AN: Hey guys~!
Here's another story my friend and I worked on. We haven't abandoned our other story so here we are~
Hope you enjoy this one. Read, Rate and Review!
Chapter 1
Xander crouched down behind some bushes with a bow in his hand.
The sixteen year old boy stood still and quiet like a statue as he waited for his prey to walk into his snare. He felt the early morning sunshine shone through gaps in the trees of the forest that surrounded his home. Or should he call it hellhole?
He was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard a small rustling in the bushes ahead. He quietly nocked an arrow and pointed it at the snare as a rabbit came out of the bushes, his gray eyes narrowed in concentration.
He tensed, waiting for the rabbit to go towards its death. He hated killing animals like this, but his family needed the money and food. That rabbit's life would mean dinner for a night.
Just as the rabbit stepped on the snare, Xander murmured an apology and released the arrow. The rabbit's panicked squeals were quickly cut off as the arrow pierced through its eye. A quick death that's what Xander wanted.
Xander stood up as he ran a calloused hand through his dirty blonde hair and walked over to where the dead rodent lay. He pulled the arrow from its eye and slipped it back into his quiver. District 12 is the worst place to be. Even being in 13 would've been better than this... He sighed, picking it up by the ears and resetting his snare so that it would be ready for another victim.
After a few more kills, he checked the old battered watch he inherited from his mother. It was around two hours until he had to go to school. After quickly making a few last minute checks on his snares, he quickly left the forest. He quickly checked his surroundings before quietly slipping under the twenty-foot high electric fence that surrounded the district. The fence was almost always off so Xander had no problem.
He relaxed once he was back inside of the fence. Xander decided to go home first, and check on his little sister Eliza before going to sell the animals that had been caught that day.
He ducked through the streets, avoiding Peacekeepers as he went back to his shack of a home. Despite his muscular frame, he was unnoticed as he slinked through the streets of the Seam.
Xander slipped inside silently. A little girl with a stuffed rabbit clutched to her chest sat there, waiting. "Xa-"
He put a finger to his lips as he walked over to her. "Shh, there are some Peacekeepers near the house. Don't want to draw any attention, now do we?"
Eliza nodded quickly and put a finger to her lips. "Did you bring berries big brother?" She said quietly.
Xander knelt down at the edge of the bed and set his bag on the ground. He unzipped it and pulled out a dark cloth, tied into a small pouch. "Yeah."
Eliza smiled a toothy grin and took the pouch from Xander's hand. She didn't take a berry out but tied it to her waist. At his questioning glance, she replied, "I'm saving it for school."
"Right, right." He smiled and brushed some of her chocolate hair from her eyes. "You ready to go?"
Eliza nodded and stood up. She wore the pale blue dress that she inherited from their mother when she passed away. "Did you sell what you caught yet?"
"Not yet, I was thinking of taking you with me once I got ready." Xander was rummaging through his drawers to find a clean pair of clothes.
"Okay Xander. If you hurry, we might even catch Skye there. You know she always visits the Hob to try and help out even though she's the mayor's daughter." She giggled.
Xander didn't say anything as he changed into a clean shirt and jeans. He didn't understand how his sister could read his thoughts that easily. "We don't go near her Eliza. You know that. "
"But she's nice! She sometimes gives out some of her lunch to the Seam kids in our class." Eliza told him. "She's not like the other Merchant kids!"
He shot her a look. "I don't care. We don't get involved with them, she could...rat us out..." He shook his head, ending the conversation and picked up the bag. "Let's go, maybe we'll have a little time left to shop."
Eliza frowned. "Okay Xander. Can we get that muffin I saw in the Bakery the other day?"
Xander smiled at her. "Sure sweetie." He said before he led her out of the shack.
The pair walked quickly along the streets of the Seam and headed quickly to the Hob. Even at this time of the morning, the streets were already crowded with people going to work in the medicine research centers. Ever since the era of the legendary Katniss and Peeta Mellark, District 12 had stopped mining for coal and instead worked on medicine.
"Stick close to me. Don't want you getting lost in here..." He smiled down at his sister, and led her into the heart of the Hob, where he could make the best money off his kills.
Eliza nodded in response and stuck close to Xander. He quickly made his trades with one of the merchants while Eliza stood quietly to the side. After a few good trades, he decided to keep two of rabbits. He planned on trading them at the Bakery for the muffin the Eliza had asked for. He quickly led his sister out of the Hob and headed towards the bakery in the Merchant section of District 12. Just as they exited the Hob, he roughly bumped into something or more accurately, someone.
Instinctively, Xander pushed his sister behind him, never letting go of her hand. "Excuse us." He said apologetically, and started to move past the girl they had run into. Xander didn't want to make eye contact with her; he knew who that girl was. Everyone in town did.
Despite this, he found himself taking a peek at the girl. His gray eyes locked with confused bright blue ones before they were surrounded by the morning crowd.
Eliza looked over her shoulder, hoping to find those blue eyes again but they were already lost. "Why do you always avoid her Xander?"
Her older brother flinched. Eliza had been three when their mother died, what the mayor had done to her. "I just don't like Merchants is all." He lied.
The seven year old frowned. "But what..." She trailed off. "Okay Xander."
Xander sighed faintly as they neared the bakery. I wish I could explain it to you Eliza. If only you know that by not telling you these things I'm protecting you...
