Arrows in the Dark

The Thief

I was standing by a pile of my stuff arms crossed as i watched the sun rise above the trees. The rest of them had fallen asleep, even Clover. With the loss of blood and the pain in her shoulder maybe it was for the best. I could leave now. Or kill them all. I could do both. I looked over toward Glimmer and Marvel. Glimmer had curled up against him. I cocked my head. What was going on there? He even had his arm around her protectively. Maybe they knew each other before the games. Or it was just nice having a little piece of something form home, but i guess that's what our tokens were for. I looked at mine now still pinned to my jacket. I had almost forgotten it was there. I touched it lightly and looked up toward the sky.

Home. My parents. Katniss. Prim. Gale. Madge. I ached to see them again. Even though Gale and i had parted ways on sort of a bad note i needed a familiar face to help me through this. I wish i had run off with Peeta when i had the chance. I could've made him see reason. We could work together. I knew we had our whole deal thing but i just really needed someone to be there for me like Glimmer and Marvel. I was so lost in thought i almost missed it.

A slight scratching sound coming off to the right of me from the Cornucopia. I didn't move a muscle. It could be another person or an animal. Another small noise. A scraping of metal. This was definitely not an animal. Unless animals could lift the lids off metal crates. Faster than i thought possible i had dropped to the ground picked up my bow and crept my way toward the Cornucopia. I had a cover of metal crates to help me but the person was moving faster now. Maybe they saw me move. Maybe the just noticed my absence. Whatever it was i had to move fast to catch them. I was closer to the opening now. I could still hear them moving quicker like a scared animal. Breathe in and out. Maybe it's Peeta. Help them whoever it is. Help them.

Just to be safe i notched an arrow in my bow and mentally prepared myself for the kill. If it came to that. I brought myself up off my knees and my bow came up with me. I was two feet away from a boy about my age maybe younger. Fifteen? He was stealing food from the crates and shoving it into a spare bag. He looked scare out of his mind. As he should. He was familiar. Well of course he was. During training i had watched him fall from the obstacle course more than once. He was a whiz with wires and metal though. Once i had watched him tear apart what looked to be a mechanical mouse and build it back up again into something different. It was a wound up toy and i assumed his token.

"You're the boy from 3." i said trying not to talk loudly. He seemed confused that i hadn't offed him of yet. He nodded slowly swallowed and opened his mouth.

"And you're the Girl on Fire." i rolled my eyes. I was going to be stuck with that wasn't i?

"You stealing food." i asked. He still looked majorly confused as he nodded. "Alright." i said starting to lower my boy. He was looking at me like i was crazy. A noise off to my right made him jump and drop everything he had. The expression on his face couldn't mean anything good. I brought my bow back up and shifted my eyes to what had gotten him so spooked. Cato had woken up and was walking toward us smiling like a fiend. "Caught him stealing." i said finding my voice. The boy looked at me bewildered and shocked. Even though i was about to let him go i couldn't let Cato know that.

"So i can see. You haven't taken a liking to this one too have you?" Cato asked loud enough to raise the other three. Clover was next to Cato in a second Marvel and Glimmer close behind. Cato and i were glaring at each other it was a wonder why the boy just didn't escape then while i was distracted. I guess Clovers taunting smile and bloody shoulder scared the heck out of him.

"What are we going to do with him?" i asked not answering his question. I looked back at the boy who was staring at me a scared look in his eyes. My bangs fell in front of my face and i tried to tell him with my eyes that i was sorry. I was truly sorry. It didn't seem to be working.