Day 2:
Lysander Seldin's POV:
Having the Cornucopia out in the water was becoming a pain, we had to keep wading out to collect our supplies and bring them back to the beach. Cy had suggested we just made base out in the sea but the others shot him down as did I. The beach was more secure and we had found a good spot of land a short distance away from the starting podiums. Here we had a good view of the cornucopia but were hidden just enough that we could sneak up on tributes that tried to get at the cornucopia supplies when they thought no one was watching. Anyway who knew if the Gamemakers would decide to mess with us by playing with the depth of the sea and if only Cy and I could swim then it would be to our advantage if there was still a supply out in the ocean.
Cassius was making full use of the short amount of time that he knew his claim as 'leader of the careers' would be valid by bossing us all around as we set up a couple of tents and cooking equipment on the sandy beach. Olivia had taken charge of the small kitchen set up and was boiling some survival meals in their bags in a pan of salt water. She passes one to each of us and we grab some sporks to eat them with.
I end up with a rice and chicken mixture while I notice Olivia had given some strange bean combination to Cliona and Helios. The two of them don't seem to notice that they have the crap option though as they huddle in their own corner talking away. Cassius is sat with Cy also talking quietly, while I sit and look out to the cornucopia wanting to make sure that it stays secure even if the others are distracted by food.
"These aren't half bad" Olivia says as she sits down next to me, "We've been lucky with the food options this year"
"How many are there?" I ask her
"About one per day for ten days" she replies "or more than one if there are less than six of us" she adds "Plus we have some food bars and dried ration packs which I guess are for when were away from camp."
"And it's all secure?" I ask
Olivia looks over her shoulder and sighs a big dramatic sigh of relief "Oh I thought Cassius had died and made you leader for a second there" she chuckles, I frown, it was a sensible question wasn't it?
Obviously seeing my frown Olivia laughs again and pushes me gently on the shoulder "Lighten up" she tells me "The foods safe, remember it's all just a game" she continues to smile as she looks out to sea and munches on her meal but from up close there's a slight wobble in her eyes that betrays her cool persona.
She'll break pretty quickly I decide and the pair from One are dangerous, with Olivia gone they'll take out Cassius quickly. I just need to be out of here with enough of these food pouches and a couple of decent weapons before then.
Cecil Maeve's POV:
I'd found a large bush to shelter in over night and early in the second morning of the games a shiny silver parachute had landed in my lap. Of course Jason or Zors had managed to wangle me some cigarettes from the good people of the capitol, five in total, I added them to the three I had remaining in the tattered box in my pocket then deciding to light one, It was then that I realised my major error.
"Matches" I mutter as I realise I have nothing to light it with, "Water, Food, a knife. You could have asked them for anything moron" I rant quietly to myself.
"You know you don't need matches to light them" says a female voice from behind me, I spin around and adopt a defensive position with my fists, I may not have a weapon but I'd thrown a punch or two outside the factory in my time.
"You gonna punch me to death then Cecil?" asks Auvita the kid from Nine who'd been bugging me during training "Your only ally" she sighs.
"We're not in an alliance" I tell her "I told you I was doing this on my own, go away"
"You don't want me to light your cig then?" she says temptingly "Of course I'd expect something in return"
"An alliance?"
"No a cigarette" she sighs "honestly right now I just kinda want to talk to someone."
"Well maybe I don't"
"Everyone gets lonely in the end" she says "even if you're playing the big guy now, in a few days you'll be talking to the rocks like every other tribute that goes it alone"
I'm about to protest when she reaches into her pocket and pulls out a shard of glass, "Hey" I say backing off from her.
"Oh calm down" she sighs as she holds the glass up to the sky aiming the suns beam at a patch of dry leaves on the floor.
