Roots of Destruction • Finnick Odair

by WintersOdair

Summary:

Finnick Odair X fem! OC

Just because someone volunteers, it doesn't mean they want to be a tribute... especially when their sibling is already a victor.

Briar may be small, but you should never underestimate her. She's been called a myriad of things through her life- Little Bird, B, my love, the twin- but none of them can fully define someone who creates the spark that the rebels so desperately need.

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"How am I supposed to watch you risk your life?"

"The same way I watched you do it two years ago... full of fear and hope."

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Pre Hunger Games -----> Mockingjay

Chapter 1: ☆Background☆

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Fraternal Twins:

 

either of a pair of twins who, as a result of developing from separate fertilized ova, are genetically distinct and not necessarily of the same sex or more similar in appearance than other siblings.

 

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18+

 

 

 

꘎♡━━━━━━━━━━━━━♡꘎

 

 

 

Just because someone volunteers, it doesn't mean they want to be a tribute... especially when their sibling is already a victor.

 

Briar may be small, but you should never underestimate her. She's been called a myriad of things throughout her life- Little Bird, B, my love, the twin- but none of them can fully define someone who creates the spark that the rebels so desperately need.

 

♡━━━━━♡

 

 

"How am I supposed to watch you risk your life?"

 

"The same way I watched you do it two years ago... full of fear and hope."

 

 

 

꘎♡━━━━━━━━━━━━━♡꘎

 

 

 

This is a Finnick Odair X OC fic which covers events from pre The Hunger Games (book/movie) through to post Mockingjay. 

 

The relationship between Finnick and Briar is a complex one, which doesn't start immediately, and so I ask please be patient with it ♡

 

 

 

꘎♡━━━━━━━━━━━━━♡꘎

 

 

 

I have altered the timeline and events of the books/movies for this story, and so, for context, the victors are as follows:

 

 

 

 

 

•63rd - Gloss Nicholo

•64th - Cashmere Nicholo

•65th - Finnick Odair

•66th - Satin Nicholo

•68th - Cato Hadley

•69th - Johanna Mason

•70th - Annie Cresta

•71st - Briar

 

 

 

 

 

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Starring

 

Phoebe Tonkin as Briar
Sam Claflin as Finnick
Claire Holt as Satin
Alexander Ludwig as Cato
Jena Malone as Johanna
Alan Ritchson as Gloss

Stephanie Leigh Schlund as Cashmere

 

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Rated 'r' for:

 

Blood, violence, intense scenes, dark themes, explicit language, sexual content and more.

 

Hunger Games style violence and worse will be included.

 

Reader discretion is advised.

 

 

 

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Disclaimer!

I do not own The Hunger Games or any of its characters. This is purely fanfiction based on The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I only own my original characters, content, and storylines I have added.

 

Full credit to twobraincellkentwell for her OC (Satin Nicholo).

 

I do not give permission for my story to be copied onto any other platforms, or to be translated into any other languages unless you have asked my directly. I also do not give permission for this, or any of my works, to be sold on any platforms. I will be posting this story on AO3 (same username WintersOdair).

Chapter 2: ☆1☆

"Ember, what am I wearing today?" Briar questions as she walks towards her mother, fresh out of the bath and wrapped in a towel. She had avoided washing her hair, not wanting it to be dripping wet when they arrived at the square, and so, at the moment, it is tied up into a small bun at the nape of her neck.

 

"Your sister has arranged for a dress to be provided," her mother smiles in response.

 

"If you're going to talk about me, at least do it to my face," perfectly timed, her sister enters the room holding a dress bag. "Please tell me you're not wearing your hair like that, Briar. Your hair is too short for a bun to look good."

 

"I'm not. I'm going to wear it down like I always do," the girl laughs, taking the elastic out of her hair, letting the shoulder-length strands fall naturally into her middle parting, "so, what fabulous dress do you have for me this year?" Briar asks sarcastically.

 

"Okay I admit last year's dress was awful, but I promise this one is nice," Briar's sister quickly hangs the bag up on the door and unzips it, revealing a light grey dress that looks like it will end at the top of Briar's knees. It's nothing special, it's actually particularly simple, but that's because Briar refused to accept any luxuries from her sister. "See, it's actually nice." 

 

"I'll give you it, I like this one," Briar smiles, carefully removing the dress from its hanger, "your twin-tuition did you well with this one."

 

"Right, Briar sweetie you need to change now. And you missy–" Briar's mum places her hands on her sister's shoulders, "need to get going. We'll see you at the square alright?"

 

"Okay, mum. I'll see you guys soon," she says before leaving the house.

 

Briar changes into the dress, with assistance from her mum, and looks in the mirror with a frown. She had never liked Reaping day, nobody did, but Briar has hated it even more the last few years. The girl could only be thankful that she only had to survive this year, and the next, then she would no longer be eligible for the Games and could live her life in peace, working as a lumberjack just like her father. Ever since she was a young girl Briar has been out in the woods, holding an axe, chopping down trees, and helping her father collect wood, and she wouldn't have it any other way. Despite being a true daddy's girl at heart, Briar adored both her parents, the people that had done anything they could to protect her and her twin, and she would do anything for them.

 

"Are you ready, Little Bird?" Briar's father, Ash, asked as he walked into the room. The nickname 'Little Bird' had come from Briar's love to hum the tunes the birds sing in the woods, and how easily she could repeat the tunes back at home on their old, rickety piano. "Wow, you look beautiful, Briar," the man smiles, pulling his daughter into a hug.

 

"Thanks, dad," she returns the smile he gave her, looking at him silently for a moment before asking, "are we all ready to go?"

 

"Yes. Come on," he smiles, leading her to where her mother is waiting. Once they collect Ember, the trio head towards the square in the middle of District 7.

 

As they arrive, both her parents place gentle kisses on Briar's head and make their way to the viewing area whilst Briar joins the queue of children waiting to be checked in. Having the time to reflect, Briar quickly becomes appreciative of the fact that her family have never had to take tesserae. Coming from a slightly wealthier family, they've always had enough food to get by, at least as much as you can when you live in a District, so her name is only in there six times, once for each year since she turned twelve. She has friends at school whose names are in their designated bowl over fifteen times, and the mere thought of that makes every hair on Briar's body stand up straight.

 

"Next, please," one of the Peacekeepers speaks, causing Briar to realise she's next in line, and so she quickly steps up to the table. Wasting no time, Briar holds out her left hand with her index finger out straight, ready to be pricked for her check in. The Peacekeeper holds her wrist and uses a small device to prick a needle into the flesh of the girl's finger tip, then twists her arm gently, pressing the blood that has pooled onto the page. The man releases the girl's wrist and scans the fresh blood on the paper. "You're done. Next, please."

 

As Briar makes her way to the rows of seventeen year olds, she looks around at the crowd of children. How can any person get enjoyment from watching children fight to the death? How did we evolve to be this twisted? She thinks as she finds an empty spot in the middle of a row. The brunette does not bother speaking to anyone, and instead just stands, facing forward, and fiddles with her fingers nervously. Despite being in a crowd full of people who can do the day mindlessly, she knows everyone is feeling the same way she is.

 

Once everyone is checked in and accounted for, the Mayor of District 7 enters the stage, along with the four previous Victors, and they take their usual seats at the back of the stage. A few moments later, the designated escort for District 7, Fauna, struts onto the stage, a smile beaming on her face. 

 

You could at least pretend that you feel bad for the District children.

 

"Welcome, Welcome. Happy Hunger Games, and may the odds be ever in your favour. Before we select the names of this year's tributes, we will begin with a very special film directed by the Capitol." The small groans from throughout the crowd force Briar to suppress a giggle. Not only was everyone bored of hearing the chirpy voice of their escort, they can also easily quote this 'special film' by heart, and they hate it.

 

After a compilation of staged scenes resembling the Dark Days finishes playing on the screen, Fauna lifts her head again and continues to speak into the microphone. "Now the time has come for us to select one young courageous young man and woman for the honour of representing your District in this year's Hunger Games. As usual, ladies first." The haunting sound of the clicks of Fauna's ridiculously high heels echoes as she makes her way to the female bowl. Raising her perfectly manicured hand, she wriggles her fingers slightly before dipping her hand in the bowl and selecting a slip of paper. The clicks then return, mocking the children, as she makes her way back to the microphone. "Juniper Palmer."

 

Briar releases a quiet sigh of relief as her name is once again not called, and she lets her shoulders slump slightly. She watches as many heads, including her own, begin to look around, wondering where the girl is, but when she finally spots her, her heart drops. She was a twelve year old. Although she can only see the back of Juniper's body, she can tell the girl is sobbing by the rapid shaking of her shoulders. Briar closes her eyes and takes a deep breath then raises her hand before her brain can process what she is doing.

 

"I volunteer," she announces loudly, stepping out from her row and into the empty aisle between the males and females.

 

"Juniper dear, remain in your spot. Would our volunteer please make her way to the stage?" Fauna's voice is far too enthusiastic for someone who is picking children to die, but Briar blocks this out and focuses on the sob that can be heard from the viewing area. Her mother's sobs.

 

There is nothing but silence in her brain as Briar processes the magnitude of what she has just done. To save a child, she has put herself into a position where it is highly likely she won't survive, and she has no way out. Her parents are going to be devastated, having to relive the horrors they endured just two years prior, but the girl did not have it in her to stand and watch, like another one of the Capitol's mindless drones, as another young child- another baby- was taken to their death. At very least, she has a chance. The reaped girl, Juniper, does not.

 

Directing her focus on the steps she is taking, Briar slowly walks up to the stage with a bright, wide smile on her face. She knows every camera on the square is currently on her, and so she has to put on a good show for them. As she ascends the stairs to the side of the stage, she looks at the only female victor from District 7, Johanna Mason, and mouths the words 'I'm sorry' quickly before making her way to Fauna.

 

"Our first volunteer!" Fauna smiles in awe, "my dear, what's your name?"

 

"Briar Mason," the girl smiles, waving to the crowd.

 

"Mason?" Fauna's question comes out with a gasp. "Are you related to our dear Johanna?"

 

Briar lets out a reserved laugh, but nods, "yes. Johanna is my twin sister."

 

"Another sibling as a possible Victor? Oh, the audience is going to love this!" The excitement in Fauna's voice is almost unfathomable as she holds Briar's arm in the air, showing her off to the camera. Briar pretends to love it, blowing a kiss into the camera then giggling softly. "Okay my dear, if you could just stand here," she points to her left and Briar quickly follows her instruction. "Now for the boys."

 

Once Fauna is back to the microphone with a name slip in hand, she carefully unfolds it and chirps, "Oakley Thorn." As she announces the name, a scrawny looking, fourteen year old boy makes his way to the stage. The poor boy looks terrified, but Briar knows she cannot show empathy to him publicly as it will be seen as a sign of weakness. And after Johanna's performance a few years back, everyone will either believe it and hate her, or refuse to fall for another District 7 girl appearing weak and hate her. A lose, lose situation. 

 

"Ladies and Gentlemen, your tributes for the 71st annual Hunger Games, Briar Mason and Oakley Thorn." As Fauna finishes announcing them, the pair of tributes are escorted off the stage by Peacekeepers. Fauna is just ahead of them, chirping about how they're allotted ten minutes for goodbyes before they have to head to the train. She also makes a quick comment about how Johanna will not be present during Briar's goodbyes, but she would get to see her sister on the train. Briar knows that, whether it's now or on the train, she would get an earful from Johanna about how she's an idiot for volunteering. Briar is the first of the two tributes to be placed into a private room inside the Justice Building to wait for her family. Instead of pacing and psyching herself out, the brunette girl decides to sit down and take a few deep breaths.

 

Okay, you can use an axe and knives well so you have skills that will work to your advantage in the arena. You're attractive, so flirting in your interview can help get you sponsors. Johanna is a badass bitch, so she'll be able to work her magic on the outside for you. You could possibly win this. You can do it.

 

The girl is pulled from her thoughts as her parents enter the room. "I have a horrible sense of déjà vu," her dad attempts to joke as he walks over to the girl, who is now standing, and pulls her into a bone crushing hug.

 

"I know, dad. I am so sorry." 

 

"Why did you do it, Briar?" Her mum questions, tears threatening to spill down her cheeks. "You witnessed the stress we went through when Johanna was reaped. We didn't need this again; I can't do this again, I can't lose you."

 

"That girl is twelve, mum. She was sobbing and she hadn't even left her line. I couldn't just watch as that poor baby was whisked away to her death. I'm skilled, I at very least have a shot at winning. Besides, now you don't have to go through the same stress again next year, it's not like Johanna or I can be reaped again."

 

"No, but we could spend the next year mourning the loss of one of our children, Briar."

 

"I promise you, I am going to try as best as I can to come home to you," Briar quickly steps to her mum and wraps her arms around the woman's shoulders, "I'm not going to say goodbye. You guys only get a 'see you soon' from me, because then I have to try and keep that true."

 

"This isn't a joke, Briar. We know from Johanna that the tributes from 1 and 2 train their entire lives for this," a wave of guilt consumes her body as her dad scolds her, but Briar is confident in herself that she made the right decision.

 

"And yet they're beaten a lot. So clearly it's possible they're not always good enough."

 

"We love you, Little Bird," Ash smiles as he pulls Briar and Ember into a hug, "and we'll see you soon." 

 

Briar smiles slightly as he joins in with her sentiment, "I'll see you both soon."

 

After her parents both give her a kiss, they're escorted out of the room, and Briar is taken to a car which escorts her to the train station. There are many cameras at the station, and so Briar takes her time making her way to the train, being sure to stop and pose, wave to her fellow citizens, and show off her smile, before finally heading onto the train.

 

"Briar Elia Mason," her sister shouts the second she is within her line of sight, "get your ass here. Right. Now." 

 

Not bothering to hold back her laugh, Briar makes her way to Johanna and sits beside her. "Now, now, my dear sister, you don't need to be so angry."

 

"No need to be angry?" Johanna asks in disbelief. "You're kidding, right? B, I am now your mentor. What on earth possessed you to volunteer?"

 

"I just wanted to spend time with my incredible sister, I've missed you these past couple years," Briar laughs at herself, amused by her own joke, but quickly stops as she receives a death glare from Johanna, "she was too young. I couldn't let her go into the arena."

 

"I get that, B, but still... you could have been safe at home with mum and dad. Instead you're here, about to go and train ready to fight with other children until only one of you is left. How am I supposed to watch you risk your life?" Johanna sighs, pulling her sister in for a hug.

 

"The same way I watched you do it two years ago... full of fear and hope."

 

"As touching as this is, I think it would be best if Briar gets some food," Fauna interjects timidly.

 

Briar can tell that Johanna is about to snap at the woman, so she quickly places her hand on Johanna's arm and speaks up, "that sounds like a great idea. Johanna has told me all about the amazing delicacies you guys serve, I have been so excited to try them."

 

"Amazing! Follow me then, angel. You too, Oakley." The two tributes follow Fauna into the dining cart, and Blight is already there waiting. Briar opts to sit opposite Blight to allow Oakley to sit with him, and that also means Johanna can sit beside her. Oakley takes his place beside Blight, and Johanna joins the group shortly after, sitting beside her sister.

 

"Briar, you said that you and Johanna are twins, right? You don't look alike, I don't get it," Oakley looks between the two brunette Mason children, a confused look adorning his face complete with a singular eyebrow being raised.

 

"We get that a lot, actually. You see we are what's called 'fraternal twins' which means that, although we were born on the same day by the same mum, we look different and have different genes," Briar explains to the boy, her tone gentle but not condescending. She wants the boy to know that she is on his side, even if they are technically against one another the second the countdown reaches zero in the arena.

 

"Oh, that's confusing," the boy admits, his head nodding up and down gradually, causing the others at the table to laugh. Just from this small interaction, Briar can tell that her District partner has a good sense of humour, something which will work to his advantage, especially in his interview.

 

The Avoxes begin to serve food onto the plates in front of those seated at the table, and Briar wastes no time indulging in the meat filled meal on her plate. The flavours dancing across her taste buds are unlike anything she has ever experienced, and they make her mouth water and her stomach grumble more. Excitement begins to build within the girl as she takes in the grand decorations in the dining cart alone. For example the solid mahogany table, which Briar instantly recognises having been exposed to types of wood her entire life, and the two oversized diamond chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. If the Capitol is willing to spend this much on just a train, she can't even begin to imagine how much they spend on their buildings and belongings. As she finishes the food on her plate Briar takes time to thank the Avoxes who cooked for, and served, her, and even offers to take her own dishes to the kitchen. They, of course, refuse and so she simply sips on her glass of orange juice whilst the others continue to eat.

 

"Briar, my dear, the way you were working the crowd in the train station is exactly what you need to continue to do in the Capitol. They will eat you up," Fauna gushes, causing Blight to nod in agreement.

 

"As much as I hate to admit it, Fauna is right. Keep acting that way and you'll have a tonne of sponsors," Blight agrees, a smile creeping its way onto his lips.

 

"Oh, don't you worry, it's not an act with Briar. This is exactly who she is. She's pretty, and she knows it," Johanna laughs, nudging her sister's arm with her fist.

 

Briar lets out an over exaggerated gasp and places her hand over her heart. "Rude!" She pauses briefly, putting her hand back down, "What Johanna means is that I know I fit some general societal norms in regards to my looks. I may as well use that to help myself. But don't worry, I'm careful to make sure I'm not just a cocky bitch."

 

"A pretty face isn't everything, Briar. Do you have any skills?" Their escort questions, leaning forward to grab her drink from the table.

 

"She does," Johanna boasts.

 

"I do. I'm excellent with an axe," the younger girl confirms.

 

"And she can sort of use knives," her sister adds.

 

"What about you, Oakley? Any skills?"

 

"I'm not great, but I can use a knife fairly well," the younger boy smiles as he finishes the meat in his plate and carefully places his cutlery down.

 

"Okay... Briar, Oakley, I think it would be best if you two tried to get a few moments to yourselves to process everything that has happened today. We are due to arrive at the Capitol at about lunch time tomorrow, and the crowds will be large as everyone will either be on their lunch breaks or will have taken the day off of work. Take some time to yourselves now as it's the only alone time you'll be having for a while. You're welcome to use any of the carts you wish, and if you get lost any of the staff will be willing to help. Your bedrooms are marked with your names so feel free to sleep whenever you wish."

 

As Fauna finishes her words, Briar quickly hugs Johanna with one arm around her shoulder, then excuses herself to one of the empty carts that has a couch and television. The brunette takes this time alone to consider her strategy in the games. She knows that she can't play the weak angle like her sister did even if she wanted to, so she had to find another way to succeed. She's a pretty girl, there's absolutely no denying that, so her best and only option is to play the desirable and flirty card. If she can convince enough men in the Capitol that she's an achievable target post-games, she is likely to gain sponsors. She definitely isn't a guaranteed winner, but she isn't oblivious to the fact that any extra help she can gain could be the difference between a painful death, or winning and returning to her parents with her twin sister. 

 

Notes:

So, you have now officially met my new OC, Briar Mason! Over the past year of writing the Accepting Series and Luna, I have learnt so much about my own writing, what I do and don't like, and what I want to include more of, so this is going to differ massively from my original fics.

 

As opposed to the Accepting Series, this is all going to be in one long book rather than being split across multiple. And, chapter names are hard so I am sticking with numbers (although there will be a twist when we reach Mockingjay - I am sorry in advance).

 

Again, a huge thank you to @twobraincellkentwell for co-writing these fics with me, and for being my constant support to bounce ideas off of. Also, Charlotte, I am sorry for the turmoil that my ideas (you know the one) have put you through already. I love you.

Chapter 3: ☆2☆

Briar raises her head as the sound of the sliding automatic doors open wakes her and sees her sister walking to her. Even with her incredibly late and unusual lie in, the girl is overwhelmingly her exhausted. "Hey, B, We'll be arriving in the Capitol in about forty minutes. Blight, Fauna, and I have spoken, and as you're a volunteer we've decided that we're going to keep you dressed as you are. The press and citizens will love it if they can see you in this."

Briar doesn't know it, but this was a lie. It was a requirement that, if someone volunteered, they were to remain in their Reaping outfit for arrival, however, Johanna was desperate to try and shield her twin from the truth about the Capitol for as long as possible. "When we arrive, there's going to be a lot of people on the platform, and outside, desperate to even get a glimpse of you. It'll be intensified for you, too, as you're a volunteer from a District that isn't known for winning."

"Oh wow, so because I'm not from 1 or 2 they're going to see me as some sort of Peacock?" Briar raises an eyebrow.

"Nah, that's Finnick. They just see you as different."

"Finnick? He won a few years before you, right?"

Johanna nods in response, "yeah, but enough about him, we need to discuss the angle you play as it's going to be in place from the second you arrive."

"I mean I was just going to be myself and flirt with people like I did back in 7. You said the people here will love that."

"They will," Johanna nods, "but you need to make sure it always appears genuine. If you don't seem genuine then you'll be branded as fake and hated. Then you're fucked."

"Okay," Briar nods and rests her head on her sister's shoulder. "I'll make sure it appears genuine."

"You really think you can win this? I mean my stunt when I won means that 7 have the biggest target on their backs at the moment."

"I know, Jo. And no, I am not completely sure I can win this, but I do think I have a good shot."

"I sure hope so. I could never look at mum and dad again if I let you down."

"Jo, you'll never let me down," Briar smiles, hugging her sister.

"Just promise me you won't sleep with any of the victors when you win, okay?" Johanna laughs, tightening her hold on the girl.

"I'm not making you any promises," a soft laugh leaves Briar's lips as she goads her sister.

A short while later, the train screeches to a gradual halt in the station, and Fauna excitedly walks through to the twin sisters, closely followed by Oakley and Blight. "Are we all ready? Remember bright smiles and be kind to everyone that has made the journey out to see you."

"Yes, Fauna," Briar giggles as she rises to her feet. "Should I walk out with Johanna of Oakley?"

"Oakley," Fauna confirms. "I'll go out first with you and Oakley following, then Johanna and Blight will follow behind. The Centre isn't far from here so we'll be walking there. Be sure to talk to one another and look like you get along."

All the District 7 citizens nod in agreement, and with that Fauna swings the train door open and smiles, waving to her people. Briar and Oakley walk out, side by side, and Briar instantly begins smiling and interacting with the citizens and members of the press, making comments like 'that colour is beautiful on you' and 'you're very handsome, your wife is a very lucky woman' as she goes. It's made clear by their reactions to the seventeen year old that the citizens adore her, and this encourages her further. The flash of a camera being held by a member of the press catches Briar's eye, and so, she looks over her shoulder, striking a subtle pose and winking at the man holding it. As they exit the station and come onto the street, even more people are awaiting their arrival, shouting at them and pushing forward, clambering to try and get closer to this year's tributes.

"You'd think we're celebrities..." Oakley whispers so only Briar can hear, and the girl laughs in response. Despite their age difference, Briar is only 5'3 and so the boy is slightly taller than her. She links her arm with his and smiles at him.

"We are, now. We're Tributes."

The pair continue to laugh as they enter the Tribute Centre, but they're quickly separated and taken to separate preparation rooms. Following instructions that had been given to her when she arrived, Briar strips out of her Reaping dress and puts on the paper-thin medical gown before sitting on the bed and waiting for her Prep Team to arrive. The brunette glances down at the table of instruments and scrunches up her nose. The array of tweezers, scissors, brushes, and hair products is unlike anything she had seen before. Back home, the only product she really had access to was soap and shampoo, so she has no idea what the other products are for.

"Oh my goodness, you have no idea how excited I am to be working on another Mason!" A voice beams as two women enter the room. One was a lot taller than Briar, with her bright purple hair tied up into an intricate updo of knots and twists. That lady's makeup was bizarrely bright and dramatic. The other woman was closer to Briar's height with bright red hair and equally over the top make up. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Briar. My name is Florah and this is Meri," The purple haired lady smiles.

"It's nice to meet you both," the tribute smiles, holding her hand out and allowing the two women to shake it. "Before we start, can I just ask, is this going to hurt? I don't mind if it does but I want to apologise in advance for the language that leaves my mouth if it does."

The women laugh, and Meri places her hand on the girl's shoulder as she speaks, "it will hurt, but, trust me, we don't mind a few swear words."

A few hours, and many, many swear words later, the preparation was done. Briar's legs were now smoother than she could have imagined, her eyebrows have been waxed and plucked to the point where she wouldn't be surprised if there wasn't any left, and her hair has been lightly curled. The girl also knows that her makeup has been done, but she hasn't seen it yet so she's not sure if she actually looks good.

"Lysa will be here shortly. You're so lucky to have a stylist as talented as she is! I can't wait to see what she's designed for you," Florah gushes as she lightly teases the roots of Brian's hair to add more volume.

As if it was on cue and rehearsed, a tall woman enters the room. She is easily the tallest woman that Briar has ever seen, and her beauty can easily rival the models Briar briefly saw on billboards during her walk towards the Tribute Centre. "Briar Mason, you look incredible. Florah, Meri, the two of you have done a fabulous job. Are you ready to see what I've designed for your tribute parade?"

"Oh yes please," Briar nods and stands up, ignoring the fact that her entire back is exposed in the gown. Lysa crouches down and pulls out a bodysuit from her bag, followed by a pair of heels. The bodysuit is entirely made of green and brown, and leaves very little to the imagination in terms of what it will and will not cover, and the heels are a matching green with straps, which look like vines, that will wrap around her calf and have butterflies on the back of them. "It's very pretty, and I love the vibe, but where's the rest?"

"What do you mean 'the rest'?"

"Well one wrong move and the entirety of Panem will get a good look at a whole lot more of me than I am comfortable with at this time."

The prep team all laugh softly and Lysa pulls Briar into a hug, whispering, "I promise you that will not happen."

"Okay... as long as you're sure. I know it will make me look good so no concerns there," Briar nods causing the others to laugh more.

The team all help get Briar into the bodysuit as it does have a corset back, and then Lysa crouches and makes sure the straps around Briar's legs are all sitting exactly where they are supposed to. Briar spends the time quietly giggling at the fact that the tightness of the corset has made it appear as if the size of her boobs had doubled.

"Perfect! You're all ready to go. Shall we make our way down?" Florah smiles as Lysa stands her up. The remaining people in the room all nod in agreement, and so they make their way to the basement where the mentors and chariots await them.

"Jesus fucking Christ. I know we're sisters so I've seen everything already, but B please tell me there's something more to that outfit." Johanna's mouth is slightly ajar, shocked at the appearance of her sister at this moment. Briar looks around at her sister's friend group and her eyes widen. She doesn't know any of their names.

"She looks good, Jo," Finnick smirks, looking Briar up and down a few times before Johanna shoves him gently.

"Stop staring at my sister," Johanna jokes, hitting the man over the back of the head.

"Ah, so you must be the Peacock Johanna told me about," Briar laughs as she looks at Finnick.

"Peacock? Wow, Johanna, I thought we were friends." Finnick pretends to be hurt by Johanna's choice of words, but knows that everyone calls him a Peacock and so ends up laughing.

"We are, so I have to be honest with you, you're a complete Peacock. But onto more pressing matters, why is it that 7's Tributes have been dressed as trees for over four decades and somehow you manage to break that streak and end up looking nice?"

"It's probably because I'm the only one in decades that has shown promise from the get go," she teases, winking at her sister, "now, as cute as this little friends meet up is, I think you're supposed to be prepping me for this parade." The victors, excluding Johanna, all laugh softly at the tribute's attitude, not expecting her to be as blunt as as they know her twin is.

"Before that—" a voice calls out from behind Briar, and the girl can hear footsteps approaching. She turns to see Lysa walking towards her with a crown style headpiece in her hands. "I almost forgot this," she smiles, placing the headpiece on Briar's head and smiling.

"Oh look, she's got a crown just like a princess," Gloss taunts, chuckling as the group watches the stylist accessories the tribute from 7.

"Anyone would think she's twelve years old," Cashmere giggles along.

Briar looks between the brother and sister carefully, biting her tongue, and smiles, "I would usually give you some sort of snarky comeback for that, Blondie, but seeing as you're all victors that could murder me in seconds, I won't waste my breath." After finishing her words, and silently praying that she hasn't offended any of her twin's friends in the process, Briar smiles to the group and hastily walks over to her chariot. 

"Sorry about her, she's very... Briar," Johanna sighs, shaking her head and laughing as she follows her sister. Johanna has to suppress a chuckle as she looks at her sister, the newly added headpiece-  which looks like a bunch of twigs carefully shaped into a beautiful crown-like diadem- and the scandalously small body suit are a stark contrast to the usual jeans, shirt and boots she wears at home. Despite them being twins, Johanna and Briar are very different. Johanna will easily vocalise her anger, but Briar would internalise it whilst plotting revenge. Briar's hair was always cut to just above her shoulders as the girl hated having long hair, but Johanna's has always been long.

"Where's Oakley?" Briar questions, turning to face her sister and leaning against the side of their chariot.

"He should be here any moment. Now is about the time all the tributes start to arrive so, as you're early, you get to size them all up as they do."

"No need to boss me about," Briar laughs.

"Well I am the older twin so I'm allowed."

"By 13 minutes, Jo. We're still the same age."

"That's 13 whole minutes worth of life experience I have over you," the older twin laughs.

"Well I was going to size them all up, anyway. If I can intimidate a few in the process then that's even better. I know I'm not guaranteed to win this, but getting a few of them in the position where they fear me then it will definitely help."

A small laugh comes from behind the pair, and they turn to see Blight and Oakley, the latter is the one who is the one laughing, walking over to them.

"I- I ca- can seeee—" Oakley tries to talk through his fits of giggles, but fails miserably and laughs more when Briar rolls her eyes.

"Yes, you can see my bum. I know."

"You're going to have all heads looking at you. Well the lower half of you, at least," Blight laughs, clearly winding the girl up and not actually complimenting her.

"Ha ha," Briar scoffs before joining in with the men laughing.

"Right, enough laughter, please," Johanna cuts them all off, "now is the time to be serious. Both of you need to work that crowd out there; the more they like you the more sponsors you will get."

Briar nods in agreement as Oakley speaks up, "we can do that."

As Johanna and Blight continue to give their advice, Briar blocks their voices out and begins to watch as the other tributes enter the chariot area. It's clear that both the tributes from 1 and the male from 2 will be her biggest competition. If the three of them weren't in the games, her confidence would be a lot higher. She makes a mental note to discuss strategies with her mentors later for the best ways to take them out, especially as the biggest target is on her back thanks to her sister's stunt in the 69th Games.

A signal is given to each of the mentors by the Peacekeepers in the vicinity, and they begin to usher their tributes onto the chariots. "Okay, remember you're proud to be from 7. Work the crowd and everything will be fine," Blight nods as Briar and Oakley face forward on their Districts.

"We'll be here when you return," Johanna nods as the District 1 Chariot begins its journey down the Avenue of Tributes, "love you, B."

"Love you too," Briar smiles as their chariot begins to move.

Once their chariot reaches the outside section of its path, Briar plasters on her biggest smile and begins to wave to the crowd. As she blows kisses and interacts with the crowd, she can't stop the small giggles of astonishment from leaving her lips as the audience members begin to cheer, some even shouting her name in an attempt to draw her attention. She tries her best to keep changing the direction of her attention, being sure to share it equally around the numbers stands so she can impress as many people as possible. The cheers and shouts only die down when President Snow takes his place at the podium ready for his annual welcome speech.

"Welcome. Welcome. Tributes, we welcome you. We salute your courage, and your sacrifice. And we wish you, Happy Hunger Games, and, may the odds be ever in your favour," the man's voice, although loud, has little to no emotion in it. The words, which are spoken identically every year, fill the Capitol citizens with excitement, but Briar can tell how little they really mean. There is never any personalisation or variation to them, and their President sounds like a robot as he recites them. Regardless of her feelings, the brunette keeps the smile on her face the entire time, then holds it in place as the horses pull the chariots in a circle so they can travel back down the Avenue. The crowds begin to cheer Briar's name, and it continues even once her chariot is completely back inside, and everyone watching can tell that Briar is loving every second in the spotlight.

Quickly hopping off her chariot as it comes to a stop, Briar bids goodbye to Oakley and Blight as they head up to their floor before walking over to Johanna. Johanna is now standing with Cashmere, Gloss, Satin, Cato, Brutus, Enobaria, and Finnick so Briar makes sure to give everyone a small smile as she joins their huddle. She may not know their names personally, but the least she can do is show the huddle of victors some respect.

"You've caused quite the stir already, B," Johanna smirks, putting her arm around her sister's shoulders, "they loved you."

"I knew they would. Everyone does," Briar jokes, causing the group to all chuckle at her boasting, "I am kidding, of course. I'm just thankful I made a good impression."

"Well thanks to you, we've got two very pissed off tributes to deal with tonight. They didn't even wait for us to escort them to our floor, just stormed off the second their chariot was back," Cashmere snickers.

"Yeah, our girl seems pissed too," Cato adds.

Briar lifts her eyebrows in amusement, "look, if they're that insecure there's no fixing that before the games start."

"Briar!" Johanna scolds. "You may be my sister but these guys are still mentors, please have a little respect."

"Fine," Briar lets out an over dramatic sigh and looks at Cashmere, "sorry for being rude, and sorry for upsetting your tributes already."

"Don't sweat it, 7," Gloss chuckles as he speaks, "however, speaking of our tributes we probably should head up to them."

"He's got a point, let's go upstairs, Johanna," Briar lightly smacks her sister's arm as she talks, and gains a small laugh from Satin in response.

"Come on then," Johanna smiles as the pair begin to walk off.

"Odair, I'm still only seventeen, stop staring at my ass!" The brunette tribute shouts back at the group as she leaves. The other members of the group all burst out laughing, presumably at the comment mixed with Finnick's reaction.

After reaching the seventh floor, Johanna goes with Briar into the girl's room and begins to help her out of the bodysuit. "I'm proud of you, you know? As pissed as I am that you're technically here by your own doing, what you did was brave, and you've definitely left your mark on the Capitol already."

Once she has slid the bodysuit off of her legs, Briar begins to rummage through the drawers of the solid oak dresser opposite her bed. Finding a plain black T-shirt, the girl pulls it out of the drawer and begins to put it over her head, "thanks, Jo. But honestly I'm terrified. Like, yes, I can use an axe and I can throw a knife well, but I don't think I can beat some of these Tributes."

Briar begins to slip on a pair of grey shorts as Johanna responds, "I get what you mean, I felt the same even with my plan. How about I come spend some time with you tonight and we can discuss strategies?"

"Sounds good," Briar nods, a solemn look on her face as she hugs her sister closely, "thank you."

"Don't sweat it, Little Bird. Now get some socks or slippers on and come through to the dining room, it's time for dinner." Johanna bids her twin farewell with a smile and heads out to find Blight and Fauna. After pulling on a pair of ankle socks, Briar also walks out to the group, who are now accompanied by Oakley, and sits beside Johanna at the table. The group of five enjoy a decedent meal of duck pâté, vegetables and mashed potatoes whilst Caesar Flickerman's voice rings out from the television behind them. The Capitol are currently replaying clips from the Tribute Parade and Caesar is commentating over them, discussing who his personal favourites are.

"Now, one thing that really stood out to me was the outfits chosen by Lysa, District 7's stylist. For as long as I can remember, District 7 have always been styled in outfits that resembled trees, and this year they've finally broken the pattern, and I must say it's worked out in their favour."

Briar cannot suppress her small giggle at the man's words on the television, especially given that they closely mirror Johanna's earlier mention of this. The younger twin knows that this will agitate her sister even more.

"Yes, we get it, I was a tree and my sister looked hot," Johanna snaps jokingly.

"Right, before Johanna starts shouting at the TV again, let's discuss what you both plan on doing tomorrow," Blight snorts out a laugh before continuing, "it's always best that you don't show your strongest skills until the private sessions; showing your skills earlier can cause lower scores."

"I'm probably going to practice a little with swords and survival skills," Briar nods, "Oakley, you're welcome to join me."

"Thank you, I think I will join you," the young boy nods.

"Perfect, I'll make sure you're both up ready for breakfast at eight, then you can head down anytime before nine," Blight explains, pouring himself a glass of water.

As the clock on the wall reads 10, Oakley heads into his room, and Briar walks to her room with Johanna. The twins spend another hour discussing Briar's strategy for the games, and her twin assures her that she will do everything in her power to secure enough sponsors to increase her odds. By the end of their conversation, Briar's eyes are getting heavy and she lets out a yawn.

"I'm going to let you get some sleep. I'll see you in the morning." The older twin kisses her sister's head gently and walks towards the exit, "goodnight, Little Bird."

"Night, Jo. Love you."

Chapter 4: ☆3☆

After indulging in a particularly large, protein filled breakfast, Briar makes her way down to the ground floor where the training room is housed. Oakley was running a little behind, and so had agreed to meet the girl when he was ready. As she has arrived well before their obligated starting time of 9am, the room is currently only occupied by the trainers and the career tributes. Typically, the other tributes don't usually arrive early, and so the careers give the girl glares as she walks into the room and toward the sword station. Opting not to agitate the other tributes, Briar bites her tongue so as not to make a snarky comment and instead just picks up a sword, taking the time to get used to its weight before she's ready to start practising with it.

"She's from 7, no way we're asking her to join. Besides, her sister is Johanna," the brunette hears a voice mutter from behind her.

Neglecting to turn and face them, the girl lets out a snort, "don't worry your pretty little heads, I wouldn't want to be your ally anyway."

"Oh really?" The boy from 2 challenges as he stalks towards the girl, "and why is that? Surely you'd be safer with us as allies?"

Briar turns to the boy and smiles a bit too sweetly, "well, because if one of your guys is going to win then you may as well hunt me down and make it entertaining." Deciding it best not to agitate the boy and cause an argument, the girl instead opts to play into their massive egos and give them false reassurance that they will win.

"I like how you think, 7. Maybe we won't kill you first this time just for admitting we'll win."

"Oh, how considerate of you," she remarks sarcastically, "now, if you'll excuse me I should probably start training."

Without saying anymore, the boy walks back to his fellow careers, and Briar steps up to the training dummies which were set out on the station and begins to practice offensive moves with the new weapon. She moves her feet to shoulder width apart and holds the weapon in both hands.

"Now you're going to want to put your hips at a thirty degree angle from where your feet currently are, and keep a slight bend in your knees. The last thing you want is to twist your knee or your back when you're attacking someone," the trainer advises the girl. "Do you mind if I touch you?" She asks.

"No, that's fine. I need the help," Briar smiles.

The trainer moves so she's slightly behind the tribute and places her hands on Briar's hips. As the trainer puts pressure on her hips, Briar relaxes so as to make it easier for the woman to position her. Once her hips are in the correct position, the trainer releases her grip from the girl's body and takes a step back. "Now, there are many kinds of swings and movements you can make with swords... do you have any previous experience?"

"With swords?" Briar lets out an airy laugh, "no, goodness, no. I've only used axes before."

"Okay, that's a good start, actually." The woman smiles as she continues with, "some of the movements are very similar, and can be transferred across to swords."

"Oh, that's useful then," Briar mumbles.

The girl has never felt more out of her comfort zone than she does right now. Being in the Training Room of the Tribute Centre in the Capitol was daunting enough, but mixing it with the fact that she's walking the same paths her twin sister did just two years prior is making her sick to her stomach.

"Excuse me, everyone, please can I have your attention," the lead trainer shouts. The room quickly falls silent and everyone turns to face him. "By the end of this year's games, twenty three of you will be dead. One of you will be alive; who that is depends on how well you pay attention over the next couple of days, particularly to what I'm about to say. First, no fighting with the other tributes; trust me when I say that you'll have plenty of time for that in the arena. There are four compulsory excercises, the rest will be individual training. My top piece of advice is to not ignore survival skills. Everybody wants to grab a weapon, but most of you will die from natural causes- ten percent from infection, twenty percent from dehydration. Exposure can kill as easily as a knife." The man pauses, then, as everyone nods in agreement he adds, "you may continue."

Briar and the trainer spend the next hour practicing the correct positioning and execution of manoeuvres with swords. Silently, Briar is thankful that she's spent so many years swinging axes in the woods with her father, otherwise her biceps and triceps would be screaming at her in pain. The rolling beads of sweat cascading down her face are a subtle clue at how hard the girl had worked in the hour, wanting to make sure she could at very least handle another weapon on the off chance that the Capitol didn't put axes in the arena. She moves to the stand and places the sword back in its holder, then uses the back of her wrist to wipe the perspiration from her forehead as she turns to the trainer.

"Thank you, I appreciate your help."

"It's no problem. Don't neglect the idea of coming back, you'll need more than one session," the woman looks at the girl pointedly as she gives her advice.

"I'll keep it in mind." Briar gives the woman a half-hearted smile, then makes her way over to the weight section of the room. She bends her legs, ready to pick up one of the fifteen kilogram kettlebells, when she notices Oakley walk towards the same section she is in. His face lights up when he notices his district partner, and he makes quick work of moving to stand with her.

"Good morning. Sorry again that I was running late," Oakley smiles at the girl, adding, "I promise I'll be ready earlier tomorrow!"

"Don't be silly, Oakley. I was just ready very early today," she reassures the younger, but taller boy.

"Okay. I think I'm going to head over to practice with axes. Do you want to join?" The boy flashes his lopsided smile at the girl.

"No, I think I'll head there later. You go, and if you need me just come find me, alright?"

"Okay, bye!" He chimes before running to another area of the room.

The brunette laughs softly, partly amazed by the boy's bright attitude despite training for the Hunger Games, and partly humoured by his overall demeanour. She crouches back down into a squat and secures her grip around the handle of the weight before lifting it up. She opts to perform kettlebell swings, knowing the exercise itself targets multiple different muscles which she needs to perform at their best ability in the games.

Maintain a straight back. She reminds herself as she begins her first repetition of the movement. She squats, swinging the weight under until her wrists are at her inner thighs before using her hips to bring herself back up to a standing position and swinging the weight up until it's at shoulder level. Briar continues this, completing four sets of ten reps, then places the weight back on the floor.

Noticing the predator-like stares being thrown her way by some of the career tributes, Briar scrunches her face up, walks to the water station and collects one of the bottles marked '7' then unscrews the cap. She then uses the water cooler to fill the bottle up before recapping it and taking a sip. The cool water was the sweetest relief Briar has felt in a long time, and she continues taking a few small gulps before making her way to the row of treadmills, ready to try some of the different terrain settings they have available to them.

As she steps up onto the belt of the machine, she selects the 'start' button and gets it to a comfortable jogging pace. When she is comfortable with the feeling of the machine underneath her feet, she clicks the 'rocky' terrain setting and is shocked to feel the texture of the belt change as a result. This will be useful. I can practice Cornucopia sprints on all terrains and be ready for whatever the arena is. She thinks as she adjusts her footing to match the uneven and unsteady ground. Then, she gradually begins to increase the speed until she is at a sprint and maintains this for around thirty seconds before stopping, taking a thirty second rest, then sprinting again. She does a few intervals of this before swapping the terrain to desert, then again to snow, and continues to change it until she's done a few intervals on each one.

With each interval, lactic acid builds up in her muscles, causing them to burn and forcing her to take a rest. Finally, as her sprinting training comes to an end, she steps off the treadmill and moves to a corner, sitting on the floor ready to stretch out her muscles.

As she reaches over her leg, holding the toe of her shoe and stretching, she hears the girl from 1 remark, "giving up already, 7?"

Briar rolls her eyes at the girl's shrill tone, but she manages to bite back the snarky remark that pops into her head and instead responds with, "it's called stretching after a workout, shouldn't you know what that is considering you're from 1?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" The girl snaps, aggressively walking towards Briar with her fists clenched.

"Don't even think about it!" One of the trainer's quickly intercepts the girl's path and prevents her from getting any closer to the girl from 7.

"Fine. The runt isn't worth my energy, anyway," she spits, backing away from a now laughing Briar.

