Renata was very aware of their surroundings as they moved through the jungle. Her exhaustion was more than skin deep, but she forced herself to keep moving despite it. Finnick walked alongside her, seeming to be in a better state than she. He glanced at her and she could see the fatigue on her face as he smiled, reaching to squeeze her elbow.
"You think this will work?" She asked him quietly, the two of them bringing up the end of their merry band of allies. "What if Brutus and Enobaria aren't on the beach when it happens?"
He grunted quietly, shrugging one shoulder. "It's the best plan we've got right now. I don't think going head to head with the both of them again would end well." He glanced at his haphazardly bandaged arm and then back at Rini. "We'll figure something out after the fact. For now, this is what we're working with."
Rini nodded and pursed her lips, glancing over her shoulder. She half expected to see the remaining Careers following them, but there was only the dark jungle. Her anxiety grew as the trek continued, though she stayed silent about it. Just how was all of this supposed to end? They had to get out of the arena, and the only way Rini was aware of how to do that was via hovercraft. She mentally kicked herself, again, that she hadn't asked Finnick to relay to her the entire plan. It wasn't like she could ask him in passing now.
As if he could hear her jumbled thoughts, he glanced over at her and raised his brow. He opened his mouth to speak but stopped when the Capitol anthem began playing. Everyone's heads inclined towards the sky as pictures of the fallen tributes were projected.
Renata felt a lump form in her throat when Wiress' picture flashed by, and her lips tingled with the memory of her failed attempt to resuscitate Blight. When it was all over, everyone began moving again without so much as a murmur of a comment.
Finally, they came upon the lightning tree. Its presence was ominous amongst the other trees that surrounded it, making it impossible to mistake it for an ordinary tree. The group all gave a collective sigh and Renata again checked their surroundings for the remaining Careers. There was nothing. Still, she couldn't shake off the feeling that they were hiding in the shadows of the wildlife, calculating their attack. Sure, attacking head on when they were outnumbered wasn't a master plan, but if they managed to take them out one by one? The cover of the jungle was perfect.
"Minimal charring," Beetee broke the silence, stepping forward and observing the tree. "It's an impressive conductor." He nodded firmly and carried his coil towards the trunk. "Let's get started."
The moving had been going slow, and Rini was getting increasingly worried that they wouldn't be far enough away from the tree before midnight struck. She paced around the small perimeter where Beetee worked diligently, her grip sweaty on her spear.
"Whoa, watch where you're pointing that thing," Finnick murmured, pushing away the weapon she had raised in surprise. "You alright? Feeling dizzy again?" He swirled his tongue around the inside of his dry mouth, wishing they had brought some with them. But it wouldn't matter soon.
She shook her head and glanced at the two tributes from Twelve. Katniss caught her looking and she looked away quickly, clearing her throat. "No, just nervous," she whispered. She couldn't quite explain it, but she felt a growing tension between Katniss and Peeta and the rest of them. Trust was waning as the number of tributes dwindled.
Beetee clapped his hands together, signaling that he had finished wiring the tree. "Typically a lightning strike contains five billion joules of energy. We don't want to be anywhere in the vicinity when this hits," He explained, picking up the handle of the spool and handing it out towards Katniss. "You two girls go together now, take this. Unspool it carefully, make sure the entire spool goes into the water, do you understand?"
Rini noticed the glance that Katniss gave to Johanna, then at Peeta. Oh no. They were losing them.
"Then head to the tree in the two o'clock sector, we'll meet you there."
"I'm gonna go with them as a guard," Peeta announced, stepping towards Katniss.
"No, you're staying here to protect me," Beetee retorted, glancing nervously at Johanna. "And the tree."
Katniss wasn't the only one who had their suspicions about the others. "No, I need to go with her," He insisted, furrowing his brow.
The blonde boy was adamant, and Beetee wasn't doing much to quell their growing apprehension. "There are two careers out there, I need two guards."
"Finnick can protect you just fine on his own."
"I'll go too," Renata interrupted the squabble, stepping forward. "I'll go with the girls, and then Finnick and Peeta can stay as guards. Safety in numbers, right?" She smiled at Katniss, willing her to just trust them a bit longer. This couldn't all be for nothing.
They were silent for a long moment before Katniss spoke. "Fine," she muttered. She obviously still didn't like it, but Renata internally sighed. She turned to Finnick, who looked like he was choking.
