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A few days have passed since Blaze died, I think. It's hard to tell time in here. There hadn't been any deaths; people had been sticking to themselves. There were eight of us left in the arena, and that scared me. I didn't want Azure to die - I wanted her to go back to her family. Live a peaceful life. If it came down to the two of us, I don't know what I'd do. I wanted to go back home to my family; I wanted to see Finnick, but part of me wanted to die here. After all, how could I live knowing that I have taken two lives? I sigh, looking at the waves crash with red eyes. Partly from the tribute from 2 choking me, but also because I was tired.
"I'm gonna lose my head if I don't get some sleep." Azure mumbles.
"Sleep. I'll keep watch." I tell her. "But it's my turn to stay awake-"
"Just sleep. You need it." I don't know how much sleep I've gotten - maybe a couple hours added up over the days. As I tried to fight sleep, I look up, meeting the eyes of a bird. I hear a beautiful melody that puts me in a trance. It makes my head spin, but I can't seem to stop listening to them. I hear a song melody from District 4, and I hum along with it, stuck in this trance. My heart is racing, and I know I should be running, but I can't. I'm still staring at the beautiful bird. Azure stirs when she hears my loud humming, and sits up.
"Coralia?" She asks, taking her glasses off to rub her eyes. She puts them back on, and tilts her head in confusion, tapping my shoulder. "Coralia, what are you doing?" She asks. I'm trying to fight it, but the melody blares loudly in my ears and I can't make it stop.The bird tilts it's head, and so do I. Azure's eyes widen. "Stabbingjays." She realizes, her mouth agape. She grabs my face, forcing me to look at her. I fight her, but when I look into her eyes, the melody stops.
"We have to run! Stabbingjays!" She says, pulling me from the ground. I grab my trident from the ground, and follow her. Now that I'm not looking at the birds, they are starting to swarm over us.
"What the hell is this?" I yell as we run through the leaves and palm trees, feeling the bird's sharp beak tear into my skin.
"They're Stabbingjays! If you look at them, they put you in a trance with a beautiful melody, and as soon as you look away, they attack!" She yells from in front of me, shouting in pain when a beak would peck her skin roughly.
It made sense; no one had died in a couple of days, and the Capitol was getting bored. We run, reaching the outskirts of the east-side. I didn't know we were so close to the cornucopia. "Go north!" I shout. I know it's going to be freezing, but maybe the cold will at least stun the birds. I try to kill some of the birds with my trident, but it's hard to penetrate something that's constantly moving.
As our feet stomp through the deep snow, the birds fall to the ground, completely still. Azure and I follow suit, our bodies meeting the white ground. Our arms and faces are bleeding, where they had pecked us the most.
One went particularly deep into my arm, causing me to clutch it and wince. A tear falls down my face, and we lay on the ground for minutes in pain, freezing cold. My jacket is still tied around my waist - I need to put it on, but the thought of putting a layer of clothing over my raw arms make me shiver.
"Cora...parachute." Azure points to the ground a few feet away from us. I crawl towards it, and it opens easily. I read the small note that came with it.
APPLY, AND PUT A COAT ON. -F
I look up, smiling at the sky. "Thank you." I reach for the jar of cream, making Azure sit up. I apply it to her wounds first, and she hisses in pain before realizing it helps. There's more than enough for both of us, so I apply a generous amount to her arms and face. She takes the jar, doing the same to me. I sigh in relief when the burning pain is gone.
"Put your coat on. It's going to be a cold night." I tell her, and she nods, grabbing the backpack she had stuffed it in. I pull the sleeves back up to where they attach, and put the coat on. The inside is warm and fuzzy.
"Let's find shelter." She suggests.
***
"I'll go look for some food, but I don't know how much luck I'll have. It'll just be a little while. You stay here. Before I walk away, we hear two canons. "That leaves seven. You sure you want me to go now? I can wait a little while."
"It's okay, you can go. Just be careful." She smiles, and I smile back. I walk away, my feet crunching the snow. I had never seen snow before this, as District 4 was warm all of the time. It was one of the prettiest things I've seen - the snow covering the trees, and leaving a perfect blanket of snow, only ruined by footprints. I find myself looking around with a slight smile on my face. That is, until I hear a scream that sends shivers up my spine. It's Azure.
I run as fast as I can back to where we had made shelter last night, screaming Azure's name, and sliding on the ice as I run. My eyes widen when I see Azure's glasses I pick them up, shoving them in my coat pocket. I hear a canon.
My heart falls all the way into my stomach, and I feel like throwing up, though there's little to no food in my system. The once white snow was dyed red. Azure's body lies on the ground, but her head is in Lily's hands.
There is a scream from within that forces its way out of my mouth, echoing around me. All I can see is red. I throw my trident at her head, but she dodges it, and drags me to the ground. She claws at my face and I bring my knee up to her stomach repeatedly. We're both in pain, but won't let the other win. I reach for Azure's dagger without her noticing, and I drag it across her face. She's still fighting, but she's weaker now. I pull her up from the ground, and kick her, slamming her into a tree.
"You couldn't save your little-" With all of my strength, I push the dagger to her eye, and it goes through, getting stuck on the tree behind her. Her body wants to fall, but as she's pinned by the knife, she can't. I hear another canon as I fall to the ground, defeated. I scream, digging my nails into my palms harder than ever. I rock back and forth, hitting the ground in anger.
I crawl over to her head that's not too far from her body. I try to make it look like her head is still attached to her body. My lip quivers as I look down at her, her eyes still wide open. I pull her glasses out of my coat, and place them on her face.
I knew it would happen eventually, but nothing could have prepared me for that. I hear the familiar sound of a parachute. It lands right next to me, and I open it to see bite size, square shaped bread with a '3' stamped on it.
