Chapter 12: "Now I'm not dumb but I can't understand how she walks like a woman but talks like a man." - Lola, The Kinks

Peeta gives me a hand and helps me off the ground. I can tell by the way he lifts me up that he's strong. I am by no means heavy, but he helps me up as if I weigh nothing. Strength must have been the skill he showed to the Gamemakers.

"Thanks." I say, brushing the dirt off the front of my pants and shirt. I pick up the spear I had previously dropped. The Cornucopia battle has reached its end, with only the sound of the Careers pulling their weapons out of the dead.

"Are you...?" I drift off, not sure exactly how to ask.

"Yea." Peeta says, nodding his head. "I'm a Career too." He has a far off look in his eyes as his gaze is on the forest. He focuses his eyes back on me.

"Good thing too. I did want to be your ally, funny how things work out." He smiles, and it's not like Cato's possessive and deadly one. It's warm, and it reminds me of summer; the warm breeze and sound of birds and laughter.

I smile back. "Good thing." I look around this side of The Cornucopia. "We should find the others." I say, and Peeta nods.

We don't have to search long, because when we go around the other side of The Cornucopia, there they are. Marvel, Glimmer, Clove, and Cato are in a semi-circle laughing about how weak their prey were.

Cato sees us approaching and smiles. "There you are!" He laughs. "I was starting to think we'd have to hunt you two down for deserting."

Peeta lets out a nervous chuckle and I force myself to smile. "We should look on the bodies to see if there's anything useful that they grabbed before the hovercraft takes them away." I say, wanting to detour the conversation's route, because I'm sure it wouldn't have been a pleasant one.

"Good thinking Cal." Cato nods, and we all start looking through dead tributes belongings. I almost regret my idea. It feels wrong to disturb the bodies, even though we just killed them. My body, the boy from 7, has his throat slashed. I try not to look at it as I reach into his pockets. I pull an apple from each one, and stuff them into my own.

I'll get more use out of them than he will.

He has a backpack on, and I slip it off his limp body. It's contents include an empty water bottle, a blanket, and another knife. I unzip the front of his jacket and check the inside. I frown at the object I pull out of the inside pocket.

A little wooden horse, handcarved, rests in my palm. It was obviously made by someone who cared from the time it must have took them to carve the intricate details. Maybe he made it. Or his father. Or grandfather. Or maybe even his mother. I stiffen at the thought of them being forced to watch this. Some girl going through their Son or Grandson's belongings like a common thief.

I place the horse back into the inside pocket and zip the jacket all the way up, the least I can do is show some respect.

Glimmer, however, apparently has no decency.

"Ooo, Cato," She says, and I look over at her. She's holding up a necklace, presumably the token of the fallen tribute. I examine the body from where I am, and it's the girl from 3. "Don't you think this would look good on me?" She holds the necklace closer to her neck.

"He thinks it would look better on Cal, don't you Cato?" Marvel snorts, teasing all three of us.

I let out a small laugh at Marvel's bluntness. "Shut up Marvel," Glimmer sneers. "I'm keeping it anyways." She glares at me as she fastens the chain around her neck.

I stand up and dust my knees off. "What's her problem?" I think to myself. "I haven't done anything to her." Everyone seems to be done scavenging the bodies for anything useful, finding some things the tributes managed to grab before we sliced and diced them.

I get an idea and I start scaling up the side of The Cornucopia. "What are you doing?" Marvel asks.

"Scouting." I reply. I reach the top of The Cornucopia and stand at it's center.

The arena is breathtaking. Out of all the arenas I had to be sent to, I'm glad it was this one. It would be a beautiful place to die. The trees, however pretty they may be, are too tall and thick to see any lakes or streams.

"What do you see?" Cato questions.

I shake my head. "Nothing. The forest is too thick to see anything." I scale the side once more, and drop when I have about a foot left to go.

"Alright." Cato says. "First thing's first we find The Girl on Fire. That's why we've got you, lover boy." He claps Peeta on the shoulder in what seemed like a threatening way disguised with encouragement. If Peeta were weaker and less muscled, I think it would have dislocated his shoulder.

