I've decided to just post a chapter every few days until caught up to the AO3 version, then I'll update this alongside the AO3 version. Anyways, hope you enjoy this chapter!
Willow and Sorb were gone when Maze woke up.
Slats of sunlight streamed in between the cracks in the branches that made up the walls of the shelter. They weren't the pale rays of dawn, but the golden ones of early morning. Having something to block the sun must have allowed Maze to sleep in. Every morning in the arena, she had woken up right at dawn. Maze never imagined she would ever become a morning person.
Yawning, she crawled out of the shelter to Willow and Sorb sitting around the unlit campfire, eating some type of berry.
"Good morning," Willow greeted, holding out a handful of berries. "Want some berries?"
Maze looked down at the berries, skeptical. They were lighter in color than the pokeweed berries, but some were still dark enough to resemble them. "They're not poisonous, are they?"
"Nope," Sorb replied, popping a few into his mouth. "We've been eating them for the last few days and we're still alive."
"We've been eating them our entire lives," Willow said. "They're blue huckleberries. They grow back in District 7. They're very tasty."
Maze stared down at the huckleberries. Part of her could still taste the pokeweed berries and the vomit and bile they produced.
Tentatively, she plucked a berry from Willow's hand and chewed it. It was much sweeter and pleasant than the pokeweed berries. The pleasant taste put Maze at ease, and she took a few more from Willow.
"Good, aren't they?" Willow asked, smiling at Maze.
Maze nodded, swallowing some of the berries. "Yeah."
The three of them lapsed into an awkward silence as they ate the huckleberries.
Maze decided to break it with some small talk.
"So, you two are from the same village?"
She knew the answer; Sorb had mentioned it in his interview, but it was something to talk about.
Willow nodded. "Mm-hm. Both of us born and raised."
"We've known each other since we were toddlers," Sorb said. "Hard not to in such a small place."
Small place. Maze couldn't fathom a small place. Everything in Central City was massive. Massive skyscrapers. Massive factories. Massive population. The only small things in Central City were the people and the technological components produced there.
"Our village has a population of about five thousand," Willow supplied, as if noticing Maze struggling to comprehend such a concept. "Not the smallest village in 7, but not the biggest either. Officially, it's known as Village 23, but everyone calls it the Fold because it's one of District 7's paper mill villages."
"My dad and I cut down the trees to make the paper, my mom works at the machines that make the paper, and Willow and her family print the paper into books and whatnot," Sorb added. "What about you? Do you have a job in District 3?"
Maze shook her head, hugging herself. "No. We aren't allowed to start working until we're fourteen. I was going to try and find a part-time job after this year's Games, but obviously, my plans got ruined."
"How are you so good at the electronic stuff, then?" Sorb asked, gesturing to Maze's spear. It lay with its tip in the dirt, away from anything that could catch fire or melt. "Do they teach it in schools?"
Maze nodded. "Yeah. Not to brag, but I'm actually pretty good at it, compared to the rest of my classmates. It just — I don't know. It comes easy to me. Not much else does."
"Are you from one of the cities?" Willow asked.
Maze nodded again. "Yeah."
"They always showed the cities in District 3 on television," Willow said. "They always looked so desolate and depressing to me. How someone could live in that level of pollution and with no greenery anywhere, I cannot imagine."
"You get used to it," Maze replied, tucking her knees to her chest. "I guess it's why District 3 tributes always do so badly in the Games. Hardly any of us have any exposure to nature."
She looked around. The forest had a gentle glow in the morning light, sunlight streaming through the pine tree branches and casting dancing shadows on the ground. Plants and wildflowers grew in the dirt in the gaps between trees, taking advantage of their position in the sun. Birds sang, and occasionally, one flitted from tree to tree, feathers flashing in the sun. The air was clean and filled Maze's lungs with a crispness she never experienced living in Central City. If it weren't for the fact that she was in the Hunger Games, she would feel very at peace in such a natural setting.
