A/N: Okay over 10,000 words, this is the new chapter. I am sorry about the length but I know that you will love it once you read through it and sometimes it takes a long chapter to explain everything. Anyway I hope that everyone enjoys this chapter as much as I do. A big thanks to mykkila09 for telling me to leave the length alone and not break this chapter up. I would also like to say thank you for those that are reading this story and thank you for the ones that review each chapter. I love reading what you think each week. Now onto to the longest chapter I have ever written.
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The sun peeked over the horizon as Kim opened her eyes. It had been a long, aching night in the tree but at least she didn't have to worry about no one finding her at night. Who would think that a tribute would actually sleep in a tree at night? There had been three other tributes to pass under her but none of them had bothered to look up. She knew that from now on, she would sleep in a tree to at least get some rest. It would be hard to see her through all the leaves on the trees which was a good thing and since she was wearing black, it would almost impossible to see her.
She hadn't heard anymore cannons last night so that must mean that only the girl at the camp fire had died so that meant that 13 tributes were still alive. Looking down, Kim checked to see if anyone was below her before she made her way when she saw no one. Everyone could still be asleep which worked in favor at the moment. Once her feet touched the ground, she stretched to ease the stiffness out of her muscles. Her mouth was dry which reminded her that she had to find water this morning. Taking a step, her stomach rumbled which also reminded her that she hadn't eaten anything since yesterday morning. She needed food to keep her energy up so that was the first thing on the list. Whatever food she found would at least have some liquid in it so that would help out her water situation.
She walked over to the snares she had set up before going to sleep last night and saw that she had two rabbits in it. She quickly got them out and remembered the camp fire from last night. The coals should still be warm since it had burned all night after the girl had died. The rangers had been really stupid to leave it burning but now she was glad that they had. She made her way over to the fire and saw that the girl had somewhat known what she was doing since she had made a fire pit for it. If only she wouldn't have used green wood, she might still be alive. Thankfully the Capitol had already gotten her body so that Kim didn't have to see it first thing this morning. Dead animals were one thing but the thought of a dead human turned her stomach a little.
The fire was still burning somewhat, so she quickly skinned the rabbits and cooked them over the open flame. Once they were cooked she wrapped one of them up in some leaves she found. They had to be the same ones that her mother used back home to keep the food from spoiling. After putting the one in her bag, she ate the other one as she moved along. Looking down, she tried to find any familiar plants that would signal if water was near but she didn't find any. Sighing she continued further into the woods. There had to be water somewhere.
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Tommy woke up before the others and looked around. He wished that he knew where Kimberly was but it was probably better at the moment that he didn't. Standing up, he remembered seeing Kim's snares last night near the camp fire and knew that she had to have been close. She wouldn't leave those snares in case she did get something in them. They had to be hers because he didn't know anyone else that could make a snare quite like that or at least he hadn't seen anyone make a snare like hers.
The rangers thankfully hadn't seen it or they would have bedded down there for the night and Kimberly wouldn't have been able to get away. He was just happy that they weren't good trackers or he would have a time on his hands. They would know that he was leading them around in circles sometimes.
"Looks like someone is ready to face the day." Scorpina spoke from behind him. He could hear the scorn in her voice but chose to ignore it. She was just mad that he was even with them even though it had sort of been her plan. She just really didn't like the fact that Kim had gotten a better score than she did.
"I just want this over." He said truthfully before turning to face her. "Why are you up so early?" He asked as she narrowed her eyes at him. Could he not ask her a simple question without her questioning him with her eyes?
"I heard you get up and I wanted to make sure that you were not leaving without us." She said standing up. He watched as she pulled her fingers through her long black hair before quickly pinning it back up. It wasn't in a braid like Kimberly's but it did keep it out of her face.
"I wasn't leaving just trying to think where Kimberly would go." He said as Scorpina walked over to him. It was true but not because he wanted to lead them to Kimberly. He just wanted to know where not to lead them.
"I don't believe that for a minute. You may have the others fooled but not me." She said as he kept his face void of emotion. "I think that you are working with Kimberly but your plan will not work. We will find her and when we do you both will die." She said walking away from him. He watched as she poked the fire until it burned brightly once more before she threw another log on the fire. They had had a fire last night because they had said that they welcome another tribute to come up to them. It would help them out so that they didn't have to search them out. He knew that he would have to watch what he said and did over the next few days. She would probably kill him if she got proof that he was trying to save Kimberly from them.
Slowly the others started waking up and moving around. They had a small breakfast of apples and fruit. Since they had the supplies, they didn't have to worry about finding food. Goldar had also received a gift last night of some kind of meat. They had cooked it over the fire. He wasn't sure what it had been but he was hungry so it didn't really matter. He wondered what Kim had eaten last night and figured that she had had some squirrel or rabbit. She may not have her bow but she could still hunt without it, he was sure.
"The suns up, I think we should get going. We have a lot of ground to cover to find Kimberly." Goldar said strapping his sword to his hip. It was his only weapon but Tommy knew how deadly he was with it.
"We should get in a few hours before we have to find something to eat." Rito said as the others nodded as they headed off leaving Ransik guarding the loot even though he had the trap set. He would be here to kill whatever tribute got close enough or at least that was the plan. Ransik was just hoping that some other tribute killed them so that they wouldn't kill him when they felt that he had outlived his purpose.
