A/N:
I'm now back in the Peeto community once again, here's my second go at all of this!
Previously thestateofdreaming, shortened my pen name to stateofdreaming, yada yada yada.
This is merely a pilot chapter, so it won't be as long as the norm. If you guys enjoy this fic don't forget to review, I really love to hear from you guys. Any bits of feedback you can give me are greatly appreciate.
Much love,
stateofdreaming
Against The Odds
Pilot Chapter: The Reaping Blues
Peeta's P.O.V
"Peeta, they won't reap you darling, I promise," Mrs. Mellark whispered into my ear as she took me into a tight embrace.
"You can't promise me that I won't get reaped Mom, my odds are just as equal as everyone else. Every other mother in all of District 12 is probably telling their son the same thing." I replied, resting my chin on her left shoulder as I frowned slightly.
It was the 75th Hunger Games, the Quarter Quell. This year President Snow announced that this year's Quarter Quell was going to consist of reaping two males from each district to fight to their death.
There wasn't any soul in the world that could coax me that I would be okay, and that I was not going to be reaped. The only person who could possibly do any of those, was Katniss Everdeen. She was reaped for the 74th Hunger Games, and our district was almost positive that she was going to make it back alive. She would be the one to bring pride to our district, but her feelings got in the way of that.
Katniss had became allies with a young girl from District 11, Rue. In my opinion, Katniss saw Prim through Rue and felt the need to keep her safe, or in a way she would be betraying Prim. In the end, it came down to Rue, Thresh, and her.
Thresh was Rue's district partner, and since the Capitol had decided that two tributes from the same district would be able to be crowned champion, Thresh fought for his life, and along the lines left his sanity behind.
Thresh had charged toward Katniss, a spear in hand and a face full of nothing but hate and anger. Rue had thrown herself in front of Katniss, hoping that she could stop him from trying to kill her.
Rue, being as small and fragile as she was, collided with Thresh and fell to the ground, wincing in pain.
He had stopped running by then and quickly knelt down to Rue, holding her body in his arms. That's when all of his walls collapsed, and that strong, menacing man started to bawl. He looked up at Katniss and almost begged for her to end his and Rue's life as painless as she could.
With one swift movement, Katniss threw the bow at Thresh along with the quiver that held all of the arrows.
"You're going home," Katniss had said. Those words will forever haunt me, along with the following events.
Thresh had stood up and nodded slightly, understanding what Katniss had meant. Katniss knew that Rue still had a chance at survival, just as long as she got cared for immediately. The Capitol could provide that.
Katniss had slowly closed her eyes and stood there, in nothing but complete silence.
The arrow had traveled from the bow and straight into Katniss's heart, causing her to fall to the ground quickly.
The cannon went off and the hovercraft appeared over Thresh and Rue.
That was the last memory I had of Katniss, she had willingly let them finish her just so they could go home.
Gale Hawthorne, Katniss's boyfriend, was devastated and turned to alcohol to cope with the fact that he would never see her again. Even though I never really liked Gale, I felt a great deal of sympathy for him, I knew how it felt to lose something so important in your life.
Arriving at the Justice Building, I lined up with all the other bloodshot boys who were scared out of their minds.
Just as the last of boys finished lining up, the same escort emerged from the side and stood in the center of the stage, eyeing the crowd intently.
"Welcome, welcome, it is now time to select two courageous men to represent District 12 in the Annual Quarter Quell." Effie Trinket chimed cheerfully as her candy cotton colored locks bounce up and down slowly as each word escapes her mouth.
"Well, let's get this over with, shall we?"
Just as Effie finished speaking, she turned slightly and walked over to the glass jar full of the names of the men who would soon die horribly in the arena.
Walking back to the microphone, she stood there silently before unfolding the piece of paper she had pulled out of the jar.
"Peeta Mellark." Effie said into the microphone, still smiling.
All of the crowd's eyes all turned to gaze at me as I gulped slightly, staring back at forth at everyone.
