Shine
Chapter 26
Day Two
A/N: Time for our usual warnings. This chapter contains depictions of death and violence because it's the Hunger Games. I do not own the Hunger Games, all rights belong to the wonderful Suzanne Collins. Although if she wanted to take my stories and make them into movies, I would not object. :)
The real A/N: Today one more Tribute will die. The Games have been fairly bloodless so far, but that will soon change…
Athena Rye –14- -D9- POV
I wake up on the floor of the forest, wrapped in Isaiah's arms. He's still sleeping. I smile at his face, peaceful for the first time in days. His hair is messy in a sort of cute way, and I can feel his chest rise and fall against mine as he breathes. I consider getting up, but I decide not to disturb him. After about fifteen minutes, he opens his eyes blearily.
"Uhh… Athena. Hi. I'm dreaming again, aren't I?"
"No," I say, and kiss him softly, then "You dream about me?"
"Uh… no?" He says.
"Right..." I say.
"Besides, I was going to say that this can't be a dream because, in my dreams, we're in a bed, not on the floor of a forest in the Hunger Games," Isaiah says.
"So you do dream about me?" I ask.
"Yes," he says. "You're the only girl I've ever dreamed about though."
"Really?" I ask.
"Yeah," he replies.
"That's… sweet," I say. "I love you."
"I love you too. Now can we get up? I'm hungry," Isaiah says.
"Heh, hungry in the Hunger Games," I say. "Sure. I'll hunt us a rabbit."
"Oh. Thanks. I mean, I can do that if you want-"
"I've got it, Isaiah. I'll kill it, as long as you can butcher it. I can't really take the sight of blood," I say.
"But you have no problem killing something?" Isaiah asks.
"I'm a complex person. But that's why you'll be butchering it, or it'll never get butchered," I say.
"Will, that works out okay, I'm okay with blood and all that," he says.
"How do you know?" I ask.
"How do you know?" He counters.
"You don't want to know," I say.
"Same," he says.
Half an hour later, and the rabbit has been killed, butchered, and cooked.
Isaiah Lemont –15- -D9- POV
I take a rabbit leg and munch into it as Athena does the same. Bunny blood stains her shirt, making it so that she can't look down. It's sort of cute, and I suggested that she wash her shirt in the river, to which she just glares at me and says it'll be better when it dries. Okay then.
"Delicious," I say. "Thank you to the wonderful person who made this meal possible with her own to hands and one dagger, Athena Rye."
"And thank you to the person who butchered and cooked this poor rabbit," Athena says. "Isaiah Lemont."
"No problem," I take a mock bow. "So, Athena, can I ask you something?"
"I don't know, can you?" She replies. "I think you might have to kiss me."
"Athena," I say in a mock-scolding tone, but I can't help but laugh. "Fine." I lean towards her and kiss her, before pulling back and taking another bite of rabbit.
"You have rabbit breath," she says, "but shoot."
"So you do you," I retort. "But, can we be serious for a second?"
"Of course," she says.
"Athena, you know… you know that I'm going to die," I say. I suppress my urge to cry at the thought of my own death. Of not living anymore. Of… of not being able to be with Athena anymore. But she'll be alive, and that's what counts. Then I think of Athena dying, and that thought is much worse than the thought of my own death. "You know that. Two can't win. So… when you win, take care of my family, okay? Please? My mom, Chris, James, Kaylee. Oh, and Eli. Take care of them. With your money, take care of them. Please, Athena?"
"Of course, Isaiah," Athena says. "And… and…" she starts to cry but wipes her tears away angrily. I scoot over to her and rub her back. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't be the one crying, you're the one who… who… how I am just supposed to let you die, much less kill you?"
I wrap her in a hug. Her head rests on my chest as she cries quietly. "Athena," I say, "it's alright. Killing someone, much less someone you love… losing someone you love, especially when you're new to them when you haven't found out everything about them…. it's hard. And it's natural to be scared, to be sad. Especially when you feel like you're the one responsible. But Athena, it's not your fault. You're not the one responsible. The Capitol is. And if they want to kill me for saying that, let them. But it's not you. It's the Capitol, or the Districts, whoever you believe," I add that last bit to make sure the Capitol doesn't kill me and end up getting Athena killed too, "it's them, who forced us to play this Game. It's not your fault, it's not my fault. And… and if you think of not killing me, then… then think about how you feel right now, thinking about losing me. And multiply that by a hundred. That's how I feel when I think of losing you. Okay, Athena? It's not your fault. And… I'm sorry if this isn't making you feel better, but… I don't know if I can. I love you though, Athena. Especially because you're afraid of killing someone, of killing me. I love you, and I wish there was a better way to express that, but there's not."
"Thank you, Isaiah," she says, looking up at me with tear-streaked eyes and snot coming from her nose. She wipes her nose with her arm and her eyes with the other one, looking up at me. She's not as sad anymore. Still sad, but not as much. Something's changed. Maybe more… determined. And… something else. "I guess I'll just have to accept it. Until then, let's make the most of our time together, even if we don't have a lot of it. I want to be… with you as much as possible, learn as much about you as possible, before… you know. And I know it'll probably make it hurt more when I lose you, but… I'm okay with that."
"Nice," I say. "I like that because I want to spend time with you too. But, uh, we're still in the Hunger Games."
"Right," she says. "I guess we should work on finding some food then."
"Yeah," I say. "And maybe building a little structure if we want to stay here for longer.
