Rue raced about in front of the group of weary tributes, the events of the past near two weeks didn't seem to phase the young girl now that they had gotten out of the arena and far enough away from it to know for sure that they had escaped the hell they had been sent too.
It had been nearly a week since the nine teenagers had recieved word from the their mentors about the rebellion that was beginning to rage throughout Panem, and in that time none of them had come across any peacekeepers or signs of anyone searching for them; but they all knew that it was only a matter of time before someone found them.
In fact, the trees slowly seemed to be thinning out as they continued to walk through their days; over the past week, the group seemed to have overcome the fear they held of each other and had begun to form bonds that were becoming unbreakable.
After the first night where she had fallen asleep in Marvels lap, the older boy had taken Onyxs' question to heart and became more of a big brother figure than Gale ever was to her, he took to making sure that she ate enough and slept enough to keep going and even took to glaring at Cato every now and again when the the blonde caught Onyx up in conversations about random topics.
Thresh, it turns out, was actually Rue's uncle, his older brother was Rue's father who they had lost a number of years ago but not many people knew about the connection and they both made sure to keep quiet so that it couldn't be used against them in the Games; but even though he spent most of his time keeping his eye on his young niece, the quiet boy from Eleven seemed to have found a kindred spirit in the cunning fox from Five who spent most of her days with the two.
Although he spent half his attention on keeping Onyx safe, to her annoyance, Marvel had finally accepted the spark of feelings he held for Glimmer and both of them were beginning to get to know each other as more than just District partners. Glimmer had taken one look at the relationship forming between Marvel and Onyx and declared that she was now also Glimmers little sister; which was made even more evident when Marvel asked Glimmer to help tame the young girls hair and braid it so it wasn't so unruly.
Onyx's hair was a length most people in the upper districts hated because of how untame it would become even after the stylists had cut a lot off, so Glimmer had ended up grabbing Clove and after the two girls had fought through the tangles and branches in her hair, they had determined that most of her hair was dead or split ends, so using one of Cloves knives, they had cut it shorter despite Onyx's protests; and then Glimmer braided it and had taken to doing her hair every morning to keep it tamed.
Coral seemed to have found a best friend in both Link and Clove but Clove could see that there was a chance that something more will happen sooner or later between the other two so she kept herself from becoming too invested with the two, instead she spent half her time with Onyx because of the mutual respect they had both held for each other since the very beginning of the games.
It was a quiet moment as they travelled through the forest watching Rue act like the child she hadn't been able to become because of the games, Marvel was chatting with Glimmer, his arm around her shoulders as he scanned the area for any threats while Cato was silent as he too kept an eye on the surrounding area.
Onyx was between two groups as they walked quietly, Cato was in front, with Marvel and Glimmer, his eyes often darting to watch Rue before going back to scan the area, just behind him was Thresh and Rissa having a conversation about the plant life around them; Clove was beside Thresh with a knife out as she whittled a branch down to a spike for extra arrows for the bow that Onyx had thrown over her back. Then there was Onyx alone, and behind he trailed Coral and Link who were whispering to each other, their hands brushing each others slightly before they both pulled away only for the motion to repeat every minute or so causing Onyx to smile softly.
It was Rissa that pulled Onyx from her musings about the past week as she caught the girls gaze flickering over to Clove and her knife more than ten times in less than a minute; it made her remember how Rissa was at a disadvantage every time she went to the knives in training and gave up after the first week but eyed the knives quite often towards the end.
Making a decision, she knew that many of them probably had skills they wanted to learn or needed to learn to aid them in the upcoming rebellion, and who better to teach them than the Career tributes who excelled in nearly every weapon they held.
"Marvel?" Onyx called lightly which caught the attention of the whole group because she often stayed quiet when they were walking unless one of the others pulled her into a conversation.
Marvel looked back at his new little sister and frowns lightly as he slips away from Glimmer with a small smile, before slipping through the gap between Thresh and Clove as they continued to walk on through the forest.
"What's up little doe?" He questioned her lightly as he fell in line with her and threw his arm around her shoulder, pulling her into his side, it was a habit he had fallen into doing since the first night they spent outside of the arena; that and running his hands through her hair at night now that it was tamer.
