Hey people of fanfiction! I finished my chapter early and posted it just for you! I've been trying to add in more flashbacks for you guys (and girls) to get a good picture on Lyn's life and her relationship with Ash. They've really been through a lot together. So, about two or three more chapters until bloodbath, because we still have the private sessions, the interviews and maybe another chapter about Katniss finding Lyn's note from Gale. Also, I'm really sorry I haven't been writing as much as I've said I would. I've bitten off more than I can chew and I'm just going to focus on this story for now. One at a time seems to be working a little better. Please let me know if there's anything I can improve on, because I have one wish at the moment. I would like some REVIEWS please. Tell me whether you liked it, if you didn't, any ideas or even just an update soon. Anything! Every review I get just makes me happier and more motivated to write the next chapter, so please WRITE REVIEWS! Anyway, thanks for those who have reviewed and enjoy the chapter!
I signed to Katniss about yestday during dinner. She payed close attention to this, analyzing every detail. The next morning, she'd come up with an idea.
"You're sure you can trust them. Rayna and Heather?" she asked, her eyes deep in thought. I considered it. I'd only known them for a few hours, and despite that happiness I felt with them, I had to be careful. One wrong assumption or little error could cost me my life.
'I'm pretty sure.' I assured her. She nodded as we ate ate our breakfast, probably immersed in strategies. Katniss was quite clever and I was happy to have her as my mentor.
"Alright. Heather is from district nine and Rayna's from district seven." she replied opening the book of tributes. Each mentor had one that revealed some basic information about the tributes. Not the strengths or personality, but age and stuff. It was the first step to figuring out your allies and enemies. "Make sure you don't give away your real advantages though, just in case. I want you to figure out your enemies today, alright? The definite ones to avoid."
I agreed with he as we finished our meal. Haymitch and Russell joined us a few minutes later, obviously having woken up a little later. We carried out the day as usual. Well, as usual as it could be with two district twelve mentors and two tributes, one of them being mute.
I found myself anxiously awaiting to see Rayna and Heather again. Rayna had a certain spunk to her and Heather was unbelievably kind. In fact, the redhead was waiting for us when we showed up.
"Come on! My hands are just itching to fling some of those throwing knives!" she called, motioning for us to follow her. As we proceeded to the target practice, I forced my eyes away from the finely polished bows that we just waiting for someone to use. Rayna was busying herself with all the weaponry. "Bronze. Silver. Steel. These knives are freaking awesome!"
She took five steel knives and got into a sidestance, loading back her right arm. Mere seconds later, five knives stuck into the dummy, one of which had cut the rope that held it up. Glancing around, Rayna noticed that we were the only ones watching. Good. She had to much talent to let the careers take advantage of.
Heather had her eyes locked on the large selection of spears and staffs. Choosing an fine Oak spear with a spikey tip, she launched it into the target.
"You got a talent?" Rayna turned to me, her bronze eyes curious. I shrugged and signed. Heather blinked a few times.
"A little." she translated and tilted her head with a smile. "Well, what's your talent?"
Putting a finger to my mouth, I smiled when it reached their understanding. They then knew that I'd be keeping it as a secret.
"That's actually a good idea." Heather replied, her hands sliding down a spear. "It'll keep the careers off your back until the Games actually start." Rayna playfully nudged me on the shoulder.
"I knew there was something I like about you. You're a clever one." she smirked. "and everyone knows you have to be clever to make it past the bloodbath, even more so to make it to the top eight. After that, it's just luck and creativity." I nodded. That was true.
Then, it made me wonder. How did Rosa plan out her strategy in the Games? She had to have had a plan if she made it to the final eight. Then, I remembered. She didn't put herself out in the open. She kept herself far from the others, except her allies of course. They waited out the games in an underground cave system.
It had turned into a problem when one of the mines collapsed, killing one of her allies. I remember being just glad that she'd made it out relatively unharmed. Still, she didn't show off or anything of that type. She had an evade and avoid method that worked out quite well. Would I do as well as she did? How much help had she gotten from her mentors? Probably less, since it was the year before Katniss. That was Johanna Mason's victory year. I was just glad she finished the district one boy off.
We went swimming, learned some simple knots and were finishing up our healing class. Rayna was having some difficulty with her patient dummy, her frustration beginning to emerge. Heather did alright, not outstanding, but not terrible either. As for me, I felt right at home.
