huck redpath

He was panicking; he couldn’t die here. He had to go home and take care of his father, of Savera. He had promised her he’d win for her. He suddenly remembered his token, and he pulled his hand back from underneath Alva’s, half registering what she was saying, but his mind was all over the place now that he knew that he was about to die. He reached inside his jacket, squeezing his hand through the other armhole, pulling the dull dark blue ribbon from his arm and balling his fist, holding it. ‘You just... d-did what you had to do,’’ he eventually said, feeling himself slip away. He had to lay down, his stomach hurt too much and he was too exhausted to care about sitting up any longer. He laid on his back, his face scrunching up in pain as the berries did their work in his stomach. ‘’Whoever wins... y-you or Gem, please m-make sure that Savera get this on the v-victory tour,’’ he said, opening his hand  with the ribbon and holding it out to Alva. ‘’All I w-wanted was to...t-take care of...’’ He couldn’t finish his sentence, as his arm dropped to the ground and his head slumped to the side, his eyes open, but dull. He had broken his promise.

Alva’s heart was beating faster but she tried her hardest to stay calm. “Amphie? No.. I cant say that I have. I think..” Biting down on her lip, she hesitated. “I may be mistaken but I dont think Amphie is.. with us any longer..” She told him sadly before sitting down next to him, deciding to give up from looking for the food. Gem must have them. “I’m.. sorry, Huck. We all deserve to go home but I couldnt take the chance..” She was talking about berries, not sure if he would catch on or not.

‘’Oh...’’ Huck stopped chewing for a second, his stomach dropping when Alva said that she was pretty sure Amphie had died. He would have liked to see her win the games, if anyone. The feeling in his stomach intensified, and he wondered why he had such a stong physical reaction to Amphie’s death. w;;What do you mean?’’ he asked, distracted by the news and the sick feeling in his stomach, and he looked up at her. He was thrown off by her expression. She couldn’t take the chance... \

Once they were inside, Alva helped the male sit down. She unwrapped the blanket from her body and rested it on Huck. Her heart was pounding her chest. She wanted to start crying from what she was about to do but she knew she needed to this. Smiling, Alva crouched down in front of him and grabbed him hand, putting the berries into his hand. “Here you go.” She smiled before standing up. “Now where did Gem put the trail mix?” She asked aloud before walking around slightly. It would hurt her too much to watch him actually put the berries into his mouth.

‘’Thank you,’’ he said as she put the blanket around his shoulders, and gave him the berries. He suddenly had to think of Amphie. If she had stayed with him, they borh would have found shelter. Was sge hiding somewhere else? Was she dead? He had no clue, and he thought over th possibilities as he popper the berries into his mouth one by one. ‘’Have you seen Amphie around here by any chance?’’ he asked, the berried s little sour and tangry on his tongue, but not near bad enough to stop him from eating them. 

Alva bit down on her lip as he said that could be counted as disrespectful. “Huck..” She warned. “Yeah, thanks to Gem. He’s been a lifesaver, I wouldnt be this far without him. That’s why he’s the one who’s going to win.” Alva would be sure to have Gem be the winner, he deserved it. Once at the cave, she smiled and looked at him. “Wait, before we go in, I’m going to grab some of these.” She kept him steady before running to the berries that were in front of the entrance. Orange-red yew berries were rested on it. The seeds inside a yew berry are poisonous, rather than the fruit itself, and are known for causing death very suddenly. All species of yew contain highly poisonous alkaloids. She gathered about ten in her hands before wrapping an arm around the male again. “Let’s go.” She brought him into the cave.

‘’I know...’’ he mumbled, but he didn’t care anymore. They surely werent going to kill him off now that he had found other tributes. He stopped and waited for Alva to grab the berries, which looked heavenly to Huck by now. ‘’I can’t wait until I can eat,’’ he said, his stomach growling at the idea alone. He entered the cave with Alva and sat down when they got to the spot where they had set up camp. He groaned, every muscle in his body hurting, and more than anything he just wanted to eat, and sleep. 

“I’m sorry to hear that. Some of these things that the Gamemakers are doing are insane. Like the storm and stuff? Or the lights? Luckily I havent had to witness too much of it, or at least didnt get any damage from it.” She shrugged. “We will get you back to the cave and you can use the blanket. I’ve also got a medical kit, we will see if we have anything that can help you get your strength back. There are also some berries in front of the shelter, you can have some trail mix and berries.” She said looking up at him with a smile.

‘’Yeah, it’s sick,’’ he spat, not caring whether he looked disrespectful towards the Capitol or not. ‘’You got the good hiding spot, he said, a smile on his lips. ‘’That sounds amazing,’’ he sighed, longing for everything the girl just mentioned. ‘’Well you’ve come this far... you’re doing something right,’’ he said, relaxing a little when he saw the entrance of the cave. ‘’Good, because I don’t know how much longer I could have walked,’’ he said seriously, arriving at the cave’s entrance. 

Alva smiled and nodded her head. She knew she couldnt take him back to the camp but she couldnt just leave him like this. Her plan was to start walking there and see where that takes her. “Please dont thank me, it’s okay.” She smiled and giggled at what he said. “Well, we will get you there, dont worry.”

