Thanks to all my reviewers! :D
NRG99: Almost speechless but not quite? Not sure if that's a compliment or not but nevertheless thank you for reading the story!
willoffire 123: Yes I am mean, but I promise I won't do it too much, but I ha to split up this chapter into a whole bunch because it was about 6000 words long. I guess when I sat down to write it, it just had a mind of its own
SUGARBABE98: :) right back at ya
.: ikr? Peeta's always been amazing :)
solemnly-up-to-no-good: I'm so glad you like it! I didn't think people would like that much but it turns out they do :D thanks so much for reading!
BookGurl 16: Yeah everyone seems to be loving Peeta so far, I'm glad I've been able to write it so, but I guess he is just all too lovable to not be loved
Perspicacious Loris: (I DID THAT WITHOUT DOUBLE CHECKING THE SPELLINGGGGG :D) Yay quick updates make me happy too! I really can't help but update fast cuz I'm kind of a slave to good reviews :)
The Queens Fabler: Well it's good to know people want to read this story! And yes I like the role that Peeta has taken. I wanted him to be more of a protector in this than in the books because he wasn't weak in the books, just injured. Soooo while he's not inured he can be the strong one :)
Sianatra: Now listen carefully cuz this is important XD Here's a little practice test for you~ go play hide and seek with one of our vocab words :P would be so proud
torigrace: im so gald you think this is really a good story :D
Aaaaand now for the story :D
[Rue's POV]
The taste of animal meat lingered on my tongue as I gnawed on a remaining bone. I pulled as much juice from it that I could, as it was the last food we had left. After three days of looking after Peeta in the state he was in, we had depleted our supply to a container of water. I watched Prim remove the leaves from Peeta's neck, arms, and chest, where he had been stung. Prim had one sting on the back of her neck, and I was the only one who managed to avoid being stung. Prim would have done so too, had she not lingered behind, trying to watch what Peeta was doing.
I remember how he had run toward us, swatting the Tracker Jackers away as he screamed. Then the hallucinations had come, just before he blacked out. He had been screaming about something to do with his mother. I have only ever seen what tracker Jackers do once before when my father had gotten stung. He told me that the hallucinations took what you loved and twisted it into the most painful experience possible. I pitied his mother, and how it must break her heart seeing that his last moment with her was in a cruel nightmare.
Thinking of Peeta, I imagine that he must have had a good family, with caring parents. He was so sweet and protective of Prim and I, even though he had known me for just two weeks.
Prim sat down on the log we had been sharing. We no longer slept in the trees. I knew that Tracker Jackers were nomadic insects. They could build a nest in under an hour, so once one was destroyed, which it often was by weather or any other method, they would rebuild in another tree. The careers had no such experience with Tracker Jackers. Nobody had returned to the tree we had run from.
"He should wake up soon. The swelling has gone down, so it's almost completely through his system. Plus he's starting to wake up." She motioned by tilting her chin towards him and I watched the sleeping boy twitch in a restless manner. He was muttering softly and his eyebrows were furrowed in distress.
"What's he saying?" Prim smiled at my question. "What?"
"I think he'd rather I not say." She is still smirking, and I start to smile too because her smile is contagious.
"Fine, I'll just have to ask him when he wakes up." We fall into a comfortable silence that is broken once again by Prim.
"What's District Eleven like?" She asks. Her head is tilted sideways in curiosity.
"Strict." I say simply. "Lots of trees. We are agriculture after all."
"Are you from the seam?"
"What's the seam?"
"It's what we call the poor part of town in District 12."
"Oh, yeah I guess I am. We don't call it the seam, though. It's called the straights. Same concept though."
"Ah. What does your family do?"
"We work in the fields. I work high up in the trees. My dad works with the machinery for the farm. My mother stays home unless one of us is too sick or injured to work. Then she'll take our place. My brother is..." I paused as I was reminded of what my brother was. "Well he doesn't have a job anymore. He isn't anything."
"Why did they fire him?" The naive words stung.
"They didn't. He uh..." I wasn't sure if this would hurt my family at home. Although they most likely were not showing it. I decided it was worth it. I needed to talk about it, and my conversations with Prim were comforting. She healed minds just as easily as bodies. "They killed him."
