𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐒 ˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳ 𝐧𝐜𝐭 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦 - 𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐮

⇛ 𝐂𝐇. 𝟏𝟎

𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝟏

"wait. we're sleeping up there?" mark asked, staring up at the large tree they were sitting in front of.

"yes." jihyun replied.

"but we'll fall."

"have you not been paying attention? that's why renjun and i have been making these." she said, pointing to the rope they had made from grass and plant fibres.

they planned to tie it around their legs so they wouldn't fall off the trees. sleeping on trees was the best plan they had because sleeping on the ground was a big risk. anyone could sneak up and kill them in their sleep. at least in the trees, they were hidden and high up.

"really wish we had chenle right now. he's better at this than we are." renjun sighed, rubbing his forehead. they had been struggling to make the rope while mark scouted the area in case any tributes were heading their way.

"i'd help you guys, but seeing that you're struggling so much, i'd be even worse so i think it's best i stay out of your way."

"we're done now." jihyun mumbled, finishing her last rope. she dropped it on the floor, taking in the sight of blisters all over her hands.

"i'm a bit hungry." renjun said, rubbing his stomach. "tomorrow we should definitely go hunting."

"maybe our supporters will send us something nice." jihyun joked, waving at a camera she found in the tree next to them.

she had managed to spot every camera they had passed and was looking for any blind spots for private conversations no one else needed to see or hear. so far she hadn't found any.

"doubt—" renjun paused when she sent him a look. "i mean, unlikely."

"you just used a synonym." she scoffed. "you never know what could happen."

"true, but don't get your hopes up." mark said. "we should probably sleep now."

"you can climb, right?" she asked and he nodded. "we're going to have to help renjun."

"that's fine. you go up first."

jihyun wrapped her rope around her shoulders then stood up. she placed one foot on a dent in the tree and reached towards the nearest branch. she grabbed onto it and using her upper body, she hoisted herself up and onto the branch.

"renjun, do the same as i did." she called down to him.

he nodded and copied how she placed her feet on the tree, but when it came to pulling himself up onto the same branch as her, he nearly fell. mark was quick to stabilize him and push him back up. jihyun then tugged on his arms, pulling him onto the branch. he clung to the tree, his breathing ragged.

"now that's a whole workout."

"sure is." she chuckled, then placed her feet in another dent, climbing higher up the tree.

"we're climbing even higher?" renjun whined, watching her.

"it's better to be higher than lower where other tributes can see or reach us. plus, we need to all have our own branches to sleep on. i'm taking the highest one."

"fair enough."

"guys, climb quicker. i hear people nearby." mark said. he began climbing up to where renjun was and urged him to follow after jihyun.

they continued climbing until they were as high as jihyun thought was safe. they took a branch each and settled down, tying their rope around their legs to secure them.