Hi Everyone! If you've read this far, thank you so much for your support!

If you're a rereader, you'll notice this chapter has changed slightly. It has also been divided up into two separate chapters.  Hopefully, it will help with the readability, though I know they are still quite long. I will probably always struggle with keeping them short. 

Just a reminder that I'd love to hear from you in the comments. Share your thoughts, likes, dislikes, your own stories, or suggestions and opinions. I will take the time to read through them, and the comments give me motivation to continue posting!

I know the last two chapters were rough on the soul and dark. But Panem is corrupt and this is part of the original world (if you recall), it was just kept in the dark and in the shadows. I believe that the only way to get rid of the dark is to shine a light on it. 

But, we are back to Scarlet Wolfe! Remember her? Just almost dying at the end of Day 2. So, nothing to out of the ordinary for her. 

Take care and stay safe! ~CANGEL

***

The Arena: Day 3

Scarlet 

     Scarlet did wake up. It wasn't gradual, fuzzy, or hazy, the way she sometimes woke in the mornings after a night of tossing and turning where she clung to her unconscious state. And as she became conscious, it was sudden. Her senses and nerves, firing information, processing the world around her.

     Heat wrapped round her. For a moment—for a single moment, she wondered if the Capitol had mistaken her for dead and her body had been taken away from the Arena by the hovercraft. How else could she be so warm?

     But then the ceiling came into focus. Dark grey rock blanketed above her, and as she turned her head, she found rock walls on either side of her.

     A cave?

     With her fingertips, she scratched the ground below. Dirt.

     Yes, she was in a real cave. How in the Hell had she ended up here?

     She lifted her head—or tried too. Her head was heavy, like several tons of rock was attached to it and the moment she lifted it off the ground, her head began to spin. Scarlet closed her eyes against the spinning, allowing the feel of the steady earth beneath her to center her.

     Only when the dizziness stopped did she open her eyes once more. Keeping her head as still as possible, she looked down and to her sides.

     Golden and white fur covered her. The heat that surrounded her and kept her from freezing...

     Scarlet closed her eyes for a brief moment. Heartbeats fluttered on each side of her along with the feeling of steady breathing.

     Scarlet's Wave and Cadmium's Crest had saved her. How, she wasn't exactly sure of, but they had.

     With her arms and fingers pinned against her side, she felt the softness of their fur against her skin.

     Wait, that didn't make sense. Does it? Her brows pinched together as she tried to recall how she got to the cave. Everything after her and Scarlet's Wave jumping into the river for the second time is blurred and hazy. She vaguely remembered making it to shore, the cold seeping into her bones. She remembered the feeling of being dragged...Scarlet eyed the gold fur to her left.

     Cadmium's Crest.

     She had the vaguest recollection of making it to the cave and immediately stripping off her icy wet clothes before collapsing onto the ground in a heap.

     Oh. Well, that explained her nakedness now. Though she refused to be embarrassed at the thought of all of Panem witnessing her nakedness. They'd stuck her in here, after all, and she was just doing her best to survive it.

     "Scar—" Her voice felt like sandpaper in her throat. It hurt to talk and swallow. She cleared it and tried again. "Scarlet's Wave?"

     Wetness touched her face. Scarlet glanced to her right. Scarlet's Wave's golden eyes met hers. She let her head brush against hers.

     "It's good to see you, girl."

     Scarlet's Wave's mouth opened, her teeth exposed and only inches from Scarlet's vulnerable face. The heat of her breath coated Scarlet's skin, but Scarlet didn't care.

     She couldn't even find a little of the annoyance that normally accompanied an assault of morning breath on her senses.

     Scarlet pushed a little with her fingers, trying to get her wolf to shift just a bit.

     Scarlet's Wave settled her head back on Scarlet's chest.

     Okay, then.

     Mild annoyance filtered in past her relatively good mood that had come on account of finding the two of them still alive.

     She wiggled her fingers from under Cadmium's Crest's side.

