Peaceful Forever [Book 3]

Chapter 17

-Finnick's POV-

The first thing I notice when I rise into the arena is the smell of saltwater and the sound of the waves. If I close my eyes tight enough I could convince myself I was in 4.

Looking around, I notice that all the pedestals are surrounded by water with spikes of rock a few yards away. Shit shit shit. I need to find Amily.

I look for her but I can't spot her. It seems like everyone has been positioned exactly opposite of their district partner. I'm behind the cornucopia so I can't see what's inside but it has to be weapons as there's nothing outside of it.

In my wedge, on my right, stands an eager Cashmere. Fuck. Does that mean that Amily is next to Gloss? Johanna is in the next wedge over so I really hope Blight can get to Amily.

Before I can even look for the rest of our allies, the horn sounds and I dive into the water. I'm by far the fastest swimmer and so I reach the cornucopia first, grabbing a silver trident.
I hear a bow being drawn and quickly turn around, noticing an on edge Katniss.

"Good thing we're allies, right?" I grin, flashing my gold bangle. How does she swim so fast?
I notice the male from 5 is quickly approaching so I yell at her to duck before I throw my trident into his chest.

I retrieve my trident and realize that Katniss and I really need to get moving. The careers are quickly approaching and we need to find Amily and the rest of our group.

Katniss starts sprinting and I notice that Peeta is fighting someone in the water. I want nothing more than to locate Amily and I think Katniss notices this.

"I saw Blight take off with Amily," she says. "Come on we need to help Peeta. He can't swim."

Agreeing, I dive into the water and kill the man fighting Peeta. Katniss seems relieved when we resurface and we quickly run off into the jungle. I really hope Katniss is right about Amily and Blight.

-Blight's POV-

Rising into the arena, I am greeted by a lake on all sides of me. Good thing I can swim.

I look around for my allies and spot Amily two pedestals over. She seems to be hyperventilating and I suddenly remember that she's terrified of water due to her games.

The only person between me and her is Gloss. I really hope he goes straight for the cornucopia and doesn't pay her any attention. I should head to the cornucopia myself for some weapons but I can't leave Amily alone on her pedestal. She's my friend and we can't count on Finnick's cooperation if she dies.

Sighing, I prepare to dive towards the strip of land separating me and Gloss. If I swim at an angle towards the beach, I should hopefully be able to avoid him.

The horn sounds and I dive into the water. I quickly arrive at the rocky strip and pause till I can see Gloss pull himself up and run towards the cornucopia. I hurdle myself over the rocks and continue swimming towards Amily.

When I get to her, she is curled into a ball on her pedestal. I gently nudge her to get her attention but she doesn't move. Realizing we need to move quickly, I drag her off of her pedestal and swim with her towards the shore. She puts up a bit of a fight at first but calms down when she realizes it's me.

We find Wiress at the beach frantically pointing at Beetee, who is bobbing in the water holding some sort of coil. Our ugly belts must be floatation devices.

I'm about to run and grab him when I see Johanna dive in for him. She looks like she has a few axes on her. Beetee appears to have a knife in his back but he is still moving and alert so we will have to address it later.

Jo drags Beetee onto the beach and I glance around for Finnick before making the executive decision to take off into the jungle with Amily.

She'll be safe with us and we risk catching the careers' attention if we wait around for them.
I get Amily to hop on my back and our alliance of five starts trekking into the jungle.

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AN: And the games have begun! I've kept them pretty canonically accurate up until the last night but even that isn't too far off from canon.