[the hunger games series: catching fire]
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        "Ladies and gentlemen, let the Seventy-fifth Hunger Games begin!"

At the sound of those words, Cameron sprung into action. She looked across the water and saw the cornucopia. She would have to swim across if she wanted to get to the paths. Cameron knew that she wasn't that great of a swimmer, District Nine was filled with fields and plateaus, not lakes. But lucky for her, Wilbur tried to prepare his trainees for everything. She just hoped that Mitchell had learned enough to be able to swim to the middle.

Cameron took a deep breath of air before diving straight into the water. It was cold, too cold for Cameron's liking. But she had to keep going if she wanted to make it to the cornucopia before the bloodbath. She began to kick as hard as she could, pushing herself to break the surface of the water so she could begin her stroke.

Her right arm was the first to reach the surface. Cameron tried to keep it steady as she propelled herself forward, trying small breathes occasionally before sticking her head back under the water. Every part of her body was working to make sure she reached the cornucopia in a timely manner. And luckily for her, that's exactly what it did.

Cameron took a big gasp of air as she felt her hand hit a solid rock. She heaved herself up onto the path and began to run the rest of the way, not bothering to check if she was being followed or who was next to her. The surface of the stone was slippery from the salt water that kept crashing into the rock. Cameron knew she would have to keep as light on her feet as possible, one wrong move and she would end up back into the dark blue abyss.

Fifteen feet.

Cameron used her eyes to search the cornucopia for a recognizable weapon. Her eyes caught a glimpse of a small bow and a stack of silver arrows, but she knew that Katniss would immediately go for it.

Ten feet.

Cameron heard a yell from beside her, but she was too scared to look in that direction. She needed to get to the middle and grab something. Anything, to help her feet.

Five feet.

It felt like Cameron was moving in slow motion as she reached for the first thing she laid her eyes on, a serrated sword, wrapping her hands around the handle as hard as she could. Cameron heard a rustle of movement behind her and she whipped around, holding the blade against the person's neck.

"You wanna lower that?" Finnick asked her with a small smile. Cameron returned the blade to her side. "No bow?" he continued.

"Couldn't find one," she responded simply.

The pair's heads turned as they both heard a loud splash behind them. Cameron grips her handle tighter as the girl pulled herself onto the rock. It was Katniss Everdeen. Cameron and Finnick exchanged small glances as Katniss grabbed the bow and arrow that Cameron had seen earlier.

Katniss knew that there was someone behind her as she spun on her heel to face the two of them. She had her bow pointed right in front of her, posed for the attack. "You swim too?" Finnick asked her as both himself and Cameron raised their weapons. "Where did you learn that in District Twelve?"

"We have a big bathtub," Katniss answered seriously.

"You must," Finnick responded. "You like the arena?"

"Not particularly," Katniss said in a bitter tone. "But you should. They must have built it especially for you. Not sure about you though," she added, looking at Cameron curiously.

Cameron had a small scowl across her face, "Not a fan of the water," she said.

The three stood there for what had felt like a long time, the weapons still ready to fire at any sign of a fight. Cameron felt a little uncomfortable, she was never really good with a sword. It was more Mitch's thing. But if Katniss decided she wanted to fight, Cameron would have no choice but to use it. "Good thing we're allies, right?" Finnick sounded a slight grin appearing on his face.

Cameron saw Katniss' head twitch as she pulled the string of her bow back, ready to hit the man with an arrow. Until she caught sight of it. The bracelet Finnick was wearing, wrapped around his wrist lightly with its flame design. Cameron hadn't seen it before, but it seemed to be familiar to Katniss. She lowered her bow.

"Right! What about her?" Katniss asked, her eyes shifting over to Cameron.

"She's with us," Finnick affirmed. "Duck," he added as he spotted a tribute behind Katniss. She did as she was told as Finnick's trident flew over her head into the chest of the tribute from District Five. Cameron heard the sound of metal digging into flesh and she knew that the man was dead. Finnick walked over and pulled his trident out of the body. "Don't trust One or Two," he told Katniss quickly.