When my mother was pregnant with Willie, Rosa taught me all sorts of things about the medical world. When Rosa mentioned how I had some good potential for being a nurse, my mother began to teach me as much as she knew, from illnesses to plants to resetting broken bones and stitching up wounds. Still, Rosa always seemed to make her lessons more upbeat and enjoyable. Still, I felt happy at how excited my mother looked when she learned I had a natural ability to heal.
"Hey, you're really good, Lyn." Heather smiled, watching as I wrapping the newly sewn stitches with bandages. Tight enough so they wouldn't fall apart, but loose enough as not to cause discomfort. One of my first lessons.
"Yeah, how did you get the stitches that even?" Rayna asked, leaving her hopeless dummy behind while she moved over to me. I grinned and shrugged, signing the word for practice.
"I'm surprised you're not from district six!" Heather replied, proud of my work. I almost blushed. I never got compliments like this from other people, with the exceptions of Ash, Willie and Rosa. Still, I don't remember the last time I was credited for my healing techniques. It was probably since the time Ash got hurt.
Ash and I had decided to go after a deer. Venison was a beautiful rarity in 12. People payed huge prices at the Hob for it and the meat was simply delicious. Not to mention, venison could last a year without spoiling and still taste the same as the day you got it. Mixed with a couple of herbs and water, I could easily make a nice marinade for it. We'd seen the track, the scrapes and the bedding areas. Even the scat. So one morning, we woke up at four and headed straight into the woods.
Ash climbed up one trees as I headed into another. This gave us some different views and shots, in case the deer came out from an unexpected opening. And hour and a half passed before we heard the warning calls of the mockingjays and other woodland birds. Twenty minutes after that, we heard the snort. Five minutes later, Ash was already signaling that he could see it. Two minutes passed before he came into my view.
It was a gorgeous buck, clearly not an adolesent, but still in his prime. I counted off two tips on each antler. A four pointer. He took long graceful strides as he lowered to the stream that lay in front of him. I'd have a clear shot in the next five yards.
Three yards. My arrow was already notched to the bow, ready to whiz through the air as soon as I released.
Two yards. I glanced briefly at Ash. He had a clear shot as well. This would be interesting.
One. I close my left eye, aiming just behind the shoulder. Just as he'd taught me. I released my arrow.
The deer bucked up in shock and ran as fast as his long thin legs would carry him. It didn't last long. He fell twenty yards away from where he was shot. Dead.
Our grins were evident as we climbed back down to reach our victory. Normally, you wanted to wait an hour before searching for your deer, unless it was dead on impact or dead in plain sight. Ash leaned down to the fresh accomplishment, turning the deer on his side. Two arrows had struck the deer, both beside each other. If we were any more exact, it would have been a robin hood* (look at bottom to see meaning)
My best friend jumped up and yelled out his excitement, not caring if it scared the squirrels away. I didn't mind the slightest. If I could speak, I'd have been screaming until I went deaf. We'd shot a deer. A deer! One of the most valuable animals in the woods.
Ash wrapped me into a tight, excited hug and I did the same. This was one of our best hunting days yet. This deer, if proportioned right, could keep our families going for weeks.
"This is awesome!" he grinned from ear to ear. "Let's gut him out and put the meat in the freezer. Between yours and mine, we could probably fit him." I nodded and whipped out my knife. Gutting was a difficult duty, but Ash always said I had the strong stomach and steady hand for it. The guts would be excellent for our traps. The skin could be sewn with leather for a rug or a blanket, both worth huge amounts of money. The pointy bones could even be carved to make spearheads out of for our arrows. The possibilities were limitless.
We'd ended up selling half the deer at the Hob, earning a nice profit from it that we divided amongst ourselves. The antlers were mounted onto a frame, where I placed it in my room. Ash got the deer rug, which proudly laid in his bedroom. Since his room was so small, it almost acted as a carpet. The meat was also divided between us and we marinated the first batch of it for our families the next day.
We were too absorbed in our victory to remember that we had forgotten his quiver of arrows in the tree. The day after we'd gotten the deer was when he realized. I warned him to be careful as he climbed up. The weather was getting colder and the branches weren't too strong.
