Chapter 4: Cupid's Arrow

The wail of a death horn abruptly pierced the air, waking Venatrix from her slumber. She sprang to her feet, suddenly alert. Shock-sword at the ready, she scanned their campsite for any sign of intruders, poised to leap into action at any moment.

Only the vague shapes of the still-dark forest greeted her, the stirring bodies of her companions at the noise. No shadows stalked their camp, waiting to strike; they would've shown their faces by now. Venatrix felt herself relax slightly. Someone had clearly taken the opportunity of the cover of darkness to eliminate one of their opponents, though the culprit must be far away.

"Fucking 'Makers," Agate cursed from her post, letting out a shaky breath.

Huffing a laugh, Venatrix kept her gaze locked on the shadowy surroundings. "Ten bucks that was Iago," she quipped.

Percy stretched, yawning. "Killing or dying?"

"Honestly, either is likely."

Convinced that the danger had passed, Percy quickly fell back to sleep after that. Venatrix, still jumpy, traded shifts with Agate so her friend could get some sleep as well. Nothing of great importance happened while she kept guard, sitting straight-backed on top of a small boulder near the cliff wall. Dawn came slowly, just bright enough for Venatrix's eyes to follow the path of a ladybug crawling its way across her boulder. She didn't quite feel like letting her friends get their beauty sleep, so she nudged them awake as soon as the sky faded from its brilliant orange to a steady blue.

Agate and Percy grumbled, but complied when Venatrix pointed out that they could get a head start on hunting the others. After a quick breakfast and a round of morning stretches, they set off, pondering where their fellows might be hiding.

It was a while before they found anything, but Percy heard the noise first. He nudged Venatrix with his bow, placing a finger to his lips.

Immediately, the three Careers fell into a tense quiet, ducking behind the cover of nearby trees to observe.

For the past hour or so, they'd been steadily hiking up the base of one of the mountains, following the wall of rock they'd spent the night under. Deeper in the valley, just under their concealed positions, the telltale rustle of bushes revealed the presence of a newcomer. Venatrix narrowed her eyes and Percy silently raised his already-loaded bow, ready to take them out with a well-placed arrow.

The person moved into view below them, a sturdy-looking sword gripped in his hand. By the way he moved, Venatrix could tell he was alone. "Lancelot," Agate whispered, nudging Percy with the butt of her spear.

Venatrix recognized the name from Agate and Percy's conversation last night; Percy let out a frustrated exhale, the point of his arrow lowering by a hair.

Luckily, Lancelot was too far away to have a chance at hearing them, though hardly far enough that Percy would miss. By the look of it, Lancelot had paused to rest, his back facing the three of them as he leaned up against a tree trunk, seemingly making a meal out of an oatmeal bar. A perfect shot.

"You should kill him," Agate said, nudging Percy again.

Percy made a face. "Do I have to?"

"Maybe just shoot him in the arm, or something?" Venatrix suggested in a whisper. "Then I can kill him for you."

Her friend shrugged, raising his weapon again. He took aim, waiting half a second before letting the arrow fly.

Unfortunately, Lancelot moved his arm at that exact moment; he let out a surprised shriek as the arrow buried itself in the back of his exposed hand, pinning it to the tree.

The three of them stared open-mouthed in shock as Lancelot's stream of curses echoed through the forest. "Oh my god… it went through his hand," Percy mumbled, disbelief etched into his tone.

Venatrix and Agate exchanged a glance, stifling their incredulous snickers.

"Lancelot, I- Lance!" Percy's voice had risen to a shout, calling out to the other Career. Lancelot whipped around at the sound of his name, his expression pained. "I am so sorry, that was an accident!"

"Jesus fuck, dude!"

"I swear, I didn't mean to..." Percy trailed off, jogging down the slope to Lancelot's side. Somewhat reluctantly, Venatrix and Agate followed their friend, keeping a watchful eye on their surroundings. The amount of noise they were making right now was bound to draw some attention.

As they neared, Venatrix got a closer look at Lancelot's wound; the arrow had gone straight through, the tip buried a good couple of centimeters into the tree. Impressive on Percy's part, considering the arrow had no point.

Lancelot, however, didn't seem to appreciate it; he glared at his attacker despite Percy's apologetic expression, eyes watering in pain. "Can you fucking get it out?"

"Yeah, I- give me a sec."

Gripping the arrow shaft, Percy attempted to yank it from the tree to no avail, earning only an injured yelp from Lancelot. "Fucking 'Makers, that hurts!"

"Quit screaming," Venatrix commanded, her eyes still scanning the silent trees.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Lancelot hissed, the snark in his tone edged with pain. "I'm literally stuck to a tree, but that's no big deal, I guess. Might as well just-"

Another projectile burst through the underbrush, cutting him off as he ducked behind the trunk. Venatrix, Agate, and Percy followed suit, diving out of the way of a sudden throwing knife. The first person that sprang to mind was Iago, but then Alystra Drakos's voice drifted through the air as she materialized from the trees, her own two allies prowling behind her. "Well, look what we have here," she drawled, her calculating gaze taking in the details of the scene. "Free pickings."

Venatrix bared her teeth in a snarl, adjusting the grip on her sword. At her sides, Percy and Agate readied their own weapons, poor Lancelot long forgotten.

