CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
on the other side

FINNICK ODAIR HAD NOT EATEN PROPERLY SINCE ELEANOR WENT INTO THE ARENA. Ever since he threw up after watching Eleanor run right into the Cornucopia (something Finnick hoped he would be able to yell at Eleanor for), Finnick had struggled to keep a single meal down. He simply settled for chewing on plain biscuits Mags always liked to dip in her tea, knowing if he eat anything else, he would simply gag it back up. It wasn't healthy, but it was the only thing Finnick was genuinely able to keep down.

Mags wasn't pleased and most of the other victors seemed slightly uncomfortable at the state he was in, though Mags, Odette and Cashmere definitely took the cake for being the most concerned.

"How you holding up?" Odette sat down besides Finnick on the District 4 floor, pulling her legs into her chest. She placed a bowl of cereal on the counter, along with some apple juice. The younger girl wore an oversized graphic t-shirt, though the dark marks on her neck weren't covered up. There was an overwhelmingly obvious darkness under her eyes, which seemed to match a clouded storm in their light.  He gave her a glance, his eyes barely acknowledging her presence. "Okay, sorry, bad question."

He barely felt the sofa dip as Odette sat down next to him. She turned her attention towards the screen, which was fixed on Eleanor as she walked through the forest alongside her other allies.  Finnick had wanted to strangle her the moment she stupidly ran into the Cornucopia, though the moment Blight's tribute (Marlene, Finnick could vaguely remember Blight calling her) had helped Eleanor up off the ground, he realised something it seemed none of the other victors had realised.

The kids had taken matters into their own hands and created an alliance of their own.

While none of the mentors were happy at first, it seemed as though the Capitol was enjoying the newest entertainment. From Marlene Woods' sarcastic banter to Eleanor's protective nature over Kai and Jaime Ashers to Sage Crossley's coolheaded nature, the group had earned themselves a reputation, and with that reputation, sponsors.

It was the early morning of day three and Finnick watched as Eleanor fussed over Sage Crossley's shoulder wound. Thankfully, Eleanor had slept a decent amount, making her more awake and more aware of her surroundings. It didn't surprise him that Eleanor's first instinct when waking up was to make sure everyone else was okay.

He had to admit that her medical knowledge was certainly useful in the arena, regretting as the previous comments he had ever made about how impractical her passive nature would be. It seemed her calm, passive nature made her an excellent opponent in the Hunger Games, allowing for her to keep her levelheaded nature despite her environment.

Eleanor was sat, crossed legs, on the ground as she fashioned some tattered material from her tribute uniform into a make shift bandage for Sage. She had the bandages from the bag she had snatched from the Cornucopia, but it seemed Eleanor didn't want to use it up too quickly.

Finnick could already picture Mags' grin at Eleanor's weaving skills, something the elderly woman clearly helped with.

"That's definitely gonna get infected." Marlene pointed out as she poked Sage's wound, which was raw red and clearly painful. The red haired girl was barely awoke, groggily groaning while the girl from 7 fussed on her wound. She gagged ever so slightly as puss oozed from the wound and Eleanor slapped her over the head. "What the genuine fuck?"

"Good morning to you too, Sunshine." Sage remarked, wincing ever so slightly as she sat up. Marlene once again tried poking the wound and Eleanor grabbed a hold of her wrist, holding her in place with a warning glare.

"Stop poking, you'll get it infected." Eleanor breathed out heavily, exhaling deeply as she finally peeled the ripped off shirt from the wound. She undid the makeshift knot, finally examined the cut. "Doesn't look too bad." Eleanor mumbled to herself.

Sage chuckled, though it turned into a hiss when Eleanor pressed on it slightly. "More like doesn't hurt as bad as you'd think a machete to the shoulder will feel."

"Keep applying pressure," Finnick couldn't help smiling as he watched his best friend resume a role she had fondly taken up back home. If he wasn't certain she was in the games, Finnick could have easily mistaken this footage for a casual day at St Magdalene Rossetti. "Hopefully this stupid arena has some form of Aloe Vera so it doesn't get too bad."

"That or sponsors."

"Worse case scenario," Eleanor reminded Marlene, nudging her ever so slightly. Finnick had to hold himself back from trying to get her medical supplies, knowing fully well that Eleanor's talents could manifest in the nature surrounding her. "Unless you're willing to absolutely win them over."

