M9: IRA SPARK
"Ow!" I cry, sitting bolt upright from my curled-up sleeping position on the poky pine needles. Shaka struggles upward also, awoken my by outcry. I rub my head and look up in fear, expecting to see one of my enemies, or the entire Career pack. Or something along those lines. I jump when there is a person there. "What was that for, Mikhail?" The girl stands, hands on her hips, and looks at me irritatedly.
"Well, you weren't exactly waking up, even after I tried shaking you. So I thumped you over the head," the girl from Three bluntly replied. Shaka smothers a laugh, but it escapes through his fingers as a snort. I glance at him, but only briefly.
"What do you want? I thought you were trying to kill me!"
"Only twelve hours into an alliance? What-"
"More than twelve," Shaka interjects, "Closer to twenty- look at the sun, it's starting to set. We slept all through the morning."
"Anyways," Mikhail continues, cutting off anything else Shaka would have said, "what sort of person do you think I am? I wouldn't kill off my allies, especially since you helped me willingly, unless I was going insane or something."
"Well, that's exactly what the Games do to you," Shaka mutters, "They drive you insane. You've seen that Linley's aunt, haven't you? Annie went insane DURING her Games and she's been strange ever since. And that was like thirty, thirty-five years ago." Mikhail rolls her eyes.
"I'm from District Three- we know what to do. They offer medical classes at my school and part of the curriculum was preventing insanity. My older sister Arali took the class and actually scored an internship at the asylum with her knowledge. So I think I'll be fine there. She practiced on me." I smile at the hint of backstory Mikhail just shared with us. She's been sort of stiff ever since we found her and bandaged her sprained ankle. Our new ally is loosening up.
Shaka stands and brushes the bits of evergreen needle and dirt clods off the Capitol-issued leggings he wears. Our arena outfits are starting to wear down- Mikhail's leggings are torn apart at the knees and the elbows of Shaka's jerkin are entirely worn away. My jacket is missing a chunk of one side from where I tripped and rolled a ways down the mountain. The treads of our boots seem to be wearing down faster than normal. Mikhail was the one to notice it yesterday and she voiced her opinion that the Capitol wanted to see some tributes with broken necks really soon at the bottoms of the many ridges and cliffs of the arena. She's cynical. "So, Mikhail, what did you wake us up for? I'm pretty sure that's the best sleep I've had since I was ten. And we're in the Hunger Games."
The girl holds out a silver parachute, tangled around the parcel inside. "I almost forgot about this," she says apologetically, "but it's why I had to rap you over the head, Ira." My temple aches at the memory.
"Open it!" Shaka begs. The girl's nimble fingers unwrap the parachute from its cargo and pop open the metal container. The smell of fresh bread and savory stew greets us and Shaka and I grin at each other eagerly.
"Food!" We had begun to scrape at the trees again, but now we're safe for another two days or so. I grab the gifts from Mikhail before she can get a good grip on them and tear open the paper surrounding the bread. There are two loaves, but they aren't the wheat rations we get in Nine. Shaka's eyes light up and he taps the crust almost lovingly.
"This is from home," he says quietly. I break off the first piece for him. Mikhail looks sort of upset that I took the food from her, but the slight anger in her eyes disappears when I hand her a large chunk of bread. Breaking off another section for myself, I wrap up the remaining bread- still one-and-a-half loaves. The stew's scent still wafts to my nostrils, but I return that to Mikhail and let her open the vessel. It's a rich, meaty thing, but Mikhail pushes it away from her. I glance at her. Why is she refusing food?
"I'm a vegetarian," she says, fiddling with the silver cloth of the parachute. Shaka shrugs and picks up the metal ladle that came with the meal. He gulps down several swallows and then hands the ladle to me. I don't really want to drink after the boy, but soon I give in and guzzle some of the stew. It slides hot and flavorful down to my stomach.
"Why did we even get gifts?" I ask when we've all finished eating and lay replete against the thick tree trunks. A lock of Mikhail's pale blond hair breaks free of the long ponytail it's in and blows around her face, playing in the gentle breeze. She squints up at the sky, thinking, and then looks at me.
