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The night had completely fallen, blanketing the forest in cold silence. Aries, ever vigilant, placed the pack gently on the ground and kept his sword close within arm's reach in case they encountered any unexpected threats. The firelight cast shadows that danced around them, flickering like ghosts among the trees.
Estella remained uneasy, her frown deepening as she glared toward a neighboring tree. There was something lingering in the air—an ominous tension she couldn't shake. It wasn't just exhaustion crawling through her bones; it was an ache, a gnawing feeling in her chest that something was wrong.
"You should sleep before they blast that stupid anthem," Aries muttered as he adjusted his position beside her, trying to keep watch without falling into paranoia. His tone was sardonic, a poor attempt to lighten the mood. "It can be the cause of nightmares. Trust me."
Despite herself, Estella giggled softly. Aries had a frustratingly consistent ability to make her laugh even in the bleakest of moments. But that sense of comfort didn't last. Her mind kept pulling her toward the tributes, toward the faces she hadn't seen yet—those who hadn't returned. A knot twisted in her stomach, and no matter how heavy her eyelids grew, sleep refused to come.
"I will," she murmured, her voice barely more than a whisper, "soon."
The answer didn't put Aries at ease. Letting out a quiet sigh, he sat up alongside her, silently agreeing to wait with her through whatever storm was creeping toward them. The air grew colder, heavier, as though the forest itself were holding its breath. Aries distracted himself by playing with the ends of Estella's hair, mesmerized by the colour and how, despite being blonde, it somehow shone and reflected the moonlight.
When the Capitol's seal finally burst into the sky above them, it was accompanied by the blaring notes of the anthem—loud, grating, heartless. Aries scoffed in irritation at the sound, but Estella sat deathly still, her heart lurching and plummeting as though it had slipped into a bottomless pit. One by one, the faces of the fallen were displayed above them. Children's faces. Innocent eyes.
Silenced forever. The words seemed to hang in the air, heavy and final. Estella's breath caught in her throat, a small, involuntary hitch that betrayed her inner turmoil. Her spine straightened abruptly, her posture becoming rigid and tense as if bracing herself against an unseen blow.
"Aries..." she whispered, her voice trembling slightly. The sound was barely audible, a fragile thread struggling to be heard above the insistent pulse of the music that filled the space around them. "I don't like this feeling," she repeated, the words laced with a growing unease.
He turned his head, glancing over at her with a concerned expression. He was immediately alarmed by the sudden and unexpected shift in her tone. The composed and steady cadence that usually characterized her speech had vanished, replaced by something raw and fragile, revealing a vulnerability he rarely witnessed. "Love, what's wrong?" he asked, his voice filled with genuine concern as he sought to understand the source of her distress.
