Chapter Fourteen: New Alliances 

"Who thought I'd kill someone..." Rookie muttered to herself as she picked up the piece of wood that she'd crafted into a spear with a knife. 

Rookie stared down at the dead District 6's girls face and sneered. She hadn't intended to kill anyone in The Hunger Games, but killing this girl was necessary. If the girl hadn't of come out of nowhere and tried to attack Rookie she would have left her alone and let Cato kill her. 

Rookie shook her head in disgust and then moved on, allowing the hovercraft to come and collect the District 6 girls body. Rookie was not at all shocked at her actions, but the thing that shocked her most was the fact that she had got this far in the games, the question was that would she survive the rest of the games?

But did winning really matter? Her father could possibly be watching her right now from his prison cell in the Capitol. Besides, Rookie had not only done a good deed to volunteer for someone in her District she had also given her father the opportunity to see her on television (if he was still alive, of course.) 

Many would still be confused as to why Rookie, the girl from District 3 volunteered to go into the lethal Hunger Games. Some would say she had no chance of winning compared to the brutal Cato but others would disagree, some would say the odds were in her favour. 

You see, when she was younger, Rookie and her parents were aware of the other Districts and what was going on. There were Districts poorer than them, like District 12. Rookie knew the people of District 12 were starving so after one mine explosion her and her parents shipped off food to District 12, helping them out. They snuck the food on a train that was heading to District 12 and when that train arrived the people of 12 were ecstatic, the food was enough to feed them all. Seam people lined up by the train to gather more than their tesserae rations could ever make. 

Rookie and her parents continued to ship food to District 12 (and the other poorer Districts, they never bothered with District 1 and 2 because they had watched The Hunger Games and seen the cruel killings the tributes from their performed on the weaker Districts children.) And all went swimmingly, that was until the Peacekeeper's finally became aware of what Rookie's family were doing. 

So they took Rookie's father away to the Capitol and he was locked up in a prison, he was given a life sentence and was only fed once a day. Rookie always hoped one day when a train pulled up in District 3 that her father would get out of the train and come back to her and her mother, yet he never did. Rookie lost hope after a while and something inside of her told her that he was dead. 

But when she entered The Hunger Games, the spark of hope that had been dead for so long was suddenly alive and she had some feeling inside of her that her father was alive. That spark of hope had got her this far through the games that her father would be watching her on television in the prison with the other prisoners and he'd be telling everyone that was his daughter, fighting so desperately to live in The Hunger Games. 

A small smile crossed Rookie's face as she waded through the lake, but something made her stop as she climbed the bank. There was a small spatter of blood on the rock, it hadn't long been there...Rookie frowned and then walked towards the forest where the small spatters of blood could be seen. 

And that's when she heard it. 

" — Marvel, no! You're not leaving here!" 

"Yes I am! If I don't we'll both starve, two apples aren't going to last us, Lucy, I promise I'll come back. I promise." 

"Last time you did that you almost got killed yourself!" 

"Lucy...you've got to believe me..." 

Rookie's eyes went wide in shock. These were the two people she'd met down in the training centre, the tributes from District 1. The Careers. The girl, Lucy, had protested she wasn't a Career but the boy, Marvel, was proud to say he knew how to throw a few spears and was deadly at a distance. 

No doubt if she trespassed on them, she'd get killed by Marvel for not joining the alliance...but was it just them two there? Where were Cato and Clove? Had their alliance split up? Was it just Lucy and Marvel now? Rookie would rather be safe than sorry...

"Look, if I don't go we're both going to get worse. You need some ointment and if you don't get some..." Marvel began again.

"Me? Me! You're the one that needs healing!" Lucy protested.

"Look, I promise I'll be back!" 

So they're injured. Rookie thought. But why would they be injured? Had they really been kicked out of the alliance? Had Cato hurt them with his sword? Maybe they wouldn't be threatenging now...

Rookie walked through the trees some more and she came into an area well protected by trees and there she saw Lucy, it looked like a sword had been slashed across her throat and as for Marvel...a sword had been slashed across his chest...that's where the blood had come from. 

