Spens sits on the closed crate of apples, watching the sky carefully. He's chewing on his lips, waiting for the nightly show of the dead tributes. He is terrified of seeing his sister's face in the sky. Glimmer comes up behind him, smiling. She's running her fingers through her long blonde hair, and as she runs her fingers through the last few strands she lets them ghost over his injured shoulder. He quickly draws his breath in and she smiles.
"Sorry." She soothes. He doesn't respond, because the anthem has started and they both eagerly look to the sparkling sky. The first image that appears make both their mouths drop open.
Marvel.
"What…" Glimmer breathes and takes a step back, staring at Marvel's image until it disappears. She had known Marvel before the games and he was her friend from school. She had expected him to last longer than just one night. She knew she was going to win, but she thought he would have been by her side for a bit longer.
Spens can't believe that Marvel was killed, but as the death toll drones on, he sees neither his sister, nor Cato or Clove. He's relieved but then he quickly remembers Glimmer, who had just lost her district partner. He turns around and faces the stunning blonde who is still staring open mouthed at the starry, artificial sky. Her pale skin is illuminated by the fake moonlight.
"Glimmer…?" he whispers. Her green eyes flicker to him and her mouth closes and anger erupts.
"How the hell did your sister survive longer than Marvel!?" she shouts at him. He jumps off his crate, wincing in pain as his shoulder moves. He holds up his one good hand and looks at her with begging in his green eyes.
"I don't know what happened, Glimmer. They must have been attacked," he pleads. The angry blonde woman lets out a shriek and she looks at him, her eyebrows knitting together. Spens has a gut feeling that she is deciding to kill him in retaliation for Marvel's death. Spens remembers what Devon told him, before she left. Run away and hide, and she'll find him. But is he willing to run away and then be chased down to his death by Glimmer?
He could try and kill her now. He shudders at the thought, what has he turned into?! How could he think of killing someone!? But then, as Glimmer jumps backwards, with a bow aimed at his face, he doesn't have time to come to an answer. He drops to his knees and rolls away, just as the arrow goes whizzing by his head. He hears her footsteps coming towards him and he struggles to his feet, and runs as quickly as he can into the woods. He has a slight advantage on her due to his long legs, and soon her footsteps fade away. He turns around and tires to find her outline in the black night, but all he sees is another arrow coming towards him. He ducks, and the arrow lodges itself into the tree. Spens keeps running and doesn't look back. Only one thought is racing through his mind.
Please find me, Dev. Please.
Cato runs through the trees, but the person he thought he saw has vanished. The only thing around him is large tree trunks and green moss. He listens, but all he can here are the Mockingjay's flying through the air, singing their sweet tunes. As his eyes scan the bright clearing, he still finds nothing. He and Devon will have to go back and find Clove soon, then they can continue on their hunt for tributes. He turns around and begins his walk back to the river, surprised he hasn't seen the sea jewel following him.
He keeps a look out as he wanders down the path, but as he comes to the end and returns to the river he finds the spot completely deserted. No sign of the girl anywhere. He looks around widely, seeing if she's hiding behind a rock or a tree, but there is no sign of her. She left him.
He swallows hard and looks back at the trees, before quickly slipping back into the forest and walking quickly and a sudden realization dawns on him which makes him feel sick. He has no weapon, no supplies and he is completely and utterly alone; which makes him completely and utterly vulnerable.
As Devon wanders along the riverside, she thinks about Spens. Where is he? He's still alive, she has a gut feeling about that. She is praying he is still at their campsite. As she keeps walking, her eyes drift to the scenery surrounding her. It's all unfamiliar. She stops and looks around, beginning to get scared. She has no idea where she's going. The river has evened out into a slow stream and she finds herself stumbling back into the safety of the water. She crosses her arms tightly and continues looking around widely, desperate for some sort of hint of what direction to go in.
A snapping of a twig alerts her to the trees. She freezes and her eyes flicker to the intimidating, dark treeline. A mere second later, the tallest girl she has ever seen comes bounding out of the trees. It is the girl from District Ten, who was one of the tallest and strongest of all tributes- both male and female. Devon remembers her name is Zipporah.
The large girl comes running at her so quickly, with a look of pure danger on her face, and Devon lets out a choked scream before trying to run out of the stream but Zipporah has caught up to her. She throws herself on Devon and the two crash into the knee deep water. Zipporah has her knee pinned against Devon's chest and her hands wrapped tightly around her throat. The water, which at one time brought so much comfort to Devon will now be her death place. As Devon looks up in the water, the only thing she can see is the bright sun and Zipporah's ferocious face and wild red hair. Devon opens her mouth and water soon fills her lungs. Her legs kick in the water, but only cause a weak splash on the surface.
She never thought she would die in the water. An agonizing minute passes and she feels like her head is exploding, and her lungs are on fire. But, as quick as Zipporah's hands were around her throat, they vanished. The weight of her body is off her chest and she's running through the river. Devon desperately shoots up from the water, choking and her vision is dotted with black. She can't see anything and her hands are gripping the water blindly, trying to get out of the water. She still feels like she can't breathe and water is spewing out of her mouth.
Suddenly, there's a new sensation on her body. Someone has their arms around her, and they are pulling her out of the river. The black spots are still there and she's hacking so much she feels like she's going to throw up.
"Breathe. It's okay." He says in a steady voice. Cato. He found her.
"I ca-can't." she chokes out. Cato has finally freed her from the water and now he is sitting on the rocks, holding the choking girl tightly in his arms. She grips his arm like a lifeline. She's sprawled out, her legs lying limply on the rocks. He's kneeling down, cradling her.
"It is okay, it's okay. Calm down and just breathe." He murmurs. He looks up and makes sure that the girl who was choking her is gone. He had heard the commotion from the trees and came running out, and the District Ten girl didn't stay to greet him. She jumped up and launched herself upstream and disappeared.
Cato lays Devon on her side, his hand still on her waist as she continues coughing. He could have just let her drown, but she saved him twice. He still owed her. He reaches up and pulls the long black hair away from her mouth and then waits for her stop choking.
"Don- Don't leave," she cries out as her nose starts bleeding. Her eyes are still squeezed shut and the scarlet liquid slides down her face and stains the rocks under her head. He uses his other hand to squeeze her shoulder, silently showing her that he'll stay.
