Beauty in Darkness

Chapter Eighteen

That night, we curled up together on another large branch. The wolf cub slept on my stomach and I tried to keep from giggling when he breathed on me. It tickled!

We learned that the pair the Careers had killed was the pair from Twelve.

"At least they don't have to live in fear anymore." Cason said sadly as their faces disappeared from the sky. I nodded.

"I sometimes wonder what it's like up there. Do you think everyone who has ever died is there? Or only the ones who are important to you?" Cason thought for a minute then shrugged. "Maybe it depends on the person."

I looked up at him, confused. "Well, if a person's version of heaven was being rich, that would be what heaven was for them. But if someone else's version is being with their loved ones, wouldn't theirs be different?" I had never thought of that.

"You're too smart, Four." I said with a smile in my voice. "Smarter than you, Eleven." "Not possible." I snuggled closer to him and let the whispers of the wind lull me to sleep.

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The next day, we hopped down from our branch and onto the ground. We had taken to melting the snow in our mouths and drinking it for water. We tried to use the snow that looked freshest and cleanest. I quenched my thirst then leaned against a tree as Cason did the same.

I knew immediately that our wolf cub was a mutt when I looked at him. He had gotten twice as large just during the night and I had a hard time getting him down from the tree. It was lucky his attachment to us stuck during the night, otherwise we would be a pile of bones.

"I like the name Kenta." I said to Cason as we watched the not-so-cub run around in the snow.

"It means strong and large. I can already tell he's strong and by the way he's growing, he's obviously going to be very large." Cason nodded.

"I like the name too." I smiled and looked at our wolf. "What do you think? Do you like the name Kenta?" In response, our wolf started running around in circles. "I think he likes it." I chuckled

We stood back up and brushed the snow from our clothes.

"Since we have Kenta, we can't go through the trees." Cason said. I just shook my head.

"Sure we can. If we stick to the low branches so he can see us, we'll be fine." Cason looked unsure, but I scratched Kenta behind the ears then climbed up a nearby tree.

"Just balance on your toes so you don't put too much pressure on the branch." I instructed.

Cason nodded, scratched Kenta behind the ears as well, and followed my lead. I hopped to the nearest tree the looked behind me to see a confused Kenta staring at us.

"Come on boy!" I called. He wagged his tail and started chasing us through the trees. It became a game where we tried to beat him but, as he was a Capital mutt, he always beat us.

We hopped from branch to branch for over an hour, but stopped when snow started falling down thickly on us, obscuring our vision.

"What will we do?" Cason asked, his teeth chattering. I pulled my jacked close around me and looked around. I spotted a large tree that didn't seem too far off and pointed to it.

"There. That kind of tree is always hollow inside." Cason nodded and we kept hopping from branch to branch.

After a few minutes I glanced down and stopped in my tracks. Cason just barely managed to avoid running into me.

"What is it?" He asked. I just pointed at the ground in response and his sharp intake of breath told me that we were in trouble.

A large canyon opened just a few feet away from us. The tree I had seen was on the other side. "What do we do?" Cason asked.

I hopped down from the branch and carefully landed on my toes. Cason jumped down after me but ended up sprawling on the ground.

"Careful!" Cason brushed himself off and Kenta walked over to us. He was sniffing rapidly and his hackles were raised. He knew something was off.

"We should get out of here." I turned to go, but a light from the bottom of the canyon caught my eye. I shuffled closer, being careful to keep my balance.

"What are you doing?" Cason hissed, trying to pull me back. I wrenched my arm out of his grip and kept moving. "Akemi! You're going to get yourself killed!"

I moved over to the edge then crouched down. Sure enough, some campfire was lit at the bottom of the canyon. "There's someone down there." I said pointing.

"What are you talking about?" Cason asked, moving closer. I pointed again and he stared at the small fire.

We watched it as it disappeared and the canyon became dark once more. "Akemi. Come on. It's dangerous here." Cason said, slowly backing away.

I nodded and stood, but suddenly the ground violently trembled below me. I stayed still, hoping it would stop, but it didn't.

"Akemi! Come on!" Cason cried, panic in his voice. I stood and tried to run, but suddenly the ground disappeared from under my feet and I was falling. "Akemi!" Cason shouted.

I managed to grab on to the rock wall above me. I was still a few feet below the surface. "I'm alright!" I called up. Cason's face appeared over the edge.

"Watch out!" He exclaimed, pointing down. I looked down and saw that a girl with white- blonde hair was climbing quickly towards me. "Is that Metina?" I asked.

The girl was soon right beside me and I knew she was the girl from District Four. "Need help?" She asked. I raised an eyebrow.

"Why would you help me?" Metina shrugged. "I don't want to follow the Capital's rules. And if saving you means that I'm breaking their rules, so be it." I knew what she was saying was incredibly reckless and dangerous, but I felt my fingers slipping and knew I didn't have much time left to debate.

Metina climbed down a bit then pushed up on my feet. "You'll fall if you do that!" I shouted down.

She wasn't using her hands to hold herself up, so as soon as I was lifted above ground, she would fall.

"I know! I'm dead either way now." I shuddered at the thought of her laying broken at the bottom of the canyon.

"Ready?" She called. I nodded and shifted my hands for a better hold. "Cason! Lean down!" Metina called.

Cason did so and his arms were over the edge of the canyon. Metina pushed up on my legs and I grabbed the rocks in the canyon wall. When I was a few feet up, Cason grabbed my forearms and hoisted me up.

I looked back down and saw by some miracle that Metina was still holding on to the rock wall. She looked at me in shock. She obviously hadn't been expecting that either.

"I told you, I'm dead either way." She gave Cason a small smile then jumped back off the wall and fell down, down, down. I turned my head away and buried it in Cason's snow covered shoulder, not wanting to see what happened to Metina.

Kenta came and snuggled next to me, obviously glad I was okay. "I'm okay boy. I'm okay." I wrapped one arm around Cason and the other around Kenta.

Cason wrapped both arms around me then picked me up and carried me back to the tree line. "I can walk you know."

Cason put me down then looked me dead in the eye. "Don't you dare do something like that again." I chuckled. "I promise to try not to die again."

Cason looked at the tree behind me then at my face again. I saw tears in his eyes and pulled him into a hug. "I'm alright Cason. I promise."

Cason hugged me back tightly and I could feel tears sliding onto my neck. "I'm alright Cason." I mumbled, running my hand through his hair in an effort to calm him down.