12 | day one

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DAY ONE
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。・:*:・゚★,。・:*:・゚

ONTARI HAS LESS than a minute to examine her surroundings.

Still squinting into the blinding sunlight, she looks at the choppy waves that splash up onto her plate and over her feet. To her delight, the shoes seem to be waterproof. Her gaze turns to the left. Another tribute is standing on a plate not too far away— Beetee. She relaxes a fraction upon seeing a friendly face and not someone like Enobaria or Brutus.

She spots a thin strip of land between their pedestals. It seems to be made of black rock, white light glaring off of it so it's almost blinding to look at. It must be extremely hot, too, from absorbing all of that sun. This seems to be the case all around the circle. Two tributes, one strip of land. The Cornucopia connects them all at the center like spokes on a wheel.

Ontari peers over her shoulder. More land. A jungle, maybe, surrounds them in a wider ring. It's close enough to get to while everyone else retrieves supplies at the Cornucopia— not that she'll be doing that, of course. She cannot run from this.

Cassian, her brain screams. Find Cassian. But whoever planned their positions had been either smart or terribly cruel. With the sun glaring into her eyes, she can't see far enough to discern where her brother is.

Katniss and Peeta are the next step; everyone else can take care of themselves. Ontari finds the blonde-haired Baker Boy standing to her far right. Looking at Beetee, she jerks her head in that direction. He nods in understanding.

Ten seconds. Her heart pounds in time with each booming of the countdown. Five, four, three, two...

On one, Ontari doesn't hesitate. She dives in the direction of Peeta, who hadn't moved from his pedestal at the last chime of the countdown. She swims as fast as she can. It's lucky that she's capable of doing so— there are many freshwater lakes in District Eight. Maybe the case isn't the same for Twelve.

Ontari briefly submerges herself before popping back up with a forceful upward swing of her arms. She surfaces with a gasp, quickly wiping the saltwater out of her eyes to see that Peeta is no longer on the metal plate. What the hell?

She searches wildly for him, then hears a terrific splash that signals something heavy has fallen into the sea. She pushes herself toward Peeta's pedestal and heaves herself over it to peer at whatever had caused the splash.

Peeta cannot swim. That much is evident judging by the fact that his limbs swing wildly as the District Five male tribute holds him under. There's a triumphant smirk on his face, too preoccupied with his soon-to-be kill that he doesn't notice Ontari climbing above him.

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