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"I hear that you are trying to find sponsors for your tributes." Trini said as she leaned Zordon. They were currently alone in the victor room but that would change as everyone woke up for the day. She had to be quick about this.
"Probably as much as you are." Zordon responded looking over at her.
"Well I only have one left so I don't have to try as hard but I know of someone that would like to sponsor your Firebird." She said lowly as other victors started coming in.
"Where can I find them?" He asked waving at the people coming in. He had to make it look like they were just discussing the Games and tributes not that they were helping each other with sponsors. It was against the rules for the mentors to help each other out.
"They will meet you tonight downtown at 9. Don't be late because you only have this one chance." She said before turning away to greet another victor who had walked in.
Zordon walked away as he thought about who could possibly want to meet downtown. He trusted Trini because he knew that she wouldn't be leading him astray. She was like him in her distrust of Zedd and his control. She didn't show it as much as some of the others though. She had learned to hide her emotions well and play the game that Zedd wanted them to play. At one time, he knew that she hadn't played the game and her family had suffered for it. Zedd knew how to control his victors but soon that time would be over. He would meet with the people tonight and hopefully secure enough money to keep Kimberly alive.
Looking up at the screens that were set up, he wished that he could send her some water but he knew that she was close. She just had to hold on for a little bit longer and she would have all the fresh water that she could stand.
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Kim stumbled and righted herself before continuing on. It had been several hours since sun up and she had yet to find water. She wasn't even sure that she wasn't walking in circles. Stumbling once again, she remembered that Zordon should have some money by now. Looking up at the sky, she mouthed water hoping that he was watching and could get her some sent right away. She sat there for what seemed like an hour but really it was only about ten minutes before she realized that he wasn't sending anything.
He should have sent it by now so that meant that she either did not have any sponsors or Zordon was choosing not to send her any water. What was going on? Did he not want her to live or was he trying to send her a signal?
Looking around, she found what looked like lilies but they were not normal lilies. They were water lilies and they only grew near a spring. She followed their path for over an hour until she found her heart's desire.
"Thank you, Zordon." She said as she plunged into the cool water. The water was like a balm to her dry skin. She finally got out and opened her bag to get the bottle out. She had to remember to drink the water slowly so that she didn't get sick since it had been a day since she had anything to drink. Taking the bottle, she dipped it in, and watched as it bubbled up.
She looked around and saw that there were some berries and nuts. She could also hear some animals close by. This place was perfect and she would stay here for the night before moving on. She knew she couldn't stay here forever because someone would find her but she would mark her way so that she could come back if she didn't find water anywhere else.
Once her bottle was filled, she took a small drink and let the water slide down her throat. It was cooling and she almost fought herself to drink slowly. Closing her eyes, she savoured another drink this time a little more. She finally got her fill and got up to collect the berries and nuts.
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Zordon held his smile as Kim found water finally. She was the only one who hadn't had water since the Games began and he was beginning to get worried but she had done well. Turning away, he knew that she was safe for the time being because there was not another tribute within an hour's time of her. She had managed to put enough space between her and the rest of the tributes yesterday and today.
He looked at the other side of the screen and watched as Tommy and the rangers made their way deeper into the woods. They were back at the place where they had killed the girl with the camp fire. He hoped that Tommy could keep this plan up for another day because he would bet that the rangers would only give him three days to produce Kimberly. He would be killed either way but hopefully he would save Kimberly so that she could save him before the rangers killed him.
Zordon didn't know what Kim would do with Tommy after that since she had to know that Tommy was working with the rangers right now. She was right above them last night and heard his voice. He could only hope that Kim would listen when Tommy explained his plan and didn't kill him first.
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Looking around, Tommy knew that this was where he had felt Kimberly. He didn't feel anything now so she was already gone. She had probably been gone since sunrise which was a good thing. He began looking around to find her snares still there and the grass looked like someone had walked on it. Was she leaving a trail? He really hoped not but walking to the next tree, he found another set of snares and the grass was the same. She knew that he was helping the rangers to find her and she had just made decoy trails. He didn't know which one to follow but choosing one wouldn't make a difference. She probably didn't take either one.
"So which way did she go?" Rito asked walking over to Tommy.
"Well here is her snares and this looks like the way that she took to get out of here." He said pointing to the grass.
"Looks like she's not that smart to leave a trail but hey it saves us time. Nice work, lover boy." He said slapping Tommy on the back.
Tommy just smiled and nodded as the others moved over to them. It was better to keep his mouth shut at the moment.
"She's not moving that fast." Scorpina stated as Tommy looked over at her. How would she know that? "Her foot was planted harder as if she was moving too slow. She's not running and I wonder why that is." She said when she noticed everyone giving her looks.
"Maybe she didn't find any water or food last night." Archerina stated as Scorpina nodded. Tommy had been worried about that but he hoped that they were wrong.
"It would be my first guess and that means that she is moving slowly. We could be mere steps away from her." She said before she led the ground down what looked like Kim's path. Tommy didn't know if it was true that Kim hadn't had any food or water but he hoped it wasn't. She needed to stay alive and to be able to do that she needed food and water. Hopefully Zordon had secured her a sponsor so that he could send her something to keep her going. He followed close behind the others trying to pick up any other signs of Kimberly but he saw nothing. She must not have gone this way which made him very thankful.
