div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;" Sleeping span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"was a mistake. I awoke to screaming voices bouncing off the walls. The only words I caught were, "get away," and, "spider." The last one made me nervous. I didn't enjoy the thought of being stuck underground with any kind of spider. I slowly sat up, pleased at how little pain I felt from my injuries, and began walking down a path I hoped would lead me above ground. As the screams seemed to fade as I put distance between me and that room, I felt safer. I could barely even notice the weight of the metal shield slung next to my backpack behind me. With Sapphire's sickle, my knife, and my shield, I was well armed. Then, using the light of my match, I saw a flicker of movement farther down the tunnel. I slowed to a light jog. As I neared, my fears were confirmed. Rushing toward me was a thick line of little black spiders./span/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" /span/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" I turned on my heels and sprinted back the way I came. There had to be more than 10,000 little spiders on my tail at that point. I also doubted that the Gamemakers had added spiders that weren't lethal, which only increased my worries. As effective as the medicine on my back and shoulder was, I still felt tremendous pain whilst running down those tunnels. I hardly cared which path I took at each crossroads, as long as I kept putting distance between the spiders and I. Finally, I spotted a ray of pale sunlight up ahead. Charging forward, I prepared to scale the staircase as fast as humanly possible while carrying a full backpack and two weapons. As I neared the stairway, another tunnel on the right fed into the one I was following. About 10 steps ahead of me, a tribute burst from the tunnel on the right. He nearly ran into the wall ahead of him, but he pushed off in time to continue his race toward the stairs./span/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" /span/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" I tried to stay as quiet as possible as the tribute who I identified as Marlin began to leap upward, three steps at a time. I followed in suit, the wave of spiders a mere six steps behind. Marlin threw himself up, into the prairie. A few moments later I followed, both of us laying in the grass, panting. Luckily, the spiders didn't leave the stairway. They then retreated back into the darkness below. Warily, I stood and placed my hand on the hilt of Sapphire's sickle. Marlin slowly got to his feet, and turned to face me. "I...have...a...proposition for you," he gasped, eyeing me with concern. "I thought...you wanted nothing...to do with me," I responded through heavy breaths. Marlin shook his head and straightened his back, looking me in the eye. The District 4 Career looked like a fisherman to me. His figure was slender and lean, he was a little taller than Carter, and his skin was sun ravaged. Marlin's hair was a short, light blonde fuzz that glazed over his head. He scowled, caught his breath, and explained, "Our only shot at taking down Supreme and Vengeance is if we work together." I frowned deeply and retorted, "You and I aren't exactly the most compatible pair." Marlin shrugged and said, to my astonishment, "I'm willing to leave all that in the past if you are." I hid the shock from my expression and answered, "Fine. Let's take them out." Then I extended my hand, watching Marlin carefully. He nodded, beamed, and then shook my hand firmly. I smiled back and raised my bandaged left shoulder. "I'm actually still dealing with a few injuries. They're almost fully healed though," I told him. He smirked and asked, "Who?"/span/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" /span/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" At that, I launched into a description of my alliance with Carter, our battle with Iron and Sapphire, along with my injuries, and then what had happened since. Once I had finished, Marlin explained, "You're friend, Carter, we helped him against Iron. That is, Woody and I. It was actually Woody who killed Iron in the end. Carter had a busted leg we helped repair, but he insisted to go find you before it healed." I smiled gravely. Carter really had been coming back for me. "I watched Vengeance kill him," I croaked. Marlin hesitated, then said, "Then I'll let you take Vengeance when we find those scumbags." I nodded and we both turned in the direction of the Cornucopia. "There's only one way to summon the Careers," Marlin muttered, beginning to walk toward the Cornucopia. I bit my lip and followed./span/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" /span/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" As we walked, Marlin and I exchanged a few strained words, but otherwise remained silent. There was a heavy