"That's a good idea," she says. "What were you thinking?"
"A lean-to, I guess," I say. "I don't really think we can build much else."
"Sounds like a plan," she says. "Let's get started."
Thirty minutes later, and we have a lean-to started, and another rabbit waiting to be butchered for lunch. I hear something in the bushes.
"Shh," I tell Athena, putting my finger over my lips. "Listen."
We stop working and listen. More noises. Athena creeps closer to me. "What is that?" She whispers.
"I don't know," I say. Then we listen more. "It sounds like voices. And they're getting closer."
"What do we do?" Athena asks.
"Grab the knives," I say. "I'll grab my sword."
"Okay," she says. She crawls over and grabs the pack of knives and her dagger. I grab my sword. We crawl back to each other.
"Should we run?" I ask.
"I don't think it'll make a difference," she says. "If they see our camp… besides without a camp, we're not going to do well. I think we fight."
"Okay then," I say. "Hopefully they won't come this way."
"Hopefully," she says. The voices come closer. "But I don't think that's going to happen." Now we can hear footsteps and talking.
"We should turn around soon… I don't know… we… just a little…" I can make out two voices. They emerge into the clearing. Three boys, one with a sword, one with a bow and arrow, and one with a spear. They look at us. Athena throws a knife at the one with a bow, but he ducks. He shoots off his arrow at Athena, but it misses. The boy with the sword comes at me, and I swing my sword at him, blocking his first strike.
Kayne Lytch POV
The three of us woke up in the morning, ate some of our food, drank some water, and decided to head out on a hunting trip, headed south in a circle from our base. We were just walking along, hoping to find some large game, before we were attacked. Or perhaps they thought we were the attackers. No matter. If the girl hadn't thrown a knife at me, we might have been able to talk it out. But she did. So I looked at Emery, who headed towards the boy with a sword. I shot an arrow at the girl, but it missed. I go for another arrow but stop, looking at the girl. She looks like Kylie. Not as pretty, but she looks like her. Brown hair, brown eyes, relative height. I… I… I freeze for a second.
Emery Colt POV
I charge at the boy with the sword, raising my own sword. He raises his sword and deflects my first strike. I strike again, and he parries it.
Isaiah Lemont POV
I parry the boy's next strike. I look at the Athena, then the other combatants. The boy with the bow seems frozen, staring at Athena. Athena is reaching for another knife, but she's backed up against a tree, with the boy who has a spear on the side of her closer to me, and the boy with a bow on the other side of her. She could escape back to the forest if she doesn't get shot through the heart first. I look back at the boy in front of me just in time to block his next strike. I make a decision. I didn't think this would be the time I'd die. I had hoped that Athena would kill me, but… I don't think that's going to happen.
"Athena!" I shout. "You remember what I told you?" She looks at me and nods. "Now!" I shout. I take a step back from my opponent. Athena ducks around behind the tree and starts to run. I strike at the boy in front of me.
Tontu Heinburg POV
The girl, who bears a resemblance to a younger, much younger, version of Noami, ducks around her tree at the boy's words. I decide to turn my attention to the boy fighting Emery. He lashes out with his sword, and I throw my spear.
Isaiah Lemont POV
I feel a sharp pain in my heart and look down to see a spear sticking out of me. I drop my sword as I fall backward onto the ground. I hope that Athena's all right. I don't think they'll chase her. I hope not. I know that I at least did my best to help her. I think of our first kiss as I slip off into the light.
Athena Rye POV
I run as fast as I can away from the battle area. I hear a small strangled sound from behind me, then a cannon. I keep running as the sounds of battle stop. I don't know how long I run for, but it's probably not very long. I fall against a tree trunk, sobbing. Isaiah is gone. I know it. I can feel it. And there's no way he could have won against three larger, bigger boys. He probably died from an arrow or a spear or a beheading or… Increasingly gruesome images of Isaiah's death flash across my eyes. No. No. But I know he's dead. A cannon shot, only one. Not three, not even two. Just one. He's dead. I cry until the tears are gone. Until I can see the forest ahead of me, and not images of his dead body. Then I get up. I get up. I need to find food and water again. Time to go, time to get up and get moving. I need to make the most of Isaiah's sacrifice. I can't just die. I need to go, I need to survive. For him. So I will.
Kayne Lytch –13- -D10- POV
The cannon goes off. The whole fight only lasted a few seconds, and now the boy – I recognize him as the boy from District Nine, Isaiah, is dead. And the girl, his District partner, I think, Athena something, she's gone. Not dead, just run away somewhere.
"Should we follow her?" I ask.
"No," Emery says. Tontu gives a thumbs down.
"I agree," I say. Tontu retrieves his spear from Isaiah's body, and the hovercraft comes to take him away. "This trip didn't go as expected," I say.
"No," Emery says. "But did you see that girl?"
"Yeah," I say. "She looked like… she looked like Kylie to me. That's why I froze."
"I'm sorry," Emery says. "But don't worry about it. She looks like Mia too."
She looks like a younger version of Noami, Tontu says.
"Yeah," Emery says.
"How are we going to kill her?" I ask. "Someone who looks like the people we love?"
"I don't know," Emery says. "Let's just hope that we don't have to."
"Let's hope so," I say.
Thia Zollis –16- -D4- POV
I wake up and stretch my arms. Rhylee looks at me.
"Good morning, sleepyhead," she says.
"Good morning, Rhylee," I say. "What's for breakfast?"
