Song Suggestion: Grandson- "Blood/Water"
A/N: Thanks for the awesome reviews! Someone asked how long this story will be. The answer: about 10 to 15 more chapters, depending on how I edit the story. I still haven't finished writing some of the last scenes, though they are extensively outlined. I will continue updating every two weeks or so, and once I finish writing, I'll update once a week. After that, my dear readers, y'all can enjoy my new Harry Potter story, featuring Draco/ Hermione!
Rue's Lullaby
Prim screamed. It was an ugly sound, a savage sound, mixed with agony, and it hung in the air, echoing against the cliffs.
Prim launched herself at Cato's body. The wound on his neck still squirted blood. Prim placed her hand over it, attempting to hold it in. It pulsed warm through her fingers.
"Let him go," Gale said.
"I have to put it back." Prim cried, letting go of his neck wound to scoop up the blood.
Gale grabbed her by her shirt collar and tugged her away. Prim bucked against him, fighting to get back to Cato. Her shirt bunched up her torso, revealing her stomach and bra. Sand filtered down her pants as he dragged her away.
Prim's shirt made a popping sound as the seams started to break. Gale let go before it could rip in two, but it was to his detriment. Prim jumped to her feet and pounded at his chest and body.
"Stop," Gale said and wrapped her in a bear hug, attaching her arms to her side with his strength. "Stop Prim. I know you want to save everything, but the creature needed to die."
It did nothing to calm her down. Hot tears stung her eyes. Her whole being went numb. Prim renewed her struggle for several minutes, screaming and thrashing, until she couldn't. Then she went limp. Gale kept her cradled to his chest.
"I didn't realize you'd react that way. I'm not sure why you're so upset."
She barely registered what he said. It didn't make any pathways into her brain.
"He's dead," she said. It sounded lifeless coming out of her, as if she bled out with Cato.
"And a good thing to," Gale said, "Because he was about to kill you, so I say I saved you right on time."
Prim pulled back in confusion, pressing her hands against his chest to look up into his grey eyes. The muscles in her face distorted with her confusion. She sucked in a breath and reached up to wipe at her wet face.
"Kill me? Cato wouldn't do that."
Gale snorted. He let her go, loosening his grip. His snort soon became a loud laugh.
"Wait… y-you think I just…that I just…" he leaned over and pressed his hands against his legs for support, laughing hard.
Prim wiped at her face again. Her eyes felt puffy. She wasn't a pretty crier, everything swelled up and turned colors.
"Just spit it out."
Her mind still felt very much traumatized, and she was in no mood for this bullshit.
He wiped away his tears of mirth, smile so wide it showed his teeth. The bottom row was crooked and a few teeth in the back were missing due to poverty.
"I didn't kill Cato Carthage," he pointed behind him, "just look."
She gave a violent twist away from Gale, everything inside of her frozen. Cato's body lay on the ground, but now she could see Gale was right— It wasn't Cato.
The blood, once bright red, turned black and thick, almost a sludge consistency. The skin on his fingers began rotting, too fast of a decomposition for a normal corpse. It disintegrated over the course of several minutes as Prim rested in a squat position on the back of her boots, still attempting to regain her composure.
The sun crept higher over the golden sand, until it stood proudly in front of them. It was capitol-made, just like the rest of the surroundings, but the searing heat felt real enough. Her skin, already sunburned from the previous day, protested even the slightest touch of rays. She'd need to get to shelter for the hottest part of the day.
But she couldn't move.
She watched the doppelganger Cato dissolve with the growing sun. As the flesh melted, a grotesque exoskeleton emerged.
"What is it?" She asked Gale. "And how did you know it wasn't real?"
He shrugged.
"It came in your form to me, but it was too unyielding. I knew it was part of the trial, so I stabbed it. Mine melted faster. When it did, it was as if some veil ripped away, and I saw you in the distance."
"Did you even know it wasn't Cato?"
"I assumed."
She wanted to be angry at his violence, how he would have stabbed Cato real or not, but she was still too shaken to properly work up the emotion.
