…In a space of seconds the animal was charging. Blaine turned to run but the monstrous animal covered the space between them with a couple long strides and suddenly Blaine was thrown to the rocky ground, shouting in pain as sharp claws ripped through his shoulder and back...

Blaine cried out, the pained gasp savagely torn from him. The bear lifted its paw but before it could bring it back down, Blaine rolled away, moving to put as much distance between him and the beast as possible. Ignoring the searing pain in his shoulder Blaine leapt onto the balls of his feet: a mind racing with all the possibilities, a mind racing to find a way out.

Knowing that there was no possible way he could outrun the bear, considering how tired he already was from before, Blaine turned to face the grizzly, hand reaching into his jacket for the long blade, before he froze, an idea quickly forming in his dizzy but adrenaline sharpened mind:

Brains before brawn.

The bear was roaring now, rising on its two hind legs, a monstrous sight as it blocked the sun that was slowly getting ready to sink behind the trees. It prepared to charge, and Blaine waited till it dropped back down onto its claws and took its first bounding stride before sprinting back, leaping onto the outcropping of rock behind him.

The gloves and boots helped him find purchase on the grey face, and Blaine scrambled to the top of the grey mass, leaning against a large boulder. Beneath him, the bear was roaring, charging at the rock face. Blaine felt the ground beneath him shake but he planted his feet firmly behind the large rock, and ignoring the piercing pain in his shoulder and back he pushed. Hard. Using his years’ experience of lifting and pushing giant rolls of fabric at the mill, he threw his entire body, soul and strength into moving the large boulder until it tumbled down onto the savage bear below.

The roar was silenced. Wearily, Blaine moved to the edge of the small precipice, looking down below him. The boulder has fallen directly onto the bear, and it now lay sprawled beneath it. Seeing it paralyzed Blaine quickly drew out the long blade from his jacket and leapt down, and within a manner of seconds he had slit the bear’s throat.

Seeing the beast dead before him, Blaine finally exhaled and dazed he stumbled back, the knife dropping from his shaking fingers. His knees gave out and he kneeled before it, trying to breathe. The adrenaline slowly seeped away, leaving his body cold and trembling, the pain from the ragged gash that split his skin from his collarbone, over his shoulder and down to right beneath his shoulder blades finally igniting, sending spasms of liquid fire up and down his body.

But he knew he had no time to treat his injuries. The bear’s roars and his shouts could have been heard by anyone and he knew he had to leave. Soon. Blaine tightened his jacket, wincing as he pulled it tightly against his raw skin so it could staunch the bleeding as much as possible.

He grabbed the knife and crawled over to the dead bear, and his body working like a machine once again, survival instincts and the training from the instructors kicking in, he used the long blade to skin and cut up the bear, the sharp metal sawing through the muscles and sinew until he had separated large slabs of meat and the fur. Standing shakily he picked up his pack from where it had fallen on the ground and wrapped up the bear meat with his earlier prey. Holding the animal’s hide close to his chest, pleased at the warmth emanating from it, his hazy mind dimly aware that it could save his life when the nights were cold, he strapped the pack to his unhurt shoulder and stumbled away.

***

Twilight fell across the arena quickly, darkness leaking navy streaks of ink across the sky. There was no in-between. No reds or pinks or oranges. Just blue to black. As the sun set, the light sank behind the rows and rows of trees, the shadows falling across the arena and over Blaine in dark lines, almost like the bars of a prison.
The breath swirled out of Blaine’s mouth in short pants and the occasional whimper of pain. His good arm was gripping his bleeding shoulder and every step sent to jolt of pain stabbing through him. He felt like he was stumbling in the woods for years. Just breath Blaine, he thought to himself. In, Out.

In

Out

Finally Blaine managed to find his cave again. Blindly pulling aside the branches and leaves he stumbled inside, preparing everything. He emptied the backpack, storing the food in a nook between the rocks, high enough so that no insects could reach it. Then numbly he ripped open the first aid kit, taking out the bandages, the antibacterial spray and the needle. After lighting a small fire, he grabbed the bear fur to wrap himself in and stumbled outside. Looking around carefully to see if there were any other tributes nearby and assured that he was alone, he walked shakily towards the stream.

Night had turned the arena an inky black, so Blaine wasn’t self conscious as he stripped off his clothes with shaky fingers. He managed to slip off his pants, underwear, and jacket but blanched as his fingers brushed against his blood crusted t-shirt, the blood drying the fabric to his wound so he decided to leave it for now. Laying his other clothes on the rocks as he splashed into the water, gasping at the icy shock of it against his skin. He waded in until he was submerged till slightly above his hips, and then he ducked into the liquid, sinking into the black depths. When he rose, he shook the water from his eyes and hair, and waited until the cold temperature numbed his limbs.

Once he could scarcely feel his fingers, Blaine moved over to the rock where he had set out the medical supplies. Still in the water, he began to scrub the blood away from his shirt and arms. The shirt, now soaking wet, still refused to slide off. Blaine took in a shaky breath and reached to pull it off. The scab had dried around the fabric and as he tried to pull it off the wound began to reopen and Blaine couldn’t muffle his small cry. His body shook violently and he let out a quiet sob as his blood spilt over the deep cut and down his cold skin until it dripped into the dark water beneath him. In the pain, he dimly remembered that Kurt and his family could be watching, and not wanting them to suffer, he grabbed his jacket and stuffed the sleeve into his mouth, biting down hard. Inhaling deeply through his nostrils, in one swift motion Blaine tore the shirt from his skin, his scream muffled by the jacket. Tears streaked down his face and mingled with the cold water dripping down from his curls. The world shifted and swayed but the icy water kept him conscious, and with trembling fingers, he reached for the needle. Ripping a seam and pulling out some thread from his ruined shirt, Blaine quickly threaded the needle, years of experience of living in a district dedicated to making clothes aiding him as he expertly tied the knot.

Setting the prepped needle on the rock next to the bandages, Blaine ducked into the water again, sobbing silently into the jacket as he roughly used his free arm to scrub any rock, dirt, or dried blood still in the jagged cut. After a few minutes, the wound, still stinging and streaming blood, felt well, tingling painfully but cleanly.

Satisfied, Blaine rose, gripping the anti-bacterial spray tightly in his fist and spraying it all over the wound, wincing at the sting. Placing the bottle back onto the rock gently, the young boy grabbed the threaded needle and set to work sewing together his torn skin. He was still biting down hard onto the jacket sleeve, and almost blacked out a couple of times, but finally he had small clean stitches running up his collarbone to slightly above his shoulder. Not able to go any further but relieved that the cut wasn’t too deep in that area, Blaine tied off the knot and examined his efforts, pleased at his work. Kurt would be proud.

Rinsing the bloody needle off and returning it to the first aid kit, Blaine wrapped up his wound with the bandages, remembering the teachings of the training instructors. After securing the white gauze to his skin with the small metal clip included, Blaine stumbled out of the water, wrapping the bear skin around himself as he slipped back into the cave.

The earth seemed to move and shake, and Blaine dizzily collapsed to the floor beside the fire. Forgetting his clothes and materials outside, he curled up tightly in the fur, within it his bare body shivering from the cold and pain. The fire crackled softly as his eyes fluttered closed, letting the darkness take him and sinking into dreams of roaring bears, pounding feet, and blue eyes.