"Or anyone who's not with us," Cameron added. "We don't know who could be playing us. We need to find Mitch, he'll help us," she said immediately.

Finnick tilted his head, "He know how to swim?" he asked Cameron.

Cameron gulped, "He should," she said unconvincingly.

Katniss nodded quickly, "Okay, let's each take a side. We can look for him and Peeta as we fight off the others," she decided. "Cameron, we'll take the right, Finnick can take the left."

"See you on the other side," Finnick said quickly as Cameron marched over to Katniss.

"We got company," Cameron whispered as they ran along the outside of the cornucopia. She nodded towards the two tributes that were running towards the middle: Enobaria and Gloss.

Katniss narrowed her eyes at the two of them, "I noticed."

"Anything useful?" Finnick shouted from the other side of the cornucopia.

Katniss and Cameron quickly scanned the area, which had a plethora of weapons. Swords, Maces, Knives, Spears, axes, but no crossbow. "Weapons!" Katniss eventually shouted back. "Nothing but weapons."

"Same here," Finnick replied. "Grab what you want and let's go."

Cameron grabbed a sling of arrows, for either Katniss or herself and slung it over her back. She also took a pair of small throwing knives to hand over to Mitch when they reunited. Cameron watched as Katniss fired two arrows at both Enobaria and Gloss. Enobaria managed to dodge the arrow by gracefully diving back into the water, while Gloss was not that lucky. Katniss managed to sink an arrow into the back of his calf before he fell back into the water.

"Ready?" Cameron asked as she stuck the two throwing knives into a belt that she had procured for herself.

"Yeah, let's meet up with Finnick," Katniss said as she nodded slowly.

Finnick was waiting for the two of them at the front of the pile. "Do something about that, would you?" he asked the two of them. Brutus, another of the career was charging toward the three of them. He had managed to stretch his belt out between the two of his arms, a sort of homemade shield. Cameron immediately took one of her knives and threw it toward the man. The knife managed to knick his shoulder, while Katniss shot an arrow at him. He was able to block the arrow with his belt before it was able to reach its target.

The arrow hit the edge of his belt, where a dark purple liquid coated his face. The two didn't have any time to launch another attack at Brutus as he flattened himself to the ground and rolled into the water. Cameron cursed, rushing over to the spot where her knife had clattered to the ground. She stuck it swiftly back into her belt.

"Let's clear out," Katniss said. Cameron suspected that she was worried about the careers coming back to clean the three of them up. She talked off immediately to the other side of the cornucopia.

"What is she doing?" Cameron hissed.

"No clue," Finnick responded before tearing after her. Cameron sighed as she began to run after the two tributes.

Katniss stopped suddenly as she began to remove her knives from her waist. Cameron was a little confused before she followed Katniss's line of sight and saw Peeta, who was still stranded on his metal island. Finnick placed his hand on Katniss's shoulder. "I'll get him," he told her.

Katniss shook her head, "I can," she insisted, a determined look on her face.

But Finnick had already dropped his weapons to the ground, "Better not exert yourself," he said, patting her abdomen. "Not in your condition."

Cameron rolled her eyes, she knew that Finnick knew the truth about Katniss's 'pregnancy' but she guessed he had to play it up for the Capitol. "Cover me," Finnick said before he dove into the water with a subtle splash.

Cameron raised her sword, trying to look for any sign of Mitchell. She hated to say it, but she was really worried. She couldn't see any signs of him on the metal plates that surrounded the four of them. "Your friend hasn't shown up yet?" Katniss asked her as Cameron continued to scan the area.

"No," she said quickly as she eyed the career pack. "But he will. I know he will," she insisted. "And I'm not gonna leave him behind."

