I might start updating chapters biweekly cos sometimes I end up rushing to get them out and it would just be a lot easier for me. I might still update weekly though depending on if I have the chapter done in time.
Anyways enjoy
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"Katsuki!" (M/N) yelled. He shook Katsuki harder, even resorted to slapping his face, but it was no use. His heart had failed. "Katsuki!"
Denki propped Ultear against a tree and pushed (M/N) out of the way. "Let me." His fingers touched points at Katsuki's neck, ran over the bones in his ribs and spine. Then he pinched Katsuki's nostrils shut.
"No!" (M/N) yelled, hurling himself at Denki, convinced that he was intending to make sure Katsuki was dead, to keep any hope of life from returning to him. Denki's hand came up and hit (M/N) so hard, so squarely in the chest that he went flying back into a nearby tree trunk.
(M/N) was stunned for a moment, by the pain, trying to regain his wind, as he saw Denki close off Katsuki's nose again. From where (M/N) was sitting, he pulled an arrow, whipped the notch into place, and was about to let it fly when he was stopped by Denki giving Katsuki mouth to mouth. And that's when he realised that Denki was blowing air into Katsuki's lungs. He could actually see Katsuki's chest rising and falling. Then Denki began to pump the spot over his heart with the heels of his hands. Now that (M/N) had gotten over his shock, he realised what Denki was trying to do.
Once in a blue moon, he'd seen his mother try something similar, but not often. If a person's heart failed in District 12, it was unlikely the family could get them to his mother in time, anyway. So her usual patients were burned or wounded or ill. Or starving, of course.
But Denki's world was different. Whatever he was doing, he had done it before. There was a very set rhythm and method. And (M/N) found the arrow tip sinking to the ground as he leaned in to watch, desperately, for some sign of success. Agonising minutes dragged past as his hopes diminished. Around the time that he was deciding it was too late, that Katsuki was dead, moved on, unreachable forever, he gave a small cough as Denki sat back.
(M/N) left his weapons in the dirt as he flung himself at the blonde. "Katsuki?" (M/N) said softly. He brushed the damp blonde hair back from his forehead, found the pulse drumming against his fingers at Katsuki's neck.
His eyes slowly opened, meeting (M/N)'s.
"Careful," he groaned out. "There's a forcefield up ahead."
(M/N) laughed, but there were tears running down his cheeks.
"Must be a lot stronger than the one on the Training Centre roof," Katsuki said. "I'm alright, though."
"You were dead! Your heart stopped!" (M/N) burst out, completely choked up.
"Well, it seems to be working now," Katsuki said. "It's fine, (M/N)." (M/N) nodded his head as the only sounds that left him were choked sobs. "(M/N)?" Now Katsuki was worried about him, which just added to the insanity of it all.
"It's ok. It's just his hormones," Denki said. "From the baby." (M/N) looked up to see him, sitting back on his knees but still panting a bit from the climb and the heat and the effort of bringing Katsuki back from the dead.
"No. It's not-" (M/N) got out, but that was all he could say before the sobs overtook him again, only confirming what Denki said. His eyes met (M/N)'s and (M/N) glared at him through his tears. It was stupid, that Denki's efforts made him so vexed. All (M/N) wanted was to keep Katsuki alive, and he couldn't and Denki could, and (M/N) should have been nothing but grateful. And he was. But he was also furious because it meant he would never stop owing Denki Kaminari. Ever. So how could (M/N) kill him in his sleep?
(M/N) expected to see a smug or sarcastic expression on his face, but Denki's look was strangely quizzical. He glanced between (M/N) and Katsuki, as if trying to figure something out, then gave his head a slight shake as if to clear it. "How are you?" he asked Katsuki. "Do you think you can move on?"
"Yeah-" Katsuki began.
"No, he has to rest," (M/N) said, wiping away at his now wet cheeks. He noticed a gleam of gold on Katsuki's chest. He reached out and retrieved the disc that hung from a chain around his neck. (M/N)'s mockingjay had been engraved on it. "Is this your token?"
