AUTHOR'S NOTES: Things have taken a turn for the worse, for the outliers, at least. Obviously despite everything, there can only be one victor (or two, fi they are from the same district?), and so a lot of people will have to die. Also, there is a bit of Clove/Cato interaction, but it does not become intrusive on the story. It's more just a natural relationship that close friends and allies form. We'll see where it takes them.
Happy Reading!

CHAPTER 17: Revenge of District 2

"PRIM!" Rue cried, dashing to her injured partner's side. Immediately she regretted her decision to tell Prim to race for the bag. She had forgotten completely about Cato, suspecting that Clove would be the one to wait there. How could she have been so stupid? Why would Clove and Cato split up?

But had it really been her fault? Even if it was just Clove, what if she had stopped to slay Prim, to prevent the medicine from reaching Peeta? Rue knew that Clove was cunning, and there was a small part of her that wished Cato and the others were all out of the way so that the two could settle it in single combat. Rue knew that unless Thresh managed to kill them both, that she would likely die as well, and that Clove or Cato would be crowned the victors—perhaps both, if they survived. She had not forgotten about that announcement. But Prim… Prim wasn't going home. Rue knew a fatal wound when she saw one.
She did whip out some bandaging from Prim's pack to wrap the girl's stomach up. She didn't bother with the clothes, knowing that Prim was probably going to die, but she had to at least try and get her back to Peeta—or out of the open.

"Prim, are you with me?" she exclaimed, struggling for a second before hoisting the girl into her back. Rue was slightly smaller than Prim, but her footing was good and her resilience was a notable trait of hers, and so with steady, careful footsteps, she attempted to get her back to Peeta. She did still have his medicine, after all; and the last thing Rue wanted was to be left in the arena with no one but Clove and Cato, who she knew would stop at nothing to hunt her down and gut her.

Peeta was unsurprisingly a bit horrified at what he woke up to. Standing in front of him was a bloodsoaked Rue, with a pale, nearly unconscious Primrose on her back.

"Cato got her," she grunted, setting the smaller girl down as carefully as she could. "but… we got your medicine."
Peeta was fairly close to giving her a lecture about how they shouldn't have gone without him, but Rue began quietly working on Peeta's leg, sparing a bit of the medicine for Prim's injury. The smaller girl had been quiet most of the time.

"Are you there, Prim?" Rue whispered as she worked. She felt like she was carrying the District 12 pair metaphorically on her shoulders at this point, but on the other hand, why shouldn't she? She didn't have to become a tool of the Capitol.

"It hurts, Rue…" Prim whimpered. She seemed aware that she would not likely last the night. "Can… you stay with me… one last time?"

"I'm not going anywhere." Rue frowned. Whatever had been in that medicine had apparently gone to Peeta's bloodstream, and in turn, seemed to have knocked him out again for the time being. Rue honestly did not know how she felt about the evening's events. One of her allies was on her deathbed, and the other was gravely injured. Rue knew that unless he healed quickly, Peeta would be doomed in the next day or two as well. In fine, District 12's odds were slipping fast, and now with Thresh going after the careers, there was no real telling who would be first to fall, between '2 and '11.

Rue was not much of a singer, but she held Prim through the night, where the anthem played again, showing no deaths. Prim was still clinging to life; although Rue was honestly half-expecting to hear a cannon go off at any minute.

Peeta was sleeping soundly, and so Rue was at least able to chalk that up as a plus. Hopefully his leg would heal, and that Prim would pass quietly without waking him up.

Rue was no singer, but she hummed and whistled a few soothing lullabies for Prim in the dark of the evening. Thresh was most likely keeping the careers occupied, and so she wasn't worried about making noise—especially once the Mockingjays joined in.

It had to have been around midnight or so when the cannon finally went off, and Primrose Everdeen's eyes finally closed for the last time. Gently, Rue lifted the small girl up, carrying her away from the camp to let the hovercrafts collect her without leaving her corpse in front of her and Peeta, and without disturbing their camp too much. The anthem had already played for the night, and so Clove and Cato wouldn't see Prim's face in the sky until the following evening.

