Flashes of Gold

Chapter Ten | Into the Trees

District 7 POV – Evon

The center of town is abuzz with excitement, as it usually is. The ever present fog that has kept people's spirits down since the start of the Hunger Games has lifted, because there was suddenly hope for Wren. And also, more importantly, we almost had enough money saved up to send her a gift.

It generally doesn't cost a lot to send in bread, but that isn't what everyone is aiming to do anyway. What the gift will be, no one knows. They just know that it will be big – something that Wren will need. When the moment comes, they'll be ready.

Evon's boots fall heavily on the dirt path. He passes the butcher's and the seamstress, walks by the town hall. He doesn't really have anywhere he wants to be, or has any direction in mind. It's his lunch break, and he's got an hour to kill. He doesn't want to depress himself by watching the screens today. Instead, he needs to move around, walk somewhere, talk to someone, and the center of town is the best place to do it.

He walks up to the baker's shop and buys a cinnamon roll. He's hungry because he hasn't brought lunch with him. The warm scent of it wavers over his senses, and he indulges as he bites down on it. Wren loves cinnamon rolls, he remembers, and then pauses as though coming to a mental standstill. He hurriedly wolfs down the roll after that, as though the memory of her frightens him.

It does. With Calan temporarily out of the pictures, Evon's been thinking. He has a feeling that he knows why Wren was so furious before she left for the Arena, because the reason is mirrored in him. His eyes have been opened, and he sees and remembers things that passed him by before. But her feelings for him and his for her are not the reason he's afraid.

He continues walking, seeing the edge of the forest and immediately delving into it. The scent of pine overrides cinnamon and puts his mind at ease. He can think a little clearer now.

His thoughts have been pestering him for days, keeping him up at night and making work especially difficult. He's wondered about it before, but for some reason, it's intensified. Perhaps because he thinks that now, Wren has a chance of coming home.

She'll be different. She'll always be in the Arena, even when she's out of it. She'll remember.

She won't be the same girl he's come to know. Perhaps she'll be quieter, or angrier. He can remember Johanna Mason in her first year back. She'd always been fairly edgy, but as a Victor, she was downright unsociable, dangerous, and angry. Would Wren be like that, too?

The remainder of his time spent in the woods is filled with similar insecurities. By the time he walks back to his house, his mind is so absent that he hardly feels like himself.

He passes the baker's, the seamstress, the butcher's, goes through the center of town, and then suddenly stops short. His eyes are drawn to the massive TV screen that is set up outside the town hall. People around him are doing the same thing, gaping at the scene playing miles away in the Capitol. Things are dropped in their shock, bodies rush into one another as they search for prime places to watch. This action wouldn't be as hurried if the face portrayed on the screen wasn't very, very familiar.

Wren doesn't appear to be very ruffled at what's going on around her, but Evon knows her well. He can see the fright concealed in her eyes, is aware of the tightness of her grip as her knuckles turn white around her sword. He wants to yell at her to climb a tree, get off the ground, because she's so vulnerable right now and it'd be so easy to kill her...

But she doesn't run away. He watches her straiten her back, draw her sword, and slink into a position that he knows well. The Careers around her smirk widely, and the fight begins.

Arena POV

It's a good thing I'm fairly brave, because the glint that resounds through their eyes would frightened anyone. My fingers grip the hilt of my blade, eyes narrowing on the smirking Careers as they advance toward me. Fear erupts through my body, sparking beneath my skin as I back away. The snow proves difficult to maneuver around as it walls in my movements.

"Four against one? That hardly seems fair," I tell them, voice scratchy from disuse. They sneer at me, narrow their eyes further. The sight of them reminds me of predators, dangerously stalking helpless prey. My confidence drops.

I know I won't be able to beat them all. Maybe I could take them if they were split in half, but four at once was too much. And it wasn't like I was a pro at fencing. I just knew what my dad had showed me, what he had taught himself. With the snow restricting my actions and my thigh still searing with each shuffle, I doubt I'll last two minutes.

I know for a fact that the camera is on us now. No one would want to miss this fight. The Careers' battles always guarantees a bloody scene, which the Capitol loves. The image of the red haired girl flashes through my mind. God, let me last longer than her...

I wonder what Evon is thinking, or if he's even watching at all. It's mid-afternoon, after all. He's probably working.

My feet shuffle back, slinking into a position as I draw my sword. I don't lift it up, though. It hangs at my side, making me appear too tired to correctly hold the rapier. Decisions flash through my head, all playing out the would-be fight before it actually happens. I know the Careers will underestimate me, because it's four to one and I'm already injured. They're better fed, have had better rest, and don't appear to have a scratch on them...save for the boy who was slashed the day before.

He will be the easiest to take on, I think. But the others will probably anticipate such a reaction, which will leave me at a disadvantage. A brooding look envelopes my features. I still have Matt's hunting knife strapped to my belt. The thought of having a back-up weapon makes me feel a lot better...

