From the Perspective of Finnick Odair
"Terra! Terra!" I bellow as I crash through the woods. My mind races, Terra! My other tribute! Why did I leave her with the Careers? Terra! Please don't be dead Terra. Please don't be dead. I remember training with her and how she was so quiet. Is so quiet. I'm not going to let her die. I twist my ankle as I trip over a rock and I curse under my breath. I keep running. Terra was never my friend. She was more of an acquaintance. I used to fish with her. She would dive into the water and thrash about. The fish would swim off and into my net. She would always come out of the water coughing and smiling. We never really talked. We just gave each other smiles. I was glad when she was chosen in he reaping because Terra is one of those people I would want to win if I died. I have to get to her, I think.
"Finnick!" Iggy calls. He seems a bit crazy, but that's why I like him. He reminds me of a girl I met while swimming late at night before I left for the Games. He reminds me of her in the way he randomly looked away when I was talking to him when we first met. It was weird, but somehow charming. Also, he might have amnesia or something. He didn't even know what the Hunger Games are. I like him, but right now Terra is the one I need to get to.
I run into a clearing and see Terra. "Terra!" I say, glad that she is alive. She's coughing. It reminds me of our fishing adventures. I run over to her, she looks a bit weak. "Terra. You're okay. I was worried when I heard you scream. What was that about? Are you okay? Where are the others?" I have so many questions for her. Some are about the other Careers, but most are about her. She's like my little sister. She coughs again and I see a deep gash on her stomach. It looks fatal. I feel my throat close up.
I scream her name as she lies on the ground. She is coughing up blood, like the way she coughed up the seawater of our home. Her pretty gray eyes look hollow and her usually dirty-blonde hair is matted with sludge and her own blood. I blink back a few tears at the sight of her sad disrepair. I gently lift her head off the ground and look into her eyes. I say her name again and they fix on me.
"Odair?" she whispers. She used to call me that while we worked together. A fat tear slides out onto my lashes and falls onto her broken body.
"Hey" I say softly to her. She looks at me with such hurt that I have to ask her, "What happened Terra?"
She looks at me and chokes out an answer. "Rupalia." I nod silently, too miserable for words. I brush some hair out of her eyes and whisper her name over and over saying that she can hang on and that it's okay. She gives me a bittersweet smile and a bit of blood trickles from the corner of her mouth. "Y'know ever since I met you Odair, I have loved you a bit." She gives a light giggle.
"Terra…" I whisper. I never knew that about her. I mean, lots of girls like me, but I never thought of Terra liking me. I nod and give her a hug. Not an awkward kind with open eyes and stiff arms, but a protective kind. I wrap my arms around her small frame and hold her close. She rests her head on my shoulder and I tug her close. When I finally let go she is gone. Forever. I already heard the BOOM! Terra is dead and because of what she did, Rupalia will die too.
As if on cue, when I look up and lay Terra down, Rupalia is standing there, smirking. "How touching, Finnick. You know you should have stayed with us, you were the only reason we kept that worthless pixie alive." She spits out. My mind clears the sadness and all I can think about is killing Rupalia and the rest of the Careers. My head goes into fighting mode and all that I know about her comes running through my head, Rupalia Lavender Rowtien. Sixteen. District Two. Fights with a sword. Right-handed.
I pull my trident out of the leather strap I keep it in on my back. Rupalia takes a step back in surprise. She expected me to cry or do something pathetic, not to fight back. I thrust my trident at her and she blocks it with her sword. She stabs at me and I hit her in the arm with the blunt end of my weapon. She drops her sword and I stab her, a non-fatal wound in the arm. She gasps, but still snatches her sword up and jabs at me. We are now evenly placed and we size each other up. We both know the other one's moves. We both saw their attack at the Cornucopia and how they fight. All that matters is timing. Rupalia strikes first, but I expected her to and I barely get grazed. I have the upper hand though, she doesn't know my weakness, but I know hers. "Guess what Rupalia," I hiss, "Your little sister is going to watch you die." She didn't expect that and she lets her guard down. Her eyes widen and her mouth forms a little o. I stab her in the chest, through her lungs. She struggles for a breath and stares at me. The last thing she will ever hear is her own cannon fire. The last thing she will ever see is my merciless face.
I hear another Career, Valencia or Phox, stumbling through the woods. They probably heard the fight and decided to come. I can hear them mumbling about if Rupalia has killed Terra and I snap. I roar a war cry and dive into the undergrowth thirsting for their blood.
