My hearts jumps in my chest and I want to reach out to catch Katniss, but my worry isn't necessary because Katniss was smart enough to belt herself to the tree, which saves her from face-planting at the feet of her enemies. She struggles to get back onto the branch, but manages to makes it up and out of sight just as Peeta and the Careers reach her tree.
"Go on then, Lover Boy. See for yourself" The intimidating boy from District 2 says. He looks at Peeta with an expression, which is challenging Peeta to try and prove him wrong. Peeta doesn't flinch under the boys menacing expression and he walks, with a slight limp, back the way they came without a word. I will the camera to face Katniss because I want to see how she is taking the news of her "lover" joining enemy forces. But they only focus on the careers and what they are saying.
When the careers, sense that Peeta is out of earshot, one says, "Why don't we just kill him now and get it over with?" Then another one replies, "Let him tag along. What's the harm? And he's handy with that knife." The camera is now zoomed out, which catches both the careers pack and Katniss in one shot. Katniss looks surprised at the last comment about Peeta, which goes to show that you can't get to know someone in the short time they were together.
Someone continues the conversation with, "Besides he's our best chance of finding her." It's obvious to Katniss and me who they are talking about. "Why? You think she bought into that sappy romance stuff?" The girl from 2 answers with a scoff, "She must have. Seemed pretty simpleminded to me. Every time I think about her spinning around in that dress, I want to puke." After that comment, they continued to ramble on about Katniss and how she has become such a favorite among the contestants as Katniss intently listens.
Faint footsteps are closing in, indicating Peeta's return, which silent's the pack of Careers. "Was she dead?" The boy from District 2 asks Peeta. Peeta answers back with, "No, but she is now" and the cannon that rings out furthers his claim. "Ready to move on?" The boy from 2 just scowls and moves out with the pack trailing behind. The camera closes in on the still hidden Katniss who doesn't move a muscle for a while longer in case they seem to realize she was hiding in the shadows the whole time.
All the birds then fall silent, except one, which let's out a single cry of a warning call. Right after the call, a hovercraft appears out of thin air. Metal hands drop down from the belly of the hovercraft, which grabs the dead tribute and she disappears into the depth of the hovercraft. I hear Katniss whisper, "move" to herself and slowly, but surely she starts to unravel herself from the cramped position she had herself strapped in. She removes the belt from her waist and starts to pack up her things. After she was done packing she jumps to the ground giving the camera a full shot of her.
She doesn't look up for a couple of minutes, but as she lifts her head and tilts it to one side, she flashes a smile to the camera. She knew that as soon as she landed she would be on candid camera and I smirk knowing she is just playing games, not only with the viewers but also with the gamekeepers. She quickly gets back into hunter mode and heads off the where she set up her snares. I'm glad to see that she caught a rabbit, knowing that she will get some of the protein she needs to survive these horrid games.
Katniss has already cleaned and gutted the rabbit and is now looking at the raw rabbit meat with dissatisfaction. I know what she is thinking; rabbit meat is definitely better cooked, but if she sets a fire then it could reveal her location to others and that is something she clearly needs to avoid. A light bulb must have gone off in Katniss' head because she shoots up from her sitting position and quickly makes her way to the where the cannon picked up the girl who was killed by Peeta. Katniss goes to the fire that the girl made and indeed there are some coals still burning with heat. Katniss uses this to her advantage and starts to cook the rabbit she caught. I'm proud of her for thinking of a great way to stay alive.
After Katniss is done cooking the meat and attempting to camouflage her orange backpack, she makes a haste exits from the spot and heads into the opposite direction of where the careers headed. She munches on the meat as she goes, but you can see that her lips quench for water. The camera only leave Katniss for a little bit in order to give the other tributes some screen time, however it shoots back onto Katniss, who I can tell has many thoughts running through her mind.
It makes me sad that she has no one to talk to as she partakes in these games. She must have so much to ask and being out of the loop in such a dangerous game is a disadvantage that is hard to avoid. Everyone one at home and in the capital is fully aware of the other tributes and their actions, but every tribute is in the dark. They have really no one they can fully trust. All they have is themselves and their thoughts to keep them preoccupied. Even though I keep to myself more than others, I feel I would even have trouble wandering alone in the games with no companions to talk to. Hopefully Katniss can fight through the loneliness of the games.
Katniss continues to walk as the sun shines too brightly in the sky for late afternoon and lighting everything brighter than it should. It's easy to see thirst is taking over every inch of Katniss' body and slowing her steps. She tries to put some grease on her now chapped lips, but it does very little to help them. I'm getting worried for her and I look around at the others in the room to see their faces are also masks with concern. I pray she finds water soon or it could get bad for Katniss.
Katniss sluggishly trudges down and up hills and at some point tries to put on the sunglasses she was graced with from her pack however takes them off as quickly as she put them on. I wonder why she didn't wear them? Katniss searches every nook and cranny in the arena, desperately in the hopes of finding something that can moisten her mouth and finally she comes to a berry bush. I sigh in relief that she has found something, but right as she was going to eat it, she stops to inspect it. In the end she throws it down and I realize that the berry could be poisonous.