"Ask Harper," she says, just as Harper comes back with another dead rabbit.
"Next time," she says, "someone else is killing the bunnies."
"I'll do it, I guess," I say.
"Sounds good," Rhylee says. "Better you than me. I can't take the sight of blood."
"Really?" I ask.
"Yeah," she says. "Never been able to."
"Okay," I say. "I guess I'll get started butchering this thing then."
A half-hour later, and the bunny is cooked, and we sit around the fire eating.
Harper Satin –16- -D6- POV
"What should we do today?" Thia asks.
"We should probably try to hunt, get some more food stored up," I say. "Maybe some venison."
"Sounds good," Rhylee says. "Where should we hunt?"
"I guess over by the river," I say. "If we're lucky, some deer might be there to drink."
"Sounds like a plan then," Thia says.
Thia Zollis –16- -D6- POV
I, Rhylee, and Harper are strolling along next to the river by our base, looking for something to hunt. I'm carrying my bow, with an arrow nocked in the string. Harper is carrying her throwing knives, and Rhylee has a sword. I don't know how a sword will help in hunting, but it'll definitely help if we run across something that's not food. Suddenly, I feel the ground start to give way a little bit beneath my foot. I stumble, throwing my arms out to the sides and dropping my bow on the side of me closer to the land than the river. The ground under my right foot gives away completely, crumbling into the river. I attempt to throw myself to the left, towards the ground, but that I manage to do is to collapse the weakened ground under my left foot, pulling me into the current of the fast-running shallow river. Crap.
Rhylee Kaski POV
I see Thia fall into the river and immediately start getting pulled downstream, towards a collection of sharp rocks jutting out of the water like teeth. I wonder for a second how such things formed naturally, before remembering that they probably didn't. Screw the Gamemakers. I throw my sword to the land-ward side of me and jump into the river. Probably not my smartest move, oh well. I see Thia struggling to stay afloat in the strong current. She fails her arms, trying to swim, but it's hard in this rough water, especially since she was caught off guard. As soon as my body makes contact with the water, I realize something. Even if the rocks don't kill you, the water will. The water is freezing, I'm surprised there's not chunks of ice floating down the river. Then again, maybe there will be. I wouldn't put it past the Gamemakers. I dive towards the bottom of the river and stop falling just before I hit the bottom. Down here, the current is stronger, harder to escape. It's probably part of the reason that Thia is having such a hard time staying afloat, the current is literally pulling her feet out from under her. With a few powerful frog-like strokes and the help of the current, I'm at Thia's position in a few seconds. I look ahead and see the rocks fast approaching. There's not enough time to pull us both up out of the river, and even if there was, there's no swimming against the current. I grab onto Thia's arm, swinging my body around her, using her as leverage. I position myself so that my feet are towards the oncoming rocks and so I'll hit them long before Thia does. I bend my knees to prepare for impact and not pop them out. I'm starting to run out of air, but that won't be a problem. In another second, my feet slam against the side of one of the rocks, luckily one the less pointy ones, and my shoes protect my feet from getting cut. At least the Gamemakers have some mercy, these are actually really good shoes. No time to think about that now though. Thia flies past me, momentum pulling her onwards for a few seconds before she finally stops, just a few inches away from a sharp rock that would have plunged into her stomach. I push off, righting myself and popping my head out of the water, gasping for breath.
Ding. "Rhylee Kaski has committed an extraordinary act of bravery." The announcer announces. Nice.
"You alright, Thia?" I ask Thia, who is spitting up water and shaking her head to get the water out of her hair.
"Yeah," she says. "But I lost my glasses."
"What?" I ask.
"My glasses," she says, "they fell off. We're not getting them back."
"Crap," I say. "How blind are you without them?"
"I can see," she says. "I'm not that bad. Luckily."
"That's good," I say. "Let's get you out of this river before you freeze to death."
"Sounds like a plan," she says. She's already shivering. I carefully pull us along the rocks to the shore, and then pull myself ashore, with a helping hand from Harper, making sure to keep my death grip on Thia. Then I lay down on the riverbank, and with Harper's help, we pull her out of the river. Her clothes are soaked and she's shivering. So am I.
"We need to get you two some warm clothes," Harper says. I notice that she's carrying her sword, my knives, and amazingly, Thia's boy.
"We don't have warm clothes," I say, still shivering. "Or dry clothes."
"That's a good point," Harper says. "Or a blanket."
"Some help?" I ask the sky. "Pretty please? I know you're watching!" Apparently the Capitol has mercy, or some Sponsor does because I hear a ding from the sky. A box floats down on a parachute. We grab the box and open it as soon as it lands. Two blankets are inside. "Thanks," I say.
"Let's get you two back to camp and get the fire started again. Then you can dry off with those blankets," Harper says.
"Let's," I say. We walk back to camp and Harper restarts the fire. I and Thia stand close to the fire, wrapped in our blankets, waiting for the warmth to dry us.
"If you want to dry quickly, you should put on dry clothes," Harper says. I stare at her. "Use the blankets as towels – oh. We don't have other clothes."
"Yeah," I say. "Those would have been more helpful than blankets. Not that we're not incredibly thankful," I resist rolling my eyes, "for the generous gift."
"Right," Harper says. "Will, hopefully, you two get warm soon. I'm hungry."
Harper Satin –16- -D6- POV
About an hour later, and Rhylee and Thia are finally dry and warm, and my stomach is grumbling.
