Princess of the Sea

By: CyanideMuffins7

Chapter 10: Broken Hope

A/N: Hello readers. I have noticed the reviews I've been getting, and thank you to you all for you're eager minds. I've been doing posting chapters in a random order so I don't quite have a set date when I release my chapters. But if you feel like you need to know my progress, check my profile which contains updates about my progress on this story. Well sorry to keep you from reading.

Disclaimer: I own nothing of the Hunger Games, the trilogy or any of the characters Suzanne Collins has created. I only take credit for the characters I have created and the plot I have made.

I slowly inch my way towards the body. My hands become greedy, and I immediately grabbed the jug of water and drank it down. It caressed against my cracked lips and trickle down my dry throat. It felt so good. I probably drank half a gallon until it came to the last drop. Once I finished it off, I decided to see what else he had on him. Unfortunately, he didn't have much. All he had was the now empty canteen, a small knife in his back which will come in handy, and a half loaf of bread. I put the bread into my pack and stash the knife in a pocket in the sling of the pack.

I head out once again before the hovercraft would come. I make sure I'm at a safe distance until I feel I should fill the emptiness in my stomach. I pull out the bread from my pack. The bread was dark and the crust was practically black with flat nuts on it. It looked thick but it felt soft with apple slices inside. I hesitantly took a bite into it, but as I bit through the stale crust, the apples were quite soft with a sweet yet bitter taste. It tasted so different than the salty bread we have back at home.

I ate while I kept searching for a water supply I can fill my canteen with. The half a gallon of water will only give me enough sustenance for about a day. Right now I need to worry about the future at this point.

I finish off the bread once night falls and the anthem began to play. The picture of the District 7 boy flashed in the sky. But no one else had died besides him today. Everyone must be more prepared than I thought.

I remember Evan and Ian had killed quite a few tributes by themselves. In the whole arena, they had more deadly power than the Careers put together. Ian was quick with his spears while Evan was strong and tackled down tributes. They were a perfect team.

I shake off the thought of Evan and Ian and continue on. If I search for a few more hours, than I can sleep again. But I need to keep on my toes, there could be Tributes hiding in the trees where I'm just walking in plain sight. I'm open for any attack. I place my hand over my shell necklace, sending thoughts that I'll be ok to Valentine and Dad. Right now, they need me to come back alive, and that's what I intend to do.

It became darker than usual, and it was becoming difficult to see through the tall trees. I began to hear the frogs again, possibly hunting the chirping crickets. That also seems to cross my mind, food. I only have enough crackers to last me perhaps a few days if I pace myself and even then I will need to drink tons of water. I was only gifted with this knife which only seems to be losing its worth since the blade seems dull now that I look at it. It's probably enough for me to score some woodland creature that could be scurrying around here somewhere, or possibly a duck or a goose. But those birds would most likely be seen near a water source. Another reason why I should find water.

I let a sigh escape my lips which seems to interrupt the frogs croaking, "Shut up…" I mumble under my breath as I kept walking.

I look down at the solid green and brown ground where I would see the occasionally frog hopping around. But my feet stop once my eyes catch a neatly green circle on the ground before me. The circle camouflaged right into the ground along with the broken branches of willows that were laid on the ground. My eyes follow from the circle and up the string it was attached to, all the way to a thick branch with a girl holding onto the rope. I was about to run away, but I noticed that her eyes were closed and she breathed so slowly like she was sleeping. I think she's the girl from District 8 if I remember correctly. It could be so easy to kill her right now. I have the knife. But she doesn't seem to have anything on her at the moment, except her clothes and the vine she was holding onto as a snare to catch pray.

I'll have the Careers kill her. She's not my priority at the moment. I quietly tip toe around the snare and past the tree. I keep quiet the remainder of my trip. But it felt like an hour until I could barely see anything anymore, so I stopped. I need to find someplace to sleep though. I can't sleep in plain sight, I need to be hidden. The trees around me are too tall to climb, if I could climb trees. Should I continue my search for a little longer to find shelter? I'm defiantly not taking the risk to go back or to sleep here.

