May the Force be Ever in Your Favor

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Rey didn't remember hearing the sound of any canons during the day, but in the sky above the tree, she saw the faces of 4 women flash by.

"Hey, I recognize that one." Naysori said suddenly, pointing up at the face of a female Gungan. "She was in the pack of Careers."

Jude nodded. "3 of the Careers were taken out today. There was a fight right near the cornucopia."

Rey turned, surprised. "Really? What happened?"

     "There was a group of non-Careers that burst into their camp with a flamethrower." Kendy explained. "We heard screams, and saw the fire all the way from up here. I think they were only intending to burn their supplies, but- it wasn't pretty."

     Rey's stomach churned. A flamethrower? She couldn't imagine a more violent death. Even if those girls had tried to kill her earlier, she hoped with every fiber of her being that the deaths had been quick.

     "You're telling me that somebody is running around with a flamethrower?" Naysori asked nervously. "All they need is a faint idea of where this camp is and we're done for."

     Shira shook her head. "The last casualty of the four was the Sullustan that built the thing. She made it out of the shrapnel inside the cornucopia and the bombs underneath our pedestals from the beginning. It exploded and killed her in the fight."

     As she said this, the picture of the woman flashed in the sky. It was accompanied by the anthem, and then the projection faded out of the sky and left the Arena in silence.

     Faesh counted on her fingers. "3 of the 11 Careers dead, 1 non-career. That means there's us, 8 careers- how many others? 23 died the first night- 48 total- that left 25 of us- take away the four that died today- 21 still alive. There's 8 careers, 5 of the non-careers left, and us."

     "Too many." Zah grumbled. "If 12 of us make it out of the Arena, including all of us, that means all but four more need to die. We still have to outlast 9 more girls."

Shira shrugged. "So we let them take each other out. We're safe up here for now."

     "We're going to have to go down there eventually." Kendy pointed out. "But we'll have the majority soon enough. We can take 'em just fine."

"We can discuss this tomorrow." Jude said as she stifled a yawn. "Who wants to take first watch?"

"I will," both Rey and Naysori volunteered, but Faesh shook her head.

"You guys both need rest! You're the ones who had the most action today. I'll do it."

Naysori shrugged. "If you say so."

Rey, putting up much more of an argument, ignored her. "I'm not going to be able to sleep anyway. We can both do it."

"Are you sure?" She asked. When Rey nodded, she added, "I mean, if you insist. I wouldn't mind some company."

     Rey handed the bag to Naysori so that she could retrieve the sleeping bag. "Make sure you strap yourself around the tree branch." She reminded her.

     "That's okay, I think I'd rather fall to my death." Naysori grinned, and returned inside the tree to settle in.

     Faesh sat down beside Rey on the large branch after the group dispersed into the tree for the night. "How are you holding up?"

     Rey sighed. "About as well as anyone else." She said. "But, it is going a lot faster than I expected. Hopefully we'll be out soon."

     Faesh smiled. "I hope so too. When we win, Zah and I will finally have enough money to afford an apartment on the nice side of town. We won't have to fight in allies to survive anymore. We'll be together."