An Extra Tribute

-saving cat-

I wake up to screaming. I shoot up, my hands reaching for my trident, which has left my grip, and for Peeta, but he grabs me under the arms and drags me up from my sitting position. He pulls me by my arm out of the forest and to the lake, diving in and pulling him with me under the surface. I barely have time to take a breath before I'm submerged. He holds us under and I hear three more bodies jump in as well. We're under for a minute before it's too much for him and we stand up. The others are catching breaths and going back under the water, and Peeta scans the area. Then, he starts running back into the forest.

"Peeta!" I yell and chase after him. We duck under brush before plunging into the area we were in before. Katniss is there, wrestling the bow and arrows from Glimmer who is shaking on the floor. A cannon goes off and I know it's her. She has large bulges all over her arms and legs and looks terrible. Her hand is broken as well. Then, I see what caused all this commotion. Tracker Jackers. The nest lays in a heap right next to Glimmer, but the actual hornets are gone. Katniss stands there, wobbling back and forth as she looks around frantically. Peeta runs up to her upon arrival and starts yelling for her to run.

"Go! Katniss, get out of here, go!" He screams and I hear footsteps coming. I start to run forward, going to them.

"Peeta! Katni-!" I'm cut off by Cato pushing me to the ground. I slam onto the earth and take a few moments to catch my breath before I realize what's happening. Cato stands over Peeta with his sword, anger filling his whole face.

"You let her go! You saved her!" He accuses, furious with the boy. I try to stand up, but Clove kicks my arm, causing me to hit the ground again. I glare up at her, but as my eyes travel back to Peeta and Cato, I see Cato's sword plunge down. Peeta pulls himself away, but the sword still stabs his calf, creating a deep, deep gash.

"Peeta!" I scream and scramble up, pulling Clove to the ground by the ankle when she goes to kick me back down. Cato pulls his sword from his leg as Peeta grunts, clenching his fists. Cato goes in for the kill, but I get there faster. Peeta scooches away as I jump on Cato's back, which is not an easy feat due to his large stature and my smallish size, and wrap my arms around his head, blocking his sight. Peeta runs off and Cato screams out in anger, throwing me off of him.

"Get off me!" He yells. I hit the ground for the third time today and he goes to run after Peeta. But, I grab his ankle and he falls on his face. He looks back at me and glares viciously.

"What are you doing?" He growls. I stand up.

"What are you doing? Did you really think that he wasn't gonna help her? He likes her, isn't that why you kept him around? That and so I wouldn't kill you. But, what did you think I was gonna do when you tried to kill him? And what would you do then? Threaten me?" I ask, yelling at the boy. His glare hardens and I back up.

"I'll stay if you leave them alone," I promise. "I'll set traps for the other tributes and teach you how to do it as well. I'll help you win." Clove and Marvel whisper to each other behind me.

"Fine," Marvel says. They all comply, though Cato still gives me the evil eye. I grab my trident and my stuff and Cato grabs Peeta's that he left behind. We walk back to the horn and they all sit down, exhausted from the day's work. I wait here for a solid thirty minutes before standing up. I feel two sets of eyes on me as I lean down to grab my bag. But, I'm off running before they could even yell anything out. Marvel and Clove bounce to their feet, but I hear them stop.

"Let her go. We're gonna have to kill her anyway," Cato says. "Why did you think she would stay?" I hear a sigh, but don't stick around long enough to hear a response. I have to get to Peeta. I start running faster, listening closely for any signs of him. There is a thin trail of blood, but as the wound begins clotting it becomes sparse and suddenly, I'm lost. I have no clue of what direction Peeta went in. But, I still have a whole day until I have to worry about shelter, so I keep looking.

I look for hours. Eventually, I have to stop and eat a bite of food. I also remember that I have my real clothes in my bag, so I change into those as well. I stuff the extra jacket into my backpack, knowing that it'll be useful later. I sit down, perched on a rock, and think. Where would he go? Would he even know to go anywhere? I think harder. What would he do? Then it hits me.

Camouflage. He was extremely good at it, so it would make sense that he would try to use it now, especially when he is injured and without any supplies. And you need mud to do natural camouflage. Mud needs water. He's at a stream. Here's the problem: there are a lot of streams in a forest landscape and I have no idea where any of them are. I stand up and start walking. Sitting around is not going to do me any good, now is it?

---

I'm glad that I got away quickly, because I was able to go in the right direction. It is dusk and I have just reached a creek. It's muddy and rocky and covered in many natural makeup products that Peeta could have used. But, I can't begin my search for him along it yet. It's getting dark quickly, so I have to figure out how to hide. I'm not with the Careers anymore and as far as I know, they could be out looking for me at this very moment. But, I'm hours away from them. I think. I made a lot of turns, so I could be only fifteen minutes from the horn right now. I don't know.

I catch sight of a large bundle of boulders and decide that that's where I'll camp out. It's worked for me before, it'll work again. I toss my pack on the ground neck to the rocks and begin to push them into whatever place seems to work. I'm delighted to find that there is a cave-like hole in between the heap, so I simply create an outer wall. It takes some time and effort, but I'm able to slip in by the time the moon reaches its peak, smiling out on me. Except, it's shining right on me, so I go into my cave. I pull out my extra jacket and tug it around me, pulling out some biscuits as well. Gosh, I love these things.

I eat and stay awake, thinking about how I'm going to find Peeta in the morning and how I'm going to treat that gash. I've never really had to handle anything like that, but I know the basics of how to. It'll be fine, right? Right. I shiver for the rest of the night, waking up at random times throughout it and staring up at the hole in my cave, listening hard before passing out again. The last thing I think is how I'm gonna get Peeta back here.