Chapter 7: Day 2 - Hunting by Dawn
A/N: Hoho, now, it's time for Day 2 in the Arena. We may even take a brief trip outside the tributes' perspective. Also, if you've got anything to say, please do so in reviews and PMs. As a rather inexperienced author, I appreciate any constructive criticism. Well, let's do this!
LittleMermade - Heya, thanks for your frequent reviews! Jose and Acacia will make an appearance in the next chapter for sure, so look for them.
ForsakenKnight44 - My deepest gratitude to you for taking the time to review. I hope to live up to your expectations with the next few chapters.
dhnysports88 - Thanks for making your presence known. Favorite and follows let me know that you guys like where I'm going with this story.
Day 2
Sophia Kirhart's P.O.V.
Location: Careers' Camp, near the Cornucopia, circa 9:00 A.M.
Someone shakes me awake. It's Vulcan.
"Wake up. We're going to eat, and then we'll get to hunting the other tributes."
I grumble and wake up, still thinking about how Rain saved me in the bloodbath, even though he should've let me die. Great, now I'm indebted to this guy, yet I barely know him.
Acacia, the girl from 7, had me pinned down and was attempting to stab me to death with a knife. She was deceptively strong, and I was struggling to get her off me.
Lo and behold, someone pushed her off me. Of course, it was Rain. He gave me a smile, and I swore… for one second, I could see an apparition of Linus standing right behind him. He then ran off, with me shouting internally for him to come back.
This was no time for idle thought, so I threw myself back into the battle.
I snap back to reality as someone is waving my hand in front of me. It's Velvet this time.
"Hey, Sophia! We're gonna eat, and then go about the arena. Sophia? You there?"
"Yeah… I'm here."
I get up and gather with my Career allies. We pick out food from our gathered supplies, settling on meat with some fruit.
We make small talk, telling each other our motivations and what we experienced during our days in the Training Academy. I found out Velvet went in due to her heritage, while Adrian volunteered because he simply wanted to - even though he wasn't supposed to. We've got something in common.
After finishing our brief breakfast, we get up to go and grab our weapons, and split ourselves.
I'm going to be with the hunting group along with Cyrus, Adrian, and Velvet. Vulcan and Aileen will be staying behind to guard the camp.
Location: Border river between the highlands and the woods
"How will we go about this?", I ask.
Cyrus answers my question, with a predictable answer.
"Easy. We'll go into the highlands, and pick off the tributes that went in there. That boy from 10, in particular. He's a threat."
Adrian immediately shoots back, like his district partner.
"You're a fool, Two. We'd be sitting ducks for an ambush."
Cyrus immediately grabs Adrian's jacket, and despite the latter's size, Cyrus is stronger.
"Watch out who you're calling a fool, Four. I'll remember that."
I step in.
"Guys, calm down. We'll attract the attention of tributes before we're ready."
The two boys reluctantly settle down, still throwing subtle insults at each other. After more bickering and input from Velvet, the woods would be the safest place to go, and then the highlands tomorrow.
Cyrus takes the lead, as footsteps to our right catch our attention. We run to investigate, and find… Rain, quietly sneaking through the woods.
No… not him. Anyone but him.
Rain immediately turns his head around and spots us as we spot him. We give chase as he flees through the forest brush.
Adrian Bismarck's P.O.V.
That's the boy from Twelve! He scored perfectly, out of all people. He's going to die here.
I let out a whoop as I'm the first one to spring into action, while the others are close behind me. That accursed boy is fast, sprinting through the thick undergrowth.
"Come back here and fight, wimp!"
We follow him, although he has seemingly endless stamina as he manages to keep the distance between him and us.
I witness Velvet take out her knives as she attempts to target Rain with them, but like the slippery runt he is, he manages to evade them while weaving through the trees.
"Damn you, you little brat! Get back here!" Velvet shouts as we keep chasing him through the woods.
We eventually find ourselves in a small clearing, with the cliff-ridden sector of the arena in sight. We've cornered him now.
Rain Orion's P.O.V.
So, they've cornered me… but I won't die here, at least not going down without a fight. I start racking my brain for ideas, when I spot a bird's nest not too far up a tree. I scrutinize it quickly, and realize what it actually is. It's a blood robin's nest.
Blood robins are fearsome mutts. Despite their small size, they've claimed many unsuspecting tributes' lives over the past 25 years with their sharp beaks and deceptively strong wings. I'm snapped out of my thoughts when Cyrus approaches, gloating to me with the usual mundane and mandatory Career speech when they make a kill.