"Come on now, we don't have much time left!" Effie exclaimed from the stage.
Just as I started to make my way towards the stage, a familiar voice arose from behind me.
"I volunteer."
Everyone turned to look at the voice that dared to mumble those two words.
"I said, I volunteer." Gale repeated as he emerged from the crowd and walked over to the stage quickly.
Gale, Gale Hawthorne? Volunteering for me? I hadn't spoken to him for a good few months now, I don't even know if he's sober or highly intoxicated. No one just volunteers. No one.
"What a surprise! District 12's first person to ever volunteer, I think that deserves a round of applause!" Effie said into the microphone, signaling for everyone to clap.
"Alright, now for the final tribute." Effie exclaimed in that annoying Capitol accent as she yet again walked over to the jar of names.
Walking back to the crowd, I turned around to find that Effie was already at the microphone and was just waiting for me to get back in line.
"..and our final tribute," Effie started before gulping loudly as he eyes opened widely in surprise.
"Well then, our final male tribute is, Peeta Mellark." Effie finished.
As I got back on the stage Gale flashed me a sort of; "I'm Sorry," look and frowned slightly.
This whole situation was honestly really hard to understand, first Gale volunteers for me. And then I still get reaped, what are the odds.
"And our male tributes are, Peeta Mellark and Gale Hawthorne, we all wish them the best of luck in the arena." Effie concluded as she smiled and walked off the stage to rejoin the Peacekeepers.
Angrily, I stormed off the stage and ran back to the bakery that was located in the corner of the district.
Upon entering the doorway, I found that my parents were already waiting for me at the entrance.
My Mom was already in tears, and it was clear that she was struggling to hold them back. And as for my Dad, he was standing there, emotionless and attempting to calm my Mom down.
"You'll come home Peeta, I promise darling," Mrs. Mellark mumbled through her tears as she eyed me sadly.
"I don't really think you should be making promises Mom, you sorta promised that I wouldn't be reaped and well, look what happened." I replied, frowning slightly as I walked over to them and threw my arms around them tightly.
"I-I don't wanna go, I don't." I whispered as numerous tears fled out of my eye and down my cheek furiously.
"Son, you'll be okay. I know you, and I know that you'll do whatever it'll take to come back to us. I have faith in you Peet'," Mr. Mellark replied as he started to pat my back softly.
Just as he finished his sentence the bakery door flew open and a lone Peacekeeper raced in and pulled me away from them.
"Mr. Mellark it's time to board the train to the Capitol." the Peacekeeper replied sternly as he dragged me out of the bakery and toward the train.
Boarding the train, I noticed that Gale was already sitting down in the far corner, gazing out of the window sadly.
Hastily, I walked towards him and sat in the seat that was positioned just across from him.
I stared at him for a good five minutes and waited for a response, nothing.
"Gale.." I whispered softly as I played with my hands.
Gale just refused to respond to me, he only looked at me once then started to gaze out the window again.
"Why won't you just talk to me? Why'd you even volunteer for me?" the questions flew out of my mouth as I returned my intent glare at him.
"I don't think I owe you an explanation Peeta, why don't you just accept the fact that I did in fact volunteer for you?" Gale shot back as he stared back at me, nothing but an expression full of irritation.
"I won't accept it, no one just volunteers for someone, what's up?"
"Peeta, just drop it."
"I'm not going to fucking drop it, now tell me why.."
Gale gulped loudly before looking down slightly. When he did look back up his eyes were a light shade of red, indicating that he was near breaking point.
"I volunteered for you because I had the chance to protect you Peeta, when Katniss was reaped I couldn't volunteer for her. I couldn't keep her safe, and this is my way of making it up to her. You just don't understand how I felt to be so helpless while Katniss was in the arena. I couldn't help her through it, I couldn't give her the ointments she needed. All I could do was watch her suffer, and I'll be damned if that happens to you." Gale spat out as a stray tear slid down his cheek slowly.