Prim's eyes widen at the information. "Wh-why?"
"Last winter they rationed our food in eleven. Every time someone commits a crime, they punish the rest of us, and that's what they did last winter. We didn't have enough food, and I couldn't work overtime yet. Too young. I had a couple months until I was old enough. We were starving, I mean we didn't have any food at all. It had been a week since I had eaten at the time. I didn't think we would have made it. We had a week and a half until we got our monthly rations again. And Devon...that was his name...he had this friend who was a merchant. He knew how to get into his basement, and they had some extra food there. They caught him though, and killed him on the spot." The tears began to spill over my eyelids. "They taped it too...they said he would be the e-example, for anyone else who decided th-that they wanted more food. They played the tape in the square the next day, a-and the day after that. And the worst thing is that, it might even be what he what he wanted. Whenever someone in your family dies, you get extra rations for mourning. I-I think that's what he was d-doing…"
Prim's arms wrapped around my shaking figure. I could see that she was on the verge of tears as well, but holding her own well enough. I let out the tears that I had been holding in for months while I pretended to be strong for my friends and family. The tears that I had been tempted to cry while I worked fifteen hour shifts in the fields every day after I turned twelve, the tears that I had resisted on the train to the capitol, knowing that they could starve without my hours. Sobs racked my body consistently.
"I'm sorry." Prim repeated over and over as she rubbed my arms softly.
When she pulled away, she kneeled next to Peeta. "You remember how I told you that he saved us?" She asks.
I nod. While it may be fuzzy, I still remember our first conversation.
"We had been starving too. And Peeta gave Katniss bread. Even when he wasn't supposed to. I can't imagine where I would be if they had..." She takes a deep breath to steady herself. When she looks at me, she offers a small smile. "You're a lot stronger than I am, you know?"
"Someone has to be strong." I say with a shrug.
"You and my sister would have gotten along." Prim adds. "You guys would have been a good team."
"I think we're a pretty good team too, you, Peeta, and I."
"Katniss would have been a better ally though."
Before I can respond, Peeta twitches in his sleep. "Katniss..." he mumbles in a fearful voice. His facial expression projects true fear.
"Is he waking up?" Prim puts her hand on his forehead while we watch him. Our eyes should be boring holes into his head with the strength of our gaze. I feel myself willing him to wake up, hoping, and needing him to wake up. We had become all too dependent on him all too quick. It was a dangerous concept in these games.
"Apparently not." Prim sighed in frustration and we sat back down on the log, picking at the animal bones and watching Peeta breathe in and out.
"That was weird. So is Peeta close with your sister Katniss too?"
"Heh. No." Prim actually smiles again, which is surprising after our conversation.
"Then I guess he heard us talking. That's weird. I don't know why he didn't wake up..." I pause nervously. "You do think he's going to wake up, right?"
"He'll wake up." Prim says reassuringly.
-
[District 11]
A dark man pushes a wheelbarrow along the grassy pathway among trees. He struggles as his efforts increase with every breath. Glancing up at the projected screen, his strength increases once more as he attempts to distract himself from the scene before him.
A smaller, leaner man comes into view as he looks around before whispering to the man.
"I hear that's your little girl." He nods to the screen and offers his hand in sympathy. The dark man takes it in his hand gruffly and begins pushing the cart again before the man has another chance to speak.
The lean man starts walking fast to keep up again. "Wait, this is the only safe place to talk."
"Who says I want to talk." He states, not asks.
"Just...hear me out."
The dark man faces the lean one and crosses his arms in an intimidating "Make it quick" gesture.
"There's been some talk. Among us...in the field..." He lingers on the phrase, not wanting to give more information. "Talk...against them." He puts the inflection on the word 'them'. "You're not the only one who they took from. We just thought you might want to know...we've been talking about acting out. If you were interested, you could join us. Then make your own opinion. "
"Acting out against what?"
"The games. The peacekeepers. The Capitol."
"What kind of idiot are you?" The dark man cut off the lean man. "Haven't they done enough to us? You're gonna get yourself killed, along with your whole god damn family!"
"Wha-?"
"Yeah, that's right. And you know it. We've all seen what they can do. And what do you think you're going to do? Start a fucking rebellion?"
