Chapter 8: Delayed Schematics

A/N: Yo, hi, and what's up? I hope you're doing well, and here's another chapter. This'll cover what happened to the Careers near the end of the last chapter, and most of Day 4. We'll check out of the Arena to see what other mentors are thinking. So, shall we?

LittleMermade - Yo, thanks for reviewing consistently and providing constructive criticism! I really appreciate it :)

Evening, Day 3

Sophia Kirhart's P.O.V.

Location: Clearing in the outskirts of the Forest Sector

When those birds descended on us, my first instinct was to take out my sword and mindlessly swing at the swarm of birds that were mercilessly pecking and beating their wings on us.

So, I do just that, knocking down bird after bird, although it seems to be in vain, as they don't stop coming.

I spot Adrian spearing two birds with a well-placed thrust of his trident. I fight alongside Velvet, attempting to fend off the group of birds.

That is, until Cyrus broke off and made a mad dash back for our camp.

"We gotta go! If we stay here, we're gonna die to these accursed birds!"

The rest of us follow his lead, stumbling through the beautiful forest, with the birds in hot pursuit.

Vulcan Prisma's (D1 Male) P.O.V.

Location: Careers' Camp, near the Cornucopia

I'm walking around the camp, waiting for the hunting group's return, when I hear a racket coming from the forested section of… and the unmistakable screeches of… blood robins…?

I look at Aileen, who stayed behind with me to guard the camp.

"We should wait for a little. If the noise comes closer, we'll check it out."

We shared some stories and ate together. I was fascinated by her life up until now - she trained relentlessly in the Career Academy for the Hunger Games, in order to prove her parents wrong. She was to be the female tribute for this year, but she was coincidentally reaped, just like me. She found it amusing that our reaping cases were the same. I know I shouldn't get attached, but...

She shrugs and stands up to go check it out, until the hunting group bursted out of the forest, with all its members intact. They were being pursued by a flock of blood robins, who've injured them quite a bit. Cyrus is in the lead, waving his axe around, and he shouts to us:

"We could use a bit of help here!"

Aileen looks at me, with those sea-blue eyes of hers.

"Well… what are we waiting for?"

I nod at her, and pick up my sword. Alongside Aileen, I rushed into the fray, swinging at the seemingly infinite amount of blood robins.

Sophia Kirhart's P.O.V.

2 hours later, roughly 10:00 P.M.

We finally take down the last of the flock, their red feathers scattered about the ground near the Cornucopia. We regroup, and take a breather.

"Alright. We'll find the medicine to close the wounds," Cyrus says as he and Velvet rummage through the supplies we gathered from the Cornucopia, and retrieve medicine to treat the heavy wounds we suffered from those blood robins.

Those accursed birds chased us through the whole forest, not to mention

We brief Vulcan and Aileen after the wounds start to fade, telling them about what went down in the forest.

"So… Twelve slipped through your grasp?" Vulcan asked. Of course he had to ask that.

Cyrus is not happy about this being brought up, with him waltzing into a trap set by Rain. If Rain's trap wasn't intentional, he's very lucky and resourceful. I reply for him, just in case he decides to take out his anger on Vulcan, or someone.

"Yes. I think it was most likely a trap, set up by him. He already knew they were there, leading us all into his trap without us realizing it until it was too late."

Adrian decides to mock Cyrus, rendering the purpose of my intervention in vain.

"Come on, Two. Were you so intent on killing Twelve that you couldn't notice a trap? Your district is overrated; you're just dumb muscle. Your district partner is at least smart."

Cyrus swings at him with his axe, although it was rather clear he wasn't aiming to kill Adrian. Adrian deftly parries the blow with his trident. The two glare at each other, unwavering.

"Shut up, Four. You didn't exactly notice either!"

The two are at each other's throats, and it takes the rest of us to restrain and calm them down. We agree to have Cyrus and Adrian do watch duty simultaneously, so they can't kill each other… yet.

We spend the rest of the remaining time until nightfall licking our wounds, until night falls.

I'm first on watch, and I gaze at the starry night sky, albeit an artificial one.

While I'm on watch, I think back to Rain.

How is he faring? Is he OK?

No cannon shots were heard that night.

At least Rain's safe. For now.