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Shayla watched as the rangers and Tommy followed the decoy trail. She didn't know why they were after Kimberly but she was glad that she had made those trails after Kimberly had left this morning. Kim had head off in the other direction but after last night's close call she had wanted to make sure that they didn't stumble upon Kim's real path. She didn't think that they would because she could barely tell that Kim had been there but she wasn't taking any chances. Kimberly didn't deserve to be ganged up on.
Looking around, she made sure that no one was there before walking out as far as she could on the tree branch. She then launched herself through the air to land on another tree's branch to her left. She continued doing this until she had finally found where Kimberly was. It looked like Kim had found her spot with the spring, berries, and nuts. Kim would be safe here for the time being since the rangers had headed off the opposite direction.
She didn't know why she was helping Kimberly since it was supposed to be a competition. She just knew that she wanted Kimberly to win since she knew that she wouldn't stand a chance against Goldar and them but Kim could. Kimberly could win it all and she wanted to help her in any way that she could.
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"Okay so that's how she can get around." Rocky said as he handed Trini a bottled water. They were on Rocky's floor since the victors' room had filled up quickly. They could also talk in private here which was the main reason that they had come up here.
"She impressed the judges with that." A voice said from behind them causing them to turn sharply towards the voice.
"Dulcea? Shouldn't you be in the War Room?" Trini asked as Dulcea walked over to them and sat down.
"Oh its my break for the next three hours. Finster thinks that if we work around the clock we might miss something because we're tired." She explained. "I looked for you in the victors' room which earned me quite a few stares." She said. "People started asking why I was in there instead of the War Room."
"What did you tell them?" Rocky asked clearly concerned about what would be said now. They had to keep their meetings under wraps for the time being. No one could know that they were planning anything.
"Oh I just told them that I had wanted a little feedback on how the Games were going which is true that Finster wants that so I didn't lie. I just didn't tell the whole truth." She stated easing their worries. Everything hinged on their ability to keep their plans under wraps until the last possible second. It had to come as a surprise or Zedd would be able to plan a counterattack before they attacked.
"You know if Finster ever found out that you were part of the rebellion, I'm pretty sure that no one would ever find you again." Rocky said as she sighed. He was right but more than her safety was on the line and she would risk her life to see the rebellion finally come about for the Nation.
"I know that but this has gone on far enough. Now I want to know what you think about Kimberly." She asked getting to the real reason that she was here. She trusted them enough to reveal her thoughts by asking the question.
"She's good but I think she is more concerned with staying under the radar for the moment." Trini answered looking back at Kimberly on the screen. "She hasn't had to defend herself really against attack because she has been out of sight."
"You think that we could change that?" Dulcea asked leaning forward.
"What do you mean?" Rocky asked trying to guess where Dulcea was going with this. Dulcea sometimes keep things close to her chest that other people had to find her train of thoughts.
"She is called the Firebird; do you think that she can become the Crane?" She asked finally revealing her hand.
"You want her to be the Crane? Why?" Trini asked standing up and paced. Dulcea wanted to hang the rebellion on that girl's shoulders. What did she see in Kimberly that she hadn't seen in anyone else? After all these years of planning, Dulcea had thought she found the Crane.
"I think she is the key. We will wait to see how she fares in the Games but I think that we haven't even seen what she can do." Dulcea answered before standing up. She knew that she couldn't spend that much time here if her cover story was going to work.
"What did she do in the private session that has you already convinced that she can even survive the Games?" Trini asked looking at her narrowly. Dulcea was hiding something and she wanted to know what it was. If she was going to risk her life, she had to know what it was that Kimberly did.
Dulcea smiled as she remembered that day before answering. "She shot an arrow at the Capitol's seal that happened to be above Finster's head." She said pausing to let them process that fact before continuing. "Trust me, she is the one." She said before leaving them again. Thankfully no one was in the elevators to question why she had been here and she knew that Zedd didn't have cameras here since it was only used to house the mentors and tributes before they entered the Games.
"So they have found the Crane, wonder if Tommy really is her Falcon?" Rocky asked as Trini sat back down. He wasn't really surprised by Dulcea's choice. There was something special about Kimberly and even he could see that.
"One problem with that." Trini pointed out looking at the split screen on the TV. One side showed Tommy walking with the rangers while the other showed Kimberly gathering berries and nuts. Deca was commenting on the two of them probably being on opposite sides and about Kimberly finally finding water. Kimberly had impressed him with her survival skills alone, whatever she could pass that would be icing on the cake.
"What?" He asked as she turned back to look at him. Trini had finally settled down after Dulcea's bombshell. He knew that she was just worried about placing everything on someone else's shoulders.
"Only one can come out alive." She said as he nodded. He knew that better than anyone but for some reason, he could picture both Tommy and Kimberly making it out alive. He didn't know why but his gut was telling him that it was true. Only time would tell if he was correct and if Kimberly was really the Crane that Dulcea thought she was and he couldn't wait for the action to begin.
Trini looked at Kimberly and tried to see what everyone else saw in her but still didn't see it. Kimberly hadn't had to fight yet but Trini knew that it had to happen soon and until that happened, she would still think that Kimberly wasn't the Crane. It wouldn't matter how many times Dulcea told she was.
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Kim made her way up a nearby tree when she heard the cannon signal another tribute's death. She wondered who it would be this time but since it was close to sundown, she wouldn't have to wait long to find out. If there were no more deaths between now and when the Capitol aired their update, there should only be two tributes faces tonight. The Capitol wouldn't like that because for the most part it had been a slow day. Kim was happy about it though. She didn't like it that kids were dying for the Capitol's entertainment.
