He meant everything to her. Three years later and she'd still do anything to keep him safe, sacrifice everything to protect him- even if that meant keeping him at an arm's length.
She was the one person who truly knew him. The one person he'd choos...
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— — —
Cass's eyes flitted around the room as she stepped into the training facility. The other tributes were already inside, practicing and showing off their skills. There were auras of confidence from various Careers, but also fearful semblances radiating from tributes that were either younger or from less wealthy districts.
And she could already see alliances being formed. Most tributes stayed with their counterparts, but the Career pairs were already affiliated with each other.
"Hey, look at me." Everett voiced, pulling her gaze to him. "They don't know what you're capable of yet, but when the time's right, show them. Show 'em what you can do."
An impish look glinted in her dark eyes as she nodded, a smirk lifting either side of her mouth. If anything, she wasn't afraid. She hadn't lied to Finnick when she'd told him being scared would get you killed, not help you survive the bullshit. Plus, it was their first day of training. No one was going to expect a sixteen year old girl to have precision as deadly as hers was.
The two of them split, going their separate ways. Everett made his way over to the boxing ring to practice his hand to hand combat while Cass snatched a knife from off the wall of weapons. She delicately held it between her fingertips, letting his words run through her mind.
For now, she'd practice her already perfect knot tying. Finnick had shown her a few tricks to making stronger knots up in their living quarters, which could definitely come in handy when she was dropped into an arena in two weeks.
As she began looping a strand of the rope underneath another piece, a warm breath touched her ear. "Hey, 4."
Almost immediately, she stepped backwards, head raised to meet Asher's wicked grin— tribute from District 2. "What do you want?" She quipped, eyebrows raising.
His eyes darted down to her hands before flickering back up to her eyes. "That's a neat little knot you got there." He took a step forward, eyes trailing up and down her body. "You gonna use that to win?"
Faster than he could comprehend, her hand wrapped around the handle of the knife she'd set on the table. She flung it through the air, the blade whipping past his skin and lodging itself in the target. He swore, whirling around as the other tributes let out gasps. His eyes followed her aim, landing on the target board. Her knife had struck just outside the red dot, only two inches from being considered a bullseye.
And she'd been over 90 feet away.
Asher turned back to her as her head tilted confidently. "That's how I'll win."
A sharp pain suddenly ripped through her chest, causing her to gasp. She glanced down, eyes widening at the four inch blade sticking out of the right side of her sternum. Blood rapidly stained her tank top, but as she lifted her head, she was abruptly staring at a different location. Snow littered the ground, her crimson blood dripping down into the pristine snow, staining it scarlett.