The District 7 girl continues with her stretching for a short while, then goes back to sprint training and weight exercises until a shrill tone pierces the air signifying it's time for their lunch break. Wiping the droplets of sweat from her head, Briar quickly walks to the table which has been set up with platters of food and begins to pile as much protein onto her plate as she can. She then walks, plate and water bottle in hand, and sits on one of the foldaway tables to eat. Oakley quickly joins the girl and starts to ramble about his time training so far.

"What are you doing after lunch?" Oakley smiles.

"Probably axes. Everyone is expecting me to be good at them, so there's no point in hiding it," the brunette shrugs, pushing a piece of chicken past her lips and chewing it quickly before washing it down with a swig of water.

"Cool. The man on axes is nice, I think you'll get along."

"He's a trainer, I have no interest in getting along with him." The words come out more vicious than Briar had intended, and so she quickly mumbles an apology to the younger boy.

"It's alright, I knew what you meant."

"How's it going, you two?" Briar looks up as she hears Blight's voice. She smiles at him and her sister and waves.

"Fine. I worked on axes all morning so I'm going to try swords after eating," the male tribute explains.

"I've done swords, weights, and sprinting" the younger Mason sister mutters with a mouthful of food.

"B, close your mouth when you're eating," Johanna sighs.

"Sorry." Despite apologising, she does it again, much to her sister's dismay.

"Is there anything either of us can do to help you whilst we're here?" Blight queries as he looks between his two tributes slowly. He wouldn't admit it, but he has faith in both of them this year; he's confident that one of them could come out as this year's victor.

Chuckling at herself, Briar lifts her water bottle up towards her twin and says, "you can fill this up for me? I need to keep eating." Blight bursts out laughing at the girl's suggestion whilst Johanna snatches the plastic bottle from Briar's hand and walks off.

"You're pushing your luck," Oakley laughs.

"What? They can't train us so that was the only thing they could help with."

As their lunch breaks comes to an end, Blight and Johanna bid their tributes goodbye and make their way back into the sponsor room to continue trying to make deals. Meanwhile, Oakley makes his way to the sword station, and Briar saunters to the axes. Ignoring the trainer's greeting, the brunette picks up one of the weapons, adjusting her grip around the wooden handle to get used to its feeling in her hand. She raises it to eye level and pauses for a few moments to admire how the metal glints under the bright, white light shining down from the ceiling. It is nice to have something the girl recognises and is comfortable with as she feels that utilising one of her skills in front the other tributes can finally make them see her as an actual competitor, and not just a runt tribute that will be easy to kill.

What if you are the runt? 1 and 2 train so it's likely they could kill you before you even notice they're near you. She thinks, but shakes her head and sighs. No. I can't afford to think like that.

As her thoughts become louder and louder in her head, she raises the axe in her right hand, bending her elbow over her shoulder to ready the weapon into the position for a throw. Briar exhales through her nose and focuses her vision on the bullseye of the target ahead of her. Controlling the movement of her arm as she propels it forward, Briar keeps her wrist stiff and throws the axe; it lands with a loud thud as it embeds itself into the centre of the bullseye mark.

"Good throw," the trainer nods, praising the girl for her accuracy.

"I would hope so. I've been working with axes for years," the girl mutters as she picks another axe up into her hands and repeats her actions, landing the second axe right beside the first.

She throws a third, hitting the target just as well as the first two, before collecting the axes and repeating her actions. Briar continues this pattern of throwing three before collecting them for the next hour; she is so comfortable with the weapon that time seems to pass faster when she's working with them and it's only when the male tribute from 4 walks over that she decides it's better for her to move to another station and not spend all her time on the one station she's already confident in.

The brunette crouches, picking her water bottle up from the ground before standing back up and looking around the room. Observing could be useful. Briar makes her way back over to the weight section of the room and picks up a medicine ball, setting her feet shoulder width apart and starts a set of squats. If she stays in one place, she can observe and work out at the same time, so she continues with sets of fifteen reps whilst taking her time to watch each group or individual subtly.

The careers like to show off; this is common knowledge but this year's volunteer's seem a lot more arrogant than usual. Granted, it is possible that they're the same as every other year, but this is the first exposure to careers that the girl has ever had and she dislikes them a lot. The tributes from the outlier districts all look equally as terrified as one another, with most of them focusing their time on survival skill stations and not weapons. District 3 could easily pose just as much of a threat as the careers; they're smart and know how to manipulate that to their advantage. Although, after Satin Nicholo's performance five years prior, Briar knows she can't trust anyone in the arena except herself as all tributes have the ability to stab you in the back, both physically and metaphorically, at any given time. The most important observation the girl makes, however, is how optimistic Oakley is. Part of her hopes that he can make it to the end, but the other part of her prays that, if he is going to die, it happens quickly and early so she isn't worrying about the young boy the whole time she's fighting for her own life.

The rest of her afternoon is spent training with weights as Briar doesn't see the point in trying too many new weapons; the ones she has a talent with already are more than enough to successfully see her through the games if the Gamemakers like her enough in her individual assessment. With only fifteen minutes remaining before the tributes are all due to be collected by their mentors, Briar takes herself into a quiet corner of the room and begins to stretch her body out, hoping to prevent her limbs from aching too much later today. As Blight has already been down to collect Oakley and the pair have left, when Briar finally finishes her stretches to cool down she walks to the exit and meets Johanna.

"So, how did it go?" Johanna questions as the twins make their way to the main lobby, ready to join the queue for the elevator.

"Fine, I think," the younger twin nods, "although I am already on the girl from 1's hitlist."

"Oh, fucking hell, B. What did you do?"

Briar turns her head to look at her twin, an offended expression on her face, "why is it that you automatically assume I did something?"

"That would be because you're my twin, I've grown up with you. That means that I know you and I know you have the art of annoying people but appearing innocent perfected."

"That is insulting, Jo," Briar tries to feign insult, but as they reach the back of the queue and her sister gives her a pointed look she begins laughing. "She— I was stretching and she accused me of giving up. I explained that I was doing stretches after a workout and just simply pointed out that she should know that because she's from 1. Apparently she didn't like that answer and she tried to start a fight with me- at least I think she did- she came storming towards me. The trainers stopped her but still." As she is preoccupied by her rambling explanation to her older sister, Briar doesn't notice the two blonde sisters from 1 join the queue behind them. "I won't let her get away with it though, that girl from 1 will get it in that arena."

Johanna hits her sister's arm and hisses, "Briar!"

"Ow!" Briar rubs the spot Johanna had just hit with her left hand. "What was that for!"

Laughing, the older twin grabs her sister's shoulders and physically turns her, making Briar come face to face with the Nicholo sisters. Briar's face drops as the two blondes smirk down at her. "You will need to excuse my bluntness; your tribute is a bitch." Satin stifles a small laugh and Johanna cuts Briar off with another hit, and so she adds, "okay, I'm sorry."

"What did she do?" The older of the Nicholo siblings asks.

As Briar opens her mouth to answer, the trainer that had prevented the fight earlier in the day approaches the mentors from 1. "Miss Nicholo, can I speak to you about your tribute please?"

"Which one?" Cashmere laughs.

"Oh— both of you." The girls nod in response to the trainer and both exit the queue, following her to have a private conversation.

"You need to mind what you say, you never know who is listening," Johanna scolds.

"I didn't say anything that wasn't true," Briar mutters, defending herself to her older sister.

When the girls finally reach their floor, Oakley, who is now showered and changed, and Blight are sitting at the dining table whilst Avoxes begin to set the table with plates made of the finest china, crystal glasses, silver wear, and platters piled high with food. Briar can feel her stomach grumbling as the delicious aromas find their way to her nose, and so she turns to Johanna and mumbles a quick, "I'm going to shower and come eat," before running to her ensuite.

As she approaches the shower, the brunette takes a few minutes to look at it and try to understand all the buttons and controls it has, but honestly, she's perplexed. She is far too stubborn, so spends a solid five minutes looking at the control panel as she is determined to make sense of it alone, but so far the only button she has worked out is the power button- and that's only because it's labelled 'on/off'. The panel itself has a myriad of different buttons, and Briar is confident that the buttons don't control only the shower, but also other amenities that she isn't aware of. Finally the girl decides that the vast amount of buttons are starting to hurt her head just a bit too much, and so she marches back through to the living quarters and looks at the group sitting at the table.

"Can someone please help me work this damned shower?"

"The power button is usually a good place to start," her fellow tribute retorts with a smirk.

"Ha, wow I didn't think of that," Briar sneers sarcastically, a mocking tone to her voice.

Johanna bursts out laughing at the tributes' interaction, and Blight lets out an airy laugh as he rises from his chair, "come on, Briar. I'll show you."

When they enter the bathroom, the male mentor clicks the door closed behind them and looks down at the younger girl, "I think it's really brave, what you did for that young girl."

"Please don't—" Briar shakes her head, "it wasn't brave, or selfless, or anything other than the right thing to do."

"You are a remarkably wise and kind young woman. Most girls your age wouldn't care; they would have heard that they were safe and stopped caring. But not you."

"Not me," the brunette confirms, "I don't really want to talk about it though, I'm exhausted and just want to shower this sweat off."

Blight laughs, "here." He explains the shower's control panel to the girl, laughing at her amazed expression when he highlights the buttons for the full body dryer, the scent spray- which can be customised- and a few other of the outrageously unnecessary additions.

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Her shower doesn't take long at all; Briar is not the type of girl to take forever savouring the hot water falling over her body. If she wants to indulge herself during her bath time, it is usually in an actual bath where she can lie back, relax, and be at one with her thoughts. But being at one with her thoughts in the Tribute Centre doesn't particularly sound appealing. If she got too lost in them, she might just take herself to the roof and jump.

The full body dryer comes in useful, drying her body would usually take the girl a good five minutes, but instead, with this wonderful invention, it takes mere seconds. On the off chance that she wins the games, Briar is definitely going to be requesting one is installed in her Victor's Village home. It is most definitely her new favourite thing.

After changing into some comfy pyjamas, she rejoins the group that are gathered at the dining table and begins to load her plate with potatoes, chicken, and roasted vegetables. The majority of the conversation for the evening consists of small talk, and everyone actively talking about any topic other than training or the games. It wasn't unpleasant; keeping the conversation away from the games was clearly a strategic move by Johanna and Blight to keep the tributes' morale up, but Briar can see right through the act.

"Oakley did really well in training today," she pipes up, looking between her mentors.

"Oh— we weren't really going to speak about—"

"The games?" The female tribute laughs mockingly, "don't treat us like we're babies. We are going in that arena, there's no point in pretending we're not."

Blight shrugs, "that's true, but we didn't want you to have to spend every waking moment until then thinking about it."

"We don't mind," Oakley adds, "Briar did amazing, too!"

"Did you both practice your survival skills?"

"I did," the young boy nods. Briar looks down at her plate, the carrots she's pushing around her plate have suddenly become the most interesting thing in the room.

"Judging by the fact she's avoiding answering, Briar didn't," Blight chuckles. "Just make sure you do tomorrow, they're important."

"What about weapons? Or other stamina and endurance stations?"

"I managed to do a fair bit of weights and running. I also had a head start so did swords this morning, then I obviously used axes this afternoon. Although that lady that helped me before we officially started was lovely."

"Before training started?"

"Yeah, it was only like half hour, but she helped me with swords."

"Little Bird, the trainers never usually help until their shifts start."

"Oh," the younger twin's brows furrow briefly, but then she shrugs laughing, "maybe she saw I was a lost cause and wanted to make me feel better?"

"You are not a lost cause!" Johanna snaps. Briar can tell by her sister's tone that she has upset her. They both know how heightened the fear is when you watch your sibling fight for their life, but Briar was ignoring that and trying to make jokes.

Briar wraps her fingers around Johanna's hand and turns to her with a solemn expression, "I'm sorry. That wasn't a funny joke; I'll stop."

"Forget it. You two need to get a good amount of rest tonight, so you should head off when you finish eating."

"That's fine by me, I'm exhausted," Oakley mumbles through a wide yawn, looking at his mentor.

"Me too," Briar agrees, taking a sip of her juice before looking at her sister again.

She isn't looking for any reason in particular, but Briar knows that, despite her talents, there is still a risk she isn't coming home, and she doesn't want to forget Johanna in her last moments. Her sister is her entire world, and her worst fear is not remembering how much she loves her, and is loved by her, during her time in the arena. Briar knows she will do anything and everything in her power to ensure that, despite any events that happen in the games, she would always hold Johanna in her heart. That she will remember the bond with her twin until her last breath.

Chapter 5: ☆4☆

If she wasn't currently in the Capitol because of the Hunger Games, Briar would be savouring every single moment being laid on this heavenly mattress. The way it contours beneath her body to perfectly support every inch means that she has woken up with absolutely no pain or aches as she would have expected after a full day of training. As she opens her eyes and sits upright, she extends her arms over her head and stretches out her upper limbs. There are small clicks that can be heard from her elbows and joints as she brings her arms back down to her sides and sighs. Looking at the clock, it's only 7am meaning she has two hours to change and eat before heading down to the training rooms.

Rather than changing twice, Briar changes into her Capitol-issued training attire and makes her way out to the dining room. Her mentors and fellow tribute are still asleep, and the only people on the floor are the Avoxes who are currently bustling around to prepare breakfast and set the table. The mouth-watering aroma of fresh pastries and cooking meats wafts through the floor, coupling with the small grumble in the pit of the girl's stomach to remind her that she needs a decent breakfast to prepare for the day.

Willing the hunger to remain at bay for just a little while longer, the brunette makes her way through to the living area and sits in front of the plush, pebble grey couch. Stretching her right leg out to the side, Briar tucks her left leg in front of her and leans her torso towards the right leg to stretch herself out. After holding the position for half a minute, the girl swaps legs and does the same on the opposite side. She follows this closely by sitting with her legs out in a 'v' shape and pushing her torso towards the floor, then stands and stretches out each of her limbs individually. The girl finishes by rolling out her neck, then sits at the table waiting for everyone else to arrive.

By the time Johanna, Blight, and Oakley have made it to the dining room, Briar is already sitting eating a bowl of yoghurt and granola. In front of her placemat is a fresh cup of tea, and she looks up as she hears their footsteps, "good morning," she greets.

"You're... up early?" Johanna cocks her head to the side slightly as the trio join Briar at the table.

"I woke up at seven so I spent some time stretching. At least that way I don't have to waste time doing it when I get downstairs. And that moron from District 1 won't have a reason to start on me again."

"Enough of that," Johanna rolls her eyes at her twin. "Just focus on yourself today, and stay out of trouble."

"Look, I didn't mean to nearly get in a fight yesterday."

Sensing that, if he allows the conversation to continue, the sisters will fight, Blight quickly intervenes and changes the subject, "private sessions are tomorrow so try not to over exert yourselves today, okay?" The tributes nod to show they understand, and the group all finish their breakfast whilst making small talk.

After finishing her tea, Briar looks to her District partner ready to ask if he is alright with her going on without him, but he can already tell what her question will be and so he nods, "go on down. I'll be there soon."

The boy had said the words with a mouth full of food, and Briar knows this is one of Johanna's biggest pet peeves so she shakes her head, "don't eat with your mouth full, Johanna hates it." As soon as the words leave her mouth, Briar knows she got the expression wrong and laughs at Oakley's surprised face, "yes, I got that wrong, I know."

Both Blight and Johanna laugh at the girl, causing Oakley to quickly break and follow suit. Briar herself lets out a small giggle at her error and shrugs, "I'm sticking with that permanently now," before moving over to the elevator and making her way to the training suite.

It's half past eight as the brunette enters the training room, and no other tributes are present so Briar gets straight to work. She moves over to the spear station and picks one up. The trainers refuse to assist any early arrivals, only starting to work when their shifts officially start at nine, and so the girl spends a few minutes getting used to how the weapon feels in her hand, then begins to practice the overhead throwing motion that is required for using a spear. She doesn't actually release the weapon, she only moves the weapon back and forth, allowing the weight of it to produce the motion needed.

Around ten minutes after she got to the station, Briar hears the main doors open from behind her. She turns to see the youngest female mentor from 1 stood with her tributes. Even from across the room Briar can see the pissed off expression on the face of the female tribute and she can't hold back the small chuckle that leaves her lips. The girl's eyes narrow at Briar, and so she holds her left hand up and gives the girl from 1, whose name she now knows to be Eden, a mocking wave by wiggling her fingers. Eden screws her face up and takes an aggressive step forward but her mentor is quick to hold her own arm out and stop her. From this distance, Briar can't hear or make out the words the mentor says to her tribute, but, judging by the frustrated look on Eden's face, it was about not starting fights with other tributes.

Noticing Cato and the District 2 tributes coming up behind those from 1, and Johanna and Oakley close behind, Briar decides it would be more than humorous to provoke the girl from 1 whilst making her way over to her twin. Discarding the spear onto the floor, the brunette plasters on the best mischievous smirk she can muster and strides towards the slowly growing group. The mentor from 1 tenses, and the guy from 2 leans forward, whispering something in her ear. As she passes them and reaches her sister and district partner, she hears the man say, "you know you love me, Satin."

"You're not helping yourself here, Cato," The mentor from 1, Satin, sing-songs back.

"You didn't deny it," Cato chuckles, his smirk so cheeky it rivals Briar's own.

"Briar Elia Mason, are you intentionally instigating issues with other tributes?" Her sister questions, raising an eyebrow at her.

"What? I'd never dream of doing such a thing," Briar laughs, her tone mocking and overdramatic. "Anyway, I've got Oakley from here, Jo. You go do whatever it is mentors do whilst we train, and we'll see you at lunch."

Briar links arms with her District partner and walks him, with a small skip in her step, over to the spear station where she previously was. As they cross the room, they hear Johanna shout, "behave. Don't do anything I wouldn't do. See you at lunch!"

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After the same welcome speech as the day prior has been spoken, Briar and Oakley spend some time on the spear station together. Briar is able to throw them with a small level of accuracy, but she much prefers her usual choice of axes. Oakley, on the other hand, seems to have a fairly natural talent with them. He hits the target almost every time, getting closer to the inner ring of it with each attempt. Each time, Briar beams words of encouragement at the younger boy, and his face flushes slightly as she does.

Bidding the boy a quick 'see you later', Briar leaves him alone with the spears and moves over the gauntlet. She can't show off her talent with knives in front of the tributes, so she may as well show off her strength and stamina instead. She completes the course at least seven times over, taking different approaches each time so as to not get overly confident with just one path or method.

Each obstacle is designed to test the tributes on strength within different parts of their bodies, assessing their readiness for similar manoeuvres within the arena. There was no question that Briar smashed it, her pastime from her childhood of climbing trees and jumping between them finally coming in handy for something. She can't wait to rub that in Johanna's face later.

After her eighth completion of the course, Briar finds herself striding over to the career pack consisting of both tributes from 1, both from 2, and the boy from 4. Eden's face instantly screws up as her eyes fall onto Briar's small frame and she takes a couple of steps towards the approaching tribute.

"What do you want?" The blonde girl spits.

"To know what your strategy is," Briar's eyes flare with excitement and anticipation as she speaks, "like, do you plan on just using your looks to get you through the games? Most of the girls from 1 do that, don't they? Or will you throw a curveball like your mentor and make a plan so your hands don't get dirty?"

"Why would I tell you?" Briar lets out a bark-like laugh at the girl's rebuttal.

"Well I haven't seen you do anything except drool over the poor boy from 4 so far, so I assume you're not very skilled," her eyebrows raise as she finishes speaking to the girl, then looks up to address the remaining members of the alliance with a grin, "if you hear her say she's going for water, run; it's a trap."

"I swear to god, I'll kill you." Eden goes to lunge at the girl again, but stops when Viktor, the boy from 2, swings his arm out and blocks her.

Briar has a plan to rile the girl up even more. "Oh, whilst I'm here— Viktor, would you mind helping me out on swords?"

"They have trainers for that," the girl from 2 snarls.

"Yes, but quite frankly I've seen them train others, and none of them come close to his skill." Stroking his ego is the only tactic Briar can think of to manipulate him into agreeing, but, with him being an egotistical boy from 2, she knows it will work.

"Oh— yeah, sure," he agrees, albeit a tad too eagerly, and leads the girl over to the vacant station. Once there, he hands the girl a sword then moves so he's standing behind her and slides his arms down the outside of her own.

The pair train for around another hour, Viktor consistently finding ways to be holding Briar, when an abrupt noise of someone clearing their throat behind them makes Briar, and the boy whose arms are wrapped around her, jump. "What do you think you're doing?"

Viktor releases the girl from his hold, and Briar places the sword back onto the wall before turning to face Viktor who is now standing with Cato.

"I was just helping her with swords. She asked for some tips."

"That's what the staff are for," Cato grumbles, a scowl forming on his lips.

"I did ask him," Briar pipes up to defend the tribute from 2.

"Maybe you did, but he could have just shown you, he didn't have to touch you up in the meantime."

Red creeps across Briar's cheeks and a now very flustered Viktor begins to stutter, "I- we- I- I wasn't touching her up!"

"You're really not helping yourself," Cato laughs before pushing the boy towards the lunch tables, "go find Brutus and eat your lunch."

Sheepishly, Briar looks down at the floor as Viktor scurries off and joins his other mentors. Cato chuckles again, stalking closer to the younger Mason twin with a smirk adorning his lips. Admittedly, at this moment Briar is thankful that he isn't the tribute from 2 this year; she probably would have taken one look at Cato in the arena and just let him kill her.

"You know, I'm not scared of you at all, but you've got a very good intimidating act going and it seems to work."

Surprise flares in Cato's eyes, "you're not scared of me? I'll have to work on changing that, tiny Mason."

"Oh, please," she laughs, "you're a giant golden retriever. You will never scare me." The words aren't intended to be rude, and Briar had kept her tone playful to convey that she wasn't trying to insult him.

"Is that a blonde joke?"

"Maybe," she winks as she addresses the man's question.

"You're a tiny little thing from 7, you shouldn't be this comfortable with the likes of me."

Briar shrugs, "Jo tells me that you're just a friendly giant."

"Wha—" the man gasps, "that's just rude."

"Speaking of Johanna," Briar laughs, "I need to go and eat. It was lovely meeting you." With that, the girl walks off and joins her twin at the lunch table. Her twin looks at Briar as she sits with an amused expression. She can sense the questions coming already so she quickly says, "he finds me attractive, I'm using it to my advantage so he doesn't see me as a threat. It might buy me more time in that arena."

Johanna's facial expression contorts into one of understanding and she nods with a smirk, "smart."

"He's staring at you right now," Oakley laughs, nudging Briar's arm with his elbow.

"Let him," she chuckles and allows her eyes to briefly wander down the table, connecting with Viktor's before looking away again.

Blight quickly changes the subject, knowing he and Johanna only have limited time with their tributes before lunch ends, "so, have you two focussed on survival skills this morning like we discussed?"

Briar's eyes widen and she lets out a nervous chortle, "about that..."

"Briar!" Both mentors scold simultaneously

"I'll spend the whole afternoon doing it, I swear."

"You had better," Johanna narrows her eyes at her twin, annoyed by her blatant ignorance to their instructions, "you may have grown up in the woods but you have zero survival instincts."

"Excuse you! I have the survival instinct to avoid weapons coming at me, I'm not that thick."

"You know what I meant!"

"I know. As I said, I'll spend the whole afternoon on it."

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She kept her promise. Briar spent her entire afternoon making her way around all the survival skills stations, only moving to the next once she was confident in her own abilities. She learnt how to identify edible plants, weeding out any that are poisonous or toxic in anyway, the best materials to start a fire if she needed one, how to dress a wound on herself with little to no supplies, and a handful of other things she thinks may be useful in the arena.

Similarly to the day prior, Johanna and Blight came downstairs to collect their tributes at the end of the day and escorted them back up. Considering Briar wasn't doing some form of physical activity when they arrived, the group were able to be among the first to leave the room meaning they didn't have to wait in the dreaded line for the elevator. After showering and changing, the group have now reconvened in the living area to catch up and watch some trashy Capitol television before eating.

"So, other than successfully managing to make a 2 fall for one of you, how did you both do today?"

"Briar worked on survival skills all afternoon just like she promised," Oakley beams, but his boyish smirk quickly turns into a laugh, "I could tell by her face that she hated every second of it."

"I didn't hate it. It is going to be useful, it's just boring. We also both got the compulsory exercises completed."

"Good," Blight nods, "you get another half day of training tomorrow. Then, at lunch you'll be taken through to a waiting room ready for the individual assessments. Remember, a high score isn't everything. People have won with some of the lowest scores we've ever seen, haven't they Johanna?"

"Oh ha ha," Johanna rolls her eyes at Blight's comment, trying desperately to hold back a small show of amusement at it, "but yes, scores aren't everything. I'd advise you guys to try and get a midrange score, that way you won't have a massive target on your back from the careers."

Briar chokes on her tea, "and if we already have a target on our backs from careers?"

"Then accept the high probability of a slow and painful death," as he speaks, Blight raises his glass as if he is toasting and Briar bursts out into fits of giggles. Oakley is also laughing at the man's words, but Johanna scowls and hits him on the back of his head.

"You're supposed to be filling them with confidence, not telling them to expect death," the older Mason scolds, her eyes, filled with worry, darting briefly to her sister.

"Jo, he was just having a joke. We need a laugh, too. Besides, Blight is being realistic; even if we make it to the end, one of us still has to die," noticing the concern in Johanna's eyes turn into fear, Briar holds her sister's hand beneath the table and gives it a reassuring squeeze, "it doesn't mean we won't both put up one hell of a fight."

 

Chapter 6: ☆5☆

With the individual assessment sessions coming up later in the day, Briar knows that it is best to preserve as much strength and energy as she can. Following her usual morning routine of changing, a hearty breakfast, and stretching, herself and Oakley are escorted down to the Training Suite for their final half day of practical training. After a brief farewell to their mentors, Briar leads Oakley over to the survival skills stations. Even if only one of them can win, she still wants to give him as much help as she possibly can.

"Don't waste energy on physical exercises today; we need to be on our A game this afternoon. Today is all about survival skills, alright?"

"That's— actually a good idea." The shock in the boy's voice causes Briar to shove his arm gently and laugh. "Yes, I'm aware that it sounded like I was shocked you had a good idea. No, it wasn't intended to."

"Good, otherwise you would have beat that District 1 girl to the top of my hit list." She winks.

Remaining side by side, Oakley and Briar make their way across to the fire and shelter station as the edible plants stations are occupied.

"Not bothering with actual training, 7? I see you're already accepting your inevitable fate." Briar cringes at the shrill tone of Eden's voice calling out from behind her. There are not many things that Briar hates, in fact she can probably count those things on one hand, but Eden is most definitely one of them.

Briar turns, her smile clearly forced, and drags her eyes down the blonde's form as she snarls, "are you trying to be rude, or is it just that you're wildly in love with me and are concerned for my well being?"

"Well, I am certainly not stupid enough to fall for a 7, especially not one that will be dead within a week."

"Well then you certainly need to work on how you go about being rude to people because taunting me with death just days before I enter the arena doesn't bother me." Briar narrows her eyes as she mocks the girl's wording choice.

"I'll take great pleasure in killing you," Eden spits at the girl, but doesn't dare take a step closer.

"I hope you do, you psychotic, crazy bitch," Briar responds, her volume and bored tone unfaltering as she turns her back on the girl.

With her attention now fully back on her chosen station, Briar takes two slightly thicker sticks into her hands. She creates a small dent in one of them and places it on a small pile of leaves and kindling, then secures one end of the second stick into the dent. Her small hands move to be flat against each other, the stick secure between them, and looks at Oakley with a smile, "you have to run your hands back and forth quickly, and move them down as you do."

The boy smiles sheepishly at her and mumbles, "can you show me?"

The brunette nods and begins to demonstrate the required movements to spark the flames. After a minute, smoke begins to float up from where the two sticks meet. Although she can't see it, Oakley is in awe as he watches the older girl working. Prior to the reaping, they hadn't met, but Briar has been nothing short of lovely to him, and he has quickly began to view her as a big sister. Briar has taken him under her wing, taking care of him and making him laugh constantly. He feels bad; he knows that he will slow her down and rapidly become a liability in the arena. But, he also knows that, provided he makes it past the bloodbath, Briar won't let him out of her sight.

Briar bends as her waist, leaning her torso closer to where the sticks connect so she can blow on it. The added force moves more oxygen to it and a flame appears. "Blowing on it displaces the carbon dioxide and provides the fire with more oxygen. That, in turn, allows the flame to build."

A few moments later, after the flames had begun to increase, a trainer placed a container over the fire to starve it of oxygen and safely extinguish it, "well done, you managed that quickly."

"I grew up in the woods," the girl reminds her trainer, "I'm used to it. Just remember no fires unless absolutely necessary." She directs her final sentence at her partner, reminding him of the key information needed to avoid being killed.

After Oakley has successfully copied Briar's actions, the pair move over to the shelter finding and building section of the station. Working with the designated trainer, the District 7 pair learn how to make shelter out of leaves, wood, and excess fabric, as well as ways to identify structurally sound areas that make safe shelters. They spend the rest of the morning on that station, both conscious that, excluding their opponents, the elements will likely pose the biggest threat to them in the games.

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"When we reach the holding room, you need to be on your best behaviour. No agitating other tributes. Just talk amongst yourselves and you will be fine." Briar isn't stupid, she knows that most of Johanna's words were aimed at her.

"Funny," the younger twin retorts in a mocking tone.

"It's not a joke. There is nothing stopping them from removing you and prohibiting you from partaking in your assessments."

"They wouldn't do that, would they?"

"I've never heard of it, but that doesn't mean they can't and won't."

"Entering the arena without a score would be awful. It would be virtually impossible to win," Briar frowns.

"Then behave," Johanna instructs as she nods at the Peacekeeper the quad has just reached, "we'll be waiting for you when you're done."

The two tributes nod, saying goodbye to their mentors before making their way into the holding room. They just manage to hear Blight reminding them to remember what they discussed about their aims in the assessments before the door closes behind them. As they were ordered, Briar and Oakley take their assigned seats and talk quietly amongst themselves for the full two hours until the boy is finally called in for his assessment. As the time ticks past, Briar's stomach forms more and more knotted with anxiety. Her only thought is about how Johanna must be having the same concerns for her that she is having for Oakley. Her tribute partner has strong enough abilities that mean he is certainly not the weakest in this year's pack of reaped children, but it would certainly take a miracle for him to win.

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"Briar Mason, District 7." As the announcement of her name is made, Briar's body goes into autopilot and she strides towards the training room ready for her assessment. She has intentionally avoided showing her skill with knives in any of the training days thus far in hopes that it would secure her a higher score today. Her plan is to show her abilities with axes briefly, as that is what the Gamemakers will expect, then swap to knives to show off her skills further.

The metal door slides open with a small whirring sound, and Briar's eyes instantly flit up to the viewing platform. To the group of around twenty men ready to assess her skills and decide whether she is worth betting on or not. She maintains her eye line as she walks to the centre of the room and announces, "Briar Mason. District 7. I'm seventeen years old. My parents are called Ember and Ash. My sister's Johanna— though I suppose most, if not all of you already know her. She won two years ago, if you didn't know. I'm aiming for around a six or seven. Seven for District 7 would be cool," she locks eyes with one of the Gamemakers and extends her right index finger in his direction briefly, "make note of that, because it would be quite funny— anyway as I was saying I'm hoping for a semi decent score. I hope Oakley got a good score. Did he do well? Well, I suppose you can't tell me, but I bet he did."

The tribute continues her speech to the Gamemakers with unwavering confidence, her words confusing them more and more as she goes on. After a few minutes of her speeddate-like speech, one of the main Gamemakers chimes in with, "Miss Mason, half your time is gone."

"Oh!" The girl laughs softly, hurrying over to the axe station and picking one up. "I'm not going to spend long here, you already know I'm going to be good so I won't waste my time as I have a second skill to show off." The girl's smirking as she speaks, and to punctuate herself, she launches the axe forward. A sharp whistle tone can be heard as the weapon flies through the air at high speed, then a loud thud echoes as the sharp, rounded edge embeds into the forehead of the training target.

As the group of men observing her fall silent, Briar snickers to herself and looks down at the rack of axes beside her. The thing she was raised to view as a tool of her trade was now being transitioned into a weapon of murder in her hands and there is nothing she can do about it but pray that it doesn't ruin them for her for good. If she wins, she still wants to be able to help her dad in the woods, but she's worried that, after the games, even just holding the object again will be a mentally draining chore.

Forcing her anxieties to the back of her mind, the brunette grips onto the handle of another axe before bringing it up to her shoulder and throwing it again. The same two sounds repeat as the axe flies through the air and lands in the target, this time planting roots into the chest. She continues to throw, marvelling at the beauty of the object each time one rips through the space between her and her target. She intentionally lands some right next to others, proving her aim to be excellent to her assessors.

Eyeing the countdown clock on the wall, Briar throws her final axe then moves to the knife station. She cannot hold back her giggles at the surprised murmurs that float down from the viewing platform. No one ever expects a non-career to be any good at knives, let alone skilled enough to show it off during their individual assessments. During her younger years, Briar would sneak her mother's kitchen knives out with her when she accompanied her father in the woods, and, to entertain herself, would throw them at trees. She doesn't have perfect technique. In fact, she doesn't even have good technique, but she can definitely hit the area she is aiming for. Plus, having two specialised skills will most definitely bag her some extra points.

Briar gazes down at the tray of freshly sharpened knives and smiles, taking one into each hand then looking at her target. Raising the knife that is in her right hand, she flicks her wrist and releases the blade, causing it to rotate a couple of times before landing in the centre of the target's neck. As the metal reverberating rings out, Briar flicks the second knife she claimed into her right hand and calls out, "tell me where to aim for next."

When none of the Gamemakers reply, Briar turns her head to look up at them with a scowl, "I'm sort of on a time limit here... no one? Okay— tough crowd," she shrugs, "crotch it is." A wicked smirk spreads across her face as she turns back and launches it forward with a flick. The power behind this throw is much higher, causing the blade to rotate four times before it lands, dead straight, in the crotch of the man-shaped target. She can hear a few of the men hiss at the action, imagining the pain that type of assault would cause to themselves.

For the final two minutes of her session, the female District 7 tribute throws knife after knife after knife, each landing in the exact spot she had aimed for. As a small beep sounds to signify the end of her session, a sense of pride fills Briar and she makes her way towards the exit. She can faintly hear the head Gamemaker say, "thank you for your time Miss Mas— oh," before she crosses the threshold and walks towards the adjacent hallway where she was informed Blight or Johanna would be waiting for her.

Upon entering the hallway, Briar eyes Blight and laughs, "let me guess, you knew I would do something stupid, so you sent Johanna up with Oakley?"

"Something like that," Blight smirks, a low chuckle rumbling in his throat, "so, what did you do?"

"Well, I spent five of my ten minutes talking to them." Blight's eyes widen at the girl's admission. Never, in the history of the Hunger Games, has a tribute ever wasted half of their allotted time by speaking to the Gamemakers, and, of course, it had to be Briar Mason to make that kind of stupidity a thing.

"Please tell me you put on a fucking great show in the rest of your time."

"Of course I did," the brunette grins proudly, "I even threw a knife at the target's crotch for good measure."

Shaking his head as he laughs, Blight puts his arm around the girl's shoulders and ushers her towards the elevators.

"Are you making a move on me, Blight?" The brunette jokes. Blight laughs harder and moves his arm away from the girl as they enter the lift and he presses the button for the seventh floor.

"Ew," he cringes, "why did you have to make it weird, mini Mason?"

"What are you talking about, Blighty, that's my speciality." Briar laughs, using a nickname she knows will goad the man.

The man laughs in disbelief at the words that left Briar's mouth, "never call me that again."

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"Jo, it's starting!" Briar shouts through to the kitchen as Gem of Panem echoes from the television. The brunette moves her torso closer to Oakley and whispers, "no matter what we score, we know we can do well. This doesn't determine everything; remember Johanna got a three and still won."

Oakley nods, "I know."

Just as the Panem national anthem finishes, Johanna walks through from the kitchen holding a cup of tea. She places it on the small, pine table in front of Briar before sitting with Blight and Lysa on the other couch. "I'm sorry but someone decided they wanted tea right before the programme started. Also, in case you forgot, twelve scores need to be announced before yours so I have plenty of time."

"Oh, hush." Briar laughs airily, waving her left hand in her sister's direction as Caesar Flickerman appears on the screen.

"Good evening, citizens of Panem. My name is Caesar Flickerman and tonight I am here to officially announce the scores that this year's tributes have been awarded following their individual assessments earlier today. Each tribute was allotted ten minutes of our Gamemaker's time where they displayed their strongest talent, or in some cases talents," he laughs as he speaks, his slightly too white teeth beaming against the studio lights head of him, "and they're provided a score between one and twelve, with twelve being the highest score available. The training sessions they have participated in over the past three days also play a contribution into their scoring. So, without further ado, let's get started. From District 1, Nobel Goldsmith, with a score of nine. And, Eden Bower, with a score of eight."

Briar's nose crinkles at the girl's score, knowing that even an eight means she could be deadly... deadly enough to kill her within seconds of the games starting.

"District 2, Viktor Haynes, with a score of ten, and Thalia Stanley with a score of ten."

After hearing the career's scores, Briar turns to look at her sister and frowns, "they're good this year. Really good."

Johanna opens her mouth ready to respond, but Lysa is the first to speak, "just because they score well doesn't mean they're invincible."

As Oakley makes a retort about his and Briar's lives being at risk around them, the brunette girl leans forward and pulls the hot china mug into her hand. Whilst the rest of her group proceed to bicker about scores and the likelihood of a District 7 win, Briar chooses to savour the feeling of the heat migrating from the cup to her hands. These small, simple pleasures are the things she will miss most when she is in the arena, so each time a new one presents itself to her she treasures it just that little bit more than usual. She doesn't quite pay attention to Districts 3 through 6's scores, but she hears enough to know they range from a four to a seven; mid ranged scores seem to be everyone's aim this year. That is, of course, assuming they were intentional.

"Next up, from District 7, Oakley Thorn with a score of 6." When Caesar announces the score, Briar turns to her friend with a beaming smile. Everyone begins to chorus congratulations to the boy and Briar takes a hold of his hand.

"That's amazing, Oakley. Well done, it's exactly where you want to be!"

"Thank you." He nods in appreciation, squeezing her hand as he does so.

"And, Briar Mason, with a score of nine." As soon as the words pass the hosts overly wide smile, everyone erupts into cheers. They couldn't be prouder of their tributes. Again, Oakley squeezes her hand and mumbles a private well done to her.

Johanna jumps out of her seat and carefully pulls her sister into an embrace. "How the fuck you pulled that off, I don't know, but well done Little Bird."

"Thank you, Jo. Clearly my lovely chat with them won me extra points." She jokes.

"Yes, it has all to do with your five minute introduction and nothing to do with the two weapons you're proficient in," Blight laughs as he stands and makes his way over to his tributes, embracing them both, "well done, both of you."

"What is the plan for tomorrow?" It's evident by Oakley's sudden topic change that all the congratulatory talk is making him uncomfortable, so Briar quickly backs him up.

"Yeah, what is the plan? I mean training is over now, right?"

Johanna nods, "yes. Tomorrow you'll be spending time with Blight and I doing interview prep. We'll go over some practice questions, and help guide you as to the right things to say. It'll be much more relaxed than your days here so far."

"And we're letting you get a nice lie in tomorrow." Blight adds.

A small celebratory cheer leaves Briar's lips at the idea of extra sleep, and everyone laughs at her in response. "What? I like sleep."

"We know, B. You're a fucking gremlin in the morning. I'm actually glad I've not had to wake you up since we got here." Briar's twin ruffles her hair, making Briar recoil and scrunch her nose up.

"Right, that's enough insulting me now please. I just scored a nine and Oakley got a six, let's celebrate that instead please."

"Briar is right, we should be enjoying their achievements. Why don't we order some desserts from that place down the street and we can watch those trashy television shows?" Blight proposes.

"Great idea. You can pick them up," Briar's twin laughs as she responds to Blight, "I'll have my usual; Briar will have the same. Oakley, what do you want?"

"I'm fine with anything."

Blight nods and says, "I'll get you my usual," before walking off, presumably to call in the order and get shoes on to go collect their treat.

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Spread out on the kitchen island are a hot, chocolate chip cookie dough, a white chocolate variation, and two slightly different ice cream sundaes. When Blight returned with their food, the four District 7 citizens agreed to just put them all out and share so that the tributes could try some of everything. Johanna is sitting beside Briar, and the two males are seated opposite them.

"This is quite possibly the best thing I have ever eaten." Oakley chuckles, swallowing down another mouthful of ice cream.

"Johanna and I get it at least once a week every time we are here." Blight chuckles.

Briar opens her mouth, ready to shovel in another forkful of cookie dough when the familiar ding of the elevator rings out closely followed by the light clicks of heels. "Johanna, I swear you need to tell me how your sister— oh," Satin cuts herself off as she comes face to face with the tributes.

Briar's lips curl into a smirk as she eyes the mentor from 1 and drawls, "how I what?"

Satin looks the brunette in the eye, evidently enjoying the girl's audacity and attitude. Briar can't help but focus on her perfectly neat hair as she responds, "how you scored a nine."

"Speaking at the—"

The door that leads out into the main stairwells flies open, and Cato Hadley runs in panting, "Johanna, I need to know what two weapons she used!"

Briar glances between Cato and Satin and begins to laugh, "is this some sort of ambush? You two planned this during one of your little rendezvous didn't you?"

Satin's face pales and her eyes widen as she stutters, "wh—what? N—no."

Johanna and Blight both laugh, neither one of them wanting to tell Briar that the district 1 and 2 mentors are not dating. Briar has come to this assumption very quickly after seeing the two interact, and her mentors have decided they will not be telling her the truth as her forthright comments flustering the pair gives them both more amusement than they've had in a long time.

"Back to the more pressing matter, please," Cato begs, his tone filled with curiosity as he speaks directly to Briar, "I need to know what two weapons you used."

"How do you know that anyone used two, let alone whether or not it was me?" Briar challenges.

Cato's smirk intensifies as he moves and sits beside the girl on the island, "oh, my dear mini Mason, Caesar Flickerman himself confirmed someone had multiple talents. And, there's no way that you scored a nine without two weapons," after receiving a particularly pointed look from Satin, Cato quickly adds, "no offence."

"Alright, I'll bite. Yes, I did use two weapons. No, I'm not telling you what they were."

"And before you flash your signature Hadley pout, it won't work on Briar," Johanna interjects, making sure her sister doesn't give away all the tricks up her sleeve to the mentors of two of the deadliest districts.

Despite Johanna's instruction, Cato's bottom lip slowly forces its way forward and he widens his eyes to make himself appear more innocent. Taking in the ridiculous facial expression, the younger Mason twin lets out a loud laugh, "n-never ma-make that f-f-face aga–in."

"What?"

As Cato whines, Briar leans closer to the older boy and gestures subtly towards Satin, using her body to hide the hand movement, "that one won't find that attractive, I will tell you that for certain."

Cato's face relaxes, dropping into a neutral expression, and he lightly shoves Briar's arm, "shut up."

"Satin, come sit," Johanna points at the spare stool beside Oakley, "you can have some dessert."

Satin's face breaks out into a small smile and she saunters over to the chair, gracefully sitting down and crossing her left leg over her right. The blonde girl is perfect in every sense of the word; aesthetically she is breath taking, not a single hair is out of place, and, from the brief interactions Briar has had with the girl, it is evident she has a pure soul. There is now no question in Briar's mind as to why Johanna enjoys being friends with the District 1 mentor.

The group of six all reclaim their spoons, Cato and Satin being handed theirs by Blight, and dig into the array of mouth-watering desserts ahead of them. The blonde man from 2 lets out a loud groan as the heaped spoonful of cookie dough he got himself hits taste buds, and Briar and Satin laugh in response. There's something in Satin's eyes when she looks at Cato that is so closely akin to adoration that Briar can't help but smile. She knows that victors from all districts talk and make friends, but she didn't realise that some of them even made an effort to maintain a loving relationship despite their distance. It is glaringly obvious to anyone watching the pair how in love they are, and it's rather sweet to witness.

