HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYBODY! 2023 has arrived, and so shall many great memories and things to look forward to. :)
To start off the year, here is the next chapter of this eventful story. In this one, a certain protagonist we haven't heard from in a while will return to the spotlight, along with a new one some of you have probably been waiting to hear the POV of for some time. I have to warn you though, there will be some very shocking scenes in this one…
Rue-velations
The rest of Day 3 rolled by at a reasonable pace. Eating parts of the grass around them for dinner despite its unpleasant taste (they'd forgotten all their food was in Foxface's backpack, which she still had), Nessa and Sonia remained by the tree cluster, waiting for the girl from District 11 to return and for the Careers to fall asleep; neither of which happened before they themselves fell asleep.
As for Effie's team, they had little to do without drawing the wrong kind of attention to themselves while waiting for the hospital to finish healing Wish-Trish. So, to pass the time, they decided to set up an invisible tent right next to the hospital, where they camped out for the rest of the day and then the entire night as well. Golias and Bongo kept the girls entertained by telling jokes and talking about their last camping trip, which had been with Nessa and the kids in a forest.
"It was crazy!" Bongo exclaimed. "We had the kind of weather we don't see every day. It rained tomatoes at one point, and at another point we got stuck in pepper powder fog! Sneeze, sneeze, sneeze!"
"Why would you create such disastrous weather?" asked Effie, bewildered.
Golias tooted his trunk. "We didn't. I mean, we created the forest we camped in, but the weather just came on its own after that."
"Yup. We don't always have control over our powers. Same with Nessa. Sometimes they all just happen on their own!"
"Really?" Objectiva asked in confusion. "Aunt Oonette told me that you two, Nessa, and the other magical animals in your kingdom had complete control over your abilities."
Bongo awkwardly scratched the back of his neck. "Gee, you're right. Eh…well…maybe Nessa kind of changed the control levels after we all first met the kids. We went on our first magical adventure together during snack time, and when we came back to the classroom, Lili uh…she ah…"
"Really wanted to do the magic we could do," finished Golias. "Even I didn't know we could copy our powers and give them to humans. But Lili really wanted to be in charge of some of the adventures we'd have, and then Yuri and Matt wanted the same thing. Then Lili started talking about the places she would take us to if she had our powers…and you know how much Nessa always wants to make her happy."
"So POOF!" Bongo announced, clapping his hands. "Nessa showed us we could do one more thing with our powers, and our best friends have been able to start up adventures too ever since! But also ever since, the sceneries started changing on their own sometimes. I never thought it had something to do with sharing our powers."
Objectiva gave herself a face-palm. "I cannot believe you two, along with Nessa, did such a thing. I mean, what if the kids had gotten into such a terrible argument, they used your powers to help themselves win the fight?"
"I agree," Effie said. "I may still be adjusting to your lifestyle, but those children are very stubborn! Lili especially. They do have polite sides, but…I was amazed at how calm you two stayed when they were upset!"
"So was Wish-Trish seconds before she arranged the body swap," Objectiva blurted out.
Bongo and Golias both looked at her in confusion, and realizing what she said, the fairy quickly covered her mouth. "What do you mean by that?" Bongo asked, bouncing up and down constantly. "What?"
"Nothing," Objectiva mumbled. "Just go to sleep."
The mystery behind her quote left unsolved, the other three obeyed and lay down. Which wasn't as easy for Golias, since due to his large size, he couldn't lay down in narrow spaces without accidentally sitting on someone—Lili and Nessa had learned that the hard way during their magical camping trip, and Matt, Yuri, and Bongo had as well when he'd joined them in the timeout box during the croquet incident.
Five full minutes later, the elephant finally managed to get comfortable without anything worse than four complaints from Bongo and two from Effie. Sighing with relief, everyone closed their eyes…but Bongo's didn't stay closed for long. One minute after Objectiva fell asleep, he said, "I wonder how Matt's doing."
"Me too," agreed Golias. "And I'm worried about Yuri. This is three nights now, that he's had to go to sleep without me lying next to him."
