"Ladies and gentlemen!" Claudius Templesmith's voice booms across the square. The crystal clear screens set up by the Capitol show the face of the newest victor."I am pleased to present the victor of the Seventy-fourth Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen!"

The words fly through my mind; reality doesn't set in until I hear the shouts of joy from those around me in the square, rejoicing in our district's newfound triumph. I never thought we would win so I can't stop the smile that spreads across my face. The girl on fire did it.

*** 1 Month Later ***

Clang! The knife bounces loudly off of the makeshift target in the dirty little alley behind the butcher shop. I sigh loudly. "Why are you so much better than me at this?"

"Oh please, I'm just lucky. You'll get better, I'm sure of it. Besides, being able to throw a knife won't exactly mean life and death for us you know." Ara replies as she plucks from the wooden board we have set up for target practice.

I look down at the small knife in my hand which I took from my house; my mother could do without them for an hour or two, and ponder what my best friend just said. This is mostly true. Ara and I are only training in case we get reaped, after all, we still have two reaping ahead of us, one of them being a quarter quell which won't be announced for another eight months. It's not like we are planning to volunteer, just being cautious. District 12 may have won the Games a month ago, but that won't magically change our record over the last seventy-four years.

"Yeah, I guess you're right, we're not as crazy as those Seam girls who'll probably volunteer." I snort, ignoring my lingering paranoia.

Ara grins and twirls around childishly.

"I wanna be just like the girl on fire." She exclaims in a mocking voice, causing us both to go into a fit of laughter.

Now, it's not like Ara, and I think we're careers or anything, but ever since Katniss Everdeen came back, there have been rumors flying around about her training potential tributes. Some people speculated that she recruited some girls from the Seam to 'give them a better life'. This is almost definitely false. Most people in this part of town agree that some poor girls in the Seam convinced Katniss to at least help them out a little. For the most part, it's just in case they're reaped but the reaping can cause people to do strange things, but it's not exactly a career academy. No matter the reason for their training, it got Ara thinking that we should prepare ourselves. Just in case.

At least that way, if I was reaped I could die knowing I was at least better prepared for the games than some scrawny, underfed girl from the Seam. At least, that's how Ara convinced me to train with her. She has always been a little more daring and adventurous, even when we were little. One instance I can vividly recall is when we were about seven, and she climbed so far up the scraggly apple tree outside my family's butcher shop that my father had to come help get her down. I shake the comical look of regretful fear on Ara's face as she was carried down in my father's arms out of mind and switch to a more serious topic.

"So what do you think the Quell will be?" I ask, playing with the small paring knife, feigning indifference even though I'm hoping for a response I like better than the nightmares I've been having lately.

Ara shrugs.

"No idea really, there are so many wonderful things they could do, I mean maybe they'll force volunteers or…" She suddenly gasps, making eye contact with me. "What if they had past victors go back in?" The thought causes me to shiver. Images of the most famous faces in Panem getting bashed in and even more gruesome deaths since the tributes would all be experienced killers. Killing off the victors would be a definite statement from the Capitol. Even the strongest among you are at our mercy. It would never work. That would anger the districts way too much; even the career districts could riot. Hell, there could be riots in the Capitol. I voice these thoughts to her.

"Oh well, it does us no good to dwell on it." She says in a rare moment of solemnity that periodically interrupts her otherwise bubbly demeanor. Suddenly, a noise about ten feet away attracts our attention. We turn to face the figure standing at the entrance to the alley and with a shock I realize who it is. The winner of the Seventy-fourth Hunger Games and our most recent victor, Katniss Everdeen.