Chapter 13: It Will Never End

A/N: Now I know that you have been reading this in Sage's and Iris' Point of Views, but I'm going to change it up a bit and have it be in Iris' older brother's, Jay's, point of view and Sage's older sister's, Millie's, point of view for a bit. Just so you know what's going on back home. Also, please review!

Jay's POV

I sit watching in horror as I see Iris scream and a spear slice open her thigh. She falls to the ground and Sage pulls out his bow and arrows. My heart pounds in my chest as Thimble and Rose cuddle close to our father and I. They're shaking with fear as they see their older sister on the ground, her blood spread out while Sage tries to save her.

Sage's family is with us too. They have a bit of a better TV so they brought it with them. We will sometimes go into the square to watch it with the rest of District 11, but this time we didn't. I'm glad; I don't think I would be able to handle watching my sister in pain with the people who choose her to go in there.

Millie, Sage's older sister, is cuddled up on the couch with my little brother, Thimble, in between us. My father is at the other end, trying to comfort Rose while Sage's mother and father, Lily and Jack, hold each other close. Jack I know was never close to his son, but I think he regrets it now.

"Use the spears!" I hear my sister scream out, her voice shrill and high pitched with pain.

"Oh!" Sage gasps as he reaches for one of the spears on the ground and chucks it at Faith.

Faith dodges it, but she doesn't come back this time. Our family waits, holding their breaths, but when Sage leans down beside Iris, we know it's clear. But I'm still holding mine, waiting to see if my little sister, only of 12 years old and voted by her own District in her first reaping, will survive this wound.

"This is going to hurt a bit," Sage murmurs, holding the spear with his right hand.

"Just do it," Iris groans, her head tossed back and her eyes closed. The camera zooms in on when Sage is pulling it out, so we get to see the full wound.

Iris gasps and clutches her leg as more blood comes out. I shiver, never knowing what kind of pain she must be in. I wish I could be there to help her, to protect her, to make sure she got home, but I wasn't chosen by my District. No, Sage was.

"Do you think she's going to be alright?" Rose whispers, her voice muffled a bit by our father's clothes. Her face is buried into his side.

"Of course she is," I try to force the doubt and worry out of my voice as I stroke my little sister's head, "she's strong, she'll survive."

Millie smiles at her and says, "Sage will make sure she lives."

Rose looks a little more relieved and she tucks her face back into my father's jacket.

Millie's POV

We're in the square this time with all of the other District 11 people. Well, not all of them, District 11 is so large this is only a small portion. But, my father figured we would need their support.

What support? I think angrily, they sent my brother into this!

Iris' family is beside mine and Jay is holding his little sister, Rose, on his shoulders. Since we're the families of the tributes, we are put in chairs facing the screen. Jay sets Rose down next to him and sits next to me. He smiles sadly, but also reassuringly, at me before turning his gaze to the screen.

Nothing happened during the nighttime, and I don't know if that should be good or bad. It's almost dawn and I know something bad will happen, they wouldn't have dragged us out here for any other reason. And I was right.

I hear a scream and at first I think it's from one of the Tributes on TV, but then I realize it's me. Sage grips my right hand in his left as I see a large fire erupt from out of no where. I see the other Tributes' fear and they start to run, trying to grab everything. The Careers see it also, but they are safe and on the island with the Cornucopia.

"Sage! Sage!" I hear Iris scream and they're obviously shooting them now. Jay's grip becomes tighter.

Sage wakes up and at first he's confused, but then it dawns on him. He jumps to his feet and gathers their supplies before helping Iris up. But she can barely walk.

"Come on!" Sage yells, grabbing Iris' left hand before hauling her outside.

They go to the other Tributes for a bit, giving me a bit of relief from watching my brother and Iris. Part of me thinks he should ditch her, he would be much safer and could run faster, but he's too loyal, too caring. Sage would never do that to Iris, even if she did kill Sky.

They pick up with them running. Iris is limping and her face reflects the pain she cannot hide. I shiver, thinking of how much it must hurt her. They take a close up shot of her leg which is now starting to bleed. I can't feel my hand anymore because Jay is squeezing it so much, but that's ok.

Then I hear Iris scream and she's on the ground. Her jacket has caught on fire and flames are burning into the skin on her forearm. Thimble hugs his father, not able to watch, while Rose climbs up on Jay's lap and buries her head in his neck. With a shaky arm, he wraps it around her, but I can still feel his arm tremor as he holds my hand.

