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Fandom Hunger Games (Closed)

Once they found the patch of wild sweet potatoes, Finnick seemed to momentarily forget about the joking banter between River and himself that had ended up unintentionally turning a bit uncomfortable and awkward, due to their feelings for each other that neither wanted to admit to. The awkwardness was forgotten though as they all got happy over Gale's find at some actually, good food that would give them some energy and strength back, maybe enough to actually sate their angry stomachs that cramped in hunger pain due to the lack of good nutrition and food.

As they all got on their hands and knees to dig up the sweet potatoes, basically as many as they could comfortably carry since this was quite a rare but good find for them - a source of food that would help their hunger substantially without needing to be cooked in a fire or anything like that, it would be smart to stock up on it now while it was here in front of them, not really knowing the next time they would come across such a good food source in these games. He helped Gale pile them up in the bag and keep them from squishing the fruit, which they then passed out to each of them in the group to eat now. They were all hungry, and also, to save space and weight to carry.

"We can take a few minutes to rest and eat a little I think. But I agree we should hurry on to finding shelter before it gets too much later hopefully" he agreed with Gale's suggestion. Once they all ate some fruit, they all had a bit more energy back too now having eaten something, and ready to get back on their feet as they continued their search for something that might provide some sort of shelter. Several hours passed, and while they came across potential spots to camp out in very bushy and shrubby areas, it seemed holding out for something better proved to be worth it in the end.
~
As they all finished gathering up a good amount of the sweet potatoes to stock up on, Lillian couldn't help but smile and think this day actually was going pretty well. They'd all woken up in light spirits, joking, and now seemed to find a great find of food, something with substance that would give them energy aside from just keeping them alive. It was hard not to feel so hopeful on a day that was going as well as this one, but she knew she couldn't let her guard down too much, nor did she allow herself to forget the reality of where they were, despite how much she wanted to, she wouldn't even be able to anyways.

After collecting the food and putting it in the pack, as well as finishing eating some fruit for the time being as they took a short break, Lilly had collected one of the flowers that sprouted from the sweet potato plants, and as they all got up and were getting ready to continue their search for shelter, she slipped the flower behind Gale's ear, smirking at him "Here's your prize for finding us some great food" she teased playfully, smiling a bit at the amusing and also cute sight of Gale with the flower tucked in his ear.

The day continued on, and while they could have made shelter anywhere really, and used the very condensed foliage itself to hide themselves on the ground, none of them seemed to want to settle for something so simple. Eventually though, holding off paid off as they seemed to find a narrow crack like entrance into the side of a rock hill - a small cave of sorts. It was narrow, but once passed that entrance there was more space it seemed, enough for all of them. It wasn't hard for her and River to slip inside, though it was a bit harder for the guys, it was possible. "This looks great....I mean, i know caves are pretty easy to spot if you're looking for one, but this one also has a pretty different entrance. It's not just some big hole in the side of a rock" she suggested as she looked to the group. Aside from the less than obvious entrance, the cliff it was hidden in was more of a large hill of sorts covered in grass and roots, and even bushes, making it not an obvious rock structure.
 
River was glad for the distraction Gale provided and it even seemed to lift the air as well. She peeled the outer shell of the banana off, trying not to seem too ravenous even though it had been days since she had a proper meal and her stomach ached in a pain she wasn't use too. She was all too familar with the pain of hunger, however this had taken a new turn. An unrelenting knife in the gut feeling, and she hoped the banana would help calm it down for the time being.

So finally they were all off through the forest, thankfully it hadn't been too exciting of a day and they hadn't come across anyone else. After the last few days, she felt they all needed one day away from running for their lives or some unspeakable pain that was inflicted and hoped the night would be as uneventful as the day. The night was fast approaching, the underbrush was cooling down and it looked like it would be another fitful night in a tree when they came across a strange looking cut in the side of a hill.

"Yeah it looks good, but Lillys right. Someone should check the perimeter. Me and Finnick can check the inside for any tributes that may have found it as well." Gale suggested looking up at the entrance. River agreed with his plan, they needed to make sure it was secure, thankfully with the sun low in the sky already, nightfall will be a good cover for the cave. "Me and Lilly can check around the area." She looked towards Lilly as if asking if that was okay. She didn't mind if her new friend wanted to go check out the cave, but she figured there was a good chance of a tribute being inside then around it and with their injuries the guys might have a better chance fighting whoever off in a small space like that.
~
"Do I look as beautiful as I feel?" Gale teased Lilly before untucking the tiny flower from his ear to place in Lilly's braid. He let his thumb trail the side of her face, as he let go of the flower resting in her firey hair. She looked positively breathtaking, and he wondered for a moment what it'd be like to kiss her. Not as two tributes in the arena, but as two regular people who enjoyed spending time together. He smiled sideways before letting his hand drop to his side. "There, now it looks beautiful."

Though the moment was soon cut short by the sound of the other two who were ready to leave. He didn't mind this, in fact he gave him an excuse to step aside and think about it all. He had just inadvertently called Lilly beautiful.. to her face. Although he had been talking about the flower itself, his eyes never left Lillys and he wondered if she knew he meant the compliment towards her and not the flower. His feelings for Lilly were getting stronger, and he didn't seem to care about the possible dangers this in tailed. He thought once he loved Katniss.. but now he realized it was more just out of convenience and not because of attraction.

After several hours of traveling the sun was getting lower in the sky, and Gale was starting to give up hope they'd find a place before dark. As much as he didn't want to spend another night in a tree, he considered it might be their only option at this point. However before suggesting it, they came across a cave cut into the side of a rocklike hill. The entrance wasnt wide open, inviting anyone who walked past so it seemed like a good place to take shelter for the night.
 
When they came across the cave like structure Finnick was relieved. While he knew many tributes hide out in caves if given the opportunity, due to the fact that they were so protective - especially from weather and climate in the games. And the fact that especially in a rain-forest, where the heat was constantly getting to them and the humidity threatened to suffocate them, or at least felt like it, a cave was a welcomed structure for shelter, as the rocks and stone enclosed shelter would keep it cool inside, or cooler than outside, anyways.

As they cautiously approached the shelter though, he knew they had to be careful. Not only was there the possibility of other tributes already having taken claim over it - but even if tributes hadn't yet, other animals or beasts of the game-makers creations could be inhabiting such places that a tribute would search out, such as a cave like this one. Though, thankfully that later concern didn't seem to be much of an issue. While tributes could be inside, he doubted some beast was, unless there was another opening into it somewhere they weren't aware about that was bigger, then most dangerous animals who dwell in caves wouldn't be able to fit inside of it. Which was another good thing about it - it would protect them from most animals and such as well.

As they came up with a plan to secure the area and make sure it was indeed safe enough, Finnick nodded his head in agreement to Gale's words about them checking the inside of the cave while the girls did a look around the perimeter of the general area to make sure it was all clear. Seeing Lilly agree to go check out the are with River, he nodded to the two "Alright, that sounds like a plan then. The sun will be setting soon though so don't go too far" he warned them, before he headed towards the opening in the cave with Gale.
~
She couldn't help bit laugh at his response, grinning. She loved how relaxed she felt with him, and the fact that he could joke around in a feminine way, whereas a lot of guys would scoff and grow bothered if a girl tried to joke that they were 'pretty' and put flowers in their hair or something. And this was all in the middle of the games too, she could only imagine how much more lighthearted he would be when they weren't in a game for their survival. Unfortunately, she knew that was all she could do - was imagine it, since only one of them would be making it out of these games, if either of them at all.

When he pulled the flower from his ear she pouted a bit, before he was replacing it into her own hair, the small white flower sticking out against the red color of her hair. This time she couldn't hide her blush, as her cheeks heated up a dark red as if to match her hair when she locked eyed with him and he commented about her being beautiful indirectly, acting like he was talking about the flower....though he clearly wasn't anymore. Her skin tickled with a feverish feeling where his thumb traced down the side of her cheek, her heart skipping several beats and her stomach twisting....was this...what that feeling of having butterflies in your stomach felt like? She never understood what that phrase meant until that moment, and it was exactly as it sounded now that she felt it.

Thankfully they were distracted from the moment to keep on walking and look for shelter, which they eventually did and came to a cave, discussing if they wanted to use it. With it getting late, and after deciding to do a quick look around with River, they seemed to agree it would do so long as it was clear, and she nodded to River when she asked her to walk around the area with her. Nodding to the guys, she agreed "Yeah, not a problem" she said as she looked to River and smiled, giving a nod "Lets go, we'll be back soon" she said, before they disappeared from sight into the trees with River to check out the area and make sure it was safe enough.
 
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"Shouldn't take us too long." She smiled back to both of the guys before following Lilly up over the hill. Her legs cramped slightly from the journey here, walking since sun up to sun down definitely took a lot out of you especially with the little amount of food and sleep she had been getting. Hopefully this perimeter search wouldn't take too long, and they'd be safe inside the cave before dusk. The trees loomed ahead, tall dark shadows fell over the group and she started to feel a little jumpy; and she turned towards Lilly, trying to take her mind off of the fear prickling at her skin. She noticed the flower sticking out of her hair. She had seen the exchange between Gale and Lilly, though she had tried to give them as much space as possible at the time. "Pretty flower, you guys seem to be close." She smiled, she had noticed the shift in their friendship but didn't want to pry if Lilly didn't want to talk about it.

She was about to comment on a lighter topic when she heard a faint voice yelling through the trees. It was so soft she half thought she had imagined it, as if the wind was whispering to her - it almost sounded familar.. Shaking her head slightly to clear it from her spaced out moment, she realized she had stopped in her tracks with Lilly several feet in front of her. "Sorry.. did you hear that?" She looked around but was only greeted with silence. I'm loosing my mind.. She thought to herself before catching back up to Lilly, her legs tightening at her sudden movement in running.