"Let's go hunting again," I say. "I need to eat."
"Hey, I'm hungry too," Rhylee says.
"I need to see how good I can shoot," Thia says, grabbing her bow. She grabs an arrow and takes aim at a nearby tree. She nocks the arrow and pulls back on the string, closing her right eye. She aims for a second longer and then releases the string. The arrow flies forward with deadly accuracy, impaling the trunk of the tree.
"Was that where you were aiming?" I ask.
"Pretty close," she says. "Not as good as before, but not bad."
"That's good," I say. "Think you could hit a person or a deer?"
"I think so," she says. "Want to figure it out?" She points the bow at me jokingly.
"I'm good," I say. "Let's test it on a deer. Grab your arrow and let's go." I pick up my sword and we leave the camp, walking along the river, but further away from the riverbank.
Thia Zollis –16- -D4- POV
"There it is," I whisper to Harper and Rhylee. We've tracked and finally found a deer. A good-sized buck from its looks. "I've got this." I carefully stand up from my crouching position in the bushes by the buck. I grab an arrow from my makeshift quiver, which is really just the backpack we grabbed from the Cornucopia, and nock it in my bow. I take aim at the deer's heart and pull the arrow back. I close my right eye and double-check my aim. The deer takes a bite of grass and I adjust. I release the arrow as I release a breath, and it flies towards the deer. The deer takes another bite of grass before the arrow strikes it in the chest and it falls down. I walk over to the deer and draw the dagger, slicing its throat. It was decided that since I have the only weapon that doesn't double as a melee weapon (try hitting someone with a wood bow, it won't do much), I should carry the dagger. I turn back to where Harper and Rhylee are waiting in the bushes.
"Ladies!" I proclaim, "We're having venison for dinner!" Harper and Rhylee cheer as they stand up. We bring the deer's body (sans head, to save weight) back to camp and butcher it. Rhylee cooks strips of meat over the fire and we chow down.
"You know," Harper says, in between bites of meat, "we should call you Artemis."
"What?" I ask.
"Artemis?" She says. "The ancient goddess of the hunt? She hunted with a group of teenage girls who had sworn off all men forever, hunting animals that threatened humans. She had a pack of dogs and golden deer to pull her chariot and was just an all-around cool lady. She was one of the few Olympian gods who were maidens for life."
"What?" I ask again, more confused than before.
"Oh, right. I guess most people don't know the classics. She was a goddess from a religion of a country a really long time ago. They won't teach you about it in school, I learned about it- I'm not going to say how. It's from the same people that the Capitol names their kids after. But we're not supposed to know about that. Forget I said anything."
"I didn't even know what you meant," I say, truthfully. Either way, if it's something the Capitol doesn't want us to know, I'm happy not to understand it. I don't need a target on my back.
Becquerel 'Bec' Grey –15- -D3- POV
Clear wakes me up in the morning. I'm hungry and tired and angry.
"What?" I ask.
"You need to get up," she says. "We need food."
"Can't argue with that," I say. "Let's go."
Two hours later and we've killed a squirrel and got some more berries. It's enough to keep us full, for now. But only for now. And neither of us has gotten a Shine moment. I'm not actually full, but I let Clear think so so she would have enough to eat. We went half a mile in each direction from our original camp, but couldn't find anything. I tried to kill a fat rabbit, but it got away. Apparently, not only is there not any food, but we can't get the food that is there. Not if it runs away, at least. The squirrel was pure dumb luck, it never saw me coming. No big game and I can't even kill a rabbit. Clear fell asleep after she ate. I don't blame her, we don't have the energy to stay awake, not enough food. We did find a little bit of water, but now I'm thirsty again. It was a very little bit of water, and we drank every last drop. I think we're going to starve to death. I hope not, but it looks that way. Or die of dehydration. I guess that if we don't have enough food for both of us, I might – I might have to make sure that both of us don't eat it. The thought scares me, but I can't let Clear starve. We may argue, but I still love her. She's my little sister, after all.
Clear Palatino –12- -D3- POV
I'm not actually asleep, I just let Bec think that. I know that it looks like we'll die from starvation or dehydration before we meet another Tribute. And try as I may, I can't think if a way out of this, except to walk as far as we can and hope we find food and water. The problem is that we'd risk running into someone else or something else. Of course, the Gamemakers might kill us where we are, given that we're not interesting enough. It's a dilemma for sure. The other question is if we'd survive a trip long enough to find anything worthwhile. After all, we already should have, but we didn't. Who says moving gives us better odds? I guess that if we haven't found anything by noon tomorrow, we should just keep walking, and try to find somewhere else to set up camp. Somewhere with food and water, hopefully. And we need to get Shine moments. I don't know how we'll do that. Ugh. I need to think about it some more, maybe ask Bec.
A few minutes later, and we still have no ideas for Shine moments, but Bec agrees that we should move if we can't find anything by tomorrow. We set out on another foraging expedition, but return empty-handed and hungry at the end of the day. We watch the sky and are somewhat surprised, even though we heard the cannon shot, to see only one face in the sky. Isaiah Lemont, District Nine. Poor kid, but one less person who could kill us. I fall asleep that night hungry and thirsty.
Brianna 'Bri' Tribiani –16- -D11- POV
I wake Aster up to start our day.
"I'm starving," I say. "We need food."
"Okay," he says groggily.
An hour later and we have berries and a dead bunny roasting on the fire.