With the newest additions to their group present, both Briar and Oakley feel an odd sort of awkwardness and so both remain fairly quiet and reserved. The mentors talk amongst themselves, but even this mostly consists of Cato trying to convince Johanna to tell him Briar's secret talent. Due to Johanna's constant declines to make the man privy to the information, Cato has resorted to guessing, "can she juggle?"

Johanna barks out a laugh, "no."

"Unicycle?" Johanna gives the man a quizzical glance, and he hastily shakes his head, "not unicycling. Card tricks?"

"Yes, Cato. My sister is going to take out other tributes with card tricks and sleight of hand," Johanna deadpans, rolling her eyes.

The man grins, his head nodding in amazement whilst looking in Briar's direction, "cool. Do you have any cards? Can you show me a trick?"

"I can," Oakley's excited tone calls out.

Cato looks at the fourteen year old, ready to say no, but when he sees Oakley's delighted and hopeful expression he gives in, "alright little dude. Go find the cards and you can show me."

Oakley runs off excitedly, but Briar barely notices as she is focussed on Satin's reaction to Cato's words. The woman's eyes soften, her bottom lip pushes out a small bit, and she lets out an audible coo, "aww. Cato, that was sweet."

"He looked so excited; I couldn't say no."

"He's a great kid. It is going to be hard watching him die..." Blight sighs. His words are true, it's unlikely that Oakley will survive the games. He is far too young, and doesn't have the skills or experience needed to win, but that doesn't mean Briar wants to sit and hear their mentors discussing it. Especially not with the mentors from 1 and 2.

"What the fuck?" The younger Mason girl snaps.

"Briar–"

"No. Regardless of whether you think that or not, I don't want to hear you discussing his death," she keeps her voice low so Oakley doesn't hear her, but her tone is laced with venom, "I'm going to the bathroom." She doesn't give anyone time to respond before rising to her feet and storming down the hall.

Once in the privacy of her bathroom, Briar clicks the lock shut and leans her palms onto the cool marble of the counter surrounding the ceramic sink basin. She draws a long breath in through her nose, and holds it for a few seconds before exhaling. She can't lose her temper; she can't shout because she doesn't want Oakley to hear them and feel bad about himself or his abilities. Looking down, Briar pushes the top of the tap up to get the water running, then collects a small amount in her hands before splashing it on her face. Now that she is satisfied she is calm and won't lash out at any of the mentors on her floor, Briar makes her way back out to re-join the group.

"That was sick," Cato exclaims, looking at Oakley with an expression of awe. This expression slowly changes, contorting into one of confusion, "wait– how did– what?"

Satin, Johanna, and Blight are all laughing at Cato's confusion, and Briar also chuckles along as she re-joins the group.

"What?" Oakley asks innocently.

"H-how did you do that?"

"A magician never reveals his secrets."

"Nah, come on little man," Cato whines.

"Cato, leave the boy alone." As she speaks, Satin eyes the blonde man across the counter. He sighs and nods, before sitting back in his own seat.

An idea pops into Briar's head and she has to physically suppress a mischievous grin. She grabs the deck of cards from the side and walks to stand beside Cato, "I have a cool trick I can show you."

"Go on then, mini Mason."

"It is a long one, so you have to promise to see it through until the end."

Cato rolls his eyes dramatically but nods in agreement nonetheless, "I promise."

"Great. So, do you want to shuffle, have someone else shuffle, or have me shuffle?"

"I will shuffle. I am not letting you cheat, or get someone else to cheat for you," Cato narrows his eyes, snatching the cards out of Briar's hands and shuffling them. Once he is satisfied that the cards are mixed up enough, he hands them back to the brunette.

"Perfect," she grins back at him, "ready?"

Cato nods, his eyes lighting up in anticipation, then Briar flicks all the cards onto the floor. "It's called fifty-two pick up... go on," she grins, nodding towards the floor. The rest of the group bursts out laughing, but Cato seems to still believe this is part of the trick and follows the girl's instructions.

Once all the cards are securely in his hand in a neat pile, Cato stands back up and smiles at Briar, "what is the rest of the trick?"

Briar hums, looking at the boy with a raised eyebrow, "huh? Oh– that was it. I turned you into a bitch."

The group, who have not stopped laughing since Cato initially got onto his hands and knees to collect the cards, all laugh harder. Cato pouts, sitting back down clearly embarrassed, "that wasn't funny."

"Y-ye-ssssss– it w-was," Satin manages to stutter her words through her laughter and gasps for breath. When she eventually calms down, she looks at Briar, "thank you. I am definitely using that one sometime."

A short while later, Briar and Oakley opt to make their way into Oakley's bedroom to give the mentors the time and privacy to speak. They have taken the cards with them, Briar having managed to convince the boy to teach her the trick he had shown Cato. They spend the next twenty minutes learning the card trick, and once Briar is able to successfully do it on Oakley she heads into her own room and lets sleep consume her.

Chapter 7: ☆6☆

Briar clearly needed a good night's sleep. As there were no alarms set for the day, and Johanna hadn't come baring in to wake her, the brunette has awoken to an alarm clock that reads 10:47am. The past three days of training have clearly taken more of a toll on Briar than she had initially thought, and last night's sleep was glorious. The District 7 team had agreed to allow their tributes to start their day whenever they woke up as there is no set schedule for the day, with the majority of the itinerary for the day being preparation for their interviews with Caesar Flickerman tomorrow. And Briar is beyond grateful for the sleep she managed to get.

A few of her joints crack as she sits herself up, and stretches her back up straight. She needs to get changed and head out for breakfast, but her bed is simply too comfortable to move from. It is a long shot, she is aware of that fact, but it doesn't stop her from calling out, "Johanna?"

It takes a few moments, but eventually Johanna walks in the room, still half asleep, "is everything okay?"

"Can you bring me breakfast?"

Johanna's eyes widen in shock and she lets out a laugh of disbelief, "you seriously called me in here to ask for breakfast in bed?"

"I called you in to ask you to bring me breakfast in bed, yes."

"You are unbelievable," she sighs, shaking her head as she sits beside Briar in bed. She lifts the duvet, tucking her legs under it before she rests her head against Briar's shoulder.

"So, that's a no to breakfast in bed?"

"Yes, it is a no. You're going to join us all for breakfast."

"Fine," she sighs.

"I wanted to speak to you about something," Johanna trails off.

"Oh no, what have I done now?"

"Nothing. I just wanted to suggest something. Now, I want to preface this by saying that I am going to do everything I can to keep you alive, but on the off chance that you don't survive you may want to write a letter to mum and dad."

"That sounds like a good idea... but you need to promise me that you won't read it. I will write you your own one."

Johanna nods, "I wouldn't unless you said I could anyway."

"Alright, I will write them after prep today. Speaking of, what are we actually doing today?"

"You'll have some time with Fauna to work on walking in heels– yes you have to wear heels, no you don't get a choice– and time with me and Blight so you can learn the right way to answer questions."

"There's a right way to answer questions?"

"Yes."

"Right... so, I assume we need to actually get up and go for breakfast then?"

"Correct. Let's go."

The twins both stand up and Briar slides her slippers on, then they head through to the dining room. Breakfast itself was rather uneventful, the District 7 group's discussion mainly revolved around the tribute's training scores and the plans for the day. Briar herself was fairly quiet for a lot of the meal, not for any particular reason, but more so as she doesn't have a whole lot to contribute to the conversation. Instead, she takes her time to consider possible questions she may be asked during her time on stage the next day, and she has come to the daunting realisation that she may not be as prepared as she had hoped to wow potential sponsors and impress the citizens.

When the dirty dishes have been removed by the Avoxes, Blight and Johanna turn to face their tributes. "Are you both comfortable here, or would you like to move to the living room?" Blight asks.

"I'm fine here."

"Me too," Oakley adds.

"Okay. We're going to start by asking each of you a question and seeing how you tackle your delivery of answers. Once we have an idea on your abilities we can gauge our way forward." Blight explains before looking directly to Briar, "we're going to start with you because you're older. Briar, a lot of your questions are likely to be about being Johanna's twin, and the girl that you volunteered for, so the question we'll give you is– what went through your mind in the moments before you decided to take that young girl's place?"

"Honestly, there wasn't a whole lot of thinking involved, so not much. I saw the girl sobbing in the crowd, and I knew I couldn't let someone that young go into the arena when I had the ability to volunteer for her."

"God, Briar," Johanna pinches the bridge of her nose, "not much? That's what you went for?"

Blight holds a hand up in protest. "Actually, the audience will probably find that funny. It would work in her favour, Jo."

"I suppose you're right, but it doesn't mean she can just hope to sail through on humour."

"She won't. Oakley, your turn. You're one of this year's younger tributes, do you think that will be a disadvantage to you?"

"It definitely could be," the young boy shrugs, "older usually means stronger, so it is scary. But, I am very quick, and I know how to hunt so I think I have a good chance."

Both Blight and Johanna smile at the boy, and Briar squeezes his forearm gently to reassure him he did well. "That was great," Johanna nods. "Keep that up. Don't ramble too much, keep it short and sweet, but not blunt."

"Perfect, both of you. I think Johanna will agree with me here when I say that you both have a good foundation, and we know you're both the opposite of shy when it comes to speaking to new people, but you have to remember that the ultimate goal of tomorrow is making people like you. If people don't like you, then you won't get sponsors. And yes, I am aware we sound like broken records when discussing sponsors, but they really can be the difference between life and death when you're in there."

"We get it, you have to do what's best for us," Oakley mumbles.

He is so precious, Briar thinks as she nods in agreement too.

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"You need to keep your back straight, Briar," Fauna sighs, pushing her fingertips into the centre of the tribute's spine, "you're not exactly blessed in the height department, so we need to make you appear bigger with your shoes and your posture."

Briar's nose scrunches at the woman's jab, her spine straightening more than she thought possible in response. Her escort didn't intend for the poke to be hard, of course, and it didn't particularly hurt, Briar just didn't expect it. Walking in heels is far from Briar's forte, so it is unclear to the girl why they suspect that just one day of practising in them will prevent her from slipping or twisting an ankle on stage. Regardless, she doesn't want an earful from Johanna, so she is silently obliging to all of the instructions Fauna is giving her, albeit with an obviously forced smile.

"I am trying," she sighs, already fed up with the repetitive exercise of walking back and forth, "I just find this hard considering I have never owned a pair of heels."

"I understand, dear, but you have to keep trying. You don't strike me as a quitter," the escort smiles kindly, hoping the comment will get underneath the stubborn girl's skin and spark something deep inside her to keep going. "Just remember you need to maintain good posture, walk heel-to-toe, not toe-to-heel, and keep your steps small."

As she takes another step towards the elevator, the toe of Briar's strappy stilettos catches on the floor, and she trips. Thankfully, she does not fall, but it takes her a few sloppy, stompy, steps to regain her balance and stand back up. "If only it were that simple. Let's hope I don't fall like that on stage."

"Briar," the Capitolian woman sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose between her left forefinger and thumb.

"Oh, come on," the tribute pouts, looking at the woman with furrowed brows, "you were Johanna's escort, too. There is absolutely no way she got this better than I am."

The woman with bright pink hair laughs, walking over to the girl as she admits, "you're right. Your sister was a nightmare."

"Most people call her that, although it's not usually for her inability to walk in heels."

"Enough yapping, young girl. Keep walking, if you can make it to the elevator and back down the hallway, you can have a break." Those words are like music to the young girl's ears. A break. The only thing she wants more than a break right now, is to be back at home with her parents. But, seeing as that option isn't feasible, a break would be perfect.

A long stream of air flows past Briar's lips as she exhales to refocus herself, then she pushes her shoulders back and extends her spine. Perfect posture. Small steps. Heel-to-toe. Her steps are hesitant, and she knows that she can't be this bad onstage, but she tries her best. By around half way down the hallway, she is more confident with her steps, and although they're not perfect, Fauna does make a few comments about how it will suffice on stage and how Briar does look nice in heels.

"I don't look nice," Briar retorts, keeping her steps steady as she reaches the end of the hall and pivots, "I look like someone has thrown strappy heels on a toddler."

"You do not look like a toddler, missy," Fauna hisses, trying to make the young girl feel better.

Briar decides it is best not to push the topic, so instead sighs out an apology and continues walking until she reaches the end of the hallway. Once she is face to face with the wall, she looks at Fauna with a beaming smile, "can I have that break now?"

The woman laughs at her whilst shaking her head, "yes. Go sit on the couch for a while."

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Her feet ache more than she ever imagined they could, and she is mentally exhausted, but Briar knows the letters she needs to write are important. Her parents both deserve some form of goodbye, and not just the ones they received in the Justice Building back in 7. Johanna deserves one too, especially seeing as, if Briar dies, she will hate herself forever. So the girl will be writing 2 letters. Fauna got her some paper and a pen when they finished their walking practice, and Briar had stored it in her bedroom whilst the group ate dinner. After finishing her meal, Briar politely excused herself and is now sitting at the desk in her bedroom, staring at the blank piece of paper and trying to figure out what to write. Sentimental words don't exactly come easy to her, but she has a whole plethora of things she wants to say... of things she knows she will regret not saying when she is face to face with the weapon that is about to kill her... so she picks up her pen, clicks it, and begins to write.

Dear mum and dad,

Johanna suggested I write you both a letter, and because you're reading this it means I died. So, firstly I would like to say I am sorry. I promise you that I tried my absolute hardest to keep my promise and come home, so I am sorry I failed.

Now that I am older, I see how much you both struggle with the idea that you couldn't always give Johanna and I everything, but I want to tell you that we never cared. We never cared about what we did or didn't have because we have the best parents in the world. Johanna and I were always the happiest, most loved kids, and I cannot ever thank you enough for that. I will always be thankful for our little family of four, and how close we are.

Mum, you are the reason I am as strong and independent as I am today. You taught me to always stand up for myself, to remember my value and to not let anyone try to convince me otherwise, and that even though I am small, I can still do anything I want. You aren't only my mum, you are my best friend, and you were always there to give me a hug when I needed one. I love you always, Ember.

Dad, even though I am no longer with you, I will always be your Little Bird. I will forever be a daddy's girl through and through, and I loved every second we spent together in the woods. When I came home that day you got me a piano, I was so beyond thankful, but I also remember part of me feeling so guilty because that money could have been used on the house, or on you and mum. But you didn't even think twice about spending it on something you knew I would love. You treated me because you loved that I could use music to mimic the bird songs, and I am so sorry you will never hear that again. Sell the piano, don't let it stay there, unplayed, as a sad reminder for you and mum.

Stay strong for each other, and let Johanna help you where she can. I will take care of all three of you from wherever I am now.

I love you.

Love,

Briar / Little Bird.

After lifting her pen off of the paper, Briar neatly folds the letter and tucks it into an envelope. She marks the packaging with a quick scribble of Mum and Dad before taking her second piece of paper and repeating the process.

Johanna.

My other half, my twin, my role model.

Firstly, stop blaming yourself. I know you did everything you could to get me out, and it is not your fault. You were a great mentor, and the best sister.

Growing up, I idolised you. I still do. But, as kids it was at its height. You showed me how to stand up for myself, that it was fine for me to like my own things, and how girls can be just as strong as boys (yes, I am referring to when you punched Axel for me in school.)

You and I were always inseparable, and I wouldn't have had it any other way. Where you were, I was right next to you and everyone knew that if one of us was there, so was the other. I was blessed with the world's best twin, and I will never forget that.

I love you.

Love

Briar.

Again, she folds the letter and tucks it into an envelope before writing Johanna on it. Before heading to find Johanna, Briar picks up the letter for her sister and slyly sneaks into Blight's room.

Blight furrows his brows as he looks up from his book and spies Briar closing the door quietly behind her. "Briar? Is everything alright?"

"Yeah– oh, sorry, are you trying to sleep?"

"No, I was just reading. How can I help?"

"I uh– I have a letter that I need you to look after. If I win, then you don't need to do anything with it. But, if I die, I need you to give it to Johanna." The brunette walks towards Blight and places the envelope on his nightstand.

"Briar, are you sure? It could end up hurting her more if that is how things play out."

She knows he's right. She knows that the short letter she has written as her last words to Johanna would make the mourning period much harder for her sister, but they are words she needs to get out, and Johanna needs to hear. "I'm sure. That letter contains what I want my final words to Johanna to consist of. I don't want the final thing from me to her to be the bye we say before I get on that hovercraft in a few days."

He nods, understanding the younger Mason twin's point, "alright. If you die, I will pass it along. But, Briar?"

"Yeah?"

"We are going to do everything within our power to help you. I promise."

"You don't need to tell me, Blight, I know you will. But thank you, it means a lot." Briar gives the man a small smile before walking out the room.

She makes a brief detour to her room to claim the letter for her parents before going to Johanna's. Her older sister is sitting in her bed, watching some Capitol television show, and Briar doesn't bother to greet her before she sits beside her. "I wrote the letter for mum and dad like you suggested."

"I know it was probably hard, but they'll need it. It will help them a lot."

Briar nods and holds the letter out as she mumbles, "I know. Thank you for the suggestion."

"It's fine. How are you feeling after today?"

The younger girl shrugs, "I think I'm fine. I'm not nervous for the interviews."

"Well obviously, you can talk for Panem."

"Yeah yeah, thank you," the twins both laugh, and after a few moments Briar continues, "but seriously, I don't think I'm nervous for that. I am more nervous for the games now, though."

"Just get to the axe and you'll be fine. But if you die in that bloodbath, I'll kill you."

"That's a bit impossible seeing as I would already be dead."

"Big words to someone who has the ability to give or withhold water and food from you."

"You wouldn't withhold it, you'd feel awful if I died of dehydration."

Johanna pulls her sister into a hug and shrugs, "you're right, I would."

They stay there, holding one another and watching the television for the length of an episode before Johanna pushes Briar up lightly. "You need to get to sleep. You have a big day tomorrow."

Briar stands up from the bed and faces her sister as she nods, "you're right. I'll see you in the morning. I love you."

"I love you too," Briar watches Johanna flash her bright smile before walking out the room and to her own bed.

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Johanna closes the door quietly behind her before taking her usual spot beside Finnick at the table. Her chat with Briar has made her ever so slightly late, so everyone else is already in attendance. The Nicholo siblings are sitting opposite her and Finnick, Wiress and Beetee are to their left, Cecelia and Blight are on Cashmere's right, and all the other victors who are aware of the plans are seated at the opposite end of the table. Plutarch Heavensbee and Haymitch Abernathy are together at the head of the table, talking amongst themselves as usual, and Johanna can't stop herself from rolling her eyes.

When the separate conversations do not begin after a few more minutes, Finnick speaks up saying, "now everyone is here, maybe we should start? We don't want to be here longer than needed or we'll risk being caught." That works effectively, and both Haymitch and Plutarch fall silent, looking around at the group.

"Funny, I didn't realise Finnick was now running the show," Gloss taunts, smirking at the man from 4.

"He's not," Plutarch states, "I am. You're well aware of that fact, Mr Nicholo."

"Then act like it," Johanna drawls, using her hand to gesture around the table, "we all have tributes we need to be supporting. And I want to be with my sister as much as possible."

"Speaking of Briar," Haymitch smiles, "following her volunteering, she seems to have gained a lot of favour with both Capitol and District citizens."

"She volunteered for a twelve year old, so it is fairly obvious people would like her." Johanna notices the slight annoyance in Cashmere's eyes as she speaks. "Is that why we're here? Because we all already knew people liked her... we like her."

"The purpose of today's meeting is to inform you all that we believe Briar is going to be the face we were hoping for. She is the kind of person that people will rally behind. The kind of person people will rebel for. Briar Mason could be the key for this rebellion. Now that she has achieved such an impressive score we know that she is our way forward." Plutarch's words make Johanna scrunch her face up. The prospect of them using her twin sister as some form of puppet in their agenda against Snow is not something that sits right with Johanna, and she certainly will not refrain from speaking up about it.

"Absolutely not." Everyone's eyes fall on the girl from 7 as she speaks. Her voice is harsh as she continues with, "Briar is my sister. I will not allow you two to use her as a pawn in your deadly match of chess with the President." Finnick wraps his own hand around Johanna's, using his thumb to rub over the back of it in a bid to calm her and prevent an outburst.

"Johanna, we all knew the right person would come along sooner or later. This just means that we will all do everything we can to make sure Briar wins," Haymitch attempts to reason with the woman.

"If she wins, then finds out that we all conspired to tip the odds in her favour, she will kick off. She won't be willing to do it if we cheat. So you don't get to manipulate that arena or any of its elements to help her. She has talent, she can do it alone."

"Whilst I am flattered you think I have that much influence," Plutarch chuckles, "I'm not able to do that. What Haymitch means is that we will help you to help her."

"Jo, I know what it's like to have a sister in that arena... I've done it twice. We'll do whatever we can to help you secure her sponsors."

Johanna's eyes move to look at Gloss, and she gives him a small smile, "thank you, Gloss."

"We can't move forward without your support, Johanna," a sigh leaves Haymitch's lips as he finishes speaking.

"You'll only have it if you promise that you let her win on her own merit. And, even then, you can't force her into agreeing. It has to be her choice."

"We wouldn't have it any other way. No one is going to support someone whose heart is clearly not in it."

Beetee clears his throat before asking, "so, is Miss Mason our definite choice?"

Fucking hell, volts, Johanna thinks as everyone turns to face the man, have you listened to anything we've just said?

"The answer to that is simply that we can't be completely sure. She has gained enough attention and favour, but if that momentum does not continue after she wins then it's possible we pick someone else."

Finnick turns to look at Plutarch with narrowed eyes as he speaks, then responds with, "we've waited this long for someone like Briar, and now you're saying we may have to wait longer?"

Before the Gamemaker can respond, Bight adds, "going back to Cashmere's earlier point, this is all information we already knew, or was practically a given. Why are we here?"

"So you can all agree to helping Briar," Haymitch states.

"Right, everyone in favour of helping Briar, raise your hand," Finnick deadpans. Every victor around the table lifts their hands, and Finnick looks around to check them before continuing with, "then it is settled, we will do everything in our power to help her, and if she wins then we will take that one step at a time."

Gloss laughs and, with a smirk, says, "I told you Finnick was in charge, he–"

"Enough, Mr Nicholo," Plutarch snaps. He then takes a deep breath and says, "we will do what we can for Miss Mason. I will inform you all of our next meeting in the usual way. You're all dismissed."

Chapter 8: ☆7☆

A half asleep, particularly tired Briar lets out a long groan as her sister barges into her bedroom and switches the lights on, "wakey wakey, Little Bird," she speaks loudly. Briar continues her groan and pulls the duvet up and over head. It's officially interview day, and the younger Mason twin cannot think of anything worse than being on live television in front of the entirety of Panem without getting a lie in. "We've got a long day ahead of us!"

"I'm asleep," the younger twin whines are slightly muffled as they sound from beneath the blanket.

"No you're not," as she finishes speaking, Johanna grips the bottom end of the duvet and tears it off of Briar, causing her to groan more and sit up. "Great, now you're up you need to come have breakfast so we can start interview prep."

"I don't want to. I want to sleep."

"Tough luck. Get changed and be out at the table in five or I'll bring a cup of cold water in to throw at you."

"Fiiinneeee..." Briar sighs as she stands up, making her way to her bathroom to shower and get ready for the day.

After a quick shower, Briar changes into a plain grey summer dress then slides her slippers on and walks out to the living quarters. "I'm up," the words are no more than grumbles as she sits with Oakley, their mentors, and prep teams at the table. "What's the plan for the day then?"

"You and Oakley are both going to have some final coaching with Johanna and Blight on how to answer any questions that could come up. You– Briar– are also going to have a bit more time with me to correct that horrifying posture you develop when you have heels on," Fauna informs the girl as she pours her a glass of orange juice.

"Oh, could I have some tea please?" The female tribute smiles up at one of the avoxes who nods in response and makes their way to the kitchen. "Fauna, can I start with you then, please? At least then I'll have a break from the heels before the actual interviews."

"That's a good plan; if your feet hurt too much it'll impact your posture on stage and our work will have been pointless," the escort nods. As she speaks, the only thought running through Briar's mind is how anyone can possibly be that chirpy and upbeat at this time of day.

The rest of breakfast goes by fairly smoothly, most of the talking consists of small talk or the prep team reminding Briar how amazing her score was. Although she does appreciate the praise, and is proud of herself for performing so well for the gamemakers, Briar has already grown bored of the constant flow of compliments from the group of Capitol workers, and would rather focus on anything that doesn't involve the games.

"Right, Briar, if you can wait for me in the living room, I'll go grab your heels and we can start practising," Fauna smiles at the girl before scurrying off. The prep crews follow the escort out so they can begin getting everything ready for later in the day.

"And Johanna and I will take Oakley to his room to start coaching," Blight adds as he and Johanna stand up. Oakley quickly follows suit, and the trio make their way down the hall, leaving Briar alone. The brunette leans against the arm of the couch, letting a small sigh out through her nose. The day ahead of her is one she knows will be long and gruelling, and she just isn't prepared for how exhausted it is going to leave her physically, emotionally, and mentally.

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"And– you're done," Lysa beams as the prep team finishes applying her last touches of make up. The lady steps back to admire her work, her eyes raking over Briar's face before moving to look at her hair. The girl's hair has been styled into waves by her prep team, the front pieces tucked behind her ears to keep her full face on display and accentuate her features. The District 7 stylist lifts a small, golden handheld mirror to Briar's face, allowing the girl to look at her reflection. She looks beautiful. It's hard for Briar to wrap her head around the fact that make-up and hair products can make someone look so different, but still just like themselves at the same time.

"You guys did a remarkable job. Thank you," she smiles as she pulls Lysa in for a hug. The woman wraps her arms around Briar's waist so as to not ruin her hair whilst Briar slides her own arms around Lysa's neck.

"It's our pleasure. Now, let's get you into this dress," Lysa grabs the bag from where it is hanging on the back of the door, and lays it flat on the table before unzipping it. Briar's face lights up the second it is revealed, already in love with the long, trumpet style dress. It will easily reach the floor even when Briar is in heels, and has a one shoulder neckline. The entire dress is green, the skirt being a darker green whilst the bodice, which is made up of layers of fabric styled to look like leaves, is a few shades lighter. "There is also a sleeve which will go on the right arm."

They take extra care as they slide the dress onto the girl's body, then Lysa uses her hands to smooth over the satin fabric and prevent it from creasing. Lysa explains to Briar that she and the prep team will meet her down there, then opens the door to allow Briar out.

Just as the brunette leaves the room, she looks up from the floor and sees Viktor walking out of a room a bit further down the hall. "Hey, 7. Want to walk down together?" He calls out as he jogs to reach her before she has the chance to escape.

"It doesn't seem like I have a choice," Briar jokes, a smile crawling onto her lips.

"You're right, you don't."

Despite their sarcastic remarks and sly banter throughout training, the pair have managed to get along for this long, so Briar is making a conscious effort to not make any comments that could ruin that. As they head towards the corridor where all the tributes will wait for their interviews, Viktor makes sure he avoids stepping on the satin skirt of Briar's dress; she is grateful for his mindfulness, even if that is mainly because she is terrified she'll fall over if he does.

"Look, I just find it funny that your heels are that high, but you're still teeny," Viktor chuckles as he bumps her gently with his arm, then places that same arm on top of her head.

Briar quickly shoves the boy's arm from the top of her head and smooths down the hair it was rested on. "Hey, I've just spent ages getting my hair done, don't go ruining it now."

"Oh, sorry, your highness," he fake bows whilst he laughs more, "I can't go ruining how pretty you look right before your interview."

"Oh, absolutely not." Cato sighs as he approaches the pair. He points to his tribute and says, "that terrible chat up line wasn't going to work on anyone, especially not a Mason. Go wait over with Brutus." Flustered, the tribute manages to stutter out a quick apology before hastily making his way to the other male mentor, and Cato looks at Briar as he says, "good luck tiny Mason," before following the younger boy.

Briar, being only five foot two, is used to the small comments by this stage in her life; the comments do seem to be getting more common lately, though, and she keeps reminding herself to just let them go and not make sarcastic remarks in retaliation. They don't bother her, and she doesn't get offended by them, but no one likes being reminded how tall or short they are in conversation. The brunette makes her way to her twin, who is standing with Satin, and smiles, "hey Jo. I'm ready."

"What was that?" Johanna asks, referring to the interaction she had just witnessed between her sister and the boy from 2.

"What? We were just talking on our walk down here. Turns out, we get along pretty well," the younger of the Mason twins shrugs.

"Just be careful, people from 2 are dangerous," the blonde girl who is standing with them speaks up.

I swear that's the most I've heard her say since I got here.

"She's right, Briar," Johanna nods in agreement.

"Isn't your boyfriend from 2?" Briar questions, looking up at the tall blonde girl.

"What?"

"Cato. He's from 2?" Satin doesn't answer Briar. The woman's face drops, a small blush creeping its way onto her cheeks before she quickly scurries off to find her siblings.

A very confused Briar looks back at Johanna and asks, "did I say something wrong?"

"Cato isn't– you know what, it's a long story; I'll explain it all if you win," Johanna laughs.

"Well then I'm definitely winning, I want the gossip."

"See, I told you she'd be here already," Blight speaks up from behind the pair. The girl's turn to see him and Oakley approaching them. Oakley is in an elegant, emerald green suit, the colour perfectly matched to Briar's dress. "What are you two laughing at this time?"

"I'll tell you later, Blight," Johanna explains to her fellow mentor, "it's just something about Satin."

Briar feels a small tug on her arm, and she turns to look at Oakley, "which one is Satin, again?" He asks, a charming yet cheeky smile spread across his face.

"That one." The girl points at the District 1 mentor who is now standing with her siblings and both their tributes.

Oakley's face lights up as he lays eyes on the blonde, his eyes widening and jaw dropping slightly. "She... is the goddess I see in my dreams," he utters, his tone reflecting that of a young girl who has her first crush.

"Ew– never say that again," the younger Mason twin can't stop the laughter leaving her lips as Blight addresses Oakley. "Right, now back onto what's actually important right now- are you both ready for this? It's your last chance to impress sponsors so we can't have any slip ups or inappropriate comments." With the last comment, the man looks at Briar pointedly, and she realises that one was specifically aimed at her.

"Don't worry, Johanna has given me enough advice; I'm going to do just fine."

"Well considering Johanna was a sobbing mess in her interview, I'm not sure she's the best person to take advice from."

"Hey!" Johanna exclaims in protest to the man's words.

"Actually, Blight, she gave me some good advice," Briar explains, defending her sister. Her and Johanna were like two peas in a pod. She knows it's stereotypical of twins to be very close, but her and Johanna truly are. Briar would defend Johanna until her last breath, and do anything to make sure her twin was safe and happy. Even if it means risking herself to do so.

Just before the interviews begin, Johanna and Blight explain that they, along with the other mentors, will be heading into the audience, but that the escorts and prep team will remain backstage to assist them if needed. The District 1 interviews go just as Briar had assumed; they both boast about their abilities, flashing their beautiful smiles and providing the perfect answers for every curveball question they're thrown. The brunette listened to them both intently, trying to read between the lines and gain clarity on their tactics for the arena so she can remain two steps ahead of them at all times. Based on what she has heard and pieced together, the career pack don't have a solid plan this year, but rather their focus will be on hunting the other tributes down as quickly as possible; avoiding the careers will be high up on the brunette's priority list after hearing them give vivid details on tracking people down for sport. The boy from 1 focuses most of his answers and time on the fact that he will win and how he is excited to return after the arena, whereas the girl keeps her responses slightly more humble as she tells Caesar, and the audience, that she truly hopes she can win to make her District proud.

When Viktor makes his way onto the stage, the infamous District 2 male smirk plastered on his face, Briar's eyes latch onto the screen and do not stray. His mentors did well with their coaching, even before the boy has reached the host he is interacting with the audience, leaving everyone wanting more and more. He shakes Caesar's hand before taking his seat, and smiles as Caesar asks, "so, Viktor, how are you feeling?"

"I'm feeling great, Caesar. I am excited for the games and excited to show all the lovely people in the Capitol what I can do." He's good. No, scratch that he is great; the answer may be simple but it is exactly the kind of thing the viewers and sponsors want to hear. He has everyone enthralled, and that isn't a good thing for any of the other tributes.

"Well, I am sure I speak for everyone when I say I am excited to see you in action. You said you're excited, is that why you're here by choice?"

"Yes," the boy grins more as he continues, "volunteering was an easy option for me. I know I have what it takes to come out of that arena as a victor. Now it's time to prove that."

"Viktor the victor. I think that has a nice ring to it, doesn't it folks?" As Caesar addresses the audience, they all begin to cheer to show their agreement. The monitors backstage do not display the audience, but judging on the sounds everyone can hear they're beaming at the boy. "So, how has it been meeting the other tributes? Any friendships?"

"Obviously I have made some friends in the allies I have selected, and I have also made friends with the girl from 7."

"Briar Mason?"

"Yes," the boy then continues with a brief explanation of how he and Briar have bonded, the audience listening intently the entire time. The remainder of his interview runs just as smoothly as the beginning, and by the end of it the boy has the entire audience, and no doubt the Gamemakers, eating out of the palm of his hand.

Similarly to how she has with the three tributes so far, Briar stays focussed, listening to every single other tribute during their allotted time on stage. Many of them don't give a whole lot away in regard to their plans, but Briar mainly puts that down to the fact that a lot of them do not have a plan in mind. Most of them will be winging it the entire time they're alive. The audience do seem engaged throughout, meaning no one has been boring, but it also means it'll get harder and harder to hold their attention as the evening progresses.

When the District 6 male begins to exit the stage, a showrunner ushers Briar into the wing on stage left to prepare for her entrance. Drawing in air through her nose, the brunette takes a few deep breaths to calm her nerves before she hears Caesar Flickerman's voice speak again. "Next up we have a girl that sent shock waves through our Gamemakers in her private session and got awarded the highest District 7 score we have ever seen! So far we've only known her as the twin of our very own Johanna Mason, so, ladies and gentlemen, let's get to know her. Please welcome Briar Mason!"

As her name echoes throughout the speakers in the auditorium, Briar flashes a small smile at Oakley then struts onto stage, making sure she smiles at the audience along the way. Briar can not recall any other time in her life that she has had this many pairs of eyes on her; she thought she'd be nervous, terrified even, but she's not. She's enjoying it. Her smile grows as she begins to wave at the crowd and the cacophony of cheers and whistles increases tenfold; she's sure that if she wasn't filled with so much adrenaline and fear the sound would have deafened her.

"My, my!" Caesar exclaims, taking hold of the girl's right hand and twirling her a couple times. "You look fantastic! I mean, that dress and your body!"

As Caesar releases her hand, Briar sits down laughing. "Come now, Caesar," she starts to speak through her giggles, "you're not the person that should be worried about my body, unless of course, you're going to be in the arena. Now that would be a plot twist; it would be like the dam break of this year."

The brightly coloured host laughs obnoxiously at the girl's answer, and the audience laugh along with him. "Th-the-" it takes a couple of attempts for the man to finally get his words out, "the dam break of this year, that was a good one. I guess it's safe to say you've watched the Hunger Games before?"

"Of course I have, my sister is a victor after all."

"Indeed she is. Just so you know, Briar, crying won't fool us again."

"Damn," the girl smirks, sarcasm dripping from her tone, "I was going to do just that."

The man's laugh increases in volume and he nods as he says, "it was a smart move on her part, But we already know that; we want to know about you."

"Then ask away... That's your job, you're the talk show host- oh sorry it's 'Master of Ceremonies' isn't it?"

"It is. And as Master of Ceremonies I have to ask... how did you get such a high score? What did you show the Gamemakers to get a nine?" The audience falls silent as the man mentions the girl's score, everyone hoping to get an insight on what skills a girl from 7 could have to impress the Gamemakers.

"I can't go spilling all my secrets." Briar smiles at the man then at the audience as she continues, "if the other tributes are listening like I was whilst I was backstage, then they'll know all the tricks I have up my sleeves; they'll be able to use that to their advantage and take me down before I even know they're there. Trust me when I say I'm not going down without one heck of a fight." She keeps Johanna and Blight's advice in mind as she speaks, don't come across as cocky. She hopes what she said isn't cocky, and it's not like she copied the careers this year and boasted the entire interview about how they will win and what they'll do when they return home victorious, she just pointed out a fact. She will not go down without fighting back. She won't just give up.

"She's a smart one, ladies and gents!" Caesar's smile seems to widen even further as he beams his words at the audience. His smile is jarring to say the least, but Briar can't let that show so she keeps her eyes fixed on the audience, on the cameras, on anything other than his mouth and too white teeth. "Now, as you said Johanna has previously won the games... how did your parents react when you volunteered considering they have already had a child compete two years prior?"

"They were devastated, understandably. Johanna being in the arena was hard enough and they were thrilled when she won; they're just hoping I can do the same. I plan to– I mean I hope I can pull it off. I told them 'see you later' instead of goodbye and I just pray I can make good on that promise."

"Smart," the host, who had nodded along as the girl spoke, agrees, "and speaking of you volunteering, did you know the girl? Is that why you put your hand up?"

Briar shakes her head, dismissing the idea that she knew the young child whose place she had taken in the games, "no. I mean maybe I've seen her in passing a couple times without realising, but no, I have no clue who she is."

"Then why did you volunteer in her place?"

"She's twelve. I know that twelve year olds go into the games all the time, but this time I was able to stop that–" Briar had planned to continue her explanation, but the audience all begin to cheer for the girl, some shouting praises about her bravery, and so she just stops and smiles to herself proudly.

"The audience here tonight is correct, that was very brave of you."

"It wasn't bravery that made me put my hand up," Briar politely protests, "that girl deserves a life. I gave her that." Again, the audience erupts into cheers, and the girl laughs softly.

Once the cheers begin to die down, Caesar turns to the girl and takes her right hand into his left. "So, rumour has it that you've been making friends with the other tributes. Does that mean that you have alliances formed?"

"Don't go playing coy now, we all know that Viktor from District 2 told you. I was listening backstage," Briar laughs along with the audience and squeezes the man's hand, "and no, I don't have alliances formed. They all end up broken in the end, so it's a waste of time doing it."

"No alliances?" The host gasps, pulling his hand from the girl's and placing it over his heart. "But the citizens love it when there's alliances."

"There'll still be alliances, just none of them will include me. And don't worry, I'll be sure to make it entertaining in other ways."

"I have no doubt you will!" Cease manages to shout over the sounds of excitement coming from the audience at the girl's teasing. Briar laughs along, waving her hand in an 'oh stop it' motion in the direction of the audience.

"I want to take it back to Johanna for a moment," Caesar smiles, moving his body in his seat to be angled more towards the tribute, "as you probably know, you're not the first sibling of an existing victor to grace this stage, so I'm going to ask you the same question I asked them; has Johanna given you any advice for the games?"

The second the words leave Caesar's lips, a sarcastic remark forms in Briar's mind and she knows that saying it aloud is going to be a great moment for the audiences watching her to witness. They will eat it up completely. And it might score her some sponsors in the process. She cranes her neck to the right, looking at Caesar in the eye and smirks, "you asked Cashmere and Satin what advice Johanna gave them? You must be some kind of prophet seeing as my sister hadn't won by then."

In an instant, the audience all burst out in laughter and the sound is easily the loudest they've made all evening.

"You know that's not what I meant," Caesar just about manages to get his words out through laughs.

"I know but– Caesar I think someone is trying to get your attention over there," Briar points to one of the stagehands who is positioned just behind Caesar and waving like a madman.

Caesar turns and the stagehand mouths something to him, then Caesar turns back with a frown, "It seems we've run over time! I'm sorry folks but that's all we're going to have time for with her. Once again, give it up for Briar Mason!" He stands taking Briar by the hand to give her assistance in standing up, then twirls her one final time. The tribute then makes her way off the stage, once again waving and smiling at the audience, zoning in on the small clicks her heels are making to keep her focussed as she leaves the stage.

"Sweetie, you did fantastically!" Lysa beams as she carefully runs to Briar, trying not to slip in her ridiculously high heels.

"You think? I didn't seem boring or anything like that?" The brunette looks up at her stylist.

"Not at all! Honey, they loved you! You're all anyone is going to be talking about."

"I hope that's a good thing."

"It is, trust me," Lysa reassures the girl as she brings her into a hug, rubbing her back gently. "Are you waiting for Oakley or heading straight up?"

"I think I am going to go on up. I could really use a nice shower before tomorrow."

"Good idea. I'll see you up there, okay?"

Briar nods instead of verbally responding, then removes her heels before making her way over to the elevator. She uses the knuckle of her left index finger to press the call button and waits patiently for the doors to open. Once she is in the elevator and the doors close, she takes a moment to close her eyes and enjoy the silence; the entire day had been filled with talking and noise and chaos, and she is more than thankful that no one has joined her in the elevator and prevented her from having a moment alone. Her last moment alone before the games. As she reaches her floor, Briar gently places her shoes on the floor near the entrance, enjoying the contrasting feeling of the cold floor against her feet which are currently on fire from being in heels for the past few hours.

The girl makes her way through to the en-suite attached to her bedroom and turns on the shower. She makes quick work of peeling the faux leather dress off of her body and discarding it into the laundry hamper, then removes her underwear and steps into the shower. Although the hot water falling onto her body feels amazing, Briar doesn't spend too long in the shower as she wants to get out quickly. She uses her new favourite shampoo which is coconut and macadamia scented to wash her hair, and the matching scented body wash to make herself feel fully clean before stepping back out. Briar presses the 'body dry' and 'hair dry" buttons to ensure she is fully dry, then hastily walks to her bedroom to change. She pulls on her underwear, then a simple pair of black shorts and a white t-shirt, and makes her way back into the living quarters.

As she sits onto the couch cushions, the elevator dings and Oakley walks out, a huge smile adorning his face. The boy looks at the girl and waves, "Hey! Briar, you did so well!" he beams. "They loved you so much that they were asking me about you!"

"They were?" She laughs.

"Yeah! It was only a couple questions, but Mr Flickerman did ask how I felt about you volunteering. I told him that I thought it was really sweet because the girl was only twelve."

"Well, thank you," she pauses briefly, pulling him into a hug before continuing, "go shower, I'll microwave us some popcorn."

"Yes! Thank you!" Briar laughs more as the younger boy runs off excitedly.

When Johanna and Blight finally return, both Briar and Oakley are sitting together, a bowl of popcorn lodged between them, watching a random Capitol reality show. "Enjoying yourselves?" Blight chuckles as he takes in the sight before him.

"V-ery mu-ch so." Briar mumbles though her mouthful of popcorn.

"Come join us," Oakley smiles warmly at his mentors.

Blight and Johanna look at one another, silently agreeing that it would be nice for the four of them to have a peaceful moment before the following day's events, then shrug and walk to sit with their tributes. Johanna sits on the other side of her twin, wrapping her arm around Briar's shoulder and resting her own head on top of the girl's. "You both need to head to bed soon. Tomorrow is the big day, and you're going to want a good night's sleep before it starts."

As Blight speaks, Johanna's grip on her twin's body tightens slightly, hating that this could be the final night they ever spend together. There are endless things she can do in an effort to help her twin, and help the rebellion at the same time, but ultimately Briar's fate will come down to whether she can stay focussed in the arena, and whether sponsors are willing to open their wallets for a girl from 7. The quad remain on the couches for the length of two episodes before Johanna looks down at her sister with a bittersweet smile, "you'll have a chance for goodbyes before you leave tomorrow, so we won't do them now and put a dampener on the evening. But, I just want to say that Blight and I are so incredibly proud of the both of you. You have worked your arses off and your efforts are reflected in the great scores you both got."

"And, more than that, you have impressed everyone. I have no doubt that we'll be able to secure you more sponsors than we have been able to in other years." Blight finishes Johanna's sentiment for her, noting the slight shake in her voice and the tears threatening to spill down her cheeks. "For now, you should both head to bed. We'll see you in the morning for breakfast and we can cover any last minute concerns then."