Day 4

Rain Orion's P.O.V.

I wake with a start, remembering what I'm going to do today. There's only one objective: Find Iris.

I get up, slightly shivering due to how chilly the alcove is within the cliff. I managed to recover my folding knife in the chaos that ensued with the blood robins. I presume one of the robins knocked it down in the confusion, but I still have it.

I look at my large water canteen, which is about half-full; I'm going to need to refill the canteen soon. Fortunately for me, there's a river nearby - I just need to determine whether it's safe to drink it or not.

I have food to last me for the next three days if I ration it carefully. It's time to move out.

I spend what seems hours walking through the rocky section of the Arena, carefully moving about so I make the least amount of noise as possible.

I finally find the river that flowed into the highlands, and I creep towards it. My heart nearly stops when I hear footsteps coming my way. I duck for cover behind some nearby rocks, as the source of the noise appears. It's the pair from 7… again.

They stop at the river and open their own canteens to refill on water.

"Jose. Do you really think it's a good idea to not kill the girl from Twelve?"

"Yeah, we should keep her alive. Once we find him, I'll kill her, then him."

"Will the rope hold her to the rock we tied her to? I'm not too sure that leaving her alone"

"Acacia, don't worry about it. She's not going to get out."

So, they've got Iris. I know it's likely suicidal, but a part of me is convinced it's the right thing to do. Something echoes in my mind...

Flashback

Location: The Capitol, Training Center

"Find water, get to high ground… and stick together."

"Is that all?", Iris asks Haymitch.

"No."

"Then what's the last piece of advice?", I ask. In the back of my mind, I already knew what he was going to say.

He smirks.

"Stay alive."

The District 12 team shares a good laugh - a final one before we were taken away to the Arena.

Present time

I wait for them to finish filling their canteens at the river. I decide to forgo filling water for now - if I don't, I'll likely have to forgo an ally. If all goes to plan, I'll be able to have both an ally and water.

I follow them stealthily, moving silently from between the myriad of rocks that provided excellent cover.

They finally arrive at their camp, which is cozily nestled in what resembled a shallow quarry. Due to Sophia describing her home district to me on the final night on the roof, I learned what a quarry was. It was apparently important to her district's industry: masonry.

I watch silently as they interrogate Iris, who is bound to a rock by rope. Jose is the one talking, while Acacia watches for any intruders. She's not doing a good job, since they don't seem to be aware of my presence.

"So, Twelve. Where's your district partner?"

"I don't know. Probably in the woods."

"You don't know? He must've told you something about it!"

"No. Even if he had, it's not like I'd ever tell you."

Wrong answer. Jose swings his axe, cutting Iris' right arm, causing her to scream out in pain. I look to Acacia, whose back is turned.

What would Sophia do in this situation?

This is the time to strike. I deploy my retractable spear and take out my knife.

"Jose, you shouldn't - ERGH!"

My spear hit her right in the shoulder, with her collapsing to the ground. Jose turns around and spots me. He charges right at me, now completely ignoring Iris.

"So, you came to us. I'll kill you, then your district partner!"

I silently pull out my knife. Due to how heavy an axe is compared to a folding knife, it slows him down enough for me to dodge his attacks.

We grapple with each other in hand-to-hand combat. He knees me in the stomach, sending me back, losing my balance. He charges at me with his axe, raised high.

"Time to die, Twelve!"

I managed to barely roll out of the way and get up. He's immediately on me, but I headbutt him on instinct, allowing me to wiggle out of his grasp.

"Why you-"

He doesn't get the chance to speak, as I stab him in his leg. He collapses, although still alive.

"Damn… you!"

I look over at Acacia, who's still alive, albeit unconscious with the spear stuck in her shoulder. If she isn't treated, she's a goner.

I free Iris by cutting the rope, and we both leave after I retrieve my spear from Acacia's body. Once we're a sizable distance away from the 7s' camp, we stop to catch our breath. Iris starts asking questions immediately, in between breaths.

"How'd you know they got me?"

"I followed them."

"You should've left me there, Rain. There was no reason to save me."

"Iris, listen to me. The people who break the rules are considered trash - but those who abandon their friends are worse than trash."

"..."

