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[ 021 ] the odds are never in your favour

━━━━ ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ━━━━

KATNISS SCREAMING woke Jupiter. She peeled herself from Finnick's side as he jumped to his feet, weapon raised, the pair both instant in their reactions. The Academy had not been for nothing. Jupiter's golden eyes landed on the wall of mist encroaching on them, and she took off in the opposite direction.

"Run! Run!" Katniss continued to shriek.

Finnick was right behind Jupiter, a still half-asleep Mags on his back. Katniss was further behind, dragging Peeta along as he looked around in bewilderment.

"What is it? What is it?" he asked.

"Some kind of fog. Poison gas," Katniss explained briefly. "Hurry Peeta!"

Jupiter was the furthest ahead, running as slow as she dared so as not to lose Finnick in the dark. In either direction was a straight wall of the fog with no end, and from Katniss' screams, she had no desire to find out its effects. Jupiter knew they were being corralled by it, maybe in some sick ploy from the Gamemakers to get them away from the forcefield and force a conflict for entertainment.

The 68th Victor really didn't care, she just wanted to evade the fog lapping at their heels.

She could hear Katniss and Peeta grunting as the fog caught their ankles and backs. The boy was having trouble, both his artificial leg and the lasting effects from his heart stopping seemed to be slowing them down. With her hand linked with his, Katniss was caught in the firing line.

"Come on!" Finnick shouted. Jupiter realised he had started to hang back for the two teenagers, leaving her bounds ahead of the alliance. She glanced back desperately, wishing he would put himself first for once during these Games.

"Hurry!" Jupiter cried out, her voice melding with Finnick's in the night.

"Jupiter, keep going!" Finnick called to her.

With a hiss, Jupiter turned back to running straight rather than jogging backwards, staying ahead of the group. She had no idea where she was going, but the further downhill they went, she knew they were getting closer to the beach and being in the open. But with a literal wall of acid fog behind them, Jupiter found they had bigger problems.

She heard a crash and briefly looked back to see that Peeta had fallen. Jupiter looked for Finnick, only to see, in horror, that he was running back for the pair. "Finnick!" she called, but he seemed immune to her concern.

He helped lift Peeta up, all while still carrying Mags and his trident and net. Katniss wedged her shoulder against Peeta to help support him as they moved, Jupiter urging them on from where she stood safely. From the distance, she couldn't quite tell, but the small group of fog-bitten tributes looked to be spasming. Some of their limbs were stiff, and Katniss seemed to be struggling to walk.

Jupiter let out a sigh, continuing to lead them back down towards the beach, still untouched by the fog herself. But they only managed ten yards before they stopped again, Jupiter's constant check ups bringing her to a halt.

"It's no good," Finnick grunted. "I'll have to carry him. Can you take Mags?"

"Yes," Katniss said firmly, but between their blistered skin and trembling limbs, it seemed doubtful.

Jupiter glanced at how far the wall of fog was and where she stood. "I can–"

"No, stay back!" Finnick snapped. Jupiter froze with her foot lifted, blinking at him. "Katniss– let's go."

"Just follow my voice!" Jupiter shouted, unsheathing the machete on her back as she began to cut a path through the thicker vines. She hoped that was a sign they were getting closer to the beach.

Finnick had Peeta slung across his back, and Katniss was piggybacking Mags as best she could. Jupiter was gritting her teeth as she cut a path through the vegetation, constantly glancing back to make sure Finnick was still with her. They were heading down at a diagonal now, closer to where Jupiter believed the sea would be.

Surely, she thought, that was what the Gamemakers were trying to force them to do.

"Jove!" Finnick called desperately.

She stopped at the tone, eyes widening in horror as she realised Katniss had collapsed and could barely walk herself, one leg stiff. Finnick's own hands were twitching– the only reason he still had his trident was because Peeta was clutching it, curled around his shoulders like a stiff scarf.

Against her better judgement, Jupiter ran towards them. "We need to go!" she urged. Moonlight bounced off the blade in her hand.

