A/N: The First Day of the Games...
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With that, we run. Where the sand ends, trees start sprouting forth. Most of them are unfamiliar, with smooth trunks and few low branches. The earth is black and spongy, the direct opposite of sand. There are tangles of vines and colorful flowers everywhere. It feels damp. The air is heavy and hot. I am already dry from the water, the jumpsuit made of thin enough material to evaporate quickly. Despite that, the suit quickly starts clinging to me again, damp from sweat.
Peeta ends up taking the lead, with Katniss and Finnick in the middle, and myself closing the rear. It doesn't take long between the steep incline and the heat to start getting tired. I assume 12 has trained like Finnick and I have for this, but it is hard to simulate this. I can hear Katniss become short of breath and eventually after a mile, we call a pause. After all, she is pregnant. I think.
Katniss ends up scaling a tree. She says she wants to get a high vantage point. See if she can see some water other than the saltwater we were in earlier. She takes a long while. Longer than I thought, after all, she left Peeta down here with two trained killers. Eventually, she hops back down. Finnick decides it's a good idea to poke the bear.
"What's going on down there, Katniss? Have they all joined hands? Taken a vow of nonviolence? Tossed the weapons in the sea in defiance of the Capitol?" Finnick asks.
"No," she scoffs.
"No," Finnick repeats. "Because whatever happened in the past is in the past. And no one in this arena was a victor by chance." His eyes shot to Peeta for a moment. "Except maybe Peeta."
My eyes are flickering between them both. Two pairs of eyes looked in a glare. Muscles tense, ready to engage. Both are on edge. I am standing by Finnick, Peeta by Katniss. I can't tell if he will interject. If he will stop them from fighting or will join in. If he helps Katniss, no matter how good Finnick is, he will lose, it would be 2-against-1. Do I trust Peeta enough to keep the peace? Enough with Finnick's life?
"So how many are dead?", Peeta steps up deliberately in between them. Placing a pause on the potential fight with the two. Maybe Finnick is right when he says Peeta won by chance. Anyone else would have waited, would have taken a side. I was ready to defend Finnick. Even if she is needed. I need Finnick more.
Katniss is shooting death glares at Peeta. She lets out a huff before answering him, "Hard to say, at least six, I think. And they're still fighting."
"Let's keep moving. We need water," he says.
"Better find some soon," says Finnick. "We need to be undercover when the others come hunting us tonight." He is being deliberate with his word choice. We. Us. The tense air dissipates, the moment is over.
We continue our hunt for water. It's another mile of silence. Just hanking of vines, crack of a branch or two, and intense breathing. We reach the end of the tree line. What had been dese forest coverage started to thin and we reached the tip of the hill.
"Maybe we'll have better luck on the other side. Find a spring or something."
The next thing I know is a cry from Katniss and then I crash to the ground. A body is on top of me. I can't breathe, it's crushing my chest. Peeta is on top of me. Is he attacking? No, he isn't moving. I push him off of me. He is just dead weight. What the hell happened. My head is ringing. The earth is spinning. I must have hit my head when Peeta got launched at me.
Katniss is shaking Peeta around. She is screaming and slapping him. He isn't moving though. I try to sit up more, but the world is still turning. Finnick ends up pushing Katniss aside. His fingers touchpoints at Peeta's neck, running over the bones in his ribs and spine. Checking for a pulse. He doesn't find one. Katniss for some reason goes berserk. She is hysterical from Peeta and attacks Finnick. Grasping and clawing at him. Finnick can't work on Peeta so he ends up pushing her into a nearby tree. I am stumbling my way over to her. Forcing myself to get up, holding on to her so she can just let Finnick work.
She ends up drawing an arrow and I throw myself on top of her. There isn't time to be elegant with it. I just have to keep her away when Finnick breaths life back into Peeta. It works sometimes. When sailors fall off into the sea and drown. We can bring them back if we get air into them. Peeta just needs air and he will be fine. We can't have already failed this mission. A forcefield cannot end the rebellion before it has even started.
I am holding Katniss and we watch. We wait and watch. He's got Peeta's nose blocked off but his mouth tilted open, and he's blowing air into his lungs. Finnick unzips the top of Peeta's jumpsuit and begins to pump the spot over his heart with the heels of his hands. Trying to kick start his heart. To keep a pulse. Eventually, her arrow falls, unnotched.
The minutes drag by.
They are some of the slowest minutes of my life. Katniss is clutching my hands, my arms. No longer clawing her way out, she is sitting in my arms. When Peeta utters a small cough, she flings over me at him. Finnick sits back on his heels. It worked. He isn't dead. We haven't failed yet.
I can't tell what she is saying to him, but she strokes his hair and his face. The tears that have tracked down her face glisten in the sun. She cares. There is no faking that reaction to a death. If Finnick ever… God, I don't know what I'd do. Finnick makes his way over to me when they have their moment.
He checks the back of my head; it is bleeding pretty heavily. My arm lifts up and I reach for some moss. Before I can get it, it's already in Finnicks hands. It is springy and soft, absorbant too, it should work at stopping the flow of blood. Head wounds normally bleed a lot. The ground has stopped spinning, so I think I am fine. Katniss breaks Finnick and I out of our bubble of conversation.
"You were dead! Your heart stopped!". There is a terrible choking noise coming from her.
"Katniss?"
"It's okay. It's just her hormones," says Finnick. "From the baby."
"No. It's not—" another wave of even more hysterical round of sobbing seems to confirm what Finnick said about the baby.
Peeta seems ok, despite dying a few minutes ago. "How are you? Are you able to move? Because we kinda gave our location away"
Katniss protests loudly at that, "No, he has to rest,"
Before I could insist on moving she turns to Peeta. "Is this your token?"
"Yes. Do you mind that I used your Mockingjay? I wanted us to match," he says.
This is bad. Bringing up that symbol will bring nothing but harm. Finnick seems to agree, "So you want to make camp here, then?"
Bad idea. We made so much noise. "I don't think that's an option," Peeta answers. "Staying here. With no water. No protection. I feel all right, really. If we could just go slowly."
"Good. Slow is better than not at all", we need to move. Finnick helps Peeta to his feet and Katniss insists on taking the lead.
"No, let her do it." His lips are downturned, he is frowning. "You knew that force field was there, didn't you? Right at the last second? You started to give a warning. How did you know?" He asks the million-dollar question. The forcefield. She must have seen a chink like Beetee had talked about. I don't know if the Gamemakers made note of that moment during training when the two pointed it out to us or not. If they know we know they might do something to alter the force field so we can't see the aberration anymore. Of course, they don't know I know, only Katniss.
She ends up lying, "I don't know. It's almost as if I could hear it. Listen."
There's the sound of insects, birds, the breeze in the foliage. No forcefield."I don't hear anything," says Peeta. That's because it isn't making noise. I don't know where she is going with this lie.
"Yes, it's like when the fence around District Twelve is on, only much, much quieter." Everyone listens again intently. I do, too, although there's nothing to hear. "There! Can't you hear it? It's coming from right where Peeta got shocked."
"I don't hear it, either, But if you do, by all means, take the lead." Finnick gestures to her, waving his arms. We start off slowly. Finnick supports Peeta, Katniss leads, and me in the rear.
Katniss continues with her lie, "That's weird, I can only hear it out of my left ear."
"The one the doctors reconstructed?" asks Peeta.
"Yeah, Maybe they did a better job than they thought. You know, sometimes I do hear funny things on that side. Things you wouldn't ordinarily think have a sound. Like insect wings. Or snow hitting the ground." She is milking it way too much. What could have been believable is now laughable.
It is another hour of walking where we make no progress at all. The forcefield curves slightly and has almost been herding us. Peeta has been limping and Finnick is sweating from supporting him. We end up taking a break, and Katniss climbs another tree, trying to get a better vantage point.
She takes a while and to fill the silence and to try to lighten up the mood I end up asking "Did you enjoy your kiss with Peeta?"
Finnick knows that I am joking around, after all, we all learn back home. Still, he played along, "Why, I do believe you are jealous Maria Moher." His mouth curls up, drawing into a mischievous smirk.
I could help but play into it. "And if I was?"
"Well then, I would say you have no reason at all"
"You must have mistaken me, I was talking about Peeta. After all, he is a married man. Does this mean I get to kiss Katniss? Because if so I do believe you got the better deal". Peetas face is flushed, quiet pink at my teasing. I am sure if Katniss was here I would be sent a death glare. Still, this thing with Finnick… I don't know how transparent he wants to be in the arena. Gamemakers can see everything, so Snow can see everything.
"Ahh. Well– I- I- you" Peeta was stumbling around his words and before he could make an articulate response, Katniss jumped down out of the tree.
"The force field has us trapped in a circle. A dome, really. I don't know how high it goes. There's the Cornucopia, the sea, and then the jungle all around. Very exact. Very symmetrical. And not very large,"
Finnick took the words right out of my mouth, "Did you see any water?"
"Only the saltwater where we started the Games,". There has to be water somewhere. They can't risk all of us dying from dehydration, it's too boring. My own arena seemingly had no water, but if you dug deep enough into the sand water spurts could be found. Maybe there is something like that around here.
"There must be some other source," says Peeta, frowning
Katniss responds, "Well, the foliage is thick. Maybe there are ponds or springs somewhere,". She isn't very confident in her delivery of that. Doubt thick in her voice.
