I do not own 'The Hunger Games' or anything related.
After getting the broth into the boy, the girl kept watch. It must be cold, because eventually she gave up and slipped into the sleeping bag with the boy, but later, as if realising something, dampened a strip of bandage and placed it on his forehead.
I didn't sleep easily that night, not that I slept that well during this whole thing, if not my whole life after a fortnight of my own games, but that was a particularly bad night, as I was worried about the kids, even with Effie keeping watch. I had a feeling that by tending to the boy, the girl had made herself more vulnerable. I shook my head. I knew that her going to find him was the right choice. Aside from the audience's invested interest depended on their depiction of a romantic relationship, alliances could be useful. The only reason I didn't suggest it at all was because I knew how painful the outcome was, but now that they both could live that wasn't an issue. I wouldn't be alive today if not for my alliance with Maysilee Donner, like that time -
Oh that's right I left you on a bit of an unresolved cliffhanger before, didn't I? Let's see where was I, we were gathering water, I was keeping an eye on what we set up as well as for any tribute and that was when he came out hiding from behind a tree, bringing his scythe down at me. I managed to dodge the blow, rolling sideways as I came back up with my knife ready. I had given up on using the other fancy weapons I got, and decided to stick with the one I was familiar with, and it seemed my opponent had made a similar decision. District 9, he was likely used to working with a scythe, and I expected he intended to cut me down like so many crops. But unlike crops I wouldn't just stand still waiting to be cut in half. We circled each other. He swiped again at me a few times more, but I managed to dodge the blows, even rolling on my side again as he tried to swipe me across. His range was too long for me to get close enough to him. Then something occurred to me. Why hadn't Maysilee taken a shot? The only reason it could be was because we were moving so much so that she couldn't get a clear shot and hit me instead. I needed to get him stationary. The next few times he struck, I used my knife to block the blows, as shown during training. Block. Block. Block, block, block. At this point he tried to bring his scythe down, with me using my strength and my knife to push against him. If there was any time to take the shot, now would be it.
Take the shot!
I heard the familiar whooshing sound as the dart landed into his neck. At first stunned, my opponent started shaking, and having a seizure as he fell to the ground, before becoming still. The canon fired.
"You took your sweet time!" I shouted at Maysilee.
"Well if you don't mind getting hit the next time," She said to me.
"I don't care," I said to her.
"What?"
"I don't care! Take the shot, even if you risk taking me down as well! We both know that only one of us can survive this!"
"No."
"I'm sorry?"
"I said no. You're my ally, and I'm going to do my best not to hurt my ally. I need you. To survive, I mean."
I blushed.
"You've survived quite a while without me."
"And together we'll survive much longer."
After taking his backpack and going through his things (although there were a few useful items, the one I was most interested in was food, and although he did surprise me by having food, it was just one large energy bar, which I broke in half, one piece given to Maysilee), we returned to collecting the rain water. Once again I was intent on going back in the direction of the maze when Maysilee said 'No'.
I turned to her.
"I'm sorry?"
"I'm not going through that maze again unless you tell me what's important about it."
I decided to tell her.
"It has to end somewhere, doesn't it? This arena can't go on forever."
"What do you expect to find?"
"I don't know. Possibly something we can use."
And with that, she agreed to continue following me.
However, once again we found ourselves in the maze. The following day, before nightfall, I noticed that Maysilee didn't look well.
"What's wrong?" I asked her.
She seemed startled by my question.
"Nothing."
"Come on, we're allies. We need to let each other know if something is wrong. Can't help each other if we can't help ourselves."
"It's just…you're just going to make a fuss of it."
I realised what it was.
"You're hungry, aren't you."
"It's just…I've never gone this long without food before. You know, beyond snacking."
"Here," I tossed my half of the energy bar from the 9 to her, "You take it. You need it more than me."
"Haymitch, don't try to act so tough!"
"Look who's talking! Anyway, it's not about a question of appearing tough, it's a question of ability and experience. I'm sorry if I offended you before, but can you honestly tell me that you've been through at least one day of not having anything to eat and managed to get by the next day?"
Maysilee looked at me.
"I do," I continued, "I do know what it's like, I know how to handle the hunger. That's why non-career tributes tend to win if the careers' food supply is destroyed. I don't want the risk of you being hindered because you haven't had anything to eat."
