Safe and Sound

Chapter Fifteen - Fly, Mockingjay, The World is Watching

It leaped out at me, knocking me off of my feet, causing me to land, rather heavily, on my tailbone. This caused pain to suddenly run up and down my spine as I scrambled away, still clutching onto my bow. I had to stifle a scream as it bared its long, sharp teeth. This was some form of mutt, and I guessed it was the one that had caused the death of the mangled tribute. But there was no time to decode whether this was the cause of the mangled tribute or not, seeing as it was gnashing at my face, threatening to kill me.

This 'it' seemed to be some form of lion, except it was much bigger and I didn't think lions had thick scales on their chest and stomach area. I didn't know if it had scales under its mane, but I knew and I could see that it didn't have any on its face, probably because it had its teeth to protect it. But I didn't get a chance to check, because it pinned me down suddenly, its claws digging into my shoulders. It was growling at me, scaring me, provoking me. It then moved in for the bite, ready to kill me. I managed to let out a scream, but it was muffled and cut short as the creature fell onto me, crushing me from underneath its body weight. I groaned as I lay there, pinned down by this mutt's body. Its teeth had only been about a millimetre above my chest, I had felt its hot breath on me and had thought that death had nearly come. I managed to raise my head enough from the ground to see that a girl was running away, her long, chocolate coloured hair blowing in the wind after her.

I grunted and managed to push the dead creature off of me, to see a long and gaping wound in its back. My best guess was that she had killed the beast. She had saved my life. I needed to thank her, or at least show my appreciation!

I scrambled to pick up my bow, before I took off after her, tearing through the woods to see if I could find the girl that had saved me from being mauled to death by a lion mutt. I made sure to keep a consistent pace, seeing as there could have been many of those mutt things and I didn't want to die quite yet, especially if it was by being eaten.

I pushed my legs until I caught a sight of the girl. I gritted my teeth and ran after her. She was running straight towards a tree and it was definitely going to knock her out.

"Wait, no!" I called out to her. But she didn't seem to hear me at all. Either that, or she was ignoring me on purpose. She didn't move out of the way of the tree, in fact, she ran straight towards it. I gasped and quickened my pace, but she threw herself towards the tree and immediately started scrambling upwards. She was good. I guessed this was he only way I was going to get to her.

So I ran towards the tree, locked my jaw like I had done in the bloodbath, and threw myself to the tree, clinging onto it for dear life. Once I knew I was gripping tightly enough, I then started to climb up it as fast as I could. I still saw the girl, she was looking down at me curiously from a branch. But as soon as she realised I was coming after her, she continued to leap from branch to branch, desperately trying to get away from me. In that split second, I had caught sight of her face. I recognised her to be the girl from District 11, roughly about fifteen years old. She was quite tan, probably from working in the sun for so long, and her hair was a beautiful chocolate colour. It glimmered in the sunlight as she scarpered away from me. Her jacket was a dark brown, which confirmed she was from District 11.

"I'm not going to hurt you!" I called out to her as I jumped onto a branch and started scurrying along it, jumping onto another branch. It probably didn't look like I wasn't going to hurt the girl from her point of view, seeing as I was chasing after her with a bow in my hand. Plus, I had the highest score. That has got to mean I am deadly, right? Well, I'm not. "Please, come back! We can't do this all day!"

The girl paused on her branch, balancing on her toes. She looked like she was about to jump, but she was considering not jumping higher. I sped up and leapt onto her branch. I slowly walked towards her, hands raised. I still held my bow in my hand, but I held it far away from me.

"I'm not going to hurt you. Why would I when you just saved my life?" I said, soothingly. The girl put her heels down on the branch and looked at me, silent. But she then hesitated and turned to face me fully, but she looked like she was still ready to jump, despite the fact she was no longer balancing on her toes. She was like a cat, always ready for danger, always ready to run.

"District two. He's the one who was killed by the mutt this morning. He had chased after you, he was tired and hurt. You had shot him in the right place. The mutt found him later and finished him off. I thought you would want to know, so I found you. But the mutt found you first." She then saw my shocked expression and relaxed slightly, "After I killed it with my knife, I thought you were going to kill me. I suddenly regretted it, because I feared the Games changed you. But evidently they haven't. I also can't be allies with you. You were right to go alone. I also go alone. It was a pleasure to actually meet you in a civil way. Now fly, Flaming Mockingjay." She was about to turn and jump, but I reached out with my free hand and held her shoulder. She tensed up, but she looked at me, tilting her head to the side slightly.

"Could you maybe tell me your name, seeing as you saved my life and all. I think we're at that level." I asked. The girl smiled ever so slightly and relaxed, "And, this may sound stupid...but, do you have any news on Grayson, the boy from my District? It's just, I'm a bit...you know. Worried about him."

