━━━━ ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ━━━━

    JUPITER HAD KILLED her District 2 partner first during the 68th Annual Hunger Games. He had been sleeping closest to her on the dirt, using his backpack from the Cornucopia as a pillow. She remembered wondering how long it would take the cameras to focus on her and realise something was going on, as her grip around the knife she had been keeping watch with tightened. She had drawn another one– a knife in each –as she turned slowly to the eighteen-year-old boy.

    He had not screamed, simply gargled on blood as she tore out his throat and moved onto the next, the two District 1 tributes sleeping soundly. They had made more noise, struggled far more– the girl seemed to have registered the threat first and had shouted a warning before Jupiter had silenced herself. There was blood slicking her hands and on her face. The two District 4 tributes had woken up as Jupiter stormed over, slicing. They had screamed, she had seen their faces reflected in the moonlight as they realised what was going on.

    Jupiter had sat with it for a long time afterwards. During the Academy, they had been taught to kill, they had guest speakers and Victors come in to share their experiences. But Jupiter felt it did not capture the horror of killing correctly, as she turned one of her knives over and over in her hand. Somewhere, the cannon went off five times, and she wondered what the rest of the arena and tributes thought of such a massacre. She had known, even unscarred and sixteen, that she had only made it easier for herself. Standing between her and Victory were still many tributes, and she had to be prepared to do what it took to survive. She had already done it once– she could do it again.

    And she did.

    Jupiter had been pulled from her arena covered in blood and carrying the golden knife that would one day be displayed in her kitchen. Her mother had petitioned for it to be her honorary token, since she hadn't taken anything into the arena in the first place. Jupiter hadn't cared by that point, she had just wanted to go home. Brutus and one of the older, now-retired female mentors had met her on the other side, eyes lowered, grimmer than usual. That had only been the start of Jupiter knowing she had made a mistake.

    In that, she knew what one may do to survive. Even go as far to strike while their enemy was down, simply because it was easier and the best chance she would get. She didn't trust Katniss and Peeta– she just hoped they were smart enough to know they needed her and Finnick to survive for now, and wouldn't make a move while they slept.

    But she did trust Finnick, and so when she woke up the next day, she was pleasantly surprised to find he had constructed a camp overnight. She blinked the sleep from her eyes and sat up, sand crusting in her hair and sticking to her sweaty body. She had slept on her uninjured side and as she stretched, she felt the clotted blood and mossy bandage crack.

    Finnick noticed she was awake, giving her a small smile. Jupiter ignored the pain in her shoulder, instead looking to see Finnick had constructed a woven mat held by branches to protect them from the intense, rising sun, as well as three woven bowls. One was already filled with uncracked shellfish.

    "Did you rest at all?" Jupiter asked quietly.

    He shook his head. "I couldn't keep still."

    Jupiter nodded. She had stayed up with Finnick as long as she dared, before knowing she had to sleep at least a little bit. She couldn't quite tell how many hours ago that had been. The sun in this arena was unusually hot and bright, harder to tell where it was and when it would set. She looked across to see Peeta and Katniss were still asleep.

    "How's the shoulder?" Finnick asked.

    "I don't want to look," Jupiter admitted.

    "Let me," Finnick said softly.

    He quickly purged his hands in the salt water, before they sat down a few feet from the younger pair. Finnick gently unzipped the top part of her jumpsuit and pulled it down, Jupiter wincing. As the hot air hit her injured skin, she could already predict the outcome, as Finnick gently peeled away the dressing.

    Jupiter angled her head to see what had got him quiet, frowning as she saw the early signs of infection and unusual swelling. Finnick sighed, leaning forward to brush his lips against her temple. Jupiter leaned away from the touch. It was hard to feel light knowing she may not make it out of the arena for a simple flesh wound.

    "I'll go soak it," Jupiter told him. "Then we can redress it."

    Finnick nodded. "Okay. I was waiting to go get some water, too."

    Stepping out towards the salt water felt like inviting someone to come attack them, but Jupiter knew she had no choice but to treat the wound as best she could, as she sunk into it. The wound stung enough for her to bite her tongue, as the water turned rusty around her. What she would have given for a sewing kit of some sort– what she would have given for anything other than weapons.

    Once she felt the dried blood, fluid and moss had been soaked from her wound enough, she moved back up the beach to where Finnick was waiting. He disappeared into the jungle with his trident, the spile and the two empty bowls, while Jupiter began to crack open the shellfish. She wasn't sure if she'd be of any use in protecting Katniss and Peeta if one of the Careers attacked, but it was their safest option. She was still not quite used to referring to the Careers separately from her.

