Prologue
I watched as the sun rose in the east. I watched as the horizon was stained the color of blood and as the golden rays pierced through the landscape. I watched the shadows condense and withdraw; skulking into the corners where only few dare venture. I watched, a silent sentinel, waiting…
A decade and a half has gone by, which was just enough time to dull the senses of the new generation. The passing of time has increased their complacence, made them ignorant of the dangers brewing in their midst.
Some parents have not bothered to educate their children in even the most basic of survival skills. Only the families of hunters, farmers, miners and the like have even the most remote chance to survive the coming apocalypse.
The Apocalypse Games are about to begin.
And I am one of the few who can warn the others.
On my arm was perched a mockingjay, watching patiently with me, watching with its eyes shining with uncanny wisdom. I whispered, or quietly whistled the notes to it, the tune that meant forthcoming danger. A letter of explanation was strapped to its leg, encoded in such a way that only the one it is meant for would comprehend it. I have sent numerous birds like this out, knowing one would not be enough. This was but the last of them.
"Take it to Katniss, Katniss Everdeen, Katniss Mellamark, whatever name she is using." I whispered. The bird looked at me once, its eyes shining, – then and there I knew it understood –before taking off.
As it took wing, I was flooded with memories of that girl. The girl I have hunted with for years before that one game took her away. The girl I kissed for the first time in the forest that was our sanctuary, its green canopy extending over us. The girl who knew me and everything I am. The girl I knew until everything changed. The girl I trusted. The girl I loved. The girl I still continue to love despite everything.
The girl who chose someone else, someone she could not survive without, over me.
The thought still saddened me, after all these years. During the whirlwind of events that was the uprising, I saw it; saw her fall in love with Peeta Mellamark. I saw the way she needed him like she would never need me. I saw it, but I refused to believe… I kept fighting. Fighting for her, yet it was all for naught. She never chose me, never loved me the way I loved her.
I was still thinking of Katniss, Katniss Everdeen, now Katniss Mellamark, my Katniss and yet, ironically enough, isn't mine as the dusk settled on my surroundings.
Just as I closed my eyes, drew in a breath, I felt it strike my neck.
The way I drew the breath, was the way it drew my blood as the cold steel bit into my flesh.