"As long as you can find yourself, you'll never starve"- The Hunger Games, Chapter 4
MAGS (2)
Mags Flanagan, aged 70. The Capitol
They've left him behind. He's been left to "guard the camp" whilst the others go out to find more tributes to kill. It's a rocky start to Finnick's career alliance.
"It's probably just because he's the youngest," Cecilia says, trying to comfort Mags.
Maybe she's right, but it's still not good. Mags watches him on her screen as he watches the fire. It was one of the first things he did, build that fire. If he hadn't been part of the career pack she would have scolded his foolishness, but he's probably safe for now. And besides without it, it would probably be too cold in the arena for a boy like him who's lived in the sun since he was born.
She wonders what he sees in the flames. Memories of driftwood bonfires on the beach?
At least he's alert. Mags suspects he's very conscious of the fact that he has been left all alone, so if anyone appears he won't have any help. She notices how he positions a couple of spears close and places a knife in his boot just in case. He has also put on a pair of the glasses that let you see in the dark, so that he will be able to see clearly. Well at least the boy is not stupid.
As the night creeps on he's still alone. Mags watches on the main screen as the rest of the career group track the footprints of the unlikely District 9 girl. She won't make it until morning. But maybe neither will Finnick. He's shivering now, even next to the fire. Silly summer boy.
She sends the first sponsor gift of the 65th Hunger Games. The soft thump in the snow behind him as the parachute lands makes the boy jump hard. Mags watches him as he reels around and scans the area quickly, looking confused. All around white snow gleams back at him. It takes a moment for him to be sure no one else is there, before his eyes sweep the horizon once more. It's then he realises that there is something lying on the floor near him. He edges closer to it slowly, taking comfort in the spear he's holding. And then when he realises it's not dangerous he starts laughing.
Finnick brings the white package back to where he was sitting next to the fire, and opens it up. Black fabric slips out, shimmering slightly in the glow of the fire. The material is stretchy, and silky to touch, and Mags can tell Finnick doesn't know what it is. He's probably wondering why he's been sent it. After examining it carefully for a couple of minutes, the boy comes to the only decision he can: he's going to wear it.
Watching him strip off his outer layers is painful. Mags can't imagine how awful the bitter arctic air feels against bare skin, but Finnick cries out as it sweeps over the exposed areas. He almost sobs in relief when he pulls on the tight black clothing, and Mags hopes they create the sudden warming effect that she was promised. She's proud when he puts his tribute outfit back on over the top, keeping his new gift to himself. It wouldn't be wise to advertise that he's getting sponsorship gifts so soon.
A few minutes later colour is returning to his cheeks again, and Finnick is beginning to realise why he she sent it to him, so it has been a success.
It's several more hours before the rest of careers return, bringing with them the news of two more deaths. The District 2 girl, Sagitarria plonks herself down to the right of Finnick, far closer than she needs to be. Mags recalls Finnick telling him how this girl followed him around the training centre. Looks like someone has a little crush. She begins describing to him, in graphic detail, the murders of the girl from 9 and the boy from 12 at the hands of Andradite and Amethyst, the District 1 tributes. It's a little too vivid and Mags watches as Finnick wrestles to keep his expression neutral.
The whole group eats some food they find in the packs, warming it up on Finnick's fire. They seem generally in a good mood. Afterwards, with Amethyst staying up to watch, the rest of them unroll their sleeping bags and try to sleep.
X
The relationships between Victors during the Hunger Games can be somewhat strained. Everyone wants their own tribute to win. (Or almost everyone, Mags thinks, looking at Haymitch Abernathy). When their tribute dies, a Victor can't help but feel guilty, even if they knew the tribute would never make it. Sometimes they take it out on the mentors who still have tributes left.
When Finnick Odair is the one to find the trail of the District 10 girl Mags becomes the focus of this.
"You were right then, pretty boy." District 1's Andradite hisses on screen, turning to face Finnick. There's a nasty gleam in his piercing blue eyes.
'Pretty boy' is the nickname the careers have started using for him, and it's caught on in the mentor room.
"That boy's a brute," Blight says behind Mags. "Your little pretty boy better watch out." He's leaning against a table with Haymitch Abernathy, the two of them passing a bottle between them. Both of their tributes died in the initial bloodbath, and they now have to wait around until the end of the Games to go home.
In the arena, Andradite is still talking. "And since you worked out where to find the idiot," he drawls slowly at Finnick, "You can have the honour of killing them."
So it's a test then. Mags hopes Finnick will understand. She is fairly certain that if the boy refuses, Andradite will just kill him. She watches as he swallows heavily, but replies in a steady voice, "Sure."
His facial expression doesn't display any reluctance and Mags wonders if it's appropriate to be proud in this situation that the lessons she gave him on schooling his face seem to be working.
"He's good at taking orders then. That'll be good practise," Haymitch slurs loudly. It hits a nerve and Mags spins her chair around to face him.
Both men laugh at the angry expression on her face.
"Come on, Magsy. As if you don't know what'll happen to that little pretty boy if he makes it out of there," Haymitch says, gesturing flamboyantly toward the screen. "He'll be on his back within five minutes. I don't know why you're even bothering to keep him alive."
