Hunger Games 4 - Closed

Ara Ordoe

Ara stood by the door to the convenience shop, staring at the little fire she had lit just outside. She had propped the tarp up with some sticks to block the wind that had picked up. She didn't want to stay outside by the fire. It looked like the butterflies were gone, but she wasn't about to risk it.

She shivered, even as she stood inside the building, and the patches of skin the butterflies had touched itched and burned. She tried to ignore it, not wanting to look at the black bruises.

Suddenly, Kyran screamed. He pulled his shirt off over his head and started frantically searching over his arms.

"What are you insane, Kyran?" Ara scolded. "But your shirt back on before you freeze to death."

"No," he said. "Look!" He showed her his arm. Where there had once been a black bruise was a gaping hole in his skin. "What's happening?" he demanded. "What's wrong with me?" He reached to itch at the hole in his arm, but Ara knocked his hand away.

"It must be the butterflies," she said. "They must have some sort of poison that does this."

"What do I do?" Kyran looked up at her like a lost, terrified, little puppy. Ara bit her lip and looked around. There wasn't much left in the convenience store. It had been ransacked (or emptied by the gamemakers) already.

"Maybe we can wash it off..." she said softly to herself. She grabbed Kyran by the arm and pulled him outside. She grabbed the water bottle she had grabbed from level one - she had filled it with snow and left it by the fire to melt into water - but it was still mostly slush. Instead she grabbed a pile of snow nearby and started rubbing it against Kyran's skin.

He yelped in pain and shivered violently as he stood there, shirtless, letting Ara tear at his broken skin. After she was satisfied with how well she had cleaned out that spot, she moved on to the others on his body. Once she had washed the poison off of him, she sent him inside to warm up. She then pulled up her own sleeves and cleaned out the holes in her own arms.

"What are you doing?" Aspen asked, appearing with a pile of logs in her arms and a strange look on her face.

"The butterflies," Ara said between chattering teeth. "The bruises are poison. You have to wash it off before it eats through your skin."

She grabbed Aspen and pushed up her sleeves, showing the butterfly marks on her skin. Ara handed her snow and told her to wash them out, like she was doing. After what seemed like an eternity, they were both clean of poison but shaking violently as their fingers turned blue.

"Come on," Ara said, standing up and stumbling toward the door. "We have to get warm, and find something to cover these holes in our skin before they get infected."

Still at convenience store with Kyran and Aspen. Poison removed from skin, but injuries still present.

Cody Borjono

Carefully I got up and left the sleeping girl. I was about to stab her when I noticed she was covered with not-on-fire butterflies. They appeared to be asleep, and I didn't want to risk waking them. I made my way outside the little bunker and stared with horror at the burnt path of rotting plants the butterflies had created. It looked like the fire hadn't spread to badly, and all that remained of this part of the butterflies was ash. For a moment I stood in wonder; as the destruction I had partially created spurned forth great awe, which carbonated my blood and made my skin crawl.

I searched the black undergrowth for my steel-pipe, and to my immense joy found that the majority of my sling had survived; though the only way I was going to find ammo for it was via sponser-ship. A damper was placed over my discovery when a pang of hunger racked my stomach. I almost doubled over in it's earth-quake. I fumbled for my water jug and greedily gulped down the water; letting it wash over my barren desert of a throat. I allowed myself to have my full; I could always make new drinking water out of the snow.

After having doused my innards in water, I faced the task at hand; find some food and a place to spend the all too near night. I wondered what terrors the Capitol had prepared for the night; compared to the butterflies I had witnessed today. Blueprints in my parent's lab of fierce some wolves filed my mind; giving birth to a seed of terror, which rooted itself in the far most crevices of my mind. I placed the now-empty jug in my back-pack and took off running out of the giant park.

Just as the last slivers of the sun were drowned out by the suppressing night, I reached a fork in the road. To my right a street stretched off. A tattered sign marked this road as "Broadway". To my left were several rather large buildings that seemed mostly intact. I began walking towards these buildings, keeping a wary eye for Tributes and Capitol monsters alike.

I reached one that looked like it would last, and carefully opened the door. To my immense surprise I found a girl about my age leaning against the icy wall of the building. I recognized her as Fern, we had met briefly in the Capitol. What is her reaction?

Inside old theater building with Fern Le Rose. Got the Sling back, but no ammo.