     She felt him suck in a breath, before letting it out with a huff before settling back into sleep.

     The mild annoyance turned sharply to irritation.

     "Alright, alright. Thanks for saving me but that's enough. Scarlet's Wave, Cadmium's Crest, off. Now."

     Scarlet's Wave rose without any more protest, limping away from Scarlet, before collapsing against the wall.

    Guilt for making her injured wolf move weighed on her almost as heavily as Cadmium's Crest, who refused to move an inch, but she had to get up.

     "Disobedient fucking pup." She mumbled as she leveled a glare up at the ceiling. "Spoiled fucking rotten." She muttered to herself as she pulled her hand free, rolling to her side away from the golden puff of fur.

     She sucked in a breath as a sharp pain ripped through her stomach and her brain swam inside her skull.

     She heaved into the ground, unable to lift her head from the dust covered rock below her.

     Luckily, she didn't seem to have anything substantial to throw up besides stomach bile and saliva.

     She groaned softly as she dragged herself across the ground, over to Scarlet's Wave. Moving helped, in a torturous way. Her head still felt heavy and every time she moved it from the ground, her brain began rolling on her shoulders. But the more she moved, the more her brain seemed to regain its equilibrium.

     Scarlet reached Scarlet's Wave finally and pulled herself up over the injured wolf. She let her heavy head drop like a rock against Scarlet's Wave's shoulder. Her fingers ran through her wolf's snow-white fur.

     She couldn't see the injury from where her head was rested, but she remembered Crimson's Tide's wicked teeth—had felt them in her own skin—and knew the damage they could cause.

     She breathed in the woodsy scent of her wolf's fur.

     One minute.

     She just needed a minute.

     Scarlet looked out toward the opening of the cave and saw sunlight.

     It was daytime.

     Aside from a few flickering, blurry memories, she'd lost an entire night.

     Scarlet let her eyes fall closed and searched through those blurry memories, trying to find any of importance.

     Faces flickered in her head. The tributes. She'd seen them, their faces were stored in her brain. Scarlet let out a breath as she recalled the dead tributes of yesterday. The district 3 male's face had flickered in the sky, who had attacked her by the river was dead. Scarlet's fifth kill. The plain-faced boy from District 5. Keenen. Scarlet had also killed him. Her sixth kill. 

     The female from his District was also dead. Dahlia. Killed either by the environment, or one of the other tributes. Maybe the Careers? The boy from 6, who she had injured, and Scarlet's Wave had killed on her order. Seven dead by her hands. 

     Flax, from District 8, who had died by Scarlet's hand. She could still feel the remnants of his hands around her throat, squeezing, cutting off her air supply. She pulled in a deep breath of the cold air around her as if to prove a point to her mind that she could still breath. He was dead. She was still alive, her body count now up to eight. 

     The girl from eight had died sometime yesterday as well. Penny. Melania from District 10 was dead. And...Lilian. From District 12. Scarlet remembered throwing her blade into the girls' thigh. She remembered seeing Crimson's Tide tearing her apart. Scarlet had chosen to sacrifice her life in order to save herself. It hadn't been her to end the girl's life, but Scarlet still felt the weight of her death, a further stain on her soul.

     Scarlet had killed nine tributes.

     It was day 3 and there were so few tributes left. Only six remained. Including her. Five more still had to die before it was over.

     Scarlet suddenly thought of Finnick. Of her challenge that she had made during the Interviews. That she would kill more than him. That she would claim victory and end the games faster than he had.

     She had killed more than him. Finnick had killed eight tributes in his Games that had last 8 days.

     If things continued the way they had been, this Hunger Games would end far before day 8.

      But pride wasn't what she felt right then. Nor did she feel victorious. She'd wanted to prove to Finnick that she was powerful and strong. She wanted to make him feel foolish for calling her fish fodder. Now his tributes were dead, and she was on track to beating every record he set when he won, and Scarlet just felt...heavy.

     Tired.