"So what? We have a dance party and seduce the sponsors into giving us food?" Marlene playfully grinned at Eleanor and even Odette couldn't help laughing. "Believe me, you could definitely bring them all down to their knees with a little cleavage, Fishy." It seemed the both of them were thinking the same thing: the more entertainment the better.

"Basically." Eleanor went bright red as she registered Marlene's other comment. The brunette quickly looked around, her blue eyes blown out with worry as she surveyed the area. Finnick recognised that look of paranoia in her eyes. The brunette moved closer to the younger members of the alliance. "Come on, Kai, Jaime, wake up."

"Your girl, she's good." Odette complimented, practically forcing Finnick to look away from the screen and instead towards her. At this point, he was laying in her lap as she played with his hair. It soothed him, being comforted in a way that didn't completely baby him. Finnick didn't mind the moment of contact, though he would've preferred it to be Eleanor.

"She's no fighter."

"I never said that. From what i've heard, she's gained quite a fan base." Odette reminded him lightly. He looked up ever so slightly and saw the look on her face. Her face was a lot less tense, a lot more lighter and she truly looked fifteen. It was horrifying. "If a fighter won every year, the games wouldn't have anything. Two fighters in a row, you and me, now maybe there will be a healer amongst us."

"Cashmere's girl's got the highest odds of winning." Finnick reminded Odette lightly, admitting a fact he didn't want to admit. Ironically, all of Caesar's commentary was now centred around the girl. Eleanor's allies had settled down under a tree that sat right by a body of water, busy tending to Sage Crossley's wounds and making sure they had necessities. So, all attention was on the young eighteen year old from District 1. Alina Scaro seemed to be the most prominent tribute at the moment, quickly climbing her way up as the fiercest tribute in the arena. She had managed to kill five tributes at the bloodbath, something the Capitol was gushing over. Anxiety seemed to consume Finnick as he watched the tribute move closer and closer to Eleanor's group.

"Well," Odette practically sang the word, grinning ever so slightly at Finnick. He rolled his eyes at her. Her nose scrunched up ever so slightly as she tilted her head upwards. "When have the odds ever been in anyone's favour? You heard what that girl from 5 said, they never are in our favour."

"Don't let Cash hear you," Finnick reminded Odette calmly. She gave him a look and he reaffirmed this statement. "I'm serious, she's worked herself up over her kid. She really thinks she has a chance this year. It'll be her first victor and you know how big of a deal that is for Cash."

Odette rolled her eyes, knowing fully well that he had a point. Cashmere hadn't stopped talking about how promising Alina Scaro was. From what they had heard from Gloss, the District 1 mentor had been losing sleep over her tribute. "Fine."

"Odette." Finnick gave a warning glance at the girl, his gaze stern and pointed.

"Okay, okay, no words to Cash. Got it." She poked her tongue out at Finnick and he shoved her ever so slightly.

Eventually, the pair decided to make their way down to the viewing room, immediately pulling up in front of the screens. Finnick could see Cashmere attentively watching her tribute, her eyes fixed on Alina, Robb, August and Mitchell. The group seemed to be bickering on when to finally finish off Eleanor, who (from Finnick's screen), was busy comparing the roots of some aloe vera she had found.

It was only day 3 though, Finnick reminded himself. He watched this year's Career pack nervously. Yes, it was only day 3 but day 3 could easily turn into the last day. The horrors of the games were that there were no time limit. Any second could be the last. This year's career pack were promising. August Hasting from District 2 had a strong affinity with knives, Robb Dawns was sly and a cunning strategist, Mitchell Braws had the sponsors, and of course, Alina Scaro was the strongest. It seemed as though the stars were fating Eleanor's life right before Finnick's eyes and he could do nothing more than to hold onto every being that belonged to Eleanor.

"That pretty thing from 4, she's probably found shelter. Wouldn't surprise me if its where we were last night." Mitchell Braws remarked as he cut away vines from everyone. It was obvious he wanted to kill Eleanor himself, his remarks from his interview chilling enough.

"Pretty things are always something I want to get a hold of. Maybe before my victory, I can have a bit of fun."

At the time, no one knew who that comment was directed to. There were a number of 'Pretty things' this year, but it seemed as though he always referred to Eleanor as this 'Pretty thing'. The idea of what Mitchell Braws was planning for Eleanor made Finnick's heart drop ever so slightly. Finnick hoped that Eleanor would never suffer a fate delivered by Mitchell Braws, if she died of course.

