AUTHOR'S NOTES: and now we get to finally discover whose cannon that was, among other things. Korra and Saki still have a long road ahead of them, but don't let that discourage you. They're cunning and resourceful-but so is their opposition. There's still a bit more games to go.
Happy Reading!

CHAPTER 21: The Possibilities

There were still a few more hours until the anthem would play for the 6th time, and so in the meantime, Korra and Saki were not quite sure whether to hang tight or to seek out the murderer. It really kind of depended on who had been slain. The two of them kept wandering through the grassy, rocky landscape, which at this point was starting to resemble ancient, overgrown ruins at this time, even if the rock formations were entirely natural. Water became easy to find, but Saki knew that there would be some sort of trick. The Gamemakers would not let them up so easily.

"You're the leader, Francisco," Saki indicated, "point my sword."
"But you're using a bow." Korra tilted her head, causing the taller girl to chuckle.

"It's a metaphor, silly." She ruffled her hair, "it means tell me which way to go."
"Really? I… wouldn't have ever guessed…" Korra admitted.

"you're so dense it's cute." Saki teased, "But let's get moving. If we stick around this edge of the cliff too much longer we'll likely get it to cave in and throw us back to the bottom of that trench again."

The jagged landscape made the arena similar to a large-scale game of hide-n-seek. They cautiously approached corners and rocks, making sure that tributes were not hiding behind them. Oddly enough, the next tribute they ran into was Sheaf from District 11, and his partner a moment later. Saki seemed relieved that they were alive, but Korra felt kind of awkward, especially with the looks they gave her. In fact, their weapons were still drawn even.

"What happened to Jeremy?" Saki asked, knowing that she was sort of the unofficial mediator, and was probably the reason the three other tributes weren't jumping at each other's throats at this point.

"The careers ambushed us, and he ran one way while we ran the other," Laura explained, "they might be still giving chase."
"I suppose the real question here," Korra was not about to shy away from what she viewed as attempted intimidation, "is what you two intend to do from here? It's not like I'm oblivious to your scathing looks, as if I am somehow responsible for what the others did. Sure, friends and alliances go, but only one tribute survives."

"Are you implying you're cutting ties with '1 and '2?"

Another cannon fired, making Korra's cheeks go pink. "No promises," she warned, "but we either have to diffuse this awkward tension right now, or we need to split up and go our separate ways. The choice is yours, District 11."

Korra made it clear that she was not about to back down, and if anything, her staunchness and stubbornness had them slink away with a quiet truce for the time being. At this point, Korra knew that there were going to be three faces in the sky tonight: Cobalt, and whatever other two tributes had been killed. She feared that one of them might have been Jeremy, but was not sure who the middle one had been for. Maybe District 11 had ambushed the careers and had been lying about who had struck who first. It was not like they had to tell the truth to Korra if they did not want to.

The two girls found a nice place to make camp for the evening, where the anthem proved just who had lived and who had perished.

Cobalt Efran, District 1…

"Say what you will about us careers, but Koshu's a bold little shit," Korra insisted, "I hope we can run into him again before someone gets him. He is useful in his way."
"I'll drink to that," Saki agreed, her arms under her head as she laid on her back and gazed at the holograms in the sky.

Anna Rosario, District 5…

"I guess her reign of terror ended before it could really begin," Saki thought back to how the girl had apparently made a swift kill before bounding away using the tops of the rocks. It made them wonder if she knew something about the arena that they did not know—obviously it was too late to ask her now though, and so the mystery died with her.

Jeremy Pescado, District 12…

Korra paused and frowned, turning to her friend. "Saki, I…" she began, "I'm sorry."

"For what," Saki shrugged, "the Capitol murdering all of these kids? Yeah. I'm sorry for that too. Think of it this way, Francisco—this is why you have to win. You could very well be what Panem needs in order to put a stop to all of this—for good."

