Once within the forest it was easy to lose your sense of direction. I didn't know how far the woods stretched but I wanted to keep reasonably close to the centre of the Arena.
Darkness set in early with the heavily clouded sky and in the shelter of the trees it wasn't long before it was getting hard to see. It was dangerous. The forest was the main source of cover and I'm sure plenty of other tributes had taken shelter in here. That would be good or hunting, but it also meant it wouldn't be long before the Career pack decided to come hunting themselves. Even in the familiar environment of the woods I couldn't match a Career pack of five.
To my dismay I didn't come across any of the other tributes as I stalked through the trees, trying to get a lay of the land. Every now and then I'd catch a glimpse of the towering mountain tops through a break in the trees. If I kept that to my right I knew I would stay on track.
When I stumbled over a tree root because it was too dark to see the ground clearly I knew it was time to take shelter for the night. In the past I had seen night vision goggles placed in the Cornucopia, and there was a chance that the other Careers had got their hands on them and however good I was at surviving in the woods even I couldn't match that. Just as when I was twelve years old and killed my first deer my immediate instinct for safety was to climb a tree. I slung my supplies over my shoulders and nimbly scaled one of the trunks, picking a limb about 10 feet off the ground. It was rarely the human instinct to look up.
Although it was warmer within the trees it was still bitterly cold, and as soon as I ceased jogging through the trees it really struck me. The cold bit through the thick fur and turned each breath to pain in my lungs. I shook out my limbs and tried to wrap myself up into a little ball but it did little good. The constant shivering was exhausting and I knew that hypothermia was probably going to be the biggest killer in these Games. I'd have to keep myself moving through the day and I couldn't let myself succumb to exhaustion.
When the Capitol anthem played I looked up towards the sky but it was partly obscured by the tree tops. I needed to know how many were dead. Firmly tying my pack to the branch I quickly scaled the upper branches of the tree. As I perched on a thin branch I was glad that I was small. It had always been a point of weakness for me but just as with the ice on the lake it seemed I could use it to my advantage here.
The blue Capitol symbol faded from the black sky and I looked for the first tributes. The deaths of day one; the boy from District 5- into whose chest I had first sent my knife; the girl from District 6 who I think Manius had killed; the boy from 6 whose fate had been the monster in the lake; the little boy from 7 who was another one of mine; the boy from 8; the girl from 9; both from District 10; the boy from 11 who I'm fairly sure had been Luxor's; and finally the tiny, tumbling haired figure of the little girl from District 12 into whose body I had watched Lupa thrust a spear.
Ten. Ten dead on the first day. It wasn't the highest number it could have been, but it was enough. In my preparation I had watched one Games where 18 tributes were taken out in the Bloodbath. Then again, there had been another when only four had died on the first day. I shrugged and nimbly scaled my way back down the tree. As I tucked myself back into my nook against the trunk I told myself that the faster I found and killed the remainders, then the sooner this would be over. I had dreamed my whole life about these moments, and I was thrilled to finally be in the Arena, but I couldn't stop myself craving the moment it was over. It had already been a long ordeal, surviving the Capitol, and I wanted to go back to the familiarity of District 2. Being away had made me realise how much I had grown to depend on District 2. It may be hell, but at least it was familiar hell.
And I was already sick of being cold.
That night I dozed fitfully, tucked against the trunk of the tree. It was a combination of the cold and my hyperalertness that stopped me from resting. At one point during the night I was startled awake by a series of high pitched screams. They were quite a distance away but they ripped through me, causing an involuntary shiver that had nothing to do with the cold. I guessed the Career pack had found some sleeping victims and it sounded like they were having fun playing with their food.
When the sky began to lighten and I could again make out the ground below me I stretched my freezing limbs and hoped that this whole thing wasn't going to last weeks. For a moment I allowed myself to daydream of warm sunshine and steaming drinks.
I threw my pack down to the ground and a second later landed nimbly beside it on all fours. It was time to do some hunting of my own. I slung my bladebelt around my hips and pulled several knives free. I slipped one into a cuff at my wrist and kept another in my hand, spinning it lightly. It felt good to be back on the prowl.
It took me till what I guessed to be mid-afternoon before I even saw another tribute. Either I had been wrong about them hiding out in the woods or this year there were a lot that were excellent hiders. I was starting to grow frustrated and was contemplating moving back towards the Cornucopia when from the brush ahead of me a figure suddenly darted. She took off running away from me, clearly hoping that she could outrun me. My heart leapt and my whole body was flooded with adrenalin and I was after her a moment later.
I raced through the trees, darting around trunks and leaping over fallen logs. The air stabbed painfully at my lungs but it felt good to have my legs and arms pumping. Blood and adrenalin and the buzz of a potential kill raced through my body and made me oblivious to the scrapes and bruises and gashes I got as I whipped passed branches and scrambled through bushes. The girl was fast but she wasn't trained like I was and before long I knew she was tiring.
With a crash I saw her stumble over a bramble that wrapped itself around her ankle and I pounced, bringing myself down on top of her. She rolled over onto her back, arms and legs striking out at me desperately but I forced her limbs down, pinning her beneath me though she we were the same size.
Bright blue eyes looked up at me, wide with panic, and I recognised the 16 year old girl from District 5. I scrolled through my mind for her name; Cora.
