SONG: Ingenue by Atoms for Peace
Iris tried not to shriek. The scorpions swarmed over her, and Iris waited for them to strike, to rip the flesh away from her bones, because surely that's what they would do, right? Except they didn't. They moved around her, like a venomous black sea, and didn't seem to notice that she was there. She wondered if it had something to do with the scorpion blood she had smeared all over herself. Maybe they thought she was one of their own.
"I'm okay," she replied shakily, looking up at her ally. "This pit is full of scorpions, Agata." She stood up carefully, and felt the walls around her - soft dirt crumbled under her hands. There would be no climbing out of here. It was up to Agata to get her out. The idea of that terrified her, knowing that her own life was completely out of her hands. It would be all too easy for Agata to just… walk away from her.
"Why haven't they attacked you?" Agata asked.
"I think it's the blood," she replied. Agata peered over the edge of the pit, looking concerned, and that relieved Iris. She wouldn't be concerned if she was going to just leave Iris here, would she? A trickle of dirt rained down on Iris, and she blinked it out of her eyes. She imagined the trickle turning into a waterfall, burying her, and clenched her fists so tightly she was sure she drew blood.
"But they're mutts!" Agata exclaimed. "Surely the Gamemakers can - "
"Let's not give them any ideas, please, Agata! Can you just help me get out of here?"
"Okay. I'll go find a vine or something to pull you up. Sit tight."
"I'm not going anywhere," Iris said, a half-hysterical laugh tearing its way out of her. Sure, the scorpions weren't attacking her, but that didn't mean she was comfortable having them for company, although they were giving her an idea. Iris took the sweaty bandana off her head and tied the corners together, leaving a little opening through which she put several scorpions. She tied it closed as quickly as she could, and put it into her pants pocket. Probably not the best idea she'd ever had, keeping pet scorpions, but she needed every weapon she could get, even creepy-crawlies that she'd seen disintegrate not one but two of her allies' flesh. Sure, these were the baby versions, but there was no way they weren't venomous.
Agata returned, and threw down a thick green vine. "Tie this around your waist. I've tied the other end to a tree."
Iris did as she was told, and remembered the soft, useless dirt surrounding her. Falling down onto her face. Burying her… she shuddered, and focused on making sure the vine was tied tightly around her. "Agata, I won't be able to climb. This dirt's too soft. You're going to have to pull me up."
Agata frowned, and reached over the side, feeling the crumbly dirt herself. "Alright. You better not be as heavy as you look."
"Thanks a lot," Iris said, rolling her eyes.
"You're welcome," Agata replied drily. She tugged on the vine, testing its stability, and began to pull Iris up. Iris helped when she could, planting her feet against the wall of the pit, but Agata had no choice but to take the brunt of it. She was red in the face and sweating by the time she managed to pull Iris up, and Iris was very grateful that the pit was only about four feet deep.
"Thanks," she said, untying the vine from her waist.
Agata gave her a thumbs up. "Don't mention it," she said breathlessly. "Are you hurt?"
"No," Iris said, "I don't think so." She would have some bruises, but that was all. "Was this a Career trap?"
Agata shook her head. "No, we didn't set any. This was someone else."
Iris inspected the pit she'd fallen into - the broken sticks and leaves around and in it suggested that someone had taken their time concealing it. "I wonder if whoever left it dug it out? But how did they get the scorpions in?"
"Doesn't make sense, they wouldn't have been able to catch this many. It had to already be here, which means there's probably more Gamemaker traps around. Let's be careful."
"Oh. I'm glad you said that. I wasn't going to be careful otherwise," Iris deadpanned.
Agata rolled her eyes. "Shut up and let's find some water, please."
Walking downhill, Iris wondered if she should tell Agata about the scorpions squirming in her pocket or not. Maybe it would be good to keep them to herself, to have a trick up her sleeve just in case things with Agata turned sour. But Agata wouldn't attack her, would she? What if she had been playing a long game, earning Iris' trust, so she could get close enough to stick her with a knife? No, she decided. If Agata wanted to kill Iris, she would have done it the first chance she got. She could have left her in that pit and walked away. She could have let her fall from the canyon wall. Slit her throat while she was sleeping. There had been ample opportunity for Agata to kill her, and she hadn't, so why was Iris beginning to doubt her now? Dehydration is making me paranoid. She stabbed at the ground in front of her with the walking stick she'd improvised from a branch. If there was another concealed pit, hopefully the sticks would go through it before she or Agata did.
After going downhill for a little while, they soon found a stream. It took all Iris' resolve not to dunk her head in and gulp until she couldn't anymore. They filled their many empty bottles and waited for the water purification tablets to work.