Chapter 9: ☆8☆

Waking Blight up and bothering him because she can't sleep seems like a catastrophically bad idea; the man loves his sleep, just like Briar, and if he's anything like her then he won't take nicely to being disturbed. Johanna is nowhere to be found, so Briar heads through to the kitchen to make herself a tea as her nerves are preventing sleep from consuming her. When she approaches the counter she spies a piece of paper on the side that has been torn out of a notebook with writing scribbled on it. The handwriting, which she recognises instantly, is Johanna's.

Blight,

I've headed down to floor one for the evening. Will be back later tonight.

-Jo

If Johanna is on the first floor, it is likely she's visiting her two blonde friends so Briar strides to the elevator and rides it down to find her. As the doors open and she exits the lift, Briar pales, noticing the group of people all gathered in the living room. Johanna, Satin, Cashmere, Gloss, Cato, Finnick, Annie, Enobaria, and the other male mentor from 1 are all sitting across the various couches and chairs in the room, and most of them have some form of alcoholic beverage in their hand. It's evident to anyone on the outside looking in that the group are all particularly comfortable with each other and do not have the district rivalry that the Hunger Games portrays everyone to have; it is rather refreshing and reassuring to see.

"Hi," Briar greets nervously, her eyes fixated on her sister out of sheer awkwardness.

"What on earth possessed you to think that coming down here was a good idea?" Her sister is livid. Her brows furrow as she glares at Briar, waiting for a response.

"I– well– I couldn't sleep because– well, the nerves, and I saw your note. I assumed that you were just down here chatting with Satin and Cashmere, not that there was a party going on."

"It's not a party," Johanna dismisses with a wave of her hand.

"Fine, gathering then. Still," Briar looks around the room, addressing everyone at once, "I am sorry for intruding. Happy birthday, wedding day, congratulations on your engagement or marriage or graduation, sorry for your loss... or whatever this celebration is for?" Most of the group let out small laughs, both amused by the girl and pitying her as she is clearly uncomfortable.

"None of our family has died," Gloss states, looking at Briar.

"Okay, so that narrows it down to this gathering being for one of the siblings. I'm glad to hear no one has died. I am going to head back upstairs–"

Satin swats her brother's arm with the back of her hand and hisses, "Gloss! She is clearly uncomfortable, why did you need to make it worse?"

"I'll see you later." Briar goes to turn on her heels and head back towards the lift when the other male mentor from 1 speaks up.

"Why don't you stay?"

Briar looks at Johanna, expecting her twin to answer for her, but Johanna just stares back and states, "it's not up to me. This is for Satin's birthday."

"You can stay," Satin smiles as Briar moves her head to look at the blonde woman.

"Sure. Okay, thank you." Briar smiles back and asks, "do you mind if I make a tea?" She doesn't mean to, but Briar eyes Gloss, or more accurately Gloss' appearance and body, as she speaks.

The man gives her a smile and nods. "Sure."

Briar walks through to the floor's kitchen and opens a few cupboards to look for a suitable mug. Just as she opens the right one, she hears her sister's voice from behind her. "I saw the way you just looked at Gloss."

She shoots Johanna a smirk over her shoulder as her fingers wrap around a mug and she moves it onto the counter, "I can't help it, Jo. That is a mountain of a man. And a very good looking mountain at that."

"Briar!" Johanna scolds.

She laughs at her twin as she begins to prepare her tea, using the boiling water tap that is built into the counter to save time. "I am literally going into the arena tomorrow, it's not like I can climb that mountain."

"Enough," the older twin sighs. "Hurry up and make your tea then come back through. You're not staying long; you need sleep."

Johanna returns to her seat in the living room as she sees Briar nod in understanding, and Briar follows suit a few moments later, her fresh tea in hand. The only spare seat is, rather ironically, beside Gloss, and so she sits carefully and sips the hot beverage. She notices Gloss staring at her from the corner of her eye, and, after ignoring it for a few minutes, she turns to face him with a quizzical expression.

"That's my mug."

"How was I supposed to know?" Both Satin and Cashmere laugh at Briar's question, but she isn't sure why as it was a perfectly valid query.

"There is literally a G on it."

Embarrassed, Briar snaps her head down to look at the mug and her eyes widen. "Listen... Johanna distracted me when I found the mugs so I didn't pay attention to what one I picked up. If you want to blame anyone, blame her."

"Right. Well, I will let you off this time."

The District 7 girl sits silently, listening and observing whilst enjoying her drink for a while. Everyone is talking to everyone, and so it is hard to hear everything that is being said, but she doesn't miss a whole lot. The majority of conversation is just the victors all catching up with one another, discussing what they have been up to during their time in their home districts and how everyone has found the training days with their tributes so far. Johanna makes some intentionally loud comments about how Briar has been a pain to wind her up. Briar laughs each time, rolling her eyes playfully, but doesn't contribute to the conversation as she doesn't want to overstep or come across as obnoxious. Eventually, Gloss turns to Briar once again and asks, "so, do you have many mountains in 7?"

Everyone laughs at the question which was asked at a particularly quiet moment, but Briar doesn't catch that he is hinting to the fact he had heard her earlier comments to Johanna. She scrunches up her nose and opens her mouth ready to answer him, but it is Cato's voice that can be heard, saying, "Gloss, dude. 2 has the mountains, not 7. Even I know that."

"No, Cato, I– forget it." Gloss dismisses as everyone laughs at Cato.

"Mini Mason, how many of our names do you actually know?" His question is meant as a distraction, but everyone listens in as Cato addresses the younger Mason twin, also wanting to know the answer.

"I think the only name I don't know is yours," Briar points in the direction of the second male mentor from 1.

"Augustus," he confirms. "How do you know everyone else's?"

"Well Finnick is Johanna's best friend. I've learnt Satin's, Cashmere's, Gloss' and Cato's through a mix of Johanna and Blight, and just through conversation. Enobaria.. Well, she's Enobaria. And Annie won last year so obviously I know her's."

"Fair enough," Satin nods. "Now, let's stop winding the poor girl up."

Cashmere looks at her sister across the room with a cheeky smile and teases, "is someone jealous that someone else is getting attention on her birthday?"

Shit. Briar feels her stomach drop as she is told that the gathering she accidentally gatecrashed is, in fact, a birthday celebration for the youngest of the Nicholo siblings. She crashed a birthday party, and the birthday girl invited her to stay despite not really knowing her. That, Briar supposes, is a glowing testament to how kind Satin is, and explains why Johanna gets along with the taller woman so well. "Birthday? Shit, I am so sorry– I can go–"

"Don't be silly," Satin looks at Briar as Gloss places his hand on the brunette's shoulder, "I wouldn't have invited you to stay if I didn't want you here."

"But... I'm a tribute. I'm not one of you guys?"

"So?"

She looks down in her lap, at her now half-full cup of tea, and shrugs, "I just assumed you wouldn't want a stranger here. Thank you anyway."

"You're welcome."

The conversation begins to flow once again, this time including Briar as she feels much more comfortable now Satin has welcomed her once again. Gloss does make a few more comments regarding the girl stealing his mug, to which she just laughs and retaliates by telling him that if he doesn't stop she will steal it. After finishing her tea, Briar leans forward at the waist and places the empty mug on the table, then leans back and looks around the room, observing the victors and how they all act and interact. Cato is evidently trying to impress Satin, who is laughing at him and his antics. Both Gloss and Finnick continue to steal glances in Briar's direction, giving her sheepish grins each time she catches them looking. Johanna, Annie and Augustus tell jokes amongst themselves, laughing together and poking fun at Cato's attempts with Satin whilst Enobaria and Cashmere gossip together and share a bottle of wine. They all allow Briar to join in with their groups' discussions, catching her up on what she has missed and explaining who certain people are if she does not recognise a name mentioned.

"So– what's your favourite type of tree?" Gloss asks, slight nerves in his tone as he redirects Briar's attention onto him. The brunette turns to him with a smile which widens when she sees the look in his eye as he sees her face again.

"My favourite type of tree?" She repeats, slight confusion laced through her words.

"Yeah... you know like, maybe Oak?"

Briar laughs airily and Gloss smiles more, his eyes softening at the sound. "If I had to pick, I'd probably say Willow or Redwood. Oh– or maybe Maple."

"You really do know your trees."

The brunette raises an eyebrow, "I'd hope so. So, what's your favourite type of jewel?"

"Probably a Sapphire–" Gloss cuts himself off and a light pink blush creeps onto his cheeks,
"I see what you did there."

Briar can't stop the loud laugh that leaves her lips at the man's realisation. She rests a hand on his knee as her torso hunches forward and her laughter increases."I– I had-d t-to." A sense of relief washes over her as Gloss laugh floats to her ears. A part of her was worried he would be annoyed at her, but he isn't.

"What's yours?" The man asks as the pair both begin to calm down and their laughter subsides.

"Emeralds. Although Onyx is a very close second. But that's just based on what I know about them; I've never seen any form of jewel in person."

"Well, if you win, we can change that. You'll get all the jewels you could dream of from the Capitol. Failing that, I have some I could show you if you ever visit 1."

"I'd have to actually win first... and that is not looking massively likely."

Gloss' lips curl downwards at the corners and he rests his hand on top of the one Briar still has rested on his knee. "Please don't count yourself out just yet. Even if that is what you truly believe, going in that arena with a negative mindset is setting yourself up for failure. Johanna needs you, so at least give yourself a chance."

"It's just hard, y'know? There's twenty three other people in there who also want to get back to their families. That's twenty three other people who will, like me, do anything I can to get back. At the end of the day it's just as much about luck as it is about having a skill with weapons."

"I won't even try and argue with that because you're right. But, when you're in there, just keep reminding yourself that Johanna needs you."

"She'd survive if I died. She'll mourn me, obviously, but she'd get over it," her words aren't intended to be rude, or even dismissive of her twin's feelings, but Johanna has always been the stronger twin. Johanna is the twin that can contain and control her emotions a lot better, and Briar knows she will be fine.

Gloss' eyes darken, "that's not true."

"Jo?" Briar looks over to her twin.

"Yeah?"

"If I died, you'd mourn me but get over it fairly quickly, right?"

She nods, "yeah, I guess."

The brunette turns back to Gloss with a knowing expression on her face, "see?"

"Fine," he shakes his head. He doesn't see; he doesn't believe Johanna. He knows that if Briar is to die, it would break Johanna on a whole new level, because he felt the same thing when both Cashmere and Satin went into the arena. Losing a sibling is the worst pain Gloss can begin to imagine, and he can recall the way his blood ran cold every time either of his younger sisters faced danger in their games like it was just yesterday. Johanna wouldn't get over it, it would destroy her.

"Enough of all this death talk," Finnick's eyes darken as he watches Briar from his seat across the room. Johanna didn't need to hear this, especially not the day before the games start, and as her best friend he wanted to put an end to the topic as quickly as possible. Satin didn't need that type of subject matter being discussed on her birthday, either. "None of us want to hear it. Besides, you're not giving yourself nearly enough credit. You didn't score a nine for nothing."

"Thank you, Finnick," she smiles back, her heart warming at the man's words.

"As much as I hate to admit it, Mini Mason, he's right." It's Cato that talks now, his arm still on the back of the couch behind Satin as it had been since Briar's arrival. The entire time the pair have been having hushed conversations between themselves, laughing and getting physically closer as the night progresses. "You've clearly got something of use or you wouldn't have gotten a score above a four or five."

"Leave the girl be." Satin's defence of Briar confuses everyone, and it's written all over their faces so Satin adds, "you all must remember how nervous you were before your games, even if you don't want to admit it. I was terrified, and all I could think about was the fact I'd be leaving Cashmere and Gloss alone, so I get it. But, Briar?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't let those thoughts be your downfall in there. Use them as a reason to keep fighting no matter what is thrown at you." Briar nods in response to Satin's words, and the two girls share a brief moment of eye contact, smiling at each other whilst everyone continues their conversations from earlier. The blue eyes shining into hers have the same effect as if someone had thrown ice water over the District 7 tribute; they grounded Briar and reminded her that she won't just be fighting for herself in the arena, she'll be fighting for her family.

A short while later, Briar is engaged in a conversation with Gloss, Finnick and Annie about their home districts when the soft thudding of a pair of footsteps hitting the hardwood floors finds Briar's ears. Knowing it can only be one of the two District 1 tributes, Briar keeps her head down and silently prays that whoever it is doesn't notice she's there. "Sorry I am just grabbing a drink." Eden. Eden's voice is the one that rings out when the footsteps stop to the left of Briar and Gloss. "I didn't mean to interrupt. Sorry."

"It's fine," Cashmere nods in her tribute's direction. "Just go grab yourself your drink and head back to bed. You need all the rest you can get ahead of tomorrow."

"Then why is she here?" Eden's question is fuelled with venom and hatred. The venom and hatred is all directed at Briar, and her eyes roll in response.

"She's here to see her sister–" Satin begins to talk, but Briar already knows that this entire situation will blow up in seconds. If she doesn't leave now, Eden will end up kicking off about it and Satin's birthday will be ruined.

"Actually, I was just leaving," Briar explains as she stands up and turns to Satin.

"Again, I am sorry for crashing."

"You're fine," the blonde smiles sweetly at Briar as she speaks, her tone soft and warm.

"Come on, Little Bird. I'll walk you up." Johanna beckons Briar over with a wave of her hand, and the younger Mason twin walks over without protest. Johanna explains to the other victors that she is just going to escort Briar back to their floor then she will return, then the pair make their way into the elevator. The two pieces of sliding metal that act as the door have barely touched when Johanna turns to her twin and mumbles, "I wouldn't get over it."

"What?" As Briar looks up, she sees the pools of tears that have now formed in her sister's eyes. She recognises the pricking sting in her own eyes as she feels her heart shatter at the sight.

"If you died– I wouldn't just mourn then get over it fairly quickly. I lied in there. Your death would kill me. I can't lose you, you're my other half." Johanna isn't big on hugs, so Briar slips her right hand into Johanna's left and gives it a tentative squeeze.

"I haven't lied once when I have repeatedly said that I will try my hardest in the arena. Or the times I have told you I won't go down without putting up a fight. I want to come home to you, mum, and dad, I really do."

Johanna's voice cracks as she says, "good. Because I need you alive."

The rest of the elevator ride is silent, the Mason twins now clinging to one another's hands and just enjoying some of their final moments of peace. When the pair reach the seventh floor, Johanna leads Briar back into her room and waits for her younger sister to get in bed. Wordlessly, the older of the girls bends at the waist and presses a kiss to the younger's head, then walks towards the door. Her left hand raises and switches off the light, then Johanna looks over her shoulder with a sad smile and says, "I love you."

"I love you too." Nothing else is said. Johanna closes the door behind herself as she leaves, and Briar is plunged into full darkness.

Being deprived of one of her senses, and lying with only the sounds of her breaths to accompany her, Briar begins to consider how her time in the arena may go. She could die in the bloodbath; it would likely be a quick and painless death thanks to the frenzied attacks that the initial paranoia causes. She could be hunted her entire time in the arena, the careers tracking her... stalking her like the apex predators of the arena. Dehydration or infection could kill her slowly, first robbing her of her energy, then her morale and hope until she has no fight left in her. That would be an awful way to go, but it is a possibility. Her words regarding alliances during her interview earlier in the day were true and still ring loudly in her mind. She doesn't want allies because one will always end up stabbing the other in the back, metaphorically and very possibly literally, and the brunette isn't sure she can betray someone like that. This pattern continues, the girl contemplating her death and how painful it may be, until she finally falls asleep and has one final, happy dream of her family. Her family that she may never see again.

Chapter 10: ☆9☆

Fauna shakes Briar's sleeping form as she softly says, "Briar, it is time to wake up. We have a few hours to get you ready before you head into the arena."

The girl grumbles, her eyes opening just a slither to see the woman above her. Hunger Games day one is here, and Briar did not expect to feel as sick as she does. Her heart is pounding in her chest, beating so loudly that she is surprised Fauna can't hear it. There's a hot, sickly feeling settling in her pit of her stomach, putting her off of the idea of breakfast despite knowing she needs it, and she isn't ready to say goodbye to Johanna. Not yet. Not now. But she doesn't have a choice.

"I'm up," she manages to croak as her eyes open fully, "how long do I have?"

"It's nine now, so about an hour and a half before we need to get you to the hovercraft. From there you'll be transported to the arena and meet Lysa. She will get you into your outfit, then there will be an announcement where you enter your lift to the arena."

"Alright," Briar swings her legs over the edge of her mattress and sits up, "I'll change now and come out for breakfast." The woman simply nods in response, exiting the room and leaving Briar alone to her thoughts.

Knowing she is soon going to be covered in sweat, Briar forgoes a shower and instead just changes into a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie before walking out to the kitchen and dining area. Wordlessly, Briar gives a brief look at Oakley and Blight then sits beside her twin. No one wants to be the first to speak. No one wants to be the first to bring up what today is and means, but Blight eventually breaks the nauseating silence by mumbling, "we know you're both going to be nervous for today, but you're both going to be fine. We will do anything and everything we can to help you whilst you're in there."

"Blight's right," Johanna speaks, her voice cracking ever so slightly, "stay alive as long as possible, both of you." Whilst her words are directed at both tributes, no one is oblivious to the fact that Johanna wants Briar to live. What the tributes don't know is that Blight is also routing for the younger Mason twin, meaning that neither of the mentors are truly fighting for Oakley when he enters the arena; Blight would never allow it to get to the stage that his tribute is completely neglected, but he knows that the odds are not in the boy's favour but they could be in Briar's.

Oakley looks between the two mentors. Although there is a smile adorning his lips, it's easy to read the anxiety and trepidation in his expression. "We will. We promise."

"Oakley, when we're in the arena please feel free to try and find me. I'll do whatever I can for you, okay?"

"You don't have to," he shakes his head, politely declining the girl's offer, "you need to fend for yourself, Briar. I don't want to be a burden."

"You wouldn't be– but, it's entirely up to you. My offer stands."

Breakfast, for Briar, doesn't consist of too much but is high in protein. She's aware that for the foreseeable future she is going to have a restricted amount of food whilst she fights for her life, so she doesn't want to overeat now and regret it later. Moreover, she doesn't want to risk making herself sick with the nerves she knows will hit her like a tonne of bricks sooner or later. After finishing their food, the Mason twins head into Briar's bedroom to allow Blight and Oakley some final time alone, and to allow themselves a proper goodbye with one another. The girls sit side by side on the edge of the mattress, Johanna clinging onto Briar's hands with a vice-like grip. "I-I can't– I c-can't lose you, Little B-Bird."

That one sentence breaks Briar's heart. Johanna is her other half, the one person in life that she knows she can count on for anything, and Briar doesn't want to let her down or see her upset. "I know, Jo. Trust me, I know. I felt the same watching your games, but we have to be realistic."

"I am being realistic, Briar. You could win, but you have to be smart about it."

"That doesn't mean I'm willing to take the risk of not saying bye to you, Jo. If I die, and you don't let me say goodbye, you will hate yourself."

"How do I say goodbye to the only person on this entire planet that I care about?"

Briar laughs, teasing Johanna with a nudge, "If I live, I'm telling mum and dad you said that."

"Enough," Johanna mumbles as she pulls her sister into a tight embrace, "you know what I mean."

The younger girl nods, "I know. And trust me, I have no idea how to say goodbye either. But, I do know that I want and need to say thank you. You have not only been the best sister I could ever ask for, but you have done everything over the last few days to make sure I am as prepared as I can be for what's coming. You are my favourite person, and I couldn't be more grateful."

"I love you, Briar. And I couldn't be prouder of you and how hard you've worked. You did something incredibly courageous and even more incredibly stupid when you volunteered, but I understand why you did it. You've always had the biggest and kindest heart, even if you are an absolute maniac at times." They both burst out laughing at the statement, Briar pulling Johanna impossibly closer to her in the process. "You've been by my side for seventeen years... please make sure you come back. I want the rest of our years together too. Get in, get an axe, and run. Come home to me."

"I'll try."

꘎♡━━━━━━━━━━━━━♡꘎

The rest of the morning flew by in a blur, and now Briar and Johanna are in the elevator, heading up to the lift so Briar can get on the hovercraft and head to the arena. Neither of them are speaking, but their hands are linked with their fingers intertwined. It is so silent that Briar can hear her heart pounding and the blood soaring through her body, and it is only increasing the sickening pit of anxiety in her core. She just wishes Johanna would say something, anything.

The older twin inhales, as if in preparation to give Briar last minute advice or bid her one last farewell, but after holding the breath for a few seconds, she huffs it back out and stays silent. They only need to go up five floors, then up one flight of stairs to the lift, but the elevator ride feels like it's taking a year for both the Masons. Briar finally cracks and breaks the silence. "I'm going to miss you."

"I'm going to miss you too."

As her mouth opens to continue the conversation, Briar is cut off by the piercing ding of the lift doors opening. Johanna is the first to move, taking small steps forward and pulling her sister with her. They ascend the stairwell in silence, simply enjoying one another's company for what could be the last time. Around five metres from the hovercraft, Johanna comes to an abrupt stop and pulls Briar in for another hug, her arms tightening around her neck. "Don't do anything stupid. Stay away from 1 and 2. Don't die."

"I know. I love you."

Johanna returns the sentiment then places a kiss on Briar's temple before lightly pushing her in the direction of the hovercraft. Briar manages to prevent her entire body from trembling, and instead she holds her head high and allows the Peacekeeper to escort her onto the transportation. Once she is seated and strapped in, the hovercraft lifts off and the journey to the arena begins. Barely a few minutes have passed when a woman with purple tinted skin approaches Briar's chair, some form of mental contraption in hand, and smiles down at the tribute, "arm please."

Both Blight and Johanna have forewarned the girl about the fact that she would have a tracker inserted into her arm, and so Briar doesn't hesitate in holding her forearm forward for the woman. Her slim, cold fingers wrap around Briar's arm, and she forces the metal tube directly into her skin. There's a small click that can be heard as the woman pulls the trigger to insert the tracker, and the brunette scrunches her nose up at the small sting it causes. The woman gives Briar a quick apology then pulls the needle out of her arm and strides away, leaving the tribute alone once again.

The rest of the time spent travelling to the arena is silent, with no one to interact with Briar is only left to her thoughts. They consist solely of possible climates the arena she is about to enter might have, what new muttations and twists the Gamemakers might have created, and what her death is going to feel like.

When they reach the under level of the arena, Briar is quickly ushered into her private room where her stylist is waiting for her. Lysa has tears brimming her waterlines by the time Briar enters, so the young girl walks over and hugs her. "I'll be fine."

"I know, but I have grown to care about Johanna these past couple years. That means I care about you too." Briar's lips curl up, and Lysa smiles back at her sadly, "enough of me being silly and sappy; let's get you changed."

The outfit Briar has been provided for the arena this year consists of black sports style leggings, a tight and long sleeved black top, a grey windbreaker and black boots. Nothing too thick so it won't be ridiculously cold, and nothing that is overly thin or small so no extreme heat. The fabric doesn't appear to be suited to water, and after last year's fiasco it's unlikely the Gamemakers will place a large body of water in the arena. That fact alone is enough to relieve Briar seeing as she is abysmal at swimming so she'd be dead within seconds if she comes up into the arena facing copious amounts of water. Lysa helps Briar into the outfit and explains she won't be doing anything with the tribute's hair seeing as it is short and probably won't get in her way. 

"We all believe in you, Briar. You've got this." Briar can feel her lower lip begin to quiver as the woman speaks, the true magnitude of what's about to happen settling in. "You have a fighter's spirit. Remember that when you're in there and fight. If you can't keep fighting for yourself then... fight for Johanna."

"Twenty seconds." The voice echoing over the PA system makes Briar jump. She takes a deep breath and hugs Lysa a final time before walking to the transparent tube lift and stepping in.

Briar turns to face her stylist and pleads, "remind Johanna I love her. Please," just before the door slides shut. Alone, and enclosed in the tube, Briar's heart begins to beat harder and faster than she has ever experienced, and she's almost sure that she may throw up any second.

As the platform raises and locks into place, Briar flutters her eyelids rapidly in an effort to adjust her eyes to the bright light of the arena. As her vision finally begins to focus, the girl frantically surveys the environment and can't stop the gasp that leaves her mouth as she sees the arena that had been selected for that year. It looks like a District. The tributes, all on their designated pedestals, are currently in an area that resembles the squares in front of the Justice Buildings in all 12 districts, and as far as Briar can see there are buildings that resemble houses surrounding them. The buildings all vary in how structurally sound they are; some of them seem fine, whilst others are crumbling just from the small amount of wind hitting them. The arena is overwhelmingly grey and white, with most of the buildings and structures being made of what looks like stone, and an abysmal amount of trees and foliage are dotted throughout the environment. From her vantage point, Briar can see there is an outer area of the arena that appears to be woodlands much like those that surround her home. In the middle of the 'square' is the usual metal Cornucopia which is overflowing with weapons, food, and supplies, so Briar tries her best to locate items that can be of use for her. There are a few backpacks along the way which the girl knows will hold a few random supplies which could benefit her. On her side of the Cornucopia- as she is positioned on the right hand side- are a few metal bottles which are obviously needed for water, and on the side furthest from her she is sure she can see some axes.

Get an axe, Johanna's voice echoes through her mind. Get in, get an axe, and run.

Flicking her eyes up to the projected countdown, a knot forms in Briar's stomach at the number '27' which is being displayed. In this moment the girl wishes she was more confident in her abilities to win the games because, as she looks around at her competition, it really sets in that she might not make it out alive. Her sister will do everything in her power to ensure Briar makes it out alive, but anything can happen in the arena, and many of those variables Johanna can not control.

When the countdown hits '4' Briar notices some movement to her right, so she turns her head slightly to see what's going on. As her muscles move and her head turns, the body of the boy that was standing beside her hits the floor, triggering a large explosion. The force of the air being propelled at the District 7 girl from the explosion, coupled with the fact that her guard was down because she was trying to look, causes Briar to lose her balance. Panic soaring through her body, the brunette wills herself to ignore the blood splatters and chunks of flesh that now cover her and begins to wave her arms about, desperately trying to keep her body upright so she doesn't meet the same gruesome death her neighbour did.

Despite her valiant efforts, gravity is not in the girl's favour and her body falls forward off of the pedestal. She clenches her jaw, trying to prepare herself for what it would feel like to be blown up, but no explosion comes. She lands on her hands and knees just as the siren rings out, but she can't hear it thanks to the explosion that has just happened next to her. All she can hear is a high pitched ringing but she knows the games have started as people are launching off of their podiums, and so she wastes no time in launching herself back up onto her feet and begins to sprint towards the Cornucopia. The scene she has just witnessed may have been vile and traumatic, and she may be covered in blood and chunks of flesh, but there is no time to waste now that the games have begun. If she had allowed herself to panic, she may as well have offered herself up to Eden on a silver platter, ready for death.

Being faster than a lot of the other tributes, Briar manages to grab the bag closest to her from the floor and breathes a sigh of relief when she sees a knife glistening from the side pocket. She doesn't pause as she grabs the bag, but instead keeps running as she knows she needs more than just one knife to survive longer than ten minutes. Pulling the weapon out of the pocket, the brunette slings the bag over her shoulder and turns as she notices a girl running towards her. A sense of panic sets in and her reflexes take over. Briar quickly thrusts the knife forward and pushes it into the girl's neck. Each and every one of these tributes has family at home watching, and the girl from 7 is not a monster. She won't make a show of these deaths. She would make sure that anyone she kills dies in the fastest and least painful way she can perform. The girl's body falling to the floor is what frees Briar's knife and she wills herself to keep running, not wanting to waste time or see the blood spurt from her victim's neck.

As the girl reaches the side of the Cornucopia that is closest to her she bends down and shrugs the backpack off of her shoulder. Briar stuffs the knife into the waistline of her trousers before she reaches one hand out and grabs a metal bottle and unzips the backpack with the other, then stuffs the bottle into her bag before rezipping it and standing up. The bottle's empty. Guess I'm searching for water. Wanting to get away from the frenzied death scene at the Cornucopia as possible, Briar chooses not to look at the chaos unfolding around her, and rather she runs towards where she thinks she saw the axes. When she turns into the metal structure she comes face to face with the boy from 8. The pair both pause, looking at each other with worried expressions. Each of them expects the other to attack first, remaining in defensive positions ready to dodge any weapons in a bid to remain alive. When the boy fails to make a move, Briar grabs the knife that is poking out of her trousers and frees it, not hesitating to stab the boy directly in the chest a couple times before his knees collapse under his body and he hits the ground with a thud. Once again, the death isn't one that Briar wanted to execute, but it is a reflexive one that her brain forces her to carry out so she can see her family once more. So she can see Johanna again.

Stepping over the boy's body, Briar crosses the inside of the Cornucopia and stops when she reaches the section of the wall that the axes are hanging on. There is a knife vest at her feet, so the girl hastily straps that around her body, then secures the knife into one of the free spaces. Within the vest, another 3 knives are already secured, so Briar has a few back up weapons available to her if she either is unable to get an axe, or if she gets one and loses it. Briar extends her right arm out towards the inner wall ahead of her and her hand wraps around the wooden handle of the axe. A familiar, almost comfortable type of feeling takes over her that is about as akin to calm as one can feel standing in an arena of death. Briar is pulled back into reality as she feels a sharp pain spread across her arm, just below her shoulder, causing her to wince and quickly turn to her right where she sees the District 6 girl smirking at her. The girl from 6 is holding a machete which is currently glazed with blood from Briar's arm, and Briar watches as the girl pulls it backwards ready to attack again. As her opponent is about to force her arm forward again, Briar quickly throws the axe in her hand, lodging it into the girl's abdomen. Briar then grabs another axe off the wall, ready to utilise this one too, but as she turns the girl is no longer standing in front of her, but is on the floor trying desperately to drag herself away. To her credit, the girl from 6 manages to get a few yards away before her body goes limp. The feeling you experience when you watch someone's body give up after you have attacked them is not something Briar would wish on anyone now she has experienced it; it is a cold, gripping, and nauseating sensation that is likely to haunt her for the rest of her life.

How long that life may be, however, is an entirely different story.

Three kills. Briar has already killed three people. Three children. Granted, they have all been defensive kills, murders that she has committed in a desperate bid to stay alive. It isn't like she has gone hunting tributes to kill them for fun, but she still feels an overwhelming sense of guilt as she thinks about their parents at home. Their parents who are now grieving the loss of their child... a child they will never see alive again.

Three kills in, Briar knows that she needs to try and get away from the bloodbath... now. With an axe now secure in her hand, and four knives strapped into the vest she had tossed over her jacket, the girl forces one foot in front of the other and runs towards a small clearing just left of the Cornucopia. The structures all look so similar that the district-like arena begins to confuse the tribute, and, soon enough, she is certain she is stuck in a labyrinth so large and disorientating that won't be able to tell if she is going round in circles or not.

Weaving around buildings and down the many streets and alleys to make sure she isn't being followed, Briar runs for about twenty minutes before deciding that her best choice, for now, is to get inside one of the buildings and see what supplies she has. She also knows she needs to find a way to cover the bleeding wound at the top of her arm and prevent an infection from forming. One thing that the instructors drill into you day in day out during training is that exposure kills just as swiftly as another tribute can, and Briar doesn't particularly aspire to be another 'death via infection' statistic.

Logically, many of the remaining tributes would opt for the buildings which appear structurally sound, and so, Briar quickly makes her way into a building which is missing half of its second floor. She scans the main room quickly, looking for any obvious traps or muttations, but deems the area safe and quickly settles into a corner of the room which cannot be seen through any windows. Slinging the back off of her shoulder, Briar unzips it and removes its contents: the bottle which she had stuffed in there earlier, a few food bars which appear to be protein based, some crackers, beef jerky, and some rope. Having had a large breakfast, the girl stuffs the food back in the bag, along with the rope, then picks up the bottle and walks to the sink in the corner of the room. She turns the tap on and waits a couple seconds before water finally starts pouring out of it. After filling her bottle, Briar raises it up but stops before the neck of her bottle reaches her lips. She sniffs the water a few times but can't determine that it is poisoned or contaminated so quickly says, "Jo, if I am killed by water, I'm sorry," before taking a few sips. As the slightly chilled liquid hits her tongue and makes its way down her throat, Briar can feel herself cool down and relax slightly. Bringing her arm back down, the girl winces as a sharp pain radiates from her wound.

I need to get that cleaned and covered.

With amazing timing, the small beeping sound of a sponsor gift reaches Briar's ears, and she sees the metal parachute land on the floor outside the window opposite her. Cautiously, the girl makes her way outside, her right hand holding the handle of a knife in her belt ready to defend herself if required. Whilst making her way around the building and to the gift, Briar makes sure she is constantly looking around to be aware of any possible threats, not wanting her death to be due to the fact that Johanna sent her a gift. Not bothering to unclip the package from the parachute, Briar grabs the container in her left hand and quickly runs back inside. As she crosses the threshold into the building she has claimed as her shelter she forces the door shut behind her and scans the interior once again before returning to her out of view spot in the corner of the room. Her legs cross over in front of her and she pries open the parcel revealing a smaller metal container and a note. Her eyes scan over the note as she reads it.

'Clean the wound, then apply. -Jo.'

Snickering softly, Briar removes the smaller container and stuffs it into her backpack before discarding the bigger container. She knows Johanna is probably screaming at her through a screen right now, but Briar knows she can hold on longer, that the cream needs to be saved for later. The brunette takes a few moments to weigh up her options before she removes her jacket and shirt. Beneath her shirt and jacket, her body adorns a black sports-style bra, so she is still covered up, not revealing any more of her body to the citizens of Panem than already has been. The girl pulls out one of her knives and slices the right sleeve off of her shirt. It takes a few tries, but Briar manages to hack her way through the fabric to create a makeshift bandage for her wound. She grabs the ragged sleeve and stands, moving to soak it in water from the tap. She grits her teeth and winces as she awkwardly ties the wet cloth tightly around the wound to keep it clean and covered.

Back in her hidden corner of the room, Briar waits anxiously, wondering when the cannons of the bloodbath will sound so can gauge how many tributes remain. If her fate is to die, the girl can only hope that her death is quick and as painless as possible. She also hopes that Johanna would not have to witness the tragedy, but she knows that it's inevitable. The first boom of the cannons drags the girl out of her thoughts, and she quickly begins to count them.

Boom. One.

Boom. Two.

Taking the loud, echoing booms as the perfect opportunity to release her emotions, Briar inhales deeply and, instead of exhaling, she lets out a guttural scream. A scream to mourn those she has killed, to rid her body of the guilt and sadness, and to calm herself even if it is only by a small amount. The scream is only a few seconds long, but it succeeds in relieving the brunette of some of the tension she has been keeping bottled up. It also succeeds in hurting her vocal chords slightly, but that is the least of her worries.

Boom. Three.

Boom. Four.

Boom. Five.

Boom. Six.

Boom. Seven.

Boom. Eight.

Boom. Nine.

Boom. Ten.

Boom. Eleven.

Eleven deaths means that only twelve more stand between Briar and going home. On the other hand, it also means that her death could be one of the twelve standing between another tribute and going home.

I just hope that Oakley is still alive.

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As the sun begins to set, the brunette decides it would be best to get some rest, the girl quickly moves a small pile of rubble in front of the door before settling back in her corner for some sleep. She is praying that, if anyone enters the house, the rubble will make enough noise to wake her up. Having decided that her best option for the evening is to remain in the shelter she found, Briar has done a double check of the building and ensured that her hiding spot is not visible from the outside before settling down with her weapons close by.

She spends a miserably large amount of time tossing and turning on the concrete floor below her, hoping and praying that sleep will come to her any second. Every noise, no matter how small, has the brunette's eyes flying open and darting around to scan for possible dangers. There are none, many of the remaining tributes are likely also trying to get rest, but that doesn't alleviate her fears or stop her from checking her surroundings every time until sleep claims her.

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As bright rays of sun begin to beam in through the window, Briar's eyes shoot open and she looks around frantically as she grabs a knife from her belt. The girl quickly rises to her feet and begins to slowly check her surroundings, ensuring no one has infiltrated her building before returning to her corner. The light, high pitched sound of birds- or mutts- tweeting drifts into the room from the broken window on the wall adjacent to Briar, and the brunette takes a few short moments to enjoy the calm that has settled around her. There will be very few of these throughout the time the arena still has more than one tribute remaining, so she plans to appreciate every one of them as if it will be her last.

Opening her bag, she pulls out her water bottle and one of the protein bars ready to eat in place of her breakfast. The small amount of food she eats from the supplies she managed to secure during her time at the Cornucopia is enough to settle the growls in her stomach, and she is confident that it will provide her with enough energy for the day. After finishing the last bit of water in her bottle she goes to refill it at the sink. With the water pouring into the bottle, the girl becomes very thankful for the fact that there actually is running water, and makes a small mental note to ensure her bottle is full to the brim before she leaves the building and begins to explore the rest of the arena. It is possible that every building has at least one water source, but that seems too easy. It is also possible that Briar just got incredibly lucky and hid in one of the few buildings that does have a working water supply.

I wonder if the shower works? A moment after the thought crosses her mind, she sighs at herself, unable to fully process the level of her own stupidity in that moment. Fuck off, Briar, why would the showers work?

Briar looks around the small room she is in and begins weighing up her options. She could remain in this building and remain here until someone ultimately finds her, or she could stay on the move and only stay in each place one night to throw people off of her presence. The one factor that does come into play is that she has a safe water source here, but she knows that the Capitol could turn it off or make it poisonous at any moment. Her water bottle is still full, so she doesn't need to refill it before she sets off. The girl quickly starts to gather her belongings before taking her axe into her right hand and making her way outside. Dust starts to fly about as Briar walks, the dry mud and gravel making it a rather unstable hike, but she safely makes it away from her previous night's accommodation and towards the outer area of the arena. Given that she spent a lot of her time in the woods when she was growing up, her best chances of survival lie with being in the trees as often as possible.

Chapter 11: ☆10☆

The second day in the arena had been relatively uneventful; two cannons had sounded throughout the day, taking the total number of fallen tributes to thirteen. Briar had spent the majority of the day foraging edible berries and plants in the woodlands that make up the outskirts of the arena. Then, shortly after nightfall, the brunette had successfully snuck past another tribute and settled down into one of the nearby, crumbling buildings for sleep.

Oddly, as the girl wakes up on day three, she feels a reassuring sense of calm. The soft bird chirps and rustling of leaves and branches moving remind her of home and have helped her remain grounded as she navigates the new environment she has found herself in. Her palms dig into the frigid concrete floor as she pushes herself into a seated position, but she ignores the dull discomfort it inflicts and looks around. Her brown eyes scan the shelter she claimed the night prior, looking to identify any new dangers or risks that may have found their way inside overnight. She spies a few bugs, but nothing that she believes could be a muttation, and there's no tributes standing over her ready to kill her so she is happy.

She has managed to ration her water well enough that it lasted all of yesterday, and she has around a quarter left. The brunette grabs her bottle, removing the lid and bringing it up to her dry and peeling lips. She allows two small mouthfuls to glide down her throat before recapping the metal bottle and tucking it into her backpack. The relief it brings her, and more importantly her dry throat, is heavenly. Her food supply is running low so the girl knows she'll need to go hunting before nightfall. Her entire life she's entered the woods and spent time admiring every animal she encountered, so the prospect of hunting them down is particularly daunting. But she's aware that she had no choice. Hunt to secure food and survive, or starve, there are no other options available to her. The healing salve that Johanna had sent her on the first day in the arena likely used a large portion of the sponsors so she's not oblivious to the fact that she'll be receiving little, if any, food via the small metal containers on parachutes.

Briar feels around blindly in her backpack trying to locate either the remaining crackers she has or the last of her protein bars to have in place of breakfast. Her fingers collide with the plastic wrapping of the food and she pulls out the protein bar. It doesn't take long for her to consume it, and she discards the wrapper onto a pile of rubble to her left. Is it littering if I'm in the arena?

Shaking her thoughts from her head, Briar slides her jacket back on and makes her way out of the house. The plan for the day is to spend a fair amount of her time in the serene woodland that occupies the outer perimeter of the arena. It will be easier for her to hide there, especially given her previous experience in the trees, so she'll feel safer there. Not safe, but safer than she does now. Making her way through the arena to the woods will be the issue. It's bright, open, and there are very few places to remain hidden. The stone of the buildings, the dust and gravel on the floor, everything in the district-like city is all grey and bright, reflecting the copious amounts of light that beams into the arena from the sky. It makes the whole place hot, not an unbearable level of hot but enough that it's uncomfortable during the hours where the sun is at its highest.

Making her way out of the building, the brunette uses the rear corner of the building she was in to check the coast is clear. When she is happy that she can't see any tributes or muttations along the road, Briar starts her hike through the abandoned streets of the arena towards the outer ring.

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She holds the cold tip of the knife's blade between her fingertips and slowly crouches even closer to the floor. Her breaths are slow and controlled, she makes a conscious effort to keep them as silent as possible too. She focuses on the fox a few meters ahead of her, she has to get everything right– her aim, her precision, the speed of her throw. After a few more deep breaths, Briar launches the knife; she has absolutely no trained technique with knives like a career tribute might, but she can use them well enough that she can hunt and kill with them... on animals at least. She isn't completely sure she could throw one and kill a human with it, she can only kill people with a knife when it's hand-to-hand and direct.

The knife hits the fox just below its neck, and it isn't an instant kill. It takes Briar making her way to the injured animal, removing the knife, and stabbing it again. As soon as the omnivorous mammal is dead, Briar makes quick work of skinning it and cutting the meat off of the carcass. Then, she makes a small fire to cook the meat through. She refuses to allow it to burn any longer than necessary, knowing that the light it produces will be giving away her location to any nearby tributes and make her a prime target. To them, she isn't Briar Mason, the seventeen year old girl from District 7 with a twin sister and parents that love her, she's just another obstacle between them and getting home and they would not hesitate to kill her. Once she is sure that the fox meat is cooked through, she takes it off of the fire and uses her boot to stamp the flames out. A few stomps later, all the flames are gone and only a few glowing embers remain on the floor; they don't produce anywhere near enough heat, smoke, or light for Briar to be concerned of it giving her away so she tucks herself in against a tree, and sits down to enjoy her meal.

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Fox meat certainly wouldn't be her first choice, it wouldn't even be one of her options usually, but you have to take what you can get in the Hunger Games. The rich, gamey flavour is still coating the back of Briar's throat as she heads in the direction of a small, deteriorating building in the distance that she's decided will be her accommodation for the night. Thankfully, her plans to avoid the career pack as much as possible have succeeded thus far; she's had no run-ins with the volatile firecracker that is the girl from 1 and she intends to keep it that way. Her walk to her selected shelter is uneventful; there appears to be no other tributes within her vicinity, but Briar still cautiously looks around and over her shoulder every few seconds. She'd rather be safe than sorry. It has taken a few hours for her to hike from where she was hunting in the trees to the building she's picked, and her thighs are on fire, so Briar just wants to sit down and get some rest. She pushes the door open, stepping inside, but when she is over the threshold of the building she freezes in place.

Her natural, primal, fight or flight instinct kicks in as her eyes fall upon Roscoe, the boy from District 10, with a bolo knife gripped tightly in his right hand. Her right hand flies, wrapping around her axe and releasing it from its place in her belt. His eyes widen but Briar isn't sure why because he could easily overpower her if this situation escalates to a fight.

"Just do it," Roscoe's voice comes out as nothing more than a murmur, and that is when Briar takes note of the tremble in his hands. And the blood trickling from a horizontal wound on his forearm. "Make it quick, please. My siblings don't need to see me suffer."

Briar doesn't want to scare him and so she keeps her voice soft as she says, "I'm not going to kill you, Roscoe." She drops her axe, letting it hit the floor with a clatter, and crouches in front of the bleeding boy. Her eyes meet his and she can't help but notice the terror flooding them, the fear that has consumed him from being caught by a girl half his size. "What happened to your arm?"

