TheI'm back! Did you miss me? :) before I begin, I would like to dedicate this chapter to fellow fanfiction writer and my friend AlwaysPeetaM. She always encourages me and gives me excellent feedback and suggestions. She'salso writing a hunger
games fanfiction called 'What Awaits Ahead' and I would encourage you all to go check it out.
Peeta's POV
I trouped down to the lake with the other Careers. "Who's the new guy?" asked a stunningly beautiful girl from District 1. "Peeta. He's going to help us find her," Cato said. The girl looked me up and down. "Glimmer," she said, sticking her hand
out. I shook it. "Marvel. District 1," said the tall, handsome boy next to her. Their district was obvious to me. Not only had I already met the tributes from 2 and 4, but it's rumored that in District 1 anyone with a flaw is surgically modified.
Not like in the Capitol, where the people are made grotesque, but just enough so that eyes are beautiful shades of blue, green, or chocolate brown; hair is silky; skin is perfection. Some of its genetics, but very few people are born with flawless
looks. In District 12 even the thought of modification is horrific. I don't like to think of what they're probably saying about me back home. Probably that I'm a horrible, nasty traitor who...
No. I pushed home out of my mind as we reached the lake and lay our supplies out. All together we had 3 swords, several knives, 4 spears, a scythe, and a bow with a sheath of arrows. In terms of food we had several packs of dried fruits and meats,
along with enough fresh food to last us for weeks. Cato tossed me a small dark green pack which I stashed a pack of dried pineapple, some crackers, and a bag of dried fish. I zipped my dagger into the front pocket and put my knife in my belt.
"So," said Cato, as Clove finished lining her jacket with knives. "Here's the plan." I could tell he would be the leader of this group. He was solid muscle and just seemed like the obvious choice. "Our biggest threats are Thresh and Katniss. We don't
know much about Thresh's strategy. But," he looked at me, "I'm sure lover boy here can tell us all about the girl."
This was it. Why they needed me here. Of course, I wouldn't betray Katniss. I couldn't betray her. But I needed to tell them enough, or they would kill me. "She can hunt," I began, "so food won't be an issue for her. That is, if she has weapons." "She's
got a knife," Clove said bitterly. "Okay. She's also clever, so it'll be hard to lure her into a trap. It isn't in her nature to get rid of those weaker than her. If she sees a fire, she wouldn't attack. Most likely, she's in the woods." They all
looked at me, waiting for more. "That's all," I finished, somewhat lamely. Cato stared at me, trying to decide if he should believe me or not. Finally, he looked away. "Alright," he growled. "Did anyone see where Thresh went?" "He ran off into this
huge field about half a mile from here," said Glimmer. "Okay," said Cato. "Here's the plan. We set up camp here. That should take about another hour. Then we go to the field. If we can't find Thresh, we go to the woods. We spend the night hunting."
"But we have all this food right here," I protested. Everyone turned and stared at me again. "Not for food, idiot," spat Maya. "Other tributes!" Oh. I could feel my face growing warm. To hide this, I grabbed a nearby empty bottle and began filling
it with lake water. By the time I was done purifying it, everyone else was setting up camp. There were some tents and a large tarp that were being used for shelters. I walked over and helped Cato and Marvel tie the tarp from the mouth of the Cornicopia
to a nail driven into the ground. All in all, it wasn't a bad little camp. When we were done, we each grabbed a pack that we had filled and began to walk to the field.
After about 6 minutes, we came to the edge of knee-high grains. For a moment we all just stared at it. Then Glimmer spoke up. "Does this make anyone else...uneasy?"
Now that she mentioned it, the field had an oddly sinister look about it. The light brown plants seemed like they could be hiding anything: poisonous snakes, holes 10 feet deep, a bog that was filled with acid instead of mud. "Yeah," I said. "C'mon, let's
forget about Thresh for now and go to the woods. There'll be more tributes, and Katniss is probably there." Cato nodded, and then began to trek to the woods.
We had been walking on crunchy pine needles for only a few minutes when the cannons began to blast. One shot for each dead tribute. BOOM...BOOM...BOOM...
