》︎✳︎✳︎✳︎《︎︎
》︎✳︎✳︎✳︎《︎
ANOTHER HOUR PASSED, and the sun began setting across the arena, but no amount of darkness could crush Devyn's determination to locate Rue or Leighton. She needed to find them as the careers recovered from the tracker jacker attack back at the lake. If she didn't, then the two young tributes were as good as dead. She hadn't run into anyone or anything yet, but she knew something was to jump out at her soon. Otherwise, the Gamemakers won't have much good footage after the tracker jackers.
Devyn was so on edge that she would grip her ax even tighter every time she heard a rustle of leaves. But when a definite twig snapped from her right, she snapped around and readied herself—out rushed Leighton with his hands in the air, trying to calm the girl down who was just about to hit the top of his head. "Leighton," she sighed and dropped her ax, bringing Leighton into a tight hug.
The two held each other for quite a while, enjoying the comforting presence of home, even in people they didn't particularly love. They didn't pull away until a small voice coughed awkwardly, and Rue came into sight. Devyn smiled and gave the girl a hug which frightened her, but she eventually grew used to the feeling.
"I'm so glad to see you guys," Devyn whispered into Rue's frizzy hair before stepping away.
"You didn't come back," Rue started, and Devyn sighed.
"I got attacked by the boy from ten and got injured, but I'm healed now. I didn't get much food, though," she said, but the two pushed it off.
"We've been fine thanks to you," Leighton added and sent a genuine smile to Devyn, something she hadn't ever seen become of his face.
"But on the topic of news, we have something to show you," Rue grabbed Devyn's hand and led her through the thick woods until they came across a small clearing. Unconscious and hidden under a log was Katniss, with leaves wrapped around every part of her skin.
"What happened?" Devyn asked, nearing Katniss with Rue while Leighton stayed behind.
"She dropped a nest of tracker jackers on the careers and got stung as well. The leaves are extracting the poison, and she should wake up in a few days," said Rue.
"How do you know about that?"
"We pointed it out to her."
"So you moved?"
"Leighton got impatient," Rue's voice went slightly quieter, so Leighton couldn't hear.
"How'd you already know?" Leighton cut in, and Devyn and Rue turned around; Rue curiously stared at the older girl as she opened her mouth to speak. "I mean, if you were injured and stayed hidden somewhere the entire morning when the nest was dropped, how could you know that already happened?"
"Erm ..." Devyn was struggling to make up an excuse.
Leighton raised an eyebrow and scoffed. "You saw lover boy, didn't you? You met with Cato!" He barked, and Devyn sighed.
"One: he found me while I was looking for you guys. And two: what is the issue if I see him? I'm making him not only my ally but yours as well."
"Still, you can't trust him. He'll stab you in the back ... literally," Leighton mumbled the last word, and Devyn glared at him.
"Why do you care so much about who I trust or not? I can handle my relationship with Cato well enough without you intruding."
"I'm not intruding —"
"Like hell!" Both noticed how much Rue flinched away when Devyn raised her voice. Leighton sighed while Devyn felt guilt run through her. Not only was she scaring Rue by yelling at Leighton, but she did not need to use such language in front of her. She would never say this around a younger sister if she had one. And she was so protective of Rue she might as well be a version of another sister.
Without another word, Leighton stormed off to climb a tree nearby. As the girls watched him, Devyn sighed, moving her gaze back down to Rue. "I'm going to go look for water. Stay with Leighton, please."
***
It had been two days of hunting for game and water for Devyn while Leighton and Rue settled in the trees and occasionally made themselves worthwhile by searching for plants. But since their fight, Leighton and Devyn hadn't spoken to each other. But the three allies still slept in the same tree, with Rue and Leighton cuddled together for warmth with Devyn's extra jacket thrown over them and Devyn sleeping on a branch slightly lower.
Devyn was on her casual hunting trip to pass the time but got bored of walking around blindly and returned to the tree. They were only a few yards away from where Katniss was unconscious, even if they didn't know how the girl would react. But if she responded in violence, which Devyn was confident she wouldn't, especially with Rue around, then Devyn could handle her. Especially with Leighton by her side.
But when she returned to the tree, she was startled by Katniss, Rue, and Leighton sitting around a dull fire, all feasting on two plump birds. "How long was I asleep?" Katniss asked Rue.
"A couple of days," Devyn answered, and everyone snapped their heads over. The younger tributes looked at ease while Katniss drew her bow back with no hesitation. Rue had informed Devyn that Katniss got hold of the bow from Glimmer, and Devyn was certain this was the weapon she was most skilled in. It was the only weapon station she avoided during training.
Devyn raised her arms with a slight smirk. "What happened to our alliance, Katniss?" She asked, taking a few steps forward.
"It kind of ended when you abandoned me in that tree," she spat, and Devyn chuckled. The two other tributes didn't try to interfere as they were too scared by the tension between the two.
