A.N.: What? Is this an update? After two years have I finally decided to update? Sure have. It's short but it's something. Here you go.
Disclaimer: I don't own Hunger Games or anything that seems familiar. I own only my OCs.
Language Warning.
The buzzer went off and I ran. I ran straight to the cornucopia. I could see a pair of dual broadswords sitting there right in the center just waiting for me to grab them. As I was running I swept a dark green backpack into my arms and tossed it onto my back continuing on my way to get my swords. Before I could get to them I saw the red headed girl from Seven sweep in and steal them along with a small axe before sprinting away into the forest.
Damn it! She's fast. Much faster than any of us were led to believe. I growled and changed direction. I cut a hard left and took off after Seven. I want my fucking swords!
Out of the corner of my eye I saw a boy rushing at me as I neared the edge of the clearing. I dodged as he lunged for me and he fell to the ground. I stood over him and drove the heel of my boot into the back of his exposed neck. The boy went limp in the grass and I snagged the knife out of his unmoving hands and took the small backpack he had in his possession as well. After hastily taking what I could I stood up so I could take off to track down Seven once more when I heard a faint and raspy whisper come from the boy. My eyes widened. He's not dead?!
"Kill me...please."
I looked down in horror at the boy I hadn't managed to kill, only paralyze. I moved to bend down and snap his neck but I heard Glimmer's voice.
"Hey, look! There's Four!" she shouted with malicious glee.
"Shit." I hissed. I briskly looked down at the boy I had paralyzed and dashed off into the forest leaving him laying in the dirt.
I ran. I ran as far as I could changing direction slightly as to hopefully throw them off my trail. I had no idea whether any of them were proficient trackers or not, but it was worth a shot. As I got further and further away from the clearing I realized I needed to slow down and figure things out. It didn't seem like the Careers were following closely. A big group like that would make plenty of noise. When I found a seemingly safe spot deep in the forest I dropped down to the ground and held my head in my hands. Gods above! How am I going to survive this?! How am I going to manage? How am I going to do this on my own? I could feel myself start to hyperventilate.
Breathe.
I could practically hear Finnick's voice in my head telling me to calm down and breathe. I grasped at the seashell necklace and focused on slowing my breaths.
Once I got my breathing back to normal I checked what I kind of things I had managed to secure. In the larger green backpack I found two knives, a small water bottle, a thin blanket, and a length of sturdy rope. In the smaller backpack there was another empty water bottle, a pair of socks, and some tablets which I'm pretty sure were to clean the water once I actually found some. I also had the other knife I had taken from the boy.
I winced when I thought of him. I left him there. I just left him there to die from either the careers or until the elements take him. I was hoping or the former. Even if it was bloodier, it would be a much quicker death then waiting hours or even possibly days to die.
I continued on and decided to look for water and something to eat before hunting down that girl from Seven. I was really hoping there would be fish in whatever water source was in this arena. Based on the terrain I was going to go with some type of river or stream. It would fit with the whole forest thing.
When the sun was at its highest point in the sky I finally found water. It was from a stream that seemed to widen as it flowed on which meant moving water. Moving water was good. Moving water meant a less chance of picking up something nasty from it like you could stagnant water like a small pond. I used a small boulder to shield my left side as I kneeled down to get some water. I filled both bottles and used one of the little purification tablets in each water bottle. As I took a drink of water I heard movement coming from my left. I peeked over the top of the boulder and saw the little girl from Eleven eagerly drink water from the stream.
I frowned when I saw that she didn't carry anything with her. She must not have been able to grab anything from the cornucopia. I scanned the area to see if she was with anyone. I couldn't see anyone with her, and surely anyone with her would have wanted to get some water too. Then again, it could always be a trap. I waited a few moments and when I decided it more than likely wasn't a trap I quickly stuffed the blanket, the socks, one of the knives that had originally been in the larger backpack, one of the water bottles I had just filled, and four of the remaining purification tablets in the smaller backpack and stood up.
"Hey." I called softly in hopes of not scaring her off. The little dark haired girl from Eleven gasped and started to back away.
