Saving the Tributes || Demigods in the Hunger Games

.oOo. Leo .oOo.

"Why do we have to wait?" Ethan asked. "Why can't you just teleport us there?"

I bit my lip. "I need the others. I-- I don't think it's where it used to be."

"Where what used to be? And who are the others?" Hayley asked.

I counted off my fingers. "So there's Hazel, district one girl, Leo and Annabeth, both from 3, Percy from 4, Jason from 5, me, Piper from 8, and Frank and Thalia from 10." I thought for a moment. "Is that it? I think it's it.

Kalex shook his head in amazement. "And you're all here to... protect us from the careers?"

I sighed. "This is where it gets complicated. We weren't sent here specifically to protect you. There's a greater cause in mind. And... I have to bring the careers here too. They're needed."

As expected, the five tributes let out roars of outrage. "The careers?" Ethan yelled. "They can't be trusted!"

"They'll kill us the first chance we get!" Lodi added, standing up in fury.

"Listen!" I bellowed, and they fell silent. "Think, for a moment. The only reason they killed you is because they needed to survive too. Take them out of that context and they're just the same as you and me-- teenagers being forced to fight to the death."

"Not all were forced," Waylan muttered. "Some volunteered."

"Still." I looked at them all in the eye, one by one. "When they come-- if they don't die, that is-- I will personally make sure that nothing goes wrong in here. If anyone tries to kill one another, you'll have to deal with me."

I let that sentence hang in the air before vanishing on the spot.

.oOo. Annabeth .oOo.

My eyes never left Katniss as she prepared herself to jump down from the tree, knife in hand. I could see her preparing to kill us. I could see her eyes steeling herself.

Get ready, I warned Percy. Katniss is coming. Don't look!

Wasn't going to, Percy grumbled. He tensed against the tree.

Leave the talking to me.

Nimble as a squirrel, Katniss leapt down from the tree, bend her knees to absorb the impact, and hurled herself forward. The knife glistened in her hand.

I grabbed the spear-- thankful that the shaft was also metal-- and swung it expertly. I scarcely trained with the spear-- even by demigod standards, it was an unused weapon-- but I knew how to handle one all the same.

Unprepared, Katniss tried to dodge the point. I let it swing by her, not touching her. She ducked under and stabbed wildly at my chest. I took a step backwards to let her momentum die out before seizing her wrist with my left hand and twisting it so that the knife fell from her grasp. My spear swung out with my right, smacking it across her back smartly. Katniss let out a cry and arched her back. I kneed her in the ribcage and pushed her to the ground, holding the knife blade across her throat.

"Don't move," I warned her. Normally, this was the moment when the victim held still, allowing me to let them up and explain things. Katniss did no such thing. Her fist swung up from the side and contacted my ribs with surprising strength for such a small frame. She rolled over and grabbed my knife hand, pinning it to the ground as she punched my stomach. Her hand darted out to my spear and she poised it at my neck, being careful to hold down both wrists. "Give me my knife," she said in a demanding voice.

"Unlikely," I muttered and swung my legs up, hooking my knees around her neck. I brought them down and she flew back, rolling over my feet and crashing down with her neck bend awkwardly under her. But I needn't have worried about snapping her neck because she stood up again, snarling. I held the knife in an expert stance, my eyes amused.

"Come at me," I dared her. She glared at me, ready to spring. Then, quick as a flash, she dropped the spear and scrambled back up the tree.

"Damn," I cursed under my breath and climbed up after her. No help from Seaweed Brain up here, not that I had any on the ground. Katniss glanced down from above me, clearly surprised that I was puruing her. I climbed up farther, my teeth gritting in concentration. What I was not prepared for, however, was to see her stop halfway up the tree and swing down, her fingers gripping the branch as she swung and kicked her feet at me. They smashed smartly down on my hands, one foot even kicking my face. It propelled me backwards and I could feel myself falling, falling thirty feet down onto the ground. The impact knocked the breath out of me and I could see spots dancing in my vision.

"Damn you," I muttered thickly at Percy.

In my peripheral vision, I saw him lunge at Katniss. She darted just beyond his reach and disappeared in the forest.