Bongo chuckled. "I still think you should get a bunk bed like Matt and I have. There can't be that much room where you've been sleeping…"
"I told you, Bongo. We can't. Yuri asked his mom, and she said bunk beds cost too much money."
"Oh right. Well…you should still get a bunk bed. Especially now that she knows you two have been—"
"Please," groaned Effie. "I told you last night. Some people prefer to go to sleep sooner!"
"Sorry," said Golias. He and Bongo quickly closed their eyes again. Yet as soon as Effie fell asleep too, Bongo whispered, "You don't think Matt and the others are gonna come looking for us…do you?"
"I hope not," Golias whispered back. "They're our friends, so they might…but they know Panem has some unfriendly people in it. So they'll probably wait for us like the fairies wanted them to."
Thankfully, waiting for them despite their worries about their Big Big Friends' safety was exactly what Matt, Yuri, and Lili had been doing this entire time. It wasn't at all easy, but since each of their parents were glad the trio had stayed behind, they were sticking with it nonetheless.
For Matt and Yuri, the experience wasn't so bad. They were worried about their friends of course, but aside from that, there were no real difficulties with staying behind while Bongo and Golias were in Panem with Effie and the fairies. However, for Lili, there was a lot more to the story. She didn't have full reassurance that Nessa was safe and had a lot of trouble getting used to the giraffe's absence—and learning that her mom had grown up in Panem had only made things more complicated. She and her father had to keep the fact that she'd learned that piece a secret, so her mom wouldn't have to think about her old home and feel sad because of it.
This wasn't the first time Lili and her dad had kept a secret from her mom; the first was when Lili had accidentally broken her mom's vase and he'd found out about it. Compared to this secret, that one had been much milder, and neither Lili nor Nessa had considered the vase secret mild back when it had been a secret. The fact that Nessa wasn't here to share her concerns about the secret with her didn't help either. Which was why, on the same night Nessa spent with Sonia by the tree cluster near Katniss, Peeta, and the Careers, Yuri and Matt came to Lili's house for another sleepover. One that, this time, they made sure wouldn't end many hours too soon.
The kids were now in Lili's room, huddled under her blanket on her bed. Yuri was holding a lit flashlight, and he and Matt listened as Lili told them the shocking thing she'd learned about her mom's childhood.
"Your mom grew up in Panem?!" Matt exclaimed.
"I thought your dad didn't want you to tell anyone," said Yuri.
"He didn't want me to tell Mom," clarified Lili. "He didn't say anything about telling you!"
"But usually people do that because they shouldn't have to say it," Matt told her. "My sister Nina tells me that every time I go into her bedroom when she leaves the door open."
Lili sighed. "Sorry…it's just so hard keeping that to myself! Especially now that Nessa's not here. That's the real reason why I invited you two to come over. Keeping secrets from my mom is no fun."
"Shh!" Yuri quickly said, turning off the flashlight, his eyes widening in fear. "She's coming!"
The kids quickly stopped talking as they heard Lili's mom coming up the hallway stairs. As they listened to her footsteps, Lili grew concerned. Her mother's paces seemed…slower than usual. It was almost like there was a sad energy within her…was she thinking about the time she'd spent in Panem? Did she know her daughter knew that was where she had grown up? Lili needed to find out—but just in case her mom didn't know she knew, she would have to be sneaky about it. As sneaky as she and Nessa had been back in the "museum of things we're not supposed to touch."
"Matt, Yuri, follow me," Lili whispered.
Before either of the boys could ask her what she was trying to do, she slid out of bed and noiselessly crept toward her open bedroom door. Peering through the doorway, she saw her mom just going into her and her dad's bedroom, closing the door behind her. Instantly, Lili made a beeline for her parents' bedroom door, crouched down on the floor, and began listening to what was happening on the other side of the door.
"Lili, what are you doing?" Matt loud-whispered from in her room, standing by her doorway.
"Yeah," added Yuri. "Mommy always gets mad at me when I listen to—"
"Shh!" Lili quietly ordered. "I'm trying to find out why she's sad!"
