Chapter Fourteen

Following the trail, Boulder and Shake led me right to the Careers' campsite. "Is she dead?" Gato demanded.

"Twine and Wheat are both dead, Gato." Boulder said with pride.

"Good job, Boulder. Shake come in handy?"

"Yes sir."

"Was Kaos anywhere to be found?"

"She stopped my spear from hitting Twine the first time," Shake explained in his deep tenor. "But her bravado caused Twine to accidentally kill Wheat and she couldn't stop my spear the second time."

Gato nodded and turned to Peece, who was showing Shiner the basic way to build a fire. "Peece?" The blue-eyed beauty looked up curiously. "Where's Pine? I need him to get rid of someone else."

"Um, I think Pine went to the river to get water. Who else needs to be killed?"

Gato shrugged with a nonchalant smile. "Oh, no one special. Just… Estrella."

Peece's eyes widened in alarm and I cocked my head curiously. "But she's the other tribute from your District. Why her?"

"Because she's too weak to be able to defeat any of us. She'll only be a liability to us if we don't kill her. Unless Kaos kills her first."

Well, I might have killed her first, but now I won't bother.

Just then, Pine returned carrying two heavy-looking jugs of water. "Got the water you asked for, Shimmer." He said, casting a shy, half-smile at the blonde. She batted her eyelashes at him and Pine blushed a light pink.

I glanced back at Gato to find him glaring serrated daggers at Pine. "Pine!" he barked. "I need you to go on a hunting mission."

"For who?" Pine gave Gato a blank stare as the bigger boy smiled.

"I need you to kill Estrella."

Pine nodded, but I saw a flash of pain in his eyes. It seemed he didn't like killing any more than Wheat and Twine. As Pine made his way back out into the woods with a sword and dagger, I hung back for another moment. Gato was whispering to Shake and Boulder; I tried to listen in, but I was too far away to hear anything. Moments later, Gato and Boulder headed into the forest after Pine; I silently jumped from one branch to another, following them to see what would happen. Mariposa did her best to stay hidden beside me and she was the right shade for it. She could have been the sun, the sky and the grass or trees. I didn't risk swinging ahead to Pine in case Gato and Boulder caught me. We followed Pine for three and a half hours before all four of us heard something ahead. It sounded like someone was singing very softly.

Pine peered through the brush and nodded to himself. Moving as quietly as he could, Pine stepped out of the bushes and into a tiny clearing. There, I could see the dark brown hair and lanky form of Estrella sitting near the dying embers of a fire. Pine moved out so that he was right behind her and he raised the sword high above his head. My eyes flicked from Pine's motionless body to Estrella's slowly swaying one and back again.

Finally, Pine lowered the sword to his side and sighed heavily. Estrella jumped up defensively when she heard Pine standing behind her. "I can't kill you." Pine stated. "I won't kill you."

Gato exploded from the underbrush angrily. "You idiot!" he roared. "We could have been rid of her, but you're too much of a coward. Boulder, take out Estrella!"

Boulder nodded and surged forward with a dagger in hand. I watched, wide-eyed, as he repeatedly stabbed Estrella in her chest and stomach, her screams echoing off the trees around us as he continued plunging the blade into her body. When Estrella finally fell limply to the ground, Gato nodded and pulled out a sword of his own.

"Loot the place while I deal with Weak Link here." He raised the sword high and I saw Pine set his jaw and bare his neck, his resignation clear in his eyes. I cringed as I heard two thuds and a slight rustling. Pine was dead.

I felt sick to my stomach as I followed Boulder and Gato back to the campsite. Such a display of defeat was unknown to me; the game I hunted either ran or didn't see me and none of the other tributes had done it thus far. I now sat in a tree high above the ground as I looked down at the remaining Careers.

Peece looked up as Gato and Boulder returned and she stood. "Where's Pine?" she demanded, her hand going instinctively to her bow and arrows.

"He's dead." Gato replied indifferently, making my blood boil at his reaction to Peece's sudden distress. "And don't even bother with those."

"Why did you kill him?" Peece inquired heatedly, setting an arrow into place with one hand.

"Because he was just as weak as Estrella; he had to be disposed of."

Peece shook her head in disgust and went off into the trees on her own. I glared at Gato as well and jumped to the ground, running as far away as possible. I needed to find a place far enough away that the Careers couldn't easily find me, but I could effectively continue watching their movements. Running about a mile or two away, I climbed into a particularly tall tree and climbed as close to the top as I could. This way, I could watch the Careers and if they happened to see me, they wouldn't be able to get me because I knew that even Peece's arrows couldn't reach this high without her being somewhere in a tree as well.

Watching the activity of the Careers, I looked to the surrounding area and saw Peece, hunched over a few yards away from camp with her head in her hands. I cocked my head and jumped up. I rose into the air before soaring downward to the next tree a few yards away. Leaping from one tree to the next, I landed in the tree right above Peece and used my string to suspend myself upside down, just like that first night.

"What's wrong, hon?" I asked softly, so as not to scare her.

Peece looked up at me for a moment before shrugging. "What do you care? You want to kill me just as much as the rest of them do. Why not just do it now so that I can be out of this Game, this hellhole."

"Oh, now that's no way to be speaking, Peece. You have to stay strong. Remember Cania? She's expecting you home."

"No, she's not." Peece sniffled. "She died the day of the Reaping. Just as I was getting on the train, Cania tried jumping on too and she fell in front of the train's wheels. It killed her in seconds and I didn't even have the chance to say goodbye." This shocked me. She had said to all of Panem that Cania was waiting for her back at home when, in actuality, the poor cur had been killed the day she left. That must have been very hard for her to deal with, indeed.

"I'm sorry." I mumbled. "I didn't know. I thought… I mean, you said she was waiting. I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry." Peece sniffed, glaring at the ground. "It's better that she die before I do so that she doesn't have to be disappointed when I don't return."

"Why do you keep speaking like that?" I inquired. "As if you're going to die. You're the most skilled weaponist here. There's no way they could beat you without ganging up on you. And I wouldn't let that happen."

"You wouldn't?" the brunette looked up at me in shock. "Why not?"

I gave her a wry smile. "Because I've already been on the receiving end, haven't I? It's not fun and I think that if you're going to take out an enemy, at least do it with dignity rather than cowardice." Peece nodded and opened her mouth to say something, but we both heard footsteps.

"Will you stay tonight?" Peece asked softly.

"I can't." I whispered back. "I have to be in my own territory until I know what to do. But I'll be back as soon as I can, alright?" Peece nodded and I raised myself into the tree just as Gato came out of the brush.

"Peece, are you alright? I'm sorry about Pine. I mean, I guess he was like a brother to you or something and I wasn't thinking."

I instantly saw through the lie. He didn't care about Peece's feelings; he just wanted her back on his side so that he has a better chance of living. I growled under my breath as I watched them, my eyes narrowed slightly.

"Yeah, Gato, it's ok." Peece sniffed, wiping her eye. "I'll miss him, though. He was a good friend to talk to about my small problem."

"Problem?" Gato asked.

"Being in love with someone from another District when you're destined to kill each other isn't exactly a good thing."

"So, who is it?" Gato asked slowly. "I can be your new Pine."

Peece looked down and blushed. "I would rather not say." She murmured. "Come on, let's head back."

I raised an eyebrow at this. So she must have been falling for Gato if she wouldn't tell him. I snarled at this. She'll be mine, one way or the other. As I swung back to my tree, I thought more on a good plan to kill Gato. The other Careers would have to be out of the way in order for that to happen. One by one, they would all fall and then Peece will be mine to have.