Chapter Seventeen: The Feast 

Lucy awoke the next day to find Rookie shaking her awake. She groaned and closed her eyes but Rookie slapped her in the face, making her sit bolt upright with a face that looked like she wanted to kill Rookie.

"What was that for?" Lucy hissed. "I'm allowed to sleep!" 

Rookie pressed a finger to her lips before pointing just beyond the trees. Lucy blinked sleepily before following her finger and seeing the slow rising of the 'sun.' And by sun that meant what the Gamemaker's had created. Lucy blinked once more before she realised what the sunrise meant. 

The Feast. 

"Go on, I know you want to heal him," Rookie whispered. "Go while he's still asleep. If he wakes up I'll just tell him you've gone hunting and you'll be a while because you're stocking up on supplies. OK?" 

"OK," Lucy nodded, she yawned before getting up and shaking herself mentally so she would be ready to go and get Marvel's medicine. Rookie handed her her backpack and she slipped it on before shifting her sheath of arrows on top and carrying her bow. 

"You've got enough arrows if you need to kill anyone, I got up early to run through the arena to see if there were any arrows you dropped. Sure enough I found a few," Rookie dropped two arrows in her sheath then patted her on the shoulder. "Good luck." 

"Thank you," Lucy whispered. 

"Now hurry up and go, you don't want fussy Marvel to wake up and have a tantrum." 

"Alright, I'll go." 

"In a bit, District 1...hopefully." Rookie winked and Lucy winked back before running off towards the cornucopia. 

She turned back once when she was running and took a glimpse at Rookie in front of the waterfall, she only saw her silhouette now and she waved. Lucy smiled and faced forwards and ran towards the horizon. 

She jumped over tree roots and avoided rocks. She had to get to the cornucopia as quick as possible, otherwise someone else might steal District 1's bag...and Lucy had no idea what she'd do if that happened. She'd probably tear the arena to pieces until she found the medicine for Marvel, even if Cato was in possession of it. 

When she had made it to the edge of the cornucopia she hopped up and down on one foot as she looked around then slipped her bow over her shoulder and jumped towards a tree. She slotted her foot in a hole in the trunk and grabbed hold of a branch, hauling herself up. She then swung her leg over the branch and grabbed the one overhead and stood up before hauling herself up that one. She continued to do this until she had reached a point where she was concealed by the leaves and could clearly see the cornucopia. She was safe here. Cato couldn't climb trees. 

Lucy placed her bow on her lap and then studied the cornucopia. And there it was. A table with five grey bags on it, sitting literally just in the mouth of the cornucopia. Lucy grinned. Judging by the bags she could tell exactly who was left in the games. A grey bag with the number '5' told Lucy that the girl with red hair from District 5 was still alive. A bag with the number '11' told her that Thresh was still going strong. A bag with the number '12' told her that Katniss and Peeta were still about and trying to snatch the victors title from everyone...and for that matter annoying everyone. A bag with the number '2' told her that Cato and/or Clove would be here to grab whatever they needed, and if Cato showed up Lucy had to be incredibly careful. But more importantly, right there, in the centre of the table sat a grey bag, holding medicine that would heal Marvel and make him well again. 

The bag for District 1 was waiting for her. 

Lucy loaded her bow carefully and held it ready in case anyone appeared within shooting distance. She had to be prepared, not only could she now get medicine for Marvel she could even kill a few  people to get her and Marvel at an advantage. 

She held the tree trunk carefully, while balancing her loaded bow on her lap and watched as the speedy girl from District 5, that Lucy thought was appropriate to call Foxface because of her resemblance to a fox, ran out of no-where and grabbed the grey bag with the number ‘5’ embroidered on it.

 As soon as she had grabbed it, she ran off and was swallowed by the mass of green trees that kept Lucy from watching her any longer. Lucy looked down at the floor far below her and wondered if Foxface could win...she was very clever, Lucy had seen her in the training centre and had admired her skills. But she couldn't think of Foxface's advantages, she had to think about her advantages. 

