THE SUN ROSE OVER THE ARENA the next morning, the reflection of the light glimmering on the pure white snow.

Roxy had been keeping watch for the past few hours, and she had decidedly had enough of her own company. The ginger put her face right in front of her blonde ally's, before quite loudly calling, "Good morning sunshine!"

The blonde snapped awake, letting out a small scream when she opened her eyes and saw Roxy staring right back at her. "Damn Roxy. Way to scare a girl first thing in the morning." Haven mumbled, rubbing her eyes. "I thought it would be funny." The redhead giggled, before putting a finger to her lips and turning to do the same thing to Reeve.

Unlike Haven, Reeve's reflexes were more physical, and he slapped Roxy in the face. "What the hell was that for Reeve?" She said, playfully punching him in the arm. "I should be asking you the same thing. Just about gave me a heart attack."

"You two are boring. Boooooorrrriiiinnggggg." Roxy exaggerated, shaking her head at her very groggy allies.

Haven sat up. "We need to go and find some food. The stuff in our packs will probably only last us another day, if that." The pair from 5 agreed, and the three packed up what little belongings they had before leaving the cave.

The trio walked through the arena for hours, the endless white landscape rendering them unable to tell what direction they were going in. "This is pointless. All the plants are dead, and I haven't seen a single animal yet." Roxy groaned. "Probably because nothing can live in this frozen over version of hell." Haven muttered, rubbing her numb, cold hands together. "Damn 4. You really can't handle your snow." Reeve joked.

"Wait. Shhhh." Haven whispered, pointing af two brown figures a few yards in front of them. Roxy quietly loaded her bow, angling the arrow at the first squirrel, shooting it dead in the eye, before quickly doing the same to the second.

Famished from endlessly walking through the tundra-like landscape, the tributes didn't even mind the fact that they had to eat the squirrels raw, since it was pretty much impossible to start a fire in the snowy arena.

Haven's head whipped to the side when she heard a branch snap nearby, noticing two other tributes now standing about 30 feet away. The blonde jumped to her feet, one hand wrapped around her spear, the other grabbing a knife from her belt. Reeve and Roxy scrambled up, readying their weapons just as the pair in the distance began running towards them.

Roxy made the first move, shooting an arrow at the boy's leg, slowing him down. He threw a knife towards her head, but she ducked and it ended up stabbing the tree behind her. The duo, who Haven now recognized as Indigo and Quentin from District 10, had finally caught up to them. Roxy grabbed her knife out of her belt, tackling Quentin to the ground. He flipped her over onto her back, a blade inches away from her neck.

Right as he was about to slice open the girl's neck, the boy started coughing up blood, before he slumped off of Roxy, his body laying limp on the ground.

BOOM. The cannon went off, verifying the boy's death.

Roxy stared up to see Reeve pulling his machete out of the boy. "Thanks." she said, regaining her composure.

"Anytime."

Reeve turned around, only to be staring right into Indigo's rage filled eyes. "You killed him. You killed my brother." She shrieked. Before Reeve could even lift his machete, Indigo drove her her sword straight into his stomach, and the boy collapsed on the ground. "And now I'm gonna kill you-."

Her words were cut off as Haven stabbed her, literally in the back, with her spear. The rage dissipated from the girl's eyes, turning lifeless as her body fell to the ground.

BOOM. Another cannon. Reeve was still taking labored breaths, hanging on, so it belonged to Indigo.

Haven and Roxy rushed to his side. "I'm so sorry Reeve. This is my fault." Roxy choked out between sobs. He weakly grasped her hand. "It's okay Rox. I'd do the same... thing... again." Reeve responded, his words becoming increasingly strained. Roxy was furiously shaking her head, attempting to stop the profuse bleeding with her hands.

"I want-" He stammered. "I want one of you to make it out. You deserve it." Haven nodded. "So did you. I'm sorry." Haven whispered, tears streaming down her face.

The cannon boomed a few seconds later, the exact moment that the two girls saw the life leave their friend's eyes. The trio had turned into a duo, a part of their spirit dying along with Reeve. The girls looked back once more at the three fallen tributes, before turning away, leaving their bodies to be collected by the Capitol.

➸

The pair continued wandering through the arena, only stopping to eat a rabbit they had crossed paths with and killed. The sun was beginning to set, and they had no luck finding shelter.

"We may as well just camp out here, it's the best we're gonna get." Roxy said, slumping down against a tree. "Cold and wet. Sounds great." Haven sarcastically responded, sitting across from the ginger.

A few minutes passed before Haven broke the silence. "I'm sorry about Reeve. I know it must be hard, being from the same District and all." Roxy sighed. "He was the only reminder of home I still had in here, and now he's gone. I just feel like I keep getting more detached from my home, from myself." Haven gave her a soft smile, knowing that no words could fix the pain her ally was feeling.

The arena soon turned dark, and the previously brisk temperature had turned to a bone-chilling cold. The two girls huddled together, attempting to keep warm, but it wasn't very helpful in the sub zero temperatures.

"It's so cold. Actually it's fucking freezing, this is my own personal form of hell. I miss the beach." Haven groaned.

Just as the complaint left her mouth, a beeping noise came from above, and a silver parachute gently fell onto the snow. Haven picked it up, her numb fingers struggling to open the container. She opened it and found several small objects that looked like the beanbags Sawyer and her would play with as kids. "What the fuck are these?" The blonde muttered under her breath. She pulled out the slip of paper, reading the note on it.

"Shake the packets. Stay warm and stay alive. You've got this princess."
- Collin

Haven handed one of the packets to Roxy, before grabbing one for herself and shaking it. She sighed in relief when the packet started turning warm, eventually bringing feeling back into her frozen hands. The tiny packets were quite powerful, relieving the two from the sharp cold.

"Thank you Collin." Haven mouthed to the sky, before turning over and going to sleep, her ally keeping watch.

// author's note
i'm so sorry🤧
reeve's death HURT. deserved better.
thank you SO much for reading, and for getting this story to #22 in the finnick tag🥺 u all are the best
please leave some comments/vote if you're liking the story, i really appreciate it!!
- a <3

me when reeve died even though i knew it was happening bc i'm the one writing this: