Puzzle Pieces • Finnick Odair

C H A P T E R 5 0

Katniss, Boggs and Gale entered the plane and Plutarch introduced them to their team.

"Quick introductions, Katniss. These people have come a long way to support the causes. This is Cressida." A young blonde woman whose head was half shaved and tattooed with vivid green vines which extend down her neck and along her arm smiles at the Mockingjay. "In my opinion one of the best up-and-coming directors in the Capitol."

"Until I up and left. Hey," she greets Katniss who whispers a quiet "hey" back.

"Let's see what you can do. All right. Be careful," Plutarch leaves.

Cressida speaks up again, gaining Katniss' attention, "this is my assistant, Messalla." He was a slim young man with several sets of earrings. His tongue had also been pierced, and he wore a stud with a silver ball the size of a marble. He also had several piercings in his lower lip and one in the bridge of his nose, "it's an honour to meet you," he nods at the Mockingjay respectfully.

"And your cameramen over there, Castor." He was a burly man with sandy hair, a red beard, blue eyes, and close-bitten nails. "Hello," he greets the others.

"And Pollux," Cressida introduces the second cameraman. Pollux was also a burly man with sandy hair, a red beard, and deep blue eyes, resembling his brother, Castor. Pollux smiled at Katniss, sending the girl a nod which she nervously returned.

"Let's get locked in," Boggs steps forward.

They all take a seat, Katniss sitting next to Pollux. "You're all from the Capitol?" She attempts to make conversation with the man who just looked at her, "Plutarch got you out?" She adds.

"Don't expect much chitchat from him," Cressida speaks for the man, "he's an Avox. Capitol cut his tongue out years ago." Pollux just smiles kindly at the teenager. "And no," Cressida continues, "it wasn't any sort of rescue, if that's what you mean." Whilst she spoke, Pollux signed 'she is beautiful' to Castor who signs back in agreement. "We all fled on our own. For this," Cressida states, "for you."

Katniss' face tenses slightly, the pressure on the teenager building with every word. These people fled specifically for this. For the rebellion. For her.

Katniss stands in the middle of the flames and rubble. "I want the rebels to know that I'm alive. That I'm in District 8 where the Capitol just bombed a hospital filled with unarmed men, women and children. And there will be no survivors. If you think for one second that the Capitol will ever treat us fairly you are lying to yourselves. Because we know who they are and what they do. This," she points at the roaring flames, "is what they do! And we must fight back. I have a message for President Snow. You can torture us and bomb us and burn our districts to the ground. But do you see that?" She gestures to the fire around the group again. "Fire is catching. And if we burn, you burn with us!" 

The Mockingjay drops to her knees as a lone tear falls from her eyes and down her cheek, followed by another salty teardrop.

The video plays with a few extra details. After Katniss' speech, a clip plays of her shooting an arrow at a Capitol bomber plane, showing the two planes colliding and falling to the ground in flames. It then changed to a Mockingjay pin on fire with the words 'join the mockingjay' in capital letters with a whistle before the text disappears and changes to 'join the fight'.

The population of 13 cheer.

President Coin steps forward, Katniss Everdeen at her side, before silencing the crowd and speaking into the microphone. "There is no progress without compromise. No victory without sacrifice. But I stand her with the Mockingjay," she seizes Katniss' hand "to announce that our moment has arrived," she lifts hers and Katniss' clasped hands into the air as the people cheer and applause.

Katniss takes a step back, standing in line with Finnick, Primrose, her mother, Plutarch and Effie. She stood in between Finnick and Prim.

Coin speaks up again, "Beetee has increased our use of the airwaves tenfold. We will broadcast this message to all the districts tonight. The Mockingjay's words inspiring everyone to join the rebellion. Together, we will become an alliance to be reckoned with."

The crowd all begin to chant, 'Hoorah!'

Finnick bends down slightly to speak to Katniss in a quiet voice, "you don't like hearing a fight song at a funeral, huh?" Katniss looks at Finnick as he speaks again, "just think, the more people on our side, the closer we are to Peeta and Jessica."

"Yeah," she replies in a weak voice. That thought was the only thing getting her through this. The thought of getting back her friends. Her family.

Meanwhile, back in the Capitol, Jessica sits in her assigned cell, beaten close to death, as she speaks to Peeta who had just woken after his tracker jacker torture. He was in hysterics, not knowing where he was, what was happening, who he or anyone else was.

Jessica spoke in a calm collective voice, "Orange, bread, paint, pearl, bake, strong, kind, twelve." She listened carefully, paying close attention to Peeta's breathing. Once he had calmed and fell back to sleep, as peacefully as possible in the given circumstances, Jessica leaned against the cold off-white wall and sighed. The cold felt nice through her thin clothes. It eased the pain of the electric whip slashes which traced along her back.

AN: next chapter will focus more on Finnick and Jessica than Katniss