Lucy figured, that now every other tribute would be positioned around different places in the cornucopia ready and waiting to grab their bag. She looked around carefully and thought that the other tributes must be thinking as to whom would make the first move. 

Lucy gripped the tree trunk tighter and thought she musn't make the first move, because if she did she'd be history. Marvel would die of an infected wound and Rookie would probably be killed by Cato...and then Cato would probably kill everyone else which would mean he would become the victor of the 74th annual Hunger Games...well, possibly him and Clove anyway. 

Clove. 

Lucy had almost forgotten about the girl who had taught her to throw knives and made Cato keep her in the alliance. Clove was a very worthy friend and Lucy wished so badly that she could stay with her...but if she did Cato would kill her. Lucy could not be friends with Clove even though she so desperately wanted to say her final goodbyes to someone she was certain was going to die sooner rather than later. Besides...wouldn't Clove try and save her if she was attacked by Cato?

As Lucy sat and thought about Clove, she figured that nobody was going to move...or weren't they here? Were they hidden up thinking they would die if they attended the feast? Perhaps they were. So, Lucy decided to take a risk. She was about to slide down the tree trunk when Katniss ran underneath her and towards her District 12 bag. Lucy gasped and fell from the tree.

"Ouch..." she mumbled and hauled herself up, she picked her bow up from the ground that had landed only a few centimeters away then chased after Katniss. She would either kill her or concentrate on getting her bag, Marvel would want her to go with the first option even if it did mean having his wounds, that he had received from Cato after the alliance broke up, get infected.

Lucy chased after Katniss and whilst running she grabbed pulled back the string on her loaded bow. As Katniss turned around and had hold of her bag Lucy shot an arrow and she ducked. A knife whizzed past Lucy's ear and she ducked just in time for it to lodge itself in a tree trunk. Lucy's eyes widened in shock as more knives came her way. 

Had Peeta come to save Katniss? Surely not...was he still injured? Was Katniss here for his medicine just like Lucy was here for Marvel's medicine? Or was it Clove who was throwing the knives? Surely Clove wasn't out to kill her...

Lucy growled and grabbed another arrow as she ran and loaded her bow, aiming it again at Katniss but missed as she grabbed her bag and sped around the table. Lucy was about to make another attempt at killing Katniss when Clove came whizzing around the corner and threw a knife at Katniss causing her to fall.

"Go get your District bag!" Clove commanded and Lucy nodded. Lucy suddenly thought, if Clove had come from that direction, she couldn't of possibly thrown the knives even if she was a good thrower. Lucy scowled and wondered who'd thrown the knives at her...

Lucy stopped pondering over who had tried to kill her when she ran as fast as she could towards the table and grabbed the District 1 bag, skidded to a halt then turned around then ran as fast as she could, she had to heal Marvel, and she didn’t care about anything else except to heal her best friend.

"Oh look what we have here!" 

 Lucy screamed as Cato came pelting towards her, she was knocked off her feet and she dropped the District 1 bag. Cato put his foot on her chest so she was un-able to move. She struggled desperately and tried to grab her grey bag but she couldn't. 

"Looks like I’ve found one of the District 1's who quit the alliance!” He laughed bent down and breathed in her face. “Or should I say one of the District 1's who killed the alliance...”

Lucy tried to scramble away but Cato just laughed and dug his heel deeper into her chest and she made a choking noise. Cato shook his head and gripped his sword firmly in his hand, making Lucy's heart rate speed up at a frantic pace. She wasn't getting out of this now, Marvel was right. Cato would try to kill her and there was nothing she could do about it. 

 "You’re not going to get out of the cornucopia, sweetheart, I’m going to kill you. I’m going to give the people of Panem a show they’ll never forget...and guess what — " he bent down again and whispered in her ear. "You’ve got a front row seat." 

"Leave me alone!" She whimpered. 

"I don’t think so, right now I’d rather kill you more than fire girl. At least she didn’t kill the alliance. At least she wasn't one of the people who plotted to kill Katniss. Back then, Katniss was my main priority. I would of done anything to kill her but right now, I don't care. Clove's going to kill my second priority...but I'm going to kill my first." 

