Fiore's Games

Goodbye.

In the morning, Levy still couldn't hear out of one of her ears. It was frustrating. The Careers were still gone. She felt recovered enough to move, so she slowly got up, stretching her aching muscles from being stuck in the same position for a long time. Making sure she had all her things in order, she headed off into the trees again, heading for a rendezvous place she had set up with Wendy.

It was a nice day in the Arena. It wasn't too hot today. Levy was running off an excitement high. She destroyed the Careers supplies. They were now on the same level as the rest of the tributes. She stood a chance now. She reached the rendezvous point, but Wendy was nowhere to be seen. Taking a few moments to clean up in the nearby pond, the bluenette washed off her arms and face, resting and enjoying some water. After a couple hours, though, she got worried and stood up to search for Wendy. She trudged through the trees, worry festering inside her.

She finally reached the site of the third fire and noticed it had never been lit. Alarm bells were ringing in her mind. "Wendy?" She called, looking around for any sign of her. Suddenly, she heard Wendy's short song being sung by the mockingjays through the trees and breathed a sigh of relief. That meant she was okay. She still wanted to find Wendy and followed the trail of the song.

A scream ripped through the air, making her jump. "Wendy!" She took off like a bolt of lightning, ignoring the scratch of branches and thorns on her arms and legs. She burst through a clearing and found the tiny girl tangled in a net.

"Levy! Levy, get me out of here!" Wendy was panicking.

"Hey, you're okay. Calm down, Wendy. Calm down." She crouched by the smaller girl, drawing her last knife and cutting at the ropes. She managed to cut them enough to free her and pulled her out with a sigh of relief. Wendy's eyes were filled with tears.

"I was so scared, Levy." She whispered, hugging her tightly. She pulled back and smiled at her, but the smile was short-lived. Her eyes widened and she made a choked sound, looking down. A spear was sticking out through her middle. She fell to the ground and Levy whipped around, anger coursing through her life fire. She flung her knife at the boy who hurt Wendy, watching with satification as it slammed into his chest. It didn't kill him right away, though, so she charged towards him, ripping it out and stabbing him forcefully through the stomach and chest. Blood gurgled in his mouth and he fell. A cannon fired.

She turned to Wendy, fear and tears in her eyes. Wendy wouldn't survive the injury. "Wendy... you're okay. You're gonna be okay." She whispered.

"Did you get them?" Wendy asked quietly. Her voice was so soft, so weak.

"Yeah. I got them. I blew everything up." Levy assured her. Wendy smiled, closing her eyes.

"You gotta win, Levy. You gotta win, for the both of us. Please." She pleaded. A few tears fell from Levy's eyes.

"Okay. I will. Don't you worry." She moved so Wendy's head was in her lap. She gently brushed her hair out of her eyes.

"Will you... sing to me...?" Wendy's voice was weaker. Barely there. She was dying. She was dying and there wasn't a goddamn thing Levy could do about it.

"Of course." She thought for a moment, an old song her mother used to sing coming to her mind.

"Words are born into air, and quickly fade out in the wind. But they find their way inside you, where they live on forevermore." Wendy opened her eyes to stare at the sky. Her eyes were glassy, and Levy's voice got choked up. "When... when skies are dark and full of rain, look inside your heart. The light, so warm, will come and glow, shining just like the sun." Wendy's breathing was slow and ragged. "You can see just how much you've grown, how strong you are... A love will open up to you and it starts from the day you first heard those words."

Wendy wasn't moving anymore. Levy cried. She let herself be weak and cry. It was ugly sobs. A cannon fired.

- - - -

Levy knew she had to move. They would take Wendy's body. She would be put in a too-small coffin and sent home. Her family would be heartbroken.

Levy was done crying. She was pissed. She hated the Capitol for what they did, for forcing children to do this. She took what was useful from Wendy and the boy she ruthlessly killed, but decided to make a statement. They wouldn't take her if she was still around.

Levy gathered all kinds of flowers, lining them around Wendy. She gently removed the spear, but left it by Wendy. It would be taken with her. Good. Less weapons. She put some flowers in her hands, over her stomach. She held up her habd, her thumb and index finger extended into an L shape. "Goodbye, Wendy."

Levy left the site of her death, hearing a hovercraft come and take both the bodies away. Another couple tears escaped her, but she quickly wiped them away. She wandered without a goal, hunting small animals and checking old snares. Her only goal was hoping to run into the Careers and kill them, or die trying. She didn't find them during her aimless wandering, so she made camp for the night. She no longer cared if they saw a fire as she started to cook one of the animals she killed. The sun was starting to go down, so they would find her soon enough.

A parachute fell down from the sky, stealing her attention from her meat. It contained a loaf of bread, the kind made in District 11. She thought Wendy's family and friends must have pooled money together to gift this to her, when they didn't even have enough to eat themselves. "Thank you, District 11." She said outloud, hoping a camera caught her. She ate a small amount of the fresh bread, packing the rest away to save. The bread made her think about winning and not throwing her life away by waiting for the Careers. She stamped out the fire and climbed a tree to sleep for the night. She would win, for Wendy.

- - - -

Morning came. She didn't want to get up. The only thoughts that got her out of the tree were Wendy, her family and Lucy back home watching, and her food rations. Though she hunted yesterday and now had bread, she wanted to hunt a little more. She packed up again and went hunting.

Wendy's death played over and over in her mind. She realized that the body she killed was the first she deliberately killed in the Games. Guilt trickled into her mind at how his family must have been feeling when they saw that, but satisfaction at killing him to avenge Wendy overruled the feeling. A part of her knew that was bad. A bigger part didn't care. Again, she didn't see or hear the Careers all day. She hunted a bird and had it for lunch with some more of the bread, still fresh from yesterday. It was a quiet day, which is what she really needed.

Evening was coming again. Levy felt good with the amount of food she had hunted, the snares she set up, and the scouting she had done. She had an idea of where the Careers may be, but decided to save it for tomorrow. Loud trumpets sounded in the air, making her pause. Must be an announcement. "A feast?" She wondered aloud.

"Hello Tributes! There has been a rule change." Ichiya's voice boomed. "Two tributes may win, if both of them are from the same district."

Levy's eyes widened with this new information. "Gajeel!" She nearly shouted before she covered her mouth. She needed to find Gajeel.

They could both go home.