"Caritta. My name's Caritta." She said, still wearing that small smile, which now seemed to be more like a smirk. A teasing smirk, "Grayson? I've seen him about. I think he got stung by a Tracker Jacker a couple of days in. But he seems fine now, I think. He's good with the knives, even when he is filled with Tracker Jacker venom." She then leaned right up close to me, "Unless I'm very much mistaken, he has actually been looking for you. I must go now, Harper Anselin. Keep your feet ready, your heartbeat steady. Now fly, Mockingjay, the world is watching."

With that, she reached out and squeezed my arm and started to scurry away. She was about thirty metres away from me, before she turned back. She straightened up and I thought she was going to throw a knife at me or something, but she raised her hand in a wave. I mimicked her and waved back. She then whistled the tune from my laughter song. I bit my lip, fearing that I was going to cry. I had only talked to her for about two minutes, but I knew I liked her. Then, she disappeared off into the trees. She had gone as quickly as she had come. I looked down from where I was standing. If I wasn't so shocked and surprised, I probably would have done a double take. But I kept my cool, I couldn't afford to fall out of a tree now. Especially from this height. And plus, my father wasn't here to save me.

As I looked at the place where Caritta had stood not that long ago, my smile grew. She knew me as the Flaming Mockingjay. That meant that the Capitol probably did too. And that meant that I had some sort of recognition now. I also probably would be recognised as the girl who stood with the mockingjays and the girl who marked the place where she made her first kill of the Games, even though it was a rodent, just because she felt guilty and bad about it. The Games had certainly changed me, but it what way, I wasn't quite so sure. All I knew was that I was different from the girl who was reaped. It probably wasn't a huge difference, but it was probably evident. There were too many probabilities. And there was too much death. Far too much of that.

I then started to climb back down to a lower level. I stayed in the trees, just in case there were other mutts. There probably weren't, but I wasn't taking any risks. So I just sat in a branch and looked down at the floor. I thought about what had happened so far today. It must have only been about midday, and already I had nearly died. Good going, keep it up. I sighed. Ryker was dead. Technically, he had been my kill. I was the one who had shot him, which prevented him from moving. He was probably going to die anyway, the mutt just got it over with faster. Yes, he had obviously had to wait all night, but I'm sure it was quick. But probably not, the people of the Capitol were cruel. They must have made that mutt to create a long, slow and very scary death. If it had been a real lion, it would have just bitten me straight away and that would be that. But the mutt had made sure to scare me before it went in for the kill. Luckily, it was too slow and Caritta had killed it. I was more than thankful for that.

She had said that Grayson was still going, but he had been stung by a Tracker Jacker on the way, roughly a couple of days in. I wondered what he had seen. Then she had told me that she thought he was looking for me. Why would he be looking for me? I thought to myself as I stared at nothing in particular. I probably wasn't the best ally to have in the world, and I was going to do this on my own, I didn't need him. Or do I? I cursed my thoughts. No. I didn't. I didn't need Grayson Stengard. I didn't need Grayson Stengard. I didn't need him. Not one bit. Well, maybe a tiny bit. But not enough to go on a hunt to find him, risking my life and probably his.

I pinched my wrist, trying to get my thoughts to give it a rest. I was tired and actually hurt. The claws of the mutt had dug through my jacket and into my shoulders. My jacket wasn't ripped, though. I took it off and pulled the colour of my t-shirt away, so I could check. I was bruised quite nastily from where the claws had put pressure on me, but it was certain that I was going to be fine. There was no immediate issues that I had to sort out. I put my jacket back on and zipped it and the black, fleece under-layer that was attached to the inside of the jacket back up.

I looked up at the sky, which was now suddenly covered in nasty, black storm clouds. I only had the chance to sigh before the downpour began. I was immediately soaked. Luckily, my waterproof jacket protected my upper body and arms. I pulled the hood up and slumped against the tree as the rain poured down. Occasionally, there were a few cracks of thunder and I even saw a fork of lightning, but I wasn't scared. I was just cold and wet. As it rained, I stared up towards the sky, the rain pouring into my face and therefore into my eyes. I squinted as I stared above at the rain, which was freezing, but still it hydrated my skin...perhaps a little bit too much, though. It was best to think positive. Well, to try and think positive at least. As I looked up at the sky, I smiled as I thought of my father. Whenever we went out in the rain, he always said that this was nice weather for ducks.

"Father, I think this weather is a little extravagant for ducks," I said aloud to him, "But I guess mockingjays can pull through. Even the flaming ones that have been extinguished. I'll catch alight some time later, but not now...I just need to learn to find some waterproof timber."

With that last direct comment to my father, I reached for my belt and decided that I would go to sleep a few hours early.