unforgivable ➸ finnick odair

F I V E

i know that the male usually precedes the female from every district, but i didn't realise that until i had already finished the chapter and anyway, it's sort of important that electra went before bolt

this was binge-written within an hour/an hour and a half, 9/04/2017 - NZ time

"Today's the day," May said quietly as we met up at our final training day. There was only the private sessions and the interview night before we were lowered into the arena and made to fight one another to the death.

"You guys all prepared?" Everly whispered, blonde hair sweeping in front of her as she nervously fiddled with her fingers. 

"Yeah, I think so. I'm just gonna shoot a few arrows and do some fancy shit with 'em. Try and impress the gamemakers, although they probably won't pay that much attention to me," May shrugged, flipping her dark hair over her shoulder. I gave her a sympathetic look as Bolt flung his arm around her shoulders. The girl was 12 years old, looked frail and was from the second outermost district - the odds were stacked against her. But May was strong; she would make it far, good score or not.

"Yep, but I'm not going to get a good score. Climb a few things, show off my nimbleness I guess." Bolt said, leaning into May's side. A familiar feeling of anger lit up inside of me - these two were so young. They both had so much to live for, so much potential. Potential wasted in these games. 

"Axes." Everly said simply, managing a small chuckle.

"Knives." I mimicked her, grinning. May raised a dark brow.

"Didn't know you were good at knives," she commented.

"It's not smart to show off your best skills in front of others." I explained. She nodded, and we lapsed back into the silence, only broken by little rises in May and Bolt's whispered conversation. Everly and I exchanged looks over their heads. 

It just wasn't fair, I thought. But then again, when is anything ever fair?

---

An hour passed far too quickly. The first three districts had already disappeared, summoned by the deep voice that filtered through the intercom thing. Girl, boy, girl, boy, girl, boy. I spent the entire time staring at the wall, nervousness welling up inside of me. Your score (and your interview) essentially decided whether you would get any sponsers at all, and if you did, how many. A low score chased off potential aid, but made you less of a threat. A high score meant that sponsers would be interested in you, but it also meant that you became a threat. 

"Ocean Harris," the man called. Ocean rose to her feet and began walking into the room, a slight tremble in her steps showing her anxiousness. 10 minutes later, Shark followed her. None of the tributes came out the same way they had entered, so there was obviously a secondary entrance/exit. 

"Electra Reine." My name. It was time. Sending small smiles to my allies, I squared my shoulders and marched into the room. When I entered, all eyes were on me. The gamemakers were incredibly focused, but their focus would dwindle as time went on. That, I was certain of. 

"Miss Reine, you have 10 minutes to display your chosen skill." The head gamemaker said. Nodding, I made a beeline for the throwing knives section. Picking up one of the sharp silver blades by the black handle, I let my hand get the feel of the knife for a few seconds before launching it at the target with strength that surprised even me. The blade lodged itself into the humanoid target's chest area, which was also where the heart would be on an actual human. Sparing a glance at the people sitting on the balcony, I saw in glee that they all looked shocked and impressed that a district 5 girl like me could be that good with a knife.

I threw another 4 knives before moving onto another skill that I hoped would shock them as well, maybe even more. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw them exchange dubious looks as I adjusted my grip on the three-pronged weapon, running through everything Shark and Ocean had taught before letting the trident fly. It soared through the air with an extraordinary amount of grace for such a large object before impaling the target and making it sway precariously where it 'stood', bolted into the floor. The impact would most definitely have fatally injured someone. Glancing at the gamemakers, I let a grin spread across my face as I saw them nodding and looking at me approvingly. 

I performed a few more tricks, like climbing to nearly the very top of the climbing ropes and throwing a few knives and swinging across the ropes before landing cleanly on my feet on the ground, before moving onto my final show. Gripping the paintbrush tighter than I really needed to, I dipped the feathery tip into blood red paint before writing my message on the formerly pristine white walls. 

Giving them a half-mocking bow, I strutted out of the room, tossing the paintbrush over my back as I left, letting them discuss what I had written with vigor.

For Breeze.

---

"How did it go?" Sean asked at dinner that night. Bolt lit up as he answered the question.

"Really well, actually! There was a bit of extra time before I was called, so I had a little bit to calm down. They didn't seem that impressed until the end, though. I scaled up the climbing section and jumped down, and while I was falling I managed to stab a dummy through the back and land on my feet. Didn't expect that from me," he grinned, looking satisfied with himself as he ate. Desiree gave me a curious look when Bolt mentioned the extra time he had to wait before going in.

"Extra time, eh? What exactly did you show them, girlie?" the redhead asked suspiciously. I smirked.

"Oh, nothing much. Threw a few knives and a trident and then climbed the ropes and threw more knives. Then I... gave them a little message to think about." I grinned. Eleanora sighed.

"What exactly was that message?" my escort asked. I shrugged offhandedly.

"Nothing much. Just a little something to show them exactly what I'm fighting for." I said simply. Desiree gave me a look of understanding as the conversation faded. She knew what I was talking about.

"Good. Give them something to remember."