Emerald Eyes (The Hunger Games - Annie Cresta)On Hold/Being Edited

Chapter 13

I slowly open my eyes, they are heavy from sleep. I feel slightly disoriented to begin with as the only thing in my vision is a black piece of material, but as my mind begins to clear I realize its the sleeping bag that I curled up in last night to sleep. I emerge my head and am instantly greeted by the sharp cold air that surrounds me. Above me all I can see is the steel grey of the cornucopia. I turn my head to the side to be greeted with a few heaps a dozing tributes curled up in their sleeping bags, beyond that is two figures sitting on the Hammock, talking by the looks of it.

My stomach growls, signaling for food. I go to unzip the bag when I realize how cold it is, I can't feel my fingers. I fumble around for several minutes before succeeding. I immediately wish I was still curled up asleep in the bag. The bitter air is like knifes upon my bare skin, and it slowly seeps its way through my thick gear. I stick my hands in my pockets and come across the fruit Thernia stashed in them, and surprisingly a pair of thick gloves that match my coat and are lined with a soft fur. I pull them on. I wonder over to the hammock and notice the fire has been re-lit, and it's Harrison and Winter on the hammock, they are talking in low voices, saying something I can't quite hear. The frost-covered grass crunches beneath my feet, my breath forms little clouds every time I exhale.

"Morning" I say hoarsely

"Morning, there's some food on the fire and some hot water" Winter tells me, I'm taken a back slightly. Surely the divvy cow can't have even figured out how to light it let alone know you have to put the food on it to cook.

"Morning. The meat won't be cooked yet. I only just put it on" Harrison says. Of course, she didn't. He did, the person who is going to make sure we survive then, then I am going to kill him. Just because he is keeping us alive now, doesn't mean we are going to keep him alive later.

I get to the fire and look around, a fresh blanket of snow fell overnight, covering all traces of yesterdays fiasco's. The only imprints are our footprints to the fire and a set of what look like deer prints. They look quite fresh but why go chasing this creature, that could be a mutt for all I know, when we have a perfectly good supply of food already? You wouldn't. The heat is making its way through my clothes warming my frozen body.

Harrison gets up and turns over the meat just as Kieren wanders bleary eyed towards the fire to join us. I then notice I am surprisingly thirsty so I make my way over the the crates and root around, I find more meat that is frozen solid, some fruit also frozen. Anything that was able to freeze had done so including the water. Great. I haul one of the rather large bottles holding the water over towards the fire to melt it.

"Thirsty?" someone says from behind me

"No. I'm just moving this frozen water around for the hell of. I find it ridiculously fun" I say sarcastically

"Well, fill a flask with a load of snow and melt it. Try to use the fresh stuff though" Aarron says as walks in front of me, and hands me a flask and takes the water off me. His usually perfectly styled hair is messy and flops lazily over his blue eyes. Just like Finnicks did the last time I saw him. I have this instant urge to kiss him, I nearly do. The only reason I don't is because somebody comes behind me and shoves a hand full of snow down my back. I spin round and slap them round the face. It's Kieren.

"Thanks, I suppose I deserved that"

"Yes I suppose you did" I say before picking up a near by knife "Next time it will be this I hit you with"

"Ooo feisty! You wouldn't dare"

"You want to try me?" I threaten

"Nahh I pass, don't want it to be an unfair fight at this point in the games. Maybe if we are the final two, I'll take you up on the offer"

"What ever. I scored better than you anyway, there's no way that you'd beat me in a one on one fight" I storm off before I can hear what he relatiates with but it involved several abusive words. I think.

I grab a spear and a knife with a long sharp blade as I walk past the weapons and go the place where I first saw the arena. I find my pedestal, the fith one from the left. I go to fill a flask with the snow, when I realised I never picked one up before I walked off. I sit on my pedestal and watch the camp. Behind me I here the trees rustle, so I spin round and catch a glimps of a small figure taking off through the trees.

Instinctively I grab my spear and knife to chase after them, before I reach the trees another person runs in the same direction. The look at me but before I can figure out who they are, they're off again. I speed up just as they dodge around a huge tree that's towering over the rest. I keep rumning, and am closing in on them. Once I am about fifty meters away I lauch the spear. It impales the stomach of my target, sending them crashing to the groud face first. I don't plan stop though. I chase the original tribute I saw, grabbing my spear as I run past. I hear a groan of agony as I pull it out. Their hand stretches out towards my so just before they have ahold of me, I swing my foot back and kick them in the head, their arm drops to the floor and they go still. The cannon fires with an almighty boom, I shudder at how scarily familiar it is becoming.

My next victim has stopped presumably to get their breath back. I race off again, reducing the space between us. They don't realise I've been chasing them until a branch snaps rather loudly beneath my foot. They trun round to see the culprit and then go to flee, but it's to late. I lauch myself it them dragging them to the ground. We both go down, I land upon her chest, and drive the knife into her throat. Her hot thick blood sprays my face, her eyes widen momentarily before her whole body goes still and the canon fires once more.

I get up and walk away, not bothering to remove my knife there are plenty back at camp. It's not as if I'm unarmed, I still have a spear. It surprisingly takes me only fifteen minutes or so to get back to my pedestal.

I sit down and come to terms with the fact I just had to kill a twelve year old. Josafine Laymoss, district 5, won't be going home. Neither will Tami from District 10. Or will anyone else in the arena, not including me. I am going home. I know that we will break our alliance soon. There are five of us, six including Harrison in our group and only two others left. We are down to the final eight and it has only been twenty-four hours or so in this arena.

I head back to camp. I remember I was supposed to be getting some snow to melt but when I go to get some I notice that it has all disappeared. Leaving a slippery water logged ground in it's place. That's not natural. Theres no way several inches of snow can disappear like that that, but then again there shouldn't be birds that can relay full conversations. With the Capitol almost anything is possible. With each step my shoes squelch in the mud under my feet. Making me grin like an idiot. I always loved squelchy mud back home. Before long I am back at the cornucopia with the others.

"What are you grinning at?" Winter says

"I don't know, could be that I just killed two tributes"

"Get in!" Aaron says with a little fist pump

"Or it could be the fact there's squelchy mud!"

Kieran just laughs

"Seriously? Pathetic!" Winter spits.

"Well, considering that all but one us are going to our imminent death. Why not look one the bright of things?" I say smiling

"What ever. Your going to die anyway so you spend your time however you like. I couldn't care as long as at the end of this your dead and I'm not!" She squeals, stoeming of the way I came nearly slipping in the mud. I hold in the laugh it causes

"What ever. Harrison is there any of that food left?"

"Urm no...I'll put some on now" he says unsurely, wandering over to the fire.

I wander off towards the weapon pile. I need to upgrade from my spear. I need a trident or something, but I know there isn't one,  even though I haven't actually been through the weapons yet.