Drop In The Ocean [North/Charity]

She wandered down the beach, the sand underneath her feet soft and gritty as she made her way along the pale stretch. Her sea-coloured eyes taking in the vast expanse of water before her. Breathing in a lungful of the salty air, she shut her eyes, contented with the scene laid out before her. Then, in a flurry of fast movement, she tore off her blouse and skirt and tossed them aside, racing down to the water in her bikini. She couldn't help herself from rushing deep into the wave-rocked waters and diving beneath the surface.

It was here that she felt most at home, under the caress of the ocean. The dappling light that played throughout the always-moving sea lit her dirty-blonde hair and flitted over her skin. Her eyes were wide, being able to keep them open even though the water was salty. It gave her an advantage compared to others, for some reason, her eyes didn't react to the brackish water like the others' did. Perhaps her eyes really were sea-like. Or maybe it was because she swam so often that they had just become used to it. Either way, she enjoyed the ability, putting it to use as she watched a small fish swim past, a flicker of silver in a never-ending pool of life.

Finally unable to hold her breath any longer, she surfaced. She was able to stay under for a long time, so long that people often would panic and pull her up before she had to surface for lack of air. Smiling to herself, and to the shifting waters around her, she moved further out toward the deeper water. Having swam for most of her life, she had no trouble keeping her head above water, even as waves rolled under her and tried to pull her down, beneath their mass. Treading water, she tilted her head back to gaze at the sky. The brilliant blue met her eyes as she looked up, the colour reflecting on the surface of the water around her, and in her eyes. A couple of lone clouds also had their doppelganger crawl over the reflection as they did, their ever-faithful companion on their lonely journey to who knew where.

If only Reef was here to see it, but he was off at the Olympics. She hoped he was doing well, the crowds there must be immense, and she knew he wasn't one who liked drawing attention to himself. The thought made her smile, her little brother, the one who would give anything to blend in, was at one of the biggest events in all of Panem's history, and yet her older brother, the one who always wanted it known that he was the best, had stayed behind. From the rumors that were going around it had sounded as though Reef had won gold in at least one competition. If that was true, and she hopped it was, it might put a bit more confidence in him. She hated to see him so fearful for his life when the reapings came around, and it would be nice for something to put a smile on his face.

She, herself, had opted out of going to the Olympics, deciding that she would have to make sure Ray didn't feel too left out in not going. After all, he would throw a fit if he thought that he was being underprivileged. Her smile turned into a small grin, sometimes Ray could be so insensitive. Wait no, that was most of the time. Sometimes, she thought that if she had shown little interest in the Games, instead of masking the pain and concern she felt for Reef and pretending all she cared about was upholding the family honour, he might not take to her as much as he did now. Still, it didn't matter to her, both of them were her brothers and she loved them both the same. She just knew that Reef needed to have someone to fall back on more than Ray.

Sighing, she continued to gaze at the blue expanse above her, her eyes on something far away as she let herself float for a moment in the waves. She should be jealous of her brothers, so everyone thought, her older brother had all the power and the bravery of a proud Career, and her younger brother got all the attention after the incident with the false murder charge. But she didn't. Ray, for all he had admirers, was alone, and Reef didn't want all of the attention he had been given. Though she was sure he would much rather not be reapable than not have the attention. The expression on her face turned down at the edges, a much darker version of the smile she had just had. But no, now was not the time to be thinking about that.

What was it time to be thinking about then? She turned herself upright, going back to treading water instead of lazily floating. She noticed that she had managed to float away from shore, and ducked under the water so she could make her way back. Kicking her powerful legs, it took her only one-breaths time to reach a point shallow enough for her to comfortably stand. She did so, rising to her feet so the water reached the base of her neck. She gave herself a moment to calm her lungs before taking another breath and diving beneath the surface again. This time, she went until she reached the point where the water was too shallow to swim in. There, she turned herself over to lay on the sand that lay only mere inches from the surface of the water.

She was just far enough in where the water mostly covered her. She was leaning back on her elbows, one leg bent up in front of her. The water lapped at her elbows, and came most of the way up her bent leg, though it couldn't reach her knee. The only change was when a wave came down, bringing the water level up over her knee and to chest height before sinking back down again as it receded. Relaxed, and quite comfortable in the sun-warmed water, she lay there without a sound. Her serene quiet was interrupted by a yell, she was unable to make out what it had been, but it was loud enough to disturb her. Turning her head, she searched for the cause of the noise.