"That girl from District One got it with a knife. I managed to get away before she killed me but... I think she still might succeed with that too. It's going to be infected sooner or later."

It isn't her plan to stick with anyone; having allies puts her at a risk of being stabbed in the back in more ways than one. She could just offer him her healing cream as a gesture of goodwill and run, leaving him to fend for himself, but her heart's too big for that. "Can we make a deal?"

"What sort of deal?" He's sceptical, of course, but Briar knows she has no ill intent.

"I have something that should heal your arm. If I give you it, we become allies."

Roscoe's left eyebrow lifts and he pauses, thinking the proposal over. He briefly eyes the brunette ahead of him. He isn't unaware of the fact that they'd both benefit from the arrangement, but he also knows that there will need to be terms. "If I say yes, what are the conditions?"

"We share the food and water we find, and we don't betray each other."

"Alright."

"And if we want to split up, we give the other the chance to leave," she quickly adds.

"Deal. Please, just help," he jerks his head towards his arm.

Briar drops her rucksack off of her shoulder and rips open the zip. She stored the pot of salve at the bottom of the bag in case anyone came across it whilst she hunted and tried to steal some food. Her fingers wrap around the tin and she pulls it out, uncapping it before saying, "take your jacket off."

She removes her own whilst Roscoe follows her instructions, and he frowns as his eyes fall upon the scabbed over slash on her own arm. "You need it."

"Mines healed over which means there's a lot less risk of it getting an infection. Pass your arm," Briar holds her left hand out, and the man places his arm into her palm. She inspects it for a few seconds before letting go and retrieving the torn off shirt sleeve from her pocket and walking to the crumbling sink.

She turns the tap, silently praying that this building has running water. Nothing. No water comes out of the tap, but she can hear a small humming sound so she doesn't give up hope. A few more seconds pass and a weak stream of water begins falling from the metal. She soaks the fabric in water then wrings it out and walks back to her new ally. The brunette sits, taking his arm back into her hand and presses the wet, detached sleeve to it. Carefully and meticulously, Briar cleans his wound, taking extra care to make sure she doesn't cause him undue pain or discomfort whilst ensuring all dirt is wiped from it. Throughout, the boy lets out small winces and grunts to express his pain, and Briar apologises every time as she feels terrible for hurting someone. "I'm almost done, I swear," she attempts to reassure him whilst repacking the wet fabric then dipping her index and middle fingers into the salve. She scoops up a small amount and then wipes it over the cut, ensuring it is fully covered and evenly spread. "Keep it uncovered for now. Once it's dried, you can put your jacket back on."

"Thank you– wait, you know my name and I didn't bother learning anyones."

"I told everyone during my interview, I listened to as much as I could. That didn't just mean to the interviews before mine," Briar shrugs, "I have been taking mental notes the whole time. You seemed strong, so I made a point of learning a few things about you. Anyway, I'm Briar."

"Briar," he parrots back, trying to commit the name to memory, "Briar Mason, right? Your sister's a victor."

"Yep. She's the one that tricked everyone by crying. Smart move, but I could never. Crying gives me a headache."

He laughs in response, the sound much deeper than Briar had been expecting, but at least she's put him in a better mood. The older boy pushes himself further against the wall to make space for the brunette to sit with him before patting the floor. Briar moves, shuffling herself to sit beside him rather than in front of him, and gives him a weak smile as he says, "well enough people like you already, so you didn't need an act."

Briar shakes her head dismissively, "people don't like me. They like what I did in the reaping. I didn't exactly do anything to impress people but they think I am brave."

"You made me like you," Roscoe points out matter-of-factly.

"Because I helped you, not because you enjoyed my character or fell in love with my charm." Briar smirks as she speaks, nudging the boy's arm with her own.

"I suppose you're right there; I barely know you."

"As much as I would love to know you more, it's better if we don't." Roscoe lifts an eyebrow at Briar's comment so she quickly explains, "the better we know each other, the more of a connection we'll have. The bigger the connection the harder it will be for either of us to kill each other."

"Planning on taking me out already, Seven?"

Briar laughs, shaking her head. "No. Not just yet. I'll at least let you believe we're allies first."

"Oh, you're playing the long game, huh?"

"Exactly." She smiles triumphantly. "Now, it's getting late; you should get some rest and I'll take our first watch."

"Are you sure?"

Briar nods, a small smile still present on her lips. "Positive. I'll wake you when it's time for your watch. But, if you kill me in my sleep I will haunt you forever. And it won't just be you notice-things-moving type of haunting... it will be you-see-me-in-the-corner-of-your-room-in-the-middle-of-the-night type of haunting."

Her ally laughs at her words, settling himself down into a lying position ready to sleep, "noted, Seven."

The remainder of the night passes by uneventfully for the pair; no cannons sound, and there is no Tribute to the Fallen projected in the sky which means a particularly peaceful night. The next morning was just as mundane, Briar and Roscoe share the tiny amounts of food he has as well as the remaining pieces of meat that Briar has from hunting. God, this must make for some shit television when no one is dying.

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No more cannons had sounded during her watch; she isn't sure if any went off during Roscoe's, but she'd know during the Tribute to the Fallen later tonight. After sharing the little food they have left for breakfast, Roscoe and Briar decide to return to the woods so Briar can cut and gather some firewood. The arena may be bright and warm during the day, but the nights are bitterly cold and neither of them particularly enjoyed that whilst trying to get rest. They both agree that lighting a fire inside is necessary and will limit their likelihood of being spotted by other tributes.

When they exit the building, Briar grabs the knife she has sticking out of her belt and lifts it. Noticing her movements, the taller boy glances anxiously at Briar in his peripheral vision. "Relax," Briar laughs, "I'm not going to hurt you. I'm marking the door– only certain buildings have running water, and I haven't seen any other sources of water so far, so we need to be able to identify them."

"That's... smart."

"Don't sound so shocked," Briar grits through her teeth as she crouches and carves a cross into the bottom left corner of the door. "I can be smart sometimes."

"The fact that you said sometimes implies that you know you're not at others," Roscoe chuckles as Briar stands back up and they begin to walk.

"Well yeah. I'm useless at that tech stuff they do in 3. And science isn't my strong suit either."

"Science? Not one of those chemical geniuses then, no?"

"Not. At. All." Briar emphasises each word and pauses between them. "You strike me as a science guy."

"It's not my worst subject, although I was always better at history."

"History? God, please don't give me a lecture on the Dark Days, I hear enough about them from the Capitol clips every reaping."

"You mean the good old war, terrible war, isn't your favourite thing to hear?"

Briar shakes her head dismissively, "oh no, it's definitely when they describe the Hunger Games as a fucking pageant."

The pair both laugh as they continue to walk, looking over their shoulders and down the sides of the building as they go. They're constantly on the lookout for new risks, whether they be posed by other tributes or muttations, and make sure that they're covering one another's backs too. Now they're allies, their mission is harder; not only do they have to keep themselves alive, they have to keep eachother alive too. Being responsible for her own life is fine for Briar, she knows that she can stay hidden and fight if needed. But, the idea of being responsible for another human being is a terrifying prospect. Will his family blame me if he dies? Many questions haunt the brunette's thoughts, they have echoed through her mind since the second they joined forces, but the scariest one is whether she would blame herself. It shouldn't be the thing at the forefront of her mind, especially given their current circumstances, but it is... and it will continue to be until she dies.

Once again, the walk into the woods takes them at least an hour, and, by the time they reach an area they're happy with, there is perspiration dripping down their sliding down their foreheads and temples. Their conversation had died off halfway to the woods, the pair favouring the silence as it allowed them to listen for any nearby tributes and stay vigilant. It dawns on Briar, as they continue their walk, how similar the 'district' they're walking through might be for some of the tributes. The lack of colour in the crumbling architecture, the derelict streets and limited nature, it must closely resemble at least one of the other eleven districts. From the stories Johanna has told her, Briar can confidently rule out districts One and Four; her sister has visited Cashmere Nicholo in One and Finnick Odair in Four and has always gushed to Briar about how beautiful and put together those two districts are. And a fairly educated guess tells the tribute from Seven that it's unlikely that the districts with lower numbers than hers would look like this, so any of the tributes from Eight and above could be either comforted or completely traumatised by how much the arena looks like home to them.

"Is it weird that part of me hopes I don't win?"

Roscoe looks to Briar as she breaks their peace. "I'm sorry?"

"Think about it, Roscoe. If one of us from the upper districts wins – wins in an arena that slightly resembles their home – we'll go back all kinds of fucked up. Even just walking through the town square will put us right back in the bloodbath mindset."

The girl's ally considers her words momentarily, pausing his walking as he does so, then his face resigns into an expression of realisation and he sighs. "Fuck, you;re right. I didn't even think about it that way. You know, you're a lot smarter than what you give yourself credit for, Briar."

"I just have a lot of time in my own head when it's silent. I don't massively enjoy it, so I use my thoughts to keep it loud." She shrugs.

"That was deep."

"Fuck me, I'm sorry–"

"Don't be. When you're facing death it's normal to think like that. It's human nature to cope that way."

"I guess you're right, but we're not facing death right now. We will be facing death tonight, though, if we don't get firewood so bare with me whilst I start hitting trees."

A small smile creeps its way into Briar's lips as she positions the axe in her hands and swings her body, ready to strike the tree ahead of her. The feeling, being back in the woods with an axe in her hands, reminds her of home... reminds her of her dad. The experience is slightly dampened by the fact that her dad isn't beside her, helping her and telling her where to strike, but it still provides her with a needed sense of safety instead of the newly developed and lingering homesickness.

꘎♡━━━━━━━━━━━━━♡꘎

On the ground floor of the Tribute Centre, in the Mentor Viewing Room, Johanna is sitting at her station. The older of the Mason twins hasn't left her station since this year's games began unless she absolutely had to in order to sleep or go to the bathroom. Despite many reassurances from Blight that he would happily sit in her place and never allow his eyes to leave her twin, Johanna remains glued to her seat. Her eyes are tired and strained, screaming at her to get an adequate amount of rest, but she persists anyway. Footsteps approach her from behind, cutting through the tension in the air, and a fresh mug of coffee is placed to the left of her station.

"Another coffee," Blight states as he takes his place beside the older Mason twin. "If you're so adamant that you're not leaving, you need to at least stay fueled... even if it is by coffee."

Without looking away from the monitor ahead of her, Johanna mutters a quick thank you to her partner then uses her mouse to click through the camera angles to get a better view of her sister. Briar is currently in the woodlands with Roscoe, the pair looking for firewood and talking about the tributes that they know are remaining. Johanna is proud of how well her sister is doing so far – even if she is still infuriated by the fact that she gave away her sponsor gift to secure an alliance – and, slowly, her confidence in Briar's ability to actually win this is increasing. The careers will be Briar's biggest challenge, specifically the girl from One who has made it her alliance's mission to hunt the girl from Seven. Thankfully, they've had no luck so far, but, if they do succeed, Johanna doesn't like her sister's odds... two against four.

She is hating every second of the seventy-first Hunger Games and often wonders how Gloss Nicholo, the mentor from One, has survived doing this twice. How has he endured two years of watching his younger sisters in damned death arenas? Anytime her twin moves Johanna swears her heart stops with fear. The idea of losing Briar, the prospect of a world without her, sends a tidal wave of terror through Johanna. It gets so bad that she wouldn't be shocked if the nerves actually forced her into emptying the contents of her stomach multiple times before the victor is crowned.

"Jo, why don't you go get some sleep?" Blight's voice pulls Johanna's focus again. He notices that her eyes don't stray from their focus on the screen, and an exasperated sigh passes his lips. "I'll take care of her, Johanna, I swear. The less rest you get, the less useful you'll be to her. She needs you on your A game, not at death's door."

"I can't. She's my sister so it's my responsibility to take care of her." Johanna mutters as she observes her sister add more jagged logs to the small but growing pile of firewood.

The man from Seven pinches the bridge of his nose. "That may be true, but if you're too exhausted to do your job effectively, you'll never forgive yourself."

He's right, and she hates it when he's right. "When did you decide to become the voice of reason?"

"When getting your sister out alive became my top priority... so when she volunteered." He takes Johanna's mug into his hand, holding it out to the younger girl. "Now, take this and get your ass upstairs."

Johanna's fingers wrap around the ceramic handle, taking the mug of hot liquid from her friend. "If anything happens, anything, you call up immediately."

"I know. I know." Blight chuckles as Johanna finally leaves her chair and turns on her heel to leave.

"Fuck..." The sound of Briar's concerned tone collides with Johanna's eardrums and the older Mason sibling whirls back around to look at the screen. In Briar's hand is the handle, only the handle, of what was her axe.

"What the–"

"Calm down." Blight tries to calm the storm that is currently brewing in Johanna.

"It fucking broke!" Her voice raises to a shout as she spies the blade of her sister's weapon still embedded in the tree beside her. "This is a fucking joke, right?"

Knowing the older Mason will only continue to get angrier and may well jeopardise Briar's safety by saying the wrong thing, Blight interjects her words. "We can get sponsors and buy her a new axe. Mags did it for Finnick, we can do it for Briar. Besides, she isn't weaponless in the meantime."

The girl from Seven looks at her friend like he's growing a second head. "She has one knife, Blight. One! She may as well be weaponless."

"We'll sort it. Go re–"

"Blight, if you tell me to go rest right now I will put an axe through your skull." Johanna warns, returning to her chair and sitting down.

Another deep chuckle escapes Blight. "Alright, I won't. You stay here and watch her, I'll go speak to some sponsors and see what I can get."

A few minutes after Blight leaves the room, Johanna feels her best friend's presence as he slides into the chair beside her. Ever since her win two years prior, Johanna and Finnick have been the best of friends. The pair had instantly clicked, and frequently visited each other in their home districts. She turns her head, taking in the blonde man next to her. He is a far cry from the adorable and cheeky fourteen year old he was when he was crowned; now he's much stronger, with broad shoulders and toned muscles, his baby face is gone leaving behind highly defined cheekbones and a sharp jawline, and he's matured a lot. He's now a man. And, sometimes, in certain lights, Johanna can see and understand why most women swoon over the man from Four. On the odd occasion she's even admitted to herself that, if she was interested in men, she could easily fall for him. In those moments she's thankful for the feelings she has towards the elder of the Nicholo sisters.

"Take a breath–"

"Finnick, I'm not leaving–"

"I'm not asking you to." Finnick places his left hand onto Johanna's arm, brushing his thumb back and forth in an effort to calm her. "I'm just asking you to take a breath. A deep breath. You need to remain calm and grounded if you want to help her. I can practically see the anxiety in your head."

In. And out. Johanna speaks the steps through in her mind. She closes her eyes briefly as she runs her hands over her face, providing them with a desperately needed sense of relief. "She's liked, but I don't know if she's liked enough to fund a new axe."

Finnick cautiously glances around, checking to ensure no one is paying attention to them, then leans closer to his friend. "We will all do what we can to help. We all agreed to it."

"Yeah but most of you still have your own tributes to worry about. Besides, I'm the one that said we're not cheating to make sure she wins."

"We wouldn't be cheating, Johanna." Finnick turns in his seat so he's able to fully face the female mentor from Seven as he continues, "we're helping our friend get her sister home. It doesn't mean we are going to abandon our own tributes."

"Just... let me try first, alright? Let me try and do it alone; if I fail, I'll ask for help."

The man from Four nods, pity and sadness reflecting from his eyes. "Fine. But, if you need it, all of us will help in a heartbeat."

 

Chapter 12: ☆11☆

In an arena of this magnitude, being a five foot two girl with a single knife is terrifying. Roscoe has been a great help, constantly reassuring Briar that he will protect her because that’s what allies do , but it isn’t preventing the girl’s stomach from somersaulting every time a twig snaps in their vicinity or they turn a corner blindly. She isn’t ready to die yet, and she isn’t done fighting for herself and Roscoe yet. Fortunately, day five in the arena had passed without issue; despite their lack of an axe, Roscoe and Briar were able to gather enough firewood to keep them warm for nights four and five, and had hunted and foraged enough food to keep them going. They haven’t been full yet, but they’ve eaten enough that their hunger has remained satiated. 

 

Another cannon had sounded in the past twenty-four hours, and the eighteen year old female from Eight’s face had been projected in the sky during the night, which has taken the total death toll of the games to fourteen so far. In less than five full days we’ve gone from twenty-four to ten. As the thought runs through Briar’s mind, a chill radiates down her spine. The fact that fourteen families had lost their children already, and nine more need to lose theirs before this year’s Hunger Games ends is devastating enough to give Briar nightmares. 

 

Briar and Roscoe have been up for a few hours, but neither of them have been able to get a gauge on the time of day they’re currently sitting in. They weren’t able to find a building with water the night before, but they still have some remaining and have rationed it well. It should last them a couple more days if they’re lucky. They’ve just finished their first meal of the day, and they’re now considering their options for the day. “Do you think it’s worth us hunting for another building with running water, or just another water source just in case?”

 

“We can always check, that won’t hurt. And, I know I sound like the tributes from One and Two, but we may as well start hunting for other tributes. There’s less than half of us left now, I think, and the quicker we can get this over with the better.”

 

He’s right, there are less than half of them left, but Briar isn’t going to give away the fact that she is mentally tracking how many of them are left alive. The brunette is conscious that lying to her ally is far from the smartest decision, but the less he knows in respect to how many tributes are left, the less likely he is to turn on her or slaughter her whilst she sleeps. Hunting other tributes is also not the top of her priority list, but objecting to the notion could be a dealbreaker for their alliance… and Briar isn’t ready to give it up yet. “Alright, we can keep an eye out for any water sources whilst we hunt for food and tributes. If we don’t have luck with that then we can use the cover of night to check the buildings.”

 

“Sounds good to me. Did you want to head out now?”

 

Briar thinks it over for a few moments. If they chose to leave the building now, they risk being found by another tribute or alliance – it’s a possibility at all times, but being outside increases that possibility – but if they stay inside then they’re practically sitting ducks. “Yeah, there’s no point in delaying it.”

 

So the pair venture out into the open air, trekking down the dusty roads and gravelly alleyways in hopes of finding a water source. They’ve noticed a few tributes in the distance, but the duo have managed to go unnoticed in return meaning they have remained safe. It started raining a few hours into them walking, and they still haven’t been able to locate a water source or building with running water, so they’re both becoming increasingly miserable.

 

Despite the downpour, the arena still looks oddly beautiful. The raindrops are making all the dust and pathways appear darker than normal, their usual light grey morphing into an almost brown-tinted paste. Droplets of rain glisten in the light as they slowly drip down the windows of buildings surrounding them before colliding with the floor below. It would be particularly easy to forget the circumstances they’re in, even if only momentarily, when observing their surroundings, but Briar makes an effort to keep the danger she is in at the forefront of her mind. The serene atmosphere is calming and gives the brunette time to reflect on what is waiting for her back home. On what she has to lose.

 

“Maybe we just head back, or try to find suitable shelter?” Roscoe suggests, looking down at the younger girl.

 

Briar uses the sleeve of her jacket to wipe the rainwater from her eyes then lets out a small grunt. “I’m happy to keep going if you are? Most people will be taking shelter so it’s less likely we run into another tribute.”

 

“That’s a good point. Let’s keep going.”

 

As they reach the area where the ‘district’ meets the woodland, Roscoe walks ahead of the girl from Seven. He won’t admit it outloud, but he keeps doing this in case any of the other tributes have set traps; he’d rather he himself got caught, giving her the chance to run, than it be the other way around. They’re both remaining vigilant, observing from side to side to check for both threats and food. Briar notices movement from her peripheral vision and vwhirls around, knife gripped tightly in her hand and raised ready to protect herself. Around ten metres away, just past Roscoe, is the boy from Three. He’s staring at the pair with a determined look plastered across his features as he lifts the mace he’s clinging onto for dear life. His fear is evident, two against one is never a situation you should willingly put yourself into unless you’re completely confident you can win. Unless you’re sure that your two opponents are less capable than you are, even when combined. Roscoe still hasn’t noticed their company, and the boy from Three makes his move, stepping closer to her ally to try and kill him. On instinct, Briar holds the tip of the blade of her knife between her forefinger and thumb, and hastily throws it at the boy. 

 

“Roscoe, watch out!”

 

Her technique with throwing knives is far from perfect, she hasn’t been formally trained like the tributes from One, Two, or even Four, so she can’t take the moment to show off to the  audience and gain more sponsors, but she can eliminate another obstacle between her and home. The blade of the knife plunges straight through the skin and flesh of the boy’s neck, embedding all the way to the handle. He drops. Fast. His knees hit the floor first, his torso falling forward soon after. 

 

At the sound of the, now dead, tribute’s body hitting the floor, Roscoe quickly turns to see what has happened. Noticing the dead body, his eyes widen and he looks at Briar. “I didn’t even hear him.”

 

“He was stealthy.” She confirms. “I only knew he was there because I saw him. You want his mace?”

 

“No.”

 

Briar nods in acknowledgement and picks the weapon up, tossing it into some nearby bushes in hopes that no one will find it.

 

If Roscoe or I die to that weapon, I am going to haunt a bitch.

 

Being soaked to the bone and now a murderer of four innocent children, Briar has had enough. Her shoulders slump slightly as she exhales deeply, her morale decreasing with every passing moment. 

 

Roscoe walks closer to the girl and he’s able to read every emotion just by looking her in the eye; he can see every ounce of guilt that has already hit her like a truck thanks to that kill. “Don’t go down that road, Briar. Don’t let the guilt of this consume you– if you do, you’ll never see your sister again.”

 

His words make something snap inside her. She hates how he’s always right, especially when it comes to her feelings and Johanna. He can read people so easily, it’s unnerving. “Yeah…” she trails off.

 

“Let’s just find something to eat and head back. We can worry about water later.”

 

“We can’t worry about water later ,” the brunette sighs. Dehydration is not the cause of death she wants written beside her name in the history books that reference the seventy-first Hunger Games, so water will always be her primary concern. It may seem silly, not wanting a specific kind of death, but passing of dehydration in an arena where there are water sources readily available means you were a stupid tribute with an even more stupid death. And she will not be remembered as stupid. “We’ll look for water whilst hunting. If we can’t find it then we go from building to building until we find one with running water. On the first night of the games I went into a building that was crumbling and that one had running water. The career tributes will most likely stick to the structurally sound buildings, so if we stick to the ones that are fucked we should be safer.”

 

“Briar, shut up for a second.” Roscoe says in a hushed tone. The brunette looks offended by the boy’s words and turns ready to object, to tell him that ordering her to shut up is not a good strategy if he wants to keep their alliance to survive, but he uses his left hand to cover her mouth before any sound can pass her lips. “I’m serious. There’s some foxes, we can get one for dinner.”

 

Briar nods, an acknowledgement to show her ally that she understands and agrees. Once he is satisfied she will remain quiet, Briar’s ally moves off in what she supposes is the direction of the foxes he wants to catch for them. Letting someone do the work for her feels like the type of tactic that falls into Johanna’s plan of being useless - or even Satin Nicholo’s plan from her games - not Briar’s. What had happened to no allies, Briar couldn’t say, but she was almost liking it. Almost.

 

In an effort to not look like she is completely unable to the audience, Briar takes the time to forage some berries from nearby bushes. Each one she picks is precisely chosen, as it only takes her a few seconds to notice that each bunch is made up of safe and lethal fruits, a way to weed out those that didn’t practice enough . With the berries picked and safely stored in her bag, Briar heads back to Roscoe. The boy meets her half way, although they weren’t far from one another, with a freshly killed fox hanging from his fist. “First, we get back to shelter, then I’ll get this thing skinned and cooked through for us.”

 

“I like the sound of that. But, Roscoe?”

 

“Yeah?”

 

A wicked smirk spreads over her lips. “You’re on first watch; I’m exhausted.”

 

꘎♡━━━━━━━━━━━━━♡꘎

 

As she places the short glass tumbler onto the marble countertop of the island in the kitchenette, Johanna looks to her best friend with a frown. “Pass me some form of alcohol, please.”

 

Finnick’s eyes slowly roam over the variety of glass bottles situated at the back of the kitchen counter debating which one Johanna might want. “Do you want something particularly strong, or–”

 

“Just anything fucking strong, Peacock.”

 

He lets out a deep chuckle. “Anything strong? Alright then, how does Whiskey sound?”

 

“Fucking hell, Finnick. Don’t you dare give me that shit; it’s death in liquid form. I don’t need to write off my liver like Haymitch.”

 

Still laughing, Finnick lifts a bottle of gin from the countertop and walks it over to the girl. “Don’t drink too much, you need to be sober for Briar.”

 

“What I need, Finnick, is to get enough money for the damned sponsor. So I am going to speak to Snow and agree to take on clients.” Johanna visibly grimaces at the thought. When President Snow had asked her on her victory tour if she would be willing to allow him to sell her to the citizens of the Capitol, she had laughed in his face, thinking it was a joke. It was only when the man’s expression hardened and he made it clear that he was serious that she politely declined. But, now that her sister needs her help, she’s willing to agree to the deal to secure Briar more sponsors. 

 

“Johanna, you don’t need to do that. There are other ways that you can get sponsors, and we can help you.”

 

“Blight and I have both tried, Finnick. There aren’t enough people willing to donate to her after the comments she made about the reaping.”

 

The man from Four’s brows scrunch together and he stops his movements abruptly. “You’re joking, right? I get that she was shitting on their crap video but are they that butt hurt over it all?”

 

Johanna downs the gin she had poured, then slams the glass down and pours another. “Apparently they are.”

 

“Either way, we can make it work without you having to do that, Jo.” The last thing Finnick wants is for his best friend to have to experience what he endures almost every other day. For his best friend to feel the dirty sense of shame that the desired victors are plagued with from the moment they take their first client. He will do everything in his power to protect Johanna from that. 

 

“I don’t know what else to do, Finnick.” A deep sigh of anguish passes Johanna’s parted lips as she picks up her glass. “At least if I take on some clients I’ll at least secure enough for more knives if I can’t afford an axe. She needs something.”

 

“I can’t stop you from making this choice, but I promise you I will do everything I can so that you don’t have to make it.”

 

“There’s no other choice.”

 

“There is always another choice, Jo. Let me ask around and see what we can do.”

 

꘎♡━━━━━━━━━━━━━♡꘎

 

The face of Briar’s kill from the previous day was the only one that was projected in the sky last night, taking the total number of deceased tributes to fifteen. They’re now down to single digits for who is remaining in the arena. The girl can’t tell if that’s a blessing or a curse… this is where the competition steps up dramatically. And so does the danger.

 

By some miracle, the pair had stumbled upon the building that Briar had taken refuge in the first night so they had running water and were able to refill their bottles. Roscoe had also killed a fox during their time in the woods, so they had sufficient food again. The only downside to that is that, now she’s full, she doesn’t want to go without food again.

 

The allied duo are still in the structure, sitting together in the corner they deemed safest, having a hushed argument about their plans for the day. Roscoe thinks it’s best that they start hunting other tributes so they can pick them off one at a time and end the games sooner, but Briar fundamentally disagrees and she refuses to back down. “I’m not being awkward, I’m just saying that I don’t really want to be a five time murderer.”

 

“So you don’t plan on winning?” He rebuttals.

 

“What?”

 

“Well you’re at four kills already, from what you said last night. If you don’t want a fifth, you won’t be winning either.”

 

Once again, he’s right. And she hates it. “You know what I mean. I don’t want to have to kill anyone else yet. If I make it to the top two then obviously I’ll have to kill someone else to get home.”

 

“Then what’s the difference in doing it now?”

 

“Oh I don’t know, maybe that I won’t be doing it purely for survival, I’ll be doing it as some sort of sick form of fun! As a sport!”

 

“It’s still survival, Briar, you’ll be killing to be one person closer to Johanna.”

 

The female tribute from Seven clenches her jaw, trying desperately not to snap at her ally. He means well, she understands that, but the more she thinks of Johanna the more it dawns on her how unlikely it is that she’ll ever see her twin again. So she pleads, “stop bringing her into this, please.” 

 

“I’m sorry, it’s just talking about her seems to motivate you.” He pauses briefly, but Briar’s blank face prompts him to continue. “You try to hide it, I don’t know if it’s a tactic to appear stronger, or if it’s just your way of processing things, but you do try regardless. I can see it in your eyes everytime, though. Johanna motiv–” 

 

Roscoe’s words are cut off when the iconic beeping of a sponsor gift arriving begins to split through the air. He looks down at the girl’s blank expression before muttering that he’ll venture out to retrieve it and walking off. It must have landed in an awkward place because it takes a couple minutes before Briar can hear his heavy footsteps returning. 

 

“Uh… I think this one’s for you, Briar.” Roscoe explains as he reenters the building, his tone a mixture of uncertainty and surprise.

 

“What do you mea–” Briar’s words abruptly cut off as she turns and looks at the object her ally is holding in his hands. The sponsor parachute isn’t attached to the usual metal canister that tributes receive, but rather a shiny, new axe. There has only been one other instance where a tribute has received a weapon as a sponsor gift, and that was Finnick Odair back in the sixty-fifth games. How Johanna had managed to secure enough money for this, she has no clue, but she owes her sister big time.

 

Briar hastily strides to her ally and takes the weapon from his outstretched hands. The note, which has been tied to one of the parachute strings, reads There is only ONE person you need to thank for this. ~Jo.

 

One person? Briar’s features scrunch up as she considers the wording. Perhaps Blight got it, not her? No, she wouldn’t have worked her note that way if that was the case. The capitalisation of the word one has scrambled her thoughts, but she can’t linger on it for too long with risk of letting it affect her performance. Thinking about this too much could very well cost her her life. 

 

After detaching the parachute, discarding it into a nearby ditch, and tucking the note from Johanna into her backpack, Briar bounces the new weapon in her right hand. It’s much heavier than the original one she had managed to secure in the Cornucopia so it will take some getting used to, but having her signature weapon back in her hand is exhilarating. Familiarity floods her veins, and suddenly she’s not standing in the outskirts of the Hunger Games arena, she’s back in District Seven, waiting for her dad to meet her in the woods. 

 

“Bet that feels good, doesn’t it?” Roscoe smiles. “Having the axe back.”

 

“It feels like home.” Her words are quiet, so quiet that she is surprised Roscoe is able to hear her. But she doesn’t care. 

 

“Well, let’s hope we don’t have to use it anytime soon. I’d like just a couple moments of peace.” 

 

Wishful thinking for a tribute in an arena of death .

 

“We can hope,” her words come out as a mumble. “Wait, what made you change your mind?”

 

Roscoe shrugs, “you we’re right. This isn’t a sport, we’re all just kids.”

 

“I’m glad you get it. And, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be rude.”

 

The pair return to their places on the floor and Roscoe pulls Briar into a side-on, half attempt of a hug. “You weren’t rude. And even if you were, you don’t need to apologise for standing up for something you believe in. You know you could inspire people, Briar, with the kind of hope you can spark.”

 

“I spark hope?

 

“You could if you really wanted to. I mean, someone in the Capitol believes in you enough to fund that , so at least one person believes in you. Plus you volunteered for that girl from your district. That’s the kind of thing that gets people looking at you.”

 

I don’t want people looking at me. I wouldn’t be any good to anyone. There’s no point in expressing her thoughts to Roscoe, he wouldn’t understand. So instead she just says, “I guess you’re right, let’s just hope more people in the Capitol are looking at me. It sure would be nice to get some filling food in a parachute next.”

 

꘎♡━━━━━━━━━━━━━♡꘎

 

It is barely ten in the morning on the eighth day of the games when a group of five Peacekeepers enter the mentor viewing room. The room is usually somewhere that only victors enter, the only times anyone else has ever entered this room since Johanna has been a victor has been when a victor has been pulled into an impromptu meeting. Silence blankets the room, all the mentors halting their conversations and turning to face their newly-arrived company.

 

“Miss Mason,” the Peacekeeper at the front of the squad speaks monotonously, looking directly at the mentor from Seven. “You are required at the Studio for family interviews.”

 

For fuck’s sake , Johanna thinks. This year’s games has reached the top eight tributes already, and Briar Mason is one of them. Johanna hates the family interviews every year – watching fearful parents try their best to answer invasive questions knowing the Capitol citizens are in their expensive homes laughing at their expense – so the fact that she now has to leave her post watching Briar to go participate in one makes her blood boil. She doesn’t want to move, she isn’t going to move, she’s staying right where she is and protecting her twin. “Tell them I’m opting out.”

 

“I’m afraid that isn’t an option. President Snow insisted you need to be present for the interviews as yours will be live. Other family members have pre-recorded theirs, but, as you’re here and you’re a victor yours will be held live with Caesar Flickerman.”

 

“Well you can tell President Snow that he can–”

 

“Johanna!” Blight hisses her name out through his teeth. His hand rests atop of hers and he insists that she looks at him; once her eyes are finally away from the screen and on him she sees the pleading look his eyes hold. “I’ve got our girl, alright? Just go, don’t cause more issues for yourself. The faster you go, the faster it’s done and you can get back.”

 

“I’m not getting out of this, am I?” The brunette mutters at a level only Blight can hear.

 

“No. Go boast about how amazing your sister is live on TV. It might help us.”

 

Johanna groans loudly and causes a few of the other mentors in the room with them to snicker at her reaction. Her outfit is fine for an interview thanks to the expensive array of clothes the Capitol provides its victors with, and she looks presentable enough for television so she can go directly to the Studio. She stands and makes her way out the room; as soon as she crosses the threshold the group of Peacekeepers surround her ready to escort her to the destination. They lead her directly into a dressing room where her prep team, which is also Briar’s prep team, are waiting for her.

 

A purple blur whizzes past Johanna as the door opens. Florah is bustling about like a headless chicken trying to ensure all the right makeup products have been removed from her bags and are laid out perfectly on the dressing table on the opposite side of the room. Johanna doesn’t pay her fussing much attention and instead says a quick hello as she makes her way across the room and sits in the prep chair, next to the second member of the prep team. Meri has changed since Johanna last saw her on the day of the tribute interviews; her hair is no longer firetruck red, and instead is a god-awful shade of candyfloss pink. Her skin now has a pink tint, making her appear as if she has an all-over constant blush to her skin. As Meri moves to be in front of Johanna, the mentor from Seven notes the way that her skin seems to gleam in the light. Upon closer inspection – which is just Johanna squinting her eyes and leaning closer to the woman – she notices that it seems to have a permanent iridescent sheen to it. She literally shimmers. Like a pearl, Johanna notes.

 

“Johanna,” Meri coos, reaching her hands out to play with the ends of the girl’s long hair. “You must be so proud of Briar. She is going so well!”

 

“Yeah, she is. And I am proud, but the fear I have seems to mask that.” The girl’s words are muttered, her mind more preoccupied with the newfound fascination Meri seems to have with her hair. She twiddles the stands around her fingers, a small pout forming on her lips. “What’s wrong with my hair? Why are you frowning?”

 

“What?  Oh– nothing dear.” Meri quickly stops her fiddling and whirls around to look in Florah’s direction. 

 

A tut sounds from Florah as she places the last of her products on the side and strides over to the pair. “Don’t lie to the girl. We have to do it.”

 

“Do what?” Johanna glares between her prep team.

 

“We’ve been instructed to cut your hair.”

 

“Nope. No way–”

 

“We don’t have a choice, Johanna. President Snow thinks it would be nice for you and your sister to match.”

 

“This was President Snow’s idea?” Both Florah and Meri nod in response to the victor’s question, and Johanna knows instantly that she doesn’t have a say in this… Florah and Meri will have to cut her hair regardless. She could be kicking and screaming, but they’d just have to order Peacekeeper assistance to pin the girl down whilst they do their job. “Fine.”

 

Her prep team are incredibly efficient and skilled, but it still takes close to an hour for them to finish the haircut leaving Johanna’s once waist length hair now grazing her shoulders. A perfect match to her sisters. She can’t bring herself to look in the mirror just yet so she opts to trust Meri when she beams about how it looks perfect and everyone in Panem is going to absolutely adore the change . Rather than allowing her negative thoughts and emotions on the alteration to fester, Johanna mutters to the ladies with her to start her makeup.

 

The makeover part of her prep only takes the team ten minutes as Johanna wears minimal makeup, then it’s a whirlwind of clothes and alterations until the bodysuit, tapered trousers, and blazer she has been given is fit to her body perfectly. The trousers and blazer are black, but the lace bodysuit that is digging into too many areas to name is a muted shade of green – a perfect nod to the colour her sister has been put in multiple times. 

 

“Now I know that we wouldn’t usually put you in green but we thought that–”

 

“You thought it would be a nice thing to symbolise my sister.” Johanna finishes the sentence for Meri. “I may not like it, I may not like my hair, but I understand both choices.”

 

“Thank you, for not making a fuss.”

 

Johanna shakes her head, already missing the feeling of her long hair swishing back and forth courtesy of the action. “And pull my usual bullshit? No. Right now, everything I do is for Briar.”

 

“Alright, enough chatter,” Fauna squawks as she flings the door open and rushes in. “Johanna, you need to be backstage right now– what happened to your hair?”

 

“President Snow,” she scowls. “He thinks it would be a nice tribute to my tribute.” 

 

Fauna shakes her head dismissively. “Of course he did. He doesn’t make the best choices, does he? Anyway, come on, we need to get you ready in the wings.”

 

Johanna promptly thanks her prep team and follows Fauna out the room, knowing that she’ll have her ear scolded off if she takes too long. Their walk to the backstage area consists of a particularly one sided conversation where the escort is chirping about the designs she is mocking up just in case Briar is lucky enough to win the games. Johanna takes a mental note of the lack of faith their escort has in the girl but remains silent, deciding that now isn’t the right time to fight with the woman about it. She doesn’t need to be angry before she’s even set foot on stage, there’s going to be plenty of opportunities for her fury to bubble and brew when Caesar Flickerman asks a million and one overly intrusive questions about Briar and their lives. Stay calm, the brunette reminds herself, anything you do will only serve to impact Briar in the long run.

 

When they reach the wings, a stagehand quietly explains to Johanna that Caesar will be taking the stage momentarily, ready to do his introductory remarks before welcoming her on stage. The District Seven girl absentmindedly cracks her knuckles as he speaks, anxiously anticipating what questions she could be asked and trying to mentally prepare responses that won’t make her sound like a complete bitch to the audience and citizens watching at home. Any answer she gives will be played live, then replayed countless times on highlight reels and catch-up reruns of the interviews, being scrutinised with a fine-toothed comb and could reflect badly on not only her, but her twin too. She refuses to be used as a reason to punish Briar.

 

The theme for the live recording begins to play, and the cacophony that had been emitting from the audience quickly silences before Caesar Flickerman takes the stage.

 

“Good day, everyone!” The man half-yells, swinging his arms into the air to hype them up for the events of the day. “After only eight days in what could be my favourite arena to date, we are down to our last eight tributes.” He pauses his talking to allow for the ear-ringing cheers of the audience to be heard. 

 

As the noise in the auditorium dies down, Caesar continues with his introduction. “In an arena themed after a district, the tributes you met only last week should feel right at home. But now it’s time for you to get a taste of their homes. We are, once again, lucky enough to have a tribute with a family member that is already a victor so you get to have one of the family interviews live. As she has a very important job, we’ll be hearing from her first. So, everybody, welcome our lovely Johanna Mason!”

 

The audience erupts into cheers again, hollering and whistling for the District Seven woman as she enters the stage. Johanna plasters on her most convincing fake smile, ignoring how bare her neck and shoulders feel without her long hair there to cover them, and waves out into the audience as her steps lead her towards the man waiting for her in the centre of the stage. As she reaches him, he takes one of her hands into his own and twirls her, showing off her beautiful outfit and new appearance to the audience.

 

“Welcome, Johanna.” Caesar grins, his too-white teeth flashing under the stage lights as he releases her hand and the pair sit down in their assigned seats for the interview.

 

“Hello, Caesar.” She knows that keeping her answers short and sweet is her safest bet.

 

The man looks out into the audience, holding back his next words to build a sense of anticipation in everyone watching. Johanna finds it absurd that the glorified gameshow host can have the audience hanging off his every word – or off of every moment of silence he holds – practically begging for more regardless of the topic. “It’s a pleasure to have you back on our stage, Johanna. It’s been too long!”

 

“Too long?” Johanna laughs, keeping her tone light. “It’s only been two years, Caesar. As a matter of fact, it’s only been one; I was here last year for Annie’s crowning.”

 

Her witty answer sends Caesar into a round of laughter, the audience quickly following suit increasing the volume in the studio. Johanna’s face breaks out into a smile, albeit a tight lipped one, and she looks at the host, waiting for the man to continue with his questioning.

 

“How are you doing today, Johanna?” Caesar asks as he manoeuvres his body, positioning it so he's facing the victor more.

 

She crosses one leg over the other and subtly pulls at the hem of her blazer. “I’m doing well, Caesar. Obviously I’m anxious, given the circumstances, but you know I love being here in the Capitol.” A lie. She hates being in the Capitol. She hates how they exploit the people from the districts, even after they’ve been crowned victor. She hates how she constantly has to be dressed and presented perfectly. And she despises President Snow. The lie seems to be delivered very well as the audience all clap and cheer at her answer.

 

“And we love having you here.” Caesar replies over the noise of the audience. “I won’t bother asking if you and Briar are close, you are twins after all, but I do want to know how you reacted when she volunteered.”

 

Another instance where she has to lie; she can’t sit there on live television and explain to everybody in Panem that she was terrified, angry, and devastated all at once. That would be foolish. She’s a victor, she has to continue to portray her image and story of enjoying the games and being grateful to the Capitol. Johanna relaxes her jaw, not wanting to appear annoyed or tense, and answers by saying, “I was proud. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worried because there’s always the risk that she won’t win, but I was just so excited for her.”

 

“Spoken like a true mentor.” He laughs. “Speaking of you being a mentor, what was it like mentoring your sister? What did you tell her to expect in the Games?”

 

“I trained her in exactly the same way I trained my tribute last year, and the same way I’ll teach her to train tributes in the future. I stressed the importance of listening in their training sessions, made sure she didn’t skip the survival skills, and readied her to be prepared for anything in the arenas. Our Gamemakers are smart, and innovative, so Briar was ready for anything and everything.”

 

“That they are.” Caesar looks at her with a knowing look and a smirk on his lips. “Based on her performance so far, you didn’t teach her to cry and trick everyone just like you did?”

 

Here we go , Johanna thinks as the host brings up her own tactics from two years prior. 

 

“No,” she laughs, trying her best to keep it sounding genuine. “That would have been stupid; everybody expected her to follow in my footsteps in every way, so not doing it gave her an advantage.”

 

“Smart,” Caesar comments, a slight twinkle in his eyes. “So, for those of us who haven’t grown up with Briar, how would you describe her?”

 

“As a person, or as a sister?” Johanna questions, looking to the audience as she adds, “because they have different answers.”

 

The audience seem to love the cheeky response the girl has just given as most of the crowd snicker and chortle at her words. The host laughs too, then waits for the noise to die down from himself – and everybody else – before answering the brunette woman from Seven. “Well now we need to hear the answers for both, don’t we folks?” 

 

Hearing the audience all shout many variations of the answer ‘yes’, Johanna laughs and gives in. “Fine– fine, fine. As a sister, Briar is everything you could have wanted; she fights my corner no matter what and puts her family above anything. As a person, well that is an entirely different story. She is hyper, funny, caring. She’s also a massive people pleaser, but damn does she have an attitude. Despite that, I have never met someone that hasn’t fallen in love with her, that doesn’t instantly want to be her friend.”

 

“Well, I think we all know where she gets a lot of those traits. Johanna, many of them come from you I believe.”

 

“Perhaps.” She nods, her voice adamant even if her mind is unsure. “But she’s definitely her own person.”

 

“So, other than being excellent with an axe, what else makes Briar, Briar?” Caesar asks, the laughter of the audience finally settling down.

 

“Well she loves a cup of tea; she has one, without fail, every morning. She’s probably hating not having one in the arena. She plays piano– she has since we were younger– I love hearing her play. Hopefully one day you will all have the chance to hear her too.”

