~The Huntress

People aren't animals; they can't be run down the same way. Azalea closes her eyes, not wanting to think of the arena and the Games and the weapons.

People aren't animals, she tells herself. She won't let the Capitol twist her to become a person who is so fixated on survival, they forget who and what they are. I won't, I won't, she repeats in her head. There is no way she can turn into a heartless, selfish monster. That is not who Azalea is and it will never be.

Lying on the bed, she stares at the tiled ceiling and wonders what everyone else is doing back at home. She's almost certain that her family is distressed over her leaving. She knows that Daisy must feel horrible. It won't be one absence that she bears, it will be two in the same year. Why had the Capitol decide to play more games with them? Azalea wonders if everything else isn't enough torture for the Capitol to relish in.

She shivers and pulls the thick blankets tighter around her body. When she closes her eyes, the image of Chaise's face the moment after he kissed her rises from her memory no matter how hard she tries to push it down. She's unsure why the kiss has affected her so much. Her cheeks go warm from the thought of him—both from embarrassment and shame.

He was playing with her, how could she overlook that? But no matter how many times she repeats that in her mind, she can still feel the pressure of his lips on hers and see the way his eyes seem to shine brighter than anything else in that corridor.

She shoves his memory away, keen to keep herself away from thoughts on Chaise Hart. Instead, she replaces him with older memories.

They say that your life flashes before your eyes when you're about to die. Why shouldn't she get a head start?

~[*]~

This wouldn't be the first time that Daisy entered the sweet shop to look for Azalea. For the past few days, Azalea had made her appearances scarce due to work. The hardest business to run was the sweet shop. Why buy candy when you have so much trouble with everything else? Why buy a small piece of candy when you can buy a whole loaf of bread for nearly the same price? The sweet shop rarely had visitors and there was more window shopping done than real shopping. When Daisy stepped into the shop, the bell would jingle and Azalea's mother would look up in hope only to realize that it was just Daisy. "Oh hello," she said, trying to keep the disappointment out of her voice. "Are you here to see Azalea?"

"Yes," Daisy said and then her mother would holler for Azalea. As shop owners usually lived above their business, Azalea came down the stairs to greet her friend. Daisy waved at her with an unusual sort of enthusiasm.

"What is it?" Azalea asked, noticing the way that Daisy's lips were widened in what looked like an uncharacteristic, permanent smile. Coming from the Seam, she would only smile at rare times having gone through more hardships than Azalea could imagine.

"I'll show you," she said, rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet like she couldn't stay still. Azalea looked at her mother as if asking for permission before her mother nodded before getting back to work.

They walked through the aisle filled with jars of candy. Azalea regarded them sadly. The sweets lasted a long time so it was always heartbreaking to see a jar of rotten sweets. Daisy, on the other hand, was so cheerful that she hummed a crooked melody as they walked through the doors that separated the shop from the outside.

For a girl who was almost eleven, Daisy looked much too cheerful. It definitely wasn't about the fact that she couldn't wait to sign up for tesserae. "So what is it?" Azalea asked Daisy.

Daisy looked around furtively but the only company they had was the melting snow that signalled spring was coming. They would only be eleven by the time spring came and Azalea was grateful for that but she knew she was just delaying it. If Azalea was certain of one thing, it was that she didn't want to be drawn in the Hunger Games.

Daisy leaned closer, her voice dropping to a whisper. "I found a way to survive—without hunger or rotten sweets."

Azalea's eyes widened. "What do you mean?" she asked, having a bad feeling about the revelation she was about to receive.

"Do you know Cole?" Daisy asked her and Azalea shook her head. The other children from the Seam didn't like to associate themselves with her. Possibly because she rarely went hungry and that made them feel bitter. The only reason why she and Daisy were friends was because of a mistake on the first day of school. Daisy had mistaken her for a child from the Seam and Azalea had mistaken her for a merchant's child. They only found out at the end of the day due to the location of their homes from the schoolyard but they both promised each other it wouldn't change anything.

"Well, since my father was… executed, our family income dwindled." She looked uncomfortable to be talking about this, wringing her hands and looking at the ground as she talked. Azalea didn't blame her because she would never admit her own income crisis to anyone else. It was too embarrassing, especially for a merchant's daughter. "Cole said he found a way to push out starvation so we met up with him…," she whispered, her voice going even lower, "…in the woods."

"What?" Even though Azalea was expecting it, it still came as a surprise to her. Azalea knew that there must be people who poached the woods but she never once expected Daisy to be one of them. Daisy's father was killed because he was caught disobeying the rules. She never expected Daisy to be taking that risk after his example.

"Shh!" Daisy hissed at her, looking around once again but there was nobody in sight. "I thought you would want to know. Anyway, Cole said I could bring a trusted friend with me if they also needed help." She bit her lip and looked down. "I thought you might need some fresh food."

Azalea didn't even know why her eyes began to water and Daisy looked up sharply. "I'm sorry!" Daisy said, cringing.

"No," Azalea said, wiping the tears away and managing a smile. "It's just that—nobody has ever said that to me before." She didn't know how easily those words could touch her. "Thank you," she said, hugging Daisy tightly. No one beyond her family had ever done things for her and the thought of it made her want to tear up again. She had never met someone who cared so much.

