Hurricane • F. Odair

five » sunsets

A L T H E A

   When the brightness of the morning sun reached Althea's eyes, she was already awake. Shortly after Finnick had left at three am, she woke to another nightmare. Until yesterday, nightmares and panic attacks were things of the past. With a groan, the woman rolled out of bed begrudgingly. It was the first day of training. The thought of that alone caused the Hawkforge to groan again. She hated training days. It was just an excuse for the big shots to show off their skills and intimidate the other tributes.
Pulling on a pair of shorts and slippers, Althea headed into the living area of the floor. She wasn't surprised to see her father already sitting on the couch with a cup of hot chocolate.
"Good morning, Dad," she said, her voice a bit groggy.
"Hi honey. Feeling better?" His cool blue eyes stayed on her as she sat down on the opposite end of the couch, a small yawn escaping her lips.
"You know the answer."
Logan sighed. "Indeed I do."
Thatcher emerged from his room then, looking rightfully ruffled. In the glory of the morning sunshine, he looked almost angelic. He smiled at the Hawkforges, his dark hair sticking up in every direction.
"Morning," his sleepy voice caught Althea off guard. If she didn't have Finnick, well...
Wait.
Since when did she have Finnick to begin with? Why was the thought of him making her guilty for looking at Thatcher's scrumptiously chiseled chest?
"Let's discuss training strategy," Logan started, placing his cup on the table. Althea brought a knee to her chest. "I want to know what you're going to do today. If I see need for change, I'll tell you, but I'd like to see how you guide yourselves."
"I'm going to focus on weapons I'm not particularly strong in," Thatcher began, stretching where he stood. "I'd like to work on finding allies as well." Althea swallowed, remembering how allies had worked out for her last time. Logan nodded before turning to his daughter.
"I'm going to work on survival skills. Finding food, fresh water, that kind of thing," she folded her other leg underneath her. Logan narrowed his eyes almost imperceptibly, but she knew her father well.
"Looks like you two have set your minds to it, then. I think you both know to save your best skills for the private training."
Thatcher stretched again, yawning a bit. "Yes, sir." Althea nodded in response as well. She just wanted to go back to bed with Finnick at her side to tell her more stories, but of course that was too much to ask. The woman noticed the Avoxes bringing in breakfast and scurried to grab a plate.
Grabbing a biscuit, four slices of ham, three orange slices, and two of cheese, she backed away from the table. She split the biscuit, layering her ham and cheese in between the buttery goodness. After finishing her breakfast, and without saying a word to her father or Thatcher, she headed back to her room, where an outfit was laid out for her. A silver and black tank top accompanied by black leggings didn't look like much, but it would have to do.
Thatcher said nothing as they descended into the training center. Upon entering, Althea was unimpressed immediately. Gloss and Cashmere were throwing knives, Johanna, although a dear friend, was being a bit excessive in her axe wielding, Brutus seemed to think one throw was sufficient to intimidate the Girl on Fire, and Enobaria was more animal than woman with her sharpened teeth.
Her eyes found Finnick on their own accord, searching for him in the room of killers. His smile when their gazes met was enough to send butterflies through her chest. The brunette smiled gently back to him before focusing her gaze on Thatcher.
"I'm going to work on shelter building, and maybe camouflage after, okay?" She wasn't sure why she felt the need to tell him where she was going, but it felt right.
He smiled, reaching out to ruffle her hair. "I'm not your keeper, Al, you don't have to report to me," he paused, scratching his chin for a moment. "But don't piss anyone off, okay? I'm not trying to protect you from all of them."
Jaw popping open, she sent an elbow into his side playfully. "I can take care of myself, Golsbane." He just snickered in response, moving to the knife section. She let her eyes linger longingly on the blades, but forced herself to move to the fire building station.
Once she felt good enough without the matches and her ability to make a fire, she moved to the camouflage section. The color selection was fairly low, but by grabbing green, brown, and white, she was able to turn her arm into a tree log. Good to know that skill hadn't lessened.
"I did that last year," the voice of Peeta Mellark literally appearing out of nowhere almost made her pee her pants. She'd been so engrossed in her painting that she hadn't heard him approach.
She remembered him camouflaging himself when Cato had cut his leg. "Quite literally, if I remember correctly. You have talent," his ears pinked at her words.
He scratched the back of his neck, gesturing to her arm. "You do, too. Where did you learn how to do that?"
Flashes of her decapitated mother scrambled through her head, but Althea shoved them back, refusing to let it ruin her conversation. "My mother taught me." She could feel holes being burnt into her head. Looking from Peeta's sincere and adorably awkward expression, Althea met the steel gaze of Katniss Everdeen herself. The older woman dropped her chin in a quick nod before turning back to Peeta.
"Are you okay?" The blond's question shocked her, not expecting any type of concern. Her eyes found his, only finding sincerity and curiosity.
Sighing, she pushed a dark lock of hair behind her ear. "Yeah, I'm okay as one can be. It's a bit annoying though, isn't it?" He gently took the brown from her, looking briefly confused when she held out her free arm. "You're an artistic genius, kid, paint something."
