❤️💜12k nearing my goallll💜❤️

And I guess I never really confirmed this but, this is like a no magic AU
So like, no teleporting or bone attacks or gaster blasters etc. Just them against the elements uwu
Okay that's all


Cross settled down on his tree branch, his attention shifting to the darkened sky as the Hunger Games Anthem started playing to show who'd died today. Yesterday it was only Adam, the kid from District Six. Today there had been surprisingly none.

Strange. The first day was a blood bath with deaths all around. But day two and three only held one between them. I mean, it's normal for the rate of deaths to plummet downwards after the first day, but not this much. Maybe tomorrow would hold more deaths, his possibly included...

He sighed and shook his head, still struggling to ignore the stabbing pain in his leg and hand. Sleeping was currently impossible because of it, and he hadn't even attempted to get into his sleeping bag due to nerves and the thought of the pain it would bring. But he had tied the rope around his waist to hopefully ensure that he wouldn't topple over and fall off.

Reaching over to his rucksack, Cross pulled out his water bottle and shivered. His fingers were shaky as he unscrewed the lid and placed it on his healthy leg. He then took a quick sip of it before hesitantly pouring a few drops of the icy liquid onto his leg. The blissful feeling only lasted a few seconds, but he was grateful for it all the same.

But within a minute his leg was back to stinging again, sending a groan of frustration to escape him. He hit the back of his head on the tree, his eyes closing.

And then a noise rang out, catching his attention. It was a soft ringing, like a bell coming closer and closer. Opening his eyes, Cross looked up above him to see a small box attached to a parachute slowly drifting down before getting tangled in a branch just a few metres above where he'd settled down.

Cross frowned softly and thought of what Horror had said a while back about sponsors. Apparently they have the power to send in things that can help a tribute in moments of need and in case of emergency. He kept his eye on the little box caught up in the thinner arms of the tree as he fumbled with the rope around his waist he'd used to tie himself in place. For whatever reason his fingers felt numb, really struggling for around a minute before the knots were undone and the rope was looped around the tree so it wouldn't fall. He might as well give up if it did.

He made sure that his bag, sleeping bag and rope were all secure before he wobbly pulled himself to his feet and stood on the branch. All the branches from then on weren't as strong as the other ones, being thinner and more fragile. One wrong move would send him crashing down to the floor in a mess of splintered bones.

Hesitantly grabbing onto the closest one, he found himself a foothold in the gnarled bark and pulled himself up until his feet were no longer on the branch's firm surface. He grunted under his breath and grabbed onto the next branch, his soul beating rapidly.

Pulling himself up higher and higher, he held his breath sharply, feeling the wood under his hands splinter and start to groan.

"God please don't break, please don't break, please please please don't break." He prayed and reaching out to tangle his fingers in the string attached to the tree.

Biting his 'lip' tightly, he fumbled with the string, trying to undo all the knots that had miraculously formed as it landed. It was painful and nerve wracking, but he eventually managed to free it after resulting to using the knife he'd tied under his sleeve.

Once he'd got it out of the branches, he started the terrifying climb back downwards to his resting area. Every creek and groan sent his body into a tensing fit, but he made it all the same.

After another ten minutes of painfully slow climbing, he collapsed on the flat branch and sighed loudly, his hands struggling to tie the rope around his waist before he tried to check what was inside the mystery delivery.

Finally satisfied he was safe, Cross pressed his back against the bark of the tree and frowned, fiddling with the clasp on it. It popped open with a click, giving him a start and almost causing it to slip through his fingers.

"Careful Cross, don't fuck up." He muttered before raising a brow as he saw what was inside.

It was a small metallic pot, it's surface covered in small scratches and blemishes, along with the occasional finger print. It was small, smaller than his fist, and no lighter than your average pebble. On top was a note, reading the words "Apply generously -H-"

Blinking rapidly, Cross delicately clasped his fingers around it, giving the lid of the pot a twist. It popped open easily, revealing a greasy translucent yellow liquid inside.

"Apply generously...?" He looked at it in confusion for a moment before realising what it could be for. He dipped his fingers into the mixture, cringing at its sticky texture and lukewarm temperature. But he ignored it as best as possible and applied a small dab of it to the raw burn mark on the back of his hand.

Almost instantly, a blissful calm feeling washing over him and the burning sensation disappearing. He couldn't feel it any more! His fingers were back in the pot quicker than he could blink, slathering it's greasy contents onto his leg. He couldn't help the whimper of relief that escaped his 'lips', letting his head hit the back of the tree and his body could finally relax.

He looked up at the sky, mumbling a small "thank you" under his breath before storing the pot away in his rucksack and pulling his sleeping bag out. Maybe tonight wouldn't be so bad as he'd feared...

——————

The morning was quiet when he woke. There wasn't the sound of birds singing or animals rustling around. And best of all, no sounds of the four tributes screaming at him.

Cross looked around groggily and rubbed his eye sockets with the back of his hand. "Mm..."

Waking up and seeing the tree line was still an odd sight, but he was actually beginning to get used to it. Seeing all the deep crimson and orange levees illuminated by the sun was nice. It made a change from seeing his old dusty bedroom wall. Or the plain grey one from the capital.

He let out a quiet groan and stretched his arms above his head, feeling the corse rope dig into his midsection a bit as he did so. Peering over the edge of his branch, Cross looked down below to see if the four tributes were still lying in wait for him.

They were. The boy from District Six and the girl from District Eight were curled up by the trunk of the tree, a thin brown blanket covering the two of them lightly as some form of warmth against the elements.

Reaper was splayed out carelessly, his scythe to one side of him, half buried in the leaves, and Geno to his other side. His hood was spread out behind him and actually off of his skull for once. It made him look slightly strange, the top of his skull being a new sight to him. Geno was using his arm as a pillow, snuggled up to his side with a scowl imprinted on his face. He looked mad even while asleep. Not surprising really.

Biting his 'lip', Cross continued to stare down at them, wondering whether he'd be able to climb down and escape without any of them noticing. Thinking about it, even attempting to get down wouldn't be a very good idea at all. The chances of at least one of them waking up naturally or from hearing a sound he could make were above the charts.

So he stayed there, wracking his mind for any ideas of what to do. He could try stab them with his knives, throwing them down below. But the odds of them hitting dead on the centre mark and killing them were next to none. And they'd almost definitely wake up before he had the chance to knock down all of them. Maybe he could somehow break of a branch and drop it on them. But at best that would probably just snap a few bones and make them even madder. And like the last idea, it would be impossible to hit all of them at once. God he really was stuck up here. Water and food would run out, and then would he just fall from the branch and crash to the ground, killing him self and saving the tributes the job.

He closed his eyes, attempting to think of a situation for which he could escape while either killing all of them, or none of them.

"Pst!"

Cross blinked, his eyes opening slowly as he glanced about.

"Hey!"

The smol sat up straighter, looking around in confusion to try see where the source of whispered noise was coming from.

"Up here!"

He shifted up slightly, his eyes rolling up to rest on the tree opposite him where a small figure was stood, clinging to the branches and staring down at him while waving.

"Hey! It's me!" They smiled, gripping back onto the thin branches.

Cross looked at them in surprise, unable to force any sort of reaction out of his throat in that minute.

It was Blue.

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uwuwuwuwuwuwuwuwu smol boy Blue is here to yoink your uwu's

Butnotforlongcoughcough

A h e m

:33333333

1,635 words yey

-Jess-