Maze turned her face towards the sun. It warmed her skin, and she closed her eyes for a few moments, lost in bliss.
"We hardly ever saw the sun in Central City," she told Willow and Sorb, still facing the sun. "I've maybe seen it three times my entire life before being Reaped."
"It's nice, isn't it?" Sorb asked.
Maze smiled. "Definitely."
Once the three finished their breakfast, they went their separate ways. Sorb and Maze went to go check the traps, while Willow stayed at the camp and guarded it. The morning was unusually warm, so the three of them shed their jackets and left them in the shelter.
To Maze and Sorb's delight, the traps Maze had built the previous day had a squirrel and a rabbit each dangling from a leg in them.
"Nice work!" Sorb exclaimed, patting Maze on the shoulder. She beamed at the praise. "Here's lunch for us!"
The two of them carried the dead animals back to the camp, where Willow awaited. Maze used her spear to start the campfire again, and the three cleaned and then cooked the animals, chatting as they did.
The conversation turned towards family.
"It's just me, my mom, and Rowan at home," Willow said as she turned the squirrel on a branch spittle. "My dad died when I was ten and when Rowan was two from sickness. He just got all weak all of the sudden and then died a few weeks after. We don't know what caused it. The village doctor suspected heart problems, but we don't have good medical equipment in the Fold. All the good equipment is in Center Town, where our Justice Building is and stuff. We all go there once a year for the Reaping."
"You said during your interview that you don't have any family, right?" Sorb asked Maze. His hands were bloody from gutting the innards of the rabbit and squirrel.
Maze shook her head. "No. No family. I got left at the community home in Central City when I was two months old."
"Do you know anything about your family?" Willow asked Maze.
"Some," Maze replied, shrugging her shoulders. "My grandparents were Gauss and Iris Donahue, my aunt was Titania Donahue, and they were executed for treason a few months after I was born, along with my mother. Also, apparently my mentor knew Titania and my family. He was in the same class as Titania, and Gauss and his father worked together as Researchers. The Donahues were, like, rich because of that." She chuckled. "Maybe I could have inherited the family fortune once I turned eighteen, if it still existed."
"And you're sure the Donahues are all dead?" Sorb asked. "No surviving great-aunts or great-uncles or anything?"
"Yep." Maze nodded. "I researched my family thoroughly. The Donahues just had to engage in treason and leave me orphaned." Bitterness crept into her voice. "And now it's my turn to die, I guess."
"Don't say that," Willow said. "You could still win. Any of us could still win."
"That's..." Maze decided not to argue with one of the only people she had left to be friendly with. She could control her tongue — sometimes. She bit her lip and looked away. "A very optimistic way of looking at it."
The day had grown even warmer as the three sat around the fire and cooked the animals. It was setting up to be a scorcher, even for a July day. Maze was starting to get sweaty, and based on the shininess of their skin, so were Willow and Sorb.
An hour later, the animals were fully cooked and ready to eat. Maze took the squirrel, while Willow and Sorb shared the rabbit. The squirrel was nowhere as good as the soup they had the previous day, but Maze ate it anyways.
By the time she was done, her mouth was dry once more, and her undergarments and shirt were starting to get soaked with sweat. The underarms of Willow's shirt were dark, and Sorb's brown bangs stuck to his forehead.
"You know what I think we need today?" Sorb asked.
Maze swung her head around to look at him. Willow tilted her head. "What?"
"A bath. Both us, and our clothes. We're beyond smelly. Plus, it's so hot that a bath would feel really nice."
"Counterpoint," Willow rebutted. "There's no bathtub in the arena."
"A counterpoint to your counterpoint: there's a waterfall not far from here."
Willow's eyes went wide. "A waterfall? When did you find a waterfall?"
"Two days ago," Sorb replied. "Where did you think I got that waterfowl we ate a couple days ago? Anyways, it would be perfect for washing up."
Willow's eyes lit up. "A waterfall sounds really nice right now. I'm in."