I feel a rumbling, and the ground starts to shake below me. The cliffs start to fall apart

"Rain… it's an earthquake. We need to get out of here!"

Katniss Everdeen's P.O.V.

Location: The Capitol, Mentor's Bar

I'm wrapping up talks with potential Capitol sponsors, when Haymitch signals to me. I shake their hands and receive their sponsor gift, which I send through to get to Iris, or Rain if she went down when I was away. Not that I should get attached to those kids.

I come over and sit down.

"What is it, old man?"

"Look there, sweetheart. Rain and Iris finally reunited."

I smirked, and was about to say something, until Lukas interrupted me.

"Wait a sec - the ground's shaking! It's an earthquake!"

This draws attention from some of the other mentors, who look in surprise. Noticeably, the mentors from 7, Johanna, Pliny, and one of the mentors from 8.

"The boy from 8 is in the rocky section. He's near the waterfall, from the looks of it", Haymitch remarks to no one in particular.

I watch our two pupils run for their lives. As they make their way through the falling rocks, Rain trips over a stray rock. I sigh. Rain's going to die.

But no, I was proven wrong. He was dragged up by Iris with her good arm, and the two kept going.

I breathe a sigh of relief.

"I'll send the sponsor gift in. This one's for Iris."

"Mmhm. Better send it in before the pool thins, Sweetheart. It'll be more expensive then."

I nod, acknowledging what Haymitch said was true - not that most District 12 tributes got that far.

Sophia Kirhart's P.O.V.

We haven't been moving all day into any of the sectors. Our plan to go into the highlands was delayed after our one in the forest ended in total disaster.

"Hey, you guys… do you hear that?", Velvet

I'm patrolling the clearing when I hear rumbling coming from the Cliff Sector. I speak up for my alliancemates to hear.

"That sector's being roughed up; it's an earthquake for sure. Anyone in there is in for a rude surprise."

BOOM.

A single cannon echoes through the air. I turn and look at Adrian, who raises an eyebrow.

"Cannons. Music to my ears, that means one less person to deal with," I say… but a small voice nags at me.

What if that was Rain?

Adrian smirks as we watch the cliff sector crumble.

The earthquake eventually stops, and Cyrus calls us all in to eat, and then to tuck it in for the night.

"We're going hunting tomorrow, or the day after next. The highlands is next!"

We eat dinner and share more stories, mostly consisting of what were planning to do if we were to win this game, and Velvet said she was even considering moving to her co-victor's district. Was that even possible? And would be odd, since she's from one of the wealthiest districts, that being of course, One.

After eating, we clock out for the day, but we all stay up long enough to see who died in the earthquake. The Capitol emblem

It's the girl from 7. Acacia.

The Capitol emblem fades away into the night sky.

Iris Nilo's (D12 Female) P.O.V.

Rain and I burst into the forested section of the Arena, having escaped the chaos.

We made it out of the rocky section of the Arena successfully. We heard a cannon go off, which meant someone perished. The girl from 7 appears in the sky.

"She was the one I attacked first when I came to rescue you. Looks like Jose managed to escape, somehow."

I was about to reply, when the unique chime of a sponsor's gift attracts our attention. It comes to a stop in a tree branch, just out of reach.

"I'll go get it," I say, volunteering myself to go get it.

Once I bring it down, I open it. It contains a note from Haymitch and Katniss, and…

A/N: ...Cliffhanger! What was contained within will be revealed in the next chapter. If you're wondering who Pliny is, he's the victor of the 72nd Hunger Games, right after Johanna; his name appeared on the Mockingjay Podiums. Now, I'll go over who's still in.

District 1 - Vulcan Prisma & Velvet Ritchson

District 2 - Cyrus Rankine & Sophia Kirhart

District 3 - Ellie Volicy

District 4 - Adrian Bismarck & Aileen Kendari

District 5 - (none)

District 6 - Vincent Crox

District 7 - Jose Aspen

District 8 - Roy Angora

District 9 - (none)

District 10 - Robert Leiden

District 11 - Linde Huskor

District 12 - Rain Orion & Iris Nilo

Now, for the fallen…

Acacia Mossalia (D7, died of an injury inflicted by Rain Orion of D12 + crushed by falling rocks during the earthquake)

OK, so that's it for this chapter. See you guys later!