Lost at Sea || Finnick Odair x OC (DISCONTINUED)

Thirteen: dance dance

DAPHNE

°•. ✿ .•°

Kore and I set the box of grenades in the corner of our little "house" when we got back. We buried it under some rocks, not wanting to discuss it.

It's been three days now since that happened. I've begun losing track of how long I've been in the arena. Maybe a week? I'm not sure. There's only been one death, now; the boy from 7.

Kore and I haven't moved. I've set a few traps throughout the city, but nothing has come of them. We got some wood from the pines for fire. The nights get so cold now, we can't just huddle together and pray. There's a small hole in the roof that the smoke funnels out of.

Each morning, we go along the creeks looking for some edible plants. We're both very good in that department. I fashioned a makeshift spear out of some wood and caught some fish for us around noon. Kore has one, too, but she's not very good with it. Her main job is the cooking.

I also found some sea grass and wove baskets out of it. We hold our water in there. I also made a large mat for us to sleep on, since the stone was making Kore's old back injury hurt and ache really bad. I made some more thin mats, and hung them over our doors during the daytime since it gets so hot, and keep a few open at night for so the smoke gets a proper vent.

The arena has been strangely quiet. We go out to the creek once the boredom starts to hit, and we just sort of lay around. We clean ourselves, and Kore gradually becomes more comfortable with me. She even took off her shirt one time to clean it, and claimed she hadn't felt so good in so long. As a treat for her coming out of her prude-ish ways, we cook up some yellowtail and katniss tubers.

The water levels have continued to rise. The mangrove is over six feet now, so actual swimming is required. This isn't a problem for me, but Kore won't set foot in the water. The water at the lake is high, too, and our crocodile buddy is still stuck in place. We want to keep him alive for later use, so we feed him a fish once a day. He eats it, but doesn't seem to enjoy it. I suppose he prefers humans.

It's around the end of the third day that Kore asks me about District 4 culture.

"What do you mean?" I ask. We sit on the roof, but we're about to go in. Sun has nearly died, and the air will chill to the point our noses hurt.

"Like..." Kore pauses. "I don't know. Marriage rituals, clothing, how you live, I suppose."

"Marriage rituals?" I snort. "Well, we sing a little song. We say vows, and then we press saltwater to our lips before kissing each other. Typically, we get married in the water. Afterwards, there's a party. Girls wear necklaces and woven skirts, and dance along to the drums and songs that the men play. We have a lot of fish and bread, and then the couple goes to their new house."

"Dancing? What kind of dancing?" Kore asks as she rises. We go inside, and she starts up the fire with the flint I got.

"I don't really know if it has a name." I admit. "We mostly shake around, hold each other. What's it like in 5?"

Kore smiles. She scoots to the fire, and puts her hands in front of it. "Marriage is one of the only times that we have fun. Typically, we get married in the dark, only surrounded by candles. The bride and groom's faces are veiled. They say their vows to each other, and whoever ordains it will lift their veils. The crowd- the ones holding the candles- put them out right after the kiss. Then, we turn on the lights- all sorts of colors. Every imaginable hue. My mom says it represents advancing. Turning from archaic candles to electricity, similar to progressing into a new stage of life. We get some flute players to play the first dance, and after that, we have a feast."