- TICK TOCK -
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THE NIGHT OF torture that felt everlasting finally came to its end as the sun was just beginning to peak over the horizon.
Everyone was hungry after the eventful night, so while Katniss and Peeta roamed the beach for oysters, Finnick and Nadia were trying to catch fish.
"The sun's coming up quick so keep an eye on your shadow." Finnick instructed as they stood at the edge of the water and he handed her his trident.
"Slow and small movements, okay? They see you, they're gone." Finnick explained, looking from her to the surface of the water that was hard to see through with the sky only now turning light.
"Watch my shadow, no sudden moves. Got it." She nodded as she adjusted his trident in her hands before slowly following him into the shallow sea.
"You have to be quick and precise." He spoke softly to ensure they weren't seen or heard by the fish they were hunting.
"I don't know about this." Nadia shook her head as she stared at the water in doubt. If he did it himself, they'd for sure have something for breakfast. "Wouldn't you rather you do it to ensure we actually eat?"
"Nadia, you've already got good coordination. You just need to calm down and focus." He instructed, speaking calmly with a smile behind his words like he thought he was funny.
"They can smell fear." He added through a mocking whisper and had to hold back a chuckle so he didn't scare any fish away.
Nadia glared at him and pointed the trident at his chest, raising a challenging brow. "Watch it, Fish Boy."
He raised his arms in surrender, the man unable to come up with a protest under her gaze and the way she looked holding his trident in a threatening manner. But, he couldn't admire her any longer as his eye was caught by a fish swimming around a few feet away.
"Nadia, Nadia, right there." He pointed it out and she spotted it quickly, adjusting her grip around the weapon once more.
"I really don't think I can do this." She squinted her eyes in dismay as her head shook back and forth, taking a slow step back from the fish still minding its own business.
"Come on, just try one time. If you miss, I'll take over." He reasoned with a bit of urgency on his tongue, his eyes glancing back and forth between the fish and Nadia. "Just know I'll make fun of you for it."
The comment only fueled her competitive nature so she focused back on the fish as she muttered under her breath. "Over my dead body."
"That's the spirit." Finnick encouraged monotonously as to remain calm, but he was eager as he watched Nadia slowly approach the fish.
"No sudden movements..." Nadia whispered to herself before taking in a breath she would then hold hostage as she readied herself to attack.
Quickly she sent the speared end down onto the fish and beginner's luck proved true again as her eyes widened once she realized she actually caught it.
"That's my girl!" Finnick waded through the water excitedly to help her out with the fish that was trying to thrash around on the end of the trident. "See? You know, you should listen to me more often."
"But it's more fun to watch you squirm." She countered, Finnick taking over as he took the trident in his hands and assessed the fish.
"Got a good catch too." He said smiling at her with that stupidly adorable smile where his dimples would appear and his eyes would light up. She'd hate it if she didn't love it so much.
She found double meaning to his comment and with her hands on her hips, she looked him up and down before offering him back that smile he found himself head over heels for.
"I did get a good catch, didn't I?"
༄༄༄
Nadia didn't want to fuss being deprived of food for the past two days and all, but the fish they caught weren't very good. In fact, she'd go as far as to say it was the worst, most disgusting thing she's ever tasted. And the smell was worse.
How Finnick bit into the raw, pink meat without so much as a grimace was beyond her. The slimy texture and chewy consistency made her want to vomit.
"You normally cook these, right?" Nadia asked Finnick, his head turning to find her staring straight down at her half eaten fish.
He snickered and shook his head, taking another bite before replying. "It depends what you make."
"For future reference, I don't like raw fish." Nadia said and cautiously it seemed, she took another bite.
"Duly noted."
They'd just about managed to gulp down the rest of their fish when a feminine scream sounded in the distance, perking all four sets of ears.
"That's new." Peeta muttered as they all got back to their feet.
Nadia grabbed a knife from her sheath just in case as she looked out across the water and on the other side of the arena was a giant wave that poured in through only one single section.
It came rolling out of the jungle and a canon followed shortly after, the water hitting the cornucopia. But where Nadia figured it'd flood and seep through the structure, it instead was blocked by an invisible barrier.