"It's no use," Katniss groaned. "Can you take them both? Go on ahead, I'll catch up."

"No," Finnick replied. "I can't carry them both. My arms aren't working." Katniss glanced at Jupiter momentarily, but between her wide eyes at the oncoming fog and the fact she was but one woman, it was clear they could only carry one of their disadvantaged alliance. Finnick, breathing heavily, looked at Mags. "I'm sorry, I can't do it."

Mags smiled weakly, placing a hand on Finnick's cheek. She kissed him there, just where her fingers ended, before pulling away and hauling herself to her feet. Stunned, the group could only watch as the elderly woman walked straight into the fog, enveloped by the mist. Finnick's lips parted, eyes widening in horror.

The cannon went off.

"Finnick," Jupiter urged, moving forward so she could grab his shoulder and shake him slightly. She crouched down as far as she dared, lifting his chin with her other hand, ignoring the blisters he had sustained. "We have to go."

And then the fog, the first few droplets of the night, licked at her skin, the fingers on his shoulder. She pulled away, letting out a hiss at the sensation. It didn't burn like fire, but exactly what she would expect acid to feel like, burrowing into her skin and crawling under it. Her flash of pain seemed to be enough to shock Finnick back into reality, as he jumped to his feet, Peeta still clinging to him.

Jupiter did not charge ahead this time, only focused on making sure Finnick did not fall behind. Katniss was practically dragging her feet as they continued down the slope, and more of the fog began to lap at Jupiter's heels, sending pain shooting up her limbs, followed by a numbness only equivalent to pins and needles. They had to keep moving.

It felt as if the cannon shot had not gone away, still ringing in Jupiter's head as she led the group as quickly as she could. Finnick and Katniss were both groaning as they moved, and Jupiter was biting her tongue now to hold back any noises of pain, eyes half-closed, holding a forearm over her mouth to stop from breathing in too many of the droplets.

God she hoped she was going the right way. God she hoped the fog would stop.

"Watch it!" Jupiter said suddenly as they reached a steep part of the slope.

Despite the sudden drop with numb legs and fog beating down on them, it could only mean they were close to the beach now. The steepest part of the incline had been the first bit when they had escaped the Cornucopia.

But Finnick didn't seem to be able to stop, as if tripping over his own tingling limbs, as the group of them tumbled and slid down the slope. Jupiter landed shakily, trying to push off her knees, but her eyes widened as she realised that Finnick had stopped moving, Peeta laying beside him in a heap. Katniss was crawling away from them, but none of them were fit to move again.

"Come on," Jupiter hissed, moving to Finnick's side. "We gotta move."

On the top of the slope they had come from, she could see the fog rushing for them, creeping along the ground at a steady pace. Her trembling, blistered hands hooked under Finnick's biceps as much as she could, trying to stop her limbs from jerking. The effects of the fog that had rendered her companions useless were starting to sink into her.

Disregarding the teenagers completely, Jupiter began to drag Finnick through the undergrowth, but painfully slow. He was heavy and limp, groaning as she tried to heave him away, stumbling backwards. But she knew she wasn't moving fast enough, as the fog charged at them, covering the ground in pearly white.

Jupiter knew it would reach Katniss and Peeta first, and that they were as good as dead, but she found she didn't care. If anything, she was struck by the terrible thought to leave Finnick behind, hope death was quick, and run for the water if the fog got too close. She wasn't sure if she'd be able to live with herself if she did that, but she wasn't about to let herself die.

As it turned out, she didn't need to make the morbid decision, as two feet from where Katniss had collapsed, the fog transformed, as if growing thicker. Jupiter paused, realising it was pressing up against some sort of invisible barrier. The Gamemakers must have decided that was far enough, and the tension for the audience was over. The mist reached up and up, filtering out.

"It stopped," Jupiter murmured. She set down Finnick as gently as her numb limbs would allow. "It's stopped," she repeated, louder this time.

