Chapter 17: A Rock and a Hard Place
"Do you think she's okay?" Agate asked quietly, and Venatrix didn't have to wonder who she was talking about.
They huddled together against the wall of the small cave, more of an overhang, really, only just sheltered from the elements. It had been the best they could find as the storm picked up, the wind rushing down the mountain at the perfect angle to slip right over their heads, dumping mounds of snow around them rather than inside their little alcove.
Logically speaking, Coquina should be smart enough to be fine — they'd received training for how to handle this type of weather, after all — but judging by the girl's desertion, Venatrix couldn't quite attest to their former ally's logic.
Venatrix only shrugged. "She should be fine." Any other sentiment would cause her friend unnecessary anxiety, she knew.
Not content with sitting around, Agate scooted over to the far end of the area, where Poppy and Lancelot were trying to build a fire, their attempts buffeted by the storm.
Rather shitty shelter we've got, Venatrix grumbled internally, readjusting her jacket beneath her armor in some attempt to stay warm. They'd set up a tarp to cover part of the entrance in hopes of blocking out some of the windchill, but the storm had ripped it right from the anchor points, carrying the sheet of plastic into the unknown. They were lucky they found a place large enough for the six of them, really, spread out enough where they didn't have to be completely trapped in each other's personal space, though they'd probably spend the night awkwardly piled together so nobody froze to death.
Six is a lot for this stage in the Games, though.
The toe of a boot nudged her leg and Venatrix looked over to see Iago absentmindedly toss one of his knives into the air, flashing her a smile before catching it. "Impressive," Venatrix said dryly, prompting him to send the next one spinning higher. From the other end of the shelter, Percy's eyes watched the movement, half-wary, half-bored.
Iago noticed him watching, nudging Venatrix with his boot again. "Hey, Percy, tickle-your-ass-with-a-feather?" he mumbled, his voice half-drowned out by the storm.
Percy frowned. "What?"
"I said," Iago enunciated, "particularly nasty weather?"
"Uh, yeah, I guess."
Iago snickered as Venatrix smacked him on the shoulder. "You're an idiot."
"You're just jealous you'll never be as funny as me," he said, smiling innocently at Percy's scowl. "It's okay, though, you can cope."
Venatrix elbowed him again before leaning back against the wall of the cave. Almost instinctively, Iago angled his ear closer to listen. "Kinda crowded in here, hm?" she murmured.
To his credit, Iago kept his grin subtle. "Does this mean I get to kill Percy now?"
Venatrix pursed her lips thoughtfully. "Not yet," she hummed, and Iago pouted in disappointment. "Make it look like an accident," she said under her breath, and then louder, "go help out with the fire, asshole."
With a scoff of faux irritation, Iago got to his feet, crouching slightly to avoid scraping his head on the overhanging rock. One eye on her brother, Venatrix picked up her sword from where it lay at her side, brushing imaginary bits of dust from the blade. Again, she noticed Percy watching her silently from his spot a couple meters away. She flashed him an awkward half-smile, but before either of them could say anything, a startled yelp cut through the air; Venatrix whipped her head in time to see her brother trip over someone's pack and land straight on top of an unexpecting Poppy, his fall accompanied by the buzzing red light of the girl's armor.
Immediately, shouts of indignation lit up the cave, Iago's voice dancing loudly above the others in his effort to claim innocence. "Accident, my ass," she heard Agate scowl, prompting another round of protest from her brother.
"Woah, woah, guys, calm down," Venatrix interjected, dragging herself over with a hand on her sword hilt. "What the hell happened here?"
"Your asshole brother just murdered Poppy," Lancelot said, shooting Iago a glare.
Iago raised his hands, the legitimacy of his defense thrown off by the murder weapon still in his grip. "Hey, I'm not the one leaving their shit around for people to trip over."
"And you just happened to be holding a knife that landed straight in Poppy's chest when you fell?" Agate questioned, her tone disbelieving.
"Yes! Thank you," Iago said, intentionally misinterpreting her sentiment.
"I'm not actually dead," Poppy piped up, crawling to a kneeling position. "Just bleeding out, I think. That's why it's blinking."
"Oh." Without warning, Iago lashed out, his knife striking the armor over Poppy's heart. "Well, now you are." At the following chorus of accusing groans, Iago turned defensive again. "What, she was bleeding out! It was a mercy kill."
