Thank you to all those who favorited this story and put it on alert. A special thanks to Dancing-Souls, who reviewed almost every chapter! That really warmed my heart that you took the time to do that. Moving on to the story, a previous statement made my April about a certain day will come up near the end of this chapter. I think it's a really heartwarming moment for her and Merrick, even if he can't be there with her.
Disclaimer: Sadly, Suzanne Collins owns the Hunger Games and everything involved with it, but I own my characters. So, don't steal them. Please? Thank you.
I feel the adrenaline running through my veins
Spotlight on me and I'm ready to break
Better be ready, hope that you feel the same
All eyes on me, in the center of the ring
Just like a circus
Chapter 13: Thirst of the Mind
A loud crunch accompanied by a low whine awoke me with a start. It wasn't quite light yet, the sun barely peaking over the horizon, but it would be early enough for us to get started with our day. That was as long as no one was around to see us climb down from our haven. As I finally fully adjusted to being awake, I could see Katniss leaning over the edge of the bowl, with no regard that someone could be around.
"Katniss, get back," I whispered. I pulled lightly at her jacket to try and get her full attention. "I heard something and someone could be out there."
Katniss shook her head before looking back to me, a small grin on her face. "One of my snares caught something."
I sighed in relief at her words; it would be nice to have some fresh meat. "That's good, because I kind of only rationed my food for one person," I said sheepishly. It wasn't that I was against sharing with her. It just meant the food wouldn't last as long.
Katniss chuckled as she started to gather her belongings and roll up her sleeping bag. "Don't feel bad. I did the same thing."
I followed her movements, quickly stuffing my own sleeping bag into my pack. The faster we got moving, the more distance we could put between the Careers and ourselves. It was strange how much could change in just a day. Twenty four hours before, I had been aligned with five people, Crest included. Waking up in the tree, all I had was him and Katniss. I looked around slowly, wondering if Crest was out there keeping an eye on me. As much as it pained me to know that my victory meant his death, it was nice to have that comforting feeling of something I could only compare to a guardian angel. I wanted desperately to know why he was so willing to sacrifice his life for mine, but with no Crest in sight, I had to keep my head.
We climbed down the tree slowly and quietly, wary of anyone that might be in the area. We knew if anyone had heard the snare, they would have come running, but it didn't hurt to be extra cautious. Throwing caution to the wind was something that could easily get either of us killed. Once we were close enough to the ground and it was apparent that no one was in the area, we jumped the last of the distance, landing with a soft thud.
Katniss took a look around once before signaling for me to follow her. I assumed she was leading us to the snare she had mentioned. We both had food in our packs, even if it was very little, but it was still going to be nice to have fresh meat instead of the dried kind I had found in my bag the day before.
When we made it through a batch of small trees, Katniss knelt down, untying a series of knots before standing up, showing me a skewered squirrel. I had never eaten squirrel before, but it would be stupid of me to refuse fresh meat.
As if sensing my thoughts, Katniss looked up at me as she pulled out a knife from her pack. "Have you ever had squirrel?" She asked. Running her finger along the edge of the blade, she tested the sharpness to see if it would cut the animal.
I shook my head at her question. "Can't say that I have, but there's always a first time for everything," I said with a soft chuckle. As she began her task of skinning the animal, I extended my trident to its full length and placed my pack on the ground. "I'm going to make sure no one is around and get some firewood to cook that with." I had gutted plenty of fish through my life, but it wasn't pleasant; I had no intention of sticking around to see her do her work on the small animal.
I knew when walking through the forest I needed to watch my footing; any sound I made could alert animals or potential threatening tributes to my whereabouts. I tried to pay attention to my surroundings as best I could, but the dense and lush greens of the trees were something to behold. There wasn't much of a forest near my village, just a small gathering of trees around a clearing a few miles inland. Even that was nothing compared to the beauty that surrounded me. If death wasn't such a constant threat, it would have been much easier to enjoy.
As I picked up the first few sticks that would help start the fire, I heard the snap of something behind me. Turning quickly, I gripped the handle of my trident tightly, moving into an offensive stance. I wasn't going to be taken off guard if there was someone close by. A few more minutes passed before I heard another crunch followed by three more quick light rustling noises. At first, I thought someone might have started running toward me but the noise stopped almost as soon as it started. I turned in a quick circle, making sure to survey every tree in sight, but there was nothing to see. I turned back to where the noises had come from just in time to see a rabbit jump out from behind a tree. It didn't stick around long before bolting away after seeing me.
I sighed and lowered my trident, going back to picking up firewood. Once I had gathered enough, I made a quick circle around where I knew Katniss was, making sure that we were truly alone. Satisfied that we wouldn't be happened upon, I made my way back to her just in time for her to finish skinning the squirrel.