Finnick groaned, looking through swollen eyes at the wall of fog. The weakness in her ankles finally took hold, and Jupiter slumped to the ground, knees loosely to her chest. Peeta let out a grunt, rolling onto his back, twitching slightly. Jupiter looked down at her blistered, aching hands, and almost wanted to be sick, but restrained herself as the group collected themselves, all in varying levels of pain.

"Mags," Finnick whispered. Jupiter glanced down at him, but he was too disoriented to register her. "Mags."

Jupiter let out a sigh, wincing as the air scratched at her throat. It seemed even while being cautious, and the one with the least exposure, she still had breathed in some of the acidic mist.

"Monkeys," Peeta said through blistered and swollen lips after a few minutes of groaning and gasping.

Jupiter slowly lifted her eyes to see two of the creatures on the branches above them, blinking down, silent. They were half the size of a grown human, easily, with bright red fur and beady eyes that reflected slightly in the moonlight. Jupiter froze, knowing if the animals made any sort of move, they were dead. But, the monkeys seemed largely uninterested in engaging, only observing them from above.

"Can anyone move?" Jupiter asked, looking back at the heap that was her alliance.

"Yeah," Peeta hissed as he pushed to his knees. Jupiter furrowed her brows at him– he was the least likely to move.

"We should be close to the beach," Jupiter said. The pain was making her head fuzzy, and she blinked forcefully.

The group of four practically crawled through the undergrowth, soon reaching the beach, the sand almost glowing white in the moonlight. Jupiter could hear the waves, which made her feel almost at home, reminding her of times spent at Finnick's. The water was warm as it lapped at her ankles, and she let out a hiss of pain as their theory seemed to be confirmed.

Salt in the wound.

It burned, badly, but as Jupiter fought through the pain and waded in up to her knees, she could feel the relief setting in. Around her, Peeta and Katniss were also submerging themselves, rubbing at the blisters. White tendrils leaked from the sores, making the water murky around the three Victors.

Preparing for the pain, Jupiter dunked her head underneath the water. She came up for air as soon as she needed, pressing her palms against her eyes. She could feel the poison leaving her properly, mind clearing enough for her to register they were a person short in the salt water.

Finnick had jerked away from the water the second he had touched it, and hadn't moved since, lying face down in the sand. Frowning, Jupiter waded back towards the shore, the two teenagers watching her wearily as she passed them. Her hands were still tingling, but she could move them steadily now, and her ankles were stinging in the salt water (at least she could feel them).

"Hey," she said quietly, crouching down to look at Finnick, her knees indented in the sand next to his chin. "You awake?"

"Barely," he murmured, voice slightly muffled by the sand.

Jupiter smiled slightly but it was faded by how badly blistered he was. "We need to get you into the water," she told him.

"It hurts," he hissed back.

"I know," Jupiter responded, rolling him onto his back with a groan. He blinked up at her. "You're so heavy."

"Thanks, Jove," he murmured, as she moved away from his side and back to the water. She cupped some seawater in her hand and splashed it onto his fists, wincing as he squirmed in pain at the sensation.

Katniss paused from where she was bathing in the water, as Jupiter continued to splash small amounts of water onto Finnick. He had taken the worst of the blistering, it seemed, and was in too much pain to move. Jupiter imagined the burning she had felt when she had waded into the water, and increased it tenfold– Finnick would be lucky to stay conscious.

"You got off easy," Katniss pointed out as she joined Jupiter's side, splashing water onto Finnick as she arrived.

Jupiter paused. It was true. "You could have, too," she told the teenager. "If you had left Peeta."

Katniss stayed quiet after that, the common vulnerability passing between them, as Finnick finally regained some strength. Jupiter didn't need to ask, and she and Katniss helped drag Finnick, slowly, into the sea. Initially, he thrashed and gargled on the water, but Jupiter stayed steady and forced him in, the water turning misty as the salt sunk into him.

"I know, I know it hurts," Jupiter said calmly, but her hands stayed firm as she held him down, and continued to move into deeper water. Finnick hissed something probably akin to hurts, but Jupiter ignored him as they finally got deep enough to float.