She got settled and wondered about Tommy. Was he still with the rangers or had they abandoned him somewhere to die or could that cannon shot be for him? She just didn't know but she was worried about him even though he was working with them. He was from Angel Grove just like she was and he deserve to come home too. Angel Grove needed a victor and one of them had to be it.
Watching the sun set low in the sky, she wondered about Shayla. She hadn't seen her since yesterday morning before all the chaos started. Where was that little girl hiding and how long until the rangers came after her? Kim knew that she couldn't be worried about anyone else even though she was. She hoped that Shayla had found food and water and stayed out of everyone's paths until this over. She deserved to live a long, happy life away from these Games.
Stretching her legs out, she got comfortable for the night and watched the sky turned all the beautiful colors before darkness fell. It would be very soon when they would air the dead tributes. She was glad that they show who was dead since she barely learned any of their names. She didn't see the point since they would all save one be dead before the Games were over.
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"She could be anywhere; I think we should head back for the night." Goldar said as the sun hung low in the sky. He didn't like being this deep in the woods for the night. It would take them until after dark to get back but if they moved they should be back in little of no time.
"I agree. We haven't seen anything else of hers in a while and we won't in the dark either. She could walk right around us and we would never know it." Scorpina pointed out. She was clearly worried about being the woods at night. There was still too many tributes alive that could be hiding near them just waiting to attack.
"Okay then that's settled, let's get back." Goldar said as they all turned around and headed back to their camp for the night. They were all alert as they made their way back.
Tommy was just happy that Kim was alright for another day. She seemed to just disappear but at least he knew that she was alive. He wondered how close they were to her.
"You know that we have killed pretty much all of the tributes so far. I don't think another tribute besides us has killed anyone." Rito said in the silence.
"No I think that Mesogog killed someone before he could leave the starting point." Scorpina stated as Archerina nodded.
"You know maybe we should go after him next. I mean he looks huge." Rito said as Scorpina shook her head.
"He's hiding in the tall grass on the South side of the lake, go ahead at it if you dare." Scorpina said as Rito turned to face her.
"You think I won't?" He asked giving her a look of scorn.
"No, I don't. You know that he is from District 11 so that tall grass is like his home. He could probably live there if he wanted too." She informed him as she moved past him. "Kill him if you think you can." She threw over her shoulder.
"Right now, we are focused on Kimberly. She is our main goal." Goldar informed them as darkness began to fall.
Tommy stayed silent as he processed all they talked about. Mesogogg was hiding around the lake, which was some good news. Tommy knew that he would not be venturing there unless he had back up or a death wish. Mesogog was huge even if he was silent and Tommy just knew that Mesogogg could kill someone without any weapons.
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"Prepare the seal and pictures." Finster said as Dulcea stepped back into the War Room. "You're early." He said as she nodded before sitting down. He was unsure about her since her behavior had changed so much in the last year. She was closing off more and more and knew that something was going on with her.
"I wanted to deliver the results of what people think about the Games so far." She said as he walked over to her trying to see if he could read anything through her body language.
"You work fast then, I didn't expect it before tomorrow." He said as she smiled. She knew that he actually did expect it as soon as she got back. He only said that because she did have it done and he hadn't expected her to have it done so fast.
"I know but I wanted to get it to you as soon as possible. I know that it will help you shape the Games for the people." She replied as he nodded. She handed him the results and got to work on moving camera angles to where the tributes were. She was in charge of the North side of the arena and currently the only tribute there that she could see was Kimberly and even Kimberly was hard to see through the trees.
"How close is she to the boundary?" Finster asked as she adjusted the angle to get a better view of the area that Kimberly was in.
"I would say that she is within an hour's walk to it." She replied as he nodded. She knew that he would want to turn her around since there was no other tribute even close to her.
"I want to turn her back around tomorrow morning. Set it up." He commanded as she nodded. "She needs to get into the game and sitting in a tree isn't going to accomplish that."
"What would you like to use?" She asked looking up at him. He had a host of things that he could use to turn a tribute around; she just hoped that it was something that Kim could live from. A few years ago, he had tried to turn a tribute around and it had ended up killing the tribute.
"I think fire would work just fine, don't you?" He asked as she nodded. Kim would be able to smell the smoke and be able to get away in time. It would also help Zordon get her some more sponsors. If they thought that their favorite was hurt then they would send more money to help her.
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"Going from 10 tributes dead to 2 dead today, Finster is slipping." Zedd said as he turned away from the TV. "Maybe I should meet with him later tonight or tomorrow to insure that he gives the audience some excitement tomorrow. We can't have people not watching the Games because they are boring." He said grabbing two pictures off his wall. He had all of the tributes' pictures hanging on a wall so that he could remember their names and faces. Once they died, he would take their picture down though and throw them in the fire. The winner he would add to the victor's wall. Once they were added to the wall, he learned everything he could about them. A victor had to be controlled one way or another. Most were easy but some like that Trini were not. She didn't even cry when he had her family slaughtered. She was a cold one so he kept a close eye on her.
He looked at all the pictures of this year's tributes and stopped at Kimberly. She reminded him of Trini. There was defiance in her eyes that needed to be dealt with just like there had been in Trini's. She had managed to stay away from the tributes for the time being and he knew that Finster didn't want to kill her off yet because she was popular. She was inspiring the people though and he didn't like it. Inspiration could lead to rebellion and he could not have that. It had been almost a hundred years since a rebellion and he would not let it happen now.