"This," I say as I take a bite of berries, "is the Hunger Games high life."
Aster laughs and kisses me. He tastes like berries. "I couldn't agree more," he says. "A beautiful woman and good food. I think the rabbit's done." He pulls it off the fire and rips a cooked leg off. "Rabbit stick, my dear?"
"Why thank you," I say, taking the rabbit leg and biting into it. "What is a rabbit stick anyway?"
"It's like a drumstick," he says, "but with rabbit."
"What's a drumstick?" I ask.
"Wha-oh!" Aster laughs. "They don't have drumsticks in Eleven, then? It's a chicken leg."
"Why do they call it that?" I ask.
"I have no idea," Aster says. "Because it's a stick, I guess. And you could use it to play a drum?"
"Why in the world would you use a chicken leg to play a drum?" I ask.
"I don't know," Aster says. "I didn't come up with the term!"
"You're right, you're right," I say. "Still, it's stupid. A chicken has nothing to do with drumming."
"Are you calling me stupid?" Aster asks playfully.
"No," I say. "I'm saying your language is stupid."
"What are you gonna do 'bout it?" Aster asks.
"Now you sound like somebody from where I live," I say. "But I'm gonna shut you up, fool."
"How you gonna do that, girly?" Aster asks.
"Like this," I say, and I kiss him.
Aster Ochs –17- -D7- POV
Bri and I spend the first half of our day eating and making out. Not what we should be doing, maybe, but it's fun. After noon, we head out to find a good source of water, more than the ponds we had drunk from on our foraging expedition. We find a small lake, or a big pond, and set up a small camp next to it. We find more food, another rabbit, and cook over the fire for dinner.
"Will, I think we're doing pretty well so far," I tell Bri over dinner.
"I agree," she says. "We've got food, water, fire, and we can defend ourselves. I think we're doing okay. And I've had more fun than I ever thought in the Hunger Games. Thanks in no small part to you," she winks at me.
"No problem," I say. "Hey, think anything's going to come of that crazy career and her death threats?"
"Oh, I doubt it," she says. "And if it does, we'll just kill her."
"Sounds like a plan," I say. "I sort of hope she comes. We need to be brave soon, you know."
"Right," she says. "Way to kill the mood."
"Sorry," I say. "Let me make it up to you." I kiss her.
"Thanks," she says.
"Let's not worry about it until tomorrow," I say. "For now, I'll take first watch."
"Sounds good," she says.
Ares Moretti –18- -D2- POV
I wake up next to Giselle. I hold told the other two not to wake her up. She slept fitfully last night, after her nightmare. I know why she had a nightmare. She had her first kill yesterday. And while Giselle is a very fun person, she's also innocent in so many ways. And one of them is killing. And now she's finding out that killing isn't as fun as fighting. Killing stays with you. Killing is hard, killing leaves a stain on your soul. She stirs awake. I stroke her back and her hair as she wakes up.
"Is it morning?" She asks.
"Yes, Giselle," I say.
"Why didn't you wake me up?" She asks angrily, pulling her shirt over her head and sitting up.
"Because," I say, in a calming tone, "you needed to sleep."
"Says who?" She asks.
"Says me," I say. "After yesterday, you need sleep, you need rest."
"Screw you," she says and walks out of the tent. Her eyes are haunted. I know she doesn't mean it. She's just scared, she's angry, but not at me. Ah well. It doesn't matter, really. By tomorrow, she'll be dead. I pull on my shirt and walk out of the tent.
Giselle Serpentine –16- -D2- POV
Ares annoys me. Why is he trying to shelter me? I'm just as capable of being a combatant as I was yesterday. But as I sit, eating rations over the fire, I see images of Camelia's face flash before my eyes. Maybe Ares was right. No. He can't be. I just need to fight someone, something. But there's no one I can fight. Or, there is, but nobody I can train with. I toss the ration wrapper with more force than it needs into the fire.
"Let's go," I say. Diamond takes the lead after we pack up camp, and I notice that she's taking us towards where the girl from Eleven went, rather than where that traitor Falcon went. I pull the boys aside as Diamond walks ahead of us.
Lustero Aldor –17- -D1- POV
"Hey, Lustero," Giselle whispers to me. "Come over here for a hot sec."
"What is it?" I whisper back. Ares is standing on the other side of her, and we walk slowly, staying out of earshot of Diamond.
"I think Diamond is trying to get revenge on that District Eleven girl instead of going where we want to go. She might end up killing her and that boy by herself. Steal our glory or get us killed by some trap because she's blind to the danger. I think we need to watch her. I'll watch her til dinner. After dinner, Lustero, why don't you watch her until breakfast? Then, Ares, you can watch her after breakfast till lunch tomorrow. Sound good?" Giselle asks.
"Sounds good," I say.
"Sounds good," Ares says. Giselle walks ahead to catch up with Diamond.
Diamond Knowles –18- -D1- POV
I'm leading us towards where that Brianna b-h from Eleven is. I can't wait to slit her throat after I torture her, to see the blood spew from her, the look on her face. It'll be as close as I can get to killing Athena. I think that Giselle might be on to my plan, but it's no matter. I'll kill that Tribiani girl by myself and no one can stop me.