"Sorry I must ha.." And she stopped again midstride beside her friend, turning back towards the darker side of the forest. With the sun setting the opposite direction, the shadows gave the path an eery look, that at any second something might jump out and snatch you. But she heard it again, clear as day the familar tone of her brother screaming her name for help. River.. please help. "Fen!" She screamed, if she had been thinking properly she wouldn't have raised her voice to draw attention on them but she couldn't help the reaction as it past her lips. Without another second to pass she felt her legs running, a searing pain of exhaustion set in but the adrenaline kept her going as she bounded into the shadows of the forest without a single look towards Lilly.
~
Gale couldn't get the image of Lilly out of his mind, when he placed the flower in her hair. Her cheeks had redden giving her away, and he couldn't stop the feeling of his heart pounding when he remembered the look she had given him. He had almost cupped her face, but with an audience, and he didn't just mean River and Finnick, he had regained himself before that happened. What would she have done? Would she have given in or pushed him away.. He wasn't sure which answer he'd like better.

As he headed into the cave, with a quick wave towards the girls, he stepped into the darkened cut in the hill. He felt the change in temperature immediately, almost ten degrees lower and a weight had released in him. He hadn't even noticed the humidity of the jungle could weigh you down, but now with the cool rocks surrounding him he felt more at ease. "At least that's one good thing." He said back to Finnick without turning his head. He had to watch out in front of him, steping carefully trying to keep his balance with several fallen rocks in the path. He trailed his hand along the side of the cave, the cool wetness rubbing off on his fingertips as the cave became fairly dark.

"Well, it doesn't seem like anyone's been here." There were no tracks from what he could see, and no left over crumbs of food or firewood -nothing to alert him someone would be coming back. He was glad for that, he didn't want to go back out in the forest to find a knew place when it was already so dark out. It was definitely a decent sized, enough for the four of them however the entrance only allowed one at a time since it was so narrow keeping out large animals which he was grateful for. "It's getting late.." He turned to Finnick as he checked outside to see if the girls had returned yet.
 
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After the girls had left to scout the area out around their new shelter for the night, he hoped it would all turn up fine, both inside and around the cave. They could really do for a nice and relatively comfortable shelter for once so he was hoping that they didn't run into any trouble or anything. Today had been a rather uneventful day - which was a good thing in the games - though it put Finnick a bit on edge. Like how could the day have gone by so smoothly, not only did they not run into any trouble or anything, but it was a good day as far as the games went - they found a good food source, they all had been in good spirits and laughing and joking around with each other. With the day nearing it's end like this, it put Finnick on such an edge, as if something bad was bound to happen, like it wasn't possible to go an entire twenty four hours without some sort of trouble happening.

Shaking the uneasy feeling off, Finnick followed Gale towards the entrance of the cave, letting him slip inside first. He then followed in after him, squinting his eyes a bit to adjust to the sudden darkness. there was only a little bit of light right by the opening, but only a foot or two inside it turned pitch black with no other source of light other than that small and narrow entrance. His eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness, accidentally stepping on the back of Gale's heel once or twice as he apologized, keeping his hand to the cool wall of the cave as well as he looked around "Yeah, it seems clear to me. Thank god too, I'd really rather not have to worry about finding another place for the night" he said as he made his way back towards the entrance.

As Gale commented on the time he nodded his head a bit as he slipped out of the cave, standing by the entrance as he saw the sky nearly completely dark "The girls should be back any minute now" he commented, more so to hide his own slightly growing worry for the two of them. As the time continued to pass though and it had been at least another half hour, with the sun now completely gone behind the horizon and the stars starting to fill the sky instead, there was still no sign of the girls. Finnick frowned "Somethings wrong....they should be back by now" he said as he looked to Gale with worry.
~
Heading out into the cover of the trees with River, she started to look around the close surrounding area of the cave they had found. So far it didn't seem like there was really any signs of tributes recently passing through these areas or lingering around them or anything like that, which gave Lilly a good feeling. It seemed like the spot would work out, so long as the boys had cleared the inside of the cave, it seemed that would be where they would be staying for the night.

As they walked, she heard River speak up to her commenting about her and Gale, causing that warm feeling to hit her cheeks again a bit as she recalled back to that moment when Gale put the flower in her hair "Oh uh...yeah..." she trailed off with a small smile "I guess we are" she agreed softly, before turning her attention back to River "You and Finnick too" she commented with a smile. She didn't pry and press the topic though, remembering how she and Finnick got when she teased them about being lovebirds. So she turned and continued walking on ahead, not realizing at first River had stopped until she asked if she heard something. Stopping, she turned back to look at her with confusion "No...I didn't hear anything" she commented curiously, before River seemed to brush it off and they kept walking. She was about to suggest they head back to the cave with the boys, before River was suddenly calling out a name, and moments later, taking off running into the forest.

"River!" Lilly's eyes widened and she quickly turned on her heel to chase after her, wincing a bit at the pain that shot through her leg with her injury from suddenly running. Thankfully she could run again now at least, but not without the pain. Lilly cursed, running through the forest and trying to keep up with her friend "River! Where are you?" she called, but also trying not to be too loud. The sun had set, and most tributes were settling down for the day, and paying more attention to surrounding noises. Especially the careers. As Lilly was chasing River though, she stopped in her tracks when she thought she heard something, a familiar voice "Dad?" she spun on her heel, stopping in the middle of the forest and looking around confused, worry and fear in her eyes.
 
Her legs burned, and her lungs cried out in pain but she didn't stop- her ears were numb to Lilly's voice trailing after her. She had sworn she had heard it, Fen, her brother's voice calling out for her as he screamed in pain. How could the capital have gotten to him.. why would they be tourturing him.. The thoughts drove her mad, and she continued to chase the direction from which his voice came. Until she heard it again, clear as day coming from her left side this time making her almost trip over her feet.

"Fen!" She breathed heavily before stumbling in the other direction. She needed to get to him, her eyes pooled slightly and she didn't know if it was from her body protesting or the fear she felt for her brother..or both. She knew she was going farther and farther into the forest and probably wouldn't be able to find her way back to the cave, but this didn't seem to bother her; all she could think about was getting to Fen. "Where are you?!" She tried again, but never seeming to get more of an answer then just help. Her heart pounded with every step she took, and his voice grew louder and louder ringing in her ears but she could never seem to catch up to him. When his voice began to multiply, coming from all sides she froze midstride her body begging to lay on the ground right then and there but she held herself in place as her gaze shifted from one direction to the next.

Not real.. This isn't real, the captial was playing on their emotions to further brake them. She covered her hands with her ears begging for them to stop, before backing up trying to run from the voices. She didn't get far before slamming into something, but when she looked up nothing was there. She put her hands out feeling the invisible wall before her. She was trapped, and if Lilly had followed her they were both trapped from going back to the cave. She pounded her fists against the force field, praying it would disapate beneath her hands but it held strong no matter how much she banged on it. She was about to give up when the voices started to change into something unrecognizable morphing until it became clear who it was impersonating making the breath rush from her lungs. Finnick..
~
Gale nodded to Finnick when he suggested they should be back any second but as the sun crept down fully below the horizon now, dread picked at his mind making him fully on edge. Something wasn't right.. they should be back by now. With Finnick voicing the thought, he stood up from his place on the ground beside the entrance. Getting to his feet he stared at the direction the girls had left from, "Maybe we should look for them.." He trailed off, thinking what could possibly have kept them from coming back.

He knew it was a dangerous thought, it would be completely pitch black in a few mintues and it would be near impossible to find their way back to the cave, and not to mention the career groups that like to hunt during the night. At least no canons went off so he knew they were still alive, however that doesn't mean something terrible hadn't happened to them. But he set off in that direction, hoping maybe they'd still be closeby just got lost on the way back.

But he knew it was more than this, the gut wrenching feeling telling him so. He walked up and over the hill, squinting his eyes slightly as they adjusted more to the dark. He had a good advantage point up here, being able to look down and see a pretty good distance away, however on the other side it was more level to where he stood. "Is there any way to track them?" He questioned Finnick, not really sure what to do next. What if they came back and him and Finnick were out searching the area.. or what if they stayed and something terrible happened to the girl's because they didn't make it in time..
 
After he and Gale decided that it had been far too long of a wait on the girls, and there was something wrong with them having not appeared back yet, Finnick grew worried about the two as he stood up from his spot, looking around as if in hopes to see them walking into sight any second, and relieving them of all their worries. But there was no sign of them, no approaching footsteps, not their voices, nothing. He frowned with a stiff expression on his face as he still hoped maybe they would turn up any second. But he knew that wasn't happening. Something happened. Hopefully it was something as harmless as they simply got lost. Well, it wasn't all that harmless. But out of all the options, that was the best to hope for in this moment.

"Maybe they're just having a hard time finding their way back in the dark?" he suggested to Gale as he looked in his direction. Part of him knew that wasn't the reasoning, but he said it as if in hopes it would be the reason, and Gale would confirm his hopes of it being something that simple. But both of them knew it wasn't that easy, and he frowned again looking back into the distance of the direction they last saw the girls, nodding his head lightly when Gale suggested they should look for them.

"I don't want to just leave them out there....but if we go looking for them, and they come back while we're gone, then they might worry about us - or go out looking again for us" he commented with a frown. It was in that moment of their indecision that they heard the sound of a canon echoing off in the distance, and Finnick felt his heart drop and his skin probably turned sheet white as he glanced to Gale "We're going" he said, not even caring anymore. He wasn't going to leave them alone....that cannon....he just prayed it wasn't one of them. "We can leave a sort of message for them in case they do come back" he said as he went back into the cave. He grabbed a banana, and using his nails scratched into the skin of the peel - not un-peeling the banana - 'be back soon', being engraved into the unpeeled skin of the banana. Since the broken parts of the skin would brown in seconds once exposed to air, leaving a message readable. He left it by the entrance where it could be seen, before he then came back out to leave with Gale.
~
Lillian struggled to keep up with River, trying to follow after her. She could no longer see her with the distance between them and the sun having now set, ridding the land of sufficient light, however she could still hear the sound of River's running footsteps. She tried to follow in the direction of them, knowing that if they got separated it wouldn't be good, especially at night and now with the sun having set. She had been so focused on catching up to River and trying not to lose her, that she wasn't really aware of where exactly she was running.

