𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐋 ❪ clove kentwell ❫

𝒙. thresh

★★★

"DO YOU THINK WE COULD look for Thresh?"

I furrow my brow, thinking back to the interviews and the names of all the tributes. "Thresh... your district partner?"

"Yes." Rue daintily hops over a small log in her path, not making a sound when she touches down. Like a little bird, I think fondly. "I think he could help us."

"Would he be interested in an alliance?" I ask cautiously, brushing a tree branch out of my way. We're walking through the woods, following the stream again. "I heard the Careers tried to recruit him, but he turned them down."

"That's because he doesn't like the Careers," replies Rue with a giggle.

I grin. "But he likes you?"

"Yes, he likes me." Rue smiles cheekily, adopting an extra pep in her step as she continues walking alongside me. "We didn't really know each other when we were in Eleven, but you know how it's like with district partners, don't you?"

I chuckle. "Yes, I think so." I fall quiet again, thinking of Gavin. Still no cannons since the bloodbath. "Who do you think drew away the Careers from your tree? There haven't been any deaths today."

"I've been wondering that too."

It seems like barely milliseconds after she says that when the boom of the cannon sounds, practically deafening through the quiet air. I jump instinctively. "Who do you think that was?"

Rue thinks for a second, counting on her fingers. "There's thirteen of us. Two from 1, two from 2, Gavin from your district, Dana from 4, the girl from 5, the girl from 8, the boy from 10, Thresh, and Peeta. And you and me."

"Oh." It can't be Thresh. I'm assuming this is a kill made by the Careers... Suddenly, another cannon fires. "Two deaths," I murmur. Eleven left in total, then.

"We'll have to see tonight, when they show the faces." Rue secures the pack around her waist. We've been walking for a good hour, stopping periodically to take short breaks. The snare from this morning caught one big fish, which we'd cooked and eaten part of. The rest is stored in Rue's pack, which she says keeps things from spoiling better than my backpack does.

I nod contemplatively. The cameras are likely where the deaths happened. Who died? Peeta? One of the tributes from the other districts?

We walk for a while longer until we come to a stop at a clearing with some particularly bushy trees. "This will do," says Rue matter-of-factly. "Are you okay with sleeping in trees?"

I hesitate. "Um... It's not my typical environment, but I can try. You saw what happened with the Careers back at your tree, I thought Cato was going to kick me over."

Rue laughs, a bright sound that shouldn't belong in this arena. "I thought so too. I'm glad Clove stopped him."

"Me too," I agree, and we begin scoping out the place. My thoughts drift back to Clove and the Careers. They'll be hunting in the woods now, looking for more tributes to kill. Usually, the Career pack obliterates everyone else and then starts hacking away at each other until one comes out as the victor.

That won't happen this year. It can't. We'll have to destroy their food, but how?

Rue deems the trees suitable for nesting. "We can tie ourselves in with your rope," she says, jumping down from her perch hidden in the leaves. I must admit she's quite good at this. "It'll be cold, though."

"We really need to find some sleeping bags." I jog over to the edge of the clearing and check our surroundings; the stream in the front, bubbling with clear water and plenty of fish, some berry bushes to the right. They don't look like Rue's berries; I'll have to remember what I learned in the Training Center about edible things.

"The Careers have everything," says Rue wistfully. "I saw Thresh run off with a big backpack. From the Cornucopia."

I let out a startled laugh. "Are you suggesting the three of us share one sleeping bag?"

Rue nearly spits out her bread. "No, of course not! I'm just saying, he might have a lot of resources."

"Right, I get it." I take a bite of bread, feeling... not exactly full, especially since getting used to this plain food after Capitol eating is harder than expected. But it will do, for now. "We'll find Thresh. Did you say he was in the fields?"

Rue nods. "Yeah, the ones near the Cornucopia."

I think back to the bloodbath. I'd seen a lake, and off to the side... thick fields, with stalks taller than me. "The fields don't seem very friendly." I'm out of place enough in the forest; I can't imagine the fields, tall and thick, with who knows what hiding inside.

"But there's lots of food in there too." Rue smiles hopefully. "You know, grain? I saw. Thresh knows better than me, he worked in the fields a lot."

"Oh. Huh." Viewing those menacing fields as a source of food. That makes sense, especially since Thresh and Rue are both from Eleven, agriculture. Rue's told me she works mainly in the orchards, so she knows less about the fields than Thresh does.

"Okay, we'll look for Thresh. Are you sure he won't just kill us on sight?"

"Yes, I'm sure." Rue speaks confidently, and I have no choice but to trust her. Thresh would be a good ally, anyway. "We're from the same district, so he'll at least give us a chance."

Around an hour later, maybe two, we finally reach the area around the Cornucopia. I catch a glimpse of movement near its golden base and startle. "I think the Careers are here."

Rue peeks around me. We're concealed in a copse of thick trees near the fields, and she's been eating a handful of her berries, looking lost in thought. "Is that... your district partner? The boy from Three?"

I blink multiple times. Gavin? I look closer, and there he is. Standing with a spear next to the tents. He's too far away for me to make out his face, but he doesn't look like a prisoner. That doesn't make sense...

I remember the Training Center, when he laughed along with the Careers when I fell off the gauntlet. "Is... Do they have an alliance?"

"Looks like it." Rue's brow is furrowed in confusion. "I wonder why."

Meanwhile, I've been looking closely at the Cornucopia, where they've left all their supplies clustered. Their camp is farther away, and Gavin is closer to the camp than the supplies. If he's meant to be a guard... "This setup... It doesn't make se—"

Suddenly, Rue clutches my arm, and I nearly yelp. "Wha—"

"Look!" she speaks in a hushed whisper. "It's Thresh. Something moved in there."

"Really?" I turn my attention away from the Cornucopia and squint at the fields. "I don't see anything"

"There!" Rue tugs at my sleeve, excited. "That's him!"

I see the tip of a head peek out from the tops of the stalks, and there's more movement. "What's he doing?"

"I don't think he sees us." To my alarm, Rue starts sneaking out of the undergrowth and into the fields. "Rue, wai—"

She disappears, and I groan. Great. I immediately go after her, slipping undetected (hopefully) from the trees and into the golden fields.

All at once, I feel trapped, suffocated. The sky seems to have disappeared, and the stalks are so thick I stumble clumsily for a few seconds, slipping and grabbing at handfuls to keep myself steady, when I crash right into something large and solid. I look up and meet a pair of golden-brown eyes.

Thresh raises his eyebrows, glaring down at me menacingly. "What are you doing here, Three?"