 

Caesar looks out at the audience and asks, “we’d love that, wouldn’t we folks?” His question is met by a lot of noise, mostly a chorus of people agreeing coupled with clapping and whistling. Johanna can’t help but feel proud. Her twin, her baby sister, has all these people excited for her and they don’t even know her. Maybe, just maybe, this will help her get more sponsors. 

 

“She loves playing for people. You know, she used to be such a shy kid, but now she has really come out of her shell. She’ll put on a beautiful performance for you all.” Johanna boasts with a wide grin. 

 

“Briar Mason? Shy? I don’t believe that for a second!”

 

Johanna laughs along with the host and places her hand on his forearm. “Would I lie to you, Caesar?”

 

Caesar gives Johanna a jokingly pointed look. “It wouldn’t be the first time now, would it? I distinctly remember tears and terror when I first met you, only for you to surprise us all.”

 

“Alright, you’ve got me there!” The brunette holds her hands up in mock surrender briefly before moving them back to her sides. “But in all seriousness, she was really shy. Following my win, some of the other victors came to visit me to make sure I was settling into my new life well. Whilst they were over, Briar came in to see me. Now, with me, Briar has never been shy so she came in shouting– shouting a word that I won’t be repeating because it was slightly rude– and when she saw the victors her eyes went as wide as saucers and she ran out of my house faster than you saw her running towards the cornucopia.”

 

The laughter in the crowd is deafening and in Johanna’s opinion unnecessary. What she had said wasn’t exactly funny, but she doesn’t question it out loud at risk of ruining things for Briar. 

 

“It’s nice that she’s met some of the other victors already, is she friends with any of them?”

 

Johanna shakes her head. “No. She never wanted to intrude on the life that the Capitol has so generously provided me with, so she opted to stay out of the way when they were visiting.”

 

“She didn’t revel in the rewards you got for winning?”

 

“Briar wouldn’t dream of letting me spoil her with my winnings. She has always hated the idea of letting me buy her anything with my money. She didn’t even move into my Victors’ Village house.”

 

“Bless her,” Caesar coos as he places his hand over his heart. 

 

Clasping his hands together, Caesar leans forward with an intrigued expression on his face. “Tell us, Johanna, is there anyone special back home for Briar? A boyfriend, perhaps?”

 

Johanna laughs and lifts a hand which she waves in dismissal. “No. God, no. The only man Briar has time for is our dad; they’re inseparable.”

 

“You heard it here, everyone,” Caesar announces, looking out into the audience. “Briar Mason is eligible for anyone that may be interested.”

 

Fuck. Johanna resists the urge to swear out loud, or scrunch her face up in disgust, or protest and warn every single citizen of the Capitol that if they even think about going near her sister she’ll kill them. She is fully aware of the arrangement that Snow has with many of the victors, the ones he considers desirable , because she herself was offered it - an offer which she turned down in seconds - and there is absolutely no way she’ll let their president manipulate Briar into it. Knowing she needs to get the topic onto something, anything, else, Johanna smiles sweetly. “You know, you’re all going to have the pleasure of meeting my father soon- at least virtually-  and you’ll see exactly where Briar gets her personality from. If you like Briar, you’re going to love him.”

 

“You seem to forget we met him during family interviews in your Games .”

 

“Yes, but people can change a lot in two years. And, I’m more of a mum’s girl, Briar is a daddy’s girl so you’ll see a new side to him. Just admit you’re excited to see him again, Caesar, it’s okay.” Johanna recalls rewatching her family’s group interview when the sixty-ninth games reached the top eight tributes, and how Caesar and her father bounced their humours off of eachother making for great television for the audience.

 

“Yes, yes, our lovely Johanna is correct, I am excited. Now, it is almost time for us to move onto the families that are back home cheering their tributes on. Although you seem awfully keen to get off the stage, Miss Mason.”

 

Johanna lets out a bitter laugh, but coats it entirely in sarcasm and humour. “Well obviously I want this bit over. You’re beginning to bore me, Caesar.” Everyone in the studio - audience, crew, and host alike - burst out into a chorus of howling laughter. The young woman from Seven had successfully hidden her completely true insult within the perfect amount of sarcasm that had everyone believing it was a joke. It takes almost a whole minute for the laughter to die down, but as it does Johanna adds, “I’m joking, I’m joking! I would love to spend more time here, but I do have a tribute that I need to be watching and assisting.”

 

“Of course you do.” Caesar smiles, standing up and using one of his hands to help Johanna rise onto her own feet. “Before we go, I do have one final question for you.”

 

The brunette nods, “alright.”

 

“If you could say anything to your sister right now, what would it be?”

 

Johanna turns her head so she is looking into the lens of the camera directly ahead of them and smiles. “I’d say, Briar, my twin and Little Bird, you are doing so well. Keep playing the games exactly how you have been, and you could do this. I am so proud of you, and I can’t wait to see you again.”

 

“How touching.” Caesar coos. If he wasn’t from the Capitol, Johanna may have just believed his sentiment. But he is, so it comes across as fake and condescending. “Ladies and gentlemen, please, once again, put your hands together for our wonderful Johanna Mason!”

 

When the near-deafening cheers and claps of the audience ring out again, the woman does the usual bullshit parting of exaggerated waves and many blown kisses until she has finally crossed into the wings where the act vanishes. Her prep team and stylist are all standing backstage waiting for her, but Johanna quickly advises them that she won’t be lingering, and I’ll return her outfit within the next few days, then runs all the way back to the mentor’s viewing room, foregoing her Peacekeeper escorts.

 

As she bursts through the door, many of her friends look up with wide eyes. They didn’t see the interview, she notes, striding to her designated station and taking a seat. 

 

Within a few seconds, a familiar voice echoed from behind her. “What the fuck happened to your hair?” Finnick asks, and Johanna can sense the smirk adorning on his lips without even seeing it.

 

“Snow. Now wipe the smirk off of your face. You too, Blight.” The man beside her hastily turns back to his screen at her words, muttering a quick apology as he does.

 

“What do you mean, Snow?” Her best friend presses as he crouches beside her and uses his arm on the desk as support.

 

“He thought it would be a nice tribute from me to Briar. He’s basically grooming us to be the same person, ready for if she wins, so he can—“

 

“Johanna.” Enobaria snaps from the opposite side of the room. “Not here. You know that.”

 

Enobaria’s right, as much as Johanna wishes she wasn’t. In the mentor’s room there are cameras and likely microphones, meaning at any given time they can be watched and listened to without their knowledge. Anything they do say will be scrutinised and used against them, so no anti-Snow comments here. The kitchenette that’s adjacent to the room, that’s their safe place. Finnick gives her a knowing look, tilting his head subtly towards the room, and Johanna nods in response. 

 

They walk silently into the room, but once Finnick has closed the door behind them and flicked the lock into place her words come out like vomit. “That senile, perverted, disgusting prick is making it so Briar and I are more alike ready for if she wins. She’ll get the offer, and he’ll reoffer it to me too. He knows that, if I say no again, Briar will have to take on the clients that want me. He’s a sneaky, creepy, asshole and I will kill him if he tries to touch Briar.”

 

“Johanna, when Briar wins, if she says yes, then we will all be here to support her. Satin and Cashmere will practically adopt her as another sister like they have with you. And do you really think Cato, Augustus, Gloss and I will just sit by idly? Hell no, we’ll be her shoulder to cry on, or we’ll take her to break shit, or beat shit, or drink shit until she feels better. Enobaria and Brutus will make her laugh in a hundred different ways. She won’t be alone. And neither will you if you change your answer to Snow.”

 

His words almost threaten to bring a tear to her eye. The idea that all of her friends, the people she loves, are so ready to accept her twin as one of their own without question. If she wasn’t already absolutely sure she loved her friends, this alone would have solidified it in her mind and heart for life. Johanna blinks back the sting nipping at her eyes and gives Finnick a tight smile, but before she has the chance to respond there is a knock at the door.

 

“Open the door, idiots. I want a drink.” Satin’s raised voice rings through the door.

 

The young woman from seven rolls her eyes, but lets out an amused laugh and unlocks the door. After entering, Satin’s blonde hair flies over her shoulder as she hastily locks the door behind her. “President Snow’s a scumbag. The hair suits you, Jo, but I know it’s not you . Maybe we could make a little change so it feels more personal and less like a carbon copy of Briar? Hair dye?”

 

“I don’t know what would suit me. Plus I like my dark hair, I can’t exactly rock blonde like you.”

 

“Then go darker; dye it so that it’s almost black.”

 

“I’ll think about it,” the older Mason sister confirms, nodding her head at her friend’s suggestion. “For now, I need to get back to Briar.”

 

꘎♡━━━━━━━━━━━━━♡꘎

 

“So, do you have any siblings? Or is it just you and your parents?” Briar asks as she crouches down, sitting against one of the many trees surrounding them. The pair have been staked out in the northern section of the woodland portion of the arena for hours, patiently waiting for something, anything, to pass by for them to hunt and eat. Granted, this has been entirely unsuccessful for them; it is as if every animal in the arena had been eliminated. As if they had never even existed. So, the District Seven girl is trying to pass time whilst they wait.

 

“No siblings,” Roscoe shakes his head. “Back home it’s just me, my mum, and my pa.”

 

“You’re an only child?” The information tugs at something inside of Briar. If he dies, they have no kids. Their family is gone.

 

“Yep,” he confirms. “I couldn’t imagine having siblings. Although I assume you can’t imagine a life without your sister.”

 

Now that she’s been prompted to consider it, a life without her twin sounds miserable. It’s not a thought that crosses your mind every day; of course when you’re growing up there are days where you wish your siblings would disappear, but there is no reason why someone would actually think about that version of life. A world like that, a world where she is suddenly an only child, sounds like her own personal version of hell. And it’s probably the same for Johanna. And that gives Briar a whole new reason to fight. “A life without Johanna is something I never want to have to experience. It just wouldn’t be right; it would be like I’m living a life with half of myself missing.”

 

“I can’t tell if that’s really cool, or really terrifying.” Briar tilts her head to the side, confused by his words, so he quickly elaborates. “Well with siblings, but I guess especially with a twin, you have someone you know you can always count on; you have someone who will have your back the second you say you need their help. But it also means you have someone you’re constantly worrying about.”

 

“It’s normal to me now; I don’t even need a reason to worry, it comes naturally.”

 

Due to finishing their conversation, the pair don’t immediately notice the skulk of foxes passing closeby. They also aren’t able to see how the foxes have abnormal movements, their differences so slight that even if they had been right next to the skulk they wouldn’t have been able to pinpoint them. Despite all the noise they’re making, the animals pay them no attention and pass by without so much as a flinch; their target is another tribute that Briar and Roscoe also haven’t noticed. It’s only when their conversation is disrupted by a strangled, pained scream that they finally notice. 

 

Briar’s brown eyes meet Roscoe’s as they share a worried glance, then they both shoot to their feet and start cautiously making their way towards the noise. The girl’s fingers fidget then tighten around the handle of her axe, readying herself for any defence that may be required to keep herself alive. If it’s the careers, we’re screwed.

 

When they meet a more worn down path they gain a more clear view of the cause of the noise. On the floor, around a hundred feet ahead of them is what Briar believes to be the boy from Four. He’s a fairly strong boy with good physique, and could have easily won this year. But right now none of that matters because he is writhing on the floor, desperately trying to shove almost thirty foxes off of his body whilst they sink their teeth into his flesh and rip it away. They’re eating him alive, and he is fighting for his life. 

 

“We have to help him,” Briar demands as she takes a step forward.

 

Her ally’s hand wraps around her wrist, preventing her from moving any further. “Don’t. They haven’t noticed us yet and I’d rather leave it that way.”

 

“But he’s suffering. We can stop it!”

 

He shushes her, pulling her closer to him. “No. You’ll risk them hunting you. Let’s just go, it’s not like we can hunt them anyway.”

 

Before Briar has the chance to protest further, she’s pulled in the opposite direction. Her ally doesn’t release her until they’re out of the woodlands and retracing their earlier steps back to the building they stayed in. Their surroundings are eerily silent, only the sound of scraping gravel can be heard, especially that the tribute’s screams have died down. Although even the quiet they’re drowning in now can’t last forever, and the boom of the death cannon promptly reaches their ears causing them both to jump. 

 

“Fucking hell.” Briar mutters under her breath. 

 

“They need a better way to tell us someone’s dead. One more like that and I’ll have a heart attack.”

Chapter 13: ☆12☆

Their water rations are running low, and both the girl from Seven and the boy from Ten have agreed that neither of them want dehydration or the hallucinations that can come with it, so they’ve set themselves two daily tasks. One, find water, and two, keep out of trouble. Carving crosses on the doors of buildings with running water was a great idea on Briar’s part, and she is still keeping an eye out for them, but with the number of structures inside the arena it’s hard for her to keep track of them all. Whether she can find a building with running water or some other water source, Briar didn’t care, so long as they have water and stay alive she’d be content. Not happy, just content.

Superstitions aren’t really Briar’s thing, she doesn’t believe in luck or fate or signs, but the icy chill of the wind that is tunnelling down the streets of the arena leaves an eerie sense of dread deep in Briar. As each freezing gust slams into the skin of her flushed face, the girl from Seven finds herself considering that it may be some form of omen of what may be to come. Perhaps something bad is going to happen in the coming hours or days and the cold is abusing her and her ally as they trek through the gravel-coated streets towards the forestry outskirts of their current accommodation.

 

“Why the fuck have they decided to make it cold? Are we not dying fast enough?” Roscoe’s use of profanity sends a wave of shock through the girl. He’s usually level-headed and refrains from saying anything that could upset those in charge that have the power to punish him without even being here.

 

“Maybe.” Briar doesn’t know what she thinks of the change in climate except for the fact that she is hating it. “Or maybe they just wanted to switch things up, keep us on our toes.”

 

Keep their citizens entertained, she thinks, biting her tongue to avoid saying it aloud and ruining her chances at a good life even if she does win.

 

“Well if anyone is listening to us right now, I promise I’ll do better if you warm this place up.” He may have been making an announcement to the Gamemakers, but Roscoe doesn’t raise the volume of his voice. He’s smart. He knows that he shouldn’t risk drawing any attention to them, especially when they’re out in the open.

 

A laugh emits from Briar’s chest, a bright and joyous sound that has Roscoe smiling at the sound. “Roscoe, as much as I love you, I don’t think you asking for warm weather will change their plan.”

 

“Not even if I ask nicely?” Roscoe chuckles, keeping the joke between them going. He’s enjoying the moment of normalcy between them too much to risk it fading too soon.

 

Still laughing, Briar’s head shakes, sending her short hair flying in front of her face. “Not even if you ask nicely.”

 

“Do you think it will work if I beg?”

 

The brunette lifts her hand and gives Roscoe’s shoulder a playful shove. “As much as I would love to see that, I think you’d still be wasting your time. Now come on, idiot, I’m thirsty.”

 

“I’m sorry, your majesty.” Roscoe puts on a false, over the top accent that closely mimics that of the Capitol citizens. He also pauses his walking and bows at the waist. Once Roscoe is back up right, he and Briar keep walking and laughing to themselves.

 

When they’ve finally agreed on a spot they both liked in the woods, Briar begins to look around to see if there is any water or food that could be useful to them. Roscoe mirrors her actions, his eyes scanning their surroundings for anything they could use to their benefit. He also stays vigilant in case any danger appears, in case he needs to save himself or Briar. Turning to his right, Roscoe sees a small pond or lake that they could use for drinking water if they can’t find anything else. “There’s water, Briar.” 

 

At his words, Briar abandons her own search and runs over to where he’s standing. They both look at the area, their eyes taking in the beautiful sight of the rays of sunlight that are bouncing off of the surface of the water. The greenery and trees and water surrounding them are beautiful, so much so that it nearly makes Briar forget the dilapidated city that makes up the majority of the arena behind them.

 

“I need to go piss.” Roscoe mutters.

 

“Oh, how lovely.” Briar snorts.

 

“I’m serious.” Roscoe begins to walk away from Briar. His need to go piss, as he so eloquently put it, drives him to separate himself from his ally and put distance between them so she doesn’t hear him. 

 

Turning her back to the direction Roscoe left in, Briar moves towards the body of water they had just found. There’s no point in wasting time for her ally to finish his business and return, so Briar finds herself crouching just at the water’s edge and manoeuvring onto her hands and knees. The multiple days of training she took part in has filled her with enough confidence that she can identify whether or not the source is poisonous with a high likelihood of being correct. 

 

The sound of twigs cracking behind her threatens to draw Briar’s attention, but, knowing it’s Roscoe returning from relieving himself, she ignores it and reaches her hands forward. They cup together, a slight curve to allow her to lift the water and check it. It looks fine , she thinks as she brings it closer to herself. There was no obvious smell, discolouration, or odd characteristics to it, and whilst she knows that drinking stagnant water isn’t ideal, it’s better than dehydrating. Just as the water reaches her lips, an arm wraps from behind her and encases her neck in a tight hold.

 

“Roscoe– n-not funny.” The words come out as barely audible stutters due to the lack of air currently reaching her lungs. Her own hands wrap around the forearm crushing her trachea, and the smaller size than she had expected which meets her sends alarm bells through her. It’s not Roscoe.

 

“I’m sorry, Seven,” whoever is holding her apologises, their voice soft and almost remorseful. “I have to do this.”

 

Relying on her core strength, Briar pulls her hands off of the ground and tries to claw at the forearm that’s cutting off her air supply. She’s still clueless as to who is about to end her life, and she can’t tell if she prefers it that way or not. This death will be long and unpleasant, but a small part of her remains thankful that she and Roscoe won’t have to go through the process of splitting up their small alliance and risk one stabbing the other in the back.

 

The sensation of skin ripping and curling up beneath her nails has the brunette’s insides churning, but she’d rather her family see her fight until the very end, desperately trying to keep her promise to them. A shrill screech leaves the person behind her and it gives away the fact that they’re a girl. No kicking my foot back into his groin then.

 

“Stop struggling,” hisses the girl holding her, the grip around her neck becoming impossibly tighter. “Please, just make this easier on both of us.”

 

There’s a pleading tone in her assailant’s voice, one that the people of the Capitol will inevitably use against them when Briar is dead. Weakness isn’t something that the fortunate citizens of the rich city appreciate, especially not since Johanna’s plot two years before, so they will likely stop her sponsor donations altogether.

 

Darkness begins to cloud the vision of the girl from Seven, the oxygen slowly depleting from her body causing her to fall closer to unconsciousness. Fight, she wills herself, grabbing at the arm around her body and pulling as hard as she can. There’s some give, and Briar takes what may be the only opportunity to gasp in as much air as she can. Her lungs feel like they’re on fire, but she doesn’t allow herself to be bothered by it as she tries harder and harder to force her way to freedom. 

 

Suddenly there is a loud male grunt, the arm around her is ripped away, and the person’s nails scratch along her neck as it moves. She flops forward, stopping herself from hitting her face against the floor by flinging out her hands whilst she pants oxygen into her body. Briar forces herself to ignore the puncturing sound that can be heard from behind her, instead trying to focus on reoxygenating herself whilst scrambling to her feet. She grabs her axe in the process and whirls round just as a small thud sounds, closely followed by a cannon. 

 

Roscoe’s hands fly in the air, blood still dripping from the blade of his knife as he says, “hey, it’s me. I’m here, you’re okay.”

 

Despite the fear coursing through her entire being, Briar manages to nod as her eyes connect with her ally’s. The entire world seems to warp around her, twisting and turning as her brain tries to fully comprehend a near miss with death. 

 

꘎ ♡━━━━━━━━━━━━━♡ ꘎

 

Day ten has fortunately been uneventful. No one has died, and Briar and Roscoe have successfully avoided any encounters with tributes or mutts. Now, they’re seated around a small fire they’ve started in the corner of the building they’ve picked for the night. The heat is greatly appreciated by both the tributes, this night being the coldest they’ve experienced since entering the man-made environment they’re in. Briar lifts her hands ahead of her, moving them closer to the fire and slowly swapping the side of them that faces her over and over again. The fire is sending a golden flickering light onto the skin of her ally’s face, and Briar smiles to herself as she sees the glint it causes in his eyes. The way it changes their colour ever-so-slightly and gives them a light that she’s sure they’ve been missing since the second his name was announced at the reaping.

 

Roscoe sees the smile that graces Briar’s face, how it gives her tired, stressed face its child-like charm back, and bites the inside of his cheek to prevent his own smile forming. He looks down, rubbing his own hands together whilst telling Briar a story of a memory from home. Despite the smile he wanted to give her, Roscoe hasn’t missed a single beat whilst recalling the memory that he’s chosen. A memory he hopes will be the last thing he sees as his life flashes before his eyes before death. His words are cut off when a voice rings out from the speakers hidden throughout the arena.

 

“Attention tributes, attention. Commencing at sunrise tomorrow, we will be holding a feast at the cornucopia. Now this will be an event you won’t want to miss as each of you needs something desperately, and that is exactly what we will be generously providing.” 

 

The words from the announcement system peak Briar’s interest and the brunette lifts her head to meet her ally’s eye. Roscoe is looking back at her, his face filled with just as much intrigue and hope as Briar herself was feeling. There are a few moments of unspoken communication between the pair, the decision of whether they willing risk themselves for what they need looming closely over their heads. Everyone, Capitol and District alike, is aware of the fact that the so-called feast that the Capitol puts on is usually towards the end of the game, and usually leads to further deaths. It brings the conclusion of that year’s games closer, speeding it up by luring all the remaining tributes into the same place using something they need as bait. At the feast all the tributes become rats in traps, and it boils down to who is smarter, faster, and more deadly. It boils down to who wants to win more. 

 

It’s Roscoe who eventually breaks their eye contact and talks first. “So, are we going?”

 

“What do we both need? Is it really worth the risk?” The only thing the girl from Seven currently needs is food; with foxes now firmly off the table because of the risk of muttations, her choices for hunting in this arena are limited. She doesn’t use a bow and arrow, so birds are out of the question unless she, by some miracle, can catch one with her bare hands. The only other animals she has seen so far have been a few random hedgehogs, and even if she could correctly guess how to remove their quills she isn’t completely sure whether their meat is actually edible. 

 

“Food, I suppose.” Her ally shrugs, his brows furrowing ever so slightly as he considers what else they might require. “The Gamemakers know that we can’t find anything sufficient enough to eat, especially seeing as we discussed it last night, and they know we could still have weeks before a victor is crowned. We need food for energy to try and win.”

 

“It could be stuff we didn’t even know that we need. I remember during previous years that tributes got things like matches and iodine to help them, and they wouldn’t have necessarily thought about that straight away.”

 

Briar’s point is correct, and Roscoe knows that. The Gamemakers know what is coming, but they don’t, so there could be anything provided for them in the feast. For all they know, the running water could be cut off at any moment and a new water source could be uncovered which isn’t safe to drink without iodine, or the weather could change dramatically and they could end up freezing and need extra layers. No matter what happens, they’re going to need whatever it is that has been left for them. 

 

“Then it’s agreed,” Roscoe nods. “We’ll go.”

 

“But we have to agree that we have each other’s backs, please? I know it’s going to be a secondary bloodbath, so we need to keep ourselves and each other alive.”

 

“Briar, I know it’s scary now that the number of tributes has really decreased, but I’m not going to turn on you or leave you to fend for yourself.” 

 

In an effort to comfort the girl, Roscoe shuffles himself closer to Briar and places his left arm over her shoulders. She moves, resting her head on his side and smiles to herself. “Roscoe?”

 

“Yeah?” He hums.

 

“Thank you.” She doesn’t need to look up to know he’s tilted his head in confusion, so she clarifies further, “just for being my ally and not stabbing me in the back.”

 

“Hey, there’s still time.” He jokes, nudging her body forward slightly as he laughs.

 

“Oh wow! Here I was trying to compliment you and have a genuine moment and you just had to ruin it.” A melodramatic sigh passes her lips after she finishes speaking which makes her friend laugh harder.

 

The rest of their evening passes by quietly, the pair opt to not venture out of their shelter and instead have early rests so they can set off to the feast just before sunrise. The cornucopia is a few hours walk away, and they don’t want to get there as soon as the event begins in a bid to avoid slaughter, so they plan to head off around two hours prior to when they assume sunrise will be. Briar requested that she take the second watch, knowing that she’ll take a while to fully wake up and it will delay their journey back to the centre of the arena.

 

The lack of cannon sounds the day prior, along with the fact that no one’s faces were illuminating the night sky before she fell asleep, evidenced that no one had died the day before so there are still six people - including herself - alive. It’s bittersweet; on one hand Briar is thankful because it means that no child has meaninglessly lost their lives for ‘good television’, but on the flip side it also means that she is still that bit further away from going home if she wins.

 

“Roscoe,” she calls quietly, bending at the waist slightly to shake her ally awake. He grumbles, shrugging her off of him with a sharp jerk of his shoulder, and Briar laughs airily at his reaction. “Roscoe, you need to get up. We need to get to the Cornucopia for this feast.”

 

He rolls onto his back, bringing the backs of his hands up to rub his eyes. A small noise leaves the boy’s throat that is akin to a timid growl from an animal, and Briar’s eyebrows lift in surprise. 

 

“Oh, come off it,” Roscoe chuckles as he pushes himself into a seated position. “I didn’t make that noise on purpose, did I?”

 

“I didn’t suggest that you did. But the sound was funny and I wasn’t expecting it. You sounded like a scared bear.”

 

“And you know what a bear sounds like? How many bears have you had run-ins with, Seven?”

 

That has Briar pausing. Why did she assume that it sounded like a bear when she’s never come across one? “None, but that’s what I assume they sound like.”

 

“What you assume ?” He smirks.

 

Briar’s eyes meet Roscoe’s hazel ones, and she laughs as a blush settles in her cheeks. “Yes.”

 

To relieve her of any further embarrassment, Roscoe opens his backpack and starts sifting through the items he has stored in there. “There best be food for us at this feast; after yesterday we’re running low.”

 

“I’m sure there will be; even if it’s just smaller snacks it’s still better than nothing.” There’s a pause after Briar finishes speaking, one which neither of them are in a rush to fill. The silence that often falls between them is nice. Comforting. Neither of them need to worry about awkward topics of conversation or arguments, and instead enjoy the calm that often accompanies them through the games.

 

As if they both know what the other is thinking, both Briar and Roscoe stand up and sling their bags onto their backs. Trampling over crumbled bits of concrete, the pair slowly exit the building ready to head in the direction of the feast. The darkness that engulfs the arena makes it harder for them to navigate directions correctly, so it takes them a lot longer to get their bearings and decide which way is which. 

 

“Can you tell which way we need to go?” Briar asks, finally breaking their quiet.

 

“I’m still trying to work it out. It being dark has really thrown me off.”

 

“Maybe that way,” Briar suggests, pointing in one direction with a finger outstretched. “I think that’s the way we came from yesterday.”

 

Roscoe’s face scrunches up in a mix of confusion and disagreement, much to Briar’s annoyance. “You’re wrong. It’s that way.” His tone is blunt as he gestures in the opposite direction to where she had pointed.

 

She doesn’t want to, doesn’t mean to, but Briar snaps. “You know we can disagree, it doesn’t mean you have to look at me like I’m dumb.” 

 

“I’m not,” he scoffs, his eyes rolling. “I’m just correcting you.”

 

“It’s not the words that pissed me off, Roscoe. It’s the way your face scrunched up.” A small click of the girl’s tongue is the only sound between them for a while. Tensions are high, rightfully so, and the pair are trying their hardest to not piss the other off but they also know that it’s only a matter of time until they do. After a sharp exhale, Briar nods. “Fine. Let’s go your way.”

 

Briar is silently thankful that she listened to Roscoe, because they did indeed need to go the way he suggested to reach the centre of the arena. The boy had made a few comments, smirking as he did, but Briar brushed his attitude off and focused her mind on staying hidden and getting to the feast. Using one of the final buildings between them and the ‘town square’ portion of the arena as cover, Briar and Roscoe peer round the corner to check for the presence of any other tributes. From their vantage point it seems that the coast is clear so Briar looks up at her ally. “I think it may be better if I go in and grab our bags whilst you stand watch. I’m faster; I’ll hopefully be able to get in and out without issue.”

 

“Are you sure? What if someone comes from the other side and I don’t have the time to get to you?”

 

“I’m sure I can handle it. If you’re worried, you can come with me,” Briar suggests.

 

“I’ll keep a bit of distance; if no one knows we’re allies, then no one will expect one of us to fight back if the other is attacked.” 

 

Roscoe is correct, once again. He’s smart, I’ll give him that. Briar thinks as she nods to acknowledge his point. “Deal. I’ll head in first. Give me some time, then follow.”

 

Without waiting for a response, Briar sets off towards the Cornucopia. Any further delays of their plan with chatter and they were at risk of being ambushed by one of the remaining tributes who are possibly also on their way to the feast. She remains vigilant, her eyes constantly surveying her surroundings for any threats as she gets closer to the table of bags that have been placed near the centre of the arena. Focussing in on the bags labelled 7 and 10 , Briar finds herself once again contemplating what might be inside for them. 

 

Her feet pound aggressively against the floor as she sprints forward, the uneven gravel and concrete making it difficult to not trip or twist an ankle at the speed she’s forcing herself to reach.  As each thought runs through her brain, appearing before promptly being dismissed as the girl from Seven reminds herself that they don’t need it badly or that the Gamemaker’s wouldn’t give someone that, Briar’s left hand wraps about the knife in her waistband. She can’t currently see a threat, but she wants to be ready in case she’s ambushed by another person or a mutation. She can’t die now. She won’t die now.

 

Just as she reaches the table, the brunette pauses to look around and catch her breath. The silence surrounding her is eerie, and, now she has a moment to reflect, she realises that Roscoe hasn’t followed her as planned. There hasn’t been any commotion, or a cannon, so Briar rules out the possibility of him being caught by another tribute, but the only other possibility fills her with more dread. He’s broken their alliance and fled. 

 

Before she can reach her hand out to grab her bag, and Roscoe’s, something connects with her hip from behind. The sensation stays, and she notices that it feels like someone is holding her. “Roscoe, you’re supposed to be keeping your distance.”

 

“Roscoe?” A voice, that is definitely not Roscoe’s, questions. “I’m already stooping so low as to flirt with a Seven, and now you’re calling me a Ten? Ouch.”

 

Viktor.  

 

“I– I didn’t– I–”

 

He laughs, using his grip on her side to turn her around, leaving her facing him. “So much for not wanting allies, Seven.” He watches her eyebrows lift in surprise and his smirk intensifies. “You weren’t the only one listening in the interviews, Briar.”

 

“Fine, you caught me, I have an ally.”

 

Viktor takes a step closer to the girl, his eyes raking up and down her body. Something about the look in his eyes makes the brunette uneasy; it isn’t a I’m going to kill you now look, it’s something a lot more sinister. It’s one of those looks that puts a pit in your stomach, has you crossing to the other side of the road if you’re walking alone, and makes every single hair on the back of your neck stand up. 

 

“It’s only us,” his lips curl up into a grin as he speaks, his head tilted down to look the girl in the eyes. “Why don’t we make good on our deal and you can go out with a bang .”

 

The brunette wishes she could gag, or laugh in his face, or even knee him where it would hurt most, but she can’t. She’s frozen in place, fully aware that she has no chance of fighting him off and it’s possible Roscoe isn’t coming to help. Her parents, her sister, and everyone else she loves is about to witness this happen to her in real time. And to top it off, Viktor will likely win and be praised for the monstrous things he’s about to do.

 

“Come on, now. We both know that was just a joke to wind up our mentors. There’s cameras everywhere, we’re not doing that.”

 

Her feet move her backwards as Viktor takes another step into her personal space, and now she’s practically stuck between him and the table the feast bags are placed on. To make matters worse, Viktor’s right hand is resting on the edge of the table whilst his left is now gripping her hip and preventing her from moving entirely.

 

This is it. You can get through this, Briar. He will not make you cry in the final moments of your life. He will not make you weak, not now.

 

“So how do you want it first?”

 

The question has every hair on Briar’s neck standing up, and sends a wave of fear and nausea and anger through her veins. Not only was he about to kill her, he was going to rip everything from her, every first, and humiliate her before he finally dimmed the light that is her life forever. With a whole body shudder, Briar tries to recoil from his touch. “I don’t.”

 

“Oh stop being such a prude, Seven.”

 

Just as Viktor starts to slide his hand beneath the bottom of her shirt, Briar feels herself being tugged forward slightly. Her eyes widen as she sees Viktor, now held tightly by his jacket in Roscoe’s fists, as scared as she just was. 

 

“What part of she doesn’t want it did you not fully understand, Two? I know you guys aren’t the smartest, but a no is a no regardless of the situation.”

 

Viktor spits up at the taller boy. “Get your filthy hands off me. ”

 

The disrespect that Viktor has just displayed flips Roscoe’s demeanour entirely and he snaps . Briar can barely comprehend what happens as the furious attack starts; Roscoe’s hand moves impossibly fast, his bolo knife stabbing and slashing the boy from Two repeatedly. His clothes are becoming increasingly soaked in blood, and the cannon sounds almost immediately after the attack starts, but Roscoe doesn’t let up. 

 

“Roscoe.” Briar internally cringes at how small her voice sounds. Her ally doesn’t respond, his focus solely on the dead body he’s holding up and the violence he is inflicting onto it. So she repeats herself, this time with more urgency. “Roscoe! He’s gone. Let’s just go.”

 

She watches as he releases the body and it slumps to the floor with an almost inaudible thump. “Grab the bags.” Roscoe grumbles, wiping the fresh blood onto his trousers.

 

It takes a few moments for her brain to process his order, but once it does she grabs the bags labelled 7 and 10. She also grabs the District Two bag for good measure before the pair of them sprint back into the labyrinth of buildings surrounding them. Keeping pace with the boy from Ten is hard, but thankfully for Briar not impossible. Whether he’s correctly going towards the building they were staying in or not doesn’t matter, all Briar cares about is getting as far away from the trap disguised as a feast as possible.

 

Twice. Twice in the past three days Briar had been so off her game that she had allowed herself to be in a position where she could be killed. Somehow, the brunette has managed to become so distracted by nothing in particular that Roscoe has had to intervene so she could remain in their living realm and have the chance of seeing her family again. If Roscoe comes out of his daze and decides to break their alliance, concluding that she’s too much of a liability for him - too much of a risk - she wouldn’t blame him. How could she be angry at someone for making the correct decision? She is a liability, a risk at this stage, and there would be no bad blood between them if he makes the choice to leave, to abandon her. She’d abandon her if she was him.

 

Once they’re back in a building, although not the one they had previously been in with running water, Briar manoeuvres her ally so he’s sitting in a corner so she can get him cleaned up. His rampage had been so fast that Briar is positive he wasn’t injured in any way, but dried blood feels disgusting on your skin and she doesn’t want him having any reminders of the ordeal. She doesn’t particularly want them either. 

 

With shaking hands she shrugs her backpack off and opens the zip. Despite her run, her hands are freezing, and so her icy fingers wrap around the water bottle stored inside. As she pulls it out, she finds herself praying that one of the things Viktor was provided during the feast was fresh water, because she’s about to waste at least half of her and Roscoe’s rations up. She wastes no time in removing and discarding the cap, then she crouches in front of Roscoe and pours some of the bottle’s contents over his hands. Wordlessly, she watches small drops of blood mixed with water cascade down his hands and fall to the floor before her ally moves and wipes the liquid down the front of his top. Smears of watered-down blood stain the front of his donkey brown-grey attire, but it doesn’t appear to bother him at all - although Briar can’t tell if it hasn’t bothered him or if he is still in his post-attack daze. Either way, she’s thankful he hasn’t freaked out at the sight.

 

“Roscoe,” Briar’s voice is steady, easily disguising the dread in the pit of her stomach. Her aim is to sound as calm as possible to reduce the risk of Roscoe reassociating and having a bad reaction, so she maintains her demeanor as she asks, “would you like to check our bags and eat?”

 

He grunts in response, a short, low grunt that has goosebumps raising down the brunette girl’s arms. She sneaks a glance over at the boy, and he’s staring blankly ahead; he’s not looking at Briar, or anything specific, and that only serves to add to the girl’s concern.

 

Rather than asking more questions that she won’t get a verbal response to, Briar sits on the floor and opens the District Ten bag. Holding the two bottom corners of the nylon bag, she tips it over and allows the items inside to clatter to the ground. Her eyes scan over the newly exposed things - some matches, a thick pair of gloves, a canteen, many individually wrapped sticks of dried meat, and what Briar believes is a slab of whetstone to sharpen knives. 

 

Nothing of use right now, Briar notes as she pushes the items to the side and empties the bag that was meant for her. Similarly to the previous bag there is a water canteen inside, as well as a waist strap designed to hold her axe, a mix of protein and granola bars, and a small metal tub. As everything collides with the concrete, a small feather floats out from the bottom of the ground. It’s brown. Not too light, not too dark, almost an identical colour to that of her own hair. The girl from Seven isn’t certain whether it’s real or not from sight alone, but she doesn’t care. Somehow, and she’d have to ask her sister about it if she makes it out alive, Johanna had managed to convince someone to include that for her. Her gut tells her that it was to remind her what she’s fighting to go home to. Her parents and her twin; the people that call her Little Bird and have compared her to the birds native to their district. She was giving up and hadn’t realised it, but her twin sister had. Her twin sister has sent a reminder to push through the mental exhaustion and focus on making out of the arena alive. 

 

But she can’t. She can’t focus on the future because it isn’t guaranteed. She isn’t promised tomorrow, isn’t sure she’ll see another sunrise that isn’t generated by the Gamemakers, and isn’t positive she’ll win. She won’t allow herself to hope, because hope leads to disappointment… and she doesn’t want to be filled with that kind of emotion when someone takes her life in front of the entire nation.

Chapter 14: ☆13☆

The past three days have been hell for Johanna. The boy from One died on day twelve, no one died on day thirteen, and the girl from One killed the girl from Two on the two week mark of the arena. Two more deaths, and they’re down to the final three. Briar is just two people away from coming home… but one of those people is a fucking career. Blight, Finnick, and Satin had been forcing her into leaving the station to eat and sleep, and Blight has promised her every time that he will make sure her twin sister is safe. To his credit, he has kept his word thus far, but it still doesn’t help the raging pit of anxiety that whirls in Johanna’s core every time her eyes leave her screen for even a second.

Finnick carefully slides the porcelain mug across the countertop, letting go once Johanna’s fingers wrap around the handle. His best friend’s entire demeanour has been off this summer, but he understands; he knows that he couldn’t even begin to imagine how terrifying it must be to have a relative, someone you love unconditionally, in the games. He’s done his best to support her, even more so since his own tributes passed, and he would do it a thousand times over for Johanna. Johanna had quickly become one of his best friends since her win two years ago. Their three year age difference means that they have very similar interests, senses of humour, and views on controversial topics amongst many other things, and they’ve formed a strong foundation of friendship thanks to it all. He adores Johanna just like most of the other victors do, and all of them are doing what they can where they can to help out. They have become each other's confidantes, ensuring they’re there for one another no matter the time of day. And no matter whether they’re in the Capitol, or calling the other from their respective districts.

“There’s only three left, Jo. She could do this.” Finnick’s words are soft, a clear effort at trying to alleviate any fears Johanna already has brewing inside her.

After a sip of coffee and a long, almost tense, pause, Johanna finally brings herself to form a response. “I know. I just hate that one of them is the girl from One. Briar spent her entire training goading that girl from what I could tell, she’s got it out for Briar.”

“One may be skilled, but so is Briar if her score means anything. And she’s fast; we’ve seen the way she can move and hide. Briar has an upperhand, too.”

“Do you think she can do it?” Johanna asks. “Take away the fact you’re my friend, don’t just say yes because you want to spare my feelings.”

“I do,” he nods. “I won’t lie to your face and say that it’s a guarantee, but I do think that she has a really good chance.”

“Alright, thank you.”

Finnick notices the hesitation in Johanna’s voice, the flicker of concern that flashes across her face as he hears her answer. “Shall we go out to your station? I can sit with you.”

The girl from Seven nods, and the pair wordlessly make their way out of the kitchenette that’s adjacent to the mentor’s viewing room. Finnick drags a spare chair over and places it beside Johanna’s then sits beside her. His left arm drapes across the back of her chair and he uses his hand to trace small, soothing patterns on her shoulder. Before either of them are able to talk, or even change the view of the camera on Johanna’s monitor, a loud scraping noise fills the room, piercing over the chatter of the other mentors. The pair both look up to find Cashmere Nicholo putting a plastic chair with them and sitting down.

“Cashmere, your tribute is still alive.”

“It’s an odd year,” the blonde shrugs, a cheeky glint in her eyes. “It’s Satin’s job to watch her, not mine. Besides, I want to be here with Jo today, I have a feeling it’s the last in the arena.”

Johanna’s head snaps around, her short hair flinging into her cheeks from the speed of her movement. Her brown eyes are wide with fear, and her skin pales, the colour in her cheeks draining. “You do? I can’t– I can’t lose her today.”

“You won’t.” Cashmere states almost immediately. Finnick watches as she reaches forward and places her hand on top of Johanna’s. They’ve been close since Cashmere was assigned as Johanna’s mentor during her games, and the man from Four doesn’t see their bond weakening anytime soon. If anything, it improves with every day that passes. “From what I’ve seen of Briar, and from what you’ve told me, she’s not going to give up on herself… or you.”

“Didn’t she forget she knew you?” The man laughs, and a smile forms on Johanna’s lips so they both take it as a victory.

“Well,” Cashmere hesitates. “Yes, but I remembered what I knew about her so my point stands.”

Johanna’s eyes don’t move from the screen as she says, “I don’t think she forgot you. I think she just… gets confused with your family. You and Satin do blur into one person if someone’s not close to you. And the only real interactions she’s had with you are just before my victory tour, then that one day at my place.”

“I know, I know.” The blonde dismisses. “But I’m looking forward to getting to know her when she wins.”

“If.” The muttered word is so quiet as it passes Johanna’s lips that the pair almost miss it. She hates being pessimistic, but Roscoe’s headspace and attitude the past few days has her constantly worried for Briar’s safety. He could snap at any second, and Briar wouldn’t have time to even blink before he strikes. She’d be defenceless.

“Johanna Alice Mason,” the scolding leaves Finnick’s mouth before he can even think about it. “Take that back. She’s winning.”

“Like you said, it’s not a guarantee.” Finnick almost winces as Johanna throws his earlier words back in his face.

“Guys,” calls a voice from the opposite side of the room. Satin. “I hate to be that person, but my girl’s on the hunt and is headed in their direction.”

꘎♡━━━━━━━━━━━━━♡꘎

“Roscoe, I think it’s time to put our ending plan in action.” Briar suggests, slinging her backpack over her shoulder whilst she slowly moves towards the door.

Before she can make her escape, Roscoe is on his feet and stalking towards her. “No.” He snaps, one of his hands clenching into a fist at his side whilst the other grips the handle of his knife. “You can’t go!”

“I know– I know it’s hard. But… but we should have split up way before the final three.” Gods, she’s terrified. Roscoe hasn’t snapped out of his weird daze since killing the boy from Two, in fact Briar has noted it getting worse every day.

“I said no!”

She nods. She has to play this right. “Okay. Okay, I’ll stay.”

“You will?”

“I will.” She moves and cautiously sits back down. Thankfully, it seems to go unnoticed by Roscoe that she’s placed herself closer to the door; she has a clear path to the exit, and can make a run for it the second an opportunity appears.

“You know, I– I would– would h-have had to k-kill you, if you– if you t-tried to leave.”

The stuttered words make Briar’s head snap up, making eye contact with him quickly. “You what?”

He laughs, an unhinged maniacal laugh that has goosebumps raising all over the brunette’s body. “I’m joking!”

Despite the fear that floods her entire being, Briar keeps her breathing slow and focuses on acting as normal as possible. Focussing on not raising Roscoe’s suspicions. She watches like a hawk as her ally opens his own bag and starts to dig through it.

