Cassie Larkson POV
Elodie wakes me up as soon as the sun rises and we pack up and set off. Though I'm incredibly happy to have found her, she's changed a lot. She's a new person. She's seen more than any girl her age should have to sew. The two people who saved her life have been murdered. She's murdered two people... but then again, she's also stronger than I had initially expected. She's made it into the final seven after wander through the snow, little flakes of the cold ice covering our frozen faces. Finally she asks me something that I know has been on her mind for quite a while. "Do you think I was bad, bad to let Rosemary try? Should I have stopped her? She would've lived. So close..."
"You couldn't of stopped her. She had a strong heart and a strong mind. She had decided on it. Nothing could've stopped her. But you parted friends..." We both know that our friendship probably won't last more than two more days. Than the games will end and at least one of us will be dead. I wonder if it will be me. She seems far braver than me right now.
"They would both be alive if I hadn't left you, you know. They stayed in the forest to let me heal. They could've gotten away, Ice wouldn't have been killed, Rosemary wouldn't have died to kill Helmut."
"But you can't change that now. Now cone on, we have lots of ground to cover today."
"Doesn't it bother you though? We kill and watch deaths as if it's normal, as if it's okay. Its not okay. Not at all."
"But we have no choice, we can't do anything about it. We just have to try to keep our feeling, our compassion. Even if the others don't." We walk in silence for a while and then Elodie gasps.
"Cassie, look." She's turned around, staring, a look of pure terror on her face. I turn around and everything looks normal until I realize what she's pointing at. Tgere are three gets of footprints. Two are ours, the other is someone else's. Her eyes dart around and tgen rest on a thicket, covered in snow. She watches it for a moment, mesmerized, and then there is a crackling sound. An arrow flies through the air and lands in Elodies stomach. I look up and realize we were watching the wrong place. Olivia Woods is perched high in a tree, stating at what she's done. Elodie grabs for a branch but can't balance and falls onto the ground, gasping, tears streaming down her face. Olivia swings off into the forest and I knee down by Elodies bleeding body.
"Elodie, how deep is it?"
"Too deep," she says quietly "too deep for a chance. It hurts Cassie, it hurts so much. I didn't ever know that it would hurt this much. Cassie... will you sing me a song?" I start to cry, because Elodie, the girl who I've searched far and wide for, the girl who I love like a sister, though I hardly know her, is dying.
"Of course I'll sing you a song. Anything that will help. Anything that will keep you with me." I begin my song. "Silver moon, watch down on me, though the sun may never come again." I pause, watching her body begin to go limp, her eyes closing, her breathing short and stifled. "Silver moon guide me with your graceful light. The end may come but any time, the sun I'll see no more. But silver moon will stay with me, until..." she goes completely limp. BOOM! Tears pour down my face. My world is crashing down around me. "...the darkness comes." I finish, my voice quiet and shaky. Elodie is dead, Elodie is gone forever. And she is never, ever coming back. I hold her cold, lifeless hand and gently kiss It. "Goodbye Elodie. You're somewhere better now. You'll always be here in my heart, you will. I will never forget. And for you, for you I will win. At least I will try. For you Elodie, for you..." my heart is breaking, shattering into millions of pieces. Elodie is gone forever, and we hardly got to know each other. I had thought she was a wonderful person the second I saw hee, and now She is dead, gone, nonexistent. "Goodbye.." I pick up my things and slowly walk away, alone one again.
Jacen Povolo POV
I hear another boom and my stomach churns. Only six of us left now. One more death and the feast will begin. One, maybe two days left in here, one way or another. That's it... I wonder who just died. Was it Courtney Halisen, the girl who nobody expected to make it this far, or was it my partner and past space Elodie. Was it Cassie Larkson, the eight girl who is probably last year's victor, Olives, last hope. Was it one of the girl careers, brave Olivia or the academy's own Ariel. Was it Falcon, the violent boy. I wonder. Ever since I left the other careers, I've been thinking about my old life, about all the things I used to do. About how I mistreated Elodie, what I did to her... how I wish I could redo it all. I stop and sit down for a small rest, I've been walking for hours. Though I know that the feast will probably bring my demise, I feel a strange sense of calm, of peace. I think that I have been able to figure out my life in here. In fact, I think I've figured out the meaning of life. Life can end any time, we never know when our end may come. I may never get to see Lyrica again, if I'd known that I'd be dead so do one their were things I would've done... I would've kissed he'd, for real. I would love lived her. I would've asked her to marry me. But it's probably too late for that now, and its shown me the real meaning of life; to live. We live so that we can LIVE, LIVE for real, live in full. We live so that we can hace lives, and do what we want with them. If I could go back in time, I'd do so many things that I'll never get to do. The capital steals life. They end days. They rob us of our meaning. I've vowed to myself that I will not give in, I will not kill any more. That is not me. I will not end like that. If I could have anything right now... Lyrica. I want Lyrica. I want to be able to tell her how I feel. What I would do... I get up and begin to walk again. I wonder where I'll be tomorrow. In a hoveecraft? Or dead? Or still wandering, hopeless, worthless...
Okay, I kmow that was short but I need to build suspense up here near the end! If you go on my profile, I've already set up some stuff for ny next SYOT. Its early since I'm not done with this yet, but I kniw it will fill up fast, so please submit asap. I'd love to be full soon...
