Disclaimer : Well, I’d be stinking rich if I had actually written the books but I’m not, so I didn’t.

Percy’s POV

Well.

Today might be some sort of improvement.

Firstly, I’ve collected the berries that I found earlier and kept them safe in a pouch that I made from a rabid wolf’s skin. Well, after I killed it, of course. Good thing it was alone.

  Oh, and the best improvement? My leg’s not swelling anymore! Yippee!!

But I still walk with a limp. Oh, well. At least I don’t have to worry about getting my leg amputated. Good thing I found Rue’s leaves. You know, the one that she used on my tracker jacker sting. And I’ve used it to disinfect my leg ever since.

   And it’s sunny and a little bit warm today. So, lots of water for us since the ice and snow is melting.

There’s pretty much nothing for me to do. There’s no animal so no hunting. And I can’t go and hunt other tributes because I can barely run.

   So, the only thing I can do is walk, walk and walk…

Suddenly, there’s this sound like someone roaring.

Or better, Cato roaring. Howling more like.

Oh, shit.

Wait..

Is that smoke?

Well, someone’s started a fire and forgot to tend to it.

Hmm…

Better go and poke around a bit to see who started that fire. And also to know who I’m running from.

***********************

I’m perched on a low, big tree at the edge of the winter hemisphere.

Really, what can be more stupid than sneaking around where the Careers camp is based?

But I just have to find out.

And now, I’m seeing the Careers flocking to their ruined campsite. Maybe from tribute-hunting and  Cato, from what I am seeing, is seething with rage. There’s the boy from 10, Timmy. I suppose he was supposed to guard the campsite while the Careers went on tribute-hunting.

  Oh.

  Cato lost it.

  And he just killed Timmy. By breaking his neck. Well, at least he didn’t suffer like Katie or the other tributes Cato got his hands on.

  I think it’s time for me go back into hiding before they find me. No, before Cato finds me. Oh, but wait. I just have to know what they’re going to do now.

Because I just notice them taking out some sort of glasses and putting it on. Dusk is falling now. And it suddenly occurred to me that the glasses must be some sort of night-vision thingy. Oh, this is bad. I’m getting out of here.

****************************

Where the hell are Katniss and Rue?

Okay, mostly Rue. I want to know that at least she is safe from harm. Because if the Careers are going on a tribute-hunting tonight, no one is safe.

I belted myself in a tree far, far away from the Cornucopia. Actually, I’m in the first tree I climbed after I got wounded. The tree where Rue and I had decided to become allies.

Oh, Rue. You better be safe or I’ll strangle you.

That night, I drifted off into an uneasy sleep, filled with fire and blades and shouts of pain. That’s not all, I kept dreaming I stumbled on Katniss and Rue’s dead bodies, their belly cut open, intestines were pulled out and Cato, eating their guts.

   That has got to be the most disturbing dream I’ve ever had yet.

It was a good thing I didn’t thrash around in my sleep.

When I woke up, I was still belted in, my small wolf-skin pouch still hanging around my neck. The only signs I had that disturbing dream was the fact that my left arm was riddled with bite marks. I must’ve gnawed at it in my sleep. My nails are a mess. And the branch I’m belted in has scratching marks all over it.

Wow.

Well, I’m hungry. Time for breakfast.

I want to say that I had a quite peaceful morning. Berries for breakfast and fresh, cool water from the icicles.

But it was far from peaceful.

Because just as I was about to open my berry-filled pouch, I heard a terrible scream.

If it was just some other tribute screaming, I’d probably continue on eating.

But this time…

It was a child screaming.

And only one person could sound like that.

I pulled out my knife from its sheath and sliced through the belt I had made. I leapt from the branch and landed cat-like on the ground. Of course, my left leg flared in pain but I ignored it. No time to catch my breath. I must reach her.

   And I took off. Not limping, too. But at my usual predator pace.

“ Rue!” I roar, not caring if anyone found me. “ Rue!”

“ Katniss!” the voice scream. “ Percy!”

“ RUE!” I bellow, picking up a faster pace. “ RUE!”

Then, silence. My heart skipped a beat. No..

BOOM!

“ NO!” I howl as broke into a clearing.

There she was.

Rue. Under a net. With a spear in her stomach.

And Marvel. Sprawled on the ground on his face. Blood pooling around him, staining the snow red.

And Katniss, with a knife in her hand, cutting through the net over Rue frantically.

And then Rue is free. Katniss stares at the spear in her stomach, the red stain that was spreading steadily from the wound.

“ Rue,” I whisper softly, as I landed on my knees next to Katniss. “ Rue.”

“ Percy,” she moans weakly. “ I’m sorry.”

“ What for?” I ask, pulling her until her head was in my lap. “ You’ve done nothing wrong,” I say softly, brushing her hair from her face. “ You’ve done splendidly. To survive up to this stage,” I say, chuckling weakly. She smiles back. Then, she looks at Katniss.

 “ Did you burn all of the food?” she asks Katniss. Oh, so they were the ones who destroyed the Careers’ supply. Katniss nods. “ You have to win,” Rue says, grasping her hand.

“ I’m going to. For both of us,” Katniss replies.

“ Oh, so I can die?” I ask Rue. She giggles weakly. “ That’s not nice.”

“ Can you sing?” I hear her ask softly. I look up at Katniss,  and lock eyes with her. And for the first time, I see tears in her eyes.

  “ Sing?” she croaks, as she edges nearer to Rue. The small girl from District Eleven nods. Katniss looks at me, as though looking for reassurance. I nod to her and she starts :

  Deep in the meadow, under the willow

 A bed of grass, a soft green pillow

Lay down your head, and close your sleepy eyes

And when again they open, the sun will rise

Here it’s safe, here it’s warm

Here the daisies guard from every harm

Here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true.

