SONG: Marinela2017 by Belako

The light hit her first, followed quickly by the sweltering heat. Blinking quickly as her eyes adjusted, Iris looked around and figured out why she had been temporarily blinded – they were in what appeared to be a desert. The sun was burning bright and hot in the sky and its light bounced off the white sand straight into her eyes. A quick glance left and right told her that her fellow tributes were having the same problem – the boy from Nine was rubbing his eyes, and the girl from Ten had her hands shielding her face.

She knew immediately that dehydration was going to be a huge issue in these Games. The heat wasn't just sweltering, it was soul-sucking – District Six was prone to humidity, but it was nothing like this awful dryness. She could practically feel the moisture being sucked from her body.

Kasia was next to the girl from Ten, and Christopher was three tributes past her. She tried to catch Christopher's eye, but he was looking in the other direction. Kasia nodded at her. Iris hoped they stuck to the plan – grab what they could and get the fuck out. Though she was far more confident with two people to watch her back, she still didn't want to fuck around with Careers. Especially after her little chat last night with Agata and Zircon.

As the clock counted down, Iris tried to get her bearings. There were small backpacks scattered around the sand, and various other objects. She could see a first aid kit a few steps in front of her, and a sheathed machete a few metres past that. She angled herself towards the machete – if she was deeper into the battle she would need it.

She could not spot a club or mace anywhere, to her disappointment. She couldn't see a flail either, but that didn't surprise her. It didn't really mean anything – either there wasn't a blunt weapon in the arena this year, or they were all located in the Cornucopia. She would have to improvise one – but she couldn't see any trees around either, meaning it would be hard to find the materials to make one herself. But that was a thought for later, after she had survived the Bloodbath. There wasn't anything she could do about it now.

The clock was at ten now. She felt a twist of anxiety, like someone was tugging at her insides. Was Jordie watching? Was her father?

The gong went off. Iris didn't hesitate. She dove forwards, and quickly scooped up the machete. She unsheathed it and shoved the first-aid kit into the waistband of her pants. She couldn't spot Kasia or Christopher in the chaos. I have to get out of here.

The killing started abruptly. The girl from Eight was the first to go – Iris saw the brilliant splatter of blood on the white sand, the boy from 2 shaking blood from his knife. She spotted Kasia a few meters away, a backpack slung over her shoulder. Iris still didn't have a backpack - but there was one about ten metres to her right.

Tearing her eyes from Kasia, Iris tore towards the backpack as fast as she could, keenly aware of the screams around her rising in volume. She snatched it up, and saw that her ally had caught up to her. "That's enough!" Kasia yelled. "We have to go!"

Kasia took off running, and Iris was about to follow her when there was a searing pain on her upper arm. Whirling around, she dodged just as the boy from Nine tried to stab her again.

It wasn't a conscious movement, not really. It was almost instinctual – her machete seemed to drag itself across the boy's throat. She barely felt the warmth of his blood as it splattered across her face. For a second, she was watching the scene from above – she saw herself with the dripping machete, the boy from Nine as he bled to death, Kasia approaching from behind.

And then she was back into her body, almost as if she had been slammed into it. Iris stared down at her hands in disbelief. They were coated in the boy from Nine's blood. Did I really just do that? She probably would have continued staring if it weren't for Kasia's impatient shout.

Suddenly realising where she was, Iris jumped to her feet. She didn't remember falling down. "Come on, Iris!" Kasia screamed. Iris shook herself like a dog, trying to rid herself of the guilt that had appeared immediately after she'd sliced that boy's throat. She quickly scooped up her pack and his, still gripping the machete that just had ended someone's life.

She took off after Kasia, dodging around the girl from Eleven and running for her life. The sand was slippery and hard to grip, but the screams from the battle behind her was enough to keep her going.

"You… killed…. my district partner," Kasia panted, not stopping to look at her.

"He was going to kill me," Iris replied, her words ragged as she tried to breathe. Kasia said nothing in reply, and they kept running.

Eventually Christopher joined them, laden down with two packs and a bulky first aid kit, far larger than the one she had shoved into the waistband of her pants. Iris wordlessly took the kit from him, pausing for a moment to catch her breath before taking off. Running was good. Running distracted her from the feeling of the blood drying on her hands and face, distracted her from remembering the sound the boy from Nine made after she slashed his throat. Running was easy – running didn't require her to think.

They ran until they could not run any more. Dripping with sweat, Iris dropped into the sand, unable to force herself to go any further. Her allies seemed to be feeling the same way – Kasia, for all her paranoia, did not say anything as she dropped into the sand beside Iris. Christopher was in the worst shape of all of them by far. Stocky and tall, his body was not built for running. Iris placed a shaky hand on his shoulder. "You… okay?" she panted.

