{every teardrop a waterfall} kiara day 2

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because we don't want it easy, we don't like the plot
we don't take precautions when we know that we should
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The moment Kiara stepped through the archway separating the endless sea of sand from the mysterious contents of the glass tower, her left foot sunk into a puddle of mud. "Fuck!" she swore, feeling the disgustingly gooey brown mess seeping into her cleat and even through her red knee socks. She regretted the curse as soon as it slipped off of her tongue. Well, now you've done it. Every tribute in the area will be flocking here any moment to see who the imbecile with the foul mouth is. Frustrated already - and she'd only been in the tower for all of thirty seconds - the tribute wrenched her foot from its muddy prison and began to trudge on, only to realize that the rest of the wetland she appeared to be in had exactly the same terrain.

But there was water. Sure, most of it was pretty dirty, but water was water all the same; it was life sustaining, and she needed it. She hadn't realized how thirsty she was prior to entering the tower, but upon sight of the cool liquid amid the mud and droopy shrubbery of the bog the dryness of her mouth was all she could think about Is it safe to drink? she wondered, staring skeptically at the murky water, but then remembered that she'd snagged a handful of iodine tablets at the Cornucopia the previous day; with those, she could have a jug of water purified in no time.

That half hour wait was agony; she sat on a rock beside a cluster of cattails, all too aware of the full jug of delicious water clutched in her arms. Had she ever been this thirsty back at home? It was doubtful; though on some occasions food was scarce, she'd never been without water. Not even when she spent a day or two in the woods; she always filled a canteen before she left or located a fresh stream to serve as a source if she was particularly parched. No, thirst was a new feeling for Kiara, and she wasn't fond of it by any standards. But it was to be expected in the arena, wasn't it? Particularly when seventy-five percent of it consisted of foreboding red desert.

Kiara downed the jug slowly, keeping on the alert at all times; once again, this was a tower area that offered little means of concealment, so she would have to be on the lookout for other tributes - or worse- that could be lurking about until she could make a mad dash out of there. Once finished with her drink, and feeling very much refreshed, the small tribute filled it up again - along with the other jug she'd gotten from the girl she killed - so she would have some additional water to take along with her in case she was unable to locate any other sources in the days to come. Deciding that she wasn't going to hang around any longer - wetlands weren't places she particularly liked to be, anyway - the small girl packed up her things and moved on.