Where Paradise Hides
Where Paradise Hides, so does Katniss Everdeen. Five years ago, she was presumed dead. Now, a group of students from each of the districts shall take a similar lethal coarse. Facing the same fate as the seam girl, they face their hardest test ever: survival. "To survive, all you need is love."
Katniss POV
"Help me!" I scream, trying to fight the salty mass of water that sucked and pulled at my every move. Falling over board, I scream again and again for my father, to the only other soul in range, but it was futile. He was trying his hardest to keep the boat from tipping in the raging winds. I grasp a floating trunk, heaving myself on top just in time to see my father lose the battle against nature and be pitched over the side as the boat tips on top of him. I know now, I am on my own. The person I love most is gone, while the others are back home, awaiting our return that will never happen. I give into my fatigue, sinking under the waves, accepting my imminent death.
I bolt up upwards, gasping, heart racing. A growl alerts me I am not alone. I see a mountain lion sitting beside my bed, giving me a concerned look. I roll my eyes at the cat, "I'm fine Buttercup." I get another growl as a reply and I let out a huff. "Oh no, you are not starting that again." I jump up, happy that daylight is once again here. All right, I think to myself, my goals today are not to go insane, hunt and repair the leak in the pipes. First step to goal number one; reflect. I am Katniss Everdeen and I am sixteen years old. When I was eleven, I went on a sailing trip to a game filled island with my father, only to get caught in a tempest. I was thrown overboard just in time to see the boat flip and my father go down with the massive wood structure. It has been five years since I have had a real conversation with a human that isn't just a skeleton.
Putting my feet down on the smoothed wood of my tree house floor, I walk over to a chest that I salvaged from the wreck to hold clothes and my bow and quiver. In total, I have two quivers of twelve arrows and two perfectly crafted bows to survive with. For clothes, I use the pelts and hides I get from the animals I hunt to make the garments, mainly shorts and tank tops since it is always warm here. I once heard a name that the people of Panem called an island like this. They said it was tropical, if I remember correctly.
Pulling clothes from the trunk, I cross a small rope and wood bridge to another tree by the waterfall I use as a washroom. A series of bamboo pipes I made combined with some woodwork makes a very open concept bathroom. Stripping, I stand under the lukewarm water and try to work the dirt off my olive skin. After putting the cap on the shower, I dry off with a fur towel and pull on the clothes. I have chocolate brown shorts with a tank top that I died green with some of the leaves in the forest. My shoes are roughly sewn together hides and are a black color from the dirt I haven't been able to scrub out. Using the only other platform I have, I look out across the island with Buttercup sitting beside me. The ocean is blue with hints of color from the rising sun, the forest bursting with different florescent plants. But then I see it, movement on the beach. The creatures are on two legs, not four. What animals on this island walk on their hind legs? Answer: none of them. "Let's go investigate Buttercup."
Cato POV
My girlfriend was attached to my arm, dragging me to the deck to watch sunset with her, claiming it was romantic. Getting there, we see two of the lower citizens from district twelve, a community farthest away from the center of town. The little blonde girl was huddled in a corner; tears streaming down her face while the other, a blonde haired blue-eyed boy was trying to soothe her. "What's her problem?" Glimmer sneered, looking at the girl with disgust at her weakness.
"Hey, lay off. There might be a real problem." I say, walking over to the figures. I hear the girl mumbling something that sounds like 'Katniss' but I'm not sure. "What's wrong?" I say, kneeling before her, taking her chin and forcing her to look me in the eye.
"Katniss…" she whimpered before going back to inaudible wails. The boy pulls me away from her, whispering fiercely in my ear,
"Her father and sister both died on a boat when she was seven on this exact same course. She's convinced a storm will hit and kill us as well." Oh, well isn't that perfect, we're going to have a crying little girl with us the entire trip. Walking back, roll my eyes at them and Glimmer chuckles, taking my arm in a vice grip once more.
"She's just upset, no reason." I say coolly, knowing that Glimmer hates the weakness of family love. To her, you don't get to pick your family so normally they are a bunch of weak, idiotic wimps while when you get married, you can pick the most handsome, bravest person you've ever known. I have no clue where she came up with this idea, but to her it is the rule of life. The wind starts to pick up as the girl's whimpering becomes louder and louder and the waves become more and more violent, making is rock back and forth harshly. A flash of lightning splits the sky as I wonder how this storm came so fast. I see the boy in the corner cradle the girl like a brother and pull her to her feet so she can be secure as she looks at the storm, analyzing to see if the effects are the same as the one that killed her family.
"Peeta, go pack your bag. We need to get off this death trap now." The girl cries to the boy, Peeta. He runs down below deck only to emerge two minutes later soaking wet with the other people on the trip.
"There is a hole in the bottom of the ship, we're going down!" another little girl, one with dark skin and dark eyes, yells, but not frantically, more calmly. The rain is starting to pelt down as the first large wave hits the side of the boat closest to me, causing it to tip a little and throw the blonde girl off the boat.
"Prim!" Peeta screams, trying to reach out for her only to get pulled in as well. The storm rages and one by one, we go overboard. All I remember after Clove, my best friend, getting thrown over board is hitting my head on something hard and my vision going from fuzzy to black.
"Cato, get up babe, we're safe, I guess." I hear a female voice call, and then I know I'm in heaven.
"Oh move over. Yo, jack ass, get up!" another voice yells in my ear and my instincts take over. I punch the person and I hear a yelp of pain. Opening my eyes slightly, I see Glimmer kneeling over me, and Clove screaming a very colorful array of words while holding her nose standing a few feet away. The girl from earlier, Prim, is now sitting next to me with a strip of cloth in hand.
"What are you doing?" I ask weakly,
"Well, being the district two inner townie idiot you are, you hit your head on the railing before being tossed into the water with us. Thank Thresh, he was the one that saved you." I sit up to see a blonde haired little girl staring curiously at me. A sound from the trees puts me on high alert, but only the dark skinned little girl with her district partner, a mountain of an eighteen year old, come through with a few things they must have found that were scattered across the beach and brush from the crash.
"Rue, Thresh, you're back! You took forever!" the girl that was glaring at me now turned her icy expression to them.
"Well Prim, we had a problem. Rue just had to pet a bird and she got bit and started freaking out about getting rabies." I started to laugh uncontrollably, followed by Thresh and Clove. After a few minutes, I noticed Prim scolding Rue like a mother would for petting an unknown bird.
"Prim, you aren't her mother; you don't need to act like it." Her eyes narrow, glaring fiercely at me.
"Yeah, I know, but I had to take care of my mother for four years before I got adopted after the rest of my family died out on these shitty waves." I am a little shocked, one her choice of words and two that a twelve year old took care of her mother for four years and still managed not to be evicted.
"Okay, I get it, but you can't baby us. You need to learn how to be a child." Clove determines, grabbing Prim by the arm and running straight towards a ginormous pile of rocks. "Tag!" Clove yells and starts to scurry up the rock pile but Prim is on her like butter on toast, climbing expertly up and tapping Clove's reviled ankle.
"Such children. I say we ditch them Cato, they are no good to us. Maybe Clove but everyone else is useless." Glimmer purrs, rubbing herself on my arm
"No one is useless. No matter where they live or who they are, they matter. Who knows, there might be other life on this island."
Boy, I didn't know how right I was.