Blushing lightly at the nickname the older boy had given her, she scowls slightly and nudges him like she had done every time he had called her the name; it was much better than Flower, which Cato had adopted instead, but it was still embarresing, but it was a good embaressing.
"I was wondering if you would maybe teach me a little about throwing a spear" She inquired lightly but loud enough for the others to hear her, she knew they had all witnessed her attempt at spear throwing in training, but that was with spears that weren't her weight; she knew that the trainer wanted to switch the spears which was why she had run before he could.
Marvel stopped dead in his tracks and nearly caused Link and Coral to bump into them as the whole group stopped at the question that she had aimed towards the older boy, he looked at her in surprise while the other tributes looked at her in interest before a few of them decided to join the topic.
"I wouldn't mind learning to use a knife" Rissa brought up quietly and hesitantly as she looked over at Clove and eyed the knife in her hand curiously, when she originally started to learn, she was faced with the daunting girl from Two who glared at her for even attempting the same station as her so she halfheartedly tried and then ran.
"I should probably get better at shooting a bow" Glimmer sighed dramatically while winking at Onyx to show her that she knew what she was doing, she too had caught the looks that Rissa was sending at Clove and her knives.
"Can I learn how to fight?" Rue asked as she jumped on the bandwagon, but instead of going to Thresh, she moved straight to Cato and jumped, grabbing his arm before hanging off of him with puppy dog eyes that she knew Thresh was somewhat immune too.
Shocked by the fact that the twelve year old was hanging off of him, Cato looked back at Thresh for help but the large boy just smirked at him letting him deal with the young girls questions. He didn't mind the youngster learning how to fight from the blonde because he knew Cato knew his stuff and wouldn't hurt Rue; he had proved that this past week.
The blonde had started to notice that the youngest was getting tired before any of them and would either inform Thresh or would either lift her onto his shoulders, put her on his back or pick her up and place her on his hip because of how small she was; he looked after her and Thresh knew he would do so when training her too.
"How about we stop for a little bit then, we can sort out lessons while we have a break" Cato suggested cautiously as he hesitantly agrees to train the young girl, allow he had a little idea before she learnt from him.
Rue grinned happily as she clapped her hands excited and started jumping up and down before darting around the group again giggling which caused the rest of the group to smile at her and her childish nature.
Sighing happily at the idea of a break, Glimmer moved to where her boyfriend and unofficial little sister were and took Onyx's hand, pulling her to a fallen log and pushing her down onto it before pulling out a make shift comb and undoing the young girls hair.
"Glimmer" Onyx pouted as the girl started to fight with the tangles that had already began to form in her hair, the fair haired girl had stated earlier in the week that because of the thickness of her hair, the tangles would appear often so she needed to brush it more if she wasn't careful.
Shaking his head lightly at his girlfriend and sister, Marvel moved back to where Cato was standing and offered to stand guard while everyone figured out what they wanted to do during the next few hours or days.
"So who wants to learn what?" Cato more or less demanded as Marvel stood guard at the area that the trees were thinner, he turned his attention to the group who had broken up and settled in areas around the small field that they had stopped in.
Onyx put her hand up, earning a grumble from Glimmer for jostling her. "To throw a spear, I wasn't very good at it in training"
Marvel smiled teasingly back at Onyx and nodded mock seriously. "I saw how bad you were in training, we'll work on it before going to sleep tonight"
Onyx scowled at Marvel playfully and stuck her tongue out at him with a small pout as she let Glimmer finish her hair "I was only bad because the spear wasn't my weight, the guy was going to grab one I could have thrown which was why I ran"
All six Careers stare at the young girl for a moment before Cato shook his head and went back to the task in hand, they needed to try and teach the others ways of surviving if they got seperated and they couldn't do that if they were distracted.
"You need to stop surprising us like that little doe" Marvel informs her proudly before turning his attention back towards the area in front of him, it was exceptionally rare for someone to realise their faults and then run when someone was going to help them correct the problem; the young girl would have excelled in District One or District Two as a trainee apart from her inability to follow rules.