"Wait! Please wait. I'm not going to hurt you. I just- I just wanted to know if you needed some stuff." I said gently shaking the smaller blue backpack I help up for her to see.
She looked at me skeptically and cautiously took a step forward. "Why aren't you with the rest of the Careers?" she asked.
I sighed. "Cato kicked me out." I said plainly.
She looked intrigued at this. "Really? I thought he was your boyfriend." she asked curiously and came closer to me.
I felt the heat rush to my cheeks. "I-uh-well-you see-" I sputtered, thinking back to the moments just before the interviews. No wonder she thought he was my boyfriend. I felt my levels of embarrassment rise even more as she giggled.
She was now standing in front of me looking up at me with curious eyes. "It's okay. I won't tell anybody." she said with a smile.
"Uh-yeah, thanks. Anyway I'm Marina, and I saw you and wondered if you needed this." I said once again holding out the backpack to her. Now that she was closer I inspected her appearance more closely. She had a little dirt on her clothes and a few leaves and twigs in her hair but otherwise, she seemed okay. I did notice that she had a pair of socks identical to the ones I had put in the pack I was offering her sticking out of her jacket pocket.
"I'm Rue. Can I really take this?" she said with a cautious yet hopeful gaze in her eyes.
I smiled softly at her. "Of course. You seem to need it and I ended up with some extra stuff." How I ended up with that extra stuff was something she didn't need to know.
"There's a water bottle, some purification tablets, a blanket, and a couple of other things in there."
"Thanks!" she said and eagerly took the backpack from my outstretched hand.
"No problem. Well, I better get going. I've got some weapons to track down and Careers to evade. Good luck Rue." I said beginning to back up and make my way back into the forest.
"Wait!" the little girl called out. I turned my head to see what she wanted.
"You helped me so it's only fair that I help you. The Careers and your district partner were headed downstream if you wanted to avoid them. Thresh went into the fields so you don't have to worry about him. The boy from eight crossed the stream further down a half hour ago and the boy from Seven went upstream before him."
Right. Upstream it is. "Thanks, Rue."
She smiled at me and then climbed up and disappeared into the treetops.
I entered the forest once again to give myself a little bit of cover before heading the direction of upstream. If Rue was right and Seymour was had gone somewhere upstream there was a good chance that Cherry would be with him. It was as good a lead as any so I think I'll take my chances.
I stopped to pick edible plants I had seen along the way and by the time sunset was approaching I still hadn't managed to find Seymour, Cherry, or anyone else. I decided that up in the trees was probably a safer place to spend the night then on the ground, so I clumsily climbed the sturdiest looking tree in the area and rested my eyes while I contemplated today's events.
Today I had entered the 74th Hunger Games. Today I had attempted and failed to kill a boy that was no older than fifteen. Today I had left a boy I paralyzed to die a slow death to save my own skin. Today I gave a little girl supplies I could have kept and found use for because I was feeling guilty for leaving that other boy to die in the clearing. Today I was going to sleep in a tree in the middle of a forest where I could be killed at any moment.
My eyes shot open.
Forest.
Forest.
We were in a freaking forest. I looked up at the bits of evening sky peeking through the treetops in exasperation and huffed. Seven just became a lot more dangerous. They grew up in forests and Seymour had pulled a decent score. Not to mention his little girlfriend was clearly more than she seemed. She hadn't shown her speed in training. That display of speed alone was worth more than a three. Had she shown her full potential during the agility course I'm positive she would have outscored all of us, even Clove. I narrowed my eyes at the ground as I walked on to continue my search for water. Was this girl another Johanna Mason? It would certainly work for her. I tightened my grip on the knife I had plucked out from unmoving fingers earlier today. Fuck me and my bad decisions for getting kicked out of the Careers. Seymour and Cherry never liked me and now Cato hates my guts. Way to make yourself a target for one bloodthirsty group and another potentially lethal duo. Smart move Marina. Real smart.
I actually updated! Updates will still be sporadic but hopefully it won't take me another 2 years to update again. Many thanks to those of you who have stuck with this story. This will be completed!
Also, I'll probably be doing some editing and revising to previous chapters but I'll let y'all know as it happens. Especially if I change anything major.