He shrugged off her hand. He couldn't seem to force any words out, his breaths ragged and desperate as he gasped for air.

Iris didn't like the idea of sitting out in the open, but they had made good distance from the Cornucopia. The cannons still hadn't gone off yet, meaning the Bloodbath had not ended – they would hopefully have a couple of hours before the hunt began. A couple of hours to collect themselves and find shelter for the night, before the killing started again.

Momentarily placated by this thought, Iris gave herself another couple of minutes to catch her breath, before getting to work. She reached out for a pack and Kasia wordlessly handed one to her, before covering her face with her arm again.

It was only small, but there were some useful items. A small, serrated knife. A wide-brimmed sun hat, which Iris promptly put on. A full bottle of water – it was almost unheard of for water bottles in packs to be full, but the Gamemakers obviously didn't want everyone to die of dehydration this year. A plastic-wrapped loaf of bread, with nuts and seeds baked inside. A quick rummage through the other bags produced similar items, with some differences. Kasia's pack did not have a sun hat, but it did have a pair of sunglasses, which Iris handed to her. One of the bags Christopher picked up had the most valuable item they had seen so far – a 500ml bottle of sun cream.

Iris was happy with what they had picked up. There was enough food and water to keep them going for at least a day – two if they stretched the water, although she wasn't confident doing that in this heat. But it would give them enough time to find shelter, and hopefully another water source.

She didn't notice the parachute until it dropped down on the sand in front of Christopher, who was still struggling to breathe. He looked up in surprise, and reached for it. Iris and Kasia watched curiously as he opened the compartment and pulled out a strange looking piece of plastic.

"What is it?" Kasia asked.

He examined the weird-looking thing. "Not sure," he said. His throat was raspy.

Iris reached for the container it had come in, and picked up a piece of paper that they had missed in their initial curiosity over the gift. "Inhaler for asthma relief. You have asthma?"

Christopher shrugged. "That the thing where you can't breathe?" Iris nodded. Jordie had asthma - they could never afford to buy an inhaler, though, so he just wasn't allowed to run. "Never had it before, but after all the runnin' I just did…"

"How do you use it?" Kasia asked. She took the paper from Iris and turned it over to see the instructions on the back. "Shake the inhaler before use and before removing the cap. Exhale fully before holding inhaler to mouth, closing lips around it. Puff inhaler into mouth while inhaling fully, and hold breath for minimum 5 seconds." She looked up. "Well, aren't you going to do it?"

"Stop watchin' me," Christopher grumbled. "Can't focus with the two of you starin' at me like a couple of owls." He turned away from them, and they watched as he used the inhaler. Almost immediately after he had used it, his breathing returned to normal. "That's better," he said, looking obviously relieved.

"Good. Let's go then." The longer they stayed put, the antsier Iris got. She half-wanted to ditch them and run off as far as she could until she collapsed, but unfortunately, she needed them. Groaning, Iris stood up. "Come on," she said, her voice croaky. "We need to get moving."

Kasia grunted. Her skin was bright pink, her black hair plastered to her forehead with sweat. She had retied her bandana so that it covered most of her head. "Can we have five more minutes?"

"No. The Careers are faster than us. Five minutes could be the difference between life and death."

"You sound like my mentor."

"You sound like an idiot," Iris retorted impatiently. "Get off your ass. Let's go."

Although they glared daggers at her, her allies hauled themselves off the ground without much more complaint. Iris also wanted nothing more than to collapse in the sand for the night, but she knew that was stupid. Between the Careers and whatever mutts were no doubt roaming the place… she shuddered. She wasn't about to take that chance. Even if it meant heatstroke.

Her whole body screamed at her with every step, but she forced herself to keep going. They walked for another half hour before the cannons finally went off.

Kasia made a noise in the back of her throat. "Ten," she said aloud.

"Yeah, we can all count, Kasia," Christopher snapped. Iris was momentarily shocked – she was used to Christopher's relentless cheerfulness, his easy-going nature.

Iris and Kasia glanced at each other, looking warily at Christopher's back. Kasia frowned and opened her mouth, about to say something, but Iris quickly shook her head – with the state he was in right now, it was probably smart to leave Christopher alone. "I'm surprised," Iris said, cutting through the tension in the air. "I thought it would have been more, given how long it went on for."

"I wonder who died," Kasia mused. "Well. I know that Taggerty died, thanks for that, Iris."