"They want to see us kill each other. They're rewarding us for finding each other, trying to keep us together until we are prompted to murder."
Shaka looks at the girl from Three sharply. "Do you enjoy making up these conspiracy theories?" he asks.
"No, it's simple probability. I've seen it before in the Gam- what's this?" She holds up something black and strappy from the parachute. "They sent us something else."
I take it from her, this time gently instead of like a thief. "It's for you," I say, tossing it back to her, "It's an ankle brace." She whoops and pumps her fist in the air. Immediately she tests the device out and grins at Shaka and I.
"I can barely feel the sprain anymore!" We sit back down, the tension completely evaporated. It feels like I'm back in Nine for a moment, with Rayla and Azalea instead of in the arena with Mikhail and Shaka.
"Hey, Shaka?" I say. The boy turns his head towards me and I notice something. There's no blood visible through his bandage.
"Yeah?"
"Let's check out your eye." He bites his lip nervously, and I'm reminded of how much pain he's gone through. And now I must seem pretty gory, asking to look at the wound. "Trust me." He shuffles over to me and I carefully unwind the bandage. Mikhail cautiously walks up behind me.
"Eww!" she exclaims when the white strips come off. "That's what Dylan did to you?" Shaka winces, but it's not in pain. It's in remembrance. I pat him- rather awkwardly- on the shoulder and hold back my disgust at his gruesome injury. The eye socket is filled with dried blood and the gash on the side of his face is ridged in beginning-to-heal tissue. It's the end of the wound, near the ear, that's scaring us. It's swollen, with the skin tight and angry. Infection.
"Well, the good thing is that you've stopped bleeding."
"Come on, Ira. There has to be something bad with that tone of voice. And when Mikhail's face looks like that. It's bad, isn't it?" I don't know exactly how to reply, but Mikhail piped up willingly.
"It's infected near your ear." The remains of Shaka's face twist into a grimace.
"How much longer?" His voice is dull, almost like he's given up.
"I'd say a week," Mikhail says gravely. I turn on her.
"Why didn't they send us the medicine for this? The infection isn't that bad yet- it would have only cost them the amount of the stuff they just sent us!" Shaka grabs my arm and turns me around to face him. I can't bear to look at his mangled face.
"Ira, it's not her fault. We didn't know and it wasn't visible, so how could sponsors know?" I begin to calm down. "Besides, it's possible to live through infections. I've seen some field workers make it through worse than this."
"Well, if you die, I'm going to regret not taking off the bandage like you suggested last night."
"Don't worry, Ira. I'll live." Shaka says, tentatively probing his wound with his fingers.
M10: ALEX TIBOLLA
"Hey, ladies," I say, strolling out of the magnolia trees. Reetan and Marius already sit at the Cornucopia, and they glare at me when I address the three girls who are standing in a little semicircle around the beginnings of a campfire.
"Can't you go a minute around the girls without trying to hit on them?" Reetan scoffs.
"Nope. I'm just that hot," I say automatically, freezing after the words escape. It's my comeback at home, but it won't go over well here. Marius snatches up the harpoon gun and has it held to my throat in seconds.
"If you ever- EVER- say anything like that to, near, or about Linley ever again, I will personally make sure you will never see another girl again," he snarls. Linley smirks and folds her arms across her chest. Her turquoise eyes glint as hard as the stone they match. I raise my hands and step back from my fellow Careers.
"Jeez, guys, it's fine! I wasn't… I wasn't…"
"Oh, really?" Marius snaps sarcastically, "because it sure sounded like you were."
Stavren, businesslike as usual, dusts off her hands from the ashes of the fire she was attempting to rebuild and stalks over to Marius and I, pulling us apart and placing herself in-between.
"So, how did the tracking go?" she asks coolly.
"Pretty good," I bluff. In reality, I haven't done anything today but walk around until I saw the sun setting. I saw the... the ferret. But it ran away."
"So you're a bad liar and a dumb Career," Ebony says from the fire.