Blight says something under his breath that Mags doesn't catch and the pair start guffawing again.
Mags turns back to her screen and tries to ignore them, but it's difficult to forget what Haymitch said since it's exactly the same thing she's been thinking for days. In the arena Finnick is leading now, following the fresh footprints in the snow. They make as little noise as they can just in case the tribute is near.
And it turns out they are. As the boys turn a corner, the camera switches to a girl crouched in front of a fire. She appears to be warming something on it, maybe some food, maybe herself. The pair move closer, until they are standing only a few metres away. Then she seems to hear them, as she spins around suddenly, bringing up a pointed wooden stick that appears to be her only weapon. Seeing her close up, Mags recognises her as the girl from District 10.
"Please don't hurt me," she says eyes wide, as she takes in the forms of both boys.
But laughing cruelly, Andradite just runs up to her, dodging the pointed staff, and knocks her to the ground. Then he holds her struggling down in the snow as he calls to Finnick.
"Do it then, pretty boy. As agreed."
Mags feels a sense of dread in her chest as Finnick walks over to the girl, spear raised above her chest. She looks up at him with big brown eyes, wet with tears. The camera zooms right in onto her face so that everyone can see her full lips and the dull white teeth behind. Her chest rises and falls quickly, and she stops struggling.
"Please." She begs, and Mags doesn't know whether she's pleading for life or for death.
"Do it." Andradite says.
Finnick closes his eyes.
And brings the spear down straight into her heart.
Across the mentor room Alyss Bellhair, the girl's mentor, throws up her arms and swears loudly.
Mags watches Finnick slowly pull the spear back out from the girl's chest. Her blood seeps onto his hands, and he turns them over to stare at his stained palms.
Andradite doesn't stay to watch the blood dye the snow crimson, but instead begins to walk away- back in the direction of the career camp.
"Come on Finnick," he calls back over his shoulder. It's the first time he's ever used the boy's name.
Finnick obviously misses the significance of the moment though. He's still standing next to the dying girl, his spear once again in his hands. Her eyes are watching him, not accusatorily, but sympathetically.
"I'm sorry," Finnick says quietly, addressing the girl. "But it was either you or me."
Then he turns to leave, not wanting to watch the life drain out of her eyes.
As the days progress the snow begins to melt. Mags doesn't notice at first until one of District 2's mentors, Lyme, points it out. Where there was once a beautiful white blanket covering everything. There is now slush and wet puddles. The greenery that was hidden beneath now begins to emerge slowly. The trees are huge, with long leaves and buttress roots. Vines hang down from the taller branches, and huge array of shrubbery seems to sprout up from the ground almost overnight. As the jungle awakens, so does the wildlife. The once quiet nights are now full of the clicking of insects and the howling of monkeys.
And then one night something else.
Finnick's District partner, Blye, is the one keeping watch when they hear the deep growling nearby. Some sort of animal is close, and it's coming closer with every second.
Mags had been asleep until the District 5 mentor had nudged her awake, gesturing to her screen. Through bleary eyes she sees Finnick is also being shaken awake, Blye's voice frantic in his ear, urging him up.
For a few moments he fights against his heavy eyelids, before he opens his blurry eyes. Mags watches as he drags himself to the entrance of his tent. The other careers emerging now too from Blye's calls.
"What is that?" She hears Amethyst ask, a trace of nerves in the District 1 girl's voice. Perhaps she isn't as tough as she seems.
"Mutts," Andradite says the word as though it has just occurred to him, which maybe it has, and glances towards the dark trees with hard eyes. "Come on," he adds, and reached out a thick arm to pick up the spear at his side. "Let's get them."
At his words the rest of the group seem to jump out of their sleep induced confusion, and copy his actions, picking up weapons and getting ready to defend themselves. With a heavy heart, Mags watches Finnick join in, clutching his spear between his hands. She's trying not to think about what will walk through the trees.
And so they wait for the inevitable.
A minute later a huge beast crashes through the edge of the wood, teeth bared, saliva dripping from its overly long canine teeth. Fangs. The creature is some sort of mix between a wolf and a lizard. Hard scaly skin, but pointed ears, snout and muzzle. There are a row of spikes along its back and dotted along its tail as well, and its paws are decked out with five-inch-long claws.
As Mags watches more of the mutts enter into the clearing, snarling and snapping. The camera pans across each of the tributes faces. The girl from 2, Sagitarria, panicky; the girl from her own district, Blye, alarmed; then Finnick, his beautiful face pale, but resolute; the girl from District 1, Amethyst, has broken her usual calm facade; though her District partner and the group leader, Andradite, looks hard and gritty. Last, the camera shows the boy from District 2, Bise, although Mags prefers to call him 'Snake' after seeing what he does when he's alone. The boy is untrustworthy and fearless, a great combination for a tribute, but bad for those up against him. Right now, faced with the growling mutts, the boy merely grins and raises his blade higher.