Too bad that I'm not dying here.
I look at Sophia, and her look says "I'm sorry". Well, she won't need to apologize.
"Hahaha! Useless drunkard, fire girl, bomb boy… are you watching?! Your precious pupil is gonna die, right now!"
I wasn't going to let him talk down on my mentors like that, and I throw my knife right at the tree where the blood robins were at, whizzing past Cyrus' head. Cyrus' grin only widens.
"Haha, you missed, Twelve. You - huh?"
The knife makes a solid THUNK sound into the tree.
Then, an extremely loud sound fills the clearing as blood-red birds with black highlights come swooping in on the Careers, viciously pecking them and beating them with their wings.
I seize my opportunity and hightail it on out of there, leaving the birds to do the work on the Careers.
Katniss Everdeen's (D12 Victor) P.O.V.
Location: The Capitol, Mentor's Bar
That kid really is something else. He reminds me… so much… of myself. Why?
I'm over sitting with Lukas when I see Rain cornered by the four Careers… One of them is Sophia. The girl that he seemed to be getting awfully comfortable with.
So she's turned against him too. Haymitch would be laughing at me right about now.
"It's not about trust. It's about staying alive."
I look over to Haymitch and Effie, who are gathering sponsors for both of our tributes, who both survived the bloodbath. I called them over, and now the whole District 12 team is on edge. Is Rain going to die?
He throws the knife at Cyrus, the boy from Two… and he missed. How? Cyrus was right there.
No. He missed on purpose.
I watch, surprised as blood robins, rather new mutts, swoop in from above. They were first employed 5 years ago in the 95th Hunger Games to great effect, and have become popular since. They come in and wreak havoc on the Career pack, allowing Rain to get away.
I breathe a sigh of relief, and laugh with the rest of my team, as the Career mentors glower at us.
I now go to check on Iris.
Iris partially followed Haymitch's advice, scouring the edges of the Cornucopia, then taking off with the supplies she gathered before things got too dangerous.
I watch as Iris is making her way through the rocky sector of the arena, and there's one other tribute in it. It's the boy from 8, although he's nowhere near her. Well, now Rain is in the sector too.
Rain actually participated in the bloodbath against Haymitch's advice. I like the kiddo, brave and defiant.
Just like how I used to be, until...
"Sweetheart. We managed to get a sponsor gift for Rain. I think he'll like it."
I was about to ask what it was, and Effie answered for me.
"It's healing cream. It should come in handy, for his shoulder wound and the injuries he got from the robins."
I look back to the TV. Rain took his vest off and tightened it to his arm, which was bleeding pretty badly.
The improvised tourniquet seemed to be holding up, although he might pass out from blood loss if it didn't stop. That would be very bad, especially if the Careers came back for him.
I take a look at where he's resting; and apparently he's in a deep alcove of a cliff, and would be difficult to spot.
I smirk at Haymitch and Effie.
"I think now would be a pretty good time to send it to the kid."
Rain Orion's P.O.V.
I'm grasping my bleeding right arm, in which the blood is being soaked in by the tourniquet effectively. I owe Katniss one if I survive.
Flashback
Location: The Capitol, Training Center
I idle around, when Katniss comes into view. She belittles me for going right for the weaponry stations, and starts talking
"Kiddo. You've got to learn some survival skills too. Let's start with tourniquets. Are you familiar with them?"
I nod, as my father specialized in medicine, our district's second industry. Tying tourniquets was something I did, but not too experienced with.
"Alright, kiddo. Let's see what you can do."
Present time
Location: 100th Hunger Games Arena, Rocky Sector
I'm sorting through my backpack, with the makeshift tourniquet soaking up most of the blood; the bleeding having stopped for the most part when I hear a noise.
I know that noise. It's the chime of a sponsor gift. I drop what I'm doing when a silver parachute comes into my little hiding spot, along with a silver casing, labelled "12".
I grabbed the gift and swiftly opened it, and it was healing cream. Beside the healing cream, there was a note.
"Use wisely, and go look for Iris. Stay alive."
- K & H
I grinned like a maniac, and applied the healing cream to my shoulder and arm, which burned slightly. However, it was worth it, as the bleeding stopped completely, as well as my wounds closing.
I clock out for the night, and I tuck myself in, guarded by the cliff's alcove. Tomorrow, I'll go look for Iris.
A/N: That's it for now. As to what happened to our Career tributes, it'll be revealed in the next chapter. See you guys again soon :)