"How do I have any connection to this? Sure Katniss was my best friend, I just don't understand. I honestly thought you didn't like me, Gale." I replied.
"When Katniss was gone you were the only one who tried to help me through it. Everyone else didn't think it was a big deal that I had lost the love of my life. Katniss would have hated to see you suffering in the arena. Peeta look, as long as I'm in that arena I'm going to keep you safe. For Katniss." Gale finished.
My eyes fluttered open widely as I looked back at Gale. So that's why he volunteered. To make it up to Katniss, it wasn't about me. Why would it be anyways?
Without a word I stood up and walked toward the rooms that were on the other side of the train.
On my way, I noticed Effie was sitting down with a burly man with long blondish hair, possibly her husband.
"Hey Effie, where's my room?" I asked curiously, staring down at the lady with the flamboyant pink hair.
"Since there aren't going to be any female tributes they took out one of the rooms, Gale and you are going to be sharing a room. And manners dear." Effie finished, smirking slightly.
Of course, I would get roomed with the problem. Smirking sarcastically back at her, I continued onward to my room, dragging my feet lazily.
When I entered the room I noticed there was only one bed. Typical. There was also a window above the beds, following a lone dresser in the corner.
Walking toward the bed, I plopped down on the right side and laid there, gazing at the ceiling silently.
Was I even ready for this? I would be as good as dead in that arena, maybe I'd go peacefully and painlessly. But I can't afford to think like that, I have to see my parents again, I just have too. It's going to be a harder struggle in the arena with all boys. Boys are ruthless and cruel. I just want to keep my sanity, I will survive, I will.
Before I knew it, I felt my eyes flutter shut quickly as I slowly drifted off into a peaceful sleep.
The following morning I woke up to find a muscular arm wrapped around me, holding me tightly. The grip was a bit intense, I couldn't really loosen the grip at all.
The only movement I could make was a swift turn around to see who it was, Gale.
Quietly, I slowly lifted his arm from around me and stood up, stretching slightly. Then I started out the door and towards the kitchen.
"Well glad that you could finally join us," the blonde from the other day whistled from the kitchen table.
Just as he finished speaking, footsteps were heard behind me, following a slight tired-like groan.
"Well, well, now that we're all awake, we should start dining!" Effie exclaimed from the table.
Pacing toward the table, I chose the seat across from Effie while Gale chose the seat next to mine.
"Boys, this is your mentor, Haymitch Abernathy, if you have any questions for him he's all ears," Effie said, looking at Haymitch and flashing him a; "Your turn," type of face.
Coughing, Haymitch extended his hand towards me. Grasping it, I shook it eagerly as he loosened his grip and did the same with Gale.
"I don't really have much advice to distribute to you guys, just stay alive. Find a water source, make a shelter, no fires, and get good with the sponsors." Haymitch instructed, smirking irritatedly.
"Thanks, I guess..?" Gale responded, rolling his eyes.
"What were you expecting me to say? To tell you guys that there really is no chance of you guys coming back? I'd rather not get on good terms with my tributes if I'm not going to be seeing them again."
"You could at least try, I mean you once defeated the odds and won? Why don't you just tell us what you did?" Gale shot back angrily, standing up slightly as he eyed Haymitch.
"Wanna know what I did? I ran. I ran as far as I could go, I found out the foundation of the arena and used it to my advantage, I lost the one person I loved in there. Is that what you wanted to hear? If so I have a whole fucking sitcom to spill out to you!" Haymitch exclaimed furiously before getting up and walking toward the mentor's room.
"Don't worry boys, he'll cool down eventually. It's just hard to have to go through such an unfortunate thing like this." Effie reassured us as she continued to eat her eggs and toast.
"I'm not hungry," Gale mumbled, shoving his plate forward and angrily pacing back to the room.