Holly

My dreams that night were haunted. Wolves stalked me through the night, and only as they tore me apart did I realize they were made of butterflies. When I awoke, sweat covered my body, and it was beginning to freeze. Franticly, I wiped it off with the corner of my sleeve, but I found something else. The butterflies. Still all over me. I let out a scream, and they promptly scattered into the air and away. I lay there for a few minutes, certain I was about to wake up once more and find yet another nightmare waiting.

When I coaxed my body into obeying my brain, I shakily held my arms out before me. You could barely see my skin for dark mottles. I pressed a finger against it, and it hurt. It looked like bruising, but knowing the games, it was likely something much worse. I pressed more snow on it. That seemed to help. Giving no regard for my own warmth, I tore a narrow strip of tarp off my roof, and created a makeshift binding that held ice to the worse parts of my bruising. My stomach was beginning to rumble, and my head hurt.

Dehydration. My body told me, and I ate some snow, but it didn't sate my hunger. This was my problem, I had no knowledge of survival, but I did know an incredibly basic food. Tearing some bark off a tree, I chewed on that, but it wasn't good enough.

There was little more I could do, however, so I returned to my den. It was then I saw the scuffed patch of snow, and realisd what that meant. Someone, or something, had been in my shelter. Inwardly, I thanked them for sparing my life. I was an easy target, I should have died first. The determination in me began to pipe up, but I silenced it. Quickly replacing it was anger. Temporary though it was, I had foolishly begun to regard the den as my home. My territory. Whoever had been there had left me unharmed, but I felt strangely violated. It was a bad idea, and I had nothing but my own fists should they decide to fight me, but I needed other people. I felt an overwhelming need for contact, and I was dead without an alliance. I sealed my den, wrapped my shirt tighter still around me, and walked into God knows where.

Around Turtle Pond, but traveling Northwards. Butterfly marks all over skin, but greatly slowed down in most serious areas. Nobody dead.

Fern Le Rose

The boy stood in front of me, both of us silent with the shock of seeing another being. My mind begins to soak up information about him. Weaponless, besides a small sling that didn't appear to have ammo. Cody. District three. He wasn't a career, so killing him might be easier. We stare at each other as I get myself off the ground. The butterfly bruise, burn or whatever, felt much better. I grasp my dagger on my side. If he attcked me, he would be sorry. He doesn't. He just looks at me, his head tilted to one side.

"Fern, right?" He asks, breaking the silence.

"Yes."He knew my name. I knew his. "Cody."

He nodds.

"Are you alone?"

I feel my body go rigid. "That's of no concern to you."

"You're right."

My grasp around the dagger tightens. I should just kill him now, get him out of the way. I move a foot forward, him a step back.

"Alliance?" Cody asks suddenly, like he just made a breakthrough.

I back away. He was just saying that to save his but, so he could get rid of me later. I shift my weight. This game was already making me so suspicious. Flahbacks of Cody in training come to me. He could techno his way into anything, but his nature skills were only adverage. Everything about him was adverage to weaker, even. I could kill him easily when it came time. That's not what I needed though. I needed someone my equal, someone who would help me. When my life was on the line, I'm not going to give into any kid who asks for an alliance.

"I-I'm sorry."

I grab my stuff with a swift pick up and take off running. I knew Cody wouldn't come after me. I just ran.

Before I realize it, I'm standing by the Cornupica. Close to it at least. Supringly, it is a decent place to hide. The plants grew thick and wild. That's when I spot it. The small little puddle. Water. Who knew when I would get another chance like this? I crept toward it like it was my prey. Who knew if there was another one of those Career hunters around? I needed to be careful. I stop dead in my tracks when I see the footprints. They were small, but certainly human. Someone was here. After my encounter with Cody, I was ready for a little blood on my hands. I follow the footprints until I see a figure hunched in between the ruins of some buildings. I grab my boomerang, ready to toss it at the figure when it jerks upright and reveals it's face. It was Erin Crane, from District four. A career. Someone I would love to kill and love to work with. I give her a small wave. She takes a step towards me, then a step back. I remember her being meek in training, but clever and hardworking. A good alliance. That is, if I wasn't going to kill her.

With Elinor's Erin Crane.

(Crafty - just going to write a summary of what Erin's been up to before you find her, and she hasn't gotten attacked with the butterflies yet, so.)

