Katniss could feel the roiling of the waves echoing in her stomach as she watched her two new companions. The bronze-haired man wrestled with the sails, and, after patting his cheek, the woman had begun to check the supplies that had fallen over in their rush to escape. Finally, she found her voice. "Who are you? Where are you taking us?"
The woman glanced up from a small, wooden box to look over her shoulder at Katniss. "There's no time for that right now. We need to get out of here before they follow us." From beneath the box, Annie grabbed four long, slender paddles off the ground. "Row." She handed one to each of them.
Peeta looked down at the object in his hand. "I'm not sure how to use this," he said.
"I'll take two of them," volunteered Finnick.
The skin around her eyes crinkled in concern. "Are you sure you're all right to… so soon?"
"I'll be fine. Best to keep my mind off of it. Come on, you can steer." Katniss watched as her rescuers switched places. Finnick sat down, dipped both of his paddles into the water, and began to row. After a moment, Peeta joined him, and he motioned for Katniss to do the same. On shaky legs, she moved to sit next to her friend, trying to match his movements. The paddle felt foreign in her hand, but eventually, she and Peeta fell into rhythm with Finnick and the boat began to move more quickly through the waves. Katniss funneled all her strength and effort into her arms and chest, not allowing herself to think of anything besides her mental metronome.
"I think we got away. I can't see anyone, even off on the horizon," Annie said. Katniss could hear the relief in her voice. "You can stop rowing now. You'll only wear yourself out."
She gingerly removed the oar from the water and placed it back inside the boat, and Peeta did the same. "So, can we know now where you're taking us?"
"But doesn't the mystery make it more exciting?" How could the man sound so confident and secure while on the run immediately after friend had sacrificed herself?
Katniss frowned and opened her mouth to speak, but before she could say anything, Peeta interceded. "I think what Katniss means is that we've had a really difficult last few weeks, and any knowledge of what's going on around us could really help us both adjust to this new situation."
The man chuckled. "Such a diplomat. You'll be useful." Peeta didn't respond to Finnick's compliment, waiting for him to continue. "We're headed up the coast. Honestly, even I don't know exactly where we'll stop – the people we're looking for have a bit of a tendency to move around."
"What do you mean? Who are we looking for?" Katniss didn't trust this man. He had saved, her, yes, but for what purpose? He could not mean to take her back to Twelve or any of the other districts, as she would be captured again within minutes of stepping into the town. His actions served no purpose if he wished to take her to the Capitol. His motivations and allegiances were unclear, and Katniss and Peeta were at his mercy.
Annie spoke next. "We're looking for the Llawen. They took to their caravans almost a century ago and haven't stayed in the same place for long since, but they said they would stay somewhere along the coastline and said they would leave some sort of sign for us. As long as we keep a sharp eye out, we'll be able to find them."
"Ruining my fun, are you?" Finnick asked.
The woman shrugged. "I suppose so. You of all people should know that's my goal." The smile, forced, but with true love radiating from behind it, that spread across her lips took any sting away from her words.
Surprise wrote itself across Peeta's features. "So they're real. I always thought they were just horror stories made to scare children into behaving." Katniss frowned and looked down at her hands, neatly folded in her lap, trying to make sense of what she'd just heard. No, the Llawen couldn't be real. No hunchbacked demons with nails like talons stalked the children of Panem, waiting in the shadows for them to fall asleep so as to more easily drag them back to their camps to be eaten or enslaved. Katniss was no longer a child nor was she a fool; she knew the Llawen could not exist. But the woman spoke so earnestly that she began to doubt her long-held conviction. She doubted that Annie and Finnick would go to such lengths – killing the judge, fleeing Four, risking being caught and killed by Peacekeepers - just to lie to her. Of course, they could just be mad. That could explain their actions equally as well.
"They're very real, but King Coriolanus doesn't want any of us to know it. His father, or perhaps even grandfather, had their district burnt to the ground years ago, and ever since the crown has done everything in its power to ensure that the existence of Thirteen and its people was more myth than history in the districts." Finnick shrugged. "It sounds like it worked better in some districts than others."
At this point, Annie chimed in. "I am surprised that Haymitch never said anything about them to you, though. I thought the two of you were close?"
Peeta looked towards her. "Haymitch, the town drunk? You know him?" He seemed surprised, but Katniss had more important things to worry about than his reaction to her friends.
"Wait, how do you two know Haymitch?" She narrowed her eyes at both Finnick and Annie in turn.
Finnick just raised an eyebrow and smiled, but Annie was more willing to help. "We've never met him, but Mags, our… our friend, has known him for years. They were the ones that planned our escape, and, provided everything went well in Twelve, he should be waiting at the camp with your family. He was going to try to get them out."
She could have hugged the woman. In fact, before Katniss was aware of what she was doing, she had her arms wrapped around a near stranger and was crying into her shoulder. "Thank you, thank you so much," she choked out between sobs.
Annie stroked her hair gently. "Don't thank us; we had nothing to do with it. And we're not sure that they were able to get out yet. Neither of us has heard anything from Twelve. But I do hope you'll get to see them again, Katniss." The two women stayed entwined in each other's arms as they sailed together on calm blue waves.
They sailed in near-perfect silence for hours before Katniss caught a glimpse of gray against the sandstone cliffs. "Look there," she said, pointing up.
"That's it. Mags told us it'd probably be gray." Finnick maneuvered the boat towards an inlet that peeked out from between the trees.
"What do you know about the Llawen? What are they like?" Peeta asked.
Annie and Finnick exchanged glances. She licked her lips before speaking. "Mags always called them merry men, but I was never sure whether she really meant it or not."
"It was hard to tell with her sometimes," Finnick added.
"So you're taking us to people that you've not only never met before, but also know nothing about." Katniss could not keep the acid out of her voice.
Finnick grinned at her. "Well, Katniss, we've already decided that mysteries are good fun, haven't we?" His expression grew more serious as the outline of the camp came into view. "I'm sure this will be enlightening, if nothing else."