"Could I possibly learn how to throw knives" Rissa inquired quietly breaking up the small silence that the younger girl had caused by her defence towards her brothers teasing, the younger girl was constantly surprising them all; but Rissa shouldn't be too surprised, she had met a number of kids that were forced to grow up too fast and faced impossible situations and they came out on top like Onyx or they broke under the pressure.
Clove tore her attention from the arrow that she was carving and eyed the red haired carefully as she sized her up before then nodded with a light shrug of her shoulders. The other girl had the right stature for throwing knives and Clove knew she understood the art of precision with how fast she was able to type the plants into the desktop in training without even looking.
"Sure, we can do it as we walk" Clove shrugged, throwing knives didn't require standing around and by moving they could make sure that Rissa was able to hit both moving targets or targets as they were running themselves.
Rissa smiled brightly at the stoic girl from Two and was shocked to recieve a smile in return, she hadn't gathered the courage to talk to many of the former Career tributes alone in the past week which she really needed to change; training with the smaller girl should definitely help with that.
"I want to learn how to fight" Rue giggled as she tried to tackle Thresh but obviously failed because of the large size difference between her and her uncle.
Chuckling at his nieces attempt to knock him over, Thresh just rolls his eyes before going to the default move he used whenever she or her siblings were play fighting back in the district; he scoops her up and puts her over his shoulder in one fluid movement which elicited a squeak and a laugh from the twelve year old.
"I think if she starts to learn with the girls first there'll be less of a chance of her getting hurt, plus they are closer to her size will have better moves for her to learn" Cato decided as he turns his words to Thresh, who mulled over the plan and nodded in acceptance; with Rue learning from those with a similar stature and size she could have a better chance at going against Cato later on.
"We could plan shifts on who teaches her when we stop for lunch?" Onyx offers with a smile as she watched the young girl wriggling over Thresh's shoulder. "I need to go hunting soon so maybe I can show Glimmer how to shoot then?"
At the offer of being taught how to shoot Glimmer squealed happily and hugged the younger girl tightly in thanks, they all knew that Glimmer wasn't the best shot which was why Marvel had given Onyx the bow in the first place but she wanted to learn so that she could do something for the group whenever Onyx was busy.
Without looking towards the two boys that had more or less become the leaders of their ragtag group Onyx pulled her bow up from where she had set it on the floor, she climbed up from the log and took Glimmers hand, pulling the older girl towards the forest.
"Onyx" Marel started, his tone both holding worry and a warning as he eyed his girlfriend and sister wearily before taking a step towards her.
Looking behind her at the older boy, she rolled her eyes at the worry she could see in his eyes, they all knew that she knew her way around the forest because she had been able to hide from everyone to show them that advantages of still being in the forest.
"It'll be fine Marvel, I have my bow and I have Glimmer with me" Onyx told the older boy, slightly annoyed with how protective he was of her but also touched that he cared enough to worry.
Looking between the both girls, he could see Glimmer roll her eyes at his protectiveness and sighs lightly beforemoving his attention back to his sister, opening his mouth to say something else until she interrupted him.
"Besides, we need stealth and you aren't very good at that" Onyx teased him before she pulled Glimmer with her into the forest so that he didn't have time to come up with a retort.
Laughing lightly at the young girls audicity, Glimmer shakes her head and skips so that she was right next to the other girl rather than being pulled alng by her; after a few minutes of walking, Onyx stopped and listened before she heard the small crack of a twig breaking.
Putting her finger to her lips, Onyx held out her hand to the older girl so that she would stay where she was rather than scaring away whatever was coming near to them, crouching down and raising her bow slowly Onyx paused lightly as a little hare soon came into view before it soon hit the ground with an arrow piercing it's heart.
As Onyx rose from her crouch, Glimmer gaped at the young girl in shock, when she said that she could hunt, she did not expect a shot to the heart the moment that the little thing entered the clearing.
"Good shot" Glimmer whispered in awe as she eyed the young girl in a new light, no wonder she got a ten from the gamemakers if she could shoot so well.
Smiling shyly yet proudly at the shock on the older girls face, Onyx held the bow and arrows out to the blonde who refused to take them from the younger girl, taking a step back and shaking her head.