"MARVEL!" Lucy screamed, her face full of terror. 

"Shut up!" Cato spat and slashed his sword across her right arm quickly as tears began to form in her eyes. "Spear boy’s not going to come and save you, he’s tucked up away dying and you were going to save him, right? Oh yes, I bet you were."

"MARVEL!" Lucy screamed. "MARVEL!"

"Oh he can’t hear you, honey, and he can’t help you.Your death is going to be slow and painful, Lucy, and if you dare scream again I’ll make it ten times worse!" 

 Lucy tried desperately to move as Cato swung his sword down at her leg at lightning speed and caused a deep wound to occur. Lucy shut her mouth tight to prevent her from screaming, as the pain was unbearable, except she couldn't control her breathing. She was hyperventilating and she couldn't do anything to prevent herself from doing so. 

Cato removed his foot from her chest and held his sword above his head and swung it at her stomach but Lucy rolled over and his sword stuck in the ground, she found the technique she had used with the boy with the knife in the bloodbath was very effective. 

 Lucy got to her feet quickly, despite the pain, grabbed the District 1 bag and ran off but Cato simply held out his arm and caught Lucy’s neck and put her in a headlock, as though he was casually stretching his arms. 

"Woah, woah, woah!" Cato said. "Where do you think you’re going? I haven’t finished with you yet!"

He slammed her back on the ground and dug his knees onto her shoulders. She couldn’t move at all now and the more she struggled the harder Cato dug his knees into her shoulders, Lucy swore she felt something crack but she dismissed it and focused on her certain death. 

"I think we’ll sort your face out now, I don’t think spear boy will find you as attractive after this." Cato took his sword and drew it slowly across her cheek, she struggled again but Cato just laugh and took her knife and quickly slashed it across her forehead.

"MARVEL!" Lucy screamed again, this time at the top of her lungs.

"I told you! He’s not coming!" Cato grinned like a psycho. 

He got up and dug his boot into her chest and dug his sword into her side, leaving a deep wound and this time, tears flowed down her face and wanted to beg for death. She didn’t care anymore; the pain was just too much. 

 "Just too easy, just too easy..."

"Then why don’t you just do it, coward?" 

Lucy looked up and saw Rookie standing there, her face blank. She wasn't holding any weapon, she didn't have anything to defend herself. Nothing at all against Cato whom she had interrupted while he was trying to kill Lucy, which had probably made extremely annoyed. 

"Are you too scared to kill her?" Rookie asked and Cato removed his foot from her chest, knowing Lucy would be unable to move. Although as soon as he had looked away Lucy grabbed her District 1 bag and painfully moved into a sitting position.

"Of course not, you want me to kill her now?" Cato asked smugly.

"Go on then, do it, I don’t care. Won’t matter to me," Rookie shrugged as Lucy looked at her shocked. "It’ll be one more tribute dead, it’ll get us all one step closer to winning."

"Alright then," Cato grinned and was about to turn around and finish Lucy off for good before Rookie stopped him. 

"But don’t run crying to me when Marvel tears you up into tiny little pieces and he will. Nobody touches his best friend. And I mean nobody." 

"Oh I will, I’m going to kill her now."

"Go on then...coward." 

Cato snarled as Lucy gave Rookie a tearful look and Rookie gave her a sad smile. Cato spun round and held his sword high above his head and grinned evilly at Lucy who looked so weak, so helpless next to Cato who was so dominant. 

"Coward..." Rookie whispered in Cato's ear and Cato swung down his sword in anger.

And moments later the cannon went off. 

Lucy was laying on the floor, her bow just by her side and the District 1 bag in her arms. Her eyes were open and she was again breathing heavily, she had just missed Cato's sword. 

"Nice try, but you know...Lucy's awfully good at dodging things. And, Surprisingly, Clove isn't," Rookie laughed and pointed at Clove's body which was laying just by the cornucopia. 

