Sequel: Eyes Open ›
Status: Re-Post from when the server crashed
The Huntress
Chapter Eleven
When I felt my sense of the world, I didn’t know how long I was out for but I did notice that I landed in a heavily wooded area where no one would see me. I slowly stood up and tried to figure out how I got there when the events came back to me. I dropped a nest of tracker jackers on the career pack. The next thing I remember was running from Cato and Gale going another way.
“Gale,” I whispered.
I don’t know why I saved his life but I did. I felt like I owed him that much no matter how much he betrayed me. I felt my face to see how bad the damage was and I felt I had a couple of bumps on my face and then looked down at my arms to see I had one on each arm. I was trying to remember how to make the swelling of tracker jacker go down when I remembered that I had my bow and arrows and I quickly checked to see how many arrows I had left. I wasted two on Cato which after I counted meant I had only twelve arrows left. I figured I was out for a few days so I needed to hunt again. I started hunting and was able to catch and kill about three rabbits as I headed back to the pond I found the first day of the games. I was cooking some the rabbit when I heard a rustle from behind me and I saw Rue hiding behind the bush.
“You know the careers aren’t the only ones who can make an alliance,” I said loud enough so she could hear me.
She then came out of bush and closer to where I was sitting.
“What do you mean?” she asked as I handed her a piece of rabbit.
“I mean we can work together,” I said, “The career pack doesn’t make the rules in the arena.”
“Really?” she asked and I smiled at her because she reminded me so much of Prim.
“Of course,” I said, “but it’s up to you.”
“Let’s do it,” she smiled as she sat down next to me and then pulled out some roots out of her bag.
We sat in a comfortable silence as we ate our food. After a while, Rue looked at my bag.
“What do you got in your bag?” she asked.
I opened my bag and pulled out my sleeping bag, some the sunglasses, the package of dried fruit, crackers, and dried beef, and the couple of canteens for water and the water purifier.
“You got off with a steal,” she said quietly, “How did you get the bow and arrows?”
“Scavenged them off of the District 1 girl,” I said, “And I managed to get a couple of knives off the District 4 tribute too before the venom was too much to handle.”
“Well at least you were smart enough to take the stingers out,” Rue said as she took some type of leaves out of her bag.
“What are those?” I asked confused.
“They’re to help lessen the swelling of the track jackers. We have a lot of them in District 11,” she said as she put some in her mouth and chewed on them, “It will help I promise.”
I then nodded my head and watched as she chewed up the leaves and then put them on my stings and I immediately felt relief and sighed and she giggled.
“It feels good doesn’t it?” she asked and I saw that her hands were burned.
“It does,” I smiled back at her and then pointed to her hands, “They get burned during the fire?”
“Yeah a little,” she said as I got out my little container of the burn medication I got from Haymitch.
“Here,” I said rubbing it on her hands, “This should help that heal.”
“Thanks,” she smiled lightly and then she saw the glasses, “Where did you get those?”
“No problem,” I said, “And it came in the bag. I don’t where them though because I can’t see out of them.”
“That’s because you wear them during the night,” she said, “We have to use those sometimes when we’re harvesting food. It helps to see where the torches can’t. I remember that our peacekeepers killed a boy for trying to keep a pair those. He wasn’t a real threat to anyone though he acted like he was three and he wanted something to play with.”
“Wow,” I said in shock as to how strict District 11 was.
“Yeah,” she replied.
We then sat there for a moment before I changed the subject.
“I like your skill,” I said.
“You do?” she asked confused.
“I bet your fast hopping from tree to tree,” I said and she smirked.
“It’s a lot faster than running on the ground,” she said, “Well for me anyways.”
“I bet,” I said, “Hey Rue I have a question for you though.”
“Okay?” she asked.
“How long have I been unconscious?” I asked.
“About two days,” she said, “It’s been pretty uneventful since everyone was unconscious for a while. The girl tributes from 3 and 6 died early this morning. I think it was from eating something because I didn’t hear a scream.”
“Interesting,” I said nodding my head and making a mental note to look for nightlock berries because that what it sounded like.
“So what’s our plan of attack?” Rue asked and I for a moment I was stumped.
Rue allowed me to sit there a think about it. What would screw the career pack over? Well now that Gale wasn’t a part of the pack that meant Cato was going to have to hunt down myself and Gale. That’s when I finally thought of something. The career pack’s camp was at the lake where the Cornucopia was. They had a bunch of supplies and if we destroyed them they wouldn’t be able to survive like Rue and I could. They weren’t used to having to hunt and eat wild game. They were taught to take over the Cornucopia and the supplies there would help them survive and most of the time it did. This year however, it wasn’t.
“Hey Rue,” I said, “What do we have that the career pack doesn’t have?”