As she had been chasing after River though, she suddenly stopped short in her track and turning around as she thought she heard her father calling for her in the distance. "Dad?" she called again, confusion and worry taking over as she heard that familiar, hacking cough of his he had from his illness, and for him calling her for help. Her mind started to spin with fear and worry about her father. While he wasn't her biological father, he might as well be to her, and she cared about him more than she could describe. One of her biggest worries of being in the games, aside from likely dying in them, was the fact she would be leaving her father by himself. He'd grown very ill, and with it being just the two of them living together, she took care of him. She worried how he would fare without her, and if by some miracle she survived the games, she worried about the possibility of him dying before the games were over.

Now, hearing his voice again, that was all she could think about, despite the better part of her knowing there was no way he was in the games and here if she were to think logically. As she followed the sound of her father though, it slowly kicked in that it wasn't really him. That's right...she reminded herself as she clenched her fists at her side. There was no way he was here.
 
"Leave me alone!" She harshly bite out the words now recollecting herself. She knew this was some trick played by the game makers and even though she knew the guys were back at the cave, and her brother safely back in district 4 their screams were still enough to drive her a little insane. She didn't have many people she cared about, and she liked it that way. She didn't interact with people because she disliked the thought of getting close to them it was the fact that they could be taken away; and even though she didn't find herself a particularly emotional person she couldn't help her emotional state she seemed to be in.

That's what you get. She could almost picture her subconscious laughing at the sight, if you bottle things up then they're likely to explode. She had always bottled up her emotions, even with her brother and now that she had thought him to be in danger she couldn't seem to stop herself from acting instead of thinking rationally. She continued to pound on the invisible wall hopelessly until her hands were raw and she felt her legs about to give out as a stray fallen tree limb caught in her suit tearing it slightly. Focus.

Where was Lilly? She looked around nervously wondering if they were far seperated or if the red head was close enough to hear her. "Lilly?" She called out in a hushed tone, waiting for an answer before she started trudging back through the forest. Black things circles over head casting eery shadows, as they dive bombed at her, pecking her skin and slamming into her. "Lilly!" She called out even louder this time as the adrenaline pumped in again, and she picked up the pace. They needed to get out of there, even though the gamemakers were obviously trying to keep them all apart for their sick games, she knew if they were seperated they'd have a harder chance at survival with no food or water between them.
~
Gale searched the horizon, hoping to see a head of hair coming through them; but none ever came. The gut wrenching feeling continued knowing that something bad had happened, and the girls weren't coming back. He saw the look in Finnick's eyes like pleading him to say everything was alright they'd be back soon, even his half hoped statment about maybe they were only lost. But even he couldn't pretend now, they both were aware of what was going on and all he could do was pray they'd find them in time.

Then he heard it, a canon. He felt sick as he shot a feared look towards Finnick who seemed to be mirroring his own thoughts. "Now." Gale responded to Finnick's comment about going out to find the girls, and he followed the blond tribute over to the opening of the cave. It was a smart idea, carving out a message in case one of them returned. He didn't want the girls going out to search for them if they came back to an empty shelter. When the message was laid, he took off in the direction the girls had left in watching carefully where he stepped but still keeping up a fast pace.

The underbrush was treacherous at night, a few thorns cutting into him as he past over sized bushes. He couldn't tell one direction from the next and looked back towards Finnick blindly. "We should keep tract of which direction we're going. In case we want to double back and check the hideout."
 
After hearing the canon sound off, Finnick threw all logic out the window. The only thing that mattered now was finding the girls and making sure they were safe. That canon couldn't have been for either of them. It simply couldn't have been....they were stronger than that. That's what Finnick told himself anyways, to keep himself from completely losing it. He didn't know how many tributes were left exactly, but he knew it wasn't a whole lot, and was probably a third or less of the tributes left in the arena now. Which only meant higher chances that the canon could have been for River or Lilly. He tried not to think like that, his mind quickly kicking into autopilot.

He quickly came up with how to leave a simple message for the girls in case either or both of them showed back up, wanting them to be sure they knew they were alright and didn't go out looking for them. It's not like he could leave a long message or anything explaining why they left or that they thought they were in trouble or such, so, he left just those three words, as he couldn't fit much on the banana to write, but it was enough to let the girls know they were okay if they did show back up. He kind of hope they did - and that he and Gale were just overthinking things and panicking without need to.

Nonetheless, he then quickly headed off with Gale into the forest, heading in the direction they last saw the girls head off into. Glancing to Gale, he nodded his head in agreement "Yeah, it won't help us if we just end up getting lost too" he agreed "We need to try and keep calm about this too...if we freak out and run off in any direction, we'll only get ourselves into danger. And especially now, you and I cannot afford to split up" he commented as he looked around for any sign of the girls or what direction they might have gone in "They wouldn't have gone far intentionally. So maybe they're just stuck or lost somewhere nearby" he suggested.
~
Lilly was barely getting a grasp on herself as she spun around in circles for the source of the sound. She knew her father wasn't here...but the sounds of his cries for help were still haunting her. Even if they weren't real in the moment, that didn't mean he wasn't actually in trouble. What if he wasn't doing well without her there to provide for him? To get him food and even the unhelpful medicine she got for him anyways. District 12 didn't have many good resources, especially when it came to medicine. And even basic medicine was hard to get and came at great cost or exchange. It wasn't free, even for an ill and dying lone man - everyone in 12 had to do their best to make a living. Lilly always did what she could to get even the basics of medicine that were available in 12, to give to her dad to at least help his discomfort. But how was he doing without her? She knew he had to be struggling...so even if the cries she heard now weren't real, and were just a trick on her, it still reminded her of how it could be a reality, and of all the concerns and worries she had for and of her father when her name was called to enter the games as 12's female tribute.

Spinning around in the same spot, she looked up at the shadows that circled above her head. An animal - some type of bird? Tears filled her eyes as they didn't stop, and continued to dive past and around her, and mimic her fathers voice. "Shut up!!" she cried at them, grabbing a rock and aimlessly throwing it up at them angrily. They only flew at her more angrily, pecking down at her and pecking at her hair and pulling at it in their beaks. "Stop it! Go away!" she snapped at them as she waved her hand at them, before running away from them.

She could vaguely hear River in the distance, and she felt relief "River!" she called out for her friend, unable to see her, and by the sound of it, there was a bit of distance between them - but at least they could hear each other now. The birds had vanished at some point, as if clockwork and on a time setting just all of a sudden were gone, as was the sort of force field River had previously encountered. While this was partially good, it now also allowed others to find them - such as the careers who had heard the two calling out to each other.
 
Unshed tears hung in her eyes as she ran through the forest. Her legs screaming in agony as they pounded farther through the underbrush. She heard Lilly's voice echoing nearby making her turn crashing into the girl but not hard enough to knock either of the two of them over. "I"m so glad I found you." She said, before searching the sky for the creatures that had bitten and clawed at her skin. They had all seemed to disappear, thankfully giving them a chance to clear their minds of the short lived agony and catch their breath.

She didn't want to wait too long, they were exposed unprotected now without a hideout or the guys for backup. It was completely dark now, even though her eyes had adjusted slightly it was an unnatural kind of darkness. The stars had faded almost completely, no moon in the sky to offer any type of light. They were being trapped.. trapped by the game makers. "Come on, we need to get out of here. Anyone in a mile radius probably heard that." She motioned to the scene that had just unfolded before picking up her pace again.

At least they hadn't gotten separated, which was likely to the game makers dismay. They were one step ahead on that account, but she didn't want to keep her hopes too high. It was futile to try and find their way back, it was dark and they hadn't made any type of markers to find their way back. If this hadn't been the games were people were trying to kill her she would've suggested picking out a tree and waiting until morning to try and track their way back. However they were in the games, and staying here would probably mean their imminent deaths.

~
His heart pounded in his chest at every footstep he took. He knew they had to find the girls quick, he wasn't waiting around to check out the sky at midnight to see if their faces were up there. He pushed through the brush, making note of the markers he left so it wasn't too noticeable for anyone else to figure it out. Also, by the time they decide to head back it will be pitch black, them having to feel their way through the forest. He made the makers bases on touch, instead of something he could see. His breath hitched every time he heard something moving beside him. Slightly in fear of it being a tribute, slightly in anticipation that it might be Lilly or River.

Though it never was, only an animal or the harsh wind that now seemed to pick up. Was it always this windy at night? Even though they hadn't made a habit of trailing through the forest at night, he had still be outside uncovered for many of the nights he had been here. He knew what this would mean, they were close and the games makers were throwing whatever they could to stop them from finding the girls.

This gave him a small hope, that maybe the girls were both still alive and that the cannon had been for someone else. He silently prayed to whoever that this was the truth. He continued his path straight, as the wind continued to push him back. It was strong, practically knocking his feet off the ground once or twice. "I think they might be close." He said finally back to Finnick, seeing what he might have to say. He had be trudging through the forest mostly quiet so far, hoping to hear something from the girls to give them a direction to follow.
 
