The Cabins

Scruffie could feel something different, and could smell something different. The sheets beneath her smelt of dust and the air was heavy with moisture and mold, pressing down on her face with the same unpleasantness a hot breeze had; it should be refreshing, escaping the polluted air of the slums, but it was just a different kind of heavy, reminding her that she was in no way free. Slowly, she opened her eyes and sat up. The room was small: just the bed she was laid on, a sink and a small wardrobe, not much bigger than a kitchen cupboard, but it was the quiet she noticed the most. She sighed softly and moved her legs out of bed. She stretched first, yawned and stood up. She walked to the sink and splashed some water into her face, then dried it with the small hand towel.

Slowly, she glanced around and examined the room more closely. She yawned slightly and then noticed the door. She had no idea what to expect outside, or what to expect in the area, or what to expect at all, and it made her scared. She looked at the hoodie she was wearing and sighed softly. Then went to her bed and looked around, and found her teddy bear. She smiled and hugged the thing like she hadn't seen it for years. She then turned to the door again and walked to it, keeping the teddy bear close to her. She placed her hand on the handle and opened the door, then sat down in the door opening.

Forest woke up feeling very twitchy and panicked. Confused he opened his eyes to find out why. Much to his surprise he wasn't in the forest anymore. He jolted up and leaped off of whatever he was on, landing with an almost silent grace. Looking around rapidly he saw he was in some sort of box, like the one that the hunter lived in only smaller. Much smaller. Now in full panic mode, Forest searched around for the door, the device that would let him out. After a short moment he found it and after another short moment of trying to remember how to work the device he was out of the box. Still in full panic mode Forest searched for the nearest tree. He found one, ran to it, and quickly climbed up so he was balanced carefully on a high branch. His eyes were staring wildly down at the ground below, looking for something familiar, a landmark that would tell him where he was. He didn't find any, instead he saw another person, sitting in the entrance to another box. He moved backward on his branch, using the leaves on the tree to hide. A small whimper escaped his throat, sounding more like a wounded animal than a human. He was frightened and confused. Ready to attack anything that got near.

Three days.


That's how long Piper had before the Game started and she would kill as many participants as she could. Three days to plan, to get what she needed, and to get hidden. The get what she needed part was easy. Weaponry was scattered about the forest and she had already found a small black book bag with some water purifiers, a canteen, and a serrated knife. She could easily just walk around and pick up whatever was discarded that she could use. Then, she'd get a good idea about the layout of the arena and possibly even find the flag. Knowing where it was would not let her win, but it was a sure fire way to find a participant. That is, if she couldn't find one on her own. Piper decided that she should stop to fill up the small, empty canteen she found in the book bag. She would need water anyway. Her survival would ensure she at least got a crack at killing a participant, so she needed to make sure she had enough water and food to do just that.

Her mind was teeming with half-made plans and thoughts of where to find food when she saw a dried blood mark on a nearby tree. Someone must have clutched it for support. "Shouldn't the arena be cleaned? I mean, it's good that it wasn't, but still." She muttered to herself before stepping closer quickly to find out if she could find the direction of the person who made it. Once she decided that she couldn't get a good enough direction planned, she frowned. She would have to search the other trees. She couldn't just pass up this luck- she never had any luck. Maybe someone died around here, last time or the time before that. More importantly, maybe they left their camp or supplies around the area they died. All thoughts of water were quickly discarded as she swiftly pushed the canteen back into its slot on the side of the back pack and looked around for other marks.

When she couldn't find any other marks, she kicked the nearest tree in anger and cursed at no one in particular. This was of course what would happen. "Well that was fun while it lasted. Back to water" she muttered to herself and started walking again.