𝘋𝘰 𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮.

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Nine tributes remained on day eight.

Juniper had woken up that morning to see two snakes greeting her good morning. One was the one she had run into many times in the past, and another was a new one she hadn't recognized. Juniper also noticed a few birds sitting on branches.

She whistled and they copied her. She smiled, realizing they were mockingjays. Her grandmother had introduced her to them many years ago when they met one by the markets one day.

She climbed out of the tree, and that's when she realized she no longer had her chakrams, only the kunai attached to her belt. Noticing she must've dropped them when she tripped.

She heard a familiar ringing sound and looked in the air, seeing a parachute with a box descend in front of her. Once it landed on the ground, she opened the box, noticing it was a few brand new kunai with a note.

Might need these. FO

Juniper smiled when she saw Finnick's initials. After everything she has done, she was glad he was on her side. Then again, he was one of the people who knew what she was going through.

She took the kunai and attached it to her belt, putting the note gently into her pocket. After that, Juniper got a move on, trying to find her friends.

Juniper realized how giant the arena really was. She found herself at the tree she first met Sylvia and Sawyer in the arena. She made her way through the meadow they normally stayed at, but they weren't there.

On day nine, Juniper hid from Adrian and Elysia when they went hunting to find her. She noticed Wade and Maverick weren't with them, and guessed Maverick was still recovering from his wound. She wanted to go to the cornucopia with the two of them gone and meet with Wade, but she wasn't sure what he thought of her now.

On day ten, Juniper remembered the cave system under the arena. She made her way into the cave that morning, finding water, which she hadn't had much of the past few days.

She kneeled over the water source and cupped water into her hands, taking sips from her hands and washing some over her face. 

"Juniper?" She heard a whisper and turned, seeing a bright red haired girl. When the girl had seen Juniper's face, her own face lit up instantly.

"Sierra!" Juniper smiled, standing up and running over to her, giving her a hug. Sierra buried her head into Juniper's shoulder until they finally let go. "Where's everyone else?"

"Over here." Sierra said, taking Juniper through a cave. "After we ran into you and the two career girls, we came straight into the cave and moved from the meadow.

After a bit of walking, the two tributes laid their eyes on three individuals crowding around a fire. Sylvia heard footsteps and turned around to see her friend, immediately standing up and running over to her.

"I'm so glad you're okay!" Sylvia tackled Juniper into a hug, and Juniper wrapped her arms around the girls torso. "We heard the cannon go off and assumed the worst. We couldn't see the sky to see who had died. What happened?"

Sawyer and Colby made their way over to hear what had happened.

"Livia and Elysia tried chasing you two through the bushes, but I stopped them and ran to try and find you guys. Livia caught up to me and she almost killed me. But a snake bit her and I left her there. That was the cannon you guys heard."

"I'm glad you're okay." Sierra smiled.

"Uh, Juniper. Your leg." Colby pointed. Everyone looked to see what he was looking at.

Her leg was full of blood and was now starting to get infected. 

"Oh, that's not good." Juniper said, earning a laugh from Sawyer. Sylvia elbowed him.

"What! It was funny." Sawyer said. "We were sponsored some medicine a few days ago. Hopefully it'll fix you up." 

Sierra and Colby helped Juniper over to the fire, sitting her down while Sylvia and Sawyer fixed up her leg.

"So I guess you're staying with us for good?" Sylvia asked. "Since you attacked Elysia and Livia." Juniper nodded.

"What about Wade?" Sawyer asked. "He seemed like a good guy."

Juniper went silent and nobody knew what to expect. Sylvia looked like she wanted to kill Wade.

"I haven't seen Wade since. I've been by myself the past few days." Juniper shrugged. "But it's only us and the careers left. Once we take them out..."

Juniper's voice echoed throughout the cave but the silence was eerie. Everyone knew eventually they'd have to turn on one another, but they didn't want to.

"We don't have to think about that right now, here, have some food." Sierra broke off a piece of bread she had in her bag and handed it to Juniper. "You look starving."

Juniper gave a thankful smile and began eating. Everyone began talking amongst themselves.

"That's a nice bracelet." Sierra whispered, pointing to Juniper's wrist. Juniper held out her wrist, noticing the golden snake bracelet Amirah had given her before going up into the arena. 

"My stylist gave it to me before the games started." Juniper smiled, noticing how Sierra admired the bracelet.

Juniper took off the bracelet and put it on Sierras wrist. Sierra smiled happily.

"I've never had a piece of jewelry before."

"Well, now you do." 

Juniper suddenly felt small vibrations through her feet in the ground.  Nobody else seemed to notice it at first until Juniper stood up looking around.

"What's going on?" Sawyer asked. Everyone else stood up, confused.

"Something is happening." Juniper whispered. Everyone tilted their heads, still confused. The vibrations grew stronger, and everyone else began noticing. Juniper noticed a part of the cave was now open. 

"The cave is going to flood!" She yelled. "Grab your stuff, we need to leave!" 

Juniper was in a full blown panic, so was everyone else, but the fact water was about to ambush the entire cave scared her.

"Juniper." Her grandmother entered her room, shutting the door gently behind her.

"Abuela!" Juniper smiled, but frowned when she saw her grandmothers face. "What's wrong?"

Her grandmother hesitated with her words.

"Your parents, the fishing trip they went on. There was a big storm, the entire boat flooded." Her grandmothers voice broke. "They drowned."

Juniper's heart broke when she was fifteen.

Juniper grabbed Sierra hand and began running out of the cave, everyone else following behind them. That was when the water started flooding into the cave at a rapid rate.

It was coming from all directions, and before they knew it, the water was already up to their knees when they reached an exit to the cave. It was a giant hole above them, they could see the sky peaking through.

"We have to climb out this way, the other way is completely blocked off." Sylvia yelled. The sound of rushing water overtook all their voices, they could barely hear one another.

It was a steep climb, but they all began climbing out of the cave. 

Juniper's heart began racing.  If they were to fall in the water, they would likely be pushed under. The cave was also falling apart, there were heavy rocks being pushed through the water. The current was strong.

Sierra, climbing above Juniper, put her hand on a rock and it broke. Sierra screamed in fright, but Juniper steadied her and they kept moving up. Colby and Sylvia had eventually made it through, followed by Sawyer.

After a moment, Sierra and Juniper had also made it through. Once they laid in the grass, rumbling overtook the area and the entire exit of the cave had fallen apart.

Everyone was completely out of breath. Juniper sat up and looked around, recognizing where they were.

"This is near the cornucopia. We need to move." Juniper said, standing up, lending a hand to Colby to stand, which he took.

"Wait." Sylvia said. "We've been in here for 10 days, I'm sure the careers are tired of waiting. What if they aren't there?" 

"Are you implying we take it?" Sawyer crossed his arms. Sylvia smiled and shrugged.

"Let's do it." Juniper said, everyone looked at her. "I mean, we can't run forever and we can't stay in here forever." 

"We outnumber them too if they are there." Colby unsheathed his sword. "We got this, easy."

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