Soleil Pere POV- District Five (15)

I was terrified the Careers would find me, but I was hungry enough to move anyway. I needed to eat, and I pawed through the sticky pine trees for any scrap of food. I knew there had to be a few scraps, since the Gamemakers wouldn't want to watch everyone starve. I almost cried when I found the blackberry bush. It was loaded with sweet, juicy berries, and I covered my fingers with scratches picking them all off.

Realistically, I didn't have a chance, but something in my clung to life like a struggling animal. I bent over the edge of the pond I drank out of and scooped some water into my hands.

I'm never going to make it, I thought. Tears fell into the water as I shook in fear and defeat. I was too scared to die and too smart to hope. I thought of my parents watching me at home. I thought of my mother's pancakes and my father smiling when I came into the room. Because of a war I never fought, I would never see them again. I wanted to curl up in my soft bed and not be afraid anymore.

Mosquitoes were thick in the Arena, especially around water, and they flew around my face and hovered by my eyes. I swatted them away and emptied the plastic envelope I'd grabbed at the Bloodbath, hoping that bug spray might have magically appeared. There was nothing there but the same compass and pack of matches.

I held up the matches. It had never been cold enough for me to risk using them. I looked at the thick, needle-laden trees all around me. The sun barely peeked through the canopy. Night was just starting to chill the Arena, and suddenly it didn't seem so scary anymore.

I'll never get out of here. Light it up. Let it burn. Take it all away. I whispered an apology to my parents and felt my will to live dissolve. Some fights couldn't be won. I would die in a glow of warmth and light.

I found a tree with a vein of the runny sap I knew from childhood bonfires was flammable. I lit the match I'd never had to courage to light and held it up next to the trunk. The sap bubbled as it caught fire and started to creep up the tree. When it reached the thin upper branches it spread from one tree to another like a plague, and the sound of crackling wood filled the air. I lay face up by the pond and watched the flames swirl and glow.

The Arena grew hotter, and smoke filled the air. My lungs started to burn and every breath seared my throat. Something kindled inside me and I ducked, trying to go below the smoke and breathe fresh air. A burning branch fell down next to me and showered me in stinging sparks. My exhausted body started to rebel, and my heart started pounding again. I saw my death dancing above my head and recoiled from it. Instinct took over and I crawled for the cool safety of the pond. I waded deeper as the grass around the water started to smolder. The fire was so bright it was like the sun, and I crouched below the water to hide. The fire danced like a prowling demon, bent on consuming any life. I sobbed in silent panic as the heat and smoke filled the Arena, and the only thing that broke the silence was the neverending cannons.

That got dark. After all this time with Soleil, I only now decided that she was trying to commit suicide when she started the fire. It only makes sense that not all Tributes are brave and resourceful.

I don't have an appearance for Soleil either. Any color and any look goes.