    Jupiter had watched Finnick crack open shellfish a few times over the years, so mimicked his technique as best she could, and had worked through a third of the bowl by the time he returned with two bowls of fresh water and a handful of moss and grass. Jupiter took a small, sparing sip of water, as Finnick organised their small camp.

    "Your shoulder," someone said abruptly. Jupiter and Finnick both looked up to see Katniss had quietly woken up. Her eyes were on the 68th Victor's exposed skin.

    Jupiter shrugged with her good arm. "It's not infected yet."

    "I can redress it," she volunteered quickly. Jupiter just nodded. "Have you–?"

    "Yes, already been in the water," Jupiter said before she could finish.

    Katniss looked pleased, but still wary as she sat by the older Victor. Finnick was now quietly breaking open shellfish. His eyes were still puffy from the night before. "Last year there was an ointment that helped an infection ten times worse than this," she said, but not to Jupiter, almost at the sky.

    "Just eat something first," Jupiter sighed. "The air might do it some good."

    "Not this air," Katniss said bitterly, as if the humidity was something physical she could spit at. But she didn't redress the wound yet, and instead took some shellfish from the bowl. She looked at the flesh cautiously.

    "They're better fresh," Finnick told her.

    Katniss seemed too hungry to doubt him as she ate, Jupiter also reaching for some. They reminded her of times spent in District 4, and though the texture lingered in her mouth, she knew she needed as much nourishment as she could get.

    The sound of a parachute drew the three from breakfast, as it landed in the sand next to Finnick's foot. He unwrapped it quickly, looking into the box.

    "What is it?" Jupiter asked first.

    "It's ointment," Finnick responded with a grin. "Jove, get over here."

    Jupiter swallowed thickly and moved so she was sitting closer to him, as he unscrewed the top off the tiny tub. It would be just enough for one use. As Finnick gently rubbed the ointment on the wound, Jupiter saw the small piece of paper in the parachute's box. No words, just a drawing of the planet Saturn.

    The ointment eased the pain in her shoulder notably, and Katniss promised to redress the wound later, but for the moment Jupiter wore her jumpsuit half-zipped up to stop friction against the wound. She had gone quiet after the parachute, intermittently looking at the small drawing with half-lidded eyes. Maybe District 2 was on her side after all.

    "Peeta," Katniss said softly, crouching beside her partner. "Wake up."

    He seemed in better shape after the chaotic night and his heart stopping, as they sat around the bowl of shellfish. "This would go well with some bread," Finnick said nonchalantly. And, as if on command, a second parachute came floating down towards them.

    All four of them paused at the timing, as Finnick unveiled a fresh loaf of bread, turning it over in his hands, as if searching for something. Jupiter knew it was intended for him from his sponsors– it was the sort of bread found in District 4, flecks of seaweed on the crust and a greenish tint.

    "This will go well with the shellfish," he said matter-of-factly.

    Katniss and Peeta laughed at the irony, as Jupiter used a knife cleaned in the salt water to cut slices, passing them around. The salty bread combined with the shellfish made for a hearty breakfast as far as a morning in the arena went. Finnick's weaving also protected them from the sun as it rose to its utmost point, beating down on the sand around them and sparkling off the ocean.

    "Can't believe it's only been one day," Peeta murmured.

    Jupiter was inclined to agree with him, but her mouth felt like sandpaper whenever she thought too hard about how their alliance would end. One day could mean life or death in the arena– Peeta was walking the line between death, and Jupiter could only hope her shoulder healed in time.

    "Where do you think the Careers are?" Finnick mused. He looked at Jupiter.

    "If they're smart– the beach, like us," she said simply. "Haven't you noticed everything has zones here? Nothing moves onto the beach."

    Katniss looked around, up and down the circular shore. "It's also the most exposed place to be."

    "Mhmm," Jupiter hummed in response.

    Screaming in the distance cut through their moment, and Jupiter exchanged a wide-eyed look with Finnick. Across from the alliance, a wedge of the jungle began to vibrate, before Jupiter realised there was one, giant wave cresting at the top of the hill and rushing through the trees, too quick to outrun.

    The wave hit the existing water around the Cornucopia hard enough that it sent waves out through the whole arena. The water on the group's stretch of beach rose up, washing around their feet. Some of their belongings went floating, and they scrambled to recollect them as the water settled back. Jupiter looked across at the section of jungle as the cannon went off, and a hovercraft arrived shortly to remove the body.