Erin

Erin, who, after searching for the careers in vain, had found an area behind a few frozen over bushes to which she would lay her sleeping bag for the night. It was close enough to the Cornucopia that she could monitor any action that took place, but secluded enough that someone would have to look hard to find her. She slept with her knife close and her backpack between her arms, just in case anyone did try to come and find her. It was hard to get to sleep at first, as she did not expect to be alone and was worried that the gamemakers would try to set some sort of trap on her when she was asleep. On top of that, it was freezing. Did it really get this cold in some places, or was this an exaggeration of the gamemakers? So, she did not loose consciousness the whole night but instead kept her eyelids shut as she tried to prepare herself for the day of head. This was going to be hard.

Right before she woke up, she had drifted off, and the burst of sunlight was incredible. For a minute she thought she was back home, lying on her hammock on the balcony which overlooked the sea. But when she opened her eyes, she took in the endless white vat and the way she was still tightly clutching her backpack, and realized where she was. In the arena. And although it was peaceful and sunny, at least for the time being, something didn't feel right. It was almost too peaceful, quiet. She wasn't sure how many people had died yesterday, because she had not being paying attention when they had showed in the sky, but she knew her district partner wasn't the only career that had died thus far, which was almost unprecedented for the first day. Besides, from watching the games with her brother, she knew that the gamemakers always set off attacks early in the games to test you once you made it past the first day.

She wondered if anyone was watching her now, either in the arena or across Panem. The thought made her nervous, and she tried to look as presentable she could, fixing the silver-shaped fish pin on her hair and sitting up. She took a sip of her water, which thankfully was still cool and was about to dig into some food when she realized she had none. Erin swore under her breath. Why hadn't she thought about food? Maybe this was why it was called the Hunger Games. And somehow she didn't think she could go searching or hunting for it, like tributes had in past games. That was Erin realized she needed to find the other careers. Maybe alliances did have their merits.

It was at that moment when the sky above her flooded with black. Erin was confused at first; all she knew that whatever was up there would be meant to harm her. Was it acid rain? Tiny missiles? Then she realized that they were butterflies, but they didn't look right. They were huge, and she'd never seen butterflies that were just black. They had to be capitol mutts that could harm and kill you. And, as fast as she could, Erin picked up her stuff and ran as far as she could, as fast as she could, only wishing she was in water. Still, she was too slow and a few managed to bite at her. And Erin didn't think it would stop, that this was the end, when they flew away, and Erin sighed, running back to her campsite and collapsing into the snow.

It was a just a test of endurance, and she had made it through. But she had been scared for life, and if each and every minute of the next however long she managed was like this, how would she survive? Surely people were watching her right now? What did Brent think? Lying there, in the snow, Erin realized how much better her hands felt. She sat up, rubbing more snow on the bites on her hands and wrist. That must do it! She rubbed it on more and more until her hands were caked with snow; she felt like they could fall off at any given moment, but at least it felt better.

That was when she saw a figure emerging behind her. Erin jumped until she realized who it was. Fern La Rose, District 1. A career! Just who she needed to find.

"Hey," Erin said. "Am I glad to see you. My, um, my district partner's dead...do you know about the tributes from two? Or are we all that's left of the careers? I just got bit by butterflies, but I think rubbing snow on it works..."

Outside of the Cornucopia. With Fern LaRose. Erin's figured out the snow to slow the effect of the butterfly wounds, but she doesn't know about the pine needles yet. So, Calli, could by any chance she get a gift that contains the cure for the poison? Thanks.

Great posts guys, and though it may not seem like it. I am reading them : )

Gabriel Haughting

His hands shook as he tore away the barricade, the butterflies were quickly dwindling but he knew he wouldn't have a simple walk with them around. His mind was working furiously, trying to find a solution to the poison that slowly ate away at his flesh - an idea came to mind of when his mother had used the juice of evergreen nettles to sooth an itch and he thought idly about how he needed that at the moment.

He peered outside the shack's window before finally tearing open the door and stepping out into the shin deep snow. It was like he'd been slapped in the face with cold air and he immediately began to shiver - his sweat wasn't helping much and he knew he'd freeze if he didn't move quickly and warm himself back up. He also needed to get rid of his moisture that his body created or he'd probably catch hypothermia if he stayed out in the freezing weather too long.

His wooden legs carried him out in the snow as he began to jog, he needed to find an ally, someone who was well smart enough to manage to survive or he'd simply have to kill them off. He righted the bow and pack on his back before he continued his running, atleast it helped with the freezing sensation he got.

