WHO: Dory Skipjack and Marlin Felucca. WHAT: Taking a vacation from child murder, the Fours visit the seaside. WHEN: Day 16. WHERE: The shores of the ocean formerly known as the frozen side of the arena. STATUS: In progress.
Keeping on the move had seemed like a good plan -- Dory and Marlin both knew that they were expected to be doing something, injured and exhausted though they both were, and sitting around wasn't a good plan for survival. If they weren't out at least making the effort to hunt for other tributes, something would be sent after them.
The knife wound Basil had given her was healing up and she could use her left arm a little more, thanks to Marlin's help patching her up, and though the burns she'd suffered from the acid rain hurt like hell, at least they weren't going to get infected and kill her. Probably. The biggest concern right now outside of making some more kills before the Gamemakers got bored with their inactivity was food. The goat Basil had brought them was long since gone, as was Marlin's fish and the bread their mentors had sent. They had a few cans of vegetables left, and the iodine water, but that was nearly all -- and short of going back to the cornucopia for more tongues, they were going to have to find some other sources of food.
"What do you miss most from home?" she asked Marlin as they hiked through the eastern pass -- which was warmer and less frozen than it had been the last time they were here, and Dory viewed that as a positive thing. She was doing her best to keep cheerful, keep their spirits up, and injected as much brightness into her voice as she could. No one would root for a whiner. "For me, next to my family, it's the food. My mother is a wonderful cook. She makes this stew with any kind of whitefish and potatoes every time Daddy comes home from the sea." She sighed just thinking about it, using her trident to help her get over a rocky bit of ground. "When -- if I get home, I'm going to eat nothing but that for a month, at least. With our seaweed bread, and--"
She stopped abruptly, only because she'd made it to the top of a rocky crest to find that what had been ice and snow was now water. Miles and miles of ocean, stretching out as far as the eye could see. And even if there were chunks of ice floating in the water and it really looked nothing like home, the sight sent a pang straight to her heart. "Marlin!" she said, and turned to beckon to him, wearing a brilliant smile. "Take a look at this."