Walking Away From Where I’ve Been {Arianna; Day 1}

The land changed again as Arianna made her way through the arena, trying to find a place to hide. Whatever made her think that the dust-filled land would be a good place to hide was beyond her, but she made sure to keep her eyes open as she avoided the holes in the ground. There has to be something around here to make these. I just hope I don’t encounter one of them. Her whole journey so far had been avoiding obstacles in her path; if this kept going, Arianna would have to worry about tripping to her death.

Just as her foot avoided yet another hole, it made contact with some brush some flammable brush. Arianna reached down to grab the flammable material and looked for some sort of cover; the last thing she needed was a tribute to stumble upon this campsite. Remembering the lessons from one of the stations she had taken, Arianna drifted back to her past when Annora had told her what to do in case their fire burned out. “It’s simple, Arianna. You just have to cause some friction and then feed the flame.” Arianna had stared at her sister’s hands as she watched magic happen. Annora had looked back at her and gave her a gentle smile, and Arianna couldn’t help herself. Even as she remained shut in—

Her hands quickly grabbed for the dried out brush as the flame appeared, giving the fire fuel to burn. When the fire was big enough to heat her canteen, Arianna didn’t hesitate to boil her water. Boil the water, kill all the bad things. But as soon as the fire had served its purpose, Arianna stamped out the fire, hoping that there wasn’t enough smoke to signal anyone else. No sounds alerted her of another tribute’s presence but it was her ears that picked up the subtle beeping of another capsule.

Arianna’s head turned as her hand received the slightly larger capsule this time. What did Katelyn and Kirito and Harbinger give me this time? It was a small bear toy, fluffy and grey with its exterior, wearing a large hat on its head. A little smile was stitched onto its face, a large dark oval nose in the middle, and it was holding a box as if it had brought Arianna a gift. Her eyebrows were scrunched with confusion as she opened the lid of the box and saw carefully wrapped up bandages and tucked to its side was a needle with some thread. Arianna looked up to the sky and mouthed a “thank you” to her mentors for looking out for her.

She looked back down at the toy with curious eyes and found her lips spreading into a smile. Bringing it close to her chest, Arianna’s fingers could feel its softness and warmth as they wrapped the head and body of the plush. You’re going to be my partner! But what should your name be? She looked deep into its—his—eyes, waiting for an answer to come to her. Sam! I shall name you Sam.

My partner, Sam.


[Arianna uses firewood to purify water]
[Arianna receives koala plushie and medkit from sponsorship]
[Arianna uses camouflage]


Thread title from Winnie the Pooh