"Hello there Cora," I purred, giving her a smile and pulling my blade before her eyes. I saw them widen with fear as she looked at the gleaming metal. I wondered what it looked like from the victim's perspective. To me the blade was beautiful, steel glinting, inviting, begging to be put to use. But I was guessing she saw none of those things as I flicked it in the air above her. She gave another vain wriggle underneath me. It was thrilling to feel her struggle.
"Please," she begged, and my eyes flew to her face as she gasped out a plea for her life. It was exquisite and I rocked back on my heels slightly, waiting for her to continue. "Please don't kill me. You don't have to. I'm not a threat to you and I'll just go...please."
The logic made me laugh. I leant down again and pressed the blade to the side of her neck, watching as she turned her head instinctively away from it. Her pulse was visibly twitching in her throat. "It's not about that," I said, my eyes fixed on her pulse. "Don't think that because I'm not with the Career pack that I'm all about survival." I licked my lips. "I want to kill you just as much as they do."
She let out a low whimper and I smiled again. I could see the fun in playing with your food. But I needed to get the kill over with. I'd seen tributes get too caught up in the game of their prey and it usually cost them dearly. While I was fixated on Cora I was vulnerable to attack. Tenderly I stroked the tip of the blade down her throat, watching as bright crimson bubbled and began to flow. Cora let out a gasp but that was all. I stayed there, watching her intently until the blood ceased to flow down her throat and her eyes turned glassy. I was a little disappointed that she hadn't cried out. A scream would have been nice.
The sound of the canon roused me from my trance of watching the blood and immediately I climbed off her. She looked quite small like that, lying dead on the ground. But I didn't feel any pity for her. This was what it was all about. We were here to kill and there was no point wasting energy on feeling guilty about it. Not when she was just like the rest of them.
Before the Hovercraft could arrive I wiped my blade clean on her jacket and slid it back into my belt. My breath was coming in short, stabbing bursts and by heart was pounding in my chest. The thrill of the kill was racing through my body and I looked around, knowing I wanted to find more.
Unfortunately Cora was the only kill I was going to get on the second day. I spent the remainder of daylight prowling the woods, trying to hunt out some scurries of movement, but I saw nothing. I did manage to find myself a source of water that wasn't frozen though. Tucked between a chasm of rocks a small bubbling waterfall slipping between icicles. The water was freezing to my touch but I filled my canister and drank as much as I could there. It filled my stomach and meant that I wouldn't have to dip into the ration pack I had managed to pick up from the Cornucopia.
By dusk I had made my way to the edge of the woods and sat just within the tree line, watching the plains before me. From this angle I had a clear view of the Cornucopia in the distance, glinting in the fake sunset. The mountains loomed behind it, peachy pink light shining off the white caps. Slightly to my left a set of low hills merged into the mountains, and I knew that if I ever had to go towards that half of the Arena that would have to be my point of entry. I had seen ice and rock climbing tools and equipment at the Cornucopia but I hadn't grabbed any. I wouldn't even know where to start.
There must have been some tributes in the mountain or the foothills though because at one point I heard a high pitched cry from the Careers and they all took off towards the hills. I looked up at the growing dusk and cursed the sky. The days were so short in this Arena. As I watched, white flakes began to drift down over the plains. I had never seen snow fall before and I watched it for a while, mesmerised by its gentle swaying descent. It covered the Cornucopia in a thin layer of white after only a few minutes and no doubt added another few inches of snow to plough through on the plains.
Looking around the plains quickly, and seeing they were deserted, I crept a little way from the trees and reached out my hand before me. Despite where I was I was fascinated by the snow. The flakes landed on my outstretched hand and after one moment of sitting in perfection they began to melt instantly against the relative warmth of my skin. The perfectly shapes spires disappeared into fading grey. I pulled my hand back and lapped at the melted sleet. The ice crystals were sharp against my tongue, tingling.
As night time began to close in I retreated a little way back into trees, repeating my process of last night and climbing one of them.
Tomorrow I would have to change my plans. If I wasn't going to be finding enough tributes lurking in the woods I might have to venture out onto the plains. As I lay awake I tried to devise a plan for catching the Careers. I couldn't take them all on, so I either had to wait until the broke apart or try and trap one on their own somehow. My mind was buzzing with strategies when the Capitol anthem began to plan.
I looked up into the sky and waited. The deaths of day two; the girl and boy from District 3. I suspected it was their screams that I had heard the previous night. Then Cora's image appeared in the sky and I felt a rush of delight. My own kill. All mine. Then that was it. A bit of a disappointing day. Thirteen dead now. We were over half way and it was only the second night. As I settled back against my tree I could only hope that the rest would happen as quickly too. I was so sick of being cold.
A/N: Happy New Year my beautiful readers! Can I just say how incredibly grateful I am to each and every one of you who have read my story all this way and who are still reading and most of all letting me know your thoughts in reviews. It means so, so much to me.
Saphira: Thank you for the advice on the knife throwing! I shall keep it in mind for future writing and check my chapters before I upload them. If it were legal in my country to practice knife throwing I would definitely want to give it a go. Originally I was going to include the background story one-shots as epilogues but I decided to put in Domitius' early because people were curious about his story then. I'll continue it like that through the other parts of the Ena Trilogy just because I like consistency.
I hope everyone in their respective time zones has a fun and safe new year celebration and keep tuned for more updates soon!
-Lu