A Game Called Revenge ✭ Cato Hadley

Twenty - Go Fish

"ᴀɴʏᴏɴᴇ ᴄᴀɴ ʙᴇ ᴀ ꜰɪꜱʜᴇʀᴍᴀɴ ɪɴ ᴊᴜʟʏ."

Four silhouettes are illuminated by the faint moonlight and the distant glimmer of the sea as it crashes against the spokes. The four careers stand at the threshold of the jungle, weapons in hand as they try to reach a decision on how they should enter and which way to turn. Gloss, keen to act as their leader, is the first to take tentative footsteps into the uncharted territory of the jungle ahead, his sister walking beside him. Clio and Cato fall alongside each other as they follow, the sand beneath their feet transitioning into the soil of the jungle where fallen leaves and tangled tree roots obscure the path. As the four of them climb into the depths of the rainforest, they're immediately wrapped in the hot embrace of the intense humidity and their vision dwindles with the towering trees fragmenting their only source of light into dancing patches on the forest floor.

"Maybe we should've waited until sunrise." Cashmere says as she watches her brother carefully part a curtain of vines.

"He'll have moved by then." Gloss answers. "Just stay quiet."

"We can't see anything Gloss!" She retaliates sharply.

"Fine. We'll wait here." The siblings pause at a cluster of towering trees, leaning against it as their whispers blend with the gentle rustling of leaves.

"Shall we light a fire?" Clio jokes as she and Cato come to a stop beside a neighbouring tree.

"Did you not learn any survival skills, Clio?" Gloss spits back.

"It was a joke, Gloss." She mutters under her breath when Cashmere gives her a sympathetic smile. "And besides, if they wanna kill us, let 'em try."

"We don't have matches." Cashmere reminds them. 

"Then the fire's out." Cato shrugs. "We could find a cave? Maybe some berries? You think there's a dam in here?"

"Cato!"

"I'm kidding!" He laughs, joining the others in sitting with their backs against the large tree. Cato kicks at the dirt on the ground as he glances at the vegetation around them and the tracks they've left behind.

After about thirty minutes of comfortable silence as they all close their eyes for some still much needed rest, the first hints of dawn begin to paint the sky with hues of indigo before it turns into a deep orange and casts both light and shadow into the jungle. A cannon booms. "We should move."

The pair from One follow the markings Cato kicked into the ground and begin to walk to the left, taking the lead and cutting away at any creeping vines that block their path with their. Clio and Cato follow behind them, weapons in opposing hands to cover their dominant sides. There's no sign of any freshwater, just vines and trees and more vines as they try to keep as close to a straight line as possible to make their way around the arena.

"How many cannons went off overnight?" Gloss asks over his shoulder.

"Two." Clio replies. "That one this morning was the third."

"Eleven down. Ten to go."

"What if we're hunting for a dead man?" Cashmere raises a question. "Clio's note said he was with Twelve. What if she's already got him?"

"She won't have-" Cato starts before turning to face his girlfriend as he walks, "What note?"

Clio reaches into the inside pocket of her knife vest to retrieve the sponsor note and pushes it into Cato's hand. He unfolds the slip of brown parchment with the one hand, bringing it closer to his face to read the words in the dim lighting of the early morning. "Pretty boy? L.C? Don't tell me that stands for Loopy Crawfish."