Sorry about the few hours that have passed since the last chapter (if anyone is actually reading these as I post them), I had to eat some hot wings. :)
Feral awoke to the sound of the cannon blast and her eyes flashed open. She was covered in sweat again and her throat was sore. She must have been having the nightmares again, but for once she couldn't remember them. She felt something on her right hand which had been hanging over the side of the branch and pulled it up to her face to examine. It was wet.
It's wet! The shock hit Feral like a lightning bolt. She rolled over out of impulse to splash into the waters only a few feet below. Panicking, she frantically thrashed in the water and, pushing off a submerged tree branch, propelled herself back up onto the limb. She coughed out water for a few minutes before gathering her bearings and pulling herself to the top of the tree. The entire arena was flooded. The tops of the tallest trees stuck out of the water in such a bizarre way it looked like another planet. Only the outer fringes of the bowl-shaped arena were dry.
There was a problem with this. A serious problem. Feral still couldn't swim. She cursed herself for not staying with Rowan. What was she thinking? He could swim! He would have taught her. Now, she was stranded in the top of a tree. Hopefully, though, the water level had stopped rising.
A cannon fired, and from her vantage point she could see the hovercraft on the opposite side of the arena lifting one of the dead tributes into its midst. Fear rocked her body and she clutched on tighter to the branch. If the water level didn't go down then the next tribute to go would be her.
She forced herself to calm down and assess her position. There was no way that she could leap from tree to tree. The water level was too high, the branches that were above the water were too spindly, they would snap under her weight if she jumped on them.
Lowering herself into the water, pushing down the fear, Feral took deep breathed. She forced herself to remain there. It felt unnatural. It lapped at her neck and threatened to drag her under. Out of instinct, she kicked her feet. Slowly, she released the branch. She sank the second she let go and almost panicked. However, the water only went up to her ears. She had to strain her neck to keep her face above the water. Moving her arms in arcing motions she forced herself to push away from the tree.
The going was slow, and she wasn't entirely sure if it was worth swimming to get to the fringes of the arena. They might be underwater as well by the time she got there, if the water level was still rising. As she swam, however, the ground grew closer and closer to her feet, until she could walk again. Emerging from the water, she collapsed on dry land. It was noon.
She wasn't sure how long she lay there. Finally dragging herself to her feet, she slung her bow off her shoulder. It was drenched, as were her arrows. Sure, they were soggy, but she should have still been able to use them. Going into stealth mode, she stalked through the forest, an arrow ready in her bow. She was on high alert. Seeing a bird twittering in the trees she let and arrow fly. The weight added by all the water made it heavier, and the arrow sunk itself into the tree instead. The bird leapt into flight and sent out a warning signal. Groaning she made her way over to the tree. The arrow was stuck hard, and when she pulled as hard as she could it still didn't budge. Deciding just to leave it in the tree she continued on, although she knew that she wouldn't be able to find any more game since the bird alerted all the animals in the area to her presence.
She, of course, knew what the Gamemakers were trying to do. It was a rather simple tactic. They wanted to drive all the tributes to the edges of the arena where they would eventually and inevitably run into each other. In a few days, there would be only a handful of tributes left.