On and on it went, and my gut twisted each time the cannons blasted. I knew that I had caused one of those shots to be fired. After the eleventh shot, the forest became still again. Birds began to sing. A wasp buzzed on by. The air was filled with the
scents of pine, soil, and wildflowers. It looked exactly the same. But it wasn't. Eleven tributes were dead. Eleven children would never see their families. Eleven children were taken from the world. And you killed one of them, said a voice
in my head. You caused one of them to die. You're no better then the rest. Katniss was right. You're no more than a piece in the games.
"Hey! Lover Boy!"
Cato's call jerked me back into reality. The rest of them were standing 15 feet away, staring at me. "You coming?" "Yeah," I said, pushing the voice out of my head and pulling myself together. "Wonder who's dead," said Glimmer. "Arroyo," said Maya immediately.
Her face seemed indifferent, but there was a hint of sadness beneath it. My gut twisted again. Arroyo must have been the boy from 4. The boy I killed. What had I done? He had a family back home. Maya could be his sister, or his girlfriend, or his
best friend. And I had killed him. I remembered Maya's fury as she called him weak. Was her fury aimed at her dead partner, or at me?
"That girl from 3 is dead too," said Maya. "I stuck the ones from 6 and that guy from 8 myself," said Cato. "I got the one from 5," said Clove. "Glimmer and I got the ones from 9," said Marvel. "That's only 8," I said. "Well, we'll see who's in the sky
tonight," said Maya. "C'mon, lets go."
We trekked on for hours without running into another tribute. We did, however, run into a burrow of fat rabbits. Clove managed to throw her knives into three of them before the rest scattered. For dinner that night we roasted the rabbits and ate them
along with some crackers and the dried pineapple I had brought. The rabbit was really delicious - it's meat was rich, gamey, and grease and juices flowed from it when I bit into it. The pine branches we had cooked it over had given it a nice seasoning.
Licking my fingers, I stood up just as the anthem started to blast.
Now we knew who had been killed. Would Katniss be up there? I doubted it - if one of the Careers had killed her, they would have boasted about it - but what if Thresh had killed her? Or a wild animal? Or could she have eaten something poisonous?
The first face in the sky was the girl from 3. Then Arroyo, from 4. Another wave of guilt crashed over me. Out of the corner of my eye I see Maya. She does her best not to show her sadness, but her sea-greeneyes betray her. The rest of her looks
ready for battle - muscular frame, lean and fast, long, black hair pulled back into a ponytail - but her eyes still cannot hide the sadness that she feels for her lost partner.
Next up is the boy from 5, followed by the two from 6. Both from boy from 8. Both from 9. There's just one more left. I hold my breath. Is it Katniss? Please, don't let it be Katniss, don't let it be Katniss...
When I see it's a girl with a braid, my heart skips a beat. But then I take a closer look and see the number 10, not 12. So Katniss survived, I think. My heart rate slows down a little.
Cato picked up a torch. "We're going hunting," he snarled. I open my pack and find that someone's put a small, silver flashlight inside it. On the end there's a black button. I press it. It's the most powerful flashlight I've ever seen. Even the ones
that people take into the mines aren't this powerful. I can see an ant crawl across a leaf 15 yards away. I turn it off again. Now I'm engulfed in darkness. After the anthem, the game makers seemed to have almost pulled a switch that turned of all
the lights in the arena. Clove and Marvel don't grab torches or flashlights. Instead they put on a pair of dark glasses. I don't see why they would be much help - wouldn't that make it harder to see? - but before I can ask, Cato's already leading
us away.
After hours of aimlessly trecking through the woods, Maya pointedto the sky. "Look!" She called. Fifty yards away, smoke is wafting up through the trees. "C'mon!" Cato yelled. The six of us set off at a run, crashing through the undergrowth, branches
whipping our faces. By the fire there's a female tribute- from 8, I think - who's just woken up. Catos already looming over her before she can rub her eyes. For a moment she just stared at him, then her eyes slowly go from his face to his chest, down
his arm, and to the sword in his hand. The silver blade gleamedmenacingly as the first rays of sunlight began to break through the branches. At first she seemed lost for words, but then she caughther breath and whisperedone word.