     Her challenge didn't feel like a victory anymore. It felt...naïve and foolish. Challenging him may have gotten her more attention, but it sure as hell wasn't helping her out in the arena.

     With her promising start in the Arena during the bloodbath, and her success afterwards, she thought...Scarlet let out a breath, watching the white fur ruffle beneath her cheek. It was no use to think about the past. She knew who was dead, which meant that as soon as she could think more clearly, she could figure out who was likely still alive.

     She was hurt, but she wasn't done fighting.

     Scarlet had so much to do, but she was so tired, so for now, she would rest. Scarlet felt the warm fur of her wolf beneath her cheek and felt a warm presence settle in behind her. Cadmium's Crest.

     Hunger gnawed the inside of her empty stomach. Her throat was parched, and her lips were dry. And she was so, so tired.

     She let out a slow breath and closed her eyes. Everything else could wait.

***

     It was the cold that woke Scarlet next. She felt the fur beneath her face, and Scarlet's Wave's even breathing rising and falling. Cadmium's Crest was no longer behind her, no longer sharing his warmth with her.

     Scarlet slowly picked up her head from her wolf's body. Her face hurt, but her brain was no longer feeling like an anvil or spinning like a top. As she turned, pain flared in her side.

     Scarlet sucked in a breath at the pain as she touched the tender spot at her waist. She looked down and winced at the sight.

     The wound was only about an inch long, running slanted a few inches away from her belly button. Blood crusted down her skin where the blood had dried, but around the wound, her skin was inflamed, swollen and red. Heat licked at her fingertips as she prodded at her tender skin as gentle as she could. Bile rose in her throat when a small amount of yellowish liquid came out of it.

     Pus.

     Scarlet swallowed hard, trying to keep her thoughts off her face. The wound was most definitely infected.

     The white box in her small pack came to mind. But that was quickly chased away with the realization that she had abandoned it in the clearing on the opposite side of the river when escaping from Crimson's Tide and the Career pack.

     She had no supplies anymore. All her hard work and all the risks that she had taken to give herself an advantage... completely worthless now.

     She had...

     Scarlet looked down at her body, her bare stomach and legs glaring back at her.

     Shit, she still had no clothes on.

     Scarlet looked around the small cave and found her clothes lying in a pile. Hopefully they were dry. She braced to stand, but before she could get up, her arm gave way, and she fell back to the ground. Her head hit hard on her wolf's body, causing her to startle awake beneath Scarlet as searing pain shot through her entire body.

     She remembered Crimson's Tide's teeth tearing into her shoulder near the river and turned her head to look, instantly wishing she hadn't.

     The moment she did, the steady throb started. Her flesh was torn and ripped. Shredded. Scarlet sucked in a deep breath through her nose as she forced herself to examine it.

     It was...fine. Yes, everything was fine.

     At least there were no signs of infection. Yet.

     She sat up, gingerly this time, doing her best to keep her weight off of her wounded arm and hanging loose at her side. Getting to her feet was harder, but she managed it, only wobbling slightly as she staggered over to her clothes. Scarlet's Wave was now away, nosing about, getting in Scarlet's way as she sniffed all of Scarlet's clothing, licking at the dried blood.

     Guilt from yelling at her earlier still tugged at her though and she kept her mouth closed as she leaned up against the wall of the cave, using her uninjured arm to step into her pants. She saw scrapes against the top of her right ankle and wondered where the hell she'd gotten those from. Had to have been in the river right? Or maybe somewhere on the way to this cave?

     Ultimately, it didn't matter, but it was a bit jarring to see the number of wounds and the severity of at least two of them. Apart from the scrapes and open wounds, like her shoulder and her stomach, her ribs still felt bruised from the fall in the tree and her throat still felt raw, which she was beginning to suspect was from being near strangled and not only because of thirst.

     There was no easy way to get her shirt on, so she bit her lip and stuffed her injured arm in first before pulling it up and over her head. The jacket was a bit easier. But by the time she was finished the throbbing had morphed into a full fledged thumping and bolts of pain shot down her arm every time she tried to grab anything with her fingers.