"That's never gonna work" I tell her
"Patience" she replies, I wait a minute or two longer and I'm just about to walk off and leave her to it when a tiny plume of smoke rises from the leaves, grinning she jumps down onto her knees and begins to blow the tiny fire into life, "Get me some grass or something" she orders and I gather up some dead grass from the floor and pass it over to her, moments later she has a flame. "Fuck yeah" she cheers "get me some sticks"
I consider refusing this time leaving her and her damn fire and heading off on my own like I'd planned to do from the start. But I had to admit I was impressed and who knew what else she'd prove to know if I kept her on as an ally.
"Fuck it" I sigh as I lean down towards the small fire, I pull out one of my precious cigarettes I light it and take a couple of deep puffs before offering the rest of it to Auvita.
"No thanks" she replies "I don't smoke"
"Fuck you" I sigh as I slip the rest of my packet into my pocket and turn to look for some dry firewood.
"Once we get this going we can try and hunt something to eat" she replies "I wonder if they have let any rabbits loose on this island"
Demi Quinlan' POV:
I wake up looking out at the ocean; it's a strange sight and one I never thought I'd see in my life time. It's so calm and peaceful looking its strange to think that it's the bars holding us in this arena that expanse of water undrinkable and un-crossable
Gosh I was feeling poetic that morning.
There's movement in the water and I'm about to call to Ethel or Grace for help when I notice Grace's head pop up from out of the water and realise she is no longer sleeping beside me and that Ethel has also gone.
She swims back towards me "Morning sleepy head" she shouts from in the water, "you know tomorrow night, you're going to have to take a turn keeping watch too"
"I will, I promise" I say as I stand up in the soft sand, I stroll towards the water and stand dipping my toes into the warm sea water, I wished I could swim so I could join Grace out there, she looked so happy and peaceful, she looked like she could escape.
I look back towards the sandy floor and create some patterns with my toes, this was all so surreal feeling, walking on a beach looking out over a clear ocean when all around us were enemies waiting to strike.
"Christine!" Grace calls, "Christine" she calls again, yet again I have to remember that I'm Christine now and look up.
"Yeah" I reply
"There are fish out here, go find Ethel and bring back some spears, we can cook them on a fire for breakfast"
"Sure thing" I reply turning away from the sea and carefully making my way through into the forest, if that was the right word for this thick mass of plants life I'd never seen before. Yesterday we'd ran through it so quickly I'd never had a chance to stop and actually look at it. Thick vines fall from tall trees thick with leaves, on the floor lies more plant life, flowers and bushes that I couldn't describe, I'd just never seen anything like them before. Maybe they were creations of the capitol or maybe we just weren't in my little District anymore.
A little further into the trees I come across a tree baring some fruit, it looks bright and fresh, the most beautiful piece of fruit I'd ever seen, I reach up and pluck the fruit from the tree and begin to bring it towards my mouth.
"Don't" comes a shout from the woods, I turn to see Ethel running towards me "We should check with Grace first, I don't recognise it."
I move the fruit away from my mouth
"I suppose that's a sensible idea" I reply, Ethel did seem the sensible sort, so was I I'd thought, I guess Christine is the kind of girl to eat suspicious fruit though. "She's swimming by the way, said she'd seen some fish, sent me to look for wood for a fishing spear"
"Ace, well you gather up some more of these fruits and I'll snap down some large branches, we'll need some to make a fire too"
We spend the rest of the morning collecting wood while Grace fishes in the sea, by early afternoon, we've built a fire and are roasting the fish while we chomp on our perfectly edible fruits.
I say we… Grace caught the fish, Ethel built a fire and I well, I just gathered some fruit. I'd wanted to kill Christine in these games while also leaving her to care for mother, the ultimate double punishment. But what about me, like usual I hadn't thought about myself. The world would think Christine were dead, but me, Demi would be the really dead one, with all the pain that comes before that death.
What had I done?
A/N: Oh my gosh it's been months hasn't it, you know I almost had this chapter ready a couple of months ago but like an idiot closed it without saving one evening, then I've been busy every other weekend or evening since. Then I got a new laptop and didn't have word for a month, oh and I spent a month camping in Japan (okay that one was kind of a boast) Anyway I'm making no promises on the speed of the next chapter like usual but the story will be finished eventually.