The mutts and the tributes stand opposite each other, both primed, but neither making the first move, until suddenly Andradite leaps at the closest beast with one carefully planned move, and lops the beast's head clean off. The rest of the animals are spurred into action and charge towards the tributes. Mags watches as her tribute battles a particularly fierce one, dodging the gaping mouth and slashing claws, but unable to make a hit on it. The other tributes are fighting too, and several of the creatures are dead. When Bise makes a daring move by jumping onto a creature's back to spear it in the head, the mutt that Finnick can't shake off is distracted and he is able to plunge the spear deep into the animal's chest. A bloodcurdling roar bellows from the animal, and it turns back to Finnick, whipping its tail around. With a loud thump the spikes crash into Finnick's back, and Mags winces at the look of shock and pain on his face. Finnick begins to fall backwards, but then suddenly he surges forwards again, and jabs the spear back wildly at the beast, hitting its shoulder, then again and again, until the beast crumples at his feet and moves no more. Then Finnick allows himself to fall.
In a corner of the clearing Bise is simultaneously taking on two of the mutts with the skill of a lifelong assassin. To his left Amethyst and Sagitarria are battling a third, whilst the fourth and final beast remaining is being tackled by Andradite and Blye. The fourth creature has a gash along its stomach and blood is gushing out. It doesn't have long, and seems to know this as in one last desperate move it leaps towards Andradite and pins him to the ground. It bares its bloody fangs as looks about to rip the boy's throat out.
"Blye!" Andradite calls out desperately to his fighting partner, but the girl just stands there frozen with fear, as if she means to let him die. The beast raises its terrible head and is about to strike, but suddenly the head isn't there anymore. Bise has leaped in at the last moment, somehow managing to single-handedly defeat the two creatures he was fighting, and swoop to the District 1 boy's rescue.
Within minutes the remaining mutt is dead as well, and the tributes walk over to where Andradite is facing the still frozen Blye, with a thunderous expression on his face. Finnick hobbles over to join them, trying not to show that he's in pain, and stands with his back facing away from the group. From the angle of the camera, Mags can see the blood seeping through the back of the boy's jumpsuit and feels sick.
"You were just going to let me DIE!?" Andradite bellows at the terrified District 4 girl. He is absolutely furious, and Mags can sense what's going to happen before it does.
"We're supposed to be allies!" He continues, and then, before he can even have thought about it properly he drives the spear he is still clutching in his grimy hand into the chest of the poor girl and watches, still seething, as she collapses on to the snow, and her blood runs and mixes with that of the dead creatures.
Sitting at the desk next to Mags, her fellow District 4 mentor Seaton flinches away from his screen. He turns to her and they share a look.
Now Finnick is their tribute.
She watches Finnick's face as his District partner dies, not able to watch the deed itself, and sees the horror reflected in his sea green eyes. And then it changes to understanding. That's the moment that Mags realises Finnick isn't going to stay any longer.
X
Later, this is the moment that haunts Finnick the most.
The tributes have returned to their tents, leaving Sagitarria on watch, to try and get some more sleep. Finnick however, just sits there staring into the darkness.
Mags and Seaton watch, both gathered together at her screen now, as Finnick quietly gathers all of the things he can afford to take with him and stuffs them into his pack. He attaches his sleeping bag to the outside of the bag and pulls himself out of the tent mouth, leaves the pack just inside the tent entrance. He has to deal with the girl first.
The District 2 girl hears him come outside, and glances around curiously. The clearing is now full of moonlight, and it makes her red hair appear lighter, and her thin features softer.
"What's wrong, Finnick?" She asks gently, her eyes scanning his handsome face, anxiously. If she suspects anything then she doesn't let on.
"I couldn't sleep," Finnick says quietly, yet loud enough that his voice carries to her. It's not the one that he normally uses, but the silky-smooth variation that Mags made him practise in the Capitol, honed to perfection and oozing with charm. "Not when I knew you were out here alone."
"What's he doing?" Seaton asks Mags softly.
"He's leaving," she says as they watch the small smile spreads across the girl's face onscreen.
Finnick moves closer so that they are face to face.
"I was wondering," he continues, "How you feel about me?" A slight pause. "I mean, I was curious to know if you feel the same way about me, that I feel about you?" Slowly he reaches out and takes her hands in his own. To everyone watching, it's obvious how Sagitarria feels about him. It's been obvious from the moment the games began that she would like to me more than friends, and maybe in different circumstances they could have been. Or maybe not.
Finnick leans in closer so that his face is centimetres from her own, and whispers softly, "How do you feel about me, Sagitarria? Won't you tell me?"
She responds more quickly and more aggressively than he was obviously expecting her to, as Finnick has to fling out a hand behind him to brace himself when she launches herself at him. She's kissing him. She's so absorbed in Finnick that she doesn't notice when he reaches with one hand to the belt of his tunic. Sagitarria doesn't notice the knife in her back until Finnick pulls away. Then she just stares at Finnick as her legs give out and she falls over, onto her side. She keeps staring as he walks back to his tent and picks up his pack, wincing as he has to haul it onto his back. As he walks out of the clearing, he glances back at her body, and her wide glassy eyes look back. This time dead.