a flicker of hope | tmnt 2012 hunger games au

Tensions In The Arena

Leonardo awoke the next morning confused. He expected to find himself back in his apartment, snuggled in a warm, cozy bunk bed, his head resting on a plushy pillow. He expected to hear Monica's soft snoring from the bunk above him, with warm morning sunlight filtering into the room through the large glass windows.

Instead, he was laying in freezing snow by the Cornucopia, surrounded by the rest of the sleeping Careers.

Disappointment seemed to slap the blue-masked turtle in the face. He sighed, sitting up and looking around, and immediately regretted it. The bodies of the fallen Tributes were still there, bleeding out and motionless. Leonardo felt like vomiting as he looked away, especially as his eyes fell on Galaxy.

His movement awoke Monica, who stirred, her eyes flickering open. Disappointment flashed in her gaze as well as she realized where she was, as if she were hoping all the death from yesterday had been nothing but a dream.

"Hey," Leo muttered quietly.

"Hola," came the gentle reply. "Shall we wake the others and get going?"

"You wake them up. I need to try something."

Getting to his feet, Leonardo hurried toward the Cornucopia, hopping over a loudly-snoring Penelope to get there. He ducked inside the huge structure, scanning through the remaining items until he spotted two things–a canteen and a backpack. Retrieving both items, he ran back to his group, where everyone else was waking up.

"What's in the backpack?" Piper asked as Leonardo sat back down.

"I don't know," he replied. "Let's find out."

He unzipped the small backpack, revealing some a few packs of crackers–just enough for each member of the group to receive one. Hazel peered over the blue-clad turtle's shoulder, her brilliant green eyes lighting up at the sight of the crackers.

"At last," she breathed dramatically. "Food!"

"Great," Maddie declared. "Let's eat."

"We'll eat on the move," said Leo, standing up. "We've got a lot of ground to cover if we're going to make it to the mountains, remember?"

"Makes sense," Penelope agreed. "I don't know about you guys, but I wouldn't want to eat next to a bunch of corpses anyway."

Her eyes flashed, and Leonardo shuddered, silently agreeing with her.

"Let's go, then," Monica said, as the rest of them got to their feet. "Next stop: the mountains!"

The six Careers set off, disappearing into the forest, leaving four dead bodies laying in bloodstained snow behind them.

***

Sarina's hiking boots crunched in the snow as she wandered through the forest, her heart pounding. Yesterday had been absolutely wild–shed managed to get away with a pair of gloves and a jacket; she was wearing both. But if she hadn't dodged at just the right time, Marcus's scythe would've skewered her during the Bloodbath. To make matters worse, she'd lost Donatello in the frenzy, and now she had no idea where he was.

At least he's still alive. For now.

The cyborg girl sighed, trudging on through the woods. Her stomach rumbled with hunger, and she could tell from her rapidly-draining energy that her system was about to power down on her. She didn't have much time before her system would completely shut down on her.

I need a shelter, I need food, I need sleep so I can recharge.

So far, she hadn't been able to find any of that.

Sarina froze as something moved at the edge of her vision. She turned just in time to see a flash of purple appear in the bushes nearby before it disappeared again. The cyborg mutant felt a flutter of hope in her heart. She recognized that shade of purple–it was the same shade of purple on a certain mutant turtle's mask.

"Donatello?" she asked cautiously. "Is that you?"

The bushes rustled again, and then Donatello poked his head out. His eyes widened with shock when he spotted his friend, then quickly flooded with relief.

"Sarina!" he gasped. "Oh, Sarina! Thank shell you're okay!"

He dashed toward her, pulling her into a tight hug, and she returned it readily, grateful for his comfort.

"Come on," the purple-clad turtle encouraged. "I'll show you to my camp. You're gonna love it! You see, I managed to reactivate the mines around there, and–"

"That's genius," Sarina interrupted. Her speech was turning slurred and sluggish, her eyes starting to dim. "But perhaps you could explain later? I'm beginning...beginning to p-power do–"

She couldn't even finish speaking before her eyes dimmed completely and she went limp, her system powering down completely. She fell into Donatello, who chuckled lightly as he scooped her up bridal style into his arms.

"I'll get you back to camp," he murmured. "You can rest and recharge there."

***

Shelby, Winter, and Mikey were a bit more fortunate than other Tributes, seeing as they were able to regroup and get back together directly after the bloodbath. In her hand, Winter gripped a long spear tightly, while Michelangelo kept a pair of nunchucks strapped to his belt. Shelby didn't need a weapon–the most powerful weapon of all was within her. Instead, the only thing she held was a small, empty canteen.

The three of them had wandered the forest aimlessly since the bloodbath, stopping only once the night before to rest.

"Does anyone have any clue where we're going?" Michelangelo questioned. "'Cause I don't."

Winter shook her head, still looking shaken from the the killing spree that had occurred just the day before. Shelby tilted her head back as her gaze caught on the mountains, seeming to shine in the late morning sunlight.

"The mountains," she suggested. "We should head there."

"Why?" Winter asked.

"Yeah," Mikey agreed. "I mean, the walk there would be soooo looong..."

"Because we'd be safe up there," Shelby pointed out. "Think about it. Who else would want to climb up there?"

Her allies considered this for a minute before Winter nodded decisively.

"Good point," she said. "Okay, I'm with you. Mikey? Are you in?"

The orange-clad turtle nodded eagerly.

"I'm in."