The faintest light was coming through the window and the world outside was quiet. Petunia's light breathing touched Finnick's face, her naked body pressed up against his. He had been awake for quite some time; he could never sleep anyway. Slowly, as to not disturb the woman, he slipped out of bed and picked up his discarded pants, pulling them up his legs. The night had been agonizingly long, and he struggled with keeping his mind out of the arena. He knew that Petunia could tell he had been distracted, but she never complained.
They never did.
The floor was cold as he crossed the kitchen and plucked a sheet of paper from the pile by the telephone and used a pen to scrawl "I'm sorry for not waking you before I left, but you looked so beautiful I couldn't bear to wake you. Last night is one I'll remember forever… Love, Finnick." He pursed his lips, replaced the pen to its proper place, took his shirt from the countertop, and pulled it on. The clock on the wall read 4:26 and he scratched his head as he went to the door, slipping on his shoes and silently leaving through the front door.
He always liked this time of morning in the Capitol, when there were barely any people up. He could walk down the streets in peace, even sit down and have a meal somewhere if he wanted to. His mind was anything but at ease this morning. It was buzzing with all that he had to do; he had to schmooze with sponsors to get Renata a weapon, which was his first priority… He would have to leave her again tonight, that was inevitable, but he hoped to send her as many parachutes as he could before then.
The sky was becoming lighter by the time he made it inside his apartment. Before his shoes came off, he had the television screen on and he sighed with relief when he saw that Renata was still sleeping, still safe, and still alive. He sat down on the couch and exhaled heavily, scratching his chin and feeling stubble as he changed to different cameras in the arena, seeing what the other tributes were up to at this time in the morning. He pursed his lips when he saw Kain and the other Careers already on the move. His eyes narrowed as they came upon the young boy from District Three. He was huddled around a tiny fire and he looked up to see the five people advancing on him. His eyes widened and his mouth opened as if he was going to cry out for help, but Kain was quick in stabbing his sword into his stomach and twisting it.
Finnick swallowed as he saw the pain in the young boy's eyes, looking away as it slowly faded and then he was gone. "I think it's time to wake up, Rini," he muttered, swallowing and watching Kain wipe the blood from his blade.
The sound of a cannon going off startled Renata into consciousness and she looked around wildly, expecting an intruder. Alas, there was no one in the cavern but herself, and the fire she'd huddled by all night was reduced to faintly glowing ashes. The night had not been an easy one; she jumped at any sound she heard, or thought she heard, and her supply of firewood ran out sometime early in the morning, leaving her shivering in her sleeping bag.
She got up and walked to the small mouth of the cave and dug out the entrance from all the snowfall the previous day, then got down on her belly so she could poke her head out and see if anyone was around her. The sun reflected off the snow and nearly blinded her and once she blinked a few times to adjust her eyes, she crawled all the way out and walked around a few paces in every direction. The snow would have covered up any tracks she had left, and also every other tribute that may have wandered by. Feeling very vulnerable without anything with her, she scampered back inside and had a small breakfast of the dried meat and snow.
Renata sighed as she picked up the ice pick and examined it again. Now that she thought about using it as a weapon against someone, she knew that it would be almost no help. She would have better luck killing someone with her fists than the pick. Not letting her worried thoughts get the best of her, she stood up and slung her packed backpack on, held the ice pick, and left the cave. The sun was beating down at some incredible heat and it didn't take long before Renata felt her clothes become soaked with sweat. She stopped to take a small break and finish off the rest of the dried meat. She couldn't help but think about if there was no other food to be found, or if there was and she couldn't capture it…
Something was reflecting off the snow and she squinted ahead of her, gasping when she saw that there was a melted opening in the ice. Water! That meant there could be fish! Renata jogged towards the hole and dropped down to her knees to peer into the hole. The water was fairly clear, and as she sat and watched for a moment, a fish swam by. Her fingers tightened around the needle and she slowly raised it up and positioned it over the fish. She took a breath and then exhaled, plunging her arm down into the water and then yanking it back up.
Nothing.
She hissed in frustration and raised her arm again, waiting for another fish to come along. Sweat rolled down the back of her neck and there was not even a small breeze in the arena. Curse the Gamemakers and their weather manipulation…She gritted her teeth as another fish swam by, and imagined that the fish was Seneca Crane. When she drew the ice pick back up, there was a speared fish on the end and she squealed loudly with delight.
"That's all she's got to use for protection?" Marco asked, watching Renata spear the fish. "That won't do, will it?"
Finnick shook his head, both men chuckling at the woman's squeal of success. He was freshly shaven and in clean clothes now, in the mindset to squeeze whatever gifts he could out of these people.
The man nodded in agreement, pausing a moment to watch her clean off the pick and set the fish on the snowy ground. "She's not planning on eating that raw, is she?"
He shrugged, standing with his hands on his hips. "If she had a knife, she could clean it and cook it…" His lips turned up in that playful, seductive smile and Marco chuckled and nodded.
"Yes, I suppose you're right…alright, a knife she shall have!"
"Excellent! Thank you so much…it a good cause, I promise," Finnick winked and took the man's money, shaking his hand before bolting off to the parachute kiosk. He walked up behind a man at the counter, chewing on his lip as he watched Rini on the screen behind the counter.
"A knife to the female from District Four?" the attendant asked, making Finnick furrow his brow.
"Excuse me, what are—" He stopped as the man in front of him turned around.
