DISCLAIMER: HG characters do not belong to me.
Words not spoken in English will be italicized.
Warning: some material may be intense.
Chapter 40-Warning
Katniss and Red Bear met up with the three Sioux members-Walks without Sound, Earth, and Little Bull at the arranged meeting place. Walks without Sound the tribe member who can speak the Arikara language, informed Katniss it was wise that they did not approach the Arikara without him, for if they had, most likely they would not have cooperated. They got back to camp late that night instead of in the morning due to Katniss and Red Bear traveling on horse with the others. While approaching camp, Katniss radioed Gale to let him know they were coming and to turn the motion sensors off.
He seemed pleased she was back so soon. "Try to get a good night's rest, I want to leave first thing at dawn" he said to her as she set up her tent for the night.
Katniss asked if Spencer had returned along with the Native women, Gale's demeanor changed and he said, "Yes-everyone is here except the two tribesmen. They refused to come and we didn't want to force them. I don't think they liked that we forced the women on the ship, we had to sedate them."
Katniss didn't look surprised. She wondered where Blackmoon and Silver Horse went, did they stay behind? Should Earth or Little Bull go find them?
"Where are the women now?" Katniss asked.
"Sleeping, they haven't woken up since we sedated them."
"I will have Walks without Sound talk to them first thing in the morning."
"Is he the one who speaks the language?" Gale asked.
"Yes."
"Make sure he apologizes to them for us, I hope they can understand that we were just trying to protect them when we took them."
"I'll pass the message along" Katniss responded, unsure of how that will go over.
The next morning Katniss talked to Walks without Sound and Red Bear. Red Bear decided that Little Bull and Earth would head out to try to find Blackmoon and Silver Horse and return to the village. If they didn't find them, they were to return to the village regardless. It was a long journey and it was best to travel as a pair. They took two horses with them.
Walks without Sound found the two Native women and spoke with them. Katniss learned that their names were Bright Flower and Night Star. They were pretty upset to be taken in the 'flying object' as they called it. They had Walks without Sound translate to Katniss that they planned to have rituals to cleanse the 'evil energy' they were exposed to. They also informed Katniss they felt betrayed by Gale for tricking them onto the ship in the first place. Katniss informed them through translation that she was the one who taught him the words, and that she was sorry about what happened. Katniss could tell they were not accepting the apology.
Katniss, Gale, Spencer, Abraham, Red Bear, Bright Flower, Night Star, and Walks without Sound headed out for the Arikara village after breakfast. Gale had everyone else on standby at the hovercraft and explained he would send a distress signal if the felt they were in danger and needed the hovercraft to come right away. They walked for over 6 hours, because they had to go the long way around the mountain. When they finally reached the outskirts of the village, Walks without Sound informed the group he and Red Bear would approach first, but that did not end up happening. An arrow was shot right past Abraham's head, flying straight into a tree. All eight of them stopped dead in their tracks. Katniss hears Walks without Sound start to shout, not able to make out his words. Slowly, the Arikara men reveal themselves. Some were high up in the trees, some hiding behind trees. Fifteen men appeared, all of them with war paint on their faces and feathers in their hair. They looked at them in a threating manner.
Walks without Sound spoke again, this time speaking in a normal voice. Katniss notices the men's faces appear to look less threatening, but still reserved. One of the men begins speaking back to Walks without Sound. After a few more minutes of exchanged conversation Walks without Sound turns to Katniss and Red Bear and says, "They will take us to the two soldiers. They also want us to remove the cameras, though they say they have known about the cameras for a long time. They didn't remove them out of fear of the Capitol coming for them."
'Just as I thought' Katniss said to herself.
"Will they release the soldiers?" Katniss asked. She knew she needed this question answered before talking to Gale.
"They want to talk to Bright Flower and Night Star first-alone."
"No-we need to make the trade." Katniss knew there was no way Gale would allow the two women to return unless Sloan and Reggie were released.
Walks without Sound gave Katniss a look but then turned to the Arikara men and began speaking. The conversation became more heated, hands waving, voices raised. Finally, Walks without Sound turned back to Katniss and said, "They said they found four white men while scouting the area and brought them to the village last night."
'Jay Killers' Katniss thought to herself. This would only work in their favor.
"Inform them those men they found are the ones who took Bright Flower and Night Star."
He translated her words back. Katniss saw the exchanged glances between the men.
"They want us to go to the village now."
Katniss didn't ignore the fact that her request was not answered, "What about the trade?" she demanded.
"They just said we have to go to the village now" Walks without Sound said.
Katniss sighed and looked to Gale who looked at her questioningly. She walked over to him and whispered, "We need to go to the village now. I think they will do the trade, but I am not positive. They found four more Jay Killers and brought them to their village."
"Katniss-"Gale began but she just put her hand up signaling him to stop. She pleaded with a look in her eyes for him to go along with the request.
He did and motioned for Abraham and Spencer to follow.