He's enjoying this way too much, Venatrix thought, smothering a grin.
"That's it, I'm killing him," Lancelot said, reaching for his sword.
Iago rolled his eyes. "Come on, it's not like you guys aren't gonna get better placements now."
"Yeah, hang on a minute," Venatrix said, holding out a hand to halt her ally's movements. Agate, Lancelot, and Poppy shot her accusing stares, but Venatrix continued. "We should at least vote on it."
The look on Iago's face was absolutely priceless, his mouth open in shock at her apparent betrayal. "Trix!"
"I'm voting 'no', you dumbass," she reassured him.
"Well, I vote 'yes'," Agate said stoutly.
"Same," Lancelot agreed, adjusting his grip on his sword. Poppy echoed his words.
"Hey, you can't vote if you're dead," Iago pointed out, earning himself a glare from the red-haired girl.
Venatrix shrugged. "He's got a point."
"We've lost her," Agate muttered, shaking her head in mock disappointment, and Venatrix huffed a laugh.
"Hey, Perce!" Lancelot called to their remaining ally across the shelter. "Kill or no?"
Percy lifted his head. "Huh?"
"Iago murdered Poppy—"
"It was an accident!"
"Oh my god."
"—should we kill him, or no?"
"Uh." Percy glanced between the four living tributes. "No?"
Iago's mouth split into a disbelieving grin, his laugh echoing off the rock walls as Lancelot shot Percy an incredulous look. "What?!"
"Looked like an accident to me," Percy said with a shrug.
Lancelot scoffed, "Fuck you, man," though his tone was more resigned than biting. Venatrix couldn't read Percy's expression in the late-evening rock-hewn shadows, but his posture held a tenseness that had become familiar in recent months.
Ignoring her brother's victory jibes at not being collectively murdered, Venatrix set her sword aside, scooting over to her district partner. "What are you brooding about, O Perseus?" she said, nudging his shoulder.
"Ew, don't you call me that." His lips twitched in a smile as if forgetting their month-long awkwardness, though the memory quickly returned. "You're welcome, by the way," he said, his eyes flicking towards her brother for a heartbeat, who seemed to be dancing over Poppy's 'corpse'. "Just so we're clear, I know that wasn't an accident."
Venatrix frowned. "Why lie then?"
"So you admit it wasn't an accident?" Percy said in a wry tone.
"I admit nothing. If you think you have to lie, that's on you," Venatrix shot back, raising an eyebrow. She nudged him on the shoulder again, the gesture an attempt at good naturedness. "But thank you, though. I still don't get why…"
He only shrugged in response, turning away from her gaze.
"And here I thought you were a shit liar," Venatrix said, trying to keep her tone light.
"I'm getting better."
The following pause was almost as uncomfortable as the cold attempting to soak through their layers of clothing. On the other side of the alcove, the four tributes — no point in throwing Poppy out into the cold, 'dead' or not — had managed to get a small fire going at the base of the cave wall, shielding it from the wind with their bodies.
"Things haven't been this awkward between us since we were dating," Venatrix quipped, extracting another quick smile out of Percy's brooding countenance. "Speaking of dating, am I ever gonna find out how things are going with Lance, or…?"
Percy scoffed, his face returning to its mask of forced unfriendliness. "Don't pretend like you care."
The dismissal in his tone caught her off-guard. "I'm not pretending," Venatrix said genuinely, not bothering to hide her bewilderment.
"Right. As if I'm not dead to you already."
Venatrix sucked in a breath. However she'd been acting, that fucking stung. "Is that really what you think?"
He huffed a harsh laugh, the sound almost lost to the howling wind just outside. "I mean, I get jack shit whenever I try to help you, what else do you want me to think? Not like I can blame you for doing the smart thing and distancing yourself."
"Percy… I said I appreciated it," she said, referring to his vote. She frowned. "Wait, is this about Alystra?"
Percy shrugged again.
"I'm sorry, I was just— irritated at that, and the whole trap thing," Venatrix admitted reluctantly. "I appreciate you having my back out there, I really do."
He raised a scathing eyebrow, but didn't interrupt.
