. SURVIVAL GAME . .៹♡
                                                             CHAPTER TEN
                  ─── A BIRD SINGS ABOUT THE THINGS YOU LOVE

Velren had surprisingly enjoyed a pleasant dream, perhaps because as he slept, he felt Finnick's arm wrapped protectively around him. However, his peaceful reverie was abruptly interrupted by the radiant presence of Katniss, gently rousing him from sleep. As he opened his eyes, he saw Wiress standing beside her, wearing a smile. Wiress's words poured forth rapidly from her mouth as she fervently addressed the group. Yet, despite the rapid pace of her speech, it seemed that each member understood the essence of her message.

The realization hit them like a thunderbolt: the arena in which they were ensnared was akin to a clock. Suddenly, it became clear why all these strange occurrences kept repeating themselves. It wasn't merely by chance, nor was it merely a game of fate; rather, it was a meticulously crafted, insidious plan that directed their destinies.

The morning sun slowly rose over the horizon, pouring golden rays down on the group as they decided to set off together on their new mission. In an orderly formation, they set off on the march to the Cornucopia.

"This entire arena seems to be laid out like a clock with a new threat every hour, but they stay only within their wedge. It all starts with the lightning. Then the blood rain, fog, monkeys. That's the first four hours. At 10:00, that big wave hits from over there." Katniss continued to explain  and pointed to where the group had seen the wave as they all entered the cornucopia and spread out across the grounds.

"Wiress, you're a genius." Finnick commented with a grin, and looked at her while he walked past her with Velren and Aurora. Wiress mumbled another "tick tock" in return.  "That tail points to twelve o'clock." Celestia remarked, as she ran a hand through her long black hair. "That's where the lightning strikes at noon and midnight." Katniss said.

"Strikes where?" Beetee asked in a calculating voice and when Velren pointed towards the irregularly grown tree that stuck out to the rest of the other trees. "That big tree." He watched Beetee hesitantly and could practically see the gears in his head turning and moving. He was making a plan. "Good." he hummed.

Off to the side, Wiress sat down on the ground. "Hickory dickory dock. The mouse ran up the clock," she started to sing a light tune to herself, looking content and happy with herself. "The clock struck one, the mouse ran down. Hickory dickory dock."

Ignoring her, Peeta went to the black sand in the cornucopia and drew out a two-dimensional picture of the arena. "So 12:00 to 1:00, lightning." he said and drew a line. "Then 1:00 to 2:00 is blood. Then fog. And then monkeys." he explained further as as everyone surround him.  "From ten to eleven. The wave." Katniss added.

"What about everything else? Did you guys see anything?" Velren asked Johanna and Beetee, as they both might have seen something they hadn't noticed. But Johanna said that all they had seen was a lot of blood.

"It doesn't matter. " Aurora said for the first time that morning, attracting everyone's attention. "As long as we stay away from the sector that's currently active, we'll be safe." "Yeah, relatively speaking." Finnick grumbled between her and Velren and Aurora reached out to punch him, however, a loud gasp from beside them stopped her movements.

The group turned around and saw Gloss kneeling before them, his knife  stained with blood from the deed just committed, as he pulled it out of Wiress' neck. The group plunged into battle. A cannon roared through the air, signaling the end of a life. In that moment, Katniss aimed her bow at Gloss, her hand steady and determined. The arrow sliced through the air and pierced his chest, before he and Wiress plummeted into the water.

Cashmere appeared out of nowhere, and her eyes blazed with hatred and determination as she tried to attack Katniss. But before she could take a single step, Johanna and Velren were already in action. They pushed Katniss away, causing her to stumble unhappily into the arms of Celestia, who just managed to catch her. When they looked up again, Celestia and Katniss saw Johanna sinking her axe deep into Cashmere's chest with terrifying precision, while Velren threw his trident unerringly straight into Cashmere's head. 

Both stood back on their feet as their eyes turned to the menacing scene: Brutus and Enobaria were attacking Finnick. Peeta had fallen to the ground, a throwing star stuck in his arm, and there was no sign of Beetee. The older blond man defended himself bravely against Brutus' attacks with his trident, but then Enobaria hurled two throwing stars in his direction, one cut the skin on his arm while the other dug deep into his thigh. A surprised cry of pain escaped him.

Brutus and Enobaria seemed to think that Finnick  was now defenceless, distracted by the pain. But behind him, Katniss, Celestia, Aurora, Velren and Johanna pressed closer. Celestia took aim with her bow at Enobaria, while Aurora stormed towards Brutus with a determined look on her face, followed by Velren, whose expression was one of rage. Velren plunged his trident into Brutus' arm,  causing him to let out a cry of pain and try to defend himself, but failed miserably when Aurora kicked him hard in the chest. Brutus was thrown into the water under the force of the kick.

Katniss and Johanna ran after Enorbia while Brutus wriggled in the water. Peeta wanted to run after Katniss, but was stopped by Finnick. Velren put a hand on Peeta's shoulder and looked at him. His whole expression was one of concern. "It's all right, Peeta. " he said.

Aurora nodded in agreement and when she saw that the throwing star wasn't very deep in his bicep, she carefully pulled it out. "Don't worry, Katniss and Johanna have it." Peeta hoped so. He hoped that Aurora was right and that Katniss really could manage without him really but with Johanna.

Before anyone could say anything else, the cornucopia began to move beneath them and rotate clockwise, causing everyone on it to fall and grab onto the nearest rock or person closest to them. Peeta slid down and managed to grab onto Velren just in time, who rammed his trident into the rock to provide them with stability.

The water lapped against them,and the ground seemed to pick up speed with every moment. Celestia turned left and right beside them, dodging supplies and weapons that fell into the water. At one point, Beetee began to roll forward, but Finnick reacted swiftly by gently pushing him towards Aurora, who caught his hand and prevent him from a harsh impact.

A crate came hurtling towards Celestia, forcing her to let go of one of her arms to evade it. She lost her grip. "Celestia!" Velren called out to his sister, his voice  filled with panic and urgency. Desperately, Celestia tried to grasp onto anything she could, but there was nothing there to aid her. The last thing she saw before she fell  into the saltwater  was her brother's shocked expression, his gaze filled with fear and horror. "Celestia!" he shouted.

After what felt like hours, but what must have been seconds, the Cornucopia came  to a stop and everyone stood up. They all saw Katniss and Johanna from afar, the latter helping the former out of the water, and then everyone ran over to her. Katniss was lying on her stomach, coughing slightly, and gave them  a thumbs-up to signal that she was okay.

"Velren..."  Behind them, a faint wheeze could be heard echoing nearby. Almost immediately, Velren spun around. "CELESTIA!"  His sister stood just a few meters away from them, swaying slightly as she coughed and coughed. Water sprayed from her mouth and dripped down her chin. Together with the others, they looked at the terrifying wound on her stomach that she had somehow sustained when she fell into the water. From the wound the blood flowed in a steady stream.

Exhausted, Celestia's body sank to the ground, but Velren reacted instinctively and caught her skillfully. Gently and carefully, he lifted her up and placed her comfortably in his lap. "Celestia, no, don't die, don't die —" he said desperately as he watched her gagging, spitting out even more water. Then he looked at Finnick,Aurora, Peeta, Katniss, Johanna and Beete, who had no idea what do to. "HELP ME!"

"I love you and Elias." Celestia whispered finally  as she stared expressionlessly into the sky. Velren looked back down at face of his sister. Her eyes, once so lively and full of radiance, now seemed lifeless. Velren tightened his grip around her body. "Stay with me, Celestia. Please, I don't want  lose you the way I lost Mom and Dad." he pleaded, his voice tinged with a hint of desperation. Before he could stop them, tears began to flow uncontrollably down his cheeks.

