𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗟𝗗 𝗙𝗨𝗟𝗟 𝗢𝗙 𝗗𝗔𝗥𝗞𝗡𝗘𝗦𝗦 ༄ 𝖿𝗂𝗇𝗇𝗂𝖼𝗄 𝗈𝖽𝖺𝗂𝗋

chapter seven

- IT'S ALL IN THE WRIST -

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WATCHING KATNISS PERFORM so well made Nadia feel all the more pathetic. She's been practicing with her left for eight years and still her dominance over her hand was taking a lot longer to master than she'd expected. Though she's proved that most of the time, it was all in her head.

She didn't have time to complain as Finnick pushed her towards the door once everyone had finished watching Katniss.

"I really don't think this is necessary." Nadia said crossing her arms, the man seemingly ignoring her as he messed with the settings on the screen beside the door.

Wordlessly he knelt in front of her and strapped a sheath to her thigh, Nadia fighting against the electricity she felt from his simple touch.

"You need to get better with this hand..." He started, lifting her left arm and letting it fall back to her side. "This is the best way to do that."

"What if people start watching?" Nadia put forward nervously.

"You're scared of them?" He chuckled, tapping his fingers over the line of knives before picking up six and handing them to her.

"I'm not scared, I just don't want to show everyone my strengths." She thought for a moment, sighing before speaking again. "Or lack there of."

"That advice doesn't matter for these games. Everyone here is dangerous and no one underestimates anyone." He said assuredly.

"It's not just that." She huffed dramatically.

"Then what is it?"

She looked down to her feet, hesitating to answer as she ran her hands through her pulled back hair. "You're right. And I'm not as good as I used to be. If everyone sees that, I'll be considered an easy target."

Finnick looked at her with understanding in his eyes, something so comforting that Nadia found herself wanting to melt in.

"But you're not." He said, voice a little lower as he stepped forward with his hands placed gently atop her shoulders. "You don't win by luck, you win by compromise. Something goes wrong, you figure it out. Am I right?"

She looked up at him, nodding reluctantly. "Yes..."

"Same goes for your hand." He said and she looked down at her hands, gripping onto the knives a little tighter. "Now, get in there and show me why you won."

Again he tried to push her inside, but she halted with her eyes wide as she looked at the screen. "Finn, that's the highest difficulty."

With a condescending smirk he pushed her the rest of the way into the room. "That's kind of the point."

He closed the door behind her and before the glass on her side could hide his and everyone else's faces, she lifted her middle finger and returned the snarky smile.

Her chest rose, inhaling deeply as the lights dimmed and left her in an unsettling darkness. Letting out that long breath, she readied a knife as orange lasers flashed on and filled the room with that sunset-like color.

Nadia's eyes scanned her surroundings carefully and precisely, the woman not wanting to chance missing her first target. That would be rather humiliating.

She gripped the knife in her hand, still doubting her technique as her focused eyes roamed over both levels of the simulation.

Whatever uncertainty she possessed looked possibly nonexistent to any prying eyes as she threw a very accurately aimed knife into the first hologram's chest.