𝐆𝐋𝐎𝐑𝐘 & 𝐆𝐎𝐑𝐄. ᵀᴴᴳ[1]

12

IT WASN'T EXACTLY AN AGREED UPON DECISION TO LET WATT JOIN THEM. It was something that was simply accepted when Watt trailed right behind Sage and to their camp. But Watt turned out to be useful, according to him he had gotten a decent amount of rest the last few days, so he'd be able to keep watch. Unlike Sage who had barely closed his eyes for a substantial amount of time. So that night, from his place beside Boyde, after watching the faces of the fallen tributes while the anthem filled the arena (including the girl and boy from earlier that day) Sage found himself drifting off into a light sleep. He could have sworn he could still hear the slight breeze rustling the leaves, or Boyde's breathing that was still a bit wheezy. But everything was black still, there was no dream. Which he wished for, specifically one of the woods outside twelve. Whether he was with Ella, his father, Katniss...he didn't care. At least it would have been familiar and normal. Even if it was just a dream.

          It was like a sick joke. He loved being outside of the fences. He loved hunting. He loved being free. It was like this arena was set up special, just for him. It was like President Snow had wanted this place to remind Sage of home just enough to remind him that Sage wasn't here by chance. It made him wonder how many other tributes hadn't been there by chance...how many were there because of something they or their family had done? How often had the games been used as a punishment?

          Sage was jolted awake when the ground beneath him shook violently. His eyes were wide, and at first saw nothing but the dark air around him occasionally lit up with a flash followed by a bone shaking clash of thunder.

"It's a lightning storm," Watt stated, calmly from his seat against a tree not far from the others. Keeping watch while looking in the direction of the stream. "Don't have those in Twelve?"

"No, not too often..." Sage replied, leaning against the tree again and crossing his arms over his chest.

"Why isn't it raining?" Deedee questioned, clearly shaken as much as Sage had been.

"They don't want it to," Watt replied. And as if on cue, the air around them glowed with light and everything around them seemed to feel charged with electricity.

           However, this time before the clash of thunder could follow the sound of splitting wood came from just feet away it seemed. Sage looked up at the trees in the direction just in time to see another bolt of lightning light up the sky as the tree that had been struck by the last bolt of lightning was quickly engulfed with flames.

"That's why they don't want it to rain..." Watt muttered as he began to scramble to his feet. Instantly as he rose up, as if they had been sitting next to a pile of matches this whole time, the flames swiftly began to hop from tree to tree, creeping closer and closer to his alliance.

Everything seemed to start to move in slow motion besides the crackling flames that were engulfing the trees. Sage could vividly feel his body make every movement as he moved to his feet without a second though and Deedee began to violently shake Marena to wake her from a deep sleep. Sage and Watt both began to help Boyde to his feet as Deedee and Marena gathered their supplies before all of them began moving away from the growing fire. They couldn't easily escape the smoke though as the slight breeze that had helped lull Sage to sleep began to move the dark and thick smoke towards them. Engulfing them just like the flames engulfed the trees. The smoke alone began to burn Sages' eyes and throat, it made him want to move even faster. But Boyde's limp kept them moving only at a quick walk or a slow jog, leaving them a fair distance behind the girls who Sage could still see thanks to the growing flames behind them.