"Perfect timing," she commented, laying the animal on a nearby rock. She picked up one of the sticks I had found and started sharpening the end of it. I assumed she would be using it as a skewer, and I was correct.
Katniss had me work on starting a fire, and I tried to remember what she had shown me when I was with her and Peeta in the training center, as well as the tips from the Capitol trainer. I hadn't been terrible at it when practicing a few days ago, taking a bit longer than Katniss had. I moved the stick between my hands as fast as I could, rubbing it against the larger piece of wood until I could see sparks and embers. It took me a few minutes, but I finally got the fire started and we sat cautiously together as the squirrel cooked.
"So, your sister…" I started, searching my mind for the name they had called out at the reaping.
"Prim," Katniss supplied, cautiously and quietly.
"Right. Prim. Is she your only sibling or do you have others?" I had found it easier to trust Cato when he had shared about himself, and while I trusted Katniss, I didn't know how much she trusted me.
"It's just Prim and Mom back home," Katniss replied simply. It was a start. She rotated the squirrel, and I could see on her face that she was contemplating telling me more. I didn't have to wait long for her to open her mouth again. "She's just twelve. Her name was only in there once, and I couldn't believe they called her name. And I couldn't let her come in here."
I nodded, understanding completely what she meant. It always killed me when there were kids that young selected for the Games. They never stood a chance. Finnick had been lucky enough to have been training most of his life when he was reaped at fourteen. Anyone else would have been pummeled on the first day, but he had survived.
Katniss took that moment to take the squirrel off of her makeshift spit, tearing off a leg for each of us and putting the rest away in her pack. After she handed me my portion, I took a small bite. I chewed on the meat slowly, testing out the flavor. It wasn't the worst thing in the world, but there was no way I was complaining about fresh meat. It was ten times better than the dried meat in my pack. We ate in silence, both cautiously looking around to see if anyone had been alerted by the fire. It was obvious she didn't want to stay in the area too long.
Once we finished eating, I kicked some dirt onto the fire to keep the smoke from billowing too much. Even with us continuing our trek in the opposite direction the Careers and Peeta had gone, it wasn't worth the risk. Katniss and I were not ready to end our time in the Games, both of us desperate to get home.
"While we're walking, we need to be looking for water, because all I have is this," I said, pulling out my canteen before slinging my pack over my shoulder. "It's not much, but it will last us a couple of days."
"Then hopefully we're headed in the right direction," Katniss replied, looking around once more before we started off.
The first day was beyond uneventful, which was unnerving for me and Katniss. When there was no action happening, the Gamemakers tended to take things into their own hands. The last time I had seen them do anything drastic was cause an earthquake during Annie's Games. I doubted they would do anything that big at first. But I knew we could expect something on the smaller scale to get the ball rolling.
We spent most of the first day just walking and looking for any signs of water. The ground around us was completely dry, so we knew there wasn't anything nearby. Katniss had tried climbing a few trees, but none of them were tall enough to see far enough in the arena to spot any water. The only source we knew of was the big lake by the Cornucopia, but that wasn't the way we were going. Plus, we knew we couldn't risk going there if that's where the Careers had set up camp. So, we sipped on the water in my canteen, trying to make it last for as long as we could.
"So what's your brother like?" Katniss asked as we found a tree to settle in after the first day. I hoped she was using the same tactic I did, finding out more about the person you were with to see if you could trust them.
"Merrick or…?" I wasn't sure which one she meant.
"I know enough about the Capital to know that he's probably the exactly opposite of how they portray him." I couldn't help but chuckle, Katniss laughing along with me. "I meant the other one."
It was a scary thing to think that I could have been up against my brother in the arena. My strategy would have been entirely different, sticking with him through the whole thing to make sure he made it home. It was one of the many reasons I was so glad Crest had volunteered. It meant I actually had a chance.
"Wade is the quietest of the three of us," I said, smiling fondly at the memory of my brother. It hit me instantly just how much I missed him. "He takes after our mother in that way. He'll be a heartbreaker here in a few years, I'm sure, but since he's shy, I doubt he'll date a girl until he's sure of it." I paused for a moment before we started climbing, thinking back to the Reaping. "It hurt hearing his name be called."
Katniss pulled a branch out of the way, letting me step around her before she kept moving. "I know how you feel. Thinking about Prim being in here was too much."
There was something Katniss and I had in common: the love for our siblings. "At least you got to volunteer for her. Those thirty seconds before Crest volunteered were the most painful of my life." Thinking back to that day reminded her that it was such an out of body experience. "For those thirty seconds, I was dead. I knew I was dead because there was no way I was letting my brother die."
"Why did Crest volunteer?"