"Yes. Do you mind that I used your mockingjay? I wanted us to match," Katsuki said.
"No, of course I don't mind." (M/N) forced a smile. Katsuki showing up in the arena wearing a mockingjay was both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, it would give a boost to the rebels in the districts. On the other hand, it was hard for him to imagine that President Nezu would overlook it, and that made the job of keeping Katsuki alive harder.
"So you want to make a camp here, then?" Denki asked.
"I don't think that's an option," Katsuki answered. "Staying here. With no water. No protection. I feel fine, really. We can just go slowly." He directed that last past at (M/N) to help ease his nerves.
"Slowly would be better than not at all." Denki said. (M/N) pulled himself together and helped Katsuki to his feet. Since (M/N) got up this morning he had watched Keigo get beaten to a pulp, landed in another arena, and seen Katsuki die. Still, he was glad Denki kept playing the child card for him, because from a sponsor's point of view, he wasn't handling things all that well.
(M/N) checked over his weapons, which he knew were in perfect condition, because it made him seem more in control. "I'll take the lead," he announced.
Katsuki began to object but Denki cut him off. "No, let him do it." He frowned at (M/N). "You knew that force field was there, didn't you? Right at the last second? You started to give a warning." (M/N) gave a nod. "How did you know?"
(M/N) hesitated. To reveal that he knew Tenya and Ochaco's trick of recognizing the force field could be dangerous. (M/N) didn't know if the Gamemakers made note of that moment during training when the two pointed it out to him or not. One way or the other, he had a very valuable piece of information. And if they knew he had it, they could try to do something to alter the force field so (M/N) couldn't see the aberration any more. So he lied. "I don't know. It's almost as if I could hear it. Listen." Everyone went still. There was the sound of insects, birds, and the breeze in the foliage.
"I don't hear anything," Katsuki said.
"Yes," (M/N) insisted. "It's like when the fence around District Twelve is on, only much, much quieter." Everyone listened again intently. (M/N) did, too, although there was nothing to hear. "There!" (M/N) said. "Can't you guys hear it? It's coming from right where Katsuki got shocked.
"I don't hear it, either," Denki said. "But if you do, by all means, take the lead."
(M/N) decided to play this for all it was worth. "That's weird," he said. He turned his head from side to side as if puzzled. "I can only hear it out of my left ear."
"The one the doctors repaired?" Katsuki asked.
"Yeah," (M/N) said, then gave a shrug. "Maybe they did a better job than they thought. You know, sometimes I do hear funny things on that side. Things you wouldn't normally think have a sound. Like insect wings. Or snow hitting the ground." This was perfect. Now all the attention would turn to the surgeons who fixed his deaf ear after the Games the previous year, and they'd have to explain why (M/N) could hear like a bat.
"You," Ultear said, nudging (M/N) forward, so he took the lead. Since they were to be moving slowly, Ultear preferred to walk with the aid of a branch Denki quickly fashioned into a cane for her. Denki brought up the rear, so at least someone alert had their backs.
(M/N) walked with the force field on his left, because that was supposed to be the side with his superhuman ear. But since that was all made up, he cut down a branch of hard nuts that hang like grapes from a nearby tree and tossed them ahead of him as he went. It was good, too, because he had a feeling he was missing the patches that indicated the force field more often than he was spotting them. Whenever a nut hit the force field, there was a puff of smoke before it landed, blackened and with a cracked shell, on the ground at his feet.
After a few minutes (M/N) became aware of a smacking sound behind him and turned to see Ultear peeling the shell off one of the nuts and popping it in her already full mouth. "Hey!" (M/N) cried. "Spit that out. It could be poisonous."
She mumbled something and ignored (M/N). (M/N) looked to Denki for help but he just laughed. "I guess we'll find out," he said.
