𝐌𝐀𝐃 𝐖𝐎𝐌𝐀𝐍, finnick odair

― 𝐟𝐢𝐯𝐞

───── ⚔ ─────

chapter five: don't say a word, it's only gonna make me want to punch you more

──────────

𝐎𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐒𝐓 𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆, 𝐕𝐈𝐒𝐇𝐀 𝐖𝐀𝐊𝐄𝐒 𝐔𝐏 𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐌𝐄𝐋𝐋 𝐎𝐅 𝐒𝐎𝐌𝐄 𝐃𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐂𝐘 𝐖𝐀𝐅𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐎 𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐁𝐄𝐃𝐑𝐎𝐎𝐌. After she brushed her teeth, showered, and put on the athletic wear that had been laid out for her— black leggings that were cool to the touch and a maroon tank top, Visha opens her bedroom door.

Blake comes out of his bedroom the same time she steps out of hers. Together, they walk towards the dining room. To Visha's surprise, the three mentors, plus Delia, are already sitting at the table.

Visha takes a seat beside Hunter, her eyes following Blake as he sits down between Gideon and Aife, and across from her. Delia starts up a conversation about last night's parade, and how Visha and Blake had been the talk of the Capitol.

Grinning at the elder woman's words, Visha reaches for some syrup to go with the stack of pancakes on her plate. The dark spread is like ambrosia— the sweetness and flavour unlike anything Visha has ever tasted before.

Once everyone at the table has eaten more than a few bites, Gideon clears his throat. "Today is the first day of training," he announces to the group, but mainly to the two tributes. Visha sits up straighter, locking eyes with the elder man as he continues. "Usually, our tributes go for private training and then the mandatory group sessions as opposed to training together and having the mandatory group sessions."

"We'd like to stick to the usual, if you don't mind," Blake speaks for both himself and Visha, the corner of his lips tugging downwards in a scowl.

Gideon looks to Visha for confirmation. She nods.

"Alright," Aife says, looking pleased. "So Blake, you're with Gideon and Visha, you're with me."

Visha's small smile falters.

It's not that she doesn't like Aife— she likes the older girl well enough. It's just her weapon that was the problem. The redhead would likely have her axe with her, maybe they would even have sparring sessions with Aife using the axe. And whenever there was an axe in her hand, Visha knew that she wouldn't be able to see Aife anymore.

No, her image would distort into the District One girl that killed her brother.

And then, Visha would lash out. She didn't know exactly what would happen this time, but she can remember with great clarity what happened the last time. Visha had been training in the District Two Academy, and there was a blonde girl a few years younger than her, who was training with an axe. And Visha had screamed at her, and fought her, and broken her wrist.

Just because of the District One girl.

That was not going to happen again.

Visha would have to make sure of it. Front teeth sinking into her lower lip, she locks eyes with Aife. "If it's alright with you," she starts hesitantly, "I'd like to train with Hunter instead. I'm really sorry but I just... can't." Stopping abruptly, Visha worries that she had said too much. Her dark eyes dart between Aife and the tabletop in front of her.