Dew of the Sea [Finnick Odair]

[20. Deadly Catch]

Evening 15

Rosemary

If Rosemary wasn't so angry and afraid, she would have found the way that all non-edible life forms had disappeared kind of amazing. What kind of technology did that, and how on Earth did they get it to mesh so well with organic matter? She wished she could know more. Of course, she was hesitant about anything made in the Capitol, but this was fascinating. She had always been interested in science, and it seemed like a pity that a chance at this knowledge was just another thing that the arena would take from her.

Of course, when she said all of this to Kyler, he didn't really understand. However, he did let her ramble on, looking at her periodically from where he walked in front of her, keeping an eye out ahead of them for any enemies. She liked that he let her ramble–quietly, of course, as to keep from other Tributes hearing her–and asked her questions once in a while, showing that he was interested in what she was saying, even if he wasn't very interested in what she was talking about.

Soon, Rosemary began to worry about reaching the lake. It had already been four to five hours since they had left Rye and Xavier and the sun was steadily moving its position in the sky. They had to go a different way to the lake than through the woods, just to save them some time and give them the benefit of going around the Cornucopia instead of right to it, like the woods would lead to.

The sun was just beginning to set when they finally reached the lake, covered with a thick layer of ice and snow.

Boom!

The cannon went off suddenly. Rosemary stopped in her tracks, her hand reaching out toward Kyler to stop him from going on without her. He paused, but she didn't notice, too lost in her thoughts.

Rye. Is it Rye? Surely it couldn't be!

Then another cannon went off, and fear seized her whole being. A one-off cannon made it less likely that it was Rye, just because she knew that Xavier was with him and if they were defeated, they would more than likely go down together. But now, two cannons had gone off. Either one of them could have been Rye.

Tears stung her eyes and she shook her head, lips forming into a visible frown as she held back a cry.

"We don't know if that's Rye or Xavier," Kyler stepped over to her, taking her face between his hands. Hot tears started rolling down her chilled cheeks, thawing them. "Listen to me, okay? Check your compass. If it was Rye, it wouldn't work."

Tearing Kyler's hands off her, Rosemary scrambled to pull her compass from the vest pocket she hid it in. She flipped open the top and sighed in relief when she saw that the arm was very steadily pointing north, only flicking a little bit when he and Xavier turned slightly in a different direction..

"Thank you," Rosemary zipped the compass back up into her vest and leaned forward, giving Kyler's cold cheek a quick peck to show her gratitude.

Kyler smiled shyly. "It's nothing." He looked up at the sun as it slowly went behind the horizon, at the lake, and then back at her. "We should start early in the morning. I don't want to risk anything by doing it without the sun."