Author's Note: Sorry for the slight delay in posting! Business from schoolwork has again been fighting my muse tooth and nail. But guys, I have the best news ever! The Texas Rangers are sitting in first place in their division! Sure, it probably isn't a permanent thing, but isn't that the most joyful, wonderful news you've heard for like weeks? What do you mean you don't care?! *sighs* Well, I had to share my excitement with someone; here in Florida, I don't have any fellow fans to celebrate with. And if anyone has read my Rallying the Rangers story, you will realize how much of a joy it is to be having a good season right now.
Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy reading about the feast! Please remember to review!
. . .
The girl from District 5 zips out from inside the Cornucopia, snatches up her bag, and disappears into the woods before I have even had time to register her position. Thresh eyes me as the girl vanishes and another emerges. He wants us to start moving out, though we are not going to sprint to the bags. I think Thresh hopes to let the other districts fight it out while we get away. His hopes are rewarded.
Before the second girl, which I can now tell is Katniss, reaches the bags, she is attacked by Clove of District 2. Katniss wounds her with a shot to the arm, but is herself hit by a knife, earning her a gash across her forehead. Then the two collide, and Clove gains the upper hand, sitting on top of her victim with a knife drawn. By now, Thresh and I are not far away.
"Get the bag," I say quietly, moving in Clove's blindside towards the two girls.
"Amaranth," Thresh hisses back. "Amaranth, don't interfere with them!"
But I want to anyway. I'm pulled to the situation like I have been magnetized, and suddenly I'm running forward. Cato has not shown up yet and I have a lot of momentum, so maybe this isn't as suicidal as it feels. And I simply can't sit by and watch Katniss be killed, especially when I have power to stop it. Still, a nagging sensation in my mind tells me that doing this is very stupid, but I ignore it as I slam, full-force, into Clove.
The hit knocks the wind out of me, and both of us roll several yards before recovering. Clove was not expecting such a sudden attack—she probably thought Cato was watching her back—but she's quick to retaliate. Her small blade is still clenched in her fist, and she waves it towards me in a fast, calculated motion. I barely collect my wits enough to dodge it, and then I remember the spear still in my hand. I take it and turn it around so that the wooden end points her way, and then I use what little skills I acquired during training to fight back.
I use the wood to block another swipe and then put as much weight as I can into a thrust. The spear, held by an amateur who isn't even using it properly, can only do so much damage, but my blow does push Clove back a few feet. She's seething with anger, and both of us glance briefly in Katniss' direction. She has scrambled to her feet, picked up the bow, and is now grasping for an arrow. Clove and I both know where the first shaft she shoots is going to land.
Clove reacts at the same time I do. She tries to throw her knife at Katniss, but I use the same simple tactic that seems to define my actions. I jump forward and use my body again as a weapon, smashing into Clove and successfully sabotaging her throw. Now she's livid, and in an error that I know will cost her dearly, she grabs my neck and tries to choke me.
Thresh materializes before Katniss fires, and he picks up Clove like a rag doll and knocks her skull with a huge rock. His sheer strength is unnerving, and as he tosses the Career away, he gives me a brief look of annoyance.
"Let's go," he commands.
I chance a glance at Clove, who is likely only seconds away from death, and then turn my attention to the real problem. Thresh has now sized up Katniss, who has fitted an arrow to her string and is pointing her bow at him. He is only a few feet away, and he could likely use his arm to shield his body from the arrow and then kill her. From the fire in his eyes, I think he just might.
"Stop!" I cry, hurriedly standing and getting between the two.
"Amaranth," Thresh says slowly, knowing that now I, unskilled in battle, am an easy kill for Katniss.
"Thresh, please," I beg, looking at Katniss, who can barely see through the stream of blood pouring from her wound. "Let her go this once."
Thresh weighs the options, but it is Cato's emergence from the woods that makes him decide. "Just this one time, 12," he says gruffly.
Before I join Thresh in a run, I shoot one last look at Katniss. Her expression reveals her relief, and I am not ashamed of my actions. I know that what have done is probably unforgivable in Thresh's eyes, but I'm not going to let that get me down. Let the Gamemakers whine about my insubordination; at least I have beaten their feast.
