Thank you all so much for your reviews! I love reading what you have to say! Stay safe everyone!
Chapter 35- Dexsia Greentree
I'm just sitting back at the oasis, polishing my sword with sand like Velvet does when he's bored, watching the argument go on at the Cornucopia. I don't want any part of it, but I don't have to strain my ears to hear what they're saying. I'm sure everyone in the arena can hear Velvet and Cossus arguing.
"Tell me again, Professor, tell me again why we should go back out and look for the tributes," Velvet says, shoving Cossus. Cossus is obviously ticked off, but he stays calm, at least as far as I can see. Velvet is quite a bit taller than my district partner, and older, but it doesn't faze Cossus.
"I'm not waiting for the others to come to us; that didn't work yesterday, now did it?" Cossus says loudly. It really didn't; nobody came to the camp while we were gone.
"So we wait for them to die of thirst or heat," Velvet continues.
"No, we hunt them down!" Cossus says.
"We tried that yesterday, idiot, and it got me stabbed!" Calypso says.
"It was a fluke. Normally, if we're going to kill someone, we also don't have a ravenous bird trying to kill us as well," Cossus says. He's holding a knife at his side; even from here I can see his arm twitching, wanting to stab. Oh this should be good.
"Well I'm not going after anyone," Velvet says.
"Why? Because you're a coward?" Cossus says, and that really sets Velvet off. Oh, do be careful, Cossus. Mouthy people become dead people really fast in here.
"You shut your mouth, 2!"
"Worried you're going to disappoint Daddy back home?" Cossus says, starting to back away. Smart thing to do; I can practically see the steam pouring out Velvet's ears. Why is Cossus riling him up like that? I thought he was smarter than that. Maybe his smarts are limited to knowing what an oasis is.
"Shut up, Cossus!" Treasure says, finally chiming in. She's in the shade inside the Cornucopia, and as far as I can see she's irritated and bored. Again, not the brightest bulb.
"You watch your mouth, Professor," Velvet growls, getting even closer to Cossus as the latter starts backing away slowly. I'm not very well liked, I know that right now, so I'm not going to even wade into this conversation. I just watch from a distance; I've stopped cleaning my sword and instead have it gripped in my hand.
"If you're not man enough to go find the others, then I'll go," Cossus says.
"If you're breaking the alliance, I'll kill you before you get five feet," Velvet says in a dangerous tone.
"I'm not breaking any alliance. I'm going to find some tributes and make some cannons go off," Cossus says, and he actually backs up to go and leave. I'm rising from my spot at the edge of the water, about to start getting involved, when Velvet reaches out and grabs Cossus by the front of his jacket.
"You want cannons, boy? I'll give you cannons," he says, and without hesitating he jerks Cossus's head to the side. The cannon sounds as Cossus drops into the sand like a ragdoll. Eyes staring, neck askew.
That's that, isn't it? I didn't have to kill him. Really, I'm pleased as punch about it. That is, until Velvet turns to look at me and points.
"Are you going to desert us too? Cause if you are, you can join the Professor."
"Hey, I wanted him dead too. You just took him off my hands. Bloody idiot, thinking he can just up and leave," I say, coming closer but still keeping a healthy distance from Velvet. If he comes at me, I'll have to kill him, which means I'll have to kill the rest of my alliance as well, and I just don't feel up to it today. Too hot.
"You were district partners; did you have any plans together?" Velvet says, still accusing me.
"I wanted him dead while I was still in the Capitol, Velvet. Can you imagine living with him in close quarters for a week? That's what I had to do, can you imagine?" I say in a cheery tone. I need to deescalate the situations; Velvet is looking like he wants to wring my neck next. Me, the girl who got a higher score than he did.
"Let her go, Velvet. The boy's dead, that's enough for today," Calypso says, but she's eyeing me too. None of them trust me, and they really shouldn't. I'd kill them all in an instance if I needed to.
Velvet looks like he wants to say more, but then he backs down. "Fine. Get the boy out of here," he says to me, then goes back into the Cornucopia.
I don't really want to touch Cossus now he's dead, but I don't think I have a choice. Still holding my sword in one hand, I grab one of Cossus's wrists with the other and drag him a distance away. He's limp and really, really heavy, but I manage it. No weakness now, Dexsia.
"Bye Cossus," I say, looking down at my former district partner. Part of me is glad that he's gone, and that I didn't have to take him out, but the other half is a bit sad that he's dead. Nothing I can do about it, so I leave him in the sand to await the hovercraft's claw.
Back at the Cornucopia, everyone is quiet. Tensions are running high, and it's only day 3. There's a ton of tributes out there that we need to eliminate, and we're stuck here, arguing amongst ourselves. I'm not putting forward any plans, though. After Cossus getting killed for wanting to hunt the others, I doubt my putting it forward again would go over well.
I go back to my spot at the oasis and start cleaning my sword again, sweat dripping down my face. I don't think this alliance is going to last long, so what does that mean for me?