Lucy suddenly tugged on Marvel's sleeve and he turned around, his eyes widened and he grabbed his spears but Rookie dropped her makeshift spear and held up her hands. 

"I mean no harm," she said. 

"What do you want?" Marvel asked, not dropping his spears. 

"I — " 

"What do you want?" 

"Nothing! I don't need anything!" Rookie snapped. "Calm down, I'm not going to hurt you!" 

Marvel dropped his spears as Lucy shifted awkwardly by the tree and tried to make herself unnoticed. Rookie swore she wasn't going to hurt either of them, she didn't need to hurt them. Lucy had let her go only earlier today when the Careers had run off towards the fire...Lucy could of easily fired some arrows at Rookie and she'd have been dead. 

"Then why did you come here?" Marvel demanded, walking forward and this time taking Lucy's bow and arrows. "How did you find us?" 

"I found a trail of blood, I figured someone must be injured and I was going to help them..." Rookie glanced down at the floor and saw more of the trail of blood. "Do you want help?" 

"No, not from you. You could try and kill us." 

"Marvel..." Lucy whispered. 

"We're not forming an alliance with her, no way. I don't trust her, she could easily flip out and kill us with that hand to hand combat she does..." 

"She's not Cato, she's not going to hurt us." 

"How do you know?" 

"Like Cato said, I've got the brains." 

Marvel laughed slightly as Rookie gingerly stepped forward but Marvel watched her every move, in case she decided to grab his spears and kill Lucy. He wouldn't let that happen. 

"How did you two get hurt?" Rookie asked. 

"The sword, Cato's sword," Lucy choked, her throat did look painful. "He tried to kill us. He accused Marvel of trying to kill Katniss, he really wants to kill her." 

"Selfish, isn't he?" 

"Heartless," Marvel muttered as he placed Lucy's bow and arrows down. "I don't care about healing me, it's Lucy I worry about." 

"Marvel, I'm fi — " Lucy began but suddenly the colour drained from her face like she was dead. 

Marvel bent down next to her, shoving Rookie out the way. Lucy shoved him back though and got up at lightning speed and disappeared behind the tree. Marvel and Rookie looked at each other and when she came back she was moping away the blood from her face. 

"OK, maybe I'm not fine but I'm going to try and stay alive." 

"Look, you're too weak to stay awake, just sleep," Marvel protested. 

"If you say so..." Lucy rolled her eyes and laid down on a soft patch of grass and fell asleep almost instantly. 

"So you want to join our alliance?" Marvel asked Rookie suddenly. 

Rookie thought for a moment then nodded. 

"Well do me a favour and keep watch while I go and find food." 

"OK, I will." 

"But if I find her dead when I come back I'll give you the most painful death..." he growled then his face softened as he bent down to Lucy and stroked her hair. 

"Did you say you wanted to heal her?" Rookie asked. 

"Yes," Marvel said as though it was obvious. 

"Then you better mean it." 

Marvel frowned at her for a minute, processing her words but then he understood...he nodded then kissed Lucy on the cheek and left, carrying his spears to go and find food. 

*      *      * 

Lucy awoke abruptly to the sound of a faint beeping and for a moment she thought she'd wake up in a hospital, but she didn't. She was on the same patch of grass that she had fell asleep on and the beeping was coming from a small parachute floating down towards her. 

Rookie watched as Lucy gingerly stood up and caught the parachute. Lucy opened it up carefully to find a small metal pot and on top of that was a small white piece of card, she picked that up and read it. 

"Is it from your mentor?" Rookie asked curiously, peering over her shoulder. 

"Yes, it's definitely from Gloss: 'It's enough to heal one of you; the choice is yours.'" Lucy nodded before placing the note back in the container and taking out the metal pot. 

"I know what Marvel would want you to do." 

"But he needs to be healed to, I really don't want him to suffer." 

"He'd much rather if he suffered rather than you." 

Rookie took the metal pot off of her and unscrewed it revealing ointment that would heal one of them completely or both of them but not completely and as Rookie handed the pot back to Lucy, Marvel emerged through the bushes. 

