Sell my Soul⇸Finnick Odair [1]

12

Her back was stiff and shoulders tense as she continued to sit there, staring straight at the things that continued to move but never really came any closer. She wasn't entirely certain of how long she sat there, still seeing the beach between the trees not too far away but still enough to conceal her from view. She wasn't sure how long it had been until she stood up, flexing her fingers around the handle of her hammer, as she began the slow walk toward the beach, not knowing what to do anymore now that she had lost Lux and sight of the Careers.

The only thing she had done in her last games was wandering around angry killing anyone she could get her hands on, but how could she do that now? When she had no motivation to survive the games, to begin with? Not on her own at least.

Lux had been a friend, a very good and close friend, and probably the last person she would ever speak to from her district, the last connection she had to her home, and Terra had lost it so quickly and easily, that it felt sort of hollow and empty, here around her.

Hunting alone, hunting people, that was something that she had done well the first time, but that was different, all the tributes she was faced with were victors themselves and knew better than to mistake letting her close. With Lux she would have had guidance and someone to keep her in check instead of spiralling as she was doing now.

Closing her eyes tightly, Terra takes a deep breath and continues to move forward, knowing that staying in one place wasn't going to help her.

She wonders, briefly, if she would see Lux's face in the night sky or if she would be stuck waiting for tomorrow. She wonders if the others would mourn him as she has when they see, if they would care when she knew - if that hadn't already figured it out with her scream.

Really, she just wanted to tug at her hair and shout, cry and yell and let everyone know what had happened, let the Capitol see her grief and pain as she threw herself to the sand crawlers, let them have her in some dramatic display.

A rustle of folliage to her left had her jumping to action, hammer at the ready and stance firm when she saw slow, timid steps expose themself. Short cropped hair and thin stature - Heller, from district 5. She couldn't remember when the girl had won her own games, but it had something to do with her wit.

"Heller," she greets, tense.

"Terra, I'm sorry."

Terra breathes sharply.  "For what?"

"I saw what happened back there and I'm sorry," Heller tells her, and she stiffens in response, waiting for the catch. "And I'm sorry for what I'm about to make you do."

"What?"

Heller charges her, sloppy and messy with wide punches and short kicks with only a pointed rock as a weapon. The older woman slashes at her again, reaching with grunts and groans.

"Wha- what are you doing? Stop!" Terra shouts, blocking with the hammer and moving back with steady steps.

"I can't be here anymore, I don't want to be here!" The older woman cries, lunging forward again.

"Stop it," she states firmly, continuously moving iut of the way. "You're acting crazy."

Heller stops, breathing heavily and closes her hand around the rock a little tighter. "Those things, they were horrible. There wasn't even any blood and he was just gone, sucked into the ground."

"I know! Don't you think I know? I watched him disappear and there was nothing I could have done, no enemy I could have fought away!" Terra argues, jabbing her lightly with the top, blunted bit of the hammer to push her back.