The Angel (Finnick Odair x OC x Johanna Mason)

4

A\N: Happy New Year!! 🥳  Thank you for all your reads and votes, and for sticking with my story thus far!  

As soon as the countdown ends, I race forward with as much speed as I can muster to reach the Cornucopia. Being small and fast has its advantages, since I'm the first to arrive.

Immediately snatching the twin knives I've had my eyes on, I pick up the spear next to it as well and launch it towards Tera from district 3, who is right across from me and only a few steps away from the Cornucopia. She falls, and a cannon booms.

Not bothering to retrieve the spear just yet when there's so many weapons available, my hand closes around a bow, and I smile when I see a quiver of arrows just two feet away.

Dodging an attack from Casey and Carter, a pair of siblings from district 6, I roll across the ground and grab the quiver in one smooth motion, just as Romulus comes to eliminate the two attackers from me with two clean swipes of his sword.

"You alright there, Harmony?" Romulus asks as two more cannons mark the deaths of the district 6 siblings. I look at their lifeless bodies, reaching out to each other's hand even in their last moments, and a slight twinge goes through my heart.

But then I remember, this is the Hunger Games, and it's kill or be killed.

"Yeah, I'm great," I reply a beat later as I notch an arrow in my bow. "Where's district 1?"

"On the other side of the Cornucopia," Romulus answers in the midst of a fight with Isaac from District 5. "They're taking care of the ones trying to run."

"Good," I reply briefly before letting my arrow fly and bury itself in an unfortunate tribute on her way over the valley. She falls, clutching a backpack in her hand which was mostly likely the first thing she could see in front of her. A cannon booms, and upon looking closer, I recognise her as Kelsi from district 8. Turning away, I notch another arrow, determined to pick off as many as I am able to.

Another five minutes later, the Cornucopia has fallen mostly silent without the cries and screams of the fallen tributes. The four of us remain: Amethyst, Blaze, Romulus, and me.

"Did anyone count the cannons?" Amethyst asks as she retrieves her weapons from the bodies.

"Yeah, 14 in total," I reply. Of the 14 cannons, 4 were by me. "That leaves us with 10."

Blaze grins wickedly. "This should be easy. Won't take too long before it's over."

"And there's not a lot of places to hide as well, the arena being valleys and all," Romulus chimes in.

"We should get hunting," Amethyst decides, and we all agree.

We appoint Blaze as a lookout to stay at the Cornucopia, and although he seems discontent on missing out on some of the action, he relents after declaring that he'll definitely be hunting next when we return. After loading ourselves with weapons and some food in one of the backpacks to last us through a few hours, the three of us set off in the direction that most of the tributes escaped in.

***

THREE DAYS LATER...

As we munch on our lunch for the day — a lavish meal of beef stew and fruit that some sponsors sent us (courtesy of my brother and his connections), we sit together and regroup, discussing strategies.

For the past three days, we have gone out in threes hunting relentlessly, searching the valleys high and low, but without much success. Apart from Tanner from 8 and Rye from 9, who were both hiding by themselves alone before they met the wrong end of our blades, we haven't found any signs of the other tributes.

They must be either really good at hiding, or we're just really bad at seeking.

The four of us must have set a record for most pathetic careers ever.

Given that there hasn't been a lot of action lately, we better up our game, otherwise it won't be long until the gamemakers decide that we're too stationary and boring to watch. Then they'll most likely set mutts or some other atrocity on us.

After our measly lunch, we decide on our next move.

"I think we need to start searching further. It won't do us any good now to stay in the middle of the arena if we can't find anyone else," I suggest as we pack away the food we have left. Although we are by no means starving and still got plenty of rations to spare, the situation will only grow worse the longer we stay in the arena without a victor.

"So what then?" asks Amethyst. "Are you saying we should just abandon the Cornucopia?"

"There's nothing for us here," I say. "I say the four of us just take what we need and start hunting. If we don't have to return every day, then that way we can cover more ground and hopefully find them faster."

"But the other tributes will have to come back here eventually," she argues, still sceptical. "There's no food source out in the valleys."

"We don't know that," Romulus jumps in. "Besides, some of them grabbed backpacks when they fled the bloodbath. We have to assume they have food and won't die of starvation anytime soon. The lack of cannons proves that."

"We need to start gaining some progress," I add, determined to persuade our district 1 allies. "It's been 3 days already."

"Okay, why not?" Blaze says. "It's a solid plan."

"Fine," Amethyst finally relents, and we start packing up our weapons and resources.

Several hours later, we've ventured deeper into the arena and climbed over crests and hills. Before long, we find the Autumn, the female tribute from district 11, at a water source. A cannon sounds when I shoot a clean arrow through her neck.

"Hey, I thought we agreed I could have the next one we find," Blaze argues, yelling at me.

"Sorry," I tell him. "An arrow's easier, otherwise she might hear us coming and run away."

"Fine, but I get to kill the next tribute," he snarls.

"That's 17 down," Amethyst interrupts to dissipate the tension. "There's only 3 left now, apart from us."

"Good," Romulus says. "The sooner it's over, the better."

"We should probably settle down and call it a day," I tell them, glancing around the landscape. "It's getting dark and there's a water source here. Let's unroll the tents."

They oblige, and we take a break from hunting for the rest of the day. Instead, we spend some of the time scouting and training with our weapons, as well as making our next game plan.

The night passes without incident as we take turns being the lookout. However, in the morning, when we have rolled up the tents and are about to leave our makeshift campsite, we hear a suspicious sound nearby.

"Did everyone hear that?" Romulus asks, glancing back at us.

Before anyone can reply, some sort of contraption is thrown towards us from behind a hill, the perpetrator unclear. It starts beeping, making a horrible staticky noise.

"Everyone, get back and take cover!" I manage to yell before the contraption explodes and all of us get knocked back on our feet.

Coughing amidst the smoke and fog caused by the explosion, I look around frantically, clutching a knife tight in my hand. Hearing a grunt and a cry in pain, I scramble back, alarmed by our predicament. Was that Amethyst who is hurt?

When I hear another cry, I take off running in the opposite direction, with only my backpack, my twin knifes, and my spear. I curse as I realise I left my bow and arrows at the campsite, but it's too risky to return to retrieve it. Unable to even see clearly through the smoke, I would only be an easy victim if I stayed.

Carrying on in the same direction, I don't slow my pace until I crest another two hills and come to another valley. It's getting really hard to tell directions in this plain arena, where almost everything looks the same.

Hearing some footsteps, I sigh and turn around in relief, hoping it's either Romulus or one of the tributes from district 1. But when I turn, it's not any of my allies.

I stare at the girl in front of me as a certain redhead from district 4 stares back unblinkingly.