A/N: So this fic is based in the Hunger Games universe, but none of my characters will ever be entering an arena. So if that's what you're looking for, I'm sorry.
That being said, this will focus on the revolution that is going on during the Victory Tour and the Quarter Quell, and eventually the war.
I apologize for any and all grammatical errors.
Puffs of her breath leave a whispering trail in the air. She rubs her hands together, hoping to rub some feeling back into them. Now that the sun is making it's appearance in the sky, shifting from black to pastels, she hopes to get some warmth. It's the only time black can ever be eradicated to become something light.
The trees that ensconce her are to their full potential, they'll have to be reaped soon. It's what the Capitol does best, after all. They reap anything before it get's too strong. God forbid letting anything grow resilient against the dominance that is the Capitol.
"You beat me out here." A familiar voice breaks through the silence. The blonde smiles from her spot on top of the fallen mahogany tree.
Usually mahogany doesn't grow in this region, but the people of the Capitol seem to have an affinity for it. So the good people of district 7 get a little extra help from the Capitol's artificial engineers. That's how it works around here. Jump? I'm already 3 feet in the air.
"Us." A second voice, with a deeper register corrects. "Or whatever. I'll give you two some space."
'How long have you been out here?" The brunette asks, taking a seat right next to the blonde on the log. Their bodies touch, creating a little extra needed warmth. "Quinn?"
The blonde stops rubbing friction into her hands and takes the brunettes into hers instead. She brings them to her lips, exhaling her warm breath into them.
"Just twenty minutes." Quinn tells her, smiling when the girl takes her hands, copying the action, then leaving a small kiss on her knuckles before pulling Quinn's hand into her lap.
"Watching the sunrise again?" Before Quinn can answer her though, the boy who has wandered over to the other trees to give the girls some privacy, speaks up.
"Hey Rach, what time did Artie say he would be here?" Both girls turn to look at the mohawked boy, currently trying to scale a tree.
"Here!" Says the boy in question, announcing himself. He's out of breath, hunching over himself.
"I still don't get how you guys can do this every day." Artie leans against a tree, stretching his right leg.
"Not all of us can afford to sit around and get an education for a living." The mohawked boy scowls at him, then proceeds to fall out of the tree and onto his ass.
"Har har,! Let's all tease the privileged kid. Speaking." Artie lifts a finger, as if telling them to hold their thought. He removes his backpack and tosses it at the mohawked boy because Quinn and Rachel are still too busy laughing at the boy for falling out of the tree. He of course, flips them the bird.
"Sweet!" The boy cheers, producing a large loaf of bread from the bag.
"Noah apologize to Artie, it's the least you can do." Rachel tells the boy when she is tossed the loaf. The brunette rips off a large chunk, offering it to Quinn before taking some for herself.
"Yeah Noah!" Artie teases, catching what's left of the loaf when everyone has had their share.
"Don't call me that!" Noah growls around the large piece of bread sticking out of his mouth. His hands are otherwise occupied searching through the contents of the bag for more goodies.
Quinn watches the scene play out before her with a smile on her lips. It's one of the few times she does smile. Most of the time it's only work, work, work. She sometimes forgets she is a 17 year old girl.
"Whatever Puck." Artie rolls his eyes at the boy when he cheers again at another score he has found in the bag.
Rachel and Noah Puckerman lost their parents at a young age, and since then had been taken in by a lovely couple, with not much to their name: Leroy and Hiram Berry. While the siblings have since then taken the Berry name, Puck forces everyone but his sister and his new parents to call him Puck. He figures it's the least he can do to preserve their parents memory.
"You got that good creamy cheese shit." Puck celebrates, removing a knife from the waistband of his pants so he can spread it over his bread. He walks over to the girls on the log and takes a seat next to them.
"There's also some coffee in there. I figured Quinn might need it after last night." Artie notes, walking over to the girls as well, taking a seat next to Rachel.
"What happened last night?" Rachel asks, spreading the cream cheese over her slice of bread then handing it over to Artie.
"I saw my father." Quinn admits in a whisper, pulling the bag away from Puck's feet so she can search for the coffee.
"Scared me half to death when she climbed into my window so she could go looking through my fathers liquor cabinet." Artie admits around a mouthful. Rachel grimaces, probably wondering why a boy who grew up as the Mayors son has such poor manners.
"Are you ok?" Rachel asks the girl, leaning in close. Quinn smiles sadly at her and shrugs. She pulls a thermos from the bag in relief. Her head is really starting to bother her.
District 7 is normally large enough for Quinn to not have to see her father very often. You see, Quinn's mother grew up in poverty, the only way she was able to keep alive was to sell her body. Her favorite customer happened to be Russel Tine: Head Peacekeeper. Quinn and her elder sister, Frannie, have the same father. Had.
Judy Fabray died as soon as Quinn was old enough to enter her name in the reaping. It also happened to be the last year her sister was entered. The year her sister was reaped. Quinn lost the only family she had left in the same year.
Ever since then Quinn, very similarly to the Puckerman siblings, had been taken in. And you'll never guess by who. Why will you never guess? Because it is a secret. Perhaps the biggest secret of District 7.
Johanna Mason took her in. It might have been because Johanna had won the year before her sister had been reaped. Johanna's family started dying in horrific 'accidents'. So when she took Quinn in, she was lonely, she also made sure it was kept a secret or Quinn's life would be in danger. Johanna and Quinn took pity on each other, and ever since then have been family.
Maybe family is too strong of a word. They are like distant cousins who don't really like each other, but they love each other, so they put up with one another.
"He nearly saw me sneaking into Johanna's." Quinn explains to them. She never called it home. In fact, she considers the Berry Residence more of a home, but she would never put them out by letting them take her in. They could barely afford to feed themselves.
