bittersweet | finnick odair

chapter thirteen

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Athena and Finnick walked through he empty pathway, scouting for the best place to set camp.

They walked for what seemed like ages until Athena had an idea.

"Finnick." She whispered, in hope to not awaken any predator that happened to be near.

"We should climb one of the mountains."

Finnick looked to her, an unreadable expression upon his features.

"How would we be able to do that?"

"Some of them are easy, look." Athena pointed to one of the orange mountains, which had many flat points, perfect for setting camp. It looked fairly easy to climb.

"Yeah. Yeah, okay." Finnick nodded, the idea was good. They'd be able to rest and no one would find them. It was a good hiding spot because not many people would think to climb a mountain like that.

Finnick grabbed her hand, leading the way over. The two had to be careful to avoid any nearby tributes that'd die to get the chance to get some action.

It would take about half an hour to walk over to the said mountain, considering it was off into the distance.

The walk over was filled with silence, both not wanting to risk being heard.

As they reached the mountain, Athena was breathing heavily.

"Hey. You okay?" Finnick stopped in his place, lightly grabbing her arm.

"Yeah." She whimpered out, Athena's fingers brushed against her shirt, lightly lifting it up to expose her wound that had gotten much worse. The swelling had spread, an infection taking into play.

"That's not good." She sighed, placing the shirt back down.

"Don't think about it." Finnick's hands found her cheeks, as he stared into her eyes.

"Think about making it up that mountain to safety." Athena nodded, closing her eyes. She imagined climbing up the mountain and reaching the top, where she got to rest her eyes.

Opening them up again, Athena nodded.

"Let's go." Finnick let her take the lead, following behind her up the mountain.

They reached a good point not to long into their journey up, deciding it was best to stop there.

"We did it. Now get rest." Finnick walked far from the edge of the mountain, Athena following.

"No, Finnick. I'm on watch now. You've barley gotten any sleep." Finnick stopped in his place, turning around to look at her. They challenged each other with their eyes as they stared at each other, until Finnick sighed, giving in.

"Fine, but only for a little while." He pointed at her, causing Athena to nod.

They made sure to be as far from the edge as possible, Finnick laying down. Athena sat next to him, her arms wrapping around her legs that pulled into her chest.

She gazed into the darkness, trying her hardest to ignore the seering pain coming from her stomach. A couple tears fell from her red eyes as the pain increased.

Her hand found her shirt again, pulling up. The injury had spread even more from when she last checked, her face falling, she lightly touched it, holding back the loud scream that almost erupted from her mouth. Her teeth found her lip, biting hard to surprise the pain. She bit until the metallic taste of her blood spread through her mouth.

Stay strong. Don't look weak.

Although she struggled, Athena tried her hardest to obey those five words that echoed through her head on a continuous loop.

Athena knew that if she came off as weak, she'd receive no sponsors, which would pretty much guarantee her death.

Athena's ears perked as she heard something from behind her. Turning her head, she noticed a gigantic metal box. A bit longer than Finnick's spear. Sponsors.

Athena crawled over to Finnick, tapping his shoulder. He had gotten a good couple hours, restoring his energy from when the Games first began.

"Finnick. Hey." She lightly shook him, until his eyes slowly opened, a yawn releasing from his mouth.

"What is it?"

"We got a gift." She directed her eyesight to the box, Finnick's eyes following hers.

"Sweet." He got up, walking over to the box, Athena behind him.

He knelt down, opening the metal box to reveal something he didn't expect.

I'm the box laid a huge metal trident in perfect condition.

A ginormous smile overcame Finnick's face as he picked up the weapon.

"Thank god."

After he picked up the weapon, Athena noticed another small metal item. It was in the shape of a cylinder. As she opened it, it reveled a white gooey consistency that looked like Vaseline. She looked back into the box, seeing a small piece of paper.

You'll definitely enjoy these. Athena, apply gently and carefully to your wound and let it sit. God knows you need it.
-Jax

Athena smiled putting down the note after reading it.

"Medicine?" Finnick asked, gazing over her shoulder.

"Yeah." She nodded, handing the cylinder to Finnick.

"Could you?"

"Of course."

Athena once again lifted her shirt, Finnick's eyes widening at the mess on her stomach.

"Jesus, A." He said sadly.

"Just put it on." She stared at him as he slid his pointer and middle finger into the cylinder, picking up huge clump of the medicine.

"Ready?" Athena squeezed her eyes shut, nodding.

As soon as she felt the fingers touch her skin, searing pain took over her entire being and she couldn't help but scream this time. Finnick didn't say anything, knowing no one was close enough to hear. He let her scream as he repeatably applied the gooey jelly into her skin, until it was entirely covered.

"You'll be okay." Athena nodded, dropping her shirt.

"Alright, go to sleep. It's my turn to watch.

And Athena did just that.

-
Athena awoke to the feeling of soft fingers rolling up her shirt. She looked down to her stomach, watching as Finnick lifted up her shirt to check her wound. As soon as their eyes met her skin, they let out a breath of shock.

"It's completely healed." Athena was mesmerized as there was no more pain or wounds holding her back.

"I told you you'd be fine." Finnick grabbed her hand, nodding.

That day, they found food, clean, drinkable water, and sat together on the mountain.

Unknowingly to them, that would be their only calm and non eventful day in the Games.

Because separation, violence, and death was very soon to come.