Uncharted Waters [1]

Chapter 5



The moment Mira stepped inside the room, all eyes were on her. Seeing that she was the last one to join them, and had the others waiting made her blush in embarrassment. She tried to look at anyone but a particular person who almost saw her naked. 

"Well, it's about time you joined us. I told Finnick to come get you, unfortunately, he came back alone." Thalassa says, making Mira look at Finnick as their eyes meet briefly. "What are you waiting for lovely, take a seat." Thalassa pointed a manicured nail to a seat right in front of the person she planned to avoid. She had no choice but to take the seat and decided just to pretend that Finnick was not sitting across her. 

Mira looked at all the food that was placed right in front of her. Never in her life, has she seen this much food on a table. Even if 4 was one of the wealthier districts, the feast before her still astonished her. 

"Before I forget, how about some proper introductions?" Thalassa starts, "As you all know my name is Thalassa Myrtus, but you can just call me Lassie. My name is quite a mouthful yes?" She wiggles her eyebrows. 

Finnick hummed in agreement before a charming grin crawled up his face. "Hello, I'm Finnick-" Before he could finish, Destan rudely finished for him as he muttered, "-Odair, we know. Who wouldn't?" Instead of being offended, Finnick only chuckled at the boy and continued his introductions by looking at the now-frozen Mira standing by the table. 

Finnick raised an eyebrow at her and threw her a playful look, "Care to sit down Mira?" He offered, saying her name in a teasing manner as Mira scurried to take a seat, hiding her blushing face from the others. 

When Mira was seated, she shyly looked at the other person sitting next to Finnick. It was Mags Flanagan, the victor of the 11th Hunger Games, one of her mother's mentors. Mira noticed that Mags was smiling at her, so she returned one. "This is Mags," Finnick introduced, smiling more genuinely as she looked at the woman who practically raised him the moment he became a victor. "my mentor, and now your mentor too." He finishes, beaming at the two tributes. 

"Hello, my dear." Mags greets. And before she can say anything else, a bronze man with blonde hair makes his presence known as he enters the car that contains the others. 

"I'm Adrian Aalto, 40th Hunger Games, the one who used a hook on a rope as a weapon-" He acted out as if he were fishing for emphasis, "-Adrian Aalto. And this is Eldoris Irving. winner of the 23rd. We're to be your survival guide." 

After the introductions, they started to eat the feast that was served just for them. While Destan was piling his plate with each of everything, Mira was the complete opposite, much to Thalassa's disapproval. Because of everything that has happened Mira lost her appetite and can't stomach that much food, even if it all looked mouth-watering to her. After the meal, they all went to a room where they could all sit down and watch the recap of the reaping from all over Panem. 

They all took their places, each getting a seat, except for Finnick who remained standing as he grabbed himself a drink from the bar. 

Thalassa turned on the screen just in time for the recap to start. "How wonderful! We're just in time." Thalassa exclaims giddily, taking a seat on one of the sofas and making herself comfortable. 

The intro started, and Adrian who was seated comfortably on a couch with a drink in hand suddenly spoke up, "I suggest you take note of the other tributes, and try to assess them based on how well they handled the whole situation." He then averted his gaze to the screen, and the others joined him to continue watching the recap of the reapings. Finnick was the last to join them, also with a drink in hand. He leans on the bar, not caring to join the others. Mira sneaks a quick peek at his young mentor, and their eyes meet for a brief second while Finnick takes a sip of his drink.

The seven of them watched the reapings one by one. For Mira, the ones that stood out from Districts 1 to 3 were a handsome boy who volunteered from District 1 and a tall girl with red hair from District 2. There was something about the look in the girl's eyes that made Mira shiver, especially when she looked directly at the camera and grinned even wider. Mira felt as if she was mocking the viewers, already proving herself to be a threat, and that this whole thing was just a walk in the park for her. The boy from District 2 was no different; he was huge and had a face void of emotion, but his eyes told a different story. 

Then it was their turn. Mira stiffened from her place as she watched the all-too-familiar scenario transpire right before her eyes. Her being reaped, Tom being reaped, Destan volunteering, all of it was still too fresh for Mira and her heart ached at the whole thing. Before her emotions could get the best of her, she silently thanked that the reaping proceeded to the next District.

Mira and the others watched the rest of the reapings for the rest of the hour until it ended. Mira stood up from her place when Thalassa dismissed them to bed. "Make sure to get a good night's sleep. We arrive first thing in the morning!" She chirped and strutted her way out of the room, leaving the tributes and their mentors to themselves. Without a word, Finnick walked towards Mags to usher her out of the car. 

"Have a good night's rest, my dear Mira," Mags says before accepting Finnick's arm and leaving for the night. Eldoris was fast asleep on the bar stool while Adrian was too busy pouring himself a drink to care about the tributes' presence.

Mira was still standing awkwardly as she contemplated to say something to Destan before she retired for the night. Mira observes the young boy with dark hair, awfully similar to hers as he stares out of the moving train's window. Mira bit her lip, as she decided to finally have the courage to thank the stranger who volunteered in place of a young boy she thought he barely even knew. "Thank you Destan." She says out of the blue. "You saved his life." 

"Oh shit." The two look at their mentor who was biting on bread and a hand inside his glass looking at them like a deer caught on headlights. "Don't mind me, I'm not the one whose life's at stake here." He says grabbing another bread and his glass before leaving.

Without looking back at her, he answered. "I saved his life, now who's going to save mine?" Mira was taken aback at Destan's question, feeling ashamed of herself, and without thinking she blurted out, "I will. I'll save you, I promise." Mira earned a bitter chuckle from Destan as he stood up and walked towards Mira, towering over her. She almost forgot that she was younger than him considering Destan's height and attitude as she avoided his peering eyes. She tucked a hair behind her ear and took a step back when she realized their proximity. But it was useless since Destan also took another step closer to her. And every time she took a step back, Destan would take one forward, until she felt her back hit the counter and Destan gripped his hand on it, trapping her from escaping. Mira only managed to avoid his eyes the whole time and slightly leaned back to avoid further contact. 

Mira's heart could be felt pounding on her chest when Destan leaned on her to whisper something in her ear. "Think before you promise something you don't intend on keeping. Nobody could save me from that arena, especially not a weak, untrained girl like you." Mira's eyes widened at his harshness, and she was frozen in her spot. She didn't even notice Destan leaving the car because of his words, which held nothing but the truth. Mira clutched her chest and let out a huge breath she did not know she was holding. A sound made her snap her head in the direction of the door, revealing a grinning Finnick with his arms crossed to his chest as he stared at her amusingly. 

Already humiliated enough, Mira decided to leave the room without sparing another glance at her supposed mentor. Much to her relief, she passed Finnick without any trouble, successfully ignoring his penetrating gaze and walked towards the lush halls of the train that led to her temporary chambers. 

The moment she was sure that she was finally alone in her room, only then did she let the unshed tears fall out of her blue eyes.