I'm baaaack! Yay! Almost-ish on time chapter.
--x
Maren POV
I heard the canons as well as anybody. But you know what? I didn't care. I don't care any more. So what? So, two people just died. You know what? I don't care. I don't care. I don't care at all.
Wow, the voice inside my head whispered. You sound crazy, even to me.
So of course, I snorted loudly, and went back to sharpening the biggest sword I could find.
No, seriously. You need a vacation.
I rolled my eyes, checking out my reflection in the huge cleaver. Meh. I've looked better.
Kali's starting to look sane, ehh? The voice asks, irritatingly.
"Of course not. I'm fine. Just hungry," I said, inadvertently. Was that out loud?
This is the Huger Games, idiot. Now you need to ask Finnick for some food, or find some on your own.
"Suit yourself," I replied, rolling my eyes again. "Hey, Finnick! I've been abandoned on an island, with no boats. Mind sending me a bit of comfort food?"
Nothing happened. I squelched the voice, and stared at the water for a bit, contemplating how little food had been in the Cornucopia. Hell, some years there's enough to build a freaking fort out of!
The voice was probably about to make some snide remark, but something heavy hit me on the back of the head. Ow.
I grabbed my sword, and whipped around, to see a large silver parcel. Inwardly, I whooped with joy.
"Thanks!" I yelled hurriedly at the sky, before ripping open the paper, which felt surprisingly warm.
Inside, a small basket was covered in shiny tinfoil, and seemed to be emanating the heat. A small box of matches sat neatly on top, along with some strange whit things, and a square of-
"Chocolate!"
I couldn't restrain myself; the other stuff could wait. I unwrapped the four small brown squares, eagerly consuming them. Looking back, I probably should have eaten more slowly. But past me probably would have beaten future me to a pulp for even suggesting such a thing.
Next, I lit a small fire by my side, which was pleasantly warm. I opened up the weird white things, which were surprisingly sweet. I ate them quickly, before opening the last package, which was very warm.
The smell was instantly familiar; mom's clam strips. How did Finnick know? Why did I care?
I was halfway through my second strip when I was distracted by an exceedingly unpleasant sound, and the unusual lack of voices in my head. The last part was actually pretty nice; they were getting kinda annoying.
"Maren. Why don't you tell me what my district partner was doing, away from the island, in a boat loaded up with supplies, being attacked by giant killer dolphins?"
Damn. Kali was back.
Soren POV
Wow, I used to think Kali was a Psycho. She is, too. A freaking Psycho Killer Bitch. And Actassi appears to be too scared of her to do anything remotely similar to helping me get away from her.
All I wanted were some freaking berries, maybe a few provisions and some water. But the fucking dolphins had to follow me the whole way, looking for a handout. Specifically, my hand. In their stomachs. Yeah, I didn't like the idea either.
Then, Psycho had to appear out of nowhere. Apparently, the dolphins were destroying her boat and provisions, too. Actassi and Psycho managed to get the boat away. But by then, my 'cover' was pretty much screwed.
"Soren, might I ask what you are doing away from the island? And where Maren is?" she asked, one eye looking a bit more spazzy than usual.
"Umm," I responded.
Wow. Great time for my reflexes to desert me.
Apparently, it was my fault that we ended up on a semi-deserted island, with a deranged looking Fish-girl, a Psycho, and Actassi.
Yay! Welcome back, Soren!
Psycho asked Fish-girl something, and she put her hands in the air, taking a step back.
"Whoa, Kali. He ran out on me. While he was on guard."
I guess Fish-girl was telling the truth, and Psycho turned her death stare to me. I didn't flinch, despite having my arms tied behind my back. Just an inconvenience.
"She's lying," I said plainly, shrugging as best I could.
"I'm not as gullible as the stupid District Three girl you found, Soren. And yes, I knew. All along."
The shock must have showed, because she actually punched the air, a manic gleam in her eyes.
"Hah! I knew it! She wasn't really dead!"
Fish-girl raised an eyebrow, looking gingerly from me to Psycho.
"Wait, so, Kali, what are we going to do?" she asked.
"Exile?" Actassi suggested.
I rolled my eyes.
"Come on, kid. That's what I was trying to do in the first place."
Psycho nodded, and I realized that opening my mouth might have been a bad idea. Her eyes had gone from blazing to strangely clam, but I braced myself. I could still talk myself out of it.
"Look, Kali, all I wanted to do was to find out where you and Actassi had-"
She whipped a knife out of her belt, and, somehow, I think I realized what was going to happen a few seconds before. At least, my subconscious did, because all I felt was falling. Falling, falling, and then nothing.
The nothing was kind of nice, actually.
Carden POV
I still can't believe she's gone. Even more, I can't believe that out of Esther, Franz, Hypatia, and me, I'm the only one alive. It's up to me to take my fever medicine, sharpen my knives, eat my meals, and tell Rhea that Esther's sorry.
Somehow, it doesn't seem quite real. Hetcher and Diane sat quietly, occasionally clearing their throats, or swallowing a berry. It hurt just to watch them. I may be a guy, and a kinda small one, at that, but I can tell Diane like likes Hetcher. I can also tell that Hetcher's a bit scared of her.