His gloved hands rubbed his wind bitten face, judging by the numbness he knew his face would be redder than the sundried tomatoes that one of the cooks in the market sometimes put into their mystery stews. His stomach growled and a pang of hunger made him groan - he needed to find something to eat or he'd be out of commision like one of the tunnels in the mine.

Gabriel looked around as he finally made his way back to the Central Park where they'd started the Games, and he grew wary of what he had to do. So far no butterflies had attacked him but he dare not say it was luck - luck had cheated him many times and he was grateful by whatever mercy the heavens held for him or maybe the crowd was liking him for whatever reason that may be. It would be temporary though, his life meant nothing in the Game Maker's greedy hands.


His eyes took in the poor conditions and he looked out towards the forest before he made his way there - he'd be at the Turtle Pond near the time the sun rose and he knew he needed shelter and the further from the Cornucopia it was the better.

With that in mind he began to turn himself towards the Turtle Pond and ran, it was the only thing that helped at the moment considering that it would probably be useless hunting closest to the buildings where the prey seldom wandered, and anyways - if their were any players in the game with a right mind they too would be hiding in the forest looking for shelter and food - not in the damned buildings where the machines were probably broken and useless.

-
It took him nearly all day and when he glanced up at the sun he realized that he'd been heading steadily northwards. His head pounded with each beat of his heart and he knew that dehydration was beginning to settle - it was a good thing he remembered to keep his bottle of water tucked inside of his sweater and he pulled it out to take a short swig to revitalize himself.

It was then that he heard the crunch of snow underfoot, he dropped his bag and slipped the arrow from over his shoulder and notched an arrow. His hand aimed steadily at the place where the noise had come from and he pulled back the arrow just as the figure stepped from the dead bushes.

She looked up in shock when she spotted him and froze at the sight of his bow, her already doe-like eyes staring at him in bewilderment.

"Who are you hunting, exactly?" he asked her with a sly smirk, his eyes narrowed.

"No one. I was actually looking for shelter and some darned food." she answered him coolly, now her disinterest infecting her eyes as she glanced at him.

He lowered the bow, "I'm looking for some shelter and food as well, also I think I've found a remedy for those poison bites." he told her with a narrow glance.

She looked him up and down before nodding, "Interesting."

He grinned, and stuck out one hand, letting the arrow drip to the ground. "So - an alliance then?"


With Holly stricking up an alliance - northward of Turtle Pond - n

Cody

I swallowed a huge lump in my throat. Fern had said no and had ran away. Not because she was going to kill me, she just said no. So that was it then. I wasn't going to follow her. I didn't want to fight her. I didn't want to fight anyone anymore. I desperately missed my family. I screamed and kicked the door. It shattered and fell to the snow covered ground. I dropped back panting to ground and tried to calm down. I fought raging emotions with the cold steel of logic, and after a battle that exhausted me both mentally and physically, I managed to calm down.

I got back up and brushed myself off. Fern didn't matter; she would probably die off pretty quick anyways. I decided to go back the way I had came, back to the sleeping girl and the over-grown plants. I brought the flimsy black outfit around me tighter; trying to defend my pale skin from the assaulting howls of the bitter icy wind. After half an hour or so I reached where I started, and then dry heaved.

My stomach was a void; it sucked my energy and hope into it with a greedy vigor. I needed to appease it, and fill it quick. That's when I spotted the tree bark. It looked like someone had bitten off a portion of it, and they were no-where to be seen. I hadn't heard a cannon shot, so logic said that the bark was edible. Carefully I picked it up with my numb fingers, and took a bite of the bark.

All my senses screamed. Disgusting! Putrid! Horrible! they cried. Meekly and dropped the bark and forced down my gag reflex. Bark was a definite no. I realized with despair that I wasn't going to find food without somebody who had survival skills. Why couldn't I have been more friendly? Why couldn't have I tried to make an Alliance in the Capitol? Now it seemed I was going to starve to death.

I wandered aimlessly; hopelessly ashamed of myself. Then I heard voices. I scramble through the over-gorwn under growth and took up a position where I was mostly concealed. I noticed two Tributes talking, the girl I had left alive and a guy I recognized as Gabriel. Suddenly a branch cracked under my weight and both of their heads whipped around to face me.

I brandished my pipe and wondered whether they were going to attack, or talk.

Intruding on Gabriel and Holly's discussion, Has Steel-pipe and Backpack

Holly

"So - an alliance then?"

