𝐀𝐑𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐄 | finnick odair

- 𝟐𝟑

     a moment later, mags gripped both of finnick's shoulders, shaking him slightly. he knew what she meant with that - mags believed that such a bond couldn't be broken over one silly misunderstanding. their friendship could be restored by a simple heart-to-heart conversation. both parties knew that.

     meanwhile, atlantis couldn't help but feel guilty as she entered the training centre for the second time that week. finnick's guilt-stricken face flashed in her mind momentarily as her eyes landed on the knot tying station. the handsome boy was always able to think of a clever trap with a bit of rope. he was good at what he did.

     when her gaze moved along, the brunette could see merlin speaking to a few people from the other districts. today she decided that she'd mind her own business and focus on honing skills that she needed inside of the arena in hopes of forgetting finnick and their argument.

     despite the painful memory that the knot tying gave her, atlantis brought herself over to that area first. the prying eyes of the other career districts were on her back - they were impressed with her performance the other day and would try to see what else she could do that would be of use.

     after a few minutes of making complicated knots, a presence had joined her. atlantis recognised the girl from district 11, who's name she caught as yumiko tioan during the opening ceremonies they watched while having dinner.

     yumiko was a kind face, almost gentle, even. black hair, soft brown eyes. if and when it came to the arena, the brunette had noted to herself that she couldn't see the district 11 tribute killing anyone.

     she'd been struggling to tie off a knot whilst making a complicated net. atlantis thought that she could be of some help.

     "need a hand?" she offered, showing her own net.

     yumiko smiled at her softly, "if you would, please."

     atlantis nodded, taking her knot into her own hands, beginning to instruct her on how to correctly loop the rope through a hole, the task complicating as the direction of which the rope was going twisted one way and another. the other tribute watched carefully, taking note of how carefully her hands worked.

     another thing that atlantis had noticed was that yumiko hadn't gone to any of the battle stations yet, preferring to stick to the ones that focused more on knowledge than physical strain. it was clear she had no intention of killing anybody. much like atlantis who didn't think of herself as being a capable killer. she couldn't help but wonder what this girl was going to do when she ended up inside of the arena.

     "wow, could you... show me that from the beginning?" she requested, somewhat timidly.

     was she intimidated by her? atlantis had never thought of herself as someone who incited fear into other people. perhaps the extrovert qualities that she had developed from finnick were showing. again, she thought about her mentor, pained.

     the girl agreed, "alright. ask questions if you'd like."

     a while had been spent on the knot-tying station with occasional chatter before yumiko and atlantis bid their goodbyes to each other. in the end, yumiko managed to get the knot right. perhaps this would be someone that the brunette would consider to be her ally in the arena when they were to be thrown in.

     someone, she could turn her back on, and probably trust, unlike her own district partner who appeared to be hot and cold with her. unless, it was all an act - yumiko's innocence. there were many possibilities that she had to consider.

     the next station that atlantis had invited herself along to was the climbing station. of course, she was no good at climbing, but a good swimmer. learning an essential skill to climb trees in case of needing shelter or general escape was vital for survival. for her, there was no escaping that one.