AN: For my wonderful friend Ellii101 & my delightful sister Snibbah
Clarys Donohue awoke with a start. She stood, breathing rapidly, trying to find the source of whatever had woken her. Her stomach clenched painfully. The dark-haired District 7 girl had not eaten for 3 and a half days, because she had no weapons or traps.
Clarys turned to see where she had stopped for rest. A small cave, quite out of sight, with a shallow pool of water at her feet. The black night sky made it impossible to see how deep it went. She crouched down to drink from the pool, having tested it earlier for dangers, and decided it best for her to move on. As she stood straight, her eye caught something in the darkness of the cave. Suddenly, it seemed a lot less safe. A small shine of light, the kind that reflects from a cats eye at night. The kind that revealed that Clarys Donohue was not alone.
BANG
Her heart leapt from her chest and she nearly yelled in shock. A cannon that signalled another Tribute was dead.
BANG
And another, so soon after the first. Maybe there had been an attack, she thought, that was probably what woke me.
But the light in the cave meant she could not rest, relax or move a single muscle. It could be the end of her.
Scared, hungry and very unsure of what to do, Clarys watched and waited for something to happen. For one of them to break.
The single gleam was joined by another. They began to move. Toward her.
She was shaking and her feet guided her backward. She didn't like the feeling of having her back defenselessly to the deadly forest. But Clarys almost laughed at the idea of turning around. Then, three things happened at once.
BANG
A cannon went off.
"Ow!"
Clarys cried out in pain.
"Grrrr!"
The lights made eyes, which made a figure, which leapt from the shadows.
The strange, vicious animal attacked Clarys, sinking its teeth into her foot, tearing through her shoes, reaching skin. She stumbled backwards and almost fell to the ground. Her panicked, shaky hands grasped out for a small rock, or stick, or anything that would kill the horrible creature that was destroying her left foot.
Finally, she gripped a large stone and didn't hesitate to drop it down at where the blinding pain was coming from. Never had she experienced such a pain.
The last strangled snarl left the beast and Clarys ripped her bloody foot from the corpse's claw.
Hot tears of pain rolled down the Tribute's cheeks and she used all her remaining strength not to scream. Blood dripped, covering the stones below her and she rushed to sit before unconsciousness could claim her.
Her head was dizzy, her foot was blazing and the creature's remains were a terrifying sight.
BANG
First, she slipped off her soaked shoes and shoved her foot into the cave's shallow pool, in an attempt to stop the hurting. When that didn't work, she had no choice but to look at it.
Afraid of the sight that might await her, Clarys closed her eyes and tried to control her breathing. A panic attack like that, was not something else she needed right now.
She opened her eyes, and risked a glance at her left foot.
But once she had glanced, she couldn't bring her eyes away.
From just above her ankle and below there was a red lump of flesh. Before she could properly determine where the wound was, more tears obscured her vision. She couldn't remember ever hurting like this, such burning and bleeding. Clarys quickly rubbed her tears away and washed some more of the blood off. It still wasn't very clear where the worst bite had hit, it seemed that the entire foot was just torn up mercilessly.
The water made each scratch sting, and each bite burn, but it took care of all the blood. Now, it appeared that the biggest, initial bite marks were near her big toe, and then everywhere that the damned thing could reach. Which, very luckily for Clarys, was just her foot and ankle.
She eyed the dead animal. It was like a big black cat-dog, with huge teeth, deadly claws and an aggressive nature. Nothing she had ever seen before.
Probably a creation of the Gamemakers, she thought.
BANG
But for now, the girl had much more pressing matters. All she could think of doing, was using leaves or ripped clothing to bandage her mangled foot. So, she limped pathetically to a nearby bush to grab some large leaves to cover most of her wounds. She then tore up the remains of her shoe and use that as well.
A wave of drowsiness and nausea hit her, accompanied by a pang of hunger. The original, extreme pain had dulled into a sickening ache. It was like her body couldn't keep up with all the hurting the Games were causing her. Clarys turned to the spot she was sleeping in before, ignoring any previous plans of moving ahead or finding food. She could never walk longer than 5 minutes in this condition.
As she lay on the rocks, the shallow water softening her pains slightly, she contemplated her options in life.
Winning the Games was a near-impossible feat, but the rewards were too tempting to give up.
Although, giving up sounded quite peaceful to her. Like sleeping without waking up.
But what of her family? Would they rather she suffered to gain the prize? Or would they let her lie where she was forever.
BANG
Just as her eyes drooped shut, and her body relaxed, her thoughts came slowly to a standstill. Sleep was within her grasp as a tiny, whisper of a thought popped into her head. Something she could not worry about or mull over any longer, as her dreams had already began.
Why were the cannons signalling death so very often?
AN: Thanks for reading! Please review! I have another chapter in mind which I'll probably write tomorrow or something. But now, I'm tired! Night, night!