Katniss was watching Jupiter carefully, looking confused by something, as Finnick finally seemed to register that he was feeling relief. He stilled, and finally seemed to soak, eyes drifting closed as he laid his head in Jupiter's lap. His breathing got steadier, the water rippling around his chest as he did so.

Jupiter looked up from his face, seeing Katniss was still watching her. "What?" the 68th Victor asked indignantly.

"Nothing– I mean." Katniss looked away at being caught staring. She was the type of person that was easy to read– Jupiter had known that from the bitter looks and scowls in interviews and appearances the year before. "You sounded like my mother," Katniss admitted quietly after a moment.

Jupiter blinked at her. "Is that a good thing?" she asked cautiously.

"I don't know. She had a way of keeping it together when no one else could," Katniss replied with a shrug. "I hated her for it." Jupiter looked back down at Finnick's drained face, but she couldn't find words. "I'll check on Peeta," Katniss said abruptly, as she moved through the water and away from the older pair.

Jupiter frowned, but only nodded, staying where she was with Finnick. The longer she stayed in the water, the stronger she felt, the clearer her mind got. She could only imagine how the others must have felt. But she hated how exposed they were on the beach– if Brutus and the other careers arrived now, highlighted by the moon, they'd be as good as dead. She figured they didn't have the choice to play it safe, but she still stayed as alert as she could from where they floated in the ocean.

"Do you think there's sharks?" Finnick spoke up, voice still raspy from the gas.

"If there is, I hope they eat your toes," Jupiter responded, but the energy wasn't there. She, truthfully, did worry if there was dangerous sea life. After the hell she had seen in the Games, she wouldn't be surprised.

"Are the others...?" Finnick asked.

"Fine," Jupiter responded. She glanced across the gleaming water to see Katniss and Peeta conversing, bobbing in the water. "Are you–?"

"I'm fine," he cut her off. Jupiter frowned. Finnick lifted his head from the water and her lap, droplets running down his face as his hair stuck to his forehead. He turned to meet her concerned look, but instead he smiled.

"What?" Jupiter asked, because she couldn't think of a single reason to smile at that moment.

"Sort of feels like home, doesn't it?" he said simply, gently splashing water at her. Some of it got in her mouth, and the taste of salt sent her back to a simpler time.

Jupiter smiled, but it didn't meet her eyes. If anything, it just reminded her how far away they were from everything that brightened up their bleak life. Finnick seemed to see her train of thought, before he splashed her again. Jupiter scoffed loudly, making to move away, but instead Finnick grabbed by the waist, arm wrapping around her.

"Finnick, no!" she gasped, but he ignored her as he practically threw her into the water, diving in after her.

Her small scream was cut off as she submerged, clamping her mouth shut. The water was deep enough she could be fully submerged with her knees pulled to her chest, and the unnaturally bright moonlight beamed in from above. Finnick careened down to her as she dared to open her eyes, the salt stinging them.

Jupiter didn't move away as Finnick gently pressed his lips to hers, so light she may not have felt it, before they both pushed off the sand and back to the surface. Jupiter broke the surface first, rubbing at her eyes and letting out a gasp for breath. Finnick came up seconds later, breathing steady, grinning.

But the water around them was foamy, and Jupiter turned to see Katniss was far closer than before, as if she had hurried to them. The teenager looked terrified, eyes wide and lips parted. "You're– playing?" she asked in horror.

Jupiter faltered. Katniss had genuinely seemed to think Finnick was drowning the other woman.

"Lighten up, girl on fire," Finnick chimed in, throwing water at her. Katniss flinched at the splash, still looking perplexed.

"I thought– never mind," she said tightly.

"We know what you thought," Jupiter told her.

"You'd think that low of me?" Finnick asked in a mocking sort of way.

Katniss just looked between the pair. "Whatever. Just soak in the water and behave, or if you're feeling that much better, let's go help Peeta."

"Where is your other half?" Jupiter asked, looking across the water.

"He went to find water– probably set up another sort of camp," Katniss explained. Without another word, she began to wade back to shore, as if to move past the moment.