Her features scrunched up as all four of them stared at the wave, watching closely as the water then spilled and spread.
They backed up a few feet as the water hit their ankles, the group concerned it could've been like the poisonous fog they encountered. Luckily it seemed to be ordinary sea water.
Nadia calmed as the water leveled out and the aircraft flew in to pick up the body. Her relief was quickly overshadowed with caution as Katniss whipped her head to the right having spotted somebody.
"Someone's here." She said, crouching down with her bow drawn and ready.
Nadia peeked out a little from beside Finnick to see who the intruders were. She looked over the few people exiting the jungle with red staining their bodies head-to-toe, her head tilting in recognition.
She felt a pang of relief as she noticed who exactly it was, a smile finding her lips as she stepped out of their little hiding spot.
Finnick caught her arm before she could reveal herself to them, the man giving her a look like she'd lost her mind.
"No, look." Nadia urged, gesturing to the group of four across the beach that consisted of Apollo, Johanna, Beetee and Wiress.
"Johanna?" Finnick muttered, doing a double take to ensure he was seeing correctly.
"Johanna!" Nadia started jogging towards them, waving her arms with a wide smile across her face. "Apollo!"
"Nadia!" Johanna yelled back with a small bit of excitement as Finnick was quick to catch up with her.
Nadia slowed once she was in reach of them, colliding with Johanna in the tightest hug they'd only ever received from each other. It was the type of hug where you'd have to try hard to stay on your feet because of how excited they were to see each other, the women swaying back and forth, exchanging a few laughs as they did.
They pulled away and Johanna moved to give Finnick a quick hug too, Nadia catching Apollo's stare and nearly jumped on him as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders.
"God, it's a relief to see you." Apollo spoke in a breath of happiness, pulling back to look at her. "Thought that scream was maybe yours."
She chuckled, her worry eased seeing as the blood coating his entire body didn't seem to be his own. "Really? I thought it was yours."
He narrowed his eyes at the woman, mock laughing as she looked all too proud of herself. "Haha, very funny."
"You didn't think I would just leave you alone with Jo, now did you?" Nadia asked with a hand on her heart.
The woman in question started to speak grasping their attention, blood dripping from her hairline and down past her eyes.
"Well, I got 'em out." Johanna said in an annoyed tone that matched her features lit with irritation. "We were all the way deep in the jungle where I thought it was gonna be safe."
Nadia looked around from Apollo and Beetee who were in the shallow water trying to rid themselves of the blood, then to Wiress as she scurried back and forth up the beach in an odd manner.
"That's when the rain started." Johanna nearly laughed an unamused laugh, but she couldn't even pretend to find humor in this. "I thought it was water... it turned out to be blood."
"Tick tock." Wiress chanted over and over as she grabbed for Johanna's arm like she was trying to warn her of something. "Tick tock, tick tock."
"Hot, thick blood. It was coming
down-" Johanna lightly pushed Wiress away from her with a huff. "It was choking us. We were stumbling around, gagging on it blind."
Apollo nodded along as he combed water through his hair, Johanna continuing on with her explanation.
"That's when Blight hit the force field." She shut her eyes a moment and exhaled a long, deep breath as Wiress would relentlessly speak those same two words. "He wasn't much, but he was from home."
"Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock." Wiress walked back to Johanna, the latter looking at Nadia with a gaze expressing just how close she was to the edge of insanity.
"What's wrong with her?" Katniss looked from Wiress' frantic paces to Beetee for an answer.
"She's in shock." He spoke dryly and you could practically hear the need for water on his tongue. "Dehydration isn't helping. Do you have fresh water?"
"We can get some..." Katniss trailed off mid sentence as she watched Wiress shake Johanna's shoulders eagerly as if to try and jam the words into her brain.
It only stirred Johanna's rage more and more until finally she'd had enough. "Listen- Stop it!" Her voice raised as she shoved Wiress off, the woman falling to the sand at their feet.
"Hey!" Katniss shouted as she approached Johanna before she pushed at her chest. "Lay off her!"
"Hey, what are you doing?" Before Johanna could reciprocate any sort of aggression, Finnick intervened with his hands on her shoulders, pushing her back as Peeta got ahold of Katniss' arm.
