Safe and Sound

Chapter Twenty Seven - The Feast

It took until day sixteen of the Games for another tribute to die. It was the boy from 11, which came as a surprise to both Grayson and I. The boy from 11 was tall, muscular and looked deadly. He looked like the sort of person that was kind, but could snap your neck if you dared provoke them. But now he was no more. It was now the evening of day sixteen and there were now six left and we all knew what that meant - a feast. Grayson and I had moved on from the cave and were now perched in a tree, waiting with bated breath for an announcement to tell us that there was going to be a feast. It was a scary thought and I really didn't want to face it, but I supposed I had to. If Grayson or I wanted a chance to survive, we would need to participate in this one. But in this mini recreation of the bloodbath, we would be together and twice as powerful.

Grayson was whittling a stick with one of his knives, just because he wanted to pass the time. I was watching the mockingjays pass quiet tunes around within their groups, listening in to how their tunes changed and overlapped, creating a beautiful melody out of a few notes. It was odd, really, thinking about how the mockingjays became so strong and how the had so many of them in total. It was amazing that it started off with a mutt, that eventually turned into a beautiful songbird. That sort of thing gave me hope and faith.

We had each had a bath, separately, on day fifteen in a pool we found. I had then re-braided my hair in its usual side plait and Grayson (being Grayson) weaved the mockingjay feather back into the plait in my own, signature mockingjay style. It felt good to be clean again and not covered with blood that could of either been my own or have come from someone else.

I was listening to a new song the mockingjays had started up, when suddenly, the sound of trumpets and the anthem of Panem rung out loudly. It shocked me and I nearly fell out of the tree, but Grayson dived and caught me around the middle, just before I managed to plummet to my death. We ended up in some odd position, with me sliding off the tree, my arms slung around Grayson's neck, clutching to him for dear life and Grayson half hanging off the branch, holding around my middle, his hands on the upper half of my back. If one of us slipped, we'd both break our necks.

"Attention, tributes. Tomorrow, at dawn, there will be a feast at the Cornucopia. We have been kind enough to give you some extra and personal supplies and even some sponsors that were sent in for each District that will help all of you survive this year's Hunger Games. We expect a very good turnout." Claudius Templesmith's voice said to us loudly, surrounding the whole arena. I looked up at Grayson, who gave me a glance, his eyebrow raised. We both then looked back up towards the sky, squinting in the fading sunlight. "Good luck and may the odds be ever in your favour."

Grayson looked down at me again.

"Um, could you maybe...you know." I said. Grayson blinked, but then he hurried to help me back onto he branch, apologising. He gave me a quick check over to make sure I was feeling okay, before sitting back down again, resting the back of his head against the limb of the tree.

"So I guess there's no saying that we aren't going to the feast tomorrow?" He said. I hadn't heard this hint of fear in his voice for a while, but now it was loud and clear, "I mean, I want to because supplies, but do you think we'll both get out of it in one piece?"

"We got past the Careers. And the fire. And, and...you know. I think we'll make it." I said to him as I reached into my backpack, fetching the sleeping bag. Grayson took his belt off as I smoothed out the sleeping bag, the black material cool under my fingers. Grayson clambered in and I followed.

"Even so," He said, "You know what feasts are like. The one last year was brutal. Six, starving tributes on a plain with long grass and a single loaf of bread with a flask of water..."

"But you heard the announcement, the supplies are personal depending on each District. We just need to get in there, grab District Twelve's and run away. We'll be fine." I said, but I didn't feel so sure. Grayson had a point. Feasts were brutal and usually very bloody. And blood generally meant bad things...most of the time. And in this case, it generally meant death or pain. Perhaps even both. Grayson looked at me, an eyebrow raised yet again.

"So are you saying that we're just going to go there, run out into the open and see what happens?" He asked, his eyebrows now furrowed.

"Pretty much." I answered. Grayson laughed slightly and pulled me closer to him, burying his head into the crook of my neck. I could feel his breath on the exposed skin, which sent odd tingles up and down my spine. I didn't quite know what was happening with the two of us, but whatever it was, I knew it was all going to end in tears and bloodshed.

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I was shaken awake by Grayson, who was already up and moving on his hands and knees, despite the fact it was still quite dark. He obviously wanted to get down to the Cornucopia as early as possible. As I heaved myself up, Grayson rummaged around in both of our backpacks.

"What food have we actually got?" He asked as he tipped his rucksack completely upside down. Only a pile of knives fell out of it, landing with a small cacophony of clinks and the sound of metal upon earth and metal upon metal.

I stretched and yawned, before running a finger through my plait, feeling Grayson's feather. My hand then fell down to my ribbon as I watched Grayson put the knives back into his backpack, rolling back on forth on the balls of his feet.