The boys nervously quieted down, and Lili listened closely. She couldn't hear anything at first, but after two minutes, she heard her mom whimper a little. Almost immediately after that, her dad asked, "Hon, you okay?"
"I'm not sure," Lili's mom told him. "I mean, every week I look at this letter, and I wonder if I should send it. I know I shouldn't because it could let the Peacekeepers know where I am, but at the same time I…I miss her so much…"
Peacekeepers? Lili thought. What were those? Nevertheless, she continued listening.
"I know," said Lili's dad. "And you did the right thing, trying to encourage her to go with you. But we have to face it. She said no, and even if she had gone with you, we don't know for sure whether or not she would have survived. Especially with the baby slowing her down."
"But she would have been so happy here, Felix! So many nice neighbours, a really good school…besides, any place has to be better than Panem. She knows that! I just don't understand why she didn't want to come with me to District 8, let alone on the escape from the continent itself."
"June, I think she did. She couldn't have wanted to stay. Not in Panem. She was likely just scared that it wouldn't work. Or at least that she'd lose the baby if she went with you."
"But I told her! If she was going to stay in Panem, then there was a chance her baby could get…you know? Eventually, when the time came?"
Now Lili's father sounded like he was leading his wife into a hug. "I get it…she should have gone with you. But she didn't. I know you want to get back in touch with Posey, and I wish I could encourage it, but…I don't want you to put yourself in danger. Or Lili and the triplets."
Who's Posey? Lili wondered.
"I know," her mother then said, "but she's my sister."
Hearing this, Lili gasped in shock—and then ran into her bedroom in case her parents had heard her. Matt and Yuri barely had time to step back before she closed the door, grabbed their arms, and pulled them back into her bed.
"What's wrong, Lili?" Yuri asked, almost sitting on the flashlight as they got back under the covers.
Lili was still trying to take it all in. "I…I have an aunt named Posey and a cousin. They lived in Panem with my mom, and…they still live there now!"
Both of the boys gasped. "You do?" Matt said. "But why didn't your dad tell you that part when he said she was from Panem a few days ago? If he didn't."
"And why didn't they go with your mom when she went to America?" Yuri added.
"They said Aunt Posey was too scared. Even though she didn't like it in Panem, she thought leaving would be scarier than staying."
"Why would leaving be scarier?" inquired Matt.
"I know!" Lili said. "I still don't know much about it, but I know it's a scary place with a lot of unfriendly people. If Mommy left, why couldn't they?" She clenched her fists. "I really should have gone with Bongo, Golias, Effie, and the fairies. Nessa's in Panem, in someone else's body, and now I know I have an aunt and a cousin in Panem too."
"Well we can't go find them," Yuri replied. "The fairies said no, and so did our moms and dads! Even though Golias and Bongo could go."
"Yeah," said Matt. "And there's some really unfriendly people in Panem. They could be like supervillains!"
"Well I'm going anyway," declared Lili. "My best friend, my aunt, and my cousin all need my help, and if Golias, Bongo, and the others can't find them, then I guess I'll have to do it."
Matt instantly shook off his fears. "Okay okay, I'll go with you. I'll do it for Nessa, and your aunt and cousin."
"Me too," said Yuri. "But…how are we going to get to Panem without our moms and dads seeing us?"
"We'll just sneak out the front door while Dad's comforting Mom," Lili said. "Then we'll see if we can find a hot air balloon or something."
Yuri looked nervous, but Matt instantly became intrigued by the plan and nodded. "Turn the flashlight back on, Yuri," he said.
Taking a deep breath, Yuri obeyed him and led his friends out of bed, then into the hallway. Next, Lili showed the boys how to sneak the right way (which Matt said she didn't have to do because they already knew how to sneak, only for her to correct that statement after his next step resulted in the floor creaking), and they repeated her routine all the way down the stairs and out the front door.
Once they were outside, Lili smiled and said, "You can stop sneaking now. No one can hear us."