"I got them out for you!" Johanna yelled, Nadia and Apollo acting as a wall to separate her from the girl, both hoping she'd calm down so she wouldn't let anything else slip.
"Hey, hey, hey. It's okay." Apollo shook his head at her and gave her a look insinuating she was crazy.
"Let me go, Finnick!" She groaned and hit at the man's arms as they continued to walk her down the beach a ways before they let go of her.
Nadia, Finnick and Apollo all had to put up a fight to keep Johanna from charging at Katniss, but after a few moments she'd calmed down and the three let her go into the water to wash the blood from her body.
Nadia had offered her help to the woman only to be shot down. It wasn't much of a surprise, ever since Nadia met Johanna she'd been a loner. She understood the need for space especially after losing her district partner and she'd even go as far as to say Blight was Johanna's friend.
Instead she found a place to help with Apollo who after trying to clean himself up, seemingly made an even bigger mess than what he started with.
"I think the goal is to wash the blood off. Not spread it around." Nadia chuckled as she approached him, the man only able to rid a small bit of blood from his cheek and eyes.
"Funnily enough, I've never had to wash blood rain off myself before." He replied with a snicker.
"Want some help?" She asked.
"Why not? I seem to only be making it worse." He said as he turned his back to her before he could notice the skeptical look she gave.
"Apollo, you are nearly an entire foot taller than me." She started, the man facing her again and he looked to have just realized how tall he actually was. "Sit down."
Once he was sitting in the water, he wished he never allowed Nadia to help, his head being ducked into the salt water one too many times for his liking.
By the fourth dunk he was convinced she was doing it for her own pleasure, the man wiping his face and spitting out a mouthful of the salty water. "Fucking hell, Nadia. I'm not drunk."
"Maybe..." She started, holding back a laugh as she combed her hands through his hair, another large amount of the blood washing down his neck and into the water.
"You are, however..." There was no need, but Nadia forced his head under the surface once more for fun. "A wreck."
She backed up a few feet with her hands on her hips as she waited for him to resurface. When he did, his now bloodless features held a challenging gaze that almost scared her.
"I thought our reunion would be a lot more wholesome than you trying to drown me." Apollo raised a brow at her, slowly approaching her with a devious look in his eye.
She held up her hands in reason, backing away a step as he'd get closer, both of them helpless to the smiles etching a way onto their lips.
"Come on now. You're cleaner than you've probably ever been thanks to me." Her words though condescending, were spoken in the calmest way she could possibly portray.
"Thanks to you, my lungs are full of salt water." He laughed and in one swift motion, before she could really comprehend, the man had picked her up and dropped her into the water.
She resurfaced quickly and before she could even rid the water from her eyes, Apollo was cracking up in front of her.
"I'll admit..." Nadia rubbed the salt from her eyes, trying to blink away the sting as she laughed softly. "I had it coming."
"You certainly did." Apollo said with his hands behind his back as though he was innocent, bowing his torso forward poshly.
A truce was called silently as they both turned at the sound of lightning bolts hitting the large standout tree in the distance.
"That's not something you see everyday." Apollo muttered as they stared at it inquisitively.
Nadia looked around, her absent gaze landing on Wiress for a moment. Tick tock.
Bolt after bolt brought her attention back to the tree. Each strike, one after the other, was like a jab of realization.
Tick tock. Nadia stood straighter as memories played back of the terrors they encountered last night. The fog, the mandrills, both felt like they lasted a lifetime, she realized they must've only gone as long as an hour.
"Midnight..." Nadia mumbled as she looked around the arena, thinking back to Finnick's suggestion the first time they heard the lightning.
Tick tock. Finnick's voice faded and the image of the fog coming to a halt at the edge of the hour took place instead. It was the same as the wave from this morning.
One every hour...
"It's a clock!" The words didn't even come from her own lips, the woman confused as she faced Katniss who was holding Wiress' face in her hands excitedly. "Wiress, you're a genius! You're a genius!"
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guys, im such a fucking cheese ball with that first part. again, i keep pulling these filler parts out of my ass and i am actually obsessed
thanks so much for reading!!
-Cj