THE SIREN'S SONG 𓇼 F. ODAIR

48 ~ the beginning of the end

A bright light blinded Carolina as she entered the arena, and then she saw everything all at once. The first thing she noticed was the pungent smell of salt water encapsulating the area surrounding her. It smelled like home.

Claudius Templesmith's voice filled the arena.

"Ladies and gentlemen, let the Seventy-fifth Hunger Games begin!"

60, 59, 58

Carolina squinted to look at the arena around her. Each platform was placed in water with no bottom in sight. It crashed against the platforms, creating choppy waves throughout the water. It reminded Carolina so much of her first arena, and she didn't know if she was grateful or terrified for that similarity.

44, 43, 42

Long, black rock runways spread the length between the cornucopia and the beach. Carolina counted seven, but based on the symmetry of the arena, she figured there were twelve, leaving enough room for two tributes to balance on their platforms between them.

Carolina shared her section with the man from 10.

31, 30, 29

The sky was pink. It was soft and welcoming, like the beginning of a sunset back in District 4.

The air was humid and uncomfortably warm. Carolina already felt sticky and wet, and the fabric of the jumpsuit was latching onto her skin in a way that made her feel claustrophobic.

The jungle around her was full of tall, green trees. Each section was identical, with trees in the same place and at the same height, as if Plutarch had made exact copies of his creation twelve times in a row. The birds inside of the greenery were squawking loudly and crazily.

16, 15, 14

It's okay. Everything is going to be okay.

10, 9, 8

Carolina focused her eyes on the golden cornucopia, and she took a deep breath. It was about 40 yards away, and there were no boats, no ropes, and no pieces of driftwood.

Based on the scared faces of the tributes around her, they had no idea how to swim and had no idea what the padded belt around their waist was.

3, 2, 1

A gong sounded.

Carolina dove into the water and reached the rocks in seconds. The current tried to pull her away from them, but it was nothing she wasn't used to from her daily swims in the ocean. She pulled herself up onto the rocks and ran as fast as she could to the cornucopia.

She was halfway to the cornucopia when she realized that the other tributes were hesitating to get into the water, but she kept her mind focused on getting her hands on a weapon. Carolina's eyes were set on a silver spear, and nothing was going to stop her from grabbing it.

Carolina wasn't the first person to reach the cornucopia. Finnick was there, with a trident in one hand and a net in the other. His back was to her, and he was holding his trident out as if ready to strike.

"Finn," Carolina said.

Finnick's head snapped around and his eyes widened in horror. Katniss took a step to the side, finally allowing Carolina to see her presence. Her bow was up and aimed straight at her.

Katniss didn't hesitate to let the arrow fly, heading straight into Carolina's heart.

Carolina quickly jumped out of the way and pointed her spear in the girl's direction.

"Duck, swamp potato," Carolina said.

The teenager did, and Carolina threw her spear, piercing the heart of the District 5 male who was running at the three of them.