𝐇𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐆𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬: 𝐁𝐥𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬 ✔️

Chapter 18 - Lacie

^Amethyst

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Chapter 18

POV: Lacie

Time: Night 1

Tributes Remaining: 26

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I'm assigned to the first watch as the others sleep through the night. I sit in silence, observing my surroundings.

A few hours into the night, I spot something in the sky. It takes me a moment to see what it is, but I soon realize that it's smoke. I shake my head in disbelief. I don't know who would be stupid enough to build a fire on the first night, when the Careers are probably out hunting. Whoever it is is clearly inexperienced, or they skipped the Bloodbath and entered the Arena without supplies to keep them warm.

Proving my point, a cannon shot booms through the Arena, making my allies stir in their sleep.

The rest of the night goes peacefully. Nia takes over from me for the rest of the night, and in the morning we head out to explore the Arena.

I trail the group, watching them carefully. Soren tosses his knife in the air, catching it by the handle each time as he looks around. I'm nervous he's going to hurt himself.

I quickly scale a tree to view the Arena. I'm surprised by what I see, but I'm not surprised that the Arena is wacky this year.

"It looks like a temperature wheel of some sort," I tell the others. "The coldest area is in the center. The snow stops after a while and turns to a regular forest. There are tropical trees on the outer edges, and then a desert."

The others look excited to move to a warmer area, and we quickly head out.

After a few hours, we finally pass through the last of the snow and into the cool forest behind it. The air is still fresh as we walk through the green landscape, but at least it's warmer than the snowy landscape we passed through by the Cornucopia.

After about an hour of searching through the woods, Dalia stops a few feet ahead of the group, pointing through the trees.

"There's a stream over here!" she calls to us.

"Perfect, fill all the canteens," I order. "I'll pick some berries."

All the canteens we picked up from the Cornucopia were empty, so I'm glad we found water before we became desperate for it. Nia is an expert at foraging, and she helps me pick berries while Soren, Dalia, and Robin fill the canteens.

"Do you have any of these in District 4?" Nia asks me quietly. "They're amazing. Try one."

Each berry seems to be a clump of smaller dots, conjoined into one clump. I stick one in my mouth and gasp a bit as I bite into the fruit. The berry seems to burst in my mouth, and the flavor is amazing.

"Blackberries, right?" I say, testing myself. I think I read about them in a plant manual during training.

Nia nods. "They're grown wildly in other Districts, but they're exported to the Capitol from 11, even though we sometimes sneak some home in our pockets."

The two of us laugh, collecting the blackberries into some containers from our bags. When we're done, we join the others, who have already sat at the side of the stream. I sit next to Dalia, who is staring out across the stream and into the woods on the other side.

The bank of the stream is very peaceful. Soren stands at the edge of the water, peering through the surface to spot fish. Unfortunately, he can't fish like he usually does, since he lost his trident in the chaos of the Bloodbath. He still attempts to stab at the water with his sword with little success.

As we head back into the forest, I hear a pinging sound from above us. I look up to see a parachute floating lazily down to the ground. It has the number 11 on it, so Dalia picks it up, cracking the plastic casing open to reveal some supplies. "Perfect," Dalia and I say at the same time.

Soren examines a box of matches as Robin pulls out some beef jerky. I swiftly grab the switchblade from the bottom of the case, along with a container of crackers. I hope nobody sees me as I quickly tuck the blade into my jacket pocket. You never know what could happen and when I'll need it. The others are so focused on the supplies, they don't even notice my quick movements. Nia, however, does spot me, and I catch her gaze, giving her a sly wink.

I turn my attention back to the group. "I hope they didn't waste too much money on these," I say. I don't want our mentors to waste money on minor supplies like these if we need sponsor gifts later in the Games.

"They know what they're doing, Lacie," Soren responds. "You worry too much."

I just nod in agreement, but I don't feel great about the fact that we're getting sponsor gifts so early. I trust Griff, but these Games are going to be long and arduous. Who knows what could happen in the next week or two and how much we could need help from sponsors to survive.