"What, being brought back?" Peeta's gaze grew concentrated as he took out the orange, pink, yellow, and red. She looked at Enobaria behind him, and the idiot twins sparring with attendants.
"Well yes, but I mostly meant how Enobaria looks like a dog with crocodile teeth," her voice came out a little quieter than it had been, but the seventeen year old still heard her. He snorted, the sound turning into laughter. Althea cracked a smile at the cute, rare sound. He reminded her of Willow in a way. The way their eyes crinkled when they smiled was nearly identical. He snorted again, causing the woman to join him.
Heads turned in their direction, but Althea could honestly care less. She didn't know when she would laugh like this again. Eventually, the duo stopped erupting into giggles every time they looked at each other, and Peeta was able to return to his painting. She looked around, observing the other Victors for weaknesses while trying not to feel tickled by the feeling of Peeta's brush on her skin.
Like Peeta and herself had just been, Wiress and Beetee often broke into laughter. Thatcher was conversing with Seeder and Chaff, sending her a smile every once in a while.  The siblings, Brutus, and Enobaria were conversing as well, sending them a glare now and then, but mostly kept their gazes on Katniss. The morphlings from Six were painting each other not far from where Peeta and Althea were sitting, and they were actually quite good. Johanna was still swinging her axe like there were actual people attacking her, barely breaking a sweat. Finnick, in all of his sweaty glory, was sparring with an attendant using a staff. Her eyes travelled back to Katniss, who was now sitting with Mags at the fishing hook station.
"Your girl seems to have a lot of enemies," Althea said, distracting Peeta from the beautiful sunset that was forming on her arm. He followed her gaze and then looked at her.
"Am I to count you among them?" He hoped the answer was no.
She looked to him, narrowing her icy blue eyes. "I am only an enemy to those who attack me first, and you'll be wise to remember that," her tone had turned cold, but the thinly veiled threat only steered the boy in the right direction.
He nodded, returning to his painting. "Understood."
An animatronic voice sounded over the speaker system, announcing lunch. When it was her turn, Althea piled meat onto her plate, along with some green beans and a couple chunks of pineapple. Sitting down at an unoccupied table, she began to munch on the meat, which proved to be some kind of pork. It was extremely delicious, and she hated that it was possibly the last time she'd ever taste it.
   As soon as fingers entered the corner of her vision, headed dangerously towards her plate, Althea snatched the familiar hand. Her grip was like steel and Finnick was surprised at her reaction time.
   "Finn, you know I have to have my protein or my hands shake worse. Don't make me break your hand," she was only partially joking. Johanna took the seat on her left, Blight on her other side. Finnick laughed in her ear.
   "Alright, I yield!" She let go of his hand, swatting it when he moved to ruffle her hair. He sat on her right, Mags joining them as well. Thatcher was still filling his plate.
   "Pussy!" Johanna coughed into her napkin, warning a laugh from Althea and Blight. Finnick just smirked, putting a forkful of pork in his mouth. They ate in silence for a few moments, enjoying the Capitol cuisine.
   "So," Johanna swallowed. "You and golden boy seem to be chumming it up, huh?" The question was directed at Althea, but she just rolled her eyes.
   "I'm not chummy with anyone, Jo. I was analyzing," she shoveled another bite of meat down her throat.
   "You're not going to kill him, are you?" Johanna asked. The table seemed to go silent, despite the two women being the only ones talking.
   Althea put her fork down, leveling her stare at her long-time friend. "Johanna, if Peeta Mellark or Katniss Everdeen die, it will not be by my blade."
   That seemed to calm them down. Finnick snorted. "Why do you talk like you're from another era?"
   Her eyes narrowed at him. "Because I'm educated in grammar? What do you want me to say?" She turned back to Johanna. "Why aren't you asking him why he's so chummy with the Girl on Fire, huh?"
   Her best friend surprised her by snaking his arm around her waist. "Because you're the only one I care about being chummy with, Thea, now hush up and eat your pork."
   Briefly sticking her tongue out at him, she continued to finish her lunch. He squeezed lightly at her waist before working on his meal as well. Feeling eyes on her face, she looked up to see Katniss staring at her again. The two women held each other's gazes for a long, challenging moment. Katniss's grey eyes held an undeniable amount of dislike. The twenty-five year old smirked, moving her gaze to Peeta, who was also looking at her. She let her smirk turn into a small smile.
   "Tributes, please return to the designated training area," the animatronic voice from earlier interrupted their stare. Althea stacked her utensils and her napkin on her empty plate. She hated leaving a mess for the Avoxes. It was bad enough that they were enslaved by the Captiol. Cleaning up after herself was the least she could do.
   She followed Finnick out of the room, finding it in herself to finish the day. Thatcher threw an arm around her shoulder. With a connection of their eyes, a promise was made.

AN: what do y'all think? Let me know! I'd like to know your thoughts on what you would like to see happen/how you're feeling! Love you!