"C-Clove?" Cato asked, his bottom lip dropped as Katniss ran out of the cornucopia and Clove lay motionless, her eyes wide open...it was apparent that her skull had been cracked by Thresh who was now running in the opposite direction to Katniss. 

Lucy suddenly opened her eyes and stared over at Clove's body and suddenly felt her heat drop. She knew Clove was going to die but she didn't expect it this soon...if there was someone she was really going to miss, it would definitely be Clove. 

"Have I found your weakness?" Rookie asked. 

"No." Cato spat, suddenly returning to his usual persona. Lucy shuffled back slightly, she sensed something was wrong. Why was Rookie acting like this? Why had she come and tried to save her? Why was she standing up to Cato? She must know she had no chance...

"Alright then...um, do you remember just after your little alliance split up you started talking about that man from District 3 who gave the other Districts food?" 

"Uh-huh," Cato said dumbly and stood there casually with a smug look. 

And in the next moment Rookie smacked Cato round the face again and again in anger, making a face Lucy could not describe. Pure anger. She ripped Cato's lip open with a high kick and bought him to his knees momentarily. She picked him up loosely and looked in his blood red eyes which were full of complete shock...he was dumbstruck. 

"You want to know who was that was?" Rookie growled, she was dangerous. Possibly even more dangerous than Cato himself. 

"Who was it then?!" Cato taunted as he spat out some blood, it landed on Rookie's top but she didn't flinch at all. She didn't even back, in fact she moved back and grabbed hold of Cato's collar. 

"You all want to know why I'm here don't you?" She whispered dangerously. "It was because of my father...and if you ever talk about him that way again, I'll personally rip your throat out and won't leave anything left for District 2 to bury."

Lucy stared eyes wide as Cato was almost stunned. Lucy had thought Cato was the biggest threat in the arena with his sword and muscular frame but that meant nothing now. That wasn't scary at all. In fact Lucy would prefer death by Cato rather than Lucy disrespecting Rookie's father and being killed by her. It was now apparent as to why Rookie was so reluctant to make friends with District's 1 and 2. They had everything and laughed at others misfortune. 

Cato slowly got to his feet and looked down on Rookie, even though she was quite tall herself. They stared each other down and Lucy was about to clear her throat when suddenly the two got into another one of their fights but Cato swiftly ended it when he took his sword and slammed it into Rookie's side. Blood sprayed everywhere and made the colour drain from her face. 

"Who's the coward now?" Cato laughed before running over to the table and grabbing the District 2 bag, taking one last look at Clove and running off.

"R-Rookie?" Lucy stammered as Rookie clutched her side.

"Come on...lets go..." she whispered bravely and actually stumbled over to Lucy and helped her up. Lucy grabbed her things and they both walked painfully back to their camp to find a frantic Marvel.  

"Where have you two been?" Marvel demanded as Lucy closed her heavy eyes and held up the District 1 grey bag. "No...Lucy, you promised..." 

"I promised but I went and got your medicine..." she whispered and handed it to him as Rookie leaned against a tree trunk. weakly. 

"But what happened? I heard the cannon go off and I almost had a heart attack when I saw you two weren't here." 

Lucy sighed and explained the story of what had happened at the Feast. Marvel gave a concerned face and then looked at Rookie. 

"Guys..." Rookie groaned. "I'm...I'm not going to make it." 

"No! You have to! Rookie! You're stronger than that! I just saw you make Cato quake in fear! You can't give up!" Lucy shrieked. 

"No..." Rookie shook her head. "I can't..." Rookie closed her eyes and groaned, she weakly re-opened them and faced Marvel. "Marvel...please." 

"Marvel, no!" 

Marvel ignored Lucy and stood up, he grabbed one of his spears and held it firmly in his hands. He walked towards Rookie slowly and she didn't even flinch. She lent forward and began whispering frantically in Marvel's ear, Lucy couldn't hear what she was saying but after a few moments Marvel nodded. And with one motion he stabbed Rookie in the chest. She fell to her knees and glanced at Lucy before Marvel stabbed her again with a blank expression.

And then.

Rookie was dead.