‘’Yeah, it just flooded and I hit something, a tree maybe. It busted up my arm pretty well,’’ he said, wincing slightly at another stab of pain in his arm. ‘’At least there’s that,’’ he chuckled softly, appreciating the girl’s optimism, but he didn’t see it. All he could think about was Savera, the small girl from back home, who had to see him like this. 

Alva pouted and looked at him up and down. He really didnt seem to good at all. There was no way that he would be able to win the games like this. She couldnt remember who else was still alive but she knew herself and Gem were doing fine. “I’m glad you arent, I’m not either. I’m alone at the moment, Gem went out by himself to go do something.” She shrugged, he was checking the traps but she didnt know if that information was important or not. “Would you like to come back to our camp? You’ll be safe there, and when Gem gets back, I’ll make sure that he doesnt do anything to you.” Alva said softly. “We have trail mix!”

Huck’s heart leapt at her words, and he slowly walked over to her. ‘’Thank you, thank you so much,’’ he said, the smile on his face turning into a grimace at the pain in his head and arm. ‘’I’ll do anything to be at any place called ‘’camp’’ right now,’’ he said, surprised that he was still able to joke around a little. 

Alva was out walking on her own. She know that Gem went out on his own told her to stay at their camp but she needed to get out and walk around. Just like back home, staying in one place was getting to her, even though she was safe. Considering how far into the games she was, she was feeling good. No injuries, not that hunger, and not feeling too weak and cold. While walking around, she kept the blanket around her to keep warm.

Huck recognised the girl; it was Alva. He hadn’t spoken to her much, but he knew enough about her to know that she did not get a high score, and that she seemed pretty friendly. He had finally caught a break. 

‘’That sounds good,’’ he nodded, looking around to see if there was a place they could take shelter. ‘’I don’t know, I’m not that much into pets. Especially dogs. Also, I think we should head for those mountains ahead. This storm is picking up quickly and I don’t think we’d last long if we don’t find a cave or something.’’

The landscape was getting more and more white and her face had gone officially numb. “I despise dogs. I just think rabbits are cute.” Her teeth were beginning to chatter. “L-lead the way.”

“That sounds good. We could spilt the food rations equally then.” She knew their alliance wasn’t going to last forever and in fact it had lasted longer than she had originally thought so she thought it best to divide on amiably terms. “Agatha? Maybe, she’s awfully crafty that one.” She shrugged. “I think I’ll get pets. Rabbits…three of them and we will happily ever after.” She grinned at the thought of it.

‘’That sounds good,’’ he nodded, looking around to see if there was a place they could take shelter. ‘’I don’t know, I’m not that much into pets. Especially dogs. Also, I think we should head for those mountains ahead. This storm is picking up quickly and I don’t think we’d last long if we don’t find a cave or something.’’

“We should probably make a plan about that.” She said absent-mindedly. “What we do if something happens…like someone attacks or whatnot.”She nodded. “She probably won’t even know where to find it, it’s not like she has a tracker on it.” Amphie dismissed, shivering. “When and if I get out of here, I’m eating nothing but blueberry pancakes for two weeks and taking hot showers every other hour.” She grumbled. 

‘’Yeah probably. Maybe we could stick together until there are only a few of us left and then split up?’’ he suggested, not liking the idea of her and him being left as the last two. ‘’Her mentor might help her find it, you never know,’’ he added. ‘’I think I’ll just go on a diet of donuts and chocolate milk,’’ he said, a smile growing on his face at the thought. 

“No I completely understand, you have to do what you have to do…he was just …very nice.” She commented looking down. “But I suppose they all are…in their own right, save a few.  And it kept you alive so I’m happy about that…I guess. I suppose I’m just surprised it happened.” She reasoned. 

Huck looked down and nodded, knowing she was right. He hadn’t known Nox very well but he didn’t know that he always had seemed friendly. ‘’So am I,’’ he said in a dry, humourless chuckle. ‘’I certainly wasn’t planning on anything like that happening, that’s for sure. But now we have food, and a few knives which I am most comfortable with. I should have put the spear on Nox’s body now that I think of it. They would have taken it out of the arena, which would have meant that Sylver wouldn’t have been able to get it.’’

She stayed silent for a moment, processing what he had just said. “You…you killed him?” She asked quietly, her voice suddenly lacking the humor it had previously held. 

Huck registered the change of tone in Amphie’s voice and he turned to look at her, worried that she might not want to continue as his ally. ‘’I had to... it’s survival of the fittest after all. It had to come of it sooner or later,’’ he said with a nod. 

“Alright.” She nodded, agreeing that the snow would provide enough water for them both. She bent down and picked up the two remaining fish before running to catch up with him. “Did you find anything interesting when you were out hunting?” 

Huck held up the bag of food he had taken from Nox, not looking at Amphie. ‘’I came across a tribute... Nox, I think his name was. You must have heard the cannon,’’ he mumbled, feeling like he should just be honest about it, but not liking having to say it out loud at all.