"Relax, Lyn." he smiled at me. "They held up yesterday and they'll hold up today." Noticing was I was becoming a bit of a worry wart, I bit my lip and nodded, climbing up on the tree I'd used. Retrieving my arrows was easy, but I slipped on my way down. It was a good thing that I didn't slip very often and I only fell a few feet. Still, it was enough to make Ash turn and lose his own footing.
If he'd fallen on his head, he could've recieved a broken neck, brain damage or death. If he landed into the trees nearby or lost his arrows, he would've gotten impaled. But Ash didn't get any of those things. He fell feet first into a thicket of throwns and brush we'd moved to climb up the trees.
My first thought was that he was dead. My next thought was that he was an idiot. My final thought on the matter was that I was beyond relieved he was alive. I rushed over to him, clearing out the thorns and branches in my way as fast as I could. When he saw my face, his lips formed a painful smile.
"Oops." he muttered. If the circumstances were different, I would've rolled my eyes and silently laughed. The sleeve of his upper arm was quickly turning ruby red and his right ankle turned out to be twisted. Pulling out our first aid kit that we kept just in case, I wrapped his ankle and stitched up his arm. It was a agonized process for the both of us, but we managed. Ash always seemed to have a special tolerance to pain. Despite how it hurt, he kept his eyes focused on me and how I fixed his injuries.
I helped him limp home that day, not caring about his insisting that I go home. And how dark it was getting. And how I'd already done enough. I ignored it all, except for one part.
"You know, you've got the hands of a professional surgen." Ash had told me. "You fixed that wound up faster than my mom or yours could. You're amazing." I think I blushed that night, but thankfully, it was too dark to tell.
'If you ever scare me like that again, I'm going to beat you with this quiver.' I signed to him, handing my hunting partner his quiver and set of arrows.
"I know." he grinned, none the less. Now I had to roll my eyes. Typical Ash.
'You're to stay home until your ankle and your arm heal.' This took the grin off of his face completely. I hated disappointing him, but it'd kill me to seem him get even more hurt. This way, he'd heal up. Too bad Ash was never that easy.
"Lyn, you know I have to hunt. Plus, I have a job." he groaned, sitting on his bed with his head in his hands. "I can't afford to stay in bed all day."
'I'll have it covered.' I signed, turning to Ally, who was six at the time. The little girl giggled and turned to her big brother, her big brown eyes full of excitement.
"Lyn says I get to be the nurse! So, it's my job to make sure you stay in bed and get better!" she beamed, looking proud at her new premotion. Ash sighed and agreed to his 'doctor' and 'nurse'. I worked extra hard that week, hunting for two families, working half of Ash's shifts and over course, visiting him every day. I never let him know this though. Because if he did, he'd feel bad, get up, try to fulfill his duties and then hurt something even worse than a twisted ankle and a few bruises.
He found out anyway. Being Ash, he had his way. Not to mention, he could read me like an open book. Still, by then, his injuries had pretty much healed and he was abled to go back to work.
"I owe you, Lynnia Evers." he smiled, his eyes inches from mine. "I owe you a lot. And someday, someday I'm going to repay it all for you."
I remembered how intent his eyes were, those familiar handsome gray orbs. How was he doing now? Had he hurt himself again? He always did push himself too hard for his family. Did he miss me like I missed him? My hand went to that spot on my cheek. Did he really love me?
"Lynnia Freaking Evers!" Rayna yelled, snapping me out of my thoughts. I whirled around to face my two friends. Rayna wasn't angry, apparently only wanting my attention. "You alright? You kind of zoned out on us."
'Sorry.' I signed. 'I just have a lot on my mind. That's all.'
"What are you thinking about?" Heather asked, her emerald eyes full of wonder.
'Home.' I signed. That one word explained it all. We sat at our lunch table, each thinking about home.
"I know how you feel. I miss my little brothers like hell." Rayna frowned, her mind on her twin brothers, Jax and AJ. They were six and she missed them terribly. They always looked up to their spunky big sister and now she wasn't there anymore.
"I wonder how my Aunt Nina and Uncle Harry are." Heather pondered aloud. They adopted her, though she wouldn't talk about her real parents. They did everything together.
There was always that one thought that lingered, not matter where you went. Every single person who's ever been in the games had known the feeling. That you're missing something.
Home.
* Note: A robin hood is a common saying with archer, meaning we shot one arrow right into another. Although it usually damages the arrow, it takes serious skill to do this. (I hope someday I will! ^_^)