This is it.

With no hesitation, Briar jumps up and sprints out the building. She ignores the door as it collides with the concrete wall behind it with an echoing bang, then bounces back on itself. Roscoe’s shout booms from behind her, but she remains facing forward as she darts deeper into the maze of buildings surrounding them. She can’t outrun him, she knows that, but she knows she may be able to outsmart him. Their chase lasts a few minutes, Roscoe screaming orders for Briar to stop, give up, but she does not yield. As she surveys the path ahead of her, a last ditch effort idea forms in her head.

Skidding slightly on the dusty gravel below her feet, the girl turns to face the gutter piping on the side of one of the more secure buildings and begins to climb it. Having grown up climbing trees to help cut off the bigger branches when chopping them down, the girl is easily able to make her way onto the roof of the building before looking down at Roscoe on the ground. He can’t climb.

“You’ll have to come down sooner or later, Seven.” He snarls, thrusting his weapon up into the air. He isn’t the Roscoe she allied with, not anymore. She hadn’t wanted to admit it, she prayed that he would break out of whatever chains are clenching his brain and keeping him in a different mental state, but now the truth is slapping her in the face harsher than the slice on her upper arm. Her ally is gone, and only a Capitol-ruined tribute remains.

Rather than responding, the girl opts to try and get as much space between them as possible and begins running across the roof. As she approaches the edge and begins to run out of space, Briar eyes up the gap between the structure she is standing in and the next one. She thinks she can make it. Without another thought, Briar launches off of her right foot and jumps across to the next roof along. Miraculously, she lands safely, even if it is by collapsing and scraping half her body along the concrete surface of the flat roof.

She doesn’t have time to react to the pain that forms on a few random spots over her body from the newly formed grazes beneath fresh tares in her clothes, so Briar promptly returns to both her feet and keeps running. Taking advantage of her ability to successfully jump across the gaps between buildings, the District Seven girl continues her escape plan and travels, via the rooftops, back towards the Cornucopia and ‘town square’. Small clouds of dust begin to form every time her foot scrapes upwards as she runs, causing her to cough slightly, but Briar refuses to stop as she pushes through the small burning sensation in her lungs and calves. She silently pleads to whatever high deity there may be, desperate to make it out of the arena alive.

The sound of running on the ground below stops and is replaced by the sound of shoes skidding against the rubble. Briar’s own running slows before she comes to an eventual stop, and the girl cautiously walks towards the edge of the building to see what has caused the boy to stop running. As she peers over the edge, she can see the girl from One standing in front of Roscoe with a knife in her hand. Without hesitating, the girl forces her hand forward and holds the knife directly against Roscoe’s neck. Briar quickly covers her hand with her mouth to muffle the gasp that leaves her and takes a couple steps back to stay out of view.

“I didn’t know where you were, you know?” Briar hears the girl from One taunting Roscoe on the floor below her. “But your screaming gave you away. And you were calling for that bitch from Seven, so I know she’s close by too. You’ve both made my win even easier for me, so thank you.”

“I–” Roscoe stammers. “P-please. Please don’t kill me–”

The evil laugh that the girl from One lets out sends Briar’s blood running cold. “Don’t kill you? I have to.”

“At least make it painless?” If Briar wasn’t terrified and trying desperately to remain hidden, the tone in Roscoe’s voice would have had her crying. He’s petrified.

“Okay, fine.” Briar doesn’t see what happens, but the sound of Roscoe’s strangled choking tells her that Eden has just slit his neck. “Oops.”

There’s a pause in the girl from One’s talking, one that allows Briar to hear her ally’s body hitting the floor and his choking quickly die down. Once his cannon sounds, the girl from one continues, “that probably did hurt.”

Cautiously peering over the edge again, Briar sees Eden making her way away from where she is. The girl is on the hunt for her, but right now she’s moving away from her and that is exactly what Briar needs to get away. Seeing her window of opportunity, Briar makes her way to the side of the roof she is on, and uses the gutter to carefully make her way down the side of the building to the floor. Her movements are silent, and she has to bite the inside of her cheeks to prevent her from audibly wincing as the sensation of the guttering sliding through her hands causes them to burn slightly.

When the floor is close enough, Briar lowers her feet and lands on both feet. She is sure she had lowered herself to the floor gently, but as her feet make contact with the floor and let out a small thump, the District One girl’s head snaps towards her and a smirk adorns her face. Shit.

She breaks out sprinting, the girl from One fast in pursuit behind her as she weaves her way though the district-like arena towards the Cornucopia. Eden can easily throw a knife whilst chasing her, Briar isn’t oblivious to that fact, so as their surroundings become more sparse, the girl from Seven begins to move in an irregular, unpredictable, zig-zag formation. The more unknown her movements are to the girl from One, the less likely she is to embed a knife into Briar’s back and incapacitate her.

Plan. I need a plan. Briar’s thoughts are loud, like she’s screaming at herself to live through one more cannon so she can get back to Johanna.

She uses her eyes to scan her surroundings and notices a small pile of rocks off to her left, closer to Cornucopia. Please fucking work, the girl thinks as she approaches her target rapidly. She ignores the red hot burning in her chest, pushing her body to keep running. To keep surviving. As she reaches the rock pile, she sprints through it and forces her left foot to hit one.

Shit.

Searing hot pain radiates from her lower leg, the collision with the rock undoubtedly will leave her with a shining bruise at very least. Fear. Pain. Hope. Waves of conflicting emotions take over Briar’s body. Maybe it is just pure adrenaline, but something shoots an idea into Briar’s mind.

“Ow!” The girl shouts, feigning pain worse than she is actually feeling. She alters her movements, changing her run for a limp that slows her pace. Internally, the girl is hoping that the career will want to make a show of what they believe is the last death of the games and will choose to try and kill her by stabbing instead of throwing the knife. Keeping up her act, Briar keeps pretending to limp as she tries to run, all whilst her final opponent is catching up to her.

“Give up, Seven.”

She snarls back, refusing to look at the girl. “No.”

“Give up and I’ll make it easy. I promise.”

“Like you promised Roscoe?” She questions, fury flaring through her tone.

“Exactly,” Eden spits, the same evil laugh from earlier ringing out.

She’s close.

Using the sound of Eden’s laugh to gauge how close she is, Briar keeps her act up and waits for the girl to be close enough. But, the laugh stops, and so the brunette tries to keep her talking. “Just don’t let it hurt.”

“Why would I do that?”

She’s close, but not quite close enough yet. Eden’s rapid, pounding footfall keeps moving, closing in on Briar.

“Because you wouldn’t want to die in pain, would you?”

“I’m going to die of old age.” She snickers. “I won’t die in pain.”

It's now or never.

There are no other thoughts in Briar’s head as she grabs the axe in her waistband and whirls around. No thoughts, except Johanna and her parents. As her view changes and she moves to face the blonde girl behind her, Briar swings her right arm back and swings the axe, implanting it directly into the centre of her chest. “That probably did hurt.” She hadn’t planned on using Eden’s own words against her, but the anger that has plagued her since the taunt was used against Roscoe forced the words out of her throat.

As the cannon has not immediately sounded to prove Briar is the winner, the brunette pulls her axe out of the blonde girl’s chest and swings it back in another couple of times to be safe. She ignores the warm blood splattering onto her neck and keeps going, ready to leave this arena as soon as possible. When the axe hits the girl from One’s chest a third time, the cannon finally sounds. Using the last of her willpower, the brunette rips the axe from her victims flesh, ignoring the squelching noise of blood, and watches as her body falls limp, creating a jumbled pile on the floor. Briar lets out a sigh of relief and collapses to her knees as a voice fills the arena, “Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to present the Victor of the Seventy-First Hunger Games, Briar Mason. I give you the female tribute of District Seven.”

When the announcement finishes, the silence of the arena is replaced with the roaring cheers of the Capitol citizens who are celebrating the girl’s win. Unable to move, the shock of winning rooting her to the floor, Briar stares at the gravel below her as she waits for the hovercraft to collect her. She has done it. She has won the Hunger Games, and would now be living life as a Victor beside her sister.

A few minutes pass before Briar hears the soft humming of the hovercraft entering the arena directly above her. She stands, placing her hand on the rope ladder that had been lowered to her and hoists herself up. An electrical current freezes her in place, and the girl is thankful for it as she is not sure she would have enough energy to keep hold of the ladder and keep herself up the entire time she is being taken up.

The second her body is securely in the hovercraft, a group of doctors move her onto a bed and begin a visual check of the girl.

“Do you have any injuries?” One of the medical team asks.

“Uh… just the gash on my right shoulder.”

“What about your leg? Didn’t you injure your ankle?”

“No. Well, yes. But it’ll just bruise. That’ll be fine.”

“Noted.” He nods as he removes the girl’s jacket to check the cut on her arm. “It doesn’t seem infected. We’ll get some stitches in it when you’re asleep to help it heal nicely.”

“Sorry, once I’m asleep?”

“Yes. We have food here for you, then we’ll place you into a medically induced sleep to allow your body to fully rest.”

“Oh, okay.” Despite being confused, the girl decides questioning it further was not worth her energy. She is still trying to wrap her head around the fact she had just won the Hunger Games; that she gets to see Johanna again. She gets to see her parents again.

After eating a meal which pretty much consisted of flavour-packed chicken and rice, the girl was placed into a medically induced sleep to ensure her body could get rest and recover from the ordeal it had just experienced.

꘎♡━━━━━━━━━━━━━♡꘎

The newest victor did not awaken until around eight in the morning the following day. After having her arm wound cleaned thoroughly and stitched up, she was moved to a medical bay on the basement level of the Tribute Centre. Johanna has been sitting beside her bed since the girl was moved there, desperate to see her twin again.

“Please don’t tell me I have fake boobs.” Johanna’s head snaps up as a groggy voice speaks up from beside her.

The older twin shakes her head and lets out an airy laugh, “I cannot believe you, Briar. I haven’t seen you in over two weeks and the first thing you say is about your boobs?”

“Well duh, I don’t want fake boobs. I like my boobs. Plus it was one day over two weeks, don’t be so dramatic.”

“I hate you.” Johanna laughs more.

“I love you too.” There’s a pause, one in which both sisters just look at one another, appreciating that they’re still together. “In all seriousness, I did miss you.” The younger girl uses her arms to push herself up into a sitting position.

“I missed you too. I’m proud of you, y’know?” Johanna smiles softly at her sister. It was true, even if she had to do the unthinkable to win, Briar survived the Hunger Games and could now live her life in peace.

“Thank you, Jo.” Briar’s hands lift to the edge of her face as she speaks, her features scrunching in discomfort. “My face hurts.”

“About that…” Johanna’s words trail off.

“Jo, what happened to me?”

“They froze your face.”

Briar’s eyes widen, and the colour drains from her now frozen face. “What do you mean they froze my face?”

“I’ll explain it fully when we’re home, but basically your features have been frozen so you don’t age. From what I’ve been told they’ll unfreeze it in about five years and let you age for a couple, then freeze it again.”

“So I’m going to look seventeen for five years?

“Yes.”

“Great.” Johanna watches her younger sister sink back into the bed with a frown. “When can I get out of here?”

“I’ll go let one of the doctors know you’re awake. They’ll want to check you over then we can take you to get ready for your interview.”

“Oh for goodness sake, is that today?” Briar groans, throwing her head back to exaggerate her feelings. The girl is nothing if not dramatic, and she loves herself for it.

“Yes it’s today, and you need to be on your best behaviour. None of these sarcastic comments on stage, okay? Oh, and be nice to Annie backstage.”

“Annie? Is she the one that went bat shit crazy after her district partner’s head got cut clean off?”

“Briar!” The girl’s sister scolds her with narrowed eyes. “This is what I mean. No comments like that.”

“Fine. I’ll behave.” Briar laughs as Johanna exits the room to get a doctor.

After a brief check up, the doctor is happy to discharge the newest victor and allow her to go and get ready for her crowning. As the twins made their way through the Tribute Centre, Briar is able to take a lot more in now that she isn’t focussed on training. The pristine white stone walls which manage to make even the President’s roses look dirty. The marble tiles covering the floors which reflect the light back up towards the ceiling. The crystal chandeliers that hang in a perfectly uniformed pattern along the hallways. Everything about the place was perfect.

“Florah and Meri are so excited to see you again. They haven’t shut up about you since you won. Oh, and I’ve already checked the dress Lysa has designed for you, it’s really nice.” Johanna explains to the girl as they enter the elevator and she presses the button for their floor.

“Will I look like a tree?”

“No. It’s blasphemy that you get to look nice and I looked like wood.” Johanna rolls her eyes jokingly.

“You made a very pretty tree if that helps?” Briar tries but fails to suppress a laugh as she speaks.

“Don’t speak to me from now on.” Johanna scoffs before letting out a small laugh.

“Fine. But you’ll be begging me to speak to you soon enough.” As Briar finishes her sentence she mimics zipping her mouth closed and locking it before throwing away the key. Keeping her word, Briar doesn’t speak to Johanna for the rest of the ride, and continues her silence as they enter the District Seven floor.

The ding of the elevator opening alerts her prep team of Briar’s arrival, and the three women all rush to greet the girl, gushing over her appearance post-games. Despite being slightly overwhelmed by all the attention, the girl is genuinely happy to see everyone again. Part of her wasn’t convinced she would survive, part of her had her doubts about her own abilities, and so she was prepared to not see them again.

“Okay, I think that’s enough welcoming the girl back. Let’s get her sat down for some breakfast then send her for a bath. She deserves the chance to relax.” Blight chuckles from behind the women in front of Briar. God, is she thankful for Blight. Proper food sounds perfect.

“That’s a great idea, I am hungry.” Briar nods and the group, including Briar, her prep team, Johanna, Fauna, and Blight, all sit around the dining table. Fauna signals for the Avoxes to begin bringing out the selection of breakfast foods they had prepared whilst the prep team bombard the girl with questions.

“How do you feel?”

“What was it like in there?”

“Are you excited to be crowned?”

“I’m fine, just tired and I feel gross. The arena was terrifying, especially considering it looked like a District. And no, I’m excited to go back to Seven though.” Briar does her best to not come across as ungrateful as she answers the women’s questions, then begins to eat a croissant that has been placed on the plate in front of her by Blight.

Although she had not had much to eat the past few weeks, the girl didn’t overdo it with what she ate. She decides just to enjoy a couple pastries and some fruits so that there's nothing too heavy in her stomach when she inevitably gets filled with nerves at her crowning later today.

The girl then spends an hour enjoying a hot bath before Johanna bangs her fist against the door from the outside, “Briar, you’ve been in there for an hour. Hurry up, we need to start getting you ready. It’s already twelve and Meri wants to get started on your makeup before we have lunch at one.” Johanna’s voice is muffled as she shouts through the solid wood door.

Briar lets out a small groan, “I am enjoying my first bath in weeks! God, I won’t be a minute.” She pulls the plug out of its spot in the drain and stands up, carefully stepping out of the tub and onto the soft mat beside it. Her hand reaches down, touching the Egyptian Cotton towel briefly before she grabs hold of the fabric and pulls it up, wrapping it around her body. The soft fibres against her body feel luxurious compared to the rub of the waterproof nylon of the jacket she wore in the arena. After drying herself off and changing into a simple black dress, the newest victor makes her way to the living area of the floor.

The next few hours consist of Florah and Meri doing Briar’s hair and make up, Briar having a light lunch, and Johanna and Blight coaching the girl for her upcoming interview. Looking at herself in the mirror, Briar is amazed at the girl staring back at her. She looks so different. Her cheeks are more sunken than ever given the little food she had had, but the makeup did well at camouflaging this. The makeup in itself was perfect; a golden-bronze smoky eye look with a nude lip which will surely compliment her outfit for the occasion. Speaking of, Briar was very anxious to see what had been designed for her and is praying that it covers her way more than her tribute parade costume did.

“Briar, you are going to absolutely adore the dress I have designed for you!” Lysa beams as she struts into the room holding a dress bag and a pair of gold heels.

“I’m sure I will, you have done a good job with my outfits so far.” The girl smiles at her stylist from her spot in front of the mirror.

Lysa takes extra care as she hangs the dress bag from a hook on the wall and slowly unzips it revealing a beautiful, emerald green silk dress. The dress has a slit all the way up the left side, stopping just above the right hip where some of the fabric folds to make two small waves. The right half of the bodice of the dress is encrusted with diamanté’s, and has a moss-like pattern which creeps up towards the shoulder and ends in a thin strap.

Briar lets out a small gasp as she lays her eyes on the garnet, truly taken aback by its elegance. “Lysa, this is beautiful. Like… actually amazing.” She smiles, taking long strides over to her stylist and engulfing her into a tight hug, “thank you.”

“You’re welcome. I wanted only the best for you when designing it.”

“And yet you dressed me like a log.” Johanna remarks, faking a glare as she looks at the woman.

The team help Briar into her dress and heels, then, as a group, they make their way to the studio where Caesar Flickerman’s talk show is filmed. A worker leads them to the green room where they can wait for Briar’s cue to go on stage, and as they enter they see Annie and Finnick who are sitting on a couch, talking amongst themselves.

Johanna is the first to talk, making their presence known to the victors from Four. “Well if it isn’t the Peacock and my favourite redhead.”

“Johanna,” Finnick turns, grinning to his best friend. “Nice of you to finally show your face.”

Johanna responds with a small swat to the back of his head as she sits next to him. “It’s not my fault Briar’s prep team took ages. Annie, how are you doing?”

“I’m okay.” She nods. Her voice is quiet, timid, as she speaks. Annie then looks up at Briar with a warm smile. “Briar, it’s lovely to finally meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you, but I know not to trust any information that comes from a sibling so it’ll be nice to actually get to know you.”

“You have siblings?”

The redhead nods, “one sister. She’s Finnick’s age, her name is Luna.”

“Luna,” Briar echoes. “Pretty.”

“Come sit,” Finnick gestures to the empty chair that’s beside the couch. Briar follows his instructions, sitting down with her legs crossed at the ankles. Finnick’s grin grows even wider, “good girl.”

The almost-inappropriate joke is immediately followed by another slap to the back of his head by Johanna. “That’s my sister, knobhead. I’ve told you she’s off limits, that includes crude jokes.”

Annie and Briar on the other hand are laughing at the joke, both of them covering their mouths with their hands. When her hands return to her lap, Briar eyes her sister. “Leave him be, that was funny.”

“Don’t tell me that turned you on, Little Bird.” Johanna fake gags after speaking, rolling her eyes at her twin.

A wicked grin spreads across Briar’s lips, “no comment.”

“Oh, gross!” Johanna whines, her face scrunching up.

“Anyway,” the younger of the Mason’s drawls, “where’s Mags?”

“Now I’m here, Finnick and I agreed she can stay upstairs if we get more victors. So she’s waiting for us, and when we’re ready to go she’ll meet us in the lobby.”

“I’m looking forward to getting to know her more,” Briar smiles fondly. “She seems like a lovely lady.”

Annie’s smile quickly matches Briar’s. “She is.”

The door swings open, and a stagehand looks over to Briar. “Miss Mason, you’re about to be announced.”

“Knock ‘em dead, Seven.” The blonde from Four smiles as Briar

When she reaches the wing, a knot begins to tighten in her stomach. Everyone has given her conflicting advice on what to say, what not to say, how to hold herself, how to act, and everything in between, but right now every piece of preparation and knowledge has escaped her. Stepping foot on that stage, beside Caesar Flickerman, is easy to do when you believe you’re a tribute who won’t be alive for longer than two more weeks, but now she’s a victor that has to face the entirety of Panem knowing they’re going to celebrate their newest murderer.

“Now, the moment you have all been waiting for… Please welcome Briar Mason, Victor of the Seventy-First annual Hunger Games!” At the end of the introduction, Briar struts on stage, being sure to avoid stepping on her dress, and waves at the audience. The cheers of the crowd were deafening as they all got to see the victor for the first time since her win. The girl does her best to make eye contact with as many members of the audience as possible, blowing kisses to a few as she approaches Caesar. Leaning her torso forward, Briar places a gentle kiss on Caesar’s cheek before carefully sitting down into the chair set out for her. “My, my. Briar Mason you truly are a vision of beauty. Your stylist must be working overtime with these outfits. Don’t you agree, folks?” He speaks loudly at the audience who begin cheering in agreement,

“Thank you. Lysa is remarkably good at her job. So much so that my sister won’t shut up about the fact that I look better than she did.” The victor laughs softly and turns her body to face the man a little more, smoothing down the lower of her dress to make sure it looks perfect.

“I have to ask, how are you feeling? I bet you weren’t expecting to be the person that would be back on this stage.”

“I am just so grateful to still be alive. You’re right, I wasn’t expecting it but I was hoping I would be. I mean who doesn’t hope that they’re the victor?”

The man lets out a loud snort-like laugh at the girl’s question, “That’s true. Now, we’re the games anything like you were expecting?”

“No. The arena this year really threw me off when we were raised onto our pedestals, I mean a District themed arena? It was very unique.”

“Atticus Oppenheimer truly did make his last year as Head Gamemakers one of his best. I mean that arena is probably one of my favourites to date, and his talents will be missed. So, everyone, are we ready to see the fruits of his labour one last time?” As Caesar raises his voice, the crowd starts to holler again, all excited to watch the highlights from Briar’s games.

The screens behind the host and his guest flicker, changing to display Briar at the start of her games. Every member of the audience is in awe as they relive the moments of the Bloodbath, including all three kills Briar got during that time. She can’t help but be thankful that they’re watching an edited version, and not the clip in its real time length. She watches herself flinch slightly as the girl, her first victim, runs towards her. Seeing it from the outside, it is clear the girl was not a threat to Briar as she has no weapon available, but in the moment Briar remembers feeling pure terror. She sees the same terror in herself when the clip shows her face to face with the boy from Eight. The brunette feels sick to her stomach as she watches herself grab the knife in trousers and stab him multiple times before he finally collides with the floor below him.

A phantom pain runs through the, now stitched, cut on her upper right arm as she sees the girl form Six cut it open on the screen before watching herself kill the girl by swinging her axe into the girl’s stomach. Her doctor has told her that, once it is fully healed, they’ll be removing any scar that is left behind. She’s not sure what they meant, but they had mentioned wanting her body to be perfect for her Capitol visits. It was a cryptic thing to say, the brunette knows that from the sickly feeling she got at the time, and this moment is reminding her to ask Johanna about it at a later date.

All in all, the girl from Seven sits through roughly two hours worth of footage of all the highlights from her games. Every single second of it feels like a new stab to the heart, but the real kicker is watching Oakley die in the bloodbath. It was like someone had stabbed her then twisted the knife over and over. Briar has remained blissfully unaware of when and how her district partner had died until now, and although the sight of the boy being stabbed to death kills her, she’s thankful it was a quick death. He was too good for Panem, too good for Snow, and now no one can hurt him. No one can use or exploit him. No one can make him suffer.

As the clip of her being hoisted into the hovercraft fades to black, the audience once again begin cheering for the girl and Caesar smiles at her in awe. “I think the first thing I need to ask after watching that is, how's your arm?”

Briar lets out an airy laugh, amazed by the fact that the talk show host thinks that this is the most pressing question. God, she hopes no one can see the tears still sitting along her waterlines. “As you can see the amazing doctors have stitched it up nicely, and thankfully it wasn’t infected when I came out of the arena. So all in all it looks like it will heal well and be fine.”

“Well, that is great to hear. So was there anything that you kept in your mind to really help you push through the games?”

Smirking, the girl nods, “well as you said in my last interview, Caesar, I am the twin of Johanna Mason. I couldn’t go and let her have all the glory, could I?”

The man bursts out laughing, which in turn causes the audience to laugh, “so cheeky! A little sibling rivalry?”

“Something like that,” the girl winks. “No, we are so close, I just knew I needed to get back for her and my parents.”

“Well, you succeeded.” He stands from his seat and holds his hand out to the girl. Briar takes his hand gently and stands with him, then the man lifts her arm into the air and shows off their latest victor. “Are you ready to see our lovely lady be crowned?” As the crowd shouts in response, Briar can’t hide the smile that forms on her lips. She really was proud of herself for getting out. “Well then, please welcome last year’s victor, Annie Cresta, and our very own President Snow.”

Briar was sure it wasn’t possible, but somehow the crowd began to hoot and shriek even louder as the next two guests arrived on stage. On top of Annie’s vibrant locks is a beautiful silver crown, the one she had been given when she won. Now it is time for President Snow to remove it from her head, and present Briar with her very own crown. Each victor was given a grown that was crafted specially for them; the crowns varied in colour and design, but all symbolised the courage they had used in their fight to the death, and the trauma they experienced as a result. Every victor is permitted to keep their crown, but for the ceremony it is imperative that the President removes the crown from the reigning victor, and places the new crown atop of the new victor’s head.

Annie stands on the opposite side of Caesar to where Briar is standing, and in her hands is a velvet red pillow with Briar’s crown placed carefully on top of it. From where she is standing, Briar can’t quite see the crown so she isn’t sure what it looks like, but she feels an odd sense of pride fill her body knowing that it was hers. That pride does nothing to subside the sadness and hurt that’s settled in her stomach though.

President Snow approaches Annie and comes to a stop in front of her. He reaches his arms up and removes the crown from her head, then carefully swaps Briar’s crown into his hand and places Annie’s onto the cushion. Although they were not audible, Briar and the audience can see the elderly man say a few words to the previous year’s victor. The man then approaches Briar ready to crown her.

You’ve got to be kidding me, Briar thinks as she sees the crown in his hands. Admittedly, it is beautiful, but it closely resembles the headpiece from her tribute parade. The crown itself is made up of twig-like strands that are gold in colour and come to a few points at the top.

“Congratulations, Miss Mason. I’m sure your sister and parents are very proud.” Snow speaks as he places the crown atop of Briar’s head.

“Thank you, sir. I hope they are proud.”

“I’m positive they will be. I must say I look forward to your visits to the Capitol over the coming years, which I hope will be very regular.” She can't quite put her finger on exactly what, but something about what the President says makes Briar feel particularly uneasy, similar to the comment she had from one of the medics earlier in the day.

Annie is then escorted off the stage by President Snow, leaving a freshly crowned Briar alone with the host once again. A bright, beaming smile adorning her face, Briar waves to the audience who are responding in a very positive, and loud, manner.

“Ladies and gentlemen, let's hear it one last time for the victor of the Seventy-First annual Hunger Games, Briar Mason!” As the crowd continue with their symphony of cheers and whistles, Briar does a small curtsy to show her appreciation and waves to the audience one final time before they’re given the signal that the cameras have stopped rolling.

As she exits the stage, Briar is greeted by Johanna and Blight who both have big smiles on their faces. “You did so well.” Blight advises, squeezing the girl’s arm softly, “let's get the crown off you and get on that train home.”

“Home,” the girl sighs. “Home sounds perfect.”

 

Chapter 15: ☆14☆

The collection of trees that have been passing by the windows since the train has crossed the border into Seven help solidify for Briar that she’s home. Since the second they boarded the train, Briar has had an overwhelming worry that something is going to happen and they’ll be whisked straight back to the Capitol. Johanna and Blight keep reassuring her that she won’t be ordered back until her Victory Tour, that she’s safe and she’ll see her family soon, but that repulsive pit in her stomach keeps tugging on some invisible string. Shoving the concern to the side, the newly-crowned victor turns her head to look back out the curved windows of the back of the train and focuses on the trees. Ash. Fir. Maple. Pine. Briar uses her mental noting of the types of trees she’s spotted to keep her mind from wondering again. It’s peaceful, perfect. It’s home. A small cluster of Juniper trees coming into her line of sight throws Briar back to Reaping Day and she finds herself wondering how the girl she volunteered for is doing. It may have only been a few weeks since that day, but Briar knows better than most that a few weeks is all it takes for everything to change. She’s the perfect example considering in those same weeks she herself has become a murderer. Briar makes a note to pay a visit to the girl, if she can find her address, to see how she and her family are doing. To make sure that Snow or anyone else from the Capitol hasn’t found an excuse to hurt them in any way.

 

“We’re not far out,” Briar hears her twin sister’s voice call out as the mechanical door to the cart opens. “Are you excited to be home?”

 

The younger of the Mason twins swings her feet off of the couch and stands up. “Of course I am. I can’t wait to see mum and dad.”

 

“Stepping off that train and seeing them again is the best feeling. I never thought you’d be able to understand it, but that’s obviously changed.”

 

“Let’s focus on looking forward now.” Briar gives her sister a smile as she approaches her, then takes her hand into her own. The gesture is just as much for her own comfort as it is for her sister’s. “Now mum and dad don’t have to worry next reaping day, they’re not at risk of us being reaped again. We can live our lives in peace, only being ordered back to the Capitol when required.”

 

Briar watches her sister’s short hair move as she nods, but the way Johanna’s face twists slightly has her uneasy. “You’re right.”

 

“What was that?” Briar asks.

 

“What was what?”

 

“That,” Briar points up at her face. “The face you pulled.”

 

“It’s– nothing. It’s nothing. We can discuss it later.”

 

“We can discuss it now,” Briar rebuttals. 

 

Johanna pulls her hand away and heads towards the cart door. “Just enjoy your win, Briar. We’ll discuss that later.”

 

There’s something in the way Johanna says her words that makes Briar realise now isn’t the time to push this, whatever this is. Instead, she follows her twin through the train to the dining cart where Blight is waiting. The man approaches the girls, patting Briar on the shoulder. “There’s going to be a lot of people at the station, Briar. You’ll likely have more than Johanna and I had considering you were a volunteer, so prepare yourself for that. No matter what you’re feeling, plaster on a smile and perform for the cameras. The Peacekeepers should have your parents in a sectioned off area to the side so you can have your reunions there too.”

 

Briar can tell they’re close because the cheers and applause from the crowd that has gathered on the platform are starting to penetrate the walls of the train. “It’s so loud already.”

 

Blight and Johanna both laugh at the girl, and Johanna nudges her sister. “Blight warned you there were going to be a lot of people. You saved a twelve year old’s life; you’re going to be popular, Little Bird.”

 

Sucking in a deep breath, Briar wills her nerves to calm before the train stops so she actually seems normal in front of the crowd and cameras. Image is everything now, the second she seems anything less than perfect the Capitol will use her flaws against her and punish her instantly. “Do I need anything ready for when I leave the train?”

 

Her mentors both shake their heads. “No,” Blight confirms. “Just be ready to smile.”

 

A few minutes later, the screech of the brakes clamping around the tracks pierces the silence that the three victors from Seven are sitting in. Wordlessly, the trio make their way towards the door once the train has fully stopped. Johanna quickly squeezes Briar’s arm in an effort to reassure her, to ground her. 

 

“You’ve got this, Briar.” Blight whispers just as the door slides open, revealing the crowd at the station.

 

When the crowd sees Briar, they all begin to cheer even louder. She’s taken aback to say the least, but a genuine smile creeps across her lips. She never thought there could be an instance where she would feel proud of her actions, of killing other children, but for a moment she forgets it all and is just proud to be from Seven. 

 

She stands, smiling and waving, as she steps onto the concrete platform. Her eyes scan over the flood of people, searching every face until they finally locate her parents. To the side, near the exit of the station, is a small roped off section where her parents are beaming at her from. 

 

“Go see them,” Blight chuckles from behind her. “You have no obligation to stay here for a certain period of time.”

 

With those words, Briar lowers her hand and makes a beeline towards her parents. Every other person on that platform seems to disappear, and the only people left are her and her parents. Being a daddy’s girl, she’s been desperate for a hug from him for weeks and now it’s finally going to happen. She’s just about to clear the crowd when a small hand wraps around her wrist. She’s still got one foot in the arena, and so she flinches at the contact and rips her arm away.

 

“I’m sorry,” a small voice squeaks. “I just– I wanted to say thank you.”

 

The brunette turns, forcing herself to face the voice, and is surprised when she has to look down at the young girl. “Thank you? What for?”

 

The girl grins up at her, a small, childish giggle passing her lips. “For volunteering for me, Briar.”

 

Juniper. Crouching down, Briar pulls the young girl in for a hug. Juniper’s arms wrap tightly around her neck and she clings on for almost an entire minute. When the younger girl eventually pulls away, Briar can’t stop her smile from growing. The girl is alive and well. That’s all that matters. “Juniper, I’m so happy I got to see you. And you don’t need to thank me, I just wanted you to be safe; you’re just a baby, you didn’t deserve that.”

 

“But you don’t know me. You didn’t have to.”

 

The confusion across the girl’s face intensifies as she speaks, and it melts Briar’s heart entirely. She knew Juniper was young, Hell that’s why she had volunteered, but that look just serves to add to her innocence. “I wanted to. I like to protect people. I get that from my sister,” she grins up at Johanna.

 

Before Johanna can speak, Juniper chirps, “she must be pretty great then.”

 

“Yeah, she is. Now, I really want to go give my parents a hug,” Briar keeps her voice soft and playful. She doesn’t want to get rid of the girl, but she’s dying to be with her parents. “But, I was hoping I could come see you soon?”

 

Juniper’s mum looks down at her with a smile, “we’d like that a lot. I’ll leave a note with the Justice Building to say you’re allowed our address.”

 

With a nod, and one final embrace from Juniper, Briar quickly continues her walk to her parents. The second she enters the roped off section, Ember and Ash tug both the Mason twins into a family hug. A hush falls over the crowd as the Mason family cling to each other, thankful to all be safe and at home once again, and Briar can feel hot tears stinging her eyes. She’s home.

 

“My girls,” her dad whispers, using the arm that’s holding Briar to stroke her hair. “We’re so glad you’re back.”

 

“Can we just go home? I want to be away from… everything.” 

 

Briar’s parents look down at her, the two of them wearing matching smiles. “Of course,” her mum nods. “Are we heading to our house, or yours?”

 

“Yours, for now. I just want us all together in that house before everything changes.”

 

Johanna laughs, nudging Briar towards the exit of the train station. “I think we can manage that.”

 

Once they reach their family home, Briar, Johanna, and Ash all make their way into the living room whilst Ember proceeds to the kitchen to make the youngest member of the family a tea. Briar had protested, telling her mum that she was more than capable of making herself a hot drink, but Ember brushed her off and insisted that she would make it so Briar could finally relax. Briar sits beside her dad on the couch, her body pressed into his side. Ash’s arm wraps around her shoulders and tucks her in close as her head rests onto his torso.

 

“Dad?” Johanna asks, moving to sit opposite them on one of the worn armchairs the family owns. 

 

“Yes, sweetheart?”

 

“Are you and mum going to move in with me or Briar now?”

 

Ash shakes his head, pulling Briar impossibly closer to him. “No. You two earned those houses in the most unimaginable ways. We didn’t. And you’re both turning eighteen in less than a year, you deserve your own space.”

 

“But you’ll visit, right?” Briar asks, peering up at her father. 

 

“Of course.”

 

“And you’re going to let us both help you do this place up? And buy you stuff?”

 

“The answer was no when you won, Jo. It’s not different just because Little Bird is a victor now, too.”

 

“What if it’s a gift?” The younger Mason twin asks with a small laugh. “You always said that it was rude to reject a gift, so you can’t say no.”

 

“Oh yes we can,” Ember pipes up as she walks into the room and places the mug of tea on the table in front of Briar.

 

Briar shakes her head furiously. “Nope. That would make you both hypocrites. Besides, you told me I couldn’t reject those socks Grandma bought me for my birthday last year.”

 

“Because they were a birthday present.”

 

“They were itchy!” The youngest member of the family whines, her toes curling in disgust as she recalls the way the itchy fibres felt on the bottoms of her feet. 

 

“I don’t care. It’s rude to reject a gift, Briar.”

 

“I know, mum. That’s why you and dad can’t reject it if Johanna and I decide to pay for some updates on the house, or buy your groceries for you. They’d be gifts.”

 

“We’re not having this discussion, you two.” Ember eyes her twin girls pointedly. “Briar, sweetie, how are you holding up?”

 

“I’ll be fine.”

 

Her father pokes her side. “Your mother didn’t ask you how you will be, she asked how you’re doing now.”

 

“I’m,” she pauses, contemplating her answer. She doesn’t actually know how she’s feeling, but somehow she doesn’t think that answer will suffice her parents. “I’m alright. Johanna said I might have nightmares for a while like she did, but that they’ll become less frequent overtime.”

 

“You saw and experienced the unimaginable, Little Bird.” Briar curls further into her father as he speaks, thankful that she’s actually back with him and the rest of her family. “It’s okay to not be okay for a while. Your mother and I will be here for you, any time of day, for anything you need.”

 

“I know.”

 

The family all sit in silence for a while, enjoying the simplicity and peace of just being back together once again. Briar enjoys her tea, and can tell from the flavour that her mum has used a new tea bag for her. Her mum also didn’t make herself a tea, so the youngest Mason knows she’s been treated to her own hot drink which has been rare growing up. The brunette’s eyes flick around the room, taking in all the items and memories she thought she’d never see again. The picture frames, despite most of them having chips in the wood or being held together by badly placed glue, are her favourite things about the house. Each of them holds a photo, or multiple photos, of the family all together. They’re happy, laughing in some, and Briar wouldn’t have her sister or parents any other way.

 

“I love you guys, y’know that?” Briar finally says, breaking the silence. 

 

“We know, Little Bird. But we’ll never say no to hearing it again. We love you too.”

 

꘎♡━━━━━━━━━━━━━♡꘎

 

“Excuse me?” Briar asks, getting the attention of the lady at the front desk of the Justice Building.

 

“What?” The older woman spits. Her tone quickly changes as she looks up and says, “I’m sorry, Miss Mason. How can I help?”

 

Cocking her head to the side, Briar lifts her eyebrows. “Do I get the special treatment because I’m a victor, ma’am? Or did you realise that your tone wasn’t acceptable on your own and change it to be nicer?”

 

“I’m– I’m sorry, Miss Mason. It won’t happen again. How can I help?”

 

The brunette suppresses her smirk. “I’m looking for the address of the young girl I volunteered for. Juniper Palmer. I saw her and her mum at the station and her mum said she’d give permission for me to get their address.”

 

“Ah yes,” the woman mumbles, flicking through paper and post-it notes on her table. “Eva Palmer did stop by earlier. Give me two ticks and I’ll find it for you.”

 

“Of course, thank you.”

 

It takes a few minutes of the lady shuffling through her disorganised desk before she hands Briar a post-it. “I wrote it down after she came in so I had it ready. It’s a little out of town, but you can always get the train.”

 

“Thank you for your help.” Briar nods, pocketing the note and turning to leave. She pauses briefly, looking back at the woman to say, “you have the day you deserve, ma’am,” before walking out the door. Rather than heading to her new home in Victor’s Village, Briar heads back to the train station that she arrived home to just a few days prior. 

 

The journey to the small wooden house in Cedar takes a few hours, and Briar takes the silence surrounding her in that time to sit in her thoughts. Every night since she returned to Seven has been plagued with nightmares. The faces of the people she killed in the arena haunt her, and what’s worse is that a few of them she doesn’t fully remember so they appear as distorted, shadow-like figures. Their deaths play over and over, the blood staining her hands and taunting her until she rips herself from her dreams and back to reality. 

 

Before she has even had the chance to walk up the weed-ridden path of the Palmer home, the door swings open and Juniper comes bounding towards her. As she runs, the younger girl’s hair flies behind her and accentuates the youthful glow about her. Juniper collies with Briar’s body, her short arms wrapping tightly around the girl’s waist and clinging on. The newly crowned victor tries her hardest not to show that the force of the collision has winded her, so she laughs softly whilst wrapping her own arms around the girl. One of her hands sits flush against Juniper’s back and the other smooths down the frizz that has settled in her hair. 

 

“Briar,” the girl beams into the fabric of Briar’s sweater. “I’m so happy you came! I made you something!”

 

“You did?”

 

“Yeah, I wanted to–”

 

“Juniper,” a voice calls from the doorway of the home, cutting her off. “Let the poor woman come inside before you ambush her fully.”

 

“Okay Momma,” she calls back. 

 

The younger girl slides her hand into Briar’s and leads her into their home. It’s eerily similar to her parent’s house, just slightly smaller and a bit more cluttered. The place isn’t messy, as a matter of fact it’s quite the opposite; it’s clean but looks lived in. It’s perfect, especially for a family. Briar is led over to the couch where she proceeds to sit down with the kid she had volunteered for. Juniper’s hand remains gripped tightly to hers, the girl clinging on as if letting go would cause Briar to disappear.

 

“Juniper, it’s important to me that you know I expect nothing from you for what I did. I understand I’m a stranger and it seems odd that I volunteered in your place considering that, but I promise you I don’t want anything in return. I volunteered because you’re so small, you didn’t deserve to go through the games.”

 

The younger girl has an innocent look on her face, one that reminds her of the expressions she and her sister wore at that age, and she holds Briar’s hand gently. “Thank you, Briar. Really thank you. I know I would’ve died if I went in, and I wouldn’t want to never see Momma again.”

 

A small sound leaves Juniper’s mother’s mouth, and it tears Briar’s heart out. The best she can offer the woman in comfort is a brief look of pity before she turns her attention back to Juniper. “Well, now you never have to worry about that again. The odds might not have been in your favour, but there’s no way you’ll be reaped again.”

 

“I hope so.”  She grins, shuffling her frame closer to Briar’s. “Will you visit me more?”

 

“Would you like me to?”

 

Juniper nods excitedly. “Please.”

 

“Then I’ll be sure to speak to Eva and we can agree on a date for the next time.”

 

꘎♡━━━━━━━━━━━━━♡꘎

 

Using the speed dial feature on her phone, Johanna presses the 4 key and waits for her best friend to answer. A few rings pass. He’s probably stuffing his face, she thinks just as the line connects.

 

“Hey Jo.” Finnick’s voice chirps down the call. It’s one thing Johanna loves, she can call Finnick at any time, for any reason, and he will always be happy to speak to her.

 

“Hey Fishboy, how’s it going?”

 

“Alright,” he sighs. “Boat’s taking up a shit load of my spare time; I’m doing repairs and it’s exhausting and– actually, I don’t matter right now. How are you and Briar doing?”

 

“I’m good.” The words seem to echo in the brief pause that follows them, almost taunting Johanna. She’s fine, but she has no idea how her twin is. “Briar’s sort of shutting me out. Well not exactly, she is talking to me, but she won’t address the games or how she feels.”

 

“Give her time.” The words that leave Finnick’s mouth are exactly what she had expected them to be. He is always the rational voice she needs; whether she’s sad, or nervous, or panicking, Finnick always knows what to say to ground her again. “From everything you’ve told me about her, it sounds like sometimes she just needs to take time to herself. We could all visit, come remind her that she’s one of us now.”

 

“Maybe, just– not right now, please? Briar needs time to settle back in.”

 

“Alright, I’ll speak to everyone and we can look at coming for All Hallows’ Eve?”

 

“That would be great. Briar loves that day.”

 

“I think it’ll be good for her to get to know some of us a bit before her first time being a mentor,” explains Finnick. A small hum echoes through the speaker, and the man from Four takes it as a sign of the girl’s agreement. “She seems lovely.”

 

“She’s off limits, remember?”

 

Finnick can’t stop the laugh that leaves him. “I know,” he manages to say through chuckles. “But Johanna, I don’t even know her properly. If I want to pursue something after I know her, I’ll speak to you first.”

 

“I guess my mind might change by then…” she trails off.

 

“Success!” The older man almost shouts. “I’m taking that as a win, no take backs!”

 

“I revoke my words,” Johanna scoffs. “My sister needs a man, not a child.”

 

“Hey! I am a man!”

 

Johanna doesn’t need to see the man to know he’s likely pouting. “Stop that face.”

 

There’s a brief silence on the other end of the phone before Finnick mutters, “Fine, sorry.”

 

꘎♡━━━━━━━━━━━━━♡꘎

 

With trembling hands, Briar stares at the worn down wooden door ahead of her. That’s all she’s been doing for the past six minutes, just staring. She can’t bring herself to knock, to face Oakley’s mum. The woman would likely just slam the door in her face, and Briar wouldn’t blame her if she did. Briar didn’t protect her son. She failed Oakley, she failed his family.