"What?" I bluster, "You don't know what you're talking about! I'm just as good!"
"Nope, you're a liar," Stavren's words are clipped, "We saw the ferret. We managed to wound it too. We also found the tracks of three tributes- two boys and a girl. There's another alliance out there, but we have no idea who it is. We didn't hunt them, though. The sun was halfway down by then."
I blush, my cheeks burning and flushing a dark crimson. Boy, did my bluff backfire! Reetan talks next, glaring at me and almost speaking through clenched teeth. This is angry even for Reetan, and I am terrified.
"And Marius and I sighted a bat- the tiniest mutt we've ever seen- and we found another set of tracks, belonging to a larger boy. Again, it was too late to give chase." I retreat to a safe distance from the others, not willing to make a bigger fool of myself and get killed.
I sigh and wish I had never gotten reaped for these Games. Last year, when all the tributes were hideous and sponsorship was down something like fifty percent, I could have easily won with just the sponsors. But no, this year the arena had to be full of taunting Careers and tough girls. Plenty of the other boys could be called handsome, even though it's still obviously- painfully obvious when the Careers call me 'pretty boy'- that I'm the best. I sort of want Sparky back now, but she'd never take me now.
I pick up a spear and slam it into the grass, sending the blade at least a foot into the earth and jarring my hands. A real Career would know how to not be shaken by a blow like that, right? I'm a failure. Not that Reetan's insults are helping my self-esteem at all.
Maybe I'm just stressed out. Well, more than they are, at least- we are in the freaking Hunger Games! My district partner is dead, and all the other Careers still have theirs. I have my entire district hanging on for me, but the rest of them only have half the weight. Jeez, the arena can make a guy philosophical.
"Alex! Get over here!" shouts Reetan. I obediently jog over, not willing to get myself into deeper trouble. "We're setting up dinner tonight, since the girls plan to do a little bit of tracking before the sun goes completely down and Stavren and Ebony have agreed to take the worst watches." I groan. I can't cook! I have parents for a reason.
"Calm down, pretty boy, or we'll cook you," Marius growls. He tosses me a can of something and I pop it open without a word, keeping my head held low. That's what my family's dogs do to show subordination. It seems to work here, too. The can is full of meat- stuff, but it's not Spam anymore. At least that nasty stuff is gone! Reetan takes the food away from me and dumps the food onto a skillet he's set over the campfire. Soon, the canned bacon has begun to sizzle and look like actual food. I'm tempted to take a piece first, but when I reach out for it Marius grabs my wrist and shoves my hand away. He must still be sore about my… accidental… words earlier. I turn away without a word. He hates me.
M6: GABRIEL GROW
I turn the horse charm over in my hands and kick the poison further away from me in the small cave. It's almost identical to the one our alliance stayed in before the Careers found Delilah and Scar, but it's on a totally different mountain. I have to get home to Ella, and with the dawn came the will to live. I can't give up now- only one gets out alive and now I have no one that I owe in the arena. I can win! My allies- my district partner, they're all gone. I can go home easily. I'm seventeen and I'm strong, easily able to take down most of my enemies.
I lean back against the cave wall, wriggling in between two of the sharp promontories in the rock. I don't want to be dreaming and almost crack my head open like I did last night. In fact, I've had a headache all day from my flailing last night- it just began to fade.
The sky is strewn with stars the next time I stand and peer through the opening of the cave. It looks like someone's thrown handfuls of diamond dust across the sky. I locate one of the famous constellations- Perseus- in the sky. If the Capitol bothered to put the real star patterns in the arena sky, they must really expect a good show. Or, it's the real sky and the arena is open instead of domed like it usually is. Once, when I was seven, the arena was a flat blank floor with a ceiling only four feet tall. Most of the Careers died in the bloodbath, since the taller ones are the ones to volunteer. It would be nice to know that I look at the same sky as Ella and my father gaze towards. I peer further across the horizon and step fully out of my cave. The western end of the arena sky- the real sky?- is tinged with hints of purple, orange, pink, and yellow. One of the most beautiful sunsets I've ever seen- is it real or false?