Then, it was almost sudden, that Mitchell stepped on the body of a mutt, which hissed at him. It snapped forward, barely even touching him and Mitchell shrieked, falling onto the ground. Finnick could already see Brutus and Enobaria scowling at the screen as they watched their tribute inch backwards, only to be defended by Alina Scaro. She held her machete closely, cutting at the body just before it could attack once more. She breathed out heavily, turning to her ally. "You okay?"

Cashmere was nervously biting her nails, watching with wide eyes as the snake slithered closer, it's body growing back gradually. Finally, her eyes widened as she watched the screen, carefully watching as a large snake latched onto her tribute.

"Shit."

Caesar's commentary reminded the audience of the mutt created by the Capitol themselves. It was an old draft from some game from decades ago, with extra mutations which reminded Finnick less of a snake and more of a crocodile. The snakes body was lost in a whirl of colour, vibrant yet deadly. He watched carefully as the sound of leaves moving echoed and the snake averted away from Alina and onto the greenery. Cashmere's sobs were loud as Finnick continued watching, his green eyes full with confusion as a large rock was thrown at the snake, making a loud bang as it collided with the water.

It seemed the snake was too sensitive to the sound.

"Holy- oh my god." Finnick's eyes widened at the shocked gasps coming from Eleanor, watching her on the screen as she finally wandered down a steep slope, leading her to the sight of Alina Scaro being mauled to death. She immediately rushed into the water, pulling Alina's body up the moment the snake slithered away. Cashmere's eyes were fixed on her screen as she watched Eleanor drag Alina's body out of the water, barely managing to get her out without her screaming. The blonde haired girl gasped as she held onto her throat, crying heavily as blood dripped down her mouth.

Her allies had abandoned her the moment the mutt had managed to take ahold of her throat.

Cowards, Finnick thought. Sure, he backstabbed his allies in a literal and metaphorical sense, but Alina Scaro put herself forward to protect all three of her allies. Only one had actively tried helping, but she was attacked by her other ally and ultimately the 67th Hunger Games' career pack had fallen.

"I-I-" Alina choked out as Eleanor grabbed onto her hand, allowing her to squeeze it. Her other hand had moved up to Alina's neck, trying to compress on the wound to stop the bleeding. She gasped ever so slightly at the pain, tears falling down her face. Alina could barely get out her words, but managed to ask only one thing. "W-Why?"

Eleanor shook on the spot, "You're hurt. It's just what I do."

Finnick was right, Eleanor Eves couldn't kill even her worst enemy. Helping the injured was exactly what she was meant to do, just not here.

She was too selfless, too much of a healer to truly attack.

"Please, it-- it hurts so much." Alina sobbed, Caesar's commentary on the venom attacking Alina's system didn't help with Cashmere's already devastated state. It seemed as though Caesar's biggest concern was District 4's beauty (who he simply referred to Eleanor as) getting infected with the venom.

"Now, the interesting thing with this muttation is poison can be passed from cut to cut. The issue here is that District 4's beauty remains completely unaware of this. Now this will be interesting!"

Finnick could make out Gloss holding onto his sister, who buried her face into his chest as she heaved in and out hysterically. They were lucky they weren't in public, otherwise Cashmere would've definitely been a public spectacle for mockery.

"Hey, hey," Eleanor tapped Alina's cheek lightly, already faking a smile as the blonde drowsily looked up through a lidded gaze. "You're okay."

"Kill me." Alina whispered out, coughing up almost black blood. It splattered onto Eleanor's face, though Eleanor didn't seem to care. "It hurts so much."

"Just keep your eyes on me." Finnick watched as Eleanor reached for Alina's machete, taking it into her grip. She looked down at it with hesitance, but her eyes were determined. Alina looked down as well, gurgling out as she sobbed even more. "Keep your eyes on me. Hey, hey, you wanna hear a story?"

Of course Eleanor would decide to comfort a dying girl with a story. Finnick could already feel most of the room watching his screen, focused more on Eleanor than any of their tributes. The shock on Cashmere's face was visible and she simply stared.

It took some time, but Alina seemed almost peaceful as she listened. Finnick couldn't help his eyes widening as he realised that the very story he was hearing was about himself.