"Okay," Yuri told her. He then looked around, searching for something they could approach and turn into a flying vehicle of some kind. It was a good thing Nessa, Golias, and Bongo had given the trio the ability to use their powers too—in this situation, they really needed those powers to get to Panem! Yet no matter what they looked at, none of their surroundings provided any inspiration.
Eventually Matt sighed with disappointment, and his gaze wandered up towards the night sky—just in time for him to witness a hang glider flying by, a large distance upward. As he watched the man riding the vehicle whoop, scream, and laugh with pleasure, a smile spread across the child's face. He turned to Yuri and Lili, who were smiling too. Obviously, all three of them were thinking exactly the same thing.
"Come on," called Yuri, running toward a house across the street from Lili's. She and Matt ran after him, and together they stood up against one of the house's pale yellow vinyl walls. Together they closed their eyes, clasping the long droopy tree branch that was leaning in between them and the house.
Not letting go of the branch, the kids jumped into the air, then opened their eyes a second later. They were now high up in the sky, in a hang glider of their own. Its sail had the same colour and pattern as the house's vinyl wall, and the rest of its parts including the control bar the kids were now holding onto kind of resembled the tree branch that had been within their grasp.
"AWESOME!" Matt yelled in excitement. With him sitting on the right, Yuri on the left, and Lili in the middle, they flew forward, through the sky and over their neighbourhood. They passed Yuri's house and Matt's motel, along with several houses that were for sale, their favourite playground, and their school. It was such a fun experience, all three of the kids began laughing and cheering with pleasure as they watched all the familiar landmarks pass by below them.
The man driving the other hang glider, who was now a few feet away from them, heard their excited reactions and turned to see where they were coming from. When he saw three young children flying in a hang glider without any adults present, he gasped in horror and hollered, "Kids! Hang on! I'll go get help, and we'll see about getting you down!"
"We're not coming down now," Lili shot back. "Not until we get to Panem and save my family and our friends!" And with that, she pressed forward, and she, Matt, and Yuri zoomed forward in their hang glider.
Now even more worried, the man steered his hang glider back the way he'd come, guiding himself to the ground as fast but safely as possible. Yet despite that, the kids kept flying. They wouldn't stop until they got to wherever Nessa, Aunt Posey, and whoever Lili's cousin was were.
Nessa was definitely unlike any Capitol resident she knew of. She'd seen the way she skipped. She'd seen her bring more and more tributes together. She'd even heard her sing, which her stylist mentioned most of Panem hadn't been too fond of since the 10th Hunger Games and a very mild uprising after it. On top of that, she hadn't sung with the Capitol accent most people from her city used, which hinted that perhaps there was more to her than met the eye.
But once the girl from District 8 had brought up the hovercraft escape plan, that had confirmed it. Nessa was bringing as many tributes as possible together to start a rebellion from inside the arena, and she was among the tributes she wanted to include in the excitement. But they had to keep the plan discreet because of the cameras, and they'd clearly reached a risky phase of it. The girl from 8 had been right—Thresh would be hard to reason with, especially if the tributes put in charge of talking to him had trust issues of their own. And based on the other things about the plan she'd heard the duo discussing, along with the ways the Games worked, it hadn't taken long for Rue to deduce at least most of what else they had in mind.
It was a lot to take in, learning your district partner was a rebellion's only hope of succeeding, and you were his only hope of going along with it. Though this year's female tribute from District 11 had never been one to refuse a challenge like this, and she had a strong feeling that Nessa was someone she could trust. Rue admired anyone who wanted the true greater good for Panem, especially if they had a fondness for the Mockingjays. Those beautiful, musical birds had always been special to her, and ever since she'd heard about Juniper Berryharvest's daring escape from Panem, she had longed to follow in her footsteps someday. Yet with the strict Peacekeepers of District 11 having a good eye and bad influence on the city, such an opportunity had never come up. That is until now.
