Dral and I end up climbing up a tree. It turns out that Dral isn't all that bad at climbing, despite his size. He's already on the highest branch when I'm still struggling to hoist myself up onto the very first one. He clambers down like a monkey, at ease in the trees. He grips my hand and tugs me up. Eventually, after a minute or so of heaving, I'm up at the top with him. We wait patiently and see the alligator waddling around beneath our tree, evidently confused. Dral smiles at its discomfort as we stay frozen still, unable to move in case it does anything.
Eventually, after a few painstaking minutes, it swaggers off, probably having found the scent of another unfortunate prey, taking its wooden armour with it. We stay poised up the tree for another half an hour, just to make sure it really has gone and then clamber down. I sigh, contented as my feet reach solid ground and steady my shaking legs. I never thought I was afraid of heights, but I guess I was never really accustomed to them. Back home in district eight we would stay with your two feet firmly rooted to the ground. Dral seems unaffected by the vigorous climb and brushes himself down to remove any clingy bits of bark and wandering insects.
I copy him and soon we are both standing up, eyes locked, frozen like statues. We both seem to be waiting for the other to speak and take control of our situation.
"Which way?" Asks Dral, turning all attention to me, "Shall we go further into the swamp or do we back out now?"
"We've come this far, I don't see what's stopping us continuing." I say, trying to block out images of the wooden Alligator out of my mind, lumbering towards us, mouth gaping, ready to engulf another helpless tribute.
"I agree," Says Dral, snapping me out of thoughts of shredded meat and vanquishing pictures of the Alligator's pink, bloated stomach.
I nod and we form our previous formation with Dral hacking away at any wandering creepers and me now staring into the tangled net of vines to see if the Alligator has somehow picked up our scent and is following us. It isn't.
Eventually, after almost a full day of struggling through the knotted undergrowth and chopping down huge clumps of vines which stray in our way we finally reach a small hill. The trees and swamp slowly end to create a watery uplift of land which is relatively drier than the rest. There is a small cluster of trees at the top, swarming over a small pool of rainwater which is clear and looks safer than the other water in the swamp.
Dral and I establish this as a base; it has squirrels and such in the trees which are available to hunt, a reliable water source and is up high so we have a view of our surroundings. Also it has trees which can be used both as a shelter and cover if anything dangerous comes our way. I collect some long branches and stick them into the ground, building a sturdy skeleton of a shelter with them. Then I weave the remaining sticks through the template to make it more solid. Finally, as the sun drops low in the sky, I slather it with mud and animal dung then coat it with leaves. It may be smelly, but it'll become waterproof with a bit of luck. Then I leave it to dry and join Dral who has been trying to cobble together a meal of sorts without the use of fire.
Eventually we sit down and eat under the protection of the trees, the sun just disappearing under the majestic mountain. I doubt anyone is up there, but if they are and they can survive there is probably little need to worry about other tributes, since no-one is going to risk life and limb up there in a hurry. The mountain may look beautiful from here, laced with snow, but is probably slathered with Gamemaker traps as well.
The sun sinks down, leaving us o suffer at the hand of the icy night. I look at Dral. He's alert and immediately suspicious about everything. Nothing can get past him, he's more alert then a wary fox. Before he entered the games he was lax and free, but now I find as I look at him he's changed entirely and has completely shed his outer carefree skin and has become hard and alert. the games have changed him, as no doubt they've changed me.
"It's rude to stare." Says Dral, brushing his blonde mop out of his eyes with a cheeky grin. That's the Dral I met, always has an annoying comment up his sleeve. I find myself talking to him properly for the first time since the Alligator attack.
"'See you later Alligator'," I scoff, "Is that really the best you've got?"
Dral chuckles awkwardly and winks at me, probably more for Panem's benefit than mine. "Well, at least I said something; it wouldn't make it as interesting if I hadn't." Dral points out and then pokes me lightly on my shoulder. I smile weakly at him and he nods when he notices I'm more shaken by the whole episode then I'd like to let out.
