weapon. For a moment I think Sam may have a chance until I see the Career reach for a piece of the rubble. I know what's coming and I can't bear to watch but I seem to be unable to keep my eyes from the screen. My breath hitches in my throat, caught on the lump that's beginning to form.
Katniss is standing next to me, I can sense it, and without a word she takes my hand in hers.
It takes three blows. Then the hovercraft comes, along with the one stray tear from my eye.
Without thinking I take my left hand, press my three middle fingers to my lips and hold my hand up to the screens, to the sky, to Sam.
Katniss looks at me and without skipping a beat does the same with her left hand which she swiftly unhooked from my right hand. In a moment the whole square has done the same.
It all becomes too much and minutes later I find myself sat in a secluded corner of the District, somewhere I'd never been before and was completely deserted. I bury my face in my hands and try to even out my breathing. For some reason I cannot explain I can't seem to quite gasp this whole ordeal seems surreal. I imagine Sam's bright and beaming face to appear in the next minute and tell me that I am being pathetic for crying over The Games.
I see Katniss approaching a few minutes later so I quickly wipe the tears from my eyes.
'Peeta.' She whispers. She probably doesn't really know what to say.
'Katniss.' I reply trying to keep my voice even without much success.
She sits next to me and places her hand on my knee. I look at her, but she has her eyes focused elsewhere, not even in this time. They are seeing back into the past, a memory.
'I came here too.' She whispers. 'I don't know why, I'd never even seen this place. I just found myself here the day after he died.'
Sometimes I forget how damaged and hurt she actually is. She puts on this powerful and strong front and acts like a superhero at time with all the stuff she has on her plate but in reality she is still this fifteen year old girl who has the same troubles as everyone else her age and more. The truth is that no one her age is going through what she is, it's a wonder how she has made a friend of Madge with their situations are so different, like polar opposite different. I think that's one of the reasons why she is so close to Gale. Even though I hate to admit it, he is the best thing for her because he is the only person she can really relate to.
As I cast my eyes over her face again, looking for a sign of her emotion, I see her eyes flicker to me. I smile at her and she looks away again, a ghost of a smile on her own lips.
As we sit here, the sun breaks through the clouds and hits Katniss' face amplifying her beauty. She is breathtaking. Before I know it I can feel an unidentifiable fire running up my spine, through my face and I have a sudden urge to kiss her.
'Katniss.' I say. She turns.
I swiftly cup her cheeks in my hands and make our lips meet. It's short and sweet but I can feel her tense up beneath my lips. I let my hands drop to my sides and I turn away.
We sit and I watch as the sun creeps further and further down the sky and when it has just disappeared I see the remaining clouds turn a scarlett red.
'It's going to be a nice day tomorrow.' I say.
'How do you know?' Katniss asks after a moment. She is looking away again and I can see the beginnings of a stern mask forming.
'Red clouds.'
She nods.
We sit in a slightly awkward silence for a couple of moments until Katniss gets up with a hard mask set on her face. Before she's out of sight she turns back to me.
'I know you really did love Sam. I'm sorry he's gone.' She said.
I nod and let out a whisper. 'Me too.'
She turns for good and I watch as she walks away.
I'm not sorry, not really. Deep down I have mo regret about kissing her, but maybe I went about it the wrong way. I fear I may have ruined our chances of still being as close as we were.
A/N I'm not sure on this chapter, like most of the others actually haha! But I quite like the ending though I may have written it a little wrong compared to what it could be. I hope that the end also explains why the relationship between Peeta and Katniss was different from how it is when they are sixteen too :) I was originally going to keep them on good terms but it worked better this way and i read a fanfic recently that had them on good terms and so my version of that was out!
I just want to say also that in the first part of this chapter each mini paragraph is focusing on what Peeta sees of Evida and Sam in turn if you didn't already get that, I thought I'd just clarify so that no one got confused :)
The review button loves to be clicked, it really does :)
Enjoy the long chapter too! This is actually the longest one I've written! Be proud! :D