"Fair enough," Katniss said quietly as she watched Finnick swim over to her fellow tribute. Finnick made it look extremely easy as paddled Peeta along, moving like a small fish throughout the water, Peeta on his back. Katniss looked confused as to why Peeta had trusted Finnick so easily. But Cameron knew why, Peeta was already in on the deal. Everyone was besides Katniss.

Katniss rushed forward to help Finnick carry Peeta onto the rocks. "Hello again," Peeta said, placing a small kiss on Katniss' lips as soon as he stood to his feet. "We've for allies."

"Yes, just as Haymitch intended," Katniss answered.

"Remind me, did we make deals with anyone else?" Peeta asked, playing dumb.

"Besides her friend," Katniss send quickly, momentarily shifting her gaze toward Cameron. "I think it was just Mags," she finished, nodding toward the older woman who was slowly but surely swimming towards the group.

"Well, we can't leave either of them behind," Finnick said. "Mags is one of the few people who actually likes me and Cam here, would kill us if we decided to leave without Mitchell."

Cameron smirked slightly, "I would probably just kill you," she answered honestly.

"There you have it," Finnick said, tipping his head towards the girl.

"I've got no problem with Mags," Katniss said. "Especially now that I see the arena. Her fishhooks are probably our best chance of getting a meal," she pointed out.

"Katniss has remarkably good judgment," Finnick said as he scooped Mags out of the water with a single hand.

The old woman made some remark that Cameron couldn't entirely understand. She points to her belt and mouths the word 'bob.'

"Look, she's right," Finnick said pointing to the middle of the water. Cameron turned toward the direction he was pointing and saw Beetee, who was flapping his arms around but still managed to keep his head above water.

"What?" Katniss said slowly.

"The belts. They're floatation devices," Finnick explained. "I mean, you have to propel yourself, but they'll keep you from drowning."

Katniss instantly began to distribute the weapons she had grabbed earlier. She gave a bow and a handful of arrows to Peeta along with a knife. And gave Mags an awl, which she then clamped in her mouth as Finnick hoisted the woman over his shoulders. Cameron kept everything she had on her, she wanted to say what she could for Mitchell when they met up.

The group instantly began to run away from the cornucopia. "Hey!" Cameron called loudly. "Hey!" she repeated until someone turned around. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" she asked.

"Cam, we need to go," Finnick insisted.

"No! I'm waiting for Mitch," she said sternly.

Finnick frowned, "Look, by running with Katniss in the first few minutes you have already painted a huge target on your back. If you stay here, you are basically a sitting duck for the careers to come and kill you. As strong as you are, you can't take all four of them by yourself, so please, just stick with us and we will find Mitchell later."

Cameron sighed, taking one small look over her shoulder to see if could catch sight of Mitchell, but there was no sight of the dark-haired man. Cameron begrudgingly followed the four of them, sprinting away from the cornucopia and to the sandy beach on the group's right.

It wasn't all sand, as the yellow minerals faded, trees began to shoot up from the ground. The terrain began to grow rougher and Cameron was exerting a look of her strength chopping away at the vegetation to clear a path for the rest of the tributes. They walked about a mile before Finnick requested to take a rest. He sat Mags down in a nice spot in the clearing as Cameron began to pace around the clearing. Katniss and Peeta were off doing who knows what, but Cameron wasn't going to let that spot her from speaking about what she was thinking.

"We shouldn't have left," Cameron said instantly. "It'll be harder for Mitch to find his this way."

Finnick shrugged, "It would be easier for the careers to kill us if we stayed in the cornucopia. Plus, your friend could be dead already."

"He's alive," Cameron insisted, using her serrated sword to cut aside one of the branches that was in the way of her pacing. "He wouldn't die, he wouldn't leave without saying anything."

"What if he didn't have a choice?" Finnick shot back.

"He only has one, and that's to stay alive," Cameron hissed. "Mitch doesn't go down easy. He's alive, and he's out there. I know he is!"

"We'll see when those projections show tonight," Finnick responded coolly.

Cameron scoffed, "Or when we inevitably run into him because we will."