Iris rolled her eyes. "Not my fault you got attached to someone in the goddamn Hunger Games." Spite was better than sympathy. If she tried to be sympathetic, the guilt of what she had done would overcome her.

"I wasn't attached," Kasia spat. "I'm not an idiot. I just – he was – he was from home, okay?"

Iris felt a pang of regret at what she had said. "I'm sorry," she said, meeting Kasia's eyes. She meant it, and she hoped Kasia understood that it wasn't personal. "But I had no choice. He was about to stab me again." That reminded Iris of the wound in her arm – she had forgotten about it in their haste. By now the adrenaline was wearing off, and her arm stung with every movement.

Kasia sighed, and shook her head. "Yeah, I know. It's probably better that you killed him. At least it was quicker than what it would have been if the Careers got to him."

Iris didn't say anything, letting Kasia walk a few metres ahead. She got the first-aid kit out from her waistband, and rummaged through it. After smearing anti-bacterial cream on the wound, she quickly wrapped a bandage around her arm, shoving the kit into her backpack before running to catch up.

They fell into silence, the strange swishing sound of their feet on the sand the only noise. Christopher's breathing had grown erratic, and Iris dug through her pack, handing him another water bottle. They had four, but she was already halfway through hers and she knew that Christopher wouldn't last long if he tried to ration his.

Beside her, Kasia was silent, and somehow Iris could tell she was thinking about her district partner. "If it makes you feel any better," Iris began, looking at Kasia. "I know Axel is dead. I didn't see it. But it was always going to happen in the Bloodbath. Probably better there, like you said."

"He might not be dead," Christopher offered. It was good to hear him talk again. Though Iris had spent much of training wishing he would shut up, it had worried her when he stopped.

Kasia scoffed. "C'mon," she said. "Be realistic. Did you see that kid? What was wrong with him, anyway?" she asked suddenly, turning to Iris. "Never asked why he vomited on you at the Parade."

Iris shrugged. "He was an addict. They do that."

"Huh," Christopher said. "There's no-one like that at home. I mean, there's alcoholics, but not… not kids, you know? He looked about ten."

"Fourteen, but he might as well have been ten. I think his mother was on it while she was pregnant."

"What's 'it'?" Kasia asked curiously.

Iris gave her a confused look, before remembering that not every district was as familiar with drugs as hers was. "Oh. Morphling."

"The one they use in surgeries?" Kasia frowned.

"That's one use for it," Iris said. "But there aren't many surgeries in Six." If someone was sick enough to need surgery, they usually just died. That was how her mother had died – appendicitis.

They stopped talking as they came to a tall sand dune, the largest they'd encountered so far. After slipping down it several times, Iris learnt to partially bury her hands and feet into the sand so she could get some semblance of traction. She reached the top first, and helped pull Kasia up – Christopher was still struggling, halfway down. She and Kasia pulled him up and the three of them sat there for a minute, panting.

"I have done more exercise today than I have in my entire life," Christopher said, panting.

Kasia suddenly elbowed Iris in the side. "Hey!" Iris protested.

"Shut up. Can you see that?" Following where Kasia was pointing, Iris squinted, letting her eyes adjust – sure enough, in the distance, she could see a speck of dark colour. It stood out starkly against the endless plains of white sand.

"What do you think it is?" Christopher asked.

"I don't know," Kasia said.

"Should we go see, do you think?" Iris asked. "Or do we play it safe? Steer clear?"

"Well… I don't know how safe it is, wandering off into the desert with only one water bottle left for the three of us," Kasia said. "Surely nothing can be stupider than that?"

Christopher frowned, and scrunched his forehead. "It could be anything, though."

"Exactly!" Kasia's face was hopeful, almost desperate. "It might be a forest. There might be water!"

"A forest in the desert?" Christopher asked.

"A jungle, then," Kasia snapped. "I don't know, man, I'm from District Nine. We have grain and that's pretty much it."

"Well, I vote we go look," Iris said. It wasn't like they had anything to lose – except their lives, of course, but they were bartering those with every step they took anyway. On the rare chance it was a forest – or jungle – Iris thought it would be the best place for them to go. Christopher was in bad shape, after all, and it wasn't like they could just sleep out in the open.

/

By the time they reached it, the sun was low in the sky, which was beginning to turn pink. It wasn't a forest, and not quite a jungle – it was about a small circle of greenery, about half the size of the training room. "It's an oasis," Christopher said. Iris didn't know what an oasis was, but she didn't want to seem stupid by asking, so she didn't. They stood there for a moment, watching warily, in case it was the lair of a mutt.

