It only took a few minutes to get some dead leaves and branches, and another couple to get the fire going. I didn't have anything to cook the fish with, though – and I didn't dare ask for anything from my sponsors. After a quick assessment of my supplies, I decided it was best to do things simply. I broke a branch off of the tree, swirled it in the river to give it a bit of a cleaning, stuck the fish on the end, and held it over the fire.
It cooked easily, and I began breaking off pieces and chewing them, trying to appear as dignified as possible in front of my Capitol viewers. I left the fire burning, knowing the melted snow would put it out eventually. I wanted to attract people, anyway – it was time to get this over with.
Realizing that I needed a way to set off my trap, I tied one end of my fishing line to the rod keeping the spear from shooting and kept the spool in my hand. I finished the fish, then sat, waiting for something to happen. If anyone were out hunting, they would see the smoke from my dwindling fire and come after me. Otherwise, I had a decent trap that could potentially save my life if need be. What else was there to do?
I climbed into the tree, unraveling the fishing line until it lay on the snow until it reached the tree. I didn't want anyone tripping over it and accidentally setting it off. I watched my fire slowly die, absentmindedly picking at the tree's bark and wondering if I would finally have an uneventful day the one time I wanted something to happen.
There was a rustling noise above my head. I looked up, thinking I might be able to catch a squirrel. Instead, I found myself looking at an arctic fox that sat above me. I had never seen one before, so I couldn't tell if this one was friendly or some muttation created by the Gamemakers to off me. The fox locked eyes with me and bared its needle-sharp teeth.
Okay, so maybe it wasn't so friendly. Before I could even consider how to protect myself, the fox lunged for my face. I managed to bring my arms up in front of my eyes, and I feel claws dig into my skin. The fox's momentum is enough to knock me off of my branch, and as I fall into the snow I realize that I'm still holding the spool of fishing line. For a moment, I feel the spool jerk, probably because my fall has pulled it taut. Suddenly, many things happen at once. The fishing line slackens, I hear a loud twanging noise, the claws in my arms are ripped forcefully from their hold, and I hit the ground.
The wind is knocked out of me. I lie in the snow, trying to breathe, not caring about anything else. Once I can breathe, I register the intense pain in my arms. They're aching and burning at the same time, and I'm afraid to look at them, but I do. I see the damage that's been done. It would have been bad enough to have the claws sink into my skin – they went in deep as it is, and my arms were bleeding heavily. When the fox had been torn away from me, though, it still had its claws deep in my arm – and pulling away it had left several deep gashes where the claws had been. Now, my forearms were soaked with blood, and a dull ache was traveling up them. How odd – had the Gamemakers poisoned the fox's claws? I had been cut before, but I had never felt this sensation. If I had been poisoned, who knows what could happen to me? And if this poison was deadly, how long did I have before it killed me? I knew that if I could manage to win in time, I would be healed. The Gamemakers undoubtedly had an antidote.
Now to answer another question – where was the fox now? Based on the direction of my gashes, it had been pulled away from me to the right. I looked in that direction – and saw what had become of the fox. Muna's spear still quivered slightly where it had come to rest in a tree at the edge of the river, but the fox – impaled right through the chest – quivered no more. It appeared my trap worked nicely. I shuddered at what might have happened if it had gone off a second early – it would be my blood slowly running down the bark of the tree, being absorbed into the snow. I went to the fox and picked up its paw in my hand, looking at the claws. I wiped my blood off one and looked at it closely. The claw was much sharper than a dog's claw, ending in a point instead of a flat edge. The fox was obviously unnatural – why couldn't the claws be poisonous? I guess that was something for me to worry about. If I could just find where everyone else was, and kill whoever was left, I would be the victor, and the Capitol would heal me. Otherwise, I would have to hope I could survive this.