~Katniss~
It was early morning, the sun had just risen when it started. Things in the forest got too quiet, the birds stopped chirping, the leaves stopped rustling, but then there was a loud boom. Almost like a crash. I awoke with a start and looked around the tree I was tied into. A wall, a giant wall of fire was headed my way. I quickly got out of the tree with everything I had and ran for my life. Balls of fire were thrown in my direction as I dodged them the best that I could. Suddenly a huge tree had fallen, blocking my path and when I turned to find a new route, another fire ball was hurtling towards me. I jumped out of the way, landing on the ground. But it still brushed against my leg, burning me. The white hot pain was unbelievable. And I thought the whipping was bad.
But I couldn't think about that right now, I had to get out of here. I scurried around for my bow that had fallen out of my hand when I jumped and I found it. Sitting next to a branch alight with fire. I didn't have time to cover my hand with something, and it wouldn't have mattered either. I grabbed my bow and cried out when my hand seared with pain. With my bow and quiver over my shoulder, and the back pack on my back I ran like hell, soon I was just running in thick smoke. My coughing would tell anybody nearby that I was here, and it would make me an easy target. Soon I tripped and fell into a river, thank God it wasn't that strong, or I would be dead and gone by now. I came up out of the water for air and I sighed in relief, that is until I heard some shouting.
"Look there she is!" it was Glimmer and Marvel. What are they doing away from the rest of the Careers? It didn't matter, without Cato or Peeta here they could kill me, and when they see my face in the sky, they can blame it on somebody else. I got out as fast as I could with them on my tail and ran into the woods. Yes I had a weapon, but these arrows are precious, I can't waste them and risk missing. I found a big sturdy tree for me to climb and went up in it until I far a safe enough distance. The two of them were gathered around the base of the tree, taunting me.
"Come down here and fight Katniss!" Marvel shouted.
"Yeah and give me back my arrows!" complained Glimmer.
"Make me bitch!" I shouted down. In a huff she took one of Marvel's spears from his back and tried throwing it. She really sucks at weapons because it missed me but a foot. When I heard him complain about wasting his spears I sighed in relief, but that didn't mean they were going to leave.
"So where does everybody else think you are?" I asked them.
"Scouting the area and find water, which we did, but we also found you!" Glimmer taunted again. In the next second a giant nest fell down onto the ground, it was a Tracker Jacker nest. As the two of them ran with the flying demons after them, I looked around to find the source of the fallen nest. In the tree a few feet away I saw Rue standing on a branch with a knife in her hand and a smile on her face. I started to climb down and she followed after me.
"Are you okay?" she asked me concerned.
"Just a few burns." I said as I looked at my red blistering hand as she looked worriedly at my leg.
"Come on I know where we can find some plants to help." she said and I followed her to a nearby clearing. As she picked various plants and herbs I sat down on the ground and watched as she tended to my wounds. Now I wish I had paid more attention to my mom when she nursed the miners back to health. "I saw the giant fire." she commented.
"Yeah the Capitol fire." I replied.
"How did you burn your hand?" she asked and I sighed.
"My bow got too closer to a fire when I dropped it, and I didn't have time to cover my hand."
"Ouch." she said making a pinchy face.
"Got that right." I said back with a smile and she chuckled. "Have you seen anything with the Careers?"
"You mean with Cato and Peeta? Yeah, Peeta joined them to help protect you, that's the only reason Cato let him in. But for some reason he isn't with them anymore. I don't know where he is. Cato misses you, Clove does too. Cato also wishes that he was with you than the rest of the Careers." she said with a sly smile on her face. I blushed a little at this comment and turned my face away to hide it. "Is it all real?" she asked.
"Is what real?"
"You and Cato." she cooed childishly, but hey she is just a child.
"Yeah, yeah it's real." I said then I heard a faint beeping sound. We looked up and saw a parachute falling from the sky, it landed between us and when I opened it I saw a note on top of a small canister.
Katniss-
Haymitch and I worked together to get this for you. Use it sparingly. Keep up the good work.
-Brutus
"Wow, he seems really nice to get this for you. This stuff is expensive." Rue said and she opened the can of burn cream. I hissed a bit as she applied it to my wounds but it ended up giving a icy cool feeling.