tension in the air. We both knew that we were entering the final battle. "If we can surprise them, that would be best," Marlin advised. I nodded in agreement and added, "We could try to approach the Cornucopia from the back." Marlin liked the idea and so we formed our strategy. As the metal structure got larger and larger on the horizon, I decided to offer a sincere apology to Marlin. "I only did the chocolate thing for the audience you know," I explained slowly, "It was never personal." Marlin simply shrugged me off and replied, "I know. Let's not dwell on the past." I couldn't tell whether he had forgiven me, but I tossed those thoughts aside as we neared the back of the Cornucopia. Marlin and I sat, crouched, behind the large metal structure. We still hadn't seen either of the Careers. "Stay alert," Marlin warned. I nodded and checked behind us. No one was in sight. Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, a loud crack sounded and my attention was directed to the trees of the jungle off in the distance. I had never personally been in that jungle, but I knew that it wasn't normal for trees to fall simultaneously. Several large trees crashed downward as the whole jungle erupted into a chorus of snapping branches and cracking trunks. Just when it seemed like the whole jungle was going to collapse, two running shadows appeared from the tree line. They were running in our direction./span/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" /span/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" "The Gamemakers flushed them out," Marlin muttered. "So this is going to be it," I answered, swallowing hard. He nodded and gripped his mace. I slowly pulled out Sapphire's sickle and mentally prepped for a fight. Then, a soft beeping was heard. I turned to Marlin as he received a gift from his sponsors. The silver parachute lead the package right into his outstretched palm. Marlin tore open the package and pulled out a small metal sphere. "It's a smoke bomb," he said with a smirk. I smiled back. "We are gonna take them out," I replied with confidence. Then, I looked past the Cornucopia and saw Supreme's flame-like hair flying in the wind as he and Vengeance rapidly approached. They couldn't see us from where we sat in hiding, but the battle was imminent and I hefted my shield. The Careers finally reached the outskirts of the Cornucopia, where they began to deliberate fiercely. For a moment it seemed as though they were about to fight one another but then they calmed and entered the Cornucopia. "They're right where we want them," Marlin chirped. I nodded and motioned for Marlin to follow me as we crept around the side of the Cornucopia. Slowly, we reached the right side of the mouth of the Cornucopia. "Ready?" Marlin whispered. "As I'll ever be," I replied weakly. With that, the both of us rushed out into the open./span/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" /span/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" I turned on my heels and sprinted back the way I came. There had to be more than 10,000 little spiders on my tail at that point. I also doubted that the Gamemakers had added spiders that weren't lethal, which only increased my worries. As effective as the medicine on my back and shoulder was, I still felt tremendous pain whilst running down those tunnels. I hardly cared which path I took at each crossroads, as long as I kept putting distance between the spiders and I. Finally, I spotted a ray of pale sunlight up ahead. Charging forward, I prepared to scale the staircase as fast as humanly possible while carrying a full backpack and two weapons. As I neared the stairway, another tunnel on the right fed into the one I was following. About 10 steps ahead of me, a tribute burst from the tunnel on the right. He nearly ran into the wall ahead of him, but he pushed off in time to continue his race toward the stairs./span/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" /span/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" I tried to stay as quiet as possible as the tribute who I identified as Marlin began to leap upward, three steps at a time. I followed in suit, the wave of spiders a mere six steps behind. Marlin threw himself up, into the prairie. A few moments later I followed, both of us laying in the grass, panting. Luckily, the spiders didn't leave the stairway. They then retreated back into the darkness below. Warily, I stood and placed my hand on the hilt of Sapphire's sickle. Marlin slowly got to his feet, and turned to face me. "I...have...a...proposition for you," he gasped, eyeing me with concern. "I thought...you wanted nothing...to do with me," I responded through heavy breaths. Marlin shook his head and straightened his back, looking me in the eye. The District 4 Career looked like a fisherman to me. His figure was slender and lean, he was a little taller than Carter, and his