Firecracker: The 99th Games Book One

Arena, Day 6 Part 1

It took a full day for Aoi and her alliance to finally recover from their loss. To thank Hinata for the arrows he lent Cerys, they shared a bit of food with the other alliance before heading out to find a way to the surface. Staying in the tunnels was oddly painful.

Not that the jungle would be much better. After learning from Kikue that the Careers were in the caves, Aoi decided a good place to regroup for the time being was in the ruins. It may have been dangerous being close to the Careers, but it also made keeping tabs on their enemies easier. So long as someone was constantly alert for signs of the Careers, it was best to know exactly where they were to avoid being caught off-guard. The jungle was too open and the tunnels too cramped; the ruins made a perfect compromise.

So they trekked for the cliffs upon finding a way out of the tunnels, leaving Hinata, Kikue, and Touma to search for some more food in the jungle. The mutts were nowhere to be seen or heard, apparently all having been killed. Aoi was grateful for their smooth sailing; she couldn't handle another loss so soon after Balthazar's passing.

As they approached the ruins, Naoki snuck ahead on the stone steps and peered around the dilapidated temple. "...No signs of anyone. I'll see if I can spot the Careers at the caves."

"Be careful," Cerys warned.

Naoki nodded, carefully inching towards the caves built into the mountainside. Aoi held Oni close, heart pounding, until Naoki finally returned with the "all clear." Slowly, the alliance migrated to one of the broken-down rooms of the temple, Naoki keeping lookout on the caves in case of Career sightings.

"...We should be safe here for a while," Cerys murmured. "Hinata gave me four arrows. It isn't much, but it will be useful for hunting should we need to do more of that."

"Right," Aoi said, her voice still raspier than usual. "...I'm sorry I've been so quiet. It's just...taking a while."

"We understand," Cerys assured. "Take your time."

Aoi nodded, sighing. Taking the backpack off her shoulders, she sorted through until she found their last pack of dried fruit and began divvying it out.

Just as the alliance was finishing their snack, something began beeping. Aoi jumped to her feet, alert.

"It's okay!" Naoki insisted. "It's okay, it's just a sponsor package. I think it's for us."

"From Mercy, maybe?" Cerys guessed. "Can you check on it?"

"I'll see who it's for," Naoki replied, leaving the room and going to retrieve the package. He returned not long afterwards, handing the silver package to Aoi. "For you."

"Me?" Aoi took the package from Naoki and warily settled back down again. "What is it...? Maybe new food?"

"Find out," Oni urged. "Maybe it's a super powerful laser gun we can use on the Careers!"

"Maybe," Aoi agreed with a chuckle. She fiddled with the lid until she got it open, pulling out a jewelry box and two letters. "Jewelry? Why the fu--h*ll would Kaiden send me jewelry?"

"I'm pretty sure 'why the h*ll' is still swearing," Cerys pointed out.

Aoi ignored him, opening the jewelry box first. Inside was a necklace with a flame symbol charm, nestled on a silver chain. It spun in her hand and she spotted something engraved on the back; curious, she checked the words.

For Otoshi Mishima and Balthazar Bassett

May their flames be kept

Aoi smiled to herself, unclipping the necklace and fastening it around her neck. "...To memorialize those we've lost. Kaiden and Nin must have known I would appreciate something to remember them by."

"That's sweet of them," Cerys murmured. "What do the notes say?"

"Let's see..." Aoi unfolded the first letter and read it over to herself.

My dearest Aoi,

Please do not fret, my angel. We are working on a way to get you and all of your friends out of this arena safely.

The necklace I sent you is not only a token to console you in your grief. This symbol is the secret symbol of our growing rebellion. So long as you have this, you prove that you and your friends are allies.

Nin and I went around and tried to figure out who else is on your side. Your other letter is a list of what we know.

Hang in there, my sweet. We'll keep doing our part over here.

Love,

Kaiden

Aoi couldn't help grinning. Anxious, she checked the other note, handing the first one to Cerys. "Guys. Read this."

List of confirmed rebels; burn after reading:

Mercy Crocker

Asahi and Hideyoshi Kagakagari

Fuyuko Kawaguchi

Hinata Himura

Eriko Zamora

Lucas Lukashenko

Serena Hasegawa

Kikue Noguchi

Touma Terashima

Tiziana Fridd (in the Capitol)

Makoto Kobayashi (in the Capitol)

Mercer Violet

Eloise Fern

May be more. Capitol informants were unwilling to rat out other Capitolites in case of misinformation.

"We can all get out of here," Aoi said seriously. "We--we can get out of here. Okay. So did you two already know about this? Cerys? Naoki?"

"I--I had no idea," Cerys admitted. "Why do you ask?"

"Supposedly, your Mentor is in on it," Aoi said. "Same with Naoki's. They didn't tell you?"

Naoki took the letter from Cerys, reading it over himself. "They...they did not. Why would they keep something like this from us...?"

"...I may know why," Cerys murmured. "Mercy is...very aware of the circumstances. She doesn't like to give false hope. I am willing to bet she never mentioned anything because she was not sure it would happen."

"...Which probably means if she told Kai now, she's feeling like it will happen," Aoi mused. "This...this changes everything. Okay, apparently those guys we met underground are in on it too, so maybe we should stick with them. Unless that's too risky...should we just hope to meet up with everyone later...?"

"...Let's stay here for now," Naoki suggested. "We can go back to the others later. They don't know we're in on it yet."

"But they will when they see this," Aoi said, gesturing to her necklace.

"Hopefully," Naoki murmured. "...We should at least get some more food and water up here before we leave. We can make ourselves useful."

"...I agree," Cerys said quietly. "Let's get some rest up here, restock on necessities, and then try to find our friends from the tunnels. For now, we came all this way for water and shelter, we should take advantage of it."

"...You're right," Aoi said. "Okay, we'll stay here for now. Just stay on alert and don't get anyone in trouble. I'll burn our list of allies with a match so it doesn't fall into the wrong hands."

"Can do, Captain!" Oni exclaimed, having just passed along the letter to Madoka for his perusal. Madoka nodded, smiling slightly in anticipation.

As the alliance settled in for the evening, eyes focused on the caves and the ashes of their list of allies scattered around them, they failed to notice the quiet scampering on the other side of the inner wall.