~ [chapter five] ~

ᶠˡᵃˢʰᵇᵃᶜᵏ
"Have you lost your mind?" Finnick couldn't believe what he'd just witnessed.

"No!" Cassia sat against the wall, her body racking with sobs. "I just got angry."

"You punched him in the face!" Finnick clarified. "What did he do to make you that angry?" Cassia stopped crying and wiped her face.

"I really don't remember. He said something and before I knew it his nose blood was all over my hand." Finnick sat down next to Cassia and rested his head on her shoulder.

To him, this was kind of funny. His two best friends, fighting over a candy bar. He knew Cassia was going to be the one who took it too far; inside, he wanted to laugh.

"Where is Dominic, anyway?" He asked after a while.

"I don't know," she said quietly. "I should probably go apologize." She gave him a silly smile and left the room.

Finnick sat there for a moment longer before getting up to join his friend. Of course this wasn't the first time like this had happened- Finnick had been the victim of one of Cassia's vicious fist throws before. More than once. This wasn't a rare occasion.

Usually, Finnick would get mad. He'd let his anger out and then apologize even though it wasn't necessary. But now all he felt like doing was laughing. And nothing was funny about the ways things had gone down despite the stupid starter of the argument.

Maybe things aren't so terrible after all, he thought as he sprinted down the long hallway to catch up with Cassia. Against all the odds, maybe things weren't so bad.

•••

Cassia had a look of rage and fire in her eyes. "Snap out of it!" She said, waving her hand in front of his face. "Your life is literally on the line here."

"I'm sorry," he said, his facial expressions morphing, fueled by anger. "How do you expect me to get along with them?"

"I... I don't. I just expect you to stop being stupid." She crossed her arms and walked away- clearly she was off on the better foot.

"I can't stop being myself," he grumbled, even though he knew she couldn't hear him anymore. Finnick was done with the snotty careers for the day. He was fine with dying if it meant avoiding any more conversations with them.

In reality, he was immensely over exaggerating. What he needed to do was not let her tell him what he could or shouldn't do, but it never worked out that way. As much as he hated to admit it, Cassia was always right in these types of situations. She lived in survival mode. Finnick lived in his own world, trapped inside his head.

Cassia was right again. He had to snap out of it. He risked another glance at his friend, who had occupied herself with the careers. Again, her head was in the right place. But Finnick knew one thing- he couldn't let her get in his head. He was here for her, after all. And if Finnick wanted to prove himself and save her, he had to do it on his own terms.

•••

"Weapons aren't the only thing that will keep you alive in that arena." Finnick stood in his own world, trying to focus on the fuzzy words of his instructor while also searching for Cassia. When his eyes landed on her, there was this glowing passion in her eyes as she studied the woman who was talking intently.

He stood in between District One, arms crossed. Cassia has refused to speak to him, but he didn't let it get to him. From now on, he was the future victor.

"Finnick. Finnick!" Fingers crossed his line of vision and his blurry eyes focused.

"What?" He looked forward, disappointed to see that the girl speaking wasn't Cassia trying to solve their complicated problems.

"Show me what you can do with a trident." The girl from District One grabbed his wrist and guided him over to a large metal rack stacked some of the deadliest weapons he had ever seen.

"How did you know I'm good with a trident?" Finnick's voice was hushed.

"I'm not an idiot," she said sternly. "Show me how you're going to win."

"What?" Finnick looked at the girl, confused.

"Just hurry up," she said through a smirk. Finnick raised his eyebrows, but decided not to ask anymore questions.

His eyes studied the rack, up and farther as the weapons grew in size and his eyes widened. He finally found the perfect one.

The weapons area was laid out in multiple sections and took up more than half of the training area. The shooting range to his left, the spears to his right. Each were already occupied by the District Two tributes, and the swords area on the farther side of the room was sport for District One's one-man-sword-throwing show.

Finnick gulped, his Adam's apple bobbing.

"Focus, Finnick." Finnick turned his attention back to the girl and the trident in his hand.

He took a deep breath and a step back, readying his arm in the position his father had taught him when he was a little boy and learning to spear fish. He let go, not even looking at the target he was aiming for.

"Wow." He hadn't even realized his eyes were closed, but when he opened them, he could see what she was talking about.

Previous to throwing his trident, three dummies had been set in a row, too close to each other. Finnick's trident had gone through all three.

"You're a lot better than I though you'd be," she said, her arms crossed.

"Thank you?"

"I'm Allencia by the way." She held out her hand, and Finnick shook it.

"Finnick. Of course, you already knew that." Allencia smiled. Finnick wanted to punch himself in the face; he might as well start a list of all the stupidest things he's ever said.

Allencia retrieved the trident from the dummies, and as she walked away, they fell to the floor, the gooey, blood like stuff the creators had added for effect sweeping into the floor.

"I'll make sure my partner doesn't kick the crap out of you anymore." She started to walk away, but Finnick stopped her.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" He asked. Allencia turned to face him.

"Give yourself a chance," she said, and walked away, joining her district partner at the swords. The majority of the tributes had stopped to watch him, which Finnick found extremely stupid.

He couldn't tell if Allencia's response was an actual answer to his question, but he let it be. There was something different about her compared to the other careers.

But her precise aim with a sword was the only thing that made him think maybe she was the same. Her ability to hit three targets in matters of seconds and still control the massive swords like they're small knives. It's terrifyingly fascinating.

She was right. Finnick needs to give himself a chance. His eyes swept the room one last time, searching for Cassia. Her focus was steady at the knives station, on the other side of the room.

It's like they could talk in each others minds- she turned her head in his direction and their eyes locked. She had a fierce look in her eyes, but behind all of that there was anger and happiness and fear. She was too hard to read.

He turned away first, but risked a glance back. He'd been training with her for years and never really knew how good she was with weapons. What the heck was I thinking? he thought. He wanted to scream, but he refused to let his internal thoughts out. He had to look strong. She didn't need protecting. She can do this all on her own.

He threw his trident again. The bulls-eye in the center of the dummy exploded on impact, leaving it in ruins.

Finnick felt strangely proud. All he had to do was survive. He forgot about Cassia, forgot about why he was there in the first place. Now he knew what Allencia meant. Make himself the priority. It was his time to shine.

He was the shark in a sea full of fish. And he was going to win.

ahh! ok, i don't think i've written all summer but i finally did it. this chapter has stumped me so hard but it's finally done. please give me feedback! tell me what you think, what you hope to see next. who's your favorite so far?

anyway, thanks for reading! KateDanceOwl and Katniss_Rue_Mellark this one's for you. i hope you enjoyed it and i'm so sorry for being so inactive! love all of you.