Chapter 25.- Cass Oceansong
"Don't forget your necklace," Riva says. I nod weakly. "Hey, don't worry. You'll be okay, you'll see," Riva says. My hair has been braided back, I'm dressed in the arena uniform, and Tempest's shell necklace is around my neck. And I'm terrified out of my mind. I sit down and bite my nails until Riva pulls my hands away. Her tattoos sparkle in the dim light. I think about last night, and how Flora is counting on me to go home. I hope I can do it. "Ready the Launchpad." I look in terror at the plate in the corner. "Come on," Riva says in her high pitched accent. "Good luck, Cass," she says as I step onto it. Then the glass rises around me and the plate starts to rise.
The light blinds me for a minute after being in the dim catacombs for almost an hour. Then my vision clears and I look around. Where am I? Directly in front of me, maybe fifty feet away, is the golden Cornucopia. Spilling out of it are supplies, with the value decreasing the further it is away. I'm in a beautiful meadow, with rolling hills everywhere except to my right, where there's a dense forest. Not a place for an ocean girl is all I can think. There' s a tribute on either side of me on their plates; on my left is the District 12 girl, Aldera; on my right is the pretty 9, Beade. There's only a few seconds left before the gong sounds and we can leave our circles. I set my sights on a knife lying about ten feet away, and a roll of fabric that looks like it can be turned into a backpack.
GOonnnnggggg. I leap off my circle and dash for my prizes. Already there's screaming and shouting. I rush to the knife and roll and sling the roll over my shoulder. Something whizzes by my ear and sticks in the ground ahead of me. I grab it, it's a knife. I turn around, terrified; Curia from 2 is throwing them at me. I duck her next throw, then start running as fast as I can away from the Cornucopia. Over the hill that I'm running up I see more woods, and I start to sprint to them. I pause a moment at the top of the hill; it's not very tall. There are bodies on the ground, and fighting going on between the other tributes. Where's Willow? I need to get Willow. I see a couple tributes disappearing in between the trees. Is one of them Willow? I can't stay any longer, so I turn and start running down the other side of the hill towards the forest.
Over the next few hours I run and walk through the woods, walking past pools of water and small animals. Finally I find a thick bush full of prickles that has an excellent hiding spot underneath. I crawl underneath and finally open up my roll. It's a sleeping bag, and inside there's a water bottle that is thankfully full. Taped to the side of the bottle is another small bottle of iodine and a package of dried plums. And now I have two knives as well. I curl up under the bush after putting everything away and taking a sip of water. And surprisingly I fall asleep.