WINGS - Coriolanus Snow

TWENTY-ONE

CORIOLANUS, SMILEY AND BUG had gone to recruit Junius and Sejanus on their mission to find Aria. Coriolanus, if he was being honest, had considered leaving Junius to fend for himself. He had no redeeming qualities about him. He couldn't fight, could barely run, and overall wasn't the most pleasing to look at, with his skinny stature and concave chest, however Coriolanus knew that if by some miracle he ever managed to speak to Aria again, she'd never forgive him for leaving Junius to die.

"I wonder what Aria is doing right now," Coriolanus said his thoughts out loud to Sejanus. He thought of her, morning, noon and night. Coriolanus wondered if she'd found any allies. He hoped they were girls. If she was cuddling up to some handsome guy, he wouldn't know what to do.

"You'd better hope she's still alive," Sejanus said in an accusatory tone.

"Oh, come on. She's stronger than that. Out of everyone here, I know that the best," Coriolanus responded.

Unbeknownst to Coriolanus, Raphael had grown to understand this too. Him and Aria were prowling around the forest, listening out carefully for a single footstep to alert them of someone following them, however they didn't need to listen hard to hear the groans of a girl coming from behind a bush.

Raphael had his blade in hand, ready to strike, but Aria stopped him.

"Don't hurt her, not unless she does first," Aria warned.

"The point of The Games is to kill everyone," Raphael hissed.

"Go ahead and kill me, then," Aria challenged.

Raphael sighed and loosened his grip on his blade a little.

"Hello? Are you okay?" Aria asked before she peeked her head over the push to see a girl around the same age as Aria, sixteen, and a boy who looked a little older.

"She hurt her leg in those earthquake things," the boy explained.

"We don't have anything that can help, but I can go find some water?" Aria offered. The boy nodded gratefully, and stood up to go with her, but Raphael stopped him.

"Don't be so trusting, Aria. You never know what people are up to," he said, and went with Aria himself.

It didn't take long for them to locate a river, and they used a large leaf to gather some water to bring back.

"It could be useful to have more allies," Aria told Raphael as they were walking back. She was being careful not to spill any water, as using a leaf wasn't the most reliable.

"Yeah," he said, "but stay on your guard."

Aria had been wary of Raphael when she first saw him, but he was beginning to grow on her. If it weren't for him, she might've been dead. Of course, she'd have to find a way to repay him for his help.

"Drink up," Aria told the girl. "Once you've got a little strength back, we should go to the river and clean that wound out."

"Thank you, Aria," the girl said. Aria was taken aback for a moment when the girl said her name, but she realised she must be pretty well-known for winning The Hunger Games.

"You know my name, but what's yours?" Aria asked.

"I'm Missy. This is Arlo," she gestured towards the boy with her.

They all waited for Raphael to introduce himself, but stayed silent until Aria nudged him.

"Raphael," he sighed.

"I'm glad you two found us," Arlo said. "I couldn't protect Missy like I should have done."

"Are you two—" Aria trailed off.