"Please."
Cato began to chuckle, then threw his hard back and laughed. "You think your words will save you, girl?" He asked. Then he leaned down and whispered something in her hear. I couldn't hear it, but whatever it was, it made her eyes grow wide with terror
and alarm. Her scream was cut short by Cato's sword, now gleaming scarlet as he pulled it out of her side. I watched, horrified, as her blood began to pool on the forest floor. I turned away and began to walk with the other Careers, but the image
of the dying girl was still stuck in my mind.
After walking about 20 yards, Marvel stops short. "Shouldn't we have heard a cannon by now?" He asked. "She's dead," said Cato indifferently. "I stuck her myself." "So where's the cannon?" Asked Glimmer. "Someone ought to go back and check." "In telling
you, she's dead!"
As they argue, I hear a soft rustling in the tree above me. No one else heard it, but I look up to see what caused it. There, 15 feet above us, sits Katniss. She doesn't see me glance up - her eyes are glued on Cato - but if we stay here much longer,
someone else is going to notice her. "We're wasting time," I say. "I'll go back and then we can move on." "Alright, lover boy," sneers Clove.
Cato was wrong. She wasn't dead. Instead the girl from 8 sits here, desperately trying to stop the flow of blood from her side. As I approached, she looked up at me with desperate eyes. How could I kill someone like this? I could just leave her here.
She'd die anyways. But who knows how long that would take? Besides, the longer I stay here, the more likely Katniss will be spotted. I drew my knife, but still I hesitated. Could I really do this? But then Clove's sneering face swam to the surface
of my thoughths, and a need to prove myself to the Careers arose. Without thinking, I took my knife and slit her throat.
Almost immediately I doubled back in horror. The girl looked up at me in despair as shedesperately grabbed at her throat. But it was too late. I had done it again. What are they doing to me? I asked myself. Why am I doing this?Slowly,
I made my way back to the Careers. "Was she dead?" Cato asked. "No," I reply. "But she is now." The cannon booms in affirmation. As we walk away, I can't help but quickly glancing back at Katniss. She's staring at me. At the Careers. At six pieces
in the games.
Prim's POV
I sat down at the lunch table with my friends Sandi and Millie. We were each holding a tray of mush provided by the school. It tasted like nothing, but you don't turn down food in District 12. This food wasn't nearly enough to live on, though; if you
can get past the pastey texture and the awful smell, there's hardly more than two mouthfuls. For months after my Dad died, this was all Katniss and I ate - when there was any. Sometimes the Capitol forgets to send grain, or they don't care. Very few
people have enough food to spare to bring their own lunch.
The Capitol had provided two screens so that we can all watch the games in school. They've created a short recap of the highlights for us to watch during lunch. The screens flicker to life and the anthem starts playing. On the screen the seelof
the Capitol blazed for a moment, then there's Caesar Flickerman with his blue hair and guest commentators. There's a screen behind them to show what they're talking about. "So," said Caesar. Shall we discuss the most puzzling tribute this year: Peeta?"
Peeta. I was up half the night pondering him. I had no doubt that his love for Katniss is real. When she came to pick me up, I could see him staring at her from across the yard. When Katniss and I went to the bakery, his blue eyes could be found staring
at her from behind doors or across the shop. So why did he join the Careers? No tribute from District 12 has ever done that before.
People are viewing it as an act of treason against the district. His family is suffering for it. People are avoiding the bakery, buying second-class bread from the Seam or the Hob. Peeta's older brother Rye, who is usually surrounded by a group of friends,
walks the halls alone.
I don't want to watch the games. I'd much rather go to the library and work on my schoolwork. But the other screen has been placed there. I'm better off here. I have my friends, in case the worst happens.
The guest commentators have quite a lot to say on the matter. He's got a plan, he and Katniss worked it out together, he's insane...
Caesar broughtup a point that caughtmy attention. "Watch his eyes here," he said. On the screen behind him, Peeta - now in slow motion- glances up at Katniss in a tree, but keeps quiet. "He obviously sees her," Ceasar said. "But he keeps quiet."
