"Mutts!" Katniss shouts as we both run into the surrounding bushes and trees. She starts shooting her arrows, while I just kind of awkwardly sit there, knowing that if I threw my trident I would never get it back. I just grasp it tighter so I can stab them if they get any closer. Which they do quite quickly, so I start going into action. One grabs onto Katniss, which I stab and sling off. We form a triangle, going one on each side. Peeta's doing kind of the same thing as I am, but with a small little knife.
"Peeta! Your arrows!" Katniss shouts to him. He begins to take off his arrows but a monkey swings toward him, targeting his chest. I take out another one because I was already in the motion. Out of my sight, I flash goes by which I consider is a knife. Then, another much bigger. I turn around to his side and see the morphling hurtling herself in front of Peeta. The monkey bites her in the chest. Peeta finishes off the monkey with a stab. I walk over to them, still slightly confused about the whole situation.
"Come on, then! Come on!" Peeta shouts, but the monkeys are leaving, swayed by the voice of a Gamemaker. They must be happy that one of us has been killed. We are done with them, for now, at least. Peeta picks up the morphling and carries her to the beach. I guard the area with Katniss as we back out in case of any more surprise attacks from anything or anyone.
Katniss gets to work trying to help, but I don't think there is much we can do at this point. I think she was part of the rebellion group, but I'm not totally sure yet. I'm not really sure of anything at this point.
"I'll watch the trees," I say, feeling awkward. I'm not sure of my purpose here and I don't think there is much more for me to do for her. I go back into the forest, to survey the area and get any more signs of something we might've missed. As I'm looking, I collect Katniss' arrows, scattered throughout. The arena isn't too big. I wonder where everyone else is.
"Thought you might want these," I say, handing the arrows back to Katniss once I get back. The morphling is gone, so I figure they must've let her go long enough for the hovercraft to take her away. I never want to see that thing again, so I'm okay with not being there for it.
"Thanks," she says emptily. She washes them off and we head back into the forest where it is much safer. The monkeys' bodies are gone.
"Where did they go?" Katniss asks.
"We don't know exactly. The vines shifted and they were gone," I respond, having watched while the other two were taking care of the morphling. Betsy, I think her name was. We spent a couple minutes in silence, just taking in the events so far. I scratch at my face, which is healing but much too slow. How else will I get sponsor gifts?
"Don't scratch. You'll only bring infection. Think it's safe to try for the water again?" Katniss asks. We go back to Peeta's tree and I stand guard while Peeta does the work. We clean ourselves with it and then collect some for later.
"Why don't you two get some rest? I'll watch for a while," Katniss offers.
"No, Katniss, I'd rather," I say. This day has been exhausting and I've been pushing off emotions for a while now. The audience has surely gone to sleep and won't notice what I do now. I can cry openly if I want to, but maybe I won't. I'm not sure. I need to quit saying that.
"All right, Finnick, thanks," Katniss says, laying down to sleep. I just sit until she's gone and then I find it would be best to be productive. I start weaving a net just like so many have done before me, Mags, Blair. I toss it into the water, collecting shellfish. I weave some bowls and put them in. I go over a little bit so I can still see them and collect water in the other two bowls. On my way back, I pick up a stone. My work must've woken Katniss. I start banging on the fish with a stone.
"They're better fresh," I offer to her. I've probably been crying but too involved in my work to notice. She does too but doesn't bring it up. I see her blood caked nails from when she was scratching asleep.
"You know, if you scratch you'll bring on infection," I tell her.
"That's what I've heard," she says. I need this now; I need to move on. I think I'm doing quite well. She goes to wash off as I keep banging away. Peeta must be a heavy sleeper. She eats and then looks up, as if talking to God.
"Hey, Haymitch, if you're not too drunk, we could use a little something for our skin," she says. A parachute comes quite quickly with a tube. "About time," she murmurs. Obviously from the quality of the gift, it must mean they have plenty of sponsors. I would like to think I contributed to it as well. I lean over to look as she opens it. It's dark ointment and smells disgusting, but I think this is what 7 smells like if I remember correctly. She puts it on but it brings a weird reaction. She throws it to me, and I touch it.
"It's like you're decomposing," I observe. I wait a moment to see if she dies or something, but I give in a put it on too. I'm going to look terrible, I notice as I see her combination of scabs and ointment.
"Poor Finnick. Is this the first time in your life you haven't looked pretty?" She teases me.
"It must be. The sensation's completely new. How have you managed it all these years?" I ask back. This is actually quite fun, not the burning, but the conversation.
"Just avoid mirrors. You'll forget about it," she says.
"Not if I keep looking at you," I say, which is the truth.
"I'm going to wake Peeta," she says, getting up.
"No, wait. Let's do it together. Put our faces right in front of his," I suggest. She agrees. We both lean in inches away from his nose on either side.
"Peeta. Peeta, wake up," she says gently, shaking him. He wakes up with a scream, jumping. Katniss and I fall back in laughter. It doesn't help when Peeta tries to give us a disapproving look. Then, bread falls from the sky.
Hello! I'm back! I'm am soooooooo sorry for not being here, on any of my stories and I really don't have a good reason. I want to thank all of you for still reading and this will never happen again. I have planned out all the other chapters and I think there is only going to be around ten more, :(. I'm also going to stick with the books all the way through, but I will do some extra chapters (not included in the ten-ish) that keep going without the unfortunate events that happen in Mockingjay to our friend Finnick. I'm going to try to get back to doing weekly chapters. Thanks for reading, make sure to review, and have a magical day!