Chapter 22:
Day One
Aberforth Barringer, 18, District Four
The metallic scent of blood lingers in the air, the ground shaking booms of the cannons still echo in his ears, and a whole lot of doubt fills Abel. His stomach is still twisting from the violence of it all…violence that he knows he signed up for when he volunteered for the Games, and yet… He didn't realize just what it would be like once he stepped foot in the arena.
He didn't expect the horror he would feel watching his fellow allies kill so effortlessly and without a care about how violent they were being when taking a life. Marian freaking snapped someone's neck to kill him… And these knives they've been given… They only make things worse, letting tributes bleed out faster. And then his District partner…never did Abel expect to see Orin go down in the bloodbath, yet ze did. How the hell did he manage to survive the bloodbath when the actual chosen volunteer for District Four went down so quickly? Orin's death weighs heavier on Abel than he expected, given zir closed off nature and unwillingness to open up to him. But ze were from home…in all of this, ze might have been the only one Abel could maybe count on to not betray him in the back because of District unity or something. Or maybe ze would have, Abel has no idea what Orin would have done in the Games if ze were given the chance. It doesn't matter now, nothing will bring zim back, and Abel has to accept that he's District Four's only hope now of victory. He doubts anyone has their hopes too high about him winning.
Abel just stood there and watched them all fight, knowing with his pathetic legs he wouldn't be able to chase anyone down. Watched them tear down the competition without blinking an eye. And the worst part is, Abel can feel a deep pang of jealousy in him towards them that they did what he couldn't do in the bloodbath, they have the attention of the Capitol and the ones who will ultimately decide their fates. Yet he resents the fact that he feels jealousy towards people who would kill so callously.
What in the world did Abel get himself into?
The three allies of his that killed don't seem too hung up on it, certainly not as much as Abel is when he didn't even kill anyone. Marian's just been pacing and ranting away about the single-use knives they've been given, debating testing out how they work on her hand and continuously being told by Tiv how dumb of an idea that is if she gets an infection from it. Rodrick has been gathering supplies, trying to be discreet about putting together a bag for himself, but everyone is aware of what he's doing. None of them are pretending that this alliance is going to last. Except for poor Kaz. Abel feels awful that Kaz seems unaware of how dysfunctional this alliance is, or if he is aware, he's trying so hard to keep them together.
"We need to find better weapons," Rodrick tells the group.
Marian rolls her eyes at him, "No shit, Sherlock. I don't know about you but I really don't want to fight with a knife that falls apart after one hit."
"You didn't have an issue fighting without a knife in the bloodbath," Tiv points out, using one of said knives to clean dried blood out from under her nails.
Kaz is biting his nails as he paces around in front of the cornucopia, staring out at the arena around them and looking deep in thought. Abel can tell he's getting overwhelmed by the bickering between their three other allies, so Abel tries to get him to talk. "What are you thinking about Kaz?"
Kaz turns towards him, blinking a few times before glancing at the other three who now have their attention on them, since it's the first Abel has really spoken up since the bloodbath ended. "My gut is telling me we need to go to those buildings," Kaz says, pointing over at one of the large ones in the center of the smaller ones. "Yet it feels like a big trap like I would find in a game of Dungeons and Dragons back home."
"Oh it's most definitely a trap," Marian comments immediately with a scoff. "But look around us, there's nowhere else for us to go, so clearly we need to go there. Lisia will want us to go. And hell, maybe there's something useful in there."
"It does seem suspicious with the knives," Rodrick adds, his face unreadable to Abel. "We should go searching before tributes get too far away."
"I'm sure as hell not sitting around here all day," Marian says, grabbing a bag and shoving some food and water into it right away. "And I'm not waiting around for whoever wants to come with me."
"I'm not letting you get kills that should be mine," Rodrick retorts back at her, standing up to stare her down. Marian just puffs up her chest and stands taller, not backing down from his glare. "We could cover more ground by splitting up, I'll go alone."
"No you won't," Tiv chuckles at his poor attempt to leave them already. Rodrick turns his glare towards her for a moment but Tiv could care less. "Why don't you boys stay here why us girls show you how it's done?"