I sit on a boulder as the sky finally darkens to a deep blue that almost matches the color of a mockingjay's plumage. The anthem plays, but nobody has died today. I haven't even seen anyone since my alliance was discovered, but I saw somebody yesterday- only a flash of dark hair and a glimpse of frightened blue eyes. There is no way I would have attacked, though. The tribute was tiny, definitely one of the younger kids stuck in this death cage. I am in no way prepared to kill one that young. When I was thirteen- the twelve year old died in the bloodbath- I was just starting to work in people's gardens and I was preparing to get a job. I wasn't fighting for my life. Not yet. Now I am, though- and there are two thirteen year olds left as my opponents. The girl from One was the only death yesterday.
The last of the Capitol seal fades into the sky. I sigh and retreat into my hiding place. There really is a pattern now. A day of death, a day of life. It can't go on forever. The boys from Eleven and Nine are allies and neither of them has appeared in the sky. The Careers are alive and well, too. At least when they break apart several of my strongest opponents will be taken down and I'll be left with hopefully an easy win. The two eighteen-year-olds, Alex Tibolla and Reetan Altis, will probably be the biggest targets of the other Careers. Although- Stavren and Marius are formidable too. I can hope for all four of them to die, but it probably won't happen, and definitely not in a single battle.
I slide Ella's horse charm into my jacket pocket and slump down to the cave floor. I need to go to sleep before I get myself too worked up and have to suffer through another adrenaline-filled, sleepless, tossing-and-turning night.
A strange whuffling noise makes my heart leap into my throat. I scrabble for the bottle of poison and clutch it tightly as I peek out of the crevice. A large animal eye watches me, glinting with the light of the stars. Something in the back of my mind seems to itch and I scratch at the back of my head before I realize that it's not a physical itch. I glance at the animal again. A muttation. The thing steps from the trees almost daintily. A horse, and it pauses and nibbles at the brown weeds of the underbrush in the exact pose that my token stands. The tingly feeling gets stronger. I tilt my head and the horse looks up. It prances nervously to the very edge of the cave I hide in and I take in a sharp breath.
I reach out, fingers trembling. The horse nods forward, nickering softly. Its nose brushes my hand and a rush of electricity jags through my entire body. I feel something… human… in the mutt, and with the feeling comes a flash of memory? Identity? A picture of Ella and I, sitting in the singing tree, flashes across the backs of my eyelids.
My mutt. I have found my muttation, and now I must keep it safe. Two ways to die, right? I laugh, a short and insane bark, and the horse starts. Its head dips down and my hand runs further up its head. It has a scaly carapace and I pull my hand away. It feels like it has snakeskin! The horse whickers and swishes its tail.
"No.. no, don't be scared," I murmur, stroking its head, "Don't be afraid. I won't hurt you."
It's too late, though. The horse jerks its head away from me and trots away into the trees. I reach after it, but I easily see it is no use and pull my hand back. The horse is gone and I can't see more than five yards. I'd die trying to save myself. And I can't do that, when there are only twelve other tributes left and the odds seem to be tilting… tilting in my favor. I don't have food, but I have got the whole day tomorrow to search for supplies. Water, I'm fine there, since the Careers only found one of two bottles at the old campsite.
BOOM. BOOM. Two cannons in the distance. I scramble to the back of the cave and I see a face shimmer into the night sky. The distorted view keeps me from recognizing the tribute, and I can barely see the face of the next. Well, there goes the pattern of death in the Games this year. As long as I'm still safe, I'm not especially interested in what happened to the others. BOOM. Three? Sounds like night hunting to me, though. I press myself into the jagged nooks of my little cave, curling into as small a ball as possible.
F2: STAVREN MUXAS
The sky is empty of tributes after the anthem, just as we already knew. Linley, Ebony, and I pour back into the camp, seeing the guys already asleep in their tent.
"I'll take first watch," Ebony and I whisper hoarsely, at the same time. It only takes half a second of my death glare to get her to back down. Linley shrugs and ducks into the girls' tent. Ebony follows her, and I notice that the girl takes the crossbow into the tent. I'll make sure to kill her before I go to sleep.
