Chapter 1: We light the river on fire
Nikki's eyes shot open as she hit the dirt floor. Her stomach hurt and all the air got knocked out of her. She was flat on her stomach, growling from her fall and two tall figures stood over her. She managed to mutter, "C'mon guys, i was sleeping!"
The shorter figure, Caroline, chuckled and replied, "Hey it was the only way we could get you out of that tree. I mean, c'mon Nikki. You sleep like a rock and it's impossible to wake you up."
Her other friend, Rose, added, "So we threw a rock at you."
Nikki got to her feet and mumbled, "You could have splashed me with water ya know!"
The three girls started walking around the forest as the sun rose above the treetops. Nikki smiled and looked over at Caroline and Rose, who had both brought their bows and arrows. Caroline was a few inches shorter than Nikki and Rose and was a more experienced archer. Caroline had dark brown short hair fixed in a pixie cut and light tan skin. She always wore a neon orange jacket over a grey shirt and long jeans that were way too big for her. Her eyes were an unusual shade of dark brown. Rose was taller and had super long straight red hair with beautiful eyes. She also uses a bow and arrow and sometimes she uses a hand carved dagger that her father gave to her before he passed away. She likes to wear a short sleeve shirt with jeans and a belt to hold her dagger. Nikki was the tallest and, in her opinion, wasn't anything special. She had curly long dusty brown hair with a hint of clay-red in it and mysterious silver eyes. Nikki didn't talk much and was usually seen alone in a tree, but she always smiled. She always wears a black shirt with faded grey jeans, sneakers and she always wore a dark blue sweater her grandma knitted for her on her tenth birthday. She won't take it off no matter what. Nikki was ok with a bow and arrow but prefered her switchblade knife that she stole from the Capitol when she went there for a field trip. Nikki also loved to use her lighter that she found down by the creek behind the woods. Nikki always got in trouble for lighting things on fire and burning them up.
All three girls were District 11 members and rarley ever helped with agriculture because they always snuck off into the forest. While Rose and Caroline lived well in cabins with their kin, Nikki lived in an old oak tree all by herself. When she was ten, both her parents and her older brother were killed in a fire that was lit by Damien, the son of the most popular farmer in District 11 and the girl's enemy. Nikki was the only one to escape. Because of her great climbing skills, she was able to live up in an oak tree for the past three years. We came to a river that sat between a grove of trees and we all sat down. Caroling pointed out, "The river looks funny." We all looked over to the river and gasped. The water was a sickly shade of brownish green as if someone had tossed all their waste into the river. Nikki leaned closer to the river and called over her shoulder, "Lets see what it is guys!" Nikki reached into her pocket and fumbled around until her hand came out with her lighter clutched in her hands. Nikki flicked it on and edged closer to the river. Rose suddenly didn't feel too good about this and then it hit her. Now she knew what that stuff was and it was dangerous to mix it with fire. "Nikki!! Wait, don't get any closer! That stuff is..." Rose didn't have time to finish. The lighter slipped from Nikki's hand and fell into the weird colored water. Suddenly the top of the river lit up in flame. Nikki shreiked and dove her hand into the water and franticly reached for her lighter. She felt it and shot her hand out of the water. The weird water slowly ran down her arm, but it wasn't water at all. It was. "Oil!" Caroline's eyes grew wider as the flames on the river grew higher. The three girls all fled into the saftey of the forest and gasped for breath.
Rose looked at Nikki and managed to say, "N-Nikki. Remind me never...never to let you use your lighter around oil...ever again..ok?"
Caroline nodded.
Nikki shrugged. "What can i say? That's how i roll!" She chuckled to herself and clutched her lighter in her fist.