"I can't beat that shot" she told the younger girl as she crossed her hands across her chest, she wanted to learn how to shoot but now she understood why the others wouldn't go near the stations that her and her friends were the best at; it was daunting to be faced with someone better than them.
Chuckling lightly, Onyx moved forward and took the other girls hand before placing an arrow into it. "You don't need to beat my shot we just need some food"
After nearly an hour of tracking their prey, Glimmer and Onyx made their way back to the group and walked into the small camp laughing as they dropped five very dead hares next to a tiny fire that had been erected and hidden to try and minimise the smoke; Rue and Thresh must have gone berry picking, since there was a pile of edible berries in a bag next to the make shift spit that someone had built.
Coral was in the middle of showing Rue some small grappling moves that could help her get of someones arms and was using Link as a test dummy, while Thresh was watching them carefully with a fond smile. Rissa and Clove were on the edge of the group and seemed to be going over how to hold the knives properly to have the best strength behind a throw; while Marvel and Cato were close to the fire and stared at the girls in shock as they took in the amound of hares that they were able to catch in such a short about of time.
"She's a very good teacher" Glimmer shrugged at them as she placed the box next to the fire, she had shot two of the hares, each hit going into the stomach while Onyx's arrows wither landed through the eye or throw the heart. "but she shot the majority of these"
Finally having to realise that the young girl could defend herself, Marvel sent an impressed and proud look over at Onyx before frowning at her lightly as she spots the wood in her hands.
Smiling lightly, Onyx waves off his curiousity before placing the wood down away from the fire and moving over to Clove and Rissa were sitting, she needed a knife for to skin the hare's but also to use for her little project.
"Clove can I borrow a knife?" She inquired with a small innocent smile aimed at the older girl, she knew that Clove held her knives close to her for protection but she only needed one and she had about ten.
Eyeing Onyx cautiously, Clove took a minute to decide if it was worth it before handing her a knife from that he hadn't touched since putting them on her belt at the start of the games. Onyx smiled in thanks before bouncing over to the fire with a light skip in her step.
Sitting down, she was unaware of the five eyes that followed her movements curiously, the five of them watched in a shocked silence as Onyx began to skin the hares that she had caught without hesitation or any sign that the blood bothered her; as soon as she finished skinning the five of them, she layed them out on an old piece of fabric before moving away from the fire with her wood which she began carving and shaping, turning and twisting bits of the bark.
Noticing that the other two had gotten back from hunting and there were five freshly skinned hares by the fire, Coral called a break on the training with Rue and made her way to the fire since she was the only one, other than Onyx, who knew how to cook on a spit.
"Foods done" Coral called out after half an hour of working on the meat that she was given, she had wanted to make more than just chunks of meat but with their water supply running lower than they would like, she had to make do with what they had.
After hours of walking, the teenagers were all starving so instantly made their way to where there was warm food, something they hadn't had since the games first started.
Within moments the small group had finished their food, sending their thanks to the hunters amoungst them before going back to their conversations and the little lessons they were all giving; Onyx moved away from the group and sat back down on the log before continuing with her project.
"Didn't you want to learn how to throw a spear, little Doe?" Marvel inquired with a laugh as he pulled himself away from the conversation he and Cato were having, he hadn't realised how dark it was getting until the both boys began to shiver from the cold that the dark brought.
He moved over to where his little sister was sat and laughs lightly as she seemed to look around he confused at the lack of light before sending sheepish smile at Marvel who just shook his head, taking her hand and flinching lightly by how cold her hands were; with a small noise of scolding, he pulled her towards the fire and pushed her down next to Cato who instantly threw his jacket over the girls shoulders when he noticed the blue twinge to her lips.
"You need to start being more aware" Cato muttered in scolding as he poked at the fire, now that it was darker, there was less chance of smoke being spotted so they could make a bigger fire than the mini one they'd made for food.
"We'll start spear work tomorrow" Marvel decided as he dropped down next to her and smiled as Glimmer instantly moved to curl into his side; his eyes soon landed on the project in her hands before he looked up at her dumbfounded "Onyx how do you know how to make a bow?"