Finnick stepped in front of her so she could see his entire face, "And what makes you so sure of that?" he asked her.

"The same reason why you refuse to leave Mags, he's my family," Cameron said, shaking her head. "I'm not leaving my family behind."

Finnick looked like he was about to respond when he heard a small snap behind him. His head snapped toward the noise. "Did you hear that?" he asked slowly.

"Hear what?" Cameron asked instantly, gripping the handle of her serrated sword as tight as she could.

"That snap," Finnick said in a low whisper moving closer to Cameron. "Someone's here and I don't think it's Katniss or Peeta."

Cameron's eyes scanned the dark wooden area in front of her. She bit her lip, readjusting the position of her sword. "Stay behind me, and stay quiet," she told Finnick as her heart began to beat faster than she wanted it to.

Cameron took a step forward, just to be met with an arrow pointed at the tip of her nose. She instantly held out her sword, holding it up to the person's throat. "Cam?" the man in front of her sounded.

"Mitch," she said in a sigh of relief, instantly dropping her sword to the ground. "Shit, I thought I lost you."

Mitchell lowered his weapon, "Cam, come on. Have a little faith in me," he said, pulling the young woman into a side hug. "I wouldn't die on the first day."

Cameron looked down at the weapon in his hand, "Crossbow?" she asked, a small smile spreading across her otherwise haggard face.

"Sword?" he replied casually.

"Switch," they said at the same time, tossing each other their respective weapons.

"Uh, I hate to break up this touching reunion," Finnick sounded for behind the pair. "But what are these people doing here?"

Cameron looked past Mitchell and towards the two tributes standing behind him. They were both from district 10, the livestock district. Oliver Greenwood and Amiria Ihu.

Oliver was the winner of the games before Mitchell, Cameron didn't know much about him, and honestly, she didn't really care. He seemed like one of those Capitol puppets, a little too boastful for his own good. He reminded Cameron of Finnick a little bit, just with a lot less swagger. His bright blonde hair was part down the middle. His pale face was around covered in mud, which made his blue eyes pop against the rest of his face.

Amiria was a lot more impressionable in Cameron's opinion. She was the second youngest to win the games, aside from Finnick who was the first. She was about 15 years old when she won the 67th Hunger Games. Cameron knew she was deadly, practically every tribute did. and she would be scared of her if Amiria didn't have a warm smile on her face as she gazed at the two friends. Her dark curly hair was coated in the water from the ocean, shaking bits of sand out of her hair.

"We're here to help," Oliver said crossing his arms over his chest defensively. "Since you were nowhere to be seen at the cornucopia."

Cameron felt her face fall, "I wanted to stay, but someone dragged me out of there," she said, looking over at Finnick.

"Don't blame me, sweetheart, I didn't want to see you get killed," Finnick argued.

"Well, you're back with each other now," Amiria pointed out, digging her spear into the coarse jungle dirt. "No point in fussing about what happened or didn't happen."

Katniss poked her head through the trees and into the clearing that the five of them were standing in. "We have to keep going," she insisted. "We need to put as much distance between the careers and us as we can. You coming or not?"

Cameron took one final glance at the newcomers before looking back at the girl on fire. "Yeah, we're coming," she answered quickly, loading her crossbow with ease.

"All of us," Oliver added with a small grin.

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

Grace talks ig: so yes, I did just add new characters to this story because why not? But really, I was planning on adding two new characters to the story anyways and decided that this would be the best time to introduce them. I am actually obsessed with their faceclaims as well (Erana and Charles as they are both from the wilds which is such a good show and y'all should watch it) and I am excited to explore their characters further in the future because y'all are gonna hate one and love the other. Anyways, I hope their first impressions were okay and didn't seem rushed, and I hoped y'all liked the small amount of games content that you got. There will be more exciting things to come in the near future, so I hope y'all stick around for that and vote/ comment if you enjoyed this chapter. BYEEE <3