I duck into the Cornucopia and grab the smooth golden rim. I shimmy up the textured metal and perch on top of the horn with my slingshot and a pair of hunting knives balanced on my knees. I exhale slowly and glance for a second at the tents. I can't see any movement, but I wait a few minutes in the nighttime silence to make sure Ebony and Linley fall asleep. At one point, I think I hear something, but there's no movement, no definite noise, and I attribute it to my imagination acting up. I'm just nervous. I stretch out my long fingers, examining the injury where the girl from Five bashed my knuckles. The cuts are mostly healed, and the bruise is beginning to fade from black to purple. It think the bone was bruised, though, and it'll be a while before that's healed. If it's not fit for a fight tonight, though…
No. I'm not nervous. I'm excited. I blink a lock of my short dark hair out of my eyes and brush several other pieces away from my face. Ebony had the right idea the bloodbath, hacking off her long hair. I'm not used to how long my hair is now, and it's only a few inches. Ebony ties her new shoulder-length cut back with a piece of frayed rope. If I could, I'd trim back mine also. It's still too short to cut with knives like I do at home, but at home I have headbands.
I slide down from the cool gold Cornucopia and stride to our supply piles. Grabbing an empty pack, I stuff it with food items at random, making sure to slide in a few bottles of water and the sling stones. I tie my sling to my belt and slide my machete in its sheath through the leather also. I'll need to flee.
I wield the hunting knives as I approach the boys' tent. My boots crunch over the ashes of our last campfire and I freeze as a loud snore erupts from the tent, shining pale in the night. I grit my teeth and slip into the tent. I almost gag- it smells like boy.
A piece of metal slides across my throat and I'm shoved back outside.
"What are you doing?" demands a rasping voice- a female.
"I could ask you the same thing, Ebony," I reply coolly, dusting myself off from her shove. The girl from Eleven removes the tip of her crossbow bolt from my exposed throat.
"I'm getting rid of the boys," she says, "Alex is trying too hard now. The others are starting to snap." I nod approvingly, but I don't lower my knives from their defensive position.
"All of them?"
"Yes."
"Well, that's dumb." I smirk at the girl's inexperience.
"Why?" she snarls. I grab her by the back of the shirt and pull her and her deadly crossbow away from my neck.
"If you kill one, the rest will wake up at the cannon before you finish the job," I hiss. Ebony, abashed, lowers her weapon completely and looks at the hard-packed earth. "Don't worry, they won't be going anywhere." The two of us lock eyes in the night.
"I've got Alex." I restrain the other girl.
"Not so hasty, Eleven. That leaves either Marius or Reetan for me to kill, and I can't exactly kill my district partner if I want to get home and not be shunned. If Reetan is left alive, he'll crack the whole way through and rage after us. No, I'll take Alex. He's too much of a threat to let go. You kill Reetan. I've got a feeling Marius is mostly talk anyways." Ebony looks at me skeptically.
"He's got more kills than any of us," she says, but I cut her off.
"His kills were already on the ground. He just finished them." She nods. We turn back to the boys' tent, but Ebony makes a small sound of surprise and runs back to the supplies, shoving food and water into a pack. How is she so unprepared? I hold open the tent flap and look into the shadows. That's Reetan, on the right, snoring away. Marius clutches his harpoon in his sleep in the middle sleeping bag, and Alex lays on the far left. They look younger when they're asleep- vulnerable and almost innocent.
Ebony brushes past me and positions herself beside Reetan, the crossbow loaded and aimed at his throat. She now has a pack slung over her left shoulder. The bolt will go through his brain, killing instantly. I kneel by Alex and shift the hunting knives in my hands; one will go through his chest and the other will drive into his brain. There's no way he'll live. I remember, briefly, when my father taught me the two-blow kill strategy and smile. Then I look up at Ebony. Fear lances through her eyes, but I won't let her not do this. One, I mouth. She adjusts her grip on her bow. Two.
