"I can't have you," Finnick whispered, pressing a soft, parting kiss to Rose's forehead, "because you'll always be Snows, not mine."
Rhoswen (Rose) Snow is the daughter of President Snow, who rescued her from a homeless, destitute life in District...
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The first thing Rose saw was green, which immediately unveiled a layer of anxiety that had been suffocating her. Green meant forest, which meant plants, which meant water, which meant survival. She could do this.
Her eyes scanned the large crescent of tributes around her, all similarly dressed, all similarly pale-faced, all their eyes bulging, lips parted as their shoulders heaved with every exuberant breath.
Rose's eyes snagged on Callum, whose hands were fidgeting at his sides, his eyes roaming over their surroundings till his gaze finally found hers. She nodded at him, bobbing her head discreetly to the forest line. He nodded, licking at his lips, bobbing on his toes.
Rose watched as the boy next to Callum turned his eyes to her. Cold rushed over Rose's spine as she saw Peter's mouth turn into a grin. His eyes roamed over her body and she sucked in a breath, keeping her expression one of stone. She would not let him see her scared. She would be nothing but a statue. She had learned that skill well enough in the capitol. She wondered if her father was watching. She looked up at the camera drone poised above them...and smiled. A confident, cold smile. Let them decipher that.
"Ten."
Run for the treeline.
"Nine. Eight."
Find water.
"Seven. Six."
Find weapons.
"Five. Four."
Find Callum.
"Three. Two."
Bring him home.
"One."
At the sound of the cannon, Rose exploded off of her platform and flew forward. She heard Finnick's praise in her ear, telling her that she was fast. His voice echoed in her mind, telling her to stay on her toes, to pump her arms, to keep her breath even. In through the nose, out through the mouth.
The cornucopia and all its glittering supplies shimmered in her peripheral but she ignored it, instead surging forward, everything a hazy blur as she sprinted. Her arms became tired from how hard she was pumping them but she didn't stop, didn't slow. She just kept moving.
To the treeline. To the treeline.
She had just passed into the forest when she heard a branch crack. She whirled around, snagging her ankle on a branch. Her weight shifted and she fell backwards, her head hitting what felt like a rock, sending a sharp pain scattering across her temple.
She looked up to see a girl staring at her, a funny expression on her face. It was then that Rose registered the arrow speared right between her brows. An arrow that had surely been meant to hit Rose had she not fallen.
Rose didn't even have time to scream because the next arrow would be coming for her.
She scrambled forward and grabbed the girl's pack, stripping it off of her arms. It might've been stupid, Finnick might've been cursing her out right now but she figured it'd be more stupid to run into the forest naked. What if there was no water and she only found poisonous plants?
