And we run

She's human too

Tonight, it rains. 

That's not to say it hasn't rained in the arena before--of course, it has. But tonight, it rains hard. Taura leaves me outside, because of course she does, and her group hunkers down inside the cornucopia while I stay right by the edge, Wyatt's sword constantly pointed my direction, his gaze wavering only to take the occasional glance at Taura's sleeping form. 

"Any chance you'll let me go?" I ask, half-joking and fully shivering, my body soaked to the bone. It feels as if I'm never going to be warm again, never going to sit on the beach and soak in the midday sun. 

And, who knows? Without Terra, maybe I won't. 

He looks away, frowning slightly, and I know I've broken him. I've found a chink in his armor, and I'll do whatever I can to force myself just slightly more in there. He seems loyal to Taura, but still human--human enough not to murder me just for the fun of it. 

"It's freezing out here," I say, shivering to accentuate my point, as if it isn't cold inside the cornucopia, as well. Wyatt is still silent, but the sea swells in answer, rising high up on the beach, falling back just as far. It roars with the Gamemaker's annoyance at my survival, and I wonder if eventually it's going to creep towards where I lay and swallow me up, pulling me down into its manufactured depths. 

Wyatt seems to notice my terrified stare towards the churning waves, and softens, just slightly. "If the water came up here, it would drown us all. You'll be fine."

He looks away, then, supposedly done with comforting me. I don't accept it. 

"Maybe they want to drown us all," I say menacingly, voice deep, reminiscent of ghost stories told around roaring campfires. I move to sit, barely holding myself upright, accidentally seeming even weaker than I believe I truly am--which is fine, it works in my favor. "Maybe they hate Taura just as much as I do."

"Don't talk about Taura like that," he snaps, losing his stony composure, and I am hit with a wave of deja vu. 

Maybe me and Wyatt are more alike than I'd thought. 

"I can talk about her however I want," I retort, partially because I mean it, and partially because even angry Wyatt would be more interesting than expressionless Wyatt, and something exciting will take my mind off the cold. Might even give me a chance to get out of here, if I'm lucky. 

"And why's that?" he asks, gripping the hilt of his sword. Wyatt doesn't share Taura's southern accent; instead he is careful with his words, pausing before each sentence to make sure he's using the right ones. Even then, his syllables are slippery, falling from his mouth too quickly or dripping like honey, neither seeming quite right. 

"She fucking murdered Terra," I spit, lashing forward against my bonds. I don't mean to hurt him, even to touch him, but still he jumps, and I smile. God, that feels good. I'd told Apollo of my hurt, but it feels better to scream it, to scare this armed boy using nothing but my hatred. 

"Like Terra was innocent," he fires back, after another one of those slight pauses he seems to favor so much. 

"Like any of us are!" I exclaim quickly, voice rising higher. Inside the cornucopia, Lua stirs, rolling over to her other side. Both of us watch her move, silent, thinking. 

My words seem to bite a chunk out of both me and Wyatt, deepening the chip on our shoulders that broke off the moment we stepped into this arena. 

It's true. It's true, and I would not like to admit it, but I am not innocent, either. I've done my best to be--I've misdirected Terra's arrow, and I've fought to defend the lives of me and the others I'm surrounded with, but in the end, Terra is dead because of me. Mei and Orion lost their lives attacking me. Who cares if I was not the one who delivered the killing blow?