Katniss looks defeated as she struggles out of her kneeling position and my heart clenches for her. Katniss tries to search for water by scaling a tree and searching from there, but Katniss sighs heavily as she descends, indicating there was none as far as her eyes could see. I hate watching her stumble around, looking as if wind were to blow it would knock her down with one hit. I'm worried and keep searching her surroundings in case someone tries to do a sneak up and attack on her.
No one does, which is somewhat of a comfort, for the fact that Katniss looks exhausted and in the end climbs up a tree and decided to suck on a rabbit bone, while she watches the picture of the girl Peeta killed fill up the night sky. The camera decides to move away from Katniss for the time being and we get a shot of the careers who are still on the move, with the boy from 2, whose name is Cato, taking the position as leader. The others trail behind, having no problem following his orders and I shake my head, knowing that in the end all of them will end up dead because they trusted such a devious person.
The games break to a halt as most of the tributes are resting or just walking around and will resume around 7:00 am tomorrow. I return back to the Gale everyone knows as stoic and I help Katniss' mother with the dishes. My thoughts return to Katniss without my permission and I dwell on the fact that she is slowly dying from dehydration. I'm truly frightened that because she did not find water she will not wake up from her sleep. I shiver and scold myself for thinking such thoughts. I scold myself even more after thinking that dying in your sleep is better than being violently murdered. But I know it won't happen because she is too strong to be defeated by such a trivial matter. No matter what hardships she faces, she always finds a way to survive. I hope that this matter will not win over her stubbornness to win.
I must have fallen asleep, because I wake up in the comfort of the Katniss' couch with a scratchy, but warm blanket wrapped around me. I stretch and see the television is already switched on. I get up quickly, thinking the games have started, which leads me to be tangled in the blanket and I almost fall flat on my face, but I manage to find my balance. I laugh at myself as I think about how much I changed now that Katniss is no longer next to me. I've let my guard down, knowing that I'm know longer the wall she needs to lean on when she is troubled. I want to be sad because of that fact, but I'm too proud of her strength to think that this is another way for her to get more distant from me.
The games are about to proceed and Prim is cannot stay to watch as she has school to attend. I have school as well, but I already let my mother know I'm not leaving this spot. I see Prim wants to stay as well, but she does as her mother tells her and I let her know we'll keep her updated. I look at Katniss' mother who is staring at Prim with a troubled expression. I feel for them and want to comfort them, but before I can say anything, Claudius Templesmith is talking and recapping the previous days events. After he is done, we are back in the arena with Katniss. Of course they open up the program with Katniss, but my worry for her family is overtaken by the panic I feel as I see Katniss. She sits up from her tree and I flinch and she falls from her spot onto the ground. She takes her time putting her things into her pack. She looks so fragile as she leans against a tree as she runs a finger over her parched tongue.
Katniss eyes light up and she strains out of her leaning position and she manages to say, "Water". I'm guessing she believes that Haymitch can somehow get her the water from a sponsor. But she and I both know that water it too much to ask for when it comes to the greedy people of the capital. I feel my hatred rising again as I see Katniss takes in the rejection of receiving no help from anyone. She places her face into her hands and I know she is about to breakdown. I want to scream to her to not to give up and the to keep going, but I know that it won't do any good. I'm useless and it's killing me inside.
Katniss painstakingly moves one foot in front of the other as she continues her search for water. She leans on a stick for support, but it helps a little because when her foot comes into contact with a rock that is protruding from the ground, it makes her stumble and being to weak to catch herself, she falls to the ground face down. As she falls, I see something glimmer in the distance. My heart skips a beat and at first I believe the shimmer to come from a knife that has the sun reflecting from it. But when I get a close look I see that the shine is quivering a little. I look back a Katniss and I feel my eyes go wide. Mud. Katniss is lying in mud. "Get up." I say out loud. "Get up, Katniss! It's there! Right in front of you! GET UP!"
As if Katniss heard me, she moves her hand around in the mud. She lifts her head and looks at her hand. I smile and nod, urging her to put the pieces to the puzzle together. She looks around and notices plants that are usually around water. She crawls to them and comes to a pond. She looks as if she was going to dive into the water, but rethinks it and takes out her flask that she fills to the brim and purifies with the iodine from her bag. Because it takes a while for it to work its effects, the camera shifts off to another tribute and I get agitated, only wanted to see if Katniss is all right.
The camera finally switches back to Katniss after an hour of me becoming more impatient with every tick of the clock. I had to sit through watching other tributes that were doing nothing that could possibly be as important as Katniss. Katniss is already up in a tree, looking a lot brighter and healthier than she did before the camera left her. I'm regaining my emotions back to normal as I see her acting more like herself. The anthem plays with no faces to be shown, as no one was killed and that's all I get to see of Katniss. The games goes on and the next morning I stayed over the Everdeens again and though I have to go to school today, I want to see the beginning of the games before I go. I run back to the television, feeling happy and excited to see how much brighter Katniss must be today.
Katniss is again the first person to be on camera. She is still sleeping soundlessly, which makes me disappointed because the camera will most definitely move on to a tribute who is awake and on the move. Suddenly a flash of light is in view of the camera. I stare and see that the thing moving towards Katniss is fire. I gasp and look at Katniss who is now awake looking bewildered at the fire, which is rapidly moving toward the tree where Katniss is belted to.