The 65th Hunger Games - EDITING

Chapter twenty-five

I wake up to the sound of Panem's anthem. All five of us have our eyes locked on the sky as the face from the boy from two appears, followed by Adenias' district partner. Deep down, I swear to myself to never forget the names of the fallen tributes as long as I'm still breathing.

Filip Sagefinch, boy from two.

Willow Linden, girl from three.

Dahlia Rhinestone, girl from five.

Mihail Volt, boy from five.

Phlox Sailbridge, boy from six.

Sorrela Larkwings, girl from seven.

Juniper Dewy, girl from nine.

Talon Ambervale, boy from ten.

Poppy Ashcrow, girl from twelve.

Everlast Oakhill, boy from twelve.

The light emanating from the large screen fades out as the music stops. Ten kids died today; thirteen others will soon follow them into the darkness. Most of them were younger than me. I guess other tributes started by eliminating easy targets.

***

When Cedar wakes me up, I feel like only ten minutes went by and I'm actually more tired than before I started sleeping. Viviana is curled up against me, her head on my shoulder. She probably got cold and decided to steal some of my body heat. I wonder if the Capitol's people are enjoying the show. I gently push her away as Cedar lays down where I was not even a minute ago. Adenias is sitting on a log a few feet away, playing with a branch.

"Hey, what did you guys talked about?" I say before settling down in front of him.

"Nothing; we haven't exchanged a single word." He answers, exasperated.

I then realize that he's not only playing with a branch, he's transforming it into a weapon.

"Are you gonna help me or are you gonna continue to stare at me?" he says, a smile on his face.

"Yeah, sorry."

I take a branch in the pile he and Cedar made and grab a knife to sharpen it. After looking at his work, a proud smile on his face, he throws it on the side where five or six improvised spears are piled up.

"Do you really think we need that many?"

"Not at all, I think it's useless. Two or three would have been more than enough, but we have time to kill."

We start giggling like little kids at the wordplay I am sure was intentional. We are so exhausted that we start laughing harder at the sound of our own laughs.

"Shh, we're gonna wake up the others!" Adenias says, trying his best to contain another laugh burst. "It's not even funny, why are we laughing?"

"I don't know." I answer, getting down on my back to look at the sky. "You know what? I miss the stars way more than the sun."

"The sun is a star so technically, you miss them equally." he states, still giggling.

"You know what I meant." I reply, also smiling.

"I don't really miss them. In District Three, we have so much light pollution that it's hard to see anything anyway. What is it like?"

"It's so beautiful; maybe even the prettiest sight on earth. Back at home, after my brother died, I used to sneak out of my house every night after curfew. I walked until I reached the beach and then I would just sit on the sand and look at the stars. The night sky is so perfect; all those colours mixing up in a big shiny cloud. I suck at describing this kind of thing, but it is truly a magical view."

"I wish I could have seen it. When did you lose your brother?"

"Five years ago. He drowned during a storm."

"Sorry to hear it. I lost my father almost a year ago, not long after the Reaping. We were never really close, but it was still very hard. Can't imagine how horrible it would be to lose a brother."

"Thank you. Sorry for your father. Do you have a brother?"

"I've got two younger brothers and a sister. Brier, my 12-year-old-brother, is friend with Willow's brother, Oakley. They're always together. Do you think he will forgive me for not saving his sister?"

"You didn't kill her, Adenias. You shouldn't feel bad, it wasn't your fault."

"Yeah, but if I became her ally, she might still be alive."

"Maybe, but maybe not. If you were with her, you might not have made it until now. We'll never know."

"Do you regret teaming up with us? You definitely had a shot with the other Careers, why didn't you go with them?"

"No, I don't regret my choice. I didn't want to be with them and to be honest, I'm pretty sure they would've rejected me anyway; I'm too young for them. If they wanted me on their sides, they definitely didn't make sure to let me know. Even if they did, I'm not sure I would've gone with them. I didn't really like their attitudes."

"I bet they regretted it when you pulled that eleven during the evaluation. Also, don't even try to make me believe you liked my attitude when we met. Yet, here we are." he replies, half-laughing, half-serious. "Why did you choose us? There were some other interesting tributes."

"I don't know, it seemed like the right thing to do."

He nods and goes back to sharpening the branch he's holding. It's becoming darker and darker as the minutes go by and soon, it's impossible to see my hand when I stretch out my arm.

"We can't see anything. Do you think we should make a really small fire before we cut our fingers off?"

"As long as it stays small, I guess it'll be alright. Plus, I'm pretty sure that having fingers in the arena is useful." says Adenias, looking at the distant light from another fire. "If that tribute is still alive, that means that the Careers are not hunting or are in another area. We're probably safe for tonight."

We remove some of the wood from the fire pit to ensure a small fire and in less than ten minutes, a flame rises into the air. The comforting light looks so bright in contrast to the darkness of the night. We both smile proudly at each other. I wonder if like me, he's thinking about how we couldn't get along the first time we tried doing it.

"You know what would be cool?"

"What?" I ask, curious.

"Having a crossbow. I once made one with my friend for a school project. Of course, it was taken away from us right after we presented it to our classroom, but I'm sure I could recreate it in here. Your favourite weapon is a trident, right? We could try to make you one. What do you think?"

I tighten my grip on the spear and the knife as he looks at me, perplexed by my silence.

"Finnick, are you okay?" he asks, his voice tainted by fear.

He slowly turns around, trying to see the reason behind my sudden change of attitude. I would like to tell him, but not a word can come out of my mouth. Then, he finally sees it and just like me, he freezes; the light of our fire is reflecting on something and it's not trees. A pair of eyes is looking at us through the bushes.