Rue's Fight

Chapter 8 - Survival

Chapter 8 - Survival

I wake in the morning, the time unknown to me. I roll my blanket back up, and pack it away safely in my bush. I eat more of my berries, and decide to look around for more substantial food, preferably meat.

I walk slowly, trying not to make any sound. I could hear the faint crackle of the leaves under my feet, the only other sound isn't coming from me. Its the songs of the birds. One song sticks our from all the rest, the mockingjay song. I want to sing back, for them to reply with another song. But it will give away my location. I listen to their beautiful song, this one is eery and surprising calming.

I continue walking when i stand on something sharp. I look down and find i have stood on the handle of a great, big sword. I look around searching for any signs of a struggle. Someone wouldn't have just left this sword here, i reckon there was a fight over it. I pick it up slowly, and see there on the dagger is dried red blood. I guess whoever walked away from this fight was too scared to retrieve the sword. I take it and run back to my bush, at least now I have something to hunt with.

I stay in my bush now, waiting for prey to come along. I can either throw the sword or i can lure them towards me with some berries. I go looking for berries, and find some poisonous ones. Theyre a dark shade of blue, and i seem to recall their name, nightlock. I scatter some not far from my bush, while i drink from the pond. Sure enough when i begin to make mt way back, lying dead is a magpie. I pick the bird ip and go back to my safe bush.

I begin to pluck away at the birds' feathers. One ive done that i use the sword to cut its head off and make a slit in its stomach. I have to cook it, but im scared the smole that will come from the flames may give me away. So i gather some sticks, and twirl the birds naked body over it. Above me ive trapped all the smoke with my blanket, i know this cant be good for my lungs but its better than being brutally killed.

The bird is tasteless, not like the chicken or beef in the Capitol. Its just plain with an awful aftertaste, i worry if ive undercooked it but the bird is almost a dark brown. Its not exactly filling, but it will do for a couple of hours. That along with some blueberries. I now have a great strategy for eating, all i have to do is scatter some nightlock and ill have plenty of birds. But birds wont be enough, a diet of birds and berries is something i defiantly wouldn't recommend.

I have to keep walking back and forth to the pond for water, i wish i has something to contain it in like a plastic bottle. There were backpacks at the cornucopia they probally had some bottles and other prices of equipment, but they'll all be gone now. Stolen by the other tributes. I try to comfort myself by thinking im better off than most, many will be starving right now and freezing cold. Many will also been defenceless, i was too until this morning. But now i have this sword.

I practiced a little with swords back in the training centre. But not enough, if a career was to find me i could maybe injure them, but i would be the one to die for certain. I don't know really how to kill, its so much more different from practicing at the training centre. I think my plan tight now is to just lay low, let the others kill each other off. I will have to fight at one point, if i made it to the final two it would be too much to hope that my opponent would eat nightlock or an animal would pick them off.

And then there's the gamesmakers,if the games aren't full of exciting deaths then they'll find a way to bring us all together. In the far distance i hear a cannon go off, every time a tribute dies the boom of a canon echoes across the arena. I wonder who has died now? Thresh? Clove? I doubt Clove will be dead, shes a career. She'll stick with them and they'll make it past all the tributes from the outer districts. I wonder if she would even think twice about killing me, she probally wouldn't. I'm just another tribute in the way of her fame and glory.