"Tell our brother for me—" she began to say, but her voice suddenly faltered. "No — no —" he said.  "I love..."  she began to say before a sudden tremor seized her body, and then her head fell backward. Her eyes were open,  but all expression had gone from them. She was no longer blinking, no longer breathing, and in that moment Velren knew that she was no longer alive either.

More tears rolled down Velren's cheeks when a cannon sounded through the air. He placed his hands on either side of his sister's face, leaned down and pressed a kiss to her cold forehead. Then he gently closed his sister's eyelids to make it look as if she could sleep. "I love you." he whispered in a broken voice, filled with sorrow as his words were little more than a soft whisper.

A deep sigh escaped Velren as he stood up slowly, his legs feeling like lead, ready to give way under the weight of his grief. He looked down at his sister's lifeless body. "I promise I'll make you proud. " he whispered softly, his voice tinged with a deep pain.  "T-There will not be a single day that passes that I won't miss you ..... so much." 

"Vel-Velren?"  Finnick whispered and ran over to Velen. He had no idea what to do, but he knew one thing for sure: he had to be with Velren to comfort and stand by him. "Velren ... I'm sorry..."  Finnick  whispered softly, his heart wrenching in sorrow for him.  "I'm so sorr-" Before Finnick could finish the sentence, Velren abruptly turned around and collapsed in a torrent of tears on Finnick's shoulder. "Why did she have to die?"  he asked in a broken voice as Finnick gently rubbed his back.

Johanna's face was pale, and she visibly struggled to hold back her own tears as she watched the heartbreaking scene. The air was heavy with oppressive silence, broken only by Velren's quiet sobs and the muffled sound of Finnick's comforting words.  "Let's just get what we need and get off the bloody island." Johanna  said, with a hint of bitterness in her voice.

As they finally reached the beach  once again, Finnick remained tirelessly by Velren's side. Velren's  eyes still reflected the weariness stemming from endless weeping for Celestia, who had now been carried away by a hovercraft. He leaned completely against Finnick, whose firm embrace provided him with comfort and security.  The hands of Finnick and Velren were tightly interlocked, while the group gathered to discuss their plan on how to face the remaining tributes.

"So besides Brutus and Enobaria, who's left?" Katniss asked where she knelt on the damp sand, idly tracing patterns with her fingers. "Maybe Chaff. " Peeta replied and scratched his face. "Just those three." Velren nodded slowly as he looked towards the small waves in the water a couple feet away from them and he swallowed thickly.

"They know they're outnumbered. " Finnick said while his other hand ran up and down Velren's back. "I doubt they'll attack again." Aurora added and shrugged. "Besides, Brutus was pretty wounded, not like he could fight back. We're safe here on the beach." "So what do we do?" Johanna asked with impatience evident in her tone, rubbing her eyes.  "We hunt them down?"

Velren fixed his gaze on Beetee as it seemed he was about to share something with the remaining group. With a calculating stare, Beetee scrutinized each individual. Velren suspected that Wiress's death had deeply affected Beetee, yet he managed to conceal his emotions.

However, before he could open his mouth to say anything, their tranquil moment of planning was disrupted by a scream reverberating through the jungle, causing Katniss to snap her head up. "Katniss, help me!"

It was the voice of a girl. Velren flinched as he heard the sound and looked up at the sky, confused. It didn't sound like that of a victor, or in this case, a tribute. The voice... it was much too young. Velren turned to Katniss, but before he could ask her if she knew what was going on, she screamed, "Prim!" and ran into the forest. "Prim! Prim!"

Without hesitation, Velren broke free from Finnick's grip, grabbed his trident and ran as fast as he could after Katniss. He had to push through the trees and vines as he ran. "Katniss!" he shouted and spotted the woman not far ahead, darting through the tropical surroundings. "Katniss, wait!"

"Prim! Prim!" Katniss screamed even harder. "Prim! Prim!"

"Katniss! Help me! Help me—!"

