One Lucky Winner

Chapter 88 ~ Tris

Day 9
9:03 PM

Katniss gives me a look that's so frightening I almost cover my eyes. I thought she would launch herself at me and attack me.

Instead, she jumps off the tree.

I gasp. Who would jump from this high up in the air? We're probably 30 feet away from the ground, which is a dangerous jumping distance. I look down at her. She's in the snow, on her side. I pray that she broke her neck or her leg or something.

But she didn't. She springs back up and looks up at me. She snatches her bow and arrow from the snow and loads it-

I move just in time. I hear and feel the arrow flying past me, right next to my ear. It's so close to me I can feel the wind it provides when it shoots past me. But she missed me.

This is my sign I need to use it. The ring.

I yank it from my neck and slip it on. Everything becomes darker and quieter once I put it on, like it always does. My heart beat becomes clear.

I start climbing down; I dare not jump. I look around to Katniss and she's looking up at the tree in fury and confusion. She knows I'm using the ring.

I smirk to myself and continue climbing down. Once I get to the ground I look at her. She's still looking up at the tree.

I giggle and shake my head. She's so gullible. Now's the time to kill her.

I look up at the tree, realizing I left my bag and my swords up there. I grumble to myself and climb the tree again, embarrassed of my stupidity.

I grab my supplies. I decide to pull a Katniss and just leap down from in the tree, instead of climbing. I take a deep breath and fall down. My landing is rough. I land on my side, and pain shoots from everywhere, tingling. How can Katniss spring up from this right away?

Katniss looks at me. How does she know I'm here?

Then I realize: the snow. She can see everywhere I walk through the snow. She can see the big slide I left in the snow.

"There you are," she growls, drawing an arrow to me in one quick movement.

I roll away before it hits me. She follows me with her bow. She can still see where I'm going. Why does there have to be snow?

I scramble up just as she's sends another arrow flying at me. I dodge it.

She swears and puts down her bow. She looks right at me. Maybe with the snow and all this ring isn't helpful.

"I know where you are, Tris. I can see your footprints," she says to me. Her voice is muffled by the ring.

I take out a sword. I just need to keep this whole thing simple. Just kill her.

I charge toward her, sword raised.

Her eyes widen at the sight of my footprints running toward her. She turns around and bolts.

I stumble after her. This is just how I wanted it. Me chasing her, while invisible by the ring. She's good as dead now. I'll get close enough to her to get her with the sword. I can outrun her. I'm probably faster than her.

After ten minutes of sprinting after her, my lungs burn and ache. I don't know how she's still running. I guess I'm not faster than her. I can't seem to get close enough to her to kill her. She's faster than I thought she was.

She suddenly trips over something, and lands face first into the snow. I'm going too fast to stop that quick, so whatever it was I trip over it too. I tumble to the ground.