Walking through the forest with Gale, Finnick mostly left the tracking up to Gale so that they didn't get lost and they could find their way back to camp. However, he was still keeping a very observant eye on their surroundings so that he wasn't clueless, though Gale was a better tracker than himself so he would be better for the job. Also, being observant would not only help them not to get lost, but it would increase their chances of spotting signs of where the girls might have gone, or where they might be. Despite how careful and observant he was being though....it was rather difficult with the howling wind that seemed to echo around them and through the trees. Even he couldn't help but feel suspicious of the unusually strong winds all of a sudden.

Hearings Gale's hopeful comment of them being close, Finnick wasn't too sure. Of course, he hoped so too. But he wasn't sure if Gale genuinely thought they were close, or, if it was just his mind trying to be hopeful and optimistic, wanting them to be close, that was speaking. Finnick just nodded his head lightly "They couldn't have gone far..." he added, feeling as though that much was true. Unless something forced them to distance themselves further from the camp. Which he was starting to get that uncomfortable feeling in his gut like that was exactly what had happened. And as discomforting it was, feeling like this was all played out exactly as the game makers wanted it to, he also had this strong feeling that the girls were safe, and neither of them were connected to that sounding canon earlier. While there was still the fear of the possibility in him...he just had this feeling it wasn't them. Just like how he also had a feeling the game makers were intentionally causing all these circumstances to split them up and keep them apart.

As they searched for the girls, it felt like hours were passing, though that probably wasn't true. Not yet anyways. Hopefully not ever. Hopefully they would find them soon, and they would all be back at the cave save and warm in no time. But with every minute that passed without a sign from them, his heart sank further in his gut. Part of him wanted to call out for the girls, but he knew that wouldn't be smart. Not only would it signify to any other tribute within hearing distance the general location of where they were, but it would also signify that they were lost and separated. Sighing heavily, he paused in his thoughts when he noticed the change on the ground where they walked. It wasn't very significant, but it seamed easier to walk through. Like someone had already walked through this area - and a lot. He narrowed his eyes, squinting through the darkness as he tried to look at the ground "Doesn't it seem like someone's been through here?" he asked Gale, knowing the male was good at tracking and would be able to notice and tell more easily than him. Finnick was worried it was just his mind being hopeful, trying to find signs in nothing just to tell himself the girls were okay. Finnick was no tracker, but looking in the area, everything on the ground seemed thoroughly stomped down on, as though someone had been running around in this area. Even if Gale agreed that might be the case...it didn't prove it was the girls, unfortunately.

~

Fear started to set in as Lilly searched for River. She recently heard River's voice in the distance, and started to try and make her way in that general direction she thought she heard the voice coming from. She could hear the sound of rushed steps crunching through the leaves and twigs on the ground, and she was so focused and intent on finding River, and assuming the steps were River's since she just heard her voice, the thought didn't even cross her mind it could be someone else's footsteps - someone she wouldn't want to find or run into.

Thankfully though, the lack of that thought and precaution didn't cause her an issue, as a moment later she crashed into a familiar figure "River!" she breathed, relieved, her hand instinctively reaching out to gently grab River's arm, half to make sure she was real and she wasn't imagining or hallucinating things, and also half in fear of losing her and being alone again. Whether she would admit it or not...as scary as being in the games were, being alone in them was terrifying, like she just had been for the first time, even if it was a short amount of time. As her mind calmed down a bit and they both seemed to catch their breaths and relax for a few short seconds, Lilly's touch on River's arm fell and let go as she relaxed a bit more, now looking around a bit more at their surroundings.

Hearing River's comment about getting out of there, she nodded her head in agreement "Yeah" she agreed, and began to walk with her in what she hoped was the general direction back to where the boys where "You...you wouldn't happen to know the way back, right?" she asked, though there wasn't any trace of hope in her voice, knowing full well that they were both completely lost. Sighing a bit to herself, she wondered if the guys were worried about them. They definitely should have been back by now. She only hoped that they wouldn't be separated for long.
 
She sighed, running a hand through her hair trying to break up the dirt and dried blood that clung to her. Finally tying her hair back in a tight ponytail. "Unfortunately.. I think we're lost." She looked around, not recognizing which direction they had come from. "I guess let's try to get away from this spot before we stop for camp." She suggested before walking further on, "In the morning we can try and regroup, maybe figure out a way back to the guys." She said, trying to keep the defeat out of her voice. She stepped careful, trying to keep their location from being over heard.

She was sure they were probably over heard and didn't want to further lead tributes to them by walking or even talking too loud. She tried to ease her mind from the creeping thoughts that she might never see Finnick, or even Gale again. She had come to enjoy being with their small group, but she knew it was naive to think it could of lasted any longer. This had always been planned, they game makers would never allow them to continue on. Were they looking for them? She wondered if the guys were still back at the hideout, waiting for them to return.

She paused when she heard a snap behind her, making her body freeze in anticipation, and fear. Something was watching them.. she could feel it. She grabbed her knife, holding it out defensively towards where the sound had come from. She silently plead to whoever was listening that is was just an animal passing through. She looked to Lilly, before backing up relaxing her shoulders some. "Maybe it.." She started before a huge dark form leaped out from the shadows grabbing her leg pulling her down to the ground. She landed with a thud, coughing as the wind had been knock from her lungs. She kicked her free leg out, jamming it towards the attacker's face several times before the grasp on her leg released. "Go!" She yelled at Lilly, making her way back to her feet to following closely behind the redhead.

~

The hope in him died a little more as every hour passed. He wasn't even sure how long they had been walking, it could've been forty five minutes for all he knew. He looked on the forest floor sighing in defeat, Finnick was right. Someone had been here, but the patterns were all over the place so he knew it could've been from days of different tributes running around. They could never determine if it was the girls or not. Now they were far from the hideout, it could easily take another few hours to make it back. He stopped in his tracks looking over his shoulder at Finnick.

"Should we head back?" He asked, they had no idea which direction the girls were in. For all he knew they could be creating more space between them then actually helping. While Gale was a relatively good tracker, but it was becoming impossible to follow their trail and the night only further inhibiting them. He rubbed the back on his neck, alleviating some of the tension that had been there from looking down trying to pick up their trail. He didn't want to go back, leaving them to spend the night out in the forest but he knew the longer they traveled the more futile it could become.

Growing up Gale was more independent than he was involved in groups, he made decisions that only affected himself - the consequences only falling on him. However, after his father passed away he had to provide for his family. His mother didn't work much, and he was the oldest making him responsible for the younger and giving him a sense of working with others than just himself. Their decisions affected each other, he wondered if it would've been easier to start the games alone without Lilly. He could've resorted back to how he was at home, hunting and hiding out in the forest. He was was almost sure it would've been easier.. but he knew he would've also lost some of his humanity if not completely. Lilly's sweet nature kept him human.
 
Hearing her confirm what Lilly had been hoping she wouldn't, she sighed a bit at the very real reality of the fact the two of them were hopelessly lost. It was hard enough to find their way in the forest as it was, but it was entirely pitch black, almost unnaturally so even for the night, and as much as she didn't want to admit it, it would be impossible for them to find their way back. And with how late into the night it was now, it was too dangerous for them to just aimlessly be walking around. However she did agree that it wasn't safe for them to remain in this general area where someone likely heard them - someone that unfortunately wasn't Gale or Finnick.

Sighing softly, she nodded her head in agreement "Yeah" she spoke softly, also paranoid about keeping her voice low as well. "And it'll be easier to find out way back during daylight" she commented in a slightly hopeful tone, trying to assure both herself and River that they would be able to meet back up with the boys and they weren't now permanently separated until the end of the games...until their deaths. Because while she continually tried to ignore the reality of it, in the back of her mind she knew that only one of the four of them could survive - if one of them did. Shaking the grim thoughts from her head, she continued to walk with River, until she paused in her step as well, hearing the same unnatural break of a twig that didn't come from either River or herself.

Her eyes darted to River as she carefully gripped are her handmade bow and an arrow - while she'd made them skillfully and they worked well, it wasn't really a practical close-combat weapon unfortunately, so it wasn't very good for surprise attacks. Like in this moment that's exactly what happened. Her eyes widened fearfully as River was grabbed, and she made a move to help her before River had seemed to free herself. Once she was on her feet Lilly quickly ran off with her. It wasn't more than fifteen seconds later though that when she made a turn, she ran right into someone who blended in with the darkness where she couldn't see them until it was too late. She gasped out with a grunt at the sudden impact, feeling as though she ran into a wall, and quickly tried to back up before the figure was grabbing at her loose red locks tightly "Go already? But we were just about to have some fun!" a sickening voice snickered - without even looking Lilly knew it was the careers. Meanwhile the earlier figure who had previously grabbed River was already quickly caught back up to them, and grabbing River again.

~

When Gale didn't seem to find much of anything in the tracks on the ground, Finnick sighed in disappointment. He'd been hoping they'd be able to pick something up. But Gale was right, and he knew it. Finnick was just finding himself a bit desperate for a sign, for anything that could lead to them finding the girls. Obviously something happened to them. Finnick could only hope that it was something as simple as having gotten lost, and it was nothing more than that. If they were lost, then, well it wasn't really good, but it was really the best option of all the things that could have happened, all the possibilities that he and Gale couldn't possibly know which one was what happened.

Hearing his comment of heading back, Finnick frowned a bit. He didn't want to, not without the girls, but he knew that Gale was right. Sighing a bit in frustration as he ran a hand through his dirty blond locks cocked in sweat and grime, he sighed heavily "Yeah, I guess" he said as he straightened up a bit more "We'll find them tomorrow, it'll be easier in the daylight" he said optimistically as he turned and started to head back to their camp for the night. Even as they walked back though, he couldn't keep the worries of all the possibilities from flooding through his mind. The only thing he could look forward too now was midnight, as that would be their next closest sign of the girls safety. The sound of the canon earlier still unsettled him, but at midnight, he hoped to see a face that didn't belong to either River or Lilly.

