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Katniss woke up on a branch on one of the trees in the forest near her home. Why was she sleeping? She was supposed to hunt. The churning of her stomach just confirmed that thought - she needed to get some food for herself, her mother and Prim. Yes, her sweet, twelve year old sister Prim, who had a goat Lady and helped their mother with her patients.
She got down from the tree and looked around, bow in hand. She didn't see Gale nearby. He should've been nearby. And he was right there on the ground - laying as if in pain.
Katniss ran close to where he was, not quite to him, looking at the wound. It was a direct hit to the chest. He was wearing a dirty thin black jacket with a hood on top of a light green shirt. He's also got a rough brown belt and yellow-brown pants. He looked smaller than usual. He had clear, dark eyes and dark, smooth skin.
Rue.
She was looking at Rue, the small twelve year old girl who asked Katniss to sing to her. Rue, the girl who reminded Katniss of Prim so much yet not at all.
She sang, sang the same song that she sang to her sick Prim as she watched Rue's last breath leave her chest. She cried, she let herself cry, and she decorated her entire body with flowers from a nearby meadow.
The flowers were beautiful, in a beautiful mix of violet, yellow and white that she dared to admit she was proud of.
After she did it, she did the salute: presses three of her fingers to her lips and extends her hand towards Rue's body. A sign of respect, of thankfulness, of a goodbye with someone you love.
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Katniss then woke up, dangerously high on a tree on the arena. She didn't feel like doing anything - her body felt too heavy, as if there was liquid metal in her veins.
