So, I've had some requests for another Hunger Games fic... this is just a one shot, but I hope everyone likes it anyway!
Disclaimer: If I owned the Hunger Games, Finnick and Prim would not have died... so, yeah. It's not mine.
Childhood Innocence
"Katniss, are you sure we won't get caught?"
I sighed. This had to be the fiftieth time she had asked me this, and we hadn't even reached the fence yet.
"Yes Prim, I'm sure." However, I wasn't so sure that this was worth it…
You see, ever since her ninth birthday, Prim had decided she was old enough to help feed the family. My mother and I both disagreed. I was actually rather amazed my mother cared enough to forbid her from going.
I had only been hunting for about a year, and I knew that the woods was no place for her. I might have been able to manage by myself at the age of eleven, but I was still scared. Plus, I found Gale when I was twelve – though I'll never admit it, he helped my confidence an awful lot in the beginning.
Prim, on the other hand, is a completely different person. She's practically scared of her own shadow, let alone the dark woods.
There was no way I was going to let her go outside the fence.
But that didn't stop her from asking.
She would ask at random times during the year, always saying that she wanted to help.
I still refused. And I refused. And I refused.
The only problem was that when she's desperate, Prim gets this look on her face that is really hard to ignore. I guess I should have held my ground a little better. I guess I should have been a little stronger. But, whatever.
I wish Gale had come. Normally I would go out with him, and I would feel a lot more confident with Prim out here if Gale were here too. However, he had to stay in today… Hazelle needed his help. Posy had gotten sick, and she was having difficulty tending to Posy while looking after Vick and Rory at the same time. So, here I am, leading my not quite ten year old sister out into the woods. Alone.
"You're sure you're sure we won't get caught?"
"Prim, I've done this one hundred times. I'm sure."
"Definitely sure?"
"Look, Prim," I said, pulling up the loose corner in the fence. "If you want, we can go back now. It's your call. But once we get past this fence, I want to get something done, okay? Now, do you want to learn how to hunt or not?"
Prim looked unsure for a moment, but then she got that determined look that seemed to run in the family.
"I want to keep going," she said. "I want to help feed the family. I hate feeling useless."
"You aren't useless, Prim," I said. "And you already do help to get food. Better even – you help mother earn money, which we can use to buy other necessities. Prim, you are far from useless."
"But I don't do as much as you."
Sighing, I climbed through the fence and then helped her. I knew there was no way to talk her out of it now.
"Alright, Prim," I said. "We aren't going to go very far. What I need you to do is keep quiet and stay close to me, okay?"
She just nodded, clearly taking the 'keep quiet' part to heart. Good.
I led her to the old tree where I kept the bows and arrows hidden – I did not miss her gulp when I took them out – and then deeper into the woods, to ensure that we were out of sight of the fence. Once we had walked for a little while – only a couple of minutes – I held up my hand for her to stop.
"Alright, Prim," I whispered. "Come a bit closer. I want you to hold the bow."
"What?" she hissed, caught of guard.
"Take this," I said, passing her the bow.
"But, Katniss…" she held it awkwardly, like it was a dangerous animal or something. I suppose, to her, it was.
"Here," I said with a sigh, taking the bow back off her and holding it correctly. "What you have to do, is hold the bow in your right hand, keeping your arm straight, like this. Then, take the bowstring in your left hand, holding it like this, and pull it all the back to your ear. Now you try."
"But…"
"It's alright, Prim," I said. "I'm not going to make you shoot something right away."
"Okay, then…"
Prim gingerly took the bow, holding it like I showed her. Well, almost. Her hand was a little high, but that was easily corrected.
When she pulled the bowstring back, however, we encountered a problem. She just wasn't strong enough to pull it back as far as she needed to.
"I'm sorry, Katniss," said Prim, Panting as she pulled on the string. "I'm trying!"
She let it go with a sharp snap! And then put the bow down and began massaging her hand.
I thought for a moment, then smiled.
"It's okay, Prim," I said. "I've got an idea."
Annoyed at myself for not thinking of this in the beginning, I took Prim back to the old tree and pulled out my very first bow from the bottom of the small pile of weapons. It was small, but it was easy to pull. You couldn't really kill anything big with it, but it was fairly easy to get an accurate shot with it. My father had made it for me when he first taught me how to shoot.
With the new bow in hand, I led Prim back to where we were before.
"Right," I said. "Try with this one."
I had to help her with her grip again, but other than that, she seemed all right. At least, she was able to pull the string into the proper place this time. However, that all changed when I passed her an arrow.
She seemed fine when I was showing her how to nock an arrow – more than that, she was interested. It only seemed to dawn in her mind that she would actually have to shoot something when I placed a shaft in her hand.
"Oh, come on, Prim," I said. "Just like I showed you."
"But what if I hurt something by accident?"
"You won't hurt yourself if you do it properly, and I'll stay behind you. If you hurt anything else, it'll be a good thing. We'll eat it for dinner."
This didn't seem to make her feel any better.
"Prim, You're shooting at a tree. I'm sure it won't mind. Now, come on. Nock your arrow, like I showed you."
She seemed okay after that. Well, okay as in feeling better. Her shooting was rather… grim. She was determined to hit the tree – I could see that plain as anything – but she missed every time.
Eventually, I slung my bow over my back (rather than put it on the wet ground), knelt down next to her and placed my hands over hers, aiming the bow myself.
"You see where the arrow is pointing?" I asked her. "Look straight down the shaft, now. There, do you see how I'm positioning it?"
She nodded.
"Don't move your head, or you'll lose you're aim," I said.
"Okay," she whispered.
"That's it. Now, on the count of three, we're going to let go. Ready? One, two, three!"
