Annie Cresta- Beyond the Sea

Chapter 20

Rising into the arena after what just happened took me from one emotional extreme to a completely different one. It wasn't at all what I expected it to be. It was rock and concrete and slabs of stone jutting out of the ground randomly; backpacks lie in every direction. In the cornucopia, blue metal weapons gleamed at us mockingly. Surrounding us was a beautiful forest of pine trees, though rocks still covered the ground and made it look uneven to  walk on.
There was a screen above the cornucopia and it was counting down from 60. The other tributes and I were waiting patiently, my heart ready to explode out of my chest, when suddenly the District 7 tribute stepped off of his plate. Or fell, was more like it. He was blown up the second he hit the ground, and the shockwave that followed almost made me lose my balance.
Focus, Annie. You can do this.
For Finn.
The clock was slowly reaching twenty seconds. I wasn't going to stay anywhere near this place. Chances were, the careers would hunt me down first thing since I was a plate away from them. Not going to happen. I can worry about food and everything else later.
"10...9...8."
Get ready. You can do this. The girl from district 11 started crying.
"5...4...3...2...1" The gong rang. Adrenaline shot through my veins. I'd never felt anything like it before. I darted off my pedestal and started running as fast as my little legs would go- when I tripped.
I got up as fast as I would only to see what I fell over was none other than a backpack with a small, convenient little trident attached to the side. I yanked the backpack and the trident up with me and resumed running, a little slower this time (the rocks are very hard to navigate). I was doing well- almost into the forest for safety-when something like a bullet hit my side and I was down yet again. The pain was so excruciating I almost didn't see the girl from District 2, Tanzanite, knocking another arrow in her bow while chasing after me.
Terror replaced my adrenaline.
I decided I was dead meat if I just lied there, so I got up as quick as my body would let me after being shot with an arrow and started to move. Arrows started flying in all directions- one hitting my backpack, one grazing my shoe, until I could hear her approaching close behind me. Panic was closing in. Now was the time to defend myself.
I unhooked the trident from my backpack and turned around, swinging it wildly until it stopped once I'd hit something heavy.
The tongs had caught part of the bow inside them and part of her chest in the other. Her facial expression mirrored my emotions- did I really just do that?
She suddenly became very heavy and sunk to the ground. A hand flew to my mouth. The pain in my side didn't seem so important anymore.
Oh my God. I just killed somebody.
I looked around. I wasn't the only one. Bile rose to my mouth, but I swallowed it down and retrieved my trident as carefully as possible. Blood stained the tips. I needed to get out of here.
I hurried over to the forest. I didn't get in very far, because of my injury, but it was good enough and at a hidden enough spot to my me some time, at least.
Ripping open the backpack, I desperately searched for something to treat my wound, but all I found were some matches, a sleeping bag, a thermos, and some other items that wouldn't be useful at the moment.
Great. Not even five minutes into it, and I'm already close to death and still in shock after what I did.
I decided to take the arrow out. This may have been a bad idea because it's  stopping the bleeding, but I can't do anything with it in, and it won't heal that way, either. I just imagined it was Finnick, taking the glass out of my arm again, and bit down on my tongue to keep from yelling. It came out, almost no problem- except for the mess it left behind, as well as the pain made it feel like the world was ending.
Deep breaths, Annie. It's done.
Suddenly, the unmistakeable sound of footsteps echoed along near my hideout. I readied my trident. Maybe I could injure whoever's coming before they could me.
But out of the bushes walked the little boy from 5. I tried to cover my side with a branch, but the scene was too obvious. My blood was starting to pool. I hoped he didn't notice, anyway.
"Stay back!" I yelled, trying to sound fierce. He gazed at me. I noticed he also found a backpack and a knife was in his hand. It looked so strange there. He was so tiny.
"I didn't come to hurt you. I want to be allies," he said, tossing his knife bravely. It landed two feet from my hand. I reached out and took it to my possession. As innocent as he was, I couldn't trust him yet.
"Let me see what's in your backpack," I said, the trident in my hand shaking slightly. He was so small that if he wasn't hiding a weapon in his backpack, I doubt he would have another one on him.
He threw that at me too. I opened the zipper and peeked inside carefully, with a stick. Nothing.
"I have medicine for your wound in there," he told me. "I'm willing to share if you want to form an alliance."
After a moment of thinking, I sighed, putting my trident down and removing my hand from my side. He could've posioned the medicine, but what choice do I have? I didn't want to die here.
"Okay. Allies," I agreed. He smiled and approached me. He unzipped his back pack and retrieved the bottled medicine. I looked at him with mistrust, but then relaxed as he let me ease the medicine onto my wound. It already felt so much better, just feeling the pain slowly slip away.
"I don't believe we've met," I say when I'm done.
"Oh, not formally, no. We've had a conversation without words before, though. I'm Safiya," he held out a hand. I thought back to the training room, when I waved to him. Strange kid. He's kinda likable, though. I took his hand and shook it.
"I'm Annie," I said.
"Cool name".
"Thanks. Yours is pretty cool, too," I told him.
I took out some bread from my backpack and begin to munch on it. I was already sorta hungry and my body needed the energy to heal, but I'd didn't eat too much to conserve what I had.
Safiya suddenly rises. "Hey, I'll be right back," he said. "I'm not planning anything, don't worry," he added hastily, once seeing my look. "You can watch me."
He left into the bushes, taking his knife with him, and began to pick some wild flowers. I watched him as I ate the tasty bread until it was almost gone, then I took out my pony tail. Just for a little bit. I liked my hair better when it's down and knotted and smells like sea salt- even though it still smells like Capitol shampoo at the moment.
Finally, Safiya returned with bunches of flowers and leaves. He sat down next to me and began to weave them into something I'd never seen before.
"What are you doing?" I ask him.
"Making a crown of flowers. It's a hobby I have. My sister showed me how. I can teach you if you want," he replied, not looking up.
"Sounds interesting," I say, moving closer.
He hands me some flowers an teaches me with fingers moving quickly. He was fast and dexterous and creative with his. Mine was saggy and not the best looking, but I actually made something, which was pretty cool. In the end, we made beautiful crowns of flowers. Even though his was way better looking. Oh, well. At least I had an ally, now.
"You should get some rest," he said. "It'll help cure your wound and you'll be on your feet faster."
I protested. "But how do I know you won't-"
"How do you know I won't kill you? If I wanted to kill you, Annie, I would've done it by now. I wouldn't've wasted my medicine on you, either. Plus, I'm like less than half your size. Now, please, just get some rest."
"Sorry," I sigh. "Thank you for everything, Safiya."
I rest my head against the tree and drink in thoughts of Finnick, of a pearly dress, of Tanzanite trying to spill red all over the white. I fall asleep with the images flashing by so quickly they become distorted and lose their meaning.
Centuries later, I surface to a nearby scream, and it doesn't belong to Safiya.
It easily belongs to Dallas.