Chapter 14 - The Ally

The image of Tait's slumped, lifeless body against the wall was burned onto Lily's memory as she held herself, sitting on the wall opposite from where Tait died. Although the body had been lifted away by mechanical claws that came in through the window shortly after he was killed by his own arrow, he was still very much present to Lily. She had not moved, not even to take another piece from her loaf of bread, for she had no where to go and she felt too sick to eat. It was around the afternoon of the second day, and the cannon had went off only twice since the bloodbath; once later on the first day for Tait, and once earlier on the morning of the second day for someone else, but who? Lily had not even bothered to watch the faces of 'the fallen' in the sky at night time, or perhaps it was more an issue of not being able to find the strength to do so. The horrors of the day had followed Lily into the night, so she had not slept very well at all, but she closed her eyes, hoping that now she might sleep so deeply that she wouldn't dream at all. She saw orange from the sunlight on her eyelids, so put her head between her risen knees. She embraced the silence, until it was pierced by a loud scream. Lily sat back up, listening carefully, but stood after a few seconds when there was no consequential sound of a cannon. She walked over to the window, looking out to see if she could find the screamer, but she saw no one. Her foot touched the bow on the ground and she looked down; Tait's bow, and his quiver beside it. Looking back out the window, Lily let her curiosity get the better of her, so picked up the bow, quiver and her bag of bread and water and walked down the spiral staircase out of the artificial tree. She listened closely to hear any sign of life as she walked in a circle around her tree, her arrow ready. Lily had forgotten how cold it was outside and the chilly wind nipped at her skin as her teeth chattered. Trying to avoid stepping on crunchy leaves, Lily eventually heard the sound of panicked sniffs and gasps, accompanied by what seemed to be soft splashing. Lily paced slowly through the trees in the direction of the noises until she came across a river. There, standing in the river with the water coming up to her ears, was a girl not much older than Lily, with ice blonde hair in a crown braid and a blue scarf – now soaking - around her neck. She was splashing out in all directions, panting in fear and shock from the freezing water.

'Natalie?' Lily quietly asked.

Natalie twisted around, gasping loudly. 'Who is it? Stay back!' Her pearly white eyes searched in the direction of the voice as if they could do any good.

Lily put down her bow and her bag. 'It's okay; it's me, Lily from Seven. I'm going to help you, did you fall in?'

Natalie gave a small laugh. 'I suppose it wouldn't be as embarrassing to say that I'm in this situation on purpose, but it would also be a great big lie.' She started wading over to Lily's voice. 'I was running, you see, so I wasn't listening out for anyth–ow!'

'Are you alright?' Lily asked, stepping forward. Natalie's hands went down to her ankle as she looked upwards, as if she was trying to untangle herself from something. She pulled up something green, wincing, and threw it out of the river onto the ground.

'What is it?' Natalie asked. 'A stone or a plant or something?'

Lily walked over to it, her eyes widening. It was a strange, unnatural-looking green fish, identical to a standard fish like a salmon or cod in every way apart from the vivid colour and the curved, sharp fangs. Lily rushed back over to Natalie.

'We have to get you out of there right now,' she stated, trying to hide her rising anxiety.

'What's the matter?' asked Natalie inquisitively, still following Lily's orders and moving towards the side.

Lily did not respond to the question, but took hold of both Natalie's hands in hers. 'Kick your feet and try to make your body straight and flat, the same as the ground, yeah?'

Natalie kicked her feet, becoming parallel to the ground. The water around her ankle was turning red, and Lily noticed a few green spots moving around in the water. Natalie screamed again; a fish had attached itself to her thigh. Lily pulled on her hands, but Natalie was wriggling and splashing in pain.

'What's happening?!' she asked, her voice full of terror and agony.

'It'll be alright, I promise you, I just need to get you out of there. Now keep flat and keep kicking!' Lily didn't want to sound commanding, but she could not let Natalie die right in front of her. She screamed again, louder than before, as a fish bit her waist. She was not flat any more, but was upright and thrashing outwards to try and keep afloat, while also trying to pull away her mystery attackers. Lily knelt down by the bank of the river and put her head under Natalie's right arm, putting her own right arm under Natalie's left. She pulled upwards, Natalie's weight straining on her.

'Keep kicking, we can do this!'

Natalie kicked furiously, and Lily began pulling her up out of the water, taking gradual steps backwards. She bent at a right angle as she surfaced, then fell on top of Lily as her feet touched dry land. Lily rolled her over and sprung up, grabbing an arrow from her quiver and skewering the fish latching on to Natalie's thigh and waist. She tossed the arrow to the side, and offered Natalie a hand up. Upon remembering Natalie could not see her hand, she grabbed Natalie's hand and pulled her up from the ground. Natalie pulled her in to a tight embrace.