As Rue sat in a branch, observing the Cornucopia, she could see the two tributes Nessa and the girl from 8 had mentioned near the many piles of food within the space, along with at least twenty oddly-shaped metal devices. The boy from District 3, who had to be Geolo, was lying down in the grass, sound asleep. While near him, the fox-like girl from District 5 that most of the tributes had nicknamed Foxface was wide awake. She was trying to walk toward the field of wheat near the Cornucopia, using a spear as a walking stick and her backpack to rest one of her legs (which was bandaged, confirming what the girl from 8 had said about her having an injury) on as she slid it along. Unfortunately, the process was very slow, and she couldn't go far before the spear, fragile and unable to support her weight, snapped in half, sending her tumbling to the ground face-first. The pain was apparently powerful enough to make Foxface scream, which immediately woke Geolo up. Instinctively, he rushed toward her and started to ask if she was okay, but she waved a hand at him swiftly to prevent him from saying anything.
While Geolo bent down and started whispering to his companion, Rue stayed in her tree, contemplating whether or not she should come down and join the conversation. She trusted Nessa because she obviously cared about everyone's wellbeing and didn't want to hurt anyone, but she was still trying to work through her thoughts about the other allies on her team. It wasn't personal—it was just the cautious side of her speaking. She had been thinking before acting 24/7 ever since she'd been reaped, a strategy she believed would help her stay clear of any trouble during her time in the Capitol and the arena. A strategy that had proven very successful so far, and had mainly involved observing each of the other tributes closely but at a safe distance, seeing if she could deduce their strengths, weaknesses, and levels of care about other tributes, before even considering making any alliances with anyone official.
The girl from 8 seemed alright. She hadn't seemed like a threat at all; just someone who didn't seem fond of being involved in the Hunger Games, but had not shown any signs of it when around the Capitol residents. Rue had even heard Caesar Flickerman saying the girl had smiled joyously during the tribute parade, which non-Career tributes didn't usually do. Since the girl had seemed pretty new to most of the survival material, her smile could only have been a sign that she wanted to start a rebellion someday. Okay…maybe she was worth letting her guard down with. All she needed was a few survival tips, which Rue had a feeling she could supply.
Geolo? Also pretty inexperienced, but that seemed to be the only similarity he shared with the girl from 8. He didn't seem as rebellious as she was, especially around the Careers. Intelligence was his strength, while survival inexperience, lack of physical strength and self esteem, and the power the Careers seemed to have over him were his weaknesses; the latter of which could lead Nessa's team to a disadvantage. Unless he had agreed to work with them because they'd helped him believe in himself, which seemed like something Nessa would have done based on the reassurance she'd tried to give the 8 tribute earlier. Hmm…as long as that was the case…
And finally, there was Foxface. Now she was really something—in fact, Rue honestly considered her an even bigger threat than all four Careers. She had used similar mental strategies to her own back in the training centre; more observing other tributes than training, staying clear of conflict. Her interview with Caesar Flickerman had confirmed that she wanted to keep any details about herself hidden from the public; she had stayed absolutely silent for as long as she could, all of her expressions clearly secretive. Then their first day in the arena came, and while hiding high up in a tree, Rue had seen her creeping after Peeta Mellark, the boy from District 12, and the Careers (now minus Clove, thanks to Nessa), completely unnoticed and unheard by them. They'd been too busy looking for Peeta's district partner, Katniss Everdeen, to realize Foxface was sneaking a pear out of Marvel's backpack, which he'd forgotten to zip back up in his haste to apprehend Nessa.
The fact that someone that intelligent and sneaky was on Nessa's team was a true miracle. It was clear that Foxface had only agreed to form an alliance with her because of her leg injury, which Rue was surprised she'd gotten considering her mental strengths. There was a chance she could have gotten it from the forest fire of course, but the pain she was now seeing her in indicated that she'd had it too long for it to be a forest fire burn. Katniss had gotten a powerful burn on her calf, and even that hadn't appeared quite as painful as Foxface's injury was.