"I guess it's just you and me now Peeta," Effie said, attempting to fill up the awkward silence that had risen.
"Guess so," I replied, staring down at my plate, moving the food around.
"Look, I hardly ever tell anybody this, but the only reason I'm an escort is because I was once a victor of the Hunger Games," Effie said, smiling at herself as she forked in the last bit of eggs on her plate.
Truth be told, I was surprised. How could she had participated in the games? She was a bit too elegant and classy for them.
"I hid, I hid from everyone and eventually the final two tributes, not counting me, duked it out. The final one wasn't able to find me in time before he bled to death. That was my tactic." Effie finished before standing up and walking her plates over to the sink.
Hiding? I never really thought about hiding. That seemed like a good idea, but how would I get water and food, or what if the Gamemakers decided to start a wildfire where I was?
"What about the water and food?" I asked curiously as I took my full plate and tossed everything in the trashcan.
"My district partner was the one who gathered the food, he was excellent at hunting. One day he left, and never came back. That was the night I saw his face in the sky, the remorse hung over me like a familiar blanket. After all, it was my fault he was gone. Maybe if I wasn't so needy, he would have stayed, but back then they didn't let two tributes win, so I guess it was for the best." Effie said, her smirk loosening as she finished washing the plate off.
"What was he to you? Did you guys have any sort of connection before the games?" I asked.
Effie smirked and looked up, the memories probably flooding through her mind as she opened her mouth.
"His name was Jamerson, Jamerson Therany. We were engaged actually, we were only 18 though. We only had one more year to go before we would never be entered into that cursid Hunger Games. When I got reaped, he volunteered for Haymitch who was reaped with me. Haymitch was reaped the year after I won, I was his mentor. After Haymitch won, he became the official mentor and they made me an escort. Anyways, back to Jamerson, we trained together and we were sure that we would both survive. We had agreed to split up in the arena, just so we wouldn't have to go against each other. Although, I'm sure he would have let me won, but I still wouldn't do anything to harm him. Anywho, we ended up meeting toward the ending and he said that he would hunt for us to keep us alive, we were in the final four. Then one day he said he was going to go get some fresh game for us, we were running out of food anyways. When the cannon went off I tried to convince myself that it wasn't him, but boy was I wrong. The food we had left ended up lasting me awhile, and I just hid, I hid underground actually. Then I won, without even having to end someone's life, thank God." Effie finished, a few tears racing down her porcelain colored face.
A slight frown formed on my lips as I stood up and nodded slightly. My heart felt as if it had been cut out, the sympathy I felt for this woman was immense.
"I'm sorry Effie, I'm really sorry." I said, looking down at the ground.
"It's alright, really, what's done is done. Just try your hardest to win, I have so much hopes for you." Effie said, that familiar smirk forming on her face again.
With that said, I turned around walked towards my room, opening the door roughly and stepping in to find Gale, laying on the bed staring at the ceiling emotionless.
Without a word, I walked over and laid down next to him, trying to give him as much comfort as I could.
"If you stuck around longer you would've found out how Effie won the games," I said, looking over at him gently.
Gale's lips formed a smirk as he turned and looked at me.
"No fucking way, Effie? In the games? Hell has frozen over!" Gale replied playfully as we both started to chuckle softly.
"Look Gale, I'm willing to cooperate with you to get through this. We might have a chance," I said.
"We do have a chance." Gale replied sternly.
"Just don't blow up like that again, Haymitch has some advice that determines whether we live or die. It's up to you though," I replied as if he had a choice.
"Fine," Gale replied, returning his gaze to the ceiling.
"I miss her Peeta, I miss her so much. You have no idea how much it hurts. I see her in my dreams everyday Peeta, she haunts me. I need her again." Gale said, his words trailing into the atmosphere.
"Heaven can't be that far away, she'll be with us through this whole experience." I said, looking at the ceiling again.
I guess I drifted off to sleep, considering I woke up to the sound of Effie's heels clicking against the wooden floor of the train.