He knew it was wrong, to look forward to seeing someone else's face - someone else's death. But in this situation it left little choices. It wasn't that he wanted anyone to die still, of course. But if it were to be someone, he'd rather it someone else than the girls. He just tried to assure himself that the girls were strong. Both of them weren't as injured now thanks to the medicine so they could fight and stick up for themselves more than that last time he and Gale left them alone and they were in danger. They would be fine on their own for a night...though with that thought, he then had to hope another possibility wasn't true. The girls had gotten separated from them, but he had assumed they were still together at least. So he hoped they hadn't also gotten separated from each other.
 
After freeing herself, a few harsh curses and what she assumed to be the figure gripping it's face, she leaped off the ground running straight into the darkness with Lilly. She trailed close to Lilly, not wanting to get separated again because now if they were too it would be impossible to fight off the attacker alone and probably find each other again. All she could hope for was that the night would give them enough cover to escape. She could hear footsteps close behind her, she didn't dare turn around to see how far behind their attacker was so she kept her legs moving even though they had been over worked not twenty minutes ago.

Adrenaline filled her body, but she was already exhausted from earlier. Her body ran on autopilot, her mind scanning different evasion tactics before she stopped short behind Lilly who was now backing up. She couldn't see much, until a voice pierced through the darkness, a sickening voice that made her stomach twist. Her heart races widely, part from running part from fear as the figure moved towards them. She backed up, keeping her footing even as not to trip and further give the careers an advantage. When Lilly was grabbed by the dark silhouette, River reached out grabbing for her friend when she too was grabbed by the back of her suit as she was shoved to the ground. "I don't think so." The voice laughed.

She coughed as her head smacked the ground, her face against the dirt. She was dragged away from Lilly a short ways, cold hands pulled her by her hair. She struggled against the weight of the person, they were larger than her someone she couldn't overtake. She tried using her knife against him but she was held down at an angle where her swipes went empty through the air. With he hair being wrenched behind her she thought of the only thing to escape. Still, with the knife firmly in her hand she cut through her hair at the elastic band releasing the attacker's grip along with his footing that was pinning her from running, as he fell to the ground beside her.

~

He sighed in defeat, as much as he wanted to be wrong that they were just around the corner, he knew this wasn't true. They needed to get back to the hideout and try in the morning - they were too vulnerable out here, walking around with little cover. He turned around running his hand along the trail he had left for them to find their way back, he was glad for this. Now that the night was here, it would be impossible to track their way back with sight. He kept an even pace back, keeping his hand out following it back to the hideout.

It didn't take them nearly as long to find their way back, it seemed to go by faster because he was dreading leaving the girls out alone in the forest. He stepped through the opening seeing the banana still laying in it's spot from earlier from when Finnick had thrown it down. He sighed, he had a bad feeling that it was more then them just getting lost that they had actually ran into trouble. "Looks like they haven't been back here." He stated before moving fully into the hideout now.

He moved quietly in case someone had seen the note and was hiding inside waiting for them. He let his eyes adjust, even though it was darker in there then it was outside but after waiting a few minutes he knew no one was there. It was silent except for the sound of his breathing and now his steps as he made his way to the back. The space was a decent size, now with just the two of them it was somewhat larger than he remembered. He leaned his back to the wall, sagging into it as he lowered to the ground.
 
As her hair was roughly grabbed before she had the chance to back away far enough from the figure, she gasped out in pain, flinching as her hands instinctively went to grab at her head, and try to pull her locks out of the male's grasp. She heard scuffling coming from behind her, quickly trying to turn her head as she heard River struggling, a few thuds followed by pained coughing. When she tried to turn her head though, it didn't really work to her advantage with her hair still tightly in the figure's grasp, who then yanked on her hair, causing her head to snap back towards him and in a way her neck normally definitely did not stretch to.

She yelped in pain as her legs buckled under her from the force of the pull, feeling something painfully popping in her neck as it snapped in a more than uncomfortable way. She ignored the pain though as adrenaline coursed through her body, quickly reaching to her back to grab her arrows from her handmade quiver. Even if she couldn't really use them properly as arrows were meant to be with her bow, the tips were still sharp, and it being her only weapon, it was the only thing she had.

Unfortunately, before she could get them, the male grabbed the pack of them and tossed them to the side "Hey now, I'm not fighting you with any weapons. It wouldn't be fair if you got to use one" he snickered as he yanked on her hair again as he pulled her shoving her into a tree they were right next to, her legs dragging on the ground as she winced at the contact to her face being slamming and dragged across the bark of the tree. It was then the man attacking her seemed to realize something "Hey now, this red hair..." he trailed off before grinning "There's only one tribute with your firey hair. You and the guy from your district are hiding out together aren't you? Where is he?" he smirked, an idea slowly forming in his head. He knew the male tribute from 12 wasn't dead yet - now that he was thinking about him anyways.

~

The walk back to the hideout seemed far too short. It almost made him consider if they had searched far enough for the girls. Had they done everything they could do to try and help and find the girls for the night? As soon as he thought that though he quickly shook it from his head. He knew it wouldn't help, regardless now. And he also knew that it wasn't the case either. If he and Gale continued searching they would only increase the chances of all four of them dying and being in trouble. And it would be better for them to cover down for the night and not risk themselves more than necessary, so that they'd be able to better find the girls tomorrow during daylight.

As they walked back up to the entrance of the cave, he glanced around the surrounding area, making sure they were still alone and then sighed, seeing the fruit-written message exactly as he left it. He just solemnly nodded his head a bit in agreement with Gale's statement of the girls having unfortunately not come back while they were gone. A part of him had been hoping they were worried for nothing - that they'd come back and here the girls would be waiting for them. But of course things weren't that simple, nor that lucky when it game to the games. The luck was never in anyone's favor.

"Yeah" he sighed as he entered with him "Doesn't look like anyone for that matter has been here though, at least" he said as he moved to sit down on the ground. The cool of the stone was refreshing against his body. Grabbing his canteen, he took a couple sips just as the familiar music started to echo in the arena, and the sky momentarily lit up - not very bright, but just enough to show the holographic images of whomever may have died that day. He gulped thickly, feeling his heart pound a little harder. He almost didn't want to look. But when he finally managed to poke his head out of the cave entrance to glance at the sky, he felt relief wash over them, seeing neither River's or Lilly's faces displayed.
 
"You fucking.." He muttered a few curses as she heard him fall to the ground. She tried jumping to her feet, only to stumbled slightly. She had to make her way back to Lilly, she wouldn't leave without her. She reached out in the dark knowing Lilly wasn't far in front of her before she felt a tight grip on her wrist as her arm was wrenched back behind her. She quickly turned her body, plunging the knife into the shoulder of the tribute holding her down. She hoped this would loosen his grip, unfortunately he held on strong, "I don't think so. You're not getting away with that again." She noticed the voice was deep, obviously a male career tribute.

He twisted her wrist, a small yelp escaped her mouth as it bent in a wrong angle with a sharp shooting pain. The knife fell from her grasp landing on the ground, and with how dark it was she had little hope in trying to find it now. And soon they were moving, her being dragged along the ground until she could make out a few more shapes in the dark. It was Lilly, and the other dark figure she had yet to see fully. "Oh, you think lover boy is somewhere around here?" The guy holding her wrist laughing sickeningly, "And what about you, you have anyone looking for you?" He sneered at her, obviously he couldn't tell who she was which she was silently grateful for. It meant it kept Finnick and even hopefully Gale a little more safe.

He grabbed her up from the ground, holding her out. She leaned forward spitting in his face. Though it was the jungle and she was now seriously dehydrated from running and lack of water it wasn't that successful. "Go to hell." She spat angerly, before a hand was slapped across her face. She held in the gasp the was close to leaving her mouth, not wanting him to get any more satisfaction.

~

He sagged further into the wall, knowing that no matter how long he laid here his overactive mind wouldn't let him sleep. The closer it got to the anthem playing the more sick he felt. He tried to remain positive, that the sooner he knew the better and maybe he'd be able to sleep at some point tonight. He waited, mostly in silence, a few words pasted between him and Finnick as they waited for the moment to come. He followed Finnick's actions, pulling out his canteen taking a few long sips. His fingers ran along the few pieces of fruit they had, though he didn't take one knowing he might not be able to keep it down. Thankfully it didn't seem like they had too wait long.

As soon as it began to lighten up he immediately looked up, his blue eyes searching as the hologram was shown across the sky. It went slowly, grating on his nerves until the deaths passed district 4, River's district. The weight in his chest lightened, if she had made it out there was still hope. Finally it came to the end, not making it to his district calming his fears once and for all. "They're alive." He stated as the sky returned dark again, breathing out a sigh of relief not realizing he had been holding it through the entire thing.

He fell against the wall again, giving him some sort of support. He was glad their efforts in finding the girls hadn't gone in vain, although he would've searched for them either way. "I think something happened to them.." He said after several minutes, his solemn tone evident. He knew it was possible the girls had just gotten lost, however he also knew the probability of that being the case. The girls wouldn't have gone too far, and he knew they should've been able to find their way back. Something must be preventing them from returning.
 
With her face pressed roughly against the tree and scrapping against the bark, Lilly struggling against the male, who was far larger than her so easily overpowered her, pinning her to the tree. Hearing him speak up about recognizing her though and asking where Gale was, she grew more worried, though tried not to show it. Like hell if she was about to tell this guy where Gale - and in turn Finnick - were. And she would do her best to try and throw him off hoping he would think that she was no longer with Gale, so that the guys would be safe. Even if she and River weren't right now, she wouldn't risk endangering the guys. Though little did she knew that regardless of her cooperation, the careers would make a mess of things anyways.

