Of Victors and Tributes

Chapter 16: Mountain Sound

"I have an idea for where we can make camp," I say. I take notice of my designation as leader, and wonder once more why Axel is so compliant with me only in a group setting. He seems dominant enough to want to argue with me- not to say that he doesn't- and yet he goes along with most of the things that I think are best for the group.

I don't even know what's best for the group.

I feel the weight I felt when Weaver died except with people I've never known. And then it all clicks, almost audibly, in my brain. I'm not supposed to be the leader here, Meadow or Axel could be perfectly suited, but to them, I might as well have been in the Games before. Because of Weaver, three years ago. I suddenly feel very angry, and consider addressing the group about this treachery, but when I go to turn around I realize that they aren't trying to deceive me. This is about them being children following the line leader, or in this case, the child most talented at the craft. Maybe, if I survive this and had the heart to, I'd be a good teacher one day.

Still, I can sense myself holding a grudge against Axel and Fairlie, who are perhaps the most innocent. It wouldn't be a stretch to say that Meadow and I may have forced them into the alliance, and I wouldn't go as far as to say that Axel would not not like to be here. I know that anger isn't going to help me keep them or myself safe, but when it comes down to it, I won't need to keep them safe forever. I consider Meadow again, and know I won't be angry at her until I'm dying or a victor.

"The mountains? You're sure?" Meadow says beside me, nervously glancing between the forest and the start of the rock wall we are approaching.

"We'll be alright. There's four of us."

"They're going to check here again tonight," Meadow says. There is no question who 'they' is.

"We're in a different spot," I compromise. "We'll hide, and this time, we won't show ourselves."

"You mean you won't show yourself," Meadow says pointedly, looking at me with steady eyes. She doesn't show it, but she's expecting a promise.

"I won't. We'll keep safe," I promise. This sates her, and she slinks back to speak with Fairlie. I briefly think that we could all be an unlikely group of friends in the hallway at school, and Fairlie and Meadow could be talking about pretty dresses in the market, and Axel and I could be disagreeing about the game of sports we had during physical education. The thought is laughable, not comforting. I think of Vestia, dead and sent home cold in a wooden box. She would've made the group lively. She would've talked about the fabric used in the new dress the girls wish they could afford. And maybe she'd keep me and Axel from fighting about some stupid game. But the game we're playing now. . . Well, that's different. And Vestia isn't here.

"Suppose the Careers find us up there because of your stupid stunt with Meadow," Axel says thoughtfully as I give Fairlie a leg up.

"Suppose I hadn't gotten the burn cream for your crispy face," I snap back. I recall the conversation with Koi. "Suppose we get to work." "Suppose we should."

"It's not like it's helping anyway," he retorts. I make a show of helping Meadow up, and then going up by myself and leaving Axel down there. Fairlie and Meadow pull him up as I plan a path for us.

"If we go this way, we shouldn't have any hard climbing," I say, pointing in the vague direction of the path I would most like to follow.

"It gets hot up here," Meadow says, which everyone reacts to by taking off their coats. I watch Fairlie take Axel's coat, and wait for him to situate himself so she can give it back, but she ends up holding onto it.