skull on fire: A skulduggery pleasant/ hunger games crossover fanfic

Chapter Twelve: Fair haired Roses

Chapter Twelve: Fair Haired Roses

As me and Skulduggery watch Fionn and Rosaline train, I ponder over their names. Rosaline is fairly obviously connected to roses but the name Fionn.. I check quickly using my Tribute database, apparently the name Fionn means fair haired or blond, quite an ironic name for a boy with pitch black hair, long and carefully brushed into a fringe across his forhead. I laugh quietly to myself and Skulduggery looks at me although I am going mad,

"What?" I exclaim, laughing.

"Calm down Val. People are looking at us."

"Let them look! Plus, if they think I'm crazy, I won't be considered a threat, will I?

"Forget it," mutters Skulduggery, irritated, "Let's just go and talk to these tributes, okay?

I nod and begin to walk over to where Rosaline and Fionn are practising archery. Rosaline is teacing Fionn to string a bow properly, and I am blown away by her skill. I wonder how she learnt to shoot like that then realise that since the rebellion, many people learnt some strange skills from their parents. I wonder if Rosaline used to hunt in her district, then I shake my head and laugh to myself. If she managed to hunt in the woods without being caught, she is definatly going to make a good ally. With all the quadroupled security from the Capitol in the districts, it is barely possible to step a foot outside without being shot down or whipped brutally.

Then again, perhaps she was caught, and this is her punishment. What do I know after all?

As we casually wander past the other training stations, many of the tributes stare at us. Weather it is because Skulduggery is a skeleton, or just the way I keep giggling to myself, these people think we are weird, and hopefully, not a threat. Although, personally, if I did not know Skulduggery, I would be pretty intimidated by him. He can appear rather frightening sometimes.

Finally, we reach the archery station and some of the stares begin to turn away. Now all we have to do is talk to Fionn and Rosaline.

"Hey," I call, as I watch Rosaline hit target after target right on the head, "Can we have a moment?"

"Sure!" exclaims Fionn, "Always happy to talk to a fellow anti- Capitol tribute!"

"Shush!" yells Rosaline, looking around to check that nobody heard him, "You know you can't talk like that! Not here!!"

"Sorry," mutters Fionn, staring at his feet. It amuses me how a twelve year- old can boss around a grown man like that and I extend my hand to Rosaline with a smile,

"Valkyrie Cain," I introduce myself, "And very pleased to make your accuaintance!"

"Ditto," Smiles Rosaline, happily, "And this handsome skeleton is?

"Skulduggery" Skulduggery replies, flattered, "Skukduggery Pleasant"

"Nice to meet you Skulduggery! My name is Rosaline, and this here is Fionn" She says, gesturing first to herself and then towards Fionn.

"Hey." greets Fionn, with a wave, "Sorry 'bout that." He shakes first my hand, then Skulduggery's gloved one and motions for us to join them in training.

I am lucky enough to notice the small step up to the training platform and make it up safetly, but SKulduggery is not so lucky.

"Damn!" he exclaims, as his foot catches on the small step and he comes crashing down onto the ground, losing a shin bone in the process.

"Val," He mutters, embarrassed from where he is lying on the floor. "I don't suppose you could hand me my leg could you?"

For a few moments I am too busy laughing hystericly at the sight of Skulduggery lying crumpled on the floor to do anything, then I notice the stunned stares of the other tributes and sramble to fit the missing bone back in place.

Skulduggery sits up and stretches out his leg before standing.

"You could have warned me, you know!" He gestures towards the step angrily before seeing the looks on the faces of all the other tributes and cracking up.

"Oh... My.. Faceless One.. " He gasps between laughs, "The looks.. On your faces.."

He continues to laugh for over two minutes flat before sobering up and turning to look at Rosaline and Fionn, who are still staring, stunned, at his leg,

"Sorry about that," He smiles, matter of factly, "You were saying?"

"Oh, um, well." Mumbles Fionn in disbelief, "Um..."

"Seing as my friend here seems unable to speak." Begins Rosaline, "How's about a round of archery while we wait for him to regain his ability to talk?"

"Sounds like a great idea,' I laugh, watching Fionn who is still opening and closing his mouth like a fish, "Would you like to begin?"

"Sure" Answers Rosaline, happy to have a chance to show off her skills.

Rosaline walks over to a rack of bows and choses one that seems quite big and flexible, she then choses an arrow and walks over to the targets. She holds her hands steady as she aims and shoots a direct shot to the head of one of the dummys. I am very impressed.

"How did you get so good?" I wonder.

"Oh... Just natural skill," replies Rosaline, looking around warily. Obviously that is a lie but I am willing to let it go.

"Cool!" I exclaim, "My turn!"

I run over to the rack of bows and chose a small, stiff, black bow. I then chose an arrow and carefully fit it to the bow. Then I walk over to the targets. I have never fired a bow before, so I don't expect to do well, instead, i shoot the arrow higher than neccesary and quickly drop the bow to begin displacing the air around the arrow to make it fly straight into the head of the dummy, right beside Rosaline's arrow.

Rosaline stares at me as if she cannot belive her eyes and then extends her hand,

"Allies?" She asks.

"Allies." I reply, and shake her hand happily.

Me and Skulduggery spend the rest of our time training with Rosaline and Fionn, both of whom reveal some incredible skills along the way, Fionn is a master of camoflague and can disguise almost anything, Rosaline can lift heavy weights and both of them are incredibly capable climbers. Also, me and Skulduggery can already feel ourselves becoming firm friends with the tributes from District Eight.

A/N: Oh My God! over a thousand reads on this story!! I am completely blown away!! Thank you so much to everyone who has read, voted and commented so far! I love you guys!! Just a little thing about the chapter titles for this chapter and the last one, Fionn is 'blond' in irish, and rosaline makes me think of roses so thats where i got this title. And also if you like this story, you might like to check out my other Hunger Games fanfics, Prim's Song and What Are The Odds.

Also don't forget to vote and comment! I love you if you comment!

And never forget,

"Some infinities are bigger than other infinities."

-John Green, The Fault In Our Stars