Sorb smiled. "Yay!" He turned to Maze. "Will you be joining?"
Maze nodded. The water would feel good in this heat. She desperately needed a bath, too. Her underarms smelled like something had crawled up there and died, and her clothes smelled almost as bad. "Definitely."
The three gathered their jackets and then headed to the river, Sorb leading while Willow and Maze trailed behind him. Maze carried her water bottle with her. She also brought her spear with her just in case, disconnecting the wire from one of the battery terminals and turning it back to a normal spear for safety. The memories of Beetee's Games were still fresh in her mind.
The river wasn't far from their camp, just a five-minute walk down the hill. Once they reached the river, Sorb led them upstream for a while until they reached the waterfall. The river cascaded off a rocky outcrop, creating a pool at its base. A rainbow flickered in the constant barrage of water droplets.
The three washed their clothes first. They stripped down to their undergarments, then washed their clothes in the river, one by one. They used river rocks to scrub at the clothes, before setting them out to dry out in the sun on the larger rocks. By that time, Maze was beginning to swelter. The water looked so nice and cool and refreshing.
Sorb was the first one to get in the pool. He waded in, the water reaching to his chest, before going under the waterfall, laughing.
"Oh, man! This feels almost as good as the Capitol showers!"
"Does it?" Willow ran into the pool, creating several splashes as she did. She waded and then swam over next to Sorb, the water falling onto her head. "By the twigs, you're right!"
She beckoned to Maze with her hand, who still stood by the water's edge. "Come on in! It feels so nice!"
Maze examined the pool. The water was darker than she would have liked in many areas, and Willow, about the same height as her, stood with the water up to her shoulders.
"I never learned to swim," Maze said, keeping her gaze on the water. "It looks a bit deep."
"I'm standing here," Willow called. "It's not that deep. You'll be fine."
Maze hesitated. In District 3, hardly anyone learned how to swim. Central and North City were on the great lake, but the waters had long been too polluted to swim in. Other than that, there were few bodies of water in District 3 for people to swim in. Some of the rich had swimming pools, but few else had access to them.
Willow swam and then waded her way back over to Maze, holding out her hand. "It's too hot to stand over there. Please, get in. You can hold my hand if you want."
Maze stared at Willow's hand for a few seconds, before taking a deep breath and grasping it. "Okay."
She waded into the pool, still holding Willow's hand. The two from District 7 were right — the water felt amazing. A smile crept onto Maze's face as the cool relief hit her.
She waded in deeper, getting a bit nervous as the water came up to her chest and then her shoulders. There was a slight current, pulling her in the direction of the river's flow, but it wasn't overwhelming. She could easily fight it.
Willow kept her grasp on Maze's hand. "Want to go under the waterfall? It feels so nice."
Maze nodded. The rest of her body was nice and cool now, but her face still burned in the sun.
Still holding Willow's hand, she went over to the waterfall. Taking a deep breath, she waded under it. The water hit her in a cold rush, drenching her hair and face. A surprised laugh escaped her lips.
"Isn't it great?" Sorb stood next to her, the water falling directly onto his head. "I swear, just like a Capitol shower." He rubbed his hair, as if shampooing it. "I feel just as clean. I didn't realize just how much dirt and muck had gotten onto me in the past few days."
Willow lifted her arm and sniffed her armpit. "I smell a bit better than I did before."
The three cleaned themselves under the waterfall. They used the falling water as jets and their hands as washcloths, washing off all the dirt and muck they could. The squirrel blood from the first day in the arena had caked beneath Maze's nails, and she finally got rid of it, scraping it out with her other nails and putting her hands beneath the falling water. She also gargled with the water to clean her mouth. Her breath smelled rancid, with the remnants of all the food she'd eaten stuck between her teeth.
After a while, Willow grabbed another river rock and then took off her camisole to clean it, her bare chest hidden from view by the water. Once it was sufficiently clean, she put it back on and repeated the process with her underwear. Sorb and Maze took cues from her and did the same, putting their undergarments right back on once they were clean.
