Day 11 - Storm

The fish never came back. I guess they are starving us on purpose now. Yesterday we went to sleep soon, luckily nobody found us at night. Waking up close to him was nice. I felt protected and for the first time in these Games, I didn't feel cold at night.

Now it's almost noon again and we are relocating - away from that lake and closer to the caves and the Cornucopia. I feel my stomach grumble and protest, but I ignore it. It's now almost been 24 hours since we have last eaten - the bread that was sent to Cypress.

I stop and look back. Cypress stops behind me and says, "Should we stay here?"

I nod slowly and point in the direction ahead of us. "Yeah... see? There are the caves. Already visible through the trees."

He follows my finger with his eyes and nods. "Ah yes. I see it."

I try a smile and put my backpack down onto the ground. Cypress walks over to me but I look down. His voice is soft and low. "Val... what's wrong?"

I sigh. Why would he even ask that? We are almost down to top 5 and one of us is for sure going to die during the next couple of days. Instead of saying that I mutter, "Nothin'..."

But immediately I know that he won't let it go. He gently places one hand on my chin and lifts my head up so I have to look at him. I swallow. I know I don't deserve him.

Cypress looks me in the eye and again, he says, "What's wrong?"

I press my lips together and think about it before saying, "It's... I don't know if I can do this... I don't know if I can be with you while knowing that you could die, that I could die... that one of us needs to die."

He sighs and now uses both of his hands to cup my face. They feel warm on my cheeks, soothing. "Val... don't think about it. We can still do it, we can both make it."

I desperately want to kiss him now, but it would only make things worse. So instead I turn away, shaking off his hands. "No... we can't and you know it."

I hear him responding immediately. "Katniss and Peeta could..."

I pause, then I turn around to face him again. "Cyo... we are not Katniss and Peeta. After this went down last year, they will make sure it won't happen again."

Now Cypress looks down. It breaks my heart to see him like that. Hesitantly I close the gap between us and wrap my arms around him. "I'm sorry... this is not helpful."

I feel him hugging me too, his hands on my back pulling me as close as possible. "No... you're right. We shouldn't sugarcoat this whole thing."

I never want to let him go. Despite us being in the arena for almost two weeks now, his hair still smells good - like the forest and lemons and a morning in the mountains. "Okay... let's focus on not getting killed right now again."

Slowly he loosens his arms around me again and we part slightly. "I wonder where everyone is... I hardly ran into anyone while in the arena," he says

I shrug and say, "I'm not sure... it's a big arena. Someone might even be in those caves."

He nods lightly. "Probably. We never went in."

I smile. He makes me smile for no reason. "I did... it's confusing, a labyrinth almost and bitterly cold. I don't know why anyone would go there voluntarily."

Carefully he places a kiss on my forehead. "That sounds horrible..."

I nod and lean into him when I hear something in the trees above. Immediately I look up and a small cold drop hits my cheek. Rain. It's starting to rain.

Following that drop, the rain quickly increases. "We need to find shelter!" Cypress' voice is firm but pressing.

I look around quickly. "Yes! But where do we go?"

He holds onto my hand while thinking about it. "The caves?"

I shake my head right away. "No, no, no... I don't trust that thing. Maybe they'll let it crash down right where we are."

He nods. "The Cornucopia? It shouldn't be too far."

That thought makes me sick and I shake my head again. "No chance... I have seen too many people die inside that thing! It's a fucking death trap..."

He sighs as the rain turns into a pour. "Sorry, I forgot... Then just look for a tree or something. We can't keep standing here."

I nod and we walk deeper into the forest again, holding each other's hands - acting like the world depended on it.

There is a sudden flash of light followed immediately by a deafening boom, like a cannon, but clearly it's lightning and thunder. I can't help but flinch. Cypress notices my discomfort and pulls me along faster. "Come on..."

I stumble along behind him until we suddenly stop. He points at one of the pine trees and looks at me. It's a smaller tree but wide, and its heavy branches hang down low. I nod and immediately he pulls me over and we duck down underneath it.

It's too small to attract lightning so we should be okay. Barely any water makes it through all of the branches above. It's pretty decent as shelter.

Our eyes meet again as we are crouching on the ground next to each other, dirty and covered in rain and pine-needles. I can't help but grin and say, "For the fact that we look like shit we are doing pretty good."

Cypress smiles and shakes his head. "You could never look like shit..."

I feel the warmth rise to my cheeks again. Damn, I hate it when I'm blushing. "Cyo... stop it..."

Now he is grinning too. "Maybe I don't want to stop it..."

I roll my eyes and pick a needle out of his hair. "Then I'll make you."

"How would you make me?" He looks at me challengingly.

I pull him closer and start kissing him. I feel him react, allowing it to happen and kissing back. Parting my lips slightly I invite his tongue to meet mine. It feels like they're dancing, having their own little mingle that's not entirely ours. This is the last place I should feel safe at, but that's exactly how I feel.

Again lightning flashes over the sky, painting everything in shockwaves and shadows. Thunder follows and then right after it something that sounds like thunder again, but it's not. It's a cannon.

In shock we both freeze, slowly parting again. Somebody just died in that thunderstorm. We are down to the top 5 and we both made it.

A sense of relief washes over me, but at the same time, there is immense dread. This really is the last phase of the Games, it has this finality to it, this overwhelming pressure of what's going to happen.

Cypress leans back against the trunk. It's getting cold so I pull the towel out of my backpack and cover both of us with it.