Xander knocked on the back door of the Bakery and watched as a middle-aged woman stepped out. When she saw the two siblings, she smiled at them. "Well hello there you two. Is there anything I can get you? I see you have two plump rabbits for me today."
"How much could we get a as trade for the two rabbits ma'am?" Xander gave a weak smile.
"Let's see." She pursed her lips in thought before smiling. "How about two muffins? How does that sound?"
"Sounds perfect." Xander said, and felt Eliza's hand grip his a little tighter. It wasn't often she got a treat from the merchant's bakery.
"Alright. I'll just take these two and get you those muffins." She winked as she took the two dead rodents and headed inside the building.
The woman came back with two chocolate chip muffins and handed each of them one. "There you are." She smiled.
"Thank you ma'am." Xander smiled back and led his sister away. "Told you I'd get a muffin Eliza." He whispered to the little girl beside him.
The little girl giggled. "Thank you Xander!"
"No problem sweetie." The two ate their muffins happily on the way to school.
"Uhm...Excuse me?" A quiet female voice sounded from behind them. "Are you...Xander Jonston?"
Xander turned to look at the girl and froze for a moment. "Eliza, go on ahead. I'll be right there..." He told his kid sister.
"Okay Xander." Eliza glanced at the two before continuing on to school.
The dirty blonde haired boy looked down at Skye Hallows. The daughter of District 12's mayor. "Sorry, I don't want her to be late. Yes, I'm Xander Jonston, is there a problem?" A hint of fear was in his voice as if he expected to be sentenced to a beating.
He saw Skye watch Eliza as the little girl walked towards school before looking up at him. Unlike the other merchant girls, and the mayor's daughter at that, Skye mostly wore t-shirts and loose faded pants with sneakers. She wore a floppy gray hat on her head that covers part of her face most of the time. Xander could see a few of the short blonde hair stick out from under that hat.
Skye was a quiet girl much to people's surprise. Most would assume that she would be boastful for being the Mayor's daughter but not Skye. She would rather stay out of the spotlight than be in it.
"Is there a problem?" Xander repeated patiently. He had to try not to get lost in her beautiful blue eyes.
Skye blinked. Xander thought he saw a faint blush on her face but dismissed it as his imagination. Besides, why would the Mayor's daughter ever like him anyway? The thought made him sad for some reason. He was snapped out of his thoughts when Skye waved a hand in front of his face, an amused expression on hers.
"Xander...Are you okay?" She asked.
Immediately, he jumped back startled. "F-Fine!"
Skye raised an eyebrow, the corner of her lips twitching as though she was fighting a smile. "If you're sure. I was just wondering if you're going hunting later."
He stood there, staring at her wide-eyed. "How did you know...?" As far as he knew, Xander hadn't told anyone but a few people in the Hob and his family that he hunted.
Skye scratched the back of her neck, not meeting his eyes. "Well I was looking for a nice rabbit at the Hob and Old Man Henry told me to go to you because you catch them cleanly."
"O-Oh..." So he wasn't in trouble. That was good. "Um, yeah I could go later today..."
At that, she smiled brightly at him. "If it's not too much trouble, could you...catch me one or two rabbits? I'll meet you at the Hob later if you want."
"Yeah, sure...that...that's fine." He smiled shyly at her.
Skye's smile went wider. "Thanks Xander! That means a lot to me." She said before walking towards school. She stopped then turned around and smiled shyly at him. "I'll see you later then." She said before walking ahead.
He waited until she was out of sight before he continued walking. He could feel his heart flutter in his chest, every time he was around Skye he got so skittish. It was a feeling that he both enjoyed and didn't understand.
"So what happened Xander? Did you get in trouble?" His sister's voice sounded from beside him. "And...Are you blushing?"
Xander didn't look at his sister, his cheeks got even redder when she noticed him blushing. "No, I didn't get in trouble. But after school, we have to go straight home."
"But...why? You said we were going to the meadow today."
"We can go tomorrow. I uh, someone wanted me to catch something for them today. It was just someone from the Hob asking Skye to pass on the order."
Eliza nodded. "Alright Xander. I'm going to my class. I'll see you by the tree after school okay?"
"Gotcha." Xander smiled and watched her hurry off to class. He ran a hand through his dirty blonde locks and walked to his first class. As he walked he smiled to himself but he didn't know why.
As he sat down at his desk, his mind kept telling him no. He shouldn't feel this way about Skye. Her dad had done things that Xander and his father couldn't ever forgive him for.
So, why was he so giddy?
But as the school day went on the more he thought about the Mayor's daughter. How her eyes seemed to shine like stars when she smiled. How when she passed him in the hallways, the scent of honey and spring was left behind even though Xander knew for a fact that Skye hated perfumes.
By his last class, Xander had pretty much accepted that Skye wouldn't leave his thoughts. He had his head resting in his hands, staring off into space. Maybe she could go on the hunt with me…That might impress her.
Whoa whoa whoa! Hold up! Impress her? Why was he thinking that? Why would he even think of trying to impress the mayor's daughter? Besides, she might not even be allowed to go out of the fence. She might even get the two of them to be caught. So why was he even thinking of it?
Xander scolded himself mentally. He shouldn't be thinking of that, it wasn't right...was it? He shook his head wanting to get rid of the thoughts that lingered in his mind.