[the hunger games series: catching fire]
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"Remember, you guys are here to make allies, not enemies," Wilbur reminded them before they stepped into the training facility.

        "Why are you looking at me?" Cameron asked noticing Wilbur's glances he was sending her. "I'm great at making friends."

        Mitchell snorted, "Yeah, no you're not," he reminded her.

        "Shut up, Mitch!" Cameron snapped, shooting him a large glare.

        "Now Cam, that's not how you make friends," Mitchell said, mocking her.

        Cameron narrowed her eyes, "The second I get my hand on a crossbow, I'm shooting you," she decided, turning on her heel and marching into the training facility.

        Mitchell opened and closed his mouth quickly, swallowing the lump in his throat. "She's not actually gonna shoot me, is she?" he asked Wilbur looking between the now open door and his mentor.

        But Wilbur didn't do anything to calm his nerves, "Good luck," he said simply, patting him on the back.

        "Cam, Cam!" Mitchell whispered rushing up to the Blonde girl who was standing in the doorway. "You're not actually gonna kill me, right?"

        Cameron tilted her head, "Depends," she sounded, whistling slightly as she picked up an arrow from the table in front of her. "Are we gonna be friends or not?" she asked, smiling at the other man who still looked very concerned.

        Mitchell stared at her blankly, "Cam, we're already friends," he stated.

        "Well then you have your answer," she told him. "I wasn't going to shoot you anyway. God, you worry too much," she said, punching him in the arm lightly.

        Mitchell blinked, "Why are you acting like that?"

        "Like what?" Cameron retorted.

        "Like a crazy person," Mitchell hissed. "You're being weird right now. Just act normal, that's how you make friends or allies, I guess."

        The smile slid off Cameron's face, "I'm not acting like a crazy person!" she insisted, digging the heel of her foot into the ground. She scowled, "I've changed my mind, I will shoot you."

        "See, that's the Cam I remember," Mitchell said. "Just try not to be overly friendly that you look totally desperately, but also don't be completely standoffish. It's easy," he instructed.

        "Mitch, that doesn't sound easy!" she called after him. "Mitch! MITCH !" Cameron said louder this time, but he refused to turn around. "Damn it! What a fucking asshole!" she cursed.

        "Careful, doesn't really sound like friendly language," someone commented, sliding into the spot next to her, that was once filled by Mitchell.

        Cameron turned to her right, "Finnick, didn't expect to see you here so soon," she said nonchalantly. "Shouldn't you be throwing a trident or two? Maybe, I don't know, making allies. Or have you decided you're too cool for that?"

        "And shouldn't you be shooting some arrows, or are you afraid that the girl on fire is gonna show you up?" Finnick asked her.

        "If an arrow just so happens to end up in your chest, don't be surprised," she said, narrowing her eyes at him.

        "Cam, shouldn't you try to be nice?" Finnick questioned. "We are allies, after all."

        Cameron thought it over, touching the tip of her arrow to her finger, and twisting the stem in her other hand. "Hmmm," she sounded. Cameron really didn't feel like being nice to Finnick. Honestly, it wasn't at the top of her priorities anyways. But because of the nature of Haymitch's deal, she was going to be forced to be in close proximity with him. "I'll think it over," she answered finally, looking up at him.

        Finnick scoffed, "You really like thinking things over, don't you?"

        "Well, you haven't given me a good reason to be nice to you so. Maybe if you do, then I'll consider it," Cameron stated.

        "Not that I care-" Finnick started.

        "That makes it sounds like you do, just saying," Cameron pointed out, setting the arrow back down on the table.

        Finnick gave her a small smug smile, "I was going to ask, what would I have to do to change your mind?"

        "And why do you care so much?" Cameron shot back at him.

        "I don't," he said instantly.

        "You do," she corrected him. "Besides it's not like you can do anything to change my mind since I haven't made it up yet."

        "And you are entirely sure of that?" he pressed. "Because I can teach you some things."

        Cameron gazed up at the blonde tribute, intrigued by his offer. "And what do you think you could teach me that I don't already know?"

        He started to walk over to one of the raised platforms in the middle of the room, Cameron begrudgingly followed him. "What did you make me walk over here for?" she asked, tapping her foot impatiently.

        "Have you ever used a trident before?" Finnick asked, turning to face her.

        "Speaking to the fact that I live in the middle of Panem and my district's specialty is grain," Cameron stated, looking him dead in the eyes. "No, no, I haven't because I have no need for one."

        Finnick grabbed a trident from the ground and held it in his hands, "Well, it's easy," he began to explain, lifting the slim weapon over his shoulder. "You wanna flip that switch for me," he said, pointing to the small button on the pillar to Cameron's left. She sighed and flicked the switch upwards. "Watch carefully," he instructed.

        "Sure, whatever," Cameron said coolly, leaning against the pillar where she had just turned the simulator on.