Peeta is sure to voice all of our thoughts, "There must be drinkable water between the force field and the wheel". Of course, that means we have to head back down. All that climbing and trekking miles, just to reach the end, with no water.
We decide to move down the slope a few hundred yards and continue circling. See if maybe there's some water at that level. Katniss stays in the lead, seemingly 'hearing' the forcefield. Finnick and Peeta are in the center, and I am still in the rear, covering possible followers. It gets even hotter. The sun beating down, the air is thick with moisture, turning the air into steam. Eventually, it is clear Peeta can't travel any further. We end making camp about 10 yards away from the forcefield. It could be good to use in a pinch against our enemies.
There is some tall grass, reaching to my chin. Finnick and I end up yanking them out of the ground and weaving them into makeshift mats. While not the most comfortable, it certainly beats sleeping on the bare ground. Peeta ends up charing some nuts by throwing them against the forcefield and Katniss puts up enough fight so she can go hunt. She is gone for a while.
By the time she comes back, Peeta has been pacing and both Finnick and I had to reassure him that she was fine. I was almost ready to go out and track her down, just so he would settle. During all the pacing Finnick and I managed to create a hut of sorts, out of the tall grass. It had three walls, a roof, and a floor of sorts. A couple of bowls for food as well. One of which is currently occupied by the nuts Peeta roasted.
In Katniss' journey, she caught some sort of skinned rodent. No water though. According to her though, the rodent knew where water was. He had been drinking recently but she couldn't find where. Katniss says the meat is close enough to squirrel so we should be able to eat it. The problem is how we cook it. We can't eat raw meat, we aren't that desperate yet. And starting a fire is risky, especially if the arena is as small as she says it is. The smoke would definitely send out our location, it would be asking to be hunted down by the Careers. By 1 and 2. By Gloss. I try to shake him out of my thoughts. That isn't the Gloss I know. That is Gloss, the Career, and Victor.
Peeta ends up solving our issue. He grabs a cube of rodent meat, spikes it on the end of a tapered stick, and lets it fall into the force field. There's a sharp sizzle and the stick flies back. The piece of meat is blackened on the outside but well-cooked inside. We are so grateful for the food that we end up giving him a round of applause before we remember where we are.
The sun starts to sink into the tree top, the sky rosy gold as we gather to eat in the hut. The rodent isn't too bad, it is a bit gamey, but beggars can't be choosers in the arena. Paired with the nuts it isn't a bad meal for being in an arena. I am just so thirsty. I wish we had some water. We need to find some soon, we will be getting weaker without it.
Finnick ends up asking Katniss plenty of questions about the rodent in hopes of finding the water it was drinking. How high was it, how long did she watch it before shooting, what was it doing? Questions like that. Unfortunately, Katniss can't really remember much about the tree rat (what we have decided to call it). Soon the sun falls completely, slipping below the horizon. The rosy glow darkens and turns violet. It is dark until a pale moon rises, it gives off just enough light to make things visible. Our conversation trails off and we all move towards the mouth of the hut in preparation for the anthem. Finnick ends up clutching my hand in his. Bringing it up to his mouth and placing a kiss. I sink myself into him. He is on my right, as always.
The sky brightens when the insignia of the Capitol emerges as if floating in space. The strains of the anthem bring with them a heart full of pain. Seeing the faces of the 8 dead victors projected into the sky. It is in some ways easier and harder than the first time.
I was a child, murdering other children last time. I became a killer that first night in my arena. Nothing can prepare you for that first moment. When you snuff out someone's last breath. Take away their future. I am more experienced now. I know what it is like to sink a blade into someone's chest, what it sounds like when a spear hits a gut, the shaky last breath of a friend. I am stronger and more prepared for death, but this time I know everyone. I don't necessarily like everyone, but I have talked with them. I shared meals with them. We are comrades. We are all victims of the capital. So it is harder to see these faces, but also easier, they are no longer children, they haven't been a kid since their own games. The man from District 5, the one Finnick took out with his trident, is the first to appear. That means that all the tributes in 1 through 4 are alive — the four Careers, Beetee and Wiress, and, of course, me and Finnick. The man from District 5 is followed by the male morphling from 6; one down in our alliance. Cecelia and Woof from 8, two more down from our alliance. Both from 9, the woman from 10, and Seeder from 11. That is 4 people dead that know about the plan, 8 left alive: Finnick, me, Wiress, Beetee, Jo, and Blight, female morphling, and Chaff. The Capitol seal is back with a definitive bit of melody and then the sky goes dim except for the pale shine of the moon.