Trees aren't this confused. Lucky them.
Eventually, I just stood up.
"You guys, thanks so much for… Well, being here. I mean, you two are really great. But I don't think we can stay in this alliance for much longer. There are just six people left. Sooner or later, there are going to be less. And I don't want you to be the ones who have to kill me."
Diane shrugged, standing up, and handing me the meat and berries in the pack.
"We can find our own, Carden. And, umm, we're really sorry about Hypatia. She was really great."
Hetcher stopped her.
"Wait, Carden. You know we wouldn't hurt you, right? Why not just stay together as long as we can?"
I shook my head, sorta staring at he ground. I didn't want to look at them.
"Can you really say you'd rather kill Diane than me?"
He was quiet, and I picked up the parcel.
"Don't worry about me," I said, quietly. "Really."
They looked at each other, before looking back at me. It was disconcerting, how they seemed to know what the other one thought.
"Okay. But really, Carden, stay safe," said Diane, handing me my two knives off the ground. "We'll take one of the boats, and leave you the other."
I nodded, taking the knives from her outstretched hand.
"Well, goodbye," I said uncomfortably.
"Yeah," said Hetcher, following Diane out of the clearing.
The whoosh of paddles told me they were gone. Gathering my things, I decided that I would be, too. I grabbed the last of the berries from the bush Hypatia and I had frequented, until my bag was bulging with small fruit.
This island held too many memories. Some good, most bad. I could find somewhere else, I was confident. If I could avoid whatever the killer dolphins were, and find a nice, forest-y island to set up on. I could live in a tree, and simply out-survive the others. Until my food ran out. I put my head in my hands.
What was I going to do?
I was alone.
Very alone.
I've been lonely before, when I was home, sick, without Arvid. Mom and dad would never seem to be home, and I would be in an empty house, listening to the people outside go on with their lives.
That was lonely.
Being on an island stained with the blood of my two real allies, surrounded by people who only wanted to kill me, who wouldn't hug me, wouldn't say they loved me? Who would rather have my head than let me go on breathing?
I was alone.
The weight was crushing. The despair was worse.
What was supposed to be a few minutes to pack up the rest of my things, turned into a weird emotional trip, watching the sun set, listening to the strange whirrs and clicks in the water. The anthem sounded, but the only thing I did was angle my head up, watching the faces of Soren, Franz, and Hypatia flash by.
Huh.
Maybe I slept that night.
I wasn't really sure.
Diane POV
Hetcher is still worried about Carden. And I can't say I'm not, honestly. Something about that kid is just so hard not to get attached to. Luckily, we didn't hear any canons for the rest of the night.
We paddled all night, me using only my left hand, still, and Hetcher doing most of the work. The one upside was that we were seeing more of the arena. The downside was that so far, the rest of the arena had not provided any opportunity for food.
By sunrise, we were wet, tired, and absolutely famished.
Hetcher leaned over the side of the boat, easing up on the paddle for a few seconds to look into the nearly fluorescent blue depths.
"You okay?" I muttered, trying to rub the half-formed sleep from my eyes.
"We're going to need some food," he replied, looking back up. "I think we have to stop at whatever the next island we get to is."
I nodded agreement, and my stomach gurgled loudly in ascension.
"Hey, Diane. What's it like, in District Nine?"
Shrugging, I tried to think of a decent reply.
"Well, we spend a load of time in the woods, just sorta messing around. Once you get as old as me, all you ever learn in school are facts about deer, or rabbits, or whatever the Capitol has some bizarre need for. How about District Twelve?"
He looked like he had swallowed something slightly unpleasant.
"My dad's a jerk. School is all about coal, even though there's no way I'm going anywhere near a mine. I'm probably going to end up stuck in a forge for the rest of my life. Or at least, I would have."
Again, I nodded. The Hunger Games were so- well, something. Probably something profane.
We went back to silently paddling.
"Hetcher, do you have, y'know, many friends?"
He shrugged, too.
"Well, I've got three siblings, and a girlfriend, I guess. If Hana doesn't hate me by now. That makes four, huh? You?"
I fidgeted uncomfortably.
"Not… Really. I mean, my brother's a really great little guy, but I think he's too young to count."
He blinked slowly, and went back to rowing.
"Oh, wait, I see something over there!" I said, pointing at a small island in the distance.
We turned the boat towards it, picking up speed.
Suddenly, a large bump rocked the boat.
"What is that?" Hetcher yelled suddenly.
I looked down, to see what looked like a huge log. Tilting my head to the side, I checked the island's forest; the trees were huge.
"It's a trunk. Fallen from the island. I think we'll have to go around it."
He nodded.
"Maybe we should have brought Carden. He'd probably know how to get over it."
I shrugged in agreement, beginning to paddle around the huge shape. Heck, the tree was giant! At least eighty feet long. Carden would probably love to see it, seeing as he liked trees so much. I sighed.
Abruptly, Hetcher grabbed his sword, jerking away from the side of the boat.
"Diane, shush. Lean in, away from the sides. Be very, very, quiet, okay?" he muttered.
"Sure," I whispered back, "But why?"
"I think that tree trunk just hissed."
--x
I'm not too late, right? Sorry, I've been majorly busy. Next chapter should be on time, though!