THIRTY TWO

BLOODBATH

The cornucopia glistened in the light, Talia whispered almost silent words under her breath as her eyes adjusted to the light, it was so hot under the arena's artificial sun, her wetsuit was glued to her already. The countdown ticks, and she readies herself to dive into the water, to face whatever awaited her once the clock hit 0.

Finally, the gong sounds and she dives into the water, swimming as fast as she can towards the cornucopia. Her mind racing, she had to find Finnick, and anyone else who might wish to be allies. She reaches the cornucopia and climbs up onto the black rock, scrambling to get to a weapon. She grabs the first thing she sees, a set of knives. From the other side, Katniss appears to her right, picking up a bow and to her left, Finnick who grabs a trident. Katniss aims her arrow towards Talia and Finnick quickly flashes his arm, a golden band of flames on his wrist.

"Duck!" He yells and Katniss does so, Finnick throws the trident into the chest of the District 5 male. It made Talia want to vomit.

"Where's Peeta?" Katniss asks and Talia shakes her head.

"He wasn't by me," She says as she fastens the belt of knives around her waist.

"There's only one trident," Finnick says, scouring the cornucopia for another.

"Its fine, you take it," Talia nods, and Finnick nods too, retrieving the weapon from the dead victor.

Katniss rushes to the other side of the cornucopia and Finnick and Talia quickly follow, Talia grabbing a spear on the way- if she couldn't have a trident, a spear was the next best thing. The trio reach the other side and find Peeta in a struggle with another victor.

"Peeta!" Katniss yells as the two of them fall into the water, attempting to drown one another. They both go under and Katniss is about to throw Talia her bow to hold when Finnick dives into the water.

"Finnick what the fu-"

A canon booms just as Finnick dives down again, Talia gulps back the lump in her throat, glancing at Katniss, if Peeta was dead then it was over for their alliance. A few more tedious seconds pass but finally, Finnick resurfaces with Peeta in his arms, the blonde coughing repeatedly as he sucks in fresh air. Katniss helps Finnick pull Peeta ashore and the four of them share glances.

Katniss nods to Finnick in some silent appreciation while Talia glances at their surroundings, taking in the water and the beach, the heat was searing, sweat soaked her body.

"We have to move off this island," Talia says, "The careers may have left us alone for now, but I'm certain they'll come back to collect whatever's left in the cornucopia,"

"Talia is right," Katniss nods, "Lets move, Peeta, are you okay?"

"Yeah, lets go," The boy replies, he was still catching his breath.

The group race towards the beach, travelling along one of the rocky pathways, Finnick held his trident tightly as Katniss and Peeta led the way, their eyes scouring every inch of the rainforest as they moved.

Finally, Katniss and Peeta come to a still, Finnick and Talia check behind them, no one was tracking them.

"We're safe for now," Talia says, crouching down with the rest of the group.

Katniss glares towards Finnick, about to speak just as the canon's begin to sound. Talia counts them out in her head. 8. 8 tributes were already dead.

"Guess we're not holding hands anymore," Finnick chuckles, smirk on his lips.

Katniss frowns, "You think that's funny?"

"Every time that canon goes off, its music to my ears," Finnick says, his golden flame band shimmering as he gestures over his shoulder, "I don't care about any of them,"

"Good to hear," Katniss says, pulling a machete from her back, the blade arched towards Finnick. Talia tenses, her hand flexing round her spear, glancing between Peeta and Katniss. Peeta had no weapon in hand, but she knew Katniss was fierce enough to swing that machete into both of them if she wished.

"Facing the career pack alone?" Finnick asks, his eyes glance the blade up and down before staring at Katniss, "What would Haymitch say?"

"Haymitch isn't here," Katniss warns. Peeta shifts from his position, looking from Katniss to Talia.

"Lets keep moving," The blonde boy says, standing up and taking the machete from Katniss, who glares at both Talia and Finnick before turning and walking.

Talia stands and looks at Finnick, "She doesn't trust us as it is, don't tempt her fire anymore,"

"Don't plan on it," Finnick says, following after the District 12 tributes, leaving Talia at the back of the group.

The group keep moving in single formation, not talking, not even looking at each other as they keep their eyes on the forest. Talia watches their back, making sure there's no one tracking them. Peeta, up ahead, cuts down the thick forest vines with his machete, leading the way deeper into the forest. He swings, and thats when Katniss screams, "Peeta!"

Talia rushes forwards, Finnick too and see Peeta fly backwards, hitting the ground with a loud thud. Talia looks up, seeing the force field shimmering because of the impact. Katniss rushes to his side, shaking him roughly. Finnick drops his trident and runs forwards, shoving Katniss aside. The brunette grabs an arrow and puts it to her bow, pausing only when she sees Finnick providing mouth to mouth.

Talia jumps down, crouching down as Finnick begins pressing on Peeta's chest.

"Peeta, Peeta please, no," Katniss whispers, her eyes were full of tears. Talia watches with horror filled eyes as Finnick keeps going, attempting to breathe life back into Peeta. Talia is about to give up hope when a cough escapes Peeta's lips and Katniss grabs him into a hug immediately.

Finnick falls back, shaking his head as Katniss and Peeta whisper to each other. Talia can barely comprehend it, they nearly lost someone, Katniss nearly lost Peeta. Talia wipes sweat from her face, standing up and grabbing Finnick's hand to pull him into a stand. He collects his trident and turns to see Katniss helping Peeta up.

"You nearly died," Katniss says, "If Finnick wasn't here-"

"Its okay, I'm okay," Peeta nods, hugging the girl again. Talia and Finnick share a glance.

"I think we need to find out what the rest of the arena looks like," Talia says, gesturing to a large tree, "I'm a better swimmer than I am climber, but I could head up there, check it-"

"I'll go," Katniss says firmly, putting her bow over her back as she approaches the tree.

The three left a the bottom settle down, sitting on the large roots, all of them soaked in sweat.

"Thank you for saving me," Peeta says, sitting across from Talia and Finnick.

"You don't need to thank me," Finnick says, "I wasn't going to let you die,"

"I appreciate it," Peeta nods, glancing up at Katniss who was quickly making her way to the top of the tree, "So does Katniss, she just...She doesn't trust easily,"

"We've noticed," Talia snorts, shaking her head, "We get it, but Haymitch asked this of Finnick, not me, I'm only here because Finnick is, and if she threatens him one more time, she'll be lucky to keep her head,"

Before Peeta can reply, Talia stalks away, "I'm going to look for some water,"

Finnick shakes his head, glancing at Peeta, "We just had to fall in love with the stubborn ones, didn't we?"

Peeta smiles, "Katniss and Talia are more alike than they'd like to admit, I think they'd get on better than anyone, if only they'd trust each other,"

"I'm sure," Finnick nods, "For now, we'll just have to put up with this,"

"I trust you, both of you," Peeta says, leaning his head against the tree.

"I trust you both too, Peeta," Finnick says, "After all, we only have each other in this,"

_______________

Let the 75th Annual Hunger Games begin!

thank you for reading and i hope you enjoyed

~bobbybasic
❤️