"I think I've got a can of beef stew in my pack, but that will be about it." I answered, climbing out of the sleeping bag and rolling it back up. Grayson had already poured the contents of my backpack onto the floor and eventually, a small can fell out. He let out a mall cry of triumph, before putting all my stuff back into my pack and sitting down fully. I put the sleeping bag away as Grayson opened the can. He ate half quickly then handed me the can. I took it and finished it off. We then both took a drink of water, before slinging out backpacks onto our backs. I put my quiver on over the top and picked up my bow, turning to face Grayson.

"Ready to go to the Cornucopia?" Grayson asked, but he didn't seem incredibly confident. I didn't either, but I guessed I had no choice in this. Besides, we had run out of supplies and it wouldn't be too long before we would be in dire need of food and water. We knew what it was like to starve and it was never altogether pleasant. However, we were used to starving so we could go longer than, say the Careers, if we had to. Starving was almost second nature to people from District 12.

"Let's go, lead the way." I replied, nodding slightly. My head felt so much better now. It didn't hurt to move it around, but if I touched it, it wasn't quite so good.

Grayson nodded and started to walk in the direction of the Cornucopia. I didn't know how he knew, seeing as it was still dark, but he seemed confident enough for me to follow him. It felt tense as we walked. We were both silent, unless we were informing each other of a protruding branch or a small hole in the ground. The sky was beginning to get lighter and we were almost at the Cornucopia, because we had reached the valley that lead up to the edge of the forest.

We clambered up the steep valley until we got to the edge of the forest. We both looked through the bushes and trees and saw the wide, grassy plain. The golden horn glinted in the sunlight and in front of it were four, small-ish piles of supplies. In front of each pile was a little sign with the number of each District in silver lettering. I spotted the number '12' and pointed it out to Grayson. He nodded.

"Let's wait here for a little bit and see who arrives." He whispered. I nodded and adjusted my quiver on my back. We both crouched down slightly, looking over at the piles. The others Districts were 6, 10 and the signs and supplies for 1 and 2 were in the same pile, presumably because they were Careers and therefore, were allies. I was surprised to see District 6 was there. Normally 6 was killed off pretty quickly, but this boy must have been doing a good job with his camouflage.

We sat and waited for a while. The sun was now making the sky a beautiful pink and orange colour, blending in with one another. I looked up at it, smiling. Sunrise was beautiful. I had seen it a couple of times before, but none were as wonderful as this one. Grayson also looked up at the rising sun. He too smiled. The colours left different coloured shadows all over him, lighting up his features in an array of orange, pink and gold. We both stared up at the sky until we heard a noise. We both snapped into our mode. We both rose to our feet slowly. Grayson raised one knife in his right hand, two in his left. I nocked an arrow and held my bow in a position that I could easily raise my bow. We squint towards the Cornucopia and see that the boy from District 6 was completely painted gold. He had blended into the horn and was now running off with his pile of supplies practically spilling from his arms as he ran. We gazed after him, amazed.

"Do you reckon that paint was from a sponsor?" Grayson asked as the gold boy disappeared into the trees. I nodded, smiling slightly. "And do you reckon we should go?" I nodded.

We both start to walk through the protection of the trees and bushes. As soon as we were about to step out into the open, Grayson grabbed my arm. He pulled me towards him slightly. I looked up at him, giving him a disgruntled look.

"What is it?" I asked him, feeling quite annoyed, but he cut me off by planting a soft, gentle kiss right beside my jawline. A shiver ran down my spine and my heart rate picked up. Grayson's lips lingered there for a second or two longer than needed, and I wanted him to stay there, but he pulled away and gave me a quick nod and a small smile.

"For luck." He said.

"For luck." I repeated. The shivers still remained and I felt somewhat lighter. I didn't know why, but I wanted him to do it again. It had felt so...so...right.

We then moved out carefully into the open, moving in unison. I had my bow poised, ready to shoot if needed. Grayson had his throwing arm raised, knife in hand. We walked more or less side by side, looking about, twisting around. We wanted to know if we were going to be attacked by any tribute.

"Just warning you, I saw the boy from ten snap a neck before. So if he comes, I think it's best if we stay away from him." I whispered to Grayson as we edged towards the Cornucopia. I felt Grayson nod from beside me as we moved, our shoulders or backs occasionally brushing.

"That would be wise."

We were now about thirty metres from the Cornucopia so we picked our pace up a little bit. We were now moving at an average walking speed. We were getting there. We were so close to it. I could make out that our pile had some odd shaped things stacked upon one another. My heart almost skipped a beat. Some of those were sponsors. Were Grayson and I popular among the crowd? I knew that the kiss Grayson just gave me would cause some talking back at the Capitol. Would that mean more sponsors? I hoped so.