"What was I supposed to do to help you? I didn't have medicine to heal your leg — how is it, by the way?"
"Fine, no thanks to you," Katniss lowered her bow.
"Case in point for the reason I left. I couldn't help you, so why delay myself and stay? Did you want me to babysit you?" Devyn sassed, and Katniss stood up from beside Rue on a log. The two girls glared at each other as Leighton cleared his throat, trying to calm their anger.
"This isn't helping anything. You both were once allies, and now you'll be again," he stated, not leaving any room to argue. Devyn sat down next to her district partner while Katniss settled back down next to Rue. Both were still filled with rage but didn't feel like causing a ruckus.
"We changed your leaves twice," Rue said, gesturing to Katniss' arm, which still had a subtle outline of a tracker jacker sting. Katniss looked down at her, her face softening as she moved her gaze to Leighton and Devyn.
"Thank you," she sighed, and Leighton nodded.
"So what happened while I was out?"
"The girls from one and four and the boy from ten," Rue added.
Katniss hesitated to say her following sentence, "and the boy from my district?"
"Yeah, he's okay. I think he's down by the river," Leighton chuckled.
"Cato struck his leg for helping you but let him run away shortly after the attack," Devyn stated, and everyone looked over at her in interest at the new information.
"Do you know how bad?" Katniss asked.
"No, but he said Peeta should bleed out soon. He knows where he hit him," Devyn noticed how Katniss's jaw clenched while Rue frowned at hearing the bad news. Leighton glared at Devyn, but she didn't care. She knew he was only mad at how she was able to find this out.
"Is all of that true?" Rue tried to lighten the mood.
"What?"
"You and him?" she giggled while Katniss chuckled breathly and Leighton snickered.
"So, where are Cato and the others?" Katniss changed the subject, and Devyn laughed. How quickly they could change their moods. Not only minutes ago, they were at each other's throats.
"They got all their supplies down by the lake. Ir's piled up in this great big pyramid," Leighton informed.
"That sounds tempting," Katniss raised her brows, and they laughed.
***
"Now, this green stuff is gonna smoke like crazy, so as soon as you light it, move on to the next fire. Light this one last, and we'll meet you back over there," Devyn said as the four allies piled green leaves on top of their large supply of wood.
"Right," said Rue.
"And then we'll destroy their stuff while they're chasing us," Katniss added.
"We need a signal in case one of us gets held up," Leighton interrupted.
"Okay. Like what?" Devyn asked.
Rue glanced down at the Mockingjay pin on Katniss' jacket and said, "here. Watch this." She sang a few notes angelically, and loud chirping repeated the same notes. All three of them gawked as they examined the trees they had been huddled in for the past week.
"Mockingjays. That's great," Katniss said.
"Back home, we use them to signal the time," Rue smiled, clearly proud of her hardworking district.
"So do we," Rue glanced at Devyn, her grin becoming wider.
"You try," Rue ushered to Katniss. Katniss pursed her lips and whistled a four-note tune which the birds copied.
"Okay, so if we hear that, it means we're okay, and we'll be back real soon," Leighton spoke, and everyone agreed.
"We're gonna be okay," Katniss muttered firmly, and Rue stared at her with admiration in her doe eyes. Without warning, the young girl engulfed her in a hug. Leighton glanced at Devyn beside him for a split second as their two allies broke apart. "Hey, I'll see you for supper."
"Okay," Rue nodded, then turned to Devyn and Leighton. She walked up to Devyn and gave her a similar hug, although everyone noticed it wasn't as tight as she gripped onto Katniss. Devyn then turned to Leighton and brought him into a separate embrace. He took a shaky breath that only Devyn could hear, and she ruffled a hand through his hair as they pulled away, but not before he stole a kiss on her cheek.
Devyn squeezed the young boy's chin before walking over to Katniss, who waved at Leighton as the two took off. They knew it was more logical for a younger and older tribute to go together for better protection, but they all knew that Devyn wouldn't allow Katniss to be alone with Leighton and vice versa with Rue. And even if Katniss went with Rue to destroy the supplies or Leighton went with Devyn, they would have a lesser chance of succeeding as they needed as much intelligence as possible because surly the careers wouldn't leave all their supplies out in the open without protection.
After two hours of traveling to the lake, Katniss and Devyn saw the pyramid Leighton was talking about. But the large pile wasn't the only odd thing. There were two dozen holes dug around all the pedestals the tributes first rose up into the arena. The careers looked to have been searching for something. But the two girls had no idea what.
They moved their bewildered eyes to a collection of tents where the careers sat. But along with the three remaining careers, they were joined by the boy from District three. So this is where he was all this time. The poor boy seemed so clueless and frightened but did his best to mask it. Cato, Marvel, and Clove were all lounging around waiting for something to catch their eye so they could have the familiar rush of adrenaline as they tracked down their next victim.
