A Blooming Rose (hunger games fan-fic)

Chapter 14 (Day 9)

The next day, Rose woke early. She climbed out of the sleeping bag and ate some of the food left over from the day before. She was beginning to run low on berries, roots, and meat so she decided that it was going to be a day to try and find Chrysa's traps. She picked up her sais and walked out the of the cave, making sure the door was covered.

Rose looked around. She was standing at the bottom of a valley. The stream she had fell into was a few yards away. Rose looked above the valley and could see the tops of the ruined town. Rose shivered at the thought of the Careers who were probably tracking her. She began to climb up the valley slope until she reached the top. She looked between bushes and around trees for the traps. She found a few and took the dead animal which she placed it in her bag.

Rose had been walking for an hour when she had a feeling she wasn't alone in the woods. She raised her hood over her head and used part of it to cover her mouth and nose. Her ears changed into dog ears and her nose turned into that of a dog's. Rose took a few sniffs of the air and growled. There was something out there, but couldn't place it. She didn't recognize the scent. Her ears perked up under her hood; there was a rustle in the bushes not far from her. She changed her nose back, but left her ears the same. She tied the drawstrings on her hood together so her hood would not fly off and got her sais ready in her hands. She looked around through the trees.

Suddenly, she heard a scream of agony. It was coming from her left and seemed close. Rose looked through the trees, trying to see if she could spot whatever was out there and causing another tribute intense pain. Rose could hear something approaching, walking away from the shrieks and cries of pain. It suddenly broke into a run and a moment later, came shooting out of the trees. Rose cried out as it's claws brushed over her forearm and a little over her ear, which quickly changed back to normal. The creature landed on its feet and looked at her. It was a large white tiger. Its eyes were glowing yellow and fierce. Rose readied her sais.

The tiger growled at her for a moment before it tried to attack her again. It lunged itself at her head with its claws ready and aimed for her throat. Rose rolled out of the way and watched the tiger. The two circled each other, each waiting for the other to move. The tiger apparently got tired of waiting and ran straight for her. Rose didn't move in time and the tiger collided with her, knocking her into a tree. Rose groaned and looked at the tiger. It raised its paw above its head, ready to claw her in the face. Rose managed to raise her sais and jabbed it into the tigers shoulder. The animal let out a roar of pain and staggered back off of her.

Blood was staining its fur and Rose's jacket sleeve. Enraged the creature tried to attack her again, but Rose was ready. She put her arms up and pushed the tiger to the side, away from her. The tiger quickly came back and knocked Rose off her feet. She looked up and saw the tiger snarling at her. One of its paws was on her shoulder, its claws digging into it. The other paw was on top of her upper arm on the opposite arm. Rose bit her tongue so she would cry out. Instead she stared at the animal on top of her. The tiger lifted its front arm to deliver a blow to her head. Rose took the moment to quickly raise her arm and stab her sai into the tiger's chest. The creature roared in pain and after a moment of trying to keep itself up, it collapsed on top of Rose.

Rose groaned at its weight and struggled to get it off of her. She finally managed though, pulling its claws from her shoulder. She gritted her teeth in pain and pulled her sais from the tiger's chest and shoulder. Rose listened for the shrieks she had heard earlier and when she did not hear any, she walked towards where she had heard the sounds. She soon found Affron lying on the ground, claw and teeth marks covering his body. Rose slowly walked towards him and knelt down. He turned his head and looked at her.

"You," he said shaking. "You need to get out of here. Before those things or the others come back."

"No," Rose said. "I can't leave you here wounded. Come on, let's get you out of here."

She tried to bend down and help him up, but Affron refused to move.

"No," he said. "Leave me here. I'm not going to make it far any way. I'll just slow you down. I'm done. You can still make it through this if you leave."

"Don't talk like that. You'll be fine." She quickly surveyed his body. She knew there was no way he was going to live much longer. There was nothing she could do for him but keep him company.

"Please. Just go."

"Not yet. I'm going to stay for a while longer."

"You're too persistent. But once I'm gone, promise you'll go."

Rose nodded sadly but tried to smile at his comment about her persistence. It was true.

"Alright."

Rose sat with Affron for a long time. He lay on the ground wincing in pain and would groan from time to time. Suddenly, there was a cannon. Rose looked at Affron, but saw he was still breathing.

"Do you think..." he said, "that was... one of them? A Career?"

"Not sure. It could be anyone. Don't talk. You'll waste your strength."

Affron nodded. Rose noticed his breathing was slowly down. She closed her eyes as the cannon fired a few minutes later. She stood up and walked slowly through the trees, not wanting to look back as the hovercraft removed Affron's body.

~

Rose sat down and leaned against a tree. She hadn't been walking for very long and she was already exhausted. She closed her eyes for a moment, then examined her wounds. The tiger had cut into her skin pretty deep. She winced as she gently touched one of the wounds. She needed water to wash them before they became serious. Rose tried to get up, but couldn't.

Suddenly, a small floating object caught her attention. Rose watched as a silver parachute floated down towards her and landed just to her left. She reached for it, her hands grasping the cold metal container. Inside was a needle full of medicine which Rose quickly shot into her arm. The second object inside was a piece of warm chicken. Rose smiled and slowly ate it. Once she had finished, she leaned back and looked up at the pink and orange sky.

Thank you, she thought. Thank you.