May the Force be Ever in Your Favor

}« Seventeen »{

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     Two days passed by in the Arena, full of uneventful progress. To Rey, it practically felt like two months. She had originally thought Kendy was crazy for feeling bored on the second day, but she was quickly starting to understand why. There'd been no deaths, either- which meant something needed to happen, or else the Gamemakers were going to intervene.

But there was no need. Things once again started to pick up the afternoon of the 5th day in the Arena.

     Meanwhile, the girls were practically starving. Kendy had been slightly off on her definition of “one meal”, as they’d made the rations last through about 3, but it still hadn’t been enough. And Although both her and Shira had offered to go hunting, neither had set foot on the grounds aside from taking bathroom breaks for the past three days. Jude had rejected the idea because the Careers were nowhere to be found and therefore, nobody could warn the girls on the ground if they suddenly appeared while they were vulnerable.

     This turned out to be a wise decision, they discovered, when the group finally made an appearance directly under their tree.

     “Wake up, guys.” Zah whispered feverishly, coming in from the lookout to shake each of the girls awake. (The rules inside their alcove had become much more lax now- if they weren’t taking watch, they were sleeping whenever they could.) “The Careers are back.”

     Rey jolted awake. She emerged from her sleeping bag and climbed over the branches towards the center of the tree, where she looked down to the ground. There, she could see the large group of Careers- and they were arguing. It appeared to be Sty, backed by most of the remaining Careers, going off on one girl.

Rey's fellow teammates crowded around her, and they all craned to hear the fight.

     “...being ridiculous, Quinn.” Sty snapped. “Y’know, I’m surprised it wasn’t you that died by the flamethrower girl instead of Asai. You’re clearly the least observant one of us all.”

“Asai was my best friend. And she died protecting us.” A Twi’lek responded, on the verge of infuriated tears. “How are you so heartless, Sty?”

     “The point is,” Sty ignored her, turning back to her other teammates behind her, “you lot aren’t listening to me. Do you understand that right now, somewhere in this Arena, we’re outnumbered? Quinn here isn’t the only unobservant one. Haven’t you been paying attention when they play the holograms at night? Haven’t you noticed that there hasn’t been a single casualty from 11 or 12? Wake up. If we don’t find their camp and kill them first, they’ll destroy all of us.”

     Rey looked to her teammates and they shared nervous looks. Sty had just confirmed their worst suspicion- the Careers were hunting for them.

     “We have no idea that they’ve banded together.” the Twi’lek- Quinn, Rey presumed, who had apparently lost her friend in the fight with the Sullustan- retorted. “Maybe they’re all hiding separately, waiting for us to destroy each other first.”

     “Oh, of course. Why didn’t I think of that?... That’s right, because I’m not an idiot.” And suddenly, Sty had a knife in her hand, out and threatening.

     With a breath in, Rey realized that it had Sty that almost killed her the first day in the Arena. The presence of it currently in her hand brought back the memory of the tangle with the bag on her back and the girl whom which Sty had killed. It was Sty’s knife in her bag. She remembered the deadly accuracy the girl had- if she threw it, this Twi-lek was dead on the spot.