"Ready?" Natsu whispered in my ear, gently squeezing my hand. I nodded in reply, and we stood up out of our seats, making our way over to the arena's exit. Once we were completely out of sight, we checked the fence to see if there were any guards. There weren't, since they were all watching the finale, so we stealthily jumped up a nearby tree, disappearing in the leaves as we snuck over the fence.

This is it. We're free.

|•|•|•|•|•|•|•|•|•|

(A/N): Hello my lovelies! So I changed the summary of the story a little since I did start this book....... Over a year ago.

*gulps intensely*

Yep, the start date was 20th February 2016.... and it's now 7th June 2017... So I felt really bad and wrote this as soon as I could. Yeah, I guess this is kinda like a filler chapter and is a little boring, but it should get more exciting sooner or later!

[+] I did my second exam today, which was English! I'm feeling pretty confident with this one, in comparison to my first maths one (which was filled with awful A* proof ;-;) My next one is Thursday, for those of you who wanted to know ♡

Also, thank you so much for all the support! I really appreciate it, and I'm 99% sure it gave me more luck😂

Side note: Has anyone heard 'Crying in the Club' by Camila Cabello? It's one of my new fave songs rn along with 'Fact Assault' by PSY and G-Dragon. I recommend a listen if you have time!

Okay, sorry for dragging, but enjoy the chappie~

|•|•|•| (Lucy's POV) |•|•|•|

"Natsu! Wait up!" I whisper yelled as we flew through the trees. He seemed really eager to get as far as possible, as fast as possible. I mean, who isn't, right? But damn a girl needs to breathe. He eventually slowed down a little, and began telling me his plan.

"You see that mountain over there?" He pointed to a giant mountain through the gap in the trees, that was right in front of us. It was really far away. "We have to get to there as soon as we can. It'll take about a week to get there on foot, and we can't get caught by any of our tribe members on the way either."

I sighed, but nodded. That mountain was placed right in the middle of the land, with each of the eight tribes surrounding it in a circle. The mountain was regarded as no man's land, and was normally where exiled tribe members went to live. That is, if they survived the journey.

Luckily, Natsu managed to hide a few weapons by the fence before we left, and I put supplies of food and water in backpacks to last at least 4 days. So we should be fine.

When it got too dark we decided to camp out in the treetops; that way dangerous predators couldn't kill us in our sleep. I've got to admit, night time outside the tribe is terrifying as fuck, but being with Natsu gave me that extra sense of security.

"We'll take it in turns to sleep tonight." Natsu told me. "I'll only wake you if it's been two hours or so, or if something's wrong, okay?"
"Okay." I smiled sleepily. We were rested on a little platform we'd made by placing snapped branches in rows, between two sturdier branches. It created enough space for the two of us to lie down, but I swear if I move I'll die.

As I settled down to sleep, I felt a hand rest on my shoulder. Warm and comforting, I fell sound asleep knowing that Natsu was there to protect me. I felt safe with him.

I gained consciousness after God knows how long, but kept my eyes closed as Natsu hadn't woken me up yet, and I didn't want to waste my two hours sleep. But then I realised that I could see light through my eyelids.

My eyes shot open to reveal the breathtaking views of the forest treetops at dawn as the sun rose over the horizon. Dawn. I slept through the whole night!? I turned to look at Natsu, who was leaning his back against the trunk of the tree, sound asleep. That Baka, does he not know what 'sleeping in shifts' means?

I gently shakes his shoulder, whispering his name as not to make him think there was a problem. He opened his eyes slowly, showing his toothy grin once he realised I was there, but then reality hit.

"It's dawn?" He mumbled. "Did you let me sleep the whole night?"
"You never woke me up, baka." I retorted, poking him in the chest. He smiled sheepishly, before stretching. We then both climbed down from the tree after destroying the platform, then set off on our long journey to the mountain.

"Will the hunters come out today?" I asked him.
"Not today. Today all the hunters will be on guard, making sure no fights occur since the event's over." Natsu replied, keeping his eyes straight ahead. "They'll come out tomorrow, but we'll be too far ahead for them to catch up to us."

"Thank goodness." I sighed in relief. "I'm so glad we made it."
"I wouldn't relax now. We need to get to the mountai-" He stopped himself, freezing on the spot and sticking out his arm to stop me in my tracks. Slowly, he turned his head to face me, placing a finger to his lips, ushering me to be quiet. I nodded in reply, as he grabbed the spear that was sheathed like a sword on his back.

Then I saw it. A tiger. Stalking us; its prey.

(A/N): Just to let you know, this book is set in the past, and the majority of animals that are endangered today aren't endangered in the book. I understand that animals being killed is awful, but in tribes it's what has to be done.

I couldn't look. I refused to. My eyes remained closed as Natsu stealthily made his way over to the wild animal. Moments later I heard his voice.
"It's okay now." He sighed. As I opened my eyes I saw him walking out of the bushes where the tiger was hiding.

"Could we not keep it as food at least?" I asked.
"It's dead weight." He replied. "We don't have a way to keep it fresh and cold, so the meat would just rot. Plus, if we start a fire to cook the meat now then the tribes will see the smoke." Natsu explained. Damn, this guy can actually be clever when he wants.

We were continuing with the journey, when I heard my stomach rumble. Yes I hadn't eaten since yesterday evening, and yes I was hungry, but we have to ration the food, so I have to miss out until dinner. Plus stopping to eat three times a day in comparison to only once is a big time difference.

"Do you want some food?" Natsu asked me.
"No, it's okay." I replied. "I can wait."
"That's the thing..." He mumbled. Suddenly a loud rumble emerged from the pit in his stomach. "I don't think I can wait." I burst out laughing at him, causing a smile to creep onto his face aswell.

"Okay then, let's eat!"

Word Count: 1228