Sorry for the really long delay guys! Here's chapter 10:
"Tributes, may I have your attention please," the loudspeaker cackled. "There has been a rule change." Warily, Pocahontas and Mulan sat up, both anxious and curious to hear what this new mystery rule change would be. Neither of them wanted to hasten the time before their inevitable fight to the death, so the announcement was a welcome distraction.
The announcement continued.
"This is due to the trending topic of Pocalon."
Mulan blinked. Is that what I think it is? she thought, appalled. Mulan knew that people would always be able to concoct ridiculous theories based on nothing but speculation, but she was shocked that millions of people actually truly believed in this… extremely humiliating rumor. Her mind raced to think up anything the two of them had done over the course of seven days that could be in any way misconstrued. Let's see, we hiked up a mountain, fought tributes, ate food...oh. Mulan suppressed a groan. We shared a blanket.
She caught Pocahontas's eye and they both turned away, embarrassed. Mulan felt her face burning. This is ridiculous. It doesn't exist, I don't have feelings for her, and she treats me like a sister anyway. Mulan was straight; she knew that she loved Shang. And Pocahontas had once talked about someone back home. Why the hell would they try to create more drama? As if it's not hard enough as it is.
"Tributes. You have dazzled us with heroism, selflessness, intelligence, and bravery. We have decided to swing the odds in your favor."
There was silence as the the two tributes nervously waited for the announcement to continue.
"The rule change is…"
The announcer paused for dramatic effect.
"There can be two victors."
Two victors? Pocahontas nearly jumped up at the idea. Two victors… that means Mulan and I can go home.
Two victors? Mulan looked around warily. There was hope, but Mr. Ratcliffe had said, "there can be two victors". That practically ensured more obstacles, drama, and suffering.
"Both of you will be allowed to win if you both can survive until 12:00 AM tomorrow night. Have fun! And may the odds be ever in your favor."
There were conflicted feelings back in District 2. On one hand, Mulan actually had a chance to return home with her honor still intact. On the other hand, people didn't know what to think of this controversial Pocalon subject. Since everyone knew that Mulan and Shang were together, they had simply brushed the topic aside before as simply a wild piece of fiction which some attention-seeker had made up, but now that it was famous nationwide, they had no choice but to acknowledge it and try to dispel it.
In District 11, however, only John Smith was angered by the news. Since he and Pocahontas had been meeting in secret, only the small group of people in Pocahontas's working unit had found out about them, and even they had grown to root for Mulan as well. John Smith didn't think that the two-victor rule was a good thing; Mulan was already weak, so Pocahontas should have no problem killing her off. Now that there could be two victors, she would be in danger for another entire day while trying to help Mulan at the same time. She follows her heart too much, he thought, shaking his head.
Pocahontas prepared herself for what would be, without a doubt, an extremely awkward next few hours. She and Mulan had watched silently as the water was somehow drained out of the arena, sinking slowly as the sheet of ice they were perched on top of dropped along with the water's surface. Now they stood, both turned slightly away from each other, awaiting the first obstacle.
A minute passed, and nothing happened. Swallowing hard, Pocahontas turned toward Mulan. "Do you think—"
"False sense of security," Mulan answered quickly, cutting her off.
"Oh," Pocahontas answered quietly.
Mulan glanced over at her and sighed.
"Sorry," she said, smiling apologetically. "I'm just… anxious. There's only 18 more hours until we get out of here."
Pocahontas smiled when Mulan used the word 'until' instead of 'if'. She was also relieved that 1) Mulan didn't plan to kill her, and 2) that she believed they could make it out alive. Together.
She was about to express her gratitude when Mulan suddenly grabbed her arm.
"Oh. My. God. Look," she said quietly, as if this new threat would hear her. Pocahontas could barely detect a hint of fear in her voice, but it was certainly there.
She turned and followed Mulan's gaze. There, she was met with the sight of a huge dragon, circling around in the sky.
Pocahontas let out a strangled gasp. The dragon was enormous, covered in jet-black scales like armor, and spikes protruded out of its back and tail. They looked sharp enough to slice through steel. At the sound of her gasp, its bright, daunting green eyes turned in the direction of the two tributes. Pocahontas continued to stare incredulously, trying to wake herself up from the nightmare she was having, because while mermaids and magical ice powers were real, dragons were obviously not.
