One Lucky Winner

Chapter 42 ~ Bilbo

Day 3
8:47 PM

I slip the ring in my pocket. I have the great need to handle it often for some reason. I've been holding it all day.

It's the evening, and all the clouds went away. Legolas and Thorin are talking quietly about something. I hope they're not fighting, although I wouldn't be surprised if they were.

I'm enjoying watching the sun set. I'm actually quite happy right now. We have food, water, we're all still alive, and Legolas and Thorin aren't fighting. Life is decent. At least now it is.

I take the ring out of my pocket and start handling it again. Why do I have the need to do that so often? I put it back in my pocket.

Thorin suddenly stands. "I'm going to find some firewood."

Legolas stands. "I'll go with you." I'm surprised to see them getting along.

"I have better eyes than you," Legolas quickly adds. Just when I think he's being friendly, he goes and says something like that. Thorin scowls at him.

"I'll stay here," I say.

"Are you sure?" Thorin says with concern in his voice. Of course. I got a four. There's not a soul alive who thinks I can defend myself.

"I have this." I hold up the ring.

"If you have to escape, don't leave the supplies behind," Legolas says, giving me a hard look.

"Yep," I say, wanting them to just leave already. Thorin grabs a sword, and then they walk away. Legolas has his bow - he always has his bow. His second pack of arrows is sitting in our pile of supplies. He fought that Katniss girl for them, the first day in the arena.

I put the ring back in my pocket after realizing I've been holding it again. I stand and grab my small sword from our supplies - Sting. Thorin was generous enough to bring Sting into the arena with him, while I brought the ring. Sting glows blue when orcs and goblins are nearby, which doesn't help me in this case. I wish it would glow blue whenever any tributes were nearby.

Somehow, the ring ends up in my hand again. What's my deal with this? I put it back into my pocket.

Suddenly, I hear a snap in the woods. I whip around and don't see anything; just the foggy, empty woods. Although I don't see anything, I hear faint voices talking. As the seconds go by, the voices get louder. Oh dear. Are they walking this way?

In panic, I quickly take the ring out of my pocket and slip it on, glad to use it. I quickly run over to a tree and stand by it.

I spot our stuff on the ground and almost have a heart attack. Our five backpacks, our food, our water, and Legolas' second pack of arrows are all still laying out in the open. I should've grabbed all of it, although it wouldn't disappear. I hope they're not walking this way. Whoever 'they' is. I hope they don't see the supplies.

The voice get louder and louder. I stand there completely powerless, until I can finally make out words.

"It's getting dark. Why are we doing this now?" I hear a boy say.

"So they can't see us well," a girl says.

"They probably have some special eye sight or something," the boy replies. Who's 'they'?

"Whatever. We're out of our cave now. There's no turning back," the girl says. My mind spins; there are caves in this arena? What?

They suddenly come into my line of vision. A boy with brown hair, and boy with blonde hair, and a girl with a braid. I don't remember the boys' names, but I do recognize the girl as Katniss. The trio were the Capitol's favorites. They all got extremely high training scores. They're dangerous.