Cecelia and her three kids she has left motherless. Woof, who didn't stand a chance with his old age. The male morphling, who painted swirls onto my skin. Seeder's warm smile and gentle hands. If only they could have survived a couple more days. Survived to get to 13. No one speaks. We sit there in silence, morning our fellow victors. It takes a fall of the classic silver parachute, gliding down through the trees to land 6 feet from us to break us out of our silence.
We end up giving it to Peeta, after all, he did die today. Peeta unbinds the cord and flattens out the circle of silk. On the parachute sits a small metal object that no one knows. It's a hollow metal pipe, tapered slightly at one end. On the other end, a small lip arcs downward. We end up handing it around, taking turns to exam it. Katniss ends up stabbing it into the dirt, proclaiming failure. We end up laying down, trying to go to sleep. Finnick takes first watch.
Just as I am about to close my eyes and drift into a restless sleep Katniss exclaims, "A spile!".
Half asleep, I end up sitting up and facing her. She has taken it out of the ground now, "It's a spile. Sort of like a faucet. You put it in a tree and sap comes out… well the right sort of tree."
Peeta finishes her train of thought, "-But there must be something else inside these trees."
We're all on our feet at once. Our thirst. The lack of springs. The tree rat's sharp front teeth and damp muzzle. There can only be one thing worth having inside these trees. Water. Finnick goes to batter the spile into the green bark of a massive tree with a rock in his haste. Katniss ends up stopping him and Peeta and I take turns opening up a hole with our knives. Carving out the tree until there is a hole big enough to fit the spile.
It is wedged in carefully and we wait. At first, nothing occurs. There is nothing. We all wait in anticipation, then a drop of water rolls down the lip and lands in my palm. I am staring in disbelief, or in shock, I don't really know. But there is water. Water on my hand. I end up licking it off, trying to lessen the dryness in my mouth. By fiddling and adjusting the spile, we get a thin stream running out. We take turns holding our mouths beneath the spout, wetting our parched mouths. It is warm, and a bit woodsy, but it might be the best water I have ever tasted. I bring out a basket, the one that is the tightest woven, and thankfully it holds water. We fill the basket and pass it around, taking deep gulps, finally quenching our thirst, and later, washing our faces.
Without our thirst to distract us, we're all mindful of how fatigued we are and make preparations for the night. Katniss fastened a sort of tie with a vine so she could hold onto the spile. She doesn't trust us fully, which is smart. Allies here in the hunger games usually can't ever be trusted fully. She trusts us enough to let Finnick take first watch though.
She and Peeta quickly fall asleep. The jungle is loud, full of sounds. Normally the lull of waves eases me to sleep, but these sounds are different than what I am used to. Even the exhaustion of the day isn't enough to get me back to sleep. I end up sitting up with Finnick.
We are quiet in our whisperings. It seems Finnick wasn't as tired up as I was with what Snow thought about us now. "We are together. We have been together for the last year. But not together. I want to be together before I die, Mo. I want years, but if all I got is today, flirting with you and unashamedly holding your hand, declaring my love for you, and you to me then I will still be happy." He has been holding my hand whenever he could today. Stoking my arm, brushing my hair back. It was my turn to initiate contact.
I sit up to my knees. Peeta almost died this morning. Katniss through a fit. Screaming crying for him. If Finnick died, which he very well could, I knew I would have the same reaction. It feels like for the first time the potential of Finnick dying has hit me. He is strong, and I know that, but no one can predict these games. He was right when he said one day is better than none.
I leaned forward in the middle of our conversation, interrupting him, but I doubt he really minded. "-and of course Annie-". Our lips met, and once again my heart soars. I feel like I am flying again. My hands grip his suit, pulling him in. His hand finds my jaw. I could spend the rest of my life kissing him, and I would still want more.
Bending my head back, kissing softly with intent. Finnick was the only solid thing here. The only thing that stood steady in this raging sea. He was my lighthouse in these games, always has been. He gave me suggestions after waking from one too many nightmares. He gave me a strip of rope. He helps me out of my dazed days, brings me back to now. The one who fights of my dreams of the dead, of my arena. It is his light that showed me the way back to shore, back to sanity. And it is him who I find my home in. He is the realist thing in my life. The truest thing in this messed up world. Before I know it his tongue slips inside my mouth, gentle. Even with how hot it is in this blasted arena, it could not melt me the way Finnick's kisses do.
We finally manage to pull away from each other with the sound of a bell echoing throughout the arena. Katniss ends up waking up, but Peeta is dead asleep. There were 12 rings. We all waited to see if anything else would happen, maybe Templemith would say something. Invite us to a feast like last year? The only thing interesting to note is the lighting bolt striking down a towering tree, starting a storm.
As Katniss was awake she ended up taking over watch. We both settle down on the mats we had woven earlier. Not as close as we usually are, but still holding hands I fall into a restless sleep, the sound of thunder and rain lulling me to sleep.