DAY TWO OF THE GAMES CONSISTED OF UNSETTLING PEACEFULNESS. Pearl was shocked when she made it through the second day in the arena with no blood on her hands at all.
Pearl didn't want to kill anyone else,
even though she knew she would have to kill at least one more person to survive and successfully win the games.
The other Careers were infuriated that they weren't able to find anyone in their hunts. While other Careers hunted, some collected supplies and built up the base in the Cornucopia.
The third day seemed to be going similar. Pearl was standing guard at the Cornucopia when she heard loud shouting in the distance.
She immediately listened to the source of the noise and identified one of the loud voices as Dane. Although he wasn't the leader, he seemed the most bloodthirsty.
"You think you can run from me, huh?"
Dane was chasing after a male tribute. He finally caught up to the boy, who scraped his arm with a sword. Dane yelled, but the pain only made him stronger and angrier.
The boy immediately regretted his decision as Dane threw him to the ground with his bare hands. The boy's sword was ripped from him and Dane stabbed him with it.
Pearl winced as Dane continuously stabbed the boy over and over, yelling coming from both of them the entire time.
Pearl tried to look away, but it was impossible. She had gotten used to the sound of the loud cannon after the blood bath, learning from Apollo that it goes off after a tribute dies.
Dane wiped blood from his mouth as he began to slowly walk through the grass field towards the Cornucopia.
Pearl acted as if she didn't just see him murder the boy. Faye seemed to have no problem with it. She ran to him as soon as he was close enough.
"Who was it?"
"The boy from 6. He thought he was all that, but he was sliced with his own sword," Dane cackled manically.
Both tributes from District 6 were dead. Dane had no sympathy for anyone in the games, and Pearl was convinced that he would kill anyone for fun. He was brutal and unforgiving.
"I'm going to try and fish, can one of you keep guard?" Pearl asked.
Dane still looked at her like she was prey. "Sure."
Pearl nodded and took her homemade fishhooks with her to one of the large bodies of water. Of course, her trident accompanied her too. There was no way she would get caught off guard.
Her hand drifted through the water, letting the coolness refresh her. Tears formed in her eyes, realizing that she was being reminded of her home.
"No matter what you want Snow, I will get home."
Pearl often found herself talking to these hidden cameras. She figured that no one was probably watching her fish anyways. The likelihood that Snow is watching her every move is small, right?
Pearl let her body guide her into the shallow parts of the water. She rinsed her dirty skin off, and brushed dried blood off her fingertips.
She let the water take her prisoner, wishing she could be spending this moment in the waters of District 4 rather than the waters of the Capitol's arena.
Pearl knew it would get dark soon and that she had to start fishing. She had her fishhooks at the ready, and continued to think of Mags. She wondered if her mentor was watching her right now.
Her fishhooks pierced through countless fish. Part of her wished to not share this with the Careers, but they would grow suspicious of her. Dane had heard her say she was going fishing after all.
She collected her kills in a small basket that she took from the Cornucopia. Pearl was walking past the woods on her way back when she heard a distant cry.
Except it wasn't a cry- it was someone shouting her name softly. "Pearl!"
She turned around and didn't see anyone at first. Then she made eye contact with Opal. The weak looking girl from District 12 stumbled over towards her, bow in hand.
Pearl's eyes widened at the weapon and she held her trident out towards Opal. "Pearl, what are you doing? We're allies, remember?" she whispered.
Opal looked at the aggression in Pearl's eyes. "You're not seriously becoming one of them, are you?"
Pearl dropped her weapon onto the grass. "Opal, no, of course not. I just didn't know if we were still allies."
Opal smiled, her chocolate eyes drifting towards Pearl's basket of fish and fishhooks. Her hands were shaky as they extended towards it.
"Pearl... I'm starving. Can I please have something?"
Pearl had more than enough. Mags's tricks really did work. Pearl handed Opal two of her catches. "I promise, Opal. I won't let you die just yet."
Opal clutched them in her hands as if they were prizes. "Thank you so much. I hope I see you again..."
Pearl nodded, picking her trident back up. "You will."
