The Reaper | F. Odair

Ten

-—-
Aaron
-—-

Our moments of silence -- my moment of almost crying -- are stripped away from more sounds of chiming coming from another sponsor. It lands near us and we all silently stare at the little silver canister with the parachute attached. Why are we getting another in less than two hours than the last? Why immediately after the deaths being revealed? Katniss and Peeta look at one another then towards Mags, Finnick and I.

I break the silence, "who's it for?" I ask quietly.

"Um... Peeta, why don't you go take it? You nearly died today and there's no way to know who it's really for." Finnick quietly announces, looking slowly towards the blonde.

He slowly nods, "uh, okay." he whispers, crawling over to the gift. He brings it back, laying the silk parachute out between everyone and opening the canister. He blinks, pulling out a tiny silver coloured, metal object and placing it down. It was small, something that could fit in your hand and still not be taller than your fingers. It was shaped like a 'y' with two holes, a sharp end with another point with black rubber, while the other was sort of cut in half.

"What is it?.." Katniss mutters, reaching down and taking the object.

"I... I don't know..." Peeta shrugs as she hands it to him.

I reach and grab it next, looking at Mags, "can you fish with it?" I ask, my fingers running along the smooth material. The rubber on the 'y's' point is thick and tough, like it's a handle or something.

Mags shakes her head, signing towards me.

"What'd she say?" Katniss asks.

"U-uhh, she's... 'never seen anything like it before.' she says. And no, it 'can't be used for fishing'." I interpret, handing Finnick the object next.

Everyone seems to pass it around at least twice before it ends up in Peeta's fingertips again. My eyes drift from his fingers and to the tree and I can feel my stomach growl faintly. "Where did you find that creature again, Kitty?"

"What?"

"Didn't you say that creature was on a tree or... or something?" I ask.

Katniss's eyes light up. "A spile!" she gasps, shooting up and snatching the metal from Peeta's hands.

Finnick blinks. "A what?"

"A spile!" she says with some sort of excitement, "It's sort of like a faucet, you put it in a tree and sap will pour out of it!" She explains, her eyes snapping around for a moment before she b-lines for a tree.

I slowly get up with Finnick and Peeta and we all follow her. She starts to shove the 'spile' into a tree, staring as nothing comes out. I groan and reach down for a stone, grabbing one and shoving her aside (ignoring her glare) and beating the rock onto the rubber. Nothing. Katniss shoves me aside and I drop the stone and watch as she wiggles the object. Nothing. My throat's aching just at the idea of water right now.

My fingers slowly ball into my hands as the seconds go by, my nails digging into my skin. What is she trying to do-- "holy shit!" I cry at the sight of water suddenly pouring out of the tree. Finnick and Peeta both jump with joy as Katniss dives for it, catching some in her mouth. Finnick shoves her aside gently, immediately catching some water into his own mouth. I don't even think, I reach for the girl and pull her into a hug, "you're a genius!"

She's tense in my arms -- probably confused at me hugging her, but she slowly detenses, hugging me back as I pull away and grab her shoulders, a burst of laughter slipping out of my lips. She grabs my own shoulders and I can't even explain my excitement physically or verbally.
The tension we just had for hours seemed to just vanish as if it never existed.