A/N: Sorry it's taken so long to post anything! This month is Nanowrimo, and I've had no time to write something except for my novel. If you're a Nano-er too, look me up! My username is also nerdman92. Teehee. I plan to keep writing these little songfics as an escape when I have time, and District 4 will most likely start again in December.
So, I decided to turn my first songfic into a collection of songfics from the Beatles, because everybody likes them! It will feature many characters from Hunger Games, and most likely stick with the 1st book, but you never know. Rue's chapter got very long, but I just like her so much!
Hope you like it, Read and Review! Constructive Criticism is the best gift you can give!
BTW, Hunger Games, and most of the dialogue in this story is owned by Suzanne Collins. The Beatles own Blackbird.
Blackbird—Rue
Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise
The morning of the reaping is filled with fog, mystifying everything more than a few feet away. I'm glad for the fog, because maybe my family won't notice how badly I'm shaking. I am their Rue, their watchbird, the one who must stay strong for all the little ones. Here I am, reduced to shaking like an autumn leaf in the wind, capable only of being crushed and reduced to dust at a any moment.
I can't go. I can't be reaped. Who will take my place in this broken District?
But the green-haired lady on stage doesn't seem to know that. Because the first thing she does after describing how badly we were crushed in the rebellion is call my name.
And now I know I will have to be strong—not just for my parents, my siblings, or the workers in the field—for my entire District. Even though I am small and fragile, it is my turn to rise.
Black bird singing in the dead of night
Take these sunken eyes and learn to see
all your life
you were only waiting for this moment to be free
The Capital people have me dressed in a fantastical dress that makes me look like something straight out of all the magical stories of District 11. It's pink like a rose, fading into robin egg blue. It has hundreds of tiny sparkles, so it shimmers in the light. And it has wings. Tonight I do not feel like a poor girl from a poor district; I feel like a princess.
These past few days I've spent in the Capital have been more magical than anything I've ever experienced. It's true that every night I am caught in a terrible nightmare about the games, so debilitating that I wake up the next morning and am barely able to speak—they bring me back to the Reaping, when I was just a broken leaf in the wind. But in the day I experience a world I have never even been able to imagine. Everything here is like music—free and adventurous, each experience attributing to a different tone that together make the score of my final days.
I feel terrible for admitting it, but I feel so free now. I've let go of the images of my brothers and sisters, to whom I am more a mother than a sister. I choose not to worry about where their next meal is going to come from, how they are going to fall asleep at night without my songs, and how I will no longer be able to quiet their crying. Is it too much to ask to just be me before I go into the arena? I am only twelve, and I make it my goal to live these Capital days acting like it.
That's why I'm smiling at my interviews, in a pretty dress, being filmed on TV like a celebrity. And when Cosmo asks me what my greatest strength in the arena will be, I find myself answering without hesitation. "I'm very hard to catch. And if they can't catch me, they can't kill me. So don't count me out." I imagine it will be like a game of tag—a game I barely got to play. I'll win it this time.
I am utterly delighted when the girl from District 12 emerges from the stands. Her dress is jeweled, like fire. It's even more beautiful than mine. Something about her as drawn me to her all week. She looks like a protector, like a friend. When she talks about her little sister, I find myself becoming jealous. I wish I had a big sister just like her.
Blackbird fly, Blackbird fly
Into the light of the dark black night.
The night before the games, my huge sense of freedom abruptly died. Everything seemed too small, too containing. I just wanted to fly away. I needed to really be free—free from responsibility, free from expectation. Free from these wretched nightmares that come whenever I shut my eyes. I was tired of these games, tired of pretending I'm something that I'm not. I want nothing more than to be just a twelve year old, but even as far from home as I am now, all I can think about is that I should be singing my brothers and sisters to sleep right now.
I am a terrible person for renouncing my siblings for a few hours of feeling like a child. That's something that the girl from District 12, Katniss, would never do. She came here to protect her sister. I can only hope to be as strong as her.
In a way, maybe I am. I've learned to work hard and stay alive in a crippling district. I've had a chance to see the world around me. Now I'll just have to find the light in the Games.
Before I know it, the next morning has come and the Games are upon me. We are dropped into the arena, and my heart fills with joys. There are trees everywhere. These trees are taller and thicker than the ones at home, but that's too my advantage. I can fly my way to survival; the forest will be my wings.
Blackbird fly, Blackbird fly
Into the light of the dark black night.
So far I've managed to stay a ghost in these games—a bird flying in the dead of night. I can't make a move against the Careers yet; I'm far too small and weak, they'd kill me in a second, just like they killed the girl from District 10. I'm still shaken to the core from her death. I hid in the trees above her fire, stealing the warmth as the heat rose towards the sky. The Careers came before she was even warm—huge and black and grim in the light of the fire. I couldn't move away but couldn't watch as they played their cruel games. Then the boy from District 12, of all people, ended her. I had always thought that he looked like a good person.