Athena Rye –14- -D9- POV
Isaiah is dead. Dead and gone. I can't believe it. Someone, the only one, who I loved. I loved someone and now he's dead. How cruel can the universe be? But I can't focus on his death, except as motivation. He died for me so that I could live. He sacrificed himself for me, I can't let that go to waste. His death, his life, they need to mean something. I set off with determination to survive. But it's already mid-day and I haven't eaten anything since morning. I try to find food but to no avail. I eventually manage to find a few berries to quell my hunger, but I'm still hungry and thirsty. But darkness has fallen, so I'll need to continue my quest in the morning. I lay down for sleep when the Anthem starts. I stand up, knowing who's face will be in the sky that night. It still doesn't help. Being prepared for tragedy doesn't make it any easier. I cry for a few minutes, before managing to stop. Then I curl up on the forest floor and fall asleep.
Emery Colt –17- -D5- POV
After we finish taking what we can from the camp of Athena and Isaiah – it almost feels wrong to take what little they had, but we need to if we want to survive – we head out and continue our hunting trip. Kayne shoots a deer with deadly accuracy on the way back, and we carry it back to our base, where we butcher it and eat it. We sit around the fire and talk.
"So, do you think anyone else will be gone today?" Kayne asks.
"No, I doubt it," I say. "If they were going to die, they would've already."
"I think you're right," Kayne says. "Tontu?"
I agree, Tontu says. The conversation lapses into silence after that. We come up with a watch schedule, and I lay down for sleep. I think about Mia, about her smiling face and her kiss. I smile. I want to see that face again, to kiss those lips. I want to sing for her and only her. I want to be with her. I just hope I'll get the chance.
Kayne Lytch –13- -D10- POV
As I fall asleep –Tontu took first watch- I think about Kylie at first. But I've already thought of everything I can. Will, not everything. With Kylie, there's always more to think about. But a lot. My thoughts turn to my brother. I wonder if he's watching right now. Probably not, they don't allow them TV in prison. But then again, it would be practically the Capitol's trademark brand of cruelty to force him to watch these Games. I don't know, and it doesn't help me to think about Alix, so I turn my thoughts back to Kylie. I hope that I win so that I can see her. And I wonder if they'll let me see Alix if I win. I hope so.
Tontu Heinburg –18- -D11- POV
I sit and stare at the fire as the other boys sleep. I can't stop thinking about Noami. But then I realize that I can do something. So I write her a note and hold it up to the sky.
Noami,
I hope that you see this, and it finds you well. I don't know what to say, but I just wanted to tell you that I can't stop thinking of you. Hope to see you again soon.
Love,
Tontu
Silk Daisly –16- -D8- POV
When I woke up, I immediately went and foraged some berries. By chance, I find a squirrel and kill it. That makes breakfast and half of lunch. I spend the whole day working on my trap, apart from breaks to hunt small creatures and at one point, a bird, which I managed to do fairly well. At dusk, I hear the signature Ding for the fourth time in the day. I really hope this one is for me.
"Silk Daisly has completed an extraordinary act of intelligence," the voice says, in what sounds like a grudging tone. Oh well. Whatever works. I go to sleep next to my much improved dead-fall trap that is now triggered by anyone on the perimeter of my camp, except for one small area, essentially making an invisible moat around my camp full and proud of what I've accomplished.
Serena Holden –16- -D5- POV
I wake up in the cabin. Andrew is gone and I hear sounds from outside. I'm cold. What I need is a shawl or a sweater for these cold nights. Or someone to snuggle with, I suppose. I step outside to see Val and Falcon chatting- no, that's not right, no talking was involved. I mean, they were communicating, just not with words. I guess they were chatting. I don't know, it's not important. Andrew is at a workbench a few feet away. I walk over to him.
"Hey, Andrew. What'cha working on?" I ask.
"Oh, good morning, Serena," Andrew says. "I'm working on the armor for us. Yours is almost done."
"Oh. Wow. You work quickly," I say. "That's cool. Thanks."
"No problem," he says. "You should eat. There are some rations over there," he points to a small slab of wood next to the fire. "Heat some up for breakfast."
"I will, thanks," I say. I head over to the makeshift table and grab some rations for breakfast, exchanging greetings with Val and Falcon before heading over to work on my side project. I'm not an engineer, but I'm about to become one. Funny. I always like science more than engineering, experiments and lab testing more than building things. But now, I have to do some engineering. It should be fun. I hope.
At lunchtime, after hours of trial and error, a few false starts, and a lot of broken wood, my project is finished. I decide to tell Andrew at lunch. Val and Falcon had hunted and foraged, so our lunch is berries and rabbits. Rabbits seem plentiful around here from how many they caught. Falcon says, through Val, who is getting much better at sign language, that they set up more traps, so we should have a steady supply of food. After our starter course of berries, I pull out my invention from behind my back to show to Andrew.
Andrew Spayler –16- -D6- POV
Serena pulls something out from behind her back.
"Look at what I made for you, Andrew," she says. I examine the object closely. It appears, at first glance, to be a bunch of sticks in an odd shape. I motion for her to give it to me, and she does, evidently waiting to see what I think of her handiwork. Looking closer, I can see that it's actually a crude leg brace, like the one I wear but made out of wood instead of metal. "It's a backup," she says when she can see that I've figured out what it is. "For if that one breaks."
"Oh. Thank you, Serena," I say. "But, uh, why did you do this?" Val shoots me a look, and then her and Serena exchange glances.