My ears perk up to a low sound in the distance. My eyes scan for the sound, but I see nothing. Suddenly, a downpour of rain came followed by another loud boom. I tilt my head up to look at the clouded sky and the drops of rain, harshly falling onto my face. Then a bolt of lightning flashed through the drops coming from the sky. This must be something the Gamemakers tossed in to make things more exciting.

I remembered what Sunny had taught us at the elements station about the distance of lightning from you. Every five seconds after a thunder clap equals one mile. If I counted fifteen seconds, the lightning would be three miles away from me. That would be my signal to run then.

I hear the thunder clap once again and I began to count in my head, one second, two second, three second, four second, five second… After about twenty seconds, the lightning flashed in the sky. Ok, now it's time to run.

Now that I ate some nourishment and drank some water, I have the energy to run again even though I'm still sore from yesterday. As I run, I begin to count again, the time in between became shorter, and the thunder became closer. The flashes of light were able to give me short glances as to where I was running so I wasn't going to ram myself into a tree.

As I deftly dodged all the uprooting roots and holes, the lightning struck a tree right in front of me. I stopped as the large willow began to become engulfed in flames while the rain could not douse it out. I can't run around it without having the fear of having a spark ignite onto my clothes.

I take a sharp turn to my right and continue running, while the thunder was closer and the lightning struck nearby trees. I can't run forever. If it was like yesterday, I'll most likely trip and the lightning will strike me then I'm dead for sure. My best hope is to find a way to escape this, but where in a swamp will I find a way to escape a storm?

That was when my eyes spotted a dark entrance of a large dark gray rock. A cave! Yes! Once I saw my destination, I was motivated to run faster. This time, the lightning struck a tree that was only an arms-length away from me. But I kept running. The cave was almost there, I can make it.

I can imagine the audience watching me, the girl who looked like she was going to die of starvation and dehydration only a few hours ago, is now running from a thunderstorm where the lightning is waiting to strike her. But the only thing that will keep them at the edge of their seats is if I will make it. Some will say of course, while others will have their doubts. I aim to prove them so wrong.

The cave soon became only yards away from me, to only a few feet. I felt like the world was flashing past me as I could touch the mouth of the cave. I was almost there, I was going to make it.

I then felt a strong burning sensation strike through my entire body, originating on my left shoulder. I was blasted right into the cave, tumbling until I was laying on my stomach. I groaned in agony as I felt my whole body stinging in pain. I felt like I was paralyzed since I couldn't feel anything in my body, only the pain.

I quickly take off my pack, then I rip off my black jacket and toss it across the cave before the flames could spread through my body. Which only leaves me an olive green undershirt that exposes my thin muscles and to the cold. I don't dare touch my shoulder, all I know is it burns so I must have been struck by the lightning. I have nothing to treat it with, and nothing to see how bad it is.

I waited for the moment when I would see a silver parachute land in front of the mouth of the cave, where it would contain burn cream where I could apply it to my wound.

Nothing.

The pain becomes unbearable, it's even difficult to think. I squirm around a bit while holding back screams. I've never felt pain like this before. The pain felt like it spread into my skull like a tree roots spreads through the ground and the next thing I know, everything turns dark.

Once everything went black, I thought I was dead. The Peacekeepers came in and took my body away and sent it back to District 4, where I will only be mourned by my family. Then Hei would be the winner of the games, and come back to 4 with his head held high. At that point, I don't know what Valentine and Dad will do. Dad lost already three children and Valentine lost all of her older siblings from the Games. Maybe they will continue their lives or they will escape out of 4, they are out at sea.

My eyes flutter to the continuing downpour of rain outside of the cave. It wasn't night anymore, but I couldn't see the sunlight. It must be cloudy. My skin felt practically frozen as a short breeze entered the cave and I shiver. The only place where my nerves didn't shiver was my left arm where the lightning had struck. I probably shouldn't strain it too much, but I hope it isn't permanent. I look around for the jacket I ripped off yesterday. When I found it however, it was nothing but ashes and rags. I guess I'll suffer in the cold.

I slowly use my right arm and my legs to sit up, restraining to use my bad arm. I watch as the rain falls onto the ground, creating pulpy masses of mud accumulating at the mouth of the cave. Ah, mud. I miss the mud back home though, it would be different to walk around in the mud now.

