WHO| Bayard and Cullen, Tabris and Maxwell
WHAT| Bayard meets his Thedosian friends, hears voices, and goes with Tabris and Maxwell to fight behts.
WHEN| Week 3
WHERE| Out in the woods, then towards the belltower.
WARNING| Vampire bats, near-death.

I. Any tag order.

Eventually, Bayard leaves the castle, driven out by the images of ghosts that plague him. He has no one to mourn, only a mother who died before he finished taking his first breath, but the supernatural is too much for him to handle. He packs up his small pack of belongings - one more day's ration of water, a desalination kit and a box of medical supplies - and tucks his knife into the pocket he's cut into his clothing.

He wanders the forest, panting, ears pricked for people's approach. Occasionally he hears someone calling his name, and at first he thinks it's just his mind. Dew collects in the places where his flesh meets itself, the crooks of his elbows and knees. The air seems light and insubstantial, even as he can practically see the humidity hanging in it, and the sun cuts through the canopy of trees in tight spears.

"Is someone there?" He strains and listens. "Father?"

At that, he breaks into a run, crashing through undergrowth, breaking twigs and leaves as he tramples towards the voice with an exhilarated grin on his face. He nearly smacks into a group of people in the woods, having sprinted heedlessly towards them.

"It's me, it's me!" He recognizes the faces.


II. Bayard, Maxwell, Tabris

He knows that Maxwell, Cullen and Tabris are concerned about his well-being, thinking he's been traumatized by the Cornucopia, and so he does his best to act as if it hasn't affected him. That's easy enough to brush aside, but when the voices start up each day something in him changes. All his effort to continue surviving in the Arena as normal seems to evaporate, and he'll go lay down at their camp for the hour or so until the calls stop, eyes shut and arms around his ears, responsive only to the worst prodding.

Other than that, he doesn't seem to act as if they're fighting for their lives. He collects wood, hunts, hides supplies up a tree so it's less likely to be gotten by animals, and ventures into the abandoned buildings to retrieve any item that might be useful. By now they've collected a cache of cured fish and a sizable set of rations that Bayard snuck away from the banquet the night before, banking on his speed and the other Tributes' hesitation to hurt a child.

The bats at night, however, have become a problem. The first night everyone manages to take shelter, but by Thursday it's clear something must be done. They're running through their medical supplies with treating the ugly bites they leave. A bite over Bayard's eyebrow has left part of his forehead swollen and red.

When the bells start tonight, he gets up from where he's making a rope trap and taps at Maxwell's elbow. "We ought to do something about it."