        He smirked as one of the orange holograms began to run at him. He took his trident and threw it at the orange blob, it dissolved quickly as the trident stuck into the ground. Finnick picked it up once more and plunged it into the chest of the hologram that was two feet from him. He then threw the weapon once more and destroyed the last remaining hologram. Cameron huffed quietly as he turned back to her, a proud look in his eye. "You done showing off now?" she hummed walking over to stand next to him.

        "Your turn," Finnick said, ignoring her previous comment and passing the trident to her. Cameron smiled, taking the weapon into her hands. "Want me to put it on easy mode?"

        Cameron scoffed, "Easy mode? Please, I'm not an amateur."

        Finnick tilted his head at the girl, "Fair enough," he said flipping the switch once more. Cameron tilted her head slowly as one of the holograms came charging toward her. She took the trident in her right hand and stabbed at the orange shape, watching as it dissolved into a thousand pixels. She saw another orange figure run at her out of the corner of her eye. Cameron wasted no time in launching the trident into the hologram, having it land on a small target across from her. She sped towards the weapon and grabbed it just in time to stab the last figure through the heart, watching the pixels dissipate into the atmosphere.

        She blow a small piece of her blonde hair out of her face and walked over to the man. "You still think I need easy mode?" she asked, slightly amused.

        "I stand corrected you're pretty good with a trident," he admitted, shrugging as Cameron passed the weapon back to him.

        "It's like a big knife," Cameron pointed out. "And Mitchell taught me how to use those, so easy."

        "Cam!" Mitchell called running up to the blonde, "And Finnick?" he added, raising his eyebrow, although he didn't comment on his presence. "You should come over here," he told the pair.

        Cameron followed him immediately to the archery part of the training center, Finnick loitering behind the two of them. There was already a crowd of tributes huddled around the glass. "Mitch," Cameron started, looking over at her fellow tribute. "What the hell is going on?"

        "Katniss," he said simply, pointing at the girl who was in the center.

        "And Mags?" Finnick questioned looking at the other person in the glass area.

        Cameron stepped forward and studied all of the movements that Katniss was making, how she could perfectly sink an arrow into one of the targets. "She's good," she commented.

        "Better than you," Finnick said, looking over Cameron's shoulder.

        "Ooo," Mitchell sounded. "Good thing we're allies, or she would kill you for that comment."

        Finnick looked down at Cameron, who was sending him a vicious glare. "I don't doubt it," he said quietly.

        Cameron ignored his comment, "What's your friend doing in there?" she asked. "Mags?"

        "No clue," Finnick responded, flicking his head back over to the older woman in the area.

        Mitchell appeared again behind the two of them. "Maybe she wants to learn how to shoot an arrow?" he offered, looking between the brunette in the arena and the much older and shorter woman.

        Finnick scoffed, "Mags? Shooting an arrow? Yeah right."

        "Underestimating your our mentor, Finnick?" Cameron asked, raising her eyebrow at him. "That can't end well."

        "I'm not underestimating her," Finnick insisted. "That's just not her style."

        Mitchell and Cameron exchanged interested glances. Cameron pursed her lips, "Then what is her style?" she persisted.

        "Oh come on, Odair. You know a lot about us but we know jack shit about your other tribute," Mitchell added, pointing his thumb over his shoulder at the older woman, who had just stepped out of the arena with Katniss at her side.

        "I don't know anything about you guys," he stated blankly.

        "You know a hell of a lot more than I'd like you to," Cameron replied, folding her arms across her chest, and pulling on the sleeve of her black jacket.

        Finnick narrowed his eyes at the two tributes in front of him, "I'm not telling you guys about Mags," he said harshly. "We're allies, not friends." He spun on his heel and stormed away from the two of them.

        "Huh," Mitchell sounded. "I guess we struck a nerve there?"

        Cameron tutted, placing her hands back at her side. "Well now he'll stop bothering me," she said stated, looking back up at Mitchell. "I say a job well done."

        Mitchell looked around to make sure that no one was listening to them. He leaned in, "What if he goes back on the deal," he said in a whisper so low that Cameron could barely hear it.

        She shook her head discreetly, "He wouldn't," she responded. "He would be putting his own skin on the line by backing out. I have a feeling that he wouldn't want to do that."    

        Mitchell leaned back up, straightening out the collar of his jacket. "You would know better than I would because you quite literally just spent the last twenty minutes training with him."

        Cameron brushed off his comment, pursing her lips as she did so. "I was doing what you suggested I do, being friendly. Plus, I now know that I am pretty effective with a trident," she added, slightly proud of herself for learning how to use a new weapon in less than half an hour.

         "You just said that last part to show off, didn't you?" Mitchell asked scoffing as she looked away from the blonde girl. "You know, I could do that too," he said defensively. "Just hand me a bow and arrow, and I will be the new girl on fire."

        Cameron shook her head, "No, Mitch, you can't," she reminded him. "I tried to teach you, remember? You are terrible with long-range combat, anyone who has watched back your tapes knows that" she explained, clapping her hands together simply. "Your specialty is close range and agility, mine is long-range plus anything that involves throwing."