Quinn, like Rachel and Puck, has been working in the forrest ever since they were old enough to hold an axe. They work long hours during harvesting season. School isn't exactly priority for District 7, but they do attend. They barely have enough to survive, so they must sign up for tesserae. Last year Quinn's name had been in 6 times (which admittedly isn't much) because she had to take out tesserae. She didn't want to have to owe Johanna anything.
"You don't have to nimwad, there's enough food in here for you and your little girlfriend." Johanna often says this. And though it's tempting, she doesn't want to have to owe the girl anything. The only reason she allows Artie to given them food is because Artie is more family then Johanna is. They call themselves the fantastic four. They are family.
"Will she be going to the Capitol for the end of the Victory Tour?" Puck asks, taking the thermos from Quinn so he can have a sip.
"Why? You want to have another sleep over?" Artie asks Puck. It's a tradition for the fantastic four to have a drunken sleep over every time Johanna is away. Be it for a Victory Tour party at the Capitol or a mentoring job for the games. Now that the 74th hunger games is over, Johanna is due for another leave.
"No. She refuses to go. She says the girl on fire irritates her. Something we can agree on." Quinn lets them know, taking the thermos back in her hands.
"Seriously? Home girl is all types of hot." Artie lifts his hand for a high five, Puck of course, meets him for it. Rachel smiles.
"If that's your type." Rachel shrugs before leaning in to press a kiss to Quinn's cheek.
"BOO!" The boys boo. Quinn is quick to silence them.
"Just because it isn't our shift today, doesn't mean there aren't peace keepers patrolling the area." She warns, then scrunches her nose at Rachel and leans in for a proper kiss.
"Oh c'mon, gross." Puck pulls Quinn's face away from Rachel's. "That's my sisters face you're sucking on."
"Noah, don't make me tell that Bree girl you're in love with her." Rachel threatens. Quinn laughs when Puck's eyes go comically wide.
"You still don't like Katniss?" Rachel asks Quinn curiously, once her brother has pulled out a a couple of fruit for them to share. Rachel speaks of Katniss as if the girl on fire is an old friend.
"I mean, I understand why you do. She just seems so fake to me. Peeta? He's a different story. He seems like the real deal." Quinn and Rachel have had this argument several times since the end of the 74th hunger games, but there was something about Katniss Everdeen that Quinn just couldn't stomach.
"What do you mean by real deal?" Artie asks, offering Quinn a bite of his pear. Even for the Mayors son, fresh fruit is hard to come by.
"He's an actual good guy. Which is surprising. No one decent ever wins the hunger games." Quinn refuses the pear, never having liked them too much, but accepts the bite of the apple Rachel offers.
"That's because he wasn't supposed to win." Puck tells them sagely. Puck does all of the black market trading for Quinn and Rachel whenever they have game to sell. The forrest is full of animals, it's the time for hunting that they lack. But when they do, they either take it home for a good stew cooked by Hiram, or they sell it. Anyway, Puck is really into that scene, so he get's all of the information he needs from there.
Ever since Katniss and Peeta held the nightlock out for all of Panem to see, there has been a lot tension all around the district. People claiming it to be an act of rebellion. Quinn can at least admire Katniss for that, whether it was intentional or not, she started something. Even Johanna has noticed.
"There have been talks at the mill." The mill is an abandoned sawmill where all the illegal black market trading goes down. "There's a revolution coming, and they're looking to start a rebel team." Puck let's them know.
Artie looks a bit nervous upon hearing the information. It's not that he is a Capitol sympathizer, but his father is mayor, this could potentially be dangerous for his family. In fact, Artie has often spoken ill of the Capitol, wanting to make a change for his district. When he can, he goes around the mill to give away food to the children who absolutely need it.
Rachel and Quinn though? A spark seems to light up in their eyes. They have had enough of the Capitol. Every year they are rounded up like Lambs for slaughter. And if they aren't chosen to be the ones brutally murdered in front of all of Panem as a sick form of entertainment, then they are left at District 7 where they can safely starve to death.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Rachel asks her brother, leaning over Quinn to get a good look at him.
"I was afraid you would tell dads." Puck admits, digging hole in the ground to hide their garbage. They don't want to leave it behind for a peace keeper to find.
The group all stand, stretching out their muscles. You'd think because the sun was out, it would be warmer. It's not. The first snow must be coming.
They all begin their trek back to town, making their way through the Pine Tree section of the forrest. Rachel and Quinn walk hand in hand, watching as the boys try to climb the trees.
Rachel begins to sing a soft melody. And all of the forrest goes quiet to hear it.
It's an old, traditional song from their region, but it makes Quinn smile none the less. It's her favorite, and Rachel knows this.
When Rachel is done singing, the mocking jays pick up the tune.
"You're better than Katniss." Quinn tells Rachel once the mockingjays have stopped singing the song. Rachel smiles, wrapping her arm around Quinn's waist.
Just as they are about to enter the territory near the town, a mockingjay stops in front of the group. It sings the familiar four note whistle that everyone in Panem must know by now. It seems Quinn can't escape the influences of Katniss Everdeen anywhere.
Mockingjays all around pick up the new melody, creating a haunting symphony of the rebellious tune. Almost as if challenging the fantastic four of district 7.
They all smile, glancing at each other. Of course they accept the challenge.
Something sure has changed in Panem. It's about to at least.
A/N: I know. I know. I have so many stories I am working on already, but I can't help it when I'm struck by inspiration. I probably won't be able to post another chapter of this in a while. At least until I finish one of my other fics, but I had to post a chapter to see the response I would get. You know, just to see if it's even worth pursuing.
What did you guys think?-A