"I remember he said he wanted shells for his Ma and I thought, isn't he stupid? " Eleanor softly chuckled, brushing away one of Alina's curls with a gentle hand. "But, he was good." Eleanor drew small patterns on the palm of Alina's hand. Her hand finally slipped away and she inched it closer to the machete that was tightly wrapped to Alina's thigh. Finnick felt his breathe hitch at the sight, seeing the uneasiness in Eleanor's eyes. "Being stupid doesn't mean your bad, it just means your head is too in the right to be smart. This kid, he wanted the shells for his Ma and eventually he got them. He just met me first. In truth, I think we are all stupid but good and that's nice."

Finnick held his breathe as he finally watched Eleanor hold the machete up to Alina's neck, squeezing her eyes shut as she quickly dragged the blood across her neck before dropping the machete. Blood splattered up onto her face, tainting her skin a sickly black shade which made Finnick's stomach drop. The echo of a canon mixed with the sound of the machete bouncing off the ground and Cashmere's screen went black, signalling that her tribute was finally dead.

But, Cashmere couldn't care less about the darkness that enveloped her screen. Instead, she focused more on Finnick's screen, her pale blue eyes focused so much more on the scene before her. She watched as Alina Scaro's black blood splattered onto Eleanor Eves, she watched as Eleanor Eves paused for a moment. It was as though time had stopped before she finally screamed, yelping as she kicked the machete away and fell backwards, breathing in and out rapidly.

She had killed someone, something Finnick knew Eleanor never wanted to do and that seemed to destroy her. She was being destroyed right in front of him, for all of Panem to see and that tore into Finnick.

But, everyone in the room knew that his tribute hadn't done the murder with malicious intentions. Brutus seemed to roll his eyes at the way Eleanor reacted, more focused on Mitchell's screen as he argued with August. The harsh victor seemed to undertake an argument with Enobaria the moment August abandoned his tribute, walking away to god knows where. Finnick didn't care though.  Though, other victors could tell that Eleanor Eves had done something dangerous. Something she wasn't supposed to do.

A flash of worry was evident on Haymitch Abernathy's face, perhaps relishing in the memory of what his defiance had done to himself.

Though, no good ever came for those who were truly good. Especially not someone like Eleanor Eves. Finnick watched as she finally began coughing, matching black blood falling from her lips in heaves. She began heaving as she grasped her throat, gargling out as though something was choking her. She body swayed to the side, falling into a pile besides Alina Scaro. The sight made Finnick immediately stagger back into Odette, one hand held to his mouth as he watched Eleanor choke.

Tears welled in Finnick's eyes as he watched her body still, awaiting the dreaded canon and a blank screen. Caesar's commentary was anything but comforting.

"While the venom came from a secondary passage, it seems as though the odds may not be in favour for our favourite District 4's sweetheart." Caesar's commentary was cruel, even crueler when he made his next comment. "You folks wanna see a beauty survive? Then get on sending those sponsors!"

Eleanor is dying and all Finnick Odair could do was watch.

Before he could get up, Odette pulled him back down onto his seat, directing him to continue watching.  His eyes widened even more as he watched his screen, staring as District 2's female tribute finally reached Eleanor. She rolled Eleanor onto her back, immediately holding her hand above Eleanor's mouth to feel if she's breathing.

The girl sighed out in relief and Finnick seemed to copy her. "Shit, you told me you were gonna be careful." It was odd seeing the career enter a new state with Eleanor, her eyes wide with worry and an emotion that Finnick also seemed to hold in his eyes. Thankfully she had no wounds on any of her hands, meaning that there was no way for the venom to transfer into her. August Hasting's nimble index finger reached up to Eleanor's cheek, wiping away a small tear that fell down Eleanor's cheek.  "You give me the night of my life and now you're dying on me, princess?"

Finnick couldn't help scowling ever so slightly, his eyes wide as he realised that this girl was who Eleanor Eves was with the night after the Individual Assessments. It wasn't his business, obviously, but Finnick couldn't help feeling envious as August Hasting staggered, carrying Eleanor on her back.

There was only one good thing that came from this; it meant that this year's career pack was short lived.

But now Eleanor was dying and it was all Finnick's fault.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVE BITCHES

HERES MY TREAT / TRICK FOR THE NIGHT <3

LOVE U ALL AND TYSM FOR 12K !!!

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