"It said it needed to get into the caves. It said it slept there."
"It was trying to lure you there."
"To do what?"
They both glanced at the exoskeleton, the shell of some horrid insect the capitol made to play on someone's fears.
"Based on how fucked up everything has been, probably eat you alive."
Prim snorted. She wasn't sure why. It wasn't funny, but she felt fragile now. Seeing Cato's body disintegrate made it more real that he may not survive the games, and she'd have to see it again.
"Where's Ruby?"
"I don't know. I only found you."
Prim pulled her eyes away from the doppelganger. It hurt physically to do so. She missed him, despite what he's done, and what he will do. She stood, wiping her hands on her pants.
"We need to find her."
Gale looked at her in exasperation, not feeling the same urgency she did. To Gale, Ruby was a problem, something that needed to be dealt with before it became a danger. She understood this, but she wouldn't allow him to steal her humanity with his fear. Ruby fell into her orbit, and it was her responsibility to save her now.
They began walking the sands again, leaving the Cato shell behind. She refused to look back at it. She already gave the Capitol enough ammunition. They undoubtedly viewed her freak out and came to conclusions too close to the truth for comfort.
"Why a bug in the skin of someone we care about?" Gale pondered out loud.
"Are you scared of clones or something?"
Gale snorted at the thought but didn't answer still in thought.
"It was a doppelganger." Prim said, in a moment of clarity.
"I think I've already gathered—"
"Are you afraid of me dying?" Prim paused as another thought struck her, "But why the monster under the disguise?"
Gale stopped and narrowed his eyes in thought.
"It wasn't my fear," he said.
Understanding hit both at the same time. They stared at each other. Gale clenched the knife in his hand a little harder, knuckles white around the hilt
"But if it's not mine or yours or Ruby's that means—"
"Someone else is here," Gale finished for her.
The ball in her stomach, her fear, began its rotation once again.
Ten Minutes Later
They searched for Ruby along the cliff side, keeping an eye on the pockets of caves dotting the grey stone. They were right to be wary of them, and she shivered to think that they walked through one. Did the monsters brush against them in the dark? Was that the voices they heard? Were they not allowed loose until the gong, tethered to the cold, stony depths?
They heard Ruby's voice first.
"Fuck, what have I done?"
Then they saw her, curled forward, head in her hands, as she glanced at the dead creature in front of her. The decomposition was advanced enough that whatever human it posed as was now no longer recognizable. Ruby still stared at it in the same stupor she supposed she was in just minutes before. A rock sat beside her covered in sludge-like black blood.
"It's not real," Prim said and laid a gentle hand on her shoulder.
"I know," Ruby said, "But I still did it. I killed him."
"Who was it to you?"
"My brother," Ruby said, "The Gamemakers keep bringing my family into this, and I'm starting to take it personally."
"Someone else is here," Prim said.
Ruby's eyes cleared themselves of cobwebs.
"How do you know?"
"It wasn't Gale's fear."
"Well, then-"
A man in a hood leaped out from behind a boulder, knocking Ruby to the side. A sword game up, glinting in the sun, and Prim didn't have time to get out of the way. She turned an inch to the right, but that inch saved her. The blade pierced her leg, making an incision to the bone.
Gale came in from the right, tackling the man to the ground. The sword thumped to the ground. For being the aggressor, he did not put up much of a fight. Gale's fist pounded up and down, until the man went limp.
Prim's vision felt hazy. The sharp spike of adrenaline started to fade, and she felt the pain now. It seared up her leg like a burn, setting her veins on fire. Prim resisted the numbness that wanted to settle over her mind, the shock. She needed to think.
Prim leaned over and pressed down on her wound. On inspection, Prim saw that it did not hit an artery. With a certain amount of pressure, she was sure she could get the bleeding under control.
The danger wasn't the bleeding; it was the risk of infection. The wound wasn't wide, but it was deep, plenty big enough for bacteria to burrow and fester.