Obviously.
The dragon's eyes narrowed when it caught sight of Mulan and Pocahontas, and its nostrils flared. He—or she—then let out a tremendous blood-curdling roar that shook the foundations of the arena, and a spray of green fire erupted out of it's mouth, illuminating its sharp teeth.
The fire came within an inch of Pocahontas, singeing a few strands of her long, dark hair, which contrasted greatly with the other strands of stiff, ice blue hair, still frozen from Elsa's ice.
Mulan's turned into fear as the dragon swooped downwards, it's eyes boring into Mulan's, as if to say, "hey, you're next".
"They must keep those dragons captive..." Pocahontas murmured, a horrified expression on her face and, to Mulan's dismay, genuinely feeling sympathy for the very creature that was aiming to kill them both.
"Um, Pocahontas," Mulan laughed nervously as she eyed the incoming dragon. "Maybe this is not the best to-" She cursed loudly instead of finishing her sentence; the dragon was now just above the two of them.
Both of them dropped to the ground and rolled aside in opposite directions as the dragon opened its unattractively large mouth and shot out neon green flames that yet again barely missed the two girls.
"It must have had a terrible life, poor thing," Pocahontas had the nerve to say, and Mulan glared at her. She was about to give Pocahontas a piece of her mind when the dragon set foot on the ground in front of them, roaring in aggression upon his—or her—landing.
Pocahontas tentatively took a small step forwards, a movement that almost had Mulan screaming at her.
"What are you doing?" she hissed, voice full of urgency. "We need to get away from here; that ugly son of a dragon is going to kill us—"
She was cut off by another earthquake-worthy roar that shattered her eardrums to the point where she went deaf for a moment. The dragon then charged at Mulan, who stumbled backwards and desperately tried to outrun the dragon, though she knew it was a long shot. As she ran, she felt a burning hot flame scorch her body all the way down from her lower back to her ankles. Letting out a small breath of pain, Mulan took to running in a zigzag motion, stopping and starting, slowing and speeding, to try and foil the dragon's persistent attack. It didn't work.
As soon as Mulan stopped and changed the direction of her flight, the dragon, with it's quick reflexes, not only caught up with her immediately, but added injury to insult by sending bright green, scorching hot sparks raining down on her. It then proceeded to lift its arm up, and with a mighty swipe, left four bloody stripes across the back of Mulan's shoulders. The force of the blow knocked Mulan to the ground, where she rolled a few times before slowing to a stop.
Breathing raggedly and propping herself up with one elbow, Mulan glared back into the dragon's undaunted, fierce green eyes. It slammed its spike covered tail into her left leg, leaving Mulan bleeding and gasping for breath.
The dragon then rose and flapped its wings a few times, as if to shake off the dirty human blood that was ruining his majestic, bold look. It ascended into the air just above Mulan and flew a few looping circles around where she lay, breathing unevenly and watching its every move. The dragon stretched its mouth into what looked like its version of a toothy, pride-filled grin and did a few more victory laps around its fallen victim. Mulan just lay there, struggling for breath, as it circled around her, gloating in its victory.
"Mulan!" Pocahontas called, sprinting over to where she lay.
"Get away from here!" Mulan screamed back, waving her away furiously.
The dragon let out a snort of confusion as it turned its enormous, scaly head to look at Pocahontas.
"Go away!" Mulan screamed again, her tone taking a turn for despair when she realized that Pocahontas had no intention of doing so.
Roar! The dragon's attention was turned back on Mulan. It lifted its chin, and with a dramatic twist of the neck, sent a shower of ash and fire at Mulan's defenseless form.
"Mulan!" Pocahontas's voice echoed in Mulan's head as she coughed in vain to get the fumes out of her lungs. Another jet of searing hot fire shot out of the dragon's mouth, and all Mulan could do was feebly raise her right hand to try and stop the flames from reaching her, though it did nothing of the sort.
"Stop!" she pleaded weakly when the dragon prepared to send a third flourish of torture upon her, closing her eyes to ease the stinging in them.
"Stop it!" Pocahontas commanded, though Mulan was still cowering in a ball, not daring to open her eyes.
The dragon turned its head to growl a warning at Pocahontas before returning its attention to Mulan.
