Disclaimer: All Hunger Games characters and core personality traits are the property of SC. I own nothing, nor do I plan on profiting from using her work. No copyright infringement is intended.
Chapter Eight
“Afraid of the dark, little girl?” Peeta’s warm voice reached her just before his hand slipped into her’s.
Katniss couldn’t help but grin at that. She looked up at him with no small amount of mirth, “It’s impossible to be scared of the dark when you’ve seen the things I’ve seen in broad daylight.”
The horrors of District Twelve didn’t wait for the cover of darkness like imagined childhood monsters.
The set of Peeta’s eyes softened. “You might not believe it, but in District One we work hard to spare our women the cruelties of this world.”
Katniss’ thoughts went immediately, painfully, to her father; how hard he had worked when he was alive, to keep the family fed and loved. His back had bowed, long before its time, from the load of labor and the stress of caring for a family in a District where thriving wasn’t just difficult, it was practically forbidden.
“Our districts have that in common, it seems,” she said quietly and mostly to herself, “except in Twelve, that’s a venture that puts our men into the ground.”
“The coal mines?” he guessed.
“Their graves,” Katniss corrected dryly, pulling him towards the assembling group by their joined hands, “And Sparkles over there doesn’t look like she was spared.”
Glimmer was already present for the hunting party, looking not the least bit apprehensive about the prospect of killing as she causally dipped into a long, sensual stretch.
Mellark shook his head, “Glimmer was born with ice in her veins, I assure you.”
“You’ve always known how to flatter a girl, Peeta,” the blonde snipped at her district fellow.
He ignored her as comprehensively as if she had said nothing at all, his attention on Marvel who stood off to the side, looking decidedly uncomfortable.
“You will not be joining us tonight,” he told the outsider firmly, his arm sliding around Katniss protectively so that the message was clear—I don’t trust you, “you will be guarding our food and supplies while we’re gone. If I find anything missing from the inventory, either by your hands or a thief you’ve allowed to slip in and out of here, you will pay for each missing object with one of your limbs.”
Marvel did not argue the point but Katniss watched a subtle hostility shape the set of his jaw for just a fraction of a second before he dropped his head in a show of submission.
The Alpha male seemed hesitant as he placed a kiss on Katniss’ head and stepped further from her than he’d ever been since getting hold of her inside the arena.
She knew she should have felt relief but instead she felt exposed and vulnerable.
“We move under your lead, Everdeen,” he announced simply.
Cato snickered, “That a’ girl! Seek em’!”
“Shouldn’t we put a leash on her? What if she’s runs away,” Glimmer quipped.
Clove tossed a throwing knife into the air, the glinting blade danced above her head before shooting back to her palm where it was skillfully caught by the handle, “I’d like to see her try.”
Peeta’s body seemed to straighten out to acquire another half foot of looming ferocity. “I don’t care if she bounds off like a doe, no one is to touch her. The moment she experiences injury at one of your hands is the moment your alliance with me ends,” he grounded out.
No one appeared eager for that to happen, as evidenced by the way their bodies seemed to lean away from her in synchronization.
The order was less than reassuring for Katniss. There was little doubt in her head that Peeta exempted himself from the offered protection, was she to attempt an escape. What would the punishment be for abusing his trust—if one could call it that?
She didn’t say anything in response but instead took a deep inhale of the icy fresh air around them.
The girl who kept her family’s bellies full with small game knew how to track but not even Gale would bother searching for the nearly invisible signs of recently disturbed forest floor in the dark.
She had one shot of leading them efficiently to a needle in this hay stack and her confidence in her method was less than reassuring.
But in an instant, she was gone.
Katniss took off like a shot, tearing through the trees like the doe Peeta had attributed to her. She heard the other’s startle at the her sudden flight, a wave of verbal protest came from the other tributes but Peeta rejected their upset with an order to give chase.
“Go,” he yelled, already in motion.
The Seam survivor let herself experience fear.
As she made split second decisions that led her left or right when neither held path or promise she did so with the allusion that the members of her quickly souring alliance were the hounds of hell on her heals. The prey animal inside her chose her passage, picking spaces in the trees just an inch’s fraction more accessible, noticing minuscule benefits to the options in front of her.
Ducking took time, and every jump held the possibility of a fatal trip to the ground; when presented with a path that avoided those risks, her quick feet darted her in those directions. Desperation helped her in ways that defied logic as she cut a blazing path through the dense forest faster than most could race through open field.
Her lungs burned and her heart raced and she could hear what had to be Mellark’s heavy steps falling just seconds behind her own. Katniss was fast, extremely fast, and his ability to keep up frightened her. No one that large should be able to move like that. No one built like a cougar should be able to dart like a hare.
She pushed harder, letting his proximity feed her instincts.