After they were all clean, they lingered in the pool, feeling the soothing rush of the water. The air was hot, and none of them were eager to get out.
Sorb sat down in the water and then floated on his back, his arms outstretched beside him. "This reminds me of home. When my friends and I, or sometimes my mom and dad and I, would go out to the rivers and lakes during the summer to cool down."
"Just me and my mom and Rowan went," Willow said. "I didn't have many friends to go with. My best friend was scared of water."
"Just how many friends did you have?" Maze asked Sorb. "There was a lot of people upset at your Reaping."
"I have no idea why all those people were saying my name and cheering," Sorb said. "Some of them were my friends, but most weren't. Some people I think were from other villages and just joined in for fun. But it doesn't matter. They should have cheered for Willow too."
Willow slowly turned her head towards him with an expression Maze couldn't read. "You seriously don't realize, don't you?"
"Realize what?" Sorb lifted his head and looked at her, curious.
"They chanted your name and were sad when you were Reaped because everyone adores you," Willow said. "You're, like, the nicest guy in town. You're always helping people with things, like when you helped old man Letterman with his home repairs after that big storm. Or when you took Jill Sunder's schoolwork to her a few years ago when she got really sick so she wouldn't fall behind. And you're always smiling and saying hello to people. The times you talked to me before the Games, you were really nice to me when most people just ignore me. That's why everyone was so upset when you were Reaped. The whole village loves you."
It may have just been the sun beating down on her face, but Maze swore Willow's face was redder than usual.
Sorb was silent for a moment, his eyes squinting and brow furrowing in thought. "The village…loves me?"
A laugh burst out of Willow. "Of course they do!" She playfully splashed Sorb, the droplets arcing through the air.
"All because I'm nice?" Sorb seemed genuinely baffled.
Willow splashed him again. "Yep!"
Sorb splashed back with a laugh. "Still, I think they should have been sad and cheered for you, too. It's not fair that they did it for me and not you."
"They wouldn't have done it," Willow replied, swinging her arm back and splashing him again. "They see me as the quiet, strange girl who loves reading fairytales."
"And?" Sorb returned her splash. "That doesn't make you any less deserving of a nice send-off. You're very nice, too. Even if they consider you strange. Which isn't a bad thing."
"I was considered strange too," Maze chimed in. "I never made friends, even though I tried my hardest. And I guess my hijinks were considered strange."
"Hijinks?" Sorb asked.
Maze explained what her hijinks were to Sorb and Willow. At the end of her explanation, Willow splashed her.
"You're like a trickster spirit or something, haha."
Maze splashed her back. "I guess."
"So we have a friendly troll from the woods—" Willow splashed Sorb, "—and a trickster spirit." She splashed Maze, who laughed.
"Is that how you got so good at making knots back in training?" Sorb asked.
Maze nodded, before splashing him. "Yep."
"You should do some hijinks here in the arena," Willow suggested.
"Already have, in a way," Maze answered. "The guy from District 2 tried charging at me at the Cornucopia, so I threw the sleeping bag I grabbed at him and tripped him up."
That was the closest thing Maze had done to hijinks in the arena so far. She supposed it counted.
"Oh, Cassian?" Sorb asked.
Maze tilted her head. "Cassian? Is that his name?"
"Yeah." Sorb nodded. "Blight and I overheard him talking to his mentor in the elevator the night after the chariot parade. Not to be mean, but he's kind of a whack job. Huge ego. Already thinks he's a Capitol citizen and he hasn't even won yet."
Maze raised an eyebrow, amused. "From the way he dressed at his Reaping, I'd say he's already a Capitol citizen."
Sorb snickered. "I bet he was seething mad after you defeated him with a sleeping bag."
The three of them chatted some more, floating in the pool beneath the waterfall. Maze, with the support of Willow, tried her hand at floating. She had never done it before and was terrified of drowning. Willow taught her how to do it, and it didn't take long for Maze to float weightless in the cool water.