"Wake up boys! We're in the Capitol, we haven't much time left." Effie chimed from outside.
Yawning, I stood up and found that Gale was already up and was stretching.
"I guess it's now or never," I said, standing up and opening the door.
As Gale and I traveled out of the train we found ourselves face to face with a city full of lights, cars everywhere, generic trees, it was kind of beautiful in a Capitol sense.
"Young men, they changed up how we're going to be doing it this year. All of the tributes are going to be meeting before we start training, you'll have a chance to share your strengths just don't share your weaknesses. The Capitol have supplied each tribute with their own room in the Hunger Games training facility, that's where you'll be staying until the games. Now let's go, time is of the essence." Effie instructed, pushing us toward the training building.
Entering the building, I noticed that each tribute was already there with their mentors. All of them were standing up tall, attempting to intimidate their opponents.
"Now that we're all here, I would like for all of you to talk to one another, converse a little. This may be one of the last conversations you'll ever have." a young woman instructed from the center of everybody.
Every tribute stood there, none of them making an effort to actually get to know one another. I guess it was for the best.
"Well then, that was very productive! Now all of the mentors, please lead your tributes to their rooms. District 1 rooms are on the bottom floor, District 12 rooms are at the very top. I'm sure you guys can figure it out from there." the woman replied before turning around and entering the staff elevator.
Hushed tones were heard as each mentor lead their tributes into the room portion of the training center.
"Great," Haymitch mumbled as we walked toward our elevator.
Confused, I looked up and noticed that District 2's tributes and mentors were already in there.
Standing in the far corner, I noticed that one of the tributes was extremely muscular, and had dirty blonde colored hair. Then I remembered, it was Cato. Cato was known around the districts for his perfect frame, he had won the games a few years ago. I wonder why he's back.
I licked my lips slowly and continued to look at him, studying him from the back. My eyes traveled down his back and to his tone ass that was perfect in every way.
Wait, what was I thinking? This one of the career tributes, I'm sure he would behead me now If he found out what I was thinking. Even though he is attractive, I just can't think like that.
As the elevator stopped on the second floor, the tributes and mentors walked out and we continued to the very top.
Upon reaching the 12th floor, Effie grabbed my hand and lead me to my room that was at the very end of the hall, right near the balcony that overlooked the city.
Gale's room was adjacent to mine, and Effie's room was at the other end of the hall. Haymitch had a room across from mine.
When I entered my room I noticed that there was one king sized bed, following two nightstands that stood right next to it. Each nightstand had a lamp on it, following a phone. There was also a dresser in front of the bed, a TV was hanging from the corner of the room. The bathroom was located near the entrance.
"Wow.." was the only word I managed to spit out, I was in pure awe. The room was absolutely stunning.
Then, a slight knocking sound was radiating from the wall right next to my bed, I walked over to it and pushed my ear against the wall.
"If your room is amazing as mine, I'm sure you're in heaven right now," Gale said through the wall, his voice muffling.
I smirked slightly and replied; "I think I died, went to heaven, then died again and went to heaven again." I replied, chuckling softly.
With that said, I turned around and went into the bathroom to relieve my bladder.
Before I could finish washing my hands there was a knock at my door.
Assuming it was Gale, I smirked and walked over to the door and opened it, only to reveal a shirtless Cato.
Opening my eyes widely, I stepped back and hoped that my mouth hadn't started watering yet.
"Oh err.. wrong room.. sorry twelve, I was looking for Hawthorne." Cato replied, his cheeks turning a light shade of red.
"N-Next door.." I spat out before closing the door quickly.
I threw my back against the door and started to breath in and out, why on Earth was he looking for Gale?
My eyebrow went up in curiosity as I jumped up and ran to my bed, pushing my ear against the wall.
A/N: Woo! I wonder what Cato wanted with Gale? O:
Don't forget to review, your reviews honestly motivate me! :)