When they reached the village, Katniss could see the village looked exactly like it did in the images she saw from the hovercraft. There were two sections of the village, the main section that was hidden from the stationary cameras and a smaller section where the cameras were. Katniss saw that the Arikara had a lot of dogs, it appeared each family had their own pack of dogs they cared for. Katniss assumed they used the dogs for hunting and wondered if that is how they found the Jay Killers.
They had them stand in a single line horizontally. Bright Flower and Night Star were immediately greeted by the tribe members, some of them hugging them fiercely.
They then had Sloan, Reggie, and the four Jay Killers come out, each one tied up and escorted by a tribe member. When Sloan saw Gale she cried out, "Commander!" but was immediately smacked on the shoulder to remain quiet. Katniss saw Gale move forward automatically wanting to confront the Akrikara tribe member for hitting Sloan, but Katniss grabbed his arm, pulling him back. Katniss saw Reggie had a look of relief on his face though he remained silent. They Jay Killers stared at Katniss, though they too did not move or make a sound.
A lot of conversing happened between Bright Flower, Night Star and the rest of the Arikara. Katniss saw that the tribe wasn't large-it looked like there were about 100 members.
The Arikara then took Sloan and Reggie and untied them. Both of them ran towards Gale, Spencer, and Abraham. Katniss breathed a sigh of relief-obviously Bright Flower and Night Star informed them that Gale's group saved them.
One of the Arikara men, an older man who Katniss guessed was either the tribe leader or someone else who held a position of power, spoke with Walks without Sound for a few minutes. Walks without Sound came up to Katniss and said, "They want the cameras down now."
Katniss nodded and walked over to Gale and informed him of the request. He had Spencer and Abraham get out the coordinates and equipment. Katniss had Walks without Sound inform the tribe members of what to expect.
While Abraham and Spencer were working on the cameras, Katniss, Gale, Reggie, Sloan and Red Bear were standing off to the side, about 20 feet away from the Jay Killers. Katniss could feel their eyes on her-staring at her with disgust. Red Bear could sense her uneasiness and laid a hand on her shoulder.
Gale noticed her discomfort as well. He walked over the men and said, "Where is Geffen?"
One of the men grunted and scoffed, "Long gone-you won't find him."
"We will" Gale responded in a threatening tone.
"We see you have the mockingjay, good thing these savages captured us or else she would be on her way to see Geffen as we speak. When he finds her, and he will find her, he is going to kill her slowly."
"That's never going to happen" Gale responded in a surprisingly calm tone.
"It will, the Capitol won't be able to protect her forever, members of our group are everywhere, there are more of us than you think. Geffen is very familiar with different methods of torture, he taught us a lot. He will so enjoy watching the life fade from her eyes when she finally gives up."
Gale punched the man square in the jaw and then grabbed him by the neck, chocking him. Since the man was tied up he could not defend himself but tried to kick Gale. The Arikara paid no attention, Katniss however looked on in horror. "Gale" she cried running over to him with Red Bear behind her.
Red Bear had to wrestle with Gale to get him off the man. The other three Jay Killers stood firmly in place-not moving a muscle.
"Gale" Katniss said as Red Bear pulled him away from the men.
Gale wriggled out of Red Bear's arms and said, "I'm fine, I'm fine."
The man Gale punched slowly got to his feet, struggling since he was tied up. Once he was able to stand he said, "Why hello there girl on fire, still living with the savages I see."
Katniss glared at the man but before she could respond Gale again walked up to him and seethed, "I thought I warned you before."
Katniss was the one this time who pulled Gale away. They walked away from them quickly.
Walks without Sound came up to Katniss and said, "I asked them why they killed the other soldier's and captured these two. They said that they came across another group first who opened fire, killing one of their tribesmen. They then ran into the Capitol soldiers and were not taking any chances. They decided to attack first. It is what they have always done. After they killed the three soldiers they found the other two-they were trying to run. They decided to capture them hoping that whoever came looking for them might have Bright Flower and Night Star. That's also why they decided to capture the four men they found yesterday instead of killing them. They have decided after speaking with Bright Flower and Night Star that the men will burn."
"What?" Katniss said surprised.
"The four men are to be burned, once the cameras come down."
Katniss tried to process what she just heard. 'These men were bad-maybe this is what they deserve' she thought to herself. A part of her though just didn't feel right about it. It just seemed so unlike what the Sioux would do. 'But they are not the Sioux' Katniss thought to herself.
"If they knew about the cameras this whole time, why is it when a tribe member moved to another tribe they did not warn the other tribes of the cameras?" This thought just popped into Katniss's mind.
"I asked, they said they decided to keep it within the tribe-no one was to know about the cameras, no matter which tribe an Arikara member married into. Each tribe has its own secrets you know."