From the Perspective of Iggy Griffiths
I stumble through the forest after Finnick. I'm winded and I have a stitch in my side. I decide I'm better at flying than running. I can hear him snarling somewhere in the bushes and I wonder what happened. What's terra? I think, isn't that some type of clay or whatever? I stagger a bit farther and I trip over a rock. I fall on the ground face first and get a mouthful of dirt. I turn my head to see a girl's face, not a rock at all. Her hair reminds me of the one time I saw Max's hair in the snow and ice. I am about to ask her who she is, when I see the blood staining her lips.
"Max!" I call, even though I don't know her name. She stares silently and I know she is dead. Her gray eyes emit nothing and I feel my throat close up. I lean over to shut her eyelids, a move I saw many times as I grew up in the School with Jeb. Suddenly an arrow shoots over my head. I suck in a breath of air as I fall backwards in surprise. I twist to see my attacker. It is a girl with glossy black hair and sharp blue eyes. She is pointing another arrow at me. I go into full fighting mode, another perk of fighting for your life all the time. I tackle the girl who shrieks angrily and swipes at me with a wickedly pointed knife. I wince as it slashes my arm and blood begins to escape from the wound.
"DOWN!" Finnick's voice commands me and I obey, slamming myself against the ground and accidentally hitting my head on a root. My eyes begin to water and I blink through the pain. I see Finnick's trident lodge itself in the tree where Rupalia's head had been.Finnick coils and then kicks out rapidly, hitting her squarely in the stomach. She clutches her abdomen for a second before she lets another arrow fly. This one lodges itself in Finnick's forearm and he grimaces as he pulls it out, holding back a whimper. He hits her in the shoulder with his elbow.
"You traitor!" she screeches as she pulls out the longer dagger and attacks Finnick with it.
"I'm the traitor? You just killed Terra!" He sputters as he blocks her blow.
"So?" she says, "You killed Rupalia! We only killed Terra because she wasn't needed! You're such a sucker for the weak ones, Finnick. Why'd you leave us for that mutt anyway?" She hits him with the back of her bow and he stumbles back. She points at me with her finger.
Finnick's face flushes with anger and he answers with, "He's not a mutt! Rupalia was trying to kill me! You're insane, Valencia!" Valencia lashes out with her dagger again, slicing a thin line of Finnick's cheek. He fakes a jab at her neck. She tries to block it, but he swings his trident at her feet, tripping her. He holds the weapon at her neck, breathing heavily. Her eyes widen as she begins to cry.
From the Perspective of Finnick Odair
"Phox! Phox!" Valencia calls out to her fellow Career. Her voice breaks pitifully and my grip weakens on my trident. She looks at me and pleads, "Finny, please. I'm your friend Finny. Please…" Tears are now streaming down her dirty face and leaving clean stripes. I look into her eyes, they are the color of the sea when it is sunny out and beg for mercy. I'm not sure if I can kill Valencia. When I was still with the Careers, Valencia, Terra, and me would laugh and talk. Valencia would always fall asleep on her shifts so I would stay awake with her. One memory of those days comes surging back. Finny, she had whispered, I'm afraid of the stuff in the dark. She had looked at me with those same blue eyes and I had wrapped my arm around her and told her that Phox was bigger so they would eat him first. She laughed at my logic. The memory is so simple yet so meaningful to me. I begin to lower my arm when Iggy proves his worth.
"Finnick!" he cries, "Kill her! Her friend is coming!" He is waving his arms like crazy and pointing towards the forest. I see Phox crashing through the forest and time slows down.
I stand perfectly still from the terror known as Phox. His dark brown hair is spiky and his eyes are so dark they look black. When I first met him I thought he looked cool, but now he just looks like a mutt himself. Valencia scrambles backward, creating a perfect path for Phox to kill me. She is still crying, almost like she doesn't want to kill me. Phox draws his sword and bellows like a charging bull, but Iggy is already moving. He spreads his wings to their full extent and surges forward. He snatches me by my arm and then grabs Valencia's knife out of its sheath. He soars up to sky with me awkwardly hanging from his arm. His flying is lopsided because of my weight and I can tell he won't be able to hold on for me for very long.
"Iggy!" I call, "Let me go over Phox. Drop me on his head. I can manage." He gives a tight nod and lets me fall close to Phox's head. Phox grunts like an animal as I begin my fight.