Serena Holden –16- -D5- POV
"But, uh, why did you do this?" Andrew asks. Val looks at him as if to say Really?, then looks at me. It's clear what she's trying to tell me too. If you never tell him, he'll never figure it out. I remember what she said the night before. But he's completely clueless about things like love. You know what, I should just tell him. It can't hurt me. Heck, if this didn't get me a ding, maybe telling him how I fell will.
"I did it, because, uh, because I, uh, I like you, Andrew. Like, uh, I mean, like romantically," I stumble over my words more than usual, but that's probably because I wanted to kill myself after the first few words.
Ding. "Serena Holden has committed an extraordinary act of love."
"Oh," Andrew says. "I'm sorry, Serena. I don't really know what to say. This is sort of new to me."
"It's alright, Andrew," I say. "Just, uh, can I kiss you? No, that's stupid. Do you feel the same way about me? Do you know? Do you, uh, I'm sorry. I- this is new to me too. I've been an outcast since I was fourteen, you know."
Andrew Spayler –16- -D6- POV
"I've been an outcast since I was fourteen, you know," Serena says. I consider her for a second. She's pretty, I guess. But I've never thought about romance. I don't even know what a relationship would mean, especially here. But Serena is nice and I don't want to hurt her. Especially because she could kill me. Not just because of that, also, mostly, because she's nice. I don't want to hurt her by telling her I don't feel the same way, but I don't want to lie and say I do feel the same way.
"Serena," I say. "I've… never thought about romance. With anyone, at all. Maybe if my life had been different, I would have. But I just haven't. And – you're pretty and you're nice and I like you, but, uh, I don't know what a relationship would mean. Especially here."
Serena Holden –16- -D5- POV
"Especially here," Andrew says. I listen. That makes sense. And I think that I still have a solution.
"How about this? You don't know what romance is, Andrew. Neither do I. Especially here. But if you're not opposed to it, I'd like us to try to figure it out together. Is that alright?" I ask. Andrew considers it for a second.
"I guess it can't hurt," he says.
"Then can I kiss you?" I ask.
"I guess it can't hurt," he smiles. "Sure, Serena." I walk over and kiss him. He's the first boy I've kissed. Like ever. I sort of hoped that it wouldn't be in the Hunger Games, but you take what you can get, I guess. I smile at him, and he smiles back at me. Vallory coughs from behind me. I sit down again.
"I think that Falcon and I will leave you two alone," Val says.
"No need," Andrew says. "I should finish up the armor now that I'm finished eating. Yours is almost done, Serena." He walks over to his workbench. I shake my head at Val and she smiles and beckons me over.
"Serena," she whispers to me, "did you notice he made yours first?"
Andrew Spayler –16- -D6- POV
Once I finish Serena's armor, before I even invite her over to show it to her, I hear a ding.
Ding. "Andrew Spayler has committed an extraordinary act of intelligence," the announcer announces.
"Hey, Serena!" I shout. "Come on over!" She comes over.
"Is it done?" She asks.
"Yeah," I say. "Here, stand right there… good. Let me put it on you." I grab the armor, a wooden top with no arms. It won't protect her arms, legs, or head, but it'll protect her abdomen and a good part of her neck, which is where most vital organs are located. It'll give her a much better chance of surviving a fight, at least. I stand on my toes to reach over her head and gently push the armor down over her head, using another hand to grab her hair and pull it up and out of the hole, to flow downwards over the armor. It occurs to me that it probably should be under her armor for combat, so you can't pull it. I just wanted to make sure it didn't get caught on the rough material because I remember that happening to my little sister's hair sometimes. The armor fits perfectly. "What do you think?" I ask.
She looks down at herself. "I think it's wonderful, Andrew. Thank you." She gives me a quick kiss. My second kiss.
"Thanks. My pleasure," I say. "Now I need to make some for Val, then some for Falcon, then me."
"Why that order?" She asks.
"You first, then Val, because you two are girl, then Falcon, because he'll be fighting more than me, than myself," I say.
"You put me and Val first because we're female?" Serena asks.
"I want to make sure you two are more protected, yes," I say.
"Chivalry?" Serena asks.
"Essentially," I say.
"Thanks," she says, then walks away, leaving me to my work.
Vallory 'Val' Stensland –16- -D7- POV
A/N: I just realized that in the previous chapter, I used the words, Falcon said. I meant that he signed, I apologize. Please ignore this small error and continue to enjoy the story. If you are enjoying it, that is. :)
I wake up in Falcon's arms. It's not a bad thing, I decide. I wait for him to wake up. Eventually, he stirs.
"Good morning, Falcon," I say. Falcon disentangles himself from me.
Good morning, Val, he signs.
"How are you?" I ask.
I'm good. Better now that I'm with you, he signs. You?
I'm good, I sign. I think I'm getting better at this.
You are, he signs. We should work more on this today.
Sounds good, I say.
After breakfast, we go out into the surrounding forest to forage for a few hours. Then we decide to hunt rabbits. We use throwing knives as daggers and head into the forest. We found a warren of rabbits and worked together to hunt them. One of us would make loud noises to distract the rabbit and make it run away. When it did, it would run right into the loving embrace of the other one's knife. After a couple more hours, we were hot, tired, hungry, bloody, and happy. It had been a good day, and Falcon is a fun guy to work with. We brought the rabbits back to camp and cooked them up. After Serena and Andrew's… interesting interactions at lunch, we took a break from food gathering to work on my sign language again. Falcon just taught me the sign for love and for I love you.
You're doing really well, he signs.
Thanks, I sign. What's next?
What do you want to learn? Falcon asks.