The scream of Prim was suddenly cut off, and Velren pushed energetically through the dense undergrowth. Every obstacle vine that stood in his way was torn aside by his hand  and  he searched the forest intently for Katniss. He  spotted her - Katniss, clutching a bow tightly in her hand, her gaze deeply disturbed and confused as she looked up at the sky.

"Katniss!" Velren called out in relief as he hurried towards her. He slowed down only when he stood directly in front of her. "Are you alright?" he  asked her now with a much calmer and gentler voice as he looked at her with concern.

Unfortunately, Katniss found no time to respond as a voice echoed through the room, calling out the name "Velren!" But it was no ordinary voice; rather, it was a voice that Velren would recognize among a thousand others. "Velren!"

Elias

"No! It's not him. " Katniss exclaimed with a hint of panic in her voice as she desperately tried to grab his arm. But he didn't even seem to bother acknowledging her and sprinted relentlessly towards the panic voice of his younger brother.

"Elias!" he screamed desperately. His heart was pounding wildly in his chest, while absolute chaos reigned in his head. He was unable to concentrate on anything other than his brother's painful voice that echoed in the jungle. "Elias! Elias! Elias!"

"Velren! It's not him! " Katniss called out to him and grabbed his shoulder as she managed to catch up with him. Her grip was tight as she made him turn towards her. "It's just a jabberjay. It's not him."

"Just a jabberjay? Well, how do you think they got that sound?" Velren snapped at her with a mixture of fear and anger and gestured up at the wildly screaming birds. Katniss' expression slowly began to change as realization seemed to dawn on her. "Jabberjays copy."

"Katniss!" a new male voice called out,  and although Velren didn't recognize the voice, Katniss could identify it immediately. "Gale." she whispered before she started to run towards the source of the sound, but Velren pulled her back. "Velren, help me, please!" Finnick screamed now, his voice laced with a hint of desperate urgency. Velren sensed the pain in Finnick's sream, but forced himself to ignore it. "Velren!"

"No, Katniss. It's not him." Velren explained to her as he started to pull Katniss downhill towards the beach, away from the mutts. "We're getting out of here!" But Gale's voice was so full of pain that she couldn't help but fight it. "It's not him, Katniss! It's a mutt!" Velren shouted at her , causing Katniss to come back to her senses. "Come on!"

Velren began to sprint slightly ahead of Katniss, his hand resting on her arm and pulling her along with him as the birds began to follow them, screams and cries for help overlapping each other. They both saw the others standing at the tree line, confusing the two. Finnick began waving his hands to warn them, and Peeta did the same. Velren and Katniss saw their lips begin to move, but no words came out.

The walls were so transparent that Katniss and Velren ran into them and bounced back to the jungle floor. Katniss was lucky. Her shoulder had taken the worst of the impact, whereas Velren had hit his face-first and now blood gushed from his nose.

Finnick knelt on the ground next to him and pressed his hand against the barrier. Next to him, Johanna, Aurora and Peeta tried desperately to damage the wall with their weapons, but it was no use. Then the birds started to come. One after the other. They perched in the surrounding branches. And from their mouths came a carefully staged chorus of horror.

Velren immediately screwed up his face and curled up into a ball on the ground as the birds began to attack him fiercely.   Tears began to roll down Velren's cheeks while he pressed his hands over his ears to block out the excruciating screams of panic from Elias,Tobias,Adrian and Finnick.

Katniss didn't give up so easily, she punched and punched again and again against the force field and screamed out in anger. And finally she gave up and began to cry. She dropped to the ground, curled up next to Velren and imitated him by covering her ears.

" It's not them. It's just mutts." Velren whispered to himself,  and tried to calm down, even though it was impossible. He knew there was nothing  he could do to protect himself from this kind of pain that he never wanted to feel again. He could do nothing but wait until it was over again.

━━ AUTHORS NOTE

This was kinda a sad chapter,but I hope you still enjoyed it!

While you're here, I'd appreciate it if you could like, comment, vote and share this story with your friends!

Until next time! Much love to you all!