May the Force be Ever in Your Favor

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Rey expected pain, a quick stop to her brain as the arrow pierced through her head. But, surprisingly, it never came.

A familiar voice gasped. Rey opened her eyes that she had closed in anticipation of her death to make eye contact with a set of worrying eyes.

"Naysori!" Rey exclaimed.

"Rey, I am so, so sorry!" Her friend stuttered. "I didn't know where any of you were, and I was terrified that you'd all died, but of course I didn't know if you'd all died from the canons but since I couldn't find anyone I assumed th-"

"Hey, it's fine. You missed." Rey picked up the arrow a few yards from where she stood and waggled it in her hand. "No worries."

"Thank goodness you looked up when you did." Naysori told her, making her way down from her perch in the branches and jumping to her feet. "If I hadn't known it was you and freaked out, I wouldn't have."

"You got a bow!" Rey pointed out. "How?"

"I'm honestly not sure." She admitted. "I didn't listen to Thane and Ciena, and I ran into the center. The bow was right on the edges. I grabbed that, and a pack, but that got stolen and I had to get out of there. Somehow I escaped with my life, but I lost sight of everyone else."

Rey handed her the arrow. "You found me, at least. And I've got a pack, and some supplies. We just need to find water."

"And the others." Naysori added. "I hope Berisse and them are alright. By the way, how'd you get the knife?"

"One of the Careers threw it at me when I was running. It got lodged in the pack." Rey explained, and pointed to a rip in the back.

Naysori whistled. "You got really lucky."

Rey nodded. "I know."

"Well, I've seen some animals running around." Naysori commented, changing the subject. "There's gotta be water around here somewhere, and we definitely need to find it."

The two set off walking again, passing through the trees and making sure to carefully inspect their surroundings.

Hours passed, and the sun began to set. Rey made the executive decision to retreat into the trees for the night. They'd still not found water, but they needed to get off the ground. The two climbed up into a tall, sturdy weeping willow that would conceal them in the dark. Rey set to work looping rope around the sleeping bag, securing it to a wide branch. The two decided they'd take turns guarding. Rey volunteered to take first watch, but Naysori assured her that it was the least she could do.

The two fell silent as the First Order insignia appeared high in the Arena.

Rey watched in the sky as the fallen Tributes' names and District numbers matched to their canonshots earlier in the day. She watched 23 faces flash by, cursing as the first face was from District 3. The recall went in numerical order, which meant all Tributes from Districts 1 and 2 were still alive. Two fallen from 3, two from 4, all from 5, 6, 7, three from 8, two from 9 and two from 10. The emblem flashed again, and then disappeared.

A collective sigh emerged from the two girls in the tree.

"Everyone is still alive." Naysori spoke, saying what both were thinking. "They're all okay."

Rey nodded. "We're going to find them soon."

Naysori gave a reserved smile. "I hope so. Now get to bed, Rey. I'll wake you if I sense anything out of the ordinary."

Rey slid herself into the bag. "3 hours. Not a minute more."

"Relax. I'll wake you when I'm ready to sleep." Naysori edged herself closer to the base of the tree and settled herself down as comfortably as she could.