We were ten metres away from the Cornucopia when two people came running out from the forest. It was Midas and the District 2 girl! The Careers! Midas was holding a long knife, the very knife he had been holding when he had jumped out at me. The District 2 girl held a sword. Grayson turned and saw this. We both shared quick look, before sprinting towards our pile. Midas cam barrelling towards us as the girl from 2 ran towards their pile. I released the arrow, but Midas ducked. He came running straight towards us. Grayson brandished his knives and threw one. Grayson never missed. Except for this time. Midas dodged the knife and came running towards us, his knife raised. I nocked another arrow and was about to release it when Midas knocked me down, slicing me across the arm as he did so. I cried in pain as Midas knocked Grayson down too. Grayson's lip was bleeding.

"Typical. District Twelve, the ones who can't even have a good fight. Come on, Lenna. Let's go." Midas said, smirking. Lenna, the girl from District 2, laughed at Grayson and I as we lay there. But we weren't lying there anymore. Grayson and I staggered to our feet. Grayson picked up his knives and I raised my bow. Some of my arrows had fallen from my quiver as I had been knocked down, so I picked one up from the floor. Grayson and I pulled back our arms at the same time. Pain surged through the arm that held my bowstring, but I ignored it.

Lenna and Midas then looked up at the two of us standing there and started laughing. They looked us up and down, judging us. But they should learn - never judge a book by its cover.

Grayson and I released our weapons at the same time. My arrow hit Lenna's heart and Grayson's knife hit her in the throat, just like we had done with Glow. She coughed up blood for a second, before falling to the ground. Midas knelt down next to Lenna's dead body as the cannon blew. Five left. He stayed there, shocked. He rolled her over and looked at the precision of Grayson's throw and my shot, shocked and evidently angered.

"It wouldn't have hurt her, she wouldn't have felt a thing." Grayson said, backing away. He was nearing the supply pile as Midas gazed at Lenna's limp body. Grayson beckoned for me to come with him. We backed towards our pile slowly. We picked up our supplies and shoved them into our backpacks as quickly as we could, fearing that Midas was going to attack us at any minute. They were all either wrapped in cloth, in small pots or in packets. One of the cloth parcels was long. I opened it to see a fresh batch of arrows. Perfect. I was beginning to run out anyway. I quickly reached behind me and tipped the silver arrows into my quiver. Midas was rising to his feet slowly, his breathing ragged, like a bull that had been angered. I picked up one of my arrows from the floor and nocked it into my bow, pointing it towards his heart. I could feel the blood trickling down my arm, but yet again, I ignored it.

"You killed her!" He shouted, "You killed my ally!"

Grayson and I glanced at each other. Grayson had his second knife raised, I had my arrow pointed at Midas' heart. He didn't move. He knew I would shoot him if he threatened us. Grayson started to back away slowly, knife raised. Midas took a step forwards. I backed up also. This is just going to result in a long, bloody fight. We are going to die. Midas raised his knife and he glared at us. The hovercraft was going to come soon to take away Lenna's body. And so was the tribute from 10. I wanted to get out of here before this happened, and I wanted Grayson to get out of here too.

Sure enough, it went eerily silent all around us as the hovercraft started to approach us. Midas looked up momentarily and Grayson and I didn't even need to look at each other to realise this was our moment to escape. We both turned and ran, pushing our legs as much as we could, wanting to get out of here as quickly as possible. Midas must have noticed this and looked back at us. I heard him let out a cry of anguish before chasing us down. As Grayson and I sprinted for dear life, the boy from 10 emerged from the forest. He held a dangerous looking spear and he looked like he could probably send it through both Grayson and I. However, even though Grayson and I were probably really easy targets, he looked beyond us and spotted Midas. He sped up and ran right towards Midas, who brandished his knife. Grayson and I kept running until we reached the forest. We then sprinted down the valley and we kept going until we couldn't actually go any further.

We searched for a tree and climbed up it, taking refuge among the leaves and branches. After taking a few seconds to catch our breath, we dived towards each other, clutching to the other as if we both issued life support. Our breathing was ragged and we were both very tired from running quite a fair distance, but we had made it. It hadn't been as bad as the bloodbath, but it could have been worse. We had actually had it pretty easily there, it wasn't half as bad as some of the things we had been through. And plus, we now had a huge stock of supplies.

After we had both calmed down considerably, we took the packages and pots out of our backpacks, looking through them to see what we had been given. We had a few more cans of food. A limited amount of food, yes, but enough to last us a couple of days. We also had a variety of throwing knives for Grayson, and obviously the arrows that I had previously sheathed in my quiver. There was a blanket, presumably to use along with the sleeping bag and a variety of other things that we would find useful. But what really made my day was when Grayson opened a pot addressed directly to him to find several hunks of chocolate.

Haymitch may have been a drunkard, but he paid attention better than anyone else.