"I'm going to pee," Agata said, standing up. She took a knife out of her belt.
Iris grinned at her. "Wipe with a knife, do you?"
Agata rolled her eyes, sick of Iris' sense of humour by now. "Yeah, it's the first thing we learn in school."
"Right," Iris said. "I'll be here. Scream if you get murdered."
"Whatever."
She wondered how Agata still had enough liquid in her to pee - Iris hadn't needed to go since yesterday, when they ran out of water. Was it strange of her to wonder about her ally's bathroom habits? Yes, dehydration was definitely making her crazy. Iris sighed, and leaned back against a tree, closing her eyes. God, she was so tired. When all this was over, Iris wanted to sleep for a week.
A twig snapped, and Iris leapt to her feet, hand flying to her club. Agata held up her hands. "Relax, it's just me," she said, looking miserable.
"What's the matter?"
Agata kicked at a rock. "Nothing came out. And I still need to pee."
Iris shrugged sympathetically. Picking up a bottle of water, she held it out to Agata. "Well, the water should be ok to drink now, so there's that?"
"Gimme." Agata snatched the bottle from Iris and gulped down half the bottle before sighing in content. She handed the bottle back to Iris. "Here, finish this so we can refill the bottle before we leave."
"Good thinking," Iris said. As soon as the water hit her lips, she felt better. She could almost feel it seeping into her body, restoring her strength and resolve. It tasted better than anything she'd tasted in the Capitol. Tipping her head back, she drained every last drop of water, and grinned. "I've been looking forward to that since yesterday."
Agata smiled. "If we hurry, we can get to the Cornucopia before it gets dark."
"Are we going to sleep in a tent?"
"I just remembered before - I think I saw a cave from my pedestal. There's some rocks, anyway, so we could hide out there. We'll get a view of the Cornucopia, in any case."
"Sounds good."
They packed their water back into their bags and continued walking downhill. Iris took good care to watch where she put her feet, not wanting to fall into another scorpion pit. She knew the Gamemakers wouldn't let her get out of another one of those alive. The landscape wasn't familiar to Iris - she had run the opposite way from the Bloodbath, but the canyon seemed to twist and turn its way around the arena, which explained how they had ended up here, in a completely different direction to the one she started out in. She wished she had a map - it would be interesting to know exactly how big the arena was. Were there other oases, other shipyards scattered throughout? She remembered a desert arena from a Games in her childhood, but it hadn't been like this one.
In any case, she was glad to be out of the canyon. She'd felt like she was suffocating, the whole time she was in there. She'd felt like a trapped rat, knowing just how far up she'd have to climb if she wanted out. It was very good for keeping out of the sun, but she almost would have preferred being out in the open to being trapped like that.
It was much better now, being in a forest. Seeing other colours besides the endless sand and sky was a welcome change. It was as refreshing as that water had been, like her eyes had forgotten what other colours looked like and were only now relearning their beauty.
She glanced to her side, wondering how Agata was feeling. She hadn't said much to Iris about her face - they'd had other things to worry about. But Iris remembered how distraught she had been, finding out that her good looks were ruined forever. Although, it felt mean to think of it that way. Iris knew that she would be just as distraught if it had been her face, and she didn't have any good looks to speak of. Losing her face would be like losing part of her identity. She'd no longer see her mother looking back at her when she looked in the mirror. That would be enough to upset her, and she felt that she understood Agata's feelings better now, having come to that conclusion.
There was a sudden snap, and Iris was jolted out of her thoughts, expecting, for a second, to feel the ground fall away from her like it had before. Agata was launched upwards with a shriek, and her walking stick hit Iris painfully in the face, making her stumble. "Shit!" she said, regaining her balance.
Agata hung from a tree by the ankle. "I didn't even see it… get me down, please, I hate this," she gasped. She tried to pull herself up to untie the intricately knotted vine, but failed, weakened by the days of walking without much sustenance.
Iris took her backpack off her shoulders, and leaned her club against it. She felt uneasy with only a few knives on her person, but it wouldn't make sense to climb the tree carrying all her stuff. "Coming," she said, looking up at the tree. It didn't look too difficult to climb - it was certainly easier than the canyon. She began to climb, immensely grateful there wasn't a twenty foot drop awaiting her, although she was still uncomfortable with the height.
Just as she reached the branch Agata was hanging from, there was a shriek, and Iris just saw a pair of legs hurtling towards her before they hit her hard in the chest and sent her flying from the tree. She landed hard on the ground, hearing a snap as her left elbow bent the wrong way. "Fuck!" Agata yelled. "Iris, get up, she's coming!"