     Scarlet pulled on her socks and laced up her boots the best she could. It was near impossible though to grip the shoelaces with the fingers of her injured arm. And the fact that it seemed to only be getting worse was far more concerning to Scarlet than the actual wound itself or even the infected wound at her stomach.

     It was her right arm. Her dominant hand. And though she could throw with her left hand, she couldn't throw as far or as accurately. Would she even be able to hold a weapon with her right hand?

     She squeezed the fingers of her right hand together in a fist. Scarlet stifled a cry with her left hand as a lightening bolt of pain shot up her arm, zapping along her nerves in rapid fire until she let her fingers straighten.

     Trying not to let her panic show, she kept her eyes trained on the floor of the cave. A glint of metal caught her eye in the midst of the black fabric of her knife holster. She picked the holster up with her good arm and as she did her eyes widened as she caught sight of the one last dagger secured in its sheath.

     A blade.

     A gift.

     A chance.

     Her lips curled upward as she wrapped the holster around her waist, using the wall behind her to pin the holster in place as she buckled it in place. On the floor where the holster used to be, was the small coil of razor wire she'd all but forgotten about. She wrapped it around her wrist and let out a breath.

     Despite the injuries, Scarlet's racing heart started to settle under the weight and familiarity of the weapons on her body. She no longer felt quite as panicked as she had, with at least a couple weapons giving her a small chance at defending herself.

     She settled her hand on her wolf's white fur for a moment, before turning toward the front of the cave. Somewhere out there Cadmium's Crest was roaming and past that...the rest of the tributes.

     One blade. One coil of razor wire. And two wolves.

     It was better than nothing.

     Her stomach rumbled and her face burned and itched. Her throat hurt with every swallow. She could feel each heartbeat of hers pulsing in the infected wound at her side. As long as she didn't move her right arm at all, her shoulder didn't ache, but she couldn't form even a loose gripped fist without a burst of pain following.

     The lashes on her back still itched. Once more, in the beginning stages of healing after being torn open once again.

     "One knife. One coil of razor wire. And two wolves." She repeated to herself quietly, while making her way to the opening of the cave. "One knife. One coil of razor wire. And two wolves."

     At the opening of the cave, she turned back, letting loose a lowered whistle sound.

     Scarlet Wave's came to Scarlet, an obvious limp as she heavily favored her back left paw. When she paused at Scarlet's side, she took a moment and ran her hands across her wolf's body. The thick fur coat made it impossible to spot easily with just sight.

     Her wolf had a long gash going across her back. From a Crimson's Tide? A knife? She recalled Scarlet's Wave sprinting out of the woods, pushing her to go, to leave that area, blood on her fur coat, but just moments later, Lilian had come from the woods, followed by Keenen. With a bloodied spear. She ran her fingers along the edges of the wound, not wanting to hurt her wolf any further, but needing to inspect it. It wasn't deep and should be okay for now.

     Her eyes followed her fingers as they moved past the wound across her shoulder blades. Scarlet's Wave body shook, and Scarlet felt the wolf's nose and teeth as she reached her back and nipped at Scarlet's hand warning her to stop.

     There. Her upper hind leg.

     Her thick coat of fur covered most of the wound and as Scarlet brushed the fur up, she winced at the torn bits of flesh, skin and muscle. It didn't look infected, but there was no question that she was in pain. Crimson's Tide had shown no mercy in his attack on his sister wolf.

     Scarlet smoothed over her wolf's fur and pressed her head against Scarlet's Waves'.

     "It's going to be okay, Scarlet's Wave." She cooed to her wolf, trying to calm her, and ease her own guilt. She'd been careless. As soon as Scarlet's Wave had found her, she should've run far, knowing Crimson's Tide would be after them with Crimson at his back.

     Crimson... What would Crimson do today? What had he already done?