Venatrix continued, resolute. "But I also want you to be my friend, not just an ally. You've been avoiding me too," she pointed out. "I don't know; if you need your space that's fine, but—" she paused, biting her lip— "it kind of hurts, especially since we don't have much time."
The swirling snow kept his attention, and Venatrix almost didn't hear him speak. "It's kind of hard to be your friend with your dad breathing down my fucking neck," he muttered, half to himself.
She frowned. "What are you talking about?"
Judging by the expression on Percy's face, he was regretting his words; he may claim to be a decent liar now, but Venatrix knew better. "I-I don't know. Nothing. I didn't mean to say—"
Blinding red light cut him off, and Venatrix recoiled at the sudden brightness— the armor; Venatrix's, Percy's, everyone's, lighting up the cave in a flashing ruby blaze.
Squinting, Venatrix heard a muttered "What the fuck?" before a wailing siren, eerily distorted through the roar of the storm, shuddered through the air. She was on her feet in a heartbeat, Percy at her heels.
"That's the emergency alarm," Venatrix said, straining her ears.
Iago frowned. "What the hell's that for?"
"An emergency, dumbass."
"Yeah, but why—"
Venatrix cut him off, taking in the information: blinking armor (even Poppy's), emergency siren, unforgiving blizzard. "I think they're stopping the mocks."
"Oh, hell fucking no," Iago muttered, and before Venatrix could react, he rushed past her, tackling Percy to the ground with a grunt of surprise. Erratic in the flashing of their armor, they wrestled on the floor of the cave, Percy spitting indignant curses and Iago glaring with none of the playfulness from his and Venatrix's previous roughhousing, scarlet light flashing off his teeth in a ghoulish grin.
At the silver glint of her brother's knife, she lunged.
"Hey!" Her hand clamped around Iago's shirt collar, yanking him backwards. "What the fuck are you thinking?" she spat, shaking him like a dog.
Bristling, Iago shoved her off. "Come on, it wasn't personal," he sneered, shooting daggers — metaphorical, this time — towards Percy. The blond boy lay on the floor still, panting from shock; Venatrix noticed a trail of blood dripping from a shallow cut on his cheek, menacing in the red flare.
Venatrix matched her brother's snarl. "Will you let it go already?" she hissed, and Iago gave an incredulous scoff, ignorant of the rest of the pack's dirty looks.
"Oh, that's fucking rich," Percy spat, wiping the blood from his face with a half-mad snort of laughter.
"What's that supposed to mean—"
"Can you all just chill the fuck out?" Agate's voice, louder than the storm, cut through the argument, laced with more irritation and anger than Venatrix could ever remember hearing from her mild-mannered friend. "Especially you two," she said, shooting both Venatrix and Percy a glare. "At this rate, I'll be down two best friends come June."
That did the job of stunning them into silence. Iago opened his mouth to protest, but Agate cut him off.
"I don't think we need any more input from you," she said harshly. "If they're stopping the Games, there's no reason to keep killing each other, so let's just figure out what the fuck is going on, okay?"
Murmurs of agreement rippled through the group, followed by more silence, the continuous, incessant blinking of their armor. Venatrix and Percy exchanged a glance, recognizing the undercurrent of anxiety in Agate's expression. Ignoring Iago, the two of them picked their way over to her, settling down quietly at either side in front of the wispy fire; Agate only looked at them without fanfare. "Let's just sit tight then," Venatrix suggested, pulling one of the nearer packs close to her and doling out the few camping meals it contained. "Wait through the night and see what tomorrow brings."
Agate nodded, and Iago joined them a minute later, not wanting to be left alone. He plopped down wordlessly next to Venatrix, for once not itching to pick anymore fights.
Despite Agate's suggestion, nobody felt inclined to discuss their situation; whether the mocks were halted or not, the outcome for them would be the same: sit here and wait out the storm. If this is what the real Games will be like, I'm gonna flip my shit, Venatrix thought absent-mindedly. Freezing to death would be pathetic, even by Capitol standards. The wailing of the emergency siren continued through the valley, an undulating background to her thoughts, swirling in between her musings of her unprofessional performance today (the more she thought about it, the more she realized that Percy had been right earlier), the uncomfortable silence between herself and her two closest friends.
It took a minute for Venatrix to realize the fire and their collective armor LEDs weren't the only flickering light hitting her eyes. Squinting, she peered into the storm; as she watched, the dancing beams of yellow light seemed to come closer. "I think someone's coming," she said, rising into a crouch and grabbing her sword.
