lost | the hunger games

• xix •

❝I can see why you thought what you did. I suppose I am not an easy person to trust. And maybe I ought not to be trusted, but let me say this: I trust you.❞

cardan greenbriar, the queen of nothing

☾

I should've been more alert the moment Katniss shook me awake. Should've been tracking and awaiting the Careers' next move. But I was preoccupied with sleep and Katniss's revelations that I'd let myself slip. I'd forgotten my real job here in the arena and Wiress had paid for it with a red slice to the throat. Beetee gasped in horror as Cashmere bared his teeth in a vicious smile. For a moment, I'm frozen.

The cannon boomed after a single second, and it was as if a firework of violence had erupted. Katniss is the first to retaliate, firing a swift arrow into the Victor's heart. As he toppled back, Gloss came out from behind the Cornucopia where she'd been waiting and cried out in anger. She zeroed in on Katniss, only to have me block her path. Finnick was preoccupied with Peeta and Beetee while Johanna took on Enobaria. Brutus was right beside her, grabbing Katniss's attention, but I had to deal with Gloss before helping any of the others. It wasn't like they were helpless, despite all the panic that stirred far away within me at the thought of them facing two other Careers without me.

I unsheathed my sword, unable to reach down to where my scythe was resting on the ground between us. Gloss glared with unbridled hatred as she swung at me. I dodged and pressed the sword into her abdomen in one fatal swoop. I dug the blade upwards, and all I could hear was the smallest gasp, blood filling my nostrils. I could hear yelling behind me. But before I could turn, a loud rumble echoed on the island, and at first, it felt like an earthquake, but then we started to spin. Gloss was falling, dragging me with her. I flew backward and landed on one of the black rocks near the edge of the island. My head knocked backward, and the world turned black.

I must've been unconscious for only a few seconds because the island was still spinning when I regained consciousness. The shock of the cold water had woken me up, electrifying my senses from where the salt met my open skin. I opened my eyes, welcoming the slight sting, and found Gloss beneath me as she sunk down, eyes open and a hand reaching out. I almost reached out to grab her if not for the blood mixed into the churning water trying to pull me down with her. Just as I break through the surface, heading toward one of the scalding rock strips, I heard a scream and a heavy splash.

My head swivels toward the island, finding Johanna first, holding onto her ax lodged on the land. She was the one who'd screamed. "KATNISS."

I dove back into the water without hesitation, focusing on her flailing body as Katniss fought to get her bearings. Taking her hand, I didn't wait for her to start swimming with me before I pulled us both to rocks. Amidst our swim, I hadn't realized the water stopped churning, and the Cornucopia was settled. Katniss heaved herself up onto the land, choking out water and she laid her head down. I tried to hike myself up, only to find stiffness in my shoulders from dragging Katniss against the current.

"Katniss! Katniss." Peeta was rushing toward us, nothing but fear and alarm ringing through his voice. The others were following, but Johanna was in step with him, and she'd helped me get out of the water and sit on the hot foundation. Peeta tended to her immediately, hands all over her as he tried to figure out what to do. I scanned the area as I watched the two interact from the corner of my eye. Katniss visibly relaxed under Peeta's touch, like knowing he was okay was what made it easier to breathe instead of the actual air. She shot out shaky thumbs up for an okay and he let out a sigh of relief.

I squeezed my nose in an attempt to wring the water out. I looked at Johanna and the others. One of which was a worried Finnick. I cast him my own version of a thumbs up in the gesture of waving him off. "The Careers?"