"As a matter o-"
"No! You're not!"
"Look, I was just trying to help. I thought you'd want to, but I guess not. Whatever."
"You're not helping anyone." He says in a dark tone.
"How about the future generations that have to put up with the Capitol?" The lean man is angry now.
"We. Have. No. Power. Don't you get it?"
"Well it's worth a shot. Because honestly ... You and me. We're not that different. They took my little girl three years ago. They killed my wife in a fire. We all know about your son now." He pointed to the screen that projected the two little girls sitting on a log. "And they took your girl too. You and I. What do we have to lose?"
The dark man had no words anymore.
"If you change your mind. You can find us."
"How do I know who 'us' is?"
The lean man pointed to his arm. The sleeves on his shirt were folded in. "We roll our sleeves into our shirts. Subtle, right?"
The dark man just nods. He looks the man up and down once more before picking up the wheelbarrow again. This time, the lean man does not follow him.
[The Capitol]
A man with a meticulously shaven beard leaned forward against the cool stone of the railing on the roof. He had piercing blue eyes that gazed off at nothing, wandering in thought. His tie and jacket lay smooth against his lean chest in an appropriate manner; both were of a maroon color. He pressed his hair down in case any strands had gone loose, which was nearly impossible with the amount of gel he used slicking it back. It had to look one hundred percent perfect one percent of the time.
Another man approached him from behind. His hair hung straight down around his face, perhaps only an inch past a normal man's hair length in the Capitol. His eyes were also piercing, but softer.
"Seneca Crane." The shaven man stated in a calm voice.
The man in the beard whipped around to greet him. "...Demetri Marcade. W-wow. It's an honor to meet you." He said shakily. They shook hands and stepped back in an awkward manner.
Realization crosses the bearded man's face. "You left me this?" He holds up a small, square piece of paper with a strip of sticky substance along the back. "I would have thought someone of your-"
"Well its best if my efforts fly under the radar, you know? I thought it best to go low tech on this."
"Why?"
"That's not important." He shook off the subject and began to pace back and forth.
"Well, either way. It's an honor to meet you, Mr. Marcade. You're a legend."
"Am I? Interesting."
"Well, of course you are. You were Head Gamemaker for eight years. That's the longest anyone has done it. Plus, you're the only other living Gamemaker besides me. You had so many successful games, it's just-"
The bearded man was cut off by a raise of the shaven man's hand. "Okay I'm going to make this quick." When the man leaned in close in curiosity, he whispered. "Be careful."
"W-with what?" The naïveté was evident on the man names Seneca's face.
"These games."
"I…I'm sorry?"
" Why do you think I retired, Seneca?" He emphasized the word 'retired' by using air quotations.
"I…I don't…"
"You'll understand it soon. You don't yet, but you will. Being a Gamemaker isn't safe."
"What are you talking about? Being Gamemaker is an amazing opportunity."
"No." The man named Marcade shook his head. "These games are already getting out of hand. They were getting out of hand when I was Gamemaker, and now they're nothing short of uncontrollable."
"I can handle it."
"So far. But that won't last. It isn't just the tributes, although this year, those aren't helping you either." He pointed to the projected screen above them where two twelve year old girls lay huddled against the base of a tree, holding each other in their sleep. "But in general, you have bigger problems than that. The districts. The people."
"Mr. Marcade..."
"These games will. Not. End. Well. Mark my words, Seneca. Quite frankly, you're screwed."
"I think that's a little unnecessary!" Seneca was a proper adult in his mind, and such language was uncalled for.
"You'll get it. Give it time. You'll get it."
"Get what? What will I get?"
"Every time these games kill twenty-three innocent, yes, innocent children, it fuels the fire of the rebels. And if somehow, they don't die, then they win, because they changed the Capitol. Either way you lose, either way they win."
"Agree to disagree."
"I wish you wouldn't."
What time is it? REVIEW TIME. Sorry, Adventure Time fans XD Lemme know what you think, and if you have any questions, feel free to ask because I love questions. This chapter may have been a little confusing for you guys, but if it helps it makes perfect sense in my head. XD of course that doesn't help in the slightest because Im just a stranger on the internet. Nevermind.
t."