Onyx looked down at the small project that sat innocently in her lap, she didn't realize just how far she had actually gotten with it, all she really need to do was make the twine to use as a string and she would be done; she moves her gaze over to Marvel with a small happy smile at the look on his face before noticing the identical looks of shock and awe on the faces of the rest of the group which caused her smile to go into afull blown grin of mischief.
Shrugging lightly at the question, she picks the bow up from the lap and places it carefully on the floor by her feet, the bow would be hers because she had a feeling Glimmer was getting used to the Capitol one while Onyx could work with anything; Marvel almost let out a sigh of relief as he realised he wasn't going to have to fight with her about finishing up for the night.
"I started trying to teach myself a few summers ago, the one I have at home was my tenth attempt and has lasted me longer than most of the others" she admits to him, she wasn't bothered by the fact that she knew something illegal, hunting was illegal and they already knew she could do that. "My friend helped me, her father taught her the basics of how to make the bow, so she taught me when I started showing a good knowledge of how to shoot; we learnt because District Twelve has little food but a forest along its borders, and neither of us were afraid of the forest"
"Weren't you worried about getting caught?" Link asked her in shock at just how brave the girl was, he knew she was strong and she was slightly fearless when faced with something she thought was wrong but to go against the laws of the Capitol as well as the peacekeepers sounded like a death wish.
"All the time" Onyx answered as she leaned into Marvels side, finally getting the feeling back in her fingers, the day's work was finally getting to her "But the electric fence around the Seam never had enough power to be turned on, and the need for food outweighed the fear of getting caught; it also helped that some of the peacekeepers knew that we were doing it but they craved fresh meat just as much as we did so they looked past it"
The fact that some of the peace keepers knew what the young girl was doing had sent the group reeling, until Thresh frowned at the information, he was happy his friend wouldn't have gotten hurt but didn't like that she had to take such risks. "You're lucky, the other districts peacekeepers would never have done that"
Looking over at the shock and slight jealousy on the others faces, she sighs lightly before looking down at her lap "That's true, I know, but there's a reason District Twelve is so looked down upon, we only have coal as a source of income, which is dying out meaning we have to go deeper into the ground and risk the lives of the whole District above; we have nothing worth stealing, and the peace keepers that are sent there are sent as punishment or because they were close to failing. They hate the place as much as we do"
Thoughts of Darius popped into her mind, the young peacekeeper was originally from District Two but was sent to District Twelve because he didn't like how brutal they wanted him to be, he wanted to defend everyone, not just those that the rich believed to be defended; he was her friend who Marvel reminded her a lot of.
"There's one peacekeeper, I hope he get's somewhere safe with this rebellion, he was from District Two but was sent to District Twelve for his moral compass, he visits the local illegal market and trades with people just to give them some coins; he tries to do the same with me too but hates it when I send him to proper stalls instead"
Marvel listens to the story with a sad look on his face as he pulls her into him, he hoped that the peacekeeper was safe too because he needed to thank the man for helping Onyx survive long enough to enter the games and save them. "I'm glad that they never hurt you, you may never have been in the games if you had been hurt and we may all be dead by now"
The camp went silent at that small declaration and realized that it was the truth that Marvel spoke, a truth none of them wanted to really think about, if it wasn't for Onyx then they would have all either been killed or one of them would have been left with the haunting truth that they had killed their friends.
"How about no more talk of this and we go to sleep for an early start" Rissa suggests carefully at the sombre silence that filled the little camp, the flickering of the fire showing just how pale she had become throughout the conversation.
"I'll take first watch" Cato states quietly as he got up from besides the fire, moving towards a small spot on the outer circle of the camp before looking around them grimly, he had a lot to think about before he could sleep himself so knew being on first watch would help.
Frowning after the blonde, Onyx moved to go and talk to him and hand him the jacket that was still wrapped around her shoulders; but as she moves she ends up yawning which was caught by both Marvel and Clove so they both put their hands on her shoulders and pushed her gently down so that she was laying on the floor as she scowled at the both of them tiredly, it didn't take her long before she was losing the fight to stay awake and drifted off listening to Marvel and Clove talking.
