A/N: I am sooo sorry it's been so long and this is so short! My real A/N is at the end haha, cause it's too long. But sorryyyy!
The cave floor was rough and hard beneath him. His throat felt as dry as the charred forest outside. Gale coughed wretchedly as he opened his eyes, unseeing at first through the thick haze of smoke. Each breath burned, as though he were breathing in sandpaper. He vaguely remembered the occurrences that had brought him to this dark, smoky cave. The storm, the fire, and the cave.
The cave he needed to get out of, before the smoke suffocated him. Shakily, he rose and grabbed his bow, swinging it over his shoulder. He stepped cautiously into the fresh air, unsure what to expect. No one tried to kill him right away, so he walked toward the blackened trees. Night was just beginning to fall, casting eery shadows in the ruined forest. The charred smell reminded vaguely of cooking fires at home, and he was suddenly overcome with a sense of homesickness. He had to make it back alive...
The memory also made him acutely aware of his hunger. He'd slept for nearly 24 hours, without food or water. He felt the burn in his throat again, and set off into the forest, intent on finding nourishment. His limbs felt heavy as he trudged through the area, and he tried to remember where the streams he'd found before were. He strained his ears to listen for the rushing sound of water, but could hear nothing. Dark was closing in over the arena quickly, and in his weakened state he knew he would be too easy of a target for his liking.
Katniss spun in a slow circle on the comfortable chair. Her head was spinning with images of fire and burns and caves, desperately confusing emotions, and most recently, schemes. How could she let Gale die in the arena? There had to be a way...
Peeta walked in, interrupting her thoughts with a smile. "Morning. Or, technically, night. I brought some food." The sound of that perked her up considerably, echoing the growl of her empty stomach. She eagerly accepted the heaped plate of beef stew.
After just a few bites though, she pushed the plate away. "How can we be stuffing our faces while they're starving?" she asked, disgusted.
Peeta began "You starving won't-"
"Help them, I know. But neither will stuffing my face."
"True, I suppose. But it won't hurt either." He gently gave the heaped plate back to her. "Anyways, did we get any sponsors today?"
"A lot, actually. Gale just woke up, and he's near some water, so he's alright for now. Check on Mira though. She's been doing badly since the fire."
Peeta maneuvered the controls until a camera was focused on Mira. "How many were lost in the fire?"
"Three. District 11 boy, 9 girl, and 10 boy. How many are left now?"
"Hmm... 8 were lost in the initial bloodbath, and then these three. So fifteen. All the Careers, though I'm not sure if that small District 1 girl is really a career. District 5 boy—the 20 year old, District 6 girl, District 8 boy, District 10 girl, and District 11 girl. And Gale and Mira, of course. Three more gone and it's time for interviews," Katniss said, someone unexplainable emotion in her voice.
So the young ones were almost all out, Peeta thought. It was probably better. Less suffering for them.
"Peeta?" Katniss asked.
"Hmm?" he responded, intent on the screen.
"Don't you think it's strange how similar these games are? To our own, I mean." When Peeta offered no response she continued, "The woods, the fire... even the tributes. The only difference is the caves. They're doing this on purpose, I know it."
"I don't know Katniss. I think you're looking into this too much. Maybe it's noth—Oh!"
Katniss maneuvered the chair to face the screens. "What? What happened?"
"Mira's caught a rabbit. Not sure how, since she's still in the area the fire destroyed. She pinned it down with her knife, and now she's trying to skin it. She'll have to wait until morning for a fire though, hopefully." Peeta's voice was devoid of emotion as he spoke, as if he was commenting on the weather.
"What about Gale? Has he found water yet?" The sound of the worry, and the smallest hint of love, in Katniss's voice sent daggers through Peeta's heart. He searched the screens for Gale, who crouching beside a pond, drinking and filling his water skin.
"He's fine, Katniss," Peeta said tiredly.
Suddenly the screens converged into one, with a message across it in big red letters.
"Attention Mentors: Sleep gas is being sent into the arena, and the tributes collected for an environmental transformation. This is no cause to panic, only a twist in the games. And may the odds be ever in your favor."
And then billowing white clouds started rolling through the forest, into the caves and over the cliffs, thought there was no wind. All the tributes fell to the ground, sleeping, and hovercrafts appeared out of nowhere to lift them above the ground.
And then the cliffs began to sink.
A/N: First of all, if you read this, THANK YOU SOOO MUCH! I LOVE YOU ALL and wish I could thank each of you personally for putting up with my longggggggg break from writing! Second of all, I know it's way too short, but I promise the next chapter will be up soon, because I actually know what I want to write about next :)
Anyways, I have a ton of legit excuses about why I didn't write, but none of them are really good enough to make up for leaving you hanging for like... 7 months haha. My apologies (: I am soooo sorry if this is not up to my usual standard, but I am out of practice haha. I hope the little twist there at the end is enough for you to want to keep reading.
So, like always, read and review! Review review review review review review review!