ᵗʳⁱᵇᵘᵗᵉ

‧₊˚🏹✩ ₊˚⊹

[ to win the hunger games ]

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐩 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐡. The cave was cold, due to the devoid warmth and dampness of the rocky walls, and I curled in closer to Peeta. His body was sturdy and the heat radiating from his hold was securing. Homely.

Glancing up, my greeting was a simple whisper, his eyes gracing over my features. Peeta smiled at me, leaning in close when his eyes caught onto my forehead. He reached his hand out, caressing my cheek with his thumb. "Oh. You're so much better," he said with relief. 

I pressed my hand to the gash, but only felt a bumped line. I sprung up from my lying position, looking over at his wound on his leg, finding it to be merely a line cut. "Oh, my God, Peeta."

He sat up, letting out a surprised chuckle. "I hardly feel anything."

"We could go home," I mumbled. "We could. We're the only team left."

"We could go home," he repeated with a smile, and I returned it. Peeta pulled me close, and I hugged him tighter.

Peeta and I had left the cave, wondering along the river. "We know Thresh took off," he started. "Cato's gonna be by the Cornucopia. He's not gonna go someplace he doesn't know. Fox Face, she could be anywhere."

We ventured into the woods by the water, as I spoke up, "We should probably hunt around here. We don't have any food left."

"Okay, uh, I'll take the bow," Peeta said, and I glanced down at my weapon with furrowed brows. He abruptly smiled, shaking his head. "I'm just kidding. I'll go pick some stuff."

As he walked off, I grinned at his joking attitude. But I soon snapped out of it as I slowly walked through the forest, arrow ready to shoot. My eyes latched onto a bird, sitting on a branch high in one of trees. But as I aimed, a noise made my heart drop. 

A canon.

I spun around, running back in the direction I came, a frown etched across my face as I shakily called out, "Peeta?" At our original point, I spotted a jacket laying on the ground, with a handful of berries. Nightlock. "Peeta! Peeta-Oh!"

"Are you okay?" he asked, holding my arms as he watched the tears fall from my eyes.

"I heard the cannon. I t-thought..." I glanced down at his hands, finding the same berries in his hand. I whacked his palm away, causing the fruit to fall to the ground. "That's Nightlock, Peeta! You'd be dead in a minute!"

"I didn't- I didn't know."

"You scared me to death. Damn you," I cried, voice cracking as I pulled him into a hug, stuffing my face into his shoulder. 

"I'm sorry," he breathed out as he wrapped his arms around me, tucking my head under his chin. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," I mumbled, pulling away. Peeta softly smiled, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear, before the two of us looked around. 

After a moment of searching, I spotted the familiar red hair of Fox Face. She was lying on the floor, her pale lips stained with the Nightlock. "I never even knew she was following me," he said.

"She's clever," I commented. 

"Too clever." I scraped the Nightlock out of her palm as Peeta's brows furrowed in confusion. "What are you doing?"

"Maybe Cato likes berries too."

Standing, Peeta and I made our way through the forest. The boy glanced up at the sky, perplexed. "What time is it?"

"A little after noon," I answered.

"Why is it getting so dark?"

"Must be in a hurry to end it." Suddenly, the sky darkened, and I looked to Peeta as it became nighttime. "There really in a hurry to end it."

I hitched my arrow against the string of my bow, looking around as Peeta walked beside me. There was faint growling in the distance that caused the hairs on my neck to prick up.

"Did you hear that?" Peeta questioned. I nodded wordlessly, continuing my soft steps as he followed me. There was another flutter of movement, the leaves rustling. Suddenly, animalistic growls and roars echoed from the distance, and the screams of a human. It was Thresh. "What was that?"

"It's the Finale." Not a second later, a canon went off, and Peeta and I looked up to the sky where The Fallen were being displayed. The only person previewed was Thresh, before it disappeared again. "Let's go."

Twigs snapped beneath my foot as we slowly made our way to the Cornucopia. There was a growling, and I craned my head towards it, inspecting the darkness.

The arrow was trained ahead of me as Peeta, and I observed the shrubbery before us. We knew there was something in the greenery, just waiting for us to lose focus. 

Suddenly, a dog-like creature jumped from the bushes, leaping onto Peeta and shoving him to the ground. I shot the arrow, and the dog whimpered, trying to get the arrow out. Peeta got up, and the two of us took off towards the Cornucopia. 

We heard more growls from behind us, causing us to speed up. "Go," Peeta huffed, and I nodded, increasing my pace. Then, I heard the pounding steps of two more of those hellhounds, making Peeta scream for me, "Y/N!"