This is probably my chance to get the water I've been searching for. I slowly drag myself with my legs to my jacket. I picked up the rags, it was clearly un-wearable but I could use it as a sling for my arm. I manage to tie it from the right side of my neck and let my left arm rest in the sling I have created.

I drag myself over to my pack to check its own damage. It seems like the bag was more intact than the jacket. All that was burned off was a little of the strap. I take out my canteen and manage to stand on my very sore legs and walk to the mouth of the cave where I held out my canteen to let the water fill it up.

I guess some tributes are hiding up in the trees or if they're lucky in a cave that stands a little higher on the ground to avoid a flood. I should still be careful however. There might be a Tribute skulking around, looking to kill. The water began to weigh down the canteen, but I wait until it reached the rim before I drank it. Once I was done, I filled it back up again and packed it in my backpack. I make sure I take a nibble at my crackers so at least I have something.

I shouldn't leave the cave yet if everything is beginning to flood, I won't be able to find anything out there so I'm better off staying in this cave until the rain stops.

There were days like this back in 4 too, except there wasn't really floods. The rain would be really harsh, so all the ships would be docked in the harbor. I always liked those days since Dad would be home all day, instead of out at sea. Usually the rain comes in winter however, unfortunately we don't get snow. Snow was actually what I always wanted to see, not the president, but the object snow. If the Gamemakers could read my mind, they would change the weather so it was snowing. Although I don't have my jacket so I'm not really prepared for snow.

The rain doesn't stop until nightfall. I waited for the anthem to play, but it didn't. No one died today. Surprising. Although I have a feeling I can die anytime soon, from a variety of things. I can die from dehydration, starvation, my wounds, being eaten alive by raccoons, killed by a tribute. I mean the list goes on, the possibilities of death is endless.

I began to hear the thunder again, no doubt the lightning is elsewhere. The Gamemakers have the power to kill like they almost did with me. But why would they kill me like that. Maybe I was boring or something. I was just wondering around searching for water, not taking my chances. The lightning may have been their way of pushing me saying, You made it out this time. I should start to take my chances, or else I will have to face the Gamemakers. I wonder if the girl from District 8 is still there, maybe I can go back and kill her.

Wait, what am I thinking? This is what the Gamemakers and the Capitol, want me to think. It disgusted me how we are taken from our families, then taught to kill. This is what I refused to do! I can't believe I just thought about killing someone.

A shiver goes down my spine and I use my pack as a pillow as I laid down on the cold stone of the cave. I wasn't able to get out of the cave much of the day. But if I stay here any longer, then most likely another Tribute will stumble upon this place.

My eyes open once again, but to the sunlight that shined throughout the swamp. Most of the dirt was dried already with the occasional puddle. I guess I should head out soon. I slowly stood up and drank a little of the water but I was already out of crackers. I guess my next priority is to search for food. This is starting to get tiring.

I began to hear something scratching against the stone. I slowly turn around to see what was behind me. There wasn't a person there, but a rather plump raccoon. Our eyes met for a moment. In his eyes he knew that I was a threat. I was twice as bigger as him and I was possibly in his den. But in my eyes, I see food. The raccoon slowly began to ready its defense position, ready to pounce on me. But I was quicker. I had pulled out the knife from the sling and threw it directly at the raccoon's head.

Alright, I have food. Now, I just need to make the fire. I squat down beside the raccoon, observing my game. I pull out the knife and observed the bloody blade. It was pretty dull already. This knife won't provide me such a great defense if a Tribute were to sneak up on me. I think they would have the advantage. My supplies are pretty much useless if I were to kill someone or something with it. Or is it?

I have branches around me, fresh game that I can skin and leather, and plenty of stones around me. Putting it all together, I can make a very deadly weapon.

Even if I couldn't see the cameras, I know they're there, watching. I step out into the mouth of the cave while gripping onto the raccoon's tail. I flash a smile to the cameras while showing them the raccoon I just killed.

I can't sit around and hope for my Sponsors to send me something. If they weren't going to send me medicine for my burn, then what's the chance of them sending me weapons? So I'm taking action into my own hands. From now on, I have no Sponsors.