Chapter 13 : Rain
Survival Games : Evening of Day 3
Sophia and Yosuke had been waiting it out in the cave that day when it had begun raining. They had gone out hunting and gathering earlier before the rain started but they sighed as they realized that they would be there for some time. Thankfully, they'd also gotten some water from the river and used iodine drops to purify it.
Sophia watched the rain fall for a while as they sat in the silent cave. The only sound for most the day was the rain falling outside. "Do you think the others are okay?" she finally asked. They hadn't talked much since the day before but that's because they didn't have much to say.
"I'm sure they are, Sophia." Yosuke replied. "They're probably all in groups and in a nice shelter right now. Or...I hope so." he said, barely whispering the last part.
Sophia nodded as she pulled her knees close to her chest. "It's been about 3 days. It's weird that we haven't seen anyone in this whole time since we left the Cornucopia." she pointed out. "Someone has to be at least somewhere near us."
Yosuke nodded as he was fixing them a small dinner with as little fire as possible to cut down on smoke. "That's true but the question is always whether they're friendly or not. I mean...there's still about 16 people left out there, not including us, and I'm certain that they're not all friendly." he reminded her. "At least we know that Emy, Caleb, Jamie, and Jerika are still alive."
"Yeah, you're right." Sophia said quietly, moving a bit further back in the cave to be closer to Yosuke. "I just hope we find someone else soon before the others do."
"Me too, Sophia. Me too." Yosuke told her, gently rubbing her back. He put some of the soup in a bowl and handed it to her. "It doesn't taste the greatest but it's food." he told her sympathetically.
Sophia took a sip of it and made a face before shaking her head. "It's fine, Yo. We can't afford to be picky about here and I'd rather have squirrel and unknown veggie soup than starve." she told him, taking another sip.
Yosuke nodded as he took a sip of his own soup. "Yeah. Thankfully, we've still got water being so near to the stream. I'm sure, though, that soon we'll be forced to go find the others." he said. "So, we should probably try to get moving tomorrow."
"What if it's still raining?" Sophia asked him. "I know that we need to go but we shouldn't make ourselves sick...especially with so little medicine."
"I know that." Yosuke said, thinking a minute. "I just know that we need to get going tomorrow if we want any chance to find the others."
"Then why not leave today? If we hurry, we might catch up to some of them..." Sophia pointed out. "We've only got two backpacks full of supplies left anyways. It's better than just sitting here. I know that it'll be dark soon but hopefully all the Careers won't be moving around much."
"You're right." Yosuke agreed before looking at their soup. "Let's finish our dinner and then be on our way. The sooner the better."
Sophia nodded, finishing her bowl before getting some more. "It may not be the greatest but it is pretty filling." she told him before kissing his cheek. "Thanks, Yosuke."
Yosuke chuckled. "You're welcome, Sophia. I'll be sure to make something better when we get home." he told her before taking another sip.
"I'm sure you will, dear." Sophia said with a light chuckle. She looked outside as the rain continued to pour and was thankful that they still had their jackets.
Jamie was sitting and watching Jerika and the others sleep. The woods were strangely quiet in the evening despite the rain. He heard a mockingbird call from across the forest and sighed as he wondered where everyone else could be. Jamie looked at everyone in the group and called them together to go.
"Guys, come on...we need to get going." Jamie said a little more loudly than he intended. He watched as Jerika, Tessa, and Xavier started to wake.
"Bugger...must we get up now? We should rest while we can." Xavier complained as he sat up and stretched.
Jamie shook his head. "Nah, we need to get going now while we're still able. I heard a cannon earlier today so we need to try to get going." he replied to Xavier, looking out the entrance to their hideaway. Jamie looked over to see Jerika packing up her bag. "You alright?"
Jerika looked up at Jamie before nodding. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a bit tired." she responded to him. "Do you know who it was?"
Jamie sighed. "It was Tara Bones." he told her, shaking his head. "I hate having all of you move so late but I feel like we really need to get going."
Tessa nodded as she pulled her bag over her shoulder. "Well, what are we waiting for? We should get going before it starts to get really dark." she responded.
The small group finally pulled together and began to travel through the woods. It was quite a time until they happened upon a cave with a small, smoldering campfire. Jamie looked at the others before he looked around the cave.
"Whomever was here earlier has moved on but they haven't been gone long." Jamie told them, coming out of the cave. "Whether they were good or not, I haven't a clue."
Tessa looked around a moment before looking down at the ground. "They obviously weren't worried about anyone following them. Look at this." she said, kneeling down and looking at the disrupted leaves. "I can track this. We can find them if we hurry."
"If you're sure, why not? Let's get moving." Jamie said to everyone.
