Six of Crows characters in the Hunger Games

The Cornucopia

Jesper

Jesper spun, dizzy in the new surroundings. This was not good. They had come up on the side of a cliff. At the top was a huge mountain covered in forest, below was a valley with a river running through. He was standing almost vertically, and had almost fallen off. Some of the other tributes had, though. None of the crows, thankfully. 

Ten.

Jesper looked around, trying to spot the others.

Nine.

Inej was two spaces away on the right.

Eight.

Matthias was next to Inej.

Seven.

Wylan was just visible on his left side. 

Six.

The others were hidden by the cornucopia.

Five.

Jesper fixed his gaze on a gun right inside the cornucopia.

Four.

He readied himself to run.

Three.

Almost time.

Two.

Jesper was itching to move.

One.

Time to go! 

He raced towards the cornucopia. He was the closest to the mouth, and growing up on a farm had made him faster than all of these people. He was unused to the slope, but they all were. It was only fifty meters. He could make it. He had to make it. They were relying on him to cover them. As he reached it, he began clambering up the pile of stuff to the guns. Inej could probably do it in her sleep, in under a minute. It took Jesper five.

Finally, after reaching the guns, he dragged himself up onto the roof of the cornucopia. With enemies all around, the sun shielding some, it the conditions were not ideal, but it was a lot better that being down on the ground. Feeling euphoric, he began to take out those all around him.

After about two hours, the fighting began to cease, as people died, or ran for cover. Finally, Jesper slid down, happy, but very cramped. 

"Over here," Inej called, urgency in her voice. Saints. Next to her, Wylan lay on the ground, a knife stuck in his back. "It was Van Eck." Her voice cracked, and tears began to roll down her face. "I once I had noticed, it was too late. It must have happened just as the fighting stopped." 

"He was good. He didn't deserve to die, not like this. I should have been paying more attention, have covered him properly. It should be me down there, not him."

Jesper knelt down next to Wylan, and forced himself to choke out the words. It was the least he could do. The others kept silent, understanding what it was, even if they didn't understand the language. Even Nina, who could have joined in, understood that this was his gift to Wylan, little though it was. It was a funeral rite from the Wandering Isle, one he hadn't spoken since his mother had died. Once he was done, Nina said something in Ravkan, then Inej in Suli. Even Matthias muttered a few words in Fjerdan. They all looked to Kaz, who finally muttered a few words in Kerch, the language that connected them all, Wylan's language. They started to file away, and at last, Inej touched his shoulder.

"We have to go. We need to get water before the sun sets." Jesper nodded, and allowed himself to be led away. He didn't know how he felt. He wanted to run and scream at the sky for stealing someone else away, but at the same time never wanted to have to move again. To give up, lie still till his bones crumbled away to nothing. Wylan was gone.