Chapter Nineteen, Bloody Blades

The mouth of a cave was almost within Artemis's reach – only a few meters separated the boy from a possible shelter when the anthem of Panem began to play in the whole arena. The teenager halted, looking up into the dark night sky. Some vaguely familiar faces passed one by one over every tribute's heads and then, the anthem came to an end. Artemis let out a sigh of relief followed by a faint groan of pain. He would eventually have to find fresh water somewhere to clean the cut on his collarbone.

Taking a few last steps, Artemis approached the cave, looking in its entrance… No dangers were in sight… The boy picked a small rock from the ground and tossed it in the mouth of the cave; if someone was to be in there, they would most likely make some kind of noise as they would react to the rock… However, the only sound Artemis heard was the stone falling back upon the ground.

Slowly, he stepped in the cave, paying attention to everything that could be a possible threat. Seeing nothing too deadly in his field of view, Artemis ventured even farther. He kept on walking until the pain in his shoulder made him stop.

He leaned against a wall of rock and replaced the moss he had used as a bandage. As he paused, he took the time to look at the settings around him, his jaw nearly dropping in amazement. As it turned out, the cave he had begun to explore was not a simple cavern; it was a mine. The young man turned around, carefully studying the composition of the rocks surrounding him. Huge chunks of rosy and of yellow-colored metals shined through the wall; copper and gold, for sure… Other parts of the rocky façade seemed to glow in a wide variety of colors… Artemis grunted. Opals.

Smirking, he scratched the wall of the mine with his knife and extracted a piece of gold from it. Old habits die hard, as they say. He tucked the gold in one of his pant's pocket and went on. He could hear that a water source was close by.

Artemis followed the sound longer into the mines and was eventually led to a pond filled with seemingly clear water.

The boy kneeled, taking off the moss that covered his wound. He opened up his jacket, gaining a better access to the swollen red cut. Artemis then filled up his water bottle, filtering the liquid in the pond by using the bottom of his shirt. Leaning back as he separated the two sides of his cut, the male representative of District 3 raised the bottle and gritted his teeth as he poured the water over his red flesh. The liquid was warm and probably not the cleanest, but using it was better than leaving his wound untreated.

The boy leaned his head back against the cave's wall, his eyes slowly closing as he concentrated on his breathing. Out of his numerous adventures, not one had ever been like this. Perhaps it was because he was on his own now… He only had his own set of skills to depend on. No Butler, no Foaly and no Holly. Artemis let a weak sigh find its way out of his lips. At least he could praise himself for the fact that he was not dead yet.

The boy then opened his eyes, the supplies he had gotten from the Cornucopia now catching his attention… The sleeping bag he had grabbed seemed to be particularly bulky in its silky envelope… Curiosity getting the best of him, Artemis opened the bag only to be pleasantly surprised. Not only had he found a sleeping bag, but it also seemed that he had fallen on a bonus lot; one folded backpack. He took the time to look inside of it, evaluating the resources that were now available to him. He had a backpack, a knife, a water bottle, a sleeping bag, one clean shirt and a wound in the shoulder. That was it for now. Of course, he could have done perfectly fine without the wound, but it had been a package deal: no injury, no knife… Though Artemis was not particularly sure about his ability to wield a knife, he still thought that having one was better than being weaponless.

With another sigh, the raven-haired teenager emptied his water bottle and filled it back up, once again filtering the water with the bottom of his shirt. Reluctantly, he drank some of it in order not to be the victim of dehydration and decided to keep the rest for the next morning. Then, he changed into the clean shirt and found a corner of the cave that would conceal him during the entire night. Laying down his sleeping bag on the ground, Artemis grabbed his backpack, set it under his head as a pillow and tried to drift into sleep.

Caskar dug into his pockets, pulling out his three daggers. He placed two of them in his backpack, smiling as he observed the reflection of the moon in the third one.

The fallen had just appeared in the sky and he had been proud to have the blood of two of them on his precious blade. He loved to see the blood-red glow that still remained on that specific dagger.

"Well done guys," he said as he tucked himself in his sleeping bag. "End of day one and our alliance made four kills out of six…" He only told them this compliment because he had to keep the group confident. In fact, he was still bitter about the fact that Acassie had let Artemis escape their grip.

On the other side of the small Career camp, Geneva was spinning her axe between her fingers, a bit annoyed that it did not have two blades. Just like on Caskar's knife, dry blood marks had tinted the polished silver metal of her weapon.

The feline girl sat beside Kalheb, leaning against his broad shoulder. The young man turned towards her and kissed her shamelessly. "Proud of your kill, honey?" he asked her in his usual seductive tone as soon as she had paused to catch her breath.

"I can't say I'm not… But it was an easy game, really," she replied. "I saw yours, by the way," she added, looking at him, a certain deviousness in her eyes. "I like brutal men."

