CONFLAGRATION
Katniss awoke a high in a tree, huddled close to Rue.
She didn't dream of Tsu'tey the night before. Instead she had dreamt she was with Peeta in a strange beautiful forest where all the plants and flowers glowed in the dark. They were both dressed in their costumes from the chariot parade and had walked hand-in-hand through the forest. It was a very pleasant dream full of beauty and colour.
Katniss looked at Rue sleeping peacefully in her arms.
Tsu'tey lies in a hammock. The young girl lies is in his arms. He smiles as he looks upon her pretty young face sleeping peacefully. He holds her warmly. He vows to protect her. To always keep her safe.
Katniss smiled at the abrupt vision. She was used to them now and found them comforting.
Rue awoke and they smiled at each other. Katniss brushed her fingers through Rue's hair just like she did with Prim at home. It made Katniss feel so sad that someone so gentle and innocent could be forced to participate in such a cruel event as the hunger games.
The two girls got out the hammock and started preparing some food. They sat down to eat some of the meat that Katniss had obtained the day before.
"How are the others getting food?" Asked Katniss. "They were not hunting when I saw them yesterday."
"They have gathered all their supplies in a pile near the Cornucopia." Replied Rue as she picked at the meat of a leg bone. "They keep it under constant guard."
"Sounds tempting." Said Katniss smiling.
If she could steal or somehow destroy some of the supplies, there would be less for the others. She knew she had an advantage. She had a bow and could hunt. She doubted that the others had similar survival skills.
As they sat eating, Katniss and Rue made their plan to raid the supplies at the Cornucopia. They agreed Rue would cause a diversion by setting three fires which would create a lot of smoke. Hopefully, when the career tributes saw the smoke, they would go hunting for Rue leaving the way clear for Katniss to steal or destroy their provisions.
They went out into the forest and prepared bonfires in three suitable clearings. Then they walked together to the site nearest the Cornucopia where they would split up.
"How can we signal to each other that we are OK?" Asked Katniss.
"Listen." Rue sang out four melodic notes in her young voice. The notes were repeated by chorus of bird song from the forest.
The young girl sings four notes. From all around the birds in the forest repeat her song. Tsu'tey laughs as the birds repeat the song over and over. She smiles at him. "Now you." She says. Tsu'tey whistles four notes and the birds repeat his call. She smiles up at him. He is glad to see the joy in her young heart.
Katniss smiled. She got a feeling of déja vu. As if she had done this all before. It struck her that the young girl in the vision used the same notes as Rue.
"That's great." Said Katniss.
"They are mockingjays." Said Rue. "We signal using them all the time at home. Now you try."
Katniss whistled four times, using the same notes as Tsu'tey used in her vision. The birds whistled the exact same notes in return. Katniss and Rue smile at each other, then laughed.
"Right." Said Katniss. "If we hear these signals, we both know that we are alright. OK?"
Rue nodded her agreement. The two girls hugged. Rue hung on to Katniss desperately.
The young girl hugged Tsu'tey tightly. Just as she always did when he went hunting. "It's OK little one, I will be back." He held her tenderly until she eventually released him from her embrace. She looked up at him with fear and apprehension on her face. "We will see each other later." He said.
"We will see each other later." Said Katniss to reassure her.
With a timid look, Rue finally pulled away. The two girls split up and Katniss headed for the Cornucopia.
When Katniss reached the clearing where the Cornucopia was located, she spied on the career tributes from the edge of the forest. They were sitting on some boxes in a circle. The three career tributes from District 1 and 2 were there; Cato, Clove and Marvel. They were also accompanied by a young tribute from district 3 who was armed with a spear.
They were camped in the middle of the plain. Nearby, all the provisions from the Cornucopia were piled in a big heap about 10 feet high. As Katniss looked at the scene she realised there was something wrong. She noticed that there were mounds of Earth near to the pedestals which the tributes had stood on at the very beginning of the Hunger Games. She also saw there were mounds of earth scattered around the pile of provisions.
Katniss heard a shout rise from Cato. He had seen the smoke for the first fire set by Rue. The three career tributes ran off in the direction of the smoke, leaving the tribute from district 3 to keep guard.
Katniss was about to move out from the forest when she saw moment on the clearing. It was the female tribute from district 5 who Katniss had nicknamed Foxface. Foxface ran from another part of the forest up to the pile of provisions. Then she seemed to dance and jump round the mounds of earth before reaching the pile. She grabbed a pack of provisions and ran off to the other side.