    One less person to worry about, she thought bitterly.

    "Finnick," Jupiter said urgently as she turned back, the first of their group to see them.

    Four people had emerged from the jungle, about two spokes away. Katniss had also seen them, her eyes narrowing. The alliance moved back into the shadow of the jungle, weapons held close. The four newcomers were stumbling, not much of a threat, but they were all stained red, as if they had been dipped in paint.

    Two of them seemed alright, walking with intention and arms swung at their sides, but one was being dragged, and the fourth was walking in circles.

    "Who is that?" Peeta asked. "Or what? Mutts?"

    Katniss didn't respond, drawing an arrow, but the group hadn't noticed them yet. The person being dragged had collapsed now, causing one of the strong ones to stamp their feet as if in frustration. They threw their arms out to the other, who gave an animated response, as the wanderer continued to walk in circles.

    Finnick's face shifted. "Johanna!" he called as he ran towards them.

    "Finnick!" she called back.

    Jupiter realised he was right, following after him, leaving Katniss and Peeta in the sand. The four red people were Johanna, the one frustrated and stamping, and Fawn, the other one still walking normally, having an animated conversation with the other woman. Jupiter soon saw that it was Beetee, of all people, on the ground, and the one walking around in confusion was Wiress.

    "God, is it good to see someone," Fawn said dramatically as they met up, Finnick and Jupiter ahead of the other pair. "I figured you'd be with Brutus."

    "Oh, well," Jupiter responded with a shrug.

    Fawn grinned at her, as if she knew something the other Victor didn't. The small girl looked like hell, hair slicked to her body by what looked like a layer of blood, which covered her freckles and only left an opening for her eyes and mouth. She was breathing slightly heavily, and the rest of their group looked the same.

    Katniss and Peeta had joined them now, taking in the situation with wide eyes. Fawn saw them and her grin faded. "Oh, look, the children have arrived," she mused. They looked unimpressed at the remark.

    Jupiter was about to ask what had happened, but Johanna was already speaking rapidly to Finnick, gesturing back the way they had come. She had a shrill quality to her voice, likely out of frustration rather than fright. Jupiter doubted anything scared the small girl from District 7.

    "We thought it was rain, you know, because of the lightning– and we were all so thirsty. But then it started coming down and it turned out to be blood. Thick, hot, blood," Johanna spat. "You couldn't see, you couldn't speak without getting a mouthful. That's when Blight hit the forcefield."

    "I'm sorry, Johanna," Finnick said quietly.

    Johanna just had her jaw set, and she glanced over their group, as if connecting the dots that Mags was no longer with them. "Yeah, well, he wasn't much but he was from home," she said.

    "Where's Axle?" Jupiter spoke up, ignoring that she had shared a section with Blight before the bloodbath.

    "We separated," Fawn said simply. "He's probably dead by now." She shrugged, as if it were no big deal.

    "Left us alone with these two," Johanna continued. She nudged Beetee with her foot. "He got a knife in the back at the Cornucopia. And her–"

    Everyone looked at Wiress who was circling around them, murmuring, "Tick tock. Tick tock."

    Johanna scoffed. "Yeah, we know. Tick, tock, Nuts is in shock." Wiress looked at her, eyes wide, as if she had been called over. But the District 7 Victor shoved her when she got close. "Just stay down, will you?"

    "Lay off her," Katniss snapped.

    Johanna fixed her eye on Katniss. Fawn whistled.

    "Lay off her?" Johanna hissed. "Who do you think got them out of that bleeding jungle for you?" She had stepped up to Katniss now. "You–"

    "Alright," Finnick sighed, dropping his trident. He threw Johanna over his shoulder as if she weighed nothing, and carried her, kicking and screaming, down to the water, where he dunked her.

    Fawn laughed. "Ignore her," she added dismissively to Katniss, who looked perplexed. "She doesn't like anyone."

    "She likes you," Jupiter snorted.

    "She doesn't like anyone," Fawn repeated. She clapped her hands together. "C'mon, I gotta wash up," she continued brightly, moving to the beach. Jupiter relented, following the other girl into the ocean, leaving a red trail behind her.

    "What'd Johanna mean before?" Jupiter asked. Fawn didn't respond as she rubbed at her eyebrows, blood coming off in layers. "When she said she got them for Katniss."

    "No idea," Fawn responded. "Johanna and I just had an alliance set up. She brought them along." Jupiter just nodded, but she had the distinct feeling Fawn wasn't telling her the whole truth. "Why're you unzipped?" Fawn asked.