I didn't hesitate, not even to consider how easily he'd kill me. I knew that I was dead without an alliance. So I grabbed his hand. Painfully noting the contrast. Mine was a lot more mottled than his. I could barely see a clear patch.
"I think snow slows it down a bit," I said, "that's why I tied ice on." I pulled up the corner of my shirt to show my makeshift bandage. He nodded thoughfully.

Then, I heard a twig snap, and turned my head quickly, though a fraction slower than Gabriel's. Standing to our right was the boy from District Three, whose name I'd forgotten. (Cal? Connor? Cory?) He wielded a metal pipe, obviously torn from a house.

My heart beat quickly; fists were useless against a metal pipe, but despite that, my mouth moved cooly.

"Alliance?"

Hasn't moved. With Gabriel and Cody. Just extened alliance offer.

Gabriel

His head whipped around and his dark gaze settled on the newcomer - a boy from District three. He reacted before he heard the words from Holly's mouth and he pulled back the arrow in his bow- keeping it trained on the boy.

He licked his lips, his hands aching and he knew he had to find the remedy he'd discovered but there was no time to waste chatting with some weak looking boy.

"Come on, we haven't got all day!" he growled, his face redened by the cold. He shifted his wounded shoulder, it throbbed with every heartbeat and a quick glance to the bandages told him that it hadn't stopped bleeding.

He took a deep breath, And waited for the boy's answer even though he'd probably slow us down.



Waiting for Cody's answer - currently dehydrated and hungry - with Holly and Cody - infection only just beginning.

Cody

I eyed the pair of them warily. With immense caution I stepped out of the undergrowth and took what I hoped looked like a defensive stance. The boy had aimed his bow at me; and I knew that there was only one way to come out of this situation and live.

"I'll be in an alliance with you" I said. As proof for my trust I tucked my pipe back into my backpack and resumed my normal posture. The boy, Gabriella or something, slowly lowered his bow.

"So what now?" I asked.

Gabriel

"So what now?" asked the boy after having tucked his pipe in his pack.

Gabriel dropped the bow to the ground and pulled off his pack, setting it on the ground as he sunk to his knees. He looked over at his shoulder and unwrapped the bandage he'd put on it and hissed in a pained breath - the wound was gaping and it bled with abandon.

He glanced up with a deep breath. "Does anyone have some thread and a needle?" he asked them with another glance at the wound. They both - wide eyed- shook their heads before looking away from his gaping disadvantage.

It was obviously beginning to become infected considering the small amount of white discharge from the wound. He wrinkled his nose before looking down at his shirt and tearing another long strip from it - he wrapped it around the wound again without waiting for their answer.

He winced as he pulled it tight - hopefully enough pressure would stop the bleeding though he doubted it.

When he pushed himself back up he leaned over and rummaged through the bag and grabbed a dagger before turning and loping to one of the evergreen trees. He reached up, grabbed a large branch and pulled hard enough to snap it free of the trunk.

He hauled the branch over to the others and began to remove the needles from the smaller branches and placing them in his palm. He looked up at them, "I need a stone."

The other boy looked up and nodded, "I'll go look."

Gabriel thought idly that if the boy would be there he'd atleast better be useful. While he grabbed some of the needles he then pulled out the water bottle from his shirt - it was growing cold but he tossed it to Holly who looked at it as though it were the holy grail.

"Drink up. I'm sure you've got yourself a nasty headache considering you probably haven't found much to drink other than the bacteria infested snow?" he told her.

"Oh, and save some though." he added as an after thought before returning to his work.


Discovered that evergreen needles heal butterfly wounds - alliance with Cody and Holly - wound infected and bleeding severely - near Turtle Pond somewhat northwards.

Cody

My hands fumbled in the growing darkness for the stone Gabriel had requested. The snow was bitterly cold, the rough calloused tips of my fingers shook violently due to the icy onslaught of pain. With relief my hand curled around a rough stone buried in the frost; wrapping it in a cocoon of warm flesh.

I stumbled through the under growth and emerged unto the area of which I had came. Holly was gulping greedily from a water-bottle, and Gabriel was applying pine needles to a wound. The sight repulsed me; it was a hacked portion of empty flesh; white pus spurned forth from it like a hideous plague cast by the vile innards of the sewers. I had no knowledge of botany, or the medicines of nature, yet I could clearly see the healing effects of the pine needles upon the wound.

