As Friends {Jayne/Alja} Day 1

When my name boomed over the crowd gathered in District Ten, it was a sign. It was as if fate had been what called my name, rather than the District’s escort, that day. The goddesses had selected me to fight, and to prove myself for them. The day of the bloodbath at the Cornucopia, however, I did not fight. Rather, I fled, a girl of a few years younger than me tailing behind me. The two of us ran from the vicinity, practically strangers in those moments. Despite not knowing one another, we did not harm each other, simply running in the same direction with the same thought and hope in mind; survival.

Upon fleeing the bloodbath, the two of us peacefully and silently arrived in the same area of the arena, having travelled together without initially intending to do so. The area of the arena in which we arrived was a barren and flat stretch of Earth. Here, in the arena, the goddesses had no power. This landscape of very little greenery made that clear, holes that appeared to have been burrowed in the ground threatening to swallow whatever may fall into them.

This girl, I discovered, as we eventually spoke to one another, was Jayne Ashbrook-Laws, the female tribute from District Twelve. She seemed to have a kind soul, not looking for conflict. If anything, it seemed like she wanted to be my friend, and although friendship was not my top priority in the arena, I decided that I would be pleased to be on good terms with the girl.

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As we sat and spoke, telling one another a bit about our lives, we were interrupted by what I’d like to consider a gift from the goddesses. I knew, however, that it likely wasn’t, as, like I had realized before, they have little to no power here in the arena.

I opened the package attached to the silver parachute, removing the items within. Despite not having conversed much with Jayne, I decided that I should give her some of the armor that I had received, as, to me, it seemed that she may be physically weaker than myself, due to her young age (she had told me that she was merely fifteen).

Jayne received some items of sponsorship as well.

After examining our gifts we’d received from the people of the Capitol that’d decided to sponsor us, Jayne and I both started to gather some firewood. I made Jayne a spear and gave it to her, hoping that it would help us in surviving if she also had a weapon to use, as I’d gotten something to fight with in my sponsorship, and she hadn’t. We chatted as we did this, all the while keeping an eye out for any potential danger. Surely, if the goddesses’ powers were as strong here as they were in other places, we wouldn’t have to worry as much about danger, but in the arena of the Eighty-First Annual Hunger Games, no one was completely safe from danger.

You always had to watch your back.

I looked to Jayne as she spoke to me, asking my a question.

”We’re working together now, then? As allies? As friends?” she asked with a smile.

I nodded in response.

”Sounds good to me.”