Despite being slightly angry with him about disrespecting her choices, Devyn couldn't deny how attractive Cato looked. Since the tracker jacker attack, he had recovered well, and the plum-sized stings had mellowed down. A thin layer of sweat coated his skin as he fiddled with his sword impatiently. She had almost forgotten how his hair fell perfectly in front of his steel-blue eyes, and she was glad to remember it.
Then, Marvel jumped up from his seat and pointed into the sky, calling out to his allies. They all rushed to him and noticed the thick smoke he was gesturing to. "Good job, guys," Devyn mumbled under her breath, and Katniss nodded in agreement.
"You stay guard and don't move until we get back," Cato ordered the boy from three who sat down eagerly, clearly not wanting to fight other tributes. The three ran off, and Katniss smirked. As the two got closer to the pile, Devyn came up with the idea to climb up and guard Katniss as she tried to think of a solution.
Both girls were still wildly confused about how they could destroy the supplies. They couldn't dump it in the lake. They couldn't set it on fire. They couldn't blow it up. "Wait..." Devyn trailed off and gasped. She quickly climbed down the tree until she was hovering over Katniss.
"Katniss," she whispered, and the girl looked up. "It's a trap. They rewired the mines from the pedestals and surrounded the supplies." Just as she finished, a streak of red flashed across the open field. The girl from five ran towards the back of the pile, avoiding certain spots before jumping to grab something and dancing her way back into the woods where she had come from.
Devyn climbed back up the tree and peered across the open plain. No sight of anyone else was on the outskirts, but she also knew the careers weren't too far away. Then another set of smoke started floating up into the sky from the other side of the forest. Soon the careers would find the second fire and know it's a trap, so the two girls knew they had to hurry up.
Finally, Katniss reached for an arrow and retracted her bow. Devyn watched her take a few deep breaths, focusing on something Devyn had no idea where. She let go, and the arrow pierced across the top of a bag of apples. All the pieces clicked, and Devyn felt pride in Katniss for her creativity.
The brunette stepped out to give herself more room and reloaded her bow. She pulled it back and aimed at the sack of apples again. This time it shot through the bottom, and the entire bushel of apples broke free and began spilling across the crates and onto the ground.
It seemed to go in slow motion once the first apple hit a mine. When the first went off, it triggered the rest, and soon all the boxes of supplies were thrown sky-high as they caught fire. Katniss flew back onto the ground, dropping her bow in the process. In contrast, Devyn's stumble was much worse. She was tossed off the tree, falling over 25 feet and slamming onto the ground. Her vision became black for a few moments, and even after she was able to not become repeatedly unconscious, she was still dizzy, and her eyes blurred.
The smell of burnt plastic and wood filled her nose, and she coughed weakly. Katniss' left ear, the one turned to the explosion, was bleeding, and she couldn't hear a thing. Devyn surely had a major concussion along with a broken arm. Based on the searing pain in her left arm, she concluded it was that one.
From the overwhelming pain, the nausea, and the loud ringing in her ears, Devyn couldn't hold back her vomit which spilled onto the ground next to her as she clutched her left hand, cradling her arm. She staggered out, trying her best to hold back her cry of pain, and rushed over to Katniss, who was still lying on the ground.
The boy from three had run over and was examining the rubble frantically, knowing he would be punished for something he knew nothing about. Devyn tugged on Katniss' arm weakly, who groaned in protest. The careers were to get here any second, and they couldn't be here.
Just as Devyn could muster enough strength in her right arm and drag Katniss into somewhat of a secluded area, the three careers sprinted from the woods. "I don't know what happened," the guard said meekly.
"What the hell happened?" Cato yelled once he noticed all of the supplies burnt to a crisp. As the two others tried looking for any supplies still usable, Cato stormed up to the District three boy.
"I don't know!" The boy said, pleading as Cato ripped the spear from his hands.
"Our stuff!" In a second, Cato's hands locked around the boy's neck and snapped his neck. Devyn and Katniss gasped as the boy collapsed and the cannon went off. With no hesitation, Katniss stumbled up and grabbed onto Devyn, running back into the woods.
As they regained their balance and started coming back down to Earth, their running became faster. Katniss suddenly stopped once they heard the sound of Mockingjays copying their alliance's four-note tune. Katniss quickly replied, and the birds replayed it.
The two began moving again and soon started running towards the third fire. But their hearts dropped once they saw it not in ashes or ignited. It hadn't been touched by Leighton nor Rue. "Leighton!" Rue's scream erupted, and both of their eyes widened.
They took off to the second fire, which they knew must've been lit. "Leighton, help!" They were both praying Leighton was ahead of them and was helping Rue. He had to be. Otherwise, they would've seen him. They knew Rue was in trouble somewhere between the second and third fire and checked any place their eyes could see.
Rue's screams quickly went silent as they rushed into a clearing of flowers and lush grass. Katniss and Devyn stopped in their tracks and choked on their breath as they saw the spear impale Rue's stomach while Leighton desperately threw his ax in Marvel's direction.