"He's got conflicting emotions," said one commentator with enlarged eyes and spiky purple hair. "He wants to be in with the Careers, but he really loves her at the same time." She then began talkingabout the brain of a 16-year-old boy: how his
hormones aren't yet stabilized, how his adrenaline about the games could have impacted all his decisions so far. I don't pay much attention to her, but I still think about it all throughout class. I had a hard time focusing on my worksheet.
Coal occurs at depths 180-300 feet...
Why has he teamed up with the Careers?
But because people have been mining here for generations...
And he's killed two other tributes! Why?
It is rare for our miners to find anything above 200 feet...
He could have turned Katniss in but didn't
The lowest point in our mines is currently 317 feet...
What are his motives?
A point that could be considered dangerous...
I walked home alone after school. My mother was making tea over the fire. She doesn't say it, but she's in worse shape than I am. "How was school?" She asked me. "Fine," I said. "We learned about the coal mining process." She poured me a cup of tea, and
we reviewedwhat I learned for a while. Neither of us mentioned the games. Or Katniss. Or Peeta.
Buttercup caneup and curledup in my lap. I remember the day I found him. It was about three weeks before Dad was behind the Hob, a scrawny little thing,starving and covered in coal dust. Pity had overtaken me, and
I picked him up and carried him home.
"What is that thing?" Katniss asked the moment I walked through the door. "A cat," I said. "My cat."
"Prim, were not keeping that thing."
"Why not?"
"Dad's got a hard enough time feeding four of us. Besides, look at that thing! He's got tons of vermin, I bet."
"Please, Katniss!"
"Prim!"
"Please?"
"No."
"Please, please, please, please, please?"
"Oh, alright."
Dad found a bucket tha Mom filled with water. Katniss tried to trap him in there, but Dad walked in and talked with her. After mom and I scrubbed his pelt clean, I discovered his fur was a soft yellow, not grey, like I had thought. He looked at me with
grass-green eyes, and at once I knew the perfect name for him.
"So what are you going to call it?" Katniss asked during dinner.
"Buttercup."
"Buttercup?"
"Yeah! Look at him! His fur looks exactly like those soft yellow petals, and his green eyes are the color of leaves!"
"Prim, it looks like a rat."
"You leave him alone!"
Now Buttercup looks at me with his pretty green eyes and meows softly. "Sorry, Kitty," I said, "Katniss isn't hereto feed you anymore. You've got to catch your own mice."
Out of nowhere, I startedcrying. "Oh, Prim, what's the matter?" Asks my mother gently. "It's not fair!" I wailed. "Why did they have to take her?" Mom puts her arm around me. "Primrose, it's okay to be sad. I miss Katniss very much too. But you
Know what she'd want us to do if she were here?"
"Keep our heads high," I said. It's what she told me every day after Dad died. I could practically here her saying it as she straightened my shirt. The memory provided small comfort in the darkest of times.
Gale's POV
After school I trekked to the woods. I needed to get away from everyone for a little bit. I needed to get away from the games. Slipping under the fence, I entered the woods. Leaves crunched under my feet as I walked. A small brown rabbit nibbled on a
wildflower. Tiny fish swam in a little pond. It looked the same as it always had. But there was no girl next to me. No girl to talk to. No Katniss to joke with.
I looked at the little drawing Rory had given me. Prim had drawn it during class and told him to pass it on. It was a picture of rosemary leaves. She had drawn it so I could pick the right herbs, although I have trouble telling the difference between
each plant. Maybe I'll ask Mrs. Everdeen if I can bring Prim to the woods on Saturday to help me.
I sat by a small stream and stuiedy the drawing. It lookedlike an evergreen branch, but with little pink flowers on the end. A fish splashed, and the sun flashed off its scales. I hear another splash, but no fish has leaped. Confused, I look around.