Three. I hear the crossbow click as I stab down and something squelches horribly beneath me. A quick rasp of breath and Alex's eyes flicker, then I rip the knives out and the warm blood flows, flooding my fingers and the knees of my leggings. I hope the cameras are watching closely. I hope they see Stavren as the victor, in this gory moment of betrayal and district pride. I wouldn't kill my district partner. I won't stoop so low as to volunteer myself for that. I'm not insane.
I don't wait for the cannons. Satchel bumping against my back, I tear from the boys' tent and run, not willing to risk Marius's wrath. I could take him, but I don't want to risk a wound yet. Ebony's right on my heels. She can deal with him.
F11: EBONY ECHO
Three, Stavren mouths across the dark, stuffy tent. I pull the trigger and my bolt is released into Reetan's throat. There's no flash of pain, but the body arches up, gaping neck pulsing with freed, dark blood. Eww. I didn't think corpses did that. At least his coal-black eyes aren't open.
BOOM. BOOM. I swing my crossbow up to Stavren, expecting another betrayal, but the girl from Two is tearing away from the tent. The movement from between the two bodies on the rocky ground forces my feet into motion, too. Marius still lives and I don't have another bolt ready. I lower my weapon and run.
I see movement inside the girls' tent, too, and I am reminded of Linley. I dash inside the tent and grab her arm.
"Linley, we've got to go," I hiss. She pulls away from me.
"Ebony, what's happened? The cannons woke me up. Where did you come from? Where's Stavren?" she younger girl gasps in fear and whirls around. "Was it her? Who died, Ebony! Tell me!" I drag her to the entrance of the tent and point to the sky, where Reetan's face is being replaced with Alex's, the holograms shimmering away into the stars. Linley brings her hands up to her mouth. "Did Stavren…"
"No, she's not dead. In fact, we killed them. Now, we've got to go- Marius will be coming!" Linley, shocked, obeys and I pull her out of the navy tent. I try to pull the girl towards the oak trees to the back of the tents, but Linley pushes me down to the supply piles.
A figure rounds the tents, right where I was going to run towards. "Come on!" Marius shouts, "I know it was you, Stavren and Ebony. You can't really deny those hunting knives and the crossbow bolt! Let's make this a fair fight, huh? You've seen the breaking Career fights in previous Hunger Games, why don't you kill all the boys while you're still in earshot?" A knife whistles through the air from somewhere on the other side of the Cornucopia, but Marius anticipates it and sidesteps the blade. It buries itself not too far from us, and I uproot it for Linley's use. We crouch behind the heap of food, not daring to breath as the remaining Career boy storms over to the Cornucopia. I hear a screech and a bit of a skirmish, and then Stavren's tell-tale voice bursts into the night.
"Ha! You can't catch me, Fish Face!" I hear footsteps and know that the girl from Two has escaped. Marius comes back around the Cornucopia looking absolutely furious and I fumble for another bolt from my quiver. It's loaded by the time he gets to the supply piles.
"Come on, girls. You didn't run that fast. Ebony is hiding from me," he croons in sort of a singsong, "Don't worry, Eleven. You're trying to keep Linley safe, right? I won't hurt her. She didn't break us. She's my district partner. I just want you to show yourself." His deep, rough voice quavers and it sounds to be like it almost breaks, "Linley didn't try to hurt me. She never wanted to be here. My girlfriend- she was supposed to volunteer, but she broke her leg in a boating accident two days before the reaping. You aren't supposed to be here. Shoalle should be there with Ebony. You should still be with Crazy Annie. I'm so sorry, Linley. But I won't hurt you." Beside me, Linley relaxes and goes to step out of our hiding place, but I throw out my arm to block Megan's lookalike. I don't believe this guy. Who knows how good of actors the members of District Four are?
I steady my shaking hands and loose the second metal crossbow bolt of the night. I can hear it as it whizzes through the air, and to me it goes agonizingly slowly. Eventually, though, I hear a dull, wet thunk and Marius screams, roaring and animalistic. No cannon.