"So where are the Careers?" I asked her.
"Well they're all by the Cornucopia, it's their main camp." she said and a smile came across her face. "Their supplies is piled up into a big pyramid." she said, thinking back to when she last saw it.
"Sounds tempting." I said with a curiousness tone in my voice.
"But what about Cato? Won't he get mad?"
"He knows that if worst comes to worst, to come and find me. And it's the Games, I do care about him, a lot, but things need to happen. And like I said he can come find me, he won't hurt you and we'll get through this for as long as we can." I explained to her but she looked at me confused.
"Why won't he hurt me?"
"He has seen that you and I have become close and he promised that he wouldn't." I explained and she nodded.
"So what's the plan?" she asked and I explained to her what I had in mind.
~Cato~
"Where the hell are they?" I complained out loud, slamming my sword into the ground so it stuck up out of it.
"Will you calm down? They'll be back any second." Clove said annoyed.
"They were just supposed to be scouting the area, not going to do whatever they want! What if they found Katniss? What if they have her right now?" I thought out loud, going into panic mode. If they were so far away and they had Katniss, I wouldn't be able to get there in time. I would let her down. I would let her family and friends down. All of the sudden I heard some screams and complaints. When I looked to see where it was coming from I saw Marvel and Glimmer running into the field swatting the last few bugs away before calming down and walking toward us grumbling.
"What happened to you two?" Clove asked skeptically.
"That brat from Eleven dropped a nest full of Tracker Jackers on us." Glimmer said in her snotty voice.
"All to save Fire Bitch." Marvel said complaining. My ears perked up at that comment.
"What about Katniss?" I said angrily getting into his face. He saw me upset, gulped and backed away.
"We ran into her when we were getting water. She was running from something." he stammered and I back away from him. What was she running from? Is she okay?
"What was she running away from?" Clove asked as if reading my mind.
"I don't know, I saw a lot of smoke coming from the direction she was running from." he said passing it off as nothing. To him it may be nothing, but to me it was practically everything. She could be hurt right now.
"Smoke?" I questioned.
"Yeah probably the Capitol getting bored and decided to set a fire." Glimmer said as she took off her jacket to inspect her body for any stings. Is she dense? If she was stung she would be having hallucinations by now. Finding none, she sat down by her tent and decided to relax.
"So besides that nothing happened?" I questioned again.
"Nope." Marvel said.
"Okay so answer me a few questions." I started walking towards him again. "What did you do when you saw Katniss?" I asked him and he kept opening and closing his mouth like a fish out of water. "Well?"
"We chased her until she climbed a tree. I took Marvel's spear to try and kill her but I missed, and that's when the little brat dropped the nest on us." Glimmer said from her spot by her tent. I turned to glare at her but she wouldn't see it, because she is just laying there on the ground with her hands behind her head and her eyes closed. I walked over and kicked her in her leg, making her wince. "Hey!" she gasped sitting up. I grabbed her shirt and hauled her up to eye level.
"Give me one good reason as to why I shouldn't kill you right now for trying to kill Katniss?" I seethed. How dare she. How dare she try to kill her, I gave them orders to not touch a hair on Katniss's body.
"I'm sorry I promise I won't do it again!" she squealed and I dropped her like a doll. She huffed when I did and crawled into her tent. I went and sat down by the fire pit with my head in my hands, trying to stop myself from going to find Katniss.
~Katniss~
I explained to Rue what I wanted her to do. She would light a fire to distract them while I waited for them to leave their supplies unguarded, then I would do something to destroy it all, and she would keep lighting fire that we would set up. A hour later we were setting up the last fire to be lit, covering it with green stuff.
"Okay now this is really gonna smoke so when its light you run okay?" I said and she nodded, nervously. "Hey don't worry, I'll be back for dinner in one piece. Okay? I promise." I said and she hugged me around the waist. When she pulled away she took off to where the first fire was, I went back to the spot I found where I had a perfect view of the camp.
