Hey everyone!:) So I know that in this chapter Rue mentioned she observed the Careers at their camp before she found Katniss and you know what I realized? I never put that scene in the story! For that I apologize. I updated chapter 9 and added the scene of Rue observing the Career camp. Take a look!
Also, if you guys are super into Hunger Games fanfics then check out my sister's newest story 'Stay Alive'. Her pename is birdywings and 'Stay Alive' is all about Hamitch in his Hunger Games. Take a look guys! It's awesome:)
Hope you enjoy this chapter. I'm sorry to say that there will be about two or three chapter left:( so sad to end it. And the ending is going to awful to write!:'(
Please comment and review!
Thanks:)
~Wallflower95
12
I was in shock after killing that bear. I have never killed anyone or anything. Seeing it's blood on my hands. The body of the beast before me. Knowing that I did that. It really scared me. I was quiet for some time and Katniss must have known what I was going through. She left me alone. A day after I started eating and talking again. I realized that I wasn't in District 11 anymore. I am in the Hunger Games and to stay alive here I had to do things I didn't even know I was capable of.
I trust Katniss. She was like the older sister I never knew. That night when the anthem ended I snuggled up right next to her and fell right to sleep. I felt safe... like I was back home with my family. Soon I hear the morning chirps of birds. I open my eyes. Katniss is fast asleep beside me with her arm around my body. I gently remover her arm and I sit up. I stretched my arms and perched on a branch across from where Katniss was sleeping. The sky was streaked with light. It was quiet except for the birds. I hear chirping nearby. I look above my head at the branch. I stand up. There's a nest and in the nest are two large eggs. The Mother bird must have left. I reach into the nest and gently take the eggs into my hands. I feel guilty for taking them. It's like taking more lives away. But we had to eat something. I kneel down and perch on my branch. The boom of a canon went off in the distance. My head snapped towards where it came from. Across from me, Katniss jolted awake.
We are both silent for a moment, waiting for more shots but there are none.
"Who do you think that was?" Katniss asked. Deep inside of me I really hoped it wasn't Thresh. Katniss was probably hoping it wasn't Peeta.
"I don't know. It could have been any of the others. I guess we'll know tonight." I said.
"Who's left again?"
"The boy from District 1. Both tributes from 2. The boy from 3. Thresh and me. And you and Peeta," I said. "That's eight. Wait, and the boy from 10, the one with the bad leg. He makes nine." There was someone else but neither could think of who it was.
"I wonder how that last one died." I whisper.
"No telling. But it's good for us. A death should hold the crowd a bit. Maybe we'll have time to do something before the Gamemakers decide things have been moving to slowly. What's in your hands?" Katniss said.
"Breakfast." I said, showing her the eggs I had found.
"What kind are those?"
"Not sure. There's a marshy area over that way. Some kind of waterbird maybe?" Neither of us want to set a fire as it could bring more trouble towards us. We each suck the insides of the eggs, eat a rabbit legs and have some berries.
"Ready to do it?" Katniss asked as she pulled her pack onto her shoulders. I frowned.
"Do what?"
"Today we take out the Career's food." She said.
"Really? How?" To do something like that is a huge risk. Is it a risk I'm willing to take? I thought about my family back in District 11. I told them I would come home. I made a promise. I had to keep it.
"No idea. Come on, we'll figure out a plan while we hunt." She said. We don't get much hunting done as Katniss is too busy extracting all the information about the Career camp from me. I tell her all that I had seen.
"The boy from District 3? He's working with them?"
"Yes, he stays at the camp full time. He got stung, too, when they drew the tracker jackers in by the lake. I guess they agreed to let him live if he acted as their guard. But he's not very big."
"What weapons does he have?"
"Not much that I could see. A spear. He might be able to hold a few of us off with that, but Thresh could kill him easily."
I remember one dark and cold night. We had finished a long day in the fields and Thresh and I were trudging along back home. I could see my breath on the air. I pulled my jacket tighter against my body. I didn't hear the wolf. Thresh heard it though.
"Get down!" He shoved me towards the ground. I gasped as my hands hit sharp rocks. I turned my head to see a wolf charging towards a large creature. Then I realized that the large creature was Thresh. He stood tall and grounded as the wolf charged. I was about to scream for him but he moved so fast nothing escaped my lips. The wolf was upon him. His jaw agape. His teeth glinting in the low lighting. And then Thresh took him by the head and swung him sideways. Thresh kicked the wolf to the ground and twisted it's neck. There was an awful snapping sound and the wolf laid still on the ground. I was breathing heavily. I couldn't feel my hands.
Thresh saw me and was immediately at my side.
"It's okay." He whispered. I stared into his face and he stared back at me. He reached under me and lifted me up into his arms, cradling me like a small child. I put my head against his shoulder. My bleeding hands cupped on my stomach.
"It's okay."