Considering how scared she was of hurting the tree earlier, she was rather excited when the arrow embedded itself in the trunk. A little lower and a little more the left than I had been aiming for, but she didn't have to know that.
Besides, it was hard to aim when there was some-one else's head in the way…
Once she had kind of gotten the hang of it, I told her to stay silent, walk quietly and follow me. She seemed nervous when she realised what we were going to do, and clutched her bow like a lifeline.
When I heard a bush rustle to our right, I once again held up my hand for Prim to stop. She seemed to understand what I meant, and held her bow just as I had shown her.
Like I had before, I slung my bow over my back and knelt down behind her. She might have been able to hit something herself, but I did actually want to go home with something tonight.
"Okay," I said so quietly I even had trouble hearing it myself. "We're going to wait here for a bit. I'll say when to let go, alright?"
Prim nodded, determination colouring her face once more.
We didn't have to wait long, only a minute or two, before a rabbit hopped out of a bush. It looked like a nice one – not one of the scraggly ones I'd been finding recently.
"Ready?" I whispered.
Prim almost nodded, but then she stopped herself.
"Ready," she breathed.
"One…two…three!"
We let fly, and the arrow hit it's target.
Well, almost. Once again, it was a little lower and a little to the left. In other words, although I had been aiming for the eye, we hit it in the right front leg.
With a sigh, I pulled out my knife and slowly walked towards it. I'd have to slit it's throat now – the damage to it's leg wasn't enough to kill it, and the knife was too wide to go through the eye. Besides, it was already damaged. I guess we'd just have to eat it ourselves – I wouldn't get as good a price for this one as I usually would, even if it was a little plumper than usual.
I knelt beside it and held it to the ground, ignoring it's screeches of pain. However, there was one other screech that was a little harder to ignore.
"No Katniss, wait!"
"Prim, be quiet!" I hissed. "You'll scare any others away. And I have to put it out of it's misery. It would be inhumane to let it suffer for longer than it has too."
"Just wait a second," she cried, kneeling next to me. She looked at the rabbit, then at it's leg. "It's leg is broken, that's all. I'll just stop the bleeding and then-"
"Prim," I said, probably a little harsher than I needed to. "We just shot this animal, and-"
"But it's hurt," she cried. "If we hurry, we'll be able to-"
"Prim-"
"Mother and I can save it, I'm sure of it!"
"Prim, listen-"
"I'm so sorry, little rabbit," said Prim, now stroking it's head. "I didn't mean to hurt you, honest!"
"Primrose!" I hissed. Prim looked up at me with tear-filled eyes. "Don't you get it, Prim?" I asked. "We need this rabbit for food. We shot it so we can eat it, not so you can practice healing!"
"But it's in pain," she whispered.
"I know, that's why I have to kill it," I said.
"But Katniss," she said, tears now running down her cheeks like a waterfall. "That's not fair. It should deserve a chance-"
"Prim-"
"I know we shot it, okay? I know we should eat it. But that doesn't change the fact that I just hurt an innocent creature and that I need to make it better because it just isn't fair that we have to stop something living so that we can live ourselves."
"Prim…" I sighed.
"It isn't fair," she cried again.
I sighed again, thinking about how this was the way most people saw things these days.
It isn't fair to have to kill something in order to live yourself.
But you do, because you have to.
Yeah. To bad that the way things are.
My thoughts were no longer on the rabbit.
Now I'm glad that Gale didn't come. Just that would have sent him into full rant mode. At least Prim has been spared that.
"I know, Prim," I said, putting my knife down and wrapping a hand around her shoulder, leaving my other hand on the rabbit.
"Sorry," she whispered, "I just…"
"It's alright," I said. "Just turn around and go stand over there for a bit. I'll join you in a second, then we'll head home, okay?"
"Okay," she whispered.
She didn't walk very far – I think the woods still scared her – but I was grateful for that. I wanted her near me.
I quickly killed the rabbit and let it's blood run out, trying not to get much on the fur. No need to freak Prim out even more. Then I shoved it in my game bag, wiped the blood off my hands, and walked over to Prim.
"Ready to go?" I asked.
She nodded sadly.
We walked slowly back to the old tree. I knew there was no chance of getting anything else – Prim would freak again, and besides, she was too upset to notice how loudly she was walking.
We put the weapons away, then went to the fence, and then walked back home. Prim was silent the whole time, and so was I. I was annoyed at having gone out and only come back with one rabbit. I was annoyed that Prim had acted the way she did.
But at the same time… I wasn't. I was glad that Prim had managed to retain her childhood innocence, despite the horrors that constantly surround our lives. I was extremely glad that she was still the timid little girl that she was before she understood what the Games were about. Before our father died. Before our lives turned into hell. It was nice to know that she had retained a piece of herself, despite the madness of everything.
However, there's still the matter of the fact that Prim wants to help out. I know she'll be disappointed that she wasn't able to hunt… maybe I'll have to think of some way she can help out that doesn't involve killing something. Maybe something that involves helping something… caring for something… hmm...
That night, I kind of tune out my surroundings. I'm aware, sure – well, almost – I hear Prim get a little upset when my mother serves the stew she's cooked. I hear my mother ask why I didn't just have Prim pick strawberries. (Why didn't I think of that?) And I hear Buttercup growl at something in the corner. But really, my mind is focused on one thing.
Prim.
I had worked so hard to make sure that Prim got the childhood that she deserved. To make sure that she didn't have to grow up early, like I did, and face the terrible things that this world has to offer. To keep her innocent just that much longer.
It's nice to see that I have succeeded at least a little.
Please review - you never know, if this gets lots of love, I might write another one. ;)