    "What? Oh," Jupiter realised quickly. "It was a long night."

    "Not in the fun way, I assume," Fawn mused. It was hard to imagine just two nights ago, and now they were here.

    Katniss and Peeta had gathered at their camp up the beach with Beetee and Wiress, who seemed to have taken a liking to the District 12 girl. Finnick had finally calmed Johanna down, and she was now shiny and bloodless. Fawn was battling to wash the blood from her hair.

    Jupiter supposed she had wanted Fawn or Johanna as an ally to begin with, but this wasn't how she had imagined it.

    They reconvened at the camp, where they exchanged food and water with the newcomers, who seemed close to keeling over from thirst. With the spile, they were able to get as much as they needed. It seemed that Katniss had used the same technique of moss fastened with the weaving grass to treat Beetee's wound on his back, but he was still mostly unconscious in the sand.

    "It was the middle of the night," Finnick said, explaining the events of their night. His voice was clinical, and as he progressed through the story of the fog and the monkey attack, he left out Mags. It seemed no one needed to question it.

    Once Katniss had stopped trying to coax Wiress to eat something, she moved onto redressing Jupiter's wound. It had stopped leaking, and in the end, the pair decided to leave it to dry and absorb the ointment, and zipped up Jupiter's jumpsuit properly. Jupiter noticed that Fawn's group had very little weapons, only an odd, golden contraption of Beetee's.

    "It was important enough he risked going to the Cornucopia for it," Fawn told her with a shrug when the 68th Victor asked.

    Jupiter only nodded. She knew Beetee had won his games through science– electrocuting the rest of the survivors. Maybe he was planning something similar this time around, it would be easy with the amount of moisture and water in the arena.

    "Here," Jupiter sighed, taking the machete slung over her torso. Fawn caught it as it was thrown at her, furrowing her brows. "It'll be more useful with you."

    Fawn looked down at the weapon with gleaming eyes, as if her entire world was brighter now that she held a weapon. The curved sword definitely suited her better than Jupiter, who craved the small knives at her hip. After the new additions to the alliance – which was getting quite large now – had satisfied themselves, the exhaustion set in.

    Jupiter wasn't sure how long they had been wandering the jungle covered in blood, and the hours spent keeping watch with Finnick and running from the fog had gnawed at her. She could only imagine how Finnick felt, staying up more than any of them.

    First watch fell onto Johanna and Katniss, one because she refused to settle down, the other because she was the most rested. If Jupiter wasn't injured she might have, but there was also something inviting about Finnick's arms after the night they had had.

    The brunette lay beside Finnick in the sand, whose eyes looked heavy. He hadn't spoken much about Mags the night before, he had simply cried with her until Jupiter had needed to sleep (he had insisted). She still wasn't sure if he wanted to speak much, so settled with nestling against him, his arm loosely strung behind her head.

    "Get a room," Fawn mused from where she was lying the furthest away from the rest of the group. The machete was laying beside her, half-sheathed, as if she was prepared to draw it at any moment.

    "Just close your eyes," Jupiter fired back. Finnick scoffed lightly, and Fawn rolled her eyes and turned over.

    "You alright?" Finnick asked quietly as they settled down. Jupiter lifted her eyes to his from where she was lying.

    "Yeah, the ointment seems to have helped a lot," she told him.

    "That's not what I meant," Finnick murmured.

    Jupiter swallowed thickly, but said nothing else. She pressed a light kiss to his jawline, before pushing his head down, as if silently instructing him to rest. He fell into a restless sleep shortly, but Jupiter stayed awake a moment, looking up at the weaved mat sheltering them from the sun, eyes tracing the patterns.

    Katniss and Johanna were silent, there wasn't much the two girls could connect on, as Jupiter continued to wonder how much more blood she'd have to stain her hands with to make it out of the arena. And what if she couldn't make it out, and it was all for nothing? She couldn't tell Finnick that he was lumped into the people making it harder for her to imagine winning. Their alliance would only last so long, pressed together on the small sliver of beach, before they needed to start culling the numbers.

    Jupiter wondered if she was the only one thinking that. She didn't know if she wanted to be or not.

    Oh well, she thought. There wasn't much she could do without a few more hours of rest, and lulled herself into sleep with Finnick's chest against her nose and the sound of the waves– so close to home, but so painfully far as well.

━━━━ ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ━━━━

this and chapter 23 were originally altogether, but it was almost 8.5k words unedited, so i split them. somehow this one is close to 4k but it has some fun dynamics so enjoy! 

vote, comment, whatever, mwah <3