(M/N) went forward, wondering about Denki, who saved old Ultear but would let her eat strange nuts. Who Shota stamped with his seal of approval. Who brought Katsuki back from the dead. Why didn't he just let Katsuki die? He would have been blameless. (M/N) never would have guessed it was in Denki's power to revive him. Why could he possibly have wanted to save Katsuki? And why was he so determined to team up with (M/N)? Willing to kill (M/N), too, if it came to that. But leaving the choice of if they fought to (M/N).
(M/N) kept walking, tossing the nuts, sometimes catching a glimpse of the force field, trying to press to the left to find a spot where they could break through, get away from the Cornucopia, and hopefully find water. But after another hour or so of this (M/N) realised it was futile. They weren't making any progress to the left. In fact, the force field seemed to be herding them along a curved path.
(M/N) stopped and looked back at Ultear's limping form, the sheen of sweat on Katsuki's face. "Let's take a break," (M/N) said. "I need to get another look from above."
The tree (M/N) chose seemed to jut higher into the air than the others. He made his way up the twisting boughs, staying as close to the trunk as possible. There was no telling how easily the rubber branches would snap. Still, he climbed beyond good sense because there was something he had to see.
As (M/N) clung to a stretch of trunk no wider than a sapling, swaying back and forth in the humid breeze, his suspicions were confirmed. There was a reason they couldn't turn to the left, and would never be able to. From that precarious vantage point, he could see the shape of the whole arena for the first time. A perfect circle. With a perfect wheel in the middle. The sky above the circumference of the jungle was tinged a uniform pink. And (M/N) thought he could make out one or two of those wavy squares, chinks in the armour, Tenya and Ochaco called them, because they revealed what was meant to be hidden and were therefor a weakness.
Just to make absolutely sure, (M/N) shot an arrow into the empty space above the treeline. There was a spurt of light, a flash of real blue sky, and the arrow was thrown back into the jungle. (M/N) climbed down to give the others the bad news.
"The force field has us trapped in a circle. A dome, really. I don't know how high it goes. There's the Cornucopia, the sea, and then the jungle all around. Very exact. Very symmetrical. And not very large," (M/N) said.
"Did you see any water?" Denki asked.
"Only the salt water where we started the Games," (M/N) said.
"There must be some other source," Katsuki said, frowning. "Or we'll all be dead in a matter of days."
"Well, the foliage is thick. Maybe there are ponds or springs somewhere," (M/N) said doubtfully. He instinctively felt that the Capitol would want these unpopular Games over as soon as possible. Kan Sekijiro could have already been given orders to knock them off. "At any rate, there's no point in trying to find out what's over the edge of this hill, because the answer is nothing."
"There must be drinkable water between the force field and the wheel," Katsuki insisted. Everyone knew what this meant. Heading back down. Heading back to the Careers and the bloodshed. With Ultear hardly able to walk and Katsuki still too weak to fight, even if he'd never admit it.
They decided to move down the slope a few hundred metres and continue circling. To see if there was some water at that level. (M/N) stayed in the lead, occasionally chucking a nut to his left, but they were well out of range of the force field now. The sun beat down on them, turning the air to steam, playing tricks on their eyes. By mid-afternoon, Ultear couldn't go on and it was clear that everyone else needed a rest as well.
Denki chose a campsite about ten metres below the force field, saying they could use it as a weapon by deflecting their enemies into it if attacked. Then he and Ultear pulled blades of sharp grass that grew in two-metre-high tufts and began to weave them together into mats. Since Ultear seemed to have no ill effects from the nuts, Katsuki collected bunches of them and fried them by bouncing them off the force field. He methodically peeled off the shells, piling the meats on a leaf. (M/N) stood guard, fidgety and hot and raw with the emotions of the day.
Thirsty. (M/N) was so thirsty. Finally he couldn't stand it anymore. "Denki, why don't you stand guard and I'll look around some more for water," (M/N) said. No one was thrilled with the idea of him going off alone, but the threat of dehydration hung over them.
"Don't worry, I won't go far," (M/N) promised Katsuki.
"I'll go, too," Katsuki said.
