405
this took forever because it's such an action-packed chapter... and i fail at action. D: sigh. it's longer than i thought it would be, though, which i will take as a good sign. either way, it's done now, and i refuse to look at it anymore. have a go at it. you won't understand anything, but at least you get another peek at the arena:
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The tremors were more intense, the tree she was standing on felt less stable, and there was an infernal noise booming out through the arena, like metal on metal-- it reminded [Prim] of a chain getting stuck in an engine, or the screeching of the train against the rails when the brakes were hit abruptly.
The noise was so pervasive, it was making her teeth hurt. She desperately wanted to cover her ears, but she couldn't because she was holding onto the tree so hard. Every few seconds the sound boomed up, like someone had thrown those pieces of metal that were grinding together hard against the ground. It was rhythmical, almost like heavy footsteps, but really, really loud. She was afraid it could be some sort of giant muttation the Gamemakers had released into the arena, and terrified that it might be coming her way.
She wasn't risking any movement, no matter how slight, in the middle of an earthquake, and the way she was holding onto the huge tree trunk meant she could only get a good look in the direction she came from. Since the first day she had walked miles upon miles away from the central clearing, and she knew she was really far from it because when she looked back, she couldn't see it: it was so far away from her by now that it was beyond the horizon. All she could usually see when she looked back was trees obscuring her view.
But now that had changed, and it surprised her. If she turned to look between the tree trunks, she could just barely catch a peek of the edge of the forest line. That's where the extra light was coming from, she concluded. She didn't know if the liquid level below her had risen, but there seemed to be less trees in that direction, for some reason.
The noise boomed again and she realized exactly what that reason was as the tree she was just looking at, right at the edge of the clearing, got swallowed down into the liquid at the bottom.
Her breath caught, and her grasp on the tree trunk faltered. The [weapon] almost fell but she managed to hold it between her body and the tree. The shaking and the horrible screeching made sense now: they were caused by some sort of machinery below the arena that the Gamemakers had activated, and the booming every few seconds meant a tree had gotten pulled straight down. She could see them disappearing into the water-like substance, dragged down so forcefully that the liquid splashed when the branches and leaves hit the surface.
She realized with a start that even without the trees in the way, she could see nothing beyond the tree line but the liquid. She couldn't see the Cornucopia or the little island it sat on, but she didn't know if it was simply out of her range of view, or if it really wasn't there anymore. Could the Cornucopia really be gone? And what happened to the tributes who were surely using it as their camp? [...] She almost lost her hold on the tree trunk again.
The shaking and the sound had been going for several minutes, and they weren't showing signs of stopping anytime soon. All she could do was try to stave off the nausea and watch helplessly as trees disappeared one by one, several hundred yards away.
It was then that she realized the Gamemakers weren't doing this just to kill tributes for fun; they were cornering them. They were probably trying to get all the tributes together in the same place, provoking violence that was sure to entertain their Capitol audience. They wanted her to go with it, and she had to go with it, because the receding tree line was getting closer and if she didn't move, she'd be pulled down along with the tree she was holding onto.
She had to run.
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chapter 20 should be uploaded to ff.net tomorrow morning!