It was probably safe to say that Foxface was even smarter than both District 3 tributes. She just seemed like the kind of person who always thought of everything, even the possibility that her opponents could sniff something out just by staring closely at her facial expressions. Which made it impossible for anyone to see whether or not she truly had any regard for the wellbeing of her opponents. So now came the big question: when and if her leg healed, would District 5's intelligent female tribute make a good ally, or a good double-crosser?
Rue turned her attention back towards the Cornucopia. Geolo and Foxface were now in the middle of what looked like a whisper-argument. It was impossible to hear what they were saying, but she thought she saw Geolo's lips mouth the words "eleven" and "ourselves." Then she suddenly realized what Foxface had been trying to do: locate Thresh and tell him about Nessa's plans to evacuate the arena by luring in a hovercraft. Which, thanks to the Peacekeepers who would be in it, would be impossible unless he would be there to help fight them off.
Thresh was a really fascinating tribute, the way Rue saw him. Most of the tributes unsurprisingly saw him as a threat, but she didn't; in fact, despite his powerful muscles and extremely tough personality, he was the first tribute she'd decided to trust. They hadn't communicated at all back home or much during their time on the tribute train and in the Capitol, but on occasion, she saw him smile at her during their training sessions. Not sadistically, but in amusement and admiration. Rue had actually invited him to survive by her side the night before the Games began, but he had refused to form an alliance with her. Since their survival strategies were too different (hers to remain above ground while changing camping locations whenever possible and his to simply choose a promising territory and remain in it at all times) to be merged, he'd decided they would be better off going their separate ways. But as Rue accepted his wishes and headed to bed, Thresh had said, "But if I lose…you better win. You deserve it."
He really deserved to survive. He deserved to be part of Nessa's plan. And if the rebel who had replaced Clove saw potential in trusting Foxface with recruiting Thresh, Rue decided that, at least for now, the wiser decision was to take her chances with the tribute from 5. At least until something was done about her leg; then she was going to keep a close eye on her. So, without spending another second up in her tree, Rue leapt down and scurried toward the duo.
Once they saw her coming, both tributes froze, instantly pausing their conversation. Geolo gave her a glare that was clearly fake, while Foxface glanced around for her other allies. When she didn't see them anywhere, a hint of worry flashed through her eyes as she whispered, "Did our allies talk to you?"
Realizing they were trying to maintain an act in front of the cameras, Rue pretended to punch Geolo in the face, making it look like she was here to "rescue" Foxface. He inhaled with "surprise" and fell backward, impressively landing on the grass and closing his eyes. Only after he was "out" did Rue bend down and quietly reply, "I overheard them talking about parts of the escape plan and mentioning you two. I told them I was coming to help you. I think I figured out all the details, but you should probably tell me everything just so I can be sure."
Foxface closed her eyes to hide the weariness in her sigh, but explained the plan. Rue was relieved to discover that she'd succeeded in predicting most of it: Nessa and the girl from 8 (whose name she learned was Sonia) were waiting until the perfect opportunity to ambush the Careers, which would hopefully result in at least one of them joining the Fallen tributes and attracting a corpse-collecting hovercraft. Geolo (who was now using the Careers' decision to officially recruit him into their team to Nessa's team's advantage) and Foxface, meanwhile, had to dig up and reactivate the Cornucopia land mines, one of which would be used to make the hovercraft crash land into a ditch the team had discovered contained no cameras—and then Thresh, not to mention both tributes from 12, would be needed to stop the Peacekeepers from interfering with their escape plan.
Yet the part about the ditch was the one detail Nessa and Sonia didn't have on their agenda as far as anyone knew—and since Geolo and Foxface couldn't leave the Cornucopia without making anyone suspicious, Rue would have to tell their allies about the ditch part and convince Thresh to join their team. She would probably have until dawn to accomplish both tasks; there wasn't a second to waste.
What Rue hadn't expected to hear, however, was the fact that Nessa wasn't really a tribute sponsor gatherer—just someone who had swapped bodies with one. On the inside, she was someone who hadn't even known Panem existed until the switch, and nobody was to tell her that there were deaths involved in the Hunger Games. Which would make the making-the-hovercraft-go-into-the-ditch part harder, because Rue knew Peeta and the Careers hadn't trapped Katniss that close to the special location. Could they manage to get a dead Career into the ditch and thereby lure a hovercraft there as well without being slaughtered by the living ones, especially if Nessa probably wouldn't be allowed to even look at her and Sonia's victim?
