Despite it being my first night in the Hunger Games, it was surprisingly peaceful; no one was hunting one another or taking advantage of the cloak of darkness to steal supplies from each other, just sleeping in tranquility... but I knew that was a lie.
The uncomfortable silence of the arena made me jump from slumber, only to find myself in a bud-like cage, to make matters worse I could feel warm juices at the bottom of my feet! Shoot; the trees must've been part Venus Fly Trap if they're capable of doing this! I tried cutting my way out with my knife, but to no avail; the walls proved to be a solid structure. The tree's leaves started to close its walls in on me, either through the desire to kill or the fact that I got it angry. If I didn't come up with something now, I was going to be plant food.
My mind soon went to the supplies I gathered earlier the other day. If my theory was correct, I'll be able to remain in the game (and most importantly keep my life). I quickly placed my knife in my mouth and turned my attention to my backpack, shuffling around to find my desired item. Finally satisfied with my findings, I grabbed a box and opened it to find the one thing that'll help; matches. I took out a match, lit it up, and 'stabbed' the walls of the tree creature with said match. To my surprise the tree shriveled at the pain inflicted by a single match, weakening the structure it so cleverly constructed, opening my window of escape.
I dropped the match, grabbed the knife from my mouth and with one swift motion, I cut through the weakened walls of the tree while feeling it's digestive juices spill to the ground below! Upon seeing the 'sunlight' of the arena, I squinted my eyes to adjust to the light, signifying I slept through the entire night. But the question that bothered me right now was when did the tree even react to my body and how did I not feel it moving?
My only assumption could be the timing of the arena; during the 'night hours', the trees would be 'asleep' and lay open like a palm tree, but during the 'day hours' it would lay open but aware of it's surroundings. Once it feels something at it's 'tongue' it'll close up on them and start the process I nearly went through. If I hadn't had those matches I for sure would've been dead meat. As to how I didn't feel the moments of the tree, my assumption... would have to be my own fault; I felt so relaxed and safe up there, that I completely blacked out the world.
I can already hear Toffee scolding me for dropping my guard, but at least he'd be impressed with me for my quick thinking. What wouldn't impress him would be my stench right now; the exposure to the acid of the plant left me smelling like something dying. I walked off to find a pond, river or some water source to water off the smell. If I survive the Hunger Games, the first thing I'm doing is taking a nice long shower.
And impressed he was; Toffee had never seen a tribute escape a Paradise Trap before, and Nova happened to be the first one to do so, and with a simple match to say the least.
"Quite an impressive turn-of-events folks!" Flick commented, "Nova Stratosphere, the Underdog of the Hunger Games, managed to escape the most deadliest trap of this year's games! Let's see that again."
The cameras focused on the 'bud' trap before Nova escaped, eventually watching it squirm under unknown circumstances and SLASH goes a wall of the 'bud' trap.
"Outstanding!" shouted Mike, "Already the second day and Nova Stratosphere is giving us the show of a lifetime! Let's see what the other tributes are up to."
"I don't understand this!" shouted one of the sponsors, "We've never had a tribute escape a Paradise Trap before, how did she even manage to do so?"
"She must have carried a certain item to weaken the tree's defenses, fighting 'fire' with 'fire' so to speak," chuckled Toffee.
"How could you be so sure?"
"It's intriguing when you pay attention to detail," he remarked, "Didn't you noticed a single singled stick within the fluids of the tree?"
The sponsors sat in silence, if there was one thing they knew about Toffee, it was that he was very attentive to detail; from his work to the Hunger Games itself. In fact, so attentive, the Capitol had offered him a job as Gamer Maker once, but refused the offer, fearing that the arenas he would create would prevent them from ever having a Victor.
"Nova Stratosphere happened to be supplied with matches last I remembered from yesterday's events. Not to mention killing Demetri in the progress," he explained.
"That is true," Theodore admitted.
"Are you sure you didn't just give her the matches?" asked Linus.
"No way man, he sent her those weird cookies, which doesn't make much sense to me," rebutted another sponsor.
"I believe those are called Macaroons Nathaniel," Theodore rebutted, "But you do have a point; why did you sent her Macaroons of all things? You could have given her a better weapon than that knife she's carrying."
"I thought it would be generous on my part to give her her last taste of sweets, after all, just because you're doing well so far, doesn't mean you'll be the one to win," he responded.
"Yeah, I get what you're saying," admitted Linus, soon followed with Theodore and Nathaniel.
"I appreciate your understanding of my motives gentlemen," he spoke, but he knew he was lying to protect the reason he didn't understand. He's only been with the tribute for three days and she's having this affect on him! What is the meaning of this?! There's has to be a reason behind this and Toffee will find out sooner or later, whether he was going to like it or not.