rising from the ashes || a hunger games story

chapter fourteen

willow's pov

how am i going to get finn to let me go to the feast? that's the question that's been on my mind all day. the hail stopped after about 30 minutes. i haven't gone out since we got the soup from haymitch and the sponsors.

i feel my stomach rumble. we ate all the soup earlier today and the sun is going to be coming down soon. it would be too dangerous to go far from the cave just to find animals.

even if i did find an animal nearby, the fire that is needed might give us away. i turn to finn, "i'm going to go get us some berries." he nods, "stay safe."

i walk out of the cave with my quiver strapped on my back and my bow in my right hand. i don't want to take any chances if a tribute decides to come out of nowhere and kill me. i also have the container the soup came in. i need something to hold the berries in.

i spot a berry bush nearby. they're the same berries from earlier, highbush cranberries. their bushes grow tall so i'm not surprised the berries made it through the avalanche.

i start picking a few berries from the bush and placing them into the container when i hear the wonderful beeping sound of a parachute. i rush over to it, hoping it's the medicine finn needs. but it isn't. it's a different type of medicine.

it's in a vial. after smelling it, i identify the medicine as sleep syrup. it's used in panem so patients with bad injuries can be put at peace for a little bit. why did haymitch send me this? finn and i aren't in that much pain anymore.

of course, i still have a throbbing pain where the bruises are but i don't think sleep syrup is necessary. but that's when i realize why he sent it. he sent it so i could give it to finn and i could go to the feast at dawn.

it's good to know that haymitch trusts me enough to go to that feast. i remember from training that almost all of the tributes were bigger than me. they seemed to be a lot stronger and skilled. some of the careers are most likely still alive, too.

i quickly sit down on the floor and mash up some berries. i pour in some of the sleep syrup and mix it in with the berries. as i'm walking back to the cave, i make a mental note to not eat any of those berries or i'll miss the feast.

i walk into the entrance of the cave and smile at finn. i grab the spoon that we used for the soup and place it into the container of mashed up berries and sleep syrup. i pass it over to finn.

he takes a spoonful of the berries and places them into his mouth. he finishes chewing and swallowing and he gives me a weird look. "those are very sweet. a lot sweeter than the ones from earlier. sweet like.. like," he makes a face like he's trying to figure out what he just ate. "like syrup." he says and gives me a look of realization.

"you put sleep syrup into this," he says as he drifts off into sleep. before he went off to sleep, he gave me a look of betrayal. i feel guilty but i need to get him that medicine. without the proper treatment, his cut could get infected. especially because i'm not using the proper bandage to bandage the cut.

he should be asleep long enough to buy me time to go to the feast and back. i sit in front of the opening of the cave and stare out looking at the moon until i see the fallen screen pop up.

jet from district 1, aspen from district 3, millie from district 4, and mitch from district 9. aspen died when we were by the lake, right before i killed jet, mitch and millie were buried in the avalanche. that means i'm going to have to face crystal and merlin from district 2 and falcon from district 11.

i'm sure only one district 2 tribute will be there to retrieve the backpack. both crytal and merlin are older than me which means they have a lot more experience in battle than me. they would still be more experienced, regardless.

even though the games were over, the career districts continued to train in special academies from 12-18. there were even seperate academies for kids younger than 12 and adults. we passed by an academy on our family vacation to district 4.

i don't know how long i was sitting there but i soon see the sun start to come up. i strap my quiver on and grab my bow. i look over to finn. he's still fast asleep. i take a deep breathe and walk out of the cave. i tied a rope around the rock i used to block the entrance earlier. i used the rope to pull the rock and block the entrance.

once i get back, i can push it in. i don't know how long it takes me to get to the cornucopia. i look out at the cornucopia in the trees. there are 4 backpacks. they're all around the same size. i look at each backpack. one has a 2, one has a 4, one has an 11, and the last backpack has a 12.

i'm confused. i don't need anything. finn does. why would i have a bag? i don't see anyone in sight so i run towards where the backpacks are displayed. i grab the backpack with the number 12 first. as i turn around to grab the backpack with the number 4 on it, i see crystal running towards me.

she tackles me before i can grab the other backpack and run. she has me pinned on the ground, on my back. "here to help your little boyfriend, huh? i'm sure jet hurt him pretty bad before you killed him." that's when i feel her put her hand on my shoulder and press down on it to keep me from squirming out of her arms.

her pressing down on it just makes me squirm more. that's where i have the bruise from the hail. it's starting to burn and i feel tears in my eyes as i throw my head back in pain. she raises an eyebrow at me and moves my jacket and shirt over.

she spots the bruise and presses down on it more. "oh, does this hurt? i'm sure your little ally got worse. too bad we killed her. poor june." that's when i feel weight being lifted off of me. i look over to see that falcon from district 11 has her pinned on the wall of the cornucopia.

"you killed her?" i hear him say. crystal rapidly shakes her head. falcon is the tallest and biggest of the tributes. he's the strongest out of all of us so crystal can't escape him. "you said her name!" he says, tightening his grip on her. that's when crystal screams, "merlin!" i hear him yell back crystal's name but it's too late.

falcon killed her. he looks over to me. i back away slowly. "what did she mean? about you and june being allies?" i swallow hard. "i found her hiding behind a tree. shimmer killed her when we went to get food the next day. i shot shimmer at the same time she shot at june. i sang to her until she passed. i then surrounded her in flowers."

he nods slowly. "i'm going to spare you. just this time, 12. for june." he then turns around and runs away. i quickly get up and grab the other backpack. my shoulder is in much more pain than my other bruises after all that happened.

i will never be able to thank falcon enough for sparing me. or i would be dead, and finn would eventually be found and killed.