"You got a parachute?" He asked, his face filled with glee. "From Gloss?" 

"It's definitely from Gloss — " Lucy said and handed him the note that had come with the parachute. Marvel read it quickly before tossing it over his shoulder and snatching the metal pot from her. "What are you doing?" 

"Like I said, I came in the arena to protect you," he said opening the pot. "Don't make me break my promise." 

He dipped his finger into the pot and then gently applied it to her neck wound, she winced but Marvel didn't listen as he used all of the ointment to heal her. He placed the empty pot back in the parachute then hooked it on a tree branch. 

"Good news, I got some food," Marvel said as he took off his backpack and began emptying it of all the food he had found: berries, edible plants...he had obviously been searching for a while. He began sharing out what he'd found and handed some to his two allies. "Eat the berries first though." 

"Well that's a good way to get killed!" Rookie snapped, throwing the berries on the floor. 

"What are you talking about?" 

"I'm talking about that this stuff is nightlock!" Rookie yelled but Lucy and Marvel stared at her blankly. "If you ate that you'd be dead in a minute! If it wasn't for that pile of supplies you had, you'd both be dead on the second day!" 

"It's not my fault I'm served food everyday! I'm the Mayor's daughter! I'm very wealthy and I don't need to run around in the woods and look for food! My servants get me food." Lucy snapped, crossing her arms. 

"'Your servants'?" Rookie raised an eyebrow. 

"Yes, my servants. Haven't you got any of those?" 

"Back in District 3, we don't have any servants. We have to go out and find our food, we don't sit there at the dinner table and wait for it to magically appear like you do in District 1. We psychically have to get up and go out to find it!" 

"I might not be as wealthy as Lucy but I can still say that I don't have to go out hunting for my food." Marvel said. "Besides, it's not our fault we were raised in the District of Luxury! And it's not Lucy's fault that she gets food shoved in front of her nose without finding it! She's the Mayor's daughter!" 

"Well if you hadn't noticed 'rich kids' apart from a few other Districts, you're quite an exception. Have you seen what they have to do in District 12? They have to find things to trade for food, even if it means selling clothes they have to get food! They work down in the mines to get money...but there's no guarantee they'll ever come out." 

"Look, District 3, I am well aware of what goes on in Panem. I know the Capitol are wealthy, I know I'm very lucky to have food for me everyday and I'm well aware of what goes on in District 12! My parents laughed when people were killed in the mines! But as for me, I cried for those people back in District 12, the one's who lost their lives, for the families that had lost someone who they depended on for food...you might think I'm a snob but I'm well aware of the reality." Lucy snapped. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to get my breakfast." 

Lucy took her bow and arrow and then disappeared through the trees. She was sick to death of people accusing her of being a snob. She wasn't a snob, she knew what went on in the other Districts. She desperately wanted to help them but knew that wasn't possible, she'd probably be publicly executed...and she didn't need to satisfy the one's jealous of her back home. 

Lucy made it to the stream where her and Marvel had escaped the tracker jackers and where they had waded through to get to their new home. She knew this would be a great place to get food because of the fish constantly swimming around. And as she's seen glimpses of District 4 on television and had seen them hunt for fish, she had a pretty good idea as to how she was going to get food...

She took an arrow from the sheath on her back and placed it against her bow, then made herself motionless. If she was going to successfully capture some fish she would need to be still, otherwise she would startle them. 

She waited patiently for fifteen minuets before she met her target and that's when she pulled back the string on her bow, aimed and fired. The arrow speared the fish and the one's that had been swimming around it darted off at lightning speed. Lucy smiled to herself as she bent down and scooped up the fish, she took the arrow out of it then placed it by her feet. She would cook it later. 

Lucy repeated this exercise until she had five medium size fish and that's when she gathered them up and headed back to Marvel and Rookie who were sat down on the floor and eating some edible plants that must have been 'Rookie approved.'

"You know, you won't survive on just edible plants," Lucy said and the two looked up at her and looked shocked at the fact that she had successfully caught five fish. "That's why I went out hunting for you." 