Iago followed her gaze. "Who is it?"
"I don't know, the fucking President?"
"Sheesh, okay."
"Should we signal back?" Percy said, extracting a flashlight from one of the packs.
"Don't know how they'd miss us," Lancelot said from his shoulder, picking up his own sword and indicating their shirts. "Either way, there's six of us. Even if they're quote, unquote 'enemies', we could still take 'em."
A shout sang from the wind, and Venatrix and Iago exchanged matching looks of surprise. "Dad?"
Sheathing her sword, Venatrix raced into the cold to meet him, Iago on her heels, though the others stayed back in the shelter of the overhang. Her mother's voice joined the chorus, and the flashlight beams resolved into the bundled shapes of her parents as she trudged through the fury of the storm. She and Iago slowed as they drew nearer, and Oberon pulled them into a quick hug before releasing her and passing Iago to Dagmara. "Trixie, where's your hat?" His mittened hands cupped the sides of her face, the sudden warmth almost painful. "Your ears must be freezing, come on, honey."
Her ears had, in fact, gone numb from the cold, but Venatrix brushed him off. "I'm fine, thanks for asking," she huffed.
"The others?"
"Over there—" Venatrix gestured to their shelter.
Oberon jerked his chin for them to head back that way; as they picked their way through the snow, Dagmara pulled a radio comm from her pocket, clicking the device to speak. "We've got them."
Venatrix heard Flint Ainsley's voice crackle from the other end. "All six of them?"
At Dagmara's questioning glance, she nodded.
"We've got the Ishida girl," Flint said after Dagmara's confirmation. "We're taking her back, but Bane's had no sign of the other one yet."
Immediately, Venatrix felt a pit forming in her stomach.
"Right, we'll keep an eye out," Dagmara said, clicking off the radio just as they reached the overhang, the area quickly becoming crowded with their added presence.
Venatrix turned to her parents. "What's going on? What are you doing here?"
Dagmara explained while Oberon took a quick headcount. "We're pulling you guys in." She swiftly cut off Iago's protest, detailing the rest of their situation while she and Oberon checked the group for injuries and passed out heated blankets from the packs they brought.
Lancelot raised his hand. "I think Percy's still bleed—"
"I'm fine."
"What about the mocks?" Venatrix interrupted, dragging her father's attention away from Percy.
Oberon pursed his lips. "Well, first priority is getting you inside the Nut. All of you."
The radio device crackled again, and Venatrix only caught snatches of conversation. "Cadmus is coming to help take you guys back," Dagmara said when it silenced, and the no-longer-tributes nodded in assent.
Lowering her voice, Venatrix shifted closer to her father. "What about you and Mom?" His face clouded, and Venatrix glanced over to her mother, still speaking muted conversations through the handheld radio. "Coquina's still out there, isn't she?"
Oberon didn't answer directly. "Silverhorn."
Percy stiffened, but obediently joined their quiet huddle, drawing curious looks from their other allies.
"You two should come with us," Oberon said, out of earshot of the others, though Dagmara glanced over, frowning. Catching her eye, Oberon elaborated. "It'll be good practice for the Games, especially if you can track her. You were hunting her before the storm, correct?" Venatrix and Percy nodded, and he smiled. "Well, eight eyes are better than four."
When Cadmus finally arrived from his unsuccessful endeavor, Venatrix and Percy stayed behind with her parents, accepting the extra sets of ski goggles and hats they offered. Iago flashed her a concerned glance over his shoulder as he went to leave, but Venatrix gave him a reassuring smile. "Gotta find your district partner, yeah?"
He grinned. "Give her a good 'hello' from me, will ya?"
Dagmara shot him a commanding stare. "Get going, you menace."
"Menace is right," Percy huffed under his breath, and Venatrix elbowed him sharply; thankfully, her parents didn't seem to have heard.
Once Cadmus and the others departed, and after a brief discussion on where to begin picking up Coquina's trail, they started into the storm, heading in the opposite direction. With Oberon and Dagmara's guidance — more pointed fingers and gestures of flashlight beams than words — they picked their way through the mounting snow along the wall of rock they'd been sheltering against, the wind, only partially blocked by the trees, buffeting them from the other side.