Katniss pondered what Walks without Sound said, it made sense. But she still didn't find it comforting to know they didn't even trust the other tribes to tell them about the cameras. Yet here they were, taking the camera's down for them. Going out of their way to help them. She was just glad they released Sloan and Reggie.
Katniss told Gale what Walks without Sound said. She could tell he was not happy with that explanation. She also told him how the Jay Killers would be killed.
"What? No-we need to bring them back to the Capitol" he said.
"We can't. There is no way they will allow us to take them. They are responsible for capturing two of their tribe members and raping them. Are you really surprised by this Gale?"
"You can't be okay with this" he said.
"I'm not, I am not okay with a lot of things about this place. I just want to get out of here."
Gale nodded and turned to see Spencer and Abraham walking back.
"We got everything. Two cameras were destroyed" Spencer said.
Before they could leave, the Arikara had tied up the four Jay Killers to a wooden post. The Arikara forced Gale, Katniss, Spencer, Abraham, Sloan, and Reggie to watch as the posts were lit on fire, slowly starting to smoke.
"Do something-please!" one of the Jay Killers cried out to Gale and the others-eyes pleading. Katniss noticed that Gale and his soldiers just looked down, unable to make eye contact. She saw that the man Gale had fought with just stared ahead-no emotion on his face.
Katniss couldn't watch as the flames reached their bodies-blood curtailing screams pounding into her ears. She even hears the screams of the man Gale fought with. She turns around and falls to her knees-shaking and crying. She feels Gale kneel down behind her and reach out, she buries her head into his chest, trying not to listen. She feels him rub her back soothingly.
Eventually, the screams subside and then end completely. Katniss releases her grip on Gale-realizing she had held onto his clothing as if she was a baby afraid of being torn away from its mother. She wipes away the tears on her face and hears Gale say softly in her ear, "It's over, they're dead."
She nods and stands up and turns around, not looking at the poles but trying to find Red Bear and Walks without Sound. She sees both of them standing by the Arikara. Katniss could tell by Red Bear's stance that he didn't want to stand there, she assumed he was forced. The Arikara leader says something and Walks without Sound says, "Let this be a warning to others in the future, stay away and leave our people alone."
Katniss translated it to Gale, Spencer, Abraham, Sloan, and Reggie without emotion in her voice and turns around and starts walking away. Red Bear quickly catching up with her and walking beside her.
They walked for two miles in silence, not saying anything. Finally Gale said, "How about we take a break?"
Everyone nods and sits down, Red Bear and Walks without Sound figuring out they were taking a break. The two go off to the side and watch Katniss as she sits by herself-staring.
Gale notices she has a blank look on her face. He walks up to her and says, "Katniss."
She is unresponsive, staring straight ahead. He kneels down and tries to look at her in the eyes. She finally looks back. "You okay?" he asks.
"No."
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"Not in front of your soldiers."
"Come on" and he motions for her to follow him, they walk so that they are far enough away, but still in sight of the others.
"Talk to me" he says once they stop walking.
She looks off to the side, the blank look returning in full force. "I don't-I don't know if I can go on this way Gale."
"What do you mean?"
"I came here to find peace, to try to get over everything that has happened. I thought I found a culture and a people that were ten times better than anyone in the Panem, but what I just saw made me realize-even up here, it is no different."
"You have met good people Katniss. You can't forget what Rain and Red Bear and the others have done for you."
"I am tired of people dying because of me. Maybe it is better if I just-disappear into the woods-fake my own death."
Gale grabbed Katniss by the shoulders, forcing her to look at him. "No. You can't do that. People in Panem need you, your Mother, Haymitch, Peeta, me—"
"You?" she says quizzically.
"Yes-me. I need you. I have had many friends in my life, but I only had one best friend. One person who I had the type of friendship with that I could tell that person anything, trust that person with anything-that person is you."
"I feel the same way."
"I know I said once we should run away into the woods-but I didn't mean you doing it alone."
"How many more people will have to die?"
"Katniss-you can't blame yourself for those men. They chose to follow Geffen, they chose to come up here. As for my soldiers-if anything the fault is mine, I sent them after Geffen's men."
"No" Katniss said looking desperately at him. "It's not your fault."
"It's not yours either."
Katniss looked down, he sees tears start to form in her eyes. "We have Sloan and Reggie back, that's all the matters. We never have to see the Arikara again" he says to her.
She nods not looking up. "I just want to this to be over with."
"It will be soon, you only have one more tribe to visit. A tribe you said has the best relationship with the Sioux."
Katniss thought about what Gale said. She hoped she would see the kind actions she saw in the Sioux with the Cheyenne. She needed to see kindness again, after seeing such horror today.
"You're right" she whispered.
He smiles at her, relieved she is no longer talking about running away. "Let's go Catnip" he says playfully hitting her shoulder and walking away.
She tilts her head up, watching him as he walks away. For the first time in over seven years he has called her Catnip again. She realizes at that moment how much she missed hearing it-happy that the familiar nickname has returned.