"Yeah, and then you two will just leave!" Rodrick answers, his voice beginning to rise. Abel can see Kaz growing more overwhelmed and stressed out by their allies with each passing second, and as much as Abel doesn't want to get in the middle of their conflict, he wants to see Kaz suffering even less.
"Okay, okay, everyone relax," Abel says as he gets up, his legs stiff and reminding him just how much of a disadvantage he's at here compared to his allies. He moves over towards them to stand between Rodrick and Marian. "How about three go out and two stay back to guard supplies? There's still a few alliances out there and regardless of us being trained, we shouldn't get caught alone at this point."
"Yeah but who will want to stay back? I don't," Marian answers, crossing her arms at him and looking him over with a sneer. "Why don't you stay back so you don't slow us down?"
Abel knew they have all been thinking this about them – his eyes work just fine – but still…it hurts to have them tell him straight to his face that they don't want him around because they think he's just going to weigh them down. Another pang of envy goes through him towards them with their perfect legs, but he squashes down that feeling as much as he can, knowing it's not going to get him anywhere. He just doesn't want any unnecessary fights starting now…and later he'll prove her wrong. "Sure, I can stay back. I think Kaz should go with you."
Marian contemplates this for a few long seconds, her face making Abel just a little worried about what she's thinking about, before shrugging and waving her hand at Kaz. "Alright Kaz, let's go."
"Wait, what about me? I don't want to sit around here!" Tiv protests, realizing that by not speaking up sooner, she is getting the short stick.
Marian shrugs at her as Kaz gathers up some supplies, "Maybe your pretty brain should have been more focused on the next steps, not your appearance."
Tiv starts sputtering at this, before starting to laugh at Marian who gives her a wink, letting her know that she's just teasing. "Fine, fine, I'll keep this pretty ass here. Now get moving so I can watch that ass leaving."
Abel looks away from their flirting, a little uncomfortable at just how close those two seem to be with each other. He doesn't get how they can act that way in a death match… Instead, he focuses on Kaz as he gets ready to leave. "Will you be alright with them?" Abel asks him quietly, concerned for his ally.
Kaz looks over at him and gives him a timid smile. "Yes, I will be. Thank you for the concern."
"No problem," Abel answers quietly, but part of him questions why he's even concerned about Kaz in the first place. "Stay safe out there."
Kaz nods his head in agreement before heading after Marian and Rodrick, the boy from One too impatient to keep waiting around for them.
"Ugh, I can't believe she just left me behind like that!" Tiv complains as she flops down on the ground with a dramatic sigh.
Abel watches her for a few seconds, worried he's underestimating just how much of a threat she is from her behavior now, before moving a bit away from her to stretch out his legs, still watching his allies leave. He just hopes he doesn't regret sending Kaz out alone with Marian and Rodrick… But Marian will keep an eye on her District partner…right?
Grey Pendleton, 17, District Eight
"Grey," Artem calls out from behind him and Grey shushes him without turning back, knowing they're still too close to the cornucopia to be talking loudly. "Is she…going to be alright?"
Grey lets out a loud sigh as he slowly turns to face Artem, the boy sniffling as he tries not to cry. "Artem, we really need to be quiet here. We're still too close to the careers." He waits until Artem nods his head obediently before turning back to where Sasha sits in front of him, her hand pressed against the wound in her side. As he looks at the blood staining her shirt, a flash of anger goes through him at the person who did this to her, but he quickly extinguishes that feeling, knowing he took zir life. Ze can't keep hurting her anymore. All he could see in that moment was Quill getting hurt and he couldn't stand back and let it happen, he had to save her.
"That was really reckless, you know," Grey tells Sasha as he digs through their bags, finding only a few items, but at the very least a first aid kit. "Going for supplies when right next to a career. You could have gotten killed, you know. You would have if I hadn't been there to save you from zim. I risked my life for you."
"I know," Sasha's face is definitely paler than usual and she shuts her eyes as a grimace of pain goes over her face. Grey knows he needs to stop the bleeding, but he wants to make sure she knows just what he did for her. "I…thanks," Sasha says quietly, clearly struggling with accepting someone else helping her, but she does. And that's all Grey needs to hear.
