Never In Your Favor - Finnick Odair

16

"Johanna," Finnick whisper-yelled as he scoped the jungle, "Kaianna?"

He held his trident close, and wondered what moment his ears would start bleeding at the silence blaring through them. His hand ripped through his dirty-blonde hair, his throat sore from the scream that was clawing to make its way out.

"Kaianna." Finnick repeated the names of his allies, several times, still clinging to the chance that they might call back.

Minutes went by, and to Finnick they felt like hours. Then, that dreadful sound. He stilled at the firing of the cannon, being terrified to think of what it could mean.

"Kaianna," He said breathlessly. After taking a few steps in the direction he presumed his partner went, a new realization hit him, "Peeta."

Finnick raced in the direction of the lightning tree, his feet hitting the ground hard and fast. He jumped over the branches swiftly, like it was nothing. In comparison to losing the only people he was meant to protect, it was nothing.

"Peeta," A new set of names had come to the front of Finnick's mind, "Katniss!"

The path was now familiar, and he knew exactly where he was.

"Katniss where are you?" He shouted, no longer caring if the careers could hear him.

He kept running up the path, "Katniss," His voice was wearing, but he wouldn't stop until he found what he was looking for. Who he was looking for, "Katniss where are you?"

Finnick came to a halt when the tree came into view. His eyes searched desperately for the girl from twelve. Katniss had heard her name being called but, after being cut open, and abandoned by Johanna and Kaianna, the little trust she had built up for her group, had smothered into nothing. Then the cannon sounded, and she couldn't find Peeta. Then she found Beetee, almost lifeless, and twitching on the ground, with no sight of Finnick.

Katniss was worse than back to square one. She planned to kill off Finnick when she had the chance. That chance had now arrived.

"Katniss," He called again. His entire demeanor changed when he laid eyes in the girl and saw her arrow pointed at his chest. Finnick's heart sank to his stomach, as he looked pleadingly, at Katniss, raising his arms in surrender. He didn't know what to do. What he could say to make her understand. Then, it suddenly hit him, "Katniss, remember who the real enemy is."

His words sent a hesitance surging through Katniss, and she slowly lowered her bow, to get a good look at him. Finnick had repeated the very last words that Katniss had heard from her mentor, and suddenly, she didn't know why, but she knew she could trust him once again. The breeze chilled her slightly, or maybe it was his words.

She didn't know what was going on but, as her eyes floated to the top of the arena, she felt like she knew what was expected of her. The girl from twelve watched curiously as clouds began to swirl, and the sky began to flash. Finnick knew she was devising, and he was sure would that it would bring her to her last breath.

"Katniss," He begged, holding tightly to the last ounce of calmness he had left, "get away from that tree."

Katniss ignored Finnick's command as she noticed Beetees makeshift weapon, that was wrapped in the coil. Suddenly, it came to her. The realization of Beetee's plan, hit her harder than any strike from any opponent in that arena ever could.

Now she was one-hundred percent sure of what the man from three was trying to accomplish, and her heart was now set on finishing his task for him. Finnick could scream in protest if he desired. He could yell until his voice ceased to exist but, that wouldn't stop the 'Girl On Fire'. For, once her mind was made, nothing could change it. Not even herself.

"Katniss!" Finnick yelled hurriedly, the exhaustion and pure fear finally making its debut appearance.

She heard him call her name so many times. Almost the exact number of times that her shaky, pale fingers wrapped the coil wire around the tip of her arrow. The arrow that was also, made of metal. For the first time in the entirety of the games, the arena was cold. That wasn't why either tribute were shaking.

Suddenly, the end was right in front of their faces, and they knew exactly how it would go. Or, so they thought.

"Katniss," Finnick yelled. Anyone within a five yard radius could smell the desperation off of the man. So, could it be enough? He knew the answer but, he tried anyway, "Katniss! Get away from that tree!"

As the young victor from District twelve rose her arrow, her ally from four raced towards her, every single fiber of sureness in his body, blurring into fear. Finnick didn't know if he could keep her alive any longer. What if this was all, really for nothing?

He refused to accept defeat. Like always. However, Katiniss didn't leave the choice up to him.

Without giving him the chance to make it more than two steps, Katniss fired her arrow, right on time. A loud crack sounded, acting as a new symbol, of the games' end. One final flash, bringing every livestream camera, to a flickering, staticky close.

It was hard for anyone that wasn't there to know what happened next. How Katniss's nearly lifeless body was lifted out of the now decaying arena, that was crashing down in flames around her. How Finnick wanted so desperately to run and find his partner, and to make sure she was ok, but just couldn't seem to move. How the sound of Brutus's cannon, had been drowned out by the chaos.

How Kaianna laid still, struggling to keep her eyes open to see the light that she had assumed was the sun. How Johanna began to panic as she realized that she and each person she was with, still had their trackers in, and that there was no time for her to win any of their freedom. Each story played out, half way across the arena from each other. Then, within mere minutes, it was all over. The seventy-fifth annual hunger games, had come to a close.