Another long second passes before any action takes place. The Careers, who seem to grow tired of waiting, all jump into the fray at once. Only one boy – the bored looking one who seems formidable – stays behind, arms crossed and watching me with an intensity that puts me on edge.

But I have little time to dwell on him. Three boys are rushing at me, weapons drawn. One is carrying a broadsword. The other two clutch daggers. At the sharp edge of the sword come down toward me, I clash my rapier against it, knocking it back, and then scurry behind the trunk of a tree before the other can make a move.

My heart is thundering in my chest, and I have no idea what to do. I don't have time to climb a tree, and even if I did, one of the Careers could follow me up. Fighting on the ground is my only chance of succeeding. If I take out a few Careers on my way, then that'll be more than I could hope for.

I throw myself away from the tree just in time as a dagger rushes toward me. So one of the Careers is good at throwing them... That gives the pack both long and short distance advantages, whilst I have only short distance. Another one up for them.

Damn it. I grit my teeth and block another hard downward shift of the broadsword. What I need is a hatchet. I can't throw these stupid little daggers – they're too small. But a hatchet...that, I can use. That will at least lift me up to match them in long distance.

I duck again as a dagger whizzes past my ear, and shoot a glare toward the boy who threw it. He must have an impressive display of them, if he can throw them wantonly. I try to back up, but the snow proves to be against me as well, and I nearly trip backwards. Raising my sword, I lurch forward, jerking the edge of my blade through an opening of the blonde haired Career's vest. I feel it snap through the fabric, but I have to pull back before I can really do damage, because another bothersome knife is being thrown toward me again.

I swiftly curse as it grazes my shoulder. Red rushes into the fabric of my shirt, but it's ignored. I catch sight of a fleeting smirk that washes over the knife-throwing bastard, and my resolve hardens into spite.

With the spite comes a rather sudden bout of determination as I dance back. My sword zips through the air with a grace that had been absent before. It clanks beautifully against the broadsword before I dart forward further. The tip of the rapier scratches against his wrist, but it is enough to cripple the movements of his arm. He can't hold the sword up with pain shooting through his veins.

I'm surprised I'm able to hold out like I am, but my body somehow anticipates their moves before they actually do anything. I dance in and out of their attacks, ducking and blocking, sometimes darting behind trees, taunting them with feints. It would be more fun if my life wasn't hanging on the edge of one of those flying knives, but I digress.

It's two long minutes later when the broadsword sluggishly surprises me. The three Careers team up against me, all lunging at me in the same moment. I'm left feeling very vulnerable, because I cannot possibly block all three attacks when they're in close range as they are.

When the broadsword slices against my shoulder, I cry out and tumble back, hitting a tree trunk hard. Blood is gushing down my arm in heavy rivulets, slinking between my fingers and lessening the grip I've got on my rapier. I open my eyes, train them on the Careers as they begin to stalk through me, and suddenly realize that this fight is over. Running isn't an option, I can't climb a tree, and with my shoulder messed up as it is, I can't properly lift my sword.

What happens next is so uncontrollable and shocking that it takes me a while to understand. The bored looking Career is suddenly yelling, eyes frantic as he stares at us. But his voice isn't that loud, and is being overrode by a louder, whooshing sound.

My eyes dart up. There's a wall of whiteness rushing toward us, converging over trees and completely covering them up. It's like a blanket as it wraps over the landscape...and then, my hazy mind snaps out of it and I realize how dangerous it is.

"Into the trees! Climb the trees!" There is a rawness in the voice that shouts those words, and with a start I realize that the voice belongs to me. The Careers seem to realize that my plan is the only way of surviving, and they jerk up the nearest tree at a pace that is faster than I would have imagined.

My shoulder screams out at me, but I keep pulling myself up. I have limited time before the avalanche pushes me down. I climb twenty feet up and take off my jacket. I wrap it around myself and then tie the arms around the trunk. Luckily, the tree is thinner up here and easier to cling to. I hurriedly wrap both arms tightly around it and shut my eyes just as the wall of snow engulfs me.

And then, from behind my closed lids, all I am aware of is brightness. As more snow pushes down on me, the brightness fades until it gradually tumbles into gray...and then charcoal...and then finally darkness. As the coldness descends upon me, all I can think about is how much I desire warmth – the warmth that can only be found in one place. The one place that just happens to be miles away, quite possibly watching me from a TV screen in the safe confines of home.

blahhh Didn't really like the end of the chapter but...it'll get better..? I hope xD Chappie points~

1. Development with Evon. And I wanted to write in his POV cause I wuv him

2. Demonstrates Wren's skill with a blade, but hints that she isn't a pro. Cause I don't want her to be Mary Sueish D:

I think there'll be at least 5-6 more chapters in the Arena, and then maybe 2 back in District 7 after Wren gets back. Can't wait to write Evon/Wren action ...pftt XD Thanks for putting up with me!