The Tribute From the Ocean (A Hunger Games Fan Fiction)

•8•

The next day I practice camouflage with Candy, who gets very intent, which makes her good company. We paint each other's arms and I realize I don't hate her completely.

I watched her get fired up once after someone said District 1 and 2 were just the capitols pets. I can't say I liked the other careers. They were always sure of what they wanted and wanted it then.

Candy wasn't as sure. All I knew is I didn't want to be the one to kill her.

After Candy paints my arm she moves onto half of my face and I do the same. It takes her ten minutes before she moves back to examine your work.

"You're the ugliest flower patch I've ever seen." She tells me in complete honesty.

"You aren't a very pretty tree either." I tell her. Of course, we are insulting ourselves not the other person.

"Now let's test if you blend in well." I don't know what it was that made me feel like I was in a child's game, but I felt playful, like I wasn't going to die.  "Brandon!" I call out.

He looks over to me from where he practices shooting a bow. I wave my hand for him to come over and he walks over with the bow still in hand.

"How do you like my mad skills." I say suppressing a laugh.

"I bet you can't even see me." Candy says sarcastically, but it was the best lying I've ever seen, except for the glint of amusement in her eyes.

"Not at all." Brandon nods. "I didn't even know you were with her until you spoke." Which was impossible. She looked. More like a muddy river and it wasn't even her entire body that was painted, so you could easily see half her face and her entire body.

We all look around at each other and laugh. The first laugh I've had at the Capitol.

•••

"You all have one more day of training before private assessments. Have you figured out what to do yet?" Finnick asks us.

"I'll thrown the daggers." I tell him.

"I'll probably either do axes or spears." Brandon shrugs. "But Seven might be using the axes."

"But you are going first, are you not?" Finnick asks. "Blow him out of the water before he even goes."

"I guess you're right." Brandon stands from the couch. "I'm going to shower. Tomorrow I'll practice with the axes." 

Finnick nods and then it's just the two of us. I look to the other side of the couch.

"Why did the pomegranates trigger Annie, Finnick?" I whisper, just so she doesn't hear me. Finnick sighs like he knew the question was coming.

"I'm going to tell you this, because everyone deserves to know this before they commit to the games." He turns toward me. "Once you enter the arena, Kya, you never leave it."

I let it sink in. Why would I never leave? Then it really sinks in. Flashbacks. That's just the one think I know of now.

"I thought even after I won the Hunger Games I would go back to work at the dock, but I can't spear a fish without remembering one so so I liar impelling in a real humans flesh." He says it quickly like fire and he just wanted it out of his mouth.

"Did the pomegranate seeds trigger something from the game?" I ask him.

"She told me once it reminded her of the teeth of one of the final tributes. Stained with blood, but she wasn't sure. Said a lot of the last week was blurry." Finnick says.

I sit there for a minute.

"Finnick." I whisper. "I'm scared."

He sighs and opens his arms for me. I let myself crawl across the couch to him.

"I want to tell you not to be. That you shouldn't be and maybe that's what you want to hear, but it's good to be scared. Stay on your toes." Finnick mutters. "And these games are going to be the hardest things you've ever experienced if you make it out. I think you can do it."

"Thank you Finnick." I wait for a few minutes before I speak up again. Some scary part of me made me say it, but I couldn't help it. I pull away from him and ask, "When did you figure out you loved Annie?"

I look up at Finnick's face and he closes his eyes.

"I was Annie's mentor, Kya. I can never help forming a bond with the tributes but Annie was different. I told myself I couldn't do this, but when I was with her I felt something else."

He kept his eyes closed as he talked like that's the only way he could recall the memories.

"I could barely sit by those monitors every day watching her in the arena. Especially the last couple of days when she started having such a hard time. When the flood hit, I should've been relieved knowing she could swim, but I wasn't. I thought what I had was hard, but I didn't know if she'd even want to live after the trauma."

"Are you glad she's still alive?" I ask him.

"Yeah." Finnick answers. "It was different after the games. She needed me and I was there. I realized then what I'd felt before and during the games. I really loved her."

I smile and stand to leave.

"Thank you for telling me this Finnick. You're right though. Everyone deserves to know this before the games."

"Believe me." Finnick says. "I wish someone had told me."

We stare at each other in understanding then I leave. As I go by my door, my fingers graze the nob, but I pass up the door and push open another which is identical.

"I hope you weren't asleep, Brandon." I say.

"Sleep?" He shakes his head and sits up. "Do you ever get any of it?"

"Not anymore." I answer and sit across from him on his bed. I could still feel the steam from his shower.

"Are you okay?" He asks me. I shrug. Girls at school were obsessed with him, and talked about him frequently. I see what they did. "You grow up ready for this but I'm not ready to die yet."

"Why would you die?" I ask. "Have you not ever considered the chance of you winning."

"Let's not talk about the games." Brandon tells me. I try not to flinch away as Brandon brings his hand Up to my forehead and tucks a piece of hair behind my ear. "Let's just enjoy what time we have left together."

I search for honesty in his eyes. And it shocks me what I find.

I see the look I saw in Finnick's eyes when he talked about Annie.

I figured I was wrong.

And let it go.