heebie-jeebies | wild things [day 1]

Umber was eager to put the bloodbath behind him, rushing over to the hole in the wall and turning to keep guard while Georgie stepped through stick first. Once she was through, he quickly followed suit, ducking through as quickly as he could before righting himself once more. He was winded from the running already, trying to find purchase on the ruined ground they traversed through now.

What was left of the room they were in before seemed to be the most in-tact piece of whatever this once was. Because here, it looked more like forest. Plush carpets of moss climbed lazily up staircases which led to nowhere. Ivy twirled up everything it could grasp onto, even the looming stone columns which must've once been doorways, or support beams. There were haunting holes in the ground leading into complete darkness, and then above the trees grew so tall that Umber could scarcely see the skies. One glance at one of the trees nearest to him made him wonder how many people it would take to wrap their arms around its base. At least fifty- even most of the houses he'd seen back in District Twelve were smaller in circumference. On some, the lowest hanging branches were twenty or thirty feet up the massive trunk.

Whatever this building once was, it had died long ago. But it was the only thing from what Umber saw. He could hear the nature all around him: birds chirping, squirrels rustling leaves as they jumped from branch to branch. He could only imagine what more ominous things lurked in the darkest reaches of the place.

"You're a wizard, Umber!" Georgie said, pointing the large maybe-weapon in his direction like it was an accusation. For a moment he was confused, before he remembered what he was wearing. Right. "Not a very good one," he said, having already come to the conclusion himself, "I don't have a staff, or even a wand." In fact, he didn't really have much of anything. The clothes he came in with, a purse he'd used to shield his face from the careers shooting arrows across the room, and the ruby-encrusted knife held tightly in his hands. He realized with a concerned start that he didn't have any water, or food, or shelter- not even a blanket.

"We both have cloaks, I bet we look so cool together."

Umber repressed a smile. He was impressed with how well Georgie seemed to be handling all this. He tipped his chin up and to the side as if posing, held his knife out for dramatic effect. Seeing how well she was keeping her head on her shoulders made Umber feel more relaxed. That, and continuing to put more distance between themselves and the bloodbath. Still. He knew he'd been right about wanting Georgie as an ally; she was proving that all the other tributes were idiots for under-estimating her more and more by the second as far as he saw it.

"You got a pretty purse," she said, resolute expression. She was too earnest to hide the fact that she wanted it, too kind to ask. Umber was more than happy to part ways with it, anyway. Even if it meant trading the purse for the silly glorified walking stick Georgie had been accentuating her points with.

"And you've got my wizard's staff! Wanna trade?" He raised an eyebrow, hefting the purse out for her to admire. His own expression mirrored hers: Please don't make me walk around with this.

Somewhere in the distance, he heard the tumble of something- loose rocks resettling after falling from something. Georgie must've heard it as well, both their heads snapping towards the sound to investigate.

"I don't like it here, it gives me the heebie-jeebies."

He didn't want to admit it, but he felt exactly the same way.

"Well, if it creeps you out then I suppose we could keep moving..." He said, reluctance in his voice even as he took over the lead in marching them further through the field of overgrown rubble they were stuck in.