Walking to his chambers, he thought on what he would say to Finster. Somehow, Kimberly had to be killed tomorrow but not as a martyr because that would make things worse and the people would hold her up. She would be defeated in his Games, he would see to that.
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"I see that Trini got to you." A voice said through the darkness as Zordon drew near.
"She said that you want to sponsor Kimberly." He said without a greeting. This had to be hurried up.
"Well I want to sponsor both of your tributes." The voice said. It sounded like a woman's voice but he couldn't be sure since he couldn't see the person. They could have a voice changer.
"Both of them, why? Only one can win." Zordon pointed out. Normally people only sponsored one tribute not both of them.
"I think that there will be a change, I want to sponsor both of them." The voice said as they stepped into the light.
"Okay no problem." He said when he noticed it that it was a woman.
"My name is Karone and I think that we will be seeing each other again." She said handing him more money than he had ever gotten from a sponsor before leaving. He quickly stuffed the money into his pocket before leaving too. He had no clue who Karone was but he had a feeling that she was working with Dulcea which meant that Dulcea was planning on saving both Tommy and Kimberly. What he didn't know was why or even how she could save both of them.
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Kimberly's eyes popped up when she smelled the smoke that was almost engulfing her. What was going? Looking around, she saw the trees in flames. Grabbing the sleeping bag and her bag, she jumped out of the tree and rolled to up on her knees. She couldn't see anyway out but she knew that she needed to stay close to the ground. The fresh air would be there. She jumped up and kept her head low as she took off running. She knew that she should have stayed closer to the spring but she was just so nervous about those trees that she had ventured out a little more last night. She had apparently gotten too close to the boundary. Sometimes, the council would set up booby traps to turn the tributes around. There was a hissing noise behind her and she turned to see what it was and a huge fireball was coming straight at her head. She dove down and hit her knees. Rolling to her left she hit a tree stump. Looking back, she noticed another fireball coming at her and this time she crawled around the stump as it caught the side of her leg.
"OW!" She screamed as she rolled as far as she could. She heard the sound again as she jumped to her feet and took off running. She couldn't stay here or she would die by fire and she did not want to die like that. She ran until she didn't smell smoke anymore.
The woods opened up into a field. Looking around she noticed that she was now on the North side of the lake or at least she hoped that she was. She didn't like being out in the open like this so she stepped inside the tree line and head back to the spring. With each step, she felt her leg burn. She would have to find some way to take the burn out. The cool water would help but it wasn't a cure. One of things plants might help but she didn't know which one. None of them looked like the aloe plants back home.
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"I'm beginning to wonder if you know where you are going." Rito said as Goldar shoved him out of the way. They decided to head another way into the woods. Kimberly had to be in there somewhere and they hadn't seen her from the other way.
"You know, you could stay back at camp. You are holding us back." Goldar replied as Scorpina and Archerina snickered. Tommy stood there because he didn't know what to do. These people were crazy and he didn't want to set them off and for the moment they were off his back about finding Kimberly.
"Look, I think this lake is spring fed because its not stagnate." Scorpina said pointing to the lake. "We should go up hill to find its source." She said looking back at the others.
"Why?" Rito asked wondering what the lake had to do with anything. They had plenty of water back at camp along with what they had on them.
"Kimberly will need water and she won't risk the lake because its all open. My bet would be on the spring." Scorpina replied as Tommy nodded. He hated working against Kim right now but he knew that he had to act like he was working with them to save her.
"I agree with Scorpina, Kimberly will need water and that other path is not showing any signs of her besides those snares and who even knows if those were hers." Archerina stated looking at the others.
"Fine, we head up hill to find her." Goldar said taking the lead. The rest followed him as they set out across the field to take the North side. Tommy looked around and wondered if Kim was near a stream. He prayed that she did find water and was safe but he just didn't know. He didn't know how big the arena really was.
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"This could not be any more perfect." Finster said rubbing his hands. He saw that the rangers were finally on Kimberly's trail and she could not climb a tree this time with her leg in that bad of shape.
"Do you want us to stop her?" Ivan asked looking up at Finster. They could block Kimberly's path so that the others could catch up with her and force a showdown.
"No, we don't want the people to think that we are trying to get her killed. Let them find her on their own but prepare a cannon. She will be dead before the day is out." He said with a smile as he watched the rangers advance on Kimberly. Today was the day that the Firebird would die. She may have escaped the fire he had thrown at her but she would not escape them.
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"Her leg doesn't look good." Dimitria said sitting down next to Zordon. He had decided to watch the Games in the suite instead of heading to the victors' room. He was still a little unsure of what Dulcea's plan could be but it was better to lay low at the moment.
"I know but I can't risk giving her anything right now. She is on the move and the medicine may not reach her and that would be a waste of a gift." He said as she nodded.
"Do you think that Tommy and the rangers will find her today?" She asked as he sighed. It was a good chance that they would since they were on the right track now and Kim was moving slower than normal because of her leg.
"I think they will but I have faith in Tommy and Kimberly to make it through this." He answered as she nodded.