How do I sign your name? I ask.
Falcon demonstrates.
Like this? I try, F-a-l-c-o-n.
Good, Falcon signs. But you said F-o-l-c-o-n, not Falcon. A is this, he shows me, why don't you try it again?
Okay, like this? I try again. F-a-l-c-o-n.
Good job, he signs. You now know every letter of the alphabet and most basic conversational words. There's still a lot to learn, but we're maybe – he traces on my hand one-fourth of the way there.
Really? I ask.
Yeah, he signs. You're doing good. Thanks for doing this for me.
No problem, I sign. I like you. Then, "Can I kiss you?"
I've been waiting. So I kiss him. My first kiss. If I die, it won't be without having kissed someone. That's a good thing.
Ding. "Vallory Stensland has committed an extraordinary act of love."
I guess that learning paid off, Falcon says.
I guess. I did it because I do like you though, I say.
I know. Thanks, Val, Falcon says. Let me teach you another word. He makes another sign, then writes on my hand. Kiss. I smile. Can I kiss you?
Yes.
Later, we continue my sign language learning. Andrew finishes my set of armor, which fits like a glove. We all chat over dinner, with me translating for Falcon so that he can finally be a part of our conversation. Falcon tells the rest of us his story, with me speaking out loud for everyone else.
"Back in District Four, I was a career. My mom's a Victor, and she told me to ally with the other careers and then kill them. She told me two things: One, always be on your guard. Two, never trust anyone. She made me promise her that I would never fall for anyone, never get attached, never have a friend. And I did, I wanted to win because it was what my brother wanted, so that's why I volunteered. That and I was chosen. Obviously, Val here made it so that things didn't quite go according to plan. You can't control who you fall in love with." I finish translating for Falcon.
"Wow, Falcon," I say. "I mean, I knew, but you gave up all that for me?"
Yes.
"But… we can't both win. You might have to kill me," I say.
We can't. But I could never kill you, Falcon signs.
"But, that means…" I trail off.
I know, Falcon says.
After that, the conversation trails off for a bit, until Serena tries to flirt with Andrew, and Falcon and I have to suppress laughter at his cluelessness. We're all still chatting around the fire when the Anthem starts to play.
Falcon Lockdust –17- -D4- POV
The Anthem plays. A face comes up. A single one. Isaiah Lemont, from Nine. Only one death is good. But he was still young. I don't feel that bad though. It's one less threat to me and Val. Val is sad though, so I hold her as the Anthem plays again before the sky goes dark.
"We should probably get to bed," Serena says. "Need to get our beauty rest, you know." We all laugh at her joke, then head inside. We've decided that the main room doesn't need a roof, not for now at least. Maybe tomorrow I, Val, and Serena can work on it, we'll see. Today was more of a personal day, but we have a safe place to sleep with a roof over our heads and plenty of food, so it's probably okay to not have everything finished. I curl up with Val on the floor of our bedroom again. This time, I kiss her before falling asleep in her warm, muscular arms.
Vallory 'Val' Stensland –17- -D7- POV
As I fall asleep with Falcon on the floor of the bedroom –our bedroom, I guess – I think about him. I think I am really starting to develop feelings for him. I don't love him, but I do like him. Of course, I'm new to this, so it's hard to say.
Serena Holden –16- -D5- POV
After dinner, I walk into our bedroom with Andrew. I know that with him, you just have to be obvious.
"Snuggle with me, Andrew," I say. It's not a question.
"Okay," he says. He's warm as we fall asleep. This must be what it feels like to be with someone. It's nice. It's also probably the only time like this I'll ever have in my life. If I get back, no one will like me this way. But that's okay. I've had it once, and that's good enough. I don't want to hurt Andrew, but I still want to get home. We'll see how that works out.
Isaiah: This one got me. I feel bad for him. He was so in love with Athena that he was never going to win, but he deserved to at least be killed by the person he loved, not someone he never knew. But his sacrifice did save Athena (for now), so at least his death meant something. It's funny, he was submitted by a different person than Athena was, but his form said that he had a crush on her, but she never felt the same way, but he was also only open to romance with her. Since they were District partners, will, you know what happened. I really liked him and his character. RIP Isaiah.
The Fallen:
24th: Kayra Dawnbreeze, 13F, D10. Killed by a sword through the side from Ares Moretti.
23rd: Camelia Lloha, 12F, D12. Killed by a sword through the heart from Giselle Serpentine.
22nd: Char Alfand, 14M, D12. Killed by a knife through the heart thrown by Silk Daisly.
21st: Isaiah Lemont, 15M, D9. Sacrifice. Killed by a spear through the heart thrown by Tontu Heinburg.
A/N: I hope you all enjoyed this relatively bloodless chapter. Tomorrow may not be the same. What are your predictions now that four of our Tributes are gone? How do you feel about Isaiah's death? Do you think that Diamond's plan will succeed or that Giselle will foil her? Who do you think would win a fight between the careers? And what do you think will happen to people who didn't get a Shine moment tomorrow?
Also, once again, I urge everyone to stay safe during this pandemic, stay inside, follow all of your local laws and regulations. If you're looking for another SYOT to scratch your Hunger Games itch in-between updates of Shine because you have nothing to do now, I cannot recommend a better story than Hawkmaid's new SYOT, Phenomenon. It's a great story by a great person, with great writing and characters. Also, submissions are still open, so go check it out, you won't be disappointed!
-JStar14H