After what only seemed like minutes but was a few hours, Onyx and the rest of the group are startled awake by a small shout of distress that had everyone going for their weapons or hiding the younger ones (Rue and Link who were hidden behind Thresh and Glimmer); looking over to where the shouts came from, Onyx slowly lowers the arrow that she had notched and moved over to where the sleeping Cato was shaking on the floor, caught in a nightmare as Clove sat close unable to help him.
Clove must have taken over watch when Onyx was asleep and probably ordered Cato to sleep only for him to be pulled into a nightmare, lookingover to where Rue was, she was thankfully surprised to see the young girl was still asleep in her uncles arms; they didn't need a cranky twelve year old during their journey, it had already happened once, not again. Making a quick decision as she noticed the others didn't seem to know what to do, Onyx started towards where Cato was, shrugging Marvels hand from her arm as he went to stop her, he had been curled around Glimmer which seemed to have stopped both of their nightmares especially when Onyx was close to them too.
All six of the Careers had suffered from nightmares since they had gotten away from the force field, the first few nights were hell and none of them would sleep until they passed out but then one night Marvel had spotted that Glimmer was starting to be pulled into the throws of the horrors that troubled her and wrapped his arms around her which caused her to relax almost instantly before clutching his shirt and sleeping soundly for the whole night. Over the days, they had learnt that Glimmer and Marvel kept each others nightmares at bay while Link and Coral did the same, Clove seemed to sleep easier with Coral and Link or with Thresh and Rissa but Cato was yet to find his safety net yet.
However, Onyx was often the only one brave enough to try and wake him, it usually ended with him snapping at her when she throws water over him or shoves him.
Dropping down to her knees next to the boy, Onyx put her hand on his shoulder lightly, but this time instead of needing to shake him, Cato woke with a start his eyes going wide as he grabbed Onyx by the wrist, throwing her to the ground beside him and moving so he was straddling her; one of his hands grabbing her wrists and pushing them into the floor hard to incapacitate her while his other went up as if to hit her.
Not expecting the harsh reaction, Onyx just looked up at him wide eyed as she tried to catch her breath from where he had winded her from throwing her to the floor; she'd had rougher fights so wasn't to effected by the arm above her; she glances over at Marvel and shakes her head for him to stand down which also caused Clove to stand down as they eyed the scene in front of them wearily.
Looking back up at the blonde above her, Onyx could see that he was breathing eratically and looked like he had run a mile in minutes, his eyes were unfocused as he gazed down at her with a frown.
"Cato, its Onyx" she whispers softly and reassuringly as she tries to lock eyes with him, her whole body going limp underneath him to reassure him that she wasn't a threat. "Come on love, you need to wake up, no one is going to hurt you, you're safe"
The grip on her wrists tightens a little more causing Onyx to hold back a wince as her bones are ground together, but then the grip is gone and Cato is blinking and looking around him in confusion, his breathing slowing down as he looked down at the girl underneath him.
The blonde is caught between freaking out and blushing lightly at the position he was in before he rolled off of her, gulping lightly in worry, he looked over at Marvel and the others; Marvel was glaring at him but he could see the worry in his eyes while everyone else looked like they wanted to hug him and reassure him that he was okay.
"Sorry" he mutters softly to Onyx as his tired mind realised what had happened, he was shocked that when he moved to get far away from her, Onyx, instead, jumped up to her feet and took his wrist in her hand, she knew it was risky but she wasn't letting him go.
"Don't be" she reassures him gently as she squeezes his wrist in reassuurance that she wasn't scared of him even though he had her on her back. "it was a nightmare and I shouldn't have been so close, not with what you guys are terrorized by"
Cato eyes her closely before moving his gaze down at his wrist confused as to why she was so willing to be around him, he carefully removed her hand from his wrist and held it carefully before sighing and shaking his head, moving away from them once again to a spot where he could be look out again.
Marvel frowned after his friend but didn't bother to scold or shout at him, it was a nightmare and Onyx didn't seem hurt by the small attack she had gone under; instead he takes Onyx's hand and pulled her lightly back over to where Glimmer had curled back up so that the three of them could go back to sleep.