Ruby leaned down as if shaking off her own shock. This was her test. Ruby could leave them now, could kill her while Gale was preoccupied. But Prim wasn't afraid. Not yet, not with the blood debt. District 1 and 2 ran on strict sets of codes and rules. Honor and pride were worth more than morality.
"What do you need me to do?"
"I need something to act as a tourniquet."
"Alright," Ruby reached up and took off her shirt, revealing a tight black sports bra. She wrapped it around Prim's upper thigh above the cut and tied it tight. It hurt more than Prim expected. She hissed in pain, unable to hold back the little sounds of agony escaping her lips.
"You could have used my shirt."
"Ah, well, the capitol kept me alive to give them a good show, so I'll give them a show worth their money."
Gale dragged the body of the man by the collar of his shirt and flung him inches away from her feet. Prim gasped in surprise.
The hood fell off in the fight, and Prim recognized the old man form District 9. He had a head full of wispy white hair, and his spotted, wrinkled hands still held a cane, despite having dropped his sword. Prim was impressed he still had the ability to jump to attack them. But this man was a victor. His body contained a spirit that outlasted twenty-three other opponents at one point in time, and she was certain it was still there.
"Is he alive?"
"Barely."
She waited for the relief to spread through her, but it came slower. Her leg throbbed, and the pain warped her mind. Despite not wanting his death, her survival instinct clawed at her soul. He needs to die, her own monster whispered inside her. The insidious voice shocked her, allowing Prim to come back to herself.
"I'll need to clean the wounds, but I'm not sure how without-"
"Prim," Gale said, "I'm only keeping him alive long enough to figure out his fear."
Prim's mouth came open. She wasn't sure why she was surprised, but the old man dying now seemed wrong. It wouldn't be in the heat of battle or in self-defense. It would be as cold as the metal needed to do the deed. Gale rolled his eyes at her expression.
"I can drag him away to do it, so you don't have to see, but he needs to die. It's better from us than someone like Jace who'd enjoy it."
She needed to stall him. She needed to think.
"No, you won't."
"Prim—"
"You're better than that."
Gale's jaw clenched, "Do you think Katniss would have let him live?"
Prim wasn't sure. It would be a grey area, but Prim hoped her sister wouldn't have been so cold-blooded. She killed Marvel to protect Rue. She killed Peeta on accident. Prim did not deny her sister had a beast inside her, but it always came out like justice.
"Yes," Prim answered.
Gale gave her a look clearly telling her she was deluded.
"You're wrong. Katniss would do what was necessary."
It was odd how two people contained such opposite memories of the same person, as if people reshaped the memories of the dead to suit their own beliefs.
"And how do you plan on getting the old victor to tell you his secrets?"
He grimaced, "I'll do what's necessary too."
For the first time, Prim glimpsed the cruelty in Gale with clear eyes.
Fifteen Minutes Later
One of the old man's brown eyes opened a few minutes later. He groaned. Blood made trails down his face from a gash on his forehead. His nose jutted at a weird angle, clearly broken, and he sported two black eyes. One eye swelled and bulged. His other stared at Prim, pleading.
"Water. Please, I need water." He rasped.
"He's awake." Prim said.
"Good," Gale said and grasped his white hair and tugged his head back, so they could look each other in the eyes. "I have a few questions before I put you out of your misery."
The old man spat in Gale's face. Gale grimaced and wiped off the sting of fluid. Then he raised his fist as if to strike him.
"You don't need to hurt him," Prim said.
"Shut up, Prim," Gale said.
Everything inside Prim froze in shock. He had never spoken to her like that before, sharp and demanding. As if he hated her even for a moment. The Gale she knew back in the woods was gentle with her. This new Gale demanded survival, and he let his claws show.
She was in so much shock she didn't correct him.
"Water," the old man said.
All traces of ill will left Prim at his plea. It was basic humanity to relieve his suffering, even if it wasn't likely he would survive much longer.