'Thank you, Lily,' she whispered between rapid breaths. 'Oh my God, thank you so much. You saved my life, thank you. Thank you, thank you so much.'

Lily grinned, and put her hand behind Natalie's head. 'It's okay, you're okay now. You're safe, but you're really wet.'

Natalie quickly let go and stepped back. 'Oh yeah, sorry, I completely forgot,' she babbled excitedly. 'Are you wet now? I'm so sorry.'

'Natalie, it's okay. Just take a deep breath, okay? In through the nose -' they both inhaled '- and out through the mouth' –and exhaled. Lily guided her over to a convenient log and sat her down, taking off her soaking coat and scarf. Lily wrung out her cobalt blue scarf over the river, then her jacket with much more difficulty, while Natalie sat rubbing her shoulders to keep warm. Once Lily had squeezed out all the water she could, she took off her own scarf and coat and wrapped them around Natalie's shoulders

'Hey, are you sure these are my clothes?' asked Natalie with a smile. 'They're really warm from just being in freezing water.'

'They're warm from me, so they'll keep you warm while your clothes dry off,' Lily replied, smiling. 'Oh, is your top wet too?'

Natalie laughed nervously. 'I guess so. Could you turn around for a second?'

'Of course.' Lily turned around while Natalie took her t-shirt off and covered herself with the coat that was just a bit too small for her, then turned back around when given the all-clear. Natalie held out her t-shirt, and Lily took it from her, walking over to the river with it.

'I'm so grateful to you, Lily,' Natalie said sincerely. 'Really, I have no idea how I'll ever replay you.' She bowed her head, and sounding much less cheery, said 'it's not as if I'm very useful.'

Lily turned around. 'It's no problem at all, and don't you worry about repaying me or anything. Besides, no one's really useless; not totally.' Discreetly, Lily pulled out her wand and cast a spell to make a stream of hot air pour from the tip, which she used to dry out the t-shirt and the coat and scarf as well. She put her wand by her side so it couldn't be seen, but the steam rising from the clothes was a giveaway that something supernatural was occurring.

'So tell me,' Lily inquired, 'how come you ended up in the river when I thought Nanuk and Cole were meant to be looking after you?'

Natalie's smile faded, and her head dropped. 'Not that you need looked after, of course,' Lily quickly added.

'No, it's not that,' Natalie responded solemnly. 'It's just that, well, Nanuk died this morning.'

Lily's jaw dropped. 'Goodness me, I'm so sorry. I had no idea.'

'It's okay, I hardly knew him to be fair.' A single tear fell down Natalie's cheek.

There was a short silence. 'What about Cole?' asked Lily.

'Oh, well he left shortly after – after, y'know. You see, we were just sitting this morning around a fire, and Nanuk had caught these three doves. He didn't even need a snare or anything, he said they just flew right up to him and bowed down, as if they were offering themselves. He felt bad about it, but we were all so hungry, so he picked them up and killed them. They didn't even try to fly away; they just sat there, these plump little birds, and did nothing as they were killed. It was too good to be true. Anyway, we plucked them and put them over the fire – well, he did – and then he took a big bite out of his the very instant he thought it was ready. I asked him how it was, but he never said anything. He just coughed. He started coughing and he just couldn't stop. I went over to him and tried to calm him down, but he was wheezing like nothing I've ever heard before nor ever want to hear again. I turned to Cole and asked what was happening, and all he said was that there was blood coming from Nanuk's mouth. He was fighting so hard to breathe, clinging so hard onto life, and then at last there was peace. I thought he was okay, that he was breathing normally once again, but the cannon soon dashed my hopes. I just held onto him and screamed into his chest for goodness knows how long. I was expecting a hand on my shoulder from Cole, and I imagined how I'd scream and tell him to go away, but it never came. I called for him, and there was silence. I listened close and I could hear his running footsteps, getting quieter and quieter as he ran away. I don't blame him, Lily, I wouldn't blame anyone from ditching me as soon as they could, but he could have at least said goodbye to me, and to Nanuk too if he wanted to. I waited there, thinking he might have just needed some time alone then he would come back, but he never did, so I went off trying to find him and I ended up in the river, and that's where you come in to it.'

Lily moved over to Natalie, putting her wand away, and knelt in front of her. She held her hands. 'Well thank God you're not with him anymore because frankly, I wouldn't wish the company of a self-centred, brooding, gloomy little arsehole like him on my worst enemy! You should blame him; in fact I'm furious with him. I knew he wasn't quite normal but that's just inhuman, running away like that.'

'He'll be better without me hanging over him like a sack of rocks,' Natalie muttered.

'Hey,' Lily comforted, 'you need to stop thinking of yourself as some kind of burden. You're a human being, and you're just as important as me or Cole or anyone else.'

Natalie looked up. 'So you're not going to leave me then?' she asked with an appreciative smile.