Gabriel looked up and noticed me; his face was laced with a contorted mixture of pain and relief. Holly was slurping from the bottle with a lust I thought I would only witness in desperate animals. That's when I realized, right then and there, that Holly wasn't going to last long in the Games. Not that I had much chance of surviving that long either.

I plopped down on the snowy embankment and handed the rocks to Gabriel.

"Hey, what did you want that thing for anyway?" I asked as I handed him the stone.

With Holly and Gabriel, Has Back Pack and Steel Pipe

Holly

By the time Cody had returned with the rock (I'd finally remembered his name.) I'd drunk a lot more of the water than I'd meant to.

"Hey, what do you want that thing for anyway?" Cody asked, plunking the rock down. I put the water inside my shirt to keep it warm, briefly considering that Cody and Gabriel may not want to touch it again, but then thought better of it. The Hunger Games were no place to be choosy. Gabriel's reply was slightly guarded.

"I think it's a cure for the butterfly marks."

"No it isn't." I said quickly. They turned to look at me, and, weirdly, it was like being back at school in District 10. It was the kind of look you got if you got a sum wrong.

"Sorry," I said, "I have this annoying habit of contradicting people for the sake of it. Please, carry on." They both looked away, and I tried to set about doing something useful. There were several trees nearby, and they looked similar to the bark I'd eaten earlier, so I set about stripping some of it off. I stuck a bit in my mouth and chewed on it, finding I was warming to the taste. It was a little like chewing gum, only tougher. I was feeling self-conscious, anxious not to give the two boys any reason to kill me, so I carried on my chanting method, only not aloud.

One times one is...

By the time I'd reached 10 times 17 I had a reasonable supply of bark. I swept it into a careful pile with a shoe, and asked Cody and Gabriel if they knew about my shelter.

Hasn't moved. Alliance with Cody and Gabriel. Has about 10g of edible bark.

Fern Le Rose


"Hey," Erin said. "Am I glad to see you. My, um, my district partner's dead...do you know about the tributes from two? Or are we all that's left of the careers? I just got bit by butterflies, but I think rubbing snow on it works..."

She was talking to me. Already, a good sign. I wasn't about to tell her that my wound felt completely better and the poison was probably already out of my system. Instead, I pick up a handful of snow and rub it gently on my cheek, just in case.

"Thanks." I think back to the cannon shots and pictures in the sky last night, glad I'd watched them." Ashton Heart is dead." I say, remembering the soft-spoken district two girl. I thought she'd last longer than she did."So is Caleb El." Nobody had truly talked to the foggy District two boy. I doubt anyone would really miss him. "Besides us there's only my District partner, Marco. He's... unperdictable. I haven't seen him around."

She nodds and I note that we are already closer than we had been before.

"That's three of the six careers. That's... a lot."

Erin seemed to be voicing my very fears. In these games, there would be no career pack. Everyone would last even the tiniest been longer. A risk, to whatever careers still stood.

"Three to many."

There's a silence, but it's a good one. One that I could work with. One that leveled our reason's. Erin was someone I could work with and someone who could have my back. Someone strong enough to trust my life with, but someone I might be able to beat in the end. Erin looks back at me, unaware of all the pressure I was placing on her.

"You know...I've been looking for other careers."

"Really?"

She nodds, looking slightly uncomfortable but also eager. I notice that she's an inch taller than me, which was slightly annoying: especially since she was about my age. She wasn't as pretty as me, if I wanted to go all vanity wise. Thankfully, I didn't. It didn't really matter anymore, especially with death on your front door.

"What I'm asking for is an alliance. A career pack of the smallest kind."

I smile when I hear "A career pack of the smallest kind." It was true, in the oddest sort of way. We'd be the smallest career pack in Hunger Games history. If we were lucky, one of the best. I don't even pause in answering, feeling not even a shock of guilt as I thought of turning down Cody. For this reason alone.

"Yeah, sounds like a plan."

Already I can feel myself relaxing. I had an alliance, a good one at that. Erin grins at me, and I remember what she said about looking for other careers. We had both found each other at the perfect time.

"Good." Her stomach growls." You don't happen to have any food, would you?"

I laugh, making it quiet. You never knew when someone else would be listening, waiting for the moment to strick. Gruesome, slightly, but this is where we were. I pull out the rabit I had gotten earlier and hold it in front of me.

"Not unless you like good old scrawny rabbit."

In an alliance with Elinor's Erin Crane. Off of Cornupica.