My refusal to play the games on the Capitol's terms was to be my last act of rebellion. So I gritted my teeth and willed myself to be a player. I could still not make sense of my surroundings. Where are you?! I demanded an answer from myself and slowly but surely the world came into focus. Blue water and pink sky with white-hot sun beating down and there about forty metres away was the shining gold horn like shaped cornucopia. At first it appeared to be sitting on a circular island but on closer examination, I noticed thin strips of land radiating from the circle like the spokes on a wheel. I thought there were 10 – 13 and they seemed equidistant from one and other. Between the spokes, all was water. Water and a pair of tributes and that's was it. There were 12 spokes, each with two tributes balanced on metal plates between them. The other tribute in my watery wedge was old Woof from District 8.
He was as far to my left than the land strip on my right. Beyond the water, wherever they looked, a narrow beach and then dense greenery. I scanned the circle of Victor-tributes looking for Roy, but he was blocked from my view by the Cornucopia. I caught a handful of water as it washed by and smelt it. I then touched the tip of my wet finger to my tongue and as I had suspected, it was salt water. Just like the waves Roy and I encountered on our brief tour of the beach in District 4 but at least it seemed clean. There were no boats, no nothing to cling to. No, there was only one way to get to the cornucopia.
When the gongs sounded, I didn't even hesitate before she dived to her right. It was a longer distance than she had been used to, and navigating the waves took a little more skill than swimming across her quiet lake back home, but my body seemed oddly light as I cut through the water effortlessly and maybe it was the salt. I pulled myself, dripping, onto the land strip and sprinted down towards the Cornucopia. I could see no one else converging from my side, although the gold horn blocked a big portion of my view but I didn't let the thought of opponents slow me down. The first thing I wanted was to get my hands on a weapon. The previous year, the supplies were spread out quite a distance from the Cornucopia with the most valuable closest to the horn. But this year the cornucopia seemed to be piled up. My eyes instantly spotted a golden bow just in my arms reach and yanked it free as there's someone behind me. I was alerted by a soft shift of sand or maybe just a change in the air currents. I pulled an arrow from the sheath that was still wedged in the pile and armed my bow as I turned around. Finnick, glistening and gorgeous, stood a few metres away, with a trident poised to attack with a net dangled in his other. His muscles in his upper body were rigid in anticipation. But as he realized it was me, he loosened and smiled. "You can swim too. Where did you learn that in District 14, hey Rut?" Finnick asked me to laugh about me swimming. "We have a big bathtub." I said jokingly about the tub.
"You must. You like the arena?" Finnick said about the arena as I rolled my eyes at him. "Not particularly. But you should. They must have built it especially for you Fin." I said about the capitol liking him more than me. Now I thought of it, I was right. With all the water, and I could bet only a handful of Victors could swim. And there was no pool in the in the training centre, no chance to learn. Either you came here as a swimmer or you'd better be a really fast learner. Even participation in the initial bloodbath it depended on being able to cover twenty metres of water and that gave District 4 an enormous advantage. Finnick and I stared at each other until Finnick grinned. "Lucky thing we're allies. Right?" Finnick said as I watched him curiously, I had never thought of it, he was like a brother to me, but I couldn't be the last one with him. Finnick raised his arm to reveal a shiny gold bangle pattered with flames. The same one I remembered Joan wore. I realized Joan had given it to him as a signal, to make sure I stayed with him. I could hear other footsteps approaching and I knew I had to answer. "Of course, big bro." I said smiling properly at him. "Duck!" Finnick commanded in such a powerful voice, so different from his usual seductive purr. His trident went whizzing over my head and there was a sickening sound of impact as it found its target. The man from 5, a drunk man who threw up after he had a go at sword-fighting, sank to the ground as Finnick freed his trident from his chest.
