Chapter Twenty-One, Accidents

Scpenser Ross, the tribute from 12, wiped a film of sweat on his brow. In front of him was the mouth of a cave. He estimated that he was on the right side of the big mountain he had seen from the Cornucopia.

A cannon blasted in the air, making his heart jump. Without really thinking, he ran inside of the cave.

That was somewhat coward, he thought, rolling his eyes. He really hoped that no cameras were on him during the last minute.

Nevertheless, he ventured into the cave, intrigued by his new discovery. The precious metals paving the walls around him had indicated the District 12 boy that he was in a mine. Scpenser smiled, he knew mines very well.

With each step he took the boy felt the comforting weigh of the hammer pick he had secured on his belt. As he progressed, he dodged stalactites coming from above him and avoided the stalagmites on the ground.

Scpenser walked for what seemed like a very long distance before hearing the faint sounds of water dripping as an echo against the cave's walls. The source would be perfect to quench the District 12 tribute's thirst. He hurried his pace and reached a small pond.

"I would not touch the water if I were you," a cold voice came from behind Scpenser… A voice who's owner might make a really good use of a strong ally.

The strong boy's hands locked around his hammer pick. He scanned the room with the corner of his eyes, raising his hammer in the air. He spun around, ready to get rid of any threat. Quickly, Scpenser aimed to his left, only missing his opponent by a mere centimeter.

The slim raven-haired boy who had been living in the cave since the beginning of the Games backed off, nearly tripping on a rock.

It was too dark in the cave for Scpenser to see the face of the other tribute. "Who's there?" Scpenser punctuated each word he spoke in the hopes of sounding menacing as he tried once again to attack his opponent.

The frail boy ran backwards as the stronger one did all he could to hit him with his mining hammer. The raven-haired teenager tried to keep his distance from Scpenser as best he could.

At one point, the massive District 12 boy slowed down. He blinked a few times and through the small amount of light escaping a second cave entrance, he got to see the face of the tribute he had been after. He dropped his hammer. "Art?"

Artemis held his tongue despite his aversion for his new nickname, judging that correcting the huge District 12 teen might not be the best idea.

"How did you end up like that?" Scpenser asked him, pointing to his shoulder.

"The girl from 7 threw a knife at me."

Scpenser observed Artemis. Should he get rid of him right away? The boy was weighing the pros and cons of killing Artemis when something tickled his mind. "Why did you stop me from drinking the water?"

"Well, I thought you might not exactly want to die of electrocution…"

"What did you do, 3?" wondered Scpenser, specifically referring to Artemis by his District.

"I made an… Electro-net," replied the pale boy, naming his new invention on the spot.

"And how is one supposed to get water now?" Scpenser did not even bother asking what was an "electro-net," he already knew that he would not understand a thing to it.

"For as long as I will be working on this prototype, either outside, or elsewhere in the caves."

Scpenser nodded. He would not kill Artemis, not now… He looked at the boy's shoulder and reached in his coat's front pocket. He took out a small first aid kit. "Team up?"

Artemis was left with no choice but to agree.

The other boy set his hammer on the ground and gave his first aid kit to Artemis. "Feel free to look through it. I don't know much about knife wounds, but you might be able to find something useful in there."

"Thank you…" grumbled Artemis, those words not used to escape his mouth.

"In the meantime, do you happen to be you hungry?"

"Do you have anything?"

"I can clean some fish I caught this morning," replied Scpenser. "I would need water though."

"I have a small reserve in a bottle," indicated Artemis, pointing his thumb towards where he had established his camp.

This is going to be a profitable alliance, thought the boy from the Seam as he followed the raven-haired one.

Once they arrived near the pond, Artemis gave Scpenser his bottle and had a quick look through the first aid kit in which were indeed some usable items.

While one of the boys wrapped gauze around his almost healed wound, the other one was busy with his fish, cleaning and cutting them into filets.

Scpenser cocked his head, looking at the cut up fish in front of him. "Art? Do you have anything on which we could cook our food?"

"Yes, I do." The boy walked over to his electro-net prototype, taking a small device composed of a small box-like thing and two separate wires. Of course, he had made it using some of the components he had found in his tool kit. "Hand me a flat stone," he requested.

Scpenser stared at the boy in confusion and then shook his head, recalling that Artemis was from 3 and therefore was most likely extremely good at inventing electric devices. He searched the cave with his gaze, finding a stone close by and handing it to the pale boy.

Artemis somehow connected the flat rock to the device, the copper in it conducting a current through the system.

Scpenser took one part of his fish and gave it to the raven-haired boy who took it and laid it down on the rock. Slowly, the smell of frying fish emanated from the makeshift cooking surface.

"Now, that's what I call handy," whispered Scpenser in amazement.

Artemis gave him a faint smirk.

The two new allies cooked the rest of the fish and ate.

"Not bad at all," commented Scpenser, his mouth full. "Only thing missing is water… I used it all to clean those," he then said, pointing to the left over fish.