She scooted closer, ignoring the bolts of pain, so powerful it wanted to paralyze her. She'd need to get to the woods and try to find ingredients to make the salve to ward off infection. She might even be able to use a cactus needle for sutures if she could find some thread. After a few painful scoots, she reached out and grabbed the old man's hand. She squeezed and surprisingly he squeezed back.
"Prim-"
"Don't be a monster, Gale, don't be Cato. You can get what you want to know without hurting him."
The thought of being compared to the lion of District 2 must have been so repulsive that he drew back, unweaving his fingers from the man's hair, but a fire lit behind his eyes. He would not forget this anytime soon.
"Fine, I'll let you attempt it your way. But then it's my way again, and you can't stop me. I've already given you Ruby. I can't give you any more."
Prim knew Gale had this side to him, this cruelty, this hardness. It had peeked out from its cage a few times back in District 12. There was one time he poisoned a peacekeeper's coffee. It didn't kill him but landed him in the infirmary for several days. Then one time he broke a boy's nose who was sweet on Madge. It left the boy permanently disfigured.
Gale would kill for the Capitol, Prim knew this all along, but still, it broke something in her to see it. At least Cato never pretended to be something different. Gale surprised her with his ruthlessness.
"Water," the old man groaned, "I haven't had it since the beginning. I thought you…" He didn't finish, too exhausted.
"Was that why you attacked us? I'm sorry, but we don't have any. We found a barrel cactus that helped, but we're desperate too."
"You have a canteen. I had to try or die."
The canteen still hung on her belt, but it was useless and empty. She felt the effects of dehydration: throat parched, a headache pounding behind her eyes, her lips and skin dry as paper.
Gale groaned in frustration.
"Don't let him kill her," He told Ruby. Ruby sat against the cliff face out of the sun, her toned stomach contained a whole garden of flowers. It looked like an expensive painting. "I can't watch her be like this."
But as soon as Gale walked away, the old man pulled a knife from the top of his cane and pressed it against her throat anyway.
So much for humanity. Maybe it was the heat or the horrors or her thirst, but she did not feel afraid; instead, she felt pity.
"Give me your water." He demanded. His eyes flicked up to Ruby, who was already moving towards him "And you stay put and keep your mouth shut or she dies." Ruby sat back down.
"I already told you, we don't have any," Prim said.
"I could kill you."
"You could," Prim nodded. The tip of the blade cut into her skin. It was clever of him to hide a weapon in his cane. She wondered how he got it past the Capitol.
His eyes narrowed and then he sighed and leaned back his head, giving up.
"No, I couldn't. What would be the point? I won't live long now. I'm too old. It would be obscene for me to win when someone young with a full life ahead of them could take my place. That's why I entered in the first place. They wanted to put in sweet little Albert. He didn't deserve this fate."
"I'm sorry," Prim said. "That you're dying. I wish I could ease your pain."
The old man looked at her strangely, the same way Brighton, Ruby, and Theodora did. As if she was somehow dangerous, despite not showing any aggression.
"There's not many people who would give comfort to the person who tried to kill them."
Ruby snorted, the first sound she made this whole time.
"You're not special. She has a savior complex that's going to get her killed soon."
The old man searched Prim's face, making her feel self-conscious.
"You look like my granddaughter."
And then he began to weep.
There was nothing she could say or do that could ease his pain, so she said nothing but tightened her grip.
Ruby gave a groan of disgust that equaled Gale's and looked the opposite direction. Prim assumed she either was repulsed by the display of emotion, or it made her uncomfortable because it made her feel empathy towards someone slated to die.
The old man noticed Ruby looking elsewhere, and as if calling on his last vestige of strength, he let go of Prim's hand and reached into his pocket. When he pulled it back out, he placed a small object into her hand.
Prim glanced up to see if Gale was around or if Ruby saw, but the girl with the rose tattoo still faced the opposite way.
Prim attempted to give it back, but the old man pressed her fingers down over the object.