 

Her fist clenches, but before she has the chance to lift her hand and knock, the door swings open and a tall brunette almost walks into her. “Oh– I– I’m sorry.” The woman pauses, looking down at her. It takes a few seconds, but her eyes widen in recognition. “Briar?”

 

Briar’s mouth moves slightly as she tries to find the words she wants to say. Eventually, she manages to utter, “I– I’ve been staring at your door for ages, trying to bring myself to knock. I don’t know if you even want to see me, so please feel free to tell me to fuck off if you want me out of your sight; I wouldn’t blame you. I hate myself for not saving Oakley, so God knows how you must feel towards me–”

 

“Briar,” the woman cuts her off, placing a gentle hand on Briar’s left arm. “I don’t hate you. You didn’t owe Oakley, me, or anyone anything. He is so little that I knew what would happen the second they announced him. I held him extra tight when I said goodbye, there was a reason for that.”

 

The newest victor doesn’t miss the way that the grieving mother still uses the present tense when talking about her son, unable to bring herself to fully admit that he’s gone out loud. Her heart aches and her stomach churns, so Briar does the only thing she thinks she can do to comfort someone. Briar lifts her arms and wraps them around the woman’s neck, pulling her into a tight embrace. 

 

“I’m so sorry,” she mumbles into the woman’s neck. “He was the most incredible young boy. I know I only knew him for a short amount of time, but he never failed to make me, Johanna, and Blight laugh.”

 

“He does have the greatest sense of humour.” Oakley’s mum laughs sadly as she hugs the smaller brunette back. As she pulls back, Briar notices the tears in the woman’s eyes that match her own. She feels selfish, mourning the boy in the way she is when his mother is hurting beyond her comprehension, but Briar came to love Oakley in the few weeks she knew him so she knows she’s allowed to be sad too. 

 

“Mrs Thorne, I was hoping you’d let me buy Oakley a headstone.”

 

“Briar, I can’t afford that. I wouldn’t be able to pay you back or–”

 

“I didn’t say anything about wanting to be paid back. Oakley deserves a stone at very least. Please.”

 

“Are you sure? I don’t want you to feel like you have an obligation to do this just because you survived.”

 

“I want to do this because it’s the least I can do for you and your family,” Briar reassures the older woman. “I also want you to know that if you, your partner, or any other children you might have, need anything, anything at all, just ask me and I promise you I will help.”

 

“We couldn’t possibly ask that of you.”

 

“You didn’t.” A small smile graces Briar’s lips. “I offered.”

 

Hesitation shines bright in the woman’s eyes, but after a few moments she nods. “Alright. It would be nice for his brothers to have a place where they can still be with him.”

 

“Oakley has brothers?” Guilt begins to gnaw at Briar’s insides as the reality of how little she actually knew about the young boy settles in. Regardless of how much he had touched her heart, the impact he had on her in such a short space of time, Briar barely knew anything about him.

 

“Three,” the woman confirms. “All younger than Oakley but just as amazing. Zacharias, he’s twelve, then there’s Lyndon who’s nine, and Alder who is seven.”

 

“I’d love to meet them one day, if that’s alright with you of course.”

 

“That would be really nice.”

 

“I’m sorry,” Briar frowns. “I have just realised I don’t even know your name.” 

 

The woman lets out a small laugh and squeezes Briar’s arm. “Ivy.”

 

Briar echoes the name. “Well, I will leave you to enjoy the rest of your day. Are you home sometime next week for me to organise a call with a Stonemason for the headstones?”

 

“Yes. I’ll be home all day Wednesday.” Ivy confirms, her eyes holding contact with Briar's own.

 

“Then I’ll see you Wednesday. Likely late morning or early afternoon.”

 

“Perfect.”

 

꘎♡━━━━━━━━━━━━━♡꘎

 

“Hello?” Briar speaks into the phone after lifting it to her ear. Having her own mobile phone, not just one dedicated to the house, was something she was still getting used to. Before Johanna was crowned victor, Briar had only ever seen the personal cellular devices on Capitol television programmes. When Johanna got one of her own she often let Briar use it, meaning she knows how to use it well. It’s just the idea of having her own one that the younger Mason twin finds baffling.

 

“Hey Briar, it’s Finnick.” They were the last words she was expecting to hear when she answered the call. Finnick Odair, Johanna’s best friend and the boy she had a crush on when she was eleven, is calling her.

 

“Hey, what’s up?”

 

“I just wanted to check up on you. I know these first few days and weeks after we win are the hardest. I also know that talking to someone that isn’t your family can be easier.”

 

Lying through her teeth has become second nature when it used to be something she avoided doing. She had always opted to be open and honest when her family and friends asked her questions, but lately it seemed easier to lie. Saying she was okay satiated them and that was the easiest option. “I’m fine.”

 

A deep chuckle echoes through the call, one that sends Briar’s heart racing. “Drop the bullshit with me. You may not want to open up to Johanna or your parents, but I can sense that lie a million miles away; I’ve told that lie countless times since I was fourteen, Briar.”

 

He’s just being kind because you’re Johanna’s sister, she reminds herself. “I don’t know how to put into words that everything scares me. How do I explain to my family that even walking through Seven alone puts a pit in my stomach that makes me want to throw up?”

 

“That’s fine, Briar. No one is expecting you to be able to express exactly how you’re feeling. Despite what they want us to believe, killing people isn’t normal and our reactions are valid. You have every right to be scared, and sad, and to have any other emotion you might be feeling because the games are terrifying.”

 

A long and slow exhale passes Briar’s lips, and for a few fleeting moments she isn’t sure what she should say. Finnick’s words give her some form of comfort, although it’s not the same type of comfort she’s been used to growing up. His words make her feel seen, understood even. “Thank you. I appreciate it.”

 

“Anytime.”

 

“Finnick?”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“Would it be alright if I called you when I needed to talk? I don’t want to burden Johanna with it all.”

 

“Oh, and you’d happily burden me?” 

 

Finnick’s tone proves he’s joking, but Briar still panics slightly. “I’m sorry, I–”

 

“Briar,” he chuckles, “I’m kidding. You call me anytime of day, alright? I’m always here for you.”

 

“Right. Thank you, Finnick. I mean it.”

 

“Anything for the Masons.”

 

“I went to see Oakley’s mum…”

 

“Oakley? Your district partner, right?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“How’d it go?” Finnick asks tentatively.

 

“Really well, actually. I’m ordering a headstone for them and for Willow’s family.”

 

“That’s really sweet of you, Briar. I’m sure they’ll appreciate it more than they’ll ever be able to articulate. You’re giving them somewhere that they can talk to their children, somewhere they can feel like they’re with them again.”

 

“That’s my hope.”

 

“You are an incredible woman, Briar Mason. A whole lot of people could learn from you leading them.”

 

Leading? I don’t want to lead anyone, I’d be useless.

 

“No one needs someone like me leading them. No one would want me leading them.”

 

“I think you’d be surprised, Briar.”

 

“I’d be useless. I can barely motivate myself to do stuff half the time, how would I motivate other people to do stuff?”

 

“By being you. I know you probably can’t see it yourself, but you’re a remarkable person.”

 

“Are you flirting with me, Finnick Odair?”

 

“What if I was, Briar Mason?”

 

Those words have something stirring in Briar’s stomach, and forces a blush to cover her cheeks. The feeling is foreign, and she reminds herself that he’s likely just being nice. “Shut it, moron.”

Chapter 16: ☆15☆

Since the Mason twins became eligible for the games, they’ve both competed in the match to the death. They’ve also lost someone they knew to them. They were all twelve when Willow Jeffrey was reaped for the games; as the eldest of six kids, she took Tesserae for all of them plus her parents the second she could. Her mum and dad struggled after they lost Willow, and this was obvious to the entire district. Ultimately, it led to her siblings being placed in a group home to keep them safe. It was across the other side of Seven though, so Briar hasn’t seen her siblings since. As for Willow’s parents, they isolated themselves so no one really knows how they’re doing.

Regardless of the lack of contact with her family, Briar and Johanna still hold a special place in their hearts for Willow, so they agreed to cover the cost of her headstone. Briar is personally covering the cost of Oakley’s headstone, too. And that is how she’s ended up on the phone to Cato Hadley from District 2.

“Well you’ve got different options for the materials. Marble is obviously a very pretty choice visually, but requires a lot of maintenance because of the weather. Slate is quite a good option because it’s resilient… at least that’s what the Stonemason has written down in the notes he gave me. Wood’s a choice but– wait I can’t tell if he’s being serious about that or if he’s just said Wood because you’re from Seven. Limestone is a very traditional choice, but again that will need upkeep because of the weather. We recommend Granite because it holds up well despite the weather, comes in varying colours, and can be carved.”

“Wood is a serious option, Cato. They’re quite popular here in Seven for those that can afford them.”

“But you can make those yourself, what do you need us for?”

“I didn’t say I’m picking Wood. I just let you know it was in fact an option, and he wasn’t just joking. For the one for the girl I’ll pick Granite. For the boy’s one, I’ll have to let the Stonemason know when he calls later; I’ll be with Oakley’s mum and she should be the one to make those choices.”

It’s hard to miss the way Cato’s breath hitches as he hears Oakley’s name. Even if they only had very limited interaction, Cato loved the younger boy. “You’re… you’re doing it for Oakley?”

There’s a small pause before Briar hums, “yeah. His family deserve that at very least.”

“Well I’m sure they’ll love it. Do you know what details you want on the girl’s headstone?”

The pair spend the next ten minutes confirming every small detail for Willow’s headstone. Everything from colour to size to carvings are discussed, confirmed, and triple checked before Cato sends the information to the Stonemason, then the pair decide to remain on the phone for a while.

“So how’s life going in Seven?”

Briar laughs softly, “it’s going good. How about in Two?”

“All’s fine here. I think a few of us were looking at coming to see you.”

“Wait, what? Why?”

“Because you can’t travel yet, but it’d be nice for us to see you again before your Victory Tour.”

“Right… that makes sense.”

Cato lets out a noise that half sounds like a tut. “You could sound a bit more excited about it; we’re not that bad.”

“Really?” Briar scoffs. “From what Johanna’s told me you’re all nightmares.”

A gasp sounds down the speaker and Briar has to bite her lip to hold back her laughter. “Well she’s lying! We’re all delightful.”

“Anyone who needs to say they’re delightful probably isn’t.”

“It’s almost as if you don’t want friends, Briar Mason.”

More laughter reverberates from Briar, and she’s thankful for the distraction from all the sound that’s occupying her brain lately. She truly believes that she and Cato could be very close just based on their interactions so far; she’s incredibly comfortable talking to him, and he’s easy to like. Maybe he’s even easy to love. “Fine. You’re welcome to visit whenever you want. I’ll even let you stay in my house.”

“Awww,” coos the man down the phone. “Do I get cuddles too?”

“Only if we’re both naked.”

“Wait until you’re eighteen, Briar.” There’s a long pause following Cato’s words, then the both of them burst into a chorus of laughter. They’re both equally as glad that the other understood the sarcasm in the conversation and ran with it.

Once they’ve both calmed down, Briar asks, “hey Cato, can I ask something?”

“Shoot, mini Mason.”

“Do you guys feel obligated to be my friend because I’m Johanna’s sister?” Before the words have fully finished leaving her mouth, Briar knows how utterly stupid they sound. But her curiosity gets the better of her and she needs to know the answer.

“No.” Cato responds hastily. “Obviously it helps, we have a common link, but it’s not the reason we want to get to know you. I get that it must be confusing, but to put it bluntly if I didn’t want to be your friend I wouldn’t be. No point in wasting my breath.”

“Okay,” the brunette lets out a sigh of relief. “That makes me feel better.”

“Is that a genuine concern of yours?”

“Yeah.”

“Well it’s a stupid one. You’re funny, Briar. And you seem like a decent person so far.”

“Thank you, Cato. I appreciate it.”

꘎♡━━━━━━━━━━━━━♡꘎

“Briar, please just speak to me. Or, if not me, speak to Mum or Dad.” Johanna has had enough. She despises that Briar has cut her off, that her little sister won’t talk about her feelings after experiencing the arena. She’s tried, she’s waited, she’s given her time and space and nothing is working. Now, over two months since she watched her twin win the games, Johanna is at her wit’s end. Begging Briar to talk may not be the smartest option, but Johanna feels like it’s the only one left to try.

“I’m fine, Jo. I don’t need to talk to anyone.”

The dismissal fuels the fire inside Johanna further. “No. You’re not,” she snaps. “You forget that I’ve been there, Little Bird. I know what it’s like after the games, I know that the horrors you’ve seen play over and over in your head; that they keep you awake even though you’re exhausted and all you want to do is sleep for days. I shut everyone out, remember? I saw you every single day, but you knew something was off and you kept coming to me. You kept trying and kept proving you were there until I was ready to talk and that’s what I’m going to do for you. You don’t need to go through this alone, Briar.”

The lights on the ceiling reflect a small glint off of the tears that have formed in the younger Mason’s eyes, and Johanna feels her heart tighten. She doesn’t move to hug Briar, instead she waits for Briar to want contact, to want her to be there.

“Jo, you don’t need to relive your own traumas just because I’m sad.”

“Then speak to Dad. He’s always happy to listen to you and what’s going on with you.”

Running her hands over her face, Briar lets out a throaty growl. “I can’t! I can’t unload everything on him and Mum, they don’t deserve that.”

Johanna moves and sits beside Briar on the couch. Cautiously, she places her hand on Briar’s knee and rubs the exposed skin there. “Briar, you wouldn’t be burdening anyone if you spoke to us about it all. We love you. All we care about is you having a healthy way to cope with the things you saw, the things you experienced. The games are horrifying, no one is denying that, especially not me, but just because I’ve been through it too doesn’t mean I’m not going to be there for you. You’re my sister, Briar, my twin. I want to be the person you come to with things like this.”

There’s a few moments of silence between the two before a strangled sob leaves Briar’s throat. Johanna looks up to see the tears pouring down her sister’s cheeks, and in that moment all she wants is to make Snow suffer. Not a small amount; she wants Snow to suffer agonisingly for the rest of his miserable life. Briar moves and it pulls Johanna out of her anger. Johanna opens her arms as Briar’s smaller frame curls into hers before she wraps them around her and holds her close. Only the sound of Briar’s sobs and Johanna’s quiet reassurances fill the large living room for what feels like an eternity.

“I don’t know how to make the memories less loud,” Briar stutters through broken sobs and sniffles. “Over and over all I can see is that girl killing Roscoe and taunting him in his last moments. Or the faces of every kid I killed, how scared they looked in the second before the lights left their eyes. I’m a murderer, Jo.”

“No. You’re not. You’re a kid who was forced to kill other kids for the entertainment of sick and twisted adults with too much privilege and power. You didn’t want to kill them, you didn’t seek them out and take them down for sport, you did it so you could see me and Mum and Dad again.”

“I chose to be there.”

“So that a twelve year old little girl didn’t have to be. I love my friends from One and Two, hell even those from Four count in this, but you didn’t volunteer for glory or fame. You did it so a little girl got to keep living her life.”

“No good deed goes unpunished I suppose.” Briar mutters, her fingernails digging harshly into her palms.

“I will do everything in my power to help you get through this, Briar. Whether that’s spending every night here until the nightmares slow down just so that you’ve got someone to help you through them, or letting you cry into my shoulder every single day, or smashing things up in one of our basements and screaming at the top of our lungs to let every spec of frustration out. I will be by your side every moment of it. Because you’re my sister, and you did it for me two years ago.” As Briar pulls back and wipes her eyes, Johanna stands up. “Right, I’m going to make you a tea, then we are going to watch those trashy Capitol TV shows you love all night. Then I’m staying here all night.”

Just before Johanna makes it to the kitchen Briar calls out her name and she turns back to her sister. She hums to acknowledge the girl and Briar gives her a sad smile. “Thank you, Jo. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

For the first time since before that year’s games began, Briar and Johanna spend the entire day together. The twins stay on the couch into the night, watching films and talking about any topic their minds can conjure that doesn’t involve the games or the Capitol. When it comes close to midnight, they head into Briar’s bedroom and settle down for the night. It’s a few hours later when Johanna stirs to Briar’s voice, “No… leave him alone.”

The older of the two sisters pushes herself up until she’s lent against the plush headboard. The lack of sleep she’s had so far has her eyes straining and her head pounding, but her health is the least of her concerns when Briar is struggling next to her. Her stomach churns more at Briar’s mumbles of, “mmmmm… no, stop.”

“Briar,” Johanna coos quietly, running her fingers through her sister’s hair in an attempt to calm her in her sleeping state. “Briar, wake up. Come on, you n–”

The rest of her words are cut off by her younger sister’s panicked half-scream. Her limbs flail around as she tries to fight off the threats that are haunting her dreams, her body thrashing back and forth on the bed. Johanna shakes her more, her brows furrowing as she watches Briar in fear knowing she’s been going through this alone for weeks since coming home. Briar darts up, her fingers curling tightly around the sheet below her, panting and trying to stop her eyes from darting around and looking for danger. “I’m– I’m s-so sorry.”

“You don’t need to apologise,” Johanna whispers gently. “You don’t need to apologise, it’s okay. You’re safe. I’m here with you, we’re at home.”

“She was going to get him.” Briar’s voice is shaky, and it pains Johanna to hear. “She was going to get Roscoe.”

“It’s over, Briar. She can’t hurt him or you anymore.” Briar manages to withhold a flinch as Johanna moves and brings her into an embrace; she knows Johanna will never hurt her, but the idea of anyone touching her whilst she’s trying to calm down makes her feel physically sick.

“Jo?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you for being here.” Briar sighs.

Johanna squeezes her closer, “always. I love you.”

꘎♡━━━━━━━━━━━━━♡꘎

It’s early in the morning and Briar and Johanna are sitting at the kitchen table chatting over breakfast when a knock at the front door pulls their attention. Briar isn’t expecting any visitors apart from Cato, but he isn’t due until later in the day and even without knowing him well Briar knows that he isn’t the type of person who arrives to anything early. Johanna hides it well, but the sound fills her with dread and her first thought is that someone from the Capitol is here to start selling her sister before she’s even had the chance to warn her.

“I thought Cato wasn’t getting here until later? Are you expecting someone else?”

Briar shakes her head vehemently, “no. No one else has told me they’re coming.”

“I’ll get it,” Johanna blurts, standing up and striding towards the front door before Briar has the chance to protest. Cautiously, Johanna leans forward and moves her eye closer to the peep hole. Once her vision focuses on the figure on the other side of the door she lets out a deep breath of relief and swings the door open, “Enobaria, you scared the shit out of us.”

A hearty laugh echoes through the house, and the beautiful victor from Two with the pointed teeth walks into the house. Briar is floored by the sheer beauty of the woman; she’s met her once before, but they hadn’t had much interaction so this is the first time she’s really been able to take the woman in. Her hair is slicked back into a tight and high ponytail that accentuates her sharp features perfectly. The outfit she has on is ordinary, consisting of simple black jeans, a red top, and a jacket, but somehow she has effortlessly made it elevated and elegant. She is the epitome of perfection, and Briar is in awe of her.

“Briar,” Enobaria grins as she approaches the girl, her teeth glinting in a cartoon-ish manner under the lights. “It’s so good to see you again.”

Briar smiles and wraps her arms around the older woman as she’s pulled into a hug. Each time she interacts with another victor, her deep rooted insecurity of only being liked through Johanna is broken down and removed a little bit more. The subtle scent of shea butter overtakes her and gives her an odd sense of calm and in that second Briar knows she’s safe with Enobaria. “It’s nice to see you too. How have you been?”

“Same old,” Enobaria chuckles, sitting in one of the spare seats at the table. “Life’s boring between games; we just go straight into training the tributes ready for the next year. But, how have you been?”

“Fine.”

Johanna tuts. “You don’t need to lie to her, Briar.”

Enobaria gives a pointed look, and Briar slumps further back into her chair. “Fine. I’m not doing the best. The nightmares are a lot to deal with.”

The older Mason twin rejoins the table and continues to eat her food whilst Briar and Enobaria continue to talk.

“Yeah I get it. We’ve all been there and we know what it’s like. I won’t try and diminish your experiences at all, but just know that you’re always welcome to speak to me.”

Briar gives the woman a warm smile. “Thank you, I appreciate it.” As she finishes speaking, Briar takes another mouthful of food.

“Seeing as my sister hasn’t bothered to offer, would you like a drink or anything to eat, ‘Baria?”

“I’m fine; I ate on the train. But thank you.”

The trio continue to converse over their breakfast, Enobaria updating the girls on some information she had overheard in the Capitol. Briar tries to seem interested in the gossip, but with limited knowledge on anyone in the Capitol, or how the city functions as a whole, it’s fairly useless to her and ends up going in one ear and out the other. Despite this, she keeps a smile on her face throughout the conversation so that she doesn’t seem rude or disinterested; it may not be the first time she’s meeting Enobaria, but she still considers this her first impression on the woman.

There is something about the way that the woman from Two holds herself, presents herself, that has Briar entirely fascinated. She speaks with a beautiful poise and successfully manages to hold her cool demeanour even when discussing something that invokes negative feelings or experiences, and the younger Mason twin can’t help but admire her for it and take mental notes. If Briar can act even half like Enobaria in the Capitol, she might just survive.

“I have a question,” Briar says during an appropriate pause in their chat.

Enobaria turns to her and inclines her head. “What’s up, Birdy?”

The nickname takes Briar by surprise and she lets out an airy laugh. “Birdy?” She questions.

“Your family calls you Little Bird, right? That’s what Johanna said. So I’ll call you Birdy; that way it’s familiar but not copying them.”

Enobaria snorts as Briar’s head tilts slightly whilst she considers the nickname then shrugs. “I like it. Anyway, I was going to ask about Cato.”

“Cato?” Both the women query.

“Yeah… like he’s taken, right?”

Enobaria pinches the bridge of her nose and rolls her eyes. “God, please don’t tell me you’re into him too!”

A heat rises to Briar’s cheeks and she furiously shakes her head. “No! No, absolutely not. Besides, he’s with Satin even if I was I wouldn’t act on it. I just wanted to ask about him and Satin; they’re cute together.”

Enobaria opens her mouth, ready to either laugh at the absurdity of the comment or to debunk it, but Johanna gives her a look that says ‘shut up, agree, and I’ll explain later’ so she closes her mouth again and makes it look like she’s thinking. After a few moments, she plasters on a smile that reflects fake fondness, “yeah, they’re together. I think it’s been over a year now. Cato’s a moron otherwise they’d have been together a lot sooner.”

“How’d you mean?”

“Just that he was so afraid she didn’t like him back, and so afraid she was out of his league, that he put off asking her for ages. Don’t get me wrong, she is out of his league, but at least he grew some balls and asked.”

“I remember the night he finally convinced himself to do it,” Johanna nods, “it took us a fair few drinks to get his courage up enough.”

“Yeah and it was my job to clean up those drinks when they came back up the next morning. The smell of Sambuca still makes me gag.”

“Anyone who drinks Sambuca deserves to throw up.” Enobaria looks at Briar with a raised eyebrow. “What? Just because I wasn’t a victor until this year doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy the perks through Johanna the past two years. She used to get us and our friends drinks and we’d sit in her house drinking all night.”

“No parties?” Enobaria winks.

“Uh… nope,” Briar smiles awkwardly. “I’m not that cool.”

“Well just wait; you’re a victor now, you’ll be invited to loads. And you’ll get a shit load of new friends.”

“I don’t want new friends. They wouldn’t be real friends anyway, they’d just want me because I’m a victor.”

“You’re a smart one, Birdy.”

Johanna leans forward, linking her hands together and smirks. “I’m surprised you haven’t asked about Finnick yet.”

“I was eleven!” Briar whines, covering her face with her hands. Enobaria and Johanna both laugh at the girl, the older Mason poking her twin’s ribs teasingly.

“Aww,” the woman from Two goads. “Don’t be embarrassed, Briar; Finnick’s a sweetheart.”

“I liked him during his games. He’s Johanna’s best friend, and I don’t like him like that anymore.”

“That’s bullshit and everyone knows it,” Johanna nudges her sister. “Don’t get me wrong, you dating my best friend wouldn’t be my ideal situation, but I wouldn’t stand in the way if you both wanted it.”

“I won’t deny that I find him attractive. He’s an objectively attractive guy, but I don’t know him.”

The tone in Enobaria’s voice when she sing-songs, “you can get to know him,” makes Briar blush even deeper.

“Oh my– Enobaria!”

“You made it dirty, not me!” Once Briar has calmed down, Enobaria asks, “So who else do you find attractive?”

“You seriously want me to list them off?”

“Absolutely!”

Johanna groans, “Enobaria.”

“What?” She laughs. “I want the gossip.”

“Fine. Briar go on.”

“Uh… Gloss, Augustus, that one guy from Six, uh–”

“Does she mean Aston?” Enobaria laughs, looking at Johanna.

“Yep, she’s talking about Verstappen.”

“Okay fine… Gloss, Augustus, Aston, Finnick obviously, Blight’s attractive I suppose, Haymitch in a weird sort of way–”

“Haymitch?” Enobaira half shouts as she and Johanna start to laugh. “I guess it’s safe to say you’re the straight twin and Jo is the one that bats for the other team.”

Before Briar can stop herself, she puts on a bewildered look and moves her head to look at Enobaria. “Johanna’s gay?”

The colour drains from Enobaria’s face entirely, and her mouth moves without any noise leaving it for a while before she looks to Johanna and blurts, “I’m so sorry I thought she knew, I–”

“Briar, stop winding her up!”

“Oh you bitch!” Enobaria swats Briar’s upper arm. “You scared me, I thought I outed her!”

“Sorry, I couldn’t help myself,” Briar manages to utter through her laughter. Once she’s caught her breath and stopped laughing, Briar looks at Enobaria and smiles. “Also, yes I think Cato is attractive too.”

The doorbell ringing cuts their conversation short, and Briar quickly excuses herself to see who else has arrived. “Speak of the Devil and he shall appear,” Briar giggles after opening the door.

“Why are you talking about me and with who, mini Mason?” Cato asks as he and Briar make their way into the dining room.

Enobaria takes this as the perfect opportunity to get back at the young brunette from Seven. “Briar was just telling us how she thinks you’re attractive.”

“Context, you vicious little vampire.” Briar hisses jokingly.

Cato bursts out laughing at Briar’s insult to his friend and mentor. “Vampire?”

“Yeah, y’know– ‘cause of the teeth.”

“I love that, I’m using tha–”

“No you’re not.” Enobaria snaps. “Cato if you ever call me that I promise you I’ll have you on Shower duty forever.”

Cato gasps, “you wouldn’t!”

“Oh yes I would.”

“You don’t have that power.”

“Don’t I?”

The blonde man pouts as he sits down. “Fine, I won’t call you it.”

“Good. Anyway, Briar was just listing off the victors that she thinks are attractive.”

“Because you guys asked, I wasn’t just doing it for no reason.” Cato being there reminds Briar of the fact that the headstones are ready, so she asks him, “when did you want to head out?”

“The headstones are in the truck, so just whenever you’re ready.” It had taken a couple months for Cato’s brother to source the correct materials and get them made to the requested specifications, but Briar and the families of the children they’re for didn’t mind waiting. They would be perfect, and that was all that mattered.

“Are you doing Oakley’s first?”

Briar nods in response to her sister’s question. “Yeah, then we’re going to come back and get you before going to do Willow’s.”

“Thanks. I’ll stay with 'Baria until then, then we can all go to Willow’s together.”

“Sounds good to me.”

“Alright then, mini Mason. Let's go.”

꘎♡━━━━━━━━━━━━━♡꘎

After collecting Oakley’s mum, Cato drives her and Briar to the cemetery. The two women remain in the van to stay warm whilst Cato heads over to the burial site and begins to install the marble stone. Despite it being August, there’s a chill in the air that brings the mood of an already dark day down even further so Briar tries her best to keep the woman talking and distracted.

“Do Oakley’s brothers know this is happening?”

“No,” she mumbles, pulling at the bottom of her shirt. “I want to surprise them with it after school. They’ve struggled since we lost him, but I’ve explained it to them the best I can and they’re trying their best.”

“Is there anything I can do for you or them?”

The grieving mother shakes her head as tears pool along her waterlines. “We’ll be alright, but thank you. This is already more than enough; you’ve given us a place where we can be with him again.”

“I want to help you all as much as I can.”

“And let me tell you this,” she turns to face Briar more fully and holds the young girl’s hands. “I will forever be thankful for you… for this.”

“I said it before and I’ll say it a thousand more times if I have to, it was the least I could do.”

A little while later a small tap against the glass draws the women out of their conversation, and both their heads turn to see the source of the noise. Cato is standing on the other side of the van door dusting the remnants of mud off his hands and onto his jacket. Both the women laugh at the drawn out finger trails left in the wake of his actions, and Cato looks puzzled for a fleeting moment before he clocks the dirt and rolls his eyes at himself. Briar rolls down the window before pulling her jacket tighter around herself whilst Cato states, “it’s ready. You can head on over.”

“Thanks,” Briar acknowledges before turning to her fallen tribute partner’s mother. “Would you like to be alone for this? Cato and I can wait here.”

“Don’t be silly. You did this. And you love him, you deserve to see it too.”

With that, the two women climb out of the van and make their way over to where Oakley was laid to rest a few weeks prior. The mood shifts instantly, but it’s not uncomfortable; it’s just sad. The kind of sadness that overtakes your body entirely and makes your heart ache. Briar misses Oakley, and she can’t even begin to fathom how much pain his mum must be in. The thought of losing anyone she loves terrifies the girl from Seven, let alone losing your eldest child.

As they reach the gravesite, Oakley’s mum tries to suppress a strangled sob but it’s loud enough for Briar to hear. “It looks beautiful,” Briar comments.

“It really does,” she gushes despite the tears now slowly cascading down her face. “Thank you so much.”

“Stop thanking me,” the younger girl whispers as she holds the woman’s hand for support.

“It’s perfect. I never thought I’d be able to get him one.”

“Well now he’s got one, that’s all that matters.”

Briar looks to the boy’s mum and sees that her eyes are still filled with tears but they’re no longer spilling over onto her cheeks. Despite the pain shining in her eyes, the woman has a smile on her face and Briar knows it’s because her incredible son has a final resting spot as perfect as he was.

꘎♡━━━━━━━━━━━━━♡꘎

Grasping warm mugs of tea in their hands, Cato and Briar sit side by side in Briar’s bed with a cosy blanket over their legs. The day had been long and tiring, and Cato felt emotionally drained even though he didn’t really know the two kids so he can only begin to imagine how Briar feels. If the dark circles that are forming under her eyes are any indication, Cato thinks Briar is going to fall asleep very quickly tonight, and sleep like the dead. “How are you feeling?”

Briar looks up at him as she sips her tea. “Today was hard, I won’t deny that. But it was the right thing for their parents.”

Briefly turning to place his mug on the bedside table, Cato nods to show his understanding. “Most people wouldn’t have done that, you know? They’d be sad, remember their tribute partner or friend or whoever they lost, but just move on.”

“No one in Two has ever…” Briar trails off.

“The Academy hosts their funerals, covers the costs too. It’s a big thing we have to honour them and the commitment they put into their training; it’s our way of paying back to them for their giving the ultimate sacrifice for their district.”

“So… it’s an honour thing for you guys? I don’t mean to sound like a bitch but I always just assumed that you did it for the fame associated with being a tribute and victor.”

Cato chuckles, the sound feeling so foreign coming from someone so brute-ish. “Some people do, there’s no denying that, but for the most of us we’ve been raised knowing that we can show how proud we are to be from Two. I was enrolled in the Academy at eight, and from that moment it was instilled in me that I would be a victor, a Peacekeeper, or dead. I don’t have any interest in being a Peacekeeper, and as much as I joke about it I don’t actually want to die, so being a victor was my ideal option. I don’t recall a year where we haven’t had a volunteer, and that means everyone can take as much Tesserae as they need without fear of being reaped.”

“It’s a smart system; it sucks that not every district has the facilities to implement it.”

Seeing the hint of sadness gleaming in the newest victor’s eyes, Cato frowns. He moves to put his arm around her shoulders and pulls her in closer to his body. “You’ve got a good heart, kiddo.”

Laughing, Briar shoves Cato playfully before faking a scowl. “Don’t call me kiddo.”

“Sorry, mini Mason.”

“You know what annoys me the most?”

Cato looks down at her with a smirk and lifts a brow. “What’s that?”

“That you give really good fucking cuddles. I was hoping you would be shit so I’d have something else to wind you up with but I guess not.” Tickling his fingers up and down her sides, Cato smiles as Briar screeches out in laugher. “Cato, stop!”

“Not until you say sorry for that.”

“Fine! Fine, I’m sorry.”

As the words of her apology meet his ears, Cato stops his actions and pulls her closer again. “Good.”

The feeling she’s getting being with Cato is something that Briar has only ever experienced with one other person. With Cato, it just feels right; they click like they’re meant to be together. She could never see herself dating the man, but she’s certain they’re going to be best friends, the person each of them goes to for any kind of support. Cato being her person doesn’t sound like the worst thing.

“Right, do you want to watch something before we sleep?”

The blonde man debates it for a second, but then hums a no. “I’d rather just talk for a bit longer. But then I want that cuddle you promised me.”

“The naked one?”

Briar’s eyes widen in shock and Cato barks out a laugh. “No, you moron! I knew you were joking about that bit. I just want a normal one.”

“Yeah that’s probably for the best… I don’t want my naked body anywhere near yours.”

A melodramatic, whistling gasp sounds from her side and Briar bursts out laughing as Cato says, “what is wrong with my naked body?”

“I don’t know because I’ve never seen it,” she splutters through small giggles. “And I never want to.”

“That makes two of us.”

“That explains why you look like shit,” she goads.

“Huh?”

“Well if that makes two of us like you just said, you must never look in the mirror. Hence you looking like shit.” Her wink conveys to him that she’s joking, so he ruffles her hair and pulls her closer, ready to tease her all night like she’s doing with him.

꘎♡━━━━━━━━━━━━━♡꘎

Once they’ve fully woken up and eaten breakfast, Briar and Cato head across town in the direction of the girl’s parent’s house. The brunette had mentioned over their meal that she plays piano, and now the blonde man from Two is determined to hear her play at least one song before he leaves. She had agreed, but only with the condition that if she does he will visit her more before her Victory Tour. He had agreed… happily. The way he’s grown close to the girl in such a short time means a lot to him, even if he hasn’t told her that yet.

Cato spends most of the walk admiring the views whilst they converse; the sheer amount of trees increases the further from the square that they get and he swears he’s never seen such green trees in his entire life. The birds that roam the skies of Seven also swoop down to the floor, pecking at even the tiniest crumbs that have been dropped on the floor the day before. The birds in Two aren’t nearly as brave as that; they stay in the skies or trees, away from the heavy footfall of Peacekeepers.

“Why aren’t your birds in the trees?” Cato questions before he can stop the words leaving his mouth.

Briar looks at him with a bewildered expression, “what?”

“Birds live in trees, Briar. Why are yours on the floor?”

“Cato, sweetie, birds come to the ground to get scraps of food or worms too.”

“Not in Two, they don’t.”

“Oh… well they do here,” she nods. “We get a lot of birds here. Stall owners have a hard time keeping them off the food during market season.”

“That must be annoying,” the blonde comments.

It takes a further ten minutes for them to reach Briar’s parents’ house, and when they do Briar forgoes knocking, and instead walks straight inside.

“Who’s there?”

Briar can’t help but smile as her mum’s voice calls out. “It’s just me, Ember.”

Cato watches as a woman, an almost perfect blend of both Briar and Johanna, walks out of what he presumes is the kitchen and into the hall to greet them. “And who is this, Little Bird?”

“Mum, this is Cato.”

Ember walks to the man and pulls him into a hug. “It’s lovely to meet you, dear.”

“You too,” he pauses before looking at Briar with an eyebrow raised. “You call your mother by her first name?”

The brunette shrugs, “sometimes. It really just depends on what comes out of my mouth that day.”

“I don’t mind,” her mum adds. “Johanna does it too sometimes.”

“Anyway, mum, Cato wants to hear me play… Do you mind?”

“Of course not. Your father’s in there, he’ll love to hear you playing again.”

The pair of victors move through to the living room whilst Briar’s mum returns to the kitchen. Inside, Briar’s dad is sitting on their small, worn out, couch reading a book. Quietly, with a level of stealth that scares Cato, Briar moves so she’s crouching beside the man before wetting the end of her finger and sticking it into his ear. He lets out a loud, disgruntled yelp and shoots up. “Urgh, Briar!”

The melodic sound of Briar’s laugh echoes throughout the house, the lack of decor making it bounce off the walls more than usual. The blonde man from Two can’t prevent the wide smile that forms on his lips as he notes that it’s the first genuine smile she’s had since he arrived. Briar’s dad pulls his youngest daughter into his lap and runs his hands through her hair carefully. “Is this your boyfriend, Little Bird?”

Cato’s heart stops. He cannot recall a moment in his entire life where he has felt this overwhelmingly awkward. Laughing at the idea of dating someone he sees as a best friend and little sister could offend her, or even worse her dad, and the Masons would hate him without a second thought. But then Briar bursts into laughter and Cato instantly relaxes.

“Y-you– you think–” Briar utters through her giggles. “Heck no! No offence, Cato.”

“None taken,” he shakes his head dismissively. “You’re like a sister to me.”

“Aw, yay, I’ve always wanted a brother.”

“And your mother and I have told you,” Ash retorts as Briar stands up from his lap, “you and Johanna were more than enough for us to handle already.”

“Yeah yeah. If I’m that much to handle then you evidently want to leave the room whilst I play for Cato.”

“No!” Ash blurts. “No. I love hearing you play.”

“That’s what I thought,” the younger Mason twin smirks triumphantly and moves so she’s seated at the piano.

Cato takes notice of the way the old stool creaks as she sits, likely from the rotting of the wood it’s made from. He makes a mental note to ask Johanna what materials are used in it and the piano so he can look at buying her a new stool as a solstice gift. The thought is resigned to a deep part of his mind and he focuses his attention on Briar who has now lifted the cover and is letting her fingers ghost over the keys. Her eyes are closed and she’s gently humming to herself; she seems so comfortable at the piano, like it’s her second home. Like it’s where she belongs.

“She hums to remind herself of notes,” Ash’s voice is quiet as he addresses Cato. The older man pats the cushion beside him, and Cato quickly follows his instructions and sits. “I love watching her play.”

“She’s your baby, and she seems comfortable playing. Of course you love it.”

Their conversation is cut short as the sound of the piano cuts through the room. Both men’s heads snap up to look at Briar whilst she plays a beautiful and elegant song that Cato has never heard, but Ash has heard a thousand times. Cato listens as Briar plays each note perfectly, not missing a single beat and not having a single missed or wrong note. She’s changed. Her entire demeanour has shifted, her shoulders that were slightly too tense are now relaxed, she’s sat up straight and proud, and she looks happy. She is happy.

When the song comes to an end, and Briar’s nimble fingers have stopped their movements, Cato can’t help but clap. “That was beautiful.”

“Thank you.”

“You know she taught herself how to play,” Ash boasts, a beaming smile on his face. “She learned by remembering the bird songs from the woods. When I got her this piano, she’d come home from every shift she came on with me and practiced until she had them perfected. Now, she just listens to a song a few times and can basically replicate it with ease.”

“Dad,” Briar whines, her cheeks turning a light shade of pink with the blush that forces its way to the surface. “Stop boasting about me.”

“Why? You’re an excellent player and I will never tire of hearing you play.”

“I have to agree with him, Briar,” Cato smiles. “You’re incredible. Do you know Swan Lake?”

She thinks for a moment, her mouth scrunching slightly to the left as she does. “I don’t think I’ve heard of that one.”

“From the ballet?”

“We don’t get much theatre here, Cato. And even if we did, we don’t exactly have the money for those luxuries. But if I hear the song a few times I can give it a shot.”

“When we’re in the Capitol for your Victory Tour, I’ll play it for you and you can try when you’re home.”

“Sounds good– Wait, Cato, why do you know songs from ballets?”

“Uh–” It’s Cato’s turn to blush, and Briar grins. “No reason.”

“Is it because of a certain Miss Nicholo?”

“Pfft– No.”

The sheepish tone to Cato’s voice makes Briar laugh softly. “Okay, sure.”

“She’s a ballerina; of course I know Swan Lake.”

“I’m not teasing,” Briar holds her hands up. “I think it’s cute.”

“Of course you would.”

꘎♡━━━━━━━━━━━━━♡꘎

The call had come the day prior. One of President Snow’s workers had informed her that her pre team would be arriving at eight in the morning to prepare her first look, and that a photography team from the Capitol would be set up ready for their arrival in the woods. Today is the day her victory photos will be taken. No one has bothered to inform her what style they’re aiming for, what she’ll be wearing, or even how long it is going to take, but Briar knows better than to kick up a fuss about that; kicking up a fuss would just get her in more trouble than it’s worth. Instead of letting her anger come out verbally, the brunette from Seven started the morning by having a cup of tea, then showering and drying her hair so her prep team have a fresh canvas to work on when they get to her home.

She’s lounging on the couch, half watching the Capitol news, when her front door swings open. “You should really have your door locked, little one,” Lysa chirps as she, Florah and Meri walk through the door.

Briar stands up and walks over to greet them, hugging them all and leaving Lysa for last. “And you shouldn’t just let yourself into other people’s houses, Lysa.”

“Touché,” the older woman snorts slightly as she laughs. “Come on, we have some beautiful looks for you today.”

The girl grimaces as a thought crosses her mind. “They said my photoshoot is in the woods. Please don’t tell me I’m a tree.”

The trio of brightly coloured Capitol citizens laugh at the girl’s concern, shaking their heads in a dismissive manner. Meri holds the girl’s hand supportively, leading her towards the dining room table. “No, you’re not going to be a tree. We have a range of outfits for you, but none of them even slightly resemble wood or bark.”

“Thank goodness.”

Preparing Briar for the photoshoot takes almost two full hours. Her ass is numb, she’s dying for another tea, and her face feels like someone’s lathered paint over it, but by the end of it she looks like the picture of purity and perfection that the Capitol wants her to be. Her prep team had filled her in on the missing details that had been plaguing her thoughts; her photoshoot would be District Seven centric to make her feel more relatable, like the girl next door. They said that President Snow favoured the concept of a whimsy woodland theme for her victory photos over a full blown glamour shoot because of how Briar had portrayed herself during her time in the Capitol. Briar had proved herself to the citizens that she was selfless and slightly naive, so they wanted to keep her looking young and innocent for the posters of her that will be plastered on screens, billboards, and posters all over Panem.

“You look absolutely devine,” Florah beams as she fiddles with small bits of the girl’s hair to ensure it sits perfectly. “Your hair has grown a lot in only a couple of months.”

Briar chooses to ignore the comment and instead asks, “what’s my first outfit?”

“A beautiful sage green dress. It does sort of resemble the outfit you’d imagine a fairy wearing, but in the best possible way. We’re making this as magical and fairytale-like as possible; they’re going to eat it up.” Lysa coos as she pulls one of what looks to be of about five or six clothing bags from her suitcases. She hangs it up on the doorframe of Briar’s living room and unzips it to reveal the green dress that has been described. “Tada!”

Briar’s eyes rake over the dress, and her stylist certainly wasn’t wrong. The dress is the exact shade of green she’d been told, with a jagged and uneven hemline which does convey a woodland fair vibe.

The shoot itself takes hours. They get hundreds if not thousands of shots of Briar both in the woods and at her parents home in a variety of outfits. One of Briar’s personal favourites is a photograph they got of her, sitting on top of the old piano in her childhood home. The mix of the piano, the home, and the wood-themed interior of the room perfectly encapsulate who she is as a person. Now the content has been taken, she has been informed it will take a few weeks before she is sent the final edits ready for approval, then they’ll be plastered across the districts and the Capitol ready for her victory tour.