Katniss

It takes us the better part of two hours to fix up all our injuries, especially because Olive is the only one of us with any medical training. I know some things in theory from hearing Prim and Mum talk about it, but I'm basically useless when it comes to actual medicine and applying what I heard. The girl from Two works carefully and effieciently, but without saying a word other than what is absolutely necessary to get her task done.

I want to say something to comfort her, but I don't know what. I liked Amphitrite, too, but she and Olive bonded in a way that I feel anything I could say would fall short. And maybe she doesn't want to hear any meaningless words of comfort anyway. I know I felt like that when Peeta died. It hit me in a way I can't explain, even though we'd never even really spoken to eachother. Any words anyone had to offer just seemed hollow and did more harm then good. So I leave Olive to her silence.

Once Olive's done with us all, she drops to the floor and sharpens her axe, still not uttering a word. I exchange looks with Madge and Demeter but they both seem unsure what to do aswell. Curie beats us all to it, anyway. She sits down next to Olive and gently bumps her shoulder against the older girl's arm until Olive gives up on ignoring her, sets aside her axe and wraps an arm around Curie's shoulder. Curie curls into her, sobbing against her shoulder. Olive pulls her closer and rests her head atop Curie's."Yeah, me too, Jayjay, me too."

Madge motions for us to give them some space and we retreat a few metres, settling down in the sand ourselves. Demeter watches the other two tributes like a hawk while I'm more intent on keeping my eyes on the jungle, bow close to hand. Who knows whether the Careers will return...

We sit like that for quite some time, the only sound Curie's muffled sobbing. We don't move, we don't speak, we just wait, leaving eachother to our thoughts. The longer we just sit there, the more my insides feel like they turned to ice. I keep replaying the events of today in my head, over and over, wondering if there was something I could have done, to save Avalon and Amphitrite. I think I probably could have, if I had reacted faster, reloaded my bow faster, hadn't hesitated to shoot Diana for fear of hitting Amphitrite instead. I didn't have a clear shot but maybe I could've, should've tried, gotten the other girl away from Amphitrite before Olive did. Mere seconds can mean everything in such a situation.

I'm drawn from my increasingly dark musings when a parachute drops down towards us. Olive and Curie come over to us as Demeter catches the parachute and frowns, hesitantly holding it out to the girl from Three."More bread from your district."

Curie accepts it, carefully arranging it in rows of three on the fabric of the parachute. When she's done she looks at us expectantly. Madge is the first to speak."There's twenty four again."

She says it more like a question, but the young girl still nods as if that was what she wanted to hear. I exchange a look with Madge, who just shrugs, and then content myself with having some food. Who knows what goes on inside Curie's head...

"You wanna check out the lightning tree?"Olive asks the girl from Three.

"Is she up for that?"Demeter cuts in. Olive shoots her an annoyed look."She can talk for herself, you know. So, Jayjay?"

Curie only nods, picking up the coil of wire and getting to her feet. Judging by the sun, it's about nine in the morning. We have to leave our beach soon, anyway. So we break camp, walk over to the beach that borders the lightning section, and head into the jungle.

Olive takes the lead and I bring up the rear, Curie between us with Madge and Demeter flanking her on either side. The young girl is now our only chance to go ahead with this plan and the other tributes' insistence on it has me thinking there might be more to this than meets the eye. Either way, we can't afford letting her get hurt, nor could I live with myself if something happened to her. She's so small and innocent, she has no place in the arena, surrounded by killers.

The dense, muggy air weighs on me. There's been no break from it since the Games began. A piece of ice would be a good idea right about now. Or a cold drink of water atleast. I'm grateful for the fluid from the trees, but it's the same temperature as the seawater and the air and the other tributes and me. We're all just one big, warm stew.

As we near the tree, Olive cuts down some nuts from a nearby tree and starts tossing them ahead until one bounces back with a sizzle.
"Just stay below the lightning tree," she tells us.
We divide up duties. Olive guards Curie while she examines the tree, Demeter taps for water, Madge gathers nuts, and I hunt nearby. The tree rats – possums, Olive called them, I remind myself - don't seem to have any fear of humans, so I take down three easily. The sound of the ten o'clock wave reminds me I should get back, and I return to the others and clean my kill. Then I draw a line in the dirt a few feet from the force field as a reminder to keep back, and Madge and I settle down to roast nuts and sear cubes of possum.

Curie is still messing around the tree, doing I don't know what, taking measurements and such. At one point she snaps off a sliver of bark, joins us, and throws it against the force field. It bounces back and lands on the ground, glowing. In a few moments it returns to its original color. The girl lights up, tugs on Olive's sleeve and points at the piece of bark excitedly. Olive just nods but I'm pretty sure it explains as little to her as it does to me. Either way, Curie seems to have gotten what she needed, because she gestures for us to leave the section just as a strange clicking sound starts in the next wedge over.

We don't go that far, though. Only to the identical tree in the blood-rain section. We have a picnic of sorts, squatting on the ground, eating our jungle food, waiting for the bolt that signals noon. At Curie's request - if you can call her pushing me towards a tree and staring expectantly a request - I climb up into the canopy as the clicking begins to fade out. When the lightning strikes, it's dazzling, even from here, even in this bright sunlight. It completely encompasses the distant tree, making it glow a hot blue-white and causing the surrounding air to crackle with electricity. I swing down and report my findings to Curie, who seems satisfied, even if I'm not terribly scientific. Or scientific at all, to be honest.
We take a circuitous route back to the ten o'clock beach. Now all we can do is wait.

)o(

this fic is dangerously close to over... but then again, part 3! yay (also i don't have a name for the third installment yet, ideas?)