CHAPTER ONE

Artemis knew someone was following her.

She had known for a while; ever since she had left her district's gates, she had heard the slight crunch of feet on dead leaves. Whoever was following her was very good at remaining hidden, as the only thing she had seen was a flash of red. She was having some fun with her follower; she knew that it wasn't anyone dangerous. The people from the Capitol only came when they had to, which was once a year on the Reaping. And when that happens, they're more focused on publicity then one girl sneaking through the forest and killing animals with her bow.

Suddenly, she heard a quiet laugh behind her. She stiffened, then relaxed. "Dick!" she said, trying to be angry but failing miserably. "I know it's you!"

Dick Grayson, Artemis's only friend and hunting partner, jumped down from a nearby tree. He brushed off his red and black T-shirt. He was wearing jeans, which was strange for him. Of course, he was wearing his sunglasses. He always wore them. "The laugh gave me away, didn't it."

"Actually, it was more along the lines of your incredibly loud feet." Artemis said, rolling her eyes. "Now come on, I found a trail and I think it's a deer's."

"A deer?" Dick asked, surprised. "But I haven't seen one of those since some guy in District 4 found one and sold it to the Capitol so they could parade it throughout the districts."

Artemis shrugged. "My dad taught me how to track animals, and he was the best. Trust me, it's a deer."

Dick pulled a knife out of his pocket. "Okay. Whoever gets to it first gets to keep it?"

"Dick, I literally just told you that you're horrible at sneaking around. You'll probably just scare the deer off."

"No, you think that I'm horrible at sneaking around." Dick corrected. "You're actually just really good at noticing people following you."

"Dick, this is a deer." Artemis said. "Do you realize how great this opportunity is? Do you realize how much we could get out of its antlers alone? I'm not going to waste this chance on some petty competition."

Dick sighed. "All right, we'll just make this some boring hunt like we do every day."

Artemis motioned for him to be quiet and knelt to the ground. She quickly scanned the ground for hoof prints, crushed leaves and broken branches. She picked up the trail and started following it, her feet quietly padding on the ground. Dick followed behind her, occasionally disappearing into the forest.

Soon, she spotted the unfamiliar brown coat of the deer. She quickly pulled out her bow and notched an arrow onto it, closing one eye and aiming it at the deer.

Suddenly, the deer took a step forward and was swung upwards by a rope that had snapped all four of its legs together. Artemis started, dropping her bow and arrow.

"Dick!" she yelled angrily. "This is the second time in twenty minutes that I've yelled at you! Seriously, what is your problem?"

Dick walked out from behind a tree and shrugged. "Oh god, he got caught in one of my traps, oh the horror. Seriously, why are you so mad?"

Artemis rolled her eyes. "I had it! I didn't need one of your traps to help."

"Well, first of all, I made that trap yesterday." Dick said. "Secondly, did that seriously make you drop your bow?"

"Shut up!" Artemis said, laughing and picking up her bow and arrow. "You know that I feel naked without my bow."

"Naked?" Dick said, raising an eyebrow.

"Not in a fun way." Artemis said.

Dick sighed. "Fine, I'll make it up to you." He picked up a pebble from the ground and tossed it in a seemingly random direction. Artemis quickly prepared her bow and arrow as a bird flew from the spot Dick had tossed the pebble. She aimed her bow a bit higher than the bird and released the arrow. It flew through the air and hit the bird dead on, killing it without a sound. The bird fell to the ground and Artemis quickly ran towards it.

"See?" Dick said, smiling. "I told you I'd make it up to you."

Artemis raised an eyebrow. "Oh, wow. A tiny bird instead of a huge deer. Thank you so much."

Dick rolled his eyes. "Why are you making such a big deal out of this? It's not like you still won't be able to sell it. All that happened that I got it before you."

Artemis sighed. "I know. I'm just kind of stressed out today. After all, today is the Reaping."

"And you're in it twenty times." Dick said. "Hey, it's not as bad as me. I have forty two little slips of paper with my name on it."

"It's not that." Artemis said. "It's just... this is Garfield's first reaping."

Garfield... He had always been scared of the Reaping. When Artemis had first been forced to enter at the age of twelve, he had begged her not to. Even though her name had only been in it four times. Even though most people had up to thirty entries.

The night after the Reaping, he had crawled into her bed. When she asked why, he told her that he never wanted to make sure that no one would take her away.

Of course, that had always been a possibility. Every year, her name had been put in that bowl. And every year, she had more entries than the last. Maybe if her father hadn't died in the coal mines, her family could've afforded to not have to take a tessarae for each member. However, Artemis couldn't dwell on the past. Even if her father had somehow managed to survive working in the mines all these years, they would probably still not have enough money, and she would be forced to take a tessarae for each member, thereby adding her name more times. She was just lucky that her mother and Garfield were so good at healing people; her illegal hunting alone could never help her family survive.

"Don't worry." Dick said, pulling out a knife from his belt and stabbing the deer's heart. "His name is only in their once. There is no way that he'll ever be picked. You should worry more about yourself. After all, if you die in the Hunger Games, who would I have to steal deer from?"

"First of all, we're never going to see another deer in our life." Artemis said. "Secondly, what about you? You're in there forty two times. Even for District 12, that's a lot."

Dick shrugged. "It's not that big of a deal. I mean, sure, I had to take tessarae for every member for my family, but I'm sure that the odds are going to be ever in my favor." He said the last sentence in a fake Capitol accent, mocking the way that the Capitol residences speak and the most famous quote from Dinah Lance, the woman from the Capitol who was assigned to oversee the Reaping of District 12.