"You said we weren't going to be separated anymore," He frowned, glancing at Katniss as she said goodbye to Peeta.
"I know what I said. Just trust me, okay? I'll find you," Renata swallowed and her heart pounded in her chest. Here she was, going away from him again for the umpteenth time. "O-or-"
Finnick kissed her hard, his hand on her neck. And while it was brief, it conveyed everything that he couldn't say aloud. "I'll find you," he promised before letting her go.
"I hope this works," Rini murmured as she walked alongside Katniss, watching her feet so she wouldn't lose her footing on the uneven terrain. The darker the jungle got, the more alive it became. She kept glancing behind them, as she had done on the journey to the lightning tree, and still there was no sign of anyone following them.
"Come on," Johanna muttered. "I wanna put as much distance between this beach and us as possible. Frying is not how I wanna go."
Renata made a face and she hopped down from a ledge and sighed, moving her spear into her other hand. Just what were they others doing? Truly staying behind to protect Beetee?
"Wait," Katniss said suddenly and the girls stopped. She tugged at the wire, but it wouldn't budge. "Something's caught…" The wire broke off and came flying at Renata, but she hardly noticed it as Brutus and Enobaria came barreling towards them.
Katniss raised her bow and reached for an arrow, but was abruptly stopped when Johanna clubbed her in the head with the flat side of her ax.
She could only watch in horror as she climbed on top of the fallen girl, hands moving fast and evoking a loud cry of pain from Katniss. "What did you do?!" Renata shrieked, her eyes wide as Johanna pressed her blood covered hands to Katniss' neck and then stood up. The young brunette looked around with her half opened eyes before they fluttered closed.
The sound of Johanna grunting and her axe hitting stone brought her out of her panicked thoughts and she saw that the Careers were fast approaching.
"Run!" Johanna hissed and pushed Rini before taking off in the opposite direction.
Renata turned and ran, her heart racing. This was not good. What the hell had Johanna done to Katniss? Was the plan over, was Katniss dead? She couldn't remember hearing a cannon. The sound of someone pursuing her made her run faster, her blood turning cold when she heard Brutus grunt. Of course he would be the one to chase her. Her spear kept getting caught in the vegetation, and finally she just dropped it. The only chance she would have of surviving now would be if she outran him. The wind was starting up again and the air was filled with static electricity. She didn't know where to go. Was she still in the same section as Finnick? What if she ran into a different one and got trapped inside with Brutus pursuing her?
Something whizzed by her head and she let out a weak cry of surprise, seeing the spear sink into a tree trunk. Had he deliberately missed her? She ducked under a fallen log and risked a glance back over her shoulder, seeing that Brutus was closing in fast.
The ground turned into a sudden slope beneath her feet and Renata went tumbling down the hill, knocking her head against something hard when she reached the bottom of the gorge. She blinked a couple times, moaning in pain.
A man's panting reached her ears and it turned into breathless laughter. "You're fast," Brutus appeared above her. There was a crazed look in his eyes, one that rendered her motionless. He knelt down on top of her, one knee pinning her chest to the ground. "I was hoping I'd be the one to catch you. Show you what you get for thinking you could go up against someone like me."
"You're a killer," she squeaked out, squirming in a weak attempt to get out from beneath him. She was hit with a sudden sense of déjà vu, being pinned down and examined on how to be killed.
"I can't decide where to start," Kain murmured, dragging the blade across her paled cheek and drawing blood. A cold smirk pulled up his lips when she blurted out a pathetic cry. "Shh, don't cry. I'm giving you a new look is all, Rini. How do you think they'd like you with no ears? All your fingers and toes hacked off?"
Brutus smiled and nodded, oblivious to her thoughts. "Yes, I am." He reached out and casually picked up a rock from the many that lined the bottom of the gorge. He examined it and gave Rini a once over before tossing the rock aside and picking up a different, slightly bigger one.
"I'm not," She said, tears leaping to her eyes.
He laughed and nodded. "That's one thing you've got right. That's why I'm up here and you're about to have a bad headache."
Renata's stomach turned and she blurted out a sob, struggling beneath him. "Help me!" She screamed, his amused smile filling her with hatred. "Finnick!" She closed her eyes and waited for him to bring the rock down on her skull, praying that her death would be swift.