Marvel was the first to take notice, he pointed to the smoke in the distance and they all gathered their weapons and as Cato reached over to grab his sword his eyes met mine. How can he see me that easily. His eyes flickered when he saw me, but I put a finger to my lips that told him to be quiet. His eyes were curious but with a quick "I'm sorry" mouthed to him, he took off after the rest of the Careers, leaving the boy from three, Gadge, to keep guard. As his back was turned I was not the only one who was near the Cornucopia, because a few seconds later Foxface runs from the tree lines and does some sort of routine, bouncing from one spot to another very carefully. What is she doing? It's like she's avoiding something. I looked around and saw that the pedestals were gone. The mines, he reactivated them and buried them around the pile. She grabbed a big bag of apples from the base of the pile, hopped back out, and ran off. Then another tribute, another girl, I think she's from ten, she was not so lucky. Gadge saw her and threw the spear he held and killed her. She fell, but she didn't trigger the mines. So when Gadge walked a ways to check and make sure nobody else was around, I stepped out, positioned an arrow and shot, I just barely made a rip in a bag of apples towards the top, I had to make another shot and this one had to be better. I notched one more arrows, aimed, and fired.
One by one the apples tumbled to the ground. One of the apples fell on just the right spot because I was blown back by the explosion. When I opened my eyes again, my ears were ringing and I saw blood, not just mine from a cut on my head, but Gadge's as well, he was too close and was blown away, his body parts litters the ground like coal dust back in the Seam. The Careers were coming back, and Cato saw me as I tried to discretely crawl away, he was shaking his head at me sad but also disappointed. I warned him and apologized before he left, but I guess it wasn't enough. Who knows what is left of our relationship now, because I killed a big lifeline of his, but now he'll figure out just how hard it is to survive without the luxury of the supplies.
Once I got to the tree line I took off to where the third fire should have been. But it hasn't been touched. What happened? Is Rue okay? Did she stop once she heard the explosion? I walked around from fire to fire, whistling the four note tune as I did, but I got no response, until I heard it.
"Katniss!" Rue shrieked. Sprinting, I went in the direction of her screams, she sounded frightened, and she probably is. "Katniss!" she shouted once more as she came into view. There she was, under a net from a trap probably set by the Careers. I ran to her and cut her loose.
"It's okay, you're safe." I cooed when I heard a gasp, then I turned and saw Glimmer standing there. She threw the spear in her hand and I whipped out an arrow and shot it at her. It landed in her neck and her cannon went off. I sighed in relief when I heard it but stiffened at what I heard next.
"Katniss." Rue whimpered. I turned around and my heart nearly stopped. There she was pulling the bloody spear from her stomach. She dropped it and collapsed in my arms.
"You're okay, you're going to be okay." I said, my voice shaking as tears fell down my cheek.
"Did you blow up the food?" she asked, barely above the whisper. I nodded and she blinked, letting a tear fall. "Good. You have to win." she whispered.
"I promise." I said, another promise, to her and to Prim, that I am going to win.
"Can you sing?" she asked and I nodded again.
"Deep in the meadow,
under the willow.
A bed of grass,
a soft green pillow."
I sang and continued as I laid her down with her jacket zipped up and crossed her arms over her chest. I stood up and picked some wild flowers and laid them all out around her. When I was done I started to walk away but one last thing came to mind. I turned around, found a camera, pressed my three middle finger to my lips and held them up for everybody to see. I know this is going to get me into a heap of trouble, but right now it didn't matter. I didn't care. The Capitol just killed an innocent child, she probably never did one bad thing in her life. With tears running down my face I finally walked away. Soon, I couldn't take it anymore, I had to stop. The tears were too much and I couldn't see where I was going. She was so much like my sister, like Prim. When I saw her pull the spear out of her stomach, I saw Prim. That vision sit in my mind, haunting, not allowing the tears to stop. So I sat down and I cried, for the first time in a long time.
~Brutus~
"Do you really think this is going to work Haymitch?" I clarified as we walked to the Gamemaker Center.
"Yes, the Capitol loves the love story between Cato and Katniss." he said as we walked along. "It'll work."
"And what about Peeta? He's Spitfire's best friend, she won't like him dying." I pointed out.
