fourteen - halcyon

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carly and i are absolutely bored out of our minds. nothing has happened and it's been a few hours since matthias had left to find asher. we're not even on very high alert; we're just playing tic-tac-toe in the dirt.

"i found this bow laying around on the ground," carly says after yet another cat's game, pointing to her bow on the ground beside her. "some careless tribute must have dropped it."

i remember the bow asher got and how i lost it while on the run. that's the same one. embarrassed, i do not reply to her statement.

a faint rustling noise breaks the serenity, snapping us to a higher level of alertness instantly. carly and i stand slowly, with her arming her bow, knuckles white from clenching them so hard, and me already holding daggers in my hands.

surprisingly, matthias breaks through the bushes with a very drugged-up-looking asher hanging onto his back, arms slung over his shoulders like a small child. we hold our fire and curiously watch as matthias tiredly drops asher, who is giggling – yes, giggling – hysterically so hard he clutches his stomach and squeezes his eyes shut.

"shut up," carly hisses, but her eyes are glinting with amusement at the comical scene in front of us. she tosses her weapon aside and i sheathe mine. "someone might hear you."

"can't – breathe –" asher gasps and then bursts into hysterics again. he doesn't even seem to mind the fact that he's currently rolling in dirt, or that matthias had dumped him there like a useless sack of flour.

"what's so funny?" i ask with raised eyebrows.

"matthias's hair is fluffy," he manages to reply through scattered laughs. he puts his hands in front of his face like he just discovered them for the first time, playing with his fingers. "like a little bunny. you" - he tries to point at my fellow tribute, but with his horribly misjudged sense of direction, ends up pointing at a tree - "are a fluffy bunny."

"i am a fluffy bunny," matthias repeats, clearly humored.

"yes." asher sits up, looking dazed. "you are a fluffy bunny, but you ran out of carrots and died. matthias the dead fluffy bunny."

"what on earth happened to him?" carly asks, watching as asher starts giving us each animal nicknames (carly is a deer and i am a raccoon.) "he's a completely different person."

"i found him by a new water source crying about a leaf he stepped on," matthias explains. "immediately i knew something was up. then i found the tracker jacker stings." using his foot, he turns asher - who has returned to his former position facing the sky - over and lifts his shirt slightly. there are about six swollen, red pumps that are oozing orange puss. i crinkle my nose at the sight.

"he's in a lot of pain," matthias continues, "but he's so high he can't feel it." seeing mine and carly's confused faces, he further elaborates. "the stings affect everyone differently. there are rare cases of immediate death or allergic reactions, but most hallucinate. i guess asher has a case of the giggles."

"carly!" asher shouts, jolting to a sitting position with his eyes wide. all traces of humor have disappeared from his face. if it weren't for the slightly dazed look in his eyes, i would have thought he'd seemed perfectly normal.

carly jumps in surprise at the outburst. "what, asher?"

"wanna marry me?" at first i think he is joking, but then i notice that despite the lazy smile stretched across his face, this boy is completely serious.

carly's eyes go wide and i actually think she blushes a bit, then she covers it up. "asher, you don't know what you're saying."

"yes i do," asher argues. "c'mon, pleeeaaasseeee?"

"no."

asher's eyes tear up and he lies flat on his back, then rolls over onto his stomach, giving himself a mouthful of grass. then he promptly screams, his voice muffled by the ground his face is planted in. he is throwing a temper tantrum, and i cannot believe it.

"why don't you love me?!" asher demands as he sits up again. his eyes are red and puffy, but no tears have fallen yet. "how could you?"

"asher–" matthias tries to calm him down, but it only seems to make the poor boy angrier.

"shut up you useless rabbit!" he snaps and i burst out laughing. "this isn't funny, raccoon! i'll get back at you for laughing at me!"

then, like someone flipped a switch, asher's eyes roll into the back of his head and he passes out face-first into the ground.

we are all silent for a few moments, trying to process what just happened. asher doesn't make a sound as he lies there. the only evidence he is even alive is the rise and fall of his back as he breathes.

"well," i say, eyebrows raised, "that was interesting. he basically confessed his love for you, carly."

carly shoots me a degrading look. "like matthias said – he's high. he had no clue what he was saying. he didn't mean any of it." she stares at the ground, her jaw clenched tightly. then, as if her life depends on it, she quickly changes the subject. "matthias, where is that new water source you mentioned?"

"just about thirty minutes away," he replies.

"do you think you could find it again?" she asks.

matthias nods. "yeah, definitely."

carly digs in the backpack and produces our near-empty water bottle. "we need more water. could you find it and go fill this up?" she pauses, and for a second, i think her eyes dart to the unresponsive asher. "actually, i'll go with you just in case. thalia, can you handle him?"

i look down at the district four career still laying there motionless. i figure that, should he wake up, it'll be a lot like handling a toddler. "yeah, i can."

matthias notices my uncertainty. "don't count on him to do much," he warns, picking his sword up as they prepare for departure. "he'll probably be out for a few days."

and with some final advice from carly, ("try not to get yourselves killed while we're gone"), they leave. i am alone with an unconscious asher halloway.

i slump against a tree with my knives ready just in case. then i decide i shouldn't leave asher out in the open. sighing, i get up and take both of his arms, lifting him slightly so his face is above the ground and drag his motionless body to a bush, and with gruelling effort considering how tall he is, stuff him in. after making sure he's completely covered, i use my knife to cut an extra-long line in the tree next to the plant he's in.

i think back on the memory test i did during training. one of the plants could cure tracker jacker stings. but which one?

