The 70th Hunger Games- Fliss' Story

26

A searing white light greats me.

I'm dead.

Brilliant.

It could have been worse I suppose.

I then see a shadow above me.

I am acutely aware of my surroundings. The hard cold surface below me. The smell of salt. The thumping of my head. My eyes flicker open more to be greeted by the blue sky. I jolt up. I am still in the arena. I wish I really was dead. Anywhere is better than here.

I feel a hand on my shoulder. I jolt round sending my world to spin in a dizzy mess. I reach for a spoke and face my attacker. They grip my wrist until I eventually am forced to let go. Finally my eyes focus on the person holding me. My face softens and I collapse into his strong hold.

His arms automatically wrap around me. I breathe in his scent. Oh god I missed him so much.

Whilst my face is buried in the depths of his jacket I let all emotions run across my face. I feel something damp on my cheek but I don't brush it away. He's ok. He is alive and healthy.

I don't know how long we stay there for but eventually he pulls away. He is sat opposite my holding onto my arms. I get a good look on his face. His eyes shine as he looks at me but there is something steely in them as well. His face is soft and he has a small smile playing on his lips. I'm sure his journey in the arena has been bad but it appears he is in a better state than me.

Then I remember what happened. I died. No wonder I look terrible. He must see the confusion in my eyes.

"I suppose I better give you an explanation." He states. Oh his voice. I didn't realise how much I missed it until now. I give a slight nod as a gesture for him to continue.

"I was swimming past this rock and I saw the pile of oysters. Who else would collect that many. I knew it was you. I waited for you to come up and when you didn't I dived to see where you were. I got to you just in time."

Something isn't quite right. Surly it is unlikely anyone could find me in this arena. Unless...

"You were following me, weren't you?" I say accusingly. He flicks his eyes down and I know I've got it right.

"You just watched me the whole time and did absolutely nothing!" I glare at him.

"I could keep you safe without you killing me off for interfering."

"Well I suppose I forgive you." I say as I reach for a spoke. To say I'm annoyed is an understatement. I don't want him to sacrifice himself for me.

He must be keeping up with the pace of my thoughts as he grabs my weapons before I do.

"Ash..." I say almost pleadingly.

This is what I know happened. He has been following me. 'Keeping me safe'. When I was diving for oyster he watched me. When I went down and didn't come up he dived under to help me. I caught my arm on one of the sea urchins on the way down. He rescued me. Finnick sent in some medicine or something to help my fight the poison in my body. I was out for a few days.

I am currently sitting up against a rock in the sun eating oysters. Ash sits next to me. I've forgave him when he refused to leave me. To be honest I am glad to have him with me again and I slowly start to relax. I lean on his shoulder and fall into a light sleep.

I wake up to find him also asleep. I will scold him later but he looks so peaceful. I gently take him arm from around my waste. I catch a couple of fish and cook them on the hot stone.

"What's this?" I hear a sleepy voice from behind me.

"Breakfast."

"I fell asleep."

"Well done." I say sarcastically. He wraps his arms around my waste making my skin tingle.

"Do you forgive me?" He asks. My resolve has fallen and I give a slight nod. He smirks and sits down with his fish. I roll my eyes.

I reach down into the cave and pull out my pack and wrap up the remaining fish and put it away. He looks at me with a look of surprise.

"You have a backpack. I only picked up some weapons." He shows me his collection of knives.

"Well I'm smarter than you." I say with a smile.

"Whatever you say." He says, his lips reflecting mine.

We laze about in the sun. We explain what has happened to us since we arrived. I show him the cave and we decide to set up a bit of a camp in it.

It's the sound of a cannon that makes me alert and focus. I stand holding onto my spokes looking around me. No one appears but it is enough to remind me where we are.

The oyster I collected have all been eaten and Ash wants to save the fish as they keep longer so he decided to dive for some shellfish. He refuses to let me help so I stand guard.

We crack open the shells and enjoy a meal in the setting sun. He is opening up the last one when he lets out a gasp. I jump to my feet ready to take out an attacker. He chuckles and pulls me back down. He opens his hand and in it rests a blue coloured pearl.

He strips some grass down to his core and he attaches the pearl to it. I watch, wondering what he is doing. It clicks when he ties the grass around my neck.

"To remind you that there are still pretty things in this world." He says softly. "But it's not as pretty as you."

"Have you seen me?" I laugh.

"Oh. Yes maybe I have got that wrong." He jokes.

The anthem fills the arena and we look to the sky. The boy from five looks down at us. I think of the people that are left. Crystal, the girl from two (Ash tells me she's called Alodia) and the muscular guy from seven. And us of course. Only five of us left. Four more to die.

We climb into the cave and we squeeze into the sleeping bag to escape the cold night. Ash takes the first watch. As I fall asleep I can only hope that one of us makes it home.

I wake up for my watch keeping my eyes on the entrance to the cave. I doubt that anyone could get to the underwater entrance.

No one finds us and the sun has risen. The arena feel deathly quiet. No doubt that there will be a feast or something that will push us all together in an unmissable fight to the death. I'm definitely not going to sit around waiting.