The male pinning her down, Alec grinned a bit as he glanced over to his accomplice "Yeah, I'll bet he is" he agreed when the other had suggested he might be in the general area. Even if the girl wasn't speaking, Alec was pretty sure they were grouped together still. "You thinking what I'm thinking?" he smirked as he glanced back over to his accomplice in the dark. They could meet back up with the other careers - the rest of them who were still alive, anyways, and could try to use these girls as bait to lure out those who they were traveling with "Why kill two when we could kill even more?" he snickered "I wonder if there's a record for how many of the tributes the games' victor kills himself?" he wondered aloud in thought, causing a terrified chill to run through Lilly's core.

She didn't let it immobilize her though, and if anything, struggled further against the male. He had her pinned good though, so she couldn't really push him off, however, with her back to him the way he had her pinned, she bent her arm and swung her elbow back as hard as she could, jamming it into his gut, which caught the overconfident male off by surprise, the wind getting knocked out of him "You little bitch" he sneered, coughing out a bit as Lilly made an attempt to jump out of his reach to go help River, though managed to grab her before she could, one hand grasping painfully tightly around her arm, yanking her back and bringing his knee into her gut, causing her to involuntarily gasped out, but she grit her teeth to refrain from crying out. He then swung his free hand around into a fist, colliding it into her face, the hit knocking Lillian out cold "just knock the damn bitch out so we can head back" he huffed, annoyed with how much of a fight the two were putting up.

~

As Finnick stared up at the sky in relief for a few seconds, even after the hologram and music had faded leaving them back in pitch darkness, he was just overwhelmed with relief the girls were alive. They still didn't know if they were 'okay' exactly, but they were at least alive, and for now, that was enough to give them hope. Letting out a heavy breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding, he nodded his head lightly in agreement to Gale's comment of them being alive "Yeah....they are..." he agreed, leaning back fully into the cave and trying to relax a bit. He couldn't really fully relax, since he didn't know the condition of the girls, but at least they were alive. And so long as they didn't hear any canons throughout the night, he was determined and confident that they would find the girls tomorrow when they had daylight.

Hearing Gale's next words though, as much as Finnick didn't want to admit or agree to him being right, he knew he was, and he nodded his head. "I think so too..." he agreed "There aren't a whole lot of tributes left...anyone left is probably staying in a group of some size. Because of that, it's less likely for tributes to run into each other. without everyone being singularly spread out on their own. The game-makers probably are intentionally trying to split groups like us apart" he noted, leaning his head back against the stone wall with sigh.

"...how many are left now?" he wondered aloud, wondering if Gale had kept count. Finnick had been trying to, so that they could always know how many tributes there were left to run into or have to fight off. But at some point he'd lost track and it was hard to keep count with that and all the other things he needed to actively be aware of to survive in the games "There's us, of course. Including the girls. The careers are probably the other biggest group...though some of them have died. I think there's at least four of them..." he trailed off in thought, before sighing heavily with a shake of his head "In any case, we should try to rest so we have the energy we need to find the girls tomorrow. I'll take first shift unless you'd prefer to. I don't care either way."
 
She remain quiet next to Lilly, knowing neither of them would give up the hideout where Finnick and Gale were. She could only hope that they were far enough away that if these careers decided to go look for them, it would be a harder task then they were thinking. She didn't know how far they had run after getting attacked by the mockingjays, but it had felt like hours since she had last seen the guys and tried calculating the distance between them now. She heard the second man laugh at the first, knowing he wanted the kills just as much as the other one. "Of course, they have to be around here somewhere.." He said, yanking River by her arm once again. She could feel the immediate pain coursing down her arm, hoping it wasn't dislocated. "By their silence I'm thinking they were still together, what did you two get lost?" He mocked.

River sneered, though she knew he probably couldn't see her. "How are we going to get the other two?" The one who still gripped onto River said. He didn't seem the brains of this operation, though was more than delighted in mass murdering all of them which might make him just as dangerous. She heard the rustling of Lilly, who apparently, by what she could hear, knocking into the guy. At the moment of hesitation between the two careers, River kicked her leg out, jamming her feet into the guys face. She struggled against the weight of the guy who seemed to be twice her size, her ankles throbbing from the force of her kicking.

She flinched, hesitating for a second as she heard Lilly gasp and then fall. She didn't hear any other movement, knowing Lilly must have been knocked out. She heard the guy, Lark she thought remembering his voice from the interviews, snicker before grabbing her more fully. "If you had only been more complaint I might have let you stay conscious for this." River involuntarily gasped, before she was thrown up against a tree, her head colliding with the trunk and her vision going black before she even had time to fight it. Lark threw River's body over his shoulder, grateful for her size not weighing him down before heading back to camp.

~

Gale closed his eyes, letting the sinking feeling continue. He wasn't sure how many were left, he could only guess two or three groups being left. Maybe one person hiding out, while every one else grouped up. "I don't know.. maybe 10. I know 9 were killed in the beginning, then I think one a day except yesterday so maybe around 14 already dead." He stated, though during many nights he had slept through the anthem so he didn't know if his calculations were right but it was all he had. He couldn't believe they had been in the games for a week now, it felt more like years if you asked him.

"I think the careers will be the biggest problem." He mentioned, knowing they were probably the largest group, besides theirs, out there. When it came to strength, they had the largest man power. If they couldn't fight their way out they'd definitely have to outsmart them, hopefully they'll succumb to the pressure and kill themselves off. "..You know, if the game makers don't kill us off." The only thing worse than the careers were the game makers. They could make anything happen, at any time making them unpredictable.

He blinked a few times, as he felt a wetness dripping on him. The cave had collected the humidity from the day, making small water droplets fall on him. He shivered against the cool rock, glad to be rid of some of the heat from earlier. "Okay, wake me up in a few hours." He muttered, before closing his eyes. With everything that had happened today, he didn't expect to fall asleep as quickly as he did though his body was all too grateful for rest. He didn't dream much, he found the longer the games went on the less he had to dream about.
 
Despite her best efforts and struggle against the male, she knew she wouldn't be able to overpower him with just brute strength alone, since he was far stronger. She had hoped she may be able to trick him or outsmart him in some way, perhaps during the travel back to wherever they were camping for the time being they might let their guard down, and Lilly hoped that maybe in that time she'd be able to come up with something to outsmart and maneuver away from them, giving both River and herself the chance to escape. However, no matter how smarter than the male she may be, it was no use and she wouldn't be able to do anything now that he had knocked her unconscious.

As much as Alec enjoyed taunting his victims and 'prey', as he considered them often, the redhead was starting to annoy him with how much of a fight she was putting up, especially after she got a good hit in to his gut knocking the wind out of him, and likely going to leave a bruise in that spot. He wasn't very well known for his patience, and if he was, it was for his lack thereof. So having run his fuse short, he just ended up knocking her unconscious, before looking to his fellow career tribute and seeing he soon did the same, so they could both now easily make their way back to camp for the night. Unlike Lark, Alec didn't even both picking Lilly up, simply his hand grabbing the back collar of her uniform behind her neck and dragged her behind him as they made their way back. It's not like he cared about the forest floor scraping her up or injuring her or anything. They may be using them as bait, but they just needed them alive to be bait - plus, in the end, it's not like they would be leaving any of them alive.

"We'll whoever they're with are probably in the area still. Since they know they're not dead, it's a good guess that they'll be looking for them come morning" he said as he thought about the others question about how to get whoever else these girls were traveling with "We can send Annie and Shonta out to find them, they'll be bound to run into them. And from there they can hopefully lure them where we want them" he grinned "They might feel more in control if they see it's just some girls. Even if they do recognize them as careers, I highly doubt they'll know how many of us and which of us are left."

~

Finnick was half unaware he was talking aloud. Part of him was honestly curious and wondering about their chances, and how many tributes there were left to deal with, and while he meant to ask Gale also to see if he knew or his guess on that matter, at the same time, he also half hadn't intended to speak out about it. It was like he meant to speak out loud but not in that exact moment, and the question ended up falling off of his lips before he had really even thought about if he cared enough to ask. But in the end, it didn't really change since he would have, and he silently listened to Gale as he came up with a guess of general number of how many were left, and he nodded his head in agreement since it sounded about right.

Hearing his next comment about the game makers and he sighed a bit with another nod of his head "Yeah...but I don't think the game-makers will intervene as far as life and death is concerned. Not directly anyways. I have no doubt they're likely behind the girls getting lost, but aside from things like that, they game-makers wouldn't try to kill us. It'd be too anticlimactic for them if they did all of it and did let the tributes kill each other off" he rolled his eyes, knowing that that was the exact reason too.

After deciding on taking watch first, Finnick nodded to the other, glancing over to Gale when he saw the male had fallen asleep relatively quickly. Part of him didn't think he himself would be able to fall asleep that quickly with everything that happened that day, but, at the same time, he guessed it actually would make sense, that because of everything that happened that day, exhaustion would take over and it'd be easy to fall fast asleep. The night continued on pretty uneventful, aside from occasionally sounds from nocturnal animals, or some other unnatural movement in the far of distant ends of the forest. Halfway through the night, Finnick woke Gale up to switch watch, and just like Gale, it didn't take Finnick long to fall asleep. Eager to find the girls though as soon as possible, he easily woke up the next morning the moment that the sunlight had crept in through the entrance of the cave and shone on his face.
 
Lark smirked at his fellow teammate as he drug the girl across the ground, though he continued to carry the white haired girl over his shoulder. Lark was somewhat of a decent person, if he hadn't gone into the games he would've lived a quiet simple sort of life but now the games had started to turn him into something more like a monster. He enjoyed every cannon he heard, it was like music to his ears and after his first kill every one after that he hadn't even blinked an eye. He, like so many others, was loosing themselves here in the arena - with little effort from him to stop it, though he wasn't as barbaric as some were.