Finnick looked more amused by the accusation than anything, as they followed after her. Jupiter hated how loud they were as they splashed onto the shore, but tried to ignore it as she reached for the weapons she had discarded when they had crawled. They still had most of them, and Jupiter was just brushing off the sand from one of her knives when Katniss froze.

Both the older Victors took note immediately. "What is it?" Finnick asked quietly.

"I'm not sure," Katniss said warily, peering into the edge of the jungle. "Peeta can't be far."

Still unsure, the group of three moved carefully into the jungle, clearing the sandy shore. Jupiter did not sheath her knife– it was one of the smaller ones, better for throwing than stabbing.

Up ahead, maybe ten feet, Jupiter could see Peeta at a tree, his back to them. Katniss paused, eyes wide. Finnick and Jupiter followed her lead, as the teenager lightly touched the man's arm. The three slowly looked up, and Jupiter's eyes widened slightly at how quickly and quietly they had assembled.

The monkeys had returned, but this time there were many. In fact, countless. They lined the trees above them, staring down, and Jupiter could now feel the shift in the air that must have set off Katniss and her hunter instincts.

Katniss swallowed thickly, loading two arrows. "Peeta," she said calmly. "I need your help with something."

"Okay, just a minute," Peeta responded.

"Now, would be good," Katniss said quietly. "Just make sure you grab the spile."

Peeta turned to the group, eyebrows furrowed at his partner's tone, and even more so at all three of them being tense and armed. "Okay," he said, cautiously. "What is it?"

"Nothing serious," Katniss continued in that same shaky but calm tone. "Just move towards us quietly, so you don't startle it."

Peeta started to walk towards them, the air thick, and not because of the humidity. The unnaturally bright moonlight highlighted him, and the gleaming eyes of the monkeys above. Jupiter was clutching her knife so tightly she was worried her hand might have gone numb, when Peeta made it just a few yards from them.

The 68th Victor knew what was coming, as the boy looked up for only a second. The response was instant, as orange fur descended on them, and the monkeys howled and shrieked. Halfway between animal and human, Jupiter knew no actual animal would act this way, as Katniss spat out the words "mutts."

Jupiter's knife sunk into the first monkey she saw, before she drew the machete in her non-dominant hand, and used her other to fling knife after knife. The monkeys did not stop, as if appearing from nowhere, as Jupiter ducked and sped around the foliage, slashing when one got to close, flinging a knife when she had the chance to. At least between that, Peeta's machete, Finnick's net and trident and Katniss' shooting, they seemed to be surviving.

Hair was sticking to Jupiter's forehead as she moved so she was back to back with Finnick, hovering against him as they spun and moved. The air smelt of blood now, and her ears were ringing from the sounds the mutts were making, a mixture between shrieking, howling and laughter.

"This," Jupiter breathed, throwing one of her last few knives, "has been a long night."

"Duck," Finnick said simply, and Jupiter obeyed as he swung around, throwing an entire row of monkeys to the side. The way they had ended up put them almost in a square, fighting out from the centre, but the onslaught was endless. "We need to head to the beach!" Finnick shouted over the noise.

Katniss and Peeta gave no real indication that they had heard, except starting to shift their feet and keep the mutts at bay. Jupiter frowned as she noticed that Katniss' quiver was very quickly emptying, and with that, she had thrown her last knife, reduced to the two combat knives at her hips, and the curved machete in her hand.

Jupiter had no problem with close combat, but that was against people. Animals, especially mutts, were far more unpredictable. She didn't want to get close to them, as Finnick moved past her and crashed through the undergrowth. Jupiter twisted over her shoulder to slash a monkey while running, inadvertently opening up her back, as another of the mutts reached for her.

Its unnatural claws slashed at her skin, as if it were trying to pull her in closer, teeth bared. Jupiter let out a pained yell and swung around, slashing it to the ground. She could already feel the warmth leaking from the wound on her shoulder, as Finnick looked back at her in alarm. He moved back to her, baring his trident as he went.

"Peeta!" Katniss shouted from just behind them. "Your arrows!"

