𝐆𝐋𝐎𝐑𝐘 & 𝐆𝐎𝐑𝐄. ᵀᴴᴳ[1]

8

A circular timer appeared above the cornucopia, beginning to count down from ten. As it did, the arena was filled with the sound of a loud explosion that shook the ground beneath them violently. Nearly knocking Sage from the circular piece of metal.

Sage instantly crouched down, gripping the pedestal— with both of his hands. His breath got caught in his throat. As he did a wave of water crashed into him— his eyes looked to the side only to find that the pedestal that had been beside him was gone, and so was the tribute. On the other side, Sage watched as the boy from nine— who hadn't crouched down like Sage fell into the water as the wave of water crashed into him. As soon as his body hit the water— there was a second explosion and he was gone. Sage stared in their direction, the games hadn't even started and there were already two tributes gone.

Sage's eyes watched a smaller wave from the second explosion come towards him. It didn't hit him very hard, but he watched as Marena crouched down like him on the other side— braced for a wave that could have knocked her off of her pedestal. He watched her, hoping that she was able to hold on— she nearly fell but she caught herself just before she slid off the pedestal. As soon as the water began to settle, Marena looked back up towards the cornucopia again. Sage did the same— just in time for the gong to go off. Signaling that their ten seconds were over.

Sage launched himself into the water that was deeper than he had anticipated. It wasn't extremely deep, but it went up to his thighs— and it made it a bit more difficult to run to the white sand. The sound of splashing came from both sides as all of the other tributes hurried towards the shore. Sage was thankful for the fact that he could take longer strides than the others because he made it to the white sand before a handful of other tributes. As he did, he hurried towards a backpack and swooped it up onto his shoulder as yelling and a ear splitting scream— his eyes darted towards the screaming to see Jules standing up from being over a body of a girl who laid completely still. Sage quickly moved his eyes to the cornucopia where he saw exactly what he needed, almost as if it was set there with a spotlight on it just for him.

A sleek black bow and arrow, with a pouch of arrows sitting beside it.

       Sage began to run towards it, another scream filling his ears. But this time he didn't stop to observe it— his eyes were fixated only on the bow propped against the entrance to the cornucopia. As he ran, he could hear the chaos around him, but it was like he was underwater. Louder than the yelling and screaming was his own heartbeat and his uneven breathing.

       As he got to the cornucopia, Sage reached down for the bow and scrambled to put the pouch over the opposite shoulder than his backpack— the way he carried his supplies wasn't ideal, but it would have to work for now. As soon as he went to turn around to find Marena, Deedee, or Boyde— someone slammed into him. Their head hitting his chest so hard that it knocked the air right out of him, stunning him until he saw the face of Ryder— the boy from four that Marena didn't speak very highly off. Ryder brought his fist down against Sage's face with so much force that Sage could have sworn he felt something crack in his face. Ryder drew his hand back again, only for him to completely stop and fall limp— Sage's eyes were wide as he watched Ryder's body get pushed off of him. His body fell with a thud beside Sage, his face landed facing Sage— and he couldn't look away from the vacant look in his eyes, and the blood that began to seep out of his mouth.

"Sage, come on!"

       Boyde bent down and pulled his knife from the back of Ryders' neck. Boyde reached out and grabbed Sage's arm and pulled him up. Boyde began running, and Sage stayed close behind him. The two of them ran behind the cornucopia and towards the thick trees that were there. The ground changed from sand to dirt with a thin layer of grass— Sage didn't notice much else of their surroundings. His only concern was getting as far from the cornucopia as possible. The fact that he had come close to being one of the first fallen tributes not entirely sinking in yet.