𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 | 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐢𝐫

TEN

x. Risky Decisions

An hour after the whole ordeal with Finnick, Aurora had managed to converse with District Three's geniuses, Beetee and Wiress. Or as Johanna calls them, Nuts and Volts. They were basically leaking with intelligence. They knew of the forcefield placed between the gamemakers and themselves, acting as if it were the most obvious thing when Aurora had no clue of its existence. She had finally realized why they were known as the geniuses of all the victors. As a school dropout, they knew more now than she could ever learn in a lifetime.

They seemed like potential allies in her mind.

A certain station managed to catch her eye, a fish hook station. A smile formed on her face before she walked over, looked at the materials laid out for her on the table. Some twine, netting, twigs, things she would've found in the arena. The only tool there seemed to be a knife.

Aurora began immediately working with different materials. The last time she had made a proper fish hook was months ago, with Mags at the pier. Mags was a prodigy when it came to creating fish hooks, that's how she had won her games in the first place. She was able to make fish hooks out of practically anything. Mags was living proof you didn't have to use brute force and combat to survive in the games.

Aurora seemed to be so focused on her creation, she hadn't noticed the newcomer.

"You're really good at that." Her head shot up to find the talk of all the tributes, Katniss Everdeen. This was her chance.

"Hello, Katniss. Thank you, I learned from the very best." Aurora remembered the days they'd spend at the pier, Mags teaching her to create such convenient survival tools. Although, never did she think she'd ever need it for the games.

"I-uh, I watched you volunteer for that girl." Aurora shrugged her shoulders at the comment. It was obvious Katniss was impressed with her brave action, yet she didn't think much of it herself. With Annie, she'd do it in a heartbeat, no hesitation.

"Well, you must understand, volunteering for your sister." Katniss licked her lips. Conversations always seemed to roundabout back to her, unintentionally.

"I-I'm sorry about your brother." Aurora's attention peaked. This was the last thing she expected her to talk about, yet she wasn't surprised. Aurora was always known as the sibling who made it out alive. "It's just, I couldn't imagine ever losing Prim. Let alone be sent in the games with her."

It was clear Katniss was attempting to empathize with the girl, gain her trust. Her approach wasn't the best, but it worked. If Aurora was going to have to protect the girl throughout the games, might as well make a friend out of it.

"There's no need to apologize, you didn't force him into the games." Aurora sighed, her eyes flickering back to the fish hook in front of her. She turned and glanced at the gamemakers who, thankfully, were looking the other way.