RUE
I am curled up next to a tall sequoia tree. It towers above me with all of the other sequoias. The Gamemakers put me out here. They took me even though I was eleven, not old enough for the Hunger Games. My eyes are wide with fear. I was told I had to fight just one girl. I was told she was my age. I was also told that the arena was smaller and if I didn't fight this girl, my family was to be killed. So here I am, waiting for the other girl with just my knife I was allowed to bring. The Gamemakers told me that she would not have a weapon, but I was allowed to. I asked them why and they said because she is a weapon.
NUDGE
I am walking on the soft ground, under the sequoia trees. The White Coats had put me in here. They took me from Max, even though I am less important than Max. It's true. Everybody knows it. My eyes are narrow, looking for a girl I was told to fight. The White Coats said that she is my age. I was told that she didn't have wings, but she had a knife. They said that if I fought this girl, I would be set free. They promised. They swore on it. I am looking for the girl because I want to get back fast. I wish I had a weapon though. I asked them for one and they said no because it wouldn't be fair.
RUE
A twig snaps. I jump up and clench my knife tight. I stare into the foliage, but I can't see anyone. I stay low and slowly move towards the sound. I walk on padded feet to the tree that the sound was by. I almost leap around it with my knife drawn, then I pause. I grab onto the tree's branches and pull myself up. I keep my stomach on the branch bent as I slink across it like a cat. My dark hair is pulled back from my face. There are leaves stuck in my ponytail. I walk to the end of the branch. It's long and overlaps with a branch of another tree. The trees are like a net of branches. I begin to jump from branch to branch. Then I stop. I see a girl. It must be the girl. She is sitting on the ground, underneath me. She hasn't seen me. I squat on the branch and quietly slip my knife out of its strap. I push off of the branch, and fall to the girl, my knife unsheathed.
NUDGE
My scream shatters the woodsy silence. The girl I'm supposed to fight has found me. She lands on my back like an animal. She holds the knife to my throat, but she doesn't know how I fight. I snap open my wings. They push her off my back and onto the ground. She looks at me with her eyes wide, and then she takes off. She climbs the sequoia with ease. She scrambles up to the branches and is running away before I can react. I take off after her.
RUE
My eyes are wide with fear. This girl has wings! On her back! I have to fight a muttation! My feet slap against the branches. I lost my knife and all I want us to live. I scream and skid to a stop on a branch. The girl stands in front of me. Her wings are open to their full extent. She looks at me and I know that we now have to end our fight. We stare each other down. Then she leaps at me and screeches an angry war cry and I bolt.
NUDGE
The girl grabs onto the branch and swings down. What? She's trying to outrun me? I have wings! I take off after her, but she is agile. She spins around trees before I can corner them. But then she slips. Her eyes widen as she falls and I see her for who she is. Not an enemy, but a girl like me. With my skin and hair and age. I reach out to her as her feet leave the branch. She falls. I can hear her scream and I scream. She hits the ground and horns blare. It's seems I have won, but I feel terrible. Guilt pulls at me and I squeeze my eyes shut as a metal claw picks me up. I can still hear the girl's scream in my ears.