Katniss realise what had happened. They had used the mines from around the pedestals and reburied them around the provisions to protect them. The mines were originally buried underneath the pedestals used by the tributes at the start of the Hunger Games. They were placed there to prevent the tributes from leaving the pedestal before the countdown. When the countdown reached zero, they were deactivated. The career tributes had found a way to bury and reactivate the mines, probably with the help of the boy from district 3.
Katniss realised if she could get something to land on the mines, she could destroy the whole pile of supplies. She examined the pile and saw a bag of apples and oranges hanging from the top of the pile. If she could burst that bag the fruit would tumble to the ground and explode the mines.
As Foxface ran off, the boy left on guard spotted her and made a half-hearted attempt to run after her. Katniss realised this was her chance. Katniss took out an arrow, nocked it to her bow string and took aim.
She released the arrow. And it missed by about a meter. Katniss sighed with frustration. She couldn't believe she had missed. She realised she had been too hasty. Seeing that the boy from district 3 was still looking in the other direction. She took a step forward out of the tree line, nocked and other arrow to her bow and took aim.
This time she calmed herself. She controlled her breathing as she aimed.
"Please Tsu'tey." She whispered. "Help me now."
Tsu'tey took aim with his bow. His prey is a good distance away. But he knows he can get a clean kill even from this range. He relaxes and breaths steadily in and out. Between breaths, he releases the arrow and it speeds towards its target. It does not miss."
The arrow sped from Katniss' bow and struck the bag of fruit, causing a large rip in the material. The apples and oranges tumbled out, bouncing down the pile of provisions towards the ground.
Katniss watched as one of the apples hit the ground, causing one of the mines to explode. As more apples and oranges hit the ground, more mines exploded causing a chain reaction which blew the whole heap of provision apart in a massive explosion. The shock wave blew Katniss off her feet sending her flying back towards the trees.
Tsu'tey staggers through the trees. He is in the midst of a battle. A massive explosion rocks the ground in front of him. He is propelled back with great force, landing heavily on the ground. He looks up dazed to see fire and debris raining down all around him.
Dazed and lying on her back on the ground, Katniss looked up. She found she could hardly hear. She saw that the pile of provisions had been completely destroyed. The boy from district 3 came back from chasing Foxface and looked around in bewilderment at the destruction.
Then the three career tributes came running back. Still dazed, confused and deaf from the explosion, Katniss saw Cato looking furiously at the destruction of his supplies. Cato turned to the boy from district 7 and shouted at him in anger. Then Cato grabbed the boy's head and broke his neck in one swift movement.
Tsu'tey raises his head and saw the skypeople advancing. He is still dazed from the explosion and has partially lost his hearing. Despite his injuries, he struggles from the ground and staggers as fast as he could away from the advancing enemy.
Katniss got to her feet and fled into the forest. Still partially deaf, she barely heard the boom of the cannon announcing the death of the boy from district 3.
She ran as fast as she could into the forest until she was sure she was a safe distance away. By this time, her hearing had almost returned to normality. Then she stood whistled four times as she had agreed with Rue. The mockingjays sung the same notes in return.
Katniss waited for a response, expecting to hear the signal from Rue. But none came.
Hoping that Rue may not have heard first time, Katniss whistled her signal again. But there was still no response. Katniss started to Panic. She ran through the forest, repeating her signal, but there was still no response.
Then she heard a scream. It was Rue's voice.
"Katniss! Katniss! Help me!"
At the Cornucopia, Cato looked at the destruction of the provisions in fury. Clove and Marvel were picking up bits of debris to try and recover something useful. Cato turned to Marvel.
"Marvel. You go and check the bonfire sites again. Perhaps they will return there."
"What will you do?" Asked Marvel, looking at Clove and Cato.
"Clove and I will stay here and try to recover what we can." Replied Cato. "Also others may come here to try and scavenge from the debris."
Marvel ran into the woods, leaving Cato and Clove to look through the debris of the provisions. But not long after Marvel left, Cato and Clove heard a faint cry from the woods. It was the sound of a young girl calling out.
"Katniss! Katniss!"
Cato was sure it was Rue. Cato and Clove looked at each other. Then with grim determination they ran into the forest towards the sound of Rue's voice.