And also because I didn't want you to be hungry, but I didn't vocalise that point. For a moment, Maysilee stared at me.
"Fine. OK. You win."
Taking my half, she ate it.
So OK, a disadvantage of an alliance is that you have to share the food between you, but the advantages of an alliance (That you're able to get more rest, you're able to take on other tributes better, not to mention that putting your heads together you may just end up coming up with something that will help you survive better) outweigh the disadvantages. Katniss will discover that once the boy has fully recovered.
But what chance is there for that? A voice inside my head asked.
When dawn came, I returned to the control room. The boy, still struggling to get up, was worried when he woke up and couldn't find her. Worry about yourself more, Boy! The girl asked how he was feeling.
"Better than yesterday. This is an enormous improvement over the mud. Clean clothes, medicine, a sleeping bag and…you."
I didn't know who to feel sorry more for. For the boy, expressing his feelings to a girl who thought it was just an act, or the girl having no idea that the feelings this boy expressing were real. I could tell that my message from the day before had been received, as the girl was trying to put a bit more of an effort in portraying a loving relationship, reaching out to touch his cheek. Taking her hand, the boy pressed the fingers against his lips. I knew I would have no problem with the boy portraying a loving relationship.
"You didn't sleep," The boy noted.
"I'm alright," Said the girl, but she couldn't be. I knew for a fact that you needed sleep in the arena. The boy offered to stay watch. This was an advantage of an alliance, as you were far less restless when someone was watching over you, even though he was in no fit condition to stand watch. Nevertheless, the girl needed sleep.
That morning I came down at the entrance where we sign up sponsors, wondering how many were now keen to become sponsors. Some who sponsored one tribute only for that tribute to die may want to sponsor another tribute (often the tribute that killed the one they were originally betting on), or hold off their sponsorship until later in the games when it came clearer who the winner would be. I wondered how many sponsors the new turn in the games had drawn in.
The queue for District 12 was packed. Capitol citizens couldn't wait to sign up. I don't think I had ever seen so many sponsors queue up, at least in my lifetime. As I signed up the eager sponsors, I grinned in the direction of the mentor at 2, who looked furious. Mentors were meant to come down every morning to check for any further sponsors. I stopped bothering years ago.
Unfortunately the boy let her sleep for too long, as she didn't wake up until that afternoon. She herself recognised this and demanded to know why he let her sleep in. He told her it was because not much was happening.
"Besides, I like watching you sleep. It improves your look. You don't scowl."
I groaned. I swore this love sickness was going to be the death of both of them, even if I was counting on it to give me the continued support of sponsors. The girl checked his injuries. They all seemed to be on the mend, until she got to his leg, and recognised as I did that he had blood poisoning. I double checked the menu, and found that the medicine cost more than the entire amount of money I had. Ah! If only I had known what the game makers were planning, I could have bought this when it was affordable and at its cheapest! She tried unconvincingly to tell him it was better, but he knew he had blood poisoning. The girl told him that he was just going to outlast the others, and once that happened they can treat him at the Capitol. But unless all the other tributes died in a sudden disaster soon, I didn't see that happening. I gave the boy a couple more days to live.
Rather than lighting a fire, the girl dropped a couple of stones into a pot of water. I guessed that it must be hot there. I smiled over the girl getting one over the gamemakers, but then my smile vanished, knowing from experience that the gamemakers do not take kindly to those who get one over them. Then again perhaps there's a difference between doing something like using hot stones or poison between something that wasn't supposed to be used, like the mines or –
Anyway, the girl made soup until she suddenly went back into the cave. I guessed she was worried about the other tributes. The boy asked her for a story, a happy story, so she told him one (whose authenticity I questioned) about how she bought a goat for her sister's birthday, selling old lockets belonging to her mother in order to pay for it (This I doubted, but I didn't question where she got the money, and I hoped that no one else did!). She chose the sickest goat that the man we all called the goat man had, knowing that her mother and sister would be able to heal it. The goat man had however already made a deal to sell it to Rooba the butcher, but instead she let the girl have it, saying that the goat was too injured. Also buying a pink ribbon, the girl tied it around the goat's head, and her 'tall boy' friend (Whose name I learnt was Gale), carried it for her to her house. The girl's sister and her mother were able to heal it.
