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Estella groaned in her sleep as the blinding sunlight filtered into the burrow, urging her to wake for the new day. Her eyes fluttered open, heavy and half-lidded, scanning her surroundings in a dazed haze. Thresh was nowhere in sight, though remnants of his presence—his bags and weaponry—still lingered around. She had fallen asleep flat on her stomach to keep her back wound from worsening due to the lack of proper care.
Yet, as she slowly pushed herself upright, the agonizing sting of blood trickling down her skin confirmed her fears—it hadn't dried overnight. In fact, the pain had only worsened, the bleeding stubbornly fresh. She hissed sharply when her hand brushed over the wound, feeling the wet, warm smear coat her fingers
Holding her hand up, she examined the slick crimson coating her skin, and a sinking feeling hit her like a boulder. "Great," she muttered, panic bubbling just beneath her surface as she scrambled silently around the burrow. Her eyes darted until she spotted the dagger Clover had thrown. Snatching it up, her panic spiked when she noticed the faintest hue clinging to the blade—a soft sheen that could only mean poison.
"Just fucking great." She knew now that if she didn't find a cure, the poison would gradually sap her life away. She had already wasted a night, foolishly ignoring the signs. Taking a long, steadying breath, she tried not to spiral into panic. Donning her jacket to conceal the injury from Thresh, Estella ventured out into the forest, hoping to find him before the poison made her too weak to move.
It took only a few minutes of walking through the forest before she spotted him. Thresh was crouched near a thicket of berry bushes, collecting them with quiet focus. She exhaled in relief upon seeing him, noting with quiet gratitude that his leg injury appeared to be improving, unlike the persistent, searing pain she was battling.
"For someone who slept so soundly last night, you look more exhausted than anything," Thresh remarked with a smirk, his voice teasing but laced with a subtle layer of concern. Estella brushed off his observation, choosing to crouch beside him and help with the berry-picking. As she worked, her sharp eyes caught the glint of tiny cameras mounted high in the trees—some even tucked into the very bushes they were sifting through.
Their every move was being watched.
"STELLA!" A thunderous voice rang out from the woods, making Estella flinch. Thresh froze as well, sharing a look of confusion with her. The bellows of her nickname carried a mixture of urgency and fury. "...Sounds pretty mad," Thresh muttered under his breath as the shout echoed again, even louder this time. Estella didn't need another moment to recognize that voice. "It's Aries," she said grimly.
"Well, he's got some nerve yelling his lungs out when the Careers could hear him," Thresh commented as Estella slowly rose to her feet, carefully mindful of her injury. Her eyes swept the forest before she finally spotted a familiar figure lumbering toward them. Thresh stood beside her as they both silently watched Aries draw closer, the volume of his shouting growing more intense with every step.