"True…" Now that Scpenser had mentioned it, Artemis was really thirsty…

Therefore, the new team ventured out of the caves. Artemis guided Scpenser through the path he had taken when he had walked to his shelter, just to the left of the arena's main mountain. The raven-haired boy's blood still tinted some parts of the ground…

"I wonder who left this behind." Scpenser contemplated a rust-colored rock.

Artemis looked over the District 12 boy's shoulder. "I did…"

Scpenser frowned, his own shoulder nearly hurting in sympathy.

"Well, I did get a knife," said Artemis, trying to sound careless.

"I guess that's a… good thing." Scpenser ended his sentence like a question.

"I could do without the pain," admitted Artemis as the two tributes walked towards a river.

"Do you have your bottle and the first aid kit?"

"Yes, I do." Artemis gave the tall District 12 boy the two items he had asked for.

Scpenser took Artemis's bottle and the first aid kit and then headed towards the edge of the river. When he came back, their two bottles were filled with fresh and clean H2O, thanks to the iodine from the first aid kit. He tossed Artemis's gourd to him. "Do you want to go back to your camp?"

"Yes," nodded Artemis. Even if he had a strong ally to rely on in case he ever encountered any deadly situations, he found it more comforting to remain hidden.

"How did you come up with the idea of a net?" wondered Scpenser as he worked on extracting copper from the walls of the mine. Artemis had requested him to do so, for the pale boy needed a greater amount of conductive material to finish and polish up his net prototype.

The buzz batons used by the Lower Element Police inspired the net, thought Artemis. "I remembered something I had seen in my District," he answered. "And I am hoping this tool will provide me both a weapon and a mean of protection."

"I see…" said Scpenser, still wondering how Artemis had made the net. The District 12 boy gave Artemis a big clump of copper. "Is that enough?"

"Yes it will suffice."

Artemis kept on working, Scpenser bent over his shoulder observing him.

"So… Where's your girl?" asked Scpenser with a small grin after a good ten minutes of being silent.

Artemis turned his stare towards the tall boy. "I beg you pardon?"

"Silyah? I thought you would have teamed up with her."

"Oh…" Artemis furrowed his brows. "No, we never intended to be a team during the Games. As for your previous question, I am unaware of her whereabouts." At this moment, it even occurred to Artemis that one of the day's cannons could have been for her… Somehow, it was not an exactly pleasing idea. Artemis brushed it off quickly

"I see…"

Once the electro-net prototype ready, the two hungry boys left the mines. Scpenser had had the intention of trying to teach Artemis how to hunt, which he desperately attempted to do with no fast-coming results. Scpenser had to admit, Artemis was smart and had perfected the art of being quiet and patient, however, that was all the skills he had when it came to basic survival techniques.

"If you don't mind, I'll find something to eat while you stay here in silence."

Artemis nodded slowly. When the District 12 boy came back, he had a chubby rabbit in his hands.

"That's not bad," commented Artemis.

"It's fat enough, so we will have a nice meal." Scpenser was pleased with his prey. In his District, it was not rare that he would have to skip a meal, but since he landed in the arena, he always managed to find food.

The two boys were heading back to their camp when they heard a jarring cannon.

"Guess we'll be safer in the mines," muttered Scpenser.

"Indeed," agreed Artemis.

As they got closer to their shelter, a strange smell rose in the air and it kept on getting stronger as the two young men got closer to the caves.

"That's so disgusting," Scpenser wrinkled his nose. "Do you think it's a Gamemaker's trap?"

"It could be… But I highly doubt it…"

Scpenser stepped in the cave, his facial expression clearly stating what his words expressed even before they left his lips. "It's in there, that's for sure." He began to breathe through his mouth to avoid the stench.

Artemis made a grimace, trying not to inhale too often.

When they reached the water source, even the tall and strong Scpenser had to struggle really hard not to gag. The boy swore. "The good news is that your electro-net is effective," he said, looking away from the fried body of a tribute in the water.

Artemis covered his nose with his coat's collar, both not to scream or to vomit.

"Let's get her out of here." Scpenser walked to the water and took the small blond girl in his arms quickly after Artemis deactivated his net. The District 12 boy left the pond area and placed the young woman at the mouth of the cave, where it was not too long before a hovercraft picked her up. "Do you mind if we relocate ourselves? There must be other galleries in this mine," requested Scpenser as he got back to Artemis. He was well aware that the Hunger Games were revolving around deaths, but the idea of living where someone met their end made his spine shiver.

"It sounds like an excellent idea…"

The two allies grabbed their belongings and explored the caves until they found an area where they could not smell the deadly perfume of their accidental murder.

"You know… Technically, we killed her…" murmured Artemis as he set his backpack down in his new living space.

Scpenser nodded slowly and gave Artemis a piece of rabbit to cook. "I'm not so hungry anymore… But we better have something in our stomachs."

The other boy took the meat and with the help of his retrieved invention, began to prepare it.

The two of them spent the rest of the night in silence, not too sure about what to think of the District 4 girl's end.

Silyah had to face it, she would never get used to cannons. Her heart would start jumping in her chest every single time one went off.

