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Ansel couldn’t see. The light from the sun was too bright in his eyes, blinding him. He took a few moments to blink a couple times, then he was finally able to make out what was in front of him. The arena, from what he could see, was composed of a jungle. The pedestals were located in the water, which had to be salt from what Ansel could smell.
He could hear the gamemakers announcement begin as he surveyed his surroundings, noticing how the arena seemed to be divided into twelve sectors. There was also a large, silver cornucopia in the middle of the water. Ansel planned to head there first and retrieve any weapons and supplies he could, as well as look for Finnick.
“The Seventy-Fifth annual Hunger Games will begin in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one.” A cannon sounded loudly at the end of the sentence, and Ansel dived into the water. Good thing Finnick had taught him how to swim.
The boy swam as fast as his body would let him towards one of the rock paths that led to the cornucopia, before pulling himself up out of the water and sprinting down the uneven path. He grabbed a sword, and tried his best to find a backpack, but the only supplies they had been given were weapons.
Ansel desperately searched around for Finnick but there was no sign of the sandy haired male. He didn't get to worry about the man for too long as the female tribute from District Ten was rapidly approaching him with a mace, which was a heavy shaft topped by a weight which consisted of spikes. Ansel didn't have any experience with the weapon but he knew how deadly they could be.
He gripped tightly to the sword in his hand, preparing himself both physically and mentally for a battle. The girl swung her mace at him rather clumsily, Ansel quickly realizing that she wasn't that skilled with said weapon and rather had simply picked up the first thing she had seen. The boy knocked his sword against the shaft of the mace, treating it as if it were another sword and he was simply sparring back in the training centre.
The two went back and forth for awhile, each narrowly missing the other - acting as if they truly didn't want to harm one another. This was at least true for Ansel.
“You should just run.” Ansel advised breathlessly as he lunged to the side, the spiky ball at the end of the mace just missing the opportunity to sink itself in his side. “I don't want to kill you. Just save yourself.”
“Not a chance, Five.” The woman growled, preparing to lunge herself at Ansel again and the boy didn't know if this time he would be so luckily as to not get hit. She never got the chance, however, as with a gasp, the District Ten woman fell into the water, Ansel noticing an axe right in the middle of her back.
“You're welcome,” a woman's voice was heard saying with snark. Ansel looked up to find none other than Johanna Mason staring down at with him a smirk.
