As it turned out, Rue was smarter than most in the arena. She had survived by flitting around the treetops the entire time, only coming down to steal food and collect water. This was a skill she had learned from working in 11, collecting fruit from the very tops of trees. Her home district sounded worse than the hellhole he had grown up in, severe punishments of petty crimes daily and starving citizens working like slaves. He grew to hate the Capitol even more when she told the story of how she had met Thresh, when he took a whipping for her over a box of dropped oranges.
A whipping like that would have killed Rue, she is too small.
He flinched at the memory of his own time with a whip; one more reason to not want to have to face Thresh.
Rue had also given Katniss the idea to cut the tracker jacker nest down. Apparently, she had been a few trees over the entire time.
"Was it you? Who put the leaves on our stings?" Katniss asked the girl.
"Leaves?" He questioned her; he didn't remember having any leaves on him.
"Yeah, I forgot to tell you. There were leaves on our stings when I got up." She explained quickly, looking over towards Rue once more. The young girl smiled and looked down.
"Yeah, there's a lot of nests of tracker jackers in 11. We use the leaves to help draw the venom out, I changed yours twice… I had to change Cato's three times. I think he got stung a lot more." The girl in front of him shrugged.
"Thank you, that was very kind of you." He smiled at the young girl. The wide, toothy grin she gave in response was adorable. With a field of flowers behind her, and her innocent face, she looked so sweet. She was the perfect vison of exactly what had made these games so revolting.
"You're welcome." She said through her smile.
"Rue, how long were we asleep?" Katniss asked her.
"Only two days." The younger girl answered.
Peeta. Is Peeta still alive?
"Did anyone- "He started to ask, but Rue cut him off.
"The girls from 1 and 10." She answered him, taking a bite of the granola bar they had given her.
He's still alive. I don't know if I should be happy or sad about that. On one hand, I don't want to have to kill him later… and judging by the scream I heard, he is injured badly. On the other, I obviously don't want him to die. I owe him a massive favor, he saved me. Is it wrong to hope he succumbs to his injury?
"Do you know what Clove and Marvel are doing? Have they been hunting?" He asked.
"They have all of their stuff piled up in some big, massive pile in front of the cornucopia. They haven't left much the whole time. They were out for a day and since they woke up…they have been moving everything around. I think they made another ally as well, I saw the kid from 3 with them." She answered him.
"Sounds tempting…" Katniss looked at him, smirking with a mischievous look in her eye.
"Why would they make a massive pile?" He thought out loud. He heard Katniss and Rue continue the conversation, but he was lost in thought.
Marvel is not the smartest, but Clove is decently bright. She is planning something… and what does 3 have to do with it? District 3: technology. Manufacturing electronics. Phones, computers, scanners, hard drives, are they rigging some kind of trap?
"It's like one of my snares. Lure the prey in with a reward, in this case the supplies, and then trap and kill them." He heard Katniss say.
"I don't think there is any tech stuff in any of the supply bags, just nets." Cato answered her.
"Okay, they could set up trip wires that trap you in a net once triggered. Would they know how to set traps like that?" She questioned him, digging the end of her bow into the ground.
"Yes, trapping is a skill we are taught." Cato nodded, still trying to piece it all together.
"Why would they need the boy from 3 then?" Rue's soft voice was confused as she spoke. That's when it hit him: a conversation he had with Clove.
Every year, the students at the Academy were required to watch and analyze that year's games. Two years ago, both tributes from 1 were left. Their night vison goggles had broken in the middle of their hunting session when they fought with the male tribute from 9. He had managed to get them off and thrown them to blind the pair. He got away and they were walking back towards the cornucopia when they stumbled across the female girl from 3. Instead of killing her, they forced her to try to fix the glasses. When she couldn't because she didn't have the proper tools, they killed her. Clove had called them stupid, saying that the tributes from 3 were more valuable than people realized. They should have let the girl live.
I asked her what she meant. Clove had been donning her typical mischievous look when she asked, "What happens if you step off the plate too soon?"
"You get blown up." I answered simply.
"Then there must be bombs or explosives under the plates. Do you know how to reactivate a bomb?" She had looked at him knowingly. When the realization dawned on me, I realized that Clove was much smarter than he had ever given her credit for.
"No but someone from 3 might." I answered blankly.
With a snort and a grin, Clove answered "Exactly. A bomb could be very useful."
"They made a minefield." He said aloud. Both Rue and Katniss looked at him with questions written on their face.
"That's the trap. They made the kid from 3 dig up the bombs from under the plates. He rewired them and made them into landmines. If someone tries to steal from them, the entire field will blow up." He explained.
"So, the supplies will blow up as well?" Katniss questioned.
"Probably, or at bare minimum be damaged." Plans were already forming in his head as he answered her.
"If we take out their supplies, they'll be at a massive disadvantage. If I could trigger one with an arrow…" Katniss was planning as well.
She can't get that close to the careers. No, if Clove catches her, she will torture her. I can't- I don't want to even imagine what the possibilities.
"You're not going anywhere near the cornucopia." His voice was demanding.
"Excuse me, when did I say you got to tell me what I can and cannot do now?" Katniss was fuming. The fire had just been sparked. She stood up now, the same accusing look in her eye.
Oh great, another fight. In front of the entire country this time, joy.
"Katniss, if they see me, I can say that I faked an alliance with you to kill you or something. If they see you, they're going to kill you. I'm not trying to be controlling, I just don't want you putting yourself in unnecessary danger." He explained.
"Fine. Then, we will both go." She resigned, crossing her arms.
"And leave Rue completely alone?" He pointed to the young girl.
"Rue can take care of herself. She has survived this long without a babysitter, she's virtually invisible in the trees." Katniss was poking him in the chest, just as she had the last time they fought. "And what? You think your aim is better than mine? You and I both know that isn't true."
It was becoming more and more apparent neither of them was going to win at the moment.
"Fine. We can talk about logistics tomorrow, Katniss. It's getting dark. We need to find somewhere to make camp for the night. They're going to be hunting." He resigned to think about this further as the night went on. Maybe he could find a way to draw them away from the cornucopia, towards him.
"Okay?" He reached forward to grab her hand. She let him, wrapping her fingers around his.
"Yeah. I'm sorry for yelling." She looked down shyly. It wasn't like Katniss to apologize for much, let alone giving someone hell. He took her apology with gratitude, leaning forward to place a quick kiss at the top of her head.
"What's it like?" Rue's voice cut through the scene. The two jumped apart, having completely forgotten she was present during their argument.
"What's what like?" Katniss asked her.
"Being in love." The younger girl teased, a small smile on her face.
At the same time, both older teens answered her question. As their voices matched the other, completely in sync, they gave her an honest answer. It felt wrong to lie to the girl who would probably never get to experience love the way they had, so instead they chose honesty.
"Terrifying."