"think thalia, think!" i mumble to myself, squeezing my eyes shut and concentrating hard. it's to no avail. i cannot even think of the name, much less picture it in my mind.

maybe if i walk around, i'll find it and remember. i leave asher and travel around for a bit, occasionally making short marks on trees so i don't get lost.

after fifteen minutes of hardcore searching, i find nothing but nearly the same plants everywhere. i do find some edible berries and stuff them in my pocket, then sprint back to the camp.

along the way, i almost tun straight into a few tributes. i don't recognize them from the angle i'm at, but i don't take any chances. i get away as quickly as possible, knowing a fight is too risky and besides, asher is waiting for me and i can't let anything happen to him.

when i make it back, i struggle to get asher out of the bush. since he is so lanky and tall, and also to the fact he's unresponsive, it's a tricky task. eventually, however, i get him out and lay him face-up on the ground. along with dirt, his body is now covered in tiny scrapes from the branches. i brush off some of the dirt from his face and sigh. what am i going to do? he will die without any treatment.

suddenly, i hear a familiar beeping noise and know what it is instantly. i've gotten a gift from a sponsor!

i stand and face the direction it's coming from. a little white container with a parachute floats down and i catch it mid-air. excitedly opening it, i find a small piece of paper with writing in ink.

this will help him. i know how much those hurt. apply every two hours

-k

"thank you, katniss," i whisper and discover a medium-sized tube in the container. i don't have to guess to know it's some sort of healing ointment.

as if on cue, asher lets out a pained groan. he begins writhing around on the forest floor, letting out more noises of discomfort. the high has worn off and the effects of the stings are catching up to him.

i set the container and note beside our backpack and twist open the tube. i squeeze it and let a bit of the green paste come onto the tip of my finger. kneeling down beside asher, i use my free hand to lift his shirt up so i can see the stings. i locate them, notice they have swelled more, and gently dab the paste on each red spot. after each one has been treated, i rub the ointment in. asher's body immediately loses all its tension and his stiff muscles relax

i keep asher's shirt lifted as to not disturb the stings. it is then when i notice how bony his hip is. i always knew he was skinny, but that kind of unfitness shouldn't be so apparent on someone so close to the capitol.

i cautiously lift his shirt higher so his ribs are showing. even they are very prominent. i pinch my eyebrows together as i run my fingers lightly across his skin, feeling the bones beneath them. this is something common in district twelve, and also something i've experienced firsthand.

asher is starving.

this is very odd since he should never feel this way, never be hungry, and always have more than enough to eat. what is going on with him?

another deep groan from asher temporarily brings me out of my thoughts. i pat his arm and push myself to a standing position.

"hang in there, four," i say even though he can't hear me. "just hang in there."

he responds with another groan.

an hour and a half later, i am fighting to stay awake. every couple seconds, my eyelids close and i feel myself jerk awake. stifling a yawn with my hand, i stand up and stretch.

carly and matthias are still not back. they are thirty minutes late. at first i figure they'll show any minute, but that minute stretches into another, and then ten more. i begin to panic.

a cannon blows and my heart leaps into my throat. i hold my breath and wait. nothing.

pulling asher closer to me so he is slumped against the same tree i was at, i stand with my knives ready and wait, breathing steadily and trying to stuff down my fear.

a rustling has me turning in an instant, raising my arms and preparing to throw. i lower my defense when matthias slashes his sword through the plants surrounding us. he stumbles through and carly follows shortly after. both look exhausted. carly's hair has fallen out of its ponytail and frames her face in tangled clumps. matthias has blood on his clothes, face, and hands.

"what took you so long?" i ask right as asher groans loudly. "what happened?"

"some tributes were following us," matthias explains through deep breaths. "there was a battle, but we killed the guy from nine and had to run around the opposite way." asher gives another moan as matthias finishes. "how is he?"

i shrug vaguely. "i got some ointment from a sponsor and put it on him. he's been making those noises every so often."

"you got a gift from a sponsor?" carly asks, intrigued. "did you keep the parachute?" i nod and she seems pleased. when i ask her about it, all she says is, "it'll come in handy."

"we should get some sleep," matthias advises.

"i'll take watch," carly offers, and that's that.

matthias and i sit away from asher and carly, sharing the blanket. i notice he's trying to remove the blood from his skin, but it's not working at all. once he gets the dried redness wet, his skin is still tinted with a faded pink color.

"here," i say, and take the newly-filled water bottle from him. i cut off a corner of the blanket with my knife and soak it with water. then i bring it up to his face and begin gently wiping it clean with short strokes of my hand. every once in a while he'll flinch and soon i realize why- some of the blood is his. he has a thin gash on his cheek and a few cuts here and there. i make sure to thoroughly clean those, too, as to prevent infection. then i wet the fabric again and pass it to him to wipe his hands with.

"thank you," he says sincerely as he cleans his hands. i grin at him and then look around at the trees, frowning.

"the branches are too high around here," i note, staring up at them. the trunks are large and thick, the lowest branches far above my head. if they're this far up, we'll have to sleep on the ground tonight.

"you climb?" matthias asks with interest.

i nod. "that's how asher and i slept the first night. can you?"

he smirks. "i think the question is: can you beat me?"

i smirk back. "i think i can."

matthias discards the cloth. "it's settled then, thalia forkshire. sometime we will have a tree-climbing contest."

"you're on, rutcher."

we shake on it.

i yawn and settle back against the tree, which is not comfortable in the slightest. matthias notices my discomfort and lets me lean on his chest, which is warmer and much softer than the bark. in minutes i am asleep, and all i can think about is that matthias is a very good substitute for a pillow.

gif is asher smiling while talking and being v cute in general

_______

i couldnt wait to update this bc its favE

more shipping action bc sadness is gonna happen soon :((

...be happy im warning you now....

dedicated to the actual carly aka holysmoak bc she was sad and i hope this makes her feel better!!!!! ily

xoxo,

kristyn