“I don’t know,” she said, “Brains?”
“Yes,” I said laughing lightly, “but I mean survival skills.”
“They have all the real food,” Rue said, “but you and I can hunt and eat the animals.”
“Exactly,” I smirked, “And what happens if they don’t have their supplies from the Cornucopia?”
“They’re going to have to try and survive on their own,” Rue smiled catching on, “I’ve seen their camp before.”
“You have?” I asked looking at her.
“Yeah I don’t know why they keep the boy from District 3 though,” she said as we started packing up so we could go find a tree to sleep in.
“I don’t know either,” I said, “But describe the layout.”
Then Rue went into detail about the camp about how they keep the supplies in the Cornucopia and the District 3 boy stays and watches the supplies while the other careers go out to hunt us down one by one. Where they sleep is closer to the lake than the supplies because they don’t seem to be worried about someone coming in and stealing them. She also described the way she would go spy on them and what bush to hide under. From there we made a plan. Rue and I had found some wood and leaves that would definitely give away someone’s position if it was burned. Rue was going to light three fires in three different places to lure the career pack away from the Cornucopia. While Rue was being the distraction, I was going to go and destroy everything that they had. We were then going to meet back where we first ran into each and made our alliance.
“Hey Adyrn,” Rue said as we were climbing up the tree to sleep.
“Yeah,” I said as I got the sleeping bag ready and made her get into it.
“Do you think we’re going to pull this plan off?” Rue asked.
“Of course I do,” I said, “We’re too smart for them to catch us.”
“Can you tell me about your district?” Rue asked as we watched the Anthem being played to see that no one had died today.
“Well I live in a place we call the Seam,” I said, “Its where the poorest people of District 12 live. It’s really on the border of District 12, next to where the wild forests starts. It’s extremely hard to find food and most of us try to live off of the tessere we get each year which means most of us barely survive. Because we’re so poor when one of us sees an adult who’s super old, we show them a sign of respect because we believe that they are wise. Many people who live there are usually missing members of their family because of the mining accidents that happen.”
“How come you and Gale kind of look alike?” Rue asked.
“Most people from the Seam start to look the same,” I said quietly starting to miss home, “Most of us have dark skin, grey eyes, and black hair. Tell me about District 11.”
Rue then launched into telling me about how they grew all kinds of things and that when it was harvest time that everyone worked in the fields. She then continued to explain that when they harvested kids like her were sent to the high branches to collect the highest fruit. She then continued to tell me that they worked pretty long hours. Before we knew it, Rue and I fell asleep. I had an arm protectively around Rue and for the first time in the last week I slept the entire night.
“Gale,” I whispered.
I don’t know why I saved his life but I did. I felt like I owed him that much no matter how much he betrayed me. I felt my face to see how bad the damage was and I felt I had a couple of bumps on my face and then looked down at my arms to see I had one on each arm. I was trying to remember how to make the swelling of tracker jacker go down when I remembered that I had my bow and arrows and I quickly checked to see how many arrows I had left. I wasted two on Cato which after I counted meant I had only twelve arrows left. I figured I was out for a few days so I needed to hunt again. I started hunting and was able to catch and kill about three rabbits as I headed back to the pond I found the first day of the games. I was cooking some the rabbit when I heard a rustle from behind me and I saw Rue hiding behind the bush.
“You know the careers aren’t the only ones who can make an alliance,” I said loud enough so she could hear me.
She then came out of bush and closer to where I was sitting.
“What do you mean?” she asked as I handed her a piece of rabbit.
“I mean we can work together,” I said, “The career pack doesn’t make the rules in the arena.”
“Really?” she asked and I smiled at her because she reminded me so much of Prim.
“Of course,” I said, “but it’s up to you.”
“Let’s do it,” she smiled as she sat down next to me and then pulled out some roots out of her bag.
We sat in a comfortable silence as we ate our food. After a while, Rue looked at my bag.
“What do you got in your bag?” she asked.
I opened my bag and pulled out my sleeping bag, some the sunglasses, the package of dried fruit, crackers, and dried beef, and the couple of canteens for water and the water purifier.
“You got off with a steal,” she said quietly, “How did you get the bow and arrows?”
“Scavenged them off of the District 1 girl,” I said, “And I managed to get a couple of knives off the District 4 tribute too before the venom was too much to handle.”
“Well at least you were smart enough to take the stingers out,” Rue said as she took some type of leaves out of her bag.
“What are those?” I asked confused.
“They’re to help lessen the swelling of the track jackers. We have a lot of them in District 11,” she said as she put some in her mouth and chewed on them, “It will help I promise.”
I then nodded my head and watched as she chewed up the leaves and then put them on my stings and I immediately felt relief and sighed and she giggled.
“It feels good doesn’t it?” she asked and I saw that her hands were burned.