We continued running, before we were out in the open. We were in the center circle of the arena, the Cornucopia just ahead. "Come on, Peeta!" This seemed to make him rush ahead, where he twined his fingers together, holding them out to me. 

"Here!" I placed my foot on his hands, and he lifted my up onto the roof of the Cornucopia. As I got up, I reached for his hands, beginning to pull him up when the dogs reached us. They gnawed at Peeta's leg, earning a pained yell before I dragged him onto the top. 

We both stared down at the creatures when out of nowhere, I felt a hand clamp down on my shoulder, ripping me away from Peeta. My head throbbed, but I was too focused on Cato punching Peeta, a crazed, hysterical look in his eyes. 

Peeta wrestled the District 2 boy to the ground, but Cato was starting to win. I careened forward, but he shoved my back, knocking my head in with the blunt end of his sword. 

Peeta was thrown to the other end of the Cornucopia, and Cato soon made his way towards me. He violently thrashed his sword around, trying to hit me but he was stumbling, almost as if he were drunk. 

Finally, Cato had pushed me to the ground, causing me to gasp as he wrapped his fingers around my neck, holding me down. I could feel the swift movements right below me of the dogs that were so close to biting my head off.

Peeta suddenly hurled Cato back, allowing me to breathe and move away from the edge of the roof. I slid down the uneven structure as the pair fought, grabbing my bow and aiming my arrow.

But my eyes widened as Cato stopped with Peeta locked in a chokehold. I paused as he grunted in pain, the crazed boy muttering, "Go on. Shoot." He then smiled, teeth washed in blood, just like the rest of his face. "Then we both go down and you'd win."

"No..." I whispered, barely even heard. 

"Go on. I'm dead anyway," Cato grinned, but his voice shook, and I could see tears welling in his deranged blue eyes. "I always was, right? I didn't- I didn't know that till now." I stared at him, confused at what he was insinuating. He then stared up at the sky. "How is that? Is that what they want? Huh?" When he tightened his grip, I pulled the string further and he curled Peeta closer. "Huh?!"

"No!" Peeta rasped out.

"Nah, nah!" Cato then placed his hands to Peeta's head, the starting movement to break his neck. "I could still do this. I could still do this. One more kill. It's the only thing I know how to do. Bring pride to my district. Not that it matters."

I looked at Peeta, who began lightly tapped Cato's hand as he continued to speak. Then, he mouthed the words, "Shoot."

I shifted my aim, letting the arrow fly. It pierced Cato's hand, causing him to scream and let go of Peeta, who spun around, shoving him back. 

Cato fell off the roof of the Cornucopia, his shrieks filling the air as the dogs rounded the corner, beginning to attack him. I watched for a moment, but when I heard him plead and beg, "Please! No!", my resolve loosened, and I cocked another arrow, directing it at the District 2 boy. "Please!"

His screams came to a stop as he grunted, the arrow killing him as it punctured his neck. The dogs, seeing as their prey was dead, backed away before running off into the forest.

I averted my eyes from Cato's mauled body, the canon slicing through the silent air. Wordlessly, I fell into Peeta's arms as he hugged me close. 

We pulled away when the sun began to rise, the cruel night turning into a beautiful, blue-skied day. Peeta and I slid down the side of the Cornucopia, looking around, awaiting the hovercraft to come pick us up.

"Attention. Attention, Tributes," Claudius called. "There has been a slight...rule change." I instinctively pulled out another arrow. "The previous revision, allowing for two victors from the same district, has been...revoked. Only one victor may be crowned. Good luck. And may the odds be ever in your favor."

My mouth dropped as my lip quivered. I didn't want to look at Peeta, for I knew my will would break upon seeing his face. 

I was shaking when I finally turned to him, finding him softly nodding his head. "Go ahead. One of us should go home. One of us has to die. They have to have their victor."

I shook my head, sniffling. "No." I tossed my bow to the ground, stepping forward. "They don't. Why should they?"

I unfurled my fingers, revealing the Nightlock, and Peeta immediately grasped my hand, covering them. "No!"

"Trust me. Trust me." Taking his hand from mine, I poured half of the berries into his palm. 

"Together?"

"Together."

"Okay. One..." I looked away, admiring the forest around me, allowing my mind to think that I was just in District 12. 

"Two..." I returned my gaze to Peeta when he softly took hold of my hair, admiring it. Our eyes locked, and slowly we raised the berries to our mouths-

"Stop! " We paused at the sound of Claudius, his voice ringing through the empty arena. "Stop!... Ladies and gentlemen, may I present the winners of the 74th annual Hunger Games." 

I looked at Peeta, our jaws dropped, and the only thing I could comprehend to do in that moment was pull this boy into my arms, squeezing him for dear life. 

We did it. We had won the Hunger Games.