Venatrix, gripping her own flashlight in one gloved hand and her trusted sword in the other, kept her eyes peeled for any sign of their missing ally, a difficult task in the poor visibility. According to the screen the mentors had been monitoring from, Venatrix and her pack hadn't been too far off from Coquina's location, though they never would've known. So much for tracking in this weather. The swirling fury of the storm called for silence on their part; the harsh red light still flashing from her and Percy's armor hindering more than helping their search.
At least Coquina's should be doing the same.
It was, though Venatrix didn't notice it at first. She did, however, notice an odd slippery material underneath her foot, almost tripping her when she stepped on it. Digging into the snow, Venatrix half-expected to find the sheet of tarp they'd lost earlier; instead, she pulled a blinking red piece of wire-woven cloth from the snow.
Coquina's armor.
"Fuck." Percy's curse was half-swallowed by the wind. He'd stopped next to her, her parents pausing as well at the sight of the armor. Instinctively, they huddled in together to speak.
"Now we know why she hasn't moved for the past eight hours." Oberon's voice was flat, the scarf he'd worn over his nose and mouth pulled down to his neck. "'Makers, why the hell would she take it off?"
"Guess she really didn't want anyone finding her," Venatrix said unhelpfully.
Oberon shook his head, scratching at his beard with his mitten. "She could be fucking anywhere," he muttered, the rest of his words partially drowned out by the wind.
"Best case, she's found some sort of shelter," Dagmara said, raising her voice against the gale. "We should start by looking for that." Pulling the radio communicator from her pocket, she passed it to Venatrix. "Take this. I think we should split up; you and Percy along the rock and Oberon and I in the trees. And if you find her," she said, fixing Percy with a hard stare, "don't shoot. She's not wearing armor."
If Dagmara caught the look of indignance that flashed across Percy's face, she didn't say anything.
He — wisely, Venatrix noted — chose not to protest the subtle insinuation that he would have otherwise. "I won't."
Extracting the other communicator from Oberon's pocket, Dagmara pointed out which channel for them to use before heading off into the forest, the swirling snow quickly swallowing them whole. With a huff, Venatrix tucked the radio into her jacket; clasping her flashlight in her teeth, she tightened the hat she'd grabbed earlier over her ears, righting herself. "Come on," she said, indicating the stretch of mountain wall ahead of them with her beam of light.
Again, they walked in silence, their voices stolen by howling wind, Venatrix's thoughts occupied by their search. Their flickering armor beat a steady red heartbeat into the air, marking her and Percy's presence in the fleeting storm. The mountain to their left stretched onwards and upwards, though Venatrix knew from prior experience and cautionary tales that solid rock wasn't as sure as it pretended to be. Her eyes traced the spidery crevices along the wall, slabs of dark grey rock that could be concealing a shelter similar to the one she'd found for her pack. In fact, somewhere around here, there should even be a network of caves, if she remembered correctly. The terrain around Two's central valley was covered in them, warrens of deep stone and abandoned mining passages that could swallow careless hikers whole, not even bothering to spit out their bones.
Every once in a while, the instructors at the Academy took them on caving trips in addition to their camping outings and survival training, and not for no reason. Venatrix could name a number of arenas that had employed various types of cave systems; the 119th, the 137th, hell, even her mother's, to an extent.
By no means was Venatrix's knowledge on Two's subterranean geography all-encompassing, though it would probably be more helpful if she knew where the fuck they were.
Can't see anything in this damn blizzard. If Coquina found a cave passage to shelter in, we certainly won't find her with our eyes.
Taking a deep breath, Venatrix tucked her sword through her belt, cupping a hand around her mouth. "Coquina!" Percy turned his head at her voice, but after a beat he joined as well, shouting her name into the wind.
"Coquina!"
If she's alive and conscious, she'll hear us.
"Coquina!"
Hopefully. Venatrix wasn't cruel enough to wish death upon the quiet girl, no matter their disagreements.
Readjusting her ski goggles, Venatrix scanned the towering mountain of rock between sheets of snow, searching for cracks and crevices in the crags that could potentially conceal a cave's entrance. Snowflakes nipped at her cheeks like needles, sending a shiver down her spine. Why would she take off her armor? She could've been killed if we found her earlier. From this far down the mountain pass, Venatrix could barely hear the emergency siren singing over the wind.