"I'm just glad you could see I'm here to help you. Now lets get you patched up," Gray says as he opens up the first aid kit, finding barely enough for patching up a stab wound, but he'll make it work. "Let me see this wound."
Sasha slowly lifts up her shirt, wincing in pain from the movement pulling at the wound in her side. Her hand is shaking as she glances down at it before quickly shutting her eyes. "For how much time I spent in a hospital and around doctors, you would think blood wouldn't bother me."
"Your injury was internal, not a stab wound like this," Grey says quietly as he opens up a disinfectant wipe and presses it to the wound, ignoring her whimper from it stinging. "Which I still cannot believe that your mother didn't believe you. I-" Grey cuts off to shake his head in anger at the woman he's never met for letting Sasha get hurt like that. "I'd never let anyone I was watching get hurt like that. And I'm not going to let you get hurt again, as long as you listen to what I say. Artem listened to me and he didn't get injured, right Artem?"
Grey gives Artem an expectant look as he tosses the wipe aside. The young boy slowly nods his head obediently. "Right…" he starts slowly, but Grey can see he's on the verge of tears. "But…what about Gwenith…?" Artem asks quietly, trying to hold back tears, yet a quiet sob slips out that Grey gives him a scolding look about. "She…"
"She ran in recklessly," Grey tells him, shaking his head at his fallen ally's actions. "She didn't listen to what I told her to do at the start of the Games and, well…she paid the price. I told her just to get to safety and I would get her. There was only so much I could do for her if she didn't want to listen…"
Grey gives both of them pointed looks to get his point across. They can live longer if they listen to him. He's been preparing for this for a while now, always keeping in shape for the inevitable possibility of the Reaping, but doubled down when he knew he'd be volunteering for Quill. Artem, he isn't worried about listening to him. That boy has shown how desperately he wants someone to be looking out for him and to be his friend. But Sasha…she's been as stubborn as possible right up until the Games started and he knows he has to work harder to make her understand that she needs him.
"Luckily for you, I have some experience sewing," Grey tells Sasha as he holds up the single packet of stitches. "Better hope we don't need any more stitches since this is the only set we have…"
"I'll try not to get stabbed again," Sasha tells him, wincing once more when he grabs the wound to pinch it closed to stitch it. "I can firmly say it's not on my list of favorite things. Not sure what's worse, having a stroke or getting stabbed."
"Well I won't let either option happen to you again," Grey says as he does his best to stitch up the wound. It's…not the shallowest, but probably won't be lethal. But he'll be damned if he doesn't do everything to save her. "You're my allies and I am going to do everything I can to protect you from the others."
Until it's down to the very end, of course. Or if he needs to make a point to one of them again, just like Gwenith was an example. Because if it comes down to it, Grey will choose getting home to Quill over either of their lives.
"There we go," Grey smiles at Sasha as he sits back and looks over his handy work. "You're lucky you have someone from Eight as your ally who can sew. Turns out, stitching up a wound isn't that different."
"Thank you," Sasha answers quietly, leaning back and resting as pain washes over her face. Grey takes out their small bottle of water and helps her take a slow sip before brushing back her hair from her sweating forehead. "I'm sorry I didn't accept your alliance sooner… Maybe if I had, I wouldn't have been dumb and gotten stabbed."
"You realized the mistake before it was too late," Grey tells her with a sigh. "But yes, you're right. We could have avoided this injury in the first place. But no more of that. We need to focus now on our next steps."
Artem nods his head in agreement right away, never the one Grey had to worry about listening to him. Sasha agrees much slower, but agrees nonetheless. "Do you think we can rest here for the evening?" Artem asks tentatively, worry in his eyes as he looks over at Sasha. "I don't know if she can move much more."
Grey sighs loudly at this. "I didn't want to stay this close to the careers, but I don't think we have a choice with Sasha's injury. We should be hidden enough, but we can't make much noise and definitely no fires tonight."
"Can I have more water?" Sasha asks quietly and Grey immediately shakes his head.