We run into the woods as fast as we can manage, a cannon being the only sound we hear. When we break into the grass of the field, I suddenly notice that Thresh has two bags, not one. That must be Cato's bag, the one with the item he desperately needs. I bet even this field won't keep the last remaining Career away now, but then again, maybe Cato will be out of operation now that his bag is beyond of his reach.
We reach our dens and finally stop, panting and heaving for breath. When we've recovered from the run a bit, Thresh turns to face me and I know that I'm in trouble.
"That was incredibly stupid," he condemns, his voice harsh and irritable. "You could have gotten yourself killed. You could have even gotten me killed. Amaranth, did you leave your brain in District Eleven?"
I try not to grin at his last comment, which wasn't intended to be funny, but I fail. I've been tense and anxious too long, and self-control is nearly impossible. I chuckle a little bit, avoiding eye contact and wondering why things are more funny when they're not supposed to be. To my surprise, Thresh starts laughing too. He doesn't even looks like he wants to, but he does anyway. No matter what horrors we endure here, we are still children.
"Amaranth," he says more gently after our giggling fit has subsided, "please don't ever do something like that again."
I sigh and nod. "Fine. Next time, I'll try to follow your lead. I really am sorry that I betrayed your trust, Thresh. But…I just could let her die. Not like that."
"Well, the harsh fact is that she will have to die if we are to go home," Thresh states, his voice carrying the weightiness of the truth. "There's nothing you can do to change that. I know you mean well, but if your wish for her survival comes true, it will come at the cost of your life and mine."
I want to cry at this moment, but I only nod. How I hate the Hunger Games! To distract my weary mind, I decide that we should take stock of what we now have. I realize that I am without my spear, which makes me wonder first how I could manage to both lose it and not notice until now and second if Cato has found it. But I cannot know the answer to those questions, so I turn my attention to the bags.
"Shall we open them?" I ask Thresh, gesturing to the packs.
He assents and hands me the one for our district. I unzip it and find a strange looking device with two tubes and a central unit. It must be a water filter, though I hope it's easier to use than it appears. I hold it up for Thresh to see.
"You ever worked one of these?" I ask, flipping it upside down.
"Nope," he answers, "but I bet we can figure it out."
"What's in Cato's bag?" I wonder, prompting Thresh to begin opening it.
It's a little bigger in size than ours, and I wonder what a Career with weapons and free roam of the Arena could possibly need. My first sight of the object, which Thresh has drawn out of the pack, doesn't help me much.
"What is it?"
"I think it's armor," Thresh says, feeling the material and turning it around.
When he positions it at a certain angle, I can see how it is indeed clothing. It has long sleeves and pants, leaving only the neck, head, feet, and hands exposed. I take bit of the cloth in my fingers and find it to be slick but very hard, as if it is covering another rigid surface. I bet this cannot be pierced by arrows, making Katniss a much smaller threat.
"You should wear it," I suggest. "Then if Cato comes, you won't have much to worry about."
Thresh smiles. "I seriously doubt this tiny thing would fit me, and unfortunately, I think it's also quite a bit too big for you."
After trying on the armor myself, I can see that he's right. The sleeves go several inches past my wrists, and the pants drag underneath my feet. The excess material would be cumbersome in either battle or flight, and although it is relatively light for armor, it feels heavy on my shoulders.
"At least he doesn't have it," I comment as I climb out of it.
"But he'll want it," Thresh warns. "We should take turns on watch tonight."
I agree, and just as I begin pulling off some heads of grain to calm the grumbling of my stomach, another sound reverberates through the field. Thunder. Both Thresh and I look up to see dark clouds gather more quickly than they could naturally, and we see a wall of rain headed in our direction.
"I do believe we shall be getting some rain soon," I say in a Capitol accent.
"Cato must be on his way," Thresh concludes in a very serious tone. "This is for him and us. We need to be ready."
. . .
Please give me some feedback! I would really appreciate learning what you guys think of the story so far as we get closer and closer to the end!