Stay with me, always.

Chapter 24. Goodbyes

I liked to imagine I was in the arena with Soarynn, protecting her, sleeping with her, making sure she ate enough. But I wasn't. Thank goodness, I mean, don't get me wrong, if I could I would...I think. And right now, I was glad I wasn't as I watched her take down the tarp, the rain had let up a bit, but it still hadn't stopped. Sighing, she packed up her pack and headed towards the boulder Zeren had fallen off of. She was making good progress, until she tripped on a loose tree root, sailing into the mud.

"Shit," she said, pushing herself up, overall she had managed to stay relatively clean, but not anymore. "Oh her hair!" Jadis cried out, "And her skin," Lavender said sadly. Suddenly, the forest came alive with little voices, "Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit" Soarynn gripped her spear as she looked around, unable to find where the voice was coming from, she pushed herself up and sped walked towards the boulder. She rounded the boulder and gasped when she saw Zeren's body, knife still lodged in his eye. Looks like the Game Makers had not come to collect his body just yet. Soarynn took in the knife, "Cleo," she said, nervously looking around. She decided to climb the boulder, and sat there, looking at all the blood spilled on the rock.

"What am I doing?" She asked herself, pulling her knees up to her chest, and resting her head on them. A little bird flew down next to her, whistling a tune, she looked at it, a small smile appearing on her face. She humored the bird, whistling back the tune. The bird went nuts, very excited to have someone to talk to, as it chirped back at her. Soarynn reached out her hand and it jumped right in as if they had known each other for years. "I used to see birds like you all the time in the meadow by my house," she told the little bird, "my dad said that all the little birds would sing with my mother," she said. The little bird excitedly whistled another tune, which she then whistled back to it. They went back and forth for a while, until a flock of birds took off from a nearby tree, calling out to their friend. The bird looked at Soarynn, chirping a goodbye, and then flew off to join his friends. "Goodbye," she whispered. Alone again, probably for the first time since the Games started, she looked around, taking in the arena. She was just about to pull out her thermos when she heard a scream, "HELP!" The forest came alive, screaming back, "HELP, HELP, HELP, HELP, HELP, HELP. HELP"

She jumped up, grabbed her spear, and slid down the curved side of the boulder, hitting the ground and taking off toward the scream. It was Leo's. "Leo?" She called, as she ran through the woods. The trees responded to her, mocking her, "Leo, Leo, Leo, Leo, Leo, Leo, Leo, Leo, Leo, Leo," She huffed, but kept running until she came across Leo and Briella rolling around in the mud. Briella's hair was a rat's nest, mud all over her face, holding a knife, trying to plunge it into Leo's face. "GET OFF OF ME!" Leo screamed, spitting in her face for good measure. "NO!" Briella screamed back at him, "I HAVE TO PROVE I'M GOOD ENOUGH TO BE A CAREER." Oh, so this was a pride thing. If Cleo didn't think Briella was good with weapons she was probably right, but Leo wasn't either. Soarynn ran towards them, Leo's eyes lighting up when he saw her, "Soarynn!" he cried out. Briella turned around, but not before Soarynn was grabbing her ponytail and ripped her off of Leo, slamming her to the ground. "You spoiled brat!" Briella spat out, shakily standing up, no longer focused on Leo. "I'm not the one trying to murder an innocent child," Soarynn shot back. Briella rolled her eyes, her face now covered in mud, "Oh please, you think you're so good and righteous just because you live in the Capitol," she sneered, "well guess what? You're in here like the rest of us, you're just like the rest of us," she said, motioning to herself and Leo.

"You think I don't know that?" Soarynn asked, her voice shaking. "You think I don't feel like an outsider?" She asked Briella. "Well it doesn't matter now," Briella said sweetly, before throwing the knife at Soarynn, catching her in the head. "NO!" Mother screamed, falling to the ground as Soarynn fell back. Leo ran towards Soarynn, slingshot in hand, and shot Briella in the face with an acorn, "Ow!" she yelped. "Soarynn, wake up," Leo cried, shaking her. Briella had recovered from the acorn, and was searching for her knife, she found it. She stalked towards Leo from behind, plunging her knife into his back, he gasped, turning around in horror to see her behind him, panting like a lunatic. Before he could move, she stabbed him again in the gut, and he toppled over, clutching his stomach. "One down, one to go," Briella said, walking towards Soarynn. She bent down near Soarynn's head, preparing to stab the knife through her skull, when Soarynn's hand grabbed her spear from the ground, slamming it against Briella.