Sea of Flames | f. odair

CHAPTER 04 | THE CHARIOT

Cry, my dear
but do not bleed.

The roar of the crowd was deafening. The other tributes were minding their own business, Districts One and Two already gone. Lark pulled himself up onto the chariot and held out a hand to Cassia; his getup similar to the oceanic style of hers in a loose button-down shirt and slacks. His red hair appeared more vibrant against the velvet blues.

Gripping the side of the chariot, she hoisted herself up, ignoring his hand. She refused to be seen as weak. There was no room for friendship or niceties. Humanity was lost the second her name was called at the Reaping.

Lark shrugged and stared ahead, his face showing eager anticipation to see the crowd.

"Darian and I agreed that we want you both to smile and interact with the crowd," Opal said from the ground next to a man with neon yellow hair.

Cassia scrunched her nose. "Why?"

"Because that's how you get sponsors," Finnick replied coolly, his electric eyes staring into hers.

"I agree with Finnick," Gia piped up. "Now go, we'll see you both after."

With one last look behind her, catching Finnick's eyes one last time, she nervously faced forward. She gripped the front of the moving chariot, not seeing much else to grab onto. As they emerged into the dark of the night, she was blinded with stadium lights and the cheers of the crowd. When she regained focus, the world was a rainbow of tiny splotches of paint. It took her a few seconds to realize that the people were cheering for her. She despised them and their eagerness to watch her kill and be killed. But she knew that if she wanted to survive, she would need sponsors. That was how Finnick won his Games. And she would do anything to get back to her family.

Pulling on the brightest, fakest smile, she lifted one wary hand from the chariot and began to wave and make eye contact with the blurring figures of the crowd. They seemed to appeal to the attention and waved back, some of them even throwing flowers in her direction. They were halfway through with the ride when she felt Lark grab her hand and raise it into the air, earning them such a loud applause that Cassia's ears hurt.

Glaring at the boy, he winked at her and said, "don't be a prude!"

She wanted to tackle him to the ground then and there, but she knew that wasn't an option, so she held onto his hand tightly and continued on smiling. She heard people shouting her name and she blew them kisses as if they deserved her love and affection.

Approaching the end of the ride, Cassia ripped her hand out of Lark's the second the chariot stopped. She pushed him and he stumbled a little from the force. "What the hell was that? Don't you ever touch me again," she growled lowly.

Lark bit back a laugh. "They seemed to like it out there. Plus, romance sells."

Cassia reached out and gripped onto the soft fabric of his shirt. In her heels, her head reached the tip of his nose. "I would rather—"

Hands immediately yanked her off of the chariot, causing her to kick around and see that it was Finnick. He placed her onto the ground and wrapped a firm hand around her bicep. She had never seen this side of him before. His eyes were deadly. "I would think very carefully about your next actions or else you might end up with a faulty plate before the gong even rings out," he relayed to her in a low, deep voice that sent shivers down her spine. "Do you understand me, Cassia?"

She could only stare at him. A faulty plate? They wouldn't do that, would they? But she knew what he was saying was true. If people found out she injured Lark or worse, she would most likely have a harder time in the arena. She wanted to leave claw marks into his perfect face, but instead she just seethed, "get your hands off me."

He stared at her for a beat and then let go of her, taking a step back. Even in her heels he stood over her.

It was then that she registered President Snow's speech that he did every year. An unpleasant feeling ran through her at his voice and she could see on the televisions his white hair and puffy red lips. A poisonous man who had people do his bidding so it didn't look like he was to blame.

Anger was running through her veins and she knew that she couldn't take much more of standing around everyone before she snapped again. Before heading to the elevator, she thanked Opal and then started her walk by herself. Or so she thought.

As soon as the elevator doors closed, she realized Finnick had followed her inside. She folded her arms across her chest. "What do you want?" She asked angrily, glaring at him.

"I'm your mentor, I'm kind of stuck with you, darling," he smirked at her.

She shook her head, "no. You know that's not what I meant. I mean, what are you doing? Do you enjoy watching me struggle? I'm sure Lark has gotten some really good advice and here I am going into training and I haven't gotten a sliver of advice. I'm going to die," she exclaimed, her eyes suddenly filled with the reality of it all. Swallowing thickly, she looked down at her beautiful shoes. "I'm going to die," she couldn't help but whisper mostly to herself.

There was silence and then the doors to the elevator opened. Cassia was swift to exit them.

"Cassia," Finnick called. "Don't walk away from me, please."

She felt her chest tightening. "Leave me alone, Finnick." She hated the way her heavy voice betrayed her. She continued on walking to her room in a fast pace.

She wanted to curl up into a ball and cry. She wanted to cry until she couldn't breathe or feel anymore. Perhaps then it would all go away; the pain, the fear, the anger. But knowing that the sun would rise tomorrow morning and she would have to pretend to be okay again, she knew that the future was inevitable. That whatever was going to happen in the future would play out the way it was intended. And if she were to die, then let it be with fight and fury.

A/N: i'm so sorry it took so long for me to update! college has been kicking my ass and i have so much homework it's actually alarming. anyways, i'm so shocked at how much support this story is getting in extremely grateful!

sorry about how angsty this chapter was, but her and finnick are working through some things at the moment. and then lark had to pull a fucking peeta smh. boys.

anyways, thanks for reading! leave a comment about what you think will happen to cassia! xx