Through the Eyes. (The Hunger Games fanfiction)

Chapter 12

After dusk, we all leave. Asher decides to go without me, so that we can both try to look for Elian. Theca and Iris separate as well.

I decide to hold an axe in my hand as I travel. I don't bother looking for the girl from Twelve. The others will kill her if they find her. I don't know how she's made it this long.

For hours, I walk around helplessly. I have no clue how to find Elian. My weakness from no food is growing stronger than ever. I can barely even walk anymore. At least I have water, though I am slowly running low. I finally collapse when the sun starts to come up again.  I don't care if I die right here. Then Asher or Elian will win.  I wonder what would happen if it came down to the two of them. 

I let my thoughts consume me and I fall into a deep sleep, right there in the dirt.

*******

I wake up later to Elian standing above me, stroking my face.  I look around and see that we're in a cave. The floor is wet and it's raining outside.  It looks to be around dusk.  Did I really sleep all day?

"Hey, how are you feeling?" He asks me.

"What happened?" I ask.  My hoarse voice surprises me.

"I found you in the forest. You were unconscious. So I brought you here." He says.

"How long have I been out?"

"I found you this morning around lunch time. When did you go out?"

"Early this morning." I say and sit up, rubbing my eyes. "Did anyone die?"

"No. It's been quiet. I heard all of those cannons so close together yesterday. Was that you?" He asks.

"Yeah, I met up with the careers again. We ran into the two from Nine. They could defiantly hold their own, but they shouldn't have faced us.  I ended up killing both.  Lua and Kai died in the process." I explain.

"I'm sorry. It must have been hard to watch. Must have been some encounter, huh?"

"Yeah, it was." I shutter, not wanting to remember Lua, and how she laid there and choked on her own blood.

"I ran into the girl from Eight yesterday too. She had a bad bruise on her face. We fought for a little but there was no clear winner.  She did give me this though," He says and raises his sleeve, showing me a bad cut on his shoulder. 

I decide not to tell him about how I didn't kill her. He would only get mad.

"I'm sorry we fought." He says.

"Me too."

We sit in silence after that. He lets me eat some of his crackers, and I don't feel as weak. Turns out he has some extra water, and he fills my bottle up for me. 

The seal in the sky appears and reads that there were no deaths. I feel like I just watched Lua's face flash across the sky. I've missed too much.

"I'm going to go to sleep.  Are you?" Elian says, laying down.  I shake my head no.

"I've had enough. I'll stay up for a bit." I say. He nods and lays his head on his jacket. I feel his arm wrap around me and begin to rub my lower back.

"Elian," I say, not wanting to fall for him, even though I already have.  I'm too close to the end to want to lay down my life for him.

He doesn't answer, and I can tell by bis breaths that he's fallen asleep.  I sigh and actually enjoy the warmth of his hand on my back. I can't help but love this boy, and everything that he's done for me.

I sit and listen to the rain for a while, and wonder where Asher is right now. What he's doing, or if he's in danger.  I still am not completely sure if he likes me or not.  He's kept my second alliance a secret, and saved my life multiple times.

I scoot down next to Elian after a little bit, when sleepiness finally hits. I rest my head on his arm, and hope that the people at home will support us and send us gifts. I place my hand on his chest and feel it moving up and down, simulating with his breathing. Sadness overwhelms me when I remember that I might be in the finale with him, fighting against the other careers with him by my side. But then what? Could I kill him? I don't even think I could give him a paper cut. But keeping him alive, will mean killing Asher. I've never been so confused in my life. Everything I've ever done has led up to this moment. The night before the finale. District 12 will defiantly be killed in the morning, and then the capital will do whatever they can to force us together, so that the most intense finale will occur.

For now, I can't help but imagine what will happen and let sleep consume me, for the second time that day.

******
I wake up in the wee hours of the morning to a cannon going off. I sit up as the sun shines through the cave. Elian is gone, and I slowly pray to myself that the cannon was not his.  I run out of the cave with the axe in my hand.

"Elian?!" I shout. No answer.

"Elian!" I yell, a bit louder. The sky is too bright for them to show the face of the victim in the sky.

I go jogging in no given direction, just somewhere where I might find him. I take a left turn and run into something hard. I grab my axe, and before I swing I see his face, full of worry.

"Ariston! I thought you were dead!" He exclaims and hugs me tightly. I hug him back and shake.

"Where were you? You scared me half to death!" I say into his shoulder, trying to hold back tears.

"I went looking for breakfast. I didn't want to wake you. I'm so sorry." He says and pulls away.

"Who was it?" I ask him, looking around.

"The girl from Twelve. She was following me, waiting to stab me. But I saw her first." He says and holds up a bloody dagger.

"Thank goodness." I sigh in relief and hug him again.

"She was smart." I say. He nods.

"Let's go back to the cave, we have to gather our things and get moving." I say. He nods as he follows me back to the cave. We pack up our things and begin walking through the woods.

"Where we headed?" Elian asks.

"We should head to the cornucopia, that's probably where they'll hold the finale." I say.

We walk in silence, and a few minutes later we hear a slight dinging noise. I look up and see a sponsor parachute stuck in a tree above our heads.

"I'll get it," I volunteer and hand him my bag. I begin climbing the tree, not very gracefully, might I add, but I get up there. I open the parachute and see that the bottle is filled with many supplies we could use.

"It's a bunch of stuff. I'll throw it down." I call out to Elian and he catches it as I send it down. I jump down beside him and watch him rummage through it.

"We got two filled water bottle, some nuts and crackers, a sword, two jackets, and a pack of throwing knives." He says and hands me the water bottle, a jacket, and the knives.

I stuff them all in my bag and waits for him to do the same. He holds the sword in his hand and we continue our trek.

Suddenly, we hear a loud scream not far from us. We turn quickly in the direction it came from.

"What was that?!" Elian asks, panicked.

I look at him and shrug my shoulders. "That was the start of the finale."