"Guess what I thought when I first saw you." Dral says, changing the subject. I don't like where this is going but I play along anyway.
"She's so amazing; she's going to win the hunger games." I guess, speaking slowly and sarcastically like I don't care, Clara wouldn't care. But I do, Dral matters to me, but I won't let it out otherwise I'm doomed to a horrific Gamemaker trap.
"You're very highly strung, aren't you?" Says Dral, poking me again. I slap his hand away but actually I find it quite relaxing. "No, I thought 'she's going to be easy prey in the arena.'"
"What?" I ask, surprised, "You think I'm easy prey?"
"I thought you were easy prey." Corrects Dral.
"What changed your mind?" I ask, ten I bite my lip as I realize I sound too eager to know, but Dral hasn't noticed.
"That knife stunt. I didn't see you move. You caught the whole of Panem by surprise, never mind me. I actually thought you were going to kill her. Originally I just thought you were a rich daddy's girl who didn't stand a chance, but then I saw a glimpse of the real you."
I smile. "So the real me struts around threatening people with knives and is totally unpredictable." I say, surprised by Dral's outburst. He nods enthusiastically at my words.
"Yes, right on. The real you is weird, wacky and terrifyingly frightening." He says, always a smile on his face and for a second I want a protector, someone who will guard over me and keep me safe.
We sit together for a while, talking about this and that, but always steering the topic away from the arena and the position we are in – at least one of us has to die. Eventually the hunger games logo springs up into the sky, followed by Panem's anthem. No-one has died today; the Gamemakers will be getting bored, hatching a new terrifying plan to endanger another poor soul, slaughtering them in the most imaginative ways possible or driving tributes together. I look at Dral and we both know what the other is thinking – who's going to die next?
The next morning I wake up to the smell of animal dung and mud. Evidently the smell didn't dry off with the rest of the hut, but that's the least of my worries. Dral is next to me and has hoarded the blanket so I lie there, shivering cold. I probably look quite a state now, and I probably look like the most horrible tribute in the arena. I wiggle out of the makeshift hut and back off to admire my handiwork, no, the hut just looks like another bush, albeit a weird one. I leave Dral sleeping; he needs the rest, and go outside. It's still dark yet I feel like I've had a really long rest and have been sleeping all night. I don't mind though, it just means I can have a quick soak in the pool and rinse off the dirt without Dral seeing me.
I strip off and wade into the pool, it being a lot deeper than I thought. It comes up to my waist so I dip down and feel the icy water embrace me, wrapping its way around my body. Eventually, when I feel that all the dirt's gone and my hair has no more clumps of moss in it, I prepare to come out when I feel something slippery brush past my leg, without thinking I stick my hand in and pull the thing out. It's some weird type of fish I've never seen before. I quickly fling it out of the pool, in case it might harm me, slip out of the pool and wait for the sun to come up so I can dry off. I wait and I wait but the sun doesn't come up. It must be earlier than I thought, so I run laps around the pool until the air has dried me off moderately so I'm not soaking and I slip back into my clothes.
Just in time, because I can hear Dral coming out off the hut. Luckily Dral packed a pair of night vision goggles so I slip them on and look at him in the creepy green light. He's stretching and lumbering around, feeling with his hands and guiding him to his rucksack. He fumbles around in there for a while and snatches the other night vision goggles out of his pack and shoves them on, poking his eye in the process. He spots me and staggers over groggily, as he's just got up. I smile when he does and we exchange grunts.
"Time?" asks Dral, evidently too tired to string together a sentence. Luckily I get the idea.
"No idea, Dral, I got up about an hour ago, but it's not light yet." I say and take hold of his sweaty palms. I guide him to a log which I have checked thoroughly that is not an Alligator and we sit down. He sighs and stretches, his hand roping around me. I shove it off violently and Dral gets the message. I've had enough of that kind of thing. So we wait patiently in silence for the sun to come up.
But it never does.
*gasp* the suspense! It's killing me! What have the Gamemakers done now? Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, it has been extremely welcome, but I'd love it if I had MORE!