🅴🆂🆃🅴🅻🅻🅰 watches for a second before going to and helps Katniss up as Thresh and Aries talk about what they had missed with each other. Katniss, you see, is experiencing newfound freedom, as she has escaped death once more. Giving Estella a fond smile as she recalls Thresh mentioning it was her who told him everything.
However, Estella wasn't too keen on that as something wasn't sitting right. Her ears are perking up around their surroundings. Her frown hardens, her ears are picking up something new, and Aries is the first to notice it too, she has a look of fear in her eyes as she calls out for him to be by her side.
Estella sneaks Aries's body a look as she attempts to explain what she is hearing. However, the sudden sound of a SWISH caught her attention. It was too far to be aiming at Aries and her, Katniss is closer to them also. Meaning the target would be Thresh.
"Thresh-!" Estella called out his name in panic, a look of terror on her face.
Thresh who was on his path to get the #11 backpack, had turned at the call of Estella's tone, only to get a dagger right in the chest. The was an eerie silence for a while, Aries killer instinct kicked in as he pulled out his sword already aiming his eyes at the newcomer that Estella was worried about.
Cato, who is suddenly just a foot away.
The look on Thresh's face is pure shock. Estella moved first, rushing to him to aid with the dagger while Aries fastened to Cato who did too, both in a gruesome battle. And there Katniss, a witness to it all. She crouches down with her head in her hands, watching the madness unfold. To shock at the sudden rush of everything.
"GO!" Katniss snaps her head to Thresh who is yelling at Katniss to run while Estella is shaking at seeing the blood on her hands and Thresh. She put as much pressure as she could to stop the bleeding but did not pull the dagger. While Katniss did as told, she rose, ran, was horrified, and didn't look back.
"T-Thresh, I need you to keep your eyes on me!" Estella tries to remain calm as she rampages through the backpacks for medicine or anything to help him. Cursing at everything when they were only food and weapons to be found then medicine. Thresh, who is in a lot of pain, tries to grab her hand, "No...I..." his voice is slowly fading away, showing how critical the hit was.
Aries on the other hand, while Estella focuses on healing Thresh. He was in a game of push and pull with Cato to the ground, trying to get his hands around the opponent's neck. It's a struggle between two athletes in the prime of their youth. Cato hiss in frustration at how much better Aries is at handling him, if he doesn't do something, he going to be dead soon by Aries's strength.
Cato ends up moving his weight, putting all his strength into a single hit, and succeeds in taking the wind out of Aries. But this is a feral Aries, he isn't losing focus and he isn't giving in. He is only getting stronger as his strength increases, and Cato's strength decreases. Aries finally manages to get a hand on Cato's neck, his finger-twisting a little so that it would break the windpipe of its target.
A cannon blast was shot.
"A-Aries! T-Thresh!" The sound of Estella's cries made him lose his focus for a minute, seeing the chance when Aries moved his eyes to his partner. Cato made a critical hit right on the male's chest, causing him to roll back in grunts. Aries sprung at Cato with rage now but noticed he had already fled off into the woods like a coward. Annoyed, he bangs his fist hard on the ground, shaking it a little to anyone nearby.
When he turns his head to focus on his friends, it is the last thing he ever wished to see. There Estella was in a ball as her hands covered her face whispering and crying that everything was her fault, while Thresh's dead body lay right next to her, his eyes still wide open but lifeless.
Aries let his shoulders drop with the true heartbreak of seeing his friend's death. He turned away from Estella, he didn't want to see her cry, he didn't want to see her... "... Aries?" He heard her call out to him, she sounded so dull and fragile, he turned to look, he didn't want to but see sounded like she needed him more now. It was so pitiful how she looked
Thresh was dead, but he had a family, siblings, and friends to go back to. Aries would be willing to trade the outcome of Thresh for his own life. Slowly standing up, Aries walks his way to Estella. Giving a glance at his friend's body as he walks on, he kneels beside Estella to hug her.
"A-Aries, I'm so sorry. A-Aries...I'm so sorry..." She buried her face in his chest, Aries was silent as he held her. "Shh. It's okay Estella, it's okay... It's okay." And as they hugged, a tear ran to the ground. One was feeling guilty that if she worked faster, Thresh would have avoided his death. The other felt that the world and reality are cruel to those with family and compassion in them.
Aries let her cry, he stayed with her, holding her, until she stopped. They were deep in the night already, the moon was bright enough that it lit up the whole area, and the forest was very peaceful. As he covers Estella with all his warmth, his eyes lie open to Thresh's dead body.
It was the first time he saw the dead body of someone he loved.
He held Estella closer and kissed her on her head. "... We can't stay here forever, Stellie," Aries whispered to her as the night sky was a sheet of darkness. She lifted her head from his chest, her eyes still locked on the dead body of Thresh.
She looked at him, tears still lingering on her face, "Y-You mean...we have to leave Th-him here?" Aries nods, he, the only one who knows the truth, feels more guilt than he ever thought he had. Leaving behind Thresh is the last Estella needs to hear after witnessing his death, but Aries has to be the logical one here. They can't stay.
The uncertainty of the next step is like a heavyweight on both of them.
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