"Shouldn't we look for water first?" Peeta questions. "None of the canteens and water bottles came with it."

"We'll get water along the way, and any thing else we come across." Cato grins at his statement. Obviously 'anything else' we just so happen to 'come across' means humans.

"Did anyone see which way she went?" Marvel asks. I open my mouth to speak but Peeta cuts me off.

"She ran that way." He points dead North. "I saw her right before I joined you."

"That's funny." Clove narrows her eyes at Peeta. "I saw her go Northeast right after I threw a knife into the bag she was holding."

I saw her go Northeast too. Peeta is lying.

"I read somewhere that game is more populated in the North part of the woods. I saw her doing snares in training, so she has some hunting knowledge." I actually have no idea if that's true or not, but they have the same knowledge on this sort of stuff as I do. Maybe even less.

"If she wants to eat she'll go North. Besides, I saw someone with brown hair go North too. It could have easily been mistaken for The Girl on Fire."

Cato nods slowly, processing my information. "We're going North." He declares, and the pack listens. Clove doesn't object, but Glimmer lets out a sound of disgust. Displeased that Cato took my word.

Cato, of course, leads. Glimmer right on his tail, following him around like a lost puppy. Marvel and Clove are in the middle, conversing quietly. And me and Peeta are a little bit behind them, walking in silence. That is, until I break it.

"I know what you're doing, and it's dangerous." I whisper to Peeta.

"What's that?" He whispers back.

"You're protecting her. Which I can understand, given the fact you're in love with her. You want her to be safe. But this is risky. What happens when they realize Katniss isn't in the North part of the woods?"

"I'll cross that bridge when I get to it."

"I'm just saying it's going to be hard to cross when you're trying to hold your guts in because Cato stabbed you with a sword." I say to him.

"What about you? Huh? You lied too. Although I don't know why." Peeta retorts.

"I like you, alright? Technically speaking, you're my only friend in here. Besides Jollif, but even then I'm not sure. So I'd rather not see you die." I hiss at him.

"Hey 4," Clove calls. "How do you know that animals stay in the north side. They are animals after all. Wouldn't they want to, ya know, wander?"

I point over to a tree. "See that? It's moss. Moss only grows on the north side of trees, because it's darker on the northern side. Real animals don't want to be exposed. The animals in the arena are designed to act and think like regular animals, unless they're muttations."

"How do you know they're not muttations?" Marvel asks curiously.

"The birds haven't tried to peck out our eyes." I say bluntly. "I think we're on the safe side for now."

My 'knowledge' seems to satisfy their curiosity, and we keep traveling in silence. Aside from the few comments and jokes here and there.

From the look I had at The Cornucopia, the arena is very large. It would probably take several days to explore completely, which in a way peaks my interest. I've never seen anything outside of 4, besides my brief stay at The Capitol.

I actually did read a book on forestry and woodlands, it was a gift for my 10th birthday. Dad gave it to me, and it's the last thing he gave me. I kept it on our bookshelf; the one I dusted almost obsessively.

I wonder if the twins and mom kept up with my cleaning regime.

I didn't realize how long we've been walking until I hear Panem's anthem in the air. We all turn our heads to the sky, and we see the faces of the fallen tributes.

The girl from District 3. The boy from District 5. Both from 6. Both from 7. The boy from 8. Both from District 9. One by one their faces flash in the sky.

I gulp.

District 10's female.

Her image shines down on us, illuminating my face with her own. Even though it's just a picture, I can feel her eyes watching me. Judging me.

Cato chuckles. "Happy Hunger Games."

FO•CG•FO•CG

10 tributes down, 13 to go!

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Btw, do you guys like the synopses? They're like sneak peeks, I enjoy them. Does it makes you wonder what's in store? Let me know :) ~adios~

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Chapter 13 synopsis:

"The Games have just started, and we move onto day two. Careers begin their hunt for water, as well as other tributes. Cal accepts Peeta's strategy for now, but what will happen when she's face to face with The Girl on Fire?"