The girl had run out of arrows, but Peeta was carrying her spare quiver. Despite the situation, he moved to slide it off his torso, at the same moment as a monkey leapt towards him. Katniss, without a defence, ran for him. Jupiter didn't have a proper throwing knife left, and Finnick was busy making a path for the both of them, trident dancing around them and throwing tiny drops of blood.

Jupiter relented that Peeta really wasn't meant to survive the arena, and glanced away, refocusing on protecting herself and Finnick. But she glanced back as she heard a high-pitched scream she knew would not come from Katniss, seeing the female morphling from District 6 had appeared, and was now in the jaws of a monkey in front of Peeta.

"Did she just–?"

But Finnick took a hold of her good arm and dragged her away. Katniss had her arrows back and was covering them as they retreated, Peeta carrying the frail body of the morphling. They broke back out into the sand, Jupiter and Finnick not stopping until they made it to the water.

Peeta crashed into the waves with the morphling, as Katniss raised her bow, arrow ready to fly. But the monkeys had not followed, their beady eyes only visible through the leaves. The noise had faded, and after a few moments, they disappeared into the dark, and Katniss lowered her bow. She glanced back at the elder Victors, as if asking them for answers, but neither of them had it.

"Your arm," Finnick said quietly, lowering his trident and reaching out a hand. Katniss moved past them, floating out to where Peeta was holding the morphling with her face to the sky. Jupiter let out a breath at how gently he cradled her. She was snapped back to attention as Finnick tried to move the cloth of the jumpsuit to the side to inspect the wound. "I'm sorry," he apologised quickly.

"It's fine," Jupiter said.

But they both knew it wasn't fine. She finally got a good look at the wound, gleaming under the moon, the blood looking almost black. She could smell it now, the thick scent of iron (or it might have been the monkey blood coating her), and she knew they had nothing to treat it. The Cornucopia had given them nothing but weapons.

Jupiter swallowed thickly, setting her jaw as she tried to will the blood to clot. It was hard to see the gashes and where they had landed.

"I'll be back," Finnick told her.

"No, you can't go on your own," Jupiter protested.

"I'll be fine," he reassured her. "Clearly their territory isn't the beach."

Jupiter knew he was right, and she knew she needed to rest. She only nodded, before making her way into the water. It turned rusty around her, her blood and the monkey's blood washing off as she got deeper, keeping her distance from where Peeta was helping the morphling who saved his life die in peace.

The salt sunk into the wound, and this time it didn't relieve anything, it continued to burn as any flesh wound in the ocean. She hoped and prayed that it wasn't poisoned, as she glanced again at the morphling and the District 12 Victors. It made Jupiter wonder– had the morphling saved Peeta, or simply been in the wrong place? She hadn't seen enough.

The sound of the cannon made her look away, and back at the water lapping at her skin. She couldn't remember the last time she had felt dry. Jupiter looked up at the sound of splashing, Katniss and Peeta moving towards her as the morphling drifted out to sea.

"You should let Katniss look at that," Peeta said quietly. "She's the healer here."

"Stop saying that," Katniss snipped, but she lacked some of her usual fire. "There's some moss– Mags gave it to me before, it's absorbent."

All three of them went quiet, and Jupiter swallowed thickly at the mention of Mags. She just nodded. "If the jungle is safe again," she murmured.

"It is," Finnick said as he lowered to sit beside her, his feet in the water. "Thought you might want these back." He dumped a pile of Katniss' blood-stained arrows, and some of Jupiter's throwing knives, in the sand just before the waterline.

"But you said–" Jupiter hissed, realising he had risked going back into the trees. Finnick only shrugged.

"Thanks," Katniss said, starting to wash them off in the water. "So no sign of them?"

Finnick shook his head. "It's like someone flipped a switch."

"Probably did," Jupiter said bitterly.

She winced as the water continued to lap at her shoulder– she was the one sitting furthest out in the sea. The group all looked at her warily. Everyone had sustained a scratch of some degree in the chaos, but Jupiter's were by far the deepest and most bloody.

"Should be safe to go back in, then?" Katniss clarified.

