Number 7

Three

Sam, Cal and I staggered back to camp, to the shock of the Cyan team. Sam and I had scratches on our bodies everywhere. We'd picked up the talon that Sam had smashed off, and Cal dropped it on the table.
"What the heck happenned?" Lila asked. I groaned inwardly as she made a beeline for Cal, her boyfriend. I walked off into my tent, too tired to be bothered explaining myself. Once I was in my tent, I stripped off my shirt and lay down, tossing my sleeping bag to the other end of the room.
It was too hot.
I got up, and trudged around camp, careful not to be seen. It was much cooler in the middle, and I climbed up a tree towards the centre of the island and lay down just below the canopy, thankful that there was a light sprinkle of rain to cool me.
Sleep came easily.
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I was woken by a tickling feeling on my face. I smiled, and opened my eyes.
Elle stared back, leaning over me, her hair in my face.
"Wha-!" I tried to get up, but my arms were bound to the tree underneath me. "Elle!" I hissed. "Let me go!" She had tied me to the tree when she had leaned over.
"Sorry babe," she laughed and got up. "But I have a competition to win." She jumped off the tree branch and landed on her feet below me, before running away, probably to go back to the Indigo Team's base. I grunted and looked up at the leaves above me, before twisting my body around to try and check the ties that bound me to the branch. She had done tripled knots, and tied it in such a way that I could not slip my arms out without dislocating my shoulders. I leaned over more to see how my feet were tied-
And twisted too far, so that I slid over, hanging from the tree.
"Great," I muttered.
I lowered my head and saw that my feet were tied to a smaller branch protruding from the one I was suspended from. Elle must have run out of rope, and had had to tie me to a smaller branch, otherwise the rope would not have fit around the whole branch.
Lucky for me.
I concentrated, trying to put as much energy through my legs. Pushing my feet down towards the ground, I realized how much noise I was making. All someone had to do was look upwards, and then I would be seen. I desperately tried to pull my legs down harder. I pulled the rope between my arms as hard as I dared without dislocating my wrist or shoulders. Pain coursed through my body, but i kept going.
Someone stepped out into the open. A boy, about my age, thickly built with a mop of auburn hair on top of his head. I immediately stopped, not wanting to be heard.
The rope snapped. My legs fell down, my arms now holding my body up in the tree on their own. My feet connected with his head, and he fell to the ground. I used the motion of my legs coming undone to pull my hands out from the ropes, and I swung down, landing on my knee. Rubbing my leg, I got up and looked at the tree I'd fallen from. It was the one I'd tied Elle to yesterday.
"Idiot." I face palmed myself, got my weapons and backpack, and ran.
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Body hunched, I carefully stepped into the Indigo base. The day was nearly over, and it had taken me three hours to get here without being seen. I'd had to stop numerous times to avoid being seen, but I was here now. Looking up, I saw a net tied to a tree, and stepped cautiously around it. There were only three people here, guarding the flag, and I'd knocked out two of them already. The third one was inside a tent to my left, but I'd tied the rest of my rope around the tent pegs and pulled the pegs up, meaning the moment he unzipped the tent, the tent would collapse in him. I stalked over to the flag, muddied and ripped in places, but indigo still peeked out from beneath the mud. I took it, and sprinted away, knowing the net would be triggered. It fell down behind me, on top of the tent that I'd rigged. Immediately, the tent flopped in on itself. The boy in the tent screamed and I burst out laughing, clutching my sides.
"I know you're there!" He shouted, voice laced with rage. "I'll get you!"
I regained myself and sprinted away, turning to go around the bay side. Less people would be there. Less chance of being captured. I slid the flag into my backpack and zipped it up. I ran again, hugging the water, so that even if someone jumped out of the forest, I'd have a few seconds to react. I held both my knives in my hand, tip facing downward. I'd replaced the metal cap on them, meaning they weren't sharp, so they couldn't kill. A well aimed throw could still knock out a person however.
I was approaching the base, and I headed back into the forest. I knew the fighting would be thick in the middle, but there was a rock wall near the Cyan base which prevented entry though the sea. The bottleneck was the only way into the base. People were fighting and weaving out here, trying to lay hand on the blue flag, also covered in mud and dirt. I slipped in the 'cat flap,' a small opening in the rock wall, which allowed a more secretive approach. Digging away the few stones that hid the entrance, I felt a cold, smooth object on my head. I turned around to see the face of the boy I'd trapped earlier in the tent, and couldn't resist a smirk as I brought my dagger up from my belt.
"Thanks for the secret entrance," he said coldly and raised his staff.
The world went black.