Swinging From The Branches ~ Lexyon Perti

Clawing Out ~ Day 2

As I had predicted, the night had been rough. Fear held onto me like a vice, refusing to let go so long as I let myself remain up on this wall. I must have fallen asleep at some point, because I woke up feeling worse than the day before-my back hurt, arms ached, and my legs were burning-the result of my efforts yesterday; worse yet, it was still dark as I had abandoned my only source of light. Great, it was only day two in this fortress and I was setting myself up for failure. Folding up the tarp and stuffing it in my pack, I debated going back to the cornucopia before deciding I would just get lost, instead clawing my way around the top of these walls not daring to make a sound.

Something skittered below me, causing me to flinch and further grasp the wall. Stealing a glance, I found nothing-not like I expected to. No tribute anyways.

It could have easily been a mouse or a snake or something that won't kill me. The train of thought continued. Yes Lexyon, focus on the things not trying to kill you. Focus on your surroundings, it will get you out of here faster.

With new determination, I scurried across the remaining length of the wall, forcing myself up onto my legs to jump across a gap. As soon as I was clear, I was holding onto the edges of the wall again, knowing the chances of me falling to my death were probably extremely high. Progress remained slow, I realized, yet I would not know how slow or fast I was going as I had yet to see the light of day.

Will I get to see the light of day again? Ever? What about mother or father? Darim and his pranks? My small, overcrowded house at the end of the road? Was I going to see the strong, calloused bark of a tree?

Or am I going to die in this hollow, stone tomb.

No! These thoughts were quickly dismissed, thinking pessimistically would only lead to bad situations, situations that needed to be avoided at all costs. Priority number one was getting the hell out of here and finding some food, priority number two would be to find a secure source of water, priority number three would be the other tributes.

Once again I forced myself to stand up and make a leap of faith, as time wore on I could feel myself moving at a quickening pace. So far, no word from other tributes-which is good I suppose. Maybe, if I was lucky, they forgot about me, maybe the careers and those still trapped in here think I am dead; that would be for the best.

As I jumped across another gap, I could make out a fait yellow light. The source illuminated the stone around it, causing the moss to flourish and the stone to discolor slightly overtime. A wide smile appeared on my face, knowing this had to be too good to be true, yet it was my only option right now and one option was better than none. Not once taking my eyes off of the light, I awkwardly scurried over the remaining distance between me and salvation, stumbling on the edge more times than I was comfortable with. 

Once I was only inches away from it, I realized this was an opening in the fortress, leading to an edge that jutted out dangerously high off the ground. The hole seemed to be just big enough for a tribute, and I wondered if the gamemakers had designed it this way. This thought soon took a backseat as I counted my blessings and wormed my way through the hole, taking off my pack and sending it through first. Once I tumbled out onto the edge, I stood up looking around at the arena for the first time and took a deep breath. The fresh air invigorated me as I smelt the familiar scent of the forest around me; my smile before getting bigger as I let out a laugh of all things, knowing that now I was truly in the arena.

Now the games would truly begin.

I wasted little time scooping up my pack and settling it on my back once again. Working my way down from my ledge took a bit more effort, time, and scrapes as I finally touched solid ground and took off into the forest. Safely camouflaged from any predators there might be, I took a look back at the building I had clawed my way out of.