For several hours after the cannon shot and the hovercraft came, I sat in the tree and stared at the spot where she had rested. I couldn't think about anything except for the black that closed in around me. The dark was suffocating.
I needed to find a friend in these Games. Someone who could keep me from being sucked into the darkness all around me, who could help me get the girl from District 10 out of my mind. I immediately think of Katniss. She is the light in these games. She went in here to save her sister. Maybe she can save me too.
Finding Katniss is harder than finding the Careers. Anyone could hear the Careers tramping around from a mile off, but Katniss is lithe and treads the forest floor so lightly even the trees wouldn't know she's there. The forest hid her so completely she could have been a part of it, like a nymph in one of District 11's tales.
I search the arena all day. I don't know what I'll do if I find her. She's so fierce that she may kill me on the spot. But I at least want to find her, to make sure she's not dead. If I can't win, I want her too. She's got a sister at home just like I do. After a day of searching, I give up. My mind is becoming dull with sleep, and I'm not sure how much longer my tiny limbs can swing from the trees. To continue on would be dangerous.
The next night the fire comes. Its flames catch me off guard as I sleep. It burns at my arms as I flee, run and fly through the trees just like a bird. The mockingjays are flying high above me, echoing the screeches of the forest animals and the screams of the tributes. The fire is only an inch away from me, and I'm moving as fast as I can.
Without warning, the branch underneath me crackles, and I swing down towards the flames. I can hear myself scream, panicking, thinking this cannot be it. But my arm slams into the trunk of the tree and knocks me to the ground, away from the flames. My arm burns. It's burning. I can smell the smoke and wonder if it's me, but I can't stop and see because the fire is coming and everything is burning… All I can think about is the black smoke, and I yearn for the light of the moon to lead me out of this burning mess.
Somehow I make it out. I just having to think of all of my brothers and sisters at home, how they have to be fed and someone has to be there to look out for them. I want to be as strong as Katniss. And even though the skin on my arm feels like it's burning away from the bone, I push myself to keep going, keep running, and keep climbing.
Somehow I make it to the next day. When the sun finally rises I'm so tired that I can't move. So I sit, utterly hidden by the leaves of the tree. I wish there were more mockingjays around to sing too, even though I know my voice will draw the Careers. They seem to have ears all around the arena.
But it is not them that hear me. Instead I hear them tramping around, closing in on someone. I know, pray, that they can't see me. It has to be someone else. I gather the energy to look around, and what I see is startling. Katniss, my role model, is being trapped by the career pack. Her body looks as if it's fallen from a very, very tall tree. But instead of being scared or hurt, she's almost laughing at the careers. She climbs up the trees next to mine at an amazing rate. Soon, she's almost level with me. The Careers are shouting at her from below. The boy from District 2 attempts to climb after her, and then the girl. I can see straightaway they know nothing about climbing trees, because there is no way the tree will hold either of their weights. And just as predicted, they crash to the ground halfway up.
"Oh, let her stay up there. It's not like she's going anywhere. We'll deal with her in the morning," the boy from District 12 says, much too harshly for his sympathetic appearance. I feel bad that Katniss's love was wrecked by the Games. Maybe she needs a friend just as badly as I do.
That's when I spot the tracker-jacker nest sitting right above Katniss's head. They'll kill her if I don't warn her—even one nudge of the nest will send the tracker-jackers out in full force. I know from experience, District 11 is full of them. I frantically point at them, praying that she sees me. And eventually she does. Her eyes widen in surprise, and then narrow with delight. I know she has a plan.
When she drops the tracker-jacker nest, I am already far, far away. Even one sting from the tracker-jackers would render me slow and clumsy, effectively killing my strategy in the games. If any tribute came over me in that state, I'd be crushed like a bug. I can only hope that Katniss doesn't meet that fate.
The next few days are quiet—too quiet. The Careers are out of commission, half-dead at the lake by the cornucopia. Katniss actually managed to kill a few of them. And the boy from District 12 is gone. I haven't noticed his face in the sky, but he's definitely not with the remaining Careers.
I get bored of watching them, and go out to find Katniss. It doesn't take me long to find her. She's by another small spring, combing out her hair. Then she's building a fire. And cooking meat. I'm so hungry my eyes water. I slip just a tiny bit out of the tree. That's when she hears me. She turns around, fast as lightning, her bow aimed towards me. I'm afraid if she sees me she'll shoot. Maybe I've misjudged Katniss. I've always known she was dangerous.
But then she lowers her bow and chuckles softly. "You know, they're not the only ones who can form alliances."