"You're welcome," Daisy said, smiling. "So do you want to come? Cole said right now would be a good time. He observes the Peacekeepers activities—he says that they're most of them are in the Justice Building or the town square."

Azalea nodded and Daisy led the way to the Meadow in the Seam. The entire walk was quiet. Daisy kept glancing around every few seconds and Azalea fidgeted restlessly. She knew that it would be good for her family, but she was still scared of the punishments that would be imposed on them if they were caught.

Finally, they reached the fence and Azalea stared up at it as if it had become a giant monster. It seemed to be saying: you belong on the inside of the fence, not the outside. Azalea shuddered, trying not to think about the whips that the Peacekeepers would have.

Daisy moved closer to the 'electric' fence and listened for the low buzzing that indicated whether it was on or off. Judging by the look on Daisy's face, Azalea assumed that it was off. Daisy motioned eagerly to Azalea and pointed to one of the many weak spots in the fences. She slid under it with ease as if she had done it before. Azalea was hesitant but she followed Daisy. She trusted her friend and she knew that Daisy wouldn't be betraying her to Peacekeepers any time soon.

Azalea slipped in after Daisy, the broken chains only scratching her a little bit. When she made it across, she stood up and took a deep breath. The air felt the same and she wondered why she always had the impression that the air outside the fence was purer.

"Come on!" Daisy said, running ahead. Azalea followed her through the woods, becoming increasingly frightened as they wandered deeper and deeper. What if they couldn't find their way back? Azalea would rather be a captive than live in isolation. Seeing the hesitation written on her face, Daisy gave an encouraging smile. "Don't worry. Cole will find us if we ever get lost."

Azalea nodded but she wasn't so sure. Daisy turned around again and continued walking. Before Azalea could take another step, Daisy squealed, "Cole!" and dashed through the bushes, leaving Azalea to follow in her wake.

Pushing through the weak thistles, she reached a clearing where she saw a young teen boy sitting on the logs and cleaning the shaft of a spear with moss.

Looking at the pointed tip, Azalea's heart dropped. She was beginning to regret this. She didn't think she'd be able to hurt any living thing with that. Cole, a boy with the same looks as a Seam child, stood up and smiled at Azalea. Or at least he tried to. It came out as a grimace.

Now his full height, Azalea could see that he was taller than most boys and lanky like the rest. But the lankiness spoke of agility, not starvation. She was beginning to see some muscle tone beneath his thin coat.

"Oh, hello," Cole greeted them. He squinted at Azalea. "I don't think I've seen you around the Seam before."

Azalea blushed at the comment. She couldn't help it. Every time someone remotely suggested she was from the Seam, she felt odd admitting that she wasn't and she never suffered through the same hardships as the Seam children did. Of course, Azalea had suffered hardships before but they didn't know and Azalea didn't bother telling them. What difference would it make to her? She didn't want people to feel sorry for her. "I'm not from the Seam," Azalea said.

Cole spared her a second glance. "Sorry," he said, though it was clear that he wasn't really sorry. Then he looked at Daisy. "What's a merchant's child doing here? Did she catch you and did you agree to her request of bringing her here?" He tried to look offhanded and relaxed but Azalea could hear the undertone of tension in his voice.

"No!" Daisy said immediately, taking a step towards him like she wanted to comfort him and then thought better of it and stood still. "It's nothing like that. She's my friend."

Cole gave Azalea another look. She knew that he was underestimating her but she didn't feel angry. She wasn't sure whether she could hunt for prey either but she still wanted to try.

"I won't give up easily," Azalea said. Cole frowned before he placed his spear down on the log.

"We'll see," he said dubiously.

~[*]~

Uncharacteristic for Azalea, she felt like she needed to prove Cole wrong. Also, she didn't want to eat rotting candies any longer. She would get sick every month and it wasn't pleasant. They didn't have enough money to see the doctors every month. Azalea would have to fight off every disease that plagued her body and she hated it.

Though Cole had his doubts and Azalea was terrible at first, she slowly improved. Long distance was her forte. Close combat—not so much. Azalea was content to sit on a tree and throw knives down at her prey.

She especially favoured a weapon by the name of a crossbow. There was only one and it was an old, smuggled one from a Peacekeeper who had a rebellious streak and was on their side until his death. There were a number of their traditional quarrels and some handmade arrows that could be used as well. Of course, Azalea was also competent with a normal bow but the crossbow felt more familiar in her hands.

"You learn slowly," Cole commented one day as they were shooting targets in the woods. Azalea fought the sudden frustration that rose inside of her at his jab.

"I suppose so," was all she replied with.

"But you don't give up," he continued. "It just reminds me of another apprentice I had."

~[*]~

Shutting her eyes, Azalea wishes that sleep will come faster. While the woods may have been her second home, her first one will always be with her family. And she would never return if she lost the Games.

All right, I think I did a lot to differentiate their characters. Anyway, I started working on future chapter layouts with completely different characters and when I turned back to finish this chapter, I was shocked that I was still in Azalea and Chaise's point of view while I moved on to people named Calliope and Saggitaria.

Next chapter: ~Twisted Anew