"You caught the fish?" Marvel gasped. 

"Who else would?" Lucy smiled then placed her pile of fish down and took out her knife. She scaled the nearest tree before grabbing hold of the branches and pulling herself up, she suddenly felt thankful to Marvel who had protested that she learnt to climb trees when they were younger. She took her knife and began cutting down branches for the fire she would cook the fish on. 

Marvel and Rookie watched in awe as she cut the branches down to the right size for a fire and when she had finished chopping them she let them fall to the ground and she did this until she had enough for a fire. 

She jumped down from the tree then assembled her wood and, ready for her fire. She then looked at her two allies. "Anyone got matches?" 

"I think I have..." Marvel muttered as he grabbed his backpack and after a bit of rummaging pulled out a few matches. "Just as well I grabbed this bag on day 1 in the cornucopia." He laughed as he handed the matches to Lucy. 

"Are you really going to light a fire here?" Rookie asked. "Because it's a fantastic way to get killed." 

"If anyone comes along we'll clear out, so gather up your stuff because we might just need to make a quick getaway." Lucy replied simply as she struck a match and threw it on the wood which set alight almost immediately. 

She then tied the fish to a spare branch and propped it up against the wood she had used to make two stands. She turned it over slowly until it was finished cooking and cooked the four other fish, by that time the fire had died out and Lucy stamped out the remains of it. She handed Rookie and Marvel a fish eat and took one for herself, she placed the other two fish in the middle in case anyone else felt they were still hungry. 

"You know, for a near Capitol girl, you're great at catching and cooking fish..." Rookie laughed as she took another bite out of her fish. "I'm sorry I underestimated you." 

"It's OK, but let it be a lesson to you...don't judge a rich kid," Lucy laughed. "But I've never gone and caught my own food before so it's quite a change." 

"But did you enjoy getting your own food?" 

"Yes, I feel I deserve it more. I guess getting a taste of the wild side doesn't hurt." 

"Great!" Rookie grinned. 

"Say, when we move on — because we have to, otherwise Cato will find us — do you mind teaching me what's edible around this place? I won't have the liberty of just getting supplies from a pile now?" Lucy asked Rookie suddenly, as she tossed the fish bones behind her shoulder, as did Marvel. 

"Of course, I'd say I know ninety nine percent of what's edible around this place and I'll definitely teach you my skills...and we won't let Marvel gather food until he's taught either. He almost killed us with nightlock!" 

"All I know is how to throw spears!" Marvel spat. 

"Should have listened to Atala in the training centre then, shouldn't you? Not just running straight to the weapons and showing off your talent...but then again, you could use your spear throwing for not only killing humans but to kill fish. Lucy did it with a bow and arrow, I'm sure you can do it with a few spears. But in your condition — " Rookie glanced at his chest, his shirt still ripped from when Cato slashed his sword and caused him an injury. "I think you should leave all the hunting and gathering to me and Lucy." 

"We better clear out now, Cato probably noticed the fire...we can finish the fish on the way," Lucy said and picked up her bow again. Rookie picked up her makeshift spear as well as the fish and Marvel took his proper spears and bag. They set off east and as they walked, Lucy leading, thought about where they would set up camp next. 

"We could use the trees, sit on a branch and fall asleep," Lucy suggested. 

"Great thinking! Then we'd fall out of the tree!" Rookie snapped. "You've got to have rope for that!" 

"How about by the lake?" Marvel suggested as he walked just behind Lucy, Rookie rolled her eyes behind him. 

"Everyone goes there for water! They're not going to pass up the opportunity to kill two dumb tributes from District 1 are they?" 

"Excuse me! I got you breakfast!" Lucy snapped. "And now I'll get you lunch." 

Lucy stopped walking and grabbed an arrow from the sheath on her back and placed it against her bow before drawing it back and aiming it high. She released it and without warning a big bird fell out of the tree. 

"I think you can rely on her for the meat," Marvel laughed as he stepped forward and went to get the bird. "We'll cook this later." 

"Good, you're carrying it," Rookie said as she stormed off ahead, leaving Marvel to pull a face at the dead bird.