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Kim finally made it back to the spring and just jumped in. The cold water hit her burn and caused her to gasp. It hurt but the pain quickly was replaced by a numb feeling. She moved over to the bank and climbed out of the water. It had probably not been a good idea to jump in and make that big of a splash but she had to cool that leg off. It had been burning since this morning and she had just wanted it to stop. She drank some water quickly and refilled her bottle so that she would have fresh later today. The good thing about jumping in was that her clothes would take a while to dry so that should keep her cool enough.
Looking at her leg, she saw that it was red and blistered. Thankfully the skin didn't look charred so she knew that she didn't have third degree burns only second. It was still bad because if that blister were to bust, it could cause an infection and she didn't need that added to her list. An infection would require some kind of antibiotic.
She stood up and heard the cannon fired twice. Two more tributes dead so that left 10. She would have to wait until tonight to find out who they had been but they had either run up on each other or someone else had found them together. Either way, they were dead now and the list alive was slowly dwindling down.
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Tommy turned away as Rito pulled the spear out of the girl. He had hit her in the neck and there had been so much blood that it had almost made him lose his breakfast. How could they even stand there and watched Rito wipe his spear on the girl's clothes? It was like he hadn't just killed the girl. There was no remorse or respect for the dead.
"Well that's two more down." Rito said as Scorpina retrieved her knife from the boy's neck. They had just happened on them in the woods. Scorpina had killed the boy first while Rito took out the girl. Scorpina had thrown her dagger so quick that no one knew that she had thrown it until it appeared in the boy's neck. Tommy just looked away until after they passed them. Scorpina had at least made hers a clean kill whereas Rito had prolonged that girl's death by hitting the artery in her neck. She bled out quickly but it was still the point that he could have ended her life instead of letting her suffer.
"What's wrong? Can't take the dirty side of the Games?" Goldar asked looking at Tommy as they passed the two dead tributes.
"Just wondering when we will get back to finding Kimberly." Tommy replied as Goldar smiled. The smile wasn't quite what Tommy expected. What had made Goldar smile like that in the middle of the woods?
"Don't worry; I think that we are close. We have been following a set of tracks and they are pretty small. She's close and she's injured." He said walking away from Tommy to lead the group back on the trail he had found. The trail had to be the reason that Goldar was smiling. He thought he had Kim now.
Tommy took his place in the back of the line once again and thought about what Goldar had said. Kim was hurt but he didn't know how badly. What had happened?
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"They are closing in on her." Ivan said as Finster nodded. They had kept one screen trained on the rangers and one of Kimberly. The other one was jumping from the remaining tributes except for Mesogog since they couldn't get a clear angle on him. He was in the tall grass by the lake but he rarely ventured out for a clear shot.
"Make sure that you keep the camera trained on them. They will be the action in a little bit and we have to show everything. Do not let that fight go down without several cameras trained on it." He stated as everyone nodded. They understood that they had to get this right. When the rangers caught up with Kimberly, there would be a showdown, they just didn't know who would come out the winner between them but it would be all on camera for the people to see.
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Kimberly was leaving the spring when she heard noises behind her. Turning she saw the rangers and in that moment, they saw her too. She took off running even though the pain had returned to her leg a hundred times worse than what it had been. Running was not a good idea but she had no other choice. They would not get the chance to kill her.
"Well look what we found!" Scorpina yelled as Kim heard them start running. A dagger flew past her head and stuck in a tree. She had to get away from them and the only way to do that was to climb one of these trees. Looking around, she found one that she would be able to climb easily. She finally made it to it and began to climb as fast as she could with her leg burning. The rangers had finally reached her when she was barely off the ground.
"Climbing the tree won't help you." Scorpina shouted pulling out another dagger. "Get her, Goldar." She said as Goldar handed her his sword.
"Looks like this bird can't fly away this time." Rito taunted as Goldar started trying to climb the tree. Kim had made it look so easy but Goldar could barely make it up the tree a few feet. The branches did not look like they could hold anyone's weight let alone Goldar's.
"Get up that tree." Archerina said as Goldar tried once again. He had finally made it to the first branch until it broke off and sent him back to the ground on his back with a thump.
"Its not as easy as it looks." Kim said with a slight giggle from several feet above them. She was hugging the tree as close as she could, trying to ease the ache in her leg. She was gasping trying to catch her breath as well. The climb up had been murder on her leg but at least she was alive.
"We don't have to climb that tree; I will just shoot her down." Archerina said as she grabbed the bow and an arrow. She took aim and fired but missed Kim completely. The arrow wasn't anywhere near Kim. Gritting her teeth, Archerina took aim once again. This arrow got closer to Kim but not close enough. Archerina really needed to improve her skill if she was going to try to shoot at Kimberly through the branches and leaves.
"I know why you didn't score as well as I did." Kim laughed breathlessly as she eased onto a branch so that she could sit down. "You could try throwing the sword but I don't think that it will reach me." She said with a short laugh. It even hurt to laugh at the moment.
"Scorpina, do you think that you could hit her through all the leaves and branches?" Goldar asked trying to find a good angle on Kimberly.
"No probably not and even if I could it would be tricky. She had got several branches between us and her. I would need to see her clearly and right now we can barely see an outline of her." She answered as he nodded. He knew that it would be a long shot but he had to ask. Kim had picked a good tree to hide from them.
"Why don't we just wait her out?" Tommy asked as they looked back at him. They had forgotten that he was back there since he hadn't been calling out for Goldar to get Kimberly like the others had.
"What?" Rito asked looking over his shoulder at him.
