² SECOND CHANCE ─ the hunger games

twenty - accidents can happen

— CADENCE —

"Hey," Aiden shakes my shoulders and I wake up, eyes still red and puffy from Rylie's death. "You should go hunting for food."

He hands me my bow and arrows and I don't reply, but instead silently leave Aiden to take care of our supplies. I climb a tree to see where the animals are, but end up focused on the tributes making their way here instead. A boy and a girl, trailed by another boy.

When they get closer, I finally recognize the tributes.

Tristan and Ava, and Andy is following them.

They obviously aren't in an alliance as they're far away from each other, but I still jump off of the tree to tell Aiden.

"Your best friend is here," I say jokingly, knowing about how Andy killed Anson.

"Andy?" says Aiden, and he scoffs. "Never."

I nod, smiling wistfully, and we get ready for a fight.

Soon, Tristan and Ava appear in the clearing, and I immediately grab Ava by the waist and put a knife to her neck.

I know these people. Or should I say, I knew these people. Who knows what the Games have done to them. So now I've changed too. I want... need to win, even if that means embracing my newfound role as a ruthless murderer.

"Put down your weapons, Trissy," I say, taunting him with the nickname I and a few others gave him months ago. "or someone's gonna get hurt. If you're willing to, we can even be in an alliance."

Ava trembles in fear, and I lose my grip on her, letting her run back to Tristan, her twin brother.

He narrows his eyes at me and unsheaths his sword.

— AIDEN —

Tristan unsheaths his sword and Cadence and I exchange a glance of annoyance.

She laughs and we take out our weapons. The fight begins.

We charge at Tristan just as Ava runs to the other side of the clearing. Cadence's arrow pins her to a tree so she can't take our supplies, and I continue fighting with Tristan.

He was my friend. He is my friend. But he isn't my ally. Which is why both our lives are at stake right now. 

Cadence hands me an extra dagger. "Aim at his chest," she says, and I hate what I'm about to do. My hand quivers as I aim straight at Tristan's heart, and he looks at me pleadingly.

I falter at the sight. "I can't. I won't do it," I say, looking back at Cadence, but for a moment, I can't find her.

"Do it," she says. "It's your own life or Tristan's."

Once again, I take the dagger and throw it straight at Tristan's heart, begging for his forgiveness.

But when the dagger hits someone and makes a thud, I realize that the person is not Tristan.

Tristan stands there looking at me confused, and the sight that I see is not a good one.

I follow Tristan's gaze, and the fight halts as we stare at a dying body in the middle of the two alliances. Andy beams, waves, and collapses to the ground, dagger stabbed in his chest.

— CADENCE —

Aiden runs towards Andy. I want to follow suit, but I still have Tristan to take care of.

He's Aiden's friend, but he's not mine. And the only people I care about here are my friends and my allies.

I chase after Tristan as he runs to his sister's side, freeing her, and they start running away. His extra sword whizzes towards me, and I easily dodge it, yelling at the top of my lungs.

In defense, I shoot half a dozen arrows at them, quickly pulling them from my quiver and nocking them, and I hear a girl's piercing scream, but no cannons sound.

When Tristan and Ava are out of sight, I immediately rush to Aiden's side, where he is crouched by Andy. Aiden is crying and so is he. I cringe at the emotional sight, yet stay silent because I know how much Andy means to my ally.

"Why?" asks Aiden in despair. "Why did you protect Tristan?"

Andy smiles faintly, blood staining his teeth. "I d-didn't want to continue anyways," he croaks. "G-goodbye."

"I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry," cries Aiden.

BOOM!

Andy's cannon breaks the silence, and for a moment, we just sit there, Aiden and I, me brushing his back lightly. 

Aiden stands up, wiping his tears away, and we give Andy a proper burial.

Now that we have both lost friends and allies, we want to win.. more than ever.

And we'll be trying our best to do so.