Here is the place where I love you.

Rue’s eyes have fluttered shut. Her chest moves but only slightly. Then, her eyes twitches when a drop of tear fell on her face.

I felt at my eyes, feeling astonished to find them wet.

I’m crying. Weeping, even for this girl who reminds me strongly of my own dead sister. I look up at Katniss and see the tears are coming down faster.

“ Finish the song, please,” I say quietly. She nods, gulps and continues the heart-rendering song:

Deep in the meadow, hidden far away

A cloak of leaves, a moonbeam ray

Forget your woes and let your troubles lay

And when again it’s morning, they’ll wash away

Here it’s safe, here it’s warm

Here the daisies guard you from every harm

Here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true

Here is the place where I love you.

Everything’s still and quiet. But it feels as though the song was being reverberated all throughout the arena.

For a moment, we didn’t say anything. Merely watching Rue, letting our tears fall freely. Then, her cannon fires. I brushed again her hair from her face, planted a brief but meaningful kiss on her temple before setting her head down on to the ground, gently. Then, Katniss did the same thing.

I walk over to where Marvel lay and took his backpack. Who knows? Maybe he’s got something useful stashed in it. I roll him onto his back, staring at the frozen face. He could be my friend, you know. I mean, he nearly risked his life after the stabbing incident. Nearly, switched sides. But I prevented him, knowing that it would suck if he died for me.

  And now he’s dead.

Well, better now than later.

I got up to my feet, noticing for the first time how painful it is and look around for Katniss. She was gathering some flowers from the frozen bushes around us. Well, not exactly flowers but more like weed, you know. But it was a beautiful kind of weed with its lavender colored flowers and soft green stalks.

  “ What are you doing?” I ask her as she returns back to where Rue lay.

  She didn’t reply, merely giving me a look that tells me I should know what she’s doing and why. Before I could say anything, she starts to arrange the frozen flowers around Rue. Slowly and steadily she arranges it. Weaving it in her hair, wreathing her face with colors.

When she’s done, she stands next to me, observing her work.

“ It’s beautiful,” I croak, watching at the small, baby animal that is Rue. “ She would love it. She’s actually sleeping in that meadow you told her about,” I say, looking at Katniss. She looks at me, her expression nearly empty.

“ Allies?” she asks me.

“ What could be better than that?” I ask her back, smiling.

We both then look back at Rue.

“ We better get a move on now. They’d want to collect them,” I say, pulling her by the hand. We moved several steps before she turns around.

 “ Bye, Rue,” she whispers, then presses the three hands on her left to her lips and held them out in her direction. After that, she walks in front of me without another backward glance. Knowing that I am so dangerously close to breaking down, I hurried off after her.

  But before that, of course, I just had to have my last look at Rue.

And the last I saw of her was when the chopper had picked her up. After that, she vanished along with the chopper.

****************************

We walked on and on.

Without any evident direction.

Until I pull Katniss aside and give her a hug.

That was when she finally, truly break down.

I didn’t stop her. I let her cry.

After a few minutes, her sobs lessened and I ask her, “ Better?”

“ This is your fault,” she growls, pushing me away, wiping at her eyes. “ If you hadn’t hug me I won’t be crying.”

“ Well, it’s better than you keeping it all pent up,” I shrug. “ Where do you usually spend the night?” I ask her.

“ Usually in a tree,” she says.

“ Alright then,” I reply, starting to climb a tree.

“ Your leg?” she asks, staring at me.

“ It’s getting better,” I assure her. “ Come on. We need to get to safety,” I say, before continuing my climb. When I got to a quite big branch, I look down at the ground and see that Katniss is still standing where she was. “ Katniss,” I call out to her impatiently.

 She look up, and showed me something in her hand.

“ What’s that?” I ask, leaning a little bit down, trying to guess what that thing is.

“ A gift. From sponsors,” she says, looking puzzled.

“ Bring it up then. We can have a look at it when you’re out of harm’s way,” I say impatiently. Then she climb the tree.

We were pretty much squished next to each other but we didn’t dare to adjust ourselves, in case one of us fell.

“ It’s a bread,” Katniss says, after she opened the gift.

It was indeed a bread. Cut out in the shape of a crescent. Sprinkled with seeds. I’ve hanged around for awhile at the bakery back home to know where this bread came from.

“ From District 11,” I murmur, picking up the bread. “ It’s still warm.” We look at each other. “ That’s a first,” I say.

“ What’s a first?” she demands. Clearly, she is disturbed that District 11 gave this to her.

“ Giving a gift to a tribute that’s not your own,” I say gently. “ I guess this is thanks from them. For looking out for Rue.”

She didn’t reply. She pick up the bread and look up into the sky. “ My many thanks to the people of District Eleven,” she says. Then, she strap us (literally) with a belt to the tree.

“ Where did you get the belt?” I ask her as she gives me a quarter of the bread. “ I’ve been tying myself to the tree with pine leaves.”

“ From the backpack I took at the Cornucopia,” she replies, nibbling at her bread.

“ Good haul then,” I say, before devouring my piece of bread.

Then, the seal’s in the sky, the anthem playing. We see Marvel first, and then Rue. I could feel her go a bit stiff when Rue’s picture disappears forever.

“ Do you know how many of us are still alive?” I murmur to her.

“ Six,” she says shortly. “ I don’t want to talk. I want to sleep,” she says before snuggling into her jacket. Several moments past and then I began to hear her snoring.

“ Goodnight to you too, Katniss,” I mutter before going to sleep too.

Hey, we’re up in a tree. No one can actually get to us.

A/N: Please v-com! :)