"She can't stay in the tree forever; we can wait her out until she comes down." He said again as Scorpina looked at Goldar.
"He has a good point; she can't stay in the tree forever. We will wait until she does come down." He said as they nodded. "Now get some wood, we are staying here tonight." He ordered as Scorpina and Archerina nodded and left to go find wood for a fire.
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Kim watched as they built their fire up. It just reminded her of this morning and the blister that was now busted on her leg. The blister must have rubbed against the tree until it had given up and busted. The skin was raw and pink looking and even after jumping into the water, the skin was hot. She could barely touch it but she knew that she would need to keep it covered to prevent it from getting infected. She had thought about tearing off a piece of her shirt but it was dirty and that would only introduce dirt into the wound faster.
Shifting back, she closed her eyes as the sun disappeared from the sky. The tree that she had picked was covered in leaves which helped her out from below but she could barely see the sky. She wanted to see who the two tributes had been earlier because she was pretty sure that the rangers had killed them. Looking back down at them, she found Tommy sitting a few feet away from them. Why wasn't he right next to them? Something wasn't right but she couldn't worry about that now. She had to come up with a plan to get out of the tree without the rangers killing her as soon as her feet touched the ground.
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"Well that makes two more tributes dead on our three day into the Games. If you are keeping track at home there are only 10 more tributes left alive. Of course as you can see our tribute from District 12 is treed at the moment. How will this turn of events play out in the morning? You will have to stay tuned to see." Deca said as the screen focused in on Kimberly and the rangers. None of the other tributes were being watched as closely since there was nothing really going on with them and everyone wanted to see if Kim could make it through this.
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Zordon saw the pain in Kim's eyes and knew that it was time to send her a gift. She would need to get some sleep tonight in order to be alert for tomorrow. Setting his glass down, he went in search of Finster and Dulcea. They would get Kim the medicine that she needed for that leg.
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"Her leg is looking worse." Kira said as she cleaned the dishes from dinner.
"I wish that we could send some money for medicine." Carolina muttered as she watched the pain on her daughter's face. The burn needed to be treated right away but medicine during the Games was too high and Kim would be angry if she knew that she used what little money they had to buy her medicine while she was in the Games.
"Maybe Zordon will send her some; I heard the Capitol has powerful medicine that it can heal a burn in a few hours." Kira stated as she finished with the dishes. Jason hadn't joined them tonight so there weren't as many dishes as last night.
Carolina knew that Jason was upset with the new development of Tommy and Kimberly. She just wished that she could understand it too because she just couldn't believe that Tommy would betray Kimberly. There had to be something going on but only time would tell what.
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Kim heard a little ding and looked around. What was that noise? She finally saw a pink parachute heading towards her. She knew that it was for her because before the Games started they were assigned their colors so that no one got the wrong gift. Some tributes did steal other gifts but it was few and far between. She of course had been assigned pink while Tommy had gotten white.
As it came near, she grabbed it and hoped that it was something for her burn but whatever it was she was just happy that she had sponsors. She wasn't doing this alone like she had thought at first.
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Dulcea smiled as Kim grabbed her gift. She had been at the controls trying to get the gift as close to her as possible. It was her job to get the gifts to who they were supposed to go.
"Well it looks like things have quieted down for the moment." Finster said behind her.
"Yea but I think that once the sun rises, we may see a showdown." She replied keeping her tone neutral.
"I hope you're right, I have a meeting with President Zedd in an hour and I know that he will not be happy about the lack of action." He stated as she turned to face him.
"You almost killed Kimberly this morning with the fire, what more does he want?" She asked folding her arms across her chest.
"No one is fighting; they stay pretty much to themselves. It's a little boring." He stated looking from the screen to her.
"Viewership is at its all-time high. I think that people are watching the see if Kimberly will be able to take down the rangers and win it all" She said picking up the sheet of paper that she had just printed off.
"I'll be sure to tell him that." Finster said rolling his eyes before walking away from her.
Dulcea watched him walk away and wondered what Zedd would say to Finster. Looking back at the screen she watched as Kim opened her gift. Everything hinged on her and she just had to stay alive.
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Kim opened her package and saw a note on top of a container. "Trust Tommy and stay alive." The note said. Trust Tommy? What was Zordon trying to tell her? Tommy was working with the rangers or was this, another plan of Tommy's. She was going to beat that boy if she got him alone. All these plans were driving her crazy and she couldn't keep them straight.
Taking out the container, she opened it and dabbed her fingers in it. She knew that this was for her burn because the aloe was strong. Closing her eyes, she began to rub it on her leg and sighed. The relief was instant. She rubbed some more on before putting it away in her bag. She would hold onto that in case she needed it again. It could possibly help with something else as well.
Easing to the side, she looked at the rangers and Tommy down below her. They were just about asleep now with no one on guard. Apparently they didn't think that anyone would sneak up on them. She thought about making a run for it now but knew that they would probably catch up with her in no time.
Leaning back she heard a whistle. She looked around and didn't see anything when she heard another whistle. She looked at the tree closest to her and saw Shayla. The little girl was perched on a slim branch motioning at her. What did she want? She started looking up her head where Shayla was pointing and saw something that made her blood run cold.
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"Stinger Wingers." Trini breathed as she watched Kimberly look up.