     "Will he still use them and try coming after me again?" She asks herself out loud. "Or will he take care of the Careers first?" Her fingers stroked the wolf's neck as she thought.

     As of last night, there were six tributes left in the Arena.

     Half the day was gone today though, and Scarlet wouldn't know who was left until nightfall. That was the biggest downfall of being deaf in the Arena. Everyone assumed that she would fall prey to a threat she couldn't hear approaching, but anyone could fall victim to that. Anyone could be caught unaware out here in the Arena.

      What put her at a disadvantage now was the fact that she couldn't hear the cannons. She couldn't hear as cannons sounded throughout the day, or if they sounded at all. Were there still six tributes left alive in the Arena?

     Crimson had supplies. He had Crimson's Tide at his side. If the Careers hadn't already tried to turn on him, then they would turn on him at some point today. There were simply too few tributes left to leave Crimson alive.

     And if she was thinking it now, she knew that Crimson had already considered this for a while now. Scarlet running into five other tributes yesterday likely messed up his timeline, but it couldn't be helped any now. She knew he would try to turn on them first. She knew that would be his plan. To have any sort of advantage, he would attack them before they attacked him. She just didn't know if he'd already done it or if it was yet to come.

     "I know you'll take them out before they turn on you." She murmured trying to work through the tangled thoughts spinning in her brain. "Would you be able to convince them to hunt me down first?" She shook her head slowly. "I don't think so. Three of the six remaining tributes are there in the Cornucopia. With Crimson's Tide, you'd be too much of a threat." She rubbed her tender nose against Scarlet's Wave's snout. "You have to take them out today. Have you done it already, Crimson?" She paused, waiting for an answer that she knew wouldn't come. "If you haven't, you'll do it soon. Until it's done, you'll stay near the Cornucopia." She was sure of that. "You'll kill them both. But you'll be hurt. Weak. Injured. Will you still come after me? Will you try to end this today?"

     She remembered her blade sinking into Crimson's Tide's side and swiping along his face. He was injured as well. Then she thought about the other two tributes somewhere in the Arena and shook her head slowly. She knew her brother. Crimson would always take the easiest path to the end. "No. You won't risk leaving the Cornucopia. You'll stay where you have the weapons, food, and any supplies." She let out a breath. "You'll let me finish things in the woods and wait for me to find you there."

     She opened her eyes, staring into the golden gaze of her wolf.

     A nose bumped into her side, and she turned her head, looking at the newly appeared golden wolf. Cadmium's Crest.

     Blood coated his muzzle; his tail wagged, and his tongue hung from the side of his mouth. Snow dusted his coat and stuck to his paws.

     "Don't suppose you brought any food back for us, did you?"

     He pushed his way between Scarlet's Wave and her, nearly causing Scarlet to fall backwards.

     She stood up, wincing at the pull in her side, watching as Cadmium's Crest licked Scarlet's Wave's wound. Scarlet pulled him away.

     "I know you're trying to help, but don't."

     He flashed his teeth at her in warning. She nearly snapped her teeth back at the mannerless pup. He hadn't even bring them back a meal and he thought he could be snappish at her? I dare you to try to take a bite out of me. Scarlet thought silently toward him. Just try it.

     "Well..." She said, debating her next move as she pulled her gloves on as the cool air bit at her exposed skin. "Water is a must." She raised a brow as she glanced down at the golden wolf at her side. "Don't suppose you know where we might find some?"

     There was no answer, of course, but talking to Cadmium's Crest felt a bit like talking to Cadmium, and in here—in the Arena, where there was no one she could truly trust...there was no one she wanted to talk to more than Cadmium.

------------------

Thank you so much for reading! What do you think? 

I know there was a bit of an info dump here, but I personally really like having things laid out for me on who's alive, who's dead. Scarlet has a really gifted memory, so she would be able to recall things very well. The only thing she doesn't know is who dies during the day. she can't hear the cannons, so she's left in the dark until nightfall.

Take care and stay safe!~ CANGEL

Remember to like and vote if you enjoyed the chapter!