Lanie's view again.

In the arena, everything is twisted.

Chapter Twenty-one

Something whooshed overhead like a gust of wind. We'd settled down for the night in the spring quarter, and technically, I was supposed to be on second watch, but I couldn't sleep. Illussia from district five was on first watch, and I was 'supposedly' asleep. I kept my hands around the transmitter. Nyal had sent me a message before we'd set up camp. Apparently he'd been sent a parachute too.

I wanted to see if Illussia could be trusted, seeming that we were most vulnerable during sleep. Beside my transmitter, my dagger lay unsheathed.

The spring section had proved safe so far. Traps were easy to detect, according to Eal, but we'd all probably be dead if I'd been leading. Other than the transmitter and weapons and Nyal of course, he was valuable.

I said a couple of words of prayer when Hilton's picture was shown after Panem's anthem along with other dead tributes. I had gulped when the girl that I had stabbed in the stomach showed up too.

My shoulders were tensed, even though I was lying down, and my ears were open. I kept my eyes strained and focused into the dark, especially when my ears heard something unnatural. I didn't know if Illussia could see the glimmer of my eyes in the night over the dying embers of the fire, but I could certainly see her silhouette that hardly moved.

Her arm suddenly shifted, and moved closer to her body. I pretended to stir, gently moving my head in another direction. As I expected, she paused and her arm moved back into view. I laid quietly, satisfied. No killing here, tonight.

At least the spring section had a couple of bigger animals to hunt. We'd caught two deer.

There was another whoosh, followed by two large thuds that I didn't understand. It reminded me of the rushes of a hovercraft, but I hadn't heard any cannon, so a hovercraft couldn't come and collect any bodies, could they? Unless it was another mutt…

With another whoosh, I decided to do something about it.

"Did you hear that?" I asked Illussia.

"Yes," she said. Her voice was papery soft.

That was all the confirmation that I needed. I strapped the transmitter back to my waist and sheathed the dagger. Reaching for my quiver of arrows and bow, I accidentally nudged Vena.

"What?" she inquired sleepily.

"Wake up," I said. "There's something out there making sounds."

If only Peyton were here, she could identify the noise.

There was another rush, louder and stronger this time. I felt the wind tug my hair. It was that close.

Illussia shone her torch, something her designer had given her along with her district tributes, through the leaves above us. I caught the glimpse of something colourful. As it disappeared, the branches swayed with the sudden gust, and they fell onto us. Something fell onto me, with a harder impact than just a leaf.

It was a large twig with several leaves attached. Confused, I looked at Vena. Then I happened to notice that the end of the twig was a clean break, not like a snapping of a branch, but a slice like a knife through cheese.

Like a knife.

"Wake up!" I screamed.

People stirred. Several looked puzzled at the twigs and leaves on their bodies.

"Get your stuff and leave!" I yelled at them.

I grabbed Ni and Noah by the arms to help them up, shoving their items into their arms. I briefly saw Illussia doing the same to the others.

Gill and Vena were tossing items to their owners.

"Lead them out!" I said to them.

They nodded, encouraging the others to follow them. They had no idea who they were running from, but they listened. I followed the last allies out, pushing them to go faster.

There was a sudden sound ahead that reminded me of times in district twelve, when we sawed through a dead tree of firewood, except the noise lasted half a second.

I only had time to open my mouth to scream warning when the first half of a tree crashed down right in front of Vena, who had halted in her tracks just in time.

"Left!" I bellowed at them. "Keep running, don't stop!"

They obeyed my instructions. Another sound came from above us and I pushed the tributes in front forward, only narrowly missing the falling branches.

On we went, crazily dodging and swerving at my words. Once, I was too exhausted to warn them, but Vena had the smarts to lead them away. Gill scooped up Noah to stop him from tripping over. As time went on, and our footsteps became heavier and night became brighter, our breathing laboured and efforts desperate, I began to realise what the mutt was.

Colourful. Coming from the sky.

I had once marvelled at the colours of the butterfly wing, even drawing any patterns from those who landed on the branches of my tree-house in district twelve. Their wings were so delicate, and I loved the way that they fluttered about carelessly, not causing anyone harm. When we were younger, Thomas and I would sometimes head into the woods and chase them, or wait until one landed on us. I had a picture of a butterfly on Thomas' shoulder, something that I had drawn hastily. Butterflies were so beautiful. Pure. Innocent.

This one wasn't.

It was a giant butterfly, and from the way that it could slice down trees, it had razor-sharp wings that could halve us.

A cutterfly.

I began to notice when the amount of trees thinned and the ground became harder. We were back at the centre of the arena, where the Cornucopia was. We had passed it before, to see if the Careers were here, and when we crossed it on our way to the spring section.

I found an idea as my eye spotted the outline of the Cornucopia. Everyone was tired and we couldn't run forever. The only reason we'd made it out alive was because there were trees tall enough to get in the way.

There were no trees now.

"Keep running!" I screamed, in between a pant. "Into the Cornucopia."

Everyone headed to it.

There was a whoosh and a sound of thuds coming closer.

"Go!" I yelled. "Go!"

Bodies were crammed into the Cornucopia for safety. Luckily it was big enough to shelter us. The mouth of the Cornucopia, I hoped, wasn't big enough to fit the mutt. I heard the clang of its wings try to cut through the metal. But other than that, the Cornucopia seemed undamaged.

The sound of our collective panting bounced off the walls. We were tense. We were so close together that we could feel each other's heartbeat on our shoulders or back.

When I was sure that the cutterfly couldn't get through, and I confirmed the sound of its wings flapping start to fade, I turned to the others.

"Okay," I said. "Head count."

There were sixteen there, including me. There was one person missing. Before panic could take hold, I counted again. I wasn't wrong before. There were sixteen people in the Cornucopia.

"There's one person missing," I said.

"Have you counted yourself?" Vena asked.

"Yeah- I…"

The space was suddenly full of quiet murmuring as they all counted for the number of people.

"You're right, there is one missing," Eal said.

Gill made a small growl in his throat. "Do you want me to check the forest?"

"No. It's still too dangerous."

"Guys, count your district tributes. Who's missing?"

Another round of whispers.

Someone's voice, small and scared, spoke up.

"My sister's missing."

The people parted to reveal the speaker. It was little Noah. His eyes were wide, and the sprint through the forest had seemed to have taken his toll on him. A fellow district tribute was supporting him as he leant sideways. His face was full of sweat.

"Ni's missing?" I hoped that as I spoke, she would appear, tired and breathing hard, but there was only silence as a reply.

I looked out of the Cornucopia, sticking my head out to look at the forest. There was no movement, and even from here, I could see the damage that the cutterfly had made.

There was a small sniffle and a quiet sob. A girl from district eleven knelt down next to Noah and comforted him. I blinked before the tears could show.

"I'll go look for her."

"I'll come too-" Illussia started.

A girl's scream shattered the darkness. A distant whoosh accompanied it. And a cannon ended the second of terror and noise.

I stared in horror at the trees and watched as something fluttered away. Then it was gone. Its job was done.

I closed my eyes, only opening them again to look at the fabricated stars, and knew that Ni's face would be one of those broadcasted tomorrow, like Hilton's had been shown tonight.

Aww, Noah's crying and Ni is dead.

More chapters to come, and I have an idea of how this story will end. Can't tell, though. :)

Review please.

Oh, and thanks to Xylia Ren for the butterfly-with-razor-sharp-wings idea.