"Okay." He agreed with the plan to send the girls, not really giving a second thought about their well being. If something happened to them it would be two less people in the arena so either way it was a win win for him. "I can tell Annie where we found them. We can have them pretend like their on their own, or something." He smiled wickedly already starting to fall in with the plan. It wasn't a far walk back tot he camp, he could already see the light from the fire through the trees. Anyone else might not risk a fire, but they didn't see any reason not too. They were a bigger, stronger, more well trained group and he dared anyone to try something.

He noticed the strange looks cross the faces of the others before he set the white haired girl down, rather harshly not watching out for her head and other limbs as he casually tossed her to the side. He looked to Annie who was the better tracker of the two, the flames flickered over her face as she watched the two of them intently. "We have a job for you guys." He smirked, already knowing they'd be interested in what they had come up with on the way back.



~

Gale sat staring up at the stars wondering how long he had been awake. The moon had fully passed over him, now hidden behind the wall of the cave so sunrise couldn't be that far away. His body ached from lack of moving, so he stretched out his arms then legs trying to keep the circulation going throughout his body. He was surprised by how quickly he had fallen asleep just a few hours ago, though staying awake had always been the problem for him. He wasn't sure how many times he had woken, then fallen back asleep until finally Finnick turning to him telling him to get up since it was time to switch shifts.

His anxiety stretched out as he waited for the sun to rise before they could get back out there and start looking for the girls again. He had meant what he said last night, he had sinking feeling that something other than getting lost was preventing the girls from returning. He had picked on an orange all night, though his loss of appetite still remained as he ripped the peel to pieces just trying to keep himself from going insane.

He finally saw the first appearance of morning an hour or so later, as the sky faded from the dark color it was to an early gray glow. He sighed, finally relaxed against the stone wall knowing he didn't have to wait much longer. Soon the sun was up, and he was about to say something when he noticed Finnick already starting to wake up. He was just as eager to start searching for them again, "It's still early." He said, letting him know they hadn't wasted much daylight.
 
The rest of that night the careers talked about their plans amongst each other. They weren't the kinds to really care to remember who exactly was left in the games, so they weren't sure exactly who it was the girls were paired up with, aside from Gale - of which they didn't remember his name even. But Alec recalled the face of the male tribute from district 12, and recalled he and the girl from his district teaming up. And now it seemed the redhead and this other girl...was it River, was her name? Were now teamed up. And Alec had a feeling that there was more than just Gale in their group of whom they'd gotten separated from, especially with the way they had been acting. Regardless though of not knowing who exactly it may be they were luring into a trap, the careers were more than confident with themselves and their abilities to take care of whoever was with them.

Come the next morning, Annie and Shonta had headed out to the area that Lark had explained to them where they had found the girls, and from there they would look around to try and find whoever it was they were grouped up with. They could tell they were softies in that sense, so they were pretty confident that whomever it was they were grouped up with wouldn't just abandon them, and would be looking for the friends come sunrise. Hopefully it wouldn't take too long to find the rest of their group, mainly because the blood-thristy careers were looking forward to not only some more kills, but also looking forward to playing around with their victims and torturing them a bit with this whole bait set trap plan and everything.

As the next morning started to come around, Lilly finally started to wake up. As her eyes fluttered open with a few groggy blinks, her vision focused as consciousness came back to her as did the soreness and pain of the beating she had taken last night, and with that, her memory of it all too. As she came too with a throbbing headache she groaned, going to move to instinctively grab at her head, only to find that her hands were bound, as was the rest of her body so that she couldn't move or try to get away. Her eyes then widened completely at this realization, and she looked around "River" she breathed, finding the girl not far from her, hoping she wasn't dead. Speaking of....why wasn't she dead? Looking around, her eyes then fell on the familiar two guys from last night, looking at them with a little bit of fear in her eyes, but more than anything, confusion. Why hadn't they killed them? Not that she was complaining, but....it left her with a very unsettling feeling.

~

When the next morning woke up him with sunlight shining in through the cave entrance, Finnick easily woke up, without much struggle either. Usually every morning waking up in the games took conscious effort and a struggle to force himself to wake up and get moving with the motivation that his life and survival depended on it. But today, it wasn't a struggle at all, and it hardly took him any time at all before he was sitting up and almost fully away, rubbing the stiff feeling of uncomfortable sleep away from his face. When he heard the other mentioning it was still early Finnick was relieved to know he didn't sleep in long, and if he were to have, he would have hoped Gale would have woken him up. He didn't want to waste any time to search for the girls, and he had a feeling Gale felt the same way.

"Good" he finally replied when finding his voice for the morning "We should get going then" he said as he shifted a bit to gather their supplies. Despite being the one who'd just woken up, he was wide awake and more than ready to be heading out in search of the girls. "Whenever you're ready. We should go soon, not just to find them faster, but to be able to cover more ground before the heat rises too much" he said as he got up and maneuvered himself out of the cave, glancing around to be sure no one was around at the moment to catch them off guard. The shelter of the cave had certainly provided a lot of comfort, as moisture collected inside the cave from the humid day and turned the walls wet and cool to the touch, actually providing a relief from the hot temperatures and humidity of the days in the games. It left Finnick feeling at least a little bit energized from the coolness of it and the change of not having had to sleep and wake up to heat before he even opened his eyes.

Once Gale was ready to head out in search of the girls, Finnick headed out with him into coverage of the trees. As they walked, it was certainly a lot easier to try looking around with daylight now, and it would be easier to track as well. Something he himself wasn't particularly all that good with, though he knew Gale was a far better tracker than himself, he himself still kept an eye out for any signs. It took them a while until they found any possible signs regarding the girls whereabouts, but then he noticed something familiar laying in the distance at one point "Isn't that...?" he trailed off, noticing what looked to be Lilly's bow and arrows scattered on the ground in a pile, as if they'd been thrown. When he took several more steps around them, his eyes landed on the familiar braid of pale blond locks on the ground not too far from the scattered arrows and bow, appearing to have been hastily cut off, causing FInnick's heart to drop in fear.
 
Lark had spent the night scheming with the rest of his group. They were all in high spirits that they would be able to find the two guys the girls had been with, hoping their alliances were strong so that they would be foolish enough to go looking for them, maybe even desperate enough to trust Annie and Shonta. If they weren't successful in bringing back the other tributes it was nothing against him, he didn't have to sacrifice anything by going out into the forest like the girls. He just had to sit back at their camp and wait for the girls to lead them back into their trap. Soon they all went to sleep, and the next day Annie and Shonta were sent off in the direction in which Lark had given them.

River groaned as the sunlight hit her eyelids. She could already feel the cuts and other wounds she had gotten from the night before without even opening her eyes. She laid on her side, breathing evenly trying to get her headache to calm down. Her eyelids fluttered open at the sound of Lilly's voice. She was here? She was alive? Her eyes strained as she looked around, before they landed on the red head who was nearby. "Lilly.." She muttered, a wash of relief as she saw that her friend was alive. Why was she alive, hell why were they both alive? She couldn't wrap her mind around the fact that she was sure last night that she was about to die. What was the point in keeping them here anyways.

Not that she wanted to be dead or anything, but really what was the point. Wasn't the objective of these games to kill each other not tie them up and capture them. If they had changed the rules she did not get the memo. She knew they had to have some plan, they wouldn't keep them here just for the fun of it though that possibility wasn't completely off the table. She looked around more, seeing the two tributes who she assumed had been from last night. Her eyes widened at the sight, though she tried to keep the fear from her expression.

~

He only nodded as a response before getting up, gathering his makeshift canteen in case they came across any water. He followed after Finnick outside the cave, looking around to make sure they were alone. Which they were, giving himself a moment to stretched out his pained muscles. The cave had actually been more comfortable then some other nights in the games. It was cool, keeping them from getting over dehydrated as well. They walked off in the direction they had last seen the girls. There were a few breaks in the path through nothing that gave him any indication that it was a human. Some of them could've been natural, by animals or weather. He continued on, looking out for signs along side Finnick before he turned, stopping in his tracks as Finnick approached something on the ground.

If he hadn't been concerned before what he had found made his stomach drop to the floor. "Lilly.." He muttered as he approached what Finnick was looking at. She wouldn't leave her bow laying around, it was thrown in a way that it looked like there was a struggle here. He also noticed the pale locks that were a few feet away from Lilly's arrows. "Um.." It was the familiar pale white hair, which stood out in the dark green forest. It looked like it had been cut straight through with a knife, though somewhat jagged like she had been in a hurry. He picked up the hair tie before standing back up looking over at Finnick. It was definitely River's, while there had been other blond tributes, theirs were more golden or yellow.

He went back to Lilly's equipment, picking up the stray arrows before he gathered everything. He didn't want a weapon like this open for anyone to find, and if they found Lilly again he'd want to give it back to her. "So we see why they never came back." By what he could see, large footprints and uneven snaps in the bushes there had been somewhat of a struggle between the two girls and it looked like two others.
 
When she saw River's eyes open and heard her speak her name, Lilly felt an immense amount of relief wash over her, knowing that River was okay. Well...as okay as the two of them could be she supposed, given their current circumstances. Now assured her friend was still alive at least, she was able to focus a bit more on everything else, their surroundings, what was going on. They're surroundings didn't give much away.....it looked like the rest of the rain-forest did really, after all, they were still in the 'game'. She could see a large body of water not too far from them, and the first of two thoughts that ran through her head was how incredibly dehydrated she was, and scratchy her throat was from being so dry and thirsty. The other thought was a guess that they were with the careers. After all, who else would be stupid enough to camp so close by to a large source of water.

And as she guessed it, when she turned her head to look in the other direction, there were two guys. She didn't remember their names, but she did recognize their faces. It was hard to really see them last night during the struggle, but now in the daylight she clearly recognized them as careers, and the men that had attacked them last night. She couldn't help but instinctively glare a bit in their direction, and despite being in no position to, she felt the fight coming back to her as she spoke up.

