Saving the Tributes || Demigods in the Hunger Games

.oOo. Peeta .oOo.

My gaze traveled warily over the group as we travelled through the darkening forest lit only by the mix of torches and flashlights we found in the cornucopia. I didn't dare shine my flashlight on the careers lest they kill me out of spite. I had to stay alive. Had to find Katniss.

I didn't believe all of them would kill me. That girl from one, Hazel, seemed nice enough. She had warm golden eyes and brown skin and her lips always curled up in a natural smile. Except when I saw her through the mess of the Bloodbath, hacking away at people. She singlehandedly killed five people. But when she wasn't in insane-murderer mode, she was someone that I actually would want to get to know. Occasionally, her gaze would grow misty like she could see things we didn't, and every now or then she would anxiously glance at the small bronze disk that was her district token, but other than that she was the nicest person I had met so far.

The other boy from 3, Leo Valdez, was hilarious. The severity of Cato didn't faze him, who took orders with that corny grin and energized movements. Sometimes he would gain a misty look too, then he was back to making bad puns and avoiding everyone's blows. He was friendly immediately to me, and I instantly liked him. I glanced around the forest once more and wished he was with us. But maybe Cato was right to leave him behind-- he would've alerted tributes miles away.

Another skill that I took extreme notice of though was his ability to make a fire. When it began to grow dark, Leo grabbed firewood and piled them up. Then a fire leapt on the wood the next instant, giving the impression his very hands were on fire. But he pulled away and not a scorch mark was on him. Hazel and Leo also seemed to know each other, an easy air between two tributes who have never met before.

For the hundredth time, I looked at the group I allied with and wished I was with Katniss.

"Hey." A voice startled me and my head jerked around. Hazel was waking next to me so silently I wouldn't have known she was there if she hadn't said something. My curiosity around her and Leo grew.

"Hazel," I nodded in response. "How're you doing?"

She ignored my question. "Why'd you join with us?" Her tone wasn't demanding or bitter, it was simply the question of someone who had something on their mind.

I hesitated, unsure whether or not to trust her. She had been pretty friendly, but she was a career.

Hazel sensed my hesitation and smiled, her teeth sparkling like diamonds in the night. "I'm not going to kill you," she assured me. "It's just unusual."

"I need to survive," I burst. Quietly enough so Cato and the others couldn't hear. Hazel raised an eyebrow.

"I would be worried if you didn't," she commented. "We all need to. But what's the real reason?"

I sighed. "I need to survive to find Katniss," I admitted. There was an easygoing air about Hazel that didn't send off the warning vibe. "There can only be one victor, and I really believe she can do it."

"There can only be one victor," Hazel repeated. "And yet you want to survive, when dying would make her chances easier. Were you planning to sabotage us?"

"I'm not--" I started, then stopped, flustered. But Hazel simply smile, leaving me baffled.

"I would too, if I could. I would leave and go solo on my own until we--" it was her turn to stop abruptly.

A million questions flooded my mind, but I went with the first one.

"Until who? You and Leo?"

She hesitated. "Yes."

"Why don't you, then?"

She hesitated again, and her eyes grew misty with a spark of panic in them. Then they cleared.