We'll need Katniss and Peeta to help us too, Rue realized. Which was also risky, since Katniss's leg had gotten burnt from the forest fire. Then there was Peeta, whom she could tell by his recent secret nervous expressions was only working with Cato, Glimmer, and Marvel to somehow sabotage their attempts to kill Katniss. A bold move on his part—but if he revealed his real intentions too soon, he could end up on the Careers' list of enemies. Katniss and Nessa were already at the top of that list as it was; three members of this rebellion on that list would only make matters worse.
"Okay," whispered Rue. "How are you doing with the land mines?"
Foxface glanced at the many metal devices scattered around the Cornucopia. "They've all been dug up, but only two of them have been reactivated and buried. The other ones still need to be tended to. Geolo simply decided to take a nap so lack of sleep would not interfere."
"Well…you should probably wake him up. Nessa and Sonia already found the boy from 12 and the Careers. They've got his district partner trapped in a tree, and I don't know how much time we'll have before they wake up. We have to have a land mine ready for whoever's cannon will go off next."
After gulping nervously, Foxface nodded. "Run into that field of wheat over there. That is where your district partner is. Talk to him, and bring one of the mines you see with you. We want our audience to think you supposedly knocked Geolo out for some reason, and he cannot continue his work on the other mines unless you aren't here to do battle against."
"Got it," Rue whispered. She then scooped up the nearest land mine and ran towards the wheat field with it. This was it—time for her second attempt at inviting Thresh to officially become her ally. Except this time, it was an invitation he couldn't refuse. Otherwise, the wrong casualties would get picked up by the hovercraft in a few hours.
Foxface waited until Rue was out of sight and earshot, then cleared her throat. Geolo got her message and sat up, placing a hand on his forehead and pretending to be dazed. "Get to work," whispered Foxface. "The first land mine you finish rewiring, give it to her when she returns."
Geolo nodded, then walked toward the remaining land mines and began tampering with one of them. As she listened to him accessing the mine's wires, the furtive tribute rolled onto her back, once again feeling almost overwhelming pain within her leg. Clenching her teeth with all her might to stop herself from making a sound, Foxface could only think to herself one agonizing thought: trust had never been so painful, and coming from her, that was really saying something.
Rustle, rustle.
Sonia jolted awake as she heard something rustling through some tree branches. Sitting up, she glanced around, hoping it was the girl from District 11, but it unfortunately wasn't. It was only Katniss, fidgeting in her tree nearby, apparently waking up after setting up camp from her perch and dozing off. The girl from 11 still wasn't back yet.
Had she, Foxface, and Geolo failed to recruit the former's district partner? Were they dead? No, she would have heard at least one cannon by now. Maybe they were just taking a while with the land mines, and brainstorming how they were going to bring one of them over. That was probably it. They only needed more time.
Sonia glanced at Nessa, who was still asleep, and then at Peeta and the Careers, who were all lying on the ground below Katniss, motionless. They were asleep too—which instantly made her feel nervous. She didn't know how late they'd stayed up or how long they'd be asleep, which meant the time had come. That time.
Standing up shakily, Sonia tried to push aside her nerves, but they kept returning. She hadn't been looking forward to this moment. Not one bit. Even though this was the Hunger Games, killing someone hadn't originally been on her agenda, and she'd been proud of that. Surviving had been on it, but when she'd first entered the arena, she had planned on doing so by avoiding the violence and never being violent herself. Now she half-wished Foxface was here to do this horrible task in her place—but then again, that tribute was hurt, and she couldn't have done it anyway because of her and Geolo's hostage act. And since Nessa couldn't do it either for an obvious reason, that just left her.