"I have no one else and no use for it. You've given me comfort in death, something I did not expect in a place so harsh." His voice grew lower, the softest of whispers. "There may come a time when you will need for the world to stop."
Prim startled. The world to stop? She gave a brief glance to the thing in her hand. It was a small pill shaped silver object with a button on top.
She heard of these things. A time stopper. It didn't really stop time, despite the name, it only sped up the user's senses, creating the perception that time stretched and increased the user's speed. It would be useful in tight situations where snap decisions needed to be made. She placed it in her pocket, making sure no one saw.
It was a valuable weapon, the equivalent of gold in the games.
He did not weep again.
"Now, let me look at your face while I can, so I can remember my Adeline, my granddaughter."
Two Minutes Later
Gale came back into view only a few minutes later.
"Ruby, come and pull Prim back. I gave her bleeding heart the time it needs, and now I don't want her interfering."
Ruby did as she was told, gripping Prim under her arms and dragging her back to the side of the cliff face. Prim attempted to keep a grip on the old man's hand, but it was ripped away.
The old man looked so vulnerable laid out, blood still dripping down his face. He groaned, but Gale showed no mercy. He once again yanked back the white hair.
"Tell me what you fear."
The old man's lips pressed together, until they were as white as his hair.
Gale punched him in the face. The old man moaned, but Gale did not have sympathy.
"One more time, and this time you'll answer," Gale said, "What do you fear?"
"Please just tell him," Prim said. Her cheeks were wet with tears.
The old man looked at Prim when he answered, an expression of complete brokenness, as if everything was stolen.
"Holes."
"You're lying. You have to be, or something doesn't add up."
"He's telling the truth," Prim said. He was broken enough that a lie would be pointless.
Gale thought for a moment and finally nodded, agreeing with her.
"Too bad, it should have solved the mystery."
Gale wasted no time and brought the knife to the old man's throat and slashed it across. A thick band of skin opened on his wrinkled neck and a river of blood poured out. It looked as if the old man wanted to scream, but no sound came out.
The cannon sounded.
It all happened so fast, Prim wasn't sure how to process it. She went limp. Ruby released her and faced the wall. The death didn't sit right with Ruby either, Prim could tell by her expression. Prim assumed she was okay with the death itself, just not the way it was carried out.
Prim crawled forward again. Gale backed away and let her near.
"Prim—"
"Don't talk to me."
"I had to!"
Prim glanced at him, wanting to rage at him, but everything inside her felt stripped raw. She knew death would be in this game, but an old man with a granddaughter named Adelaide had no place here, and he did not deserve such a cruel death, even if he did stab her leg, thinking she had water. Did Gale feel the stain? He did not look remorseful. Tension hardened the lines on his face.
Prim continued her crawl towards the old man. Her leg hurt, but it had stopped bleeding. She would have to try walking on it soon, but not right this moment.
When she reached the corpse, she brought a hand up and closed both eyes and placed his hands across his chest, attempting to give him a sliver of dignity for his loved ones at home. No one did this for Katniss, and she would have been grateful to see her body at peace.
She did not have any flowers like Katniss did for Rue, but she could give him something else.
The words to the Rue's lullaby slipped passed her lips, floating in the air. Prim couldn't sing well, but she made sure each word was clear and punctuated: a clear and final message to Panem. She made a judgement with the notes, ruling them guilty of this obscenity.
It wasn't until a capitol hovercraft came and took away the body that she realized four things.
She did not know the Old Man's name.
She once again publicly said fuck you to Snow
The rebellion she was supposed to extinguish just sparked back to life.
It did not scare her anymore.
Late Morning
Ruby and Gale walked towards the Cornucopia; Prim hobbled, every step a miniature hell. They gave in to the unending thirst and heat. There was nothing in the desert to continue survival. They tried to reach the forest through the cactus wall, but there were no openings to be found. The Cornucopia was the easiest way to get to the forest, but it was also the most dangerous. It was where the strongest usually camped out, which meant Cato. Or Theodora. Or even worse: Jace.