Iris scrambled to her feet, grabbing her knife. A skinny, malnourished-looking girl dropped from the tree, holding a spear. She glared at Iris. Iris glanced uneasily at her club, which was behind the girl at the base of the tree. She'd lost her knife when she fell, but there were two more in her belt, and she grabbed another one out. She looked at her opponent, sizing her up. The girl - from Eight, she vaguely remembered - was smaller than her, and looked uncomfortable with the spear; she obviously didn't know how to use it. But if she had left such a well-hidden trap, she had to be smart - she would have something else up her sleeve.
"We don't have to fight," Iris said, smiling at her. Her elbow hurt, so, so much, but she moved her hand anyway, as slowly as she could, to her pocket. "Why don't you just drop that spear?"
"I'm not an idiot," spat the girl. "But you must be, allying with a Career."
"You're probably right about that," Iris agreed. She didn't want the girl to back her into any more traps, and risked a glance backwards - if she stepped back a few more paces, her back would be flush against a tree. Better that than out in the open.
The girl stabbed towards her with the spear, but overshot it, and stumbled forwards slightly. Iris ducked out of the way, and dodged to the side. "Why don't you put that spear down? You obviously don't know how to use it."
"Shut up!" The girl advanced on her. Iris slipped a hand into her pocket and with one hand began working on the knots of the bandana.
"Iris, stop talking and get on with it!" Agata screeched from the tree. The girl from Eight jumped and looked over her shoulder to where the noise had come from.
It was the distraction Iris needed. Iris pulled the scorpions out of her pocket and threw them at the girl. They latched onto her jacket and she shrieked, dropping her spear in a frenzied attempt to bat them away. Iris snatched up her club and ran towards the girl, who brushed the scorpions away. She stomped hard on their shiny little bodies, looking up just as Iris brought the club down hard on her head.
The girl from Eight dropped like a sack of potatoes, and Iris slammed the club onto her head again. There was a crack, and the girl stopped moving. The boom of the cannon made Iris jump. She dropped her club and stepped back, feeling very sick. She'd killed another person. She'd killed again… how old was this girl? Thirteen? Fourteen? Not much older than Jordie…
Iris turned away, her stomach churning uncomfortably, though there wasn't much in it for her to throw up. "Iris?" Agata said. "It's okay. Will you get me down now?"
"Yeah," Iris replied. Somehow, her eyes had found their way to the body of the girl from Eight again, and she tore them away. Wincing, she looked at her arm. It didn't look any different, but there was a searing pain every time she moved her elbow. It would be a lot harder to climb the tree this time. She briefly wondered whether she should just leave Agata there. It would save Agata turning on her later… she wouldn't have any blood on her hands, if she left Agata there for someone else to find. But Agata had saved her from her trap - Iris knew it would be bad karma not to rescue her from hers.
She took it slow and steady, and had to stop to rest for a moment, her arm protesting every movement. She got to where Agata was, and scuttled along the thick branch on her butt. "You okay?" she asked.
Agata's face was very red and she was obviously uncomfortable. "I think so. Can you pull me up a bit, so I don't land on my neck?"
"I can't pull anything," Iris said. "I think my arm is broken." She stopped for a moment, looking at the tree - there were vines hanging from the upper branches. "But I have an idea." She climbed up a bit more, and pulled down a vine and tied it tightly to the trunk of the tree. Pulling it with her along the branch, she returned to Agata. "I've tied the vine to the trunk. If you can grab it and use it to pull yourself up a bit, I should be able help you."
"Okay," Agata said, doing her best attempt at a nod. Iris dropped down the vine, and Agata grabbed it. Straining, she managed to pull herself up slightly. Iris hoped her knot would hold, although it didn't really matter; Agata was still attached to the tree, after all. Agata managed to get into a more comfortable position for climbing, and got up to the branch without needing Iris' help - which was a good thing, because her arm was hurting more by the minute as her adrenaline from the fight wore off.
The fight… the crack of the girl from Eight's skull, her shrieks as she slapped away the scorpions, her tired, hungry face. What had her name been? Did she have a younger brother at home, who had watched in horror as Iris bashed his sister's skull in?
"Iris," Agata said, snapping Iris back to attention. She hadn't even noticed Agata climb back up, but she was sitting next to Iris on the branch, and the vine was already cut. "Are you alright?"
Iris blinked, and realised that she didn't know how to answer that. She clenched her jaw and nodded, and focused only on the tree trunk as she climbed down first.