Her arms remained strong. Her pulse remained steady. And as her long braid spiraled down her back, it blew in the breeze. She took a deep breath, narrowed her eyes.
When she had imagined herself in the Games, she didn't know what to think. After years of being forced to observe, after years of being forced to mourn the deaths of those lost, she never thought she would actually be mourned by her slaughter in the Games. She never thought she'd get picked, although the fear had always lingered in the back of her mind. She always figured she'd die from starvation. Or some other dumb reason enforced by the Capitol. But never in the Games.
But if things went according to plan, she wasn't going to die here. She had to win - for Prim.
She was on the look-out. Atop a cliff, attempting to spot the other tributes. Attempting to see if they would attack. Attempting to decide if she and Peeta should abandon their safe haven in the cave.
Peeta. The name rang through her mind. She was still confused on her feelings for him. They were allies - sort of. Ever since Peeta had blurted out on national television that he had a thing for her, the insane people of Panem couldn't really seem to let it go. So whether she liked it or not, Haymitch was forcing her to play the stolen heart role. Which sucked on her part, mostly because she hardly knew Peeta.
Sure they had sort of seen each other around school. But Katniss Everdeen was never one to get attached. Never one to trust others easily. Always on her toes, always with her walls up, ever since her father died.
The sounds of the nightmares that had haunted her for years rang through her mind again. The sounds of explosion. The sounds of her mother weeping. The sounds of her heart as it shattered with the thoughts of the man that had taught her everything important. The songs. The plants. Hunting. Almost everything had revolved around him, but after that fateful day in District 12, Katniss was lost in a struggle for survival. A survival that was played by the whit of the Capitol as she stood fiercely in the arena, eying her prey.
She didn't want to play. She didn't want to be a piece in the Games - the twisted games of the Capitol that stripped families of their loved ones. That tortured innocent people. That haunted the dreams of a lifetime.
The only way to win, was to lose - your loved ones.
Her eyes narrowed in on her target. Her arrow plunged into the birds neck, like a knife through butter. And although it was unrecognizable, she knew it would provide good meat. She knew they wouldn't be hungry. For now.
She headed back to the cave. If a show was what they wanted, a show was what they'd get. So when Peeta came into her view, she smiled sweetly, knelt beside him and whispered, "I got dinner."
AN: Review :)