𝑺𝑻𝑨𝑹𝑮𝑰𝑹𝑳 , 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐢𝐫

xlii. the claws of a beast

"Because I love you, Octavia. You're my family and I love you."

Octavia clenches her jaw, fighting the cry that was attempting to make its way to the surface.

"I don't know what you want me to say, Chaff."

"Octavia-"

"Chaff. I love you too, but I can't forgive you, not yet," she says. Chaff breathes out heavily through his nose, nodding at her words.

"There may be a water source this way," he points, "we should try."

"Okay."

They begin walking. It doesn't take long for Octavia to find herself thinking of Finnick. He would tell her to forgive Chaff. She isn't sure herself that she doesn't forgive him, but she wouldn't tell him that, yet. He had to know how he hurt her, that's how she saw it.

───

Finnick carries Mags on his back while Peeta leads, striking through jungle leaves with his machete. The group is fairly quiet apart from Peeta's grunts. Finnick pictures Octavia's sleeping face from the night before to keep himself calm.

"Peeta, no!" Katniss shouts a second before the group is sent flying backward. Finnick helps Mags after the fall. Katniss rushes to Peeta.

"He's not breathing! He's not breathing!" The girl frantically repeats, beginning to cry. Finnick pushes her away from him, making her draw an arrow.

Finnick begins performing compressions on Peeta's chest, followed by blowing air through his lips.

"Come on, Peeta," he mutters as he continues to attempt to revive his breath. He stops for a moment, putting his ear to Peeta's chest, listening for a heartbeat.

Katniss cries over Peeta's unresponsive state, begging him to wake up. Finnick continues with his actions, moving from compressions on Peeta's chest to blowing air into his lungs.

After what seemed like forever, Peeta gasped for air, immediately finding Katniss' eyes.

"Oh my god!" Katniss cries.

"Be careful," he says weakly, "there's a forcefield up there," Peeta cracks a joke. Katniss laughs through her sob. She leans down to place a kiss on his lips. Finnick watches with jealousy and agony.

"You were dead. You were dead. Your heart stopped," Katniss sobbed, running her hands through Peeta's hair.

"It's okay, it's working now," he tells her, pulling her down toward his body in a hug.

"Do you want to stand up?" She asks, to which he nods. Katniss takes his hand, helping him up from the ground.

Once they stand, they embrace each other again. Finnick's heart breaks as he watches them. Mags watches him, knowingly. His green eyes fill with pain as he thinks about Octavia; wondering where she was, if she was okay, if she was safe, it was tearing him apart.

Katniss continues to cry hysterically, to the point that Peeta begins questioning if she is okay.

"It's just her hormones," Finnick chimes in, "from the baby." Katniss attempts to disagree, but is cut off by more crying. Finnick raises an eyebrow at her.

It wasn't until now that Finnick knew Katniss loved Peeta back. It only made him more incentivized to find Octavia.

───

Octavia and Chaff made their way through the jungle, the sound of their own footsteps putting them on edge. Chaff was proven correct when they found a still stream of water. He lets out an excited laugh. Octavia can't help but smile back at him.

"Hand me the bottle," she says as she begins to step into the water that rises just above her ankles. Chaff takes both bottles from his bag, handing her one of them, and taking the other one into the water.

The pair stand peacefully for a few moments, letting the water fill their canisters. The sound of a snapping branch catches their attention. Both tributes snap their heads up immediately, freezing their movement at the sound.

They carefully scan the area around them, looking for what may have made the sound. When she hears the sound again, Octavia quietly unsheathes her katana, positioning her hands comfortably and ready to strike.

After another moment of silence, a dramatic roar sounds. It wasn't another tribute, they know now, it was a mutt.

Its footsteps begin to shake the ground around them as it charges. It was bigger than any mutt they'd ever seen. This was a beast.

Chaff grabs Octavia's arm as he begins to run, pulling her with him. Octavia runs with her blade in hand and a half-empty bottle in the other. Chaff lets her run in front of him, keeping himself between her and the horrifically large beast.

They run for what seems like hours. Their heaving lungs burn at the energy they are exerting. Chaff's stump on Octavia's back continues to push her forward.

After some time, the beast seems to slow its pace. Octavia and Chaff continue to run. The beast gives a final thrust of its clawed arm, swinging down at the tributes before a barrier cuts it off. It seems like glass. The pair collapse to the ground as the beast is stopped. Chaff groans in pain.

The completely transparent wall allows Octavia and Chaff to eye the creature for a moment. It was ferociously large, with its teeth barred and long, sharp claws prepared to kill.

For just a second, a split second, Octavia thought they'd got away. Alas, the odds are in no one's favor.

END OF CHAPTER

a/n

uh oh...

any thoughts on this chapter?

thank you for reading!