The blow didn't come, however, and Brutus' weight was suddenly off of her, the sounds of a scuffle filling the air. She sat up and looked at the two forms fighting, unable to tell who had come to her aid. A wet choke cut through the other sounds and Brutus fell to the ground, twitching as blood poured from his slashed throat.
Peeta turned around to face her, the front of his wetsuit stained red. His eyes had that same crazed look that Brutus had had and waved his machete. "Where is Katniss?" He panted, shaking noticeably.
She just stared at him with her mouth open, unable to answer.
"Where is she?!"
"I don't know!" She cried, backing away from him. What was to stop him from killing her when she wasn't even sure that Katniss was still alive? "Please, don't hurt me," she whispered, the wind whipping her loose curls around. "Please, I'm pregnant!"
"Rini!" She could hear Finnick screaming her name, sounding like he was close. She looked at Peeta before making a run for it, getting halfway up the steep slope before the arena went black. Her fingers dug at the earth, pulling her up blindly. She could hear Finnick more clearly now and she called out to him, her heart rate through the roof.
Light began to fill the arena again, and she looked up to see that the dome that had just been the night sky was collapsing. Each tile fell away one by one, raining fire and metal down on the jungle. She screamed when someone grabbed her and began pulling her, weaving in and out of the burning terrain. "Where are we going?" She cried to Finnick, his grip on her hand like a vice.
"Just run!" He yelled. They were both without weapons now, running for their lives in the chaos that surrounded them.
A sudden, searing pain hit Renata's abdomen and she cried out in pain, tearing her hand away from Finnick's. She stopped and clutched her stomach, her eyes wide and full of fear. What was happening? A hover craft had descended into the arena through the hole and was still a way's away from them. That had to be their rescue.
"Rini, we have to keep moving!" Finnick cried, going to her and tugging her by her elbow. He stopped when she screamed in pain and let go of her, swallowing.
"I think I'm having a miscarriage," she looked up at him with tears streaming down her cheeks. They stared at one another for a silent moment before they heard the Peacekeepers.
"We have to go," Finnick said shakily, moving to pick her up. He clutched her against his chest and ran towards their hovercraft, his jostling only making her pain worse. He could see the Peacekeepers materializing and suddenly realized that if there were too many, the hovercraft would leave without them.
They had the Mockingjay by now, the rest of them were expendable.
Finnick slowed his run and then stopped completely, gritting his teeth. He set Renata on her feet and steadied her. "You have to run, Renata. Run to the hovercraft and don't stop."
"Finnick," Renata shook her head.
"If you don't go, then we're both dead!" He shouted. "Don't look back. I will find you, I promise." He kissed her lips hard before leaving her, running right towards an incoming Peacekeeper and tackling him to the ground.
Renata turned and she ran through her pain and blurred vision, biting her lip as she neared the hovercraft. Everything sounded muffled to her ears and she wasn't allowing herself to think about what had just happened. If she did, she would stop and collapse.
"Wait!" She screamed, seeing the hovercraft begin to ascend. She stopped underneath it and waved her arms, sinking down to her knees. It was over. They were both to be left inside. She clutched her stomach and gave a hard, body-racking sob, tears and snot streaking down her dirty face. She lifted her head to look for any sign of Finnick, but was suddenly frozen in place with a curious sensation. The ground began to recede beneath her and she found no solace in the fact that she was being rescued. Her eyes searched the arena again, and again there was no sign of Finnick.
People dressed in medic clothes rushed in the room when she was safely aboard, shouting what sounded like gibberish to her ears. Katniss and Beetee lay motionless on the ground, breathing devices on their faces. She was forced down on a stretcher and her hands were forced away from her stomach and put into restraints. A bubble of fear welled up inside her and she started screaming, pulling against the cuffs. She sounded like a feral animal and managed to get one hand free before a medic grabbed it and held her down, another coming at her with a needle.
It bit into her skin and she felt the darkness take her, but not before she could grasp that maybe this wasn't rescue at all.
And FINALLY, Sinking Ships has come to a close. Just in time for Mockingjay to come out! I've just recently tweaked Rini's storyline and I'm praying that with her and Finnick's situations flipped that it comes off as a very interesting read! I hope you've enjoyed this story as much as I've enjoyed writing it and I hope that you'll come back for the final story! I'm going to try and work on getting my other story Glory and Gore going further in the meantime! Thank you so so so much for reading, pleeease let me know what you think! As always, you all are the best readers!
-Kelsey x