“Katniss,” he growled, a hiss of her name that he exhaled with an expertly timed breath. It was a warning and a very real one at that. As she ran with every indication of intent to escape his annoyance with her grew.
“Stop. Now,” he bit out, the fact that she could hear him over the her labored breaths or the pounding of the bag as it hit her back with every bound, a testament to his proximity. “And you won’t-” he huffed, finding breath for words hard to come by, “-have to find out what I’ll do…when I catch you.”
She wanted to stop. Everything hurt; her legs, her chest, the straps bearing the weight on her shoulders—even her thoughts were painful. They’d already covered so much ground without coming across her goal, so much that she became astounded at the vastness of this year’s arena. What would happen if her strategy didn’t pay off? What if all she had accomplished was the eradication of Peeta’s favor?
Just when she was ready to slow, just a half second before the exhausted girl was ready to let her pursuer overtake her, consequences be damned, the smell hit her hard.
Familiar pine and clean soil was overwhelmed by the much stronger scent of burning forest wood.
Her eyes filled and blurred her vision and she stumbled fast towards the ground.
He caught her, of course. Peeta’s arms wrapped around her waist with a quickness that made her realize she was probably never actually out of grasp to him at all. He held her to his chest and stared onward at what Katniss refused to acknowledge.
Through the darkness, the faint glow of a small fire flickered.
Hours earlier someone else had ran from the murderous battle at the start of the games. They had ran as quickly and desperately as their own legs could carry them, terrified of the often pursuing Careers. Their fear had pushed them through the forest just as efficiently as Katniss until they had finally felt safe enough to stop. Safe enough to rest until night fall. Safe enough to start a fire to stave off the bone chilling cold.
“Well done, baby,” he told her proudly.
Tears that had nothing to do with the smoke rolled down her heated cheeks,
“If you want to find someone who’s scared, it helps to be scared.” She whispered, voice grim.
His blue gaze shined through the darkness as he looked down at her. Tilting her chin up, he once again wiped the salted liquid from her face.
“Don’t be afraid any longer,” he murmured softly, “You did well and you are very safe.”
She believed him. For now, the way he was holding her made it feel as though he’d kill every soul in the entire arena to keep her alive. However, it was not her own safety she worried for at that moment.
Cato bound up to them like a tired but very pleased shepherd. He held his side liked he was nursing a stitch but his mad-man smile was as strong as ever.
“Fuck me,” he wheezed, “I like a little game of cat and mouse as much as the next guy but you assholes should have had to disclose that you’re half horse.”
Clove jogged up looking no worse for the wear but Glimmer, who came in close behind, was wind swept and furious. She patted her hair back into place until it once again framed her face flatteringly.
“I told you your stupid little pet was going to make a run for it and if she’s not reprimanded for running us through 3 miles of open woods-“
“My pet-” Peeta bit out, “found us exactly what we asked for and if you don’t watch your volume her quarry will get away and your face will be flashing across the sky in it’s stead.”
The group looked up at the distant fire. After the tiresome sprint, none of them were eager for an extra chase, should their target hear their approach.
“Killer instincts you got there, kitten,” Cato reached out to pat her on the back before eyeing Peeta’s possessive position over the small female. “It pains me to say this but I think you’ve earned this one, am I right?” He gestured to the others with his out stretched palm instead.
Clove shrugged and Glimmer continued glaring at her shoes.
“Earned what?” Katniss asked quietly, her stomach in knots because she already strongly suspected the answer.
The curve of Glimmer’s red lips was visible in the moonlight, “Your kill, of course. Fair is fair, darling.”
Katniss peered up at Peeta. The heart that had been hammering in her chest suddenly decided to stop beating entirely. He didn’t look at her at all, though she was sure he knew she was trying to catch his eye. He pulled her a little closer to his body.
The silence grew uncomfortable as he seemed to come to a decision.
“Fair is fair,” he said finally.
A small whimper of devastation escaped her throat. “No,” she breathed, “No… I ca-“
“You can.” He gave her a hard shake and dipped low to keep his words between them, “It’s them or you, Katniss. Live.”
Live.
She looked over at the rest of the group and saw the hunger in their eyes, the predatory way they sized her up and watched on eagerly for a show of weakness. They wanted her to fail. They wanted another reason to deem her worth culling from their elite ranks. As the number of other targets in the arena dwindled, the careers would need to turn on their own and being expendable was a great way to put yourself on the top of the list.
There was no good in living through this nightmare just to die later in the games, having never held her little sister again.
“Give me the bow,” she demanded, her resolve making her bold. If she was going to do this, she was going to do it in the only way she knew how.
Glimmer blinked, taken aback. “You cant be serious…”
“Give her the bow,” Mellark repeated the command with far more authority.
The blonde looked like she was much more likely to shoot Katniss with the weapon than hand it over. “She can go kill whoever it is with her hands like the animal she is.”