"He's already come to terms with dying and understands that Katniss only sees him as a brother. And he's okay with it." he said but I didn't quite believe it. We finally made to the Gamemakers room and Seneca stood there waiting to talk to us.
"What can I do for you?"
"We have a proposition for you." Haymitch said.
"How hard would it be to get two Tributes out of the Games?" I asked and Seneca doubled over in laughed.
"It simply isn't possible." he said wiping a fake tear from his eyes.
"Even if it's Cato and Katniss?" Haymitch asked. "The Capitol loves these two. If only one comes out you will lose them. You've seen them in the Games, they love each other. And think of the uproar the Capitol will bring if you kill off one of them." he wagered and Seneca thought for a moment.
"I'll see what I can do. Now if you'll excuse me." he said before turning away from us and going back into the Gamemakers room.
"That went well." I said as we walked away from the closed door.
"Let's just hope it works." Haymitch said.
~Katniss~
"Attention Tributes. There has been a sudden rule change. The last two Tributes standing may win this years Hunger Games. May the odds be ever in your favor." Claudius said over a giant speaker as I walked around to find the big river again. Cato and I could get out of here, we could win this together. But then there's Peeta, my best friend. I owe him so much after he saved my life. I don't know what I'm supposed to do. All of this was running through my head as I found the running river. My sigh of relief turned into a gasp when something grabbed my foot. I looked down and saw a face disguised as a rock.
"Peeta?" I gasped.
"Hi." he said weakly as I bent down to clear the rocks and plants off of him he used to disguise himself.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah except my leg." he said and we made quick work of cleaning him off. When I saw his leg I almost puked. "It's bad huh?" he said.
"It's not that bad." I lied as I poured water on it to wash the blood away.
"Katniss-"
"Shh" I shushed him.
"Katniss you don't have to-"
"No, you need help, I'm not gonna leave." I told him.
"What about Cato?"
"He's fine." I dismissed. At least I sure hope he is, but after what I did, I'm not sure if he is. When I had the wound cleaned of blood, the best that I could, I managed to get him up and limping with my help to a nearby cave. I laid him down and grabbed my bow and quiver. "I'm going to get some herbs for your leg, and find some food." I told him and he nodded. I was gone for a long time, long enough that it started to get dark. I had some herbs that would hopefully help but I wasn't sure. I walked back to the cave and found him shivering, even with his jacket on. I knelt down beside him and applied the herbs to his wound. Chewing them first before I put them on.
"How did this happen?" I asked him.
"A spear. Marvel caught me leaving the camp with some supplies and he got me. I just took the spear out and ran. He didn't chase after me though." he explained through his shivers and hissing from me touching his leg.
"Sorry." I apologized.
"It's not your fault."
"I know, I'm just sorry."
And this is how the next two days went. Peeta was getting worse and what I was trying to do wasn't helping him much. There weren't any more Parachutes. I don't know why Haymitch wouldn't send something. I hunted for food, I gathered water, I collected herbs, I tried to live the best that I could. Everyday I feared that Peeta, my best friend, was going to die. Everything I tried to feed Peeta wouldn't stay down. I didn't know what to do. I also hoped that Cato and Clove were okay. They didn't know how to hunt or survive without the supplies from the Cornucopia, they never tried. I counted off everybody that was alive in my head, me, Peeta, Cato, Clove, Marvel, Foxface, and Thresh. So few of us left but it still seemed like a lot, at least until two of us win. Every hour I hoped for an announcement for the Feast at the Cornucopia but none came, until later the night of the second day.
"Attention Tributes, at dawn there will be a Feast. And before you think about not coming hear me out. At the Feast is something each of you need very much. May the odds be ever in your favor."
"The medicine." I said trying to stand up.
"Katniss you can't go." Peeta said sternly, grabbed my jacket and pulling me back down to the ground.
"Why not? Peeta you're dying, I'm going to do anything I can to try and save you."
"Why are you doing this?" he asked in one last attempt to get me to stay.
"Because you're my best friend. You saved my life, now let me try to save yours." I told him before I gave him one last hug before I made my way to the Cornucopia. The feast isn't until dawn, but who knows how long it's going to take to get there.