"Absolutely not," Grey says to both of them. "We only have this small bottle to share between three people. It has to be rationed. I'll hold onto it since I'm the oldest and most responsible of the three of us. But…" His brain was turning, thinking through their feeble supplies and where the others are in the arena. "We desperately need food. We have to get some now before it's too late. I had hoped to get some from the cornucopia, but got sidetracked by Sasha. And so…I have to go out and find some."
"But we don't have any weapons," Artem protests, deep concern on his face for Gray. "What if you find someone and they attack you? Or what if someone finds us?"
"You'll need to do what I say here and you won't get discovered," Grey pats his shoulder and gives him a reassuring smile. "You need to trust me, Artem. I'm not going to let you get harmed. Now both of you sit tight and don't leave here, and don't make any noise," Gray tells the pair as he stands up. Artem gives him a concerned look that he quickly brushes off, while Sasha looks too exhausted from her wound to put much energy into concern. They won't be going anywhere, but just in case… He picks up their bag of supplies to make sure they don't leave without him, "I'm going to find us some food."
Iroha Kinoshita, 18, District Six
All things considered, they weren't in the worst shape. Iroha had honestly been ready to write off having Jenny as an ally before the bloodbath started when there was a career standing between them. She wasn't about to risk her life for a woman she just met a week ago, especially when her baby girl Melita is waiting for her in the Capitol and Noah was back in Six, hopefully with someone that is protecting him from Kayden…
But they got lucky that the career went after Sasha and Grey was so focused on saving her that Jenny and Iroha were able to get out of there and with two bags full of supplies. They have food, plenty of water, bandages, a knife…hell, even the sleeping bag isn't a bad thing to have. Who knows how cold the nights will be.
No injuries, ample food and water, and her ally still alive… There were certainly worse ways to start out the Hunger Games.
They both were in agreement that the buildings were sketchy and they would stay away from the buildings unless they absolutely had to. Lisia Arune has a reputation and with everything they've seen so far in these Games, well, they'd be stupid to walk right in.
"Jenny, can we stop please?" Iroha finally asks, feigning being out of breath as her ally turns around to face her. She put a hand on her stomach and gave her an apologetic smile. "Sorry, I'm not back to my full strength yet from the surgery, but should be in another day or two."
It wasn't a complete lie – the wound is still red and healing, but certainly not an open wound. But Iroha mostly wants to conserve her strength.
Jenny looks like she wants to protest this as she glances ahead of them, but as she looks over at Iroha's stomach, she knows Jenny is going to give in. "Okay, we can pause for an hour or two. But I'd like to get some more space between us and the careers."
"Yeah, we can keep moving before nightfall for sure," Iroha said quietly, glancing up at the late afternoon sun and trying to judge how much time they have before it goes down. Her gaze turns downwards, looking west in the direction they came from. "One can only hope they're still trying to regroup after the loss of one of their own."
"Good riddance," Jenny mutters under her breath as she sits down on a piece of rubble, shaking her head at the careers. Iroha sits on a piece nearby, tossing her bag into the pile in front of them. "Quite fortunate for us that one of them died in the bloodbath. If only it wasn't more of them."
"That would be too lucky," Iroha jokes back, a little surprised when Jenny lets out a chuckle. She keeps her head down, studying Jenny discretely as she leans back on the rock, soaking in the sun and fanning herself. Iroha doesn't trust her for one minute and won't sleep much around her. There's too much waiting for her to lose because she trusted someone she just met to not stab her in the back. Honestly, it's best that she just operates under the assumption that Jenny will stab her in the back if given the opportunity. She won't lose because she let herself get attached to Jenny. She won't let her children grow up without their mother. Even just the thought of Noah and Melita being motherless is enough to make her want to keep moving.
"We should plan out what we do next," Jenny says, shielding her eyes from the sun to better look at Iroha. "You know, find a place to camp, those sorts of things. We definitely need to keep moving every day. And probably some shade because that sun is hot."
"Agreed," Iroha comments as she lays back, letting her body relax for a little bit. But she keeps her head turned in the direction of the cornucopia, wanting to be prepared if the careers decide to come this way. "And those buildings are most definitely a trap."
"Absolutely," Jenny says with a scoff. "I don't trust anything in this arena, especially those buildings."
