Crimson Rivers

Chapter 11

It's starting to get really cold," Peter whispers, hunched over on himself in the middle of the cave, by the small, crackling fire with his arms wrapped around his center as he presses himself forward into his bent legs.

James exhales shakily and sees his breath lightly fog out in front of him. As the evening starts inching towards night, it's growing so cold that it's a legitimate concern. Next to him, Vanity is rattling so hard that her teeth are chattering, and she's practically touching the fire with how close to it she is.

"Y-You know," Vanity says through her shivers, "my m-mentor said th-that f-freezing is the l-leading cause of d-d-death in the ar-re-rena. So, it's n-not looking good f-for us."

"Oh, ye of little faith," James mumbles, his fingers numb to the point they're prickling. "Get over here, Peter."

Like it pains him, Peter shuffles over with a shudder, nodding when James gestures for him to sit down on the other side of Vanity to box her in between their bodies. They all scoot closer to the fire simultaneously without even talking about it, holding their hands out to leech off the heat. Vanity presses tight to their sides, still shivering violently.

"J-James," Vanity wheezes, "if th-the temper-er-erature drops even m-more, then it's n-not looking g-good f-for me."

"Hey, we'll keep you warm, alright?" James says softly, nudging her shoulder with his own. "Me and Pete. And we'll keep the fire going all night, yeah? Promise. Maybe freezing is the leading cause of death, but...not for you, okay? Your mentor was just trying to prepare you, is all."

Vanity gives a tight, jerky nod. "S-She was really kind t-to me and Ho-Hodge. Gave u-us r-really good adv-vi-vice."

"Wait, Hodge?" Peter asks curiously. "He was the other one reaped with you?"

"M-Mhm," Vanity hums.

"Who's your mentor?" Peter murmurs.

"M-Marlene McK-Kin-Kinnon," Vanity stutters out.

James blinks in surprise. Sirius had, of course, been very forthcoming about everything he knew and learned about his fellow mentors, as well as their tributes, but in some cases, there wasn't very much to tell. Some mentors are tight-lipped about these things, especially if they know what's good for them, or so Sirius said, because letting the wrong information slip to the wrong person could be the cause of their tributes dying. Sirius did mention Marlene, though, but he had very little to say other than the fact that she had two young tributes this year, who would-more likely than not-die very quickly.

"Yeah, Marlene McKinnon," James comments gently, watching the small, fond smile flicker on Vanity's face. There's admiration there, and it makes James' heart clench. "Sirius talked about her a bit to us-he's my mentor. Well, he's my best friend, but also my mentor, technically."

"I kn-know," Vanity says, sounding exasperated as she rolls her eyes, despite her shivering. "E-Ever-ry-ryone knows."

James huffs a weak laugh, leaning over into her a little harder, grateful when Peter does the same. They're practically squishing her between them at this point, fighting valiantly to make her warmer. "Right. Well, Sirius told us how amazing she was, you know. And they're friends, he said. You know what that means, don't you?"

"W-What?" Vanity asks, looking up at him.

"That means it only makes sense that we're friends, too," James tells her with a gentle curl of his lips.

At this, Vanity cracks a beaming smile, even while her teeth chatter. She turns and presses her grin into Peter's shoulder, stuttering out a laugh, and Peter laughs along with her.