"Should be," Finnick told her.

The teenage girl nodded, but she had already loaded her bow. "I'll go try for water again, and bring some moss back."

Peeta went with her, as Finnick stayed by Jupiter's side. Across the water, they watched as the hovercraft appeared and lifted the morphling's body from where it had drifted out. Jupiter kept quiet, focusing on watching the movements of the water to distract from the pain setting in now that the adrenaline was fading.

"Where'd the morphling come from?" Jupiter spoke up.

"She must have been lurking," Finnick responded. "Wrong place at the wrong time." His voice was wobbly now. Jupiter glanced at him, and hated to see him holding back tears. He swallowed thickly, but didn't look back at her.

Jupiter was glad when Katniss and Peeta returned, carrying a shell full of water for the injured girl, who accepted it gracefully. Maybe she was glad they hadn't killed the teenagers when they had had the chance. Finnick stayed quiet to the side as Katniss helped treat Jupiter's wound, moving them to the sand, her back to the moon so it was more visible.

Katniss paused as they unzipped the jumpsuit and moved the fabric aside. Jupiter was wearing the undergarments Lux had given her, but she knew that Katniss wasn't pausing for modest reasons.

"How bad is it?" Jupiter spoke up.

"It'll be fine," Katniss responded calmly. "The saltwater would have been good for it."

Jupiter winced slightly as she pressed the absorbent moss she had collected against the wound. She tried not to think too hard about it being unhygienic and infecting the wound– they just needed to stop the bleeding. Katniss worked quietly, as Jupiter stared into the dark jungle, turning her knife in her hand, just in case.

Katniss eyed the movement warily, but said nothing as she began to use the grass they had used to weave baskets and camp to hold the moss in place. The positioning of the wound on her shoulder made it difficult, and the teenager was forced to move around Jupiter's torso to get the angle right.

"That should hold," Katniss finally said, moving away. Jupiter looked down at her crudely bandaged shoulder, before nodding at Katniss in thanks. The teenager looked over her shoulder where Peeta was resting in the sand and Finnick was sitting with his trident, looking out over the dark water. "Why don't you guys get some rest?" Katniss proposed. "I'll watch for a while."

"No, Katniss, I'd rather," Finnick said quickly. His voice had that wobbling quality back to it, his green eyes gleaming in the dark. Katniss seemed to realise, and frowned.

"Okay– thanks," she said quietly, moving away from Jupiter and to Peeta's side.

Jupiter swallowed thickly and got up from where she had been sitting, moving her jumpsuit back up to hold the moss and grass in place. "Zip me up?" she asked softly.

Finnick looked at her, nose almost touching her cheek from how close they were. He set the trident down in the sand, moving to zip up the back of the jumpsuit. Jupiter winced as the fabric tightened against her wound and the dressing on it, but sighed when it subsided.

"You should sleep," Finnick told her.

"What about you?" Jupiter asked. He had moved to have her uninjured shoulder facing him, and she leaned against him, resting her head against Finnick's shoulder, her head tucking under his.

Finnick was quiet for a moment. He sniffed. "I know she wouldn't have made it I just..." he his voice trailed off, and Jupiter hooked a finger around his pinky.

"I know," she murmured. Jupiter felt his shoulders shake, and she pulled away. She glanced over her shoulder, seeing Katniss and Peeta were still and quiet. "Come here," Jupiter whispered, shifting so she was behind Finnick's shoulder, reaching her uninjured arm around, hand going to the back of his head.

Jupiter took big spoon that night, holding Finnick's head to her chest as he quietly sobbed. She kept the knife in her other hand, even with her shoulder torn up, just in case they were ambushed, but in the shadow of the trees where the sand met the jungle, they were hidden from the moonlight.

It was hard to think that it had only been one day in the arena, and with blood staining her suit, Jupiter wasn't sure how many she had left.

It had been a really long night.

━━━━ ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ━━━━

jupiter is self-preserving i feel like we knew this sorry

the next 3 chapters are very chaotic so i will do my best, pls bear with me

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