I grab Linley's wrist and run. As we make our mad dash towards the trees, one of us kicks out a scimitar from the heap of weapons- a scimitar that only Alex used, so no one will use it now- and Marius roars again when he hears the sound. His harpoon clashes against the Cornucopia as he tries to pinpoint our location. Apparently he sees our silhouettes or hears our footsteps, because he charges after us. We're smaller, though, and faster. He stops at the weapons pile and reaches for something in the labyrinthine tangle of blades and bludgeons. A spear point glints in the moonlight and he loads it into one of the tools we found- an atlatl.*
"Ebony!" the boy roars, lunging after us with the weapon. He's in range now. Panting, I manage to turn to Linley and spit out a single word.
"Run!" I hear Marius grunt as he hurls the spear. I hear it thud, embedding itself in something, but at least it's not me.
"Hah! You missed!" I shriek. I notice Linley's hand slipping out of mine. It's for the better. I wouldn't be able to kill her if it came down to the two of us. "Good hunting, Linley Cresta!" I shout to her; I swerve away from her and run into the pine trees. I have to get further away, since Marius will definitely chase after me.
I find myself leaning against a boulder when the cannon goes off and another face shimmers into the sky. I wonder if Marius thinks it's a real Career breaking fight now. Half of us are gone. I slide down the rock into a crouched position, pull my knees up to my chest, and cry.
M4: MARIUS DYLAN
"Come on!" I shout, "I know it was you, Stavren and Ebony. You can't really deny those hunting knives and the crossbow bolt! Let's make this a fair fight, huh? You've seen the breaking Career fights in previous Hunger Games, why don't you kill all the boys while you're still in earshot?" I hear the slightest rustle as someone steps backwards and crushes a piece of grass, and I dash around the golden horn to catch the girl. Stavren's short dark hair stands out against the base of the pale metal and she jumps from her crouched position and runs. I chuck my harpoon after her- she squeals as it rushes past her, but she's not hurt.
"Ha! You can't catch me, Fish Face!" I whirl around, angrier than anything, and move to the other side of the Cornucopia. My harpoon is gone- all I have left is the protective sheath I kept it in.
"Come on, girls. You didn't run that fast. Ebony is hiding from me," I say in the kindest voice I can manage right now, "Don't worry, Eleven. You're trying to keep Linley safe, right? I won't hurt her. She didn't break us. She's my district partner. I just want you to show yourself. Linley didn't try to hurt me. She never wanted to be here. My girlfriend- she was supposed to volunteer, but she broke her leg in a boating accident two days before the reaping. You aren't supposed to be here. Shoalle should be there with Ebony. You should still be with Crazy Annie. I'm so sorry, Linley. But I won't hurt you." It's true, I guess. I have no cause to hurt Linley. I still count her as my ally.
Shoalle really should be there instead of the fourteen-year-old. She and I would have made it. That was our plan from the moment we started dating, really. Then the idiot patrolman decided to chase after one of the speeding crab-catchers and rammed Shoalle from her raft into the water. She shattered her kneecap in the accident. Linley shouldn't be here. She shouldn't!
One of Ebony's arrows plunges into my shoulder. I yell to the sky with the agonizing pain it brings, ready to exact revenge for Reetan and now for my wound. Any debilitating injury can take a Career out of the Games in his next fight, no matter how strong he was before. I leave the arrow in my muscles to prevent blood loss and try to find the girl. My empty harpoon sheath clanks against the Cornucopia.
There- someone knocked against a weapon. Whispers and two sets of voices come from the supply pile and I know both of the girls are there. I see a silhouette against the sky running towards the trees and I charge after them like a bull shark on the chase. I need a weapon.
The weapons pile isn't sabotaged and I pull out a spear and the most powerful tool I can use in the arena- an atlatl. The spear fits exactly into the socket of the launcher and I hold tightly to my new weapon as I run after the girls. They both run like deer, but with the atlatl I can throw a spear far enough and fast enough to kill a deer.