        "It's true," a voice said behind the pair, causing them to jump. Cameron glanced over her shoulder quickly. It was Peeta Mellark, the tribute that Haymitch introduced Cameron to the other day. "Haymitch made us watch all of tributes tapes before we came into the training center," he continued, stepping closer to the pair. "He wanted us to be prepared since we're the newcomers. Apparently, everyone already has their cliques."

        Mitchell patted Cameron on the back, "Well you've found the two that don't," he told Peeta. "Especially since Cam here isn't too fond of new people, or the careers. We don't make a lot of friends."

        "You only won two years ago," Peeta pointed out. "Doesn't that technically make you new as well?" he asked.

        "Newish," Cameron responded lazily. "You don't want to be friends with those Capitol smucks anyways," she said loud enough for the two other men to hear her. "They'll do anything to climb their way to the top," she explained. "For example, Gloss," Cameron started, pointing out a tall blonde man who was throwing daggers into a beat-up punching dummy. "The male tribute from district one, a total pushover. He will do anything that Capitol says without question. I tried talking to him once after my victory tour, that guy is dumb as rocks," she hissed. "Poor conversationalist, he started talking about this training regimen he went through every day for a year and I almost wanted to die of boredom."

        "It's true," Mitchell added, nudging Cameron in the side slightly. "I had to stop her from spending the rest of the night at the minibar."

        Peeta nodded slowly, "Haymitch put in a good word for you guys," he said quietly. "I don't know why but, that must mean he trusts you. Which is hard, he doesn't trust most people."

        Cameron bit her lip, "You assumed correct," she said, trying to keep the conversation as neutral as possible, just in case someone were to listen in.

        "Katniss can't know you're our allies," he said simply.

        "What?" Mitchell hissed, picking up a small knife and beginning to sharpen it, so as to not look suspicious. Cameron did the same thing with an arrowhead.

        "The girl we're protecting can't know about the plan to protect her?" she asked. "What kind of backward logic is that?"

        Peeta sighed and leaned in once more, "Look, you two don't know Katniss as I do," he started.

        "Well I would think so you were gonna marry the girl," Cameron retorted.

        "Cam," Mitchell said shaking his head at her.

        Cameron frowned, "Right, sorry, sore subject."

        Peeta cleared his throat and continued his explanation, "She doesn't like to accept help from outsiders, but I'll try and convince her," he said quickly, stumbling over some of his words. "So, don't tell her. I can take care of that."

        "So don't tell the girl on fire, got it," Mitchell said coolly. "We appreciate your wisdom, Peeta," he said quickly.

        "Thank you for helping," Peeta said gracefully. "We appreciate it, and if it's anything consolation, if I had my choice in allies you two would be at the top of my list. I guess I technically do, but Haymitch basically put this whole thing together, so-"

        "Well after Katniss's display in the archery spot, you guys basically have you're picking at any ally you would want," Mitchell informed him. "But I wouldn't choose her if I were you," he added in a whisper, pointing over at Cameron. "She has a little bit of a temper, actually a lot of a temper."

        "Ha, ha," Cameron said dryly. "Don't listen to him, he's just mad that he can't beat me in a fight," she said pushing on Mitchell's shoulder lightly.

        Peeta looked between Cameron and Mitchell quickly, "Oh I believe it," he said quickly. "Katniss could do the same with me."

        Cameron couldn't help but laugh at his comment, "Well, I expect an invite to the wedding if we make it out of this alive," she whispered, looking between Peeta and Katniss, who was a few feet away from the group of three.

        Peeta returned the smile, "I'll put you on the mailing list."

---

        "Good news," Wilbur said, strolling into the room that Mitchell and Cameron were staying in. "Haymitch said Peeta wants you two as allies," he explained.

        Cameron looked up at Wilbur quickly, "I know, he told us during the training session today," she said quickly.

        Wilbur's eyes widened, "You guys can't talk about the deal out in the open," he warned them. "If so much as a word gets out to the Capitol, you two, and all the rest of the tributes that Haymitch roped into this scheme are as good as dead."

        "We know," Mitchell said quickly. "We're being careful."

        Wilbur furrowed his brows, "Well be more careful. I don't want to see you two end up on the wrong side of a peacekeeper's gun!"

Say you'll remember me,
standing in a nice dress, staring at the sunset,
babe ☁︎

Grace talks ig: Cameron and Peeta's new friendship >>> and also CAM AND FINNICK'S INTERACTIONS >>> Y'all I love this chapter so much, words can't even describe it, I'm actually obsessed. That's mainly because I love writing Cam as a character, she is my 3rd favorite oc to write to this day and I think y'all can tell because I was writing this book a lot more than I expected to in the beginning. We will get to the actually games very soon, I am just putting off writing that because it's when the sad stuff begins and I don't want to hurt my girl Cam, she had already been through so much. Also, before I go, I want to thank you all for 500+ reads. ALREADY! That's crazy that we've hit that number after only like six official chapters, I'm in shock. Anyways, I will updates as soon as I can. BYEEE <3