"Allies?" "Always."

Chapter 16

Katniss won't leave my side, no matter what it is I'm doing. It's nice and all, until you have to do...personal things.

She healed Rue's burns; Rue, her stings. Then we have a small meal of a bird that Katniss killed, groosling, as Rue called it, and drank more water than we though we could hold.

"We're still not as lucky as the Careers." Rue whispers, tearing into a wing.

I have to explain to my fiancée what she's talking about. I tell her about how we plan to attack the Carrers, but with one problem; we don't actually have a plan. "So, how are we gonna do it?" She asks.

"I have no idea." I admit

I catch Rue holding in her laugh out of the corner of my eye. I shoot her a look. I then notice some food left that neither Katniss or I are eating. Two remaining groosling legs. I hold it out to her.

"Oh," She says with a sigh. "I've never had a whole leg to myself before."

I grab the other one and place the pair in her hands. "Then take them both."

"Really?!" She asks, her eyes brighter than the stars.

I nod and feel Katniss gingerly slide her hands into mine, connecting us by our hands. Rue eats as she informs us about every little detail she knows of the pack. The boy from District Three is their all time guard. "What weapon did he have?" Katniss asks.

"A spear. Not much." She takes another bite.

"And they just left the food in plane sight?" I question, astounded. "I have a bad feeling about that."

Katniss gives my hand a squeeze. "And even if we can get to it, how are we going to get rid of it?" Rue asks.

Katniss and I turns answering. "Burn it."

"Dump it in the lake."

"Soak it in fuel."

I poke Rue in the stomach. "Eat it." She smiles. "Don't worry. The three of us can surely think of something, if we put our heads together."

"Destroying things is much easier than making them." Katniss finishes.

We spend an hour making possible options to take out the food, never giving up an idea, no matter how absolutely terribly stupid and impossible it was. That is, until Rue sees my pin. "I love that." She says and points to it.

"Oh, my mockingjay pin?" She nods. "Do you have them in your district?"

"Oh, yes. I have a few that are my special friends. We can sing back and forth for hours. They carry messages for me."

"What do you mean?" I ask with a smile.

"I'm usually the highest in the trees, so I'm first to see the flag that signals quitting time. There's a special whistle," she presses her lips together and whistles a little four-note tune. "And the mockingjays spread it across the orchard. That's how everyone knows to stop. They can be dangerous though, if you disturb their nests. But you can't blame them for that." You can't. Who can you blame for protecting their children?

I unclasp my pin and hold it out to her. "Here. It means more to you than me."

"Oh, no." Rue closes my fingers around the pin. "That's how I desided to trust you. I'd rather see you wear it. Besides, I've got this." She pulls a necklace woven from grass with a wooden flower on it from her shirt. "It's a good luck charm. My grandmother made it for me before she," She pauses, "passed a few years ago."

"Well, our luck has been good so far, so it must be working." I pin the mockingjay back to my shirt. "Maybe you should just keep that."

By lunch, we have a plan that will be carried out in a few hours. It is that Rue and Katniss will light three fires to distract the Careers while I find a way to rid them of their supplies. I'm leaving everything except my sword and knives to the girls in case I can't return before nightfall, or possibly ever.