"No, I'm going to do some hunting if I can," (M/N) told him. He didn't add, "And you can't come because you're too loud." But it was implied. Katsuki would scare off prey and endanger (M/N) with his heavy tread. "I won't be long."
(M/N) moved stealthily through the trees, happy to find that the ground lended itself to soundless footsteps. (M/N) worked his way down at a diagonal, but he found nothing except more lush, green plant life.
The sound of the cannon brought (M/N) to a halt. The initial bloodbath at the Cornucopia must have finally been over. The death toll of the tributes now available. (M/N) counted the shots, each representing a dead victor. Eight. Not as many as the previous year. But it seemed like more since (M/N) knew most of their names.
Suddenly weak, (M/N) leaned against a tree to rest, feeling the heat draw the moisture from his body like a sponge. Already, swallowing was difficult and fatigue was creeping up on him.
(M/N) sank to the ground, and in his stillness, he began to notice the animals: strange birds with brilliant plumage, tree lizards with flickering blue tongues, and something that looked like a cross between a rat and a possum clinging on the branches close to the trunk. (M/N) shot one of the latter out of the tree to get a closer look.
It was ugly, a big rodent with a fuzz of mottled grey fur and two wicked-looking gnawing teeth protruding over its lower lip. As (M/N) was gutting and skinning it, he noticed something else. Its muzzle was wet. Like an animal that had been drinking from a stream. Excited, (M/N) started at its home tree and moved slowly out in a spiral. It couldn't be far, the creature's water source.
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Nothing. (M/N) found nothing. Not so much as a dewdrop. Eventually, because he knew Katsuki would be worried about him, he headed back to the camp, hotter and more frustrated than ever.
When he arrived, he saw the others had transformed the place. Ultear and Denki had created a hut of sorts out of the grass mats, open one side but with three walls, a floor and a roof. Ultear had also plaited several bowls that Katsuki filled with roasted nuts. Their faces turned to (M/N) hopefully, but he gave his head a shake. "No. No water. It's out there, though. He knew where it was," (M/N) said, hoisting the skinned rodent up for all to see. "He'd been drinking it recently when I shot him out of a tree, but I couldn't find his source. I swear, I covered every centimetre of ground in a thirty-metre radius."
"Can we eat him?" Katsuki asked.
"I don't know for sure. But his meat doesn't look that different from a squirrel's. He ought to be cooked..." (M/N) hesitated as he thought of trying to start a fire out here from scratch. Even if he succeeded, there was the smoke to think about. They were all so close together in this arena, there was no chance of hiding it.
Katsuki had another idea. He took a cube of rodent meat, skewered it on the tip of a pointed stick, and let it fall into the force field. There was a sharp sizzle and the stick flew back. The chunk of meat was blackened on the outside but well cooked inside.
The white sun sunk into the rosy sky as they gathered in the hut. (M/N) was still weary about the nuts, but Denki said Ultear recognised them from another Games. (M/N) didn't bother spending time at the edible-plants station in training because it was so effortless for him the previous year. Now he wished he had. For surely there would have been some unfamiliar plants surrounding him. And he might have guessed a bit more about where he was headed. Ultear seemed fine, though, and she'd been eating the nuts for hours. So (M/N) picked one up and took a small bite. It had a mild, slightly sweet flavour that reminded him of a chestnut. He decided it was all right. The rodent was strong but surprisingly juicy. Really, it wasn't a bad meal for their first night in the arena. If only they had something to wash it down with.
Denki asked a lot of questions about the rodent, which they all decided to call a tree rat. How high was it, how long did (M/N) watch it before he shot, and what was it doing. (M/N) didn't remember it doing much of anything. Snuffling around for insects or something.
He was dreading the night. At least the tightly woven grass offered some protection from whatever was slinking across the jungle floor after hours. But a short time before the sun slipped below the horizon, a pale boon rose, making things just visible. Their conversation trailed off because they knew what was coming.
They positioned themselves in a line at the mouth of the hut and (M/N)'s hand slipped into Katsuki's.