Kasia picked up a rock and threw it at a tree, making a loud crack that reverberated around the sparse desert. Iris grabbed her wrist. "What are you doing?" she hissed, half expecting a horde of Careers or giant spiders or something to come charging from the strange little forest.

Kasia yanked her arm out of Iris' grip. "If there's something in there it might come out!" When Iris' face stayed blank, Kasia sighed. "Before we go in and get eaten alive or something. Dumbass." Iris chose to ignore Kasia's murmured insult. She was too tired to bite back.

The three of them watched the forest for a moment more. Christopher sighed. "I'm gonna go in."

"But what if there's a mutt?" Kasia protested.

He smiled at her. "I guess I'll die."

Iris and Kasia glanced at each other as Christopher walked into the oasis. He was a different person to the boy they'd met in training. Iris had never known someone to go through such a dramatic personality change in such a short span – not counting zombies, of course. The Christopher she met in training would not have walked into the oasis so easily.

He disappeared into the tree line, and the two girls waited with bated breaths for what seemed like an eternity before Christopher poked his head out, gesturing for them to come forwards. "It seems fine. There's water. And fruit, but I dunno if it's edible or not."

The promise of water was enough to overcome Iris' trepidation. Though she had tried to ration hers, she'd gone through almost her whole bottle.

The shade of the trees was the most beautiful thing Iris had ever felt. The sound of the small stream, however, sounded like music, and she knelt by it about to dip her hands in when Christopher grabbed her and pulled her back. "Wait!" he said. "We don't know if it's drinkable. Remember in the fiftieth, when those kids jumped into a pool of acid because they didn't check?"

"I guess I forgot," Iris admitted. Standing up, she stepped back, crossing her arms. She was furious with herself – how could she be stupid enough to not check it first? What if it had killed her? She would have deserved it for being so stupid.

Christopher pulled a large leaf from a tree, and dipped it into the water. After holding it there for a few seconds, he examined it closely. "I think it's fine?" he said. "Yeah. I think it's fine."

"Oh, you think, do you?" Iris said. "But you don't know."

"Hey, I'm not the one who was about to jump in without checking."

"I wasn't about to jump in!" she scowled. "I was just gonna dip my hands in, that's all."

Christopher shrugged. "Sure, yell at me for possibly saving your life, see if I care."

"Oh my god. Will you two please shut up?" Kasia snapped. "You're driving me crazy." She began to strip off her clothes, dropping them in a neat pile beside her. Iris and Christopher stared at her.

"What are you – " Iris began to say, when Kasia jumped into the stream. "Kasia! It could be poison."

"I'd rather be poisoned than listen to you assholes for a second longer." Closing her eyes blissfully, Kasia floated on her back. "This is heaven. Get in."

Iris watched for a moment longer before she was convinced it was okay. Stripping off her clothes, she waded in slowly. The water felt like heaven on her aching, dirty body, and she sunk into it with bliss. Kasia grinned at her. "Told you."

Iris grinned at the green canopy above. "I just needed you to get in first in case it was acid."

"Wow. Good to know you care about me."

"You two seem to be getting along better."

Kasia splashed him. "Shut up, Christopher."

"Yeah, we've bonded over how irritating you are."

The three of them laughed. Maybe it was the refreshing water, maybe it was their shared relief at having survived the day, but Iris felt closer to her allies than she had in training. And they seemed to feel the same.

The three of them floated in silence for a while. Though she allowed herself to enjoy the feeling of the water, she did not allow herself to relax; she kept her eyes focused on the edge of the strange forest - the oasis - in case anyone burst through the trees to kill them.

After twenty minutes soaking her bruised body, Iris clambered out of the water and pulled her clothes on. Kasia and Christopher were still enjoying the water – Christopher was almost fully submerged, and Kasia was sitting on a rock in the nude, dangling her feet in and watching the ripples across the surface. She'd pulled one of the bright yellow fruits from the trees, and was eating it, skin and all.

Iris joined her on the rock, and began to fill their many water bottles. "Do you even know if that fruit is safe?"

"Well, I haven't died yet, so that's a good sign." Seeing the look on Iris' face, Kasia laughed, and pulled another fruit from the tree. "I recognise them from training. They're called mangoes. They're delicious, too."

Taking the fruit from her, Iris bit into it. She closed her eyes as the sweet juice hit her tongue - it was the best thing she'd ever tasted. "I almost want to stay here, but I know it's a bad idea."

"Yeah, it's tempting. But someone else is bound to find this place, and if they don't, well – "

"The Gamemakers don't let us have nice things."