There's Ebony, with her ponytail swinging and a pack looped over her shoulder. I roar her name and hurl the spear as hard as I can in her direction. I never miss my target in training. It'll hit the girl right in the torso. Sure enough, I hear it thud into something, but Ebony shrieks out that I missed her and disappears into the poky pine trees.
I slam down the atlatl in frustration, prompting a wave of pain from my shoulder. Ebony escaped. But… somebody or something got hit. There wasn't a cannon, but…
Somebody whimpers in the dark. I walk cautiously to the place where, roughly, the spear connected with its victim, and sure enough, a tribute lies there. I approach almost nervously. Who else?
I find my spear in the dim light first, wedged deep in the tribute's upper rib cage. A wave of brown hair fans across the ground around the tribute's head. It can't be. She went the other way!
"Marius," Linley murmurs, reaching out with fingers curled into a loose fist. I see a knife lying useless on the grass. No! I can't! I didn't!
I run to the girl's side, already beginning to rock back and forth on my feet. This can't be happening. It can't be happening! She tries to turn her head to the side, but she can only bear the movements for a few inches before the pain weighs too heavy on her neck and she lolls limply back to her earlier position. Her turquoise eyes fill with tears that are easily visible in the moon's light.
"Marius, you said you wouldn't…" she whispers. I choke on my emotions. I know I said. I know. I didn't do this- I didn't!
"I know, Linley- and I didn't. You're fine, you're fine- you'll be fine, Linley. We're friends, I wouldn't hurt you!" Her eyes fill with bewilderment.
"But… Ebony said it was an act… she said I can't trust you. You're dangerous, Marius!"
"Shh, shh, don't talk. It used to be an act, Linley, it used to be for the favor of the Capitol. But," I can't believe the tears are starting. It's been years since I cried, "it wasn't. Not anymore. I feel for my own act. We are friends, Linley. I wouldn't ever hurt you." I'm just a sixteen-year-old boy. I didn't do this to her. I hold out my hand on the grass next to hers and she seems to instinctively grab it.
"But, Marius… you say you didn't… so why did you?" Her tone isn't accusing, just sad. It would be easier if it was accusing. Just not dull. She sounds so peaceful. Like the girl who always walked to the market on Parcel Day with Annie when Four had a victor. The girl who walked in and out of the Victor's village- the envy of everyone. The girl who cried at the docks every morning after Nixie Cresta died. Linley. She sounds so peaceful. Will I sound like that when I die? I promise myself that I will. I will be at peace when I die, because I'll be in Four and ready to die. I'll get out of here, make amends- I'll win for both of us.
"Linley, I'm sorry! Please, Linley…"
"It's okay, Marius. I guess I knew I wasn't going to leave. I don't' fight or kill. That's why I was afraid of you- you were so strong and seemed emotionless. It's okay." She closes her eyes.
"Linley? I'll tell Annie you said goodbye, okay?" I am really crying right now. Tears slide down my face. "I'm so sorry, Linley! I didn't want this…. I'm so sorry…" The girl doesn't hear.
"Mom? Is that you?" she whispers. Then the cannon fires.
IN THE CAPITOL: ANNIE CRESTA
My tributes. All alone in the valley. Like Finn and I at the coast. Linley's there- little Nixie. She's dying, though. Mars got her. I listen to his speech, my heart burning with hate. Like it did when Johanna got Finn. I can barely think straight now as I watch the fancy television screens. The arena's coming back. But I do hear one thing- Mars didn't mean it. I smile before I press my hands over my ears. Maybe he understands.
Linley's mentor comes into my room and pats me on the shoulders. "Annie?" I pry my hands away from my ears. He slides onto the couch beside me. "Did you see Linley?" I bite my lip and try to nod, but the tears come before I can reply in full. I slide back into my arena and my memories. Linley is gone.
*an atlatl is a Native American device used to steady and hurl a spear. It adds great power and length to the user's throw, and provides a wider range for hunting.
omg look at this PRIME 2012 A/N I found attached to the chapter! I was so pretentious.
13th: D2M Reetan Altis
12th: D10M Alex Tibolla
11th: D4F Linley Cresta