"What are you planning to do with us?" she demanded, catching their attention as they now just seemed to notice they had woken up. Hearing the voice speaking up, Alec lifted his gaze from where he'd been casually eating something that they'd cooked the other night, like he had no care or concern in the world. He smirked a bit as he glanced over his shoulder in her direction "Oh, good you both are awake now. I almost thought you'd never wake up" he smirked as he stood up, finishing his meal of some cooked forest animal as he walked over closer to them "Though then again if you didn't wake up then there'd be no fun to any of this. After all, your boyfriends should be arriving soon now, hopefully" he grinned.

~

As they made their way through the forest, Finnick felt that uneasy feeling only grow when they had found the scattered arrows and the familiar locks of hair on the ground, hair the undoubtedly belonged to River. Sure, there were several blond characters, but he'd come to know even the smallest physical details about River, not only because of surviving with her for so long in the games, but also because of the care he'd grown to have for her, even if he was afraid to outwardly admit such feelings in the games. But there was no doubt in his mind this hair was Rivers, matching her uniquely pale locks. He sighed heavily, running a hand through his hair as he felt the unease in him growing to a point that he felt physically sick.

All night he had been hoping something like this wasn't the case. That clearly some sort of fight had occurred and the girls were in some very real danger. And while he wasn't complaining about the lack of sign of their death, certainly, it did baffle him. Clearly something happened to them. But they weren't dead, he knew that much for sure. Last night of the deceased tributes shown on the night sky, neither River or Lilly were amongst the dead. And so far today they hadn't heard a canon sounding off signifying any new deaths since then. So they were alive. But then just what the hell had happened here?

Hearing Gale's comment he sighed a bit with a frown "Yeah...." he spoke softly, standing back up straight from where he had been kneeling on the ground inspecting the pale locks of hair, and glancing around them a bit "But where are they now?" he sighed in frustration. Maybe they had signs about the girls, but still no idea where they were or what condition they were in. If anything, this evidence only proved they were likely in danger. Glancing around the area, he tried to look for any more sign of where they may be, grimacing a bit when he noticed some blood on the leaves near where the hair was discarded, as well as some smeared against a tree close to where Lilly's arrows had been tossed to the side. Upon further inspection of the area, there could be a trail of what appeared to be something - or someone - having been dragged through the brush of the ground, leading off in one direction.
 
River blinked a few times as the light hurt her eyes. The pounding in her head only seemed to make her stomach twist in pain, though she kept herself for emptying the contents right then and there. She breathed out a sigh when she saw her friend nearby, even though there was nothing she or Lilly could do to help them she was glad they were at least alive and together. It would twice as hard if they were separated, even though right now she had the slightest hope they'd get out of this. Her gaze followed her friend's to see the large body of water near them, and her thoughts mirror Lilly's. Her throat scratched at the thought of water, it being so close yet she could only stare back at it.

She also couldn't help noticing the sight of the two careers. They had an open fire and were near the largest body of water in the arena. It was like they had a big neon sign telling everyone where they were, but they didn't seem like they cared at all. The arrogance that they both were producing was sickening, though she couldn't ignore the fact that they had in fact been captured by them. Had this always been her fate? To get captured and die at the hands of a couple careers who didn't seem to have more than a couple of brain cells between them.

She narrowed her eyes at the sound of the two discussing Finnick and Gale, though they didn't seem to notice - she had figured out their plan in a matter of seconds. She kept her expression neutral, trying not to reveal anything that might help the careers in their plan. That's why they were still alive, the careers were planning on using them to get to the guys. She needed to get out of here, she didn't want to be the reason Finnick and Gale got killed. She struggled against the rope that was keeping her tied together and she cringed at the sound of one of them laughing. "Struggle all you want but it's not going to help your friends."

~

Gale kept quiet the rest of the time they spent tracking through the forest. He couldn't seem to keep his thoughts straight, as he held onto the arrows looking for a direction in which they went from there. What he had feared over the night had seemed to be correct. The girls had encountered someone.. or something though he wondered how they were possibly still alive. They weren't known for their strength, and at night it would be hard to fight off a larger opponent knowing that only the careers hunted at night like that. The longer he though about it, the more he realized how much he was actually worried for Lilly, and River as well. He felt like all rationality had been thrown out the window at this point.

He knew this was inevitable, that eventually some or all of them would end up dead though he couldn't believe he had pushed that thought to the back until now letting himself get attach like this was dangerous and now it could lead them to their own deaths though he never stopped moving as he continued looking for traces of the girls around where the arrows had been found. Finnicks words echoed in his head. Where were they now? And why was the person or thing responsible for this keeping them alive.

He sighed, before looking over at Finnick. He noticed his friend staring at something and Gale made his way over to him. "Find something?" He asked before his eyes fell on what Finnick had been looking at. There was blood, and an obvious trail of broken branches and smashed leaves to let them know which direction the girls had been taken in. "Well..I guess we know which direction they left in." It was obvious now that they girls hadn't made an escape, that they were mostly likely in danger somewhere.
 
After hearing the first response she got, she already felt her gut drop as she could tell what they were planning to do, even if neither of them had directly answered her question about it. The way he spoke about them needing to be awake, and then their 'boyfriends' - Gale and Finnick arriving soon, she realized their plan. They didn't just want to kill River and herself. They didn't want just death. They wanted torture. She grit her teeth behind closed lips, but did her best to try and not react too much to his words, knowing it would only further feed their enjoyment out of all of this.

Contrary to last night, with how much she wanted her and River to meet back up with Gale and Finnick, it now was the last thing she wanted. Not now - not in this situation. Previously, if her and River were just harmlessly lost, she would have been happy to know the guys were looking for them. But now she'd rather they weren't. Or at least, if they were, then the only other hope she could have was that they wouldn't find them. She closed her eyes, trying to calm her panicking and racing heart. Getting worked up wasn't going to help herself, not if she wanted to have any remaining hope of surviving this encounter with the careers. Certainly, with or without the appearance of Gale and Finnick, Alec and Lark certainly planned to kill them.

Though really she was just lying to herself at this point, that she might have any bit of chance of survival left. She didn't even have her arrows anymore, she hadn't a weapon, and when it came to muscle, Alec and Lark both had more than River and herself. As for River, she didn't know if the girl even had her knife on her anymore. Likely not, she figured. If she hadn't dropped it in the struggle last night, then it was probably taken off of her at some point when they were unconscious. And as if she thought River and her might be able to get out of this somehow....any of that remaining hope instantly vanished when she saw two girls appear at the campsite, clearly belonging there as Alec and Lark hardly reacted to their arrival. More careers. Four of them.

After having gone out that morning, Annie and Shonta were now arriving back after their trip to try and locate whoever may be looking for River and Lilly. Alec turned to them with a furrowed glare seeing them return without anyone else "Well? I thought I said to get their friends before coming back" he huffed, and Annie looked irritated at his attitude "Look, we tried to find the spot you two told us you found the girls, but we couldn't find any hair or arrows or anything like you said there would be. We couldn't find wherever you picked them up, but I mean it's not like it'll be hard to lure them here. If loverboys really are looking for their girls, they'll likely see the fire, and investigate here, right? So it's no big deal" Annie shrugged casually "I'm sure they'll turn up. Plus, it's getting too hot to wander around aimlessly. I'm tired of playing fetch" she huffed as she sat down by the fire, appreciating the fact that despite the heat of the fire, it actually cut the humidity in the air surrounding it so it was better in that aspect.

~

In his search for more signs that might indicate the whereabouts of the girls and what happened to them, he stopped when he found was was a clear disruption of the forest ground and leaves, the fallen debris clearly having been dragged over and broken down under weight. From his best guess, caused by something having been dragged through it. And with the blood spotted in the area as well, he feared that 'something' was a 'someone', and one of the girls' bodies having been dragged through. He only snapped out of his thoughts when he heard Gale's voice speak up beside him, now seeming to also have noticed the trail that had caught his attention. He simply just nodded his head a bit in silent defeat to the fact that something terrible had happened to the girls. Their only hope they had left to go on was the fact they knew neither of them were dead yet.

"Well...I guess we know which way to head in, then" he muttered, not to sure he'd be all too pleased at what they found. In that current moment, he wasn't thinking of how this might be all one big trap for all of them in the group. Rather, he was dreading at what they would find at the end of this trail. Maybe they weren't dead yet...but what if they already nearly were? Had some beast of the gamemakers' creation gotten to them, and dragged them off to bleed out by themselves to death? Or other tributes left them for dead? All the thoughts and possibilities were making his stomach turn, and at moments he honestly felt like he might be sick just thinking of River's death. Lilly's death would greatly upset him too, but when he thought of it being River...he felt quite physically sick from the thought.

Trying to shake those negative thoughts from his head, as he and Gale followed the trail they'd found, he was glad to see it didn't end in the middle of nowhere. However, something was giving him an unsettling feeling - and not just the negative thoughts of RIver's death. After walking for about twenty minutes, he quickly stopped in his tracks when he noticed something, putting a hand out to motion Gale to stop as well. There was smoke. They weren't right next to it yet, but close enough to be able to make out a trail of smoke into the sky, and coming directly from the direction the trail they were following.

"Shit..." he muttered, that uneasy, bad feeling in his gut increasing as he started to consider what they knew now about the girls disappearance. "This path leads directly to it" he frowned, motioning to the smoke for if Gale hadn't already yet noticed it himself either "Only the careers would be cocky enough to light that big of a fire. And in broad daylight no less" he huffed in irritation, not liking what he was putting together "And something about that area back there bothered me. Where we found Lilly's arrows, and River's hair, and whomever's blood that was....whoever took them didn't do a very good job at hiding the encounter. In fact, rather, it almost is starting to feel like they wanted to be found."
 
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