Iroha lets out a noise of agreement and they fall into silence for a bit, just relaxing as they lay in the sun. If she shuts her eyes, she could almost pretend for a moment that she's not in the Games. And weirdly…despite being in the arena, she hasn't felt this free in years. So far removed from Kayden's control, in a place where even he can't touch here.
After a while, she hears some rustling in the bags. "Hey can you pass me a bottle of water while you're grabbing stuff?"
"I'm not-" Jenny cuts off as Iroha opens up her eyes as she sits up immediately, fear coursing through her when she realizes neither of them are in their bags right now.
Crouched over the bags is that bastard boy from Eight and when Grey realizes they have noticed him, he swings a bag over his shoulder and stands up right away. Iroha jumps towards him, anger coursing through her that this man thinks he can come here and steal her supplies. Grey kicks her in the stomach, making her immediately bend over as she gasps for air. Momentary panic fills her as she clutches her stomach, having to remind herself that her baby girl isn't there anymore and he didn't just hurt her baby.
Jenny launches herself towards him, slashing their only knife at his arm. He gasps in surprise at the cut she made, but Jenny is more surprised when the knife disintegrates after cutting him. Grey uses this moment to shove Jenny back and she barely catches herself before her head would have slammed into a stone, before running away with them, taking one of their bags with him.
"Shi-" Iroha tries to gasp out, still struggling to get air into her lungs from Grey kicking her. She falls to the ground as Jenny sits up, nearly starting to get up to go after him, before realizing he's too far ahead and they now have no weapons.
"How did that happen?" Jenny asks in disbelief as she moves over to their remaining bag and starts digging through it right away, shaking her head as she pulls out the items. "No, no, no… Damn it, he took half our food and the larger bottle of water, and the first aid kit."
Iroha finally starts to catch her breath and looks over at Jenny, feeling like an idiot for letting herself relax for even a single moment in this arena. She's lucky she didn't get killed by Grey… Absentmindedly, she pulls up her shirt to look at the incision on her stomach, which thankfully was healed enough to not reopen from his kick. Still, she can feel the bruising in her stomach as she tries to move. "Did he-" Iroha stops to cough a bit, still struggling to get air into her lungs. "He didn't take all the food, did he?"
"No," Jenny answers quietly and Iroha can hear the anger in her voice. "Damn it, I knew from the moment I saw him that he was an asshole. He needs to pay for that."
"With what?" Iroha asks, honestly questioning Jenny. "We don't have a weapon anymore. What even happened with that knife?"
"I don't know," Jenny says, her tone uncertain and even with a hint of…fear? "I cut him on the arm and it just completely disintegrated in my hand."
"Another one of her arena tricks, no doubt," Iroha grumbles as her breathing finally starts to return to normal.
"I hate to be the one to say it," Jenny starts slowly and Iroha is already shaking her head at however she's going to finish that statement. "But we need to search for food and weapons now. And…"
"Fuck," Iroha mutters under her breath as she follows Jenny's gaze over to the closest building, realizing just how screwed they are now. No weapons, half their food and water taken away… She slowly looks over at Jenny, her ally having a similar look on her face as she no doubt has the same realization as Iroha. They didn't want to go there yet, both of them not trusting for one minute that it's not a huge trap. But now… "We have to go to one of the buildings."
There we have Day One! I'll be splitting it up into day and night chapters until we are at the halfway point, so next chapter will be Night One and we'll check in with the rest of the featured tributes! I'm honestly surprised with myself for getting this chapter done in the week lol, I always struggle with the arena chapters that are mainly just check in chapters XD But then I got the idea for Grey stealing supplies from Iroha and Jenny and the rest of the chapter wrote quickly, so here we are!
Not much else for me to say here. Any sponsor gifts will either be received in Night One or on Day Two, depending on the tribute. The blog is updated with each chapter to reflect changes, as well as the map now having locations marked for each tribute/alliance. And yes, we're going to see soon just what is inside those buildings lol. Trust me, I'm just as impatient as you are to get there lol.
RQ #22: On a scale of 1 to 10, how much of a bitch boy is Grey this chapter?
Alright, see you all probably in a week or two with Night One!