A fine trail of water leaked out of the corners of Rue's eyes as she laid Prim in the tall grass, covering her body with flowers as she bade her short-lived friend a sad farewell.

"Goodbye, Primrose." She whispered, before disappearing back into the foliage, where she heard the sound of a hovercraft flying in a few moments later.

Clove and Cato were not exactly having the best of times either. While Thresh had eluded them for a while, they knew that they were still on the run, because somehow, Thresh had the element of surprise on them, and he seemed angry about the events at the feast the previous day, which in turn meant the chase was on.

"If we can just get him out in the open," Cato grunted, "we could double-team him. I think he knows that though, and that's why he's trying to stay hidden."
"Well, he can't run forever," Clove sneered, "we'll force him out sooner or later.

Their confidence was slightly boosted after a cannon fired, because they knew it was one of the kids from '11 or '12, all of whom were their enemies, but Thresh didn't really give them time to think about it for another few hours, where the noise subsided, and they knew that while he was not chasing them at this exact moment, that he was clearly waiting to strike. It was nearly dawn at this point, with signs of sunlight peeking into the arena. Either way, it gave the District 2 pair a bit of time to stop and think.

"As much as I wish it was Rue…" Clove sighed, "It was probably one of the '12s. I thi—"

She hardly finished before she felt something slam against her so hard that she fell to the ground with an almost cracking sound. Thresh had come in out of nowhere and had attacked. Before he could bash Clove's skull in, however, Cato swung his sword at the larger boy, cutting his arm. Thresh jumped up, and admittedly still had an edge over Cato, whose head was still hurting a bit form where Thresh had slugged him earlier. However, despite being dizzy from the fall, Clove managed to get back to her feet while Cato kept Thresh occupied. It was a brief moment, but was all the knife-thrower needed to land a knife cleanly in the back of Thresh's skull. The moment had been over so quickly that it almost seemed surreal, but sure enough, a cannon fired for Thresh a moment later.

"Let's get outta here," Clove groaned, also clutching her head now. Both careers had racking headaches that did not seem to be going away any time soon.

The remainder of Day 12 was fairly eventless, except for a couple of sponsor gifts that included a bit of food and a few extra throwing knives for Clove. She insisted that there was no such thing as too many knives, as she stuck them in her coat.

Later on that evening, the anthem played and revealed that it had in fact been Prim that had died, as well as Thresh.
"We could go home," Cato piped up. "We just need to off bread-boy and Rue… two-on-two, and we know that he's still injured."
"Dibs on Rue," Clove insisted, causing Cato to chuckle.

"For you, Clove… sunshine and rainbows." He ruffled her slightly matted hair. Both of them were a bit dirty and flecked with blood (both their own and that of other tributes).

"What's that supposed to mean?" Clove tilted her head.

"You've earned it," Cato indicated, "we've both been through hell here… and the games aren't over yet. It could last several more days unless the Gamemakers decide to speed things up."
"Give it time," Clove smirked, working with Cato to build a fire. "After about 16 or 17 days is when they start pushing things. We're only about to hit Day 13."

"And we'll make sure the others don't get to see Day 14." Cato reminded her, causing a smirk to appear on Clove's face as they warmed themselves against the fire.

"I don't care what anyone says…" Clove insisted, "or how my head feels. Tomorrow, we are hunting them down."
Well-being came second to winning the games for many career tributes, and the District 2 pair were no exception. With their heads spinning as much as they were, both of them fell asleep rather quickly as the night wore on. The fire thankfully did not spread, and instead just died out overnight. Tomorrow, the real hunt would begin.

KILLS THIS CHAPTER:
Primrose Everdeen, District 12-killed by Cato
Thresh Dakara, District 11-killed by Clove

ALIVE:
Cato Salazar, District 2
Clove Kazera, District 2
Rue Keniye, District 11
Peeta Mellark, District 12