flickerinthedark, striketotheheart {a r g o} Day 3

Boom, the cannon roared with a ferocity unlike that of the previous day. Day one had held multiple deaths, eight cannons parading across the sky in the farthest thing from harmony that one could come across, they weren't exactly musical despite the message that they held. Today was different though, one singular cannon shot pierced the air as Wes' spear sliced across the stomach of the Little Libertine, Little Libertine who fell to the ground never to get up again, never to say hello to her friends or family as they say her glowing face. The Little Libertine, who fell against the statue of her sister, the sister who had only died one year previously. Boom. The cannon fired and the arena fell silent, I'm sure that the outside world was silent as well, for there was no doubt in my mind that she had support, lots of it, that the Libertine girl was a predicted winner in these Games, but little did the world know that these were my games to play, not hers.

The rest of her alliance flee without a second thought, distraught looks covering their faces and signs of worry and heartbreak covering every inch of their faces. This death was partly their fault and they knew it, perhaps they needed counselling to sort a couple of things out, to fix their problems before the day came that they would die. Because that was all that people needed was time to sort out issues with their alliances before being stabbed in the back with them. How soon would it be until the Argonauts would face that problem? Would it be soon that I would have to run and hide and cower before my previous alliance mates? There was no telling how soon an alliance would turn on each other, especially in a career pack. but, this was no longer a career pack, it was two district one's, an eight, and a nine. Did we even count as careers any more? At what point did we cross that line, and just become a bunch of foolish kids hobbling around thinking that they were the best?

The evening came quickly, or so I thought, it was really quite impossible to tell when one was enclosed entirely in a cavern, for all I knew it could be mid-afternoon, late morning, and yet I was so tired already, I could feel the god of sleep wavering over my eyes telling me to drop. Last night hadn't provided much rest, the watch had taken up most of the night, and I hadn't wanted to wake anybody to take the shift, I needed to be seen as strong. Gathering firewood, the fire is set up before I know it, if there was one thing I'd learned from training, it was how to set up a fire. The heat is comforting and welcome, day one we dared not start a fire, but it seemed like today none of us cared, we'd had enough blood on our hands, and we were willing to get more. The girls alliance had run so quickly that there wasn't a question in mind that they were scared of us - or so we thought. It was really quite impossible to tell whether or not people feared us, laughed at us, or supported us. Kiera had already received two sponsor gifts, I had none. Perhaps it was because I was faring better than Kiera, but even a piece of bread would've been nice at this point, I was alone here. All alone in an arena designed to kill me.

Anthem blaring, the screen covers the top of the cavern. This couldn't be the sky this time around, for sure it was only the underground walls. The sweet melody of the anthem vibrates around the statues, making them seem like their almost shaking, only making them scarier. The dead eyes of boys and girls of years before ripping into our souls and staring us down, it wasn't the most comfortable place to be, and yet, it was a great reminder that there was always somebody watching us - always. The crying eyes of Destiny from last year had been bugging me for the past few hours, the girl who had lost her mind and fell off the cliff of insanity. The sweet girl from District Two that lost the battle in her mind. It was scary. It frightened me to the very core that perhaps sometime soon, that could be me, that could be Kiera, Wes, Aria, any of us could lose our minds and what then? What would happen when comes day six and we no longer recognize each other because we've gone insane, because we've lost our way and a haze covers our eyes to the point where we can't see who is who any more? What would happen then? Destiny was only one example, I was sure I could pass through the statues and find more than one tribute who'd gone insane and yet - the thought process stops as the anthem stops shaking the tributes. There was a time and place for thoughts like those and it wasn't now. Now was the time to say goodbye, now was the time to look upon the people that wouldn't be around to try and kill us any longer.

Little Libertine flashes the sky first, her delicate face looking down upon us as if laughing. The joke was on us, she was now with Penelope, and we were still stuck here having to fight out our days. She was fine, she was alive elsewhere, she was living her life. And us? Well we were screwed. Her laugh faded quickly as another girl filled the screen. I did not know her name. Elly? Something along those lines. A girl who was in an alliance with Aria, the girl who had hunted along side us only the day before. Without Aria their alliance was falling to shambles. I look over quickly at her, trying to see if anything pierces her always stern face, but the night lights fade and soon enough it's only the fire that is lighting our faces. Two deaths, thirteen more to go.

- -

The morning comes quickly this time, I wasn't too sure when I fell asleep but it must have been sometime after the anthem. It wasn't my turn for watch again, so I took all the sleep I could get. There would come a time, very soon, where I wouldn't have three people watching my back, trying to save me, but three people waiting the stab my back and take me down to drown me in the river. How soon times would change and yet, there wasn't a moment where I didn't want to wish it would stay this way. Us four Argonauts, pacing through the underworld. But even the underworld would soon be a thing of the past, the statues made me uneasy, like something would happen should we go near any of them. That was the last thing that needed to happen, the careers going down by a statue in the dark.

Swiftly we find the cavern in which we'd walked up earlier, the thin tunnels twisting and turning slowly and steadily up into the sunlight. Two by two, we walked. The cavern wasn't really large enough for us to walk all together, so I trailed with Aria, the stone-faced girl who seemed so strong. How soon would she crack, if she did? What if it was me who cracked, not her? Aria, the little girl, the little girl with whom I'd promised to be there at her death, at that time I'd thought it'd be only by me killing her, but now, it was possible that it would be with me, side by side, fighting and taking someone down. The little girl and needleboy, partners in crime. How silly a thought. In a few days time one or both of them would be dead and it would no longer matter. "How are you?" I whisper to her, ensuring that Kiera and Wes didn't hear. There was something about her that made me want to protect her, maybe it was her height, or her stature, I knew she could fight, but I also knew that her alliance member had died last night. But we were her alliance now. "Holding up?"

The light comes quick, the tunnel seemed to take up less time than going down, despite the fact that it was an uphill climb this time around. This time we knew where we were going and not treading into the dangerous dark cavern below. We were back at the river before we knew it, skulking around as though there could be tributes absolutely anywhere, at any time. "Don't make a sound." Wes' words echo in my ears, there was something there, a tribute? No, as I look about the rocky surface, there was none other than a giant three headed dog. Shit. The thing looked ferocious, as if at any second it could rip any of our heads off with one swift blow. If we all waited it out and kept quiet perhaps - Wes takes off screaming like a lunatic, crashing after it. It was almost certain death at this point as he barely scraped the mutt. The three headed dog almost giggled it seemed, the lowly district nine boy, all by himself.

"You're an idiot, Wednesdae Drummond." I scream after him. "An absolute fucking idiot."

He needed help, I didn't want to help, I didn't want to go, I didn't want to help the boy who'd only screwed us over. But I had to, I had to because it was a promise. I charge after him, glaive in hand, this would be a fun game to play. A bunch of careers, who may not even be careers, against the dog with three heads, it could only go horribly.

o hai i'm peri myler
so that box was misleading
it wasn't a gift at all gifts don't explode all over your face
ow ow ow
oh my god wes shut up
fine you want to argue we'll argue
i'm so mad i'm just going to go drink water
and also tend my owchies

[Peri drinks his purified water and refills his jug]
[Peri uses 1 use needle/thread and First Aid for -8 damage]
[Peri flees the thread]