Just like with the wolf, Thresh could handle himself. He could easily take care of the boy from 3.
"And the food's just out in the open?" Katniss asked. I nod.
"Something's not quite right about that whole setup." Katniss said.
"I know. But I couldn't tell what exactly," I said. "Katniss, even if you could get the food, how would you get rid of it?"
"Burn it. Dump it in the lake. Soak it in fuel." She poked me in the belly.
"Eat it!" I giggled. I hadn't laughed since before reaping day.
"Don't worry, I'll think of something. Destroying things is much easier than making them." After that we gather roots and berries and in that time I learn more about Katniss. I learn that she is the oldest of only two children. It's her and and her little sister, Primrose, the one she volunteered for. She lives with Prim and her mother. Her father died long ago in an explosion in the mines. Katniss then asks me what I love most. Of course I would naturally say my family, but then I think of something else.
I once walked in on my mother, cleaning up after dinner. I was young then and always curious. I had thought she was talking to her self. Then I heard her singing softly.
'Deep in the meadows where people lie'
'Are you coming to stay?'
'A light is shining, welcoming you into it's embrace'
'Are you coming to stay?'
'Here you lie, forever'
At the time, I did not understand the meaning of the song. But now I knew it was about death. About leaving this world and entering a new one.
"Music." I answer.
"Music?"
"You have a lot of time for that?" Katniss asked.
"We sing at home. At work, too. That's why I love your pin." I say, pointing to the mockingjay pin on her jacket.
"You have mockingjays?" She asked.
"Oh, yes. I have a few that are my special friends. We can sing back and forth for hours. They carry messages for me." I say.
"What do you mean?"
"I'm usually up highest, so I'm the first to see the flag that signals quitting time. There's a special little song I do," I open my mouth and sing the four note run that we use back home.
"And the mockingjays spread it around the orchard. That's how everyone knows to knock off. They can dangerous though, if you get too near their nests. But you can't blame them for that." I said. Katniss unclasps her pin and holds out her hand.
"Here, you take it. It has more meaning for you than me." She said.
"Oh, no," I close her fingers of her hand and push her hand back. "I like to see it on you. That's how I decided I could trust you. Besides, I have this." I pull out the carved star my father had given me. The one he carved when he was my age.
"It's a good luck charm." I said.
"Well, it's worked so far," Katniss said while pinning the mockingjay back on her shirt. "Maybe you should just stick with that." She said. By lunch, we have a plan. By early afternoon, we are ready to carry it out. Katniss helps me collect wood for the two campfires we were going to make for our plan. We decide to me afterward at the site where we had our first meal together all those nights ago. Before Katniss leaves she makes sure I have enough food. I am feeling nervous. What if something goes wrong? What if we're killed? Katniss insists I take her sleeping bag.
"What about you? Won't you be cold?"
"Not if I pick up another bag down by the lake," She says with a smile. "You know, stealing isn't illegal here." I decide to teach Katniss my four note song so we could communicate using mockingjays.
"It might not work. But if you hear the mockingjays singing it, you'll know I'm okay, only I can't get back right away."
"Are there many mockingjays here?"
"Haven't you seen them? They've got nests everywhere."
"Okay, if all goes according to plan, I'll see you for dinner." She says. I throw my arms around her and hug Katniss. She seems surprised at first and then she hugs me back.
"You be careful." I whispered.
"You, too." She said. She gives me a reassuring look and she heads upstream, away from me. I felt a terrible feeling at the pit of my stomach. A bad feeling. A feeling that something might go wrong. I watched as Katniss disappeared into the forest. I slowed down my breathing and turned around. I had to carry out the plan. It was simple. Nothing could go wrong. We were going to be fine.
The night before the Games, Thresh had come to see me in my room. I had been awake for hours, I hadn't been able to sleep. Thresh crept in and sat beside me on the bed. I stared out the window that overlooked the Capitol. I leaned against his shoulder.
"Can you promise me I'll see my family again?" I whispered. Saying that had made me feel terrible because I knew there could only be one victor. Thresh looked out the window.
"I don't think I can Rue." He whispered back. I nodded sadly.
"I miss them." He nodded.
"I know you do." I felt tears threatening to come out.
"I don't want to die Thresh." I said. He hugged me close.
"You won't die Rue."
"Promise?" Thresh sat back.
"The last time I made you a promise, I didn't keep it." He said, referring to the time he promised I wouldn't be reaped. I leaned back.
"Do you promise me that I won't die in the Games Thresh?" He was quiet for a moment. He took me by the shoulders and looked into my eyes.
"I promise Rue."
That song that Rue's mother was singing was completely made up. It's not in the book or movie. Oh gosh... so about to two to three chapters left. I'm thinking two but I'll try and stretch it to three. We shall see. Again please check out the story 'Stay Alive' by birdywings! You guys will love it. Please comment and review. I will update soon.
Thanks!
~Wallflower95
