Music: Seven Devils - Florence and the Machine

Day 2

The sun is beginning to rise by the time Yixing finds another suitable hiding spot, a small cave hidden amongst the bottom of a cliff that lies on the opposite side of the clearing from the perimeter of trees.
 
He needs to find a source of water soon, but for now, Yixing lies inside the cave, having checked it all the way to the back to make sure none of the other competitors had already found it, and tries to get a half hour worth of sleep.
 
He’s far enough back to not be seen from the entrance, and he trusts himself to wake up should someone come close by, but sleep won’t visit him.
 
Instead, Yixing thinks.
 
He thinks of the home he left behind, thinks of the look on his mother’s face when his name had been the one to be called out, thinks about how long and hard he had cried the first night he had arrived in the Capital, curled up on a bed that wasn’t his, dressed in clothes that weren’t his, stomach full of food he didn’t recognize.
 
He thinks about his first day with the other competitors, how some, like Baekhyun and Jongdae, had drunk in the sight of the others with sickening excitement, how Baekhyun had met his eyes with a smirk that would appear in Yixing’s first nightmare since arriving, sharp and predatory, promises of horrible things dancing in his eyes.
 
He remembers throwing his first knife, how it had flown from his fingertips sloppily, missing the target by a good five feet and hitting the wall behind it with a clatter that left Yixing’s cheeks burning with shame. The other boy there with him, Tao from Precinct 10, had smirked, eyes glinting as he executed a perfect roundhouse kick against one of the dummies that lined the practice room, its head flying from its neck and rolling across the floor.
 
And then thoughts of his first meeting with Sehun come, making Yixing’s heart clench in worry because he still doesn’t know where he is.
 
Yixing remembers the burn in his muscles, the way his sweat had dried and clung to his skin, making him shiver, remembers leaving one of the training rooms late one night, an infinitely stupid move.
 
No one ever walked the halls alone after dark, not even Kai from Precinct 1 who always seemed to be by himself whenever he wasn't ing Park Chanyeol from Precinct 5 with his eyes, long, smoldering glances that left Yixing feeling equal parts uncomfortable and on edge, always quick to turn away and focus on something else.
 
But training that day, a few days into his first month there, had been particularly torturous, every one of Yixing’s knives missing the target until he had been ready to scream, ready to rip into one of the dummies around the room, let out all of his frustration and anger and grief with destruction.
 
But the others had been watching, some openly, like Jongdae with that dangerous curl to his mouth, some with sidelong glances that burned Yixing’s skin, leaving him feeling exposed and vulnerable, and Yixing refused to show any signs of defeat.
 
But when the time had come for the one-on-one combat lessons, Yixing had been so heavy with mistakes, so blinded by fury because of the situation they were all in, that he was in, that his movements had been slow, clumsy, unpracticed.
 
Suho, from Precinct 6, had finished him before the fight had even begun, bringing Yixing to his knees with a final kick that had caused pain to explode against the backs of his eyelids in bright, bright colors, the low laugh that had reached Yixing’s ears a second later unmistakably Tao’s, who had been waiting on the side for his turn, and Yixing had opened his eyes to see Baekhyun watching him hungrily from the other side of the room before Baekhyun’s gaze had shifted to Suho, appraising and calculating, tipped with steel.
 
Yixing had gotten to his feet, had tried to hold his chin high as he left the mat, as he to