Artemis snorted. "Come on. The Reaping is in a few hours, and we need to sell this deer and get ready. After all, a woman from the Capitol is coming to visit us! Isn't it exciting?"

Artemis stood in front of the mirror, pulling her long blond hair back into a ponytail. She was surrounded by dirty wood walls, with a small bed behind her. Her dresser stood in front of her under the mirror; it was nearly empty, save a few green shirts similiar to the one Artemis was wearing, two pairs of loose black pants, and a small, fake gold pin of a tigeress. She had been given it by her dad. He had knelt down, took her hand smiled. He had told her how she was strong and fast, like a tigeress. He slid the pin into her hand before standing up and leaving for work.

That was the day he had died.

Quickly, before Artemis could change her mind, she opened her dresser, grabbed the pin and slammed it shut. She fastened it onto her dark green shirt, smiling a bit at how she looked. Her slightly dark skin glowed in the light streaming from her open window. Her dark grey eyes sparkled as she turned from the mirror to close the window. She turned around and walked out of her room to the kitchen where her mom sat in her wheelchair.

"Hey, Mom." Artemis said, walking over to a dirty counter and grabbing an apple off of it.

Artemis's mother didn't respond, continuing to stare at her lap.

"Mom?" Artemis asked, cautiously walking over to her. "Mom, are you okay?"

"I'm losing both of you." her mother whispered, tears starting to fill her light brown eyes. She pushed back some of her short black hair, trying to keep it from falling over her face. "They're going to pick you, I just know it. You're going to go to those god awful Games, and you're going to be killed."

Artemis sighed, walked over to her mother. "Mom, you say that every year. Nothing is going to happen."

"Well, how do you know?" her mother asked. "Maybe the Capitol found out about you hunting in the Meadow! Maybe they've rigged the Reaping so you have to go! You have stop hunting, Artemis!"

Artemis sighed. "Mom, that's how we make most of our money. How else are we going go survive?"

"Garfield and I could make enought money off of our healing." her mother said desperately. "I won't let you go on endangering yourself by breaking the law."

Artemis laughed quietly. "Mom, don't make threats you can't keep." She shrugged. "Hey, maybe it'd be a good thing if I got picked. After all, if you get picked, you can't get arrested."

"Artemis!" her mother said angrily. "Don't ever say anthing like that! Don't you realize what it's like? Having to wonder if they finally decided to stop you? Having to wonder if you're dead?"

Artemis sighed. "Mom, they don't even keep the fence electrified. Trust me, they don't care about me or Dick."

Artemis's mother sighed, looking back down at her lap. "I just... I worry about you. And I know that you're probably going to be fine, but I can't stop worrying."

Artemis knelt down so she was eye level with her mother. "All right. If you want, I'll stop hunting. Okay?"

Artemis's mother smiled, blinking the tears out of her eyes. "Okay."

"I'm going to go get Garfield." Artemis said, standing up. "You can go to the Reaping without us."

Her mother nodded and started to wheel herself towards the door. She paused, turning her head back to Artemis. "Artemis?" she asked. "Be careful."

Artemis smiled. "Okay. I will."

Her mother nodded and wheeled herself out the door, closing it behind her. It never stayed closed, however; the wind would always blow it back open.

"Garfield?" Artemis called out, walking over to his room. "Garfield, it's time to go." She slowly opened the door, poking her head through the gap.

His room was, as it always was, covered in his clothes. However, most of the time he wasn't in his room; he would be outside, milking his goat, or playing with his cat, Buttercup. Today, Artemis could make out his small body hiding under his bedsheet.

"Garfield?" Artemis said, quieter, walking into his room and closing the door behind her. "Gar, are you all right?"

"...no." a voice from the blanket said.

Artemis walked over to the bed and sat down on it. "Gar, it's okay." she said, slipping her hand under Garfield's blanket and resting it on his hand. "You're not going to be chosen."

"How do you know?" Garfield asked. "Just because my name is only in there once doesn't mean that they can't pick it. And even if they don't pick me, what about you? You're in there twenty times! I don't want to lose you."

Artemis smiled. "Gar, we're going to be fine. Is there anything that I can do to convince you that?"

"Well... you could sing for me." Garfield said, moving the blanket off of his head.

Artemis laughed. Garfield was always begging her to sing to him, but she never did. Reaping Day, however, was a very special day.

"Okay." Artemis said, smiling. "Uh... Twinkle twinkle little star... yes sir yes sir three bags full?"

"How about an actual song?" Garfield said, smiling a bit.

Artemis sighed. "Okay." She had learned a few songs back when she actually went to school; there had been one song in particular that she had loved. It had always made her feel safe, even when her dad was mad at her. "Deep in the meadow, under the willow." she sang, closing her eyes. "A bed of grass, a soft green pillow. Lay down your head, and close your sleepy eyes. And when again they open, the sun will rise." She stood up, releasing Garfield's hand. "Now come on. We're going to be late for the Reaping."

"But that's not all of the song!" Garfield said, jumping out of his bed. "Sing the rest!"

Artemis smiled. "I'll sing the rest when we get back from the Reaping. Okay?"

Garfield sighed. "Okay." he mumbled. He walked over to the door, pushing back his long brown hair.

"Gar?" Artemis said. "Are you really going to the Reaping looking like you just got out of bed? You do realize that you don't actually always look perfect."

Garfield turned back towards her, his bright green eyes sparkling. "Noted. Not believed, but noted."