It takes me a moment to realizes she's talking to me, even though I know I'm the only other person here. It's almost unfathomable that she would want me for an ally. "You want me for an ally?"
"Why not? You saved me from those tracker-jackers. Besides, you're smart enough to still be alive. And I can't seem to shake you anyway," Katniss says.
I can't believe it. I have a friend in the arena. I know Katniss will look out for me. I can pretend that I have an older sister for once. Suddenly, it seems there is finally a light in these bleak Games.
Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise,
You were only waiting for this moment to arise,
You were only waiting for this moment to arise
The past few days with Katniss have felt almost like home. It's almost been better. For the first time, I can depend on someone. I have someone looking out for me. She gave me her food, let me climb into her sleeping bag. It's a little bit of love and care I never felt in District 11.
So when she tells me the plan to destroy the Career's food, I trust her whole-heartedly. If it was anyone else, I'd wonder if they'd use me to destroy the food and then dispose of me, but not Katniss. She wouldn't do that. She cares about me.
I have to set a series of signal fires to lead the Careers away from the Cornucopia. That is easy. I fly through the trees so fast I'm barely touching the branches. I can't wipe the grin off my face.
I can only hope the diversion is easy. I've already lit the first two fires, and I'm gone so fast that I can't tell if the Careers are coming or not. But we know they can't resist fresh bait.
But when I get to the third fire, I know something is wrong. There's rustling in the leaves, the sounds of twigs breaking. It's too loud to be even a deer. It has to be a career. Judging by the sound it's only one, but still, I freeze. Without Katniss, the chances of me surviving in a tussle with a Career are next to none.
So I sit and wait. Before long, he ambles into view. It's the boy from District 1. He's carrying a backpack, but more frighteningly, a sharp spear glints in his hand. I don't know what he's looking for; maybe he suspects a trap, but what would draw him here? I haven't even lit the third campfire yet. I just want him to leave, so I can light the fire. It's my only responsibility in this mission, and I want to do it well.
But District 1 doesn't leave. He's looking at the area like he's a hunting dog sniffing it out. He must know I'm here. But he doesn't look at me, he's only looking at the ground.
When he sees the campfire all set up, just asking to be burned, he knows someone will be here. So he sits on a rock, waiting for someone to arrive. I don't know what to do. If I move from the tree, he'll hear me. I'm sure he's a good aim with that spear. Katniss is probably worrying about me. I know I'd be terrified if one of my siblings didn't come home in time. I just want her to know that I'm okay.
There's a mockingjay nest in the branches right above me. I know I'm risking everything, but I decide my song to the bird. It's a little bit louder than I intend, but a quick glance at the boy from District 1 reveals he shrugged it off as just a bird.
Just as I'm moving to shoo the bird away, the branch I'm standing on gives way. The bird bursts out of the tree, blaring my safety signal to anyone who would hear it. I tumble out of the branches, a terrified scream leaving my lips. The boy is right there. There's no way I can escape him.
As soon as my body meets the ground, the boy jumps up and throws a net over me. I struggle to throw it off of me, but in my hysterics I only make it worse. There is no way I can escape this.
"Katniss! Katniss!" I shout, plead. I can't die now. My brothers and sisters need me.
"Rue!" I hear her shout back. She's close.
"Katniss!" She bursts into the clearing. She's too late. The boy has thrown his spear and I find it buried deep into my stomach.
It hurts so bad I can barely think.
Without thinking, she shoots the boy in the throat. Blood slides down his neck and he drops into the ground. I can't look any more. So much blood. Everything hurts.
"Are there more?" She shouts desperately. "Are there more?"
"No," I say. "No, no, no." I can barely talk. I roll over to my side, surrounding the spear. I can feel tears trickle down my cheeks.
I can feel her cutting me out of the net, putting me in her lap. Her hands cradle my head. I'm glad to feel her hands stroking my hair, like an older sister would do. Her face shows utter torment. I can tell she's hurting so bad. All I want to do is comfort her, distract her from this ugly truth.
"Did you blow up the food?" I manage to gasp.
"Every last bit," she assures me.
"You have to win." I always wanted her to win if it wasn't me. She has a sister to protect.
"I'm going to. Going to win for both of us now." A cannon goes off. Soon there will be one for me. I can feel my spirit slipping away, my thoughts getting fuzzier, the pain spreading through my body. I realize I'm scared.
"Don't go." I can only whisper now.
"Course not. Staying right here." She's close to tears now. I want to hear the sound of music one last time. I want her to sing for me like I'd sing for my siblings.
I can barely make my mouth move. "Sing." The word just escapes my lips. The world is truly becoming dark.
But somehow she hears me, and her voice mixes in with the fuzziness and the pain and the darkness. The music is with me until I can feel my heart stop. And I'm gone.
I can fly, as if I'm no longer broken.
And I'm finally free.