The Defiant Ones- Ch. 1

Chapter 1

The day was at its peak when Finnick arrived home from the Capitol.  He strode in the door when the sun was at its crowing point.  Phoenix, sitting on the couch and reading a book, looked up and beamed.  

"Finnick!" she cried.  Rio, his brother, stood up in the corner, not making any other response to Finnick.  

Finnick opened his arms and Phoenix raced into them.  "I missed you, Nix," he replied.  She laughed, burying her face in his shoulder.  "Hey, Rio!"

Rio nodded once in acknowledgement and took a seat again.  Finnick shrugged.  His brother usually didn't want to speak with him when he first returned from the Capitol.  Phoenix backed away and allowed Finnick's parents to greet him.  

She beamed from Finnick to Rio; he smiled in return to her.   "So how was your time in the Capitol?" she asked.  Finnick sighed, shaking his head.  

"I'm just upset I have to go back tomorrow night," he replied.  He sighed again.  "I don't want to have to mentor again."  

Phoenix kneaded her fingers into his shoulder.  Tomorrow was the reaping.  A boy and a girl would be chosen from their district, District 4, to compete in the Hunger Games, where it was survival of the fittest.  And with twelve districts, there were going to be twenty-four contestants.  

The problem was only one could live.

All the contestants, called tributes, were thrown into an arena and pretty blatantly told to kill each other.  Of course, you could form alliances, but this backfired most of the time. Most of the time one member of the alliance murdered all the others in their sleep and went after the final tributes themselves.  

"I hate having to watch those kids die in the arena," Finnick sighed. "District 4 hasn't won, except once, since I did, 7 years ago."   

Phoenix nodded again.  "I promise you'll be okay, Finnick."

"At least I have you and Rio," he answered.  A moment of silence fell.  "How about I go and help my parents make dinner?"  

Phoenix smiled as Finnick disappeared into the Victor Village's house's kitchen.  She felt Rio place a hand on her shoulder.  She turned and beamed up at him.  "Yeah, Rio?"

"Do you want to go on a walk?" he asked.  She beamed.  Rio, Finnick's often-overlooked younger brother, loved just walking along the beach.  

"Yeah," she answered.  Not even bothering to pull on her shoes, Phoenix slipped out the door after Rio.  It only took them a few moments to reach the grainy white sand of the shore.  The sand was warm from the sun's bright rays.  A slight breeze blew off the balmy ocean water.   

"Are you scared?  About tomorrow?" Rio asked her softly in his deep voice.  She looked up at him, keeping stride with him.  His hands were buried in his short's pockets, but he kept a steady sea-green gaze trained on her.   

"There is always that uncertainty about the reaping," Phoenix answered, licking her lips nervously.  "That sense of insecurity, the anxiety beforehand, all of it.  I guess we just have to hope for the best, right?"

Rio allowed a miserable smile to escape from his lips.  "You're right," he answered.  "And these Hunger Games are another chance for Finnick to claim more glory."

"Would you stop worrying about what Finnick does and just remember who you are, even just for once?" Phoenix asked him.  

Rio fell silent.  This was his defense whenever Phoenix tried to get him to stop turning against himself.  She brushed his cheek softly with her hand.  "Remember that Finnick isn't overshadow-"

"Not overshadowing me, Phoenix?" Rio began quietly.  "Ever since he won those stupid Hunger Games, people have been barking up at him trying to get his attention while I sit in the corner, ignored!"   His voice had risen to a shout. "My parents favor him!  The Capitol favors him!  District 4 favors him!  The whole world favors him!"

Phoenix glanced from Rio's enraged face to the sand.  "Rio, please, just listen to me-" At this point, she was used to his rants, but she never wanted to give into them and agree.  They could be from anything about Finnick to the Capitol to the injustice she was done when her family was killed.

"You favor him over me, don't you?!" Rio bellowed at her. She shook her head as she knew her words would not keep him quiet.

"I don't favor either of you-"

"I can see it in your eyes, Phoenix!  I can see it! You love him more-"

"NOT IN THE WAY YOU THINK!" she bellowed back, louder than he had been yelling.  He fell silent, trying to contemplate what she had said.  "Finnick is like a brother, Rio.  Why can't you realize that? I love you both equally as my best friends.  What can you not understand about that?"

He ran his hand over his face, rubbing above his eyebrows.  He must have gotten another headache.  "Phoenix, I'm sorry, I hate how I keep yelling at you like this," he murmured.  He sighed, squeezing his eyes shut.  "It's so difficult being outshone like this."

She took both of his wrists in her grip.  "Your opportunity will come eventually.  I promise you that."  He smiled despondently, pulling her into a drawn-out embrace.  It seemed like one of those more-than-friend hugs.  Phoenix brushed off the thought.  

"We should get back to dinner," she mumbled.  He laughed, releasing her. A genuinely-happy smile slipped onto his face.  

"We should," he replied.  They began walking along the shore, their ankles in the sea water.  "Did you ever consider what it would be like, Phoenix, to just take a boat and go?  To just sail away and never come back?"

"Why would I do that?" she asked.  "We have a perfectly good life here."

"I don't know.  Just to see something new.  It would be a new adventure.  You know, right?" he asked.  "All for the adventure, the fighting, the action, everything."

"I can handle a trident, Rio.  I can throw a knife; I can wield a spear.  I can protect myself.  But why in the world would I want to leave something I love already?"