'Never, I'll always be here, and that's a promise.'

'Oh, you don't have to promise me that. Just promise me this; when I decide that I am pulling you down and tell you to get rid of me, will you do that?'

Lily tittered. 'Wow, you really have some self-confidence issues. No, I'm not going to leave you because you are not just some weight I'm carrying, you're my ally. You're my friend.'

Natalie pulled Lily in close, and they hugged. 'Goodness me, Lily, you're so cold! Let's get our clothes sorted out and go somewhere a bit warmer, if such a place exists.'

'I think I know a place,' Lily smiled. She picked up the clothes from the side of the river and handed them to Natalie, getting her own coat and scarf back in return. Once they were all suited up and armed, Lily started guiding Natalie back to the tree. The distance seemed longer than before, and Lily realised that she must have taken the wrong path. They took a seat by a tall, thin tree while Lily tried to get her bearings. She offered some bread to Natalie.

'Oh, thank you very much,' Natalie beamed. 'Not too much though, better keep some for when we really need it.'

They ate happily, blissfully unaware of the danger that was coming to join them. Twisting itself around a branch up above, a red snake with orange knotwork patterns down its back watched the pair carefully. It gave a hiss and left its branch, slithering down the tall tree silently. The snake reached the pair and halted, preparing to attack. It opened up its mouth, revealing its deadly fangs, and pounced.

Lily screamed and shot up, her attacker in her fist. It loosened its grip, and she threw it against a tree.

'What is it?' cried Natalie. 'What's wrong?'

Lily tried to answer, but she couldn't. Dizziness took control, and she steadied her head in her hands. From several other trees, more red snakes descended and slithered towards Lily. She looked upwards, and saw the world turn black and white in a wave coming inwards from the horizon. The snakes, however, looked more vibrant than ever, glowing like red-hot metal. There were seven of them; four of them circled Lily's feet in a clockwise direction, and three travelled anti-clockwise in a circle inside of that. The world slowed down, and Lily could hear her beating heart like a slow drum, and Natalie's shouts like screams into a pillow. One of the snakes crawled up Lily's leg and began travelling around her. An ethereal voice filled her head, and somehow it seemed to be coming from the snake, though not a word left its lips.

'You have travelled far and worked so hard, Lily Potter,' said the voice, calming and delicate. 'You deserve to rest. Lie here, sleep a while; you have earned it. You are so tired, Lily, so very tired, there is no time to find shelter. Why not here? No one will find you, just take a break, and let Natalie get you what you need. She is indebted to you, so it is only right that you settle down now and she work.'

With that, the snake rejoined the circle, and a new snake took its place. The voice was different, but just as otherworldly as before.

'Those Career tributes, pah! They get it so easy! They just suck up to the Capitol and get whatever they want, that's why they get through the Games so easily. Stupid, spineless bunch, how good it would be to have their life. We should go show them, turn their little self-obsessed worlds upside down! If we don't get the spotlight, then no one should! It's time to show them who really deserves all the praise they get; us!'

The snakes followed the same routine, trying to tempt Lily: 'We need all the weapons there is! Go to the Cornucopia, gather up everything you can!'; 'You're the best in this whole arena, Lily! You don't need an ally; just kill her now before she tries one on you! You could take everyone here single-handed, so get rid of her!'; 'Ooh, those Career boys are rather scrumptious, aren't they? We should go looking for them; we might even catch them having a dip in the river! You need a little cheering up, and I bet those yummy abs would do just the trick!'One by one, the snakes filled Lily's mind with distractions and temptations to get her killed, but before the fifth snake could have its turn, a black boot crushed its skull. Lily stumbled, as if she had been punched, and for a split second the colour returned to the world.

Natalie listened carefully; every so often, she heard a hissing from one of the snakes, which gave away their position and allowed her to attack. She heard another hiss, and falling to her knees, she brought her fist down on the snake's head. Lily felt like the chains pulling her down were slowly snapping, one by one. At the next hiss, Natalie grabbed the snake's body and thrashed its head against the ground as if it was a whip, and after several thrashes, she threw the snake over her shoulder. Hearing a splash, she let out a giggle.

Lily began regaining control of her own mind, and saw Natalie on the ground destroying the snakes. Lily stuck out her foot in the opposite direction, and as it landed on another scarlet serpent, the colour of the world returned. Falling to the ground, Lily squashed another snake under her knee. There were only two left, and simultaneously, Natalie and Lily slammed their fists onto those survivors, lifting the spell that had ensnared Lily. Lily laughed loudly, and pulled Natalie into a tight hug, tighter than any hug between them had ever been before.

'You just saved my life!' she whispered excitedly. 'How could you find the snakes?'

'I could hear them hissing,' Natalie explained, sniffing.

Lily laughed again. 'Don't you ever tell me you're just a burden ever again!'