“The bow and one arrow,” he ordered, his tone cooling at the insult but not gratifying her with acknowledgment. It was clear the two had a long history together and he knew well how to handle her ire. He held his hand out to facilitate the exchange, “Cato, you can cover Everdeen’s back. If she turns it on us, you have my permission to kill her.”
To the untrained eye, Peeta either had a lot of confidence in her loyalty or was truly content to see her dead if she tried to betray them—but some might surmise the truth lay in the fact that he simply wouldn’t be trusted to protect his alliance from a girl he favored over every single one of them.
Cato pulled his knife from his belt and grinned at Katniss, “It would be an honor, Girl on Fire.”
Glimmer looked to Clove, needing to have at least one other objection on the table, but the small viper from District Two looked bored and eager to have the ordeal completed in the fastest possible fashion; even if it meant arming the stranger.
Mellark’s female teammates snarled at him as she pulled the beautiful silver bow off her back and selected one single arrow from the quiver. She was careful to pull a small sward-like blade out of a back holster before she surrendered her primary defense.
“I hope she puts it right between you eyes, traitor,” she hissed.
He rolled said eyes as he grabbed it from her reluctant grasp but didn’t hand it directly to it’s new host. He took a step back from her and gave Katniss a very pointed look. “Don’t do anything stupid, baby.”
Their respected leader completed his controversial call and placed the weapon in her possession, his fingers lingering over her trembling hands until she calmed and stilled.
“Them or me,” she whispered back to him and he released his hold with a solemn nod.
Mellark moved quickly to square off with Cato, stepping well into the other young man’s personal space. “If she’s hurt without warrant, it will be you and I, Tribute Two.”
The lean blonde leered and gave Peeta a perfect Peace Keeper solute. “She’s in good hands, boss.”
It was hard to tell in the darkness but Peeta’s fingers fisted at his side.
It took a great deal of finessing to get a clear shot of the tribute by the fire. They had stopped a great distance from the actual camp sight and Cato followed her for quite a few meters just to get closer and several more before she felt she had a passible visual through the trees.
It was a girl, the victim. Her victim. She looked very small by the fire, leaning in too close to the flame in order to fight off the cold. She had almost nothing with her. She had run from the Cornucopia without even trying to grab lowly, easily accessible supplies; probably terrified of the Careers. This girl was no combatant.
“District Four female,” Cato declared from a too-close-for-comfort distance. He was practically looking over her shoulder and she could feel the heat of his body warming her back. “This is a fucking far shot. Maybe we should get in closer. If you miss it will give her quite the head start-“
“I won’t miss,” Katniss said simply.
She wouldn’t. The perfect tool in her hands was the exact bow she’d used for her scored assessment with the Game Makers and it sang in her palms. In a world where wild game was hard to come by but the hungry mouths were endless, Katniss never repeated the same mistake twice. She wouldn’t miss with this bow ever again.
Cato chuckled, “I’m definitely seeing why Mellark’s pissed all over you.”
“Vulgar,” she scolded him ridiculously. Something about him reminded her of Gale but she banished the thought immediately because it was wrong and because thinking of Gale hurt too much. She took off her backpack and prepared her position.
“Put up or shut up, Lady Everdeen,” he nudged her gently, “And this is the point in our time together when I’m obligated to warn you that you’ll need to keep that bow of yours facing south unless you have the sudden desire for an extra hole.”
She realized then that the nudge she felt against her back was actually the dull side of his knife against her liver.
Katniss signed, “That’s really going to help with my focus,” she groused, the banter a last filibuster between her and a moment she knew would change her forever.
I don’t like ruining beautiful things,” he told her matter of factly, and she guessed it was his best attempt at reassuring.
The girl by the fire was barely moving. She made a horrifyingly easy target. The district Twelve tribute watched her as she watched the flames and thought that maybe it wasn’t so bad; dying like this. The girl wouldn’t experience fear or prolonged pain, the way she would as the target of the Careers. One moment she’d be there, enjoying the warmth and the rhythm of the fire and the next she’d be gone.
With no food, water, shelter or tools the girl could wonder for days out here before succumbing to the elements, but knowing the Game Keepers, her fate would be significantly more brutal for the sake of entertainment. A mutt attack? An agonizing end in a bear trap? Wouldn’t it be nice to be spared all of that?
Katniss told herself all of these things but when her arrow made it’s home inside the District Four female’s left breast, she felt a fundamental part of herself break and die right along with her. The pain was physically and staggering.
Her knees buckled and she barely registered Cato grab her around the ribs to keep her from falling.
“Easy kid,” he comforted her, reassuring, not understanding because he simply didn’t have it in him to feel what she felt, “You did it. You got her right through the heart.
Welcome to the Careers.”
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