“Every
man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative
altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.” - Martin
Luther King, Jr.
“No
one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves
must walk the path.” - Buddha
Mina
was gone before sunrise. The second alliance she had left in the
darkness of night. She wasn't making many friends, but that wasn't
what she was after anyway. She was tired of dealing with these
people. Each time she thought that maybe she'd found a group she
could put up with for a little while, but each time she was proven
wrong. No one in this arena was her friend, and it was time she
started acting like it.
What
Mina failed to realize was that she wasn't really alone. She had been
closely watched for more than a day now, and she wasn't getting away
as easily as she had hoped.
XX
Tiara
watched closely as Tifanee slept in the midst of the rest of their
alliance. Pieces of advice from her training long before the games
kept flowed through her thoughts. “Never betray an alliance. It
makes you look bad to the audience. It keeps you from getting
sponsors. It's not worth it.”
She'd
heard similar things a million times before, yet Tiara was itching to
kill. She hadn't killed anyone since the bloodbath at the cornucopia,
and all she wanted was another kill to her name. The small girl who
had been frustrating her the past couple of days was the perfect
target. The rest of their alliance was asleep. Tiara would drag the
body away and make up some lie about Tifanee needing to pee and never
coming back. They'd never know. Tiara would keep the area clean and
make sure to go with the quietest method possible. No one would ever
know, except the audience.
And
she thought that was a risk she was willing to take....
XX
“I
think I'm going to head out on my own,” Demetrius announced to his
companions over their “breakfast.”
The
other three looked at him in mild surprise.
“It's
just,” Demetrius hesitated for a moment before continuing. “Our
biggest strengths as a group were having a career with us and
Kahner's mines. Now Alissah and Kahner are both dead. For all we know
Kahner had some mines around here that he didn't even tell us about.
We could die any second just staying here. There are fifteen left, or
fourteen, I guess, since we heard that cannon in the night. That's
plenty of time for me to get lost without having to confront any of
you.”
Ahnette
watched him closely before nodding. “I understand. Do what you feel
you need to do.”
“Thank
you,” Demetrius said darkly as he walked away from the others into
solitude.
XX
Jocelin
had been watching Mina closely ever since she left their alliance,
just waiting for the right moment to strike. Even when Mina had
joined a new alliance, Jocelin had stayed close by. It was difficult,
but she'd become very good at staying hidden. No one suspected a
thing.
She
had hoped to deal with Mina quickly and get back to her previous
alliance, but she had seen enough over the past couple of days to
know that the alliance she had once been a part of was no more.
Still, Jocelin was hoping to at least find Fayth. She knew from the
nightly summary of deaths that Fayth was still in the arena
somewhere, and Jocelin hated to think of what the poor girl might be
going through now.
Even
though she had yet to finish off Mina, Jocelin was getting restless
for human companionship, and she found herself seeking out the large
group of five tributes. They weren't far from where Mina had set up
camp, although Jocelin was sure that neither Mina nor this group knew
of the other's presence. Coale and Etin were both present, and
Jocelin found herself irrationally angry that Fayth had been left
somewhere behind. Upon seeing Tiara though, Jocelin wondered if it
was the brash career's fault.
Jocelin
made eye contact with Coale as she entered the small clearing. The
others made no move to attack her, as they clearly sensed that she
was no threat at the moment.
“Where
is Fayth?” she questioned.
“She
left,” Coale explained in regret. “In the middle of the night,
just like you. None of us saw her leave.”
Jocelin
sighed as she sat down next to the boy. “Great. I planned to come
back. I just wanted to get Mina, but then that proved more difficult
than I thought. I still haven't gotten her, and now I don't know
where Fayth is either.”
“Who
cares?” Tiara questioned. “You can't win with Crazy around.
You're better off without her.”
“Shut
it, Tiara. I'm not in the mood,” Jocelin growled.
Tiara
shrugged. “Whatever. Are you joining us then? I'll be nice enough
to let you since Tifanee disappeared last night.”
Jocelin
shivered at the hostile gleam in Tiara's eyes, but she shrugged and
murmured, “Yeah, I'll join you.” She hadn't given up on Mina, but
some human companionship was nice for the moment.
XX
“She's
still alone,” Jocelin informed her five companions later that day.
It was nearing sunset, and Jocelin had just returned from scoping out
Mina's “camp.” “She doesn't seem likely to leave for the night.
I want to get her before nightfall.”
“Great,”
Tiara exclaimed excitedly. “I'll come with you.”
“No,”
Jocelin replied firmly. “I want Coale to come. I know having back
up is safer, but you'd steal the kill from me. With anyone else
that'd be fine, but I'm getting Mina on my own.”
Tiara
flopped back onto the log she'd been using as a stool and crossed her
arms in indignation. “Fine. Go settle your grudge.”
“I
plan to,” Jocelin replied determinedly before walking away to do
just that.
Mina
would put up a fight, but at the last minute, Jocelin would see the
determination leave her eyes. Her acceptance of death would break
Jocelin in a way. Jocelin who had been so consumed with revenge that
she hadn't stopped to think that she was killing a girl. But by then
it would be too late to stop, and Jocelin would be forced to walk
back to her companions with her first kill weighing heavily on her
mind.
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