For a moment, I thought she might have been on to the plan Crest, Merrick, and I had planned, but when I realized there was no skepticism in her voice, I sighed internally. "I have no idea. He's not a very talkative person." Once I was a good distance off the ground, I found a nice thick branch to sit on. "I'm honestly surprised they even let him volunteer. Siblings in the same arena seemed like too good an opportunity to pass up."
Katniss moved onto the branch next to me, pulling her sleeping back out of her pack. "They would be going against their own rules, and there has to be order." I could practically hear her eyes rolling. Settling back against the trunk of the tree, she looked over at me with a sad smile. "We should sleep. No telling what's gonna happen tomorrow."
If it were possible, the second day was even more boring than the first. That left an uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach, gnawing at my insides. Boring days led to the Gamemakers intervening to spice things up. The last time I had seen them step in was in the 69th Games, causing quicksand pits to appear left and right in the desert arena. Five people had died within twelve minutes; it wasn't something I wanted to see happen again.
I continued following Katniss, trusting her experience in the forest environment to lead us in the right direction. The longer we walked, though, the more it seemed like the only source of water was the lake where we had started and the tiny stream that led away from it into the tree line. We would each take a tiny sip every couple of hours out of my canteen, trying our best to keep ourselves going, but we weren't getting near enough hydration to do much. Even walking was beginning to become a chore. My limbs felt sluggish and heavy, and my throat felt almost completely dry.
When it became apparent to me that we weren't going to be finding water any time soon, I suggested we get more rest, just in case the worst should happen. Katniss agreed immediately; she had been more tired than she was letting on. We both climbed the nearest tree, even more slowly than our leisure walk through the forest. It wasn't as cold as the night before, and with the threat of the Gamemakers interfering, we didn't want to be hindered by our sleeping bags.
Just as we had settled into the crook of the tree branches, a high pitched chime filled the air. I remembered the sound from Merrick's time in the arena. At first, I thought I was hearing things, the dehydration slowly getting to my brain. I couldn't think of a reason either one of us would be receiving something so early. Then, I looked into the sky and saw the blinking lights of a parachute.
Katniss and I looked at each other through the darkness, wondering if it was coming to us or if there was someone around us. I found myself sinking back against the trunk of the tree just in case. I wasn't going to reveal myself and be killed by someone over the prospect of a care package. But when it landed on the end of my branch, I let out a sigh of relief. Katniss took a look around, and when she didn't see anyone, she motioned me to move forward. I slowly crawled to the end of the branch until I could open the metal basket at the bottom. For a moment, I was confused by what was inside, and then it dawned on me.
Inside the box was a small cupcake topped with ocean blue icing shaped like waves. I couldn't understand why Merrick would be sending me something so useless until I realized what day it was. I had been just over a week since the Reaping, which made that day my birthday. My brain had been so preoccupied with everything going on in the arena that I had forgotten my own birthday. I pulled out the small card tucked around paper lining and smiled at it. It read: 'Happy Birthday, Apricot. – M'. I could feel myself tearing up at the gesture and picked the pastry up before slowly making my way back to the trunk.
"A cupcake?" Katniss asked, just as confused as I had been at first.
"Yeah. Merrick sent it," I replied as I sniffed, rubbing at both my eyes to get them to stop watering. "It's my eighteenth birthday today."
I could see Katniss's sympathetic smile in what little light we had. No one should have to spend their birthday fighting for their life, but I had to play the hand I was dealt. "That's really sweet of him."
"Do you want half of it?" I asked. She was about to protest, but I was already peeling the paper away so I could split it. "I'm not going to eat the whole thing, and you never know when your next treat will be." Both of us had the chance of dying in the arena, and I couldn't remember the last time I had splurged on something sweet. "Come on. Live a little," I joked.
Katniss chuckled with me as she held out her hand. I split the cupcake as best as I could before leaning over to give her one of them. "Thank you."
I bit into the cupcake and sighed in happiness. I could just taste the hint of almost extract in the icing, a favorite of mine. We both ate in silence, just enjoying our little reprieve from the Games. I knew that keeping my head in it was the best option, but I also knew if I did, I would go absolutely insane, and that wouldn't be good for anyone. For that moment, I was just a girl spending her eighteenth birthday with a friend.
Once I was finished, I settled back against the trunk and closed my eyes, smiling when I heard Katniss say, "Happy birthday, April."
CATO OC CATO OC CATO OC CATO OC CATO
GUYS! I am so sorry this update took so long. My computer completely crashed before Thanksgiving, and my computer guy didn't get it fixed until after Christmas. On top of that, this chapter did not want to get written at all. I had complete writer's block on it. I don't know what it was about this particular chapter, but it hated me. I know, excuses excuses. I hope it wasn't too boring. Next chapter is when things really heat up ;) Also, it'll be up faster because it's already half written.