They had no other choice though. Soon the lack of water would make even blood look appetizing. Her throat was fire, and she had never been in so much physical pain in her life. She whimpered and cried, being weaker about pain than she wanted, until her body dried of water.
The sun beat down on them, and it neared another gong. They needed to get to the cornucopia, get into the forest, find water and food, and camp out somewhere safe. She guessed they had thirty minutes to complete all the tasks.
"There it is," Gale said. He had wrapped his shirt around his head to protect himself from the overbearing sun and sand. Thick red patches wrapped around his back and shoulders, and despite the protections, his cheeks blistered. Prim's face felt the same, chapped and dry as leather. She couldn't smile without hurting. Ruby's face matched the color in her rose.
Prim still had not forgiven Gale just yet, but survival took precedent. More than likely she only had a day at most, probably less, and Prim did not want to spend it angry, even if he deserved it.
The Cornucopia gleamed in front of them, golden as a treasure box and just as enticing.
They crept forward in silence, the only noise the wind picking up sand at their feet.
When they reached the Cornucopia, they realized it was for nothing. No one was there, or at least no one wanting to be seen. Up close, Prim looked at the pyramid. Its sides glowed, smooth like glass. Most years it resembled a basket, but this year was different. There was no opening that she could see. The supplies piled on the outside at the beginning, though she doubted there would be any left. It rose to a sharp point, and its glare could blind if looked at long enough. The only break in the smooth sides was a little notch, facing the desert side, and as they walked towards the desert, she noticed a similar one facing it as well.
"Look food," Ruby exclaimed, "And water!"
At the base of the Cornucopia was a small cache of dried jerky and several glass bottles of water. It looked like a trap, but the thirst and hunger in her overcame any common sense. They sprinted towards the food and water, yanking the cartons open and guzzling them down so fast a few trickles dripped down her throat. They ate like crazed animals, tearing strips off and not even chewing before swallowing the meat whole.
When they finished, they collapsed against the smooth metal of the pyramid, stomachs aching, and only then did they look around in trepidation.
"It's odd no one's here," Gale said. "I thought for sure I'd have to fight off one of those fucking careers." He looked at Ruby and winked. They still did not like each other, but sometime since the doppelgangers, Gale had stopped insisting that Prim get rid of her.
"It's getting old explaining I was reaped."
"Still a career."
Ruby rolled her eyes.
"I wonder if we will still get a trial here when the gong rings. Does it just work in the different sections?" Prim asked to change the subject.
"I guess we'll find out soon." Gale said, "We haven't got long. If we walk in the forest now, we'll be walking in blind. At least in our position, we can see someone coming."
They were silent for a long time before Gale spoke again, his eyebrows furrowed in thought.
"There's something that's bothering me. I can't get it off my mind. The doppelgangers weren't from the old man."
"I think the bigger question we need to ask is who the fuck's scared of holes" Ruby said.
"No, there's only one question that matters right now."
"And that is?"
"Whose fear was it?"
All three of them looked at each other, but they should have been looking ahead.
"Hello, little bird," a voice growled.
Cato walked around the corner and gave them a feral grin, his blue eyes turning molten when he saw Prim, as if he wanted to kiss her or kill her and he couldn't decide which. His hair looked blonder from the sun, fringing his eyes.
Seeing him she wondered how she ever could have thought the doppelganger looked authentic. The intensity couldn't be replicated, like a sparking live wire. He had his shirt in his pocket, leaving his expansive torso bare and bronzed and pink from the sun. Sand left a fine silt across his skin.
"Found you," Cato said, voice hard as steel. "You have a lot of explaining to do after I kill the rat and whatever mutt is hiding behind you."
Gale shot up, snarling back at Cato. He must be as exhausted as Prim felt, but he lowered himself into a crouch, the old man's sword raised in warning. Prim held the knife, though it was useless to her.
"Ah, good, there's still fight left." Cato reached around to his belt and slid a machete out, "I've been waiting for a kill that doesn't just piss and scream at the sight of me."