"Yeah," Kasia said. She threw a rock into the water bitterly, and watched the ripples it created on the surface.

"We'll stay the night, at least. I doubt the Careers will travel this far into the desert after a long day of murder."

"You're probably right. We shouldn't push our luck by staying any longer."

They lapsed into silence after that, watching the tiny bugs skim across the surface of the water. Iris had sucked every last piece of flesh off the large stone in the mango. She flipped the stone over and over in her hands. "I really am sorry about your district partner."

Kasia pursed her lips. "Taggerty. His name was Taggerty."

"Taggerty. I'm sorry. I didn't even realise he was your district partner at first."

"Would that have changed anything?" Kasia asked, turning to look Iris in the eyes.

"Well, I guess not," Iris admitted.

Kasia sighed. "Look, Iris, it's fine. It's the Hunger Games. It's not like he would have survived long anyway, I mean he was stupid enough to go into the Bloodbath. You probably did him a favour by ending it quickly."

"By that logic, are we stupid?" Iris asked her. "We also went into the Bloodbath."

Kasia laughed. It was the first time Iris had heard her laugh. "Oh, definitely. But it was your idea. I was just supporting my allies."

"Wow. Thanks."

"Anytime."

The girls smirked at each other, and watched the water for a little while. "Why'd you come back?" The question had been niggling at Iris ever since they'd fled the Bloodbath.

Kasia frowned. "What?"

"At the Cornucopia. The other day you were adamant that you wouldn't go anywhere near it. But you followed me. Dragged me away. Why?"

Kasia shrugged. "I don't know. I knew that it wouldn't be a good alliance with just me and Christopher. That boy annoys me too much; I need someone like you to balance it out. Someone more like me, I guess."

For some reason, Iris didn't think Kasia was telling the truth. There was some other reason Kasia dragged her away – possibly saving her life – that she was determined to find out. She was surprised to realise that she no longer held any animosity towards Kasia; whether or not that was a good thing or not, she didn't know. Iris had the feeling that if Kasia had been born in Six, or she in Nine, they would have been friends.

She stood up. "It's getting dark. I'll take the first watch. Do you want to check that Christopher hasn't drowned?"

"Sure," Kasia said quietly.

Iris walked away quickly, not sure what had happened with her and Kasia. Two days ago, they had hated each other's guts. It had felt like they were competing – for what, she didn't know, but they certainly hadn't been working together well. What had changed for them to suddenly be friendly, for their insults to become playful banter?

She didn't want to get attached – worse of all, she didn't want to become friends with Kasia. It would just complicate things, and Iris didn't need any more of that. She needed to stay focused. If she was going to win, she couldn't get close to her allies. She needed to ditch them soon anyway – keeping them around wasn't logical. But then again, neither was her newfound friendliness with Kasia.

Iris sighed to herself. She had thought the arena would make her colder, but it seemed to have done the opposite. What cruel irony was this?

The familiar trumpeting music of the anthem cut through the silence, and both girls looked up. Iris stood up, and could see the projection through a gap in the trees. Christopher joined them on the rock, and lifted Kasia onto his shoulders easily after noticing she couldn't see.

The faces of the District Three kids were the first they saw, followed by the boy from five. Then Axel - that hadn't been a surprise, but Iris still inhaled sharply at the sight of him. Axel was followed by the girl from Seven, the boy from Eight, and then Taggerty. Kasia looked away at the sight of him, and Iris felt a fresh wave of guilt. Her hands still felt like they were covered in the boy's dried blood. His family were probably crying right now, wishing for Iris' death, and she couldn't blame them. Christopher's district partner was next - Iris couldn't remember her name. Both the tributes from Twelve were next - evidently, Haymitch's mentoring skills weren't as strong as his talents at outdrinking everyone under the sun.

The Capitol seal shone brightly for a moment, before fading, and leaving them in the dark. Christopher set Kasia down on the sand, before stumbling over to a tree and vomiting all over it.

Kasia and Iris watched him silently. He wiped his mouth and straightened up. "She was only thirteen. Eiliza… she had a twin sister back home."

Wordlessly, Iris handed him a water bottle. She wondered if a Career had killed Axel, but she supposed it didn't matter - she was. the same as them now. She'd taken an innocent boy away from his family. He had been about to kill her, true, but he was innocent all the same. And now she was a monster.

"All of our partners are dead," Kasia said bitterly, avoiding catching Iris' eye. "We're all that's left."

iris in her bamf era

i figured that capitol asthma puffers would be quick-acting. hence the quick acting asthma puffer.