"I think Finster placed that there because that's a huge nest. I don't think that I have ever seen one get that big." Rocky said leaning back. They were the only ones still up in the victors' room. They wanted to see what happened throughout the night with Kim and the rangers.
"Well if she moves now, she can get away from them before they wake up in the morning." She said as he nodded.
"I think that she should use it against the rangers." He said looking at Trini. During his Games, he had been deadly with his plans. He used things around him to take down the other tributes.
She looked at him before looking back at the screen. "Actually that could work; she could at least kill one of them with them." She stated as he nodded.
They both knew that Stinger Wingers were deadly when someone was bitten more than five times. The Capitol had unleashed them on the outer districts to help control them during the summer time. They would kill off several hundred people a year just because someone had gotten close to their nest. They looked like honey bees but were much, much bigger and had a red hue to their body almost as if they were on fire.
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"President Zedd, you wanted to see me?" Finster asked as he walked into what everyone referred to as the throne room. Zedd wasn't a King but with the one chair in the room that was set up on the dais you would never know it. He acted like a dictator more than a King most of the time.
"Yes, I want to know how you think the Games are going." He asked as the chair spun around. The Z on the back made everyone squirm until Zedd spun around and faced you.
"The ratings are up this year and we have had more sponsors than ever before." He replied looking down at the paper in his hands. He was glad that he brought it since it gave him somewhere else to look besides Zedd.
"I didn't think that we held these Games for the ratings." Zedd muttered as Finster finally looked up at him. The ratings were what each council member had to watch for the Games. It had been stressed that if viewership was down then they had to crank it up.
"The people are watching." He insisted as Zedd stood up and grabbed his staff with Z on it.
"Yes, I know and that has me worried. You have one tribute that is defying the Games. She hasn't killed anyone but she is still alive. She hunts and has found water when all the other tributes are risking their lives to steal from the stronger tributes." He stated as Finster nodded. "She is becoming the face of a rebellion and you cannot allow that." He said looking up at the Z on the top of his staff.
"She is surrounded at the moment by five tributes." Finister informed him as Zedd walked closer to him.
"She was surrounded by fire this morning but made it through just fine." He stated. "You know that you have last longer than any Council member over the Games, I did wonder if you had lost your touch." He said as Finster stared at him. What was he saying?
"Mr. President, I haven't lost my touch and we can't just kill her. The people would rebel." He said as Zedd nodded not showing any emotion on his face.
"Just make sure that she doesn't become that face." Zedd said before walking away. Finster didn't know what to do because he couldn't kill her. The people would rebel if the Capitol killed her.
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Kim breathed out slowly as she studied the nest above her head. Looking back at Shayla, she nodded. The branch didn't look that big that the nest was on so she could probably break it off and what make it perfect was that the rangers were directly below it. She was just worried about getting stung but that was a chance she was going to have to take. At least one of the rangers had to be dealt with and if it all went well then they would take off and she could make a run for it.
Slinging her bag around, she dug around for the knife that Scorpina had thrown at her at the start of the Games three days ago. Was it only three days ago? It seemed like months had passed since she had made a run for it when the horn had blown. She eased up on her feet and knew that whatever had been in that medicine was fast working. Her leg felt better than it had all day and it wasn't feeling that hot any longer.
She took a deep breath and began sawing into the branch. She wouldn't get any sleep tonight but it was worth it to get away from the rangers. If she could get it at least half way done, she would be able to break the rest of the branch and send it down below.
A few hours later, Kim yawned and saw the sky begin to lighten. It was getting close to day break and she knew that she would have to break the branch. It was almost to the half-way point when she started to here buzzing. The Stinger Wingers were waking up so she began sawing faster. She didn't want them to sting her before she finished with the branch.
She began to panic when they started flying out of the nest. Dropping the knife she grabbed the branch and pulled as hard as she could. She felt at least two stings her but she finally heard the branch crack and watched as it flew to the ground below her right onto of Archerina. Smiling she felt another sting as the rangers jumped up. They were being attacked and like she had predicted, they all took running except Archerina. She had fallen to the ground a few feet from where she had slept. The Stinger Wingers were covering her so that you couldn't see her anymore just them outlining her body.
Kim closed her eyes as she leaned forward. She barely caught herself before she fell out of the tree completely. Opening her eyes, she tried to climb down but ended up falling the last few feet. She had to get to Archerina to get the bow and arrows. They were her only chance. As she neared her, the Stinger Wingers had flown off leaving only a swollen, dead tribute. The stings had swollen in that short time frame that Kim couldn't even tell that it was Archerina's body.
Shaking her head, she grabbed the bow as she heard someone running towards her. She was starting to move slowly and she knew that she needed to get out of here before she passed out from the stings that she had received. Grabbing the quiver full of arrows, she saw Tommy running towards with Goldar right behind him. She couldn't get her legs to stand up though until they were almost upon her.
"RUN!" Tommy yelled as Kim blinked. He was barely in focus but she did see Goldar raise his sword as Tommy turned to face the District 2 tribute. Kim finally managed to make her legs work. She turned and tried to run in the other direction but she wasn't sure if she was running or not. The last thing that she remembered was falling over a tree that had fallen and resting her head on a soft patch of green moss. After that everything went black and she just prayed that Goldar killed her quickly. She didn't want to suffer. It was her last thought as a pair of boots stopped near her head.
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Okay so that did everyone think? Please let me know. The next chapter should be out next week and again thanks to everyone who is reading and reviewing this story.