Lazarus // [Gregor's Not-a-Funeral]

DANDY

Along with Aline, they carry Gregor on their backs like a funeral procession. Traveling to his resting place, or rising place according to Addy. Dandy can't bring herself to tell her ally to the truth. That Dandy has held hands and have felt the warmth leave their skin. That she has watched eyes turn into empty orbs like doll's buttons and had to smile for their family. To give them something.


Her silence is Addy's something.

She moves silently down the ridge, away from the Cornucopia and down into tall trees and wet green leaves. They reach a giant tree and place his body at the base of it. But they are not alone. Enemies, other tributes, filter through the vines and Dandy reaches for her sword only for Adelaide to welcome them into their funeral. Or rising, or whatever it was now.


Then, with these strangers with them, Addy starts her work requesting flint for more voodoo Dandy didn't understand. That's when it hit her. That Gregor, the district two boy she had admired in the training center, was gone. The first casualty of the 76th Hunger Games- from a Career district nonetheless.

Dandy looked at his empty face, his skin that was slowly losing the warm tones beneath it s it turned ashen in the hot humid arena. They were carrying a corpse for Addy. A corpse of their friend.

She didn't realize she was crying until Addy touched her shoulder, assuring her it was alright. Dandy reached up, flicking away the tear despite everyone around seeing it.

"We're waiting for you." Addy was crouching beside his body, looking for life where there was none.

"Waiting for me to do what?" an unfamiliar voice questioned. It wasn't from gas mask boy or his companion- it was a different tribute. Dandy turned, her tear stained face finding the new tribute in their small clearing.

Dandy saw guilt in the girl's eyes. She had seen it plenty of times. Tears welled up again, threatening to spill over and reveal how small she felt right now.

Her thin fingers went to the hilt of her sword, ready to draw it if this girl tried anything. As if she could actually kill someone. A little girl from twelve already brought to tears not even a day into the Games.

What a threat.

GORDON

The boom of two cannons erupted through the air, and Hero wasn’t sure what to think of the sound. Surely, this meant there were two people he didn’t have to fight for survival, but still… it was only two. There were numerous others left on the island Arena, too many left, and yet there was something else bothering him. Maybe it was the sudden realization that this was real or perhaps it was even a pang of sympathy, but Hero shoved his worries down into the depths and left them there. Worry would get him nowhere, though it was a struggle to push the troublesome feeling away.

Though he wanted to sprint towards the waves, he reluctantly remembered that he would not survive without his companions: the girl from his District and the masked boy from Five. In truth, Hero Marvray’s heart would have broken if he had to live in this Arena alone, but he shoved that thought away too. All of this extraneous information wasn’t helping him much, too many worries and ideas floating around between his ears. Too much thinking was a good way to get killed, and so he tried to settle his mind into a state of quiet.

It didn’t take him long to find his allies. He waited for them along the ridge of the mountain, dodging further to the side whenever another tribute ran by with their arms loaded with goods. The bloodbath raged on, and Hero was merely a spectator. What he needed he could steal, and what he wanted he would have to do without. The consequences for his thievery would be deadlier than ever on this mountainside, and all he had was a bow and arrows. He thought for a moment about picking off his competition as they wandered down the mountain, but then thought better of it. Too much work, and he would waste his only means of combat.

(Well, besides his fists.)

His allies had more of their own supplies, though Lux was banged up quite a bit. Without a word, Hero took a look at her wounds. Blood dripped from her stomach and a spot on her bicep, and he couldn’t imagine the pain she was in. Without medical supplies, all he could do was wrap her bleeding arm in his shirt, which he stripped off. It was a cumbersome, ugly thing anyway, and it wasn’t exactly going to protect him from the elements much.

They descended the mountain until they reached a towering forest like Hero had never seen before. Tangles of greenery hung from trees as big as mountains themselves, and the sunlight all but disappeared as they pushed through the foliage. Where the mountainside was quiet save for the cries of tributes, this place was loud, screaming from wildlife and monsters that were sure to be hidden behind every turn.

It goes without saying, but Hero preferred the surf.

They trudged forward regardless, and it wasn’t long before they reached another group of tributes. Hero paused, eyeing them up and down, but they appeared to be hauling one of their own through the bush. He was surprised to see the Career boy from District Two with his head split open, and Hero’s heart sank at the sight of him. If a boy from Two with a score of eleven could be killed in an instant, so could he.

Hero thought about backing away from their mini-funeral, but it became immediately apparent that this wasn’t a funeral at all. One of the girls was acting bizarre, and he was finding it difficult to look away from the scene. The odd girl caught his eye, and then beckoned for Jacob to help her out. Suddenly they were no longer spectators, but participants in the funeral-that-wasn’t-a-funeral.

Hero hung off to the side and settled next to the girl from District Two.

“I’m sorry about your friend,” was all he said.

• First aid on Lux
• Collects firewood
• Sponsorship

[thank you Tom, for the table <3]