The group followed Tessa for almost a solid mile as they followed the trail of upturned leaves. For a while, it seemed that they would have no trouble locating the owner of the trail. However, the leaves soon began to thin out which made the trail a lot harder to find.
"The trail seems to have disappeared." Tessa said frustratedly. "Where could they have gone?" she said quietly to herself, looking around.
"I'm more worried that they've led us into a trap. We're not very quiet for people being hunted by other murderous people." Xavier pointed out as he looked around quickly. "At least the leaves are wet and less noisy."
Jamie looked at Jerika before looking at Xavier. "I doubt it's a trap. Just relax." Jamie told Xavier before noticing how close it was to complete darkness. "Blast, we're almost out of daylight and I don't want to be trying to feel around in the dark. Come on. We'll figure this out later." he told the group before taking the lead. "We have to go find shelter."
They continued onwards until they spotted a cave that was surrounded by tall grasses. Jamie led them into the mouth of the cave and he nodded, taking off his soaked jacket. It appeared to be a deep cave but they didn't have to go all the way back just yet.
Tessa sighed, pulling off her jacket. "My pants are soaked. Can't we make a fire or something to dry our clothes? We seem to be really far away from the Cornucopia now. I doubt the Careers ever left." she suggested.
"I doubt it. Dad told me that wet wood makes more smoke and I bet that's exactly what they're looking for." Jerika piped in after taking her coat off. "We're all soaked but there isn't much that we can do about it."
"Shhh!" Jamie told them, putting his finger to his mouth as he got the slightest scent of smoke from deeper in the cave. He looked at Xavier and motioned for him to follow. The two quietly made their way deeper into the cave before Jamie soon spotted two figures around a fire. He nodded to Xavier as he got out his spear and Xavier took out his sword. Quickly, they jumped out from behind the corner. "Oi! Don't make any sudden moves! Who are you two?!" Jamie shouted at the pair.
A small chuckle escaped one of the two. Jamie was soon blinded by a bright light and took hold of Xavier's arm. After a moment, the light eased up a bit so that he could see who was around the fire.
"You shouldn't threaten anyone too quickly, James." Sophia said with an amused smile across her face. Jamie looked stunned at seeing his cousin. "Well, you might as well bring everyone in to warm up. We can make a bigger fire since I charmed the wood not to create any smoke." she offered to him.
Jamie nodded before bringing Tessa and Jerika further into the cave and they all sat around the fire after it grew somewhat. "How long have you guys been here?" he asked Sophia and Yosuke curiously.
"Not too long. Long enough to settle everything in and build the fire." Sophia replied after thinking. She looked at Jamie's companions a moment. "It's good to see you, Jerika."
"Nice to see you too, Sophia. Same for you, Yosuke." Jerika greeted Sophia and Yosuke as she leaned against Jamie for warmth.
"Who are your companions, Jamie?" Yosuke asked curiously.
"Oh, erm, this is Xavier Barrister, a tribute from Beauxbatons and Tessa Wesson, a tribute from Salem. We met them our first or second night. I lost track." Jamie admitted before looking at Sophia. "It's better to see you two. Have you seen any of the others?" he asked her, eager for any new information.
Sophia shook her head. "We haven't seen Emy, Caleb, or Philip since this all began. However..." she began and looked towards the cave entrance. "We did meet this nice girl. Her name is Felicity Evans and she's from the Appalachian Academy. Her fellow tribute died on the first day." Sophia explained as the small girl walked in, her jacket a solid black color and her pants a dark grey. "Felicity, these are a couple of other tributes that will be traveling with us." she told the girl, introducing them to one another.
"She doesn't talk much, does she?" Tessa questioned.
"No, not really. She's really shy." Sophia explained before using magic to suspend a pot filled with some fish, squirrel, and some safe plants they found. "But don't worry about her. She's harmless. Now, how about we have some dinner when this is done and then we can rest. With 7 of us, our odds are a great deal better. We just need to find the other 7 of our people."
Jerika smiled. "I'm just excited for dinner!" she said brightly, causing the others to laugh.
"At least some things don't change!" Jamie said, laughing as he put his arm around Jerika as they all talked the evening away. With almost everyone together, it seemed like there would be a lot less to worry about from that point on. Outside, the rain finally stopped and the sky cleared, allowing the moon to shine onto the arena.
Author's Note : It's been so long since the last time that I updated...Sorry about that guys. School got really busy and I've just been searching for a muse since the semester ended. I hope this chapter isn't such a big let down but don't worry! Hopefully, another chapter will be coming along as things are going to start coming together. Hope you guys enjoyed it. Don't forget to review!