a thousand hugs, ten thousand lightning bugs[D'Arcy/Georgie]

There was no room for thought in D'Arcy's mind beyond the one word, repeating itself over and over in her racing mind.

Run.

She had barrelled past the crumbling walls of the grand throne room that had served as the arena's Cornucopia of the season, met quickly by a wall of trees that seemed to her to have safety in its depths in the form of a million places in which she might be able to duck and hide. She didn't want to dare venture out to see what may be lying beyond the building on the other side. Not yet, at least, until the initial carnage could run its course, the survivors ready to spread out in search of their next kills. She could easily find herself running head first into fate ready to cut her loose.

As she ran the light began to fade, the thick branches in the canopy above letting less and less of it in to light up D'Arcy's path as she continued along. Her run turned into a jog, and then a quick walk as both the lack of visibility and the fatigue slowed her down. D'Arcy's feet began to trip along roots, hands soon outstretched and empty as they reached around for the trunks she could barely see. The magic of the woods changed from something of a sanctuary to something cursed and eery in this darkness. It felt haunted, something sinister in the air of magic D'Arcy thought she had felt about the place. It was no place for a princess, that was for certain.

Panic began to rise, freezing D'Arcy where she stood. The light was almost nonexistent now, and she had no idea where she was or where she should be going. What if this deep, dark, dense wood was the entire arena beyond the ruined castle? Maybe she had been foolish, maybe there had been some night-vision tools in the spoils of the cornucopia that she had left with whichever Careers might have beat all of the others. Perhaps the woods drowned out sounds, too - she had yet to hear a cannon, why had there not been any? Had the woods deafened her to anything beyond their reach?

A shifting shadow of something in her periphery jammed her eyes shut tight, her heart racing in her chest. This was it, this was her death coming to spirit her away from the shadows. It was so soon, far too soon. D'Arcy wanted to go home, wished she could see her family one more time. Her mind raced with the last memory of her sisters and their goodbyes. D'Arcy no! Don't go, don't leave us please! D'Arcy!

"D'Arcy!"

That last voice wasn't from her memory though. D'Arcy recognized the voice as different, very real, whispered from somewhere nearby, and familiar. D'Arcy dared a peek out into the world around her to find the darkness had transformed into a world speckled by flecks of bioluminescence. Fungi dotted the giant roots around her with their hues of muted light, the fireflies rising around her like a beacon guiding her somewhere new and exciting. The dread and fear dissipated as she spotted some kind of rope, knotted with hand and footholds and leading up above the roots, in the direction she had heard her name. She heard it once again, "psst, D'Arcy!" whispered slightly louder, and this time a name popped into D'Arcy's mind.

"Georgie? Is that you?" She whispered back, relief pouring into her. She began climbing up the rope towards the voice source. She had no allegiance made to the mayor's daughter, but in a field of so many tributes D'Arcy felt it would be safe to catch up with the closest thing she had to a friend in this arena.

As she reached the top she finally could make out the shape of Georgie. She appeared to also be wearing a circlet around her head, dressed in the similar flowing robes and elaborate detailing D'Arcy was wearing. A conference of princesses, up in the trees. "It is you! I'm glad we made it in one piece." She gave the girl a hug before there was any chance for protest or drawn weapons. "This woods gives me the creeps. You don't think it spans the whole arena, do you?"