"They sound like you," Remarked the boy.
The girl was startled, as if she was so sucked into her own story that she forgot he was there.
"Oh no, Peeta, they worked magic. That thing couldn't have died, even if it tried."
She bit her tongue, likely thinking about how the boy was dying in her hands. I looked at Effie, and noticed that she was crying. I couldn't help but think this was the general reaction from most of the Capitol. How they'll grieve when the boy dies. But I didn't want a tragic death, I wanted both of them to live!
"Don't worry, I'm not trying," The boy assured her, "Finish the story."
But apparently that was it, aside from a moment that night when the girl's sister Prim insisted on sleeping with the goat (Whom she name Lady) on a blanket next to the fire. Before they went to sleep, the goat licked her cheek as if saying goodnight.
"Was it still wearing the pink ribbon?" The boy asked.
"I think so. Why?"
"I'm just trying to get the picture. I can see why it made you happy."
"I knew that goat would be a gold mine."
"She lies just about as well as you," Effie told me.
"What do you mean? I'm a perfect liar!"
"If you say so," She shrugged, turning her attention back to the screen.
The girl insisted that the goat's worth was purely economic, which is something I would have done, saying that the goat had repaid its worth ten times over.
"Well after you saved its life it wouldn't dare do anything else," Said the boy, "Don't worry. I intend to do the same."
"Really? What did you cost me again?" Asked the girl.
"A lot of trouble. Don't worry, you'll get it all back."
"You're not making any sense."
The girl tested his forehead, likely thinking that his words were the result of a high fever, and not out of a genuine love for her. I started to wonder what it would take for her to catch on. Probably until after the games are over, when he's still expressing as much love as before. If he survives. No. He has to survive. But I didn't know how to save him. Then the sound of the trumpets came, and Templesmith was telling everyone that there would be a feast at the Cornucopia, but not an ordinary feast. There would be a package for each district, containing something that they desperately needed.
Desperately needed.
PEETA'S MEDICINE!
Understanding what that meant, the girl jumped but the boy grabbed her shoulder, telling her not to risk her life for his. DAMNIT BOY, this is no time to be noble! But a part of me couldn't help but suggest that he had a point, why not? WHY NOT? The girl lied that she wouldn't go, but the boy knew she was lying. She admitted that she was going, and that he can't stop her, but he threatened to go after her, and even though he was too weak to follow her all the way he could make enough noise to alert everyone to their location. WHAT ARE YOU DOING? The girl then asked if he expected to just watch him die.
"I promise not to die, if you promise not to go."
"Don't make promises you can't keep, Peeta," I muttered to myself.
Promising not to die, when your life is out of your hands, as if you can live purely on sheer will, was the worst one to make.
The girl, realising she was at a stalemate, begrudgingly accepted. I considered my options. Even with the new flow of donations coming from sponsors, I did not have enough for the medicine Peeta needed. Even if I was to go around town for extra donations, the only way I could possibly have enough if I convinced some love obsessed fool to give me their most precious jewels. Somehow I considered that extremely unlikely. And I doubted that Peeta would survive as he is before the other tributes, even with Katniss tending to him. No, the only chance he had was at the Cornucopia, but there was no way the girl could get there without the boy sabotaging her efforts. I had to help her somehow. If only there was some way she could tranquillise him-
Wait a minute.
I went through the menu, and found the item I was looking for. Sleep syrup. Yes. This should knock him out, long enough for the girl to get the medicine. I went to press the item –
But then something stopped me. Should I be helping her?
Yes, of course I should!
But why?
Because I need to save Peeta.
I mean the boy.
I mean whatever!
Even if that meant risking the girl's life.
And that's a point. The girl would undoubtedly come into contact with the likes of the District 2 tributes, or even the remaining 11. The mentor in me was telling me not to risk the life of the healthy tribute, that I should cut my losses and accept the boy as already dead. But I couldn't. After abandoning him for much of the games, I couldn't let Peeta die. Besides, my continued support relied on the star-crossed lovers plot continuing, and I couldn't do that if he died.
I pressed the item. I only hoped that Katniss understood my reason. Then again, she understood my previous messages.
