The Other Side Of Paradise

cinco

The arena seemed to stretch on for miles as Sol ran as fast as she could away from the other tributes. Once she reached, what she deemed, a safe distance away from the others she slowed down, not stopping, as she allowed herself to absorb her surroundings even more.

She had to find a water source. If Savera taught Sol anything it was that they needed a water source.

Granted, the original plan was to get Dannel to a water source and then fight everyone off until it was just the two of them left, where she'd then find a way to fake an accident to get the boy his victory.

Curse the boys bum leg.

Sol shook her head lightly to push the joy from her mind, there were bigger problems than the one she couldn't do anything about.

As Sol grew further from the cornucopia her original understanding of the arena was proven to be wrong. From where she rose out of the ground she could see nothing but sand and dust, but as she grew further she started to see pops of green and square stone buildings.

There were at least four clusters of dusty square buildings and skinny stalks with curved palms erected from the top scattered everywhere.

Evidence of life means there has to be water somewhere nearby.

As Sol grew closer the the buildings it was obvious that the vegetation was far more abundant to the left. While her legs ached and her lungs burned, Sol picked up the pace once more and curved to the left in further search of water.

Cecelia and Roo had taken a few moments on one of the first days to explain how impossible, yet necessary, it was to keep track of how much time has passed.

"Especially in the beginning, it'll be incredibly hectic, but as soon as you have your bearings you need to figure out what time it is approximately. You need to know how long you have until dark always, and depending on the arena you need ti be actually aware of where the sun is at every moment," Cecelia's words rang true at every stage of the games.

"If you find yourself in an outdoor arena, or a sunny arena, beware of how much sun exposure you're getting. You're already fighting for your life, you don't need to be fighting heat stroke too."

Soo took note of the way the bodysuit they'd given her left her arms and legs exposed to the suns harsh rays, she'd need to find a way to cover her skin if she wanted to have a fighting chance in these games.

Turning to the left immediately yielded results and Sol nearly fell as she ground to a halt at the sight in front of her.

Two pools of water were nestled in perfect circles right next to each other, untouching. The area surrounding each of the pools were lively with assorted vegetation, trees hanging over the water and darkened sand as it falls closer to the water.

An oasis, not just one but two. Side by side.

Sol squinted her eyes as her eyes darted between the two bodies of water.

They were nearly identical, simply mirrored.

There were three trees on each side, one long and bent over the water while the other two rose tall on opposite sides of he first. The bushes that covered the trunks of the trees were the same size on opposite sides.

As Sol stood and stared between the two bodies of water she neglected to look behind her or hear the stomping that grew closer. 

Too focused on trying to figure out what the trees were and whether they were fruit bearing or not, a body slammed straight into her back and sent her tumbling forward. The ground was harder against the girls side than she had anticipated, sheweezed as the breath was forced from her lungs.