Another splash. Looking up, I sawa Mockingjay in a branch overhead. It opened its beak, and another splash sounded. I chuckled, remembering the one time I had come to the woods late and hear Katniss singing to these things. We acted as though
it had never happened - Katniss dislikes music - but I'll never forget the beauty of the tune she was singing. Now the song flows through my head.
Deep in the meadow
Under the willow
A bed of grass
A soft green pillow
Lay down your head
And close your sleepy eyes
And when again they open
The sun will rise
Here it's safe
Here it's warm
Here the daisies guard you from every harm
Here your dreams are sweet
And tomorrow brings them true
Here is the place
Where I love you
The last line sticks in my head. I love you. Why didn't I tell her before? What was I aftraid of? Rejection? Complicating our friendship? How could it be harder to utter three words than it was to set the most complicated snare?
I walk up a hill to the place where we shared our last meal together. The air is filled with the smell of blackberries in the summer. The grass is long and soft. I get a clear view of the woods. Katniss and I often talked about how it looked like a picture
in one of Prim's storybooks. Tall green trees. A shimmering blue river. Mountains in the distance. Clumps of wildflowers. Pretty little birds flying above the treetops. It would be paradise, if I had someone to share the view with.
I grabbed a fishing pole that Katniss and I had stashed in a hollow log. Fishing seemed like a good idea - I didn't seem to have the energy for hunting. At first, I could hunt for hours because I was fueled by my fury for the Capitol. But now the loss
of Katniss seemed to have settled in. Just sitting at a pond seemed nice. I filled my canteen with water, pulled out some blackberries I had picked, and settled down.
It was a good day for fishing. I caught about 11 before the sun began to sink below the mountains. It was only when I had crawled under the fence when I realized that I had completely forgotten about the rosemary. Sometimes Kanto, the oldest trader from
the hob, has some herbs in stock.
"Hey, Kanto, got any rosemary?" I asked when I reached the hob. I had bought two bowls of soup from Greasy Sae and put one down in front of him. She had used the rabbits and the greens I had brought her yesterday to make one of her better dishes: Rabbit
and Lemongrass stew. "Sorry, fresh out," he said. "I just gave the last of it to Hugo for his soaps. Although, I assure you, the money went to a good cause." I knew what he meant. The Support Katniss Everdeen jar was steadily filling up. "It's
alright," I said. The Everdeens would just have to do without Rosemary for one more evening.
I walked into the Everdeen's house to see Prim working on her schoolwork and her mother sweeping the floor. Buttercup walked up to me and meowedhopefully. I tossedthe smallest fish on the floor and he pounced on it. "Sorry, I forgot the Rosemary,"
I said, as I lay three fish next to Mrs. Everdeen. "That's quite alright," she assured me, as she began cutting up the fish for stew. "Prim, can you go get the leftover dandelion greens, please?"
"I'm thinking of taking Prim into the woods tomorrow, so she can help me gather herbs," I said to Mrs. Everdeen. She dried her hands on her apron and looked at me. "I'm fine with it, but you'll have a tough time convincing Primrose."
Prim came back into the kitchen with a small bowl of green leaves. Mrs. Everdeen put those in a pot of boiling water over the fire along with the fish, some salt, and something from a tinybottle that I was pretty sure was lemon. "Prim," I said,
"how would you like to come to the woods tomorrow?"
She stopped and looked at me, and I remembered the few disastrous attempts on Katniss's part to bring her to the woods. "Please?" I said. "I need you to help me with herbs, and I promise there won't be any danger. They always talk about bears and wild
dogs, but that's just to keep people away. Really, there's not much more threatening than Buttercup."
This was stretching the truth to the breaking point, but she seemed to be considering. "Okay," she said finally. She looked a little embarrassed and hesitantly said, "Can Rory come?"
Rory? That suprised me. There was no denying the pink tint that had bloomed on her cheeks. "Sure," I said, pretending not to notice. But Mrs. Everdeen and I exchanged knowing glances. As I walked home, I was in a considerably better mood. Even with the
games, life could go on as usual.
Please review! I really appreciate all the feedback I can get. What do you think about a Prim/Rory relationship? Nothing serious, more like Puppy love. Should I follow through with it? Let me know.