"And what of all of my friends?" Korra asked, "the ones that train their whole lives for this… the ones that make this a life goal? Would you deny them that?"
Saki opened her mouth to argue, but realized that this was a mentality engrained deep in the minds of District 2 children, and that Korra was no exception. It would not be an easy mold to break, and immediately Saki wondered what would do it. Would the inevitable PTSD that comes from the games do it for her? Sacajawea certainly did not wish such horrors upon Korra, but she did want something that could help break Korra out of that poisonous mindset that the Capitol and her district had drilled into her head all but literally.

"What if we could show them what a childhood was like?" Saki finally spoke after a moment of silence. "What if we could show them what it was like in a world where we did not have to murder other children whose only real crime was getting their name picked out of a glass bowl—or an electric lottery in '5 or '3's case—but the same thing applies? Is random chance really something that we want to be murdering innocent children over?"
There was a reason Saki was here—she was exactly the kind of charismatic revolutionary that would get people stopping and thinking about what they were doing, and it was dangerous for the Capitol's regime. So, instead of going for her family, knowing that they would probably happily back their cause, Snow and his inner circle went for her, to make an example of her in the arena. Snow had told Saki this personally, and so the District 12 girl knew that there was not even a mystery behind it—the Gamemakers were literally trying to kill her. Fireballs, rockslides, bear mutts, humanoid mutts… it actually reminded Saki of something, but Korra interrupted her thoughts.

"I'd definitely want to keep some kind of competition," she insisted, "but… give me time, Saki. I need more time to think about this. You said yourself that I'm dense—let me process it."
"Just don't take too long," Saki warned, "the games won't last forever, you know."
"I know, I know…" Korra trailed off, which allowed Saki to pick up where she left off.
"You remember those flying Night Witches, right?" she spoke up.

"How could I forget?" Korra chuckled, "I killed a dozen of 'em."

"Well… the rest are still out there, that means," Saki warned, "Something tells me that they haven't exactly flown home or anything yet."
"Do you think they'll attack tonight?" Korra suggested, reaching for her twin swords.

"Nah," Saki shrugged, "well, maybe. If I say they won't, I'll end up jinxing it and get torn 12 ways by those remaining creatures that will save my entrails for last or something. But otherwise, I think Zurok's pattern is once a day. I can deal with that, and I think she seems to like it too."

She had hardly finished saying this when a parachute bearing a number 2 floated down. Korra was sponsored some fresh food, a little fo which she tossed to Saki.

"Nothing like a nice snack before bed, huh?" she chuckled.

"What's the note say?" Saki wondered if there was any hints of any sort. Korra lazily handed her friend the slip, and Saki read it only to chuckle.

"Stay on your toes, kid. Sacajawea's path is filled with danger." ~A~

"What's '2 doing watching me?" Saki wondered aloud.

"Sweetie," Korra retorted, "you might not have noticed it yet, but you're in the Hunger Games. I don't know if they tell you this in District 12, but these games are broadcast all over the country. So really, everyone is watching you, from the Capitol to the heart of District 1, all the way out to the backwater fringes of '11 and '12."

"Whoa!" Saki exclaimed, "Korra Francisco told a joke? What happened to Ms. 'I Hate Fun' now?"

"Stuff it!" Korra punched Saki's arm, even if the two girls were still on their backs gazing at the cloudless sky, "what is it with you and belittling me?"

"Your reactions," Saki admitted, "Not to say I agree with Vivian and Vincent and them, but you do kind of react dramatically to trivial things."
"They're… not trivial to me." Korra frowned, closing her eyes. "Saki… can we talk?"

"Girl," Saki rolled over to smile at Korra, her brown eyes, partially obscured by her lank black hair, gazing right into Korra's shimmering green ones, a few auburn strands blowing across them, "you can tell me anything. The secrets you share with me will die with me in the arena—of that you have my word."

"Alright then," Korra sighed. "let me explain…"