A narrow gap between two boulders caught her eye, and Venatrix paused in front of it, cautiously stepping closer. She doesn't have her armor. She's got no way to know that we're stopping the mocks.
"Coqui—"
The hiss of an arrowhead cut through Percy's call; Venatrix recoiled in shock, head snapping towards her partner as the arrow grazed her hat-covered ear. Instinctively, Venatrix and Percy pressed themselves against the wall outside what must be a cave, eyes wide.
"Well, she's alive," Venatrix quipped, and Percy bit back a snort.
Percy leaned closer to the entrance. "Coquina," he called again, more gently this time. "Hold your fire!"
"Can she hear us?"
He shrugged, raising his voice. "It's Percy and Trix! Hold your fire, they've stopped the Games!"
Pressing her ear against the rock, Venatrix thought she heard a slight scrabbling sound from inside the cave, but nobody stepped out. "Fucking hell," she muttered, and then louder, "We know you don't have your armor. We're not going to attack, just come out."
No response.
Venatrix exchanged a look with Percy, who shrugged again. "Probably doesn't believe us," he said, and Venatrix let out a groan of annoyance. Why would she? I wouldn't.
Turning to the cave again, Venatrix studied the entrance. It was slim, hardly wide enough for a person to fit through with a pack and a winter coat, though Coquina's frame was more slight than her peers'. The choice of shelter must've been born of desperation to escape the storm; Venatrix couldn't imagine anyone taking the chance with an unfamiliar cave otherwise.
"Coquina," Venatrix called again, shining her flashlight into the opening. "Can you just…" Something — someone, Coquina — shifted out of sight, allowing Venatrix to see inside to a much larger cavern than she expected. She huffed, half-exasperated, half-impressed with Coquina's find.
Percy nodded to the gap again, a question on his face. There was no way he'd fit through, not with his broad shoulders and puffy jacket.
Venatrix, on the other hand…
She bit back another huff, tossing Percy the radio communicator from her pocket. "Tell my parents we found her," she said, stripping the pack from her shoulders. "I'm going inside," she announced, speaking into the cave now. Carefully but loudly, she extracted her longsword, letting it scrape against the rock. "Don't shoot," she commanded. "I'm leaving my sword outside, okay?"
Again, she got no response, but no more arrows flew from the entrance.
Passing Percy another glance, Venatrix gingerly squeezed her way through the opening, keeping her flashlight pointed downwards so she didn't accidentally blind Coquina. Please don't shoot me, she thought with a grimace, feeling carefully with her feet in case of any loose rocks, ice, or other tripping hazards. If anything, she had her armor, still flashing an angry red glare against the encroaching walls.
The space widened once she freed herself from the gap, the air, while warmer than outside, musty and dank in the back of her throat. Venatrix swallowed, sweeping her flashlight around the cavern. "Coquina? Where are y— fuck."
Slowly, the girl stepped out of the shadows, her expression bland as uncut marble, but all Venatrix could focus on was the arrowhead leveled at her eyes.
Frozen in place, Venatrix felt her breath slow, short and shallow, though the heartbeat in her ears pounded faster than the light flicking from her chest. Coquina stalked towards her, the point of the arrow wavering with each step, though whether from the cold or something else, Venatrix didn't know. She raised her hands in surrender, showcasing her lack of a weapon. "Coquina. Please put the bow down." If she shoots me at point-blank, or even slips, I'm done.
Coquina's grip visibly tightened on her bow.
Is this how Iago felt at the tournament? That had happened far too fast though; this was different. Venatrix swallowed tensely. "They've stopped the Games," she said, gesturing to her armor. "See? I'm dead already."
Coquina narrowed her eyes. "Real clever way to make me let my guard down," she said, her stance statuesque aside from the mild waver. "But sorry, I'm not falling for it."
"Seriously, you're the last one out here," Venatrix insisted. "The mentors are bringing everyone in."
"How come it's you here and not them?" she asked testily.
"Percy and I found you first."
Still, the archer made no movement, though that was better than releasing the arrow aimed towards Venatrix's skull.
"Coquina. Stop. It's over."
