Book 2: The Victors

010

The anthem begins to play, and they all stare at the small exposed bit of sky through the trees. Faces begin to appear, all too familiar for Finnick and Isla. Katniss and Peeta hold hands, comforting one another. Isla almost scoffs at them. They didn't know any of the victors, really. Finnick out of all of them had been closest to most.

The man from District Five pops up, the first kill of the games, and Finnick's. This also tells the group that all tributes from Districts One to Three are still alive. The male morphling shows next, followed by Cecelia and Woof from District Eight. Both from Nine, the woman from Ten, and finally, Cedar from District Eleven glows in the sky.

The music stops, and all goes black. The only source of light comes from the moon. Peeta and Katnisss seem to slink into their own world, holding each other on a makeshift mat. Isla looks at Finnick, who seems to be upset at the death toll. As far as Isla knew, he hadn't been particularly close to any of the deceased, but she imagined he had had several conversations with a few of them. Cecelia was a mother, and extremely sweet to all young victors upon their arrival. She likely spent a lot of time with Finnick when he was fourteen or fifteen and had just won his games.

A silver parachute catches all of their attention as it glides down in the night air, landing in a tree not far from where they sit. Isla exchanges a look with Finnick, and then they look at the two from Twelve. No one moves. "Whose is it do you think?" Katniss asks.

"No clue. Why don't we let Peeta have it, since he already died today." Finnick's voice has a hint of humour in it. A good sign, considering his solemn expression just moments ago.

They all watch as Peeta gets the metal container. He opens it, and holds up a small metal object that reflects the moonlight off of its cylindrical shape. It has a spout of sorts, and a sharp tip on the opposite end. It's clear none of them are sure what the object is or what it's to be used for.

"What is it?" No one responds to Katniss. They hand it around to one another, inspecting it. It's hollow, so Peeta blows through it to see if it makes a noise. Nothing. Finnick sticks his pinky finger inside, but it comes back out untouched. The gift was likely a collaboration between Haymitch and Mags, as the District Four and Twelve were a solid alliance. It had to be Haymitch's doing, though, as Mags would've sent clearer instructions. She may not be able to speak, but she is able to write a note.

Katniss drives the sharp end into the ground, and Isla decides that that's what you're supposed to do. Maybe not stick it in the ground, but somewhere. "It goes into something, why else would it be pointed?" She says into the silence, and Katniss looks up at her. Isla can almost see the gears moving inside the girl's brain as her words seem to unlock something within her.

"It's a spile." Katniss lights up as she figures it out.

"A what?" Finnick asks, furrowing his brows.

"We use them back home, you stick them into trees to get syrup." Katniss explains, getting up and going to the nearest tree.

"Would these trees give syrup?" Isla questions. They didn't have syrup trees in District Four, but something about jungle trees giving syrup didn't make sense.

"I don't know." Katniss admits, "We'll have to start a hole." She says, "I'm going to find something to hammer it in."

As Katniss looks around, Isla takes her dagger and begins carving a hole into the trunk of the tree. She compares it to the spile, ensuring it's just big enough for the metal to fit. If something were to come out of the trunk, she didn't want it to leak from the sides.

Katniss returns, and begins hammering the metal farther into the tree with a rock. Once it's a good ways in, they both sit and stare at the object. The boys are standing back, waiting expectantly to see if the two girls had done something genius or not. As Isla begins to give up hope, a clear droplet of liquid drips from the spout.