“It does,” I smiled back at her and then pointed to her hands, “They get burned during the fire?”
“Yeah a little,” she said as I got out my little container of the burn medication I got from Haymitch.
“Here,” I said rubbing it on her hands, “This should help that heal.”
“Thanks,” she smiled lightly and then she saw the glasses, “Where did you get those?”
“No problem,” I said, “And it came in the bag. I don’t where them though because I can’t see out of them.”
“That’s because you wear them during the night,” she said, “We have to use those sometimes when we’re harvesting food. It helps to see where the torches can’t. I remember that our peacekeepers killed a boy for trying to keep a pair those. He wasn’t a real threat to anyone though he acted like he was three and he wanted something to play with.”
“Wow,” I said in shock as to how strict District 11 was.
“Yeah,” she replied.
We then sat there for a moment before I changed the subject.
“I like your skill,” I said.
“You do?” she asked confused.
“I bet your fast hopping from tree to tree,” I said and she smirked.
“It’s a lot faster than running on the ground,” she said, “Well for me anyways.”
“I bet,” I said, “Hey Rue I have a question for you though.”
“Okay?” she asked.
“How long have I been unconscious?” I asked.
“About two days,” she said, “It’s been pretty uneventful since everyone was unconscious for a while. The girl tributes from 3 and 6 died early this morning. I think it was from eating something because I didn’t hear a scream.”
“Interesting,” I said nodding my head and making a mental note to look for nightlock berries because that what it sounded like.
“So what’s our plan of attack?” Rue asked and I for a moment I was stumped.
Rue allowed me to sit there a think about it. What would screw the career pack over? Well now that Gale wasn’t a part of the pack that meant Cato was going to have to hunt down myself and Gale. That’s when I finally thought of something. The career pack’s camp was at the lake where the Cornucopia was. They had a bunch of supplies and if we destroyed them they wouldn’t be able to survive like Rue and I could. They weren’t used to having to hunt and eat wild game. They were taught to take over the Cornucopia and the supplies there would help them survive and most of the time it did. This year however, it wasn’t.
“Hey Rue,” I said, “What do we have that the career pack doesn’t have?”
“I don’t know,” she said, “Brains?”
“Yes,” I said laughing lightly, “but I mean survival skills.”
“They have all the real food,” Rue said, “but you and I can hunt and eat the animals.”
“Exactly,” I smirked, “And what happens if they don’t have their supplies from the Cornucopia?”
“They’re going to have to try and survive on their own,” Rue smiled catching on, “I’ve seen their camp before.”
“You have?” I asked looking at her.
“Yeah I don’t know why they keep the boy from District 3 though,” she said as we started packing up so we could go find a tree to sleep in.
“I don’t know either,” I said, “But describe the layout.”
Then Rue went into detail about the camp about how they keep the supplies in the Cornucopia and the District 3 boy stays and watches the supplies while the other careers go out to hunt us down one by one. Where they sleep is closer to the lake than the supplies because they don’t seem to be worried about someone coming in and stealing them. She also described the way she would go spy on them and what bush to hide under. From there we made a plan. Rue and I had found some wood and leaves that would definitely give away someone’s position if it was burned. Rue was going to light three fires in three different places to lure the career pack away from the Cornucopia. While Rue was being the distraction, I was going to go and destroy everything that they had. We were then going to meet back where we first ran into each and made our alliance.
“Hey Adyrn,” Rue said as we were climbing up the tree to sleep.
“Yeah,” I said as I got the sleeping bag ready and made her get into it.
“Do you think we’re going to pull this plan off?” Rue asked.
“Of course I do,” I said, “We’re too smart for them to catch us.”
“Can you tell me about your district?” Rue asked as we watched the Anthem being played to see that no one had died today.
“Well I live in a place we call the Seam,” I said, “Its where the poorest people of District 12 live. It’s really on the border of District 12, next to where the wild forests starts. It’s extremely hard to find food and most of us try to live off of the tessere we get each year which means most of us barely survive. Because we’re so poor when one of us sees an adult who’s super old, we show them a sign of respect because we believe that they are wise. Many people who live there are usually missing members of their family because of the mining accidents that happen.”
“How come you and Gale kind of look alike?” Rue asked.
“Most people from the Seam start to look the same,” I said quietly starting to miss home, “Most of us have dark skin, grey eyes, and black hair. Tell me about District 11.”
Rue then launched into telling me about how they grew all kinds of things and that when it was harvest time that everyone worked in the fields. She then continued to explain that when they harvested kids like her were sent to the high branches to collect the highest fruit. She then continued to tell me that they worked pretty long hours. Before we knew it, Rue and I fell asleep. I had an arm protectively around Rue and for the first time in the last week I slept the entire night.