"Stop." Pocahontas ordered again, this time with a more controlled tone, similar to the one she used when she trained animals.
Mulan opened her eyes a crack to see Pocahontas advancing slowly towards the dragon, her hand outstretched. Oh my god, she thought. What is she doing?!
The dragon landed on the ground with a thud. It had its eyes fixed on Pocahontas now and was tracking her every movement.
Pocahontas took another tentative step towards the dragon, ignoring Mulan's frantic hand gestures that were signalling for her to come back. She was getting closer to the dragon's mouth, but just then, her foot landed on a piece of ice with a crunch.
The dragon's eyes flashed dangerously, and it backed up, crouched with its ears flattened against its head.
A full minute passed, and no one moved. Then, with bated breath, Pocahontas began her slow advance again, desperately trying to stop her hand from trembling as she neared the beast for a second time.
Pocahontas stopped her advance a mere foot away from the dragon. She swallowed before bowing her head slightly, avoiding eye contact with the dragon, and then, ever so slowly, reaching up to touch its nose.
When her hand first made contact, the dragon flinched away from her touch. But after another tense moment, it let Pocahontas touch it again, and soon enough, it was comfortable enough with her that she could stroke its scaly nose without fear of losing her arm.
Well, without too much fear, anyway.
Mulan watched the entire exchange through squinted eyes (she still couldn't open them fully without them burning). With each stroke of the girl's hand, Mulan felt her respect for Pocahontas grow more and more.
When Pocahontas was confident that the dragon wasn't going to kill neither her nor Mulan, she slowly backed up until she stood beside her ally. Looking down with wary eyes, she took in Mulan's red, festering skin, some of it already beginning to peel off. It was a strange sight—both mesmerizing and revolting at the same time. It took everything in her not to gag at the combination of the sight of her ally and the pungent stench of burning hair.
"That was… amazing," Mulan managed to croak out, her voice cracking. "I'm—"
"Shhh," Pocahontas soothed, not wanting Mulan to put any more strain on her voice. She walked over to the lake. It was still frozen over with ice, but with a few stomps of her foot, she managed to break through to the surface of the water. Pocahontas bent down and cupped her hands to form a makeshift bowl. She dipped her hands into the water and then, bringing her hands up to her lips, gulped it down, sighing in relief as it soothed the burning feeling in her throat. After repeating this enough times that the taste of ash no longer lingered in her mouth, she refilled her hands and brought some water back over to Mulan, who drank from her hands gratefully.
When she stood up to refill, however, she noticed that the dragon had disappeared.
"No," she groaned. The absence of the dragon definitely meant another obstacle would be on its way, and with Mulan weak from pain and exhaustion, the odds were definitely not in their favor.
Not for the first time since the Games had started, Pocahontas considered killing Mulan, but this time, it was with the intention that she could ease some of her pain. But she quickly dismissed the thought. She knew she couldn't do it. She could never live with herself, much less face the crowds of District 2, or anyone for that matter, if she killed Mulan now. If Pocahontas killed Mulan, it would be an act of selfishness and completely unforgivable. If Mulan died because of an obstacle, Pocahontas would be disliked, perhaps, but forgivable. But if they both made it out alive…
Pocahontas, now filled with new resolve, returned back to the hole she'd made in the ice, and after a few trips, had Mulan sitting upright again. When she'd completed her fifth trip, Mulan had regained her voice.
"How did you know that the dragon wasn't going to, you know, bite your head off when you touched it?" Mulan asked curiously. "Have you worked with dragons before?"
"I didn't know." Pocahontas smiled. "I just didn't want you getting turned into dinner."
Mulan glared at Pocahontas's rather pathetic attempt at humor. "You could've been killed! That stunt was extremely risky and—"
"Well I could see you were taking care of yourself really well," Pocahontas shot back. "Besides..."
She trailed off when she noticed the even more intense glare that Mulan was giving her. Putting her hands up in an 'I surrender' gesture, she stood, the phrase 'if looks could kill' running through her brain.
After a moment, both girls burst out laughing.
Pocahontas had never expected to get into an argument about this sort of thing in the Hunger Games, but she was actually happy that she had.
Perhaps some of her humanity would still be intact after all of this was over.