Silver, however, did not seem to be troubled with them.

"How do you do not to flinch?" Silyah asked the District 6 girl.

Silver shrugged. "It's the Hunger Games."

"Okay, maybe that death does not affect you, but just the loud noise a cannon makes is enough to surprise someone, right?"

"Maybe, but what good would it do for me to flinch every time I heard one? It's something that will happen over and over until the end, after all… Twenty-three times to be exact."

"Supper is ready girls," called Novia from the small fire.

Silver came over to her. "How many cannons were there today anyway?"

"Three," Silyah did not even take a second to answer.

"That makes fifteen of us left…"

The three girls each took one part of the squirrel Novia had cooked.

"Three more deaths and we will officially be in the remaining half," cheered Novia just before counting each member of their group, realizing that they were three.

"Yes, maybe the odds can be in our favor in this hell after all," murmured Silver.

"Strange way of being optimistic, but I have to agree," replied Silyah, toying with the sides of her boots as she ate her meal.

Silver sighed. "Well, what else do we have to do here? You can surrender and be killed or you can have hope, fight and live… I know which one I am aiming for…"

Silyah grinned. "Check this out, you are going to love that, Silv." In the past hours, Silyah had been working on a weapon prototype using two small Swiss knives Silver had given her from her extensive collection of weapons. She had stitched them on her boots using small squares of fabric from one bed sheet and a needle from her first aid kit, making her shoes into knife dispensers. Silyah pressed on the side of one of her boots and a blade came out of it.

"That is handy," said Silver, grinning. "You can appear unarmed and surprise the opponents… Clever."

"Thanks. I just had to have some advantages in this game considering my inability to perform any physical activities without having to take one half-a-day break," she laughed.

"Good… I wonder what the Ice Prince will do to always be two steps ahead."

Silyah was starting to get annoyed with the feeling of worry she got every time Silver mentioned the Ice Prince, especially since she always did when Silyah had managed to get him off of her mind. "I wonder too…"

"Well, if he was one of the three today, we will know what he is up as soon as the night comes, but for some weird reason, I hope he is alive."

"Oh really?" Silyah raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, since he did seem nice… And since you like him."

"Stop embarrassing her," giggled Novia. "She still denies it."

"Yes, I know and she will keep on doing so until he lies dying at her feet." This time, Silver was not teasing the District 3 girl, but she had no idea of the impact of her statement; of how much Silyah's nightmare was still haunting her.

Suddenly, the girl from 3 felt like shivering… At first she thought the sensation was just in her head, but in fact, the wind in the arena was getting colder. "I have a feeling something nasty is about to happen…" Silyah wrapped one blanket around her shoulders.

Novia nodded. "I don't think that it is for now though… Three deaths in a day sounds like a good day for television in my opinion." She pulled out another squirrel from her provision bag. "Anyone wants a second portion?"

"Sure. We'll have to eat these before they get spoiled." Adding a few sticks of wood in their fire, Silyah helped Novia to prepare the second squirrel.

Novia looked in the distance, where a thin veil of smoke was being blown towards them by the wind. "Looks like some people don't have the means to cover up their fires," she whispered, gently tossing a piece of cooked meat to Silver.

"It must be that wannabe Caskar and his merry band of half-wits," said Silver bitterly.

"Merry band of half-wits?" repeated Silyah, laughing. "I like that description."

The other girls laughed along. "Thank you," bowed Silver. "I will be here until I die," she said as if she were a street performer.

When she was done with her second squirrel portion, Silyah got up and unfolded the bed sheet she had used as a tent the previous day. "Better start getting ready for the night before it gets too dark."

"Excellent idea," nodded Silver.

The two other girls finished up their supper, had a sip of water and then started knotting the blanket to low tree branches, recreating their tent. It took more time that night than the one before due to the furious wind, but they eventually managed to have a camouflaged shelter.

Silver sighed and sat back, sharpening one of her blow darts on a flat rock.

Silyah leaned against a tree, side by side with Novia. She rubbed her hands together in front of the fire. This would be a really cold night.

The arena's now dark sky lit up with the Capitol's seal. The anthem replaced the sounds of water flowing and blowing wind, then the faces of the Fallen appeared one by one.

Silver's blue eyes scrutinized each face and name glowing in the sky.

Aquilna Pearl, District 4. Delise Novo, District 11. Quartz Dahlai, District 12.

"Just girls…" contemplated Silver.

"I'm not too sure if that's a good thing," whispered Novia.

"Maybe not," Silver frowned. "I'd like to know who killed them and how."

"That would be horrific, yet very useful," nodded Silyah. She let herself relax for a few seconds; now, she knew who was safe.

"You're glad the Ice Prince wasn't among those three, aren't you?"

"Maybe," she replied. Once again, a part of her had hoped that Artemis would be dead so that the possibility of having to kill him would be rendered as non-existent, but another part wanted to see him again.

Silver grinned. "Well, better go to sleep…"

Novia extinguished the fire and the girls got in their tent. "Hope we'll all still be alive to see tomorrow," she sighed as she wished goodnight to her allies.