skin was sun ravaged. Marlin's hair was a short, light blonde fuzz that glazed over his head. He scowled, caught his breath, and explained, "Our only shot at taking down Supreme and Vengeance is if we work together." I frowned deeply and retorted, "You and I aren't exactly the most compatible pair." Marlin shrugged and said, to my astonishment, "I'm willing to leave all that in the past if you are." I hid the shock from my expression and answered, "Fine. Let's take them out." Then I extended my hand, watching Marlin carefully. He nodded, beamed, and then shook my hand firmly. I smiled back and raised my bandaged left shoulder. "I'm actually still dealing with a few injuries. They're almost fully healed though," I told him. He smirked and asked, "Who?"/span/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" /span/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" At that, I launched into a description of my alliance with Carter, our battle with Iron and Sapphire, along with my injuries, and then what had happened since. Once I had finished, Marlin explained, "You're friend, Carter, we helped him against Iron. That is, Woody and I. It was actually Woody who killed Iron in the end. Carter had a busted leg we helped repair, but he insisted to go find you before it healed." I smiled gravely. Carter really had been coming back for me. "I watched Vengeance kill him," I croaked. Marlin hesitated, then said, "Then I'll let you take Vengeance when we find those scumbags." I nodded and we both turned in the direction of the Cornucopia. "There's only one way to summon the Careers," Marlin muttered, beginning to walk toward the Cornucopia. I bit my lip and followed./span/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" /span/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" As we walked, Marlin and I exchanged a few strained words, but otherwise remained silent. There was a heavy tension in the air. We both knew that we were entering the final battle. "If we can surprise them, that would be best," Marlin advised. I nodded in agreement and added, "We could try to approach the Cornucopia from the back." Marlin liked the idea and so we formed our strategy. As the metal structure got larger and larger on the horizon, I decided to offer a sincere apology to Marlin. "I only did the chocolate thing for the audience you know," I explained slowly, "It was never personal." Marlin simply shrugged me off and replied, "I know. Let's not dwell on the past." I couldn't tell whether he had forgiven me, but I tossed those thoughts aside as we neared the back of the Cornucopia. Marlin and I sat, crouched, behind the large metal structure. We still hadn't seen either of the Careers. "Stay alert," Marlin warned. I nodded and checked behind us. No one was in sight. Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, a loud crack sounded and my attention was directed to the trees of the jungle off in the distance. I had never personally been in that jungle, but I knew that it wasn't normal for trees to fall simultaneously. Several large trees crashed downward as the whole jungle erupted into a chorus of snapping branches and cracking trunks. Just when it seemed like the whole jungle was going to collapse, two running shadows appeared from the tree line. They were running in our direction./span/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" /span/div
div style="color: #454545; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 17px; text-decoration: -webkit-letterpress;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" "The Gamemakers flushed them out," Marlin muttered. "So this is going to be it," I answered, swallowing hard. He nodded and gripped his mace. I slowly pulled out Sapphire's sickle and mentally prepped for a fight. Then, a soft beeping was heard. I turned to Marlin as he received a gift from his sponsors. The silver parachute lead the package right into his outstretched palm. Marlin tore open the package and pulled out a small metal sphere. "It's a smoke bomb," he said with a smirk. I smiled back. "We are gonna take them out," I replied with confidence. Then, I looked past the Cornucopia and saw Supreme's flame-like hair flying in the wind as he and Vengeance rapidly approached. They couldn't see us from where we sat in hiding, but the battle was imminent and I hefted my shield. The Careers finally reached the outskirts of the Cornucopia, where they began to deliberate fiercely. For a moment it seemed as though they were about to fight one another but then they calmed and entered the Cornucopia. "They're right where we want them," Marlin chirped. I nodded and motioned for Marlin to follow me as we crept around the side of the Cornucopia. Slowly, we reached the right side of the mouth of the Cornucopia. "Ready?" Marlin whispered. "As I'll ever be," I replied weakly. With that, the both of us rushed out into the open./span/div