"Mr. Odair, I was wondering when you were going to get around to sending your tribute something," Seneca smirked. "She really needs a weapon, doesn't she? Well, don't worry, she's got one on the way now…" He chuckled at the look of fury on his face. "Why does it matter if I send her anything? The important thing is that she be well equipped, right? Good day…" He gave another chuckle before brushing past him.
That son of a bitch! But as much as he hated to admit it, he was right…Renata had a knife now, and he could send her something else useful…
"What can I do for you, sir?" the attendant smiled at Finnick as he stepped up and started flipping through various items on the screen on the counter. He took the money and nodded as Finnick pointed out what he wanted.
"For Renata Kelde, District Four," he murmured, turning and walking out when the man nodded. He wouldn't let that slime ball win… Rini was innocent…
He clenched his jaw as the image of Seneca on top of the young girl came into his mind and it took all of his strength not to release his frustration on some unsuspecting person passing by. He made it back to his viewing balcony without assaulting anyone and he sighed as he sat down and watched as the first parachute was coming in for land.
A small pinging sound caused Renata to look up from her seat beside the fishing hole and watch as a parachute floated down towards her and land in the snow. She got up and hurried over to it, her hands trembling as she opened it. Her breath caught in her throat as she pulled out an impressive hunting knife. She turned it in her hands, admiring the razor sharp side and a serrated edge on the other.
"Thank you," She smiled and looked up at the sky, so thankful for the gift. She looked back into the container and found a small slip of white paper. 'To ensure you'll come back to me. –S' it read, and Renata felt her blood run cold. She swallowed and gathered up the parachute in case she could use it for something, grabbed her small haul of fish, and stood to go back to the cavern.
She stopped after a while, hearing another pinging sound from above her. She couldn't have two gifts, could she? The parachute floated down and landed a few feet in front of her and when she opened it, her eyes widened as she found a small axe inside. The slip of paper inside read, 'Stay strong, Rini. –F' She smiled and looked up at the sky once more, feeling incredibly fortunate. "Thank you," she whispered again and put the axe on her belt along with her knife and headed back towards the cavern.
The snow began falling again once the sun started to set, and Renata was tucked away inside the cavern, a nice fire going and the fish cleaned and roasting on the flames. She sighed as she ran her finger along the blade of the knife, then gripped the hilt and held it out. Could she kill someone when it came down to that? She bit her lip and jabbed the air with the knife, then blushed and dropped it. The people of Panem were probably laughing at her, or not watching her at all…Her show wasn't all that entertaining. She reached to retrieve her sleeping bag from her backpack when she heard a soft grunt. Her eyes widened and she quickly took up the knife again, her heart racing in her ears.
Someone was outside.
Her hands trembled as she quickly but quietly gathered up her backpack and axe, getting up into a standing position as one side of the cavern ripped open. The raging wind from outside nearly extinguished the fire and Renata had to keep herself from screaming as a mutt bear came plodding inside the cavern. It was easily 8 feet tall and those claws looked deadly. It raised its huge head and sniffed at the air, growling. The bear seemed to stare right at Renata as she pressed back against the wall before taking a few steps forward and lowering its head to sniff at the fish that had been roasting. It gave a great huff before beginning to chow down on them.
Renata's whole body was trembling with fear. The bear was distracted with the fish now, but she was certain that he wouldn't be satisfied after that measly meal. Seizing the chance she had, she very quietly began to move along the wall towards the opening the bear had made, praying that it would stay distracted enough for her to get away. As she reached the opening, the bear raised its head and seemed to search for the girl, baring its teeth when it saw her about to escape. Tears sprang to her eyes as it gave a loud and terrifying roar and she scrambled out of the cave and into the stinging winds, running blindly away from the creature. She could hear its huge, pounding footsteps behind her as she fled as fast as she could. A searing pain came to the back of her calf and she fell to the ground, clutching her leg and feeling the fresh gash from its razor like claws. She screamed in anguish, her blood staining the snow red and she knew this was the end. It wouldn't be easy and painless; she would be torn to ribbons by the mutt. She closed her eyes as the bear was coming down on her when he gave a loud roar again, but another strike didn't come. Renata risked opening her eyes to see the bear was staring off in another direction, an arrow lodged into its shoulder. It huffed and then went tearing off towards the other direction, leaving the redhead there with her mangled leg.
She whimpered with pain, tears rolling down her cheeks as she fought to get to her legs. It was excruciating to put weight on her injured leg, but she could limp. Knife and axe in hand, she limped as quickly as she could, not quite sure where she was going.
There came a part in the ground where, when she stepped with her hurt leg, it caused her to buckle and fall forward and she would've screamed if the icy water didn't overtake her. It stabbed at her skin and she even forgot about the pain in her leg momentarily as the water soaked her down to her skin.
Darkness was in every direction. Which way was up? She thrashed about with both the knife and the axe, desperately trying to find the surface. Her eyes were getting hazy as she struck the quickly refreezing ice with the blade, feeling like she was drifting off to sleep. The surface of the ice was broken through and Renata felt herself be lifted from the water. The heaviness in her eyes wouldn't go away and she felt a great warmth come over her. Was this the end? This didn't seem so bad…it was better than falling asleep… Someone was dragging her across the snow, but she could barely realize that anything was happening outside of her exhaustion.
It took a great deal of strength to raise her fingertips to her lips, and she swallowed when she couldn't feel the tingle in her lips anymore. Tears went down her cheeks as she closed her eyes.
"Finnick…"