The sky brightened when the seal of the Capitol appeared as if floating in space. As (M/N) listened to the strains of the anthem he thought it would be harder for Denki and Ultear. But it turned out to be plenty hard for him as well. Seeing the faces of the eight dead victors projected into the sky.
The man from District 5, the one Denki took out with his trident, was the first to appear. That meant that all the tributes in 1 through 4 were alive - the four Careers, Tenya and Ochaco, and, of course, Ultear and Denki. The man from District 5 was followed by a morphling from 6, both from 8, both from 9, the woman from 10, and Chiyo from 11. The Capitol seal was back with a final bit of music and then the sky went dark except for the moon.
No one spoke. (M/N) couldn't pretend he knew any of them well. But he was thinking of those three kids hanging onto the woman from 8 when they took her away. Chiyo's kindness to him at their meeting. Even the thought of the glazed-eyed morphling painting his cheeks with yellow flowers gave him a pang. All dead. All gone.
(M/N) didn't know how long they would have sat there if it weren't for the arrival of the silver parachute, which glided down through the foliage to land before them. No one reached for it.
"Whose is it, do you think?" (M/N) said finally.
"No telling," Denki said. "Why don't we let Katsuki claim it, since he died today?"
Katsuki untied the cord and flattened out the circle of silk. On the parachute sat a small metal object that (M/N) couldn't place. "What is it?" he asked. No one knew. They passed it from hand to hand, taking turns examining it. It was a hollow metal tube, tapered slightly at one end. On the other end a small lip curved downward. It was vaguely familiar. A part that could have fallen off a bicycle, a curtain rod, anything, really.
Katsuki blew on one end to see if it made a sound. It didn't. Denki slid his pinkie into it, testing it out as a weapon. Useless.
"Can you fish with it, Ultear?" (M/N) asked. Ultear, who could fish with almost anything, shook her head.
(M/N) took it and rolled it back and forth on his palm. Since they were allies, Shota would be working with the District 4 mentors. He had a hand in choosing this gift. That meant it was valuable. Life-saving, even. (M/N) thought back to the previous year, when (M/N) wanted water so badly, but Shota wouldn't send it because he knew (M/N) could find it if he tried. Shota's gifts, or lack thereof, carried weighty messages. (M/N) could almost hear Shota growling at him, Use your brain if you have one. What is it?
(M/N) wiped the sweat from his eyes and held the gift out in the moonlight. He moved it this way and that, viewing it from different angles, covering portions and then revealing them. Trying to make it divulge its purpose to (M/N). Finally, in frustration, he jammed one end into the dirt. "I give up. Maybe if we find Tenya or Ochaco they can figure it out."
(M/N) stretched out, pressing his hot cheek on the grass mat, staring at the thing in aggravation. Katsuki rubbed a tense spot between (M/N)'s shoulders and he let himself relax a bit. He wondered why this place hadn't cooled off at all now that the sun had gone down. He wondered what was going on back home.
(M/N) began to ache for them, for his district, for his woods. Decent woods with sturdy hardwood trees, plentiful food, game that wasn't creepy. Rushing streams. Cool breezes. No, cold winds to blow this stifling heat away. He conjured up such a wind in his mind, letting it freeze his cheeks and numb his fingers, and all at once, the piece of metal half buried in the black earth had a name.
"A spile!" (M/N) exclaimed, bolting upright.
"What?" Denki asked.
(M/N) wrestled the thing from the ground and brushed it clean. He cupped his hand around the tapered end, concealing it, and looked at the tip. He'd seen these before. On a cold, windy day long ago, when he was out in the woods with his father. Inserted snugly into a hole drilled in the side of a maple. A pathway for the sap to follow as it flowed into their bucket. Maple syrup could make even their dull bread a treat.
After his father died, (M/N) didn't know what happened to the handful of spiles he had. Hidden out in the woods somewhere, probably. Never to be found.
"It's a spile. Sort of like a tap. You put it in a tree and sap comes out." (M/N) looked at the green trunks around him. "Well, the right sort of tree."