Sonia slowly and shakily walked toward Peeta and the Careers, all the while growing more and more nervous. She tried reminding herself that this was the only way to lure in a hovercraft, but that only increased her discomfort. She didn't want to do this; she really didn't. Maybe the Careers had tried to kill her, but that didn't mean she wanted to try to kill them. Two wrongs didn't make a right, especially if the wrongs were this gruesome.
A minute went by before Sonia found herself standing right in front of the pack. And almost instantly, she saw Cato's sword, which, because he'd fallen asleep, he had a very loose grip on. Slowly sliding the weapon out of his hand seemed like the easiest thing for anyone to do…and she'd seen a sword stabbing scenario in action when Marvel stabbed her district partner back in the bloodbath…maybe if she just got it over with, it would make this experience a little easier…
Being extremely careful, Sonia gently touched the sword's blade and slowly edged it out of his grasp. He didn't react to it at all, which was a HUGE relief. Being the physically strongest Career and someone who was a pro at using nearly all the weapons in the training centre, he seemed like a bigger threat than Glimmer and Marvel.
Oh no, what was she doing?! Now it was obvious that Cato was the one Sonia would have to attack first, because he was the biggest threat they had to worry about! She couldn't do this. There had to be some other way to lure in the hovercraft. She wasn't a violent person! Desperate, she looked up at Katniss for guidance, and then noticed the nest above her—a tracker jacker nest. Maybe if she cut its branch off the tree…
Katniss noticed Sonia was looking at her, and after staring in surprise for a moment, she seemed to realize what she was steeling herself to do. Sonia pointed at her and then at the nest, then held her hands together and mouthed, please! But Katniss replied by shaking her head and mouthing, no.
Why not? Sonia mouthed. She pointed to her and the nest again, then made a slight gesture with the sword's blade. In response, Katniss made a similar cutting gesture with her hand, pointed to the backpack she had with her, and shook her head again. She didn't have any cutting weapons. Which meant they couldn't use the tracker jackers.
A powerful lump formed in Sonia's throat. She really didn't have a choice now. Shaking again, she placed both hands on the sword's handle and then held it up, positioning it so that the blade was aimed at Cato's chest, only inches away from touching it. No, no—she couldn't. She was no murderer, not even here. Not even with real murderers. This was never going to work…but Nessa. Geolo. The girl from 11. Katniss. Peeta. Even Foxface. They all deserved to survive, and the only way for that to work was if Sonia completed her mission and lured in a hovercraft. But she didn't want to kill anyone, not even her enemies…
Tears of fear and sadness streamed down Sonia's cheeks. She tightened her grip on the sword handle and squeezed her eyes closed. "Oh God," she loud-whispered, "please forgive me for what I'm about to do. I'd spare this boy's life if it were up to me, but you know I can't. Not if I want this escape plan to work, which I do! I'm only doing this to him because it's the only way to save the lives of the rest of us. So…I hope you forgive me for this."
Sonia sighed and opened her eyes. She then gasped, realizing she was staring directly at a camera hidden in Katniss's tree trunk. Thankfully she hadn't said anything about the hovercraft, so the authorities weren't going to be too upset—but Clove would be furious. If she wasn't awake now, watching the Games and already having heard everything she'd said…
There was no turning back now. With one more sniffle, Sonia made eye contact with the camera, gulped, and said, "Clove, if you're watching this, I'll only say this: you should be glad you're not in the arena. And I'm sorry, again…but I have to help my team."
And with that, Sonia shoved away her fears for the moment and plunged the sword into Cato's heart.
Wow. That was just…wow. To be honest, that last scene was hard to write; Cato's not my favourite HG character, but in the books, one particular scene proved that he does have a bit of a docile side. So, yeah…despite his bad traits, I still feel kind of bad about having to sacrifice him here. But a hovercraft only comes into an arena to scoop out a tribute's corpse, so…you get the picture.
As for the other characters here, can Sonia (not to mention an oblivious Nessa) manage to avoid any trouble with the remaining Careers? And will Thresh accept Rue's offer this time? Or refuse it again? Stay tuned…