She tracked back towards the Cornucopia where she found Apollo waiting for her. It was dark now, and Apollo was leaning against one of the Cornucopia's thick walls.
"Where were you?"
Pearl smiled innocently. "Dane didn't tell you?"
Apollo shook his head.
"I was fishing," she explained, lowering her basket.
Apollo slowly stepped towards her, his hand grabbing onto the handle of the basket. "Thanks then."
Pearl didn't hand him the basket. "It's not all for you, Apollo."
He laughed to himself as Pearl sat the basket down. "No need to look at me like you're going to kill me."
He saw the anger in her eyes. He saw the exact same emotion within Pearl when he killed Mauve. The Careers knew that Pearl would never truly be exactly like them.
Apollo stepped closer. "You're not, are you?"
Pearl still held onto her trident. "No."
"Good."
Pearl was finally able to relax when he left her alone. There was a boom of the cannon, Pearl knowing that another tribute had fallen.
She prayed that it wasn't Opal. Opal was who she truly wanted to be with right now. She didn't want to be with the Careers. Why did she agree to doing this? She would have survived perfectly fine without them.
Day four of the games came slow. Pearl had a sleepless night and woke up to a loud boom of the cannon. She sprung to her feet and rushed to the outside of the Cornucopia.
Bree was standing there watching something. "Do we know who that was?"
When Pearl moved closer to Bree, she could see a a lifeless body in the distance. "A girl. Not one of ours though; he seemed to be killed by someone else."
On day seven of the games, Pearl was beginning to grow hungry. Her latest fishing trip was extremely unsuccessful, and the Career pack was thinking about moving towards the forest to collect more resources.
Pearl was anxious to go near the closest woods, knowing that was where Opal was. She awaited Opal's greeting as she hunted by the outskirts of the forest, but she received nothing.
While she was walking, she saw something attached to a tiny parachute in the sky. Pearl looked up to investigate, and she realized that it was coming towards her.
It slowly glided down towards the ground and Pearl's mouth watered. Mags must have managed to get her a sponsor. She thought of the endless possibilities of what could be in that large silver container. Weapons, food, water...
There was a distant chime as the parachuted item hit the grass. Pearl quickly opened it with her hands and peered inside.
Her eyebrows raised in confusion when she saw nothing taking up a large amount of space inside. She smelt no fresh food, and didn't see any large objects.
Pearl's hands suddenly found a very small and soft object in the container. She pulled it out and examined it.
There was a singular white rose in her hands. Pearl was confused. Why would anyone send her a rose in the Hunger Games?
She went to search the container for anything else, and she found a slip of white paper. The sun was beginning to set, so she brought it into the light.
stop defying me, my rose
-c.s.
Pearl looked around her in horror as if she expected Snow to be in that arena with her. How didn't she realize at first? Roses are a signature symbol of Snow. Red and white roses scream the name of the President.
He sent her a message just to say that she should stop defying him...
Snow didn't just say that. He called Pearl his rose. She felt a strange feeling because of the name he called her. Her cheeks involuntarily flushed a pink color.
The signing of his initials was just the cherry on top. Pearl's normal thoughts suggested she just rip the rose up or throw it in the lake with a screaming fit. Surprisingly, her hands drifted towards her hair as she tucked the flower into her blonde locks.
The white rose fit her appearance like a puzzle piece and she felt nauseated when she looked at her reflection in the water. Pearl was becoming submissive to the Capitol, and she refused to loose herself to them.
Pearl slipped the note in her pocket and began to head back the Cornucopia. She had this feeling that she was being watched. Obviously the cameras were recording her, but she felt like someone else was watching her through that screen. Just a stupid gut feeling.
She was exhausted, and found her way to her homemade sleeping bag that was next to Apollo's. He was sound asleep, and she couldn't help but smile at how peaceful he looked. He softly snored and laid there almost motionless. For a second, Pearl forgot she was in the Hunger Games arena.
Pearl took her spot next to him silently, but she struggled to fall asleep. She never could in this arena. She had the fear that someone would come and stab her in the night. It was a realistic fear too.