After a while, the burning on the three's skin became too uncomfortable to ignore. Apparently, if you spent too much time in the sun, you could get burned. Maze had no idea it could do that.
The three got out of the water and put their clothes back on. Their clothes were dry, warmed from the sun, and they smelled and felt much cleaner than before, although a slight odor still lingered. No amount of scrubbing could get the grime of the arena completely off the clothing. Once their clothes were on, they retreated into the refreshing shade of the forest.
As soon as they made it back to their camp, something happened.
The first sign was a faint beeping noise emanating from the sky. The three of them looked up, confused.
Something glinted in the blue between the gaps in the trees, and a few moments later, a silver parachute appeared, a metal container attached to it. It drifted down from between the trees and came to rest right beside the pile of wood that made up the extinguished campfire.
The three stared at it for a few moments before it clicked what it was.
Willow gasped, a smile lighting up her face. "A sponsor gift!"
She ran and knelt beside it, Sorb and Maze following with wide eyes and exhilarated smiles.
"Which one of us do you think it's for?" Sorb asked, eyeing the container. It was larger, about a foot wide, and rectangular.
"Let's find out," Willow said. "Maze, do you want to open it?"
Maze nodded, before undoing the fastening mechanism on the container's side and swinging it open.
Inside was a simple cardboard box. Maze's name was written neatly on top.
"It's for me?" Maze gasped, her smile widening.
"Open it!" Willow and Sorb urged.
Maze opened the box to find a pink cake nestled inside. Her smile slid from her face, replaced by a look of bafflement.
Cake? In the arena? Was Beetee out of his mind?
"Cake?" Sorb echoed Maze's sentiments.
"There's a letter," Willow said, pointing to a piece of cardstock nestled next to the cake.
Maze picked it up, reading the message inscribed in neat lettering.
Happy 14th birthday, Maze. You deserve to celebrate.
- Beetee Latier.
Maze's eyes widened more at the realization. "Today's my birthday. I'm fourteen now." She laughed. "I didn't think I'd live this long."
Willow gasped. "Today's your birthday?"
"Happy birthday, then!" Sorb congratulated. "That explains the cake."
"There's a message on the back of the card," Willow pointed out.
Maze flipped the card around.
"This cake contains enough nutrients to last three days," she read aloud.
"Hm." Maze pondered that for a moment. "If we split it up, we can each have one day of nutrients."
Willow and Sorb exchanged glances. They held their glances for a few moments, unknown information moving between them, before Willow shook her head.
"It's alright. You can have the whole cake. It's your birthday cake. Plus, having only two mouths to feed instead of three for a few days makes less work for everyone than if we all skipped one day and then went back to feeding all three of us."
"But aren't you supposed to share birthday cakes?" Maze asked. "At least, in District 3, you do."
Not that she would know for sure. No one ever celebrated her birthday. Birthday celebrations were a luxury only those who were loved could afford. Maze never even got the luxury of being invited to a classmates' celebration. The last two birthdays, Maze celebrated by going to the Justice Building and getting more chips put into the orb.
"We share them in District 7 too," Sorb said.
"But this is a strategic move, not a sentimental one," Willow said. "It would make more sense for one person to eat it and not have to eat anything for three days than it is for everyone to not have to eat anything for just one day."
"I agree with Willow," Sorb added. "The cake sure looks good, though."
Willow glared at him.
Maze stifled a laugh. "Of course Beetee sends me a logic puzzle as a birthday gift."
She looked back down at the cake. It was maybe ten inches in diameter, with yellow sprinkles scattered on top of the pink frosting. "This is the only birthday that I've had a cake and friends to celebrate with. I'd feel really bad not sharing the cake at least some."
She made up her mind. "I'll give you each one small slice. That way, we'll all get some cake. I'll be fed for almost three days, and you two will be fed for a few hours, like normal food does."
"Sounds good to me!" Sorb shot a hungry look towards the cake.
