Jabberjay [The Hunger Games]

Chapter Fifteen

"How do we know you're not lying?" says the feint voice of Arcadia, who pokes her head out from behind Haxel.

"Um..." I search for an answer to her question, thinking back to my encounters with Lark. We did not have that much time together, maybe a few hours at most, but I had that little guy's back.

"The mushrooms. They grow throughout the farms of District Eleven," I say, shifting my focus to Ivy whose face lightens up. 

"She's not lying guys," Ivy says with a smile before walking up to me with open arms. Her sudden movement makes me nervous, so I grip my knife. I am shocked when she goes in for a hug, which I ultimately accept. She squeezes me tight and whispers a "thank you," into my ear for protecting Lark. I have noticed that Haxel's spear is no longer raised, and now rests comfortably by his side. I am making decent footwork with them in building trust. I let my guard down as well and intentionally lower my knife to my side, matching his energy.

They have loads of questions and eventually, we are all sitting in a circle on the floor of the forest. Why am I not with the Careers? How did I kill Silica? How is Lark? I share with them my stories over some cracker packets that I offer them from my bag as an unspoken peace offering. They all seem very invested in my journey thus far, closely watching me as I recall each event that happened ever since we emerged from our tubes. I leave out that night I eavesdropped on them at the cornucopia, but only because I feel like that would enlist an awkward dynamic. I also forget to mention that Malo saved my life just two nights ago. I remember Vivian's voice from training, "The more that the other tributes know will only hurt you in the long run."

A lot of their interests are in the dynamic of the Careers. I tell them how obnoxious Ripley can be, dictating what everyone does and doesn't do. Everyone seems to hate him the most, which does not surprise me at all. I talk about how Alanis and Lux have been attached to each other's hip ever since they met, which they noticed during training. Malo comes up a lot in their questions, wondering if I know anything crucial about him. I am careful with my words because I don't want to put him in danger. The best I can do to avoid further questioning is, "He's just a typical volunteer from District Two, nothing crazy."

I may be getting a lot of the attention right now, but my focus is on the three of them. You can learn a lot about someone based on how they interact with one another. When Ivy speaks she seems to add something interesting to the conversation, she is very relaxed, patient, and easy-going. Arcadia, who has asked at least ninety percent of the questions, is easily the most talkative and tends to lose her train of focus. And then there is Haxel who is a man of very few words. While the group is talking, we are lucky to even get him to nod in agreeance. He seems distant and does not even bother to seem interested in what I have to say. While the girls seem excited to have a new ally, he has not made me feel welcome at all.

Once I am drained of my adventures, Arcadia begins to recall her own. Her trust in me seems to have surfaced, as she has fully made her way out from behind Haxel. I listen carefully at first to what she has to say, hoping to gain valid information. Unknown to me there were more people in on this alliance of outcasts. She explains that through a game of telephone during our three days in the Training Center, Haxel and herself were able to recruit three districts to align with. I am honestly impressed because the Careers had no idea about a looming alliance being formed behind our backs to combat us in the arena. Herself and Haxel were in it along with District Five, Eleven, and Twelve. Neither tributes from District Five and Twelve survived the bloodbath though which only left half of them in the Games after the first few hours.

They formulated a plan to run in the direction that the horn of the cornucopia was facing immediately after the bloodbath before the Games began. The three of them were able to find themselves that way and assumed that Lark, along with the others had perished. Both Haxel and Ivy ran into the bloodbath's gore, which is how Haxel retrieved the spear he is currently using to scribble about in the dirt.