"Oh really?" He captured her in his arms and kissed her again, this time more fiercely.

Caskar cleared his throat. "Unless you want to kill each other by perforating your stomachs with your tongues, would you please go elsewhere in the woods to do this?" he spat, wondering if he should be disgusted by their show.

The small redhead sitting by the Career's campfire chuckled, the fiery red flame only adding to the color of her hair. "So, will you take up the hunt for the Ice Prince tomorrow?" asked Acassie to the leader of their group in order to add some pertinence to the conversation and hopefully get the two "lovebirds" out of each other's mouths.

"Yeah, we can either go for him or Silver," said Caskar. "Depending on which one we encounter first, I guess."

"Silver killed two people in a row, Caskar, with nothing but a blow cane and a few darts, if I may add," Geneva pointed out. "She's no joke, just so you know."

Caskar resisted the urge to throw her the dagger he had decided to sleep close by. "I know that she is no joke, but what do you think I am?"

"Oh, I know what you are, but she killed the guy from her own District," Geneva rolled her eyes. "If you go fight her, you might just find your match."

The boy from District 1 snorted. "I could take her down anytime."

"Don't get a swollen head," intervened Crelin. "If you get too sure of yourself, it'll be your downfall. Everyone knows that."

"I think we should find Fowl first. He would be like… practice for stronger opponents," suggested Elon.

"Yes… He would be just like a breathing training target," nodded Crelin.

"Whatever," said Caskar. "As I said, the first person we find, we kill… Kalheb? Geneva? Since you two are pretty busy and won't risk falling asleep anytime soon, you'll take the first guard shift. Wake two people up when you'll be tired." The boy from one was really starting to enjoy barking orders.

The feline girl nodded. She would certainly not mind staying up alone with Kalheb.

"Hope no one will be too dead tomorrow," added Caskar without much conviction before yanking his sleeping bag above his ears.

"You mean, no one of us, right?" laughed Kalheb. "Because if you want my opinion, the other tributes can die all they want tonight."

Caskar shrugged and grunted, which was his tired way of demonstrating his agreement.

Dawn was nearing when Quartz Dahlai, the tribute from District 12, woke up. She shook her ally's shoulder. "Thea," she whispered.

The District 8 girl opened her dark blue eyes, tossing away a short lock of ginger hair from them. "Morning already?"

"No, it's still night, but I have a bad feeling… I think that we should move somewhere else to stay safe… We should also start making provisions for the day." Quartz stretched and reached for Thea's backpack.

"Good idea," nodded the girl, yawning. "You got quite a few useful things back in the meadow, didn't you?" she then asked.

"No, Peeta told me not to stop at the Cornucopia and get water instead."

Thea gave her a look. "Well, the more we have the better, right?"

"Okay," said Thea reluctantly. "Well, I might have picked up a thing or two…"

"Like?"

Quartz searched in her pant's pockets. She took out two small Swiss knives, a big box of waterproof matches, a small bottle of iodine and five snack bars. Thea watched her silently. The girl from 12 laid her supplies on the ground. "Did you get anything useful?"

"Just weapons."

"Can we sort everything we have and then go for a hunt?"

"Yes, sounds good." Thea leaned over Quartz's shoulder.

"What do you think we will need for today? We can put all the useful stuff in the front pockets of your bag; the less important supplies can go in the other pockets…" said the blond girl, emptying Thea's bag.

"You mean; what will I need for today, don't you?" Thea's voice came from behind her, just beside her ear.

Quartz turned around, slightly confused. "You don't want to go hunt alone, right? That would be really dangerous."

Thea smiled. "So blondes really are dumb, aren't they?"

"Why would you say that?" Quartz took one of her blond locks between her fingers. "It's not something you want to say to your only ally in this arena, ginger."

"I don't have any ally," grinned Thea. "I used to, but she called me ginger and tried to keep her material all for herself."

Quartz was just about to apologize when she felt something cold between her shoulder blades.

"Now… How should I do this?" Thea was speaking to herself. "Slowly and painfully, or quickly and painfully?" She trailed the end of the knife up the girl's spine.

Quartz tried to fight back, but she was paralyzed by terror. A high-pitched scream escaped the bottom of her throat through her trembling lips.

"Scream all you like, 12," hissed Thea. "I can silence you whenever I want."

The young tribute with pale golden locks gasped for air. Why would Thea do that to her? They had been good friends in training!

A cannon blasted in Thea's ears. Somehow, it had been less noisy than Quartz's scream… The girl from 8 got to her feet, taking in her doing. Not bad; a clean cut over the neck artery. "Sorry, 12; only one winner," she said to the corpse.

Thea threw everything Quartz had possessed into her bag, leaving the girl's body for a hovercraft to pick up.