As another flash of lightning illuminates the branches, a shiver runs down my spine and I know I want nothing more than to be close to Cypress again. Hesitantly I rest my head on his chest to hear his heartbeat rather than the thunder that is getting more distant now.

His voice vibrates softly in his chest when he speaks. "I wonder what happened..."

"I don't know... I wonder who it is." I say.

"We'll find out soon enough."

That's right, he's right. We shouldn't think about that now. However, I would give anything for it to be Rex, for Rex no longer being a problem. But I'm pretty sure the Gamemakers won't target him. He has way too many fans out there.

I try to push Rex out of my head and look up slightly to face Cypress. He notices and looks down. "Don't worry... it'll turn out okay."

I can't help but smile and say, "Yeah... okay."

He should really stop saying that, but I don't want him to stop telling me at the same time. It's nice to think that he's right. It's nice to think we'll get out of this arena alive, both. And as long as we are both alive I can hold onto that thought.

The rain starts to calm down. It's now much less like a storm about to end the world.

I take one of his hands in both of mine and start playing with his fingers while saying, "Tell me something nice... something about your home."

I focus on his hands as he softly says, "Something nice... that's kind of difficult. Our district has been kind of a mess since the victory last year. For a while, we have gotten some of the benefits we should but then they withdrew food altogether. People are starving again now, people are killed for the smallest crimes... But I can tell you about my family if you want."

That kind of catches me off guard. I thought things had improved in District 12 but it looks like the Victory has caused them more harm than good. I don't want him to think about that anymore so I say, "Yes... I would like that. Tell me about your sister."

His voice has a happier undertone to it again, "Mace... she is strong and smart. She helps mom in the shop - they fix things. Patch up boots and clothes, pans, and pots. My sister can also make shoes if someone brings in the leather. But not many people have the money."

I listen to his story. I have nothing to say, I just want to hear him talk so after a pause he continues, "When we were little we played in the shop a lot. One time I found mom's scissors and told Mace I would cut her hair if she didn't share her birthday-candy. She refused so I cut off her pony-tail."

I grin and he laughs. "That's horrible! Poor girl.", I say.

He only laughs harder now. "Yeah... she also didn't think it was funny. It took her hair two whole years to grow back to that length. But whenever we talk about it now, she laughs too."

I shift to sit up slightly and look him in the eyes. "You miss her a lot, don't you?"

He nods. "Yes, all of them. I wish I could see them again - just once."

I smile softly. "I hope you will..."

He smiles and carefully tugs a few loose strands of hair that are already dry again behind my ear. "Tell me about District 2... I have always wondered what it's like."

I hold onto his hand as he lowers it again with my own. "There's not that much to tell. It's beautiful where I live, similar to this forest here and we have the mountains. I like hiking a lot. Most people are well off. We only have a few poor people and since we have lots of victors, they get help."

He nods and looks down on our hands. "That would be great... but the richest people in my District are only rich enough to help their own families. And we only have three victors."

I study his face. He doesn't look sad while telling me, probably it's not too sad for him - it's normal after all. He looks up and meets my eyes again. "Do you prepare for the Games a lot?"

I am not sure how to answer that. It's prohibited to talk about the training centers so instead, I say, "Well... we have... school. There we do sports a lot and practice. In case we go into the Games. It's a great honor to be a tribute."

He seems to understand that it's not a good topic so instead of focusing on the school he focuses on the last part. "And are you here for honor?"

I bite down on my lip. "Originally yes... kind of... I'm here for Cato and to kill you... but now, I don't really know what I'm here for anymore."

He manages a grin and says, "How flattering that you don't want to kill me anymore."

I grin too and tousle his hair to mess it up again. "Don't think too highly of yourself because of that!"

He pouts and tousles my hair too before I can do anything about it. I laugh and wrestle his hands off. "Stooop... Now it looks stupid."

He grins and kisses me, instantly making me feel good again. "Let me fix it for you."

"You know how to do hair?"

He shrugs. "Not really... but let me try?"

I grin and undo the elastic, opening my braid that is overdue to be redone anyway. "Try not to rip it all out... everything else is okay."

I feel him carefully run a hand through my hair, removing tangles. "Alright... sounds easy enough."

I try to sit still and say, "If you need some kind of instructions, go ahead and tell me."

"Okay..." he says.

Every now and then I feel him tug but all in all he picks up braiding pretty fast after I tell him how the basic move works. While he does my hair the rain quiets down more and more and soon it stops.

After a while of silence, I hear Cypress' voice again, "How is your hair even so long?"

I smile. "I let it grow out ever since I was... like 6... once Cato stole a cookie from me and I was extremely pissed and turned around fast to tell mom but I somehow managed to hit him in the face with my ponytail and he started crying. That's when I knew I wanted long hair."

I hear a chuckle from behind. "I expected an answer like 'I think it looks better' but that is cool, I guess."

I'm about to respond when Claudius Templesmith's voice fills the air, "Attention tributes! Congratulations! You've made it to the top 5. As a gift to you all, there will be a feast, tomorrow at noon at the Cornucopia. I am sure you are all hungry... this is your chance to renew your stock of food."

Then it's quiet again. I sigh and stay quiet, Cypress doesn't speak up either. He finishes my braid in silence and ties the elastic around. Then I turn to face him.

I can't quite read his emotions. I think there's tension because of the feast and the horrible knowledge that we need to go - or we'll run out of food and be too weak to have a chance. Also something else, determination almost.

I press my lips together before sighing. "We should make a plan..."

Cypress nods. "Yes... first of all, tell me everything about the Cornucopia and how to get there fast and get away fast."