Another Tribute

I am sitting here in the middle of the woods. Armed with my sword, yes. But I feel defenseless none the less.

Let's have a flashback.

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"Ariella, what are you doing?" Eli asks, laughing as Ariella swings through the trees like some kind of monkey.

"I'm having fun!" she replies, laughing as if we're all at home and this is just a typical day. If only that were true. Eli seems to believe fun is possible, and he continues to laugh good naturedly.

"We're trying to hunt, not be loud enough to be hunted," I mutter under my breath. Eli hears me and gives me a look that says 'Don't be such a downer'. Ariella is oblivious to the exchange for once.

"This is pointless," Ariella says, gracefully falling from about ten feet above the ground. Gosh, she's just so darned graceful!

"I know, I feel like you're right," Eli says, looking at her. Ariella suddenly loses her grace and trips over a tree root.

"Huh?" she says, confusedly sitting on the ground. I can tell she's not used to falling.

"Here, let me help you," Eli says, reaching out a hand to her. Ariella immediately looks chipper again and takes his hand. As she gets up, they both blush. Ok then.

"Can we go check the trap?" I ask them. Eli and Ariella don't seem to like this idea.

"But didn't you tell the Careers that we had a trap there?" Eli asks.

"Yes, but I'm sure they've forgotten about it. Afterall, it's been a whole week," I say, trying to sound convincing. Apparently I'm not.

"I doubt Dianca will ever forget it. She's just waiting to find us in the open!" Ariella exclaims. I feel myself getting more annoyed with her than ever. We just don't click.

"Oh, so swinging through the trees laughing loudly is helpful to prevent that?" I say nastily. She looks a bit taken back, but that doesn't last for long.

"It's not a good idea, ok? End of story," Ariella says.

"Well, I think it is a good idea, thank you very much. And I'm going to go check it," I say, walking in the direction of the trap. After a while in the forests, you get to know them pretty well, direction wise. I remember all the places I've been at least.

"Auden, come on. Let's just talk about this first," Eli says, always the peacemaker. I ignore him out of spite.

"I'm my own person thank you very much," I say, continuing to walk away from them. I know this is a bad idea, because Dianca and her group do know where the trap is. But I have a feeling they would have given up waiting around there after a couple days. Also, I could make another trap but the one I made was so perfect. If anything, I just want to retrieve it. It for these reasons that I journey towards the trap.

And as it turns out, not the trap I had initially set out for.

"Auden, wait up!" Eli says and he chases after me. I stop to let him catch up, and I see that Ariella is not far behind.

"Auden, this is a bad idea. Let's turn around!" Ariella insists.

"Look, we're just going to check it and come back. Five minutes tops!" I promise, cheerfull that I've seemed to get my way. Ariella reluctantly consents.

"Oh fine!" she says, rolling her eyes. We continue towards the trap in silence, and as we get closer to the area where I set it up I can feel something's not right.

"Hey guys, is it just me, or are we being watched?" Eli asks. I'm about to answer, but get interrupted by someone grabbing me from behind.

"Thank you for walking right into our grasp. And I thought It'd be harder to track you down," Dianca says, stepping out of the shadows. I try to wiggle out of the grasp I'm in, but it's no use. I see that Ariella and Eli are in the same situation with two strong looking girls covering their mouths and holding their hands behind their backs all at once.

"You were right Dianca, this one is stupider than a log!" a male voice says tauntingly. He must be the one holding me, since the voice is right in my ear. I can't believe I was stupid enough to come back here. Of course Ariella was right!

"Alright prisoners, let's march. And don't you dare try to escape!" Dianca says, motioning in the direction we are to travel. I pretend to obey, but I'm really trying to think of an escape route.

How can I escape from someone who's obviously stronger than me? I mean, this guy is so tough....

And it was after that though that an idea hit me. And with that, I kicked my captor where it counts.

"Aaaaahh!!" the male voice says, immediately letting go of me to hold his groin. Ha, and who said being a girl doesn't have benefits?

"Run Auden, you don't have a weapon!" Eli yells out after his girl captor lets her hand slip.

"I can't leave you guys!"

"Get out of here!" Eli says firmly before the girl covers his mouth again. I look at Ariella and see her glaring at me. I look back at Eli and see him trying to urge me on while the group is confused by their suddenly injured male compadre. I turn and run into the woods, towards the hideout. I hear Dianca yelling after me, and I know she'll be right on my tail. I avoid her just as she runs past by climbing into a torn bush. Sure, it hurts now...but it hurts way less than I'm sure Dianca would like. After about ten minutes of sitting there, all is calm and I carefully venture out of the thorn bush. Time to take inventory of the situation:

1. My shirt is ripped and I'm a little bloody, but I appear to be safe.

2. Eli and Ariella are now captives.

3. Dianca obviously wants to kills us off next.

These are the things I think about as I head back to our hideout. That and the fact that I'm completely screwed.

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And this is why I'm now sitting in a tree. I'm to afraid to come down. I went back to the hideout and got my sword. One thing's for certain, I will certainly not let those Careers keep my allies hostage. Sure, I don't really like Ariella. If it was just her I'd probably forget about it. But Eli...he's done nothing but help me...and let's face it, he's the only real friend I've got.

How can I get the courage to jump out of this tree?