The girl scoffed bitterly. "Of course you change the rules now that you know you won't win." Venatrix bit back the urge to say something scathing enough for Coquina to loose her weapon. The girl's narrowed eyes traced her enemy, reflecting scarlet every other second. "Why should I listen to you? You hate me."
Motherfucker. "I don't hate you," Venatrix reasoned, though blatantly lying, she figured, would be stupid. "I mean, I don't really like you, sure, but 'hate' is a strong word—"
"I hate you too."
The flat lifelessness in her tone sent a chill through Venatrix's blood; she stiffened, eyes locked on the arrowhead, the tightened bowstring.
"Maybe I'm just the backup volunteer," Coquina continued, never lifting her gaze from her target, "but all that means is if I kill you now, I won't be worthless again."
The air seemed to still for a second, the storm outside pausing its torrential gale to listen to the sound of Venatrix's breath catch in her throat, heart thud in her chest, waiting to see what happened next. These Games had never just been games; not to me, and not to her.
Venatrix took a cautious step towards her, tone placating. "You're not worthless."
"Yes I am!" Coquina cried, her voice rising in pitch. "You didn't even know who I was until I beat you. Nobody did. And nobody cared either."
"I'm sure that's not true," Venatrix said evenly. "People care about you; I know Agate does. Percy does too." She glanced backwards to where Percy waited outside the cave, wondering if he'd gotten a hold of her parents yet. Come on, they can't have gone far.
Coquina shook her head. "It doesn't matter. My parents won't even look at me unless I get that volunteer spot." Her lip trembled, eyes shimmering with tears that begged to be shed. "You have no idea what that's like."
Venatrix felt her jaw tighten. A thousand arguments wormed their way between her teeth, wanting to split her mouth with ugly vitriol.
'No idea what that's like'? Doesn't she know what I've been through? What my whole family's been through? How dare she even compare her situation to mine, to lessen my suffering and make it all about herself? Doesn't she know that if I don't volunteer, I'll be condemning my brother to Bellara's fate? Doesn't she know that I don't have a choice?
Doesn't she know that I need this?
Of course she doesn't.
And Venatrix knew better than to voice her thoughts, loud as they wanted to be.
One; deep inside, she had the cognizance to recognize the self-centered nature of her train of thought, the combination of shame and sorrow leaving a sour taste in her mouth. And two; it was Coquina, not Venatrix, who held the killing power in their hands. Venatrix would have to be a fucking idiot to instigate her now, unstable as she was.
And so, swallowing her venomous grief, all she said was, "I'm sorry."
Despite her pride, Venatrix was not without empathy.
But she'd long-since run out of patience with this stand-off; sharply, she ducked into a crouch and launched herself at Coquina, the unexpecting archer firing an arrow just over Venatrix's head as the latter tackled her to the ground. Coquina let out a soft grunt as she landed, the upper half of her body smacking against stone. Ripping the bow from the girl's hands, Venatrix held her down; she struggled for a second or two before deflating with a noise of desperation, her expression dazed and defeated.
"It's over, okay?" Venatrix repeated; from outside the cave, the faint voices of Percy and her parents reached her ears. Beneath her, Coquina only nodded mutely. "It's over."
A/N: Just pretend that this didn't take so long, ok ? Fhjdhj. Ok, the reason for that was partially because of the Victor Exchange fics (my fault for going overboard lol). If you get the chance, feel free to check out Destined to Fall: The 163rd Hunger Games ! It should be on my profile since I wrote it :v I got lucky and copped the D2F so it features even More of my extra-ass D2 worldbuilding c: O h and definitely check out Victory's Entitlements by ThePoptropicalGoose; she did an excellent job writing my lad !
Also I should probably mention that I'm putting To Spin A Web on a brief hiatus ;-; I'm realizing I need to get the rest of my worldbuilding all situated before I start posting the actual victory tour (I think some parts have changed since I wrote some of the chapters so... yeah). Also hopefully I'll have the last handful of chapters written before I start posting again ! Though who knows, I might finish this story before I get back to that one... /shrugs/
Last thing: I have the blog ready for this now ! Finally ! ;-; The url is truevengeance 151 . weebly . com (take out the spaces lol)
Hopefully there will be less time in between updates for this ! I'd really love to finish part 1 before the end of summer ;-; Idk how likely that is, but I can dream lmao. See you then !
- Nell