Before Alystra could move, Venatrix attacked, launching herself at the unexpecting girl. She landed a shallow scratch on Alystra's shoulder before the girl wised up, exchanging her knives for the sword on her belt. Venatrix struck again, driving her shock-sword towards an opening in Alystra's defense. Another shallow cut; it drew a scowl from Alystra's previously confident smirk.

Vaguely, Venatrix was aware of the sounds of battle around her, her gaze locked on Alystra. A sudden, sharp squeal tore through her focus, and Venatrix's head whipped around in time to see Agate's armor flashing red with a blow from one of Alystra's allies; the girl followed suit as one of Percy's arrows struck her chest, the death horns blaring. He sent another in Alystra's direction; she dodged, using the distraction to press her attack against her opponent. Venatrix retreated, exchanging places with Percy as he strung two arrows in his bow, sending them flying towards the enemy.

Alystra managed to dodge one, but the other struck her left shoulder, the arrow's tip clinging to the armor as it sent a numbing shock through her muscles. The girl's remaining ally responded with a throwing axe, the weapon sailing between Percy and Venatrix as they ducked out of the way.

Tucking into a roll, Venatrix exchanged a brief glance with Percy, a silent agreement. With full force, she sprinted towards Alystra while Percy handled the ally, one goal in her mind.

Swerving underneath Alystra's sword, she stepped a quick circle around the girl, raising her own weapon to jab her viciously in the back. The force of the blow sent Alystra sprawling forwards, her face landing in the grimy forest mulch as her armor glowed a brilliant red. A wave of satisfaction curled Venatrix's lips into a grin. "Nice try, Drakos."

Her fallen enemy let out a groan of pain, clearly laced with irritation. She pushed herself to her elbows just as Percy sent a final arrow into his opponent, eliminating the entirety of Alystra's alliance. "Oh, go to hell," she grumbled, dusting the dirt from her glowering face.

Heart still racing in her chest, Venatrix tucked her sword to her belt, digging through her pack for her water bottle. She drank eagerly, catching her breath as she surveyed the scene. Four dead, and Agate among them. The muscled girl had pushed herself into a sitting position with the help of her spear, still grimacing from the electric shock of 'death.' Venatrix met her gaze apologetically. "I'm alright," Agate insisted. "You'll have to carry on without me."

Percy lent her an arm, helping the girl to her feet. Venatrix jogged over, passing her friend the water bottle and a packet of trail mix (the one with the little chocolates that Agate liked) from her bag. "I don't know how long it'll take them to pick you up, but take these while you wait." Agate snatched the packet with a quick thanks, leaning up against a tree while she ripped open the bag.

"Hey guys?" Lancelot's voice piped up, reminding them of his existence. "Little help here?"

With a string of apologies, Percy ran over to help the poor kid, trying and failing again to rip the arrow from the tree. Lancelot grimaced, though he kept his jaw clenched around any more screams. "I'm sorry, Lance, it's just…"

"Oh, for the love of Panem," Venatrix huffed, raising her sword.

Lancelot flinched, but she ignored him; the blade was dull, but sharp enough for Venatrix to shave off the arrow's fletching. Abruptly, she grabbed Lancelot's wrist, yanking his hand through the back end of the arrow. He yelped in surprise, muttering curses as he cradled his now-free hand to his chest. Begrudgingly, he thanked her.

"Don't mention it," Venatrix said gruffly. "Oh, and before I forget…" With a quick strike of her sword, she slashed at his now-open chest, slamming him into the tree and effectively killing him.

Percy let out a choked gasp of surprise while Lancelot glared at her incredulously, another death horn sounding overhead.

"What?"

"You're something else," he huffed, though his tone was good-natured. Before they parted with the dead, Percy quickly helped Lancelot bandage his wound, not wanting to leave the kid bleeding out. Lancelot brushed off his apologies with a wave of his uninjured hand. "It's fine, man, I'll live."

Percy huffed under his breath, brows furrowed in concern. "We're gonna get in so much trouble," he groaned.

"You're fine, Perce. It was an accident," Venatrix reassured him. Accidents happened all the time during training; it was the reason they'd built a hospital right next to the center on Academy grounds. Percy only shrugged glumly.

Venatrix nudged her friend with the tip of her sword. Plenty of opponents left, including - she hoped - a certain Iago Pyke. "Come on," she said with a grin. "Let's go kill my brother."

A/N: Fun fact, when I was naming Venatrix's brother, I was deciding between 'Lancelot' and 'Iago'.. I ended up going with the latter for Reasons, but Lancelot was too good of a name to just throw away so. /shoves it at unnamed character x/

I was going to wait until the end of the week to post this, but the visceral relief I'm currently feeling after finishing one of my class projects is making me want to give it Now so (: Finally I can use more brainpower for this instead of homework ;-; Maybe I'll even post the final mock-Games chapter this week too :0 It's a fun one jhfjh.. (there goes my stockpile though, rip..)

I'll probably be posting the final chapter for 140 as well this week.. And very soon I'll hopefully start with the 168th Victory Tour... Still quite a bit I need to write for that but. I'm excited to start sharing it (: Well, until then,

- Nell