To my relief, Sage is ok but rips the jacket off of Iris. He shouts in pain, but stomps it out with his foot. He grabs Iris' hand and hauls her up, ignoring her own shout of pain. He drags her as she limps along, and I don't know how far they have gone or for how long until the flames finally stop chasing them.

Iris collapses on the ground, her wounded arm revealed. They take a close up and I flinch. Her forearm is burned severely with an angry red color. The flesh is burned, but thankfully you can't see the bone. Jay's shaking more fiercely now, but he steadies himself as I squeeze his hand reassuringly (or I think I did since I can no longer feel my hand).

"They're safe now," Jay murmurs, almost trying to encourage himself it seems, "Iris just has to fight through the pain."

Iris' POV

When I wake up, the first thing I wake up to is the unbearable pain. I groan, never feeling so much pain in my life. And even though Sage told me I wasn't going to die, I still think I am. Even though throughout the arena I doubted my abilities and figured I was going to die anyways, now I actually know I probably will. I don't like the feeling.

Sage blinks open his eyes, in the exact position where I left him. He looks down at me and smiles reassuringly. I'm really glad he's here beside me.

"Now what?" I ask, trying to sit up. I'm better then I was and I manage to lean against the rock.

"I need to check your wounds," He says, throwing the blanket off me and already taking off my pants.

I look down at my leg and sigh in relief when I see a little improvement. The swelling has gone down and it actually looks like it's starting to heal. He helps me back into my pants again and now turns to my arm. It's a bit more depressing than my leg. It hasn't healed much and the angry red color is still there along with the pain. My other burns are, thankfully, starting to heal.

Sage just sighs and leans back saying, "I don't know what to do for that. I don't think there's anything here."

"Maybe Jake will send us something," I murmur, "I'm sure we have sponsors."

"Maybe," Sage frowns, "I haven't gotten anything from him."

"Neither have I," I sigh and lean my head back.

"Or," Sage sits up, "Maybe he's saving up on something. You know, a lot of things are pretty expensive, maybe it's something we really need?"

I just nod, trying to do my best not to express the amount of physical and maybe also a little emotional pain I'm in. I have no idea what my family must be thinking at home, so I give as much effort as I can to appear somewhat better. But Sage just smiles and takes my hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze with his. He's about to let go, though, until I grip his hand harder.

He flinches from the burns on his hands, so I say, "Sorry."

Sage just smiles a bit and keeps his hand in mine as he sits down beside me. I like the closeness of him and the touch of his skin, I can't deny it. I try and force that thought that one of us, or both of us, will die in this arena away from my mind as he wraps his other arm around me.

I close my eyes and lean my head against his shoulder, feeling just for a moment that I'm home. But that goes away quickly when I feel the pain of my wounds return. And then I think of what would happen to me if Sage died and the emotional hurt that racks my body is almost too hard to deal with. I remember that all of Panem is watching, so I get rid of the thought.

"Sky told me something when he was dying," Sage finally murmurs and I'm surprised he's actually talking about Sky's death to me when I was the one who killed him.

"What did he say?" I ask, a bit afraid.

"Well, he said two things that really stuck in my mind," Sage begins, "One, was that when I told him I would win this for both of us, he just said, 'There is no winner here. For the one that leaves is always stuck here.'"

"Do you know what that means?" I ask, completely confused.

Sage shakes his head, "Not a clue."

"Well, what was the other thing?" I dare to ask.

Sage pauses for a second before saying, "He said, 'Don't blame Iris'."

I hesitate before saying, "And do you blame me?"

"At first I did," Then he looks down at me with his dark blue eyes, "But now I can't."

I smile and murmur, "I'm glad."

He just kisses my forehead before looking at me and saying, "Go back to sleep, you need your rest."

"Shouldn't we be moving?" I ask.

But Sage just shrugs and says, "Rest first, then we'll move."

And for once, I actually oblige. I settle down and rest my head on his lap and quickly falling asleep with Sage by my side.

A/N: I know, not the most interesting chapter, but I figured you should see what was going on back in District 11 and how Sage's and Iris' bond is growing closer and closer, but also with the other Tributes coming closer and closer too. Please review!