"Sap?" Denki asked. They didn't have the right kind of trees by the sea, either.
"To make syrup," Katsuki said. "But there must be something else inside these trees."
They were all on their feet at once. Their thirst. The lack of springs. The tree rat's sharp front teeth and wet muzzle. There could only be one thing worth having inside these trees. Denki went to hammer the spile into the green bark of a massive tree with a rock, but (M/N) stopped him. "Wait. You might damage it. We need to drill a hole first."
There was nothing to drill with, so Ultear offered her awl and Katsuki drove it straight into the bark, burying the spike five centimetres deep. He and Denki took turns opening the hole with the awl and the knives until it could hold the spile. (M/N) wedged it in carefully and they all stood back in anticipation. Then a drop of water rolled down the lip and landed in Ultear's palm. She licked it off and held out her hands for more.
By wiggling and adjusting the spile, they got a thin stream running out. They took turns holding their mouths under the tap, wetting their parched tongues. Ultear brought over a basket, and the grass was so tightly woven that it held the water.
They filled the basket and passed it around, taking deep gulps and, later, luxuriously, splashing their faces clean. Like everything in the arena, the water was on the warm side, but this was no time to be picky.
Without their thirst to distract them, they were all aware of how exhausted they were and made preparations for the night. In the last Games, (M/N) always tried to have his gear ready in case he had to make a speedy retreat in the night. This year, there was no backpack to prepare. Just his weapons, which wouldn't leave his grasp, anyway. Then (M/N) thought of the spile and wrestled it from the trunk and stored it in his sheath of arrows, not having anywhere better to put it.
Denki offered to take the first watch and (M/N) let him, knowing it had to be one of the two of them until Katsuki was rested up. (M/N) laid down next to Katsuki on the floor of the hut, telling Denki to wake him when he was tired.
Instead (M/N) found himself startled from sleep a few hours later by what seemed to be the tolling of a bell. Bong! Bong! It wasn't exactly like the one they rang in the Justice Building on New Year's Eve but close enough for him to recognise it. Katsuki and Ultear slept through it, but Denki had the same look of attentiveness that (M/N) felt. The tolling stopped.
"I counted twelve," Denki said.
(M/N) nodded. Twelve. What did that signify? One ring for each district? Maybe, but why? "Mean anything, do you think?"
Denki just shrugged his shoulders.
They waited for further instructions, maybe an announcement. An invitation to a feast. The only thing of note appeared in the distance. A dazzling bolt of electricity struck a towering tree and then a lightning storm began. (M/N) guessed it was an indication of rain, of a water source for those who didn't have mentors as smart as Shota.
"Go to sleep, Denki. It's my turn to watch, anyway," (M/N) said.
Denki hesitated, but no one could stay awake for ever. He settled down at the mouth of the hut, one hand gripped around his trident, and drifted into a restless sleep.
(M/N) sat with his bow loaded, watching the jungle, which was ghostly pale and green in the moonlight. After an hour or so, the lightning stopped. (M/N) could hear the rain coming in, though, pattering on the leaves a few hundred metres away. He kept waiting for it to reach them but it never did.
The sound of a cannon startled (M/N), although it made little impression on his sleeping companions. There was no point in awakening them for that. Another victor dead. He wouldn't even allow himself to wonder who it was.
The elusive rain shut off suddenly, like the storm did in the arena last year.
Moments after it stopped, (M/N) saw fog sliding softly in from the direction of the recent downpour. Just a reaction. Cool rain on the steaming ground, (M/N) thought. It continued at a steady pace. Tendrils reached forward and then curled like fingers, as if they were pulling the rest behind them. As (M/N) watched, he felt the hairs on his neck begin to rise. Something was wrong with the fog. The progression of the front line was too uniform to be natural. And if it wasn't natural...
A sickeningly sweet odour began to invade (M/N)'s nostrils and he reached for the others, shouting for them to wake up.
In the few seconds it took to rouse them, (M/N) began to blister.
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