She made broken look beautiful and strong look invincible. She walked with the universe on her shoulders and made it look like a pair of wings.
| the hunger games |
| catching fire |
| finnick odair // oc |
| completed |
| book two |
Started: 10/2...
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"Ladies and gentlemen, let the Seventy-fifth Hunger Games begin!" The voice of Claudius Templesmith, the Hunger Games announcer, hammers my ear. I have less that a minute to bet my bearings. Then the gong will sound and the tributes will be free to move off their metal plates. But move where?
I can't think striaght. My eyes scan around me looking for one of my friends. Slowly the world comes into focus. Blue water. Pink sky. White-hot sun beating down. All right, there's the Corncopia, the shining gold metal horn, about forty years away. At first, it appears to be sitting on a circular island. But on closer examination, I see the thin stripes of land radiating from the circle like the spokes in a wheel. I think there are ten to twelve, and they seem equal distant from one another. Between the spokes, all water. Water and a pair of tributes.
That's it, then. There are twleve spoke, each with two tributes blanced on metal paltes bettwen them. The other tribute in my watery wedge is Woof from District 8. He's about as far to my right as the land strip on my left. Beyond the water, wherever you look, a narrow beach and then dense greenery. I scan the circle of tributes, looking for Finnick, but he must be blocked from my view by the Cornucopia.
I catch a handful of water as it washes in and smell it. Then I touch the tip of my wet finger to my tongue. As I suspected, it's saltwater. Just like the water Finnick is used to in his Distrct. But at least it seems clean.
There are no boats, no ropes, not even a bit of driftwood to cling to. No, there's only one way to get to the Cornucopia. When the gong sounds, I don't even hesitate before I dive to my left. It's a longer distance that I'm used to, and navigating the waves takes a little skill than swimming across my quiet lake at home, but my body seems oddly light and I cut through the water effortlessly. Maybe it's the salt. I pull myself, dripping, onto the strip and sprint down the sandy stretch from the Cornucopia. I can see no one else converging from my side, although the gold horn blocks a good portion of my view. I don't let the thought of adversaries slow me down, though. I'm thinking like a Career now, and the first thing I want is to get my hands on a weapon.
The first time I was in the arena, the supplies were spread out a distance around the Cornucopia, with the most valuable closest to the horn. But this year, the booty seems to be piled at the twenty-foor high mouth. My eyes instantly homes in on a golden bow just in arm's reach and I yank it free.
There's someone behind me. I'm alerted by, I don't know, a soft shift of sand or maybe just a change in the air current. I pull an arrow from the sheath that's still wedged in the pile and arm my bow as I turn.
Finnick, glistening and gorgeous, stands a few yards away, with a trident poised to attack. A net dangles form his other hand. I lower my bow as he smiles at me. I see Katniss standing beside him and I pull a golden necklace from around my neck to show her that I am with her. When her eyes land on it, the golden arrow, her eyes lift back up to mine. For a moment we're frozen, sizing each other up, our weapons, our skill. "I guess we're all allies then." She speaks.