"I think it would make most sense for you to have the whole cake, but I appreciate the sentiment," Willow objected.
"No." Maze shook her head, still-damp hair whipping around her face. "I insist. Please. This is the only birthday celebration I've ever had." Her voice and face took on a pleading tone.
"No one's ever given you a birthday gift or something?" Sorb asked. Maze shook her head again.
"Willow, if Maze says she wants us to have a slice, I think we should have a slice." Sorb took Maze's side, each of them looking at Willow with pleading eyes.
Willow sighed, before acquiescing. "Alright. If it's that important."
Maze gave a happy little bounce. "Yay!"
She went to their supplies and grabbed a dagger and the silverware, before running back and cutting into the cake. The three then ate their respective portions of the cake. For something so nutritious, it tasted just like the cakes composed of empty calories that Maze ate for dessert in the Capitol. The cake was moist and sweet, with faint hints of vanilla and unknown fruit flavoring. Maze tried to savor every bite — it would probably be the last dessert she ever had — but it just tasted so good, and it vanished almost as quickly as it had fallen from the sky. The cake was filling, too — Maze felt like she did after eating a Capitol meal once she was finished.
"We should do more to celebrate," Willow said once everyone was finished. "Since it's your first ever birthday celebration."
Sorb snorted. "So now you want a sentimental move."
Maze looked around. Nothing about their environment particularly screamed celebration. "How though? We're in the arena."
Willow's eyes glinted with something like mischief. "Sorb and I will think of something."
She stood up, beckoning Sorb towards her with her finger. Sorb complied, also standing up.
"We'll be back in a while."
The two tore off into the forest, leaving Maze alone. She sat on the ground, a dopey grin on her face.
A birthday celebration. She was having a birthday celebration, with a cake and everything.
What a terrible place to finally have one.
She decided to address those who made the celebration possible.
"Thank you for the cake," she spoke aloud, directing her grin to the sky for a few moments. "Beetee and everyone who helped fund it."
A few minutes later, Willow and Sorb returned. Both had mischievous grins on their faces. Willow held something behind her back.
She withdrew what she was holding, dangling it in Maze's line of vision. A flower crown, composed of the flowers Maze remembered seeing in the meadow with the pokeweed bushes, dangled from her hand.
"A birthday crown for the birthday girl," Willow lilted, as if dramatically narrating from a book. She placed it upon Maze's head, the branches entangling in her hair. "Happy birthday once again, from both of us."
The grin on Maze's face widened. "Thank you. I love it."
"Now, we're gonna sing you a traditional District 7 birthday song," Sorb said.
"We practiced hard," Willow added with a giggle.
Sorb held out his arm to Willow, and she linked her arm with his. The two then skipped around in a circle and sang.
"For she's a jolly good fellow,
For she's a jolly good fellow,
For she's a jolly good fellow!
Which nobody can deny!"
Once they were done, the two of them did dramatic bows.
Maze whooped and giggled in glee and applauded them. "Yippee!"
"I think we missed our musical theater calling," Sorb quipped.
There was a moment of silence, before the three of them descended into a fit of laughter.
Sorb's comment had no right to be as funny as it was. It wasn't even that funny. Maze couldn't remember the last time she laughed so hard. The laughter coming from her mouth was uproarious, sputtering out in loud guffaws that intermingled with Willow and Sorb's. The two had toppled over into the dirt from the sheer force of their laughter. Maze's ribs and sides ached, and tears squeezed out of the corners of her eyes.
After a few minutes, their laughter subsided. However, a burning feeling still remained behind Maze's eyes, radiating into the top of her throat. She tried to blink it away, but her eyes remained damp.
Willow noticed this. "Maze? Are you okay?